Good News Daily – December 12

LARA’S LATEST UPDATE & PRAYER REQUEST……….

Two volunteers in one part of the country are diving into a huge printing of my recently written The Itty Bitty Thankful Book pocket-sized devotional to be shipped to prisons, homeless shelters, rescue missions, evangelists, and others around the US, while two other volunteers in another part of the country just finished folding tons of them in New York City and are about to dive into more. Despite how full my plate already is, I’m in the midst hundreds of them and shipping them out and distributing them on the streets of New York City.

I’m so very thankful for the help, but truth is the Lord is so growing this ministry that I’m in need of much more help both hands-on with preparing the tracts and devotionals as well as much help online which can be done from anywhere in the world. If the Lord is calling you to help this ministry in some way, whether physically or financially or both, please contact me at 843-338-2219 or lara@GoodNews.love.

Ever had a day at the end of which you wish you could erase it all? I sure have! I’ll tell you what kind of day I hate now just more than almost anything. The days I fall into sin right down to when it’s simply sin in my thoughts. The more I follow Jesus, the more I love Jesus, and the more I love Jesus, the more I want to obey Him and not sin. But I still have my times of falling, and oh how I thank the Lord for His mercy and how He forgives us when we’re truly sorry and turn back to Him.

Have some turning to do? Turning to the Lord? Friend, turn!

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

A few days ago, the devil came at me hard in my weak spots. How do I know? I’ve learned how to recognize the work of the enemy, though sometimes not as soon as I should so I can win the battle through Christ. And also because I know my weak spots and where I need to grow and build up strength in Christ. Most of all, I’ve learned victory isn’t in the human flesh. It’s in Jesus who is forever Lord.

Do you know your weak spots? Where are you most vulnerable when it comes to Satan’s attacks? Got some growing to do? We all do. Let’s yield ourselves to the Lord and His ways, dive deep, diligently, and devotedly into the Bible every day, and grow!

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

A friend told me a loved one got her a gift she really saw no use for. I could tell it was a gift she didn’t want. Instead of returning it, exchanging it, or shoving it into her closet to be forgotten, she purposely used it on a regular basis to show love and appreciation to her loved one. I was a spoiled child who returned or exchanged gifts from my parents when I didn’t like and want them. My friend showed love for another, humility, kindness, and sacrifice in how she handled receiving the gift she didn’t want. I showed pride, self-love, and lack of honor and respect for my parents.

This message isn’t about whether to return or exchange gifts we are given. There is a time and place and right attitude for returning and exchanging gifts. But it’s about our hearts and attitudes.

I had some growing up and maturing to do. I still do. Day by day I’m growing in the image of God. How about you?

365 BLESSINGS is a devotional book I wrote that is available in print by contacting me at 843-338-2219 or via lara@GoodNews.love.  

Blessing #228

“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Romans 5:9

If you add up every ounce of the Lord’s anger in the Old Testament toward every person for all the wrongdoing they ever did, I daresay that anger would likely be nothing compared with the WRATH – yes, unimaginable WRATH – at every human being who has, is, or will ever live on this earth and ALL OF OUR SINS added up together.

Well, friend, that WRATH and the penalty that goes with it of the curse of death, hell, and the lake of fire in everlasting torment apart from God instead of forever in heaven with God almighty is the WRATH the Lord is holding back until He unleashes and unfurls it on humanity. I’m not a Bible expert, but I’ve read the Bible enough to see the unfolding of the end of this world and the judgment to come for all who do not repent and turn to Christ as Lord is literally beyond anything any of us can possibly even dare to imagine.

So now, on the flip side, can you possibly imagine the magnificence and gloriousness of the Lord’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness in that He shed His own blood on the cross to take God the Father’s WRATH upon Himself in our place to pave the pathway for salvation for all who repent and turn to Him now and forever?

The word blessing doesn’t even come near to describing the phenomenal awesomeness of Jesus sparing us of the wrath each and every one of us deserves for our sins. May we thank Him for this blessing by humbling ourselves before Him, by turning utterly to Him, and by living lovingly and devotedly and entirely for Him. AMEN!

How can we be in the full glorious face-to-face presence of almighty God forever in heaven given we are sinners by nature and He is perfect and holy and righteous? We cannot, but oh do I have good news for you! The best news ever! He loves us so much and so desires we be in His everlasting presence that He sent His only Son Jesus to the earth to live a perfect life and to the cross to be the perfect atonement for our sins.

Jesus is God in the flesh and died on the cross to pay our sin punishment and was raised from the dead. All who turn from our sins, believing He is Lord and died and rose from the dead, turning our lives over to Him and His ways, are forgiven and promised forever with Him. Good news?

There is no greater news and no greater love than this! Will you spend forever with the Lord? Or eternity in torment in hell and the lake of fire? Turn to the Lord, friend. Surrender all to Jesus while there is yet time!

I met a woman one day with a gigantic banner proclaiming the lordship of Jesus Christ to the world. We spoke. She was bold, courageous, hard, harsh, judgmental, and cold in her words and message to me. I barely had a chance to speak. We parted ways, and that’s how I remember her. For years, I did ministry work on the outside and on the inside had a heart filled with brokenness and sin and a mouth filled with meanness and pride. I still fall at times, but the Lord has been refining me for some years now and turning me into the servant and daughter He created me to be. Serving Jesus in our everyday lives is not only about what we do physically for the Lord. It’s also about our hearts and attitudes and mouths. Let’s surrender ourselves to the Lord continually, repent when we need to, and yield ourselves to His potter’s hands as He forms us into the servants and children He made us to be!