"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORDis on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me tobind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favorand the day of vengeance of our God, to comfortall who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them acrown of beautyinstead of ashes, the oil of gladnessinstead of mourning, and a garment of praiseinstead of a spirit of despair."
JESUS the GIFT that keeps on GIVING all year long!
I have COMMENTS CLOSED now except FRI. and maybe SOS, REACTIONS only see explanation here. I miss knowing who was here so I added this linky, if you'd like to let me know, leave name or blog with day: Su, M, T, W, Th, Sa.
I WAS HERE!
1/24COMPUTER CRASHED, unable to SIGN IN, don't know what's wrong or for how long, see LOVE LETTER for more, checking emails from public cyber but can't do that daily or for hours so I'm limited in what I can get done. Love y'all, pray and don't forget me.
(also the seven sacraments for the Catholic Church)
Prophecy
Serving
Teaching
Exhortation
Giving
Leading
Compassion
Romans 12:6-8
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to hisfaith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully
1 Corinthians 12:8-11
8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
May you be determining what gift God has given you to develop and use for His Glory in this Kingdom! If you do not yet know your gift...may you seek the GIFT this year & GLORIFY God! (I definitely should be expanding on this topic in future posts and also more SPIRITUAL GIFTS!)
I'm wondering if you are noticing the same thing as I am. Each of these 12 Days of Christmas, so far, have involved "BIRDS" to symbolize the spiritual meaning (except 5 golden rings, but I think there's a bird with golden rings around the neck). I thought of this because often we represent the Holy Spirit as a dove, though we realize that is not who HE is!
Now the 8th day of CHRISTmas changes to people! But it's "People who need to change."
If you need to discover or rediscover your gifts, here are 7 helpful sites for "SPIRITUAL GIFT INVENTORY":
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."
7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.
8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.
10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.
12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.
16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
To read a devotional on the 6th Day of Christmas, you can click & read here.
PRAISE GOD as CREATOR and SUSTAINER of the WORLD!
[I divert from the 12 Days of Christmas song today for THIS, but you can go listen
to any or all of the 5 previous days of Christmas to hear]
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
I had ten verses left from my Weekly Memory Verses, I've completed 4 of them this month and have chosen these TWO together
to COMPLETE this year for they seem to be the BEST
COMPLETION
of God's Work
in us
for
2009
and
what HE will do
immeasurably
MORE,
according
to HIS POWER,
BE the GLORY
in
2010!
Almighty and Awesome God, do in our day what you did in past days. Give us faith to believe and then amaze us at how shortsighted our faith really was.
Give us vision to see your plan and believe you long to do greater things.
We ask this, not for ourselves or our reputation, but for your glory and the salvation of our world. You are glorious, generous, and gracious. You have blessed me physically and spiritually with so many wonderful touches of Your grace. I praise You for Your faithfulness. I thank You for Your grace. I exalt Your name above every other name and hold it as a personal treasure. Please be glorified in me -- my speech, my actions, my influence, my life.
Loving Father, please help me better know and live Your will. Awaken my heart to Your will and open my eyes to Your plans by the power of your Holy Spirit. I want to be Your vessel of ministry, healing, blessing, and hope to those around me at work and play. Please use me to Your glory today, and always. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.(combination of prayers from Phil Ware, Today's Verse, also with Heartlight.org)
This is the last FATHER'S LOVE LETTER post that I will be sharing, though last week actually had the last two lines of the Father's letter to us yet today's final part is just as IMPORTANT. It is how Our Father, closes His letter & signs it as:
OUR DAD, ALMIGHTY GOD!
AWESOME GOD! ABBA! How beautiful is this!
Each week I have been taking a verse from theFather's Love Letterto share and allow us to soak in HisLOVE from HIS Letter to Me & YOU: the Bible.
(*FLL will represent Father's Love Letter). To see the letter in full you can scroll down and read or listen & watch a video of it. Or just go to the original site by clicking on FLL above in red.
"There are so many ways that one could end a letter:
Sincerely …Yours truly … Regards... etc.
But there is only one way to end a love letter from our Father in heaven!
Love, Your Dad…Almighty God
This signature expressed both the majesty of a Holy God and the tenderness of a loving Father. Over the centuries, many theologians have struggled to reconcile a concept of God who is both holy and loving, powerful yet intimate. Our natural tendency is to gravitate towards one concept of God or the other. But the truth is that we are infinitely loved by One who is righteous and omnipotent, yet tender and abounding in love.
The Almighty God is also our Heavenly Dad! The One who created the heavens and the earth with the power of His Word, took the time to knit each one of us in our mother's womb. The One who made heaven His throne and the earth His footstool, welcomes each of His little ones to visit with Him in His glorious presence any time, day or night. The One who makes nations tremble and holds the hearts of kings in His hand, wants His children to come close to Him to hear the beating of His heart. What an awesome privilege we have to be called children of God!
But let us never forget that the right for us to become the children of God came at an incredible cost. Jesus Christ, God's only Son, who knew no sin, took upon Himself the full weight of our sin when He died upon a cross two thousand years ago. The shedding of His innocent blood was the only way that we could ever be reconciled to His Father. Jesus' death, burial and resurrection will stand for all eternity as the defining moment that would make it possible for all of us to enjoy the eternal benefits of being sons and daughters in our Father's kingdom." FLL
PRAYER
Father, You are the Almighty God and yet You are the Father that I have been looking for all my life! I thank You that the Bible is Your love letter to me. I receive Your gift of love expressed through the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus Christ. I pray that I will never leave this place of intimacy being rooted and grounded in Your love. Thank You for making me a co-heir with Your Son, Jesus in Your glorious inheritance. It is in Jesus, through Jesus, and by Jesus, that I come into Your throne room with the assurance that I am loved & accepted as Your child. Amen.
Father's Love Letter used by permission Father Heart Communications Copyright 1999-2009 www.FathersLoveLetter.com
SO what is the image that you have of our Heavenly Father? Who is HE to YOU?
I must confess, I usually saw my Heavenly Father as an authoritarian that disciplined with a hard hand and heavy on the judgement. I would tend to pray or go to Jesus, as my friend and like a brother, because I felt He could relate better to me and understood me. I would seek the Holy Spirit's guidance, direction, fruit... until I realized that this Trinity thing, really is three in one, not three different ones...just like my dad was my dad, but he was also a brother and even an uncle. He was not three different people...just had different roles.
I love my Father in heaven. I have learned to seek Him and climb up comfortably in His lap and call Him, Papa...Abba...my Dad. I believe it is easier for women to relate to God because He is a male figure but I have seen that the ministry of the Father's Love Letter has given males a chance to feel free to get close to Him and allow their relationship to be intimate as well. It breaks down all walls for them. It also has helped many women or people (in general) that had bad earthly father's to relate and look for the characteristics of a great Dad! He wants to be that for each one of us. He wants to fill that void in our lives so we always go to Him with our problems or with our triumphs. HE IS WAITING FOR YOU each day!
(like last week's post shared)...run to Him today and tell Him all you need to share and listen to Him, soak in His WORD and allow His love to pour over you!
Father's Love Letter resources are produced by Father Heart Communications.
For more information on Father Heart Communications, click here.
... which stands for the six days of creation ...
and on the seventh day God rested
Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics
