And this is difficult to remember, but TRUE🤔
If you’ve experienced this, can I get an Amen?? Amen 🙂
Godsfruitful
Encouraging others in Christ
Archive for the category “Christ is sufficient”
A Guarded HEART condition produces PEACE :))
Do you believe that positive thinking plays a BIG part in how we live our daily lives?
It does, but what’s more important is focusing on God’s Word and keeping IT in our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:7-9
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
God’s peace is different from the world’s peace (John 14:27). It is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict, or in good feelings Real peace comes from knowing that because God is in control, our citizenship in Christ’s Kingdom is sure, our destiny is set and our victory over sin in certain.
What we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words and actions. Paul tells us to program our minds with thoughts that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: Examine what 
we are putting into our mind through television, books, movies, and magazines. Replace harmful input with wholesome material.
Let’s read God’s Word and pray. Ask Him to help us focus our mind on what is good and pure TODAY AND EVERY DAY!
No matter how BIG the glasses,IT won’t be any clearer:)
How often is it difficult for us not to look back on our past?
       And even more difficult to look forward to our future?
This question comes after several encounters this week with other believers.
We can feel as if we are in a place that seems so unfamiliar to us. At times,
we may even long to go back to the familiarity of when life was comfortable for us!
PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul said his goal was to know Christ, to be like Christ, and to be all Christ has in mind for him. This goal absorbed all his energy. This is an example for us. We should not let anything take our eyes off our goal-Christ.
Paul had reason to feel sorrow about the past-he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:57, 58), he is called Saul here). Most of us do not have the type of guilt that Paul had due to his past when he was a persecutor of Christians. We all have done things for which we are ashamed. Because our hope is in Christ, however, we can let go of the past guilt, as well as the comforts of familiarity and look forward to what He will help us become. We should not dwell on what we had (that which we thought was so good), instead, grow in the knowledge of God by concentrating on our relationship with Him now.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: We know that we are forgiven, and then we move on to a life of faith and obedience. We need to look forward to a fuller and more meaningful life because of our hope in Christ. He has the BEST PLAN FOR US!
Let’s start living the life that Christ wants us to have today and every day! 🙂 No looking back…only FORWARD FOR HIM:) Take the first step!
A HEART CONDITION CAN BE FATAL!!!
How many times have you been having a great day and then allow yourself to lose focus? Scripture tells us that it is important for us to keep our focus on the right things in life.
PROVERBS 4:23-27
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth,
and perverse lips put far from thee.
25 Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:
remove thy foot from evil.
Our heart-our feeling of love and desire dictates to a great extent how we live, because we always find time to do what we enjoy. Solomon tells us to keep our heart with all diligence, making sure we concentrate on those desires that will keep us on the right path.
Make sure your affections push you in the right direction. Put boundaries on your desires: don’t go after everything you see.
Look straight ahead, keep your eyes fixed on your goal and don’t get sidetracked on detours that lead to temptation.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: We all know how quickly that we can let our thoughts get to thinking on negative i
ssues, which produces worry. We must be aware and change our view to the positive things of God. What we harbor in our heart comes out of our mouth
Let’s stay focused on what God’s Word says today and every day!
HIS WORD IS THE POWER THAT WE NEED TO DEFEAT THE DOUBT THAT THE devil BRINGS
An EMPTY chair, Bagged garbage, and a Rolled up RUSTY fence:)
I get SO EXCITED when I see something that speaks “OH, THIS IS AN excellent PICTURE FOR A BLOG!”
Today is a BEAUTIFUL DAY to SIT QUIETLY and decide if you have a RUSTY FENCE that needs to be rolled up and some GARBAGE that needs to be BAGGED !
PHILIPPIANS 3:7-9
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
After Paul considered everything he had accomplished in his life, he said that it was all worthless when compared with knowing Christ. This is a profound statement about values: a person’s relationship with Christ is more important than anything else. To know, Christ should be our ultimate goal.
Sometimes, we can allow worldly things to accumulate in our lives, and that can lead to placing our security and confidence in the wrong areas. After a while, God will remove the rusty fence of protection that we built around what we thought was OUR INDEPENDENCE.
God demands a TOTAL SURRENDER 
of our lives to Him
We need to SIT QUIETLY before him and BAG UP THE GARBAGE that keeps us from being one hundred percent usable and ROLL UP THE RUSTY FENCE that we’ve put up around our OWN INDEPENDENCE.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: We need to consider our values and not place anything above or around our relationship with Christ. Our independence should be depended  COMPLETLY  UPON HIM!
Let’s DEPEND ONLY UPON CHRIST today and every day:))
Washed, Emptied, and NO RECORDS to file:)))
OH MY!!!!!! You all know me by now that I can’t pass a picture like this up without a blog post:)))))
NO RECORDS OF SIN, ONCE WASHED AND CLEANED
PSALMS 51:1-4
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions:
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight:
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest.
We see that David was truly sorry for his adultery with Bath-sheba and for murdering her husband to cover it up. He knew his actions had hurt many people. But because David repented of those sins, God mercifully forgave him. No sin is too great to be forgiven!
While God forgives us, however, He does not always erase the natural consequences of our sin-David’s life, and family were never the same as a result of his sin (2 Samuel 12:1-23).
We are also told in Scripture that God does not keep a record of our sins.
HEBREWS 10:17
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
The writer concludes his argument with this powerful statement that God will never remember our sins. Christ forgives completely, so there is no need to confess our past sins repeatedly.
We are told in REVELATION 21:27
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie:but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: As believers, we can be confident that the sins we confess and renounce are forgiven and forgotten.
Let’s live our life today and every day knowing that God keeps NO RECORDS of our past and forgiven sins! STAY CLEAN IN HIS SIGHT:))
Believing, RESISTING and living VICTORIOUSLY :))))
As Christians, do you know that we are told to RESIST the devil? Scripture tells us to resist the devil, and he will flee from us
I cherish the Word of God, and believe every WORD is TRUE AND GOD BREATHED!! Now…let’s apply it!
I don’t know about you, BUT I for one am TOTALLY resisting him.
I have had it with him sneaking around, as well as slipping right on up and using people. We must be aware of what God’s Word tells us to do and live as He has called us to live.
JAMES 4:7-10
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Although God and satan are at war, we don’t need to wait until the end to see who will win. God has already defeated satan (Colossians 2:13-15; Revelation 12:10-12), and when Christ returns, satan and all he stands for will be eliminated forever (Revelation 20:10-15). satan is here now, however, and he is trying to win us over to his evil cause. With the Holy Spirit’s power, we can resist satan, and he will flee from us.
How can you draw close (“nigh“) to God? James gives five suggestions? (1) “Submit to God“(4:7), Realize that you need his forgiveness, and be willing to follow Him. (2) “Resist the devil” (4:7). Don’t allow him to entice and tempt you. (3) “Cleanse your hands… and purify your hearts”(that is lead a pure life) (4:8). Be cleansed from sin, replacing it with God’s purity. (4) Let there be fears, sorrow, and sincere grief for your sins, (4:9). Don’t be afraid to express deep heartfelt sorrow for them. (5) Humble yourself before God, and He will lift you up (4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: God has given us what we need to live a powerful and victorious life in Christ. The same power that raised our LORD and SAVIOUR from the grave is alive and available to us as Christians today. We must make ourselves disciplined to reading and applying His Word in our lives DAILY!
LET US DO OUR PART AND RESIST THE devil AND he WILL FLEE…he HAS NO CHOICE BECAUSE OUR SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT he WILL FLEE!!
(I always put my Armour on (EPHESIANS 6:11-17) first thing in the morning and rebuke the devil in JESUS NAME!!)
A procrastinator, A Rip, and a REALIZATION…
Do you know that procrastination should go hand in hand with a thankful heart? I never thought about such a question, until this morning as I began to iron a pair of slacks for my son’s event. I kept remembering every day this past week that ‘the pants are needed on Saturday,’ which is NOW TODAY...
As I completed the last pressing along the pocket area, I was thinking “Not too bad, I got this!” I took a deep sigh of relief, thinking how I could NOW get on with my day…
IT WAS THEN, IN THAT MOMENT THAT I realized all too precisely why I had been given a weeks notice about the slacks… ALONG the pocket area was an inch and a half RIP …. Oh dear!!! needless to say, I wasn’t expecting this! Seems that I recalled something about a pair of slacks with a rip, but who’d think that it was THIS PAIR, I had like five more pairs to choose from, but he needed this pair!!
As I got my sewing machine out, wound a black thread bobbin, and threaded up the machine, I began to sew frantically hoping that it would work correctly. Once I saw that it turned out perfectly, It was then that I realized just how thankful I was that God is always there to calm and help me. I’m not the best seamstress, 
and someone with my limited ability needs all of the help that they can get…May sound silly, but I know that God watched over me, not only to get it done but done correctly!
1 CHRONICLES 29:11-12
11 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
David acknowledged God’s greatness. Our constantly changing world is controlled by a constant and unchanging God. During our lifetime, we see objects fade, materials decay, and friends change, but we can depend on God’s control. His love and purpose for us never change.
Only when we understand this can we have real peace and security.
FRUITFUL OBSERVATION: No matter if we see the GREATNESS of God through the parting of the Red Sea or repairing a torn pocket, God knows all things and is in control. I learned my lesson about procrastination as well as a reminder that God is always with us through the big and the small
Let’s do our best in acknowledging the GREATNESS of God today and every day!
Godsfruitful 