Filling you up with hope

The third week advent is here! We talk about joy today, a deep lasting joy. We talk about how joy is a lasting emotion that comes from trusting God. Mary has this joy in her words in Luke 1:46-55- Mary Praises God. Here are some of the things we went through, that we learn from Mary Praises God. - Mary Praises God first- we need to Praise Him first. We learn in James 5:13, to sing song of praises...

There is so much stress during the holiday season. We get so focused on all of the things we have to do, that we lose our focus. We lose peace. How would things look different, this holiday season and every day, if we had peace? Not just the absence of conflict, but feeling complete. This deep peace is Shalom in Hebrew. It is something we all long for, and only Jesus can provide it. We can be on t...

The first week of advent is about hope. The deep hope that no matter what many, many years ago God brought us Jesus. Are we living with this hope? We have control over whether we live in hope or not. The Israelites were told by Moses that they have a choice in Deuteronomy 30:15-20. Read these amazing verses! Will they chose life and love God and obey Him? Or choice death? We that choice too. Will...

Living in Thanksgiving, in gratitude changes our lives. It lowers anxiety and gives us hope. In Deuteronomy 26 and 27, Moses is telling the Israelites what to do when they enter the land of milk and honey. From this there are 7 tips to live in Thanksgiving. First of all, we need to acknowledge God. When we do that we are focusing on the good. Secondly, We need to take in that God sees us. He saw t...

The Bible is filled with examples of God working and blessing people, even in dark, hard times. I talk about Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Naomi and Ruth. These people all went through hard times, but God never stops working! Through their hard times, blessings came and the story of redemption was told. All of these people had faith and hearts after God. We all can have hearts after God, even in h...

Moses, with God working through him, is telling the Israelites about battles they will face and rules for warfare. We all faces battles. Mountains that seem impossible. How am I ever going to get through this? We can't on our own! But God shows us the truth through out the bible, that with Him we can face the impossible. The Israelites can face these battles. David can beat Goliath. Faith can move...

The Israelites are waiting to enter the promise land, and Moses is reminding them of who they are. He says- you are the Lord's children. Something we all need to take in! This lead me to go over other verses about how God is our Father, and what kind of a father He is. He is compassionate, tender, forgiving. Our rebellious hearts just need to return to Him. Then our faith grows, and we know who we...

So many of us live stuck. Stuck in negativity. We feel like things can't change. Reading through Deuteronomy this week led me to 7 tips to help us live more free. The Israelites are no longer enslaved, but are they living free? As they wait to enter the promise land Moses is going through what the Israelites have been through. He is also encouraging them- something we all need!  Listen to hear the...

The Israelites are almost in the promised land. God and Moses are filling the Israelites up with wisdom before they enter this new season. These are things we can all take in! - Love God with all your being and constantly turn to Him ( Deuteronomy 6:5-8) - Remember all God has done and tell others about it! ( Deuteronomy  6:20-25) - Don't be afraid and remember God's strength (Deuteronomy 7:18) -...

How many of us know deeply that God won't let us go? Moses is reminding the Israelites of this. He reminds them of this after he says that they are going to be so far. They will be worshipping other gods and be scattered, but he says they will seek God. They will seek God with all their heart and being. When we seek God like this, then we can deeply take in that God does not let go! No matter how...

Reuben and Gad are worried about what will happen to their livestock, and they don't want to cross the Jordan into the land of milk and honey. The land they were promised by God. Moses is concerned that their complaints will affect the Israelites. What we say affects not only ourselves, but also those around us. We can have boundaries with what we say and with what we think. Our thoughts affect ou...

I talk about how God cannot break His word. He does what He says, and we can too. We can trust Him. It is impossible for him to lie- Hebrews 6:18 and He is our safe and secure anchor. We are made in His image- Genesis 1:27. His character need to affect our character. Thinking about a loyal person in the Bible, the book of Ruth came to my mind. We talk about this book, and the character of Ruth. In...

Do we trust God? Do we trust others? God shows us how good He is- and we can have deep trust in Him. When we have this trust, we can let others in and do the things God is guiding us to do.  He can heal our trust issues, no matter how deep they are.

Some people are assembling against Moses. They are confronting him and aren't happy with how things are going. It is a hard time, and some people wonder- am I doomed to perish? We aren't in the land of milk and honey, and we are struggling.  They are living in fear of what is going to happen. Even when we are surrounded by uncertainty, we have the gift of being able to turn to God. We never have t...

How many times do we focus on what is going wrong? On the hard things that we  feel like can't change. The Israelites are focused on the obstacles in Canaan, and are filled with fear. Caleb and Joshua remind them of the positive. We need to remind our brains and hearts of the positive, and that no matter what we can focus on things above. We can focus on God.

We continue in Numbers 11. The Israelites are complaining, and focusing on things they are lacking, and God gets angry, Moses gets upset. How often are we like this- and we are focuses on things we are lacking in life? God helps Moses and releases the burden he is carrying. We are reminded that when we feel weighed down, stressed and like things are out of our control, we need to gives it to God....

What do we do when we face uncertainty? Do we lean on our own understanding? We learn from Moses, to ask God. Ask God when you don't know what to do. Moses does this in Numbers, and he waits for an answer from God. He knows that he needs God, and wants to be guided by Him. It take humility to ask God, because we are acknowledging we don't know it all. We can't do it ourselves, but with God we can!...

The Israelites wander in the desert  in the book of Numbers. God tells Moses Moses, Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites." Then God says the amazing blessing that we are going through today.  We are reminded in this blessing, that because we have God, we have enough. No matter how much we feel like we are lacking. May you feel God's presence and love for you so dee...

We are in Leviticus and talk about what happens when people don't follow God's commands. We talk about how He, our amazing God, remembers us. No matter how unseen we feel. No matter how much we think we have screwed up. We are deeply loved and remembered.

How many of us have sleep issues? Rest issues? Millions of Americans do- and it affects our lives deeply. God tells us to rest, to stop what we are doing- but do we? Are we so go, go, go that we have forgotten how to rest? Jesus shows us in how He lived how to rest. Join me as I explore this!

God is preparing the Israelites for their entry into the Promised Land. He is giving them guideline after guideline. He tells them to love each other, which led us to the Gospel of Luke. Do we really love each other? What do our hearts look like? There is so much hope, in that no matter what, we have a fresh start with Jesus. We can change our hearts!

How do we have peace? There are negative thoughts, anxiety, stress. But God tells us how mighty He is in Leviticus and that He can do things that surpass our understanding. In Philippians Paul, directed by God, tells us not to be anxious. He tells us to be glad, gentle with ALL people, to pray about it all and focus our thoughts on God. We can have deep peace and joy because our hope isn't in this...

Even though I was born Jewish and did not know Jesus, somehow I found Him.  He called me and since I am a follower of Jesus I am set apart. I am a citizen of heaven, not this earth. This idea of being holy and set apart- is the heart of Leviticus, the book we start today. How do today live like we are God's own? Jesus it is the center of living like we are set apart, but we need to see how Israel...

We finish going through Exodus, and talk about how God knows our names! We talk about how we all feel alone and not understood sometimes. We try to fill our voids with earthly things, but we have God with us! We can connect to Him deeply, and that is the only things that can fill voids in our life.

The Israelites have just built a golden calf to worship- and we get a look at God's amazing character. Compassionate, merciful, very patient, full of great loyalty and faithfulness. How blessed are we to have Him? And in return we need heart that are so deeply rooted in Him, that  we are like the Levites- who are on the LORD's side. Join me, as we explore how deep God's love is for us.