This Blog is about my faith in Jesus and trying serve others
We can trust in Jesus the one who laid down his life for us and defeated death for us. He is our creator and Savior who loves us deeply. We can look to him in every situation.
This song seemed appropriate for me as I head out to the hospital for minor surgery to correct my heart rhythm. Jesus has been with me and seen me through so much in my life. I am grateful for his constant presence in my life.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
Last night I visited the Ukrainian family I have gotten to know quite well. They invited me for a borsch dinner which is a delicious soup in their culture. The children greeted me with hugs, I joked with the wife about having dinner outside in the snowy night, and the husband and I talked about our ‘dream’ of the wife and one of the daughters opening a bakery and the two of us being the greeters sitting there drinking coffee.
They had other visitors who are family friends from Ukraine. They are a family of a husband, wife, a an ever so cute almost three old daughter. They just arrived here from Germany two weeks ago. The wife and daughter fled Ukraine to Germany first with the husband staying behind to share Jesus with people victimized by the war. Then the husband left Ukraine to join his wife and daughter in Germany leaving his guitar behind in Ukraine. Refugees fleeing war bring only bare necessities.
He was a worship leader in Ukraine. He led worship in his church in Ukraine and after the war started he would go out to the city center and play worship songs and then share Jesus with the people who stopped to listen.
After dinner we sat in the living room and shared worship music videos. It was a wonderful time of fellowship.
So my new project is to get an acoustic guitar for him. Please pray for me to find one for him.
Thank you for praying. God Bless.
No matter what happens in this life we have reason to rejoice because of Jesus. We can rejoice because Jesus has opened the way for us to come to God, have relationship with God, and have eternal life.
When I have a high pain day, I can still rejoice knowing it is temporary and a wonderful eternity awaits me in the future. When problems arise in life, we can still rejoice knowing Jesus is with us and will never leave us.
God has blessed those who follow Jesus, trust in Jesus, with every spiritual blessing. God has not held anything back from us.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
No matter what is in our background, no matter what mistakes we have made, no matter what turmoil we have been in, our identity for those who know Jesus is-Child of God.
That means we are set free to live as children of God. We are who Jesus says we are. What others say we are does not matter in Jesus’s eyes.
When God looks at us, he sees his child. When Jesus looks at us, he sees someone he loves so much that he died for us. That is our identity and nothing can change it. Nothing, no one, can take our identity in Jesus away from us.
I love this song-Who You Say I Am. When I listen to it, what comes to mind is God saying-“Remember whose child you are.”
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
Isaiah 41:10-So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
God does not say do not fear. He says do not fear for I am your God. Gods lets us know that he has our back. He is by our side. Jesus promised he will always be with us. There is no situation that we face alone.
I have been thinking about these truths recently. We never know what a new year will bring. My Ukrainian friends did not know last year at this time that they would come to my city as refugees. In January 2020, no one had an idea that we would go through two years of a pandemic causing chaos. Whatever we face, we do not face it alone. Jesus is always with us.
I will try to remember that this Thursday when I have a follow up with my cardiologist. Send me to another country and I am happy. Send me to a new group of people from a culture no one knows and I am happy. Send me to a doctor and I would rather crawl across glass sometimes. Figure of speech of course.
May this sweet simple song help us remember that God is with us.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
“There’s no such thing as too far gone with God”
I love this lyric and all the lyrics of Simple by Leanna Crawford. There is no such thing as too far gone with God. With God, there are new beginnings, fresh starts.
Jesus can help us dust off the mess and get going again. He already knows our mistakes and invites us to come to him. There is no reason to stay away from Jesus. His mercy is fresh and new every day.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
I would like to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas and my prayer is that you come to know and experience Jesus as Immanuel-God with us. May you experience his love, grace, guidance, and friendship.
Immanuel God with us- Jesus is with us even in our darkest times. He will never leave us. He looks at those of us who believe in hum and says- MINE. He will never let go of us.
I love Teriian’s song Immanuel. I would like to share it with you this Christmas Day.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
Last night I went to a special children/youth service at the Ukrainian church. I had taught my class there and was planning on going home until a few of my friends told me their children were singing in church that evening. I am glad I stayed.
We sang one song in English which happens to be one of my favorite Christmas songs-O Holy Night. I love the song because it focuses so beautifully on why Jesus came. He came to be our Savior. He came to free us from sin and the oppression of sin. He came to make it possible for us to be restored in relationship with God and his children.
This morning I started my day by thanking Jesus for coming, for leaving heaven to be born in such humble circumstances. The depths of his love for us is immeasurable. We cannot comprehend the magnitude of his glory in heaven. We accept it by faith. One day we will see him in all of his glory and then realize how much he sacrificed to come to earth as a human baby in such humble circumstances.
Merry Christmas to all of my readers.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12
When life gets confusing, troubled, and we are not sure which way to go, Jesus is our light in dark times, dark places. Jesus created the sun and the stars which make physical light, but he himself is our spiritual light.
When life is filled with uncertainty, we can look to Jesus for guidance.
When life is perplexing, we can look to Jesus.
When we want to know God better, we can come to Jesus.
Jesus is our light in the darkness of this life.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel Isaiah 7:14
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”) Matthew 1:23
Immanuel means God with us. God walking with us. God in relationship with us. God always by our side with us. The word Immanuel appears twice in the bible with the first being the Isaiah prophecy and the second in Matthew about the birth of Jesus.
Jesus is Immanuel-God with us. He lived this life as a human being. He suffered in this life. Jesus is God the Son who became one of us to become our Savior. After his resurrection Jesus made a promise in Matthew 28:20
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
It catches my attention that in the same book in the bible, Matthew, that the second use of the word Immanuel occurs, the last words of Matthew are of Jesus promising to always be with us.
Whatever situation, problem, or struggle we face, Jesus is with us. There is never a moment that Jesus is not with us.
Thank you for reading. God Bless.
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