Are You "IN CHRIST?" - Devotional share

Good Morning! I truly didn’t intend on creating a posting in this blog today until I read this devotional that I get daily from David Wilkerson’s ministry. Although he has left this world to be with our Lord, there are many things that he writes about where I certainly couldn’t say it any better, so I want to share this one with you:

HOW CAN WE KNOW WE ARE TRULY “IN CHRIST”?
by David Wilkerson

(Please note: These evidences are contingent upon your first repenting of sin, forsaking all wickedness, trusting in Christ for eternal salvation, and allowing Him to translate you out of darkness and into His kingdom of light.)

1. You are in Christ if you are continually being renewed. Those who are "in Christ" do not rest on a one-time conversion experience. Rather, they constantly cry out to be changed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Their daily prayer is, "Lord, take out of me everything that is unlike You.”

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus 3:5-6).

2. You are in Christ if you govern your life by the Scriptures. Do you revere and fear God's Word?

"Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him" (1 John 2:5). The Bible makes it clear: We know we are in Christ if we love and obey His Word.

3. You are in Christ if your faith is mixed with charity. Scripture says if you do not have charity, or unconditional love, you cannot be in Christ.

"Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2). Nothing in Greek here means, "I am nothing now nor will I ever be anything." In other words, "Without unconditional love for all, I am a nobody and I will always be a nobody."

You can be a gifted preacher, a powerful evangelist, or an anointed teacher of God’s Word who walks in great faith, but if you do not have love for others, you are nothing.

May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!



 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and then some

Good Morning...Many Blessings...and a Great Big Merry Christmas to you all!  Christmas time is my very favorite time of year.  Even though I am reminded of all my loved ones lost I am reminded that I will see most of them in the future when I go to heaven because our amazingly merciful Savior was born!

I must share that although I am much better physically that I have been going through a spell of writer's block that the Lord and I are still working on.  I believe I have my answer and I'm moving forward.  My husband and I had our 22nd anniversary on Saturday and we're celebrating it tomorrow on His day off with a day out in Tampa, after I see my orthopedic doctor about my left shoulder.  I am expecting a good report. 

I am in the midst of getting our house back to a more normal state than 6 months of one armed cleaning.  I am leaving you with a list of my favorite Christmas songs & videos and I have several writings started that I plan on sharing with you all after the new year!

Mercy Me - What Child is This

Mercy Me - Oh Holy Night

Mercy Me - Gloria - with Christmas house lights, too!





Mercy Me - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - with Christmas house lights, too.

Kutless - Mary Did You Know

Relient K - I Celebrate the Day - Amazing perspective!

Sanctus Real - Silent Night

And, now for a few louder ones, you know, my heavier type of music (if you dare)!!

August Burns Red - Carol of the Bells (especially if you like drums)

Thousand Foot Krutch - Jingle Bell Rock

Little Drummer Boy - White Heart - One of my favorites for years



May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!

"Stand up for Sanctity" - plus update

Good Morning to you all! First I’ll share that I’ve been given some strong muscle relaxers that I cannot even take as often as prescribed because they knock me out. But, I do still have to take them as much as possible since I’ve had some trouble with cramping probably due to the sling being on for almost 5 months. Well, thankfully the sling came off as of last Tuesday. I am also enduring some quite painful therapy right now but it, along with many prayers, are causing my arm to improve with great leaps and bounds. So I am well on my way to full healing. Thank the Lord!

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On Facebook I used to only share the postings of others and the occasional blog post of mine. I never opened my mouth much at all, to most people anyway. Even though I’d heard encouragement numerous times on conservative talk radio to share especially with the politically undecided or misinformed along with those choosing not to vote at all, I still kept my mouth shut. Then I ran into a few posts that truly sparked “righteous” anger to rise up in me. It felt like I could hold my mouth closed no longer and I fought with this truly not knowing if it was right to speak up or should I ALWAYS keep my mouth closed? But then I truly believed that I was right in sharing what I did. What to do? And, in that way that I love ("coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous" -- unknown), I received a devotional that spoke right to what I was struggling with that was written by a minister who I truly respect:

“Stand Up for Sanctity
by Rick Warren
“Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.” (Acts 18:9b NIV)
As you are forming your worldview and searching Scripture for God’s truth on all kinds of matters, it’s important to understand God’s stance on the three most controversial parts of a Christian worldview today. I mention these three because they are the ones you need the most courage to speak up about. Why? Because not only will most people disagree with you about these topics; they will passionately argue with you. It takes an uncommon courage to stand up against that kind of pressure. There are a lot of parts of the Bible that people don’t have a problem with, like “You must help the poor.” Nobody disagrees with that. But there are three aspects of a Christian worldview that are hated by the world, and about which most Christians clam up. They are the areas of sanctity:
1. The sanctity of life: God has a purpose for every unborn child. God planned your life before you were born, before your parents were born, even before he created the universe! Psalm 139:16 says, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (NLT). We are to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves: the unborn, the 70 million Americans who would be here if they hadn’t been aborted. If I claim to be a Christian, then I must believe that every life is sacred.
2. The sanctity of sex: Sex is only for marriage. Sex was God’s idea. It isn’t dirty or wrong; sex is holy. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (Hebrews 13:4 NIV). God’s instructions never change: Premarital sex is unacceptable to God. Living together without being married is unacceptable to God. Adultery is unacceptable to God. Pornography and the objectification of women are unacceptable to God.
3. The sanctity of marriage: One man and one woman for life. That is God’s intended, original design. A lot of people ask, “Well, what about all the polygamy in the Bible?” Not everything the Bible reports the Bible approves. It’s hard to think of a book that has more violence, greed, incest, and murder in it than the Bible. So why do we call it a “holy” Bible? Because it tells the truth. The humans in the Bible blew it as much as we do. The Bible is just reporting the brokenness of humanity. But God is very clear on the issue of marriage: “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh . . . So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate”” (Matthew 19:4-6 NIV).
There are many issues of life where people of good will can disagree. For example, there’s no economic recovery plan in the Bible, and Christians can disagree on that. But if you call yourself a Christian, you need to line yourself up with what God says about the sanctity of these three things. And you need to have the courage to stand up for them, even and especially when it’s not the popular or politically correct thing to do.”



And, especially when this election has so much between the selection of the person that you will vote for riding on these three things, I knew what God was telling me what I should do.

As I was working on this writing another instance came to my mind. I had a Facebook friend comment back to something I shared from someone else. It was about there only being One God. They asked me if I didn’t think that it was being un-neighborly to contest other beliefs? Well, I realized that at that moment God showed me truth. That it is more loving to help someone out of their belief in lies and share truth.

*Proverbs 3:3-6 “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

*Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Along with this, I must share that I have posted a few short things which I’ve later felt wrong about and I went straight to the Father for forgiveness. Just last week I noticed anger to the point of feeling like my eyes were bulging. I was reminded that I am the type of person who is very passionately emotional about things. My son teases me that I have weeping with those who weep down well. So, over the years I have learned to not spend too much time watching and listening to the news. My husband has shared most important information with me and/or I have watched some things but I really have had to watch the time spent. For instance, my husband has actually turned off the TV when he found me crying with Katrina survivors even to a couple of weeks after the Hurricane hit. And, when I first noticed this I’d sat in front of the TV watching the reports of 9-11 for three solid weeks with tears in my eyes. A psychiatrist spoke up on TV about spending too much time paying attention to this disaster. Ever since I’ve known that I had to not get so involved with these things. My heart just literally breaks for people and it seems that I end up no good for anyone. As with all things, moderation is the key! I have also learned to pray, pray, pray as this truly helps me to stop feeling so helpless to help all these people. So when I saw myself getting unruly with my posting I realized I needed to break away from it all and have not been spending so much time since. I hadn’t even been taking my medication as often as I should. Thankfully it only took me a few days to slow down! Thanking and praising His name the whole way! God is in charge and ONLY by keeping Him at the center and the pilot of my life, can I be truly the person that He wants me to be.

Video share:  I love this song -- so profound -- so thought provoking!  See if you know what it's about, then after the video you'll be able to read what it is about.

"McNevan explained the song's meaning to NewReleaseToday: "This song is about someone speaking to their addictions and written from the point of view of me describing it in a dream. When I picture us singing this chorus together, speaking to our addictions, mountains and vices, it gives me chills. It's the scene in the movie when someone walks out of the darkness into the light." 
 Still, one of the main reasons that I mostly love the music that these Christian hard rock or Christian heavy metal bands play -- They all mostly testify to the truth and positivity of the Lord Jesus Christ as with other Christian bands, but they are a reminder to me of what God brought me out of. Even though it was 24+ years ago, this music keeps it fresh within my mind and I’m best at testifying of Him if I always have a fresh remembrance of Him and how I owe Him ALL OF ME!


May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!