Saved by Grace not by works

Woke up this morning like any other morning, I pray, I get my bible and read a chapter or two. Today was somewhat mundane yet special. 
I came across one of my favorite verse in the bible. 
 Ephesians 2:8-9 
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.(NLT)
I know this verse by heart, the gift of Salvation! ... but this morning I got to notice the verse after.. 
Epheisans 2:10
 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
It explains the product after receiving the gift of Salvation through faith. "He has created us anew in Christ Jesus." Being re-created in Christ.. (or born-again, re-birth,etc) "so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." A plan He made, for His glory and I can be a part of, by being me.
So I am a new creation in Christ, I just do good works. Its my new nature now, nothing to brag to God about, not to myself and others. A revelation that I don't have to feel guilty if I have done enough. 
Have a great Spring season.. wohoo!! Its a new season..


 Has Christianity Failed You? 
Who Made God?: And Answers to Over 100 Other Tough Questions of Faith 
 

I have a choice to be Better or Bitter

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Great words of Paul... Delighting  in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. Not being bitter but BETTER! For when we delight in God's grace we are made STRONG (better).

Bitterness is neither consistent nor rational. A bitter person is his own worst enemy. It is very difficult to maintain any kind of relationship with a chronically bitter person; and bitterness is a major contributing cause of marital and family problems.

The Results of Bitterness

• Bitterness is antisocial. A bitter person is selfish, inconsiderate of others, withdrawn from society, indifferent or adverse to conformity with conventional standards of social behavior. Even strangers avoid bitter people, Prov. 14:10. No one is happy around bitter people.
  
• Bitterness is a sign of the fragmented life, Jer. 2:19.
  
• A bitter person rejects Bible teaching. James 3:14, "But if you have bitter jealousy and strife, stop being arrogant and lying against the truth."
  
• Bitterness shows total lack of grace orientation. A bitter person does not understand the Plan of God, let alone how it affects individuals. In Job. 9:17-18, Job's complaint against God. "Why does God let this happen to me", is a statement of bitterness.
  
• Bitterness accompanies the sin unto death, Job. 21:25.
  
• Bitterness motivates complaining, Job 7:11, 10:1. People who habitually complain are bitter people; they have no self esteem.
  
• Bitterness motivates gossip, Psalm 64:3
  
• Bitterness fragments other peoples lives. Heb 12:15, "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by it many be defiled.
  
• Bitterness is self induced misery, and it produces chain sinning. Bitterness is misery to others in the periphery. But two wrongs never make a right. You cannot build your happiness on someone else's unhappiness.

 FREEDOM

The Holy Spirit fills you and controls your life when you have no unconfessed sin in your life. You can trust the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you when you commit it, or even before. When the Holy Spirit in control, He produces His fruit (Gal. 5:12). The fruit of the Spirit does not include heaviness, bitterness, discouragement, disillusion, anguish, sadness, dejection, or loss of productivity. Consider these points:

o Love is free from bitterness.

o Joy pushes bitterness out.

o Bitterness can not coexist with peace in the soul of the believer filled with the Holy spirit.

o Longsuffering gives the ability to deal with bitterness and other troubles.

o Gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance are fruits of righteousness, which is divine good. Divine good takes the place of bitterness.

Friends we can choose Grace ... we can be better!

Motivation

The definition of motivation is to give reason, incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain behavior. To empower you and set you on track to achieving your goals.
There are 2 ways to motivate us:
1.Mastery- the more we practice and master our skills the more we will enjoy and have fun. We can experiment, be creative and grow in what God has already given us.
2.Purpose-   Mat 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

John 1:4 In Jesus was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
 Motivation and Personality Motivation and Personality 2nd Edition Psychology for the Curious: Sensation, Perception, Motivation, Emotion, Cognition, Brain and Behavior, Learning, Memory, Consciousness, Personality, Psychopathology, ... Psychology and Deviance, Scientific Method

Enjoy practice and be who God made you to be SALT and LIGHT to a dark hurting world!

Happy New 2011 Message

Before: "I long for the day when.... I reach my goals and aspirations."

I love to day dream and imagine where God will take me.. I hang on to one of my life verse .... Ephesians 3:20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
For years and years I hang on to "what I can think or imagine" as if God will magically make it happen. Its like some mantra I can conjure and create something out of nothing. However in the past few months I realize, the real work is knowing and trusting God Himself. The context of Paul’s prayer is found in the previous verses Ephesians 3:14-19  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now: "I am here today excited and trusting the One who is truly in control"

Psalm 119:105 Your word is like a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.  God will show a glimpse of a distant scene but wants us to live our life today. The word trust is believing yet not seeing ...Our LORD promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future.  We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow.  We only need to know that He leads us and we will find grace to help us when we need it.

I still believe in the destiny God has prepared for me, the good works in advance. I am super excited to work and plant on the ground He has set before me.

Happy New Year to all!!

Hidden Meaning .. Christmas Carol..

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. 

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love. 

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. 

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament. 

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation. 

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy. 

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes. 

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. 

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments. 

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples. 

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

 

by: Larvern Riley

True Faith

Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” James 2:18

At first glance, this verse seems to contradict Romans 3:28, “We are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

Deeper investigation, however, shows that the teachings of James and Paul are not at odds. While it is true that our good deeds can never earn salvation, true faith always results in a changed life and good deeds. Paul speaks against those who try to be saved by deeds instead of true faith; James speaks against those who confuse mere intellectual assent with true faith.

After all, even demons know who Jesus is, but they don’t obey him.

True faith involves a commitment of your whole self to God.

Laverne Riley

I always wondered why our famous nursery rhymes end in tragedy?

I always wondered why our famous nursery rhymes end in tragedy? 

I was reading this website http://www.rhymes.org.uk 

The history and origins of most nursery rhymes reflect events in history and where available we have included both the meanings, history and origins of everyone's favourite nursery rhymes. Two examples of these types of nursery rhymes history and origins are 'Ring a Ring o Rosies' which refers to the Bubonic plague and 'Remember Remember' nursery rhymes which allude to Guy Fawkes' foiled attempt to blow up the English Houses of Parliament! Many of the words and nursery rhymes lyrics were used to parody the royal and political events of the day, direct dissent would often be punishable by death! Strange how these events in history are still portrayed through children's nursery rhymes, when for most of us the historical events relationship to the nursery rhymes themselves are long forgotten! 

Here are examples:

Hush bye Baby

Hush a bye baby, on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock;
When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.   

London bridge is falling down

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair Lady.

Georgie Porgie 

Georgie Porgie pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play,

Georgie Porgie ran away. 

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses, And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again

Goosey Goosey Gander

Goosey Goosey Gander where shall I wander,
Upstairs, downstairs and in my lady's chamber
There I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs.

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up got Jack, and home did trot
As fast as he could caper
He went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.  

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo peep has lost her sheep
And doesn't know where to find them.
Leave them alone and they'll come home,
Bringing their tails behind them.
Little Bo peep fell fast asleep
And dreamt she heard them bleating,
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For they were all still fleeting.
Then up she took her little crook
Determined for to find them.
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they left their tails behind them.
It happened one day, as Bo peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by,
There she espied their tails side by side
All hung on a tree to dry.
She heaved a sigh, and wiped her eye,
And over the hillocks went rambling,
And tried what she could,
As a shepherdess should,