GOOD NEWS DAILY – October 29

Every which way I turn, challenges, challenges, challenges. Nothing seems to come easy to me. Never really has it seems anyway. If you ask me how I feel and what I experience in the context of this big world, I will be honest. I feel continually invisible, rejected, ignored, overlooked, forgotten, neglected, trampled over, stomped on, disregarded, left behind, burdened, weighed down, spit on and scoffed at figuratively anyway, so very much of the time.

But oh, there is such a deep, deep raw beauty in this, friend. It keeps me more and more desperate for Jesus, more and more in need of Him, more and more cleaving to Him, more and more crying out to Him, and more and more desperate to help this world turn from its sins and turn to Him as Lord believing He is God in the flesh and died on the cross to pay our sin penalty and was raised from the dead.

I’ve been feeling extra burned out recently given my long-time personal challenges and the reality of being on the road for Jesus full-time with my crew of handicapped doggies, BUT I AM SEEKING THE LORD FOR HIS LOVE, STRENGTH, MERCY, BOLDNESS, COURAGE, AND PASSION TO PRESS ON IN THE LORD’S WORK FOR THE GLORY OF CHRIST!

Please, friend, keep me prayed up if you are so led.

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

IF YOU NEED HELP BEGINNING OR PRESSING ON IN A FOREVER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT AT 843-338-2219 OR lara@GoodNews.love

love & blessings,

lara

As I go through a season of grief after losing my ex-husband a week ago who was a very significant part of my life for many years, I am reminded of how we can do two things with grief. We can turn away from the Lord in anger, bitterness, hurt, fear of more hurt, brokenness, etc. Or we can come running to the Lord and yield our hearts and lives to Him more fully than ever.

I choose the latter. For I know when I place myself wholly in His hands, hurting heart included, He will use this season of my life to draw me closer to Himself, to refine me and make me more like myself, to test my faith and grow me, and to be more sensitive and helpful to others in my ministry work.

Whatever season in life you may be going through, please friend give yourself wholly to the Lord. Yield yourself utterly to Him. Be entirely His. And watch what He will do in and through you. AMEN!

love & blessings,

lara

One of the blessings we miss when we don’t spend time alone with Jesus and the Bible daily is learning by His Spirit who lives inside His followers all the lessons and receiving all the wisdom and experiencing all the refining and transformation that comes in intimate fellowship with Him and study of His Word. Like this powerful nugget of wisdom in the verse above in all my time following Jesus I don’t ever remembering hearing preached.

The Lord has gifted me in speaking, He has called me to streets ministry, I am constantly ministering to people, and He has blessed me with much wisdom from His Word and from life’s experiences to sow into people’s lives. But friend, for every time I have spoken without the love of Christ, and without the kindness of Christ, I have failed at most and fallen short at the very least in my mission for Christ.

For God’s wisdom is to be received from Him and His Word and distributed to others IN HIS LOVE and IN HIS KINDNESS!

This DOES NOT mean we won’t sometimes be called by God to be very firm, to be very stern, to rebuke someone, to confront boldly and strongly, etc. But it does mean the heart behind it and the way we speak still needs to convey THE LOVE AND THE KINDNESS OF CHRIST.

I need this reminder. Do you?

365 BLESSINGS is a devotional book I recently wrote that will soon be available in print by the grace of the Lord for the glory of the Lord! 

Blessing #177

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,” 2 Timothy 1:1

How easy it is to rush through what we read – even in the Bible, yes – and miss God’s countless treasures in His Word if we’re not enormously careful. Like these words I missed for years. “promise of life”. Jesus promises us everlasting life. Life with Him forever. Life in fellowship with Him now and everlastingly in heaven. When we repent and turn to Him truly as Lord. Nobody in the universe can offer us the “promise of life” as Jesus does. What greater blessing is there than the Lord and the “promise of life” forever with Him? NONE! Thank you, God, thank you Lord, thank you King, thank you Savior, for the “promise of life”! Oh, how glorious you are risen God! Risen King! Risen Lord! Almighty, almighty, blessed forever King! Jesus! AMEN!

Once upon a time there was a water pitcher that was filled with water. The water was filthy. So every time a hand grabbed onto the pitcher and filled up people’s cups with the water, the people received filthy water. One day, the water pitcher realized the problem and decided to empty itself of all the filth. No more, no more, the water pitcher decided.

Then the water pitcher turned to a source of pure, clean, delicious, refreshing, fulfilling, hydrating water and filled itself up with this water. The water pitcher was delighted to discover that now it would be able to pour into people’s cups wonderful water! The water pitcher made a mistake, however. It assumed this would be the case from thence forward. But not so, not so. The water pitcher found out if it didn’t continually empty itself of any filthy water and fill itself up with clean, pure water that it would go right back to pouring out filthy water. So the water pitcher, with this new discovery, made a commitment from that time forward to be diligent and devoted to purifying itself whenever necessary and continually being refilled with fresh, clean, and pure water for all the cups that it would henceforth fill!

Friend, we who follow Jesus need to continually purge from ourselves anything ungodly, dishonoring, and displeasing to the Lord and to spend time each and every day at the feet of the Lord with our hearts and Bibles open being filled afresh with God’s Spirit who lives inside His followers, with God’s Word which is the Bible, and with the wisdom, love, mercy, grace, hope, peace, joy, and direction He pours into our hearts and lives each and every day.

Let’s get rid of the filth and be continually refilled with the Lord so we can pour out onto the world around us the love, grace, mercy, peace, hope, etc. of the Lord Jesus Christ!

“But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.” 1 Thess. 2:4

“The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25

Oh, how dangerous it is to fear people instead of to fear God as we are called to do. This is true in any and all areas of our lives INCLUDING IN THE AREA OF SERVING THE LORD. INCLUDING IN THE AREA OF PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE TO OTHERS!

In the first scripture above, the apostle Paul and two of his co-laborers tell the Thessalonian believers they shared the Gospel message despite persecution and with boldness not trying to please the people but but instead pleasing God.

Do you hold back from sharing the Gospel message because you’re afraid of people’s responses? Afraid of upsetting them? Afraid of rejection and persecution? Afraid of being laughed at? Afraid of upsetting them?

Christ’s followers are called to tell others that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to a forever relationship with God. That we need to turn from our sins and turn to God and His ways. That we need to believe Jesus is the Son of God and died on the cross to pay our sin penalty and was raised from the dead. That true faith in Christ as Lord produces a lifestyle of living for Christ and no longer for ourselves and this world and the devil.

Don’t fear the people, friend. Fear the Lord and proclaim Christ to this world in dire need of Him!