IDENTITY

Identity, is one of the most deep complicated subjects. I recently had a conversation with someone very close to me about their purpose in life. The conversation was anxious, in desire for change! I recently did a post on desire, but this takes desire to an even deeper place. Even though we have many desires, desire does not claim our Identity. We must decide who we are before we can even sift through our desires.

Sometimes we can want things simply because it is popular and it is a direction others are taking. In helping the person I asked a question, what separates you from everyone else? Then I answered the question because I know this person well. I said the thing that separates you from your friends and others is the fact that you think through your choices and usually you make the hard decisions that require sacrifice! This quality is your best quality I said! This quality is a given blessing and is a part of your Identity. I then said but you have to ask yourself are you going to listen to your friends or are you going to continue to be what separates you from the crowd?

Everyone is searching for Identity! The only true place to find it is through Christ! The more we walk with Him, the more shall I say, we become ourselves! Honestly we start out so lost. Through a process we slowly begin to find ourselves through our Identity in Him! Praise you Lord, thank you! This transformation can’t happen without worship and His word, quiet time with Him and meditation.

We have an inner battle taking place between the flesh and the spirit and this is what causes us to want to go the same direction as the world.

Matthew 7:13-14 [Full Chapter]
[ The Narrow and Wide Gates ] “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Moving towards Christ and struggling through the process of following His word is the only way to find your true Identity. Learning sacrifice and conforming to His will, is when you the clay, begin to take shape! Your Identity!

Isaiah 64:8 [Full Chapter]
Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

God bless you in your search for your true Identity!!!

Blessings to the New Year! It’s your year!!!

A MOMENT IN HEAVEN

A MOMENT IN HEAVEN

I awoke this morning to the birds singing
I went outside, there was a sense of well being
The air was so fresh, a calm breeze blew across my face
It was so quiet, as if everyone was sleeping
I found peace and joy in my heart
As if the world had stopped just for a moment
The longing in my heart to draw near to You
I closed my eyes and pictured You in my head
The flowers in the garden began to bloom
The trees filled with the shiniest fruit
The grass grew seven shades greener
The grape vines that never produce were full
A rainbow had criss-crossed another rainbow across the sky
It was most beautiful
A stream came rushing through my feet
Fish with wings jumping over me
The sky a shade of blue I had never seen before
A Man in white came walking towards me with a gleam in his eye
I have never seen Your face, but I knew it was You
Lord please don’t make me leave this place
He spoke to my heart with a smile on His face
I realized there was still more to be saved
With a tear in my eye, I smiled
He knew my love for Him
Keeping all in my heart of that day
I will seek all that You lead me to

Isaiah 65:17

A New Time Is Coming

¹⁷ “·Look [^TBehold], I will ·make [create] new heavens and a new earth,
    and people will not remember the ·past [former things]
    or ·think about those things [bring them to heart/mind].
¹⁸ My people will be happy and joyful forever
    because of the things I will ·make [create].
I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy,
    and I will make her people a delight.
¹⁹ Then I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and be delighted with my people.
There will never again be heard in that city
    the sounds of ·crying [weeping] and ·sadness [crying].
²⁰ There will never be a ·baby [infant] from that city
    who lives only a few days.
And there will never be an older person
    who doesn’t ·have a long life [^Llive out his days].
A person who ·lives a hundred years will be called young [or dies at a hundred years will still be considered a child],
    and a person who dies before he is a hundred will be thought of as a ·sinner [or accursed].
²¹ In that city those who build houses will live there.
    Those who plant vineyards will get to eat their grapes [^Cas opposed to times of conquest, when homes are confiscated and crops are stolen].
²² No more will one person ·build a house and someone else live there [^Lbuild and another inhabit].
    One person will not ·plant a garden and someone else eat its fruit [^Lplant and another eat].
·My people will live a long time,
    as trees live long [^LFor like the days of a tree
    shall be the days of my people].
My chosen people will live there
    and enjoy the ·things they make [^Lwork of their hands].
²³ They will ·never again work for nothing [not labor in vain].
    They will never again give birth to children ·who die young [^Ldoomed for misfortune/disaster].
All my people will be blessed by the Lord;
    they and their ·children [descendants; seed] will be blessed.
²⁴ I will ·provide for their needs [^Lanswer] before they ·ask [call],
    and I will ·help them [^Lhear] while they are still ·asking for help [^Lspeaking].
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will ·eat together in peace [feed/graze together].
    The lion will eat hay like an ox,
    and ·a snake on the ground will not hurt anyone [the serpent’s food will be dust; Gen. 3:14].
They will not hurt or destroy each other
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

When I wrote this poem I was at my dinning table early In the morning drinking my coffee when I was moved to go out into the backyard. The minute I got outside I felt the Lords presence and closed my eyes when I had the vision of the beautiful poem. I believe we can find a piece of heaven here on earth. Heaven is reachable through our hearts. Our hearts are the door way to Heaven. When we open our hearts in worship to Jesus we enter into His presence, the kingdom of God! Heaven is the finish line of the race we are in. Heaven will be the frosting on the Jesus! Heaven in all its glory will not compare to Him. We Have access to Him now!

Everything in this life has a current that pulls out into the deep sin of this world. Drawing us away from His kingdom and His presence! Opening our hearts to Him is like swimming against the current of the ocean, helping you escape the current of this world and finding the safety in His truth. The more we go against the current, the more we find ourselves on the narrow path walking in His kingdoms glory. The more we are in touch with God and the more we gain a taste of what is to come.

I want to encourage you to go against the current of this life and have a moment in heaven today. The moments in heaven give us all we need to reach our full purpose in this life, leading us into all of His glory and bringing with us as many as possible to heaven eternal!!

Thank you for following this blog I am encouraged by your passion for Him. As I read many of your blogs I am so touched by the diversity of Him in all of you. God bless you in all of your moments with Him until we are with Him completely for all et

IS YOUR GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?

Is your glass half empty or half full? I have noticed the answer to this question may have a greater impact then you think. If we are living our lives with the attitude our glass is half empty it might explain why we are not finding the breakthroughs we were hoping for. I don’t know anyone who isn’t struggling with something in their lives. I have seen what works through our struggles. How we handle and look at our struggles, can actually add to our struggles rather than find the breakthrough we are hoping for. I also have noticed this same attitude towards the things we are walking towards or the things we are not walking towards because of the attitude we are holding in our hearts.

John 4

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— ² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.^[a])

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Before her encounter with Jesus her glass was definitely half empty. You can tell by how she responds to Jesus. You can also see the transformation that takes place in her simply by encountering Jesus as her glass turns from being half empty to half full. This is so powerful to me because of the symbolic meanings of water and the well. We know Jesus is the well and His spirit is the living water. The Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink? I want you to imagine Jesus asking you for a drink, because by then end of this post He will do just that, ask you for a drink. ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.^[a]) Look at how she sees herself. She has an identity that someone else gave her, not her true identity that is found only in Christ. She says I am a Samaritan. She might as well have said I am half empty.

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Listen to the words “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink , you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

If you knew who it is that asks you for a drink, you would ask him for a drink and He will take your glass that is half empty and make it half full of living water. living water never comes up empty. Living water never dry’s up. Living water will give you an Identity. Living water will give you Hope! Living water will give you truth! Living water will transform your life!!! Living water takes your emptiness and makes it full! Living water never gets discouraged! Living water is Eternal! Living water is promise!!!! Living water gives you the power to believe, living water gives you the power to achieve!!

Now! Ha! are you blessed yet? I am, bless you Christ!!!! Where there is doubt, where there is discouragement, where there is hopelessness, where there is fear, Where there is shame, where there is emptiness, where there is a false identity, where there is hope deferred, there is Christ the living water!!!! Friends there is a resistance from this truth everyday we wake to a new day. The devil wants to hand you a glass that is half empty! If you drink from the glass he offers you, your glass will remain half empty and your attitude will be of one whose glass is half empty. You will struggle with your identity, You will struggle to take chances, you will struggle to love yourself, you will struggle to be free!!! Now Christ offers you a drink if you will ask Him, a drink of water so you will never thirst again!!!!

Christ is now going to ask you for a drink, so offer it to someone you love, OK? God bless you, and may your day be filled with living water! 🙂

Please visit our store www.fullofrosesinspirationals.com 

THE GIFT OF A ROSE

This poem came sometime after my poem Full Of Roses. I was actually out pruning the roses in my garden when a nice breeze blew across my face. I closed my eyes and pictured Jesus again as the rose. I then began to see myself as a rose and Jesus as my Gardner. As I felt His Holy Spirit I couldn’t help but feel incredible joy. Knowing when He prunes my branches, the love that He puts into it. We are His joy, as He walks us through the breaking of ourselves, as He cuts off dead branches making room for new. The care He puts into us, knowing it is going to be painful but also knowing the love and care He pours over us in the process.

When we allow Jesus to do His inner and outer work with us, He is like the Potter shaping His most beloved piece of work. This work is the living work He created in His likeness to share everything of Himself. The deep intimate relationship He has with us individually is so beyond amazing. I was going through so much change during that time. I was reading a book on the vine and the branches as I was literally experiencing His deep work in me. Here I was trimming the roses and His Holy spirit comes upon me, to love on me. When I think about that I am overwhelmed by it, especially knowing the moment I shared with Him, He had you in mind. Isn’t that amazing? We truly are the body of Christ. What I shared with Him that day, He is now touching your heart with the truth of His incredible love for you. It is wonderful to share the truth of God in my life with you. I hope it truly blesses you. If you don’t think you could have this kind of relationship with Him you are wrong. He waits at the door of your heart, waiting for you to open it.

Philippians 3:20

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

God bless you, and may your life be filled with His presence. The gift of a rose can be purchased at www.fullofrosesinspirationals.com 

I want to let you know again, all proceeds from this ministry will go towards the leading of the Holy Spirit. Not only will you be blessed with theses beautiful pieces I have put together, but you will also help God expand His ministry. The internet doesn’t do these Framed inspiration’s Justus,  they are stunning in person.