Author Archives: Matthew, Karen, and God

May the Fatherly nature of God bring assurance to your soul. May you understand—on a much deeper level—how committed He is to you and your story. May Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His victory over the grave and sin, compel you to believe that you’re worth far more than your skewed perspective of yourself. May you simply decide to believe that you’re a priceless work of art. May the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit inspire you to live a life yielded to His influence. May you be so sensitive to His movement that when He winces, you wince; when He moves, you move; when He pulls back, you pull back. May you grow to deeply enjoy your fellowship with God. He is for you and He loves you.

Psalm 84:11-12 ~ For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you.

As we arrived at the Veterinary Hospital for our fur baby, Sophie, I noticed the lady parked next to us was praying. I know that position well; hands on the steering wheel with forehead resting on it, lips moving with no sound coming out, alone time with God. I knew she was praying. God laid it on my heart to pray for her and with her. I got out of my car and said, “ May I pray with you?” then I quoted the scripture, “ For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” She gladly agreed and shared she was praying for her dog, that was not eating and was very lethargic. She was distraught that something was wrong with her fur baby. We prayed together, and she thanked me. As I turned to walk away, she said, “ my dog’s name is Minnie.” We both just smiled.

God wants us to think of others and prayerfully uplift their needs. However, it’s essential to approach them and pray with a humble spirit. No one wants to hear a self-righteous person announce they are praying for them. Remember that you are no better than anyone else. God uses us to strengthen our faith and the person he sends us to help.

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/1ti.2.1.NLT

bible.com/bible/116/act.2.25.NLT

I barely had a job, living with my girlfriends parents and unmarried. My girlfriend and I were very young and she ended up pregnant. I was so happy at the thought of being a new father after finding out the wonderful news but the happiness was suddenly crushed once we told her parents. They were so angry even though I told them that I would do whatever it took to be the best father that I could be with a better job and our own place to live. I had never seen them so mad and after they scolded us for what seemed like forever all of them including my girlfriend decided to have an abortion. I was totally crushed and felt trapped with no way out. I cried myself to sleep almost every night and couldn’t even fathom what we were about to do. When the day came we drove into the parking lot we were met by picketers that we’re boycotting abortion and they made me feel even more powerless and saddened over our situation. After it was done there was a hole left in my heart that wouldn’t be filled till many years later. I had married my girlfriend and had two beautiful children but divorced nine years later. I moved away and met a beautiful woman that I ended up marrying years later. She had introduced me to church and I started walking with God! We decided to move closer to my parents onto a little ranch that was God given and It was wonderful. One sunny day I had to work on one of our vehicles but I also wanted to spend time with my wife. I asked her if she would like to come outside and read a book together while I fixed the vehicle and she agreed. I don’t remember the name of the book but it had something to do with a woman that was having an abortion. As she was reading about this woman’s experience all the sudden all these feelings and thoughts came flooding back into my mind from some twenty plus years prior. At first I had my head turned away from her and she couldn’t see the tears welling up in my eyes but it was short-lived as I burst into tears and told her to stop reading. I couldn’t even tell her why I was upset because I was crying so hard so she just grabbed me and held me till I was ready to talk. I hadn’t told my wife about a lot of things in my past because I wasn’t proud of them. After a lengthy discussion I thought she would have been appalled and disgusted with me as I was with myself and mad that I didn’t tell her sooner. She did not judge me however but had a great talk that made me feel a little better. The next couple of days were pretty rough on me and decided that I needed to give it to God and ask for forgiveness. Some things you think are buried deep and won’t come back up but they do eventually even at the strangest of times. As soon as I gave it to God I felt a lot better but it took me a long time to be able to forgive myself. I knew as soon as I handed it over to God it was blotted out and I should have just let it go but I held on to that pain for a while. Isaiah 46:25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. I felt like I needed to be punished for what I had done. It doesn’t matter how much you punish yourself those things don’t change. It’s best to just let it go giving it to God completely and ask him how you can forgive yourself, he will show you. I challenge you today to let go of the pain from your past and stop punishing yourself. It’s the only way to have the best walk with our heavenly father. If this is something that you were interested in today then please join me in prayer. Dear heavenly father please forgive me for what I have done in my past Lord I don’t want to be plagued with these thoughts anymore. Show me how I can forgive myself for these things. I don’t want anything to restrict me from having the best relationship with you Lord. Show me how to love myself so I can in turn Love thy neighbor. Thank you for always listening to my prayers and answering all of them. In Jesus precious name, amen!

“But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:15-18, 21‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.5.15-21.NLT

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. The biggest mistake we make is thinking, possibly in biblical days, that it could be done, but never in the twenty-first century. We have hectic lives . How do we make time to pray?

Oswald Chambers wrote that the correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”, we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint.

Pray without ceasing by maintaining the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all of the time. 🙏❤️🙏

bible.com/bible/114/psa.150.6.NKJV

I read this in the YouVersion Bible App. I have always loved the story of Nehemiah for his display of love and compassion for his people. In all circumstances, Nehemiah prayed, To thank God, to praise God, also for the people to have the desire and strength to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem, for the hand of God to be on them as they did God’s will. He even prayed that they would never lose sight of God, no matter how many struggles and attacks came from the enemy. Prayer is powerful, and it is the key that opens heaven’s gates. Thank you, Lord, for flooding our souls with your love, mercy, and grace. Amen

Have you ever received bad news or harsh criticism while you were preparing and laboring for important work projects? Or perhaps, something distracted you while trying to focus on a major examination. How do you remain anchored and stay on task despite the challenges? 

Nehemiah had a calling to see through the rebuilding of the wall. Resistance to the work began as soon as the rebuilding resumed. As the wall neared completion, Nehemiah now faced threats to his own safety and integrity. His enemies attempted to distract and draw him away from the wall four times. They threatened to falsely accuse him of rebellion. Tobiah even sent a false prophecy to deceive Nehemiah to enter the temple. They wanted to frighten Nehemiah into self-preservation, distract him, and trick him into sin. 

With each attempt, we see how Nehemiah earnestly sought God. Because he sought God’s approval above all else, he could rest in confidence when others tried to discredit him. He also prayed for God to strengthen the work of his hands. Even when faced with a threat to his life, Nehemiah resolved not to sin. 

Opposition and critics will come as we choose to follow God’s ways. For some, our choices may convict others of their own lack of faith. For others, our values and lifestyle may draw attention to things in their lives they would rather not acknowledge. 

Amidst such assaults on our character, let us courageously stand firm in God and keep a clear conscience before Him. Keeping our integrity before God is very much like staying focused on a task – we remember who and what matters and disregard the things that do not. We can either follow Nehemiah’s example of trusting in God, or we can be distracted by fears and doubts that seek to steer us off course. 

As Nehemiah hung onto God and remained true to His calling, the wall was seen through to completion. Similarly, as we humbly ask God to strengthen us during challenging moments, we trust that God will see His work in our lives through to completion. Let us place our confidence in Him: we must keep ourselves focused not only on who He has called us to be but also on what He has called us to do. 

Pray Together 

As we follow God, let us remember it is He who has called us, and it is a blessed life that He is leading us to. Pray that we will remain focused as we faithfully and bravely persevere through any trials:
because God is worthy.

Loving people can be hard at times especially if they are someone who has taken advantage of you or done you wrong in some way or another. I have a tendency to write people off after they have wronged me even in my Christian walk. It’s a constant struggle but it gets easier the more we see God’s love around us, read His words and when we pray asking God to soften our hearts. Matthew 5: 43-48 “you have heard that it was said,’ Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. I’m actually going through this right now and is part of the reason why I am writing this to you. It’s helping me to realize that we all need prayer. That we all fall short of God’s glory and want to be forgiven and prayed for. I will succeed at this because I want everyone to prevail and be stronger through God. I challenge you today to pray for someone that you have a distaste in your mouth for, help to make their lives better. Even the hardest of hearts can be softened through this process. Please join me in prayer this morning. Dear heavenly father, help us to be great prayer warriors. We pray for those people who have done this wrong and harmed Us in some kind of way either mentally or physically. Be with this person today help them to find the error of their ways. Show them how much you love them through us. In Jesus precious name amen.

psalm.bible/psalm-143-10