| Reflections of His Love | |
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Breathless Hope Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Hope is something we can all use a lot of. It fuels our dreams, creativity, and spirits. We soar on the wings of eagles because of the strength and endurance we draw from it. Our hopes are for those things that we cannot see or yet do not have! If we have something we do not hope for it, yet if we do not have something we hope for it always! Jesus Christ is like that! He is our hope for an unseen eternity while we are on this earth. Most of us go through our lives hoping for things that is seen, those things that we can touch. Those things that are seen are fallible, they will soon fade away. Those things that are unseen are spiritual and eternal, never to fade away! What a beautiful hope we have in Jesus Christ. Through all our circumstances in this life, no matter what they are we can count on God\'s goodness and graciousness. Our situations may cause us to waste away on the outside, but on the inside we are being restored daily! Our hope in Jesus Christ helps us build our belief and endure whatever comes our way! When our spirits become thirsty we have our living water, which is Jesus Christ, to draw from to quench that thirst! Such awesome hope should leave us breathless! Jennifer Robinson © 2003
He Works Where We Are Sent To Wait But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. -- Habakkuk 2:3, NLT But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently. -- Romans 8:25, NLT Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. -- Hebrews 6:16, NLT Over the last eight months, I have been sent to an area where I have been told to wait. God told me, "Jennifer, today you will be transformed. You are to become healthier. You are going to learn to love yourself because I first loved you. I am going to change your life as you know it." This was told me back in November of 2002. I was told to wait and watch the transformation. I was told that He was going to change my life, as I knew it. He was NOT kidding when He told me that. I never got it until I read today's Utmost For His Highest Devotional. I learned that he brought me to this point in my life where I must solely depend upon Him for everything. Everything that has happened to me has brought me full circle to where I am right now. I have had every test known to medicine on my intestines and stomach to find out what on earth was wrong with me. God took me by the hand and helped me to lose weight and begin to be healthier. All the things I am finding that are wrong with my health are all complications of being overweight. I praise HIM above for leading me down this path, I am fearful but that is the beauty of this entire ordeal I am going through. God's perfect love and support drives out all my fear of anything. I know that it is His will for this to happen to me. He would never give me anything that I could not handle. I am not driven from His arms but right into them. I have been running my entire life from the arms of the Savior that has held them out to me my entire life. Satan drives things into my life, presents certain things that tempt me. It is my choice to walk away from them and into the arms of God and Jesus Christ. We become so self-focused that we are blinded to the work that God is doing in our lives when things are the quietest. He works where we are sent to wait. I have been in this same spot since November of 2002, look at the work he has done in my life! Praise be His glorious name because I surely do not deserve this, His grace is so beautiful. God has worked and motivated in me, I am obedient to His commands. I wait patiently for Him and let Him work in my life. I do not question Him, I do not debate with Him anymore like I used too. He says, "Go Jennifer, I will take care of you. Keep working for me. I will stay here and work for you and for those around you." I give up myself and move on trusting myself to His arms. He brought me to this bend in the road to wait for Him, yet He tells me to go forth. I wait for Him because He is working a miracle in my life; He is helping me to rely solely on Him and His grace. I learn that within He will work and I can move without freely for Him and carry out His purpose. I keep my mouth shut and move forth being a silent witness to His grace. My appearance is changing, that transfiguration is happening. It is apparent to all now that I am transfiguring into his living witness. I have lost 53 pounds to date. I enter August weighting 237 from 291! PRAISE HIS GLORIOUS AND RIGHTEOUS NAME!
Living For Christ, Forgetting Yourself Jesus Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow him. What a beautiful concept he sets for us in those words. We are asked to forget ourselves and live for him. No matter what our hearts desire is we must desire a relationship with Jesus Christ more than anything else. We must place Jesus Christ first in our heart of hearts. We must forget about our troubles, circumstances, and loved ones. Forgetting about you is the surrendering of your heart and life by turning it over to Him. Paul tells us that he considers everything as rubbish apart from knowing Jesus Christ. Many will ask how can they forget themselves in order to live for Christ. Living for Christ is a conscious choice; we chose to remember him before anything else. God's will comes before anything and everything. We can look at Jesus' living example, on the Mount of Olives when he told God that not his will but God's will be done. Jesus took up His cross and walked for us to our death. He took our death sentence onto himself and died for our wrong doing, for our sin. He bled for us and through that blood we have ultimate freedom from all sin. Jesus Christ overcame all temptations, all tribulations, and even the fires of death for us. Jesus Christ died for us, how hard is it for us to live for Him? We get worried and fret over the things in this life; Jesus Christ calls us never to worry. God makes certain the birds of the air are taken care of! God makes certain the flowers in the field are clothed with beauty! If God cares that much for birds or flowers, how much more do you think he cares for us? His mercy is unlimited, his grace is unlimited, his love is unlimited, and everything about him is unlimited. His grace is the unmerited acceptance of who we are as a people within our hearts. He remembers us all the time, shouldn't we remember him? We remember him by placing all our troubles in his presence. We remember him by running into his arms and loving him unconditionally. We remember him by taking up our cross and following Jesus Christ. The forgetting of ourselves is remembering those around us, remembering their plights, remembering their turmoil, and most importantly remembering the selfless act of Jesus Christ on the cross. When we forget ourselves we will experience the peace and joy of Him who created us. Instead of running away from Jesus Christ when troubles come we are already in his arms of protection. Trusting that he will take care of us no matter what is forgetting ourselves, we forget everything because he is taking care of it for us! We are entered into that place of rest that Jesus talks about so much in the New Testament. Living for Jesus Christ means loving others, caring for their needs, being honest with others, forgiving freely no matter what is done to us, and doing for others as we would do for Jesus Christ. Whatever we do for the least of our brethren we do for Him! We will find that what we do for others, God will do for us in the long run. As we do for others, we are forgetting ourselves, living for Jesus Christ, and letting God work in our hearts to prune out everything that is contrary to his Word. He transfigures us into the man or woman he saved us to be; his Son Jesus Christ. After all, is this not the goal of each of us to be like Jesus Christ, to allow Jesus Christ to live through us? This is how you begin living for Jesus Christ and learning to forget about yourself. Jennifer Robinson © 2003 |