Tag: grace

Recommendation

Published on by katiesencouragementforyou5 Comments

This past year, many people have been suggesting that I watch the series:  The Chosen.  However, I grew up watching movies about Jesus–and while they were good, I thought this would be just one more like the others.

Recently, my mom started telling me to watch, “The Chosen.”  I don’t know if your mom is anything like mine, but my mom will suggest something, and then she will ask, “So, have you started watching “The Chosen”?  What do you think of it? “    In other words, she will follow through on her suggestion until her suggestion gets implemented, LOL,–so I started to watch, “The Chosen”.

I was pleasantly surprised.  It is not at all, like any show or movie I have ever watched about Jesus.  There is humor in it, but serious moments–great story lines–great character development.  This is really, really good.

Mostly, I love the character of Jesus.  I love ‘seeing’ the actor bring out the qualities that Jesus actually has: His grace, His truth, His kindness.His humanness, His divinity.

When I first heard Jesus say to me, “Follow Me”,  I was filled with wonder, and overwhelmed by His personal love for me.  As time went on, some of that wonder faded.  Life is hard.  I have grown tired.

This show, “The Chosen”–is reminding me of the days of my first love.  It is reminding me of the wonder of those days.

So I am recommending to all of you to watch the Series, “The Chosen.”  Apparently, people have been giving to Angel Studios, so that anyone, anywhere can watch this series for free. **What a wonderful thing.  God’s love is the only thing I know that is free–although it costs Him, His Son to make it available to all of us.  How fitting that the series that brings us this Good News–should also be free. Click here to go to Angel Studios to watch this and other things for free.

May we be encouraged!!

**. (f you already stream from Amazon Prime and Netflix–you can find, “The Chosen” series on them as well.)

Thankful

Published on by katiesencouragementforyou6 Comments

This week I had to go to the Dentist for a cleaning.  While there, and chatting with some other ladies, I was asked how many children I have.  I responded with, I have five, but one is in heaven.   This opened up the conversation–where I heard another lady tell me she had a child in heaven also, and then others started telling their tragic stories—an eleven year old killed while hunting, a car accident, a disease.   

Why am I recounting this—because tomorrow is Thanksgiving—the day we as individuals, communities, and a nation, give Thanks to God.   It is the time we recognise that God is God—the giver of our blessings, the giver of our lives–but is He also the giver of our trials, and the taker of life?    If so, why would we want to thank Him for that?   

Why would I want to thank Him for taking my son?   Why would others want to thank HIm for their trials, their diseases, the loved ones He has taken?  Why?

Wouldn’t we want to avoid this God, who can take from us our health, our loved ones, our very lives?

That is what many do.  They avoid God—thinking by doing this–that maybe He will forget about them—and they can avoid the pain of life.

Many wonder—how do I get on the good side of this God–so that I will receive good things from HIm?

Others say—it is not God doing these things to us—it is us doing these things to us—-we kill each other, we sinned in the first place–and this brought sin into the world—so now we have diseases, accidents and earthquakes and hurricanes and tornadoes.   God isn’t responsible for those things—we are responsible.

But what does God say?   He tells us quite clearly that He is sovereign over the affairs of men. He tells us that He is on the throne.   He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.   Yet He also tells us that He has given us free will.  We can choose to sin.  He allows us the consequences of our sin.  If we point a gun at someone else and pull the trigger and shoot–the other person will be shot.  The other person will pay the price for our choice.  

If we choose to drive recklessly, others may pay the price of our choice.  

This King of Kings, and this Lord of Lords—chose to reveal Himself to us—by coming down from heaven, being born of a Virgin, becoming a baby, living life as a humble carpenter, having a three year ministry, where he healed people with diseases, healed the lepers, healed the blind, set people walking again—-He touched the suffering and the downtrodden—-and then He died for us, and as He did so—He forgave those who crucified Him, saying they did not know what they were doing.

Jesus showed us a God who loves us, all of us–deeply—a God who suffers with us—a God who heals us—and He heals not just our bodies—He heals our souls.

He deals with our sin condition—-when He was crucified on the cross—He crucified all our sin on the cross.  We can now experience freedom from choosing to sin. When He rose from the dead, He showed us a God who has power over death—and that He will raise us after death as well.

We are not condemned by Him.  We are not judged by Him.  We are forgiven.

We are forgiven.

We have been given life—for all eternity with Him.  The One who loves us.  The One whose scars show us His heart for us. Our great, powerful God—is humble, gentle and loving. He is near to the brokenhearted. He is near to me. He is near to you.

But He will not force Himself upon us. We each need to choose Him. He says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.”… Rev. 3:20 Each person has a choice to make—will they let Him in? Will they open the door of their life and let Him in?

I let God in—and so…..

I am thankful!!  I am thankful!!  I am thankful to our God!!

May you be encouraged—during this season of thankfulness.

Grace transforms

Published on by katiesencouragementforyouLeave a comment

God, I’m on my knees again 

God, I’m begging please again 

I need You 

Oh, I need You  

Walking down these desert roads 

Water for my thirsty soul 

I need You 

Oh, I need You  

Your forgiveness 

Is like sweet, sweet honey 

On my lips 

Like the sound of a symphony 

To my ears 

Like Holy water on my skin  

Dead man walking, slave to sin 

I wanna know about being born again 

I need You 

Oh, God, I need You  

So, take me to the riverside 

Take me under, baptize 

I need You 

Oh, God, I need You  

I don’t wanna abuse Your grace 

God, I need it every day 

It’s the only thing that ever really 

Makes me wanna change  

Oh, it’s like Holy water on my skin 

Yeah, it’s like Holy water on my skin

I just had to lead with the lyrics to this song, Holy Water, by We The Kingdom.

They just encapsulate so much of my heart and soul—the utter need for God, His grace–and how, His grace is the only thing that makes me want to change.

I mean–I have been down the desert road—and I never want to be on that road again—and I think many of you know what I’m talking about.  It’s the road that says, if you do this, this and then this–then maybe you’ll be accepted and loved by God.   It’s the road of striving to reach God, by doing good things, and somehow always falling short.

God did not wait for us to be perfect—but He came to us.  He sent Jesus.  Jesus demonstrated the love and grace of God, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  

G  R  A  C  E     God’s    Riches   At  Christ’s   Expense.       G  R  A  C  E      

One of the leaders of We the Kingdom was an addict—and he shares that this song was written from that place–of calling out to God–and God responding with grace and forgiveness.

My husband and I both come from backgrounds where people have struggled with addiction. There is a reason why one of the 12 steps said that surrendering to God, and letting Him give one the strength and comfort to overcome is so necessary to being free from addictions. Grace is the only thing that makes us want to change.

So—enjoy this Song!!  May God’s grace and forgiveness flood our souls.   May we be encouraged and transformed!! 

We The Kingdom – Holy Water (Live Album Release Concert)

Embracing Joy!

Published on by katiesencouragementforyou2 Comments

Today, I thought, “I think I’ll call Marilyn today.”, and then as soon as I thought about it, I realized, “I can’t call Marilyn, she’s gone.”

Marilyn is my mother-in-law.  I say “is” because although she has passed on to the next life, she is still living, and we are still connected through her son.

Marilyn passed in the summer of 2020, at the age of 90.

April is Marilyn’s birthday month, so I find my thoughts going to her during this month.  I find myself wishing I could pick up the phone and call her.

She used to tell me stories about my husband, times when he was a baby, a toddler, a young child, a young man, times when I had not yet met or known my husband.   She was so proud of her son, she was so proud of her children.

My husband swam competitively in High School and College.  He was offered a full scholarship to Boston University to swim.  My mother-in-law did not think it was a good enough school for him so she had him turn it down.  She told me, this was a great regret of hers—as my husband went out of state to college, and he never returned.

She thought if he would have gone to college in Boston–he might never have left Massachusetts.

She loved her son and her grandchildren so much–she hated to be apart from them.

I used to tell her that if he had not left MA, he would not have met me, and she might not have any grandchildren.

She would then say, “That’s true, I never imagined him getting married at all.”

It’s funny the things we look back on and regret, and wish we had done it differently–things that in reality made us who we are.  Things that we learned from—some things we learned from to never to go that way again, and some things we reaped the benefits of those choices.

I’ve been learning about forgiving myself and others, and receiving God’s forgiveness.  Part of forgiving myself and others is realizing that my brokenness, my regrets, my scars—they brought me to Jesus in the first place for that forgiveness.  Jesus was broken, was scarred, was crucified for me and for you.

Jesus died for this forgiveness to be possible.  I have determined not to take this great sacrifice of His for granted.   I will ask for forgiveness from God, from others and from myself, and I will extend forgiveness to others and to myself.  

This is a time of new beginnings.  This is a time of hope and forgiveness.  This is Spring.  This is why we celebrated Easter.  This is Joy!!

May We be Encouraged!!

The Fixer

Published on by katiesencouragementforyou8 Comments

One of the hardest things about living on this earth is seeing the ones I love in pain, and suffering.

I want to fix it and make it all better for them.

When my children were young, it seemed that I could “fix” things for them. I could, “kiss” the boo-boo, I could nurse them back to health, I could plan an excursion for them, to cheer them up.

Not only can I not “fix” things for others, but I also cannot “fix” things for myself.

The following song has been speaking greatly to me these days, and I thought I would share the lyrics with you all.  These are the words that are really resonating with me:  There’s freedom in surrender.  Lay it down and let it go.

I love that contrast of words—freedom and surrender.  I want freedom—freedom from the trials and tribulations of life—from the problems of life—-I think most people want freedom.   However, the path to freedom is surrender.  It involves surrendering myself to God—I’m fine with giving Him, my problems—and surrendering those to Him—I’m not so good with surrendering myself to Him.  That is a spiritual battle—and involves fighting several lies.

These are the two biggest lies I fight:  God doesn’t really love me—-(I look at all the bad things that have happened in my life to confirm this lie.)  Therefore—I can’t really trust Him with my life.

The lyrics-–If your eyes are on the storm, you’ll wonder if I love you still, but if your eyes are on the cross, you’ll know I always have and I always will—–mean so much to me—because they help me to focus on the proof of God’s love for me.

“For God demonstrated His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

  God is perfectly just, and perfectly loving—all these things are found in the cross of Jesus.

He satisfied His justice– by Jesus dying to pay the penalty for each of our sins.   He satisfied the love He has for us—by Jesus dying to pay the penalty for each of our sins.  

When I start doubting God’s love for me, because of the storms of my life—I can fight those doubts by remembering the cross—God’s proof of His love for me.

So, enjoy this song—and be encouraged—for God loves us—He always has, and He always will!!

Just Be Held

Lyrics: Hold it all together

 Everybody needs you strong

 But life hits you out of nowhere

 And barely leaves you holding on

 And when you’re tired of fighting

Chained by your control

There’s freedom in surrender

 Lay it down and let it go

So when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far away

 You’re not alone, stop holding on and just be held

 Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place

 I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held

 Just be held, just be held

 If your eyes are on the storm You’ll wonder if I love you still

 But if your eyes are on the cross You’ll know I always have and I always will

And not a tear is wasted

 In time, you’ll understand

 I’m painting beauty with the ashes

Your life is in My hands

 Lift your hands, lift your eyes

 In the storm is where you’ll find Me

 And where you are, I’ll hold your heart

 I’ll hold your heart

 Come to Me, find your rest In the arms of the God who won’t let go.