Sunflower Faith

 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
         A very present help in trouble.
 ² Therefore we will not fear,
         Even though the earth be removed,
         And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
 ³ Though its waters roar and be troubled,
         Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah  
         
 ⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
         The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
 ⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
         God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
 ⁶ The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
         He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
         
 ⁷ The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah  
         
 ⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD,
         Who has made desolations in the earth.
 ⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
         He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
         He burns the chariot in the fire.
         
 ¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God;
         I will be exalted among the nations,
         I will be exalted in the earth!
         
 ¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah   (Psalm 46, New King James Version)

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⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:8-10, New King James Version)

Today is Valentine’s Day.

A day that is set aside,once a year, to “celebrate” love, but how about celebrating a bigger, greater Love, that happens not just once a day or has to be placed on a calendar, but can be and is and should be celebrated 24/7.

It is the love of our Heavenly Father who loved us before we knew of that Love; It is a Love that many try to fight against acknowledging; It is a Love that is not conditionaly but offer freely to any and all who is humble and willingly to just open their hearts to Him.

How so?

Let’s take a look at what the MHC (Matthew Henry Commentary) interprets this passage to say:

Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God’s justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us.

Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God designed to deliver from sin, and to work a great change.

 While the sinful state continues, God loathes the sinner, and the sinner loathes God, Zec 11:8. And that for such as these Christ should die, is a mystery; no other such an instance of love is known, so that it may well be the employment of eternity to adore and wonder at it. Again; what idea had the apostle when he supposed the case of some one dying for a righteous man? And yet he only put it as a thing that might be.

 Was it not the undergoing this suffering, that the person intended to be benefitted might be released therefrom? But from what are believers in Christ released by his death?

 Not from bodily death; for that they all do and must endure. The evil, from which the deliverance could be effected only in this astonishing manner, must be more dreadful than natural death. There is no evil, to which the argument can be applied, except that which the apostle actually affirms, sin, and wrath, the punishment of sin,determined by the unerring justice of God.

And if, by Divine grace, they were thus brought to repent, and to believe in Christ, and thus were justified by the price of his bloodshedding, and by faith in that atonement, much more through Him who died for them and rose again, would they be kept from falling under the power of sin and Satan, or departing finally from him. The living Lord of all, will complete the purpose of his dying love, by saving all true believers to the uttermost.

Having such a pledge of salvation in the love of God through Christ, the apostle declared that believers not only rejoiced in the hope of heaven, and even in their tribulations for Christ’s sake, but they gloried in God also, as their unchangeable Friend and all-sufficient Portion, through Christ only. (Ro 5:12-14)

Alone? Think you are not worthy to be loved? To broken? In pain?

Let our Heavenly Father be your friend, your Father; He doesn’t say that things will change and stop existing, but He does give you the strength, the hope, the encouragement and the true tested way, to help you through this journey. He won’t leave you alone; He doesen’t think your unworthy….He does love you and it’s a love that is not so conditional that it’s ever to late.

But why wait when you can come to know Him now. So for this and everyday, come know our Heavenly Father’s greatest Love for you, for everyone.

God bless you.

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Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Philippians 2:14-16 (NKJV)

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I finally was able to sit down and go through a cookbook I purchased.

I found something that I would like to share with everyone.

The person who put it there said He tried this 6 years ago and hasn’t gotten over it. I tried it 2 years ago and its the best I’ve ever had!!

Salvation Saturation

This is a recipe that almost all ingredients won’t cost you a dime.

However, someone has paid the price for you to receive it.

In order to make Salvation Saturation you must find a person who is lost in their sin.

Once that is located, the ingredients are as follows:
1 Lost Sinner
1 large Dose of Conviction
1 Gracious God (Provided free of charge)
1 Large Glass of Repentance
1 large Heaping of Godly Sorrow

The photo is not my creation but was shared through a Yahoo group.

1 Willing Savior (Provided)
1 Huge Portion of Grace
1 Bloody Cross (Provided by the Savior)
1 New Creature
1 Holy Spirit

Once you have all the ingredients the 1 large dose of conviction will be sent by the Holy Spirit.

It will begin to stir in the heart of the lost sinner.

 1 large heaping of Godly sorrow will make him see himself the way God sees him.

 The 1 gracious God has already provided the 1 willing Savior and together the 2 have made the way for large portion of grace and 1 heaping of mercy that was shed on the 1 bloody cross.

Once these ingredients have settled in the heart of the 1 lost sinner then the 1 large glass of repentance will be poured into the 1 lost sinner which will produce a beautiful new creature.

After new creation is produced- praise God!

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²³ Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26, New King James Version)

Please feel free to share what scripture our Father may have shared or laid on your heart or share what this weeks “Praise and Worship” scripture means to you.

All I ask is that if you do participate, just “right click” and “save as” the linkback button on the side and link back here to Sunflower Faith and leave your name and link to your blog in the “Mr.Linky” below.

God bless you, Gentle Readers.

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 ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7, New King James Version)

2 Timothy 1:7 seemed to just pop up everywhere yesterday. It was on Twitter, it was on Facebook, it popped up during casual reading.

Think that our Father in Heaven was sending a “text message”.

Timidity is something that I am pretty good at. I excel at. I could probrably get a Ph.d. and the trouble is that is not what He desires for us or wants us to excel at.

From the MHC it was shared:

The Holy Spirit is not the author of a timid or cowardly disposition, or of slavish fears. We are likely to bear afflictions well, when we have strength and power from God to enable us to bear them. As is usual with Paul, when he mentions Christ and his redemption, he enlarges upon them; so full was he of that which is all our salvation, and ought to be all our desire.

The call of the gospel is a holy call, making holy.

 Salvation is of free grace. This is said to be given us before the world began, that is, in the purpose of God from all eternity; in Christ Jesus, for all the gifts that come from God to sinful man, come in and through Christ Jesus alone.

 And as there is so clear a prospect of eternal happiness by faith in Him, who is the Resurrection and the Life, let us give more diligence in making his salvation sure to our souls. Those who cleave to the gospel, need not be ashamed, the cause will bear them out; but those who oppose it, shall be ashamed.

As I read this, it led to fruitful thought,”What if someone had been afraid to pray for or about me to come to know Christ?”

What if someone had been afraid to publish the bible or about Christ or share their faith, even if not directly but indirectly to me or anyone.

Shuddering at the thought, but to know Christ is to know strength and boldness and the truth is, that although, we ourselves do not save people, that is our Father in Heaven’s job, it IS our job to share His word with others through our words, our actions and our lives and hiding it bears no fruit for anyone.

A farmer does not grow his crops by hiding them under a tent, otherwise how else can they get the needed sun to help them grow; In the cover of darkness, they will perish and even the farmer, himself, will perish, from lack of profit and food.

Same goes with our maturity and growth and for hope that others will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

This is not something that is to be hoarded and selectively given out. This is not something where we selectively decide who we will love or not love; our Father in Heaven does not selectively do that so who are we to do so.

Yes, it’s scary and nerve wracking and there is no guarentee of success, but that success is not for us to claim. If we do, it’s no longer about our Heavenly Father, but about us and well….the true and only glory is in Him and through Him, not us or in us.

When we go to Him and give ourselves to Him, we no longer belong or are ourselves, we belong to Him and our lives, words and actions should reflect that.

So as I hide under the blanket at this life changing thought that you, me, all of us was NOT given the spirit of timidity, ask yourself: Do you speak for Him with your life, your words and with your growth? If not…how do you (like I ask myself) throw off the fear of intimidation and being timid and speak for and about Him?

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¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:12-13, New King James Version)

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²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. (Matthew 16:24-27, New King James Version)

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  ¹ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. ² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
(Genesis 2:1-3, New King James Version)

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Ephesians 1:7, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; KJV

The blood of Jesus! There’s nothing like the blood of Jesus when it comes to cleansing our soul from sin and guilt. As much as the blood and the forgiveness of sin have been preached, Christians still wrestle with receiving forgiveness. It’s hard for them to realize that their heavenly Father truly loves them that much. If you ask them if they have the Holy Spirit residing in their hearts, without batting an eye, their answer a resounding yes.

This is a clear indication that the blood has been applied, because the Holy Spirit can’t enter a vessel until the blood goes before Him.

The Holy Spirit wasn’t sent to enter man until after Jesus gave His life’s blood upon the cross. Forty days after His resurrection, he told the disciples that He was going to leave them, but they wouldn’t be left alone. He went on to tell them that the Father would send the promise of the Holy Spirit as a sign of His covenant with us.

The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are indeed a child of God. Another way to look at the struggle of so many is to address the faith, or the lack of faith… which gives us the ability to receive and walk in God’s forgiveness.

Their focus is more on their sin than on the faith to receive forgiveness.

There’s only one reason I can think of that would make a person feel unlovable and that’s unworthiness.

To this I would remind you of John 3:16, that God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

This passage tells those who might struggle with their fleshly identity how much God values us in our fallen state.

 Through the blood of Jesus, the Father doesn’t see where we’ve been but where He’s taking us.

We are complete in Christ Jesus.

 I never know what the reason is for a particular devotion… all I can do is obey.

If this helps you to receive forgiveness, know that it was intended for you. You’re special in the sight of your heavenly Father.

Don’t allow the opinions of anyone else to distort what God has already said about you.

You are accepted in the Beloved. You can’t get a higher affirmation than that. So I will call you blessed and highly favored!!

From World Harvest Church North