Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand, then, to God.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
I have been reading a book by Mark Batterson called “Draw the Circle” which refers to drawing a circle around one of God’s promises and praying it, while reminding God of His promise. Mark Batterson is the lead pastor in Washington DC of the National Community Church, and I believe there are 8 campuses. He also felt led to purchase an older building a few years ago, which was decrepit and had been used as a crack house. He wanted to buy it and turn it into a coffeehouse where folks could stop in, grab a coffee and a table, and listen to someone of the workers talk about the love of our Savior, our Lord.
I truly enjoyed his writing and the premise, and then pulled up a few Youtube vids of his sermons. But he pointed out to me more promises than I was aware of. As often as I have gone through the bible, I find things I missed the first few times through; so it is with all these promises, or many of them. But I liked the idea of drawing a circle around something you were praying for. I have a couple of issues within my family I am concerned about and have decided to try this philosophy. I asked a couple of my prayer warrior friends to also pray for these things, but now I see what it looks like with the issue surrounded within a circle of God’s promise . . . The answers to the issues have not totally been answered, but there is improvement for one of them, and because it is an illness, it’s great to see the person improving.
I also want to challenge myself to find different things to praise Him for daily. Easy to praise some things—good health, have a home, great family, good friends, although I can complain about eyesight when there are no readers nearby, I am grateful for my eye health, thankful I live here and can enjoy the views here. But there is so much more, and I think it’s important for me to let Him know these other things—maybe my history, past experiences, travels, memories, my ancestors….there’s a myriad of things for me to be grateful for, and I think I don’t dig deep enough to thank Him, and be more sincere. If I am not praising Him for at least two events that occur throughout my day, then I think that means I am sliding into complacency. I don’t want that. He is worthy of all of me and all my praise; I want to dig deeper to thank Him for all the times He saved me from troubles of my own making, and gave me good, strong family and friends who could supply much of the human hugs and shoulders I might have needed at different times.
I am blessed and thankful, and I am going to look for more promises and if fitting, circle them in my prayers, and I am going to dig deeper for praise and the many reasons I have to thank Him. Glad this book also opened my eyes to more of You.
WOW! I printed a BUNCH of promises above. Betting you can find more, and make them specific to your needs. Feel free to let me know. Let me know if you like the circle the promise idea for something you specifically need fulfilled.
Praise for all You have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Apologies I missed putting out a blog. I had re-read and edited one, thought it good, and decided to give one more read before scheduling and did not get to it, except in my head! They are supposed to come out each Thursday….
Genesis 1:26, 28 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”.. creature that moves on the ground.”. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living.
Genesis 3:21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Exodus 22:21-24 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
Leviticus 6:6-7 And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the Lord, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the Lord, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.
Proverbs 20:7 The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them.
Isaiah 10:1-4 Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.
I think so much of this world is an awesome place. It amazes me how God has made each area unique. When I was a child, we lived in New England, and I was awed and impressed with the Fall colors while traveling to Vermont and New Hampshire. Unfortunately, I never had an opportunity to travel much in the central part of our country or in the west. What a large land we live in. I’ve not been to Canada or even most of the states, maybe about 20% of our great states have I seen.
Our Creator designed our world for all of us. He developed man to be its caretaker, in charge of animals, fish, birds. We are to respect all creatures, and yes, use for food—not abuse. We are not supposed to kill for the sake of a picture or a trophy such as impressive antlers, a hide, or ivory from the tusks of an animal. That is abuse, pure and simple, and definitely not the way God charged us to be in care and “govern” the animals. They were to be a supply of food for the needs of people and other animals. His wish was that we would be respectful and honored to care for all He entrusted to us. We are not always.
Many humans have become cruel, and feel righteous and entitled to be abusive, in control, making others–animals or humans do their bidding, complete whatever their desires might be. There is little regard to the right and gift of life, and we are all born with that right in God’s eyes. But for many people, there seems to be no regard to the taking of life, to abusing, to bullying, to invading other countries, property, etc. Definitely not what God intended.
As a child, my father taught my brother and I how to shoot and care for guns. Our target practices consisted of shooting at bottle caps, cardboard containers of half gallon milk, or the aluminum cans that held the concentrate for Tropicana or Lemonade. We would begin with calling whatever we were aiming at, and then seeing how close we were to the target, and then make adjustments as needed. As we got more proficient, we would pretend we were after a “moving target.” And of course, we were the movement–starting from a fixed position, we would turn until we got to the target and shoot. But we were warned to NEVER take the life of an animal. That was ONLY in case of starvation and needing that to live on. There was a price to pay for killing an innocent just to kill, just for the thrill of ‘if you could.’
But my point is, my father insisted we NOT ever take a gun and just aim and shoot and indiscriminately kill an animal. If we did, we would be expected to cook and eat it. As an early teen, my brother and a friend decided to do that. A total of three squirrels were killed. My brother, who is an honorable person even then, went home with the squirrel, confessed to killing it, and had to clean it and boil it, then eat it. He was unable to eat more than a bite maybe two, and he never killed another animal.
Why do many have no regard to life? Why does history show us that countries, kings, political leaders think it okay to invade and take over another country? Yes, for sure, Ukraine and the Russian war crimes are uppermost in my mind; but this is NOT new. For all time there have been wars and invasions and annihilations of others. Life is PRECIOUS. It is NOT something that should be taken as mundane and easy to kill. God confronted Cain and told him He could hear the voice of the blood crying out to Him. He does NOT take killing lightly.
But as a people, there are some who sometimes feel they have the right to hurt, overtake, even annihilate. We have killed elephants and rhinos and hippos just for the ivory God blessed them with. It was the white man who came and slaughtered hundreds of buffalo. This was food for the Indian nations–and they killed for food–NOT FOR SPORT, not to just get an adrenaline rush.
I am not so naïve as to think there have not been violent people who get kicks out of hurting others throughout time; rape, possession mentalities of ‘my wife’, my slave’, my child’, my right to abuse….
But how did God’s highest creation get to the point of believing and committing heinous acts against others–animals or humans? This was NOT God’s intent. How did our arrogance get us to believe by many, NOT ALL, but many that this is OK? It is NOT according to what my God says. Yes, burnt sacrifices of animals were okay for different sacrificial means. However, that was to impress on the people how deep, how poignant to destroy an innocent animal for THEIR sins. God used this killing of the animals as sacrifices, to show the sinners the destructiveness of their sin; to show that innocents are paying for THEIR sins.
Initially, I didn’t get this. I was appalled and very sad that God thought animals insignificant enough to be killed with neck slit and burnt on an altar. Much later I learned that this was God’s plan for US to realize the COST of sin. So many, many, many animals were offered as sacrifices, until the final sacrifice of the innocent, loving man–God Jesus willingly sacrificed his life for us–for our sins, for our disobedience, because of what we had done or FAILED to do, we CAUSED the innocent death of an animal. Those standing at the foot of the cross did not fully understand THEN, but later…? Wow.
And now? Thank You. I read why, but Your sacrifice for ME is just awesome, and stunning and so, so humbling. The Gift and the Grace totally undeserved and yet freely Given.
Thank You, Lord for Your Gift of my eternal life by Your Grace, freely Given by You accepting the painful and humbling abuse You endured…for me. Oh my Lord, thank You for all You have given and done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hebrews 8:8,10 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. . . . this is the covenant I will establish with the people Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them in their hearts.
Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people
Isaiah 59: 21 “As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them; My Spirit, who is upon you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants–from this time on and forever,” says the Lord
When the Israelites first were led out of Egypt, they grumbled and complained, wished for the certainty of what they had known even though the conditions they had lived under were not wonderful; they knew what those were. But now they were getting frightened for what they could not see… they could not see where they were going, they feared the travel and the unknown, they had no idea where food would come from, and what about water? How like us. It is easier for us to reach for what we do know, even if we grumbled about not having enough—’we knew what we had and it was familiar—albeit safe.’ Sound familiar? It is sometimes so difficult to go forward when you can’t see clearly–maybe there seems to be no light, you felt alone in some darkness, and of course, we are unsure we are making the correct decisions–especially if we have a family depending on us to make the right ones.
We often feel fearful and unsure when we cannot see where we are going. Trust. Faith. Hard to o]hold onto sometimes. Yet, for me to read and see what the Israelites saw, I find it shocking to see how they ran to idols for gods. They say His miracles–for them.
While in Egypt, the Israelites witnessed the miracles of the plagues God sent on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. There were very few Israelites who suffered the boils that the Egyptians suffered, and many of the other damaging things that struck the Egyptian people. Most were free or about protected from any of these plagues. They saw this. They saw how they were protected from the loss of their firstborn–animals as well as children. The Israelite slaves were protected from these punishments.
They were told to sprinkle blood over their doorpost with hyssop, kill a perfect lamb and feed as many as they could while —leaving nothing behind, and to stay in their homes while death raged over the Egyptians, and all homes which did not have the mark of the lamb’s blood. They then heard the crying, wailing, and utter bereavement of the Egyptians who had lost their firstborn. Yet they were alive, spared the wrath of God’s death pronouncement. They had witnessed miracles.
God, through Moses led them all, a few million people into the desert, away from Egypt, and then lifted the sides of the Red Sea so they could ALL traverse across the expanse, away from the Egyptians who had now decided to pursue, and they all made it to the other side. Remember several MILLION persons—young and old, and how many animals? I can not fathom seeing that many people at one time, never mind trying to see all of them hustle across a river with its sides held up as a wall of water on each side to allow them all to pass. THESE WERE BIG MIRACLES, AWESOME, SAVING MIRACLES!
I wonder what God was doing to stall the Egyptians further so they could not overtake them—they had chariots and horses and were now in hot pursuit, and only a few days had passed—yet, again God defeated them. He stalled their progress long enough for all Israelites to travel across the dry Red Sea (not a pond or creek—a Sea!), and reach the other side. And then He turned the Egyptians into the amazing wall of water—‘oh, yes! How awesome, let us scramble across and we will have them! We will capture them and bring them all back! And probably kill Moses and his sound piece while we capture them.’ Ah, not so, says God. And He turned the walls of water upon them, killing all.
The Israelites were leaving what they knew, unsure of where they were going, but they DID know why—their grumbling had been answered, and He had sent a leader to lead them from Egypt—and they were being fed, saved from the Egyptian army when Pharaoh had a change of heart, they were intact as a HUGE group of people and livestock. And yet they grumbled and doubted and feared.
God appeared to them in a cloud by day and a fire by night. He was present! Always! He supplied food, water, safety, guidance, and leadership. But these people still grumbled and moaned, wondering about this, and complaining about that. They experienced and saw, and yet still DOUBTED! No wonder Jesus proclaimed, “How blessed are they who have not seen, yet believe.” (John 20:29).
God gave a bunch of commands and rules and laws—what they could and could not eat, when they were considered clean and unclean, what was considered good, and what was considered not worthwhile. He also gave them the Ten Commandments—and while writing them, the Israelites decided they wanted to have a “god” they could see and worship, something visible to worship. It had only taken a few days for them to mistrust God, and obviously Moses, and they were quick to leave God behind, even after He had delivered water from a rock, parted the Red Sea and ensured their safety while crossing and then ensuring the Egyptians all died as the waters flowed over them. They had experienced all sorts of miracles; yet they chose to run to something THEY constructed, nothing that was a miracle, nothing that would help and feed or supply them with anything.
Although they saw how God helped to ensure they were released from the Egyptians and were promised a land of milk and honey, I wonder how they could so easily be swayed away from God.
I do know that sometimes there are worldly allures that pull us away from God, and temptations which reach out to us. But I do find it hard to think these people could so easily beg Aaron for a visible “god” and then they formed one, threw gold into a pot and formed a molten calf. Aaron had been beside Moses throughout all of this—ten plagues, parting of the Red Sea, seeing water delivered from a rock and so forth. How was it so easy for Aaron to turn aside from his brother and all he had seen? How could he be so easily led away from God and the miracles he had seen and experienced? He was the priest, the religious leader of these people, and yet, he walked away from the true God, within days as his brother was gone for a total of forty days. At the pressure and complaints of the people, he was easily swayed.
How often do we give up waiting, losing patience with God’s promises, and reverting to something to assuage our feelings of loss, frustration, impatience, and try to take matters into our own hands? Certainly, I have railed against waiting, and waiting, and….
Yet, Abraham waited for forty years to have his own son with his wife. He believed and held onto God’s promises. And when God told him to sacrifice Isaac, he willing packed up the supplies, and carried the youngster to the mountain where he’d been told to sacrifice the boy. He trusted God would provide the sacrifice. He waited, expectantly, all the while doing exactly as God commanded
Sara became impatient and encouraged her husband to have a child with her slave. And again, serious issues developed because she had taken matters into her hands; what does it take for us to believe and wait on Him with trust? Right, patience….and I don’t have much.
There’s an entire book written that encourages us to wait on His promises, that tells us He alone is the ONLY GOD; He alone is with us always; He alone tells us to not fear, not grow weary of trusting in Him. Yet, often, we drift as though on an air mattress tossed into the ocean and without anchor, we doze off, then waking find ourselves much further away from shore than is safe and healthy.
Story after story tells of the need to wait. A savior would be provided; a star would shine in the town to announce the birth; He would be borne of a virgin…. The Israelites waited hundreds of years for a savior. There is always waiting throughout the bible; because that is life. We wait for His promises.
I pray I lose no more patience –waiting, and in truth, it has become easier to wait. I believe His timing is perfect. It may still not be my timing preference, but still, I have seen time and again, that He comes and answers. So I’ve learned to hand over my impatience; sometimes, annoyingly it pops back into my head. So, while thinking of it, I pretend it is in my hands, then raise it to God to take away, so I can no longer actually think of it. It’s in His hands; no longer mine to keep as a “god” to worry and therefore, worship over.
So many times over the years I have rebelled against waiting, yet now, as You have been faithful, even when I was not, I am willing to wait, trusting, because You have proved your steadiness, love, and forgiveness over and over. Lord, I am so sorry I have been impatient, at times mistrusting, and very bratty; I pray I continue to grow trusting You and deepen my relationship with you.
Thank You for your patience and guidance during all these years of You giving to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Immediate Gratification and the problems in can create
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; thewy shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those whofor Him, to the soul who seeks Him
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may provewhat is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy whwen you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
We tend to be about immediate gratification in this world and time. I certainly believe in ancient times it was about immediate and usually fleshly gratification when there was worship of the “gods”. Certainly many sexual acts were performed, often not with one’s spouse, and often with various instruments and more than one partner. It was all about an immediate tawdry and physical release. As in many things we want immediate thrills, gratifications, and do not look beyone the immediate “pleasure.” And like most things that are a thrill, forbidden, and against God’s words, our partaking of these things can lead to severe problems later. To name only a few, there are many sexual transmitted diseases—some that can kill, many that may not kill, but are incurable, only treatable, and there are the drug addicitions to the detriment of self care, family care, and can and certainly has lead to many deaths.
Satan has convinced most that we are entitled to get what we want without waiting and having to “suffer” doing without. He chuckles as he sends out darts of temptation and watches as we succumb, licking his finger and doing a check motion in the air as he says, ‘Got another one!’
But although we think there is a thrill sometimes in acting some of these things out, certainly they are not always good for us. Even if one does not develop a disease, there can certainly be shame and stressful and unhealthy problems. I have chatted with many women who have had a lot of regret for having casual sex and developed an STD—most without lasting, lifelong disease, but the shame and embarrassment lingers. Disobeying the rules, commandments God has set out is not to show He is a tyrant—they are there to protect us, to keep us clean, pure, and doing the right things in life. He wants us to hesitate, realize something is not according to His will and step away from it. God knows that sinning leads to problems, regrets, shame and sometimes more severe consequences.
And from God’s perspective, we are not honoring another in a special and intimate act, not honoring ourselves and recognizing that our bodies are His temple on earth if we believe. He made male and female to have one mate until the death of one. He had no intentions of “trading in one model for another” and went so far as to call that adultery. Indiscriminate sexual acts can lead to a dulling of senses and pleasure, can lead to sexual disease—syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, and HIV to name a few. Our minds say it is exciting in the moment to be pursued by a new mate, to play the game of innuendos, teasing, and see where it leads. But that is not always safe for a multiple of reasons.
We want everything now. This is another temptation Satan sends out, and when we act according to his vicious lying and murmuring, we fall into debt and financial hardships. It is fairly rare in this day and age for someone to wait for a purchase. Pull out a plastic card and you can leave the store right now with the item. It is so easy to fill that desire immediately. That does not mean that is always the best choice and decision for you, but it can be done. It may be that the next day your car suddenly needs repairs that are very costly—and now it is a struggle to pay that credit card you used yesterday for the item. You did not NEED the item, it was a desire. However, now you will feel the cost of this for the next couple of months. That is a consequence of jumping into an immediate temptation and not seeking God’s will first. I know that may seem silly to some, but life would feel far less stressful if you had only to pay for the car repairs and get that important object back to good health, instead of also having the bill of the other item.
In this country, we are full of immediate gratification fixes—hungry, swing into any fast food place—the food is costly, there are a lot of fairly unhealthy and fat-laden calories (that yes, full agreement, taste yummy), but is the entire cost worth it. It satisfies that immediate desire—taste buds, hunger, but there is a consequence of money gone, higher and not always healthy calories, potential weight gain, as well as potential cardiac and blood pressure issues, diabetes, overworking the liver….
We don’t wait. We have things in abundance available everywhere around us in this country, and we feed our desires promptly, and disregard thinking of any consequence.
God asks us to seek Him in everything we do. I know He cares and wants to guide us in each of our big decisions. But who wants to seek Him and maybe get a “no”—that’s not fun. And I turn to Him for the big stuff…buying a house, buying a car, should I move and take a new job…? But the smaller day to day stuff we generally take care of without seeking His advice.
Immediate gratification and fulfilling the desire of the moment can have long term effects and can create consequences that can last years, and perhaps forever. I have made many of those ‘want-it-now’ decisions. Sometimes they have been costly. I can honestly say that most caused a plethora of negative, scolding comments in my head, IF they didn’t cost me something more significant. Unpleasant.
Lord, I choose to make the time to seek You before I make any further spontaneous decisions, and have to deal with regret and dismay and consequences. I know You are steadfast and have my best interests in mind, and want to guide me with such. Let me remember to seek You first—always. Thank You for always being there for ‘me and mybellaviews.’
Psalm 32:8-10 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 “…For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, pans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Isn’t it amazing God created you and knows you for all time? He has had plans and a life for you forever. How can that be? But He picked you, chose you to be one of is own, and He loves you.
God created each of us, and offered us the best deal in the world. Accept His living Son, Jesus, as your savior and repent of your sins. The cost is FREE; no, this is really free. It’s the gift of forgiveness, given by the act of grace.
The cost is humbling yourself enough to confess repentance for your sins and reach for Him as your savior.
The rewards include having a Counselor walk with you during times of fear, stress, poor health
You have guidance that comes in written form, or direction in answer to prayer and seeking the way.
You have a Comforter when you need comfort, reassurance, the nurturing we all need at times.
You have forgiveness and reassurance you are loved deeply, and there is One who cares about your choices, your path, and will protect you if you will listen; but help if you get yourself into a mess. He will let that be a learning experience for you.
The reassurance is wonderful. I had no idea I much I stressed myself worrying, projecting, fearing, and planning and then having my plans disrupted or unable to come to fruition for any number of reasons. Once I surrendered and asked Him to be my savior and confessed how sinful and arrogant I have been–truly believing I was in control when only God is in control–but it was a weight lifted.
Now this was not a miracle of saying ok, all’s right and I will never worry or fret again. Unfortunately, I tend to be stubborn and it is difficult to release control when you have done it all your life, but He’s patient, loving, and does not seem to mind having to say the same things repeatedly until finally I fully relinquished control. And there have been a lot of steps in my growth. I have felt like a slow learner, but never felt not encouraged or scolded or in anyway put down repeating the same mistakes. Always, the feeling is being loved and grateful to have realized all the benefits of walking this path with God; there is love, repeated forgiveness, patience, and over time I recognize I am changing. What a wonderful feeling that has been!
For me, I would never regret choosing this path. I am free–no longer wonder if I’m good enough for heaven–I never will be. That bill was paid IN FULL by Jesus taking my place on the cross and suffering the horrific pain and humiliation and thus giving me the gift of eternal life in heaven and forgiveness. I choose to try to improve myself when I realize I am sinning. I don’t want to disappoint my Lord and Creator. He has abundantly blessed me, so I want to try to respect my body (temple) and not disparage it or abuse it. I want to control my mouth so nothing angry and impetuous flows out and hurts someone else. I will NEVER be perfect, but I can improve–and not me, although my desire is to improve. But the Holy Spirit knows I want to be better and not sin, and can sometimes steer me away from a wayward path, or other times, reminds me I messed up and need to confess and ask God’s forgiveness.
There is no ridicule, no humiliation, no shaming; there is just encouragement to go and sin no more. I am not condemned. I am still saved. I am still valued in His kingdom, loved and cherished,
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!