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Something to Believe In

November 28, 2011 by deliamk

Most days I wake to a song in my heart. It may be a song that I heard the day before. It may be one that has some special meaning to me. I slowly awaken as I listen to the words and my first few conscious thoughts will follow along with it’s message. It’s usually a different song each morning, but in the last week or so I have heard the same song over and over.

It’s a song by Third Day called I Believe. Here are some of the lyrics, specifically the ones I hear as I awaken each morning.

I believe in a faith that’s strong/ I believe in a hope that carries on/ I believe in these things and more/ Most of all… I believe in love.

As I awaken to these words playing in my heart, my first thought is always the same. It is the scripture 1 John 4:16.

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (KJV)

For the last 14 years I have helped many people in their hardest times, in their darkest hours. I’ve helped many, including myself and my own family find peace and hope in not only difficult times but in just living everyday life. After all these years the greatest truth I have found to help regardless of the situation is this, God loves us.

Whether the situation was the loss of a job, the breakup of a family, or a terminal diagnosis my advise started out the same, first and foremost know and believe that He loves you.

Where is the hope and the peace in finding yourself out of work, “I may not know how it’s going to be okay, but I have no doubt it’s going to be okay because He loves me.”

Where is the hope and the peace when your family is falling apart, “I may not know how my family will rise above this, but I know we will because He loves us.”

Where is the hope and the peace in being diagnosed with any disease, “God said ‘by His stripes I was healed’ and I’m not sure how it all works, but I know it’s going to be okay because the One Who said this loves me.”

There are so many things and so many people out there saying believe in this thing, in this ‘truth’, or believe in this person, but today first and foremost believe in this, believe that you are loved by God.

I may not know the difficulty  you are going through today, but He does. I may not know the answer to your problem, but He does. The one thing I do know about you is this, I know and I believe that He loves you. Today, He wants you to believe it too.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10, KJV)

But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. (Romans 5:8, Amplified)

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear… (1 John 4:18, KJV)

And now abide faith, hope, love these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13, NKJV)

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten… Son… (John 3:16, Amplified)

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized you…

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Arrived

October 27, 2011 by deliamk

A glass sits on a table. It is filled halfway up with water. What do you see? A glass half empty or a glass half full?

I’ve always been a glass half full kind of person. It makes for a happy life :)

I ask this question today because of a statement and an overall thought process I have heard expressed so much in the church today. It can be summed up in the statement, “not yet arrived”, although it can be expressed in many different ways. While I believe it to be a true statement in that there is a glorious splendor we still await and long for, some have turned it into a mantra that takes on the same sense as seeing the glass half empty.

“Yes, you’ve been born again. Yes, you’ve learned some glorious truths. Yes, you’ve gone from glory to glory and grown and transformed so much, but you haven’t arrived yet. You still have so far to go.” I don’t know about you but this glass half empty statement does nothing to inspire me.

Today, I want to take a look at the word of God and see where we have arrived. I want to see the glass half full.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named… (Ephsians 3:14-15, KJV)

I have arrived into the family of God. I am His kid. He is my Father.

[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love… (Colossians 1:13, Amplified)

I have arrived into the Kingdom of God, into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.

But we are citizens of the state (commonwealth, homeland) which is in heaven, and from it also we earnestly and patiently await [the coming of] the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)… (Philippians 3:20, Amplified)

I have arrived into my citizenship in heaven even while I live this life on earth.

And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus… (Ephesians 2:6, Amplified)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6, KJV)

I have arrived in heavenly places to be seated with Him.

For in Him we live and move and have our being… (Acts 17:28, Amplified)

I have arrived in Him.

In Him I have been made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Him I am a new creature, a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through Him I can do all things (Philippians 4:13).

Because of where I have arrived, I have the hope of arriving at that future glorious splendor.

Look again. The glass is full and about to overflow.

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Known and Loved

October 14, 2011 by deliamk

O LORD, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off. You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:1-2, Amplified)

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you… (Jeremiah 1:5, ESV)

Have you ever had the thought, “If people really knew me, knew my weaknesses, knew my failings, knew my secrets, they wouldn’t like me anymore. They wouldn’t love me anymore”?

Is there a side of you that everyone sees, while hidden within is the you that you never want anyone to see? It’s a lonely place to feel unknown for fear of being unloved. But there is One Who has always known you. There is One Who has always loved you.

I think of the madman of Gadara. A man possessed of devils, living among the tombs, frightening everyone in that area. Others saw him and were repulsed by him and feared him. Jesus saw Him, knew Him and loved Him.

The woman caught in adultery, her secret failings and sins were put on display for all to see. He knew what she had done. He knew her and He loved her.

Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors. He knew them and He loved them.

As He dined in a Pharisees home a woman came and anointed his feet with oil. Washed His feet with her tears. Dried His feet with her hair. The Pharisee thought to himself if Jesus knew who was touching Him, a sinful, outcast of a woman, He wouldn’t allow it. But Jesus knew who she was. He knew what she had done. He knew her and He loved her. His love set her free.

He knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows every intimate detail of your life. He knows you and He loves you.

People may or may not ever get to know the real you. People may or may not love the real you. But always remember that there is One that has always known you and One that will always love you.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized you that He sent His Son for you (John 3:16).

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Be Somebody

October 8, 2011 by deliamk

I recently went through a great transition in my life. My husband and I left a church we had attended for fourteen years. We left at God’s instruction. We left on good terms. We left a place where I felt like I was somebody. I felt a little like Norm from Cheers, everybody knew my name. I was a prayer leader. I was a teacher. I was a healing minister. I was the lead person for a certain area of ministry in the church. I was somebody that people looked up to. Then we left.

I am at a new church now. I can count on my fingers the number of people who know my name. I slip in for service and then slip out unnoticed. I do laundry. I clean my house. I cook dinner. I was beginning to feel like a nobody. But what does the Bible say about this?

…if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God’s love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody). (1 Corinthians 13:2, KJV)

Leading prayer doesn’t make me somebody. Being a teacher doesn’t make me somebody. Healing the sick in His Name doesn’t make me somebody. Being in charge of a ministry doesn’t make me somebody. I was somebody as I did each of these things because of the love I did them with, His love in me.

…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:5, KJV)

We can have faith that moves mountains but without His love we are nobody. But with His love…

Be somebody today. Whether your praying for or ministering to the nations or simply folding laundry and cooking dinner for your family. Be somebody today by loving the people that are right in front of you.

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Sin No More II

September 26, 2011 by deliamk

Yesterday we read about the woman caught in adultery and how Jesus spoke words of grace to her that empowered her to do just what He said, “Go and sin no more.” Today I want to look at another person that Jesus spoke these same words to, the man healed at the pool called Bethesda.

Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches… And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years... Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole… Now the invalid who had been healed did not know who it was… Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. (John 5:2,5, 8-9, 14 KJV; John 5:13 Amplified)

Just as the woman caught in adultery encountered not judgement, but mercy and grace, so too do this man. As I have often mentioned it is important to note where this all took place, at a pool called Bethesda in the Hebrew tongue. This word is made up of two Hebrew words bet which means ‘house’ and hesda which means ‘mercy’. It was at the house of mercy where Jesus healed this man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Once again, what is mercy for? It’s for when you didn’t do everything right. Jesus wasn’t asking this man to jump through all the right hoops to earn his healing. He wanted to show this man mercy. The Hebrew word hesda (mercy) comes from the Hebrew word hesed which means God’s unfailing love. He wanted to show him mercy simply because He loved him.

Jesus once again spoke words of grace in this man’s situation as He did with the woman caught in adultery. His words were filled with grace when He said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”. His words were filled with grace when He said, “sin no more”. He imparted the power of the Holy Spirit through His very words.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29, KJV)

But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully)… (James 4:6, Amplified)

Throughout your life He has spoken and will continue to speak words of grace. Words that help you to walk free and words that help you to be all that He has called you to be.

Grace be with you all. Amen. (Hebrews 13:25, KJV)

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Sin No More

September 25, 2011 by deliamk

After reading the story of the woman caught in adultery, I kept replaying in my mind the scene that had been described. A woman is caught committing adultery. There must have been a man involved, but she is the one dragged through the streets and not only publicly humiliated, but threatened with death. She is brought to Jesus of Nazareth for judgement. Instead she receives mercy, love and grace.

 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8:3-11, KJV)

Jesus of Nazareth told her to “sin no more”.

I believe that through the giving of mercy, love, and grace not only in His actions toward her situation, but also in His words to her, He gave to her the power that she needed to go and sin no more.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29, KJV)

When Jesus spoke, His words ministered grace to those whose hearts and ears were open to hear it and receive it. The Pharisees wouldn’t hear it or receive it. But those who were humble enough heard it and received it.

But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). This is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). (James 4:6, Amplified)

With His actions, with His words, with the look of love in His eyes He ministered to her the power to walk free from sin. He’s still doing that today for anyone humble enough to receive His love, His mercy and His grace. Humble enough simply says, “I need You. I can’t do it without You. Thank You for loving and helping me.”

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A Life of Love

September 24, 2011 by deliamk

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. (Matthew 14:14, KJV)

And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples…  They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I cam not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Mark 2:15,17; KJV)

He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. (John 13:4-5, KJV)

…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her… Woman, where are those thine accursers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord, And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8:7,10-11; KJV)

…he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to they friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. (Mark 5:18-19, KJV)

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44, KJV)

…and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:26-31, KJV)

And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him… Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34, KJV)

As we look at His life of love, that love within our own hearts begins to stir, begins to bubble up, begins to flow. Do you want to live a life of love? Know how much He loves you. Know how much He loves others. See His love and fall in love with Him, fall in love with those He loves. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

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