God the GIVER

Happy Sunday!

"The Lord God is our protector and glorious king. He blesses us with kindness and honor. The Lord FREELY gives every good thing to those who do what is right."(Psalm 84:11 Easy-to-Read Version).

Have you ever met a stingy person?  What about a cheap or selfish person?  I remember my Mother-in-law, Minnie Pruitt saying someone was, "tight as Dick's hatband".  Get the visual here.  Men used to wear dressy hats. Think of a Fedora, or Google it!  The hats have a band around them tightly affixed to the hat.  Not much can get between the hat and the hatband!  Do you know anyone like that? Now, wait don't call any names!  We don't want to embarrass anyone!  We just want to make a comparison!  OUR GOD is Never selfish!  Search the Bible for yourself!  God gives, shares, and blesses!  He's so generous the Word says, "You have heard that it used to be said, ‘You shall love your neighbor’, and ‘hate your enemy’, but I tell you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Heavenly Father. For HE makes the sun rise upon evil men as well as good, and HE sends his rain upon honest and dishonest men alike."(Matthew 5:44-45 Phillips).

Psalm 84:11 encourages Believers that God won't hold back at all when we do what is right!  Don't let the Devil or the evil people in the world fool you!  God rewards those who diligently seek him!(Hebrews 11:6).  He never misses a beat!  He sees what you have done to help others! He sees you investing your time and talents to empower others!  He knows that you have sacrificed to see another person's dream come to reality!  Hebrews 6:10 says, "For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do."(NLT).

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."(KJV).  Another translation of this same scripture says, "Take great joy in the Eternal! His gifts are coming, and they are all your heart desires!"(Voice).

God is always generous!  Be like God!

Love and prayers, Cynthia

True Freedom

Happy Sunday!

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom)."(2 Corinthians 3:17 Amplified)

Are you Free?  The Bible tells us true freedom comes through the Spirit of God.  When the Spirit of God dwells in us and fills us we are truly free to live the good life He prepared for us.  The Apostle Paul said, "Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a SLAVE to my whims."(1 Corinthians 6:12 Message).  Don't miss this! Freedom comes with responsibility and accountability!  Galatians 5:13 says, "For, dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other."(Living Bible).

"For it is God’s will and intention that by doing RIGHT [your good and honest lives] should silence (muzzle, gag) the ignorant charges and ill-informed criticisms of foolish persons.  [Live] as free people, [yet] without employing your freedom as a pretext for wickedness; but [live at all times] as Servants of God.  Show respect for all men [treat them honorably]. Love the brotherhood (the Christian fraternity of which Christ is the Head). Reverence God. Honor the emperor."(1 Peter 2:15-17 Amplified).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Please GOD

 Happy Sunday!

"Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to LIVE in a way that PLEASES God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so EVEN MORE."(1 Thessalonians 4:1 NLT).

The Apostle Paul encouraged the Believers to do even more!  Did you realize that you can do more? More to increase your knowledge of the Word?  More to help others?  More to be a godly example in a wicked world? Yes!  Anything or anyone alive will grow.  Leave the grass and weeds in your yard alone all summer and see what happens!  Don't let 2024 be a duplicate of 2023.  Determine that you will do even more to please God.

"By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he PLEASED God.” It’s impossible to PLEASE God apart from Faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe BOTH that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him."(Hebrews 11:6 Message).

"So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you LIVE will always honor and PLEASE the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better."(Colossians 1:9-10 NLT).

"Children, obey your parents in everything. This PLEASES the Lord."(Colossians 3:20 Easy-to-Read Version).

"And WHATSOEVER we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are PLEASING in his sight."(1 John 3:22 KJV).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

You Must Choose

Happy Sunday!  

Happy New Year!

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can OBEY it."

“Now listen! Today I am giving you a CHOICE between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will LIVE and MULTIPLY, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy."

“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to LISTEN, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy."

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you LOVE and OBEY the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”(Deuteronomy 30:11-20 NLT).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Great JOY

Happy Sunday!

Merry Christmas!

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."(Matthew 2:10 KJV).

Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden, saw one son kill the other son, and experienced sadness and death.  These are things that no parent, and definitely no Loving God wants to see their child go through.  BUT God had a plan.  Genesis 3:14-15 says, "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."(KJV).  It took 42 Generations, but Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a criminals death, and rose again from the dead!  This is the Gospel, the Good News, that brings us great joy!

Isaac Watts wrote, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heav'n and nature sing,
and heav'n and nature sing,
and heav'n, and heav'n and nature sing."

Knowing that Jesus has come, and will soon come again should bring us great joy!  There's Hope!  We don't have to wait for joy in the sweet by and by!  We can have joy, healing, prosperity and wholeness in the nasty now and now!  We can enjoy what Adam and Eve forfeited; Heaven on Earth!

How can we have Heaven on Earth?  Great Question!  I'm so glad you asked!  Jesus said, "If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."(John 15:7 Amplified).  The NLT version says it like this, "But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!"  Don't miss this!  The Words we hear and the Words we speak will determine the kind of life we ENJOY! 

"For a man’s words depend on what fills his heart. A good man gives out good—from the goodness stored in his heart; a bad man gives out evil—from his store of evil. I tell you that men will have to answer at the day of judgment for every careless WORD they utter—for it is your words that will acquit you, and your words that will condemn you.”(Matthew 12:35-37 Phillips).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Be KIND Like God

 Happy Sunday!

"Don’t you see how wonderfully KIND, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his KINDNESS is intended to turn you from your sin?"(Romans 2:4 NLT).

The Apostle Paul encourages us in Ephesians 4:32, "And be ye KIND one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."(KJV).  What does it mean to be kind?  The Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines it as, "Disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them in distress; having tenderness or goodness of nature; benevolent; benignant".   Such a beautiful definition!

God is KIND, and he wants us to follow his example.  Ephesians 5:1-2 says, "Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance."(Amplified).

One of my personal Christmas traditions is listening to James Brown's Soulful Christmas album!  Don't laugh!  No one can beg Santa Claus to go straight to the Ghetto like James Brown!  One song is entitled, "Sweet Little Baby Boy".  In his own unique way James Brown reminds us of the greatest kindness anyone has ever shown us!  God leads by example!  Romans 5:6-8 says, "Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him."(Message).

Love and prayers, Cynthia

Get Acquainted

 Happy Sunday!

"Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at PEACE: thereby GOOD shall come unto thee.

Receive, I pray thee, the LAW from his mouth, and lay up his words IN thine heart.

If thou RETURN to the Almighty, thou shalt be BUILT UP, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

Yea, the Almighty shall be thy DEFENSE, and thou shalt have PLENTY of silver.

For then shalt thou have thy DELIGHT in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall HEAR thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

Thou shalt also DECREE a thing, and it shall be ESTABLISHED unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

When men are cast down, then THOU shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person."(Job 22:21-29 KJV).

Love and prayers, Cynthia