God's Masterpiece

I will disappoint you, because
I am sinful and flawed.
I will fail 

you at times,

because I am God's workmanship,
in progress. When He is finished with His
masterpiece you will see only Jesus. Right now,
because of the blood of Jesus Christ, the Father sees
 His children like His Son.  We are justified.  We are seated
with Him in the heavenlies. But there are parts of us that remain,
that do not image Him. The Father is sculpting, trimming away
those parts, changing us and shaping us into a perfect image
 bearer of His Son.  I will be your friend.  I will listen to you. I
will laugh with you. I will encourage you.  I will admonish 

you.  I will pray for you.  I will hug you when you are
discouraged, but Jesus loves you perfectly and
the One who loves perfectly, completely

satisfies. Look to Jesus for your

perfect satisfaction
and identity,
because, I will disappoint
and fail you at times, but Jesus never will.

Changed, or Not?

How do we know we have been changed?

Is it possible to know?

Yes...

"...for by what he saw and heard that righteous man (Lot), while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds."  2 Peter 2:8

Sin will torment us.  If we are comfortable, day after day with what God hates, with what clearly goes against His Word, we most likely have not been changed...

As we grow in our knowledge of Christ, so will our hatred of sin.  A simple truth, but it is also the difference between eternal, abundant life, and death.  The danger of not being in the Word on a daily basis, is that it causes us to get comfortable with sin.

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!  Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?"  

2 Corinthians 13:5

God's workmanship begins when we have repented and turned from our sin.  We have assurance that we are His masterpiece in progress, when our hatred and mourning over sin continues, and we continue to live a life of repentance and obedience.

Oh! Great is Our God!

Dear Blog Reader Friends:

If you haven't heard this song before, I think you are going to LOVE it.  Heard it for the first time today (and probably the twentieth time, too) and it's already now a favorite.  It's a great song to edit wedding pictures to. I did run into a bit of a problem, however...when your hands are reaching up to the sky...nothing is happening with the mouse...

Enjoy, and worship greatly...

Overcomer

Grace and Peace, Multiplied

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you

in the knowledge of God 

 and of Jesus our Lord."

2 Peter 1:2

Grace and peace have but one source, 

God.

Grace and peace are experiential, 

through knowledge of God.

When the sense of grace 

(God's unearned favor in our lives) 

and peace 

(God's tranquility in our hearts) 

ends,

we have stopped the pursuit and chasing after of the Father,

and Jesus.

The sense of grace and peace multiplies,

it grows,

it enlarges in our hearts and minds,

as knowledge of our Heavenly Father

and Wonderful Savior,

 is enlarged and grows.

As clean, pure water is vital to keeping a plant 

vibrant and nourished, 

so is being in the Word vital to experiencing God's lavish grace and sweet peace...have you had your soaking, today?

Daniel Turns Four

Adoring Christ

Worship | The Adoration of Jesus

The more we grow in our comprehension of the selfless, sacrificial love of Christ for us, the more fervent will be our worship and adoration of Him. I am convinced this is why we should pray Ephesians 3:17-19 for each other!

"...that you, being rooted and grounded in love (the love of Jesus), may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God."

The natural response to being filled up to all the fullness of God, is worship of God!  

Looking for God...by Chloe

One of my Awana kids had an assignment for one of her sections - to look for the character of God in scripture.  She wrote what she found down and gave it to me a couple of weeks ago.  I asked her permission if I could post it to my blog.  She said yes.  Here is what she came up with - I love my Awana kids...

God is an incredible Father.
He cares for us.
He will discipline those He loves.
Good and perfect gifts come down from Him.
His love is so big that we can be called children of God.
He knows what we need.
Jesus is God.
Jesus let the little children come to Him - that's because He loves them.
He fed five thousand people - that shows He cared for them.
Jesus cried over death - this shows that God is sad over death.
Jesus said that He was the Bread of Life - He taught people that He fed so that they might have eternal life.
God wants to have a relationship with us.
Those who are believers are allowed to become sons and daughters of God.
Jesus came to seek and save what was lost.
God loves everyone.
God provides for the birds of the air and lilies of the field.
He provides for them - we shouldn't worry.
God made us - He is the potter, we are the clay.
He is a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.
God will not change - other things will change, He will not.
He will always take care of us.

This gentle and sweet 12 year old, is well on her way to knowing God, and being changed into His image.