Posted on Monday, January 18, 2016

The Lord Be With You And Bless You

Jesus came not to make us feel better, but to save us from the death. He came to redeem, to restore, to heal and to renew lives.

Today’s we start week 3 studying the book of Ruth with HelloMornings group. We read from Ruth 2:1-7. Ruth and Naomi settled in and started a new life in Bethlehem. Both of them are widows. They did not have any men in their lives to provide food on the table, they had to work to survive. As we all know, when we move to a new place, new city, new home, it takes a while to settle in and get used to the new place. But God was there with Naomi and Ruth.

God used Boaz – a wealthy, respected and God-loving single man – to bless Ruth and Naomi and to restore their lives. In God’s storyline, there is no such things as coincidence.

When I read this verse 4, God spoke to me personally to remind me to always greet others with His blessings. In this world already have too many sadness, discouragements and disappointments. Words we speak can be a blessing and encouragement to others, or can be a curse and discouragement to them.

Boaz knew Naomi becuase they were related because he was her husband’s relative. But Ruth, Boaz never met of her nor heard because she was married to Naomi’s son when they were in Moab. When Boaz heard about Ruth that she as a Moabite, he did not care that she was not from their tribe. He let her kept gathering the grain dropped by his workers, he even told them to “accidently” drop more so she could get more for their food.

We often meet strangers in need wherever we go. But we hold back to help them becuase we can come up with lots of reasons to not open our car window to talk to them, or to stop a while at store. We are afraid to help strangers because there are many bad cases we heard. We are afraid to help them because we just not know them.

But our God has blessed us with more for a purpose: to be a blessing to others. And I believe that the Holy Spirit will give us impression in our hearts which stangers who need helps and which ones not. I believe our God will use us to let others know that He cares for them and not to harm us.

You and I always hear people say or write “God bless you” in every end of conversation we have with other Christians. We say or write it not because we are Christians, or to let them know that we are Christians, but there is powerful message in that phrase. When we say, “God bless you” to others, we let them know that God is with them and He blesses them with His blessings! We release God’s blessings into their lives. This not just some empty words that we say out loud.

What would you feel in your spirit and heart when someone say it back to you? Would you believe that God will bless you? Or is it just a closing phrase?

This truth I read from the passage of the Bible totally change my motive and intention of saying, “God bless you” to others. Let’s we say it with faith that God truly is with them and will bless them abundantly! Not only with words, but let us bless them with our deeds, so that they may see the goodness of God and experience the presence of the LORD All Might to meet their needs.

And I pray that God will bless you all today!

Posted on Friday, January 15, 2016

Hope In God Who Cares

This is hope. That our God cares for us, provides our needs and He even enables us to walk by faith every day.

First chapter of Ruth has a lot to say about it. She took a bold step to go with Naomi returning to Bethlehem with had nothing planned or even promises for her future. Naomi warned her that she would not get any benefit to follow her. But Ruth’s bold statement in verse 16 showed her perspective of how she saw her future. Her determination changed Naomi’s perspective of Ruth and her movite behind her decision.

I am pretty sure she heard about who God is when she lived with her husband and family. But them she also heard how Naomi blamed God for her losts and hard time. Yet still Ruth wanted to make Him her God. But why?

Ruth saw there was hope. She found hope in God of Israel in time of uncertain of her own future. She just trusted Him! She trusted in God whom she heard, especially when they returned to Bethlehem. She witnessed what God had done to His people after the long famine years they experienced.

There is hope in God who cares. There is hope in Him who workes in each of His children’s lives to meet their needs, to enable them to walk by faith every step they take. And WE ARE HIS CHILDREN! He cares for us!

My dear friends, there is hope in God who cares for you! I pray today for you to have hope only in Heavenly Father who loves you unconditionally. May God bless your faith richly today!

Posted on Monday, January 11, 2016

The Lord Enables

Today I start second week of HelloMornings study on the book of Ruth – Take Refuge study with my HelloMornings Facebook group. I was a bit behind last week but this morning I am so thankful I could have time to just sit and read His word.

After reading Ruth 1:1-10 this morning, I prayed to my Heavenly Father to give me the desire to read His word, to be with Him and focus my mind in reading His word. I prayed He will help me to understand what He wants to teach me.

What spoke to me is from 1:6 that the word “gives, giving, given” in that sentence. In original language it means “enable” What caught my attention is that God enables them to have food = God enables them to grow their food again in the land of Moab after the long draught that caused the famine. I remember stories in the Bible that God enables rain or to stop it, God enables the cloud to cover the Israelite to go through the dessert for 40 years and He enable the fire to warm them in the dessert.

God gives and takes. He knows exactly when to do that, too. When God takes something away from us, it feels like there is a void in our lives, that we are in the famine season. He does that for a reason and out of love. He wants us to lean on Him alone, He wants us to know who He is trully, He wants to have a closet realtionship with His own childrem for sure. Through th dessert and famine we have to go through just to fine the source of water and food, we will find the eternal food and water only in Him and when we find zhim we won’t be hungry and thirsty again. That is His promise!

God enables everything by His grace and love for His children to walk through the journey of our lives. In the NLT Study Notes says, “God gives good things, such as food and children, and he works providentially behind the scenes in the ordinary course of things.” He works behind the scene of each of our lives – where we cannot see – but He is working things out to provide what He knows that’s what we need.

Every might we always watch video music before bedtime for fun time with the girls, and last night we watched some Rich Mullins videos. In one of the video, he said, nothing we need to do to impress God so He will love us, nothing because He already love us no matter what. We just need to remember that He is with us in step by step we take every day.

Don’t we wanna love God like that? Ruth made the decision to love Naomi’s God, she experienced His faithfulness in her life from the very moment she declared her faith in Him.

I pray today for all of us that God will enable each of us to do what He has called us to do as wife, mom, grandma, working mom, etc. whoever and whatever you do today, in all of that we can experience His faithfulness. Amin.

God bless you to go through this week!

Posted on Friday, January 8, 2016

Hope In God’s Plan

Jeremiah 29:11-12

This year I am praying and asking God to teach me about hope. As a reminder for me when I sit to make a plan each day, I have this word of God at front page of my planner album of the month of January.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the LORD. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

This is the true that there is hope in God’s plan for His people who loves him wholehearteadly.

There is hope when we seek His face wholeheartedly.

There is hope of restoration and healing in our lives when we find Him.

There is hope because God knows for sure what plans He has for each of us. They are good plans and not disaster, plans that will give us future and hope. But this does not mean that our days will be all smooth and good all the time.

Yes, there will be some difficult days in 2016 but there is hope in those days that God is in control and has plans for us to go through those hard days. He will make sure His plan will success and won’t fail. In those days, count it as joy like James reminded us in his book, that those are tests for our faith to grow and endure (James 1:2-4).

When God is in our day and we are in His word, we will experience His presence and recieve what He has store for us to live every single day.

God is hope. And only in His plans we’ll find hope.

I hope you find Him and the hope He has for you today. God bless you!

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I did lots of splatters using Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors to create the background. Then when it’s dry, I used Flutters and Splatters stencil with Gold Stamper’s Big Brush Pen for the butterflies. Then I wrote the Bible verse using Faber Caster PITT Pens and I added some sparkles on them using the clear glitter glue amd white gel pen. I finished it with some gold polkadots washi tape from My Mind’s Eye and 3D white-gold snow stickers I got from Walmart.

This is messy page but I took time to make it, soak in the Word and just love the moment.

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Today’s Link Ups:

Today’s Challenges:

Word Art Wednesday – Anything Goes #217

STAMPloration – January Mixed Media Challenge

CASEPlorarions January Challenge

Posted on Friday, January 1, 2016

Our Hope To Walk Through 2016

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you all ready to start this brand new year with confident and hope in the Lord.

This morning I woke up, grabbed my coffee and Journaling Bible with supplies, found a tiny spot behind the couch bu the backporch window where the best light at my husband’s grandma’s house. I was ready to start my journaling and youngest daughter squeezed in with me in thag corner 🙂

I prayed and review the word I picked last year, FAITH. I went through some readings.

As I reading Genesis 22:1-14 when God tested Abrahm’s faith this morning I prayed about it and felt in my heart God put this word: HOPE.

We cannot seperate our faith in Chrisy Jesus and hope we have to walk day-bu-day in the One who leads the way.

On the first day of January, The LORD remind me as we walk through 2016 have HOPE in the Lord who provides everything in our lives. He provide not only physically, but also spiritually. EVERYTHING, big and small.

He will provide it on His Mount. Mount is a symbol of His presence, where He always told His people to build an altar of worship for Him. And that’s where He tells us to go where we will find our needs as we come to seek Him and to worship Him.

We can come boldly to the throne of the gracious God because of Jesus has redeemed & bought us with His blood to be His children (Hebrew 4:16).

We can come boldly to His presence through prayers because the Holy Spirit will help us in our weaknesses and will pray with us and for us according to God’s own will (Romans 8:26-30).

We can come boldly to Him to hear what He’a going to say to us and to teach us His ways so that we will live gloriying Him and not sinned againts Him through the reading of His word in the Bible (Psalms 119).

He will provide our needs when we need to dig deeper into His word.
He will provide our needs when we want to worship Him.
He will provide our needs when to live for Him as witnesses of who He is to this world through our words and work of hands.

He will provide our needs when we need Him!

What do you need today to go through this year?

Go to His Mount and He will provide for you.

I pray this post today will give you hope to keep walking in faith in Jesus Christ and that He is in 2016 with you.

God bless you richly in Christ Jesus!