What God Desires

On December 5, 2024 By happyreignIn HeatherLeave a comment

“I want you to show love.” Hosea 6:6 _NLT
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 _NLT

Preaching to myself through this word study. Focusing on the first quarter of the verse in Hosea, God communicated to us how he desires us to act. Keep in mind God asks nothing of us he doesn’t already: 1) embody himself or 2) hasn’t already given us the full ability to execute his clear direction.

The Hebrew word for love here as translated in the New Living Translation is (H2617) defined primarily in the Strong’s Concordance as kindness, piety (towards God, defined as acts of devotion), or subjectively, beauty: good deed, loving-kindness, kindly, mercy, goodness, faithfulness. The primitive root of the word used in this verse is the verb chasad (H2616): to bow in courtesy to an equal, that is to be good, to be kind; to show kindness to oneself.

Do you need to hear God telling you “I want you to show love” to yourself?? Are you being gracious with yourself? Generous? Kind? Full of mercy and faithfulness to you; the you God made in his own likeness after his own image? God has called you to walk in his love and to display it but you (and I) will be handicapped in doing this to and for others when we withhold this same posture to ourselves.

Have you been hard on yourself lately? Have you beat yourself up over something? Are you disappointed in something you keep returning to or a lesson in life you cannot seem to pass? Don’t wait. Don’t wait. Don’t wait, to love yourself. Don’t wait until you change. Don’t wait until you improve. Love yourself now. Agree with God; who loves you now.

There is a sufficient savior who carries you, who sees you, who chooses you, who knows you and, to be honest, delights in you. Is hopeful over you. Who wants to show you off. Your father is proud of who you are because he made you; you reflect his glory and there is nothing you can do about it. You, my friend, are a delight to be around. You are one to look forward to spending time with. You are precious.

Please don’t pour out of an empty cup, or keep your cup overturned because you don’t feel worthy to receive God’s abundant kindness and goodness. His presence is sweet and its even sweeter with you in it. Receive this grace that is fresh, that is enough, that covers your wrongs, and celebrates your goodness, because He is your father and you look an awful lot like him.

Heaven is a Person

On March 29, 2024 By happyreignIn HeatherLeave a comment

Heaven is a Person and Hell is a Perspective. Heaven, being thought of as a place in all of its splendor and beauty, means nothing without Jesus being there. We could have all these eternal spiritual good things but without the presence of God they all would be meaningless. When Jesus primarily teaches about the kingdom of heaven being near while he was here on earth, that topic is primarily highlighting the KING of that kingdom but in a humble manner. This king who IS peace, love, joy, freedom, etc, is freely accessible to you as you dwell inside of his authority and leadership. The only place I want to live eternally is as close to Jesus as possible. I don’t care where this, what this place looks like, what I have, what others have, who is there, as long as I am as close as possible to his heart and his face. Nothing else matters being he is my heaven. He is my only refuge, my only hope, my only strength. He can determine anything about my reality because it belongs to him, he created it and its for his glory.

The worst part of existence in this lifetime, although I realize is for my good and for my growth (to learn to rule and reign as he does), is when my perspective lies to me and communicates anything other than heaven being here with me now. I am accepted right now, I am saved right now, I am God’s eternal dwelling place right now, I am in union with Christ right now. Just because I lose sight of those truths doesn’t change this reality, my lack of ability to see these truths affects whether or not I experience these realities from the inside out. The bible teaches the kingdom of heaven is righteousness, peace, and joy. These become our experience in this life as a result of submitting to Jesus’ rule on a daily basis; our faith and surrender allow us to participate in this eternal goodness while on earth. The work of the devil, as outlined in Jesus’ teaching to steal, kill, and destroy. My conjecture from this lesson, is that the devil’s aim is to interrupt our experience and participation of God’s kingdom while we are here on earth, and he does that first by interrupting our perspective, which, in turn, interrupts our experience, by resulting in changed behaviors.

The devil wants to sow the opposite of God’s kingdom into your experience. The opposites of righteousness, peace, and joy are sin, anxiety, and depression. Do you see the fruit of any of those perspectives in our society around us or in your own life? If that is the case you may be a victim of spiritual theft, death, and destruction. This is because you are a unique creation of God’s beauty and expression, full of life, love and divine purpose. You are powerful and Christ loves to live with you, through you. You are a gift to this earth and a bright shining star. Have you forgotten this, or been reminded about this yet today?

Heaven is available to you to experience today, because Jesus is available to you, to be with you, near to you, close, in relationship today. May your perspective actively stand against every thought which opposes what Christ has purchased for you with his blood that he died to return you to as a gift, freely given. Return to through rest and faith in your living savior to the power of heaven and the purpose of God in your life right now because Jesus displayed his ultimate love for you by dying for you on a cross, and chose to give up his life so you could fully live yours. Happy Easter.

Kindness

On June 21, 2017January 13, 2018 By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom Concepts2 Comments

Kindness is one of the most powerful tools in God’s kingdom. It has the ability to pierce even the darkest places with bright light and cross any cultural or language barrier. It is the tangible manifestation of love. If any other expression of love is given to you, but this is one thing is withheld, do you believe it?

My only regrets in life are when some inner judgement of another or an offense by them has caused me to justifiably (so I thought) withhold kindness from someone or some group of people. And continually I am humbled and shown God’s love for those very people and again my heart humbles itself to agree with heaven towards them.

Random acts of kindness towards strangers are beautiful and powerful, but what about also choosing to be kind even when we are being yelled at by someone we love, or have been misjudged by friends, or are being shunned by those closest to our hearts? What if we never forsook kindness in our marriages? Or our parenting?

Kindness is the only thing that matters. This is what lingers with people, this is what hearts recognize from eternity when they experience it. Sometimes kind people are also not given a lot of recognition. For instance, cold and aloof people appear can appear more powerful or popular. Sometimes kind people don’t demand or command attention. But these people, the kind ones, are the wealthiest people on the planet. They posses a self-love that is genuine and therefore have an undiminished supply of love to share, whether others appreciate it or not, or whether it is reciprocated or not.

True kindness is never earned. Kindness is only kindness when it is unconditional. It especially shines the brightest when the recipient of it is underserving. These moments are our greatest opportunities in life to shine. You possess something that changes lives. You possess something humans were made to experience daily and that heaven never forsakes.

Never let kindness leave you… proverbs 3:3

Some of the most encouraging instances in my life were when I was hard on myself and someone, despite myself being unpleasant, was relentlessly kind to me causing me to dare to believe again that I was worthy of the love they were showing me. True kindness, I believe, is one of the most attractive features of any human being. It exudes inner peace, confidence, and grace, whose impact is often beyond description.

Choose to be kind today. Any arguments of reason in our minds placing ourselves in a position of withholding kindness from someone are false and we are compromising our own inner dignity and strength when we do this. Choose kindness while you still can, you will not regret it. It is the very nature of the king of this kingdom. This is the very expression of himself. Jesus, the Kind One. Where you find kindness, there you have found him.

Character Covenant Creativity

Family Freedom Gift Giver

Joy Judgement Kindness Trust

Love Praise Prayer Self-love

New Writing Series: Kingdom Concepts

On December 25, 2016January 7, 2017 By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom ConceptsLeave a comment

Hey Everyone! I will be writing a new series of posts called:

Kingdom Concepts: Attributes of an Unseen Kingdom.

Every so often I’ll be adding another piece articulating some of God’s kingdom as it’s found all around us here on earth.

You can access these new pieces via the KINDGOM CONCEPTS tab to the upper right or on the side bar at the top left.

Love   (<— Check this one out!)
Character           (<— And this one!)
Covenant            (<— And this one!)
Family            (<— And my latest)
Freedom        (<— Just added this!)
Santa                (<— Just put this up!)