settingatthepoolofgrace

The sunshine indicated it would be a beautiful day, but; I had a restless night of sleep. Life struggles wouldn’t allow my mind to be quiet. How would I get the bills paid? Would I be able to keep the over draft fees to a minimum? Why was I having such crazy dreams whenever I drift off to sleep? Most of all would the Father answer my prayers? One thought after another filling my head with worry. Sometimes we do things for others to escape our own trials, that’s what happened today; while sitting in a parking area waiting for a friends doctors appointment to end I tried to glean some inspiration from a devotional pamphlet entitled Beside the still waters.

I could feel the warmth of the sunlight coming through my car window on my leg, I lifted my head just in time to see her wave; how friendly I thought as I responded with “have a great day”. Shortly there after I heard “this is a gift for you” thank you I said as I received the small package from her hand, but it was her smile that captured my attention. When she introduced herself I found out we shared the same name, had the same Father and same big Brother. Her soft voice rang with sisterly love, I became so comfortable; as our conversation unfolded we shared our hearts for our God, Savior, and Redeemer.

In John 13:35 Jesus said, “by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” I had never seen her before this encounter, yet; her heart told me she not only knew my Father, she loved him very much. Can I pray for you? she asked not realizing how badly I needed prayer. There are times in life when you just can’t seem to navigate all the obstacles coming your way. She was my sister in Christian fellowship, Jesus reached out and touched my heart through her; burdens were lifted and peace of mind restored. I knew He would see me through my trials and I would be victorious in accordance with His will.

We may not share the same DNA, physical appearance, eye or hair color or gender; however we are all sisters and brothers if we share fellowship with the Father and the Son. Gods love for us was expressed through Jesus the Christ, we were created in His image; when His love is accepted in our lives we become ONE with the body of Christ Jesus and His love should flow from heart to heart. God is love and if we love not we do not know Him.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

It was an exciting time, a special guest was in attendance; they were all reclined waiting for the meal to be served. She tried to come into the gathering unnoticed, but; she drew attention wherever she was seen. She kneeled at His feet as her tears flowed like rain upon them. Taking her hair she wiped away her tears and anointed His feet with her most precious possession; costly, fragrant oil. The on lookers couldn’t understand, some even spoke against her actions, but; He understood, to her that was all that mattered.

Morality is defined as- principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong behavior. Justice is defined as- just behavior or treatment, genuine respect for people. I was awaken with these words dancing in my thoughts, so often we choose which we will promote. I thought why do we choose, can’t we have both? What would our world be like if we all gave more thought to how we really defined them? How would our analysis affect the way we viewed others? Could we be honest about how we felt?

Would we recognize it’s not about just-us, but; justice for all. To ponder this should cause us all to seek to attain a high moral ground, a fairer position toward the treatment of others; no exceptions. To truly contemplate what it means to love our brother or sister as we love ourselves. Why should those that have more be so condescending to others who struggle to gain just a little more than they have? Do not the wealthy realize the more oppressive they become the more hostility grows. The nature of man is to survive, eventually the impoverished will rise up against those seen as hindering their advancement.

The lies of those in control of power will no longer be seen as truth, the truth will be made plain; even to the least of them. It is imperative we remember the examples of our past that they are not repeated in our present or carried into our future. Morality and justice must be afforded to all humankind; those that have should care for the have not’s, greed is temporary; a greedy man places his wealth in a bag with holes in it, he will eventually lose all he has. Hands open to those in need will be constantly filled. He was the most important person in the room, but; He was not recognized as such by the aristocracy of His time or those present in the room.

She had given to Him all she possessed to express her heart of love. It didn’t matter that she would not be worthy in the eyes of others, she was true to the dictates of her conscious. When she withdrew her heart was filled with great joy, she had found favor with the Master. We are confronted with the opportunity to be Just, Moral agents in our world; the choices we make will determine the world to come. These are individual choices, each one responsible for his or her choice and it’s consequences. If we are true to the dictates of our hearts we too can have the joy found when we stand in the favor of The Master. Joy that defies explanation and can’t be extinguished.

The end of this world is coming, judgement will be pronounced, and punishment deserved given. Matthew 25: 31-46 tells us the sheep represents those who are moral and just, they have helped those in need or given good to the world; while the goats represents those who are selfish, unkind, and greedy. The sheep will inherit everlasting life in the Kingdom and the goats eternal damnation with Satan and his angels. The time to decide is now// Will you be a sheep or a goat? Will you love mercy and do justice or will you perish?

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace

Have you met old Mr. chaos? He lives on the earth with you, if you haven’t; you surely will of this you can be sure. His reputation is well known to those exposed to him, he never demonstrates what is truth; confusion is his daily meal. The world is a roller coaster, up then down never standing still that it’s beauty can be seen. There is no beauty is the lie he feeds to you and me because he wants control of human of history.

In days of old and even today he seeks those he can make his prey; delusion, falsehood, fear, mistrust and hate are just a few of his weapons of choice. Old Mr. Chaos is a formidable opponent and he never fights fair, he aims to destroy whomever he can; no matter when or where. He plants his seed and patiently waits for the evil to fester and grow, he is so cunning at times his victims never know. A slip of the tongue, the wrong words said; mistrust rears it’s ugly head.

Only those trained in Spiritual warfare can defeat him, discernment is the key; it is important to know your enemy. Preparedness is necessary, the right weapons must be used in the battle. Fortification will be needed, your enemy has a large following. To be combat ready a spiritual warrior must adorn themselves with the whole Armor of God; the belt of truth is vital in starting your daily battles, invest time in His presence. The breastplate of righteousness must be worn to protect the heart, remove all negativity from your life; it only weakens you.

Cover your feet with the gospel of peace, stand firm in the knowledge of what Jesus has done for us. Take up the shield of faith, we must trust in Gods power and protection. Cover your head with the helmet of salvation, only through the Holy Spirit can we truly wage war. We must also carry the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Lastly we need prayer, this is our line of communication; before the battle starts we must consult with the commander of Gods army.

The commander is our fortification, greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Mr. Chaos has no defense against truth, truths light will continue to penetrate the darkness until it is eliminated by the light. Where there is light confusion can’t grow, where there is love hate can be conquered, and where there is unity peace can exist. The solution to the problems of this world is to EVICT Mr. Chaos, but; we can ONLY do that if we yield our will to the will of the CHRIST CHILD.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace

Sometime ago a songstress performed a song whos lyrics indicated others had control of her life, but; now she was reclaiming control. She was all grownup and would make her own decisions as to how she would live. Many, if not all of us have been given a false sense of control; we think we have the power. The remote control allows us to change the TVs in our homes without any effort, the game controller lets us dictate the action in the game, and when we get behind the wheel of our cars we feel we are in control of the world, at least our small portion of it.

Many of the things we do everyday give us the sense of control over our lives, however; when we stop to take stock we realize how limited our control really may be. We can go for long periods of time without sleep, yet; the body will shut down on it’s own when it needs to rest, it retrieves our perceived control. Laws are established which limit our actions and pronounce consequences when we go beyond those boundaries. There are many outside sources that affect what we actually control. So who or what is really in control of our world?

As I pondered this question another songstress came to mind, when she recognized she was out of control she cried out ” Jesus take the wheel” relinquishing to Him all control. Her call was to the ONLY one who could master the situation. We are told in Gods word by Him was everything made that was made, by His shed blood was mankind granted redemption from sins control, and He will soon make another appearance and every eye will see His coming. But what about now you say? Who is controlling what’s happening in todays world? The violence, illness, hate, greed and mistrust; where is Jesus now?

So often we forget man was given dominion over all of God’s creation, he was deceived and lost his privilege’s to Gods enemy; giving him control of this world. It is his shadow that darkens the beauty God created, but all is not lost; we can make the choice to submit control of our lives to Jesus and allow His Holy Spirit to direct our journey. When we connect with Him we will be strengthened in our inner man allowing us to rise above the perils and temptations of this world. He that will dwell in us is greater than he that is in the world, the enemy will lose his control over us; “for whom the Lord sets free is freed in deed”.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

Have you ever asked someone to help you with a decision you find hard to make and they respond, “It’s your choice”? They realize with every decision comes consequences that only you will face, not willing to be your excuse for unpleasant consequences they yield the decision making to you. Our entire lives we will make choices, that is what free will demands; not all of them will be the best decisions we can make. Many will be flat out wrong causing all kinds of reactions; anger, alienation of those we love, broken friendships and mistrust.

James 1:19 says we should be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. How often do we stop to think how powerful our words are, how they can heal or destroy; like our words our choices carry that same importance, we are not the only ones that can be impacted by them. His friends tried to stop him from getting behind the wheel of his car, one offered to drive him while another offered him a bed to sleep it off, but; he insisted he could drive home. It was just a few beers he thought to himself, I can handle it. Did he hit the tree or did the tree hit him?

The only thing he remembered was getting into the car, now he will never walk again. Sometimes we blame our choices on outside influences that we can’t seem to control, the devil made me do it; this was a very popular saying at one time. Have you ever heard this one “I don’t know why I did it, I just couldn’t help myself.” There is wise consul available to us when help is needed in making our choices. Just as free will was given, our Heavenly Father has given us a greater gift in His Holy Spirit.

He stands ready to help us in all our life decisions, none are to small or to large for Him; every facet of our lives is His concern. When we choose to be lead by the Holy Spirit we can be sure our decisions will be the right ones and only yield good consequences. We will all face times of indecision, but; we don’t have to face them alone. Jesus is with us through the Holy Spirit giving us direction, we just have to make the choice to accept it.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

You were such a tiny thing, I was not much more than you. Your eyes twinkled with the amazing world and mine did too. Who could have known the journey we would take together, not always walking the same path, but joined heart to heart in love. I was the sister you never had, I shared the dreams you dared to dream, the secrets you wouldn’t tell anyone were whispered in my ears. Life has a way of stealing who we dream to be and changing us into who the world wants us to be.

We chose different directions to travel, yet; love kept us from being separated. A card, phone call, or text just to keep in touch; how I loved hearing you say “hey cuz” as only you could. The conversation always started with “girl” this or that so we could catch up on each others lives. The distance between us couldn’t break our bond of friendship. Death is a separator, it cuts the ties; leaving a void in the heart. The memories are all that is left.

The joy, laughter, tears, heartache all pictures in your mind of days gone by. How do you hold on? After you’ve shed your tears of sorrow and the pain is still inside, what do you do? When your heart is leaking who has a bandage? Questions in the fog of grief you can’t seem to answer. Yet, there is an answer; Jesus is His name. He was there with you when you said your final goodbye’s and He is here with me wiping the tears from my eyes.

We talked about Him so often, how good He was to us both; that since we found Him we would never let Him go. How grateful we were to know how much He loves us, shed his grace and mercy on us even when we didn’t recognize He was there. I’m so sad to know you have left me, but; we’ll be separated only for a short time. I too will cross the bridge you’ve crossed and sleep in the peace of Christ, but ; until then I will hold you in my heart from all the memories you left behind.

Mourning once again as I sit by the pool of grace.

I’m not sure how many may relate to this, but; when I was growing up all our refuse was placed in brown paper bags from the grocery store. In our back yard was a large brick structure in which all garbage was dumped and burned along with ashes from the wood burning stove, we called it the ash pit. I know you can imagine how wonderful and exciting it was for me to see a bright shiny tall garbage can in our kitchen. No more taking out the trash every day, now it could be once a week; or so I thought.

Have you ever walked into a space and the odor took your breath away? You search, but; can’t put your finger on where it’s coming from. The smell may not be very strong, yet; it is very unpleasant to your noise. Then it hits you, the garbage can needs to be emptied; so much for once a week. This is your first realization, when garbage accumulates it cause an unpleasant atmosphere. I hope I don’t offend anyone when I say” we have become human garbage cans.”

What we feed ourselves is what we become. Many of us are so mesmerized by the violence, lewdness, and greed we watch everyday on TV and in the games we play in our homes. We have become de sensitized to the violence we see in our real lives, garbage in. Our dress has become more provocative, the more skin you show the more fashionable you are deemed, garbage in. Our language is so rude and foul at times we are called pottie mouth, garbage in. We are so quick to believe the worst of those not like us, we are so much better than those people, garbage in.

When we stop, take time to reflect on our world today; we must realize our garbage cans need to be emptied and sanitized. Our cans are so filled with garbage the atmosphere of our world is putrid. How do we change our atmosphere should be the question. Once we recognize the garbage that has infiltrated our lives, we must choose to clean our cans; the rubbish of hate, anger, indifference, lewdness, violence, greed and pride must be flushed out. That is just the first step. What do we do to keep it clean?

It is said, when the unclean spirit is gone out a man, he walked through dry places, seeking rest and find none. Then he saithe, I will return into my house from whence I came out. And when he is come, he find it empty, swept and garnished. Empty, that is the problem; we must guard against the return of old habits by replacing them with good. We must fill our lives with the beauty of heavens pride, Jesus the Christ; His love fills all the emptiness in our lives and changes the atmosphere from a worldly one to a heavenly one.

When we accept His cleansing blood we become new creations in Him. Although we will still live in a world filled with garbage, it will not FILL US.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace

On last evening as I drifted off to sleep, I experienced a troubling dream. I heard a voice saying to me “why waste your time praying; you’re a liar, you bend the truth”? I could hear myself say ” that was once true, but that’s not me anymore”. I was so uncomfortable I began to toss and turn, yet; I couldn’t awaken from the dream. The voice came again this time it seemed irritated as it said” you were very harsh in your words to your child yesterday, in fact I would say you were very angry.”

My mind began to race as I tried to remember, suddenly I could feel guilt and sorrow over shadow me; to think I mistreated my child. Could this be true? Had I allowed anger to take control of me? As I tried to calm myself the voice came again, “what makes you think you are so good”? I was quiet for a moment, I know who you are was my response; what you say is not really true for the truth is not in you. I have never professed to be good, I’m but flesh born in sin and in need of a savior.

In my ignorance I did many things I’m not proud of, but; that was before Gods love surrounded me drawing me to His heart. God you say as he laughed at me, does He exist? Do you not know He is a myth. Tossing more vehemently , I knew without a doubt; it was Satan speaking to me. You old devil was my retort, you know better than I He is real; that’s why you hate Him with such zeal. Soon your time will be done, you won’t be able to tempt anyone. His laughter stopped, quiet he became; to me he didn’t speak again.

Awaken, I lay quietly in the darkness of my room thinking how grateful I was that Jesus died for me; giving me the opportunity to be sin free. There was a time in my life I was blind and couldn’t see, then Jesus whispered in my ears how much He loved me. On my knees I repented of my sins, was baptized and born again. Walking now with eyes open and heart renewed, seeking daily to be closer to Him; I’m a child of God.

The enemy is relentless, you must always be prepared; even in your dreams he may appear. You must be ready to cast him out without any fear. The Father is seeking everyone who wants to be free, just like He sought after me; give him your heart and you too can be a child of the MOST HIGH KING.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

With the stroke of the clock, the old is gone; the sentiment we share is we all must move on. The question is “where do we go from here”? “Will all our problems just disappear”? We breath in fear from the air, hate continues to grow everywhere, yet; many are hopeful a new day has come, not just for some but for everyone.

Decision time, the choice is ours; the direction we travel should be on all our minds. Each one can reach out to one to make a change, share the hope and the pain. Lift up those to weak to walk, give a voice to those afraid to talk and open our eyes to really see what impact we have had on the least of these.

Yesterday is gone, the future remains unknown; today is all we have, now is the time to act. We must choose the part we will play to make today a better day. To dream a new way to live, erase all hate and fear letting love blossom and grow throughout the year.

Our problems wont just go away, but together we can work to solve them. To learn how to respect another’s right to choose their contribution to the task, we can have victory at last. No big I’s no little u’s everyone thinking of his brothers good. United in heart and mind we can leave the past behind.

Let me be very clear, it will take all of us to make the dream come true; there can’t be victory for me without you. We must join hand in hand to restore peace and joy to our land. Decision time, what will your choice be, to walk in peace and love or misery and fear? To help recreate our world or watch it disappear.

Please weigh your options and if you agree, take my hand and walk with me.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

The decision wasn’t as hard to make as some decisions are, it was decided by love. Love that willingly made the sacrifice that was necessary. A sacrifice that required a total transformation, to leave behind what He cherished to become a babe; helpless in a world of turmoil and hate. The baby born on a silent starry night in Bethlehem was the beginning of the plan to save erring man.

His parents were His instructors in life as He grew in statue and grace, love, compassion, and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. His mission could not be deterred, though His enemies tried; His focus was clear the fate of mankind primary on His heart and mind. To show the love of God was the plan as He healed the sick and raised the dead.

Not all were accepting of the words He spoke, not willing to give up the riches of the world. They turned their backs to truth, spit in the face of love, and cried crucify. The babe now a man was ready to finish the plan to save erring man. As a lamb to the slaughter, thorns placed on His head, carrying His cross He walked to His death. They were not satisfied to just take His life, so they cover His body with stripes.

Excruciating pain accompanied each step, yet; the plan must be completed, the souls of men the prize. From His birth to the cross His death the cost to save mankind. The cost was paid to give all men the opportunity to be free from sin. This gift is one we must accept, we have the choice to refuse; those who accept loves priceless gift will find by His stripes they are healed, no more slaves to a world of sin.

Released from bondage, hearts filled with praise, joy and thanksgiving for Gods loving heart; not willing that any should be lost. Death was defeated when He rose from the grave redeeming the world He came to save. The Father was delighted that the world would see the love He holds for you and me, His ONLY son he willing gave that we could all be family again.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.