Fight The Good Fight

 

1 Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

Paul's words to Timothy here speak to me as if he were telling them in this day and time.  Keeping our faith strong and on the right track in this tainted world is truly a daily fight.  We are faced with challenges big and small that undermine the validity of our faith in Him who made us and calls us to be His very own.  From the concern for not offending others who aren't like us, to the outright violence celebrated in TV Shows, movies and even on the evening news, there are millions of walls in our way towards taking hold of the life which God has called us to.  We need to keep Paul's words in the forefront of our minds so we can remember that we are not the only ones to have been called to action.  We're just in for the next round of a struggle that has been going on for thousands of years.  So put up your dukes my brothers and sisters in Christ!  Let us band together as an army of His children and battle as one family for our right to believe!  Say the word prayer without fear, speak of being blessed not lucky, spend each day living for Him and in return God will arm you for this good fight so we can have the ultimate victory...eternal life with Him!! I pray this week that you will stay strong, fight the good fight and wear the armor He gives you to stand in battle.  I ask that we please continue to pray for Summer's healing, for our soldiers safety and for each other.  I am in daily prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord for your continued support of my weekly messages and ask the He may please surround you daily with His love, favor, blessings & protection.

Love through Christ,

Niki

Faith and Miracles

                      

I wanted to share with you two Quotes from "God Is In The Small Stuff"  By Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz authors of "Bruce & Stan's Guide to God"  www.bruceandstan.com which my mom had shared with me a while back:

"A spiritually mature individual places more importance on God's internal presence than on the world's external signs"

"Faith does not demand miracles, but often accomplishes them"

I like in the first quote how they tie together that when we mature spiritually,  we place more importance, more emphasis on feeling His presence within ourselves than on the external signs we see in the world, or that the world looks for to validate God's presence.  The second phrase I feel ties to the first one because though we are not emphasizing or constantly searching for those external signs, and our faith is not demanding miracles in order that we believe in our heavenly Father, we are still able to accomplish miraculous things simply by keeping our faith strong.  It is so easy to look at some big event and label it a miracle, for instance there was a skydiver on the Today show this week who's parachute failed to open and he went into a vicious spiral and even waved goodbye on his helmet camera knowing he was a goner...but he survived with barely any injuries!  No brainer! That is most definitely a miracle!  But what about the single mom who raises her children and among all the adversities she faces she is still able to instill God's love in them?  How about theinner-city teenagerwhose friends are all into doing the wrong thing but he stays in school, goes to college and attributes it all to God?  Sure, we can say as Christian that we cansee God's work at hand but the world would not count these or many other countless examples as an external sign, as a miracle.   Faith doesn't demand the big neon lights extravaganzas,  it focuses on God's internal presence and through that these smaller, sometimes unnoticed miracles are accomplished!  I pray that it is one of our daily goals as God's children to strive for spiritual maturity and faith that accomplishes undemanded miracles.  I ask that we please continue to pray for Summer's healing, for our soldiers safety and for each other.  I continue to pray thanksgiving to our Lord for your continued support of my email messages and that He may please surround you each with His love, favor and blessings.

Love through Christ,

Niki

 

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God IS Love & Love is from Him

Happy Valentine's Week to one and all!!!

I woke up this morning thinking about a lot of things but it wasn't until I almost started typing about another topic that it hit me - Valentine's Day is FAST approaching!  Man, I am so not ready! I don't want to get into Valentine's history, the "Hallmark" aspect, traditions, my lack of planning...what I do want to touch on this week is the one thing that most of us first think of when we think of February and Valentine's Day...LOVE!

        Living for

  Others

Very

                 Enthusiastically!

I Corinthians 13:4-7 & 13 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Whether our special "valentine" be our spouse, our child(ren), close friends and/or family, love is the key isn't it? When we view love the way the Bible shows us in I Corinthians it takes on a whole other meaning...love is so many things but ultimately it is from God!  God grants us love, the ability to give it and receive it.  I once had someone tell me to read the above passage but everywhere the word LOVE came in, replace it with GOD.  Guess what!  No better yet, try it for yourself...go ahead. :0)

It still worksdoesn't it?  It is still a powerful message, isn't it?  Maybe even more so, right? God is major patient with us, He sent His Son to save us and He patiently waits for us to get it...then when we stumble and fall after we got it, He lets us repent and start all over again!  God is kind, He is generous with His blessings in our lives, right?  I could go on and on about each one but I won't...I will however discuss one more, "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." If God does this for us, and Love does this in general, then in love and by love and through love should we not be protecting each other, trusting each other, giving each other hope and helping each other persevere in our faith in Him who has given us this Greatest Love?!  I really hope you all don't think I am crazy when I get going on these weekly messages!  I am just telling you how I see it and what it means to me.  Maybe to you it means something different, maybe theologically it means something different...I am by no means a scholar!  I am merely a humble servant praying that I will be able to inspire others by His grace.  Praying too that maybe through these weekly thoughts others may in turn reach out and inspire and thus a chain of inspiration, and love, may by our Heavenly Father be born! Please continue to keep Summer and her family/friends in your prayers.  Let us all pray for our soldiers, they do not choose where they go to fight...but they do choose to stand up and fight for you and me and this country and what it stands for...One Nation Under God!!!  I personally pray for each of you every day that God would please surround you with His Love, favor and blessings...protections and deliverance.  I hope and pray that you have an awesome and blessed weekend and Valentine's Week ahead!!

Love through Christ,

Niki

 

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Prayer Heals

Greetings to one and all!!

James 5:15 "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven."

I do not think that I will ever stop being amazed at what the Bible holds for us.  Every time I want specifically what it says about a certain topic I do not find one but usually ten or twenty verses relevant to what I was searching for!  God blesses us is so many ways and prayer is a huge blessing!  I know I wrote back in my early weeks about how God answers every prayer and some of the ways He answers prayers and I do not wish to repeat myself...I am hoping to center more this week on how He allows us to use prayer to have His healing hand used in our lives or in the lives of those we love.  The above verse sums it up so well I am not even sure what else to say!  God has spoken to us here through the letter to James and showed us that He will heal those who are sick if we have faith in what we pray for.  Faith and hope are as in the Romans verse I quoted in Week 15, from Chapter 8 verses 24-25, "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." We can't wait until the healing has occurred to believe that God will accomplish it, we need to believe even in our lowest moments that the healing will happen because His Word and His promises are certain and sure.  He does not want us to suffer and He will grant us His healing powers through prayer all He is asking is that we believe Him and trust what He has promised us!  I know I am starting to sound like I think it is no big deal, piece of cake...but truly, especially in this day and time this is a big deal.  We are in a world that questions everything!  We need to not buy into that but rather buy into faith.  It will take a lot of prayer, maybe some queit study time in your Bible or maybe, hopefully, hearing it from me, but when we have that faith He will heal the sick we ask Him to.  Part of the reason I wanted to reflect on this topic today is because I had an amazing request this week.  A new found friend and sister in Christ was brought to me through my web site and she has allowed me to ask for your help.  Please join me in praying for our sister in Christ, Summer, please ask that God would heal her completely and bring her back from her coma to her loved ones.  Please also ask our heavenly Father to grant comfort and peace to her family as they remain faithful in prayer to Him as well.  My prayers for you each week always have me asking our Lord to please surround you with His love favor and blessings.  I also pray this week that He grant you the strength to believe His promise in faith and through faith as He will grant to you all that you may be needing. 

I hope and pray that you have an awesome weekend and week ahead!!!

Love through Christ,
Niki
***If you have special prayer requests please allow me to pray for you or your family/friends by leaving me a quick comment to this message***
 
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Walkin' In Son-shine

 

I John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Maybe it is just me but what I cling to here in this verse is the light and purity that God is offering each and every one of us through the blood of Jesus.  Powerful stuff here!  But we cannot claim that we are in fellowship or communion with Him unless we stop living in the dark!  The dark sinful places are not just physically important but we must also keep our minds, hearts and souls in His light as well.  I know I am still learning how, and still trying to fully live in the light and maybe I always will be learning and trying but that’s why I like the saying, “we are ever becoming Christian.”  It is be something we need to strive for everyday, something we need to take one day at a time but if we are to be in that fellowship with God and with each other then we need to continue to try.  To live by the truth, to live out of the darkness…I don’t think it means that we have to be perfect to be in fellowship with Him, He knows we are sinful and only Jesus is perfect…what I do think we need to do is repent as soon as we realize we’ve done something that brings us away from His light.  Then, by the blood of Jesus, we are forgiven and continue to be in His fellowship.  I believe to walk in the light is to give all of our effort into being a Christian, imitating Christ and repenting as soon as we know we have sinned.  The power of the blood of Jesus ishuge stuff!  It purifies us from ALL sin, no matter what we’ve done wrong in the past or how many times we’ve done it; Jesus’ blood has the power to purify us, to wipe the slate clean so really we have Son-shine!  It also says we will have fellowship with one another when we walk in the light.  I feel this is a very important key, because as Christians we all need each other!  When we ourselves begin walking in darkness we may not always find our way back to the light, we may not always know we have stepped into the darkness.  But if we can surround ourselves with fellow light-walkers, with others living in the Son-shine, then they can help us to see where the light is and how to get back into it.  Bottom line: God wants us to walk in His light with Him and He has given us the tools we need to accomplish it...we just need to reach out and accept them.  I pray that God's light surrounds you this week and that you are able to walk in the light with Him.  I keep you each in my prayers that God will surround you with His love, favor and blessings!  I also pray He protect you and deliver you from any darkness by the power of the Blood of His Lamb! 

Love through Christ,
Niki
***If you have special prayer requests please allow me to pray for you or your family/friends by leaving me a quick response to this message***
 
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God Calls, We Choose

Passage Ephesians 4:7, 11-13 "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.  It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

 

Wishes for a blessed and prosperous weekend to one and all!

We all know that we should never judge others, but I think that sometimes, especially in this overly politically correct world, we may forget the most important reason why we shouldn't judge...only God knows what each of us has been apportioned by Christ to do.  Each of us have been specifically called and appointed and given grace to do different jobs for Christ and therefore we are not equipped to judge whether other people are "living up to snuff" and furthermore we are not to worry ourselves with others in that way.  In that same way, we cannot judge our own lives by others either!  If we push ourselves and/or our families, children, spouses, etc to try to keep up with and live like others around us we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.  Ultimately, I think God wants us to not judge others or ourselves because He has important jobs for us to focus on.  It's my thought that He wants us to spend our time searching our hearts and souls for His voice which is telling us His plan & calling for our lives!  Then, as in verse 13, He wants us to "all reach unity in the faith!"  If we can attain unity in the faith then we can attain unity in the churches, all of them as one...then as one Body of Christ we can focus on serving God and sharing His love to those who have never heard it.  How exciting a prospect is that!  I am sure you are thinking, "wishful thinking there Niki," and maybe it is....sin causes the divisions in the church, it has always been the barrier that holds us back from "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" but we can choose to strive for less sin in our lives.  We have the power to choose whether or not to worship God, the power to choose if we will let Him lead our lives...the power to choose if we will follow His plan for our lives by living for Him and asking Him to grant us His wisdom so that we may know which way He is leading us.  I pray that we each may choose to ask the Holy Spirit into our hearts and minds that we may find quiet and peace so we can hear God's call.  My prayers are also for the Holy Spirit to guide every step of the way in your path appointed by Christ.  I hope you do not tire of hearing this for I never tire of praying it...I continually pray that God will surround you with His love, favor and blessings and that He protect you by the Blood of His Lamb, now and always.

Love through Christ,
Niki

 

***If you have special prayer requests please allow me to pray for you or your family/friends by sending me a quick response/comment to this entry***
 
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Jesus Stays the Same

Greetings and blessings to all!

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

This is so comforting to me!  The more I read and study my beloved Bible, the more pieces to the puzzle, so to say, I find.  God is all powerful, all mighty, all loving, Emmanuel - always with us…and SO much more!!!  In consistently reading the Bible you can see how He never left His people, He never forgot or went back on His promises, His word and His covenant.  When we believe that God the Father, the Son and the Spirit are all one and the same, the trinity, well then reading Hebrews 13:8 is very reassuring!  If He never left or forgot His people in the Bible and if He is the same always then He will never forget or leave us!  Maybe it is just me but I take GREAT consolation in this!  I feel a real peace in knowing that no matter what I am going through, no matter where I am and no matter if every person in this world has left me alone, my Jesus will never leave me!  I cling to that and when I feel all alone, or I start to worry, then I can remember that His promises, ALL of them, are not going to be broken!  The waiting can be tough, at times it can take us to the downright edge of sanity, but we need to remember He is the same God, the same Jesus now as He was then…the God of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David…He is our God too!  He hasn’t changed and when we remember that we can hope and have faith because He will work all things in our lives for good.  I know it’s true because my Bible says so! I am so thankful that Jesus is the same then, now and forever, and thankful that His Word, His Bible is certain and sure.  I pray that according to His promises He grant each of you protection and deliverance.  I pray that you may be comforted in knowing that the promises in the Bibleapply to you as He is the same God in the Bible, in today’s time and forever.  I pray thanks to our Lord that you continue to allow me the great joy of sharing my faith with you each week.  Now and always I continue to pray daily that God's love, favor and blessings may surround and protect each and everyone of you who is reading this message.

Love through Christ,
Niki
***If you have special prayer requests please allow me to pray for you or your family/friends by sending me a quick response/comment to this entry***
 
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