believe

Heaven Came Down

I woke up earlier this week with this lovely hymn on my mind. I haven’t sung it for years and years, and yet I remember the words so well. That’s true of many of the precious hymns I sang as a child.

I felt compelled to hear it and learn about its history, and while searching I found this wonderful blog by a fellow believer. I haven’t been able to contact him, but I am sure he won’t mind me sharing this link to Barry’s Hymns, which he has been writing for many years. There are so many, and he shares his thoughts and the stories of each one. Here is what I found:

Heaven Came Down. These are words to the song:

(1) O what a wonderful, wonderful day-Day I will never forget; After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met. O what a tender, compassionate friend-He met the need of my heart; shadows dispelling, With joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart!

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, When at the cross the Savior made me whole; My sins were washed away, And my night was turned to day-Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!

(2) Born of the Spirit with life from above into God’s family divine, Justified fully through Calvary’s love, O what a standing is mine! And the transaction so quickly was made When as a sinner I came, Took of the offer Of grace He did proffer-He saved me, O praise His dear name!

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, When at the cross the Savior made me whole; My sins were washed away And my night was turned to day-Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!

(3) Now I’ve a hope that will surely endure after the passing of time; I have a future in heaven for sure.There in those mansions sublime. And it’s because of that wonderful day When at the cross I believed; Riches eternal And blessings supernal From His precious hand I received.

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, When at the cross the Savior made me whole; My sins were washed away And my night was turned to day-Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!

You can listen to it here.

This song also reminds me of the angel’s declaration, when He and Heaven came down:

“Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared in radiant splendor before them, lighting up the field with the blazing glory of God, and the shepherds were terrified! But the angel reassured them, saying, “Don’t be afraid, for I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard! And it is for everyone everywhere! For today in Bethlehem a rescuer was born for you. He is the Lord Yahweh, the Messiah. You will recognize him by this miraculous sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in the feeding trough!” Then all at once in the night sky, a vast number of glorious angels appeared, the very armies of heaven! And they all praised God, singing: “Glory to God in the highest realms of heaven! For there is peace and a good hope given to the sons of men.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭14‬ ‭TPT‬‬

As I reflect on celebrating the birth of Jesus next week, I am keenly aware of His great love for all of us. My prayer for all of us is that He will reveal more of who He is and how very much each one of us are deeply loved by Him. That in knowing His love, it will be revealed through us and our world will be impacted.

Waiting. Hoping. Expecting.

He is God, He is faithful, and He is unfailing. He is good and His mercies endure forever. That’s why I/we can and must believe, wait, hope and expect the Lord.

Wave Walkers

Last weekend I attended a women’s event at Crossfire Church. My dear friend, Pastor Judy Hemmila and her daughter, Tammy Trent spoke.

God knew I needed it, and he met me there. I am being very transparent in writing this, in hopes that someone else will read this and be encouraged.

I had recently received news about my husband’s health, and honestly I was struggling to continue to stand in faith. It will be 5 years in November since he became ill. Through prayer and faith he gained back much of what had been lost, but this news from the doctor made my heart ache. I was shook up thinking of what things were like 5 years ago and not wanting to go through it again.

So, back to the meeting, and what helped me to regain hope.

The message: Wave Walkers

“Peter shouted out, “Lord, if it’s really you, then have me join you on the water!” “Come and join me,” Jesus replied. So Peter stepped out onto the water and began to walk toward Jesus. But when he realized how high the waves were, he became frightened and started to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he cried out. Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and lifted him up and said, “What little faith you have! Why would you let doubt win?” And the very moment they both stepped into the boat, the raging wind ceased.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭28‬-‭32‬ ‭TPT‬‬

“Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation. I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.’ I am Yahweh, your mighty God! I grip your right hand and won’t let you go! I whisper to you: ‘Don’t be afraid; I am here to help you!’”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬, ‭13‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Tammy shared:

God was there…and is now.
Never mistake your numbness for his absence.
Stay anchored. Keep going back to the Word, what he as promised, what he has done.
He is the way out.
His intentions are good.
We need his blueprint and his vision. His Direction – Deut 2:3.; He is doing something new – Isa. 43:18-19; His promises are Yes and Amen – 2 Cor 1:20

Judy shared:

What are you rooted in that will help you weather the storm?
Where are we right now in the waters of life – head above? Or below? He keeps us from drowning.
Stay focused on Jesus! With Him all things are possible.
Don’t let your reasoning block you from experiencing the will of God.
Doubt is a friend to unbelief.
Let’s stop looking at what is pulling us down. And look at what is pulling us us up — the Word. (My add – the Living Word, He is Jesus, who loves me unconditionally, who NEVER leaves or forsakes me.)

I know they said much more, but these are the words that reached in and pulled me up, back into the place where I could once again breathe the air of faith.

Their words of faith, and both Judy’s and Linda’s prayers helped me to regain hope, faith, and trust in who He is always – a faithful God.

If you are struggling today, I speak the name of Jesus over you. Close your eyes and whisper His name. As you do I pray that you will sense His presence, reach out to Him and let Him fill you with the peace that only He can give. Know that He loves you, sees you, and cares deeply for you.

All Scripture quotations are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

Faith’s Gift

I am sure you’ll be blessed by reading about Faith’s Gift. I am republishing it with permission of the author, who is a dear friend that I met while in Israel in 2019. Lori wrote a series of books that get right to the heart, I’m sure you’ll enjoy those, too. You can find them through https://wor dscroll.org/ or https://nationofwomenpublishing.com/.

Faith’s Gift

https://wordscroll.org/

The Holy Spirit, He Will

What should we expect as believers in Jesus Christ? Here is part of what He said. Set your faith, your expectation to believe what Jesus said the Holy Spirit will do. Take hold, and receive it! It’s for you, He is for you.

But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. [14] He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you. [15] Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.

John 16:13-15 AMPC

I Hear The Lord Saying, I will

Miracles for Two Women

Luke chapter 1 includes the powerful, miraculous stories of two women and Moms-to-be. What they have in common is their belief in God, that He will fulfill his promises.

We can have that in common too!

What things has the Lord spoken to you? Put yourself as the “she” in this verse. Be encouraged, believe that He is who He says He is and will do what He said He will do.

‭Luke 1:45 TPT‬
Great favor rests upon you, for you have believed every word spoken to you from the Lord.”

‭Luke 1:45 AMPC‬
And blessed (happy, to be envied) is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her from the Lord.

Because His Heart Was Focused

Let this Saturate Your Heart

I am reading, Some Days You Dance, by Vikki Burke. It is really ministering to me. I wanted to share it with you, so I contacted Vikki and she graciously agreed to ket me share a bit.

Let this sink in, my friend. Think about it until it saturates your heart. God doesn’t love us in spite of ourselves. He loves us because He knows who we were truly created to be. He loves us because He can look beyond the temporary effects of sin and see us through His plan of redemption, restored to our original condition, crowned with glory and honor, exact duplicates of Himself with whom He can walk and talk and fellowship on His own level.

Even before we were born again, God saw in us the children He always dreamed of. He saw in us the most magnificent, God-like beings ever created; men and women so divine that on the day God made them, all of heaven caught its breath in awe.

Wow! I don’t think I have ever heard it said better. I’ve read and thought about it several times, and I am working to “saturate my heart” with it, as Vikki recommends. And, I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book.

Interested? You can purchase it and her other books from DennisBurke.org, on Amazon, or from a number of websites that sell books.

As it says in Ephesians 1:4 (TPT),

‭‭And in love, he chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.

Oh how He loves you and me!

Choosing Peace

Sharing some thoughts about His peace with you has been on my heart for a few weeks, particularly with all that’s going on in the world thesse days.

If you are feeling anxious, fearful or stressed, I hope you will be encouraged by this good, good news!

You get to choose: No Jesus — No peace, OR, Know Jesus, Know Peace!

How do I/we choose peace?

The 1st step is to ask Jesus to come into your heart, to be your savior and Lord.

The next step is to get to know Him through His Word — and to choose to trust and believe that He is who He says He is, and that His Word is truth.

Then when a fearful or anxious thought comes, you fight that thought with truth the truth. You remind yourself of who He is and that you are His.

Next, read and personalize scriptures, speaking and applying them to yourself. Here are some examples:

Isaiah 9:6, says that Jesus is The Prince of Peace.

John 14:27 TPT says, I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!

Philippians 4:6 TPT says, Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life,

1 Peter 5:7 TPT says, Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you.

One of my favorite scriptures is found in Isaiah 48. It reminds me of who He is, and that is teaching me and leading me.

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.
Isaiah 48:17 NLT

My prayer for you is found in Romans 15:13 TPT, It says, Now may God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!

Be encouraged dear one. Oh how He loves you and me!

Absolute Stillness

I am thinking about what that means tonight. What comes to mind is that there is absolutely no movement or effort on my part, I am in a place of complete trust and rest. Oh, the Father and our precious Savior know how much it’s needed. And I am grateful.

I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me. Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me. For he alone is my safe place. His wraparound presence always protects me as my champion defender. There’s no risk of failure with God! So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me? God’s glory is all around me! His wraparound presence is all I need, for the Lord is my Savior, my hero, and my life-giving strength. Trust only in God every moment! Tell him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to him. Believe me when I tell you—he will help you! Pause in his presence.
Psalms 62:5‭-‬8 TPT

A Joyful Expectation

I recently sold a cute little purple scooter to a young mom and I’ve been thinking about the reaction of her lttle girl. Apparently there was a discussion between the mom and daughter before the arrived, because she jumped out of the car, looking for her surprise. Her mom said something like, “now wasn’t that a nice surprise?” The little girl stood at the end of the drive waiting for me to bring it to her. I couldn’t see her smile because both hands were over her mouth, but the twinkle in her eyes gave away her delight.

I was reminded that we are the children of a good, good Father. Of how Jesus taught the importance of child-like faith — and that its the delight of a daddy (or mommy) to give their children good gifts. That’s how God is too. He wants to bless us, but to receive from Him we must believe Him — Have faith in what He says. Hebrews 11:6 makes it clear:

And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 TPT

And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.
Hebrews 11:6 CJB

I can imagine how very sad the mommy would feel if her little girl didn’t believe there was a surprise for her, if she doubted her mommy (who loved and cared for her all the time) and just sat in the car. I never want to act or react in a way that would make God feel that way.

Instead, when I face challenging circumstances and even I can’t see or know what’s next… I will remind myself that He is love, His child and that He loves me. I will trust Him, believe that what He says in His Word He absolutely means. I will remember that He is faithful and that He rewards those who seek Him.

Oh dear ones how deeply loved you and I are by God. Let’s thank our good, good Father, Let’s give Him the gift of faith and please Him by trusting Him. Let’s live with a joyfilled expectation of experiencing His goodness! And let’s praise Him with these words of King David:

But in the day that I’m afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart. What harm could a man bring to me? With God on my side, I will not be afraid of what comes. The roaring praises of God fill my heart as I trust his promises. You’ve kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You’ve stored my many tears in your bottle—not one will be lost. For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance. The very moment I call to you for a father’s help the tide of battle turns and my enemies flee. This one thing I know: God is on my side! I trust in the Lord. And I praise him! I trust in the Word of God. And I praise him! So I’m thanking you with all my heart, with gratitude for all you’ve done. I will do everything I’ve promised you, Lord. For you have saved my soul from death and my feet from stumbling so that I can walk before the Lord bathed in his life-giving light.
Psalms 56:3‭-‬4‭, ‬8‭-‬10‭, ‬12‭-‬13 TPT

Here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Don’t give up; don’t be impatient; be entwined as one with the Lord. Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope. Yes, keep on waiting—for he will never disappoint you!
Psalms 27:14 TPT

The Resting Place of His Love

I was reading Ephesians 3 in The Passion today, and the words in the title of this blog resonated within me. As believers, it’s our privilege, honor, and our responsibility to live by faith. The Bible says more than once that “The just shall live by faith.”

You’ve probably heard that before, me too. But I had not seen so clearly before that living by faith, trusting Him, actually brings us to the place where the resting place of His love becomes the very source and root of our lives. Just as hope is an achor to our souls, our lives become rooted in rest, the resting place of His love.

Once again, I am learning more about rest, His rest, and the deep and wide impact of choosing to remain in rest in Him. And that everything that God asks us to do has a benefit. He is such a good, good Father.

Oh dear ones, how He loves you and me. The enemy of our souls would have us live distracted, anxious lives. Let us instead turn our faces to Heaven, and to Him, and believe and receive these words of Jesus:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation].
Matthew 11:28 AMP

His Perfect, Unlimited, Enduring, Endless & Extravagant Love

So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth.

And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power.

Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.

Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions.

How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!

Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.

Ephesians 3:14‭-‬20 TPT

We see this word used a lot this time of year, particularly in Christmas movies. While I thoroughly enjoy a good Christmas story, they are not real or a basis for belief.

In reality, BELIEVE is a word to be treasured and meditated upon. What we choose to believe goes to the very core of who we are and it impacts our lives.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, what He says, what His Word says, and His promises are the anchor of my soul. In good times, in stormy/hard times and every other time, I choose to stay anchored, believing that He is the way, the truth, and the life.

Storms may come, but He is a good Father, perfect, never changing, so this is what I BELIEVE:

Jesus explained, “I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life. No one comes next to the Father except through union with me. To know me is to know my Father too.
John 14:6 TPT

…I am the Resurrection, and I am Life Eternal. Anyone who clings to me in faith, even though he dies, will live forever.
John 11:25 TPT

My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me. I give to them the gift of eternal life and they will never be lost and no one has the power to snatch them out of my hands.
John 10:27‭-‬28 TPT

A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow! I am the Good Shepherd who lays down my life as a sacrifice for the sheep.
John 10:10-11 TPT

“I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!
John 14:27 TPT

For the Father tenderly loves you, because you love me and believe that I’ve come from God.
John 16:27 TPT

We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold,
Hebrews 6:19 TPT

So now wrap your heart tightly around the hope that lives within us, knowing that God always keeps his promises!
Hebrews 10:23 TPT