The web site lists a promise from God listed for each day.
For the fun of it, I decided to look up my birth date. The promise from God for March 5th was 1 Peter 2:9b, and it was a jaw dropper.
If you know me personally, or if you have been following my blog, you may know that I have been struggling with being lead to share my testimony. At first I was resistant. Then I finally felt comfortable sharing it with our Thursday small group and our pastor. Now I am ready to go out and tell the world.
There is another piece, though. It seems clear that my husband and I are intended to share our testimonies together. What a crazy and interesting story our lives have weaved together. I imagine that even the people who know us best would not believe it. It is beyond amazing to see how the Lord has worked in both of our lives individually and then in our life together that we hope that we can glorify Him with our collective testimony.
In case you are wondering what the Bible verse that was listed as God's promise for March 5th says, here it is.
God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. - 1 Peter 2:9b
Pretty incredible, right?
You can check out www.365promises.com to see today's Bible verse or to see any date's verse. You can also pick up a Bible and open it and start reading. you never know what the Holy Spirit might show you.
Oh, and if you do not have a Bible, feel free to ask me for one.
Pretty incredible, right?
You can check out www.365promises.com to see today's Bible verse or to see any date's verse. You can also pick up a Bible and open it and start reading. you never know what the Holy Spirit might show you.
Oh, and if you do not have a Bible, feel free to ask me for one.
God is always speaking to us through His word. This was obviously for you. I just checked out my birth date. I now know that He did the same for me. I got something that was specifically for me. Amazing! The main statement is this: I do not show favoritism in My family. If you know me, you know why that is special to me.
ReplyDeleteYa know, out of curiosity, I decided to look up my birth date as well. Im not really much of a religious person, but would consider myself a spiritual person, meaning, I dont usually go to church, but I believe in God and turn to Him when I have felt I cant take anymore and need guidance, help, understanding, etc. I have pretty much always been like that. This may sound wierd, I dunno, but I do know one thing. Every time I have turned to Him and asked for His help, I KNOW He has been there and helped! It may not have been an immediate answer, it may have taken a few weeks, months, or even years, but every time I have prayed to Him, asking for help or guidance, He has helped, lead the way.
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked up my birth date, this is what it said: "My spirit will help you in your weakness". These words ring true. Very true.
Here's a kind of strange story, but one I am inclined to tell.
First and foremost, yes, I am a sinner, I will be the FIRST to admit that. I had my son out of wedlock. However, I do feel my son (and my daughter!) are a gift from God, in so many ways! Back to my story LOL...
When me and my husband were just dating, I sat down and prayed one day. My husband and I had got into an arguement, a very heated arguement, that almost broke us up. I prayed to God, asking him to show me a sign, ANY SIGN, that my husband was The One.. the one I was to marry, grow old with, etc. Of course, after myself and my husband calmed down from the arguement, we made up and worked things out, however, I kept in the back of my mind that prayer. Don't ya know, a few weeks later, we found out I was pregnant with my son! The day I found out I was pregnant, took me back to that day of the prayer. I realized, my pregnancy, was God's way of answering me. If you know me, you know that I take marriage extremely seriously. That said, that answer from God made a HUGE impact on me.
My husband and I later got married 5 months after our son was born. When our son was 10 months old, we found out we were expecting another baby, my daugther. We rarely ever argue. We live quite happily, and I absolutely have had no doubts in my mind since my son's conception that my husband was the one I was supposed to be with for the rest of my life.
Yeah, some people may say "ppl get pregnant every day, doesnt mean they are meant to be", and while that is true, I strongly believe that is NOT the case with me and my husband, and no one can tell me otherwise! Sorry this is so long LOL.
Sis I can't wait to hear your testimony I love hearing where God has brought a person and how their lives changed from it. It takes courage to tell our testimonies because so many things go through our mind. I use to worry about how people would judge me and talk about me behind my back. But then I realize that had it not been for the Lord I wouldn't be alive. So from that moment on I tell my story and if they judge that's them I can't be still on how God has blessed me.
ReplyDeleteI am blessed at this moment to hear you stood up and how your hubby want to share his as well. This is going to be good.
Kool post DUG....and remember to: "come on & get happy!"
ReplyDeleteHis promises are true and everlasting--most people don't comprehend them..explaining them to eyes or minds that do not want to receive them is difficult.
ReplyDelete@dawnslearningtoys:
ReplyDeleteI loved your comment...the verse Dawnmarie quoted is our (my husband & I) life verse...our journey "out of darkness and into His marvelous light" has been so incredible. So much so that we began a ministry about 10 years ago as part of our effort to "tell all of the wonderful things he has done". What is that? He has given us an identity far greater than I could ever imagine - far greater than any person could ever see in us - It's such great news I wanted to share a piece of it with you. What struck me most in your comment was you mentioned that you are a "sinner". I'd like to offer you another perspective. Based on God's word, because I have "believed in Him", he does not identify me as a sinner. His word actually calls me a Saint - (according to Webster defined as - one of God's chosen). He chose me! He sees me as a Saint - holy, righteous, and pleasing to him. A Child of God - and He loves me like a parent loves a child - without hesitation and without condition. He says I am an heir to the throne, a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now. My identity is in no way determined by my behavior...do I make mistakes? Absolutely!!! Does He view me in light of those mistakes? Do they change His love for me? By no means!!! What I do does not determine who I am - Who I am determines what I do! Isn't that incredible! My past, present, & even future mistakes do not change who I am - I am who God says I am and because I choose to believe what He says about me, my life choices will be rooted in that belief.
Again, I loved your comment and want you to know that if I met you today, I would view you as a Saint, not a sinner. A sister in Christ, a fellow heir to the throne! He WILL help us in our times of need...He clearly says he will never leave us or forsake us. He says he has created us in His image. If that is true...how could our identity be anything other than what He specifically defines it to be in scripture? There is so much love and hope wrapped up in that for me and I pray it encourages you too!
DM - I don't know if you remember, but this verse was the verse we established RCC on : )
Mandy, Thank you for your kind words. I guess I should have explained why I called myself a "sinner". You see, I am baptised Catholic, however, I do not practice the catholic religion. In a true Catholic's eyes, the choices I have made in my life, and the fact that I had a child out of wedlock, even though I did marry the child's father shortly after his birth, that is what makes me a "sinner" in a true Catholic's eyes.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say I consider myself a "Saint" either LOL, but I can see your point and reasoning for viewing things the way you do. I consider myself, not a religious person, but a spiritual person. The reason I say this is because, I do not go to church, for my own personal reasons. However, I most definitely do believe in God, believe that He hears and answers his prayers. I try to live my life and raise my kids as true to God as I possibly can. Sometimes I do ok, sometimes I stumble and fall... however, I do not fret when I do, as I know I am His child, and He expects me to fall. I just get back up, brush myself off, and keep moving forward.
There have been several times in my life where I have questioned Him. Questioned why He allowed things happen in my life, like my son's diabetes. Sometimes I grow distant to Him, but, I always find myself coming back to Him. Needing and wanting Him in my life. It is hard to stay away, knowing I have seen His miracles, answering my prayers.
Dawn, We are ALL sinners, not matter what the religion we were born and raised in. Whether Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, etc. We were BORN sinners. It is in our nature. Our "religion" has nothing to do with it. What saves us from that sin nature is our acceptance of Jesus Christ. Understanding that He was born of the Virgin Mary, was sinless Himself, was God's Son, came to Earth to take our place and the punishment that we deserve for our sins. He did that for you and for me and for all of us long before we were ever born. Why? Because He knew we were going to be born and screw up and need a way to God. Jesus made that way. Because He loves us and God loves us. I have done more than my fair share up being a total screw up and I praise God every day for sending His Son. Because of Jesus I know that when I die I will be going to Heaven and live with Him forever. He has not only forgiven my past screw ups, He has forgiven my future screw ups. How cool is that?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, He was also crucified, He died, and He rose from the dead 3 days later. JESUS IS ALIVE TODAY!!!! How TOTALLY cool is THAT????
ReplyDeletethe verse for your birthday was so you- that was totaly awesome
ReplyDeleteDawn,
ReplyDeleteThat is the incredible part of what I have learned...I am not defined by what/who others say I am...I can understand how what I said must sound if you were raised to understand the Catholic culture. However, I must say that what God says about you wins out every time. I too am not a religious person. Religion, by definition, means a "return to bondage". Jesus' first recorded words said that He came “to set the captives free”(Luke 4:18) - and his last words before His death were, "It is finished" (John 19:30) That says to me that He accomplished His goal - I am no longer in bondage to sin! I AM FREE!! Therefore, I can never define myself as religious. However, I AM a child of the Most High God and a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. I do attend services on Sundays because I love being with others who are also passionate about Christ and I love the opportunity to worship Him alongside them. I see it as an opportunity to spend time celebrating life with those I consider my family. I have come to realize that the Church is not a place I go on Sunday, but that (according to scripture) I am the Church. Everywhere I go, I represent Christ and He is with me!
Continued in next comment...
What @conKeller449 said, that we "were all born sinners" is absolutely true. It was our nature at birth and until the day we chose to believe in Christ as our Lord and Savior. However, if you have believed and chosen to live your life for Christ, that old sin nature no longer rules your life. We have been given a new nature - we are no longer identified with Adam and Eve and sin - we are now identified with Christ. We are no longer separated from God due to sin - according to scripture we are seated with Christ in heaven right now. There are some specific things man lost in the garden when Adam & Eve sinned - significance, safety & security, belonging – as a result of our separation from God. Yet God loved us so much that He sent Christ to die for us, to be the sacrifice for our sins, and through that one sacrificial act, ALL was restored to us! It is Finished...there is nothing left to do...”IT IS FINISHED”!! The wonderful thing is we do not have to do anything more than simply believe and the gift (free gift) is ours. We do not have to work to earn it…follow some set of rules to be worthy to receive it…as a matter of fact it’s impossible to earn something we already possess and once we believe, it’s already ours. For years the “Church” that man has developed (in a physical sense) has sold the Good News of Jesus Christ as something you must earn – believe and do this, this, & this, and maybe by God’s grace you will be worthy to enter heaven when you die. That my friend is NOT what scripture teaches and I choose to believe scripture first and foremost. I don’t say that to beat the “church” up, I LOVE the “church” and believe the best in it. Yet, Scripture says BELIEVE and you will be seated in heaven with Christ right now! The life of Christ is now your LIFE. LIFE Eternal – this is not something we are to spend our time on this earth waiting and working for … it is a LIFE we can live right now. I like to define LIFE as “Living in Full Enjoyment” of the incredible love God has for me – a love that was demonstrated through His desire to be in right relationship with me – a desire that compelled Him to make the ultimate sacrifice and to resurrect the life of this dead woman! Christ’s resurrection was my resurrection – my dead heap of bones became a living, breathing, walking, loving representation of the perfect nature of Christ. Yes, it takes time for my old thinking to catch up with my new identity – that is why scripture says to renew your mind daily, to know His word and treasure it in your heart (this process is theologically referred to as the process of sanctification). We learn from our mistakes, we desire to honor God - not because we have to, but because His love for us is so incredibly amazing that we can’t imagine doing anything else.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right…sometimes we may grow distant from Him, but we always find ourselves coming back. Needing and wanting Him in our lives. It is impossible to walk/stay away, knowing what we know and seeing how He has worked in our lives!! His spirit draws us to Him and even when we feel distant, He is right there with His loving arms wide open ready for us to climb up into His lap!
Eph. 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.
I love how God works, that is kewl how the bible verse on your DOB was personal for you!
ReplyDeleteFrom @conkiller449: Dawn, We are ALL sinners, not matter what the religion we were born and raised in. Whether Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, etc. We were BORN sinners
ReplyDeleteFrom @Mandy Devine: Yet God loved us so much that He sent Christ to die for us, to be the sacrifice for our sins, and through that one sacrificial act, ALL was restored to us! It is Finished...there is nothing left to do...”IT IS FINISHED”!!
My question is this: If it is Finished, because Jesus died on the cross for us.. then how are we still born sinners? How is a child, who is incapable of knowing and understanding God's word and miracles, a sinner? That tells me that it is Not finished. Jesus may have opened they eyes and minds of hundreds of thousands to the Word of God and broke the "bondage" of religion to those people, but, the First sin has not been "restored".
Here's another question for you.
From @conkiller449: Understanding that He was born of the Virgin Mary, was sinless Himself, was God's Son, came to Earth to take our place and the punishment that we deserve for our sins.
So, my question is this: If the First Sin happened prior to the birth of Jesus, and everyone is born a "sinner", how was Jesus not born a sinner? He is still man. Although, he is the Son of God, he is also the Son of Man (the Virgin Mary). Yes, I know Mary didn't sin, and that is why God chose her to bear His child, however, since she was part of the Mankind population, was she not still a "sinner" because of the First Sin? If not, why? Why was the Virgin Mary not considered a "sinner" because of the First Sin, yet a newborn child IS considered a "sinner", even though the child is incapable of understanding and knowing about God, His Word, and His Miracles?
Please don't think I am trying to cause a debate here, I am simply trying to understand everyone's thinking/believing on these points.
I would also be interested to see what your thoughts are about baptising babies. I won't say my thoughts on this just yet.
I need to be quick here, but Dawn posed some really great questions.
ReplyDeleteThe modern translation "it is finished" needs some context. The words Jesus spoke were the same words that would have been stamped on a bill at the time. It is more akin to "Debt Paid in Full." So, you can be born a sinner and commit sin, but as soon as you accept Jesus, your debt to God has been "Paid in Full."
Second, Jesus was a human. He was born of a woman. He was however conceived of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the nature of man (sin) was not present in Jesus.
Also, let's not confuse the acts we call sin with the actual meaning. Sin is anything that interferes ones relationship with God.
I know this was a really short answer to a complex topic, but I hope it helps.
Dawn, It's been a very long/busy day around here and tomorrow is much the same...I want you to know that I Love the conversation we are having and will respond as soon as I get a minute to breath. Great Questions! and for the record I think Richard response was great.
ReplyDeleteSo check back and I will post my comments soon : )
I went to the site you suggested, Dawnmarie. The verse for my BD is SO fitting to me.
ReplyDelete"I will take hold of your hand to keep you from falling." Psalm 37:24
I can't remember if I've told you the circumstance of the ending of my 36 yr, marriage or not. But briefly, my EX always controlled me, mentally and emotionally abused me. I just thought that was the way it was supposed to be. I loved him dearly and we had been in love since we were 15. We married at the age of 20 and had one daughter when we were 28. He's an engineer and mostly worked on projects away from home. I basically raised our daughter on my own and kept the home fires burning myself, although I was never given any credit from him for this. All I ever received when he did come home was ways I should have handled things differently, thus deflating my self-confidence. This went on for too many years, but my love for him never changed and I honestly felt he loved me, too. He'd been working in Moscow for 2 years and rarely came home. This was a long time after our daughter had grown and moved away from home. i was alone most of that time, in more ways than one.
Eventually, he just told me he didn't love me anymore and he was divorcing me. I can't tell you how distraught I was. Of course, at that time, I had no idea he'd met a Russian woman and had, according to him, much later after the divorce, fallen in love with her. I cried constantly every single day! Finally, I went to the Lord and I said, "God, I can't do this by myself. You're gonna' have to help me!" That was all I prayed. From that moment on, I felt as if such a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was able to handle the circumstances and get thru the ordeal, which wasn't pleasant. My
EX thought he owed me nothing after I'd given him 36 years of my life and had given him a daughter. With the assistance of my dad and sister, I obtained my own lawyer and things turned out much better for me than my EX ever fathomed! I often vision myself that day I wen to the Lord in prayer and asked for His help. If I'd not done that at that time in my life, I have no idea where or what I'd be right now. But from that time 'til now, I've walked hand-in-hand with God. And as this verse says, He took hold of my hand when I asked him to and He kept me from falling just as He ha every day of my life since then.
Praise God!
Thank you for letting me share this with you and the other people on this Blog, I love to give this testimony!
Sharing your testimony can be very hard. Especially if it's a "darkness and light" story and you're sharing it with people who only know you from the "light" part of your life. I must admit I don't share mine that often and it's for this very reason.
ReplyDeleteOn the other end of this spectrum are people who share their's all time for the wrong reasons. Our testimonies can encourage others, but they are not to be shared in order to bring attention or glory to ourselves. I also don't think we have to share every detail in order to get the message across.