Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

Happy Sunday!

"Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the ONE who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust." (2 Peter 1:3-4 Message)

We become the sons and daughters of God when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. John 1:12 says, "Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. Only a few would welcome and receive him. But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them." (The Living Bible)  

Now that we have accepted Jesus three things happened.  

1)  God has Signed for you - Just like we sign for packages or new car leases, God signed for us with the precious blood of Jesus.  1 Peter 1:18-19 says, "God paid a ransom to save you from the impossible road to heaven which your fathers tried to take, and the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver as you very well know. But he paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." (The Living Bible)

2)  God has Sealed you - You have God's seal of approval!  Not because you are good, but because he is GOOD! Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life." (Message)

3)  God has Delivered you - God delivered you from a life of sin! Galatians 1:3-4 says, "Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!" (Message)

What's going on in heaven? So glad you asked.  All the focus is on Jesus!  The elders, and the creatures and the angels are all in awe of him.  Revelation 5 says, they worship Jesus continually and fall on their faces in reverence and say "Amen".  Amen means "so let it be".  It's a simple but effective prayer.  Until we get to heaven, we can worship Jesus right here on earth and we can agree with the Word of God and say AMEN.  Amen to health and healing, because the Word says, "by whose stripes ye were healed." 1 Peter 2:24 (KJV)  Amen to prosperity and abundance, because the Word says, "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" 2 Corinthians 9:8 (KJV)  Amen to faith and wholeness, because the Word says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

Yes, and Amen!  Love and prayers, Cynthia

EVIL and UNBELIEVING

 Happy Sunday!

"Well, Moses did a fine job working in God’s house, but he was only a SERVANT; and his work was mostly to ILLUSTRATE and suggest those things that would happen later on. But CHRIST, God’s faithful Son, is in COMPLETE charge of God’s house. And WE Christians are God’s house—HE LIVES IN US! —if we keep up our courage firm to the end, and our joy and our TRUST in the Lord.

And since Christ is so much SUPERIOR, the Holy Spirit warns us to listen to him, to be careful to hear his voice TODAY and not let our hearts become set against him, as the people of Israel did. They steeled themselves against HIS LOVE and complained against him in the desert while he was testing them. But God was PATIENT with them forty years, though they tried his patience sorely; he kept right on doing his mighty miracles for them to SEE.  “But,” God says, “I was very angry with them, for their hearts were always LOOKING somewhere else instead of UP to me, and they NEVER found the paths I wanted them to follow.”

Then God, full of this anger against them, bound himself with an oath that he would never let them come to his place of rest.

BEWARE then of your own hearts, dear brothers, lest you find that they, too, are EVIL and UNBELIEVING and are leading you away from the living God. Speak to each other about these things EVERY day while there is still TIME so that none of you will become hardened against God, being BLINDED by the glamor of sin. For if we are FAITHFUL to the end, trusting God just as we did when we first became Christians, we will SHARE in all that belongs to Christ.

But NOW is the TIME. Never forget the warning, “Today if you hear God’s voice speaking to you, do not harden your hearts against him, as the people of Israel did when they rebelled against him in the desert.”(Hebrews 3:5-15 TLB).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

You Choose

Happy Sunday!

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, CHOOSE for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for ME and my house, WE will SERVE the LORD."(Joshua 24:15 AMPC).

Moses was dead, and Joshua was the new leader.  He didn't tiptoe around the issues with the Children of Israel.  He reminded them that God has given us free will, we get to choose.  He doesn't force us to serve, honor, love or obey Him.  We get to choose.  After all that God has done for us, you would think the choice would be easy.  Romans 2:4 says, "Don’t you realize how PATIENT he is being with you? Or don’t you care? Can’t you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His KINDNESS is meant to lead you to repentance."(TLB).

I ran across this poem, and it's so fitting.

"You are the person who has to decide.

Whether you'll do it or toss it aside;

You are the person who makes up your mind.

Whether you'll lead or will linger behind.

Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar.

Or just be contented to stay where you are.” - Edgar A. Guest

Have a positive, powerful, and prosperous week!

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Oldie, but Goodie!

Happy Sunday!

Happy Father's Day to all the awesome fathers! Shout out to my Daddy, Perry A Woods, Sr.! 

This is a Re-Post from June 2012.   Bishop Alexis A. Thomas has gone home to be with the Lord, but back then he reminded us that we should be grateful for the people in our lives that taught us about God and made sure we attended church services whether we liked it or not! When I think of my Daddy, I think of First Baptist Church of Chesterfield in Chesterfield, Missouri. As Martha Stewart says, "That's a Good thing!"

Bishop Thomas preached, "Are You Balanced?" He used Ephesians 6:4 as his reference scripture. You know I love the opportunity to read the Word in several translations. It makes it so clear.

• Message Translation - "Fathers, don't exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master".

• New Living Translation - "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord".

• GOD'S WORD Translation - "Fathers, don’t make your children bitter about life. Instead, bring them up in Christian discipline and instruction".

Parenting is challenging! Proverbs 22:15 says, "Young people are prone to foolishness and fads; the cure comes through tough-minded discipline". (Message Translation) I don't know about you, but periodically I replay things I've done or said to my children in my mind. I think, "I wish I'd done that or said that differently". Unfortunately, we can't go back for a do-over. But there is hope for those of you with young children. In everything we do, we need balance. The King James version of this scripture says, "Nurture and Admonition". Nurture means chastisement and discipline. Admonition means dialog, instruction, and counsel.

Even those of us without young children or without children at all, we need balance too! Balance between our work and our personal life. Some nights I dream about work, isn't that sad! I need balance! I need to find a happy place where I can leave work at work and enjoy time away from work! It comforts me to know that God "will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation". - 1 Peter 5:10 (Good New's Translation) I need balance in my finances. I need balance in my diet and exercise. I'm doing better and I thank God..."And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns". - Philippians 1:6 (New Living Translation)

Are you balanced?

Moving toward greater balance this week! Love, Cynthia

Bored?

 Happy Sunday!

"Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won’t become BORED with being a Christian nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to follow the example of those who receive ALL that God has promised them because of their strong faith and patience."(Hebrews 6:12, Living Bible).

Because of their strong faith and patience, the people in the previous scripture received all that God had promised them.  Don't you want everything you are promised?  Of course you do!  You don't go in and order a fully loaded vehicle and then accept a stock model with manual windows.  You want what you were promised, what you ordered, or what you paid for.  Jesus paid it all!  He paid for your life, healing, wellbeing and prosperity.  Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was hurt because of us; he suffered so.  Our wrongdoing wounded and crushed him. He endured the breaking that made us whole.  The injuries he suffered became our healing."(Voice).  

Psalm 78:41 sheds some light on why the Children of Israel missed out on the Promises of God, "Again and again they turned away and tempted God to kill them and limited the Holy One of Israel from giving them his blessings."(Living Bible).  WOW!  What were they doing that made God so angry?  I'll tell you what they were doing, and we sometimes do these things as well.  Murmuring and complaining, speaking against their leaders, and doubting if God would provide for them.  

The Apostle Paul offers a bit of encouragement for us, "Let us not grow tired of doing good, for, unless we throw in our hand, the ultimate harvest is assured. Let us then do good to all men as opportunity offers, especially to those who belong to the Christian household."(Galatians 6:7, Phillips).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

FEARLESS

Happy Sunday!

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." - 2 Timothy 1:7(KJV)

Luke 21:26 describes a time to come when, "People will be so frightened that they will faint because of what is happening to the world."(CEV).  In every generation there are things that can produce fear.   Watch just 15 minutes of your local news broadcast and you can be tempted to fear!  Fear of carjacking on the street, fear of nuclear war, fear of economic hardship, and fear of the side effects of a medicine you need to survive are just a few.  Revelation 21:8 tells us that the "FEARFUL" will spend eternity in Lake of Fire.  We definitely don't want to be there forever, and ever.  How can I live a life without fear?  I'm so glad you asked!  Romans 10:17 tells us that, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the WORD of God."(KJV).  

To live a life without fear, we must "lean on, rely in, and trust the Word of God"(Psalm 37:3, AMP).  To live a life without fear, the Word has to be more than just ink on a page.  The Word has to be "hidden in our hearts" so that when we are tempted to fear the Word rises up to squash it.(Psalm 119:11).   1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.(KJV).  Another translation of this scripture says, "Love contains no fear—indeed fully-developed love expels every particle of fear, for fear always contains some of the torture of feeling guilty. This means that the man who lives in fear has not yet had his love perfected."(Phillips).  Don't miss this!  When we understand and accept the fact that we are loved by God, we can live without fear.

As children we learned and sang, "Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me, for the Bible tells me so!"   Why did we have to repeat it so many times?  We repeated it then, and we repeat it now because our enemy the Devil is constantly lying and telling us that we are not loved, that we are not lovable, and that no one really cares about us.  Jesus described Satan as the "Father of Lies". (John 8:44).  He lies about everything!  Don't let him fool you!  If he's telling you anything, it's a lie.  And if it's not a full lie, he's bound to have twisted some truth by adding a lie.  Think about when Jesus was in the wilderness.  The enemy tried to tempt Jesus by perverting the Word.  “Jump off,” he said, “and prove you are the Son of God; for the Scriptures declare, ‘God will send his angels to keep you from harm,’ . . . they will prevent you from smashing on the rocks below.”(Matthew 4:6, Living Bible).   He was taking Psalm 91:11-12 out of context.  It says, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."(KJV).  Jesus didn't waste time arguing with the Devil, "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."(Matthew 4:7, KJV).  

Dr. Bill Winston said, "Any Believer that will not be AFRAID will always conquer. The anointing that will flow will guarantee success!"    Fear Not!

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. - Matthew 10:26(KJV)

And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. - Matthew 10:28(KJV)

Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. - Matthew 10:31(KJV)

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. - Luke 12:32(KJV)

Bless Others

Happy Sunday!

This is a Re-post from May 2017!  It falls right in line with what Pastor Tiff Shuttlesworth preached at our church this morning.  I hope you enjoy it!  Happy Memorial Day!

Many years ago, I began to pray..."Lord help me to be a blessing to everyone I come in contact with!"  I still pray this and I'm so grateful that as I have prospered, and I am able to do more.  I think I've always been a giver, and giving is so much more fun when the range of gifts and blessings to others expands.  Now before you send me a link to your third cousins ex-boyfriends Go Fund Me page, let me say I've learned the hard way that giving must be inspired or led by the Holy Spirit.  I once had an attitude with God, after giving time and resources to a few ungrateful and seemingly heartless individuals.  Yes, don't worry he can handle it!  He said to me, not audibly but I really know it was the Lord..."I didn't tell you to give THEM anything!"  Ouch!  When I thought it over, the warnings were there.  I bypassed the leading of the Holy Spirit and did what I thought was right.  Yes, we are promised in Luke 6:38 that when we give, it will be given back to us in a corresponding manner to which we gave.  We are also assured in the Word, that being WISE is better than money.  Proverbs 16:16 says, "Wisdom is worth much more than gold. Understanding is worth much more than silver."(Easy-to-Read Version).

People will always remind you that prosperity is much more than money.  Yes, of course, prosperity is physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial.  Even though each of these are important, much more falls on the financial.  If we are honest, we probably have a list of all the things we would do if the money was right.  Jesus often spoke about money and our relationship with things.  His ultimate theme was "Being Blessed to Be a Blessing".   We often miss this theme especially in the story of the "Rich Young Ruler".  Matthew 19 tells the story. The young man comes to Jesus and asks, "Teacher, what good deed can I do to assure myself eternal life?"   Jesus told him keep the commandments.  The young man boasts that he'd kept them all his life.  You know how we do..."Oh, I have always been saved.  I've been in church all my life!"  But as the old church members would say, "You ain't living a nickles worth of nothing!"  Jesus could see through the facade!  He knew the young man just wanted to buy his way in.  His trust was in what his money, and the security, and position it could provide.  Jesus had nothing against financial prosperity.  He later told the disciples,  “Let me assure you that no one has ever given up ANYTHING—home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property—for love of me and to tell others the Good News, who won’t be given back, a HUNDRED times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—with persecutions!  All these will be his HERE on earth, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life."(Mark 10:29-30, Living Bible).  If the young man had stayed around long enough, he would have found out that you "can't beat God giving, no matter how you try!"

I'm personally working on giving MERCY and understanding.  I'm trying to give the spiritual and emotional support others need.  My co-workers and my children laugh at how random people just want to talk to me.  Yes, even crazy people in public.  They don't know I can cast them demons out!  LOL!  People are hurting, they are often misunderstood.  They are lonely! They are fearful.  Psychologists and psychiatrists are being paid for what we share for free.  Yes, there are times when I don't want to be bothered and try not to make eye contact.  But there are times when I allow the Holy Spirit to lead.  Those times brings great joy.  It's what great songs and poems are written about...that perfect moment when you are in the right place at the right time with the right information and the right understanding and you do the right thing!  Colossians 3:22-25 says, "Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work."(Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia