We have this dog Preciosia or Precious in English, that has this terrible habit. Whenever we feed her, she will not eat her food unless she is with Wilma, our boxer. So we feed her with Wilma, but the entire time she is nervous because Wilma is a bully with food. Even though I may stay at her side, she is still nervous.
The other day I fed them and Preciosa just walked away from her food, and sat next to Wilma, watching her eat. Sometimes I just don´t understand why she acts that way.
As I saw Preciosa walk away from her food, I heard the voice of the Lord say to me that He puts out gifts for his children, and desires to give us many things, but we just walk away.
I thought about this, and we often feel unworthy of the gifts or desires we have. But God is a God of grace and mercy. It´s not about what we have accomplished or not accomplished, but about His grace and His finished work on Calvary.
We often think that we need to qualify or achieve a certain goal before we can accept His gifts, when in reality the Lord would like to shower us with His love just because we are His children and He is our Abba Father.
What is your petition, what is your desire? Ask and you shall receive! Be ready to receive your petition, and don´t walk away, but receive it in love.
Be blessed in His mighty name.
Tags:
We are blessed because of Jesus finished work on the cross!
I would like to share with you some of our blessings that we have had this week from the Lord. Here they are.
We are so happy because after many frustrations with the internet, I called our cable company and found out that high speed internet via cable is now available in my area! We have a small upgrade from dialup.
So the guy came out and my husband filled out the paperwork, and sometime next week we will have high speed internet. We are glad because our work load will go much faster. I told my husband we will be in shock once we see how fast our internet will be.
We recently made a deal to buy a very good used car. If you remember, my car was stolen just two weeks before Christmas, and I was nervous about going into a car payment. We were able to buy this one cash, and we should have it by next week as well.
Our son finished his first quarter at the University, and has enrolled in his second quarter. He is enjoying his studies very much, and is so excited about it.
I am delving into writing more, and studying markets to where I can begin selling some devotionals or short articles. I have a goal to begin making sales this year, and am very excited about it. When my first check comes, I will surely tell all of you about it. The amount may be very small, as I know that we all need to start somewhere, but it´s the goal that counts.
Our family continues to grow in love for the Lord and for eachother, and we are blessed indeed.
May all of you have a wonderful weekend, filled with His presence.
Yvette
Tags:
James 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.(NKJ)
We have all probably heard and read the dangers of the words we receive. Words spoken over us can either bring us a curse or bring blessings.
But what about the words that we speak? Did you know that what we say can cause an open a door for a curse to operate in our lives?
We may say that we don´t curse, but the enemy is very subtle. Did you know that just by saying negative things about another person can bring a curse upon you you?
As children of the Lord, every word that proceeds from our mouths should be words of encouragement and exhortation. We ought to lift other people up, even when everything points the wrong way.
In some circumstances that can be difficult. But Jesus always finds something good about us, and I am sure we can too.
If we stop and think, I am sure the Lord can bring to our memory some negative words we have spoken over someone.
The good news, Jesus of course! If we have ever said anything negative about someone, we can always break those effects that have come over us in His mighty and powerful name.
To break the curse, simply ask the Lord to remove the curse of the words that you have said and receive his abundant blessings to flow in your life today.
As you break the effects of those words, blessings will begin flow into your life.
Be blessed in His mighty name.
Tags:
John 1:46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”(NKJ)
Have you ever been ashamed of your background? The place you grew up in, the neighborhood, your parents or siblings? Perhaps you were poor growing up and went without in many areas, and you don´t share that part of your life to others.
We sometimes hold onto our past, or ashamed to tell anyone how and where we grew up. But let me tell you something. Your past does not dictate who you are today in the Lord.
From the verse quoted above, it sounds like Nazareth was not a good place. Can anything good come out of Nazareth tells me that it sounds pretty bad. But Jesus came out of Nazareth, the Son of God that took away our sins and gave us eternal life!
The word says that once we accept Christ, the old has gone and the new has come. The old man has died, and we have been born again with a new spirit. While it may take some time to change our mindset, we can rest assured that we have been made new.
Is the past holding onto you? Let it go, create a new mindset of the new creation you are today in Christ, and I bet something grand will come out of it.
Tags:
1 Corinthians 13: 3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
There is this saying that some people have when asked to do a favor: What´s in it for me?
The Apostle Paul says in this verse that whatever we do, feeding the poor, donate, help in church or whatever, we should do all these things and more out of a love motive.
We often times treat God the same. We tithe, go to church, read the word, fast and a number of other things on our list to have God give us something back that is already ours. God has given us everything we could possible ask for; Healing, a fruitful life, a sound mind. But we check off our prayer list, and then operate under the law, when we should do them out of love for God.
We expect God to respond to us for doing good and saying our prayers, when in fact we should be responding to God for what He has already done for us.
We get into a mindset that we must do and perform, when all we need to do is be and show our love to others and to God because of what God has accomplished on the cross.
Let us begin to have a motive of love when we do all things, and responding to God for His love, grace and mercy.
Tags:encouragement·Jesus
Exodus 10:1 Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his
heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him,
2 “and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the
mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”(NKJ)
As a child I was told that my grandfather was a preacher. Sadly I heard very few stories
about him. My father would tell me that he immigrated from Mexico to California, where he and my grandmother set up several Spanish speaking churches and ministered to the community in several cities.
Another story my father would tell me is how he brought people into the church to hear his message. He posted a sign on the sidewalk that would say “Free Beer after Service.” When the service was over, he gave everyone there root beer!
I would have loved to hear what my grandfathers sermons were like,but those stories
were never told. I feel that I missed out on what kind of preacher he was like behind the pulpit.
Here God is telling Moses to tell the story of the signs God has done among them, so that
they may know that He is the Lord.
We should pass down our stories of God’s goodness in our lives to our children and grandchildren, and by our stories they will know that He is the Lord of our lives.
We all have a story to tell, a story about Jesus and how our lives have changed by having Him in our heart.
Tags:encouragement
As a son or daughter from the Lord, we are already blessed! We are blessed for many reason, whether we know it or not. God is in the business of showing His grace and mercy upon us, His beloved children.
- We are blessed because we are the head and not the tail.
- We rule and reign with Christ and are seated in heavenly places.
- Jesus shed His blood for us, and became a curse for us
- Jesus bore our sins, and we are forgiven.
While we have probably heard these phrases many times, I have purposed it in my heart to truly mediate on them and try to visualize someone else taking my sins. It´s amazing after doing that, more love flows from me to Jesus.
I am also blessed this week for other reasons:
- My son finished his first quarter at the university
- My husband´s work is going quite well
- I am finishing the last of my clients to concentrate more on the ministry and writing
I am excited with what the Lord has in store for me and the Body of Christ this year, and everyday holds a new beginning.
May all of you have a wonderful weekend!
Yvette
Tags:
Luke 10:42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.
Have you ever been so busy that the time you desire to spend in prayer or reading the word just slips by?
We get caught up with work, errands, household chores. There is a myriad of things that can come our way, and before we know it, time has slipped from our hands.
I noticed this way back when I was getting serious regarding the ministry. I had to decide what needed to be changed in my life to have my time with the Lord. I had become a Martha, always doing and preparing, but Mary in me had seem so far.
It was then that I made a commitment to spend a certain time of day in prayer and reading of the word. When I made that commitment, things changed for me. It was then that the Lord began to speak to me, not that He never did before, but it was more of a closeness that I was experiencing, a refreshing that I was receiving from Him.
After doing this for a short time, it became part of me. The Martha in me slipped away, and I became more of a Mary.
Having trouble finding that time to slip away and having your quiet time with the Lord? Make a commitment. It does not matter how long you spend in prayer, but once you do you will see the Mary in you choosing the good part.
Tags:
Hebrews 8:10 -12 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
”None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the east of them to the greatest of them. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”(NKJ)
In reading Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince, Prince has an awesome way of teaching grace.
He mentions that we are redeemed from the law, something I already knew. But for some odd reason I was always hard on myself. I now understand that I was under condemnation. I would base my ministry if I was ready, if I had prayed enough, if I did not sin that often. Often times I would think that I was not worthy to be used in His kingdom.
I had believed a lie.
This early chapter in the book cleared the air for me. You see, it does not matter what our past was. It does not matter if we failed, or if we failed others. We could always hang on to the past, but Jesus blood continually cleanses us from all unrighteousness. God no longer remembers our sin, because Jesus bore our sins on the cross. If God does not remember our sins or failures, then why should we?
We sometimes think that because we sinned, God is angry. The truth is, our God is not an angry God. That was true for the old covenant, but we are now living in a new covenant, which is the covenant of grace. As Prince explains so clearly, grace has a name. That name being Jesus Christ.
Discard condemnation today just as I did, and see yourself as a worthy vessel, shining the light of Jesus in all you do.
Tags:·encouragement·Jesus·Joseph Prince
As most of you know I have been in California for over two weeks now. I have been extremely blessed on this trip for many reasons. It is great to get away from the normal routine of home, but it’s also good to get back home.
I am blessed this week because:
- Jesus loves me.
- I had dinner with Cindy, a very good friend of mine. We were able to catch up on old times and see how the Lord is working in our lives. She is such a blessing to me and I am blessed to have her in my life. It’s not often you have good friends that come your way, and when you do it’s important to keep them.
- I have been spending some one on one time with each of my siblings. There are a total of six, including me. It’s been great.
- I have been eating my favorite food dish, Mexican. Yeah! I gained a few pounds with it all.
- Books and more books! I was able to purchase some books that I have been desiring, especially in the craft of writing.
- The Lord has been giving me nuggets for my devotionals. I am excited to see what will come out when I write them.
- Grace, the Lord has taught me more about His grace and what it means to be living in the new covenant.
- I am blessed to have the best sister in laws in the world. To me they are my sisters, and not in-laws. Ericka and Heather, love you guys tons!
- I am believing that my AA flight will leave and that I will not be stranded. I am declaring that I will be home Saturday night.
May all of you have a blessed week in the Lord.
Yvette
Tags:encouragement
