settingatthepoolofgrace

The mind of man is a mystifying part of the body. It can function  in ways that causes man to pause in amazement. Many have tried to understand and explain all the inner workings of the mind.

Much like a computer the mind captures and stores the experiences of our lives. It categorize those memories as it store’s them. Those that cause us too smile or experience happiness are readily available f recall.

Those that cause pain or sorrow are so hidden by the mind it is harder to bring them to remembrance. We are more willing to erase the memories of discomfort, pain, sorrow, and heartache. Yet,we hold on tightly to the joy we receive from special remembrance’s.

We all at times in our lives create memories to be cherished,some captured in photographs,letters,cards,and some by the exchanging of a touch. These experiences enhance our life journey, we embed them in our minds and hearts where they are immortalized.

During the holidays most of us are reminded of a very special birth event which took place before our time on the earth. This event is recognized as Christmas . It’s central theme celebrating the birth of Emmanuel, God with us.

However the cause for celebration has been lost in the buying and selling of merchandise. The spirit of love that gave the child has been replaced by self gratification and greed. The real reason for the season is Love.

Unconditional self sacrificing love. Love from a broken hearted father separated from his children lost in darkness. Love in the form of a child offering redemption and reconciliation. Teaching the true essence of love.

To restore, forgive, and create relationships bringing the lost home again. As you prepare for this very special season of sharing with those you love remember the true reason for the season. Remember God the father is still seeking his lost children.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

 

 

Can you imagine the wondrous feeling an astrologer receives as he gazes into the heavens? On a clear starry night how amazing it is to look up and as far as the eye can see stars twinkle brilliantly resembling diamonds sparkling atop a black velvet night.

In ancient times those who spent their time searching the heavens were considered men of wisdom. They studied the scripture to find answers and investigated the things to come. A birth had been foretold by the prophets of old. Would it come to pass was the question?

When would it be?, how would it change the plight of man? and who has the answers?. As they watched the heavens something extraordinary appeared. From the many stars in the heavens one single Star surpassed the others,its glow more brilliant then all the rest.

As a light house sitting atop the hill leads the ships safely to harbour the star became guide to those who recognized the importance of it’s appearance, prepared for and began a journey of discovery. We don’t know how long their journey or how far they came but no obstructions deterred quest.

They knew at journeys end would be a great prize. Continuously they traveled watching the star from afar. Suddenly it appeared the star had stopped moving,concentrating it’s light over a cave in the hill side. Drawing near their expectancy grew, entering into the cave their eyes beheld a glorious sight.

Resting quietly in a troth filled with straw lay a new born babe. The star light announced the birth of a king leading the wise men too this perfect scene. They presented too the child gifts fit for a king; gold frankincense and myrrh. Angels on high joined the star in the night sky singing a serenade to the world.

“Joy to the world the Lord has come let earth receive her king”

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

 

Life happens, we react; that is most of us. Some plan what they think will be every step of their lifes journey. Unfortunately, they fail to count on the question marks found along the way. The little surprises that turn out to be not so little.

The course changers, those things that cause us to redirect our path. Heartbreak leaves us broken unable to move on from the pain caused. Sickness incapacitates us leaving us trying to mend the damage done to our bodies.

Plans never seem to work out as we plan them,unexpected circumstances happen.  So how can we be happy?  Step 1- acknowledge you are not in control Step2- acknowledge there is a greater force that rules the affairs of men.

Step 3- acknowledge he is the supreme, omnipotent and all seeing Creator Step 4- Accept time will heal broken hearts and memories made from love never fade but lives on in the heart Step 5- accept there will always be uncertainty in life, challenges will come.

Above all, the most important step of all is to be thankful that we have life.” God sent his son that we might have life, and that abundantly”.  We are entering a season of thankfulness. Take time to reflect on the many blessing  you have received.

This  holiday season share your bounty with someone less fortunate, encourage someone who is going through a trying time, pray for those who are grieving the loss of family, feed those who are hungry and never forget to give God thanks for the opportunity to serve your brother or sister.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

It was the most shameful way to die, a sure sign you were a criminal. They called it crucifixtion, scourging was considered a disciplinary action; although some scourging could lead to death. But the cross or tree was certain there was no escape until death claimed every breath of its victum.

When Cain killed is brother Abel the ground was saturated with his blood. Cain fell prey to  hate and envy, since that time the blood of the innocent has been poured out in every generaton that has graced the earth. The powerful & wealthy trample on those weaker than them.

Evil has no limits to the length it will go to be victorious. It will consume those who have a insatiable desire to be rich, who are williing to do anything it takes to accomplish their goal. The enemy requires you to pour out yourself completely to him,your reward the worlds riches.

The only problem is whatever you receive from him is temporary, yet; your bondage to him could be eternal. His plague of sin has stained the earth in red. Every facet of our environment has been tainted to some degree. Choosing to combat the sin that surrounds us requires us to be willing to pour out ourselves.

As if hanging on the tree we must give until our last breath is consumed.  The battle will be fearce & on going. We must be prepared daily to take up our weapons of warfare giving all we have to the fight. We must shed all the light we have on the deceptions & devises of the enemy.

We are to correct error through the word of God, lead those seeking to the great life giver, and grant agape love to all placed in our pathway. As the earth drinks in the rain poured upon it during the storm,we must be saturated with the sacrifical blood of Christ. Cleansed,renewed and fortified through the blood ready to stand.

We are lumps of clay awaiting the potters touch to become vessels for his service. When our tour of duty is over, our battles complete and we exit the battle ground we can say we have fought a good fight and now the fighting is done; we are prepared to meet the Father and his son.

Like the blood that fell from the tree of Calvery, we are poured out.

My revelation as I sit at the pool of grace.

Do you every think of yourself as a servant? Most of us think of servants as employees who grant your every need for an agreed upon compensation for the services rendered. Then there are those who have no choice, their decision to serve or not to serve has been taken away from them; they are forced to provide whatever service is required of them.

Servants are usually considered to have a lower statis than those they serve. They are given titles such as maid, butler, indentured and yes even slave. All of them denoting having lesser value than their masters. There is honor and dishonor in service depending on who’s servant you are.

The word of God tells us God sent his son as a servant to lost mankind. During his earthly sojourn he healed the sick, feed the hungry, freed sinners from their sins and taught love in all his actions. He was creator of all things; yet, he came to serve fallen mankind. To whom you render service his servant ye are.

Love was his motivator and every service he rendered came from a  place of love. Have you considered what would have happened to mankind had he not accepted our penalty of death? When you look at our world riddled with violence & hate, evil men reign, the poor are trampled under foot, and selfness is exemplified. What would you do with no hope of escape?

To have no choice but to serve the ruler of a lost & sinful world. How would you survive? The goal of the enemy is  for mankind to be eternally lost, separated from the only unconditional love available. The love of God through his son, Jesus the Christ. I rejoice in the enemy’s failure, I rejoice in Gods perfect sacrifice, I rejoice that he rose from and conquered death.

The service provided by his death & resurrection freed me from my sinful fate. His love has transended and continues to wrap me in it’s warmth. His service was given freely, its worth more than I could pay. He became a willing servant for me and you,a priceless gift. His only request of us is to tell his story of love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and redemption. To open our hearts that he can teach us to love as he loved.

Are you willing? Will you serve

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace

Change is hard for many to accept. It is more comfortable to continue doing what you are use to doing.  We rarely realize change is inevitable, nothing remains the same. we try very hard to maintain the status quo failing to understand without change there is no growth.

Some are satified to be stagnate, to stay the same as the world rapidly transforms. Some think if they don’t acknowledge what is changing they are not accountable, ignorance for them is bliss. From  horse & buggy to automobile, wagon train to locomotive,smoke signal to telephone, and row boat to steam ship.

From traveling over the road to flying in the air, pen & paper to typewriter to computer and from verbal communication to text messaging.  Our lives are filled with constant transition. Yet, there are those who wish to remain in darkness and stagnation. The thought of change for them brings fear and dread.

I must admit all change is not good , for some sudden wealth is their down fall, violence has becme a booming business, hate seems to florish and mens hearts are growing cold and evil daily.  Even with all this, change is still necessary. Each experience is for our benefit.

Through change we shed the rough edges and our characters are refined. Through change we move forward into the destiny that awaits us. Through change we  grow in wisdom & knowledge of the world we live in.  Change is  revealing,renewing , and revitalizing. Change opens our hearts  to receive the blessings given by Father Creator.

We step from fear & darkness into love & light, from uncertainity to acceptance and from pain into joy. Forgetting the former things and reachiing for eternal things. Like the caterpiller becomes the butterfly, we must shed our sinful man and become a new man, santified for service.

come out of darkness and confusion, the doorway to change is open wide. To change is not as hard as you might think if yoou desire it in your heart. Why wait? if not today, when?. Don’t let the door close before you choose/// Help is waiting just across the threshold.

My revelation as I sit at the pool of grace.

 

Every job done well expects acknowledgment; it may not be received, but it wants to be praised. Most people find a pat on the back or at a boy encouraging. No matter what you may be doing when you give  your all to its accomplishment; the expectation your efforts would be noticed is paramount in the mind and heart.

Everyone wants to feel the elation that praise gives. It is not only the huge task that needs recognition but the one’s others refuse to do . Those are the task that requires more determination because they are not pleasant or may be harder to complete. Encouragement feeds the soul creating a willing spirit in the heart to be used.

There will be times in life when you will need a helping hand.  You pray for help hoping it will arrive in time. Sometimes you may have to continue to pray until you get your answer. The answer may not be  what you expect to receive, you may have to walk alone, yet you are never really alone.

Our Heavenly Father is always ready to assist us, but we make him our last resort in time of trouble. We put  faith in what is tangible and close at hand, however; we should make him our 1st choice. Praying constantly placing our hearts needs and desires before him. Once again we may have to wait for our answer.

While we are waiting we must wait in expectancy adopting an attitude of gratitude & praise. When praises go up blessing comes down. Our lives are filled with reasons to praise him. Each new sunrise or sunset our eyes feast upon,each smile that graces a child’s face, mobility & health,family and friends just to name a few.

Praise and prayer can erase all the thunder clouds life sends your way. When the winds of life begin to change indicating a storm is on the horizon make him your first choice. Seek his face in prayer & praise and victory will be yours.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

“In all things make your request known to God in prayer believing and you shall receive as it is his will to give unto you.” We must remember God knows what is best for us, he can see the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. In his word, we can find the answer to all the questions of this life.

The Holy Spirit will reveal to our human understanding the mind of our Heavenly Father where we are concerned. His desire is that we know the truth about the depth of his love for us. When we search for him in his word, we will find him. When we ask for forgiveness of our sins, he will forgive us. When we open the door to our hearts when he knocks, he will come in and abide with us.

Each day is a new opportunity to be thankful for his loving kindness & mercy.Each day we should be grateful for the people in our lives; our families and friends. When we make “Jesus” the center of our lives our joy is complete. we can smile in times of turmoil,through sadness and in grief we can find peace in his loving care.

He is a constant that will never change, he is steadfast, immovable, and faithful to those who place their trust in him. Meet with him each day to renew your commitment, receive strength and to give him praise and thanksgiving for his mercy & grace.

Everything in our lives should begin and end with him.  No matter what our condition or circumstance may be, there will be those whose condition or circumstance is far worse. Whatever our situation we must be grateful. Willing to give of what God has given to us no matter how large or small the gift may be it can sill be a blessing to those who have nothing.

Show Gods love in your daily walk to others; a smile or kind word, a listening ear, and acts of kindness to strangers. In this life, we all have trials and burdens that weigh us down. We can rest in the assurance that Jesus is carrying the heaviest of our load and will never forsake us.

There will be dark clouds, storms & circumstances out of our control. Remember after every storm there is a rainbow and God the Father is in control of our lives if we have placed our trust in him. We must have faith that whatever he does it is for our good & the perfecting of our character.

Surrender, we must surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit that when our Lord returns we will be found worthy of his robe of righteousness and gaze into the face of love.

my revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.

 

Life can be so tumultuous, hard to understand, and filled with a crisis for many of us. There are times when we just don’t know what to do or which way to go. We climb one mountain only to see another in the distance.

We are never alone although it feels like we are stranded on an uninhabited island, we try to be so independent we don’t want to ask for help from anyone. We place a price tag on the help of others then assume we can’t afford their assistance.

We forget how great love truly is, how it covers a multitude of fault and how it is always waiting to love back those who embrace it. Often we struggle when we don’t have too. We allow stress and anxiety to rule our thoughts, everything we do is filled with worry. The question I propose to you , is why?

Why do we choose to fight our battles alone when help is available for the asking? Love surrounds us in our families, friends and sometimes even those we consider enemies. Why is it hard to recognize our need for help, who to ask for help, and how to be thankful for the help.

Now let’s just imagine if our friends and family supply the physical help we need & support us in time of turmoil; how much more will a loving creator who considers us his crowning glory of all he created.

His love unchangeable, his presence ever near, and his desire is to encircle us in his joy daily. He never sleeps, is not surprised by what we encounter or what we do, forgives our wrong choices, and corrects us in love with sympathy for our human frailties.

Acceptance of the love he offers will erase stress, anxiety, and fear from our lives. Knowing he is there whenever there is a need will bring comfort and peace. As he loves on us daily, we will learn to love on those around us.

His love changes everything that we are into everything he is and prepares us to spend eternity in his presence; but, we must first recognize our need for him in our lives.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace

There is a saying I’ve heard many times, “to thy own self ,be true”.  How often do we look into the mirror of life and see who we truly are? Our characters are formed by every experience of our lives. We grow from childhood to young adult, and  then to adult through each new adventure.

Our education begins with our parents, based on what their parents taught them we are enlightened. Their values become our values, their experiences shape our beginnings, their fears become our fears and their dreams are realized when we achieve our dreams. Unfortunately, life is not always fair and sometimes for reasons unexplained we suffer.

Our childhood years are not good ones for us. We hide them away in the darkness of our minds, with passing time we forget they exist.Everything we know revolves around home whether good or bad. Those years are designed to teach and prepare us for interaction with the outside world.

From these lessons too often the wrong impression is received, there are times when the lesson learned is selfishness, superiority, and deserving. we think the world is our oyster there for the taking.  However, the first interaction with the real world shatters our beliefs and we quickly realize we are important only to those who love us the most, our parents and family.

Relationships formed teach us lessons which enhance or question the life we are living. Our choices determine our consequences. More times than not those choices are based on our past personal experience allowing the past baggage of our lives to surface impacting our future.

The Past hurts and fears that we failed to resolve continue to plague our lives. These issues remain unresolved because we fail to walk in truth; to accept our portion of responsibility for whatever has happened in our life experience. There may be times when we don’t share in the cause and must acknowledge we are not at fault and not harbor guilt.

There is never one side to the story, yet; is it very hard to honestly look at the story from someone else’s perspective.  Most of the time we are too busy justifying our position as being right and not realizing the other person may feel the same way we feel. We must face the reflection we see in the mirror of life recognizing who we are and not who we think we are, self-reflection is sometimes hard but it is necessary.

Learning to allow others to be the individuals they are meant to be is as necessary for their growth as you being who you are meant to be is to yours. A person life does not revolve around what another person thinks it should be. We must not judge others by who we think they should be based on our needs, desires, or experiences.

Everyone must be allowed to walk in their own truth because our life experience is different our truth will never be the same truth. We can experience complete joy of life when we allow others the opportunity to be themselves and not expect conformity to our idea of who they should be, loving them for who they are not who we want them to be.

My revelation as I sit by the pool of grace.