The phrase “thorn in your side/flesh”.  Interestingly enough is only in the Bible twice.  As I did my study and prayed about this phrase; I began to gain understanding.

Notably, the term is used to describe a continuous issue/problem. A problem which annoys a person and there seems to be no relief.  Theologians and scholars debate regarding Paul’s thorn in the flesh.

Some suggestions regard poor eyesight, difficulty speaking clearly, a recurring illness or some facial disfigurement. Other suggestions speak literally of a messenger of satan which God allowed to keep Paul humble.

Still, some refer to physical ailment which Paul had received as he had been imprisoned, stoned, beaten, and shipwrecked.

– 2 Corinthians 12:7-8

“…especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me.”

The other time the phrase was used is in Numbers:

– Numbers 33:55

“But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become thorns in your eyes and in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you will live.“

In this particular case; the Israelites encountered Canaanites while trying to obtain the Promised Land which God had chosen for them.

The lifestyles of the Canaanites made life more difficult for the Israelites. Once again the chosen people of God did not live according to the laws and commandments which God had given them.

Similarly, my thought is Paul’s thorn, despite his burning passion to spread the gospel; some people he encountered would rather live for themselves.

Paul’s love for the Father and his desire for others to know God’s love; I believe as he encountered those unwilling to listen or receive caused him to anguish.

Much like the Israelites not always living the way God intended often caused them to anguish.  Which ultimately caused our heavenly Father angst, however, His love never stops and He never gives up.

We all have a thorn in our side. However, we are to learn how to deal with it.

We need to give thanks in all things and continual be focused on God.

The more our focus is on His will and what He wants for us; the less our thorn’s presence is known.

Written by: Michael La Tulippe

I’m boxed in
4 walls surround me
I can’t breathe
I feel suffocated
Scream
I can’t scream
My tears hit the floor
Can you hear them?
The pain from within
I’m boxed in
Pressed from all sides
I try to push my way out
I give up
Destroy the roof off my dreams
Crushed
Pressed
Not my dreams anymore
I give up
I surrender
Your ways are way better
Break the box minded mentality
Squeeze me until there’s nothing left
Break me down
Build me back up
To be
All I was meant to be
Free
Free from all the deception
Free from the lies
Give me truth
Til I see
Who I really am
Me

Written by: Leigh-Ann Kalogrides

What if Moses had not raised his staff or stretched out his hand over the sea? Would the waters of the Red Sea have parted for the Israelites to cross on dry ground?

What if Joshua had not had the priests with their trumpets and the army march around the wall seven times and then shout? Would the wall of Jericho have fallen?

What if the man who was blind from birth had never gone to wash in the Pool of Siloam after Jesus put spit and mud on his eyes? Would he have remained blind?

What if Ananias had not gone to that particular house, on that particular street to lay his hands on the eyes of Saul (Paul)? Would Saul’s eyesight have been restored?

 

The question is not whether God could have done all of these things. God’s sovereignty is undeniable. The question is whether they would have walked into the fullness of the destiny that God had prepared for them had they decided to not faithfully follow through with the actions that they were called to carry out. Even in just these few biblical examples, the actions can seem a bit odd. Not unlike some of the unusual actions that we see today.

 

Consider this an invitation to use your imagination to look through the lenses of someone who has never stepped foot into a church building before. At any particular time, they will see people with heads bowed, eyes closed, hands folded, hands clapping, hands joined together with others, arms reaching up, arms extended all toward the same thing/person, hands raised as if waiting to receive something, people standing, sitting, face down on the ground, kneeling, dancing and people laying hands on other people. Maybe this is the first time you’ve really stopped to think about these actions. For me, these actions are not ritualistic or ceremonial; they are an outward reflection of the inner attitude of my heart at that moment.

 

When Ananias physically laid his hands on Saul’s eyes, it was how he displayed to God that he was willing to step out in faith and position himself in such a way that came in agreement with all that God had purposed. And when we actively respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit, regardless of how odd or unusual it may seem at the time, our actions become a declaration to Father God that reveals the “Yes and Amen” that is resounding in the very depths of our heart and soul. These actions demonstrate our inner desire to partner with God; our desire to see His kingdom come, for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

God once walked in the garden with us humans, and He sent His Son to restore that broken relationship. Undivided, intimate love is what God desires most from us (Matthew 22:37). We can cry out night and day to our heavenly Father, professing our love for Him. But we know from Isaiah 29:13, that love is more than carefully assembled words, as beautiful as they may sound. Father God blesses us with opportunities to show Him that the deepest desire of our heart is to know Him, to love Him and to partner with Him. Our love for Him looks like many things.

 

But responding to those opportunities is a choice. Moses raised his staff and stretched out his hand over the sea, and God parted the waters. Joshua marched around a wall and shouted, and God made the wall collapse. The blind man washed in the pool, and God restored his sight. Ananias laid his hands on Saul, and God removed the scales from eyes and filled him with the Holy Spirit. Are you willing to respond?

 

Ephesians 3:14-21

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Written by: Joanna Winters

Jesus has delivered on this amazing kingdom principle in my life. I signed up for abundant life. But I had no idea that the very desires of my heart would unfold in such an amazing way.

When I said yes to Jesus at first it was a very weak at best yes. But he accepted my yes and grafted me into his family immediately. Just before I said yes to him I met an amazing woman. She brought me to church, real church, for the first time. When the pastor asked if anybody wanted to accept Christ she gave me an elbow strike and sent me on my way up front. ( I’m not sure how she knew it was my time, it’s just a thing she always does) I had really long hair and I was the only man there with no suit on, but I made my way up to the front and gave my heart to Jesus.

I dated this woman for about a year and a half before we decided to meet her kids. She had a young son and daughter.

My wife’s love is strong and passionate. She’s super beautiful inside and out. She is definitely Beauty for ashes.

My daughter has been a desire of my heart that I didn’t see coming. This particular beauty has drastically changed my life, heart, and direction. The first day I met her, she looked at her mom and said: “What do I call him, dad?”. My heart said yes automatically. She was beauty that Father placed within my heart when I was knit together in my mother’s womb. It was as they say “meant to be”. She stole my heart that day. I’m truly humbled and grateful for her love towards me. It has always been unconditional. There is nothing sweeter than a beautiful daughter to take away ash.

Some years later Jesus adds a beautiful daughter-in-law to our family. She’s amazing. I love her tremendously too. She is an amazing gift from heaven also. Then I had three beautiful girls but God wasn’t through yet. He gave me two granddaughters so far. Each one unique and beautiful. And He’s not done yet as our youngest son is not married yet and I’m sure will bring in more beauty.

That’s my storyline. Beauty for ashes, love for hate. That’s God the Father. That’s Jesus. By the way, I also have two sons who are great men of God and four awesome strong and handsome grandsons and counting.

In my church family, I have many more daughters and sons and brothers and sisters. Amazing. They are awesome people. Beautiful.

I’m excited for even more beauty.

Father, you have truly blessed my life. I’m alive with wonder and expectation at what blessing you will bestow on me next. Thank you for my beautiful wife, beautiful daughters, beautiful sons, beautiful granddaughters and beautiful grandsons. I’m overwhelmed with your great love and abundant life. I love you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Written By: Keith Murphy

What to do when childlike faith seems like foolishness?

One of the interesting things about the phrase “childlike faith”, is that you will not find it in the Bible anywhere. The concepts of innocence, trust, humility and dependence are certainly found in Matthew 18:1-5 and that is typically where we get the phrase from. In that passage the disciples are trying to figure out who among them will be the greatest. I can only imagine Jesus responding with a long and patient sigh before He explains in detail once again that He represents the “upside down” Kingdom; and that greatness like many other things in God’s Kingdom, are defined entirely differently than by our familiar worldly wisdom or experiences.

The Bible makes it crystal clear that faith is critical to the life of anyone who calls themselves a Christian and that all Christ followers should be growing in faith through their years of following Christ. Passages like Hebrews 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Ephesians 6:6 and many others make that point clear.

Here is where I have had difficulty in my own personal life, and maybe you have as well. Obviously faith is important and critical, but so often a strong faith does not match up well with analytical human reasoning. This tension of faith and intellect for a Spirit filled Christ follower constantly keeps us on our toes and challenges our minds and emotions.

This dynamic inevitably leads us to this question, “Is what I am about to believe or do, faith or foolishness?”

Then typically these types of questions quickly follow—“Is what I am about to believe about this situation primarily faith driven or is it me just being uninformed or not knowledgeable?”  Or “Is what I am about to do or think a wise thing or is it just fantasy?” Or this popular one —“God certainly would never ask me to do anything like this, it makes no sense and it is not possible anyways.” There are many other types and variations of these difficult to deal with questions.

What criteria do you use to decipher between being foolish or faithful? How do you live in the tension of trying to grow in faith but not at the cost of ignoring your brain?

I am proud of the Christian that chooses to engage and wrestle with answers to these types of questions. The wrestling reveals a heart that is hungry for living in a greater awareness of what God has for them. Some just choose to ignore it because the answer is not an easy fix, and well who likes that?

It is true that God gave us a brain, He allowed us to have certain experiences in our lives that teach us different things. As we grow older and more mature we begin to be very keenly aware of the problems of being like a child. Children are ignorant, so they do not have much life experience to inform their decisions. Children are not typically well versed in complex situations, so they are extremely over simplistic with many issues. Children can be extremely gullible and they could trust anyone who seems like they know what they are talking about. The list could go on.

I would like to offer two practical ideas for you that I believe are Biblical and that I hope are helpful for you when it comes to trying to decide if you are about to take a step of faith, or embark into stupid.

1) Faith by its Biblical nature is always extremely risky for us but not for Him.

No matter what level of belief someone might be operating with in their life, from God’s vantage point faith is intended to stretch, challenge, and confuse us. Too often we use the final litmus test of, “does what I am about to think or do make sense?”—I personally believe that this is a great question to ask ourselves regularly; but when it comes to trying to decide between faith or foolishness that cannot be the final question. Faith is like a muscle and in order for it to grow it needs to be worked out and God is the one who orchestrates the workout sessions. Repeatedly God has called men and women to incredibly bizarre and seemingly completely stupid things. One example that quickly illustrates this point is Gideon. His story can be read in Judges 6-7. God basically takes Gideon, a runt from a non military family, tells him that the enemy army outnumbers their army 4 to 1; then God says even though you are outnumbered 4-1 his army is still to large so I am going to severely shrink it to 1 percent of it’s original size and then you can go and fight. What kind of stupid military strategy is that? Apparently it is a heavenly one rooted in heaven’s potential not in man’s. I have found it to be very helpful in my life to keep that reminder at the forefront of my mind when trying to evaluate faith vs foolishness. 

2) It is essential that we and others we trust believe that God is truly leading.

Some people will read our point above and then justify their total impulsiveness and lack of patience and march on towards all things impossible and call that the life of faith. I am not convinced. A key element to “a child like faith” as referenced above in Matthew 18 is humility. The idea that Jesus was trying to make sure that his disciples grasped was the idea that jockeying for greatness is not how to shine, humility with a championing heart is.

If (honestly it is not an “if” it is a “when”) you are ever in the situation where you are really struggling with taking a significant step of faith in your life, be humble enough to include others in significant ways. It is always scary for me to see how many people are moving in such alleged strong moves of faith but they are all by themselves. I think that we can start to enter the “foolish” arena of this question when we do not include other mature Christian voices into our lives. It is a tremendously wise thing for us to ask a trusted mature believer this one question, “I really feel strongly that God is leading me in such and such direction do you think I am hearing clearly from God or do you think I am missing it somewhere?” . A wise and good friend will probably beat you to it and ask you this question before you ask them —keep those friends or mentors close in your life. This kind of transparent humility with the right type of person or people will unpack so much good and so many healthy things will flow out that it will not only make you feel better but you will feel closer to the heart of God in the situation.

If we often find ourselves rushing to make decisions of faith where we are not including others and we are not fasting and praying through significant faith issues, then I think that we are definitely on the foolish side.

It is amazing how fast we can sacrifice God’s amazing plans of destiny, victory, and growth for impatience, pride and fear.

There is a lot more that can be said on this but I hope that these two principles will be helpful to you the next time you find yourself in the middle of a challenging situation of living out your faith. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Blessings!

Written By: Pastor Jered Murphy

How many times have you heard a saying which begins with “the key”?

Some examples of this which come to mind are saying such as –

The key to a happy life is…

Or

The key to great success is…

Some of us spend a lifetime searching for ‘the key’.

I sought after such a key to stop certain depression, or perhaps to ease my pain and provide a type of relief for stress.

Yet, to my dismay and possibly for others as well, without knowing the true key we will never know what we are predestined to have.  

“Wait” you exclaim, “You mean to tell me, we are predestined for something?!” you state in bewilderment.

Romans 8:28-30:

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.  For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.”

With your inquisitiveness stirring, you wait, wanting to hear more.  Please let me tell you, let me explain an exciting fact!

We are created in God’s image. We are as stated in the song by Matt Redman known as “Trading My Sorrows (Yes Lord)”.  Always within the Father hands, we have strength from Him.

The song states facts:

“I’m pressed but not crushed

Persecuted but not abandoned

Struck down but not destroyed

I am blessed beyond the curse

For His promise will endure

That His joy’s gonna be my strength

Though the sorrow may last for the night

His joy comes with the morning”

(Songwriter: Darrell Evans)

Yes Lord. A more enjoyable life, more relaxed and with a greater ability to endure issues.  Truly having the key, yes Lord, you’re our joy.

With everyday life’s circumstances, the world offers a variety of keys to fix those issues which we seem to face. Perhaps we have turned to something which numbs or dulls our pain.

We may in fact think to ourselves…

If only there was something which turns our focus from self pity or self loathing into a more relaxed calm state?

Yet when ‘the key’ we have chosen to help us deal with issues wears off, then what?

The issues we face still exist and we have just realized that what we used to help cope was sadly just a temporary fix.

“So now what?” You may exclaim, with agitation in your voice.

What people search for unknowingly is the true key. The key to grace, joy, peace, just to name a few. We all want to enjoy life, yet seem to complicate our way with our own immediate fixes.

Stop. Stop choosing that way and accept The Way.

Jesus told His disciples: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

You, me…We have the key.

Jesus likewise had been given the key and from the Father; He gave to us the key.

 

Matthew 16:19:

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.”

So looking further into this: Whatever was forbidden on earth is forbidden in heaven. Likewise, whatever is permitted in heaven is permitted on earth.

We know: Jesus was given all authority both in Heaven and Earth.

Which in turn He gave to those who believe and follow Him.

The way we live as new creations in Christ shows others who we are.

Simply put: A Christian, or Christ follower, needs to exemplify the new creation – our transformation.

You recall light and darkness cannot coexist. When Jesus who knew no sin became sin, the Father could not be with Jesus Christ the Messiah during the final moment of the crucifixion.

Likewise, we now have been given ‘the key’ and with it comes responsibility, faith based abilities and glorious reality.

The old self has died, the new is following the Messiah. The prophesied deliverer of God’s people, both Jew and gentile.

Jesus Christ became our savior and paid the price for redemption. Through redemption we were declared righteous in our Father’s eyes. The relationship we were created for had been restored for those who believe.

And thus knowing, believe and accept through faith: We now have The Key.

Written by: Michael La Tulippe

I fell into a deep sleep after a long hard day; I was simply exhausted and was ready for a good night’s rest. I rarely dream and when I do, the moment I awake the dream is gone.  However, this night I’ll not soon forget.

I was fast asleep and was very relaxed.  Suddenly I realized that my exhaustion was my departure from the world.  I looked around and understood where I was: Heaven. I was surrounded in peace and love.  I felt very much at home and relaxed and as I looked I was in a stadium. Puzzled, I turned and asked a person in the crowd.  The individual greeted me with enthusiasm and told me his name. “Hello,” he said with a firm handshake “my name is Paul and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Paul exclaimed “We’ve been watching you and are so glad to finally make your acquaintance.” I was in astonishment and asked “Is this Heaven?”  Paul responded with a hearty chuckle and stated “Yes, it is.” “Why am I, how could I, what happened?” I had so many questions. Suddenly there was a loud trumpet blast and I heard a voice yell “Play ball!”

I turned my head and as I looked, the stadium which I was seated in was over a large opening with a perfect view of a ball game held in an earthly setting.  I have never really had much interest in baseball, however, I decided to watch and ask questions later. The teams had uniforms which I could not distinguish quite clearly. Something look different; there was…there was only one team I thought?  Curiouser and curiouser I watched on.

The first batter was up and I looked to see the pitcher (sorry I did!), a hideous monster wearing the number 666.  Never have I seen such evil, yet I had no fear. The first up was Christian, a strong bible scholar who lived and proclaimed the gospel.  The pitcher through a wicked curveball; and Christian let it go by; “Ball” the umpire cried. Next a fiery fast ball literally screamed toward the plate. With quick a firm footing in the Word Christian blasted through splintering the bat.

The ball was going, going, gone, “Homerun!” shouted the umpire.  Never have I heard such an evil hiss. Looking on I realized the stadium on earth was packed with demons. These demons I noticed entice the players to indulge in desires of the flesh. To my dismay, some partook and when their turn came to the plate, they would strike out.

I asked Paul why I was seeing this and his response dropped my jaw. “You played this” he said.  “Paul, I exclaimed I don’t really like baseball.” The spirit stirred within me and I heard a voice saying this is merely a metaphor.  Yet, my attention was fully gained and my questions were being answered.

Verse after verse I recalled from my upbringing and my education.  I watched on in astonishment as those who appeared to be wearing jerseys “Lukewarm” in their Christian walk took the plate and prepared for what was thrown at them.  Those who were not firmly grounded in the Word of God, hit fowls, struck out, or would try to bunt to no avail. As I looked on, I was horrified as those that didn’t do so well at bat were quickly ushered away with temptations and they fell victim to desires of the flesh.

“Paul,” I exclaimed “you wrote about this in Galatians Chapter 5.”  

“Well done”, a thunderous yet kind, encouraging, and loving voice stated. Paul spoke “Yes, you are correct.”  

“Paul” I said, “If I may, you also warned that those who do such things do not inherit the kingdom (v.17-21).”  

“Yes; I am glad you took to heart that which was proclaimed to me by the Holy Spirit.” Paul stated.  

I looked and saw another with the jersey ‘Lukewarm’, I don’t like that phrase.  “Neither does Luke”, a voice stated, “Good one James”, “Come on”, one of the apostles stated, “Let’s watch”.

I noticed I was sitting with the Apostles and the entire stadium where I sat was made up of Angels. As the batter approached the plate, he looked up and as I gazed at his face I awoke.  What could this mean I pondered and prayed. “Holy spirit, I am asking for your counsel, I need to know what this dream, this vision I saw, what this possibly meant?”

I soon began to realize through a divine intervention with the holy spirit and understanding, I was watching my life. Despite what I thought was me doing the right and living accordingly, there were areas in my life which needed to be addressed. Those desires of the flesh, those temptations to sin, needed to be exposed and gotten rid from my life. I again went into a dream like state and addressed those demons which caused me to stumble.

Now more I boldly stated, I am a child of the King and I serve a risen savior.  The demons hissed and taunted me. I began to proclaim victory in the name of Jesus and told the demons that there was no weapon formed against me as stated by the Prophet Isaiah. I watched as the demons began to puff their chest and drooled an acidic saliva which burned on them and scorched the earth.

I continued to quote scripture and gained confidence in faith and promise of the kingdom.  Again, I heard the loud thunderous voice stating “Well done” and the voice continued “my good and faithful servant.” The voice was my Heavenly master and I knew my trials and tribulations were molding me and making me into what my Father wanted of me.

God,

I thank you for showing this to me.  I have asked for dreams and visions and I have been asking to hear from my Father.

I conclude this revelation with prayer,

Thank you, Heavenly father for teaching me what I need to know.

Thank you, Father, for showing me, just where I need to grow.

Dear Jesus keep me on the path and doing right in the Father’s eyes.

Holy spirit, I pray, my knowledge will continually be on the rise.

Lord God, I do love you so and asked forgiveness when I falter.

At the foot of the cross, you oh sweet Jesus paid my price on His altar.

I will forever proclaim your name and trust in you

In Jesus’ Precious Name Amen.

Written By: Michael La Tulippe

Love
When you hear that word, what comes to mind?
Just a four letter word; yet the power which a word has.
Love is the very essence of who we are. The very design of our being.
We were created in His image; Love.
As we go through the word of God; so much Love is seen.
Why do you suppose creation took place?

Love.
God created the earth and mankind; with a loving desire to establish a relationship with us.
The Father wanted a relationship with us, whom he Loves.
We are the Love of God; His first Love.

Throughout the Old testament we see God wanting a relationship. Desiring to have a relationship based on Love.

Throughout time we have see this relationship begin, we have struggle, and due to man’s free will and our freedom of choice; the one thing God desire fails for some.

Yet we see the Father’s continually pursuit to have a relationship with us.

When you read about tough times in the Bible; do you understand the Father’s Love?

As you learn of the prophecy of what would take place; do you see how the Father’s Love is present?

As we took place in the trial of Jesus

When we learned of the fate of the Son of God; again we see the abundance of His Love for us.

As we watched the nails placed in His hands and feet to hold Him on a cross; once again Love is evident.

We saw His head drop and the last breath leave.

His side pierced and the body of our Lord taken down and placed in a tomb.  Through all circumstances; despite the sadness.

We still felt His Love.

Jesus was crucified so that everyone; not only God’s chosen people, but everyone who desired a relationship with Him.

Our Access to the Father’s Love was established and through it we see, not only the Father’s Love, we understand unconditional Love.

Three days, He rose, victory over death, and all prophecy and scripture fulfilled.

And all because God first Loved us.

Love
So with this understanding of love; what one apparent difference can you see between God’s love and the humanistic love?

Remember God’s love is unconditional.

So why is it we need affirmation; why do we need confirmation of our love towards one another?

We all should know what the greatest commandment is.

– Matthew 22:37-39

37 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

38 This is the greatest and most important command.

39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Have you ever thought about God’s love?

God says “I love you” and does not have hear us say it back.

God does not say I love you, do you love me, do you, do you?

Our loving Him does not change the way He feels about us.

He loves us no matter what.

He may not agree with the choices we make or the lifestyle we are living.

However the Father loves us.

He cares for us and desire a relationship with us.

In order to love God, He must be His Everything as He is our everything.

Our lives need to be His, our thoughts are Him, and our actions reflect Him.

But,

you say….

But I’m scared, I am worried I’ll stand out, I’m concerned I’ll be persecuted and not accepted.

We have fear which our enemy feeds on and attempts to put a wedge in our relationship with the Holy Father.

Don’t be discouraged

– 1 John 4:18-19

There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us.

Understanding Love; we are given knowledge which assures us God is in control.

To quote/re-word some lyrics from a popular song by Kristian Stanfill:

One Thing Remains

His love never fails, His love never gives up
His never runs out on me.
His love never fails, His never gives up
His love never runs out on me.
His love never fails, His love never gives up
His love never runs out on me.
His love
On and on and on and on His love goes
Yes His love overwhelms and satisfies my soul.
And I never, ever, have to be afraid (No fear)
‘Cause this one thing remains.
His love never fails, His love never gives up
His love never runs out on me.
His love never fails, His love never gives up
His love never runs out on me.
His love never fails, His love never gives up
His love never runs out on me.
His love.

God’s love, true love, unconditional, and perfect.

Now hopefully we have an understanding of Love; perfectly.

Praise God!!!

In Christ,
Michael T. La Tulippe

Hope

– Hebrews 6:19

We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

I have always loved this song –

 

“My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

Lyrics –
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking, sinking sand.

Jesus is our Hope, our anchor.
With Jesus Christ in our life; we can weather any storm.

He is the rock of our salvation!

Our Hope; our strength to have confidence in knowing who we are.

God the Father designed us with a plan and purpose.

Our DNA is our Father’s DNA.
God’s information code is the essence of who we are.

His love is unconditional, He loves us so much and created us to have a relationship with Him.

Living according to the word of God gives us a commonality; we share in His wondrous attributes.

 

If I’ve not lost you up to this point, the remaining portion of this verse was somewhat puzzling to me.

This is where, we, His children can call on the Holy Spirit to fill us with knowledge.

The second half of the verse (Hebrews 6:19b) says –

“ It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”

It, what it? Our Hope.

Behind the curtain?

Remember in the old testament, the curtain in the temple separated us from God.

God was ‘behind the curtain’ or in the Holy place where only the high priest was permitted to enter.

However because of Christ’s high priesthood (Hebrews 2:17, 4:14) we receive the reason for our ability to approach God directly. Through Jesus Christ, our sins have been removed and we are declared righteous in the Father’s eyes.

Jesus is the founder of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10).

And that my dear brothers and sisters is the blessed assurance of Hope which we have been given through our Savior.

God is no longer behind the veil, but dwells among and in us who believe. Therefore we are seated in heavenly places with Him.

Praise God!!!

Written by: Michael La Tulippe

– James 1:2-4

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, (and sisters) whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Have you ever faced a difficult time in you life? Have you dealt or are you dealing with an out of control situation?

Do you consider those trials we all go through; pure joy?

Do we remain confident in our faith?

We should…

– John 16:33:

Jesus told His disciples

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Our endurance builds character through the testing of our faith.

– Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Wow!!!

What a glorious chain reaction we undertake when we keep our focus on God. When we have faith in the Lord God Almighty who remains faithful in His word.

So, we are to rejoice in our affliction. We know that these afflictions produces endurance. And our endurance produces, not just character….. Proven Character!!

Hallelujah!!

So, I looked at myself in a mirror and asked a question: “How is my character?”

Am I guilty of dealing with situation by grumbling, griping, complaining, whining, or any other human reaction which outwardly shows others no good character?

We have been designed, called, and chosen for God’s purpose. God has a plan, a glorious plan and purpose for each one of us.

We have been transformed and are a new creation through our Savior.

Jesus Christ has overcome, set us free.

Our lives should not be consumed with resentment for our past.

No more guilt, shame, condemnation.

The chains are broken, we have been given Hope.

An everlasting Hope.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The word of the Lord will never change.

We can assuredly:

~ Trust Him.

~ Have faith in Him.

~ Call on Him.

~ Rest securely in Him.

~ Believe in Him.

 

With this I began the process of addressing my character. Allowing others to see the change in me.

As a dear brother in Christ often states “When we are down to nothing; God is up to something.”

Written By: Michael La Tulippe