Journal of Faith: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12

Today is good Friday which means that it is this day in history that innocent Jesus, God's only begotten son, died with all of our wrong on him.  I don't know if people recognize this, but when Jesus died he died in sin.  This means that when he died he went to Hell, not Heaven.  Yes Jesus experienced that horrible cross for us, and then he went to Hell for us too.  The good news is that when Jesus went to Hell he took the keys to Hell and death from Satan.  Jesus did go to Heaven, but he went to Hell first.  What love the Father has for us that he would die and go to hell for a people who rejected and reviled him.  Thank you Jesus for loving me. This is what makes me a Christiana.

All God wants from us is our trust and love.  God doesn't take advantage of us or lie to us like people do.  Christ died the exact way that it was prophesied because he said he would.  He died by us and for us because he loves us.  Then he rose again just like he said he would.  His every word is true and therefore he has earned my trust.  Has he earned yours?  Give him your life and watch him do amazing things with it.

If you saw someone making a sign like this, would you think they were representing peace or victory?  If you are from a country outside of the United States this might represent neither peace nor victory, but in the U.S. it means both.  I was meditating on this today along with the scripture that says "blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Mathew 5:9) I believe that when we make peace everyone has the victory.  My mother is such a wise woman, and she believes in only working with "win/win" situations.  She specializes in listening and finding the area of connection between two opposing parties and creating solutions where everyone walks away feeling like they have won. As Christians we are supposed to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  The ultimate win/win situation is the salvation that we have through Jesus Christ.  We have peace with God because Jesus has the victory over sin and deat...

   It amazes me how the exact same words can mean so many different things.  this is why context is so important in all forms of communication.  It breaks my heart to realize when I , or someone else, have used the Word of God out of context.  This is why it is so important to study to shew ourselves approved, workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.   Take the simple statement, "you got me", and it can be used in so many different ways that show different relationships.  I use that phrase with God often.  Firstly, I use it to recognize that God has clearly seen where I was trying to hide.  "Okay Lord, I really didn't feel like being kind today, and I didn't mean what I said in my heart.  You got me."  This is my moment of truth that frees me from trying to mask how I really feel.  Nothing gets past God anyway.  The second "you got me" seems more painful than the first, but to me it is ...

This morning I was reading the gospel accounts of Jesus' arrest, death, and resurrection.  Each account told the same basic story, but in each story there was a different revelation of what Jesus said and did on those final days.  Many of us, including me, have looked at the priests of that time and Judas the betrayor and said "How could you?!" As I read this morning I realized that they had no choice in the matter.  It was the will of God, and none of it could have happened without the permission and the initiation of the LORD.  As I looked at the different gospels, I noticed that everything that happened to Jesus was prompted by his own words.  All of what happened was the will of God. According to the gospel of Mathew it wasn't until after Jesus declared that he would be betrayed and crucified that the chief priests began to conspire to kill him and Judas made a pact to deliever him.  According to the gospel of John, before Jesus was tak...

I have had days where I feel like   I have been ground through the mill for the sake of truth, but glory be to God.  He always puts me back together and restores me to better than new.  I recently had a painful conversation that reminded me of a situation in highschool.  Things didn't turn out the way that I expected, but God was trusted and God be praised. It is hard to represent God when you are hurting, but God always provides me the strength that I need when I choose to lean on him.  I am still hurting, but I was too emotional to lean on my own words so I simply stood on the word of God as my assurance.  When certain things happen in my life God stops me right in the middle of it and says "this one's not about you baby girl.  Do my work right here."  I am usually in a ridiculous amount of stress and emotional distress and in the times when I don't listen God still does what he does, but I miss out on an opportunity to let his glory come...

Satan just keeps peddling lies and deceiving people into thinking that wrong is right and right is wrong and I can't stand it!  He's smooth and he even using the Bible to try to trick the saints into becoming lost and confused.  Don't fall for it people of God.  I say I don't hate him because there is no room for hate in my life.  God created the Devil too and he has a purpose just like all the rest of creation.  Even the evil are created for the day of judgement.  This song isn't my exact sentiment, but it comes close.  I hate everything the Devil stands for.  John 10:10 says " The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This is the plainest explination of the purpose of Satan vs. Jesus.