It's your choice

I've been off work almost a month due to my foot surgery...I thought I'd be going crazy coz I'm not a ‘sit still’ kind of girl.

But I'm actually enjoying it. It's nice getting to spend time with my mum & dad. It’s been nice to rest and really just spend time getting to know Jesus in a different way...where I can't allow being busy to get in the way. I have to seek Him in the silence...in the stillness and that's new for me. I like it. It gives me more time to think & really grasp the fact that Jesus died for ME...

God made us and sin corrupted us, instead of destroying us, God came to earth as a little bit of himself, His son, Jesus, and showed us how to live life the way He intended...& because God can’t be near sin, it prevented us from having a relationship with Him, which is why there was religion, laws, rules, and sacrifices all to try to get close to God. BUT…God sent Jesus to break all that. He sacrificed and took all our sin, pain and shame on the cross so that we could have a relationship with Him once again... that's how much He loves us...how much He loves you and me! He didn't have to take that pain, but He suffered so that we can be free.

When I think about that, REALLY think about that, it makes me have a deeper appreciation for Jesus, it's not just surface level "I believe in Jesus" It's...I believe in Jesus and I am SO grateful that He died so that I may have life. He died so that I may know the Lord. 

If Jesus never came & died, we would all still be trying to fulfill the law, trying to follow rules & regulations...Religion... That's what Jesus came to break!

Jesus didn't like religion, the people he sought after were uneducated, prostitutes, the most unlikely, the poor, those left out, those that didn't live the way that they should. NOT the rule followers, not the religious, & not those that thought they were high & mighty and thought they had no need for Him. You don't get to heaven by what you do, by following this rule and that rule... let me say that again, you don't get to heaven by what you do…

We don't have to do works for Him to love us... We don't have to achieve His love; all we need to do is receive it. When you know Him and love Him...you tend to grow to be more like Him. You WANT to serve, you WANT to give, you WANT do things for others, and you WANT to be pure, all out of a response of your love for Him. When you know & love Jesus you don't want to do that which is sinful. I know just from my experience that I want to know HIM more; I want to experience His deep love & fulfillment. And because I am human & cannot live a life completely free from sin it breaks my heart when I do fall short, as we all will, but I repent and ask for forgiveness... the same as I would do in a human relationship.

God doesn't love us because of what we do...we are sinful humans, all of us...He loves us unconditionally and He created heaven for ALL of us who WANT to be with Him eternally.  What we DO does not determine our future, what we CHOOSE will.

The same way heaven is real, so is hell…but God created hell for satan & his angels who rebelled against Him...God DID NOT create hell as a place for US to go.

We choose to go there when we reject Him. 


Marc Driscoll smartly put it this way, prison was created FOR criminals, and we don't have to go there unless we chose to. Prison was created to PROTECT us from criminals...the same way hell was created to protect us from the enemy or people that reject God. Will you turn your heart towards the one that loves you so much that he died to save you from going to the place he didn't design for you? Will you love Him, or will you love the world?

When we love the world, this life is the closest we will ever get to heaven, if we love Jesus; this life is the closest we will ever get to hell...because what's waiting for us is so much better.

Heaven is made to spend eternal life WITH Jesus & if you don't love & believe in Jesus...why would you want to be there?  

And if you don’t believe in God & Jesus…what is heaven?

Jesus is the most humble, loving, caring, selfless man that ever lived...and He loves you so much, that He was willing to DIE a brutal death, he was willing to take beating after beating, he was willing to take nails through His hands & feet, He was willing to be humiliated BECAUSE He loves you & wants you to know & love HIM...

There is a HUGE difference in KNOWING & KNOWING ABOUT somebody...usually when you "know about" bob down the st... so & so that's friends with your other friend...you don't KNOW them, so you can't love them, you can't fully grasp their full character.

When you "know" someone...a good friend, a spouse etc...you can grow to love them, you trust them, you know you can depend on them, you wouldn’t want to spend life without them & you are truly sorry when you hurt their feelings or disappoint them.

Some of you don't know Jesus that way...you're missing out.

Some of you search for fulfillment in worldly things thinking it's going to fill the hunger that your soul is aching for. No money, job, alcohol, sex, men, women, drugs, or approval is ever going to fulfill that void. It never will… that soul hunger was put there BY God & can only be fulfilled BY God, through a relationship with Jesus.

You don't believe me?...try it ...

Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Matthew 7:7

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Psalm 34:4

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears

Romans 10:9-10

 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

It's your choice...come to know Him and experience His Love, His Grace, His Mercy, His Forgiveness, and Provision.  Place your life in His hands because He IS trustworthy.

Jesus is not forceful, He wants you to come to Him on your own terms. God gave us free will to freely love who we want to love... It's your choice...And Jesus is...

(I'm going to steal a line from my friend...)

Jesus is the best decision you HAVEN'T made...

Apart from Me, you can do nothing

In the middle of reading “Made to crave” By Lysa TerKeurst something occurred to me. I was reading a line from a scripture I know well “John 15” I have it tattooed on my arm.

It was John 15:9-12

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

As I read it reminded me of my favorite verse in John 15:5

  5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Remain in Me, and I in you…apart from Me, you can do nothing.

I initially got the tattoo to remind me of where God brought me from.

The day I gave my life to Christ this scripture was what my Pastor based the sermon on. It changed my perspective on my situation. It was the way my Pastor put that certain scripture, that God used in my life so greatly that caused me to hang on to that. He said:

“Have you ever felt like you have been cut off from God?... like He’s forgotten about you & all these bad things keep happening? …He’s pruning you, so that you can become more fruitful…He’s taking the old “dead” things & allowing room for better things.”

From that point on, I decided to give my life to Christ & my life has never been the same…I ended up getting “John 15” on my wrist to remind me that whenever I feel as though God is removing things from my life, it’s because He is pruning me so that I am able to become more fruitful…today, I discovered it had a different meaning…something new for where I am in my walk now.

When I read the lines “Remain in me, & I in you…apart from me you can do nothing” I thought of all the times I tried to do things in my own strength & how I got tired, (exhausted in fact) I felt weighed down & defeated, weak & darn right reckless, because every choice from that point on, was not a good one. I had no strength in me to make a good choice & I wasn’t “Remaining IN HIM” to let Him take over for me…I had been so busy trying to DO, rather than trying to BE that I had left God behind.

This happens often to me & slowly God reels me back in to remind me that apart from Him, I can do nothing. I CAN do something, but it doesn’t mean anything…it has no eternal value & it doesn’t fulfill me.

When I spend time with God, in His presence & be still…He renews my strength. Just like He tells us in Psalm 103:5 & Isaiah 40:31

Psalm 103:5

Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

Isaiah 40:31

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

So why oh why do I continue to think I can always do it in my own strength!? When I know & have experienced His to rely on.

I guess for me its time, that’s always my excuse… (and I say “Excuse” because that’s what it is) I don’t have time, or I don’t feel like it because I’m too busy DOING as I said earlier…or exhausted from doing!

Friend, there is nothing wrong with having a servants heart, but we need to keep a balance. Serve, but also spend time with Him. Even if it is only 15 minutes in the morning when we make time to be still in His presence.

We make time for what’s important…Is He important to you?