Daily Devo- 2 Thessalonians " Hold On!!"

2 Thessalonians 1

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among Gods churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

5 All this is evidence that Gods judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(NIV) 

Lord I am so thankful for this passage in Your Word today! It reassures me of so many things. You show me that the things I am suffering here, are not necessarily a punishment. Just because You don't stop those who are persecuting me and those close to me, does not mean that I am outside of Your will.

You have said You will handle it all when Jesus returns. You have let me know that my standing strong during this time and season of suffering, I am growing and learning to love more abundantly!
My faith is becoming steadfast because I do run from trouble and I do not give up!
Thank you for Your love and Spirit that guides and enables me to hold on and keep walking during the tough times!
The way I handle trials You equate with being worthy of the Kingdom of God. Your Kingdom needs strong people who don't run at the first sight of tough times. We have an enemy who devours the weak, so please take my weakness and make me strong in You!!! I cannot serve and show others the way to You if I give up.

Today:
I will walk in God's love and Truth.
I will remember that God does not miss anything and He will handle everything in His own time.

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

Grace; Small Thought, Huge Implication

A woman has a daughter who is really walking down a dangerous path. She is using drugs and is living on the street, and pays for her drug habit by prostitution. The mother's heart is broken for her daughter. She is also angry with the choices this child of hers has made.

She cannot let this child into her home because she cannot have this kind of behavior there. It would destroy the rest of the family. What is this mother to do?

The girl cannot get into rehab, she has no money. She cannot get away from her pimp for she has no power over him. She cannot even see that she is destroying her life because her mind and body is set on serving the drugs that have seduced her.

This child will surely die if something does not happen.

As the mother watches her child she knows what she must do.

First: The mother pays the bill for a rehab center in full, for as long as the treatment might take, whether 1mo, 6 mo, 20 years.

Second: The mother purchases a house that she pays in full for this child to live in once she is clean. The provisions  for the rest of her life are set up and all her needs will be met.

Third: The mother has someone who will take this offer to her daughter and walk her to the door of the rehab center and wait while she gets well. This person will then take the child to the home prepared for her and help her as she learns to walk in her new clean life.

My question for you is this;

Is grace found in the treatment and home and the friend provided? Or is grace found in the fact that the mother chose to make this offer?

Jerry Bridges wrote:
It was BECAUSE of His grace that God the Father sent His only Son to die in our place. To say it another way, Christ's death was the RESULT of God's grace; grace IS NOT the result of Christ's death. BECAUSE Christ completely satisfied the justice of God, we can now experience the grace of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
  not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The plan to send Jesus is the ultimate act of grace.

May I challenge your heart with this; grace did not happen on the cross of Jesus. The true picture of God's grace was that He chose to reach down to make a way for us to be reconciled with Him, before we even knew we needed Him.

Just like the mother in the story above, God cared too much to allow His child to remain helpless.
However, neither the daughter in the above story, or the daughter writing this blog, or the daughter reading this blog, can experience the benefits of the grace offered without accepting the gift.

That is where we pick up the story of grace next time.

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson
womanaftergod@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/GlendaJohnson63
http://www.facebook.com/BibleBowlGlenda

Authenticity Part 2

The more I look at my life, the more I desire to be "real" like Jesus.

What is it that made Jesus so authentic to people? People would trust Him, share with Him, desire to be close to Him.

I want to BE that person and I WANT to HAVE people like that in my life.

Look with me at another passage of scripture that shows the beauty of what authenticity can do.

It is from John Chapter 4. Let me set the scene. Jesus and his disciples are in Samaria. They stop and Jesus sits down by a well while the rest of the guys go off to get some food. Jesus meets a woman here, asks her for a drink, and has a conversation with her. Let's pick up in John 4 vs 15 after Jesus told her about the living water.

John 4:15-30  The woman told Jesus, "Sir, give me this water! Then I won't get thirsty or have to come here to get water."
 Jesus told her, "Go to your husband, and bring him here."
  The woman replied, "I don't have a husband." Jesus told her, "You're right when you say that you don't have a husband.
 You've had five husbands, and the man you have now isn't your husband. You've told the truth."
 The woman said to Jesus, "I see that you're a prophet!
  Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that people must worship in Jerusalem."
  Jesus told her, "Believe me. A time is coming when you Samaritans won't be worshiping the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
  You don't know what you're worshiping. We Jews know what we're worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews.
  Indeed, the time is coming, and it is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for people like that to worship him.
  God is a spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
  The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything." (Messiah is the one called Christ.)
  Jesus told her, "I am he, and I am speaking to you now."
 At that time his disciples returned. They were surprised that he was talking to a woman. But none of them asked him, "What do you want from her?" or "Why are you talking to her?"
  Then the woman left her water jar and went back into the city. She told the people,
  "Come with me, and meet a man who told me everything I've ever done. Could he be the Messiah?"
  The people left the city and went to meet Jesus.

Don't miss what happens here. A woman who is obviously an outcast, she is at the well midday instead of in the morning, is surprised that this man even speaks to her.

But when Jesus asks about her husband, something I find very interesting happens here.
The way I see it she had three options.
#1 Lie. She did not know this person, how would he know anyway. (safe, easy)
#2 Tell him she had to go, and avoid answering. ( really safe and easy)
#3 Tell him the truth. ( scary, not so easy, unsafe)

I find it amazing that she chose option #3.

What did she see in Jesus, that made this woman feel safe enough to share, openly, of her own free will, her sorted past and present?
Was it in the way he spoke?
Was it the simple fact he was willing to talk to her when no one else would?
Could she see real love in his eyes?
I wish I knew what it was.

It is easy to see what was in the disciples minds.
They were shocked he was speaking to THIS woman. But notice, they were not even authentic enough to voice it. But it was so obvious. They did not have the same heart for this woman that Jesus did.

I want to be Jesus at well for people.
I want to find Jesus at the well in people.

Why? Why do I long for this so deeply?

Look at the last verse, and it is clear.

Then the woman left her water jar and went back into the city. She told the people,
  "Come with me, and meet a man who told me everything I've ever done. Could he be the Messiah?"
  The people left the city and went to meet Jesus. 

When authenticity shows up,  people meet Jesus.
Because of how Jesus treated this woman, many people met Jesus.

Every person I am authentically available for has the potential to lead an entire city to Jesus. I may never know the impact I can have.

You may never realize the impact on my ministries you have when you are authentically available for me. Safe. Walking beside me. I have the potential to introduce an entire city to Jesus.

Is being authentic important?
I believe it is at the very heart of our mission. 
People Meeting Jesus.

It's what I believe was in Jesus' heart every moment he spoke to that woman.
Or hung on that cross.

Authenticity. 100%.

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson
womanaftergod@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/GlendaJohnson63
http://www.facebook.com/BibleBowlGlenda

Having And Being A Mother-In-Law

April 1, 1983. Yes, April Fools Day. I became a wife. It was wonderful!
I also became a Daughter-in-law.  Which means I also acquired a Mother-In-Law.

(No, that IS NOT my mother-in-law!) ;)

And a very interesting journey began.

May 29,2004. My son got married. It was....difficult.
I became a mother-in-law. I acquired a daughter-in-law.
My journey took on a whole new meaning.

(No, this is NOT myself and my daughter-in-law) ;)

 This is an invitation to contribute to a book that I am writing. It is all about..that difficult subject....

MOTHER-IN-LAWS!!!

I have a mother-in-law. I love her dearly.

I am a mother-in-law. I love my daughter-in-law dearly.

I would be a liar if I said that both of the those relationships did not go through some rough spots. There have been easy times, and some times that have been a little more challenging.

I have observed in my walk through this life that this tends to be one of the most difficult relationships for women.

My book is a journey through this process of two women sharing a man and how to hopefully make this a more joyful trip.

" I Just told your Mother I welcomed her advice!"

I find humor and tears as I walk this path. I also find true joy!

So here is what I need from you. Below are a couple of questions. Please answer them. I assure you it can be done totally anonymously. I will not quote any names.  You can respond either by copying and answering the questions in the comment section (not anonymous) or by copying the questions and putting them into an e-mail with the answers. (Totally anonymous, pinky swear!)

Most all ladies that are married have a M-I-L . Some of you are one.  Give me your insight. Share your struggles and share your joys!

Thanks for your help.

Highlight the following and copy it. Paste it into either the comments section or an e-mail with your answers.

1. How long have you been married?
2. Do you have a son or daughter that is married? Which one? How long have they been married?
3. Did you know your M-I-L before you were to be married to your husband? Did you know your future s-i-l/d-i-l before they married your child?
4. Do you currently have a good relationship with your M-I-L? D-I-L? S-I-L?
5. What do you think is the main reason your answer is what it is in #4?
6. Would you be interested in filling out an entire questionnaire on this subject?

Thanks for help.
Let's chase HER heart together!

Chasing Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson
womanaftergod@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/GlendaJohnson63
http://www.facebook.com/BibleBowlGlenda