"We Are Brand New"

 Reflections4Life™ April 17, 2022

"We Are Brand New"

"Therefore we were buried together with Him through immersion into death—in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4

Scriptures for the Week: Romans 6; Matthew 28; Luke 23; John 2; John 19; James 2

https://youtu.be/gT9_ebl34cU

Happy Resurrection Sunday! Glory to our God in the highest! The resurrection assured us redemption, forgiveness, a new life, freedom from our past, and the peace that God is taking care of everything that concerns us today! He has come to set the captives free, delivering us out of all of our troubles! Praise God right now. Thank Him for saving you and bringing you from all problems. Hallelujah! He's made us brand new!

I decree that this week's Reflections4Life will be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration for your heart, mind, and soul. It is Resurrection Sunday! If you do not believe in miracles and the supernatural at any other time of the year, believe it now! Believe in this season, and the power of the resurrection will cause mighty things to occur in your life! When you accepted Christ as your Savior, you were redeemed and raised again with Jesus! You received a new life with new opportunities. Study this week's Scripture readings and yield to the moving of the Holy Spirit. There is something that the Lord wants to blossom in your heart. Receive your gifts. Let the Father fill your cup!

We have been made new through the Blood of the Lamb. When accepting Christ into our hearts, He lives in us. He renews us. We are now the recipients of His love, His grace, His mercies, and all of His gifts. God has opened up doors for us that we have yet to discover. The more we yield to Him and learn who we are in Him, the more we reveal who we are and our purpose on this earth. But make no mistakes; you are a new creation in Christ. You are brand new! 

The Crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ sealed our fates once and for all. Jesus became the final sacrifice for all man. Reconciling us to the Father, He did away with the sin-sacrifices that were law in the Old Testament. We are no longer under the law but are under grace because Jesus became our repudiation for sin. Not just past sins, but all sins--past, present, and future sins. The Blood of Jesus covers us. Our fates were sealed when Christ went to the Cross and rose again on the third day. He fulfilled His Father's requirements. A debt we could never have repaid. 

Here we are in the land of the living with opportunities to, live brand new lives and become everything God ordained us to be. To be that new creation, washed in the Blood and restored by the Lamb of God. 

Beloved, no matter what anyone else says, you are brand new! Though you may look the same and even feel the same, you are not the same! You are a new creature in Christ. A whole new person. When Christ rose, we rose with Him. As whole new beings, shedding our past. Ditching our grave clothes and the person we once were. Now, we're who God has called us to be. With this new person comes new gifts and rewards that can only come from the Father Himself. We are filled with Holy Spirit. We are clothed, now, in righteousness and holiness. We now have access to the armor of God. We are seated in heavenly places with Christ, as He intercedes on our behalf. The battles are not ours, but they are the Lord's. We now answer to a new name: saved, beloved, child of God, delivered, special, set apart, a Royal diadem! We are chosen by God, blessed, anointed, and favored! These are just a few! Study the word of God, Beloved. Learn who you are in Christ. Learning who Christ is and all the benefits He has provided for you. 

My Beloveds, may the spirit of peace and prosperity find permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. You don't have to answer to who you once were. You do not have to be that person to please someone else. God has freed you. Do not linger in the past or allow anyone to keep you boxed into who you used to be. They only saw the caterpillar or the grub. They did not see the butterfly that was coming forth and who you now are! You are brand new. Accept this about yourself, whether anyone else does or not. You are blessed. Now go...and be a blessing!

©2022. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved. 

"Here Today Gone Tomorrow"

 Reflections4Life™ April 10, 2022

"Here Today Gone Tomorrow"

"they took branches of the palm ntrees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of theh Lord, indeed, the King of Israel!" John 12:13

Scriptures for the Week: John 12; Matthew 21:10-11; Zechariah 9:9; Psalm 118:25-26; 2 Kings 9:13; Luke 19:38; John 3:16-17; Psalm 1

Happy Palm Sunday! May our hearts be filled and encouraged when we think about all that God has done for us. May we be encouraged to see the hand of God in all things and how He will deliver us and sanctify our hearts and minds. He will heal us from hurts that may abound from those who were with us today but gone tomorrow.

I decree that this week's Reflections4Life will be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration for your heart, mind, and soul. Anytime we get to spend time in the presence of the Lord should be a time of reverence and gleaning. As you spend intimate time with the Father this week, allow Him to fill you up, preparing you for what is ahead of you. There is nothing under the sun that Jesus is not already acquainted with. Allow Him to give you the benefits of His knowledge and wisdom.

How many times in your life already, have you been hurt or surprised by the actions of people that you thought were here for you? Betrayal is not an easy thing to get over. Nor is it something that we forget easily. Oftentimes, when we experience betrayals, we tend to linger in the feelings that it produces, carrying those same emotions into future relationships. Sometimes we are not aware we have done so until we find ourselves measuring people's character and judging them by the actions of those who previously hurt and betrayed us.

That is no way to live life. Neither is it healthy for any relationship. Whether it is a personal or business relationship. we have to learn to move on; to let go of what others have done and always begin with a clean slate moving forward. Is it easy? By no means is it easy. However, when you have God on your side, He makes difficult tasks seem easy because He takes our burdens and heavy yokes on Himself, leaving us to walk a smoother and lighter path. But we have to trust Him and follow His instructions exactly.

There are no escaping betrayals. Not in our lifetime. Someday, somewhere, someone we care about or have given our trust to will do something that will hurt us and change our opinion of who they are. Some will do it on purpose, others not intentionally. Not everyone in our lives but some. We have to learn to forgive and move on. To, let what one person did be left with them, and not judge others by the actions of others. Yes. Be cautious and more prayerful. But do not allow it to make you so judgemental and fearful that you close your heart and miss out on the splendors of the beauty and abundance of life and relationships.

As Jesus road upon the donkey, the people called out praises to Him, singing Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! All praises to the King of Israel! He already knew the same people would be chanting Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! a week later. Yet, Jesus continued on, blessing them, healing them, feeding them, and preparing them. There He sat, at the table breaking bread with those closest to Him, with the knowledge that one of them was on his way to sell Him out for thirty pieces of silver. While others still, would be running and hiding and denying having known Him. 

Can You imagine the heart of Jesus? Can you imagine spending all these years teaching, singing, worshiping, fellowshipping, pouring your all into others, only to have them betray you or deny having ever known you? If that doesn't hurt, I don't know what does! But yet, Jesus knew the bigger picture. He did not allow what others did at that moment to change what He was sent to do, to save and deliver us by way of the Cross.

We cannot allow the actions of others to stop us from doing what God has called us to do. we cannot allow the betrayal and broken trust of another to determine our relationship with others or keep us from giving others a fair opportunity to get to know who they are on their own merits. Can you imagine if Jesus said, Nah! I'm good. I'm not saving no one! If they're anything like the ones who betrayed me and denied me, then You can have them, Father! I'm saving myself! There would be no us!

My Beloveds, may the spirit of peace and prosperity find permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. There will be some that will come into our lives. They will be for us one day and the next they will turn away from us. Some will break our trust. However, we will not and cannot allow it to break who we are and who God called us to be. You are blessed. Now go...and be a blessing!

©2022. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved. 

 

"Heavy Load Sharer and Burden Bearer"

Reflections4Life™ April 3, 2022

"Heavy Load Sharer and Burden Bearer"

"Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you..." Isaiah 46:4 

Scriptures for the Week: Isaiah 46:4; Psalm 55:22; Isaiah 58:6; Matthew 11:28-30; Isaiah 41:13; 1 Peter 5:6-7; Isaiah 40:11; Psalm 34:17; Isaiah 41:10; Galatians 6:2

There is nothing that God cannot delivers from if we truly desire to be delivered. There are no burdens or loads too heavy that He cannot carry or bear. If only we would trust, that God is and will always be, our heavy load sharer and burden bearer, things would get a lot easier for us!

I decree that this week's Reflections4Life will be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration for your heart, mind, and soul. I encourage you this week to release what you have been holding so tightly, for fear it will either go wrong or break. Release into the capable hands of God, the heavy load you have been carrying, that has weighed you down over the years, robbing you of joy and peace and the happiness that God has promised you. You really do not have to do it all. God really does have you...if You let Him.

Why do we do it to ourselves? Why do we carry these heavy loads, burdening ourselves down in impossible situations until we break down?  If there is one thing we know how to do as human beings, is be a martyr! When did this start? More than likely we saw our mothers do it or our fathers do it. Yet, we conveniently forget how worn down and burdensome they became in the process. That was no way for them to live and it is definitely no way for us to live; especially when we have a Heavenly Father waiting to relieve us of those heavy burdens. Whether they are physical or spiritual burdens.

I witnessed my mother carry many burdens on her shoulders, in her soul. It wore on her so heavily that she suffered at one point in her life, from a dissociative disorder. This was where her mind splintered into a different character that would take over mentally when she could not bear or face what was presently occurring. This went on and off, for years. There would be long stretches where she would work, live her life, and take care of my brother and me with no incident. Then what seemed out of the blue, she would be gone! In hindsight, there were signs leading up to it. But for us, it appeared all of a sudden, out of nowhere. It was not until my mother accepted Christ as her Savior again (she was saved at thirteen but was in a backslidden condition) that He delivered her from that state of mind. She surrendered all of her burdens to God, trusting Him with every care and concern she had. From the moment she recommitted her life to the Lord to the day she transitioned, she never had another episode. One of the things I was most proud of my Mother for, was that she did not hide her past or run from it. In fact, she openly testified about it. Hers was a powerful testimony of the love and power of God. It was a prime example of God being our heavy load sharer and burden-bearer! Her willingness to be transparent and authentic helped win many souls for Christ and answer many questions for others who were suffering as she had.

Here we are, in a world riddled with confusion, anxiousness, and mistrust. We are burdened with heavy loads that seem to multiply day by day. Yet, God is still the same God. He can handle anything that we are going through. Whatever may be too heavy for us to carry, He can and will. All we have to do is give it to Him! Let God into our hearts. Release the tight hold we have on our shame, secrets, and burdens. The same burdens that are killing us. The same burdens that are causing some to commit suicide and others still contemplating it. The same heavy loads that have people losing their minds and their souls.

Beloveds, cry out to the Lord! He not only hears you, He knows you and has made a way of escape for you. There is nothing too hard or difficult for God. There is nothing new under the Sun that He has not already been acquainted with and has an answer for. He is the answer. He is who and what your hearts have been searching for! Crying out for! There is not one thing you cannot bring to the Heavenly Father that will surprise Him or turn Him away from you. He loves you and has already paid the cost for you to be free! All you have to do is believe and accept it.

My Beloveds, may the spirit of peace and prosperity find permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. There is absolutely nothing too difficult for God. There is nothing too heavy or too burdensome that He cannot handle. All you have to do is trust Him and give all of your heavy loads and burdens to Him! He loves you unconditionally, no strings attached! You are blessed. Now go...and be a blessing!

©2022. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.