Several months ago, I found GodTube. This place is awesome. There are so many good videos that it would be impossible to tell you about all of them. But there was this one video that I ran across during my first trip to GodTube that I posted on this blog some months ago because of how much it moved me. But, with all the newer posts, this one has more or less been buried. I cannot help but believe that if people would see this video they would see Salvation in a different light.
Most videos I watch are nice, good, hilarious or whatever else. They do not move me to tears but this one does. It is an awesome portrayal of what Jesus has done and will do for you if only you will accept Him for Who He is. Please take the time to watch this video..even if you have already seen it before. It moves me in ways I have not been moved before. Each time I watch it, it’s like I had never seen it prior to this time. It is a bit long but it is well worth the time. Enjoy the Lord!
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I have come to the conclusion that most folks believe that God is this amazing Sugar Daddy up in heaven just sitting around waiting for someone to beg Him to point and say “Bam, you got it!” when they want something. In fact, I have seen people mad because God didn’t pony up what they wanted as soon as they demanded or begged for it. A few posts back, I was talking about using God like an ATM machine. That is still the case with the people who simply will only believe God if He does it right, the way THEY want it done.
Actually, that has absolutely nothing to do with the scripture they are expecting to use to get what they want. You know the one:
(Mat 7:7) Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.
People who expect God to simply move heaven and earth to give them anything they want are pretty delusional. God loves us. True. He is our Father and does not wish to hold anything from us. But the fact is that there are things that, if we had them, would actually make matters worse for us. Sometimes, I do not see that either but i do not have the vantage point that God has…seeing from beginning to end. I suspect that if we all were able to see our lives as God sees them, we would make incredibly different choices in our lives. But since we cannot, we must give the guidance job to God.
Just wanting, wanting, wanting does nothing to help either you or the people God intended for you to help in the world. The reality is that God isn’t a lottery, a bank, a Sugar Daddy and although He is extremely….the the largest extreme possible….rich, that does not mean that he needs you to be that too. The thing is that He will bestow that on people as He chooses. We must do our part. Our part is to be a good steward of what we are given. We are to get into the Word of God, study as much as possible, learn what God has to say and then go out and do as God has chosen you to do. Yes, you are chosen. He seeks you to seek Him. He loves you so much. Don’t sell God short with the begging and the pushing. God knows what is going on in your life.
Life is not always going to be the way you want it or like it. Things do happen. God will be with you through it all if you let Him. Take the time to be with your Lord and Savior today. It is well worth the effort.
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When a person is a Christian, meaning born again and having accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, they then go on to grow in the Lord (hopefully). This is accomplished by studying God’s Word, praying and talking to God, going to a Bible believing church (there are many that are not) and just enjoying God for Who He is.
When I said hopefully about growing in the Lord, I meant that sometimes people do ask Jesus into their hearts but then they do nothing else either because no one tells them what’s next or they simply believe that they do not have to do anything else. The deal is sealed. That is not correct but people do have a lack of information. Those folks are for another blog entry.
Today, I want to talk about going back to your roots. Who can do this? Obviously, those who have left their roots, meaning family and friends, so they go back home. In a spiritual sense, we need to do the same thing. Perhaps you are too busy during the day to spend time praying or studying. Maybe you find that going to church is not for you.
In my case, the problem was that I just got used to not reading the Bible as much as before. Getting the kids off to school took a lot of time in the mornings. Then after that, things just seemed to get in the way…a phone call, breakfast (I always liked to do my study before breakfast because I could think better then), the morning news show, getting bills paid, the weather or anything else. Too many things were getting in the way of my study time. Oh, I talked about it a good bit. But that was all.
What’s wrong here? The Bible says the cares of this world enter in and choke the word.
Mar 4:18-19 And these are those being sown among thorns; such as hear the Word, and the cares of this world, and the deceit of riches, and the lust about other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.
At first, you hear God’s Word, it’s exciting and new. You react by enjoying the study time. But then, some other thing intrudes, not just once but day after day. Then it becomes a regular thing. I studied each morning. Then one day, I had to go somewhere. It intruded on my time. This WAS an emergency but it only happened once. The next time I tried to study, I could, but the next day, something else intruded and so it went. After a while, the intrusions were greater and more frequent. Soon, I found myself intruding on all the emergencies and phone calls to study. WOW!
So, what do you do about it? My solution to it was to go back to the study time. Yes, some things still tried to intrude, they always will. It will happen that way to you too. The reason is that the enemy does not want you to learn anything about your rights as a believer and the power behind it. God has given you, not only a spirit of power, love and a sound mind but the faith to deal with the enemy as well! How? By getting into God’s Word, reading to find out what and who you are in the Lord. Then act on that faith that comes from studying and reading God’s Word.
Now, if you have found yourself out there all alone, get back to your roots, when you asked the Lord Jesus into your life. He is waiting right there where you stepped away. He has not left there, you did. You can get right back on the path He has for you by simply asking His forgiveness and going back to what you know is right. And He will welcome you back!
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Recently, I was able to see the lyrics to a song a friend wrote. In the song, she had the phrase “Man Made God” which intrigued me. Then I could not stop thinking about it. Seems that God is interested in that phrase too! But what is a man made god anyway?
It likely depends on what you are focused on. If money is your thing then that would be your god. If you are focused on power, you will be seeing a man made god in that. Whatever the focus that takes your spirit and mind away from your time with God is likely to be the man made god in your life. Sometimes, it’s just laziness. I find myself not doing those things that I was called to do because other things get in the way….like the latest program on television or the one book I cannot put down. Are these things wrong? No, not in and of themselves. But if they are taking me away from what I am supposed to be doing for the Lord, then yes, they can be.
God tells us to seek Him first, seek the kingdom of God first, THEN all these things shall be added to us. We usually find ourselves so focused on the daily things, trying to make a buck so we can pay the bills and get that car we spotted. But God wants us to focus solely on Him. We should not be worrying about that next dollar and where it’s coming from. That takes our minds away from the Lord and all He has in store for us and what we are to be doing for Him.
Do I want to live with a man made god? Certainly not!! Do you? Probably not. If not, then it is up to you to get into God’s Word every day, seek His face in all things and just trust in Him that He will take care of the problems. After all, He says that the birds of the air are clothed beautifully but they do not worry one bit how they look because God dresses them. How much more will He help you if only you will trust Him to do so?
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It has taken a few days for the dust to settle on the move we made. I am certain that you won’t see too much that is different, the most visible is the name of the blog, God’s Topshelf. We are rather proud of the new name and url for this blog. We thank God that He is interested in the big things and the little things in our lives.
That was one of the biggest things that drew me to God in the first place. He was interested in all aspects of our lives, big and small. In fact, the tiny little details that we worry wart over so often are the ones that God wants us to give to Him, lay them at His Feet. Of course, we tend to go to God over the big things, usually something that should have been given to Him ages ago when it was a tiny detail instead of a life altering situation.
God wants us to trust Him enough to do just that, bring all your troubles and woes to Him, lay them at the foot of the cross and walk away. What a blessing it is to know that. Usually, however, we tend to give things to God and then rip them away from Him, grab them back and being the worry warting all over again. Why? Because we are so used to shouldering the load ourselves that we have a hard time allowing anyone, let alone God, help us with our problems.
It’s really all about trust and ego, isn’t it? We do not trust God, our Creator, to do the right thing for us. Well, we really want to have what we want, isn’t that more like it? As far as the ego part, that’s what comes up when it’s obvious that we have to make the choice, the decision to do “the right thing” for ME!! God, Who is a Gentleman and will not make you do anything, will stand back and wait patiently until you fall on your backside from doing all those things that you knew were right for you. He patiently waits for you to ask Him to help. And, of course, by this time it’s so messed up that only God COULD fix it.
Isn’t it time to trust God and give Him all your problems and worries? Of course it is. Take the time right now to go to God and lay those problems and troubles right there with God.
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The blog, Topshelf, is moving to a new webhost and is getting a new name! But you won’t notice much of a change except the name and, of course, the url. Isn’t that great! Because the name I gave this blog is taken, we decided to change the name to “God’s Topshelf”. I really like that! I pray that God likes it too!!
When it gets up and running again, we….God and I…will be back talking again. Do I hear voices? Well, yes. There is, of course, God’s Voice which does not come in loud and clear but in a small, very gentle Voice that I have learned is also very powerful. Then there is my own voice inside which is constantly trying to get things I want. LOL! And the third voice is sometimes very loud, very intrusive and always wanting it’s own way. You know who that belongs to? The enemy.
So, I will be seeking my Father’s Voice and be back when the blog is once again up and running. God bless you richly!!!
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Today, I am sharing my blog with a friend of mine who lives in Texas (I live in Arkansas). She has been a good friend of mine for over 33 years and she is an amazing prayer warrior in her own right. Her name is Pat G. She sent me this by mail since she is not online. I am giving it to you because the message is important and comes through loud and clear. Here is her message:
Limits, Chains or Freedom
*Don’t walk under a ladder
*Do not let a black cat cross your path.
*Don’t thank someone for the gift of a plant or you will die.
*Don’t just give a knife to a friend unless the friend gives back a penny or it will cut out the friendship.
*If you spill salt, you have to throw a pinch over your shoulder or have bad luck.
*If you break a mirror you will have seven years of bad luck.
*You can’t eat fish and drink milk in the same meal or you will die.
*You can’t have a cat in the house when you have a baby because the cat will suck the baby’s breath and it will die.
*Don’t step on a crack or it will break your mother’s back.
I think I have a headache! Those were some superstitions that I’ve heard at various times in my life. I have no idea where they’ve come from. I can understand the one about not walking under a ladder. Someone could be standing on it painting or fixing something. If you walk under it, you might get paint on your head or get a tool dropped on you.
Why do people believe those things? Why do they accept being chained down? Why do people accept limits in their lives that don’t make sense? Where in the Bible does it say that we have to accept and superstitions?
John 8:32–And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:36–If therefore, the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
The Bible mentions freedom and liberty, especially freedom in Jesus:
2 Corinthians 3:17–Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
The Lord came to set us free. Free from sin, free from all condemnation. I don’t have the words that are needed to express what I’m thinking. I will let God’s Holy Scriptures say what needs to be said:
Romans 8:1-2–There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are now in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit, of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Please accept that the Lord wants us free from of condemnation. He doesn’t want us chained and limited. Superstitions are chains. Unnecessary chains on our daily lives, on our spirits.
John 8:36–If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed!!
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I wanted to wish you all a blessed and happy new year for this brand new time. This is a fantastic time to be alive and a frightening one as well, depending on how you see things going. God was quite clear that the times would become extremely dangerous for the believer as things progress in the history in the making before your eyes.
This is an amazing time to get closer to the Lord, make the determination that you need to rededicate your life to Him and bring out that dusty Bible. The scriptures are there to help you! When you get into the Word of God and really study it, you will find the answers to many of your most pressing problems. I have found this to be so…even if the scripture at the time did not really sound like it fit the situation. Eventually, I would see that it did, indeed, fit like a glove.
At times, we are veiled and do not see spiritually what is happening or about to happen. That, too, is part of the test from our Lord and a blessing as well. Did you really want to know how long you had to live? How long anyone had? It would create a pressure that you cannot imagine until you try it out. I would not want that information. I would be trying to run my life like that and failing miserably.
So, today, take the time to reflect on your role in what you can do for the Lord. The first thing would be to read your Bible and study with prayer. When you have that under your belt (and I am talking about reading, studying and prayer daily), the Lord will guide you to someone who desperately needs Him and you are His witness. It is an awesome thing to be a servant of the Most High God!!! Awesome!!!
Happy New Year to all!!!!
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As the day for the new year approaches, most people like to start working on their New Year’s resolutions. Others feel they do not need to do so. And still others realize that even though they make them, the resolutions will be broken before the end of the month anyway. Today, I watched a pastor on television talk about what we, as Christians, are to be doing here.
This was not a new idea by any means. In fact, it’s a rather old idea but was needed again. He said that about 20% of the church attendees do about 80% to 90% of the money giving and work at the church and for the Lord. Then, 80% of the people give little to no money and do almost nothing to nothing at all. He began to challenge us to decide what we must do to change that.
The first idea and really the only one is to get into your Bible for at least a half hour a day. I doubt that would be too much to ask considering what the Lord has done for you. I agree wholeheartedly that the half hour a day will do more for you than any other possible cure. Included in that half hour would be reading the Bible, meditating on the verse or verses and praying to the Lord about them. If you will do that, you will find yourself in a better mood, find more enlightenment concerning the Bible…things will become clearer to you….and it will be a relaxing time as well. This becomes a de-stressing agent as well.
I have to admit that I do not do as much of the reading and studying that I should. In fact, the last few weeks have been much less than usual due to the holidays that were coming up. How ridiculous can I actually get here???? We were honoring the Lord Jesus’ birth. This is the time to be more in the Bible, more interested in praying, more interested in study. I was less so. Hence the gap in the postings on this blog. I am ashamed of myself and am sorry to my readers who come to see what God has taught us today.
So, in the interest of making a commitment to the Lord, I do resolve to be in the Bible more, studying more, praying more and, therefore, writing more. It is a blessing to be a servant of the Lord!!!! Thank you for reading this blog. I hope to give you more inspirational postings in the future!!
Happy New Year to you all!!!
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(Ephesians 5:1-2) Then become imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell. (Literal Translation)
Yesterday, I put up a post that talked about imitating God and walking the path He has for you to walk. The next verse (above) says that we need to walk in love. That can be extremely difficult at times but isn’t it an interesting statement for God to make? First, we are to imitate God and then we are to walk in love but He does not stop there. Remember the rest of it? We are to imitate God like we are children AND walk in love.
This verse is particularly necessary in these days that are becoming more and more evil. The love of others is steadily growing colder and leaving and hatred is becoming the norm. If you do not believe that, just try to be nice to someone who has a bad attitude. They will not thank you many times. They might even attack you for it. Between that and seeing out and out wrong as right are fast being the normal everywhere.
Recently, I was watching videos on a popular free video site. In searching out Christian preachers, I came across one that was getting a large number of comments, mostly bad, so I took a look. Others who profess to be preachers and believers (meaning born again Christians) were criticizing, bashing and otherwise slamming a couple of quite popular television preachers. I have watched both myself and while I did not always agree with everything they said, I was not about to be critical of them. Why? Because they could be anointed preachers of God. He is quite clear about not touching His anointed.
So many that were commenting and professing to be Christian and preachers were making extremely vicious remarks. They were ugly, sometimes filthy comments about how these preachers were acting. I chose to say something about now knowing all of the story since this particular video was about a one minute slice of a much longer video, not seeing all of the video. The target was now me! Vicious, nasty, filthy comments and statements were made to and about me.
What’s the problem here? Cold hearts. A lack of love. With this type of attack, there simply is no love of the Lord. We are told by God specifically, as Christians, to walk in love, AS CHILDREN, being imitators of God. If those who made those statements are Christians, they need to seek God and evaluate their lives because love is not included. I do not evaluate my life every single day, which I certainly should, but I do talk to God about that so that I do not walk off the path. I still find myself going in the wrong directions quite often. We must be diligent to do this and walk in love as well.
We do not have to take everything dished out to us but God does require us to walk in His love. I know that when the love of God is working in my heart, my day is brighter, my attitude is nicer and I care about people. At other times, I can be definitely disgusted with people as a group. Why not try walking in love today, like a child imitating God’s love for us all?
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