Abounding

I have been mulling this word, abounding, over and over for the past month. I have scribbled a few thoughts here and there and have not gotten back to fully investigate it until today. I love that word, abounding…it is a word so full that it overflows in my mind and fills my heart with wonder.

Last year I was abounding in Monarch caterpillars! Thank You Jesus!

The dictionary says abounding means to have or possess in a great quantity; existing in or providing a great or plentiful quantity or supply, abundant. Teeming with, swarming, and thronging are some synonyms.

Abound appears 30 times in the Bible is various forms.

Few things in life are abounding until God becomes a real part of our lives. Then we begin to see that He lavishes on His children many wonderful things, starting with love and faithfulness.

Even things that seem so simple, yet are a joy. God has lavished on me many Monarch caterpillars through the years. Last year I was abounding in them, with over 120 healthy, hungry babies that grew, went through their metamorphosis and emerged as beautiful butterflies!!

Psalm 86:15 NIV says, “But You, LORD, are a compassionate and loving God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

In an earlier blog post, I have talked about how much God loves you and I. I think He loves to make us smile! He is abounding in love and faithfulness. To abound in love is to have a great attachment to and great affection for. God is not stingy in His love for us. It abounds, it pours out onto us because God’s very nature is love.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV

God is able. He is the One who makes His Grace abound to us. Abound so that we will have the ability in abundance to do every good work that He calls us to do. WOW!

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NKJV

Be encouraged! God is the one Who fills us—fills us to OVERFLOWING with all HIS BEST…all we have to do is say “YES! I Believe! Yes!

May you ABOUND in HOPE by the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT.

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God Rejoices Over You

“The LORD, your God is in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV)

The LORD is in our midst! Right in the middle of where you are, where I am. He is all around us, and He is in all things and Creator of all. If you call Him LORD (as I do and and I hope you do!) we, you and I are His children…AND He is in the middle of our lives. When we allow Him to have His rightful place as King of our lives, He is intimately involved, as a Father would be, in our lives. He is aware of everything and is carefully watching.

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3 (NKJV)

He first & foremost wants to save us. Salvation comes through God’s Son, Jesus Christ…His death on the cross for our sin (Romans 5:8) , AND even more important is His RESSURECTION on Easter morning! He arose from the dead and gave us the opportunity to share His inheritance and His Father in Heaven! Though we die a earthly death when our time has come, we have a forever home in Heaven! (John 14:1-6)

We are saved from God’s wrath. As His redeemed child, He looks at us with love, compassion and mercy. We are made righteous through Jesus! We are saved from eternal damnation and hell. Did you know that we are also saved from the power of sin to control us? It is true! Satan, the evil one has no power over us. We will still be attacked and tempted because we live in the world, but through the Power of the Holy Spirit living within us, we can resist, we CAN OVERCOME! (John 16:5-15)

Look at the verse again, there is so much more! God rejoices over you with gladness and singing. I can just picture Him…can you?! Gleefully rejoicing over me, rejoicing in all of the wonder of you…raising His voice and singing over you, His beloved child! Wow! I pray that you are letting that sink in. How special you are. How loved, how wanted you are!

One more thing I want you to notice in this verse…“He will quiet you with His love.”

Have you ever been so anxious or worried that your heart is racing—what is going to happen??;

So scared you can’t catch your breath—will I survive this??;

So sad or heartbroken that you can’t think straight and your mind is churning in a million directions like the swirl of a tornado—will this drown me??

Lift your head in hope my beautiful friend!

If you have children or grandchildren, think on this. Remember when they were little and they woke up scared, maybe they had a bad dream and they were unsettled, anxious. Did you go to them and just hold them close, smoothing back the hair across their forehead, whispering words of love and comfort. I bet you did! As they got older, maybe they were sick or were hurt? Older still, an issue at school, breakup, disappointment…a long list of hurts and noisy times in our lives. I am speaking as a Mom and Grammy, however I am sure this is felt by Dads and Grampa’s, as well as many other relationships & family dynamics. I had such love swell up within me for my children, my grandchildren. My pure, unselfish love for them, a love that quieted their anxious thoughts, chased away their fears and soothed their sorrows.

How much more does God do that for us! A love not like the world loves. Deeper than human love. A forever love. An all-encompassing love. A love for who you are, right where you are, especially in the middle of your mess, loved unconditionally. A wonderful, life changing love…a secure, warm, constant, sustaining, solid, eternal, comforting, able to quiet your anxious thoughts, able to give you His peace (His quiet) as you face whatever it is. That kind of love.

God quiets us with His love. when the world is tossing us, we need peace. His peace. The quietness within that let’s us know we will get through this.

JESUS tells us “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubles, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 (NKJV)

PLUS, you get God…you have Him in your midst. Oh, what a wonderful God and Savior!

Abounding in Hope

This world is full of disappointments, heartaches and sadness. Wouldn’t it be great to have hope?! How about to be abounding in hope?

Abounding means to have or possess in great quantity, existing in or providing a great or plentiful quantity or supply.

I do not know your situation or what you have been dealing with, but God knows. There have been times in my life when I have felt a sense of hopelessness, stemming from helplessness. I think we all go through it at one time or another. The important thing to note, is to NOT stay in the state or feeling of hopelessness. Easy to say, but harder to do.

How can you and I find hope? The world shifts under our feet, people let us down, we let people down, life is hard. Can someone just tell me how?!

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 (NKJV)

God has the answer. in fact, He IS the answer. He IS a God of hope and He fills His children with hope. Filled, not just a tiny quantity…but abounding in hope! He knows we need it to survive and thrive here. Not that all of our problems magically disappear but it puts them in a brighter perspective, knowing that God IS in control.

We are given a hope that does not disappoint, because this hope comes from Gods love directly poured into our hearts, it is a hope that helps us hold on and endure hardships and pain.

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5 (NKJV)

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and we walk with God, we receive within us, the power of the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven, a Helper was given to all believers. Look up John 16:5-15 and see the Power believers are given!

The Holy Spirit was given to us by God to help us. If we choose to allow the Holy Spirit to guide and help; we can experience joy and peace during our darkest times. He will walk with us through our troubles, sorrows and heartaches.

We need to hold on to hope. There will come a day when all will be made right and evil will be defeated and forever erased!

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, as the former things have passed away.” Revelations 21:4 (NKJV)

May you abound in the hope of God, and may He fill you with His peace and joy.

The FLAG Was STILL There

As I sit here and listen to the fireworks that marks this 4th of July and our Independence, I wonder how we got to where we are right now.

These past few months, it seems all hell has broken loose. What I would never thought I would see in America—is happening.

We made it through the self-quarantine, we are hearing so many different stories about the Corona virus, I don’t know who to believe and what “Experts” I can trust.  It seems now, we are waiting for the violence and destruction of property and monuments to be over, for sanity and common sense to come back…we are waiting to get back to the life we knew. Will this wonderful country that I love, that my Dad and perhaps many of you and your loved ones have fought for or are currently fighting for—the USA, be what it was?

I wonder how we got here as a country?  What happened? It seems like a blur to me. Why are we so divided? We are called the UNITED STATES.  Haven’t we been through this stuff before? Haven’t we learned ANYTHING??

Perhaps those doing most of the rioting, looting and other acts of violence do not know our history, has it fallen by the wayside in our schools? In our homes?

Maybe those acting out in violence don’t know what the words in our National Anthem means? Do they understand what it meant in a night of fighting to see our flag still flying high in the early morning hours?

Do they not understand what this country has been through to be free…to get where we are…a high price was paid to give ALL of us, no matter our race—FREEDOMS—the freedoms that gives us a voice and a choice…the freedoms that give those who choose to cause harm, a voice—BUT NOT a voice or right to be destructive. THAT is NOT in our Constitution!

It seems we are on self-destruct. What are we to do? The wound seems so deep and festers like a rancid boil—waiting for the next thing to cause it to be inflamed and erupt, spewing hate & discord to anyone close to it.

My heart cries out, How can this be fixed…what can we do to stop the division? Man cannot fix it, a political party can not fix it, even on our “best” days as humans, we fall short. God alone, as we repent and turn back to Him, He alone can heal our land  (See 2 Chronicles 7:14-15).

As I take a deep breath, I am reminded of a song. It was written in 1814 by poet Francis Scott Key, who was inspired by the sight of the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry after a night of heavy British bombardment.

Our National Anthem.

“Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Did you get the line? It always makes me tear up every time I hear it—The FLAG was STILL there!  WE MUST NEVER forget what it cost and continues to cost men and women everyday that know this country, this UNITED STATES of AMERICA is worth fighting for!

Through these last few months, I think about what I have learned.

• I have learned to trust God more. He never changes. The world very easily shifts under our feet all the time.
• I have learned to do my research and I have learned that many things the main stream media is telling me is not true.
• I have learned to make informed decisions and I will not be coerced or made to feel like I am insensitive or something is wrong with me if I don’t conform to policies & behaviors not fitting for me.
• I have learned that I love this country and will fight anyone who seeks to destroy it.
• I have learned to pray fervently and God will listen to the prayers of His children.
• I have learned to not let a “few” voices make me fearful.
• I have learned to listen to Jesus Christ alone and He alone gives me PEACE in all the unrest & chaos.
• I pray that His words that He has given us to hold onto will comfort and calm you.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (ESV)

Don’t let the world make you fearful. Embrace His peace!

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Do not Fear

“Fear not for I am with you; Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

A great verse in times that challenge us…most recently with the corona virus concerns but also all the other troubles you & I have going on in our lives. This verse is so much more than just a great verse to speak. It is a truth we can anchor ourselves to and hold on. As a child of God, He has promised us, His children, to help us, to hold us up and has given a command for us to not live in fear. He wants us to trust Him, no matter what is going on.

We have an enemy in this world, his name is Satan and he has an army of demons (fallen angels) that are forever causing trickery, confusion & chaos. He is of the darkness. He deals in crooked paths, lies and death. He wants you & I to live in fear & anxiety. He wants us to turn our focus from God onto himself. He wants to be god of our lives.

If you do not call Jesus Christ Lord & Savior of your life, then Satan has full authority over you and you are in bondage.

But do not fear. The second you ask Jesus Christ into your life, the enemy no longer has control. You have been set free! You belong to God and He will help you. The problems in life may not all go away but you can receive strength & peace amid the problems. You also receive a forever home in heaven!

“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…” 1 Corinthians 14:33 (NKJV)

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)

JESUS says in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through Me.” (NKJV)

So very different from what Satan has to offer…he deals in crooked paths, lies and death. They may seem good at first, but like an apple left out in the sun, it soon becomes rotten. Jesus gave His very life to set us free.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 (NIV)

You may not agree with or understand this information. I do not speak on my authority but on the truth of God’s Word. Search the Scriptures for yourself. Don’t live your life in fear for one more minute. If you want to know more about how to become a child of God, here are some verses that will help you understand the why & how:

First, admit that you are a sinner, that you have done wrong things, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (NIV)

Ask for forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

Next, you must believe in Jesus as your Savior. He was innocent, yet He died on the cross in your place to pay your sin debt and give you eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)

Next, believe in Him, become adopted into His family. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John1:12 (NIV)
Confess that He is Lord of your life. “Because you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 (ESV)

Lastly, choose to follow Him daily.” Then he [Jesus] said to them all: “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 (NIV)
If your heart is ready to invite Him into your life, all it takes is a sincere prayer like this:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, I have done wrong things and I ask You to forgive me. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen

If you prayed this prayer for the first time, let me be the first to welcome you into God’s family! I would love to hear from you, email me at AnchoredInHim7@gmail.com. I encourage you to find a Bible preaching church and share your decision. Walk together with other believers and find encouragement on your journey!

Calm in the Chaos

In these times of uncertainty, we can remain calm.

I know that we need to take this virus seriously and be cautious. I am not in any way belittling the effects this can have on the health of any of us, especially those with a compromised immune system…but we do NOT need to panic or be fearful.

We can react in two ways:

• A) We can listen to the media hype and join the chaos & confusion OR
• B) We can look to God, adjust our sight off of the confusion, leave the feelings of fear, panic and uncertainty and TRUST God—with God there is PEACE, CALMNESS and REFUGE.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV), “For God is not a God of confusion but one of peace…”

We can make a difference to those around us, a much greater difference than we realize…by our attitude, by our action or lack of action.

In Experiencing God, a Bible study by Henry Blackaby…on page 159 of the workbook, it says, ““No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life that is wholly yielded, adjusted and obedient to Him!”

Our faith is most clearly demonstrated by our actions.

Let me ask you a question…with all this Corona virus concerns going on…what are you DOING? How are you reacting? A or B?

We have the opportunity now more than ever to be aligned with God, to be obedient, to be alert to the needs around us, especially to the elders of our population, to be the hands & feet of Jesus…to be the voice of calm in the chaos, to be the helping hand in all the grasping & pushing.

I choose option B. Let us work together… look to God, adjust our sight, leave the feelings of fear, panic and uncertainty and trust God—Let us offer His LOVE, His KINDNESS, His COMPASSION…the HOPE of Him to those around us.

Peaceful Confidence

We are faced with things in our lives that challenge our faith, that bring us to our knees. I have been facing a particularly difficult storm in my life. A valley of the lowest kind. Have you ever been there? When it feels like this is a storm you may not make it through? Perhaps you are there now.

Everything around you giving way. My world twisted & shook. Rocked to my very core, like nothing I had ever encountered. Does it seem like the mountain top just seemed too high to even try to get to, the valley too great a distance to travel? I’m so weary. Are you weary? What could we do? Do we give up?

No. It took some time to figure things out but as God walked with me…I began to have a peaceful confidence.

I have peace, peace given to me by Jesus. Peace given to you. His very words are:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 (NKJV)

Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. (Reference Galatians 5:22) Instead of fear or anger, I choose to have peace reside within me.

I have confidence. Confidence that I will get through this. That you will get through this. Hold on. He will be our confidence.

“For the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.” Proverbs 3:26 (NKJV)

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

I believe that GOD is well aware of all things and that includes my situation (yours too) and He will protect us.

“But the LORD is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV)

He will give you and I strength to stand up under the pressure of our trials and He will not give us more than we can bear.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful; who will not allow you be tempted beyond what you are able. But with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)

He will give us His peace as we wait for His timing to restore all things that were taken by the enemy, satan.

“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten….” Joel 2:25 (NKJV)

He will equip us to work with Him at what He wants to accomplish through each of us according to His will & purpose.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

I will keep reading His Word. I will keep pursuing my relationship with Him. I will keep praying and asking for strength & wisdom. AND I know this sounds so weird…I will thank Him for this trial, this storm, this thorn in my flesh right now. (Reference 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

This storm had brought me to my lowest place however, it has raised me up into a relationship with my Lord that I would never had found! The closeness I share I am most grateful for. I am not liking this storm but I can bear it. I am not strong, but He is! I will boast of His strength!

I am enjoying this peaceful confidence I have in knowing GOD is STRONG & TRUSTWORTHY. You can have the same peaceful confidence. Just ask Him. He is a good Dad!

GOD is Sovereign Over ALL

His masterpieces are everywhere

When life doesn’t go as expected, it is difficult to accept…feelings of regret, resentment and unfairness can easily seep into our subconscious and steal our joy. One bitter, caustic drop at a time, eroding our peace.

In those times it is essential to remember that God is Sovereign over ALL circumstances in our life.  He is limitless, boundless and  unending in ALL THINGS…including His love & mercy for us.  To gain and retain peace & joy, we must allow Him to rule, to call the shots. NO matter what is happening to us.

Sometimes the world can shatter our faith and make us doubt the TRUTH of God.   Often times it draws our focus away from Him, especially when our world is crashing down around us.  Making us feel that we are getting nowhere by adhering to His Ways…that maybe it doesn’t matter what we do or who we follow.

BUT it DOES matter.  In JESUS, we have ALL we need…in this life and more importantly, in the LIFE to COME!

His way is ALWAYS the BEST way.  His way is the way to LIFE.  Jesus tells us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 (NKJV)

We need to FIX our eyes on Him, sometimes we need to take our glasses off and give them a good cleaning  and readjust WHO we are looking at. When we are at our lowest, our breaking point…HE IS THERE… READY TO LET HIS PEACE WASH OVER US.

Do NOT despair.  It WILL ALL WORK out.

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The Heart of Worship

God, Your Majesty is Breath-taking!

Welcome to Day Ten!  At this stage in our journey, we are 1/4 of the way there!  Today is a touchy subject…one that in society’s thinking would say is unpopular and crazy.

We live in a day and age that says things like,

” You can do it, don’t give up”  ” Fight til the end and never surrender”  “You’re a loser, if you give in”  “Don’t let them take you alive”

In this highly competitive world…Many think that surrender is bad…much like submission…seems like an unnatural thing to do, given the human spirit. Yielding to a stronger, more forceful person is what comes to my mind.  Maybe even thoughts of being a loser…defeated?  I am very independent and reading in Romans about surrender being the heart of worship…unsettled me…UNTIL I understood WHAT GOD means by surrender.

Do you dare to journey with me further?  Awesome!  Let’s continue.

When I think of surrender & trust I think of my Earthly Dad.  There were times that he told me to do things that I did not always want to do… things I needed to do…chores, homework, learning to drive, going to bed on time, getting a job…things that would help me through life.  I had to surrender my will to his, so that I could learn and have a better life.

It did not break my will.  Because my father loved me and I loved and trusted him, I surrendered knowing he was only looking out for me.  Could our Heavenly Father have the same purpose on a grander scale??

Let’s dig deeper…Most of us (myself included) don’t realize how much God loves us, we want to control our own lives and we misunderstand the meaning of surrender (I know I did)

Rick Warren says on page 78 of The Purpose Driven Life that there are 3 barriers that block our total surrender to God:

Fear: Can I Trust God? God will NOT force us to love Him…He does NOT break our will.  He LONGS for us to TRUST HIM WILLINGLY

Pride: We must learn to admit our limitations.  We aren’t God and NEVER will be. We are human.  According to A. W. Tozer, “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves.  We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God’s work within us”.

Confusion:  We misunderstand what it means to surrender.  We must rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force our own agenda, or control the situation.  Easier said than done, I know…

Surrender is BEST demonstrated in obedience & trust.

DAY TEN: THINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSE  (Taken directly from the “The Purpose Driven Life” by Pastor Rick Warren, page 84)

“TODAY’S FOCUS:  The Heart of Worship

POINT TO PONDER:  The Heart of Worship is Surrender

BIBLE VERSE:  ”Surrender your whole being to be used for righteous purposes.” Romans 6:13b (TEV)

QUESTION TO PONDER:  What area of my life am I holding back from God?

Here are the treasures I found from DAY TEN:

God looks at the attitude of my heart.  He asks me, “Is pleasing Me your deepest desire?” If my answer is truly Yes, then I will desire to follow Him and His ways.  To know that He wants what is BEST for me…to surrender because I LOVE & TRUST Him.  The funny thing is that when I feel that way about God and give Him His place as CENTER in my life…it does NOT feel like surrender, it feels like…PEACE.