R.E.D

Rising Each Day

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I Will Establish You

Isaiah 54:14-16 Expanded Bible (EXB)

14 I will ·build [establish] you ·using fairness [in righteousness]. ·You will be safe from those who would hurt you [Tyranny/oppression will be far from you],    ·so you will have nothing to fear [terror will be far away].    Nothing will come to make you afraid. 15 ·I will not send anyone to attack you [If anyone attacks, it is not from me],    and you will defeat those who do attack you.

16 “See, I made the blacksmith.    He fans the fire to make it hotter,    and he ·makes the kind of tool he wants [forges a weapon for his purpose]. In the same way I have made the destroyer to destroy.

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Don’t Be People of Flesh

While studying early this week, I came across something of immense interest to me in the book of John. During Jesus’ time on earth, he spoke to those following him after he fed five thousand (when they wanted to force him to be their king) in John 6.

From verse 22 he began to talk to them about spiritual things and trying to get them to turn their eyes away from the physical. They demand more and more for miraculous signs. They wanted to be marveled by what Jesus could do. John 6:30-31 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’

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James 4: 1-10

New Living Translation

Drawing Close to God

1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy? 6 But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,

“God opposes the proud

but favors the humble.”

7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

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The Encounter

Today, I had an encounter with someone I had not spoken to or heard from in a really long time and it brought me so much delight and encouragement.

I had not felt this much delight in a while and it brought me great comfort to experience something like this.

God has done such a wonderful thing in my life. Not just with this encounter but with so much leading to it and the events that have unfolded for months.

Last week, I celebrated my birthday but strangely two days leading up to it, my body felt feverish along with an ache in my head. This went on until my birthday had passed. In the midnight, at about 12 AM on my birthday to be precise, I had an encounter where God took me away to be reminded of all He has given me and promised me. He made me see a bigger picture of my big picture and entrusted me with much more than I could ever ask for. I was filled with so much encouragement which was what I needed.

The difficult thing about all of this is not having anyone else to share it with at this time. By anyone, I mean someone who is willing to understand what he/she doesn't understand. Someone eager to give me courage when faced with the most challenging times.

That is why we have God. He is so much to us.

Christmas is getting closer and i just got my first Christmas album in OCTOBER!

To any one reading this, be joyful and filled with thanks for all the goodness God brings.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

New Living Translation (NLT)

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

I hope this becomes more regular but a lot is going on and I can’t give guarantees at this time.

Do take care, be strong and be encouraged.

Psalm 37:4-6 

English Standard Version (ESV)

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

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Open Letter!

I thank God for the past, present and future. I thank God for all HE is Bringing my way and in fact all HE has already brought.

I give you the glory for anything seen in me reminiscent of you for I have nothing to do with it.

I am so filled with joy that I have missed for a long time and I am grateful for it.

I thank you because even when it has been darkness all around me, you have kept me as your light, living out my days in accordance with 1 Peter 2:9.

I am deeply moved by your act of love, kindness and Guidance in everything. When my heart skips a beat… you are there. When it tries to worry, you tell it to be calm.

You have kept me and I have decided to keep you.

You have made me a living embodiment of your word. Everything your word is, that’s what you made me as. Everything you made Jesus to be, you made me to be as well.

When you framed the world, you had me in your thoughts. Not as a single thread but as a whole entity of your desire. You have desired me for so long and made me your special possession.

I have looked at others and I perceived intelligence, wisdom, happiness and more but you tell me I have all I could ever need.

As much as I may not want anyone to see all I have written, seeing as it reveals my heart towards you, I want them to also know you have been absolutely good, kind, merciful, trustworthy, faithful, truthful to the very end.

I look at you and see your powerful compassion towards me and it brings me to tears. No one understands me but you.

My mind may try to get me to worry at times but “YOU HUSH IT”. You speak your word at any point I feel human, erasing my weakness for your strength.

I do not know much neither am I confident of standing on my own but God… you have lifted me at every point in my life. Even as my eyes are sore from the tears rolling down my cheeks, you strengthen me.

Thank You God for everything. I am deeply, deeply, deeply grateful.

And I pray, that till my body is buried, may I continually do that which pleases you.

Thank You!

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Isaiah 60:2 (NLT)

New Living Translation Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you.

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Honesty

Honesty is an entry point into a person's nature. It represents your openness on a subject or in relation to yourself. It can be likened to a gate into a person's true nature. It is at that point that true communion can begin. How does that affect/influence our relationship with God? The first thing you do when you begin a relationship with God is open up. How do you do that? You admit to yourself and to Jesus that you (old self) is corrupt and you are in need of a new life, a higher life. In that openness, Jesus comes in. The work - Transformation then begins. From this point forward, you begin to open various areas of yourself to Him in need of transformation. Greed, Envy, Anger, Hatred, Lust, Pride etc. You offer all of that to Him in exchange for his much better nature of Higher Living. God's nature is something every human should partake in due to the Pure and Good Form it takes in Jesus. God's nature has the ability to lift you from a level of mediocrity into a level of discipline and excellence. Have a wonderful week.

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Your Story

Do not leave the earth with your story. Share it and let it become a stepping stone for others.

Many through one reason or the other have decided against sharing what it is they have and how it is they’ve lived especially with God.

There are so many crucial moments in our lives where we either stepped above it or ultimately succumbed “for a time.”

If we arm others with the knowledge of God’s grace in those times especially those to come after us, we would be arming them for a higher life. Your stumbling stones become their stepping stones.

What does it do for us? We permit ourselves to be light and free from unnecessary burdens.

The world isn’t filled with challenges that haven’t existed until our time. Rather it’s filled with challenges people have either accepted as part of themselves or chosen to hide from everyone else.

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Faithfulness

When following Jesus, he will lead you down the path of faithfulness. Faithfulness is sticking with it, to the very end. It’s needed when the inspiration fades and the perspiration begins. Faithfulness is an afterthought in the ‘feel good’ moment; when the holy goose bumps are a mile high. When they disappear, and the only bumps you have are the bumps and bruises from following Jesus, that's when faithfulness is vital. Receiving eternal life requires faith, but living the life God is calling you to requires faithfulness. Consider it pure joy when living a life surrendered to Christ is harder than you thought it’d be. Consider it pure joy when your obedience to God limits the options and creates difficulty. Consider it pure joy when serving others is inconvenient and goes unappreciated. Consider it pure joy when sacrificing for the Kingdom of God costs you dearly. Consider it pure joy when you follow Jesus as he leads you down this path. It’s the back roads and bumpy trails of participation in God’s purposes for the world. It’s the trail that's been blazed by the heroes of the faith, and now, it’s your turn. Jesus said, ‘Come, follow me.’ If you’ve ever thought to ask, ‘Where are we going?’, now you know. Consider This: Will you follow him down the path he leads you? ‘For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’ (Matthew 16:25 NIV) Explore more about following Christ through life’s difficult times and discover the Five Essentials to living a transformed life in Scott’s book ‘Now What?’ Courtesy of YouVersion

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Baptism Into Christ

What is Sin and why is it so important to get rid of it?

1 John 3:4 according to God’s Word Translation tells us “Those who live sinful lives are disobeying God. Sin is disobedience.”

To sin is to separate yourself from Christ and reject all He has done for you.

While studying Romans 6, i saw something that some of us may forget, choose not to remember or may not understand. Romans 6 goes on to talk about our baptism into Christ and explains it in details.

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Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. Hebrews 10:36 NLT

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The Spirit speaks the Word, it creates it.

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The Holy Spirit births the Word

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Don’t love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don’t have the Father’s love in them. Not everything that the world offers—physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles—comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and 1 John 2:15‭-‬16 GW

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“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving . People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.