My Place of Grace

The Woman at the Well The woman at the well Was a Samaritan. She came to draw some water After the others long had been. She knew she wasn't welcome All alone in her shame Her life thus far was one big mess But on this day that would change. A man was sitting by the well He looked to be a Jew He asked her for a drink of water And now she was confused. Jews didn't like Samaritans And men didn't talk to women What did this man want from her? So she asked the man this question: How is it Sir, that you a Jew Could ask me for a drink? He replied, if you knew the gift of God You would be asking me I think! For I supply a living water For anyone who asks But Sir the well is very deep How will you draw without a flask? The water from this well Will make you thirst again But the water I will give you Springs forth Gods eternal plan. He spoke to her so gently Like music to her ears. Drink my "living water" Leave behind you all your fears. At first she didn't understand ...

"The Joy of the Lord is my strength" Nehemiah 8:10 This passage in scripture has always wondered me. What is this joy of the Lord and how is it my strength. I have been considering this for quite a while and after reading about joy and other scripture referring to joy, this is what I've come up with. The definition of joy found in the Miriam-Webster dictionary is: joy (noun)- the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety 2: a state of happiness or felicity : bliss 3: a source or cause of delight. and joy (verb)- to experience great pleasure or delight : rejoice . Now lets look at the definition of strength : 1: the quality or state of being strong : capacity for exertion or endurance 2: power to resist force : solidity , toughness 3: power of resisting attack : impregnability 4 a: legal, logical, or moral force b: a strong attribute or inher...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your path straight." Proverbs 3:5,6 Gods ways are not our ways. We don't always understand His purposes. But what we can be sure of is that He will work all things for the good of those who love and trust Him. His word says so. It may not seem like it at the time we're going through what ever trial we're facing, but when we trust God through it and follow his ways He makes the way for us through it! When we take things into our own hands and try to overcome in our own strength, we fall short, and rather than God's straight path, we make a very winding road that takes forever to follow. We get tired and feel like giving up. The key is trust! Who will we place our trust in? The only one who is worthy of all our trust is our sovereign mighty God. He's the only one that can make our path straight, help in time of trouble, shelter us ...

"So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!'" (2 Corinthians 5:20, NLT) WE ARE CHRIST"S AMBASSADORS! WOW! What an honor that Christ called US...you and me... and entrusted us with spreading His message of salvation and love! We are to speak FOR Him...What an Awesome gift this is! It is a great responsibility then, to listen for Gods call upon our lives. We are all given gifts in which to use to get His message out...May we use these gifts to glorify Him and build His kingdom! We all have our part in the body of Christ. May we each exercise our part and keep it working to its fullest potential. and when we see a part of the body growing weary, may we take the time to minister to it so it can continue to function in its true capacity! Let us be body builders...growing strong in the ways of The Lord! Dear Lord ...I want to pray for my fellow body members...May we listen for Your call...

Today is Good Friday, the day we reflect on the trial and crucifixtion of Jesus. He was as a sheep led to slaughter, He became the sacrificial Lamb in our place. Jesus endured the most horrific slander and abuse and never said a word against His abusers. He did this in full obedience and trust of His Father. I often wonder how he managed to survive. As I thought about this I realized, that though for all intents and purposes it looked as if God had left Jesus at this time, God had in fact not. His Father made the way for Jesus to be able to endure. He was right there with Jesus through it all. Maybe He protected Jesus' mind by filling His thoughts with the things to come. We'll never know for sure just how, but I believe He did. I believe this because Gods word says I will never leave you or forsake you. That's just one of many promises...but that's a big one! When we go through trials and suffering How do we make it through? When we put our trust in God, looking back, ...

I was touched by the fact that Jesus kept His scars even after He was ressurected in His glorified body...I think because they are a precious reminder of what we mean to Him and a way of concretely proving His Fathers love, power, and truth...so that we could see and follow...I think we are called to do the same, which to me is a beautiful revelation...By openly displaying and sharing our scars from the wounds God has healed, it will show others the way to truth and life in Him....There is one thing we can always count on in life and that is that our God brings good out of evil and that there is nothing too big or too bad for Him to conquer when we choose to put our trust in Him...Amen, Praise God!

Just a little poem/prayer to kick off the week...May God Bless You all... Lord, help us leave the past behind and focus on You today, no worries of the future just trusting day by day. Everything we do. Everything we say. May it all be for Your glory as heavenly treasures we lay. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6:20)

Be still and know that I am God Come sit in my presence and see. Pour out your heart before Me In the silence, there I'll be. Let your mind come into focus I'll clear all your troubles away Release all the stress of your day Into My hands as you pray. In the calm of the moment I'll whisper My life giving truth in your ear. Replacing the lies that you fear Healing as I hold you near. I'm the God of past, present, and future Every minute of time I am there I am with you everywhere I will show you how much I care. Come to Me when you are weary I will give you the rest that you need Planting within you a seed That will grow as you follow My lead. Place your whole trust in Me Put your life into My hands I will help you to understand As you live by My command. In this life you will have many trials Your faith will be put to the test Keep your eyes on Me in life's quest And you'll be eternally blessed. I am your God and I love you Call out to Me when you are down I wil...

What does it mean to take up the cross of Christ? This is how I see it. First picture the cross in your mind. Ok... do you see it? The verticle line of the cross represents our relationship with God, the horizontal line represents our relationship with others. The point where the cross intersects is the place of decision, wether we will take the cross and follow after Christ or go our own way. It is the point where our will meets Gods will, and there we have to choose. When we choose to conform to Gods will is when we actually pick up our cross and follow Him. This is not a once and done thing, this takes place daily, we are always being met with tough descisions that require this letting go of our own will or agandas and it can sometimes be very painful. Thank You Jesus for showing us the way to be able to bear our cross and that You took the brunt of sins pain for us so that we would be able to come to the Father by following You. Help us to remeber exactly what You did for us on tha...

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) What is this pure joy that enabled Jesus to withstand the pressure, humiliation, and excruciating death that he endured? It seems unthinkable to look at this picture and have the word joy in the same context. Let's look at this verse...Who is Jesus to us? Paul calls Him the author of our faith, an author is someone who creates stories and pictures in our minds, he brings a message, he writes it down to be read over and over. What was the message Jesus came to bring? His life was a message of hope, showing us the way to eternal life. He is the son of God who by example showed us The Fathers love, He yielded his will to His Fathers by going to the cross. He showed us how to live. Next it says He is the perfecter of our faith. It is through Jesus that we have faith. Hebrews 11:1 s...

In response to an anonymous comment I just wanted to share this...I think the way you are feeling is shared by alot of Christians. You want to live for Christ, and yet when that feeling of uncomfortability creeps in, being an outcast and unaccepted by our peers sometimes put the light out in us. But don't lose heart...Jesus understands, Even Peter, the apostle, who was Jesus' right hand man, who firmly believed in Jesus, who swore that he would never deny Jesus, did just that 3 TIMES! I think when the fear of man out weighs the fear of God, is when we run into trouble. Luke 9:26 Jesus tells us- "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." and in Matthew 10:32 Jesus says- "Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven." Taking position for Christ is hard but the rewards far o...