You are always loved!-Encouraging Messages

[Judy Harder]

Beautiful is a church
With lovely arch and steeple
Friendly is the small church
Filled with neighborly people.

Reverent is the old wood chapel
With centuries of love and grace
Either a stone or wooden church
Can hold an altar of prayer in place.

A church is a holy place
To find peace and to pray
Thanking God for the freedom
To attend a church today.

Now whether it be a rich church
Or a poor church anywhere
It will be a truly great church only
If God is worshipped there.

[Judy Harder]

     

Roy Lessin
   

Answered Prayer

Sep  27 2011

Each of us should carry a thankful heart for every "yes" we receive from God as an answer to prayer. We can also be thankful He doesn't say "yes" to prayers that are not in agreement with His will—prayers that are based on our wisdom and not on His; that would bring leanness to our souls; that would put us in the wrong place; that would make us ineffective; that would bring us into wrong relationships; that would cause our hearts to cool; that would keep us from His highest and rob us of His best.

I know not by what methods rare,

But this I know, God answers prayer.

I know He gives His pledged word

Which tells me prayer is always heard,

And will be answered soon or late,

Though often it is hard to wait.

I know not if the blessing sought

Will come in just the way I thought;

I leave my prayer with Him alone,

Whose will is wiser than my own,

Assured that He will grant my quest,

Or send an answer far more blest.

-Unknown

And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. 1 John 5:14 AMP
 

[Judy Harder]

Jesus in the Center

Sep 29 2011
For me to live is Christ [His life in me] Philippians 1:21 AMP

Jesus is the way. He is not only the Way to God, but He is the Way into all that God has for us. He is the Way into our devotions, to our Bible reading, to our prayer life, to our ministry, and to all that we do for Him. In reality, we do not do our work for Him, but He does His work through us. With Jesus in the center of our being, we are no longer victims of our expectations, circumstances, and the things we can't control. We discover that it's okay if people don't meet our expectations, because Jesus is our expectation. Schedules may be good, but they don't produce life within us because Jesus is our life. –Don Lessin



This quote is taken from the booklet "Abba Cry" by Don Lessin. It is available on line from the store at Dayspring.com.

[Judy Harder]

Roy Lessin
   

A Time of Need

Oct 1 2011 04:21

Recently, someone reminded of an encouragement card I had written many years ago for DaySpring. The message on the card is for someone who is going through a difficult time or facing a situation with few answers. Today's posting features that message with the hope that it might help encourage someone today.

What do we do when we face challenges that make us wonder what's ahead? The answers are not always easy, and the direction is not always clear. In these circumstances, our hope is in God alone. Our lives and our times are in His hands, and He assures us that He is the rock we can stand upon through the storm.

Today, may you continue to believe in the wisdom of His ways, in the goodness of His love, and in the assurance of His presence as He keeps you every step of the way.

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2 KJV

[Judy Harder]

 DaySpring Devotions

Courageous Living & What Women Fear
       
Courageous Living - Dare To Take A Stand
I'm praying that my generation will not drop the ball. There is work left to be done. I'm praying that God will raise up giants of the faith. I hope and pray this book will find its way in to the hands of young people pastors, parents, and others who will say,
"By the grace of God, I will make a difference with my life. I will count the cost, pay the price, stand in the gap, and confront the culture."

I'm asking God to give the body of Christ a tenacity that seems to be strangely lacking in this hour.
WE NEED TO MAN UP!
WE NEED TO BE COURAGEOUS!
WE NEED TO DO IT NOW!

Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

- Excerpt from the introduction to Courageous Living by Michael Catt, executive producer of the movies COURAGEOUS and FIREPROOF.

 
 

What Women Fear - Walking in Faith that Transforms
Did God really say you couldn't eat from any tree in the garden? This seed of doubt planted so long ago still bears the fruit of fear on some level every day - the idea that our actions could ruin something beautiful and God might not have control over things.

Whether it's a constant What if? type of worry, being afraid of abandonment or betrayal, fear of trusting God's plan, or many others encountered in the rhythm of our daily lives, we invite you to join Angie's walk through stories of others who have simultaneously loved God and struggled with faith.

Join the Bloom (in)courage book club reading Angie Smith's new book What Women Fear and grow together with weekly online videos and discussion.

CLICK HERE to vist Bloom (in)courage for more!

 
 

COURAGEOUS Invitation
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15

I do solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.
I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.
I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.
I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.
I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.
--Excerpt from THE RESOLUTION, featured in the movie COURAGEOUS

From the creators of Fireproof, COURAGEOUS is an exciting new movie with the powerful message that honor begins at home. Invite a friend to watch the movie with this FREE e-card invitation.
Visit www.DaySpring.com/Courageous to watch the tra iler, buy tickets, and for more resources.
Join us in praying that God will use this film to impact fathers and strengthen families.

[Judy Harder]

Let Us Draw Near, Part 1

Oct 4 2011

Hebrews 10:19

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus...

Therefore—the "therefore" refers to the vital truths that have been stated in the preceding verses...because of the new covenant, sealed by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, your sins have been forgiven, cleansed, and are remembered against you no more.

Brethren— you are now a part of God's family. You are free from the condemnation and bondage of sin because you are a believer in the Gospel. You have been born again of God's Spirit, sanctified, and enjoy unity and fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Having boldness—your boldness comes, not because of performance, but because of what Jesus has done for you. He has made it possible for you to come before God in prayer with full and complete confidence of faith. Nothing needs to keep you back or hold you back.

To enter the Holiest—in the Temple worship, the holy of holies was the place of God's presence and glory. This place could be entered only by the high priest once a year. Here the high priest came to place the blood of atonement upon the mercy seat for the remission of sins for the people.

By the blood of Jesus—Jesus, your High Priest, offered His own blood to make atonement for your sins. His blood is acceptable to God, once and for all time, as the perfect sin offering— your good works, your self-righteousness, your best efforts could never be acceptable before a holy God to solve your sin problem.

10 benefits of the blood of Jesus:



Seals and guarantees the New Covenant-Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 13:20

Gives life-John 6:54-56

Brings redemption-Ephesians 1:7, 1Peter 1:18-19

Makes propitiation (atonement)-Romans 3:25

Justifies-Romans 5:9

Provides peace and reconciliation-Colossians 1:19-20

Brings cleansing and the assurance of forgiveness-Colossians 1:14,1John 1:7

Frees from guilt by purging the conscience-Hebrews 9:14

Makes us overcomers-Revelation 12:11

Gives us boldness and confidence to enter God's presence-Hebrews 10:19-24

[Judy Harder]

     

Roy Lessin
   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let Us Draw Near, Part 2

Oct 6 2011

Hebrews 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh...

By a new and living way which He consecrated for us—the old covenant is done away, all its requirements and demands fulfilled and satisfied by the new covenant. You are no longer under the law, but under grace, and His grace has brought a living reality to your heart—a reality of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and the presence of the Lord. You can know God personally and have His light shining within you. This is not a theoretical or a "hope so" way, but a living way. You are alive in Jesus.

Through the veil, that is, His flesh—Jesus' body is likened to the veil in the temple...at the exact moment of His death on the cross the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. This means that His death made it possible for you to have access to a holy God. The heavens are opened to you as a believer, and have been to every believer since the veil was rent 2000 years ago. Every spiritual blessing is now yours in Christ—the heavens are not shut, and there is no layer, curtain, or barrier that is keeping you from drawing close to God and receiving from Him.

"The blood of Jesus Christ has transformed the judgment seat into the mercy seat."-J. Sidlow Baxter

[Judy Harder]

10/10/2011 7:03:02 AM
Good Things Ahead - Encouragement for a New Week
     
Good Things Ahead
I open my email. I glance over my to-do list. I look at the appointments on my calendar. It seems like it will be an ordinary week. And yet... Something inside me, something inside you, longs for extraordinary. I tend to think that those kind of moments just aren't part of our day-to-day. What if it's more that I'm not always looking for them? Or that I sometimes rush past them even when they're in my path?

I think of the story of Moses and the burning bush. Moses is in the middle of the desert tending sheep, the equivalent of being in the middle of a work day for us today. Yours might happen in a cubicle in your kitchen with toddlers around your feet, in an airport. And right there in the middle of that ordinary, God shows up. I love what comes next...
"When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush...." Exodus 3:4
When Moses stopped to pay attention.
When he took time to notice the extraordinary.
When he turned aside from his to-do list...God changed everything.

Yes, there are seasons when we're simply called to be faithful, to do the simple and even unnoticed. But you just never know when it's going to be your time for a burning bush moment. You never know when God is going to step in and do the gloriously unexpected. We don't have to make it happen. We only have to be watchful and then willing.

It makes me smile to write these words.
Because our burning bush might be just around the corner.
Maybe today.
Maybe tomorrow.
Let's keep watching, keep waiting--God has more than we can even imagine ahead!
--Holley Gerth

For more hope and encouragement from Holley, visit Heart to Heart with Holley and then subscribe by email.

 
 

No Matter What This Week Holds
Hello You...
the one welcoming the day and wondering what this week holds.
I don't know.
But I'm certain of this--there's One who holds us.
And He promises nothing is impossible for you.
Not that mountain you're facing.
Not that task you're dreading.
Not that decision you're afraid to make.
He may not tell us the details of what's to come
but He reminds us of what's ours no matter what...
Victory.
A future.
A plan that's as good as He is.
Always.

"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." Isaiah 41:10

--Holley Gerth

For more hope and encouragement from Holley, visit Heart to Heart with Holley and then subscribe by email.

[Judy Harder]

     

Roy Lessin
   
Let Us Draw Near, Part 3

Oct   10 2011

Hebrews 10:21-22

And having a high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from an evil conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water.

And having a High Priest over the house of God—Jesus is your High Priest. He represents you before the Father and intercedes for you. He is full of compassion for you because He has been tempted in every point as you, yet without sin. He understands your struggles and temptations and is able to make a way of escape.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith—this is your personal invitation from a holy God to come before Him, not as a fake or with pretense, but in truth. He doesn't push you away, or walk away from you when you seek to draw near. Your faith trusts in what God has said about your forgiveness and justification, and it is your faith that makes you certain that you can come to Him for every need.

Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water—the blood of Jesus, when it has been applied to your heart by faith, brings to you the greatest of joys—assuring you that you are forgiven, that your conscience is cleansed, and that you have been washed from all that defiles.

It is the deity behind the manhood of Christ which makes the Cross an atonement;

It is the manhood of Christ within the deity which makes it an atonement of us.

J. Sidlow Baxter



Oh! precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

-Robert Lowry

[Judy Harder]

Let Us Draw Near, Part 4

Oct 13 2011

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;)

Let us hold fast the confession of our faith (hope) without wavering—the confession of your faith and hope is that Jesus' blood is enough to cleanse and justify you. You are forgiven, you are saved, you are going to make it, you are going to heaven, you will be with Him in His Father's house. Don't doubt it, question it, or walk away from it.

For He who promised is faithful—God is faithful to what He has said, to what He has done, and to what He has promised. He is faithful to meet all your needs. He is faithful to keep you and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. He is faithful to His promises because of His holiness, He cannot lie! He will not let you down. (Psalm 89:35)

Through Jesus' blood, God, the holy God against whom we have sinned and whose wrath we justly dread, can pardon all your sins, blot out all your transgressions, and take from you the terror of a guilty conscience. His blood cleanses us from all sin. His blood of the new covenant speaks peace and speaks the peace of reconciliation. It removes all dread of condemnation and enables the soul to look  up to God. –Octavius Winslow