Author Archives: Nannette

About Nannette

Wife to The Sweetheart, Mom to the Fantastic Six, Nana to six of the cutest littles on the planet, Author, The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. UPCI ministers.

Bless

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We have been studying 1 Peter over at She Reads Truth the last few days. Today, they are talking about suffering, endurance and the overcoming power of Jesus Christ. Another part of the scripture reading today jumped out at me and I wanted to go a little deeper…I need more compassion, more Blessing in my life. Not blessing upon me, but blessing in my heart to give to others. What are some of your thoughts?

Bless. 

We were called to bless one another. This is not an easy task, especially when you are being reviled.

Reviled: criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner. Synonyms: Criticize, condemn, censure, ATTACK!

Our inner man/woman wants to retaliate, to push back, to counter-attack. It is in our very NATURE.

But God has called us to be like Him. The Bible says, “…he opened not his mouth…” to His accusers. How is that possible for us today?

Only by relationship. By spending time with Him and taking on His attributes through prayer and the Word of God. Beautiful scriptures such as this one remind us it is possible to endure suffering and turn it into a blessing:

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:8-9 ESV.

Do not give back evil for evil. If someone stabs you in the back,  don’t grab that knife and plunge it into them…if they condemn, criticize, and attack you with WORDS, do not hurl those weapons back at the accuser.

But on the contrary…

Bless

Bless, for to this you were called! It is part of your purpose, even if not a part of your nature. It is Christ IN you, the Hope of Glory.

[Tweet “You carry that Glory with you wherever you go; use it to bless others.”]

That you may obtain a blessing. Other versions say that you will INHERIT a blessing. We don’t go around doing good on this earth just so we might receive back from God even more. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit working IN us that causes us to want to be like Him and mimic His actions and teachings. In so doing, at the end of this life, we will inherit a blessing…eternal life in the presence of a holy God!

But what about in this life?

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 NIV.

Running over, it will be poured into your lap! Will you be rich, will you be popular and skipping through fields of daisies? Not necessarily, but you will be blessed and highly favored of God. He will pour into YOU His life-giving presence that will sustain you when you are suffering for His name sake.

Bless someone today. Give. Pour into them and share the love of Jesus Christ. 

Watch it come back to you.

sharing with Faith Filled Friday, Fellowship Friday

Laying aside Coincidence, Looking for Divine Appointments…

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“There is a God who governs the world, so that things do not come to pass by chance, no, not the smallest event, but all by Divine direction.” ~ Matthew Henry

The late, and beloved, Corrie ten Boom did not believe in coincidence. She had too many Divine Appointments to prove otherwise.

If you are not familiar with Corrie, she is credited with saving the lives of many Jews during WWII by helping them escape, and many others by hiding them from the Nazis in her home.

During 1943 and 1944, there would be as many as six and seven people living secretly, and illegally, in the ten Boom family home. She and her family were later imprisoned for their underground deeds.

One of Corrie’s “coincidences” came about when a clerical error allowed her to be released from the prison camp a week before all women prisoners her age were executed. Corrie later wrote that, “God does not have problems, only plans.”

Coincidence- A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged.

There was another lady who experienced quite the coincidence in the Bible. You may or may not know her as the Shunammite woman whose son was raised from the dead by the prophet Elisha in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 4.

Elisha had told the woman that there would be a famine in the land and she should go and stay wherever she could, because the famine would last for seven years. She obeyed and took her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

At the end of the seven years she makes her way back to Israel to make an appeal to the king to get her house and her land returned to her. Now this is no small feat for anyone, especially for a woman. To go before the king and demand your property be returned to you after seven years of being gone had to be a little scary, and from the commentaries I have read he might not have been particularly easy to work with.

In the meantime, the king is talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, they are just sitting around discussing all of the great things Elisha has done. There they are going down through the list of all the miracles he had performed and when Gehazi gets to the story of Elisha bringing the Shunammite woman’s son back to life she walks in at that very moment to ask the king to restore her house and land! Gehazi is beside himself and reacts like this:

“My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 2 Kings 8:5 NKJV.

It isn’t like they are the only ones in the room…surely there are many people in line to see the king just as this woman. But Gehazi sees her just as he is telling about her son’s miracle.

The king listens to her story, assigns an official to her case and tells him to “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” 2 Kings 8:6 NIV.

Crazy Coincidence? I prefer to call it Divine Appointment!

Crazy Coincidence hopeinthehealing

God had taken care of her this far; He sure was not going to abandon her now.

Can you handle one more story?

We all love Ruth and Naomi and their dedication to one another in the Old Testament. After the death of both of their husbands they move back to their homeland and in order to provide food for the two of them, Ruth is out in the field gathering grain that is left over from the harvesters.

“Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.” Ruth 2:3 NKJV.

She just happened to come to the field that belonged to Boaz…a man of influence and wealth who would soon fall in love with her and take her for his wife.

But it doesn’t end there. This little “coincidence” truly is a Divine Appointment, for we find Boaz and Ruth listed in the New Testament in a pretty important place.

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham…Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.” Matthew 1:1-5 NKJV.

Surely you can think of times in your life when circumstances have come together that you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it had to be God. Some would have called it coincidence but you knew better.

God had His hand all over it!

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.” Psalm 37:23 NKJV.

[Tweet “We miss out on giving God glory when we pass something off as chance, happenstance or coincidence.”]

What specific instances can you recall that God has done in your life that you knew was not a coincidence?

Have you found yourself in the right place at the right time and just knew it was the hand of God?

Nothing happens by chance!

[Tweet “I think my God delights in getting out His datebook and setting up Divine Appointments for me!”]

I don’t want to fail to give Him the praise and glory for each and every one. Do you have one you would like to share? We would love to hear it!

Leaving you with this poem that supposedly was a favorite of Corrie ten Boom…

Ode to Coincidence
My life is but a weaving, between my God and me
I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily.
Oft times he weaves sorrow, and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent and shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the skillful weaver’s hand
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

Kingdom2

Obtaining an Inheritance

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Do you need a promise? The Word of God is FULL of promises and all of them are TRUE.  You can trust in the Word that Jesus left with us, all of it inspired by God. Today, we will talk about one of those important promises. 

In Ephesians the first chapter, Paul the apostle is addressing the church at Ephesus, but it applies to us today as well. It goes something like this:

“That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” Ephesians 1:10-12.

I love what Paul is saying here…we have obtained an inheritance in Jesus Christ, and at the right time He will bring everything together under His authority-everything in heaven and on earth.

Verse twelve says that “…we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”  The Jews are the ones who first trusted in Christ. It was His purpose that they would bring Him glory and honor.

But here is the good part. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise…” Ephesians 1:13 NKJV.

Now Paul is talking about you and me, the Gentiles. Those that have been “grafted in”!

The NLT says it like this: “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.”

Now, Paul says something that took me years to understand, or for it to really soak in.

“Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:14.

The NIV says the Holy Spirit is a “DEPOSIT, guaranteeing our inheritance, until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of His glory.”

I can understand that.

The Holy Ghost is earnest money!

He has given us a guarantee that He will come back for us to redeem us unto Himself; a down payment on His inheritance!

We are that inheritance friend…What hope!

Aren’t you thankful for the Comforter? If you have been baptized in His precious name and filled with the Holy Spirit, according to the scripture, then you have that hope of redemption.

Look up! That day is drawing near. The signs are all around us. “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28.

It is a promise!

Promises-promises-Hopeinthehealing-1024x774

 

Kingdom2

Sharing with Making Your Home Sing, Mama Moments Monday, Modest Monday, Titus 2 Tuesday, Testimony Tuesday