Grace and Peace to you in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord!  I hope this is a blessing to you!  Be patient with me, but don’t ever give up on God!  Seek God 1st!

Have you seen that light of Jesus light up a dim room to a glow?  I have last night, because God cares for us all; and it is a miracle how God puts others, whom we otherwise would not know, but God does know! God puts a love in our heart to care for people and then it is God who works out every fine detail!  It is a miracle to walk by faith and experience what only God can do so well!  God is our source in all things!  Faith is a gift of God; and faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God!

Are you growing in your faith?

How do you grow in your faith?

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God!

It is a miracle how God pours love into our heart; like a warm oil that coats and covers all other things, that we care unconditionally for others, because of the love God poured into our heart!  I hope this puts a glow on your face that comes from the true and living light of Jesus who lights up your eyes as the window to your soul!

How do you grow

in the faith that pleases God?

Do we grow in our faith; or grow in the love of God?  Or is it much the same?  God is love; and God is the Substance to our faith; and God is the Source to the Evidence to our faith! As, Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)

And we have known and believed (relied on) the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth (abides) in love dwelleth (abides) in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16 KJV).

This is the message

the Lord has given me for today!

What is Faith, but God in us?  “If you have faith as a Mustard seed?” is a tremendous study!  A mustard seed grows into a substantial tree that is able to withstand extreme conditions!  Does this faith sound familiar?  “Oh ye of so little faith!” is a power of knowledge with understanding that Jesus knew we needed to grasp that is from God!

Faith is born in us as a seed, (The sower sows the word); and when we hear the message of the Word of God, we believe because God has given us a measure of faith to believe!

The Life is in the seed!

The Word of God is the seed!

Believing is the Miracle!

^{John 6:29} Jesus answered and said unto them,

This is the work of God, that

ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God (1 John 3:9 KJV).”

Knowing my own human nature, (in fact all people are flawed, including me), doesn’t this incline your ear to believe that God is doing a good work inside of us?  Yet, God gives us a choice to want to change!  Why would we want to change anyway???

Are you willing to come along with me and learn about the character of God?  …that God has SO loved the world that He gave TO US His Son…

Are you growing in your faith that pleases God?

Do you want to grow in your faith that pleases God?

I suppose God loves us that much, that He gives us a choice, but God is patiently waiting on us to realize that life with God is blessed; and God is a loving Father who is for us; not against us!

Learning to grow in our faith that pleases God begins with a desire to please God; and faith grows to a confidence in Christ to press on through some struggles to grow!

Have you been over-watered?

Perhaps you have been over-watered by a “super-natural overly spiritual” person?

Perhaps you also have hidden your self away from hearing the Word of God for some of the same obvious reasons?

Will you take some time to yourself and explore what God’s gift of life means to you?  Yes, today is a good day to grow in your faith that pleases God.

Jesus is the gift of life!

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

³² Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

⁵³ Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

⁶¹ When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

John Chapter 6

I found this quote just now!

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. …. It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on …

Wow!  This is the living and Active Word of God!

A New Covenant
Jeremiah 31-34

…32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

34“They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

The Word of God is written for us to read, hear, speak, listen to, but most of all to hear the Word of God speak to our tender heart that we let be tender good ground for that seed to grow.  Pride is a hard heart; humility is a soft heart.  Not to jump too far ahead, but here is a powerful statement to learn to understand, that to the knowledge that we gain; we need to add temperance!  And, above all things we get, the Bible stresses to us the importance to get understanding!

to the knowledge that we gain; we need to add temperance!

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding (Proverbs 4:7 KJV).”

How does your garden grow?

How does your garden grow?  How to you grow in the faith that pleases God?

Like a good and experienced gardener, who knows when, where and how to plant the seeds that produce crops, if we don’t understand our knowledge of why to do certain things, our garden won’t be successful.

What do beets

have to do with It?

For instance, a few years ago, I was really excited about planting beets in our garden!  The previous year, we only harvested a few beets, but wow!  They were the bomb and so, oh my, so good!  God’s Word is like this to me too, because I experience the un-explainable spiritual flavor that is so good to me and for me; and a help to me in all that I do!

Painting a picture of God’s grace …

If you have never experienced the flavor of those “fresh fresh from the garden” beets on that special day, then what I am saying to you won’t make full sense; because, well a beet is a beet?  Or, is there a difference?

Perhaps, this may seem a little over to the top to you?    However, this is the very point!  Until we have tasted from the fruit of the vine in a fresh and living way, we can’t truly know to the point of experiencing the picture that is being painted for us about a Father’s Love either.

How does your garden grow?  How to you grow in the faith that pleases God?

It is our responsibility to grow in our measure of faith, but is God who is the life in the seed and it is God who makes all things grow!  Yet, our faith belongs to us to use.  God won’t do for us what He tells us how to do for ourselves!

Opportunity?

What is your perspective of God’s Word here?  Do you see love or condemnation?  The mere fact that it is written for us to recognize the truth shows love and compassion for us!  And, remember John 3:17, which reminds us that Jesus come not to condemn, but that through Him, we might have life …

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children (Hosea 4:6).”

As an experienced gardener knows better than me to plant beet seeds in “hills” or mounds of dirt, so also experienced gardeners know how to weed; and weed well!

Here we go!

Here we go!  So, I was all about the beet planting process in the step to hill up mounds of soft dirt!  I was all willing to work to plant those tiny beet seeds in the expectations of the yummy “fruit of the vine” veggie-beets that would soon fill our dinner table!  Yet, in due season, when those million little sprouts come up, my husband proceeded to pull up perfectly good tiny and tender beet plants!  I am like Whoa!  No way!  How can you kill the potential for more beets?  Let them grow, I begged; and my husband did!  Robert left all the tiny beet sprouts there for me, but not without a warning that I needed to thin the row out so that some could grow!  Robert did this for me, because I was emotional about my tiny little beet plants.

I am like Whoa!  No way!

My husband explained to me the why, but still, I was MORE willing to run the risk that the beets would obviously find a place to grow in that mountain of dirt we had hilled up for them!  My way of thinking was like, couldn’t they just push each other over under the ground and make room for all to grow equally big?  I meant, like why not?

I meant, like why not?

Do you ever attempt to rationalize out Jesus, or try to justify sin with God like this?

Well, my husband was right, but the point is that I had to experience that the plants needed room to grow; or they would act like their own weeds.

Living good without Jesus will choke life out; just like living in sin also without Jesus has already choked life out.  Jesus is the only way to life with God!

Jesus is the only way to life with God!

Have you taken that time for you to grow in your faith that pleases God?  A faith that is away from everyone’s influence on your mind; to just be still and read God’s Word just for you to discover the truth that is already there?  Like a diver puts on his gear to go under the water to discover what is already there, will you take time to explore your faith to discover God loves you?  Will you talk to God as you pray; and listen for God as you read God’s messages to you?

…This is how the fruit of the garden of our life grows too.

Someone plants a word in us to believe in God’s love for us; That’s a seed, but it is God who will make it grow!  Someone may water the life that is growing in you that believes in God’s love for you, but it is God who will make it grow!

This is the miracle of the life that is in the seed!  And, our heart is the ground the seed falls on!

Will you let that seed grow?  The Word of God is the seed; and our spiritual heart is the harvest that the Bible tells us about!  God is waiting on you to come to Him, and this is the seed God is sowing in your heart to help you believe in God’s love for you; and this is the seed that God is watering in your heart, so that your faith can grow in the life that is in you because you believe in the life that is in Christ!  This is the miracle of the new life in Jesus!

our spiritual heart is the harvest that the Bible tells us about!

Will you grow in your faith that pleases God?  How do you grow in the faith that pleases God?

Our spiritual heart is what is born again; and our soul is saved from the deceptions and curses that are loose in this world to believe in.  Life begins when we first believe God’s testimony about His Son!  First we must believe Jesus died for our sins!  Jesus is the way to life and truth to experiencing the good fruit of the life God has given unto us!  First we have to confess we need God and we need the gift of God’s love through Jesus Christ, which is forgiveness and the full atonement for sin the ONLY way God has provided for us; through the Son of the Living God.

Life begins when we first believe God’s testimony about His Son!

“The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside, everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding…”

Because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!  No man comes unto the Father, but by Jesus (emphasis mine).

John 14:6King James Version (KJV)

⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The Truth tells the Truth; and the Truth cannot lie, because the Truth is the Fact of the Way the Truth is!

The Truth tells the Truth; and the Truth cannot lie, because the Truth is the Fact of the Way the Truth is!  We can argue with Jesus if we want to; just like I argued with my husband about those beet plants surviving.  But love tells the truth for another’s benefit.  And so we can ask, seek, knock and find …We can experience the truth if we seek God first and believe God’s testimony about His Son that God gave TO US!

John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word … ¹² But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, … ¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his …

Human nature will want to deny the truth; or run away and hide from the truth!  But the fact is the Truth is the Truth and there is no fear in the Truth.  Rather, it is the enemy of God who lies to us about what is good to keep us believing “good enough” without ever going anywhere …

Each of us need,

what each beet plant needed:  One thing the crowded beet plants didn’t have:

Like those good little tiny beet plants that I saw and wanted to believe they had what it took to make good beets, because they all looked the same as a tiny plant; but yet, only the strong could survive!  Each us need, what each beet plant needed:  One thing the crowded beet plants didn’t have:  Freedom to grow to be what they were meant to be to live, survive and produce well!

We each need Jesus

We each need Jesus to be born-again; and then we can grow in the faith that pleases God!

I am not talking so much about beets, as I am about God’s children!  God is not willing that any should perish!  However, will we listen to God?  Will we lean our ear into God and seek His knowledge, and with understanding His will for us.  Are we willing to learn how to grow in our faith that pleases God?

Will we make room in our life for Jesus?

Will we make room in our life to listen to God and grow God’s way?

John 14:6King James Version (KJV)

⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Good works will not get us to life with God; no more than those good beet plants stood a chance to become what I thought they could; if they tried … or if I give them a chance! Why? … because it is God’s Nature and Way !

We need Jesus!

Why?

1. Inherited sin from the first man, but God promised hope (JESUS)!
2. Imputed sin to us by the Law of Moses, but God had a great plan of Salvation for us (JESUS)!
3. Personal sin that is by our sinful heart human nature, but the Holy Spirit is our helper (JESUS)!

In Christ, we have a new nature, but we must be born again first!

Have you confessed your need for Jesus yet?  God ahead and take that time to believe God has loved you this much!

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:9 KJV

God was able to take the process of imputed sin to man, which was by the law; and to impute the world’s sin to Jesus for us! Praise God!  Thank you Jesus!  God’s plan works!  And, through Christ Jesus, all sin was nailed to that cross!  God’s way and God’s plan works!

 God’s plan works!

Thank you Jesus!

In closing; This is Day 6 of the 7 Christmas Letters!

The Word of God today is found in Luke 2:6-7

How about us?  Is Jesus born in your heart?  Have you made room for Jesus in your life?

Jesus is NOT an “Elf on a shelf”… Let your heart open to get to know and grow in the love God gave to us (to all, whosoever will believe God’s testimony about His Son; that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!!!); and let us come to that place together where Jesus lives and let us adore Him!

The Kingdom COME is the Holy Spirit of GOD who lives in us through God. The Holy Spirit is the Mind of Christ!

Wrap your reborn heart in swaddling clothes, clothed with the humility that is your very strength and ability in Christ ♡

We can recognize the Living Savior and Lord and make room for Him in our hearts!

It is the time Each Today to celebrate what Jesus has done!

Oh! Come to Jesus! Let our heart receive the Christ to be born again with Jesus and through Christ; and come let our hearts adore Him!

Put off sin and leave the old nature buried under the water! And rise up a new you! Seek God’s will and seek to please GOD in all you think, listen to, speak, watch or do.

How do you grow

in the faith that pleases God?

For we have known and believed in the love God has for us. God is love. Abide in Love and you are abiding in God and God in him (1 John 4:16).

Jesus is the love God gave to the world!

This is serious, because this is Personal! For, God SO loved you! And God so loved me!

Come let us adore the Christ in Jesus Name, He is our born again and resurrected Savior and Lord!

Merry Christmas! And, if you are Merry in the Lord Jesus, let your heart sing Psalms of Praises to God!

Using the Word of God, believe and sing from your praise filled, merry and joyful heart to the Lord God Almighty!  Lift up the blessings of these praises for the gift is Jesus, our King!

It is our heart God looks at,

that is why the manger

is so beautiful to me ♡

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Love in Christ,

Karen Hope in Today Ministries www.hopeintoday.com

See Also:

1. INTRODUCTION
2. A letter to you Speaking Light to your seed …
3. Day 3; Part 1: Blood, Purity and Life Everlasting!
4. Day 4; Part 2: Wise men still seek Him!
5. Day 5; Part 3: The Story of a Christian life is about Jesus!
6. Day 6; Part 4: How Does a Christian Grow in the Faith that Pleases God?
7. Day 7; Part 5: Personal Note from Karen

 

 

• Focal Topic:  From the birth to the Resurrection, our Hope is Jesus!
• Recommended Daily Reading, 2 Peter Chapter 1

^“27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed (John 6:27 KJV).”

Love in Christ,

Karen Rowe

Hope in Today Ministries, Inc.

The Train Whistle, Sounding the call of God’s Love