Such Love

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) If you had to pick out a one word definition for “love,” what would it be? Since God is love, He demonstrated the best definition for love and this verse tells us what it is – “giving.” God so “loved” that He “gave.” He gave the best of all He had – His Son. He gave His very “self.” He loved us that much! Can you imagine giving one of your children to save the life of someone who was your enemy? We cannot comprehend that kind of love – a God on whom we have brought reproach, and on His name, and have been a part of those who crucified Him, (and still do with our rebellion) and yet He continues to love us.
“Neither death nor life, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:38-39). If you will read the entire passage you will see the many things that cannot separate us from God’s love: angels, principalities, things present, things to come, powers, height nor depth. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. God will not love us any less no matter how much we sin, and He will not love us any more no matter how good we are. His love is perfect and unconditional toward us. He wants to shower His love and good gifts upon us and to live with us forever. Who could refuse such love? I know nothing about the future but I live with hope for today and hope for tomorrow knowing that nothing can separate me from God’s love! I have found that to live in joyful obedience is a way to communicate my love to Christ.
SUCH LOVE C. Bishop That God should love a sinner such as I, should yearn to change my sorrow into bliss, Nor rest till He had planned to bring me nigh, how wonderful is love like this! That Christ should join so freely in the scheme, although it meant His death on Calvary. Did ever human tongue find nobler theme than love divine that ransomed me? That for a willful outcast such as I, the Father planned the Savior bled and died; Redemption for a worthless slave to buy, who long had law and grace defied. And now He takes me to His heart – a son. He asks me not to fill a servant’s place. The “Far-off country” wand’rings all are done, wide open are His arms of grace. Chorus: Such love, such wondrous love, such love, such wondrous love, That God should love a sinner such as I, How wonderful is love like this!

Change Me, Lord

“Be Imitator of God as dear children.” (Eph.5:1)

Nothing is quite so endearing as seeing a little girl dressed up with her mother’s dress, gloves, shoes and hat, pretending to be her mother. That is what God wants us to do – to imitate Him. How in the world can we imitate God? As His children His genes make up our spirit. His royal blood runs through our veins; He has made us kings and priests (Rev.1:6). His Holy Spirit lives within us, teaching us how to act, love and live like a “king’s kid.”

Every day as we watch Him act in our life and in the lives of others, we see how He is transforming us and being “molded into the perfect image of his Son, Jesus” (Rom.8:29). As we study His example in the Bible we see how He obeyed the Father; loved the unlovely; repaid evil with good; wept over the lost; told the good news and rejoiced in the things He suffered.

Romans 12:2 tell us, “Do not be conformed to this world (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs), but be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of your mind (by its ideals and its new attitude), so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, (even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you) (Amp).”

Being “conformed” is to be pushed into a mold or chiseled to look like something or someone. It is an external process. But on the other hand, to be “transformed” is to be changed from the inside-out. Like the butterfly that lays an egg from which a worm will emerge and will spin a coccoon around itself. It then begins the metamorphosis process which in time the worm has been transformed (changed) into a beautiful butterfly, which looks like its progenitor. In this life we are spiritually in the metamorphosis stage, being changed from “glory to glory” (II Cor.3:18), until ”when He comes and we finally get to see Him we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is” (I Jn.3:2).

They say the longer you live with someone the more you get to look like them. I have lived with Jesus for seventy years, I wonder if I am looking more like Him? Hopefully I am being transformed into His likeness!


“CHANGE ME LORD”
Katrice Ivy

To come into the presence of the living God is to be changed.
We cannot come into His high and holy place and stay the same.
So change me, Lord, remake me, Lord, transform me to the image of Your Son.
Change me, Lord, remake me, Lord, transform me to the image of Your Son.

The Joy and Rejoicing of my Heart

“Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” (Jeremiah 15:16)
I gave my heart and life to the Lord as a very young child. I was taught we should read the Bible. I don’t remember where I got my first Bible but I do remember I began reading the Bible as soon as I could read. The King James Version was the only version used at that time and some of the words were archaic and some even meant something quite different than we understand them to mean today. But wanting to be a dedicated Christian and my desire to know more about Jesus, God the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Christian “way” I began reading from Genesis to Revelation. I read the Bible through many times until I was grown and married without much understanding or joy in what I read. In the early 70’s I was introduced to two books which changed my life, one was, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith. This book detailed what must take place in our heart to experience the abundant life spoken of in John 10:10 – the “deeper life.” The second was Beyond Ourselves by Catherine Marshall which told how to make a complete commitment of all we are and of our past, present and future, and the subsequent joy and freedom of being filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. I thought I had completely committed myself to the Lord, many times, but these two books helped me to see that I was not experiencing the joy and fulfillment of a committed life and how to move into that greater relationship with the Holy Spirit I had never known. The Holy Spirit placed such a hunger and thirst for His righteousness and to understand His Word, that up to that time it was hard to understand and had become a “duty” to read. I began to seek him fervently for a deeper walk with Him and new understanding of His Word. And just as God promised in Jeremiah 29:13 “if we seek Him with our “whole heart, we will find Him.” I was introduced to some new Bible versions and a paraphrase that talked like I talked and was easy to understand. God’s truths and principles began to unfold to me. A whole new joy and understanding came from reading His Word. Like Jeremiah 15:16 says, “God’s Word became my joy and the rejoicing of my heart.” Now, no other book thrills and excites me more than seeing in the Bible’s pages God at work in olden days but are still so new and relevant today. And all His promises are “yes and amen” for me today, and for all who will believe and trust Him. All of the Bible is “God breathed and instructs me in how to live a righteous and holy life; it reproves me of my sin; corrects me when I am in error; disciplines me in obedience; trains me in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose and action; all so that I may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Tim.3:16-17 Amp.). Proverbs 1:3-5 tells me, “If I receive the wise words of instruction from the word it will give knowledge, discretion and discernment. Those already wise will hear instruction also and will increase in learning and will acquire skill and will listen to wise counsel so that he may be able to steer his course in the right way” (Amp.). It also tells me “If I desire Godly wisdom (the worshipful and reverent, standing in awe of the Lord) is the beginning and principal part of wisdom and understanding?" (Prov.1:7). To stand in awe of God is for me to completely relinquish any assurance in myself and place my full assurance in Him, Who is the Sovereign, all powerful, all wise God. Then and only then will I come to understand what He is saying to me in His Word. In experiencing this new found knowledge, God’s Word became alive to me. I thrilled at every book – the history, the poetry, the prophecy, the gospels and the teachings of how to walk in the Spirit, all of it. God’s Word never becomes old and boring but it is ever new and exciting. We are nothing but He is everything and He chooses to place the “fullness of the Godhead” within us as believers – (now blow your mind trying to figure that out). (Ephesians.3:19). These are a few of my thoughts of why “the Word is the joy and rejoicing of my heart."

The Hope Of The Righteous

The hope of the righteous will be gladness" (Prov.10:28) Hope and gladness are inexplicably connected, they are inseparable twins. When you see one the other is very close. Have you ever seen anyone who was genuinely hoping in the Lord that didn’t have a glad spirit. On the other hand, when you see someone filled with sadness or worry you can put it down their hope is not in the Lord. Hope in the Lord generates a spirit of gladness. I have said all this to say, our hope must be grounded on a sure thing and the only sure things are God and His Word. God has promised all believers eternal life. Rom.5:5 says we will never be disappointed if we hope in God’s promise of eternal life and this hope inescapably brings gladness. Hebrews 6:17-19 tells us this hope anchors our souls (mind, will and emotions). When the storms of life are raging we can know in our intellect that clinging to the “Rock,” Christ Jesus, is our only hope. The Rock is sure and firm and will not move so we can anchor our hope in Him and be glad to know it will hold although the winds of trouble are buffeting us. We “will” to hope in the Rock and this certainly affects our emotions – gladness erupts. Waiting is the "lion’s share" of hope. Waiting is probably the hardest part of hope. David said in Psalm 130:5-8, “I wait for the Lord, I expectantly wait, and in His Word do I hope. I am looking and waiting for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning. I say, more than watchmen for the morning. Hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is mercy and loving-kindness, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He will redeem His chosen from all their iniquities.” (Amp.) That makes me glad just to read this scripture. We live in an “instant world.” The microwave gives us warm culinary delights in seconds or minutes. The freezer gives us instant ice. Even our air-conditioners give us instant cool or warm air. We can pick up the telephone and instantly talk with someone overseas. We ladies can get a quick hair curl, straightener or color, whichever we desire. Most of us have never developed the art of hoping while we are waiting patiently (this is called "faith." Only when we are hoping in God and His Word are we hoping in a “sure” thing. The government, politicians, the stock market and even our friends will disappoint us at times. Jesus never fails! Solomon tells us in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life,” and with that fulfillment comes gladness. Solomon had a lot of disappointments from hoping in the things of this world – women, children, riches, etc. At this point in his life is when he said in Eccl.1:2, “All is vanity (emptiness, falsity and vainglory),” but he ended his life when he gave this advice to his son (and to us) in Eccl.12:13, “All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God (revere and worship Him, knowing that He is) and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man (the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God’s providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun) and the whole duty for every man.” (Amp.) We have hope for eternal life but we also are hopeful and full of gladness for the others we have helped to have this eternal life. They will be our victor’s crown of gladness (I Thess.2:19-20), (Amp.)

Who Is True?

“We are in Him Who is true, in His son Jesus Christ.” If anyone has been reading my blogs for very long you have learned that I love words – nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc. There are two words in the above scripture, I John 5:20, in which I am particularly interested – “in” and “true.” What does it mean to be “in Him” and “in His Son?” In this proclamation “in” is an adverb expressing a place – “we are in Him.” That is, we are united to Him, we belong to Him – a most intimate union, as if we were one with Him – or were a part of Him – as the branch is in the vine (John 15:4,6). Like the branch in the vine, we as believers draw our spiritual strength, nourishment, sustenance and our very life from Jesus. To be “in Jesus” is to have His DNA, His blood flows through our veins, we have the “mind of Christ.” As we follow Him closely and fill up with His Word, we begin, spiritually, to think like Him, act like Him and even look like Him. Oh, the riches of His favor just for being “in Him.” The second word in this verse that excites me is “true.” There is so much falsity in this world – in the government, society and, very sad to say, but even in the church. From the preachers, the choir members, the elders, the deacons, to the people in the pews, we all wear masks at one time or another. Jesus calls for the “real” Church to stand up. The world hates hypocrites in the church, although they are hypocrites themselves at times. The word “true’ in this scripture is an adjective describing Jesus Christ, the “real” Messiah. Jesus was “true” in every definition of the word. Webster’s definitions are: 1) “without variation” (He is the Immutable God), He is the same yesterday, today and forever; 2) “exact” (He is the perfect image of the Father) there is not error in Him, He lived a perfect life; 3) “steadfast” (faithful). Faithfulness is part of His nature – He is faithful because He is Faithful. He can be nothing but faithful. 4) “real” (He is the genuine, one and only, the real thing.)Remember when John the Baptist was in prison facing death, he sent a message to Jesus asking Him, “Are you the “real” Messiah” (John 7:20)? In John 5:20 he had already answered that question. Yes, we are intimately united with the “real” Messiah!
O To Be Like Thee F.O. Chisholm O to be like thee blessed Redeemer, This is my constant longing and prayer. Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus thy perfect likeness to wear. O to be like thee, O to be like thee, blessed Redeemer, pure as thou art. Come in thy sweetness, come in thy fullness, Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Practice Casting

Blog – “Practice Casting”

“Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.”

What a wonderful word picture this is. It is a picture of any one of us being bent over with the burdens of life. Jesus is walking beside us, straight, tall and strong and offers for us to throw all of our burdens on Him, because He loves us and wants to relieve our burden. Our burden may be heavy trials through which we are going; or if we lose our health, our friends or property; or it may be we have difficult responsibilities we feel we are incapable of handling; or if we feel life in general is too hard and we are being crushed by its load. With any or all of these burdens we may go to Jesus and cast all our “care” upon Him because He is our “relief,” our burden bearer.

The Psalmist reminds us to throw all our burdens on the Lord and He will sustain us; He will never allow the righteous to be made to slip, (Psalm 55:22). In this case the relief will be as real, and as full of consolation, as if He took the burden and bore it Himself. He will enable us to bear with ease what we supposed we could never have done. Unlike other heathen gods, He condescends to concern Himself with the needs and wants of His children, the least and the mighty. One of the richest comforts for a child of God is that when we are afflicted, and are despised by the world, is that we are not forgotten by our heavenly Father. If He notices when the sparrow falls He certainly will be mindful of us.

Practice casting and you will become proficient – “Practice makes perfect,” then you will walk with a light spirit, peace in your heart, a spring in your step, a song in your heart and a smile on your face, regardless of the “care” in your life, because Jesus has lifted our load.


I Cast All My Care Upon You
Kelly Willard

I cast all my care upon You. I lay all of my burdens down at your feet.
And every time that I don’t know what to do, I just cast all my care upon You.

His Plans Are Forever

“The counsel of the Lord stands forever; the plans of His heart to all generations.”

It is amazing to me that God had plans and a purpose for me and every living soul that has ever and will ever live on the earth. “He saw my unformed substance and formed me in a secret and intricately and curiously created me, as if embroidered with various colors, in the depths of the earth (a region of darkness and mystery). God saw my unformed substance and He wrote all the days of my life in His book before they ever took shape” (Psalm 139:15-16 Amp.).

God saw me when my mother delivered me at home, which was a renovated chicken house; born into a poor farm family. He saw me as a three or four year old child wanting Jesus to “live in my heart.” He saw my joy as a young child when I discovered I could play the piano, without training – a gift He gave me.

He saw my love for school and my love of being with other children, although I had eight siblings at home. He saw my desire to go to college and provided a job so I could. He saw my desire to marry a Christian man and have a Christian home. He saw Wendell and I when we were dating and blessed our union in marriage. He saw us when our three children were born. He saw us when we dedicated them to the Lord. He saw each of them, Melody, Mark and Jennifer, as they grew up and married and had children, and then the grandchildren had children.

So now God sees us as parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. He sees us in our old age with all of its’ weaknesses and infirmities. He sees us as our faith and love for Him has grown, and how, like Isaiah, our face is set like a flint toward Heaven. He will see us all the way “Home.”

“How precious are His thoughts to me and how vast the sum of them. If I could count them they would be more than the sands of the sea. If I could count all of God’s thoughts toward me, I would still be with Him when I awake” (Psalm 139:17-18 Amp.).

God sees you also. He has plans for every day of your life (Jer.29:11). “They are plans for good and not for evil and to give you hope in your final outcome.” If you call upon Him and seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him” (Jer.29:12-13). If you will “delight” yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps.37:4).

The word delight in this verse means to “be soft and pliable.” When you are so yielded to Jesus that His will becomes your will and His desires for you becomes your desires, then He will give you the desires of your heart because they are His desires for you. If you yield your will and will become “soft and pliable” in His hands He will give you the desires of your heart. Do a personal heart check – 1) Do I love the Lord with all my heart? 2) Am I completely yielded to His will (am I delighting in Him)? 3) What are my desires? If the first two heart checks could be answered with, "yes," then you ask expecting to receive what you desire.

Not only does God see you but His thoughts are toward you constantly. “How precious are His thoughts to me and how vast the sum of them. If I could count them they would be more than the sands of the sea. If I could count all of God’s thoughts toward me, I would still be with Him when I awake” (Psalm 139:17-18 Amp.). It is win/win with Jesus!

Your ‘beginning,’ for sure was not like mine, but God loves you just as much, His thoughts are on you just as much and He is waiting for you to yield your whole self to Him, spirit, soul and body, so He can lavish His goodness on you. He is no respecter of persons and remember, His plans are forever, (don’t miss them). I Surrender All Judson W. Van de Venter All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live. All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee. Fill me with Thy love and power, let Thy blessings fall on me. I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

Confession Is Good For The Soul

“I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” (Psalm 32:5)


They say confession is good for the soul. I think it is probably good for the spirit, soul and body. A guilty conscience can affect your whole life. In Psalm 51:17, David was encouraging us to come to the Father with a humble and contrite heart because this He will not despise. David had a lot of problems with deliberate sins such as adultery and murder, but he was quick to come back to God and confess his sins and God was just as quick to forgive his sins because He knew David’s heart and He knew he was humble and contrite.

To recognize our sins and confess them (agree with God), is to receive forgiveness and cleansing from all of our sins (I Jn.1:9). We confess that we have rebelled against God and His principles and have crossed the righteous boundaries God has set up, over into sin territory, and call the sin/s by name. In our text verse David was saying he would confess his transgressions (sins) to the Lord. David wanted clean hands and a pure heart. He was willing to humble himself to gain forgiveness and a relationship with the living God.

Like Adam and Eve in the garden after they had sinned, when we don’t confess our sins, we end up trying to hide from God. The guilt from our sin will cause us to think if we hide our sin no one will ever know. Guilt can make us fearful (even paranoid), make us have an angry spirit, and cause us to have much depression. All these symptoms can destroy relationships, jobs, dreams, homes and even lives. That is why confessing our sins to God is good for the spirit, soul and body.

That is why Jesus went to the cross – to take away our sin, and the guilt that accompanies it. Only after we confess our sin and accept God’s forgiveness and cleansing can we have peace, joy and a real life, all because the burden of guilt has been forgiven and we have been given a new pure heart.

Cleanse Me
Edwin Orr (Based on Psalm 139:23)

Search me, O God, and know my heart today. Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me. Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin. Fulfill Your Word and made me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame. Grant my desire to magnify Your name.

Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine. Fill my poor heart with Your great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride. I now surrender, Lord – in me abide.

Just Taste

“I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8) (Amp.)

“Try it, you’ll like it,” was a slogan of one of the soft drinks years ago. Another soft drink slogan was, “It’s the real thing.” Both of these slogans could be used for Jesus. Psalm 34:8 says, “O, taste and see that the Lord is good.” Just one good “taste” of Jesus will hook us forever. We will forever want more. He is the only thing or only One who will satisfy our craving. I’m sure you have heard the old saying, “there is a God-shaped vacuum in everyone and it cannot be filled with anything or anyone but God.” We have a promise of satisfaction for that longing in the fourth Beatitude (Matthew 5:6) that says, “Blessed and fortunate and happy and prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be completely satisfied” (Amp.).

Also, Isaiah 55:1&2 gives these joyful promises, “Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy (priceless spiritual) wine and milk without money and without price (simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing). Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness, (the profuseness of spiritual joy).

God is reasoning with us saying, “Come to the only fresh, proficient Resource to meet your spiritual thirst – Me, the God of the universe. Come to Me to buy priceless, spiritual, “wine” (this Hebrew word means, “the best banqueting wine” and is symbolizing the Holy Spirit, Eph.5:18). Buy milk (the rich cream), symbolizing the riches of His grace and kindness (Rom.2:4) – “buy” (obtain) all of this without money or price but simply for surrendering yourself to God and just accepting His blessings.” It doesn’t cost anything to come into a relationship with the living God, not good works, not trying to be a good person but just surrender to Him and acceptance of Him as your God and Savior. Then is when real life begins and you can begin to “know” Jehovah God!

God says, “Why do you need to spend your money for that which is not vital to your life and will not satisfy? Listen closely to Me, take in and disseminate only that which is good for you, and let your mind, will and emotions delight in its profuse spiritual joy.”

It’s ironic that we are satisfied in Him yet we want to know more of Him. He is God and we can have a personal relationship with Him but the longer we walk with Him the more we learn about Him, to know Him is to love Him and to want to know Him more. We get His "fix: and our hunger to know Him more fully is satisfied when we experience Him daily as He reveals the truth of His Word, as He shows Himself mighty on our behalf, as He communes with us and we see Him fulfill His promises to us. We won’t fully know Him until we see Him face to face (I Cor.13:12). They say the longer we live with someone the more we get to look and act like them. This must be what Paul was saying in
II Cor. 3:18, “All of us, as with unveiled face (because we) continued to behold (in the Word of God) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another.)”

Paul’s feelings of his innermost being concerning his relationship to Jesus, his Savior were deep and pure. This is from the Amplified Bible in Philippians 3:8-10.

“Yes, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him (of perceiving, recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly). For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One).”

“And that I may (actually) be found and known as in Him, not having any (self-achieved) righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that (genuine righteousness) which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the (truly) right standing with God, which comes from God by (saving) faith.”

“For my determined purpose is that I may know Him (that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection (which it exerts over believers), and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed (in spirit into His likeness).”

Why wouldn’t Paul, or anyone count their accomplishments, their wealth, their fame – their everything as rubbish in comparison to the excellency of “knowing” Christ Jesus, the Savior! Just taste and see that the Lord is good. Try Him – you’ll like Him, He is the real thing! You may get off into a wrong path for a while but the “Hound of Heaven” – (the Holy Spirit) will hunt you down and bring you back. Once you have a Jesus’ “Fix,” you are hooked and can never be satisfied with anyone or anything else. Satisfied Clara Tear Williams All my life long I have panted for a drink from some clear spring that I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within. Hallelujah! I have found Him Whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings – through His blood I now am saved.