The Majestic One

For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The LORD God of Heaven’s Armies is his name! 

- Amos 4:13 (NLT)

I love Scriptures about the might & power of the LORD God Almighty! Oh, how majestic, powerful, yet beautiful & compassionate is He! It's a mind-blowing phenomenon that the omniscient, one & only God would have such great love for us that He would send His one & only Son to save us from the bondage of our sins, to set us free once & for all from the law & sin & death for all. This gift is freely given to all who will believe & accept Christ & obey His Word. When you get a chance, read Habakkuk 3. It shakes me up to hear about HIS POWER! Job 38 is another magnificent Scripture about the infinite wisdom, power, & sovereignty of our God! Oh, may we be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God! May we press on to know Him more and more every day, never remaining satisfied with where we are of Him because He is just so good we need HIM more and more. HE must become greater and greater, we must become less & less! May we present our bodies as a living sacrifice before Him. May our lives, worship, prayers, and study of the Word be a pleasing aroma to Him daily. May we all set aside time daily to spend alone with Him! May we come to know the power in His Name: Jesus! May we have the power, together with all God's holy people, to know the height, depth, width, and length of the love of Christ! May we be more than just hearers of the word, but actually do what the Word of God says. We may work to enter into that rest. We know the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few-- we ask The Lord to send laborers into the field. Light the flame to a never ending, all consuming fire that will forever burn in our hearts to fall more in love with The Lord JESUS Christ daily & strive to bring a smile to His face.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

In His Amazing Love & Compassion,

Rachel Marie 

Christmas Blessing

Because it is so powerful and moving, I wanted to share a few of the lyrics to probably my very favorite Christmas song, titled, "Mary, Did You Know?". I am not sure who originally penned these words, but I do know that God's anointing was upon the author's hands.

Mary did you know that your baby boy

Will one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy

Will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered

Will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby

You've kissed the face of God?

One of my very favorite Christmas songs! What's your favorite Christmas song? This one is so powerful. My favorite line is, "Mary, did you know when you kiss your baby boy, you've kissed the face of God?" Oh, what a glorious privilege Mary had to get to kiss the face of God in her earthly life! She didn't have to wait until she got to Heaven to kiss our Beautiful LORD & Savior. Can you fathom kissing the face of the all powerful, one & only God? The God who LOVES, saves, heals & delivers all who are willing to commit their lives to Him.. Seeking His beautiful, Pure, and holy face.. Keeping His commands.. Diving into His Presence not just on Sunday but every single day, we need to DIVE INTO HIM: into His Word, in prayer & pure worship. Oh what a beautiful surrender it is when we give all of our hearts, all of our lives, all of our worship over to Him. 

Father, in the name of Jesus,

I pray over everyone who will receive this message. May those who aren't saved or those who have strayed come running into Your Awesome Presence, your loving arms once again. May their spiritual eyes, ears, & hearts be opened unto to Your Truth, your light, Your peace, love, mercy, & grace. I pray that all their friends and family would be saved bc we know that the GRACE OF GOD is so merciful that He offers salvation to ALL PEOPLE (Titus 2:11). God, let Your servants draw nearer to You so You will draw near to them. Help us fall more deeply in love with Jesus every single day. Make us willing to obey You & surrender every aspect of our lives to You. Thank You that by Jesus' stripes we are healed: physically, mentally, emotionally, & spiritually! Thank You for the birth of Jesus.. That When He died & was resurrected, He redeemed us from the terrible bondage of sin & sickness. The veil was torn & we do not have to endure the agony of separation from God when we submit to You. Thank You that we are fulfilled by You. Nothing will ever satisfy the restless hearts until they surrender to Jesus.

Help my brothers & sisters in their times of trials & encourage them & lift them up.

Help them To be a blessing to others & guide them to show Others the infinite love of Christ! I pray Your will be done in the lives of my family & loved ones, just as Your will is done in Heaven. Help us bring more Glory to Your Name. Bring healing & restoration & please restore the years the locusts have eaten.

Remind them they are Never alone. May they all be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God.

In Jesus' Holy Name I pray,

Amen

Remember that the Birth of Jesus is the real reason we celebrate. He came to this earth to be an example of how we should live & to redeem us from all of our sinful ways. He bore away our shame, guilt, sin, sicknesses. Glory be to God! We have so many reasons to rejoice in HIM. He has given us so much to be thankful for: Salvation, Peace, Healing, Forgiveness, Grace, Mercy, Comfort, Compassion, Freedom... & so much more. Through CHRIST, comes EVERYTHING good. He wants you to let Him be your everything so He can fill you up to the measure with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19). Like a loving Father, He gives you everything you needs & cares for every meticulous detail of your life. Don't forfeit our loving Father, God, for the things of the world that Satan tempts you with. Surrender & celebrate Christ. Oh, He has given us so much.. May give to others, just as He has given unto us..

Think of & pray for those in need this season. It is a very lonely time of year for some. Most of us can do something to help someone out this Christmas, something to give to someone in need. Here are a few suggestions: visiting the nursing home, hospital, or serving in a local soup kitchen. You can make a donation to a soup kitchen if you cannot volunteer. Think of those who are starving, orphaned, & widowed this Christmas. Ask the LORD to show you how you can help these people in desperate need of love this Christmas & help supply needs to them that are taken for granted by most. Show the love of Christ this Christmas season & in every season.

God Gives Freely & Graciously

Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?

- Romans 8:32 (NLT)












Also wanted to share the Amplified version:

He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, 

will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things? 

- Romans 8:32 (AMP)




Glory to God! He gave up His Son so that if we accept Him, we have our ticket to 

Heaven. Not only that, but He has given us so much more & believe me: the benefit of going to Heaven rather than Hell is beyond miraculously amazing in itself. But HE HAS GIVEN US SO MUCH MORE!

---

*** A little off the overall subject but the most important piece of this blog. Bear with me for a few paragraphs & I will get back to the main topic.. but please don't skip over this. IT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE. ***

Note: You may think you are a good person and God would never send you to Hell. However, all of us would be going to Hell if it wasn't for the beautiful, finished work of Christ on the cross, because no one who has ever walked this earth or ever will has been without sin, except for Christ. I am going to share this to demonstrate:

I love the way it was put in one of the movies in the Left Behind series. This clearly demonstrates that no matter how "good" of a person you are, you are still required to have a relationship with Christ to get into Heaven. While hearing a message preached on salvation, one man walked out of the church. The character Kirk Cameron played followed behind him, trying to reason with him. He was desperate for this man to be saved. When he talked with him, the man said something along the lines of, "I'm a good person. I've never killed anybody or anything. How could God send me to hell?" Kirk Cameron explained that our standards of being "good" are different than God's standards (The 10 Commandments & other things God asks of us in His Word). So Cameron asks, "Well, have you ever told a lie?".. the man reluctantly says, "Yes, who hasn't?". Cameron continues, "Then you are a liar. How many murders do you have to commit to be a murderer? Just one. If you have told even one lie, that makes you a liar. The Bible warns that all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8). You may not think deceitfulness is a serious sin, but God does." (Note: God has the final say on whether or not you get into the Kingdom of Heaven, so we have to go by His standard's if we don't want to spend eternity in hell, because you don't get to live any way you want and then call the shots of where you go when you die - only if you repent & turn from your  sin can you enter the Kingdom of Heaven.) In the movie, he goes on to ask the man if he has ever looked at a woman lustfully, because God is so holy that even if someone looks at another person with lust, he/she has already committed adultery in his/her heart. He asks one more question (I can't recall). Anyway, the point is, he used this to show him that he had already broken 3 of God's commands, at minimum. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Without Christ, we would have little to no hope of going to Heaven. But BECAUSE OF HIM, we can rest assured that as long as we walk in Him (in obedience to His Word) & with Him personally (Seek Him with all of our hearts).. we can go to glory with our Savior and be eternally rewarded for living for God. 




THINK OF IT THIS WAY: Many say it's too hard to change, that they would have no friends if they changed, people would judge them because they "knew them when..". It doesn't matter what others think, although I know it's hard when you lose friends (been there, done that!). But what is worse? Live for Jesus & go to Heaven or live like the world & spend eternity in permanent turmoil with most of the world. You decide. For me, the decision is easy when you consider eternity. And you don't get to choose when you leave this life. You never know when it might be. God alone knows. How you live your life here determines where you spend eternity, which lasts infinitely longer than anyone lives in this live.




We ALL need to be forgiven by God. He is willing to forgive all your sins, when you come sincerely to Him & willing to turn from your sinful ways. Then, He will save you. When we get truly saved, we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Some people will use the lies of Satan to tell you that you cannot be saved because you've done this or that or the other. But when you give your life to Christ & truly change your ways, your spirit is re-born.. which means you become a completely different person on the inside. The change will be evident and a testimony to all who know you. Whether they acknowledge it or not, they will see through your example that anyone can be saved and if you can be saved, they can too (God offers the gift of salvation to ALL PEOPLE - see Titus 2:11).





To further demonstrate what it means to be "a new creation in Christ", I'd like to share this story with you. I shared it in my previous post, but it is very profound & worth sharing again, in case you missed it. At one of our revivals at my home church, Evangelist Dr. Peter Dobie shared this story. He lived in South Africa for a long time. While ministering there, he witnessed this. The tribal people take Scripture very literally, and I believe we would do well to follow their example. This is about a man named Joe. A group of a Joe's friends (well, his ex-friends, I guess) was mocking him for getting saved by reminding him of all the things he used to do. He said, "Are you talking to the old Joe or the new Joe?" May we grasp this literal revelation of how God has changed us and restored us so completely. So when I am ashamed at things I refused to give over to God in the past, I have to remember, that was the old Rachel. This is the new Rachel who is completely sold out to God. I am a changed person. And you can be, too..

---

 In addition to the gift of eternal life, we have His peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:6-7), His healing for any possible way we might need it: whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual (Matt. 8:17, Isaiah 53:5, Deut. 7:15, 1 Peter 2:24, Heb. 13:8, Malachi 3:6), His Love Unending, His compassion: The Holy Spirit feels our every emotion & struggle right along with us. We also have His mercies that begin afresh every morning (Lamentations 3:23), the Safety of Abiding in the Presence of the Almighty (Psalm 91). 




The blood of Jesus has  covered our every sin, shortcoming, sickness, disease. His blood paid for the sight of the blind, to make the lame walk, deaf hear, mute speak. He haspurchased everything we will ever need on the cross & with the resurrection. He provides all of our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). He redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). He freed us from the awful & terrible bondage of sin, so we are no longer bound by sin & therefore do not have to pay the eternal consequence of sin.  We are able to show our love and affection for Him by keeping His commands (1 John 5:3): not some but all, though His grace covers us when we do make a mistake. He delivers us from all our fears. When we have laid down our own lives & evil desires at the cross, forsaking everything by dying to ourselves to be alive in Him. Ohhhh.. only then can we have all the wondrous things He has planned for us. You may think you have to go out there & find yourself.. but when you live your own life & continue on in your sin.. all you will find is the devil's work displayed in your life because you chose to allow it. As the saying goes, "Satan will take you farther than you want to go & keep you longer than you want to stay".. Don't let him keep you in sin & lead you into eternal torment forever. Discover the freedom there is at the cross. Sadly, so many think they are free by doing what they want.. but they are deceived by Satan into doing what he wants them to do. And there are consequences on the earth at the least for that, but eternally if you do not turn from those ways.



Merry Christmas to all of you! Remember to do something to give back, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus & all that He gave to us.






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In His Mercies that are New EVERY Morning,




Rachel Marie

True Worship

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

- John 4:23-24 (NIV)

Oh, I had a wonderful time worshiping the LORD this morning. You do not have to be at church to worship the LORD (though that is fabulous too). You can worship God anytime, anywhere.. because wherever you are, HE IS THERE. I have a wonderful time worshiping the LORD with my church family. I also have a phenomenal time worshiping God right at home or in my car. Sometimes, it's much easier to "let loose" and worship God more freely when God is the only one watching. He loves it when we pour out & give it all to Him. I love to start my time with the LORD in the mornings with worship music. I have had some of my favorite worship sessions alone with God. Twice in the last week, I have been so filled with the Spirit of God that I was dancing in the Spirit across the living room floor. If you have not received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, you are missing out. There is nothing in the world like it. And I'm not crazy, either. This is all 100% Biblical. Read the book of Acts. Also, check out 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, & 14 (This is explains several different manifestations of the Spirit. i.e.: speaking in tongues, interpretation, prophecy, etc.). God desires that all of His people receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. He says that in the last days, He will pour out His Spirit on ALL PEOPLE.. But God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), desires that we all be filled with His Spirit continually, like those in the Early Church in Acts. In Mark 16, Jesus says the speaking in tongues is a sign that will follow believers. Nothing can fill you up as wonderfully as God's Spirit can when you let Him have His way. Oh, there is unspeakable joy, comfort, peace. There's no words in Webster's dictionary that can describe this phenomenal feeling. I imagine that being filled with the Holy Spirit is the closest we will ever get to experiencing Heaven in our earthly lives.

A little something I wrote when I was so overcome by the Beauty & Majesty of our LORD this morning:

Oh, my God, I am overcome by You this morning--- by everything that You are. By the depth, height, length, and width of Your love that envelopes the hearts of those who seek You, those who pour out their heart's perfume upon you, who have given it all up that they may gain Christ. After all, after we have tasted and seen the goodness of the LORD, everything else pales in comparison. God is irreplaceable. Nothing can fill me up like His Spirit. No person or sin can satisfy like the one who created You can, if you let Him. 

Thank You God, that those who seek You find You & that You love those who love you (Proverbs 8:17). We know that we demonstrate our love for you by keeping your commands (1 John 5:3). It's not that complicated to keep Your Commands when we indulge in Your Presence every day.. when we make diving into You our first priority.. nothing else can hold a candle to you. We know that when we sin, we are separated from You.. even if only temporarily (temporarily if we repent & turn back to God .. eternally if we don't turn back to Him). After we have fallen head over heels in love with Jesus Christ, the absence of Your Presence is excruciating. No. No sin is worth such agony.

Thank You that You do not show favoritism (Acts 10:32). Thank You that you do not reject any one who comes to You with a heart full of repentance, those who turn from their sinful ways because they realize knowing You is immensely better. What is greater than Your Love? Is life? Is death? Is drunkenness? Is pleasure? Is temptation? NO! Sin is not great at all, though social media glorifies it. Those who indulge in sin believe living in sin is more fulfilling than serving You. Oh, my LORD, these people have not even caught a glimpse of You! They have not seen a portion of Your vast holiness, Your Never-Ending Love, Your mercies that are lavished upon us anew every single morning. They have failed to taste and see how good, loving, and forgiving You are. Oh, how it brings me grief that they have not known my Lord. They have not allowed Your Spirit to fill them, because if they had, they would see that there is nothing else that can fill the void in their hearts. Oh, if they had only given my Lord a chance, they would see that they can only be complete in Him. You alone can save them, heal them, deliver them. LORD, You alone, can give them the desires of their hearts when they delight themselves in You (Psalm 37:4). 

It saddens my heart that those who let sin rule over them believe they are "living it up". The righteous let you rule them & we are not deceived, for we know Your Word. We know what the world has taught "living it up" & "enjoying life" by living according to sinful ways only leads to destruction (hell). We know the only way to truly live is to be alive in Christ, to be a new creation in Him, to fulfill Your Will for our lives. Only in the center of Your good and perfect and pleasing will can we find joy unspeakable... peace in every situation... fulfillment & contentment.. all these things come from knowing You alone. Oh, the world is desperate for happiness, peace, to be fulfilled.. but because they are looking for it in all the wrong places, they remain unhappy... and will continue to come up empty every time until they take heed to the voice of the Lord God & repent. They seek these things the ONLY You can give.. in a bar, in the bottom of a bottle, in pleasure.. oh but they always come up dry & do not know why! May the eyes of their hearts be opened to the way sinful pleasures drain them & take them farther away from You! Show them how sin only enslaves them, how the devil only betrays them. Reveal to them the goodness of Your Love, Mercy, and Grace. Let them understand how You yearn to set them free from the bondage that has entangled them. Show them how You can change them if they come to You.
In JESUS' Powerful Name,
Amen. 

I heard an awesome TRUE story based off the knowledge of 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says,
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!" At one of our revivals at church, Evangelist Peter Dobie shared this story with us. This happened in South Africa, where the tribal people take the Word of God very literally, as we would do well to learn from. A man named Joe heard the Gospel and got saved. His friends mocked him & reminded him of his past, of all the things he used to do. Joe boldly inquired, "Who are you talking about: the Old Joe or the New Joe?". Let us all learn from Joe. Your past does not have to be your future. You can become new in Christ. New on the inside. A changed person. Sometimes, I feel so much guilt when Satan reminds me of who/how I used to.. but I have to remind myself that he is referring to the old Rachel. I am a new creation in Christ. I have been made new. The old Rachel has gone! The new is here! Believe me, I never thought I would be a preacher.. But God changed me. And He can change you, too, if you let Him.

In His Overwhelming Love,

Rachel Marie

THE END OF WAVERING FAITH

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
- Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)

When we doubt, we act like God is not faithful to His Word. Our faith often teeters like a see-saw, from high to low, strong to weak in the faith. How do we balance this out? We have to hold onto our confession with no wavering. No more wavering allowed. I declare in the Name of Jesus it ends today. Make the decision today to stop praying without believing. In Mark 11:24, Jesus teaches us that ANYTHING WE ASK IN PRAYER IN FAITH, BELIEVING, THAT WHAT WE ASK WILL BE DONE.. WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN. Several weeks ago, a man named Brother Phillip at my church preached a powerful message on BELIEVING WITHOUT DOUBTING. It has really stuck with me. If we know Jesus promised us, why do we all slip & slide in this direction and that with our faith? Some days, we believe it so strongly we can almost taste what we are praying for. Other days, our faith is so weak we are hanging on by a thread. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT! If we were putting our trust in some idol who has no power, we would have plenty of reason to doubt. But we put our trust in the LORD JESUS CHRIST. The one true God. The only name through whom salvation comes! The only Name through which healing of every sickness & every disease comes! The Only Name that gives sight to the blind, makes the deaf hear, the mute talk, the lame walk! The Only Name of the one who bore your sins, shame, guilt, sickness away! Jesus is the only one who walks with you through every second of every day, who is so filled with love & compassion for you that He feels your every emotion, knows your every thought. Our God parted the Red Sea, shut the mouth of lions & delivered Daniel without even a scratch, took His servant through the fire with not even a singe of hair burnt! He made an elderly couple first time parents. He rescues His people, regardless of what lengths He has to go to in order to do so. He performs incredulous miracles for His people.

Even when there was NO REASON for hope, Abraham kept hoping-- BELIEVING that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, "That's how many descendants you will have!"
- Romans 4:18 (NLT)

We have to hold onto our confession without wavering. God is faithful & shall bring it to pass! The Bible says that in the natural Abraham had NO REASON FOR HOPING! Not even one!!!!! Verse 19 says "And Abraham's faith DID NOT WEAKEN, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead-- and so was Sarah's womb". 

Imagine the oldest couple you know. The husband is 100% convinced that his wife, who has never before had a child, is going to bear him a son. He doesn't stop there. He believes his descendants will be as numerous as the stars! You would think he was out of his mind! After all, when he "claims" to have heard this message from the LORD, it was 25 years ago. Nothing has happened. Still no baby. You would think this man preposterous! Every time the town gossips pass him by, they whisper, "That old man is sweet, but he is absolutely nuts! Thinking Sarah is going to bear him a son after all these years. And poor Sarah! She has to put up with him. He got all her hopes up all those years ago & still, she has no baby! How dare he put her through further embarrassment by persistently telling her these lies for the last 25 years!" But this is exactly Abraham's beautiful story. Abraham faithfully believed God's Promise even when it seemed he should have given up, and God came through!

Maybe the doctors have given you no reason for hoping. No more reason to hope to recover. No more reason to believe you will survive. But God's Word says He forgives ALL our sins and HEALS ALL YOUR DISEASES (Psalm 103:2-3), that BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED (1 PETER 2:24, ISAIAH 53:5), that HE WILL RESTORE YOU TO HEALTH & LET YOU LIVE (Isaiah 38:16, Jeremiah 30:17 ) (& numerous other promises for physical, mental, emotional, healing because His blood is sufficient!!). Though we are all thankful for doctors and all have desperately needed them at some point, if the reports are negative, accept the Word of God for your healing & do not let the doctors have the final say.. Let God do what He does.. He heals all who come to Him in faith for healing (Heb. 13:8, Malachi 3:6). Maybe you see no possible spouse in sight, but you know God has promised you. Maybe your marriage is hanging on by a thread & you think there is no way God can restore it now. Maybe your finances have all but completely disappeared, yet GOD says He shall supply ALL YOUR NEEDS according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). DARE TO BELIEVE  GOD LIKE ABRAHAM.

FAITH VS. FACT

In faith, Abraham believed that God would do what He had promised. He did not dwell on all the facts that were all 100% contrary to God's Promise. Verse 20 says, "And Abraham NEVER WAVERED in believing God's promise. In fact, HIS FAITH GREW STRONGER, and IN THIS HE BROUGHT GLORY TO GOD. It glorifies God when we do not waver in our faith. Our faith should be steady. When we start to get discouraged and begin to doubt, we have to combat the devil's scheme and begin to speak the Word of God aloud. We have to remember Abraham & the fulfillment of God's Promise to him, although it didn't happen in the Timing Abraham would have chosen. I am sure if Abraham had his way, he would have already had children, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren by the time he actually he had his first child. But he knew a little something about God's Timing. His Timing is perfect. God used this situation to display his miraculous power. His power could not have been properly displayed even he immediately began having children not long after he & Sarah married. That would have been ordinary. God had an extraordinary plan for Abraham. So if God is making you wait, remember that He also has an extraordinary plan for you. So, don't wrestle back and forth between letting belief win half the time & doubt win the other half. When we give in to the temptation of doubt, we let the devil have a field day. Satan loves fear, discouragement, doubt, depression, anger, impatience. He eats that stuff up. He thrives off of it. He has built his wicked kingdom on the basis of these negative things.

Like Abraham, stand firm on God's Promise, regardless of how long it takes. The fact that he waited patiently for 25 years almost astounds me as much as the fact that he had a son at 100 years old. From reading the Word & being taught this story, we knew this came to pass & are obviously in awe of God's power. But what about the fact that Abraham waited so long? God's power is also displayed in Abraham's trust, I believe. He knew a little something about God's Faithfulness. He knew a little something about God's Word, which never returns void (Isaiah 55:11). He knew that HE who promised never lies, never slacks, never forgets. He could have EASILY given up after the first 5 years (If we are honest, most of us would have given up sooner than that!). He could have given up and thought, "I guess God forgot" or "I guess God wasn't really serious" or "I was so incredibly stupid to believe Sarah & I could have a son, even now" & concluded that there was no hope left. BUT HE DIDN'T. He was FULLY PERSUADED that God had the POWER to do what He promised (Rom. 4:21, NIV). The Amplified Version says in v. 21 No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, (Note: Because he was not moved by these negative things, he was able to mature in the faith and praise God while He waited!). Instead of getting all bent out of shape about WHEN God was going to do it, verse 21 in the Amplified Version says, Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and to do what He had promised. He didn't sit around in discontentment asking God WHY He was taking along. He was fully satisfied in the season God wanted him in right then. It sounds like he even enjoyed his life while he waited on the LORD. Imagine that! It seems all too often we get so caught up in waiting for God to do this and that, we forget to live and be content where we are. We think we can have joy & contentment ONLY when we get what we want. However, when God makes that thing happen, there's something else to wait on God for. So if you get so caught up in wondering why & when God is gonna do it, Satan is successful in robbing you of the right now. I talk about this a little more on this topic in my YouTube video, "DON'T LET SATAN STEAL THE JOY JESUS GAVE YOU". You can watch by clicking on the "My YouTube" tab above or by going to youtube and typing in: Rachel Marie Ministries. You can also subscribe, if you feel so led, because I will continue making more as God directs me!

It is also important to take note of the fact that he did not argue with God & try to manipulate Him into bringing him that son He promised, RIGHT NOW. Hebrews 6:15 says: Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised (NLT).

Note: The above is the KJV of this verse.

He was not demanding. He did not get caught up in the details of how and when. You never see Abraham praying, "HELLO GOD, everyone thinks I am completely insane. Even my wife, Sarah, doesn't believe me. She laughs at Your Promise. So if you're really going to give us a son, could you please hurry up so I can quit looking like a fool?" He could have said that. He could have walked away from God, thinking He isn't really "legit" & doesn't keep promises. He never thought he was wrong to put all his trust God. 1 year passed by, then two, then three, then four, then five... then 10, then 15, 20, & 25 & Abraham remained faithfully believing God. Abraham never walked away from God or gave it a thought. Instead, he never wavered. He had complete faith that God would give him a son & waited on God's Perfect Timing to do so. We seem to barely be able to hold on for a few weeks, months, or years for God to do what we are believing Him for. After a certain amount of time has passed, we think it isn't gonna happen. Too often, we give up & give in to Satan's lies all too easy. We should take such great delight in the LORD & His Word that we believe Him no matter how long it takes, no matter how impossible it seems, no matter what the circumstances are in the natural. The person who delights in the LORD, His Word, & meditates upon His Word will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-- whatever they do prospers (Psalm 1:3, NIV). Let us all be like a tree planted by streams of water, for then in the right season, God will produce fruit!

Oh, the faith it took for Abraham to believe! May we get so deep into God's Word that we begin to operate in Abraham's strength in the faith. Abraham desperately longed to have a son. How beautiful it is that he dared to believe. Oh, the joyous way he must have felt the day Isaac was finally born, the day he heard that beautiful first cry from the lips of Isaac, the moment he first took Isaac into his arms. I doubt there's ever been such a proud first-time daddy! As a devoted child of God, he remarkably held onto faith for 25 years. In that moment, it finally all felt worth it. He held in his arms the reward, the promise at last.

Then, God later challenged him. He wanted to make sure even though Abraham had believed so long and loved Isaac with everything in him, his faithfulness was first to God. He was faithful enough to give up his son. The internal agony he must have felt thinking he was going to have to sacrifice his beloved son!!! But God spoke just in the nick  of time and showed Abraham a sacrifice. God never intended for Abraham to kill Isaac (God is totally against murder). He just wanted Abraham to prove that his first love & priority remained where it should. This request from God seemed incredibly absurd to him, I have no doubt. Yet, Abraham was still as faithful as ever, reasoning that God could raise Isaac from the dead.

How is your faithfulness to God? Are you gonna stick with Him only until He heals your broken heart, until He heals you, until He brings you the right one? Are you gonna be faithful to God only until He meets your needs, until you get that promotion, until you heal from the past? Dare to believe His promises. He is a rewarder of those who DILLIGENTLY SEEK HIM (Heb. 11:6, NKJV). Seek Him all your heart. Let Him fulfill His plan for your life in His timing. Be faithful to Him & hold onto your confession without wavering!

I hope you are all enjoying the beauty of the Christmas season & remembering what it's all about: the glorious birth of Jesus that forever changed the lives of all who will submit to Him. Also, it's about giving back. I would like to encourage all who are able to donate whatever they can to charities that help feed those who are starving this Christmas season & those who do not have finances to buy their children gifts.

I pray you would all receive the joy unspeakable that only the LORD can give. I pray that you all have a very Merry Christmas! May we all patiently endure, so we can receive the promise! :)

In God's Crazy Love,

Rachel Marie