Tag: true

Your original promise

Karla Lees

The original promise is the direct blessing of God received in faith.
Galatians 3:20

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On the days when the moments of pain, grief or hurt try to overwhelm, God tangibly reminds us throughout His Word of His promises.

The fact that there are at least 365 of them, depending on which version you read, reassures my heart that He knows we need this reminding know a daily basis.

What we need is not a shock to Him by any means.

Our Creator didn’t just plop us on this earth and wash His hands of what He had made.

He continuously was seen throughout the history recorded in the Word by his people, interactive and present.

Reminding us He is with us.
Acting and moving on our behalf in ways we can’t even fathom.
Speaking love and truth to us.

But God went even deeper, by promising us His blessing.

Straight, no holds barred.

His direct blessing has been spoken to each of His Beloved, and offered as a gift of love to each who chose to receive it.

By faith.

Our part is to believe He IS who He says He is and trust His Words ARE true, even when we can’t yet see the fruit of our faith in the here and now.

Abraham believed decades before his promised son arrived.

Joseph believed generations before Israel was delivered out of Egypt.

Hannah believed she had been heard by God after an awkward encounter with a priest accusing her of being drunk in her fervency.

Mary believed in faith the moment the angel proclaimed her the mother of the long awaited Promise.

None of these faithful knew exactly what was up ahead, but they knew the One who made the promises, and placed their faith in Him.

Unsure of your future?
At a crossroads, or a crisis of decision?

Grab on tight to the promises of the Promise Keeper.

He is who He says He is  and He will deliver on His promises.

For He will never change being who He says and reveals He is:

Promise Giver.
Promise keeper.
The Living Promise.
Promise with us.

This Promise will never let us go.  If eveything else in your world is unsettled, He will be your steady foundation.

Reach out and grab the Promise.
His hand is always outstretched to you, and is only a prayer of faith away.

for the best

Karla Lees

No weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.
Any accuser who takes you to court will be dismissed as a liar.
This is what God’s servants can expect.
I’ll see to it that everything works out for the best.

 -God’s Decree, Isaiah 54:17

God Himself has told us what to expect in the battle days ahead.

There is no weapon forged or fashioned that can ever separate us from Him, nor that will defeat us.

But how is this possible when I have ____________ afflicting me right now, you may ask?

Our physical bodies are not eternal, only our spirit is.

And when we are His, He’s got our spirit covered & surrounded with His.

So the garment we all wear, our body, may get hurt in the flack of battle.

But that part of us that is most precious is safe in His care, when we hide ourselves in His embrace, His Stronghold, in Him.

The accuser of the brethren? He is known for who he really is, a liar. There is no wool he can pull over God’s eyes to trick Him.  God knows his true nature, and will always expose him as the liar he is.

God’s plan, His best for us, His children?

It will always come to pass when God is in control of the world, which He always is.

The enemy may have won ground, but that ground always was, always is, and always will be His.

The One who made all things will never give up on His plans being fulfilled, its not in His nature to give up.

He continues to speak His truth into our Spirit, to give us hope when all we can see is dim or shrouded in uncertainty:

I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, give you a hope & a future.

All things work together for My good.

You can do all things in My strength.

You are never alone, I am always with you.

May our spirits remind us of the truths God plants within us to help us through the hard times, and may we never cease to keep our eyes on our Protector & Lover of our souls, no matter what is surrounding us.

He’s got us, He will never leave us,and all things will work together for our best. For He has promised it, and declared it to be!

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Yes in Him

Karla Lees

For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.—2 Corinthians 1:20

Maybe you are like me, and you have had one too many people break the promise they make to you. You find it hard to trust people whose word doesn’t seem to follow through on what they say they will deliver.

Today, I remind you, and myself, of this Good News:

ALL of God’s promises come to pass because of who He is.

Really.

He is 100% good, kind, loving, devoted to you. He has plans for your future to give you hope on the journey you walk together as they come to pass.

God is 100% pure, holy, truth. He cannot lie, for there is no shadow or darkness hidden in Him at all.

He is 100% worthy of our trust, for He has our best always on His mind and heart.

If God gives you a promise, it WILL come to pass.

Especially on the days when we let each other down or are hurt by one another’s words, actions or lack of follow through, be reminded of the assurance we have in Him:

ALL His promises come to pass in Him.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

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Reason #5 to Give Thanks: Because You Can

Karla Lees

The last my top 5 reasons to give thanks ends with:

Because You Can (also known as Why Not?)  🙂

If you are alive, you have a reason to give thanks.

If you have anyone on earth or in heaven who loves you, you have a reason to give thanks.

If you can eat, breathe, sleep, sing, walk, talk, create, move, see, hear….

you have a reason to give thanks.

The Word is full of verses about why to give thanks, but here are my fave four as to why we can, besides the fact we are alive (as I outlined above):

1. Because you are made by His hands:

Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body. You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You; the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.

Psalm 139:13-16

2. Because He is the Only God!

I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

Psalm 7:17

3. Because He is not only good, but He loves us FOREVER!

Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Jeremiah 33:11

4. Because of who He IS, Holy, Mighty, Awesome, Just, True, Good….

We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was…

Revelation 11:17

Every day, we have a reason to thank God.

Every day, we can offer Him thanks, even on those days when almost everything seems to go downhill… 😉
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better things ahead

Karla Lees

When your life is filled with potholes, valleys and pain, its hard to see the mountains.

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But God,
the eternal
forever
all powerful
Provider
Redeemer
Restorer
More than able
Healer
Lover of our souls
Maker of heaven & earth
Before all time
promises….
We have good things coming.
Good things are in store for us up ahead.

Just because we can see them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there in our future.

Like me, you may have experienced horrors you were almost crushed by.
You are still here.

You may have had your dignity and innocence stripped away against your will.
You are still here.

You may have felt loneliness to the point of despair, and almost lost yourself in the depths you found there.
You are still here.

If you believe in God,
know He is for you,
you need to believe His word will come to pass
and He is who He says He is.

For you are still here,
which is not an accident.

You are still here
because God made a way for you to make it through your past.

You have good things ahead in store for you.

Its time to let down your burdens,
step away from your past,
(which is your history but not you)
let God in,
and begin to hope,
dream,
soar again.

With God, there is no such thing as too far gone, or too big a situation for Him to enter into on your behalf.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Jeremiah 29:11 MSG