I have never done any really bad things such as breaking the law and getting caught, or things that others would look upon as being really bad. I know I wasn’t the perfect child, but I never lived in open rebellion against my parents and caused them much distress like some children have. In school, my classmates used to laughingly call me a “goody two shoes” because I was too scared to do many rebellious things. My parents have always supported me in everything I have done, and I didn’t want them to be disappointed in me.

I think if you have lived your life being a “good person” it can be very easy to not see yourself as you really are. After all, you haven’t done really bad things so you don’t think of yourself as grieving God or the Holy Spirit with the ordinary things you do each day.

I have already admitted to being a people-pleaser in my younger years, so I was devastated when I realized how much I had taken the Holy Spirit for granted in my everyday life.

I found I had started to take for granted that He would always be there and I could just ask for wisdom and direction when I needed it. How could I take God so for granted when He has and continues to do so much for me? The last thing I ever wanted to do was grieve Him in any way.

Realizing this has changed my life. I don’t ever want to forget these particular words of Charles Spurgeon, so I have copied them off and put them in a place where I will see them on a regular basis. You might want to do the same thing, especially if you see yourself and your own life in these words.

====================================================

Oh, my friends, when I think how often you and I have let the devil in, I wonder the Spirit has not withdrawn from us. The perseverance of a saint for a single day is a multitude of miracles of mercy. When you consider that the Spirit is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and yet he dwells in the heart where sin often intrudes, a heart out of which come blasphemies, and murders, and all manner of evil thoughts, what if sometimes he is grieved, and retires and leaves us to ourselves for a season?

It is a marvel that he is there at all, for he must be daily grieved with these evil guests, these false traitors, these base intruders who thrust themselves into that little temple which he had honored with his presence, the temple of the heart of man.

=====================================================

I fear I have taken much too lightly what Jesus did for me when He died on the cross and rose again. By going back to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father, He made it possible for the Holy Spirit to come and reside in the heart of every person who believes in Him as their Lord and Savior.

If you have asked Jesus into your heart, you have the awesome gift of the Holy Spirit who lives inside you and wants to lead you in the right direction, but He is so much more than that. He is your comforter in time of trouble, the provider of your every need, and He always has your best interest at heart.

First thing each morning, thank the Holy Spirit for who He is and what He has done in your life. Also thank Him that you don’t have to make decisions on your own any more. It is a sad thing to live your life without His leadership and guidance because He is an awesome gift that has been given to every believer in Christ.

Please ask Him to reveal areas in your life where you need to change or grow and be obedient to His direction. Your life will truly take on new meaning.

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After Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, we were separated from God and had no way to reach Him on a personal level until Jesus died on the cross. He bridged that great gap and made it possible for us to have a personal relationship with the Living God once more.

The photo above gives a wonderful word picture of what Jesus did. He reached down and grabbed mankind with one hand and reached up to grab the Hand of God with the other. He became our intercessor and bridge to God when there was no other way to reach Him.

We can now come to our Heavenly Father without being afraid or ashamed, because Jesus is always interceding on our behalf and always has our best interest at heart. It is truly an amazing love that He had for mankind to endure the torture and suffering of the cross.

Don’t throw away what Jesus did for you on the cross. Run to Him, tell Him all your problems, and let Him intercede to the Father on your behalf. If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart, the Spirit of the Living God (Holy Spirit) lives inside you and is patiently waiting for you to ask Him to give you guidance in everyday situations.

Learn to hear Him when He speaks to you and be obedient. You will find that you never want to do things your own way again. There is so much peace and comfort in knowing that God only wants to give you His Very Best. That will be something different for each person, but it will always be exactly what you need at just the right time.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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Oh that we could really understand the scope of what He accomplished through His death on the cross. It would radically change our lives forever. I pray that God will truly help me understand!

Amazing Love Video

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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1. Have you fallen in love with Jesus?
2. Jesus Died on the Cross to Make Things New Again – Video
3. Video – Oh What A Savior

What an awesome miracle salvation is. Jesus died on the cross for the sin of every person and bridged the gap so that man could reach God. We can never do anything to pay him back for what He did for us.

Now we can pray to our Heavenly Father personally and know that He hears us, with Jesus interceding on our behalf. What an awesome God that can totally wash away our sin and make us clean, pure, and holy.

Oh that we could really comprehend what Jesus did for us on the cross; it would radically change our lives forever.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - Practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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3. The Ultimate Hate Crime

They went from living in true paradise and having a wonderful relationship with their Creator, to being banned from the Garden forever and having to make a living by the sweat of their brow. Their sorrow must have been almost unbearable over what they had done. God must have given them some hope, though, that He would make things right in the future. How else could they have had the courage to go on?

When Jesus died on the cross, He bridged the gap between man and God forever. His death made it possible for every person who would acknowledge Him as the only way to Heaven, to be saved and have full access to God.

For hundreds of years, there had been no direct access from man to God. He just spoke to certain people and told them what He wanted them to do. Even great men like Moses and Abraham only heard Him speak to them a few times in their whole life. They certainly didn’t have a direct access line like we do as Christians. Most of the people in Bible times never heard a personal Word from God.

The death of Jesus changed things forever. We can now have full access to God because of what Jesus did on the cross. He died so that we might have eternal life and have a way to the Father through Him. I am so glad that He loved us that much.

Now Jesus is with the Father interceding on behalf of Christians, and the Holy Spirit lives inside us to give guidance and direction. We don’t have to be like the people in Old Testament times. We can have direct access to the Father 24 hours a day. Don’t let the death of Jesus be in vain. Let the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth and help you have a deeper relationship with your Heavenly Father. Life will never be boring or dull again.

Jesus gave His all for you.

This came from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association site. It gives a wonderful word picture of the great sacrifice Jesus made for us.

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Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

For the Christian who desires to live a victorious life in Christ

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

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1. Jesus Died on the Cross to Make Things New Again – Video
2. Have you fallen in love with Jesus?

Every Christian knows someone who has never believed in Jesus as His personal Savior, and most of us have someone in our own extended family. We see the same people everyday and many times they may never know that we are a Christian because we don’t talk about it.

Hell is a literal place, and every person (good or bad) will go there who has not accepted Jesus as personal Savior. This video really made me think about how I need to have a much greater passion for the lost. God expects me to live my life in a way that others will know that I have something they desperately need.

You don’t have to be a preacher, professor, or Bible theologian; just tell them what a difference God has made in your life. Let them see that you handle problems differently and have a peace and joy that can only come from your Heavenly Father.

What you do has a much greater impact on others than what you say. Talk is cheap, but actions are gold. Ask God to give you a heart for the lost and live your life in a way that truly shows how Great your God is.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFZ1pt0WX5c&feature=related]

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The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
to their first ministry to reopen a church
in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October
excited about their opportunities. When they saw
their church, it was very run down and needed
much work. They set a goal to have everything
done in time to have their first service
on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
painting, etc, and on December 18
were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19 a terrible tempest – a driving
rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
His heart sank when he saw that the roof had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster about
20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the
sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about
head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and not knowing what else to do but postpone
the Christmas Eve service, headed home.
On the way he noticed that a local business was
having a flea market type sale for charity so he
stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,
handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
embroidered right in the center. It was just
the right size to cover up the hole in the front

wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older
woman running from the opposite direction was
trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
invited her to wait in the warm church for
the next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor
while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put
up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor
could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and
it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet. “Pastor,”
she asked, “where did you get that tablecloth?”
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The
woman explained that before the war she and
her husband were well-to-do people in Austria.
When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
Her husband was going to follow her the next week.
He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her
husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
but she made the pastor keep it for the church.
The pastor insisted on driving her home; that
was the least he could do. She lived on the other
side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn
for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas
Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the
spirit were great. At the end of the service, the
pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door
and many said that they would return.
One older man, whom the pastor recognized
from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
the front wall because it was identical to one
that his wife had made years ago when
they lived in Austria before the war and how
could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he
forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home
again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to
take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten
Island and to the same house where the pastor
had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of
stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on
the door and he saw the greatest Christmas
reunion he could ever imagine.

True Story – submitted by Pastor Rob Reid

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Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

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As a mother myself, it is hard to even imagine the horrible pain that Mary must have felt as she watched her beloved son being beaten almost to the point of death; then if that wasn’t enough, he had to carry his own cross to be crucified and endure the pain and humiliation of that even though He had done nothing to deserve this kind of horrible death.

I feel sure that those graphic images stayed in her mind for many years to come. Only a mother’s love could have kept her standing there at the foot of the cross.

Even though she knew Jesus had supernaturally come from God to perform a specific task, she still loved Him dearly as any good mother would love her child and must have missed Him terribly when He had to leave.

Spend some time today contemplating the awesome love that Jesus displayed for you when He died on the cross for your sin.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0xLkI4FPBk]

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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1. Have you fallen in love with Jesus?

Check out my other sites:

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

No related posts.

God is so much greater than even most Christians have ever imagined. He is a wonderful Father that wants to bless His children. He has a great plan for each person, but we have to allow Him to be in charge of our lives in order to see His plan revealed.

When you start to fall in love with Jesus and what He did for you on the cross, you start to see just how much He loved you. He paid the ultimate sacrifice so that each Child of God could have a personal relationship with Him and have the guidance of the Holy Spirit to teach the truth in everything.

Many Christians today have lost their peace and joy. Maybe the reason is that they have fallen out of love with Jesus and that relationship needs to be restored anew. God is just waiting to restore His Children to the place they need to be.

For those on dial-up that can’t view the video, the words are as follows:

Falling in love with Jesus

Falling in love with Jesus

Falling in love with Jesus

Is the best thing I’ve ever, ever done

‘Cause in his arms I feel protected

In His arms I’m never disconnected

In His arms I feel protected

There’s no place I’d rather be

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIgtIJvT9YM&hl=en&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1]

Falling in love with Jesus is truly the best thing that you can ever do.

Please visit my other web sites:

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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