Be My Valentine!

We all want to be loved – that is a fact of life.  The desire to be loved is universal.  It crosses all cultural, social and economic lines.  There is not a person in the world that does not want to be loved.  Some people pursue love and others let it come to them.  Some find love and others don’t. 

If you are like me, you have found that love disappoints.  Every single person that I have loved in my life has disappointed me; every single one.  And I know that I, as well, have disappointed the people in my life that have loved me; every single one.

In my quest to love and to be loved, I have found the perfect love; the love that does not disappoint.  It is my prayer for you that you have found this perfect love also.  It is my prayer for you that you know what love I am talking about.  It is my prayer for you that you have found God’s love. 

The Bible tells us what this perfect love, God’s love, looks and feels like.  God gave us the Bible, so that anytime we are in need of this perfect love, we can go to His Word and get a dose of it.  We can get a LARGE dose or a small dose of this perfect love, it’s up to us.  We can choose.  He doesn’t force His love on us, He allows us to take it as we need it.  He also allows us to ignore it.  Again, it’s up to us how much of this perfect love we let in to our life.

The more I read the Bible, the more I know how much God loves me and then the more I fall in love with God.  God fills up my love void with words like:

“God is love.”  I John 4:16 

 

“…His steadfast love endures forever.”  Psalm 136:26

 

“Never will I leave you nor forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”  Psalm 147:3

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”  Psalm 103:8

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  Psalm 103:11-12

“And we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...”  Romans 8:1

“You have not been given a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind.”  II Timothy 1:7

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

“God showed His love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8

“God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.”  Ephesians 2:4-5

“…nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:39

God loves me…..when people fail me, reject me, abuse me, condemn me, use me, despise me, hate me…..God loves me.  God loves me with a love that no human being can love me with.   God’s love is unconditional.  God’s love is compassionate.  God’s love is perfect.  God’s love is just what I need. 

GOD LOVES ME!

God LOVES Me!   God Loves ME!

GOD LOVES ME! 

God LOVES me so much He wants to fill my love void.  He wants to LOVE me however I NEED to be loved.  All I have to do is let Him.  All I have to do is surrender my love void to Him and allow Him to fill it. 

And I have done that.  I have surrendered my love void to God and He HAS filled it.  He has filled my love void by sending Jesus to die for my sin and by giving me a personal relationship with Him.  And then He further filled my love void by sending the Holy Spirit to live inside of me so that there is no room for a love void.  The Holy Spirit consumes me; He brings me peace, joy, comfort, guidance, wisdom, stability and so much more.  He also enables me to overcome my sin so that I can become like Christ, living in obedience to God’s Word and not on my emotions.   He gives me everything I need to know that I am loved, so that I can go out and love others, just like God designed me to do.   “We love because He first loved us.”  I John 4:19.   I can live out I Corinthians 13 because God loves me with a perfect love.

Love Void – we all have one.  Have you allowed God to fill yours?  He wants to, you know.  Whatever love you are missing in your life, He wants to give you that kind of love.  He wants to be your Valentine.  And He can do it…..He did it for me.  If He can do it for me, He can do it for you.  Will you let Him?

GOD LOVES YOU!

God LOVES YOU! God Loves YOU!

GOD LOVES YOU!

Encouraging You In Christ!

All Praise, Honor and Glory to God!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas from Encourage One Another!

 I love to read The Word.  One of my favorite verses is Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  As I was meditating on that verse the other day, I began to think about faith.  I thought about how it takes faith to believe that verse and apply it to my life. I began to think about the people in The Word that believed it, applied it to their lives and accomplished so much for the Kingdom. 

When God told Noah to build the arc, Noah believed that verse; with God he built the arc and saved himself, his family and the animals. (Genesis 5:14, 7:5)  When God told Moses to cross the Red Sea, Moses believed that verse; with God he led his people across on dry ground, saving their lives.  (Exodus 16:14 & 21)  When God told Joshua to march around the city for 7 days, Joshua believed that verse; with God he marched around the city and saw the walls fall, enabling the city to be taken.  (Joshua 6:3, 4, 20)  

When God told Mary, a virgin, that she would have a baby and name Him Jesus, Mary believed that verse; with God she gave birth to a baby, named Him Jesus and was a part of bringing our Lord and Savior into the world so that we would not have to die in our sin but receive eternal life.  (Luke 1:31, 2:7)

“…with God all things are possible.”  I had to ask myself as I was meditating, do I believe that verse?  Has my past experience with God proven that verse to be true?  As I meditated on all that God has done in my life, the answer to that question for me is, “Yes, I know that ‘...with God all things are possible.’”

I am so thankful this Christmas season that “…with God all things are possible.”  I am so thankful that what seems so impossible for man is possible with God.  I am so thankful that the “impossible” birth of our Lord and Savior to the Virgin Mary was “possible” with God. 

Are there any “impossible” situations in your life?  If so, I encourage you to surrender your life to Jesus and trust God for the impossible to become the “possible”.   Noah, Moses, Joshua, Mary…..all regular people, just like you and me, who surrendered and  trusted God for the “possible”.   It is my prayer for you this Christmas, you join the people in the Bible in surrender and trust God for the “impossible to become the “possible.”

 

Encouraging You In Christ this Christmas Season!

All Praise, Honor and Glory to God!

Wedding Bells!

I just came back from a wedding on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona.  When I received the invitation a week before the wedding, I was in Indiana and had committed to taking care of Ashton, my 4 year old Grandson, that weekend as his mom was going to be at a Christian conference in Chicago.  Being so far away and having a commitment for that weekend helped me make the decision that I would not be able to attend.  I declined the invitation and said that I would send a present. 

As I talked with Rick about the invitation and how much I wanted to go to the wedding, he encouraged me to pray about it and see if God was telling me to go.  He said he was good with me going.  As I prayed about it, I began to hear and see God opening doors for me to go.  Everything that needed to fall into place did.  Needless to say, I was thrilled.

Long story short…..Ashton and I flew into Phoenix for a 5 day stay with the wedding in the middle of the 5 days.   We stayed at The Encouragement House where my youngest son, Jared, is living.  Jared and Ashton were both so very glad to see each other and to be able to spend 5 days together.  Since Jared moved to Arizona a year ago, they have missed being in each other’s lives. 

 

The wedding was so full of joy for me.  The bride and groom so love Jesus and it was so much fun for me to be able to share in their special day with Jesus at the center.  There were many smiles and much laughter that day.  I was treated like family and was blessed to be able to share in the wedding by taking pictures of the celebration.

Someone once told me, “If God does something big in your life, tell everyone you know.”  So, I am telling you today…..God did something BIG in my life by opening all the doors for me to go to this wedding.  I received so many blessings and so much encouragement through the trip.  Jared, Ashton, and Jared’s girlfriend, Joey, were also blessed with their time together also. 

When I returned home and began to meditate on all that God had done, I was so filled with a sense of peace, calm, joy, contentment, thankfulness, happiness…..all gifts from my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  When I thought it would be impossible to attend this wedding, Jesus made it possible.  (“With God all things are possible.  Matthew 19:26)  Instead of relying on myself to make this happen, I simply laid it all before the Lord and allowed Him to open the doors that needed to be opened to make this wedding trip a reality.  I learned a long time ago that when I try to do things on my own power I mess them up, but when I allow God to work in my life…..the outcome is amazing. 

And that is what this trip was…..AMAZING!

Is there something in your life that you want?  Have you tried to get it on your own and it just isn’t working?  I encourage you to simply lay it at the feet of Jesus and allow Him to decide if it is God's best for you.  If it God's best for you, allow Him to open the doors to make it a reality.  God decided that this wedding trip was the best for me and He made it a reality.

Encouraging You In Christ

All Praise Honor and Glory to God!

 

I Struggle With Life At Times.....Do You?

I don't know about you, but I have lots of struggles in my life.  I struggle with relationships, priorities, finances, rejection, temptation and more.  This morning in my daily Bible reading God reminded me that I am not alone in my struggles. 

 

Of course, I know that the people around me struggle.  I see people every day on the news struggling.  I see people every day in my neighborhood struggling.  I see my friends and family every day struggling.  Life is just like that; full of struggles.

 

But in my daily Bible reading this morning, I saw that Jesus struggled too.  I never really thought about Jesus struggling.....after all He is God, right (John 1:1)?  Right.....but He was also man, and man struggles (John 1:14).

 

Jesus struggled with His family.....Mark 3:21 tell us, "Then Jesus entered a house and again a crowd gathered, so that He and his disciples were not even able to eat.  When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, 'He is out of His mind.'  Who was closer to Jesus than His family?  He struggled with them.

 

Jesus struggled with the teachers of the law.....Mark 3:22 tells us, "And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He is possessed by Beelzebub!'"  Who should have supported Jesus more in His ministry but the teachers of the law?  He struggled with them.

 

Jesus struggled with the very people He served.  John 6:66 tells us, "On hearing it, many of the disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?'  Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, 'Does this offend you?'.....From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him."  Who was closer to Jesus than His disciples?  He struggled with them.

 

Jesus struggled with temptation.  Matthew 4:1 tells us, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."  Jesus struggled.

 

Are you struggling?  Are you struggling with family?  Are you struggling with church?  Are you struggling with people you are trying to serve?  Are you struggling with finances?  Are you struggling with temptation?  Are you just plain old struggling?

 

If the answer to that questions is, "Yes, I am struggling!".....then you are in good company.....in the company of Jesus; the Jesus who struggled with family, friends, relationships, finances, temptation and more!

 

This Jesus, our Savior who struggled, knows your struggle.....He struggled with the same things that you are struggling with.  He knows what it's like to struggle.  Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin."

 

Jesus went to the Father when He struggled ("Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."  Luke 5:16).  Jesus saw victory over His struggles.  You can have that same victory over your struggles!  I encourage you to go through Jesus to the Father.

 

I encourage you to take your struggles to the cross and lay them at the feet of Jesus.  Cry out to Him, He understands and He wants to walk with you through your struggles.  I Peter 5:7 says, "Cast your cares on Him because He cares for You!"  Don't struggle alone.....go to The Word and receive the comfort that God wants to give you.  Isaiah 66:13b says, "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you." 

 

Let Jesus comfort you in your struggles.  Let Jesus care for you.  Let Jesus.......He's big enough!

 

Encouraging You In Christ!

All Praise, Honor and Glory To God!

 

 

 

 

"He's Dead, Sherry!"

I'd been hearing the lie for several days.  "He's dead, Sherry!"  "He's dead!"  I knew this would be coming; this heavy spiritual warfare that could absolutely incapacitate me, make me useless for God's purposes in my life if I would let it.  When my youngest son announced one day that he would be spending the summer hitchhiking to Alaska with a friend, I knew that this would come.

My God knew it too.  My God knew that I needed a weapon to fight it.  My God gave me a weapon that would give me the victory over the warfare when He gave me Philippians 4:4-7 which says, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Every time I thought of Jared I would use the weapon....."I rejoice in you, Jesus, I rejoice in you."  The weapon worked, the anxiety left, I was at peace.  And then it happened, God really began to stretch me.....Jared's phone broke and he wasn't able to get it fixed or get a replacement.  He crossed the US Canadian border and we lost contact with him.  Then the warfare really reved up and the lies increased.

I was having trouble sleeping at night because the enemy continually told me, "He's dead, Sherry.....He's dead."  For two weeks we had no contact with him.....I had to make a decision every day during those two weeks; was I going to believe the lie or was I going to trust Jesus and rejoice in Him?  I didn't know where Jared was but, I knew that God knew where he was.....  I chose to trust Him!  I chose to believe that His Word was true and that all His promises in it were for me and for Jared! 

Every time the lie came, I rejoiced in the Lord and gave Jared to Him.  I knew that whatever happened, God was there to walk with me and with Jared.  I wasn't alone and I knew that Jared wasn't alone.....God was walking with him also.  Every time I rejoiced in the Lord, I was flooded with "the peace of God that passeth all understanding."  No, the peace didn't make sense but I was glad for it, so glad! 

After a particularly sleepless night of hearing the lies over and over and over again, I was feeling very oppressed and then, in the twinkling of an eye, it happened.....my phone rang.  I answered it.....and it was Jared.  Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God! 

Are you hearing the lies?  Does the enemy want to take you out?  Are you feeling incapacitated?  I encourage you to Rejoice in the Lord!  I will say it again, Rejoice!  If you are hearing the lies, you have the enemy on the defensive.....he is worried about you.  He is worried about your power to take him out.  He is worried!  Praise God!  You are a threat to the enemy!  Praise God!

I encourage you to use your weapon, the sword of the Word!  (Ephesians 6:17)  The Word is there for you to fight the battles with.  God has not left you powerless, He has given you the victory!  Praise God!  Rejoice in the Lord!  Praise God!

Jared, on the left, in San Francisco

on his way to Alaska.

Encouraging You In Christ

All Praise, Honor and Glory to God!

"All Things Work Together For Good.....

to those who love Christ and are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28.

I think this is one of my favorite verses in all the Bible.  God has shown me over and over and over again the truth of this verse.  I always love it when He shows me firsthand the truth of His Word, and I especially love it when it is working for my good.

I have been struggling with pain in my hands for quite some time now.  I finally couldn't take it any longer and went to an Orthopedic doctor.  Unfortunately, the doc didn't have much good to tell me.  After taking X-rays of both hands, he informed me that I have Osteoarthritis in both thumb joints and he gave me two options:  Option 1:  Cortisone shots in the thumb joints of both hands which would give temporary relief, or Option 2:  Thumb joint replacement surgery where my thumb joints would be cut out and replaced with artificial joints which should give long term relief.  Ha!

Well, since I am not fond of pain, neither option sounded too good to me. Nevertheless, in my mind, I immediately chose the Cortisone shot option.  I knew it would be painful but also knew the pain would be fleeting, whereas the pain from the joint replacement surgery would be long-term.   Unfortunately, which happens so often with me, I did not convey this sound thinking and my conclusion to the doctor but, gave him a response that seemed to take him by surprise.  

After listening to him explain the two options to me, I said, "I'll do the Cortszone shots because I'm sure Jesus will come back before I need the thumb joint replacement surgery." 

Ha!  The doc just gave me a strange look and got really quiet.  I knew he was thinking about what I had said.  He then said, "The Bible says that no man knows the day or the hour when Jesus will return..........you will have the surgery!"  Ha!    

That was several weeks ago and I was able to enjoy relief from the Cortisone shots for about one week.  Then the pain returned in full force.

This past week on Friday, as I was preparing to leave on my mission trip with Fellowship's students ministering on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, I woke up in the morning with severe leg pains.  I knew that I needed to go to the doctor as I would be leaving town soon.  As I sat in my family doctor's office and listened to her talk about blood clots in the leg and how they can break off and go to your heart and kill you, I knew that I was enduring spiritual warfare meant to keep me from the mission that following week. 

Then she began to tell me about using an anti-inflammatory medication that could take away the leg pain and also help me with my hand pain.  Now that sounded pretty good to me, so I took the medication, went home and began to pray.  Praise God, over the weekend my leg pain had disappeared and my hands were better!

The spiritual warfare that the enemy intended to harm me, absolutely backfired on him.  Instead of the leg pain keeping me from my calling to facilitate a mission trip on the Navajo Nation, the medication intended for my leg not only helped me with the leg pain, but it helped me with my hand pain also.  I was able to have a great week with my brothers and sisters in Christ on the Navajo Nation encouraging and being encouraged through Christ.  All Praise to God!  I absolutely saw the scripture "All things work together for good to those who love Christ and are called according to His purpose." come true in my life in this circumstance.   What a mighty God we serve!  No other God can "use evil for good."  Genesis 50:20

The next time you are in a bad situation, I encourage you to trust that God will use it for your good if you truly love Christ and have embraced Him as your Savior.  Give thanks to Him for your situation (I Thessalonians 5:18), Praise Him for who He is (Psalm 150) and then wait for Him to reveal the good to you.  The good is there, you just need to wait for it to be shown to you.

Me and my helper during our mission trip at

Living Springs Church on the Navajo Nation

in Lybrook, New Mexico.

Encouraging You Through Christ!

All Praise, Honor and Glory To God!

Rejoice In The Lord...When?

I have been struggling with a situation for about a month and I now realize that the struggle could last indefinitely.  It has kept me awake at night when the thought of it pops into my brain.  All I have been able to do with the thought is to say, "I trust you, Jesus."  And then when the thought doesn't leave and I'm trying to sleep, I continually say, "I trust you, Jesus.  I trust you, Jesus.  I trust you, Jesus"...........and on and on and on.  I think you probably get the idea.  It's kind of along the lines of counting sheep.

Frankly, I haven't been too thrilled with the prospect before me of this lasting indefinitely.  I DO trust Jesus in my life but I really don't want to spend every night laying awake repeating this over and over and over just so that I can fall asleep.  You who struggle with a weak brain like me (that the enemy delights in turning against me), will understand what I am saying.    

Well, anyway, this morning in my daily Bible reading, God evidently thought I had enough and chose to bless me with a scripture that was intended just for me.  And I didn't even ask for it!  I love it when He does that!  The scripture was Philippians 4:4-13.  When I read the first sentence which says, "Rejoice in the Lord always." I immediately stopped and read it again.  "Rejoice in the Lord always."  Wow.....I thought.  There is way more than just trusting in Jesus when I struggle, I can rejoice in my struggle...........WoW! 

I continued reading, "I will say it again, Rejoice."  Boom!  It hit me again, I can rejoice in my struggle!  So cool.  Of course, in my 36 years of being a Christ Follower, I've read this verse before, but I evidently hadn't read it when I was enduring a struggle such as the one I am dealing with now.  I really had to sit and let that soak down into my soul.....meditate on it so to speak.  Even as I write this, I find myself still meditating on it.  That's pretty deep, at least for me anyway.  Rejoice always!  Always!  Even in the midst of a struggle!

I was pretty pumped after reading and meditating on that.  I then went back to the scripture and continued reading, "Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near."  Another WoW moment!  "The Lord is near!"  Well, if the Lord is near, of course I should be rejoicing.   There is nothing I want more in my life than to be near the Lord, and here in my face, is the Word saying that "He is near."  Woohoo!  He is near! 

Continuing on, I read, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the Peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  At this point I am thinking, that this is exactly what I am needing.....and I didn't even know it.  God knew exactly what I was needing and I didn't have a clue.  I realized that I couldn't even ask God for what I needed because I didn't know.  What a BIG God I have.  He knows my needs before I do and meets them when I don't even know to ask.  All I have to do is go to the Word when I am struggling and He will meet my need.  "And my God shall meet all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!"  Philippians 4:19

My conclusion this morning is:

PEACE will guard my heart and mind when I REJOICE always! 

That is what I'm needing right now; my heart and mind to be guarded with God's peace so that the enemy will not trample on them and that I can continue walking the walk as I follow my Master down His path.

It is my prayer for you that you also find Peace as you Rejoice always, even in the midst of your struggles.

Encouraginag You In Christ

All Praise, Honor and Glory to God!