He left his place at the right hand of God, so that we may one day be seated with him in heaven.
He was mocked, ridiculed and scorned, so that we may one day speak of him with reverence.
He was rejected by men who despised him, so that we may become children of God.
He accepted being called many names, so that we’ll learn to exalt his holy name.
He tolerated the Pharisee’s lies about him, so that we may know God’s truth about him.
He received much loathing and disgust, so that we may choose to worship and adore him.
He was disgraced by men in high places, so that we may experience grace from the Most High God.
He endured man’s cruelty and mercilessness, so that God’s mercy would forever be upon us.
He was punished by those who hated him, so that we may know God who loves us.
He carried our burdens on his back, so that we may lighten the load from our backs.
He permitted them to disfigure his body, so that we may see his heavenly beauty.
He allowed them to bind up his hands, so that we may lift our hands high.
He welcomed being hung on the cross, so that we may one day rise to the heavens.
He became sin and died for our transgressions, so that we may seek forgiveness for ours.
He went through the hideous darkness, so that we may enter the beautiful light.
He suffered unspeakable pain, so that we may know magnificent joy.
He let them spit in his face, so that we may one day kiss his cheek.
He allowed his blood to be shed, so that we may be covered by his blood.
He died a horrible death, so that we may live a wonderful life.
He let them pierce and wound his body, so that our wounds may always be healed.
He asked God to forgive them their deeds, so that we may be forgiven of ours.
He boldly declared out loud “It is finished,” so that we’d know it had only just begun.
He was buried in a tomb that was shut tight, so that we may see the resurrection.
He ascended back up to heaven, so that we may always have him as an intercessor.
He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, so that we may be one with all three.
Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Christian Devotional - "For God So Loved the World"
Christian Devotional
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
For God So Loved the World
In today’s times, many people look around and think to themselves “Where is God in all of this?” “How could God let this happen?” “Does God really love the world anymore?” With the devastation that is going on around the globe, these and many other questions are brought to one’s mind. We’ve seen the earthquake & subsequent tsunami in Japan, the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the fighting in Egypt & Libya, the volcanic eruption & tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the 9/11 disaster in NYC, genocide & ethnic cleansing in Darfur & Rwanda. The list goes on & on.
One of the things that we can tend to lose site of, is that God created everything. He created us, He created the earth, and He created everything in and on the earth. Everything belongs to Him and everyone belongs to Him. Whether you believe in Him or not, it doesn’t change the fact that you still belong to Him. This means that He will do what He wants, when He wants, however He wants. He doesn’t need our permission, He doesn’t need our signature of approval, He doesn’t need us to like it, and He doesn’t even need us to understand it. All He needs us to do is to keep our eyes fixed on Him.
Keeping your eyes on God during times of disaster can be extremely difficult for some people, if not completely impossible. For others, it is the only thing that they are able to do, because they know that God is the One, the only One, who is in control of everything. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. All things begin and all things end with God. Even when things look out of control to us, God is in control of everything. It’s difficult to understand sometimes, but when you have your eyes, your heart, your mind and your soul fixed on God, you will understand. All you need to do is just seek Him out.
Look to God for the answers to all of your questions. Ask Him what is going on. Ask Him why things are happening the way they are. Tell Him how you feel. If you’re angry, tell Him you’re angry with Him, if that’s how you really feel. He can handle it. You will not be condemned to hell just for asking God questions or for sharing your true feelings with Him. He knows them all anyway. But when you ask, you must also seek. Seek out what God wants you to know. Allow Him to come into your life and search your heart, to take up residence in your spirit. Ask Him to guide you into His truth, and then give Him the chance to show you how much He really does love you, how much He loves everyone. By seeking God, you’re allowing Him to show you His strength, His power and His glory. You’re allowing Him to transform you. You’re allowing Him the opportunity to make you over into the Christ-like being you were created to be. But you must be willing to seek Him first.
Even though we may still have questions about God’s love for us, He has already given us the answer. He gave us the answer long before we were ever born. He gave us the answer long before the earth was even formed. The answer was sitting at His right hand before the earth came to be, and the answer will still be sitting at His right hand long after the earth has disappeared. How much does God love us? “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16. Life on this earth is only temporary, but everlasting life is forever. Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
For God So Loved the World
In today’s times, many people look around and think to themselves “Where is God in all of this?” “How could God let this happen?” “Does God really love the world anymore?” With the devastation that is going on around the globe, these and many other questions are brought to one’s mind. We’ve seen the earthquake & subsequent tsunami in Japan, the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the fighting in Egypt & Libya, the volcanic eruption & tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the 9/11 disaster in NYC, genocide & ethnic cleansing in Darfur & Rwanda. The list goes on & on.
One of the things that we can tend to lose site of, is that God created everything. He created us, He created the earth, and He created everything in and on the earth. Everything belongs to Him and everyone belongs to Him. Whether you believe in Him or not, it doesn’t change the fact that you still belong to Him. This means that He will do what He wants, when He wants, however He wants. He doesn’t need our permission, He doesn’t need our signature of approval, He doesn’t need us to like it, and He doesn’t even need us to understand it. All He needs us to do is to keep our eyes fixed on Him.
Keeping your eyes on God during times of disaster can be extremely difficult for some people, if not completely impossible. For others, it is the only thing that they are able to do, because they know that God is the One, the only One, who is in control of everything. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. All things begin and all things end with God. Even when things look out of control to us, God is in control of everything. It’s difficult to understand sometimes, but when you have your eyes, your heart, your mind and your soul fixed on God, you will understand. All you need to do is just seek Him out.
Look to God for the answers to all of your questions. Ask Him what is going on. Ask Him why things are happening the way they are. Tell Him how you feel. If you’re angry, tell Him you’re angry with Him, if that’s how you really feel. He can handle it. You will not be condemned to hell just for asking God questions or for sharing your true feelings with Him. He knows them all anyway. But when you ask, you must also seek. Seek out what God wants you to know. Allow Him to come into your life and search your heart, to take up residence in your spirit. Ask Him to guide you into His truth, and then give Him the chance to show you how much He really does love you, how much He loves everyone. By seeking God, you’re allowing Him to show you His strength, His power and His glory. You’re allowing Him to transform you. You’re allowing Him the opportunity to make you over into the Christ-like being you were created to be. But you must be willing to seek Him first.
Even though we may still have questions about God’s love for us, He has already given us the answer. He gave us the answer long before we were ever born. He gave us the answer long before the earth was even formed. The answer was sitting at His right hand before the earth came to be, and the answer will still be sitting at His right hand long after the earth has disappeared. How much does God love us? “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16. Life on this earth is only temporary, but everlasting life is forever. Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Christian Devotional
Christian Devotional
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
"Be Still"
Be still – two very simple, yet extremely profound words. Be still – two words that in and of themselves indicate a lack of motion, inaction, or a time to do nothing. Yet, when we look at these words in a spiritual sense, they indicate anything but inaction. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” To me, this psalm is the most powerful scripture in the Bible. If I could take the entire Bible and read it, understand it, fully discern God’s Word, God’s knowledge, and God’s truth in every word that is written in the Bible, and then had to choose only one scripture that would sum up absolutely everything that is written, I would choose Psalm 46:10. This scripture sums up everything that a Christian needs to understand about God, and it sums up everything a Christian needs to understand about themselves as believers.
Being still means relying completely and solely on God for absolutely everything in your life. Being still means that you allow God to take over your life, to take over your heart, your mind and your soul. It means that you allow God to be the biggest part of your life, and seek Him first in everything that you do. Being still means learning how to allow God to take control, and to always be in control, no matter how much you may want to be in control of things yourself. It means allowing God to work in and through you, so that His will and His purpose for your life may always be accomplished. Being still means understanding that no matter what may happen, God is the one with the perfect knowledge, the perfect plan, and the perfect solution for everything that may happen in our lives. It means allowing Him to do what needs to be done, in order that He may get all the glory. It means allowing God to do whatever, whenever, however. Simply put, being still means allowing God to be God.
Being still is by no means an easy task. It can take an entire lifetime to achieve, and even then, some of us will never fully understand the absolute completeness of the spiritual meaning behind these two simple words, if any of us ever will. Being still in a worldly sense means a lack of action, but it also means a lack of action in a spiritual sense as well, but in an entirely different way. As Christians, to truly understand and be able to accomplish being still, it will require a tremendous amount of work, a tremendous amount, for us as believers. Being still requires faith, trust, humility, love, obedience, thankfulness, patience, quiet, wisdom, understanding, strength, righteousness, perseverance, fearlessness, purity, devotion, dedication, contentment, confidence, reverence, discipline, seeking, listening, joy, peace and hope.
And not one of these things can be obtained, acquired, learned or accomplished without first doing everything we can to become the Christ-like beings that God created us to be. Being still requires a total transformation by God, so that we may have a total dependence on God. Once we are able to do that, and we see the awesome, magnificent, omnipotent power of our Creator, our Heavenly Father, our Lord & Savior, and we see the miraculous things that He is capable of, we will forever exalt His Holy name! All we have to do is learn to be still. Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
"Be Still"
Be still – two very simple, yet extremely profound words. Be still – two words that in and of themselves indicate a lack of motion, inaction, or a time to do nothing. Yet, when we look at these words in a spiritual sense, they indicate anything but inaction. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” To me, this psalm is the most powerful scripture in the Bible. If I could take the entire Bible and read it, understand it, fully discern God’s Word, God’s knowledge, and God’s truth in every word that is written in the Bible, and then had to choose only one scripture that would sum up absolutely everything that is written, I would choose Psalm 46:10. This scripture sums up everything that a Christian needs to understand about God, and it sums up everything a Christian needs to understand about themselves as believers.
Being still means relying completely and solely on God for absolutely everything in your life. Being still means that you allow God to take over your life, to take over your heart, your mind and your soul. It means that you allow God to be the biggest part of your life, and seek Him first in everything that you do. Being still means learning how to allow God to take control, and to always be in control, no matter how much you may want to be in control of things yourself. It means allowing God to work in and through you, so that His will and His purpose for your life may always be accomplished. Being still means understanding that no matter what may happen, God is the one with the perfect knowledge, the perfect plan, and the perfect solution for everything that may happen in our lives. It means allowing Him to do what needs to be done, in order that He may get all the glory. It means allowing God to do whatever, whenever, however. Simply put, being still means allowing God to be God.
Being still is by no means an easy task. It can take an entire lifetime to achieve, and even then, some of us will never fully understand the absolute completeness of the spiritual meaning behind these two simple words, if any of us ever will. Being still in a worldly sense means a lack of action, but it also means a lack of action in a spiritual sense as well, but in an entirely different way. As Christians, to truly understand and be able to accomplish being still, it will require a tremendous amount of work, a tremendous amount, for us as believers. Being still requires faith, trust, humility, love, obedience, thankfulness, patience, quiet, wisdom, understanding, strength, righteousness, perseverance, fearlessness, purity, devotion, dedication, contentment, confidence, reverence, discipline, seeking, listening, joy, peace and hope.
And not one of these things can be obtained, acquired, learned or accomplished without first doing everything we can to become the Christ-like beings that God created us to be. Being still requires a total transformation by God, so that we may have a total dependence on God. Once we are able to do that, and we see the awesome, magnificent, omnipotent power of our Creator, our Heavenly Father, our Lord & Savior, and we see the miraculous things that He is capable of, we will forever exalt His Holy name! All we have to do is learn to be still. Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Christian Bucket List
The Christian Bucket List:
1. Praise God
2. Seek God
3. Live for God
4. Glorify God
5. Love God
6. Worship God
7. Bless God
8. Pray to God
9. Thank God
10. Be still and let God be God
1. Praise God
2. Seek God
3. Live for God
4. Glorify God
5. Love God
6. Worship God
7. Bless God
8. Pray to God
9. Thank God
10. Be still and let God be God
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Christian Devotional
Christian Devotional
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
"Walking With God – Part 2"
Many Christians say they want to walk with God, but will say things like “I’m just waiting on the Lord” or “In God’s set time” or “I’m learning to have patience and wait on God.” I have a question for you though. What if God is the one who is waiting on you? Yes it’s true that God does things in His own time, but He does them in His time because He’s the one waiting for us, not the other way around. He is the one with the perfect knowledge, the perfect wisdom and the only one with the ability to make our paths straight.
No parent would take their child over to the neighborhood pool and suddenly push them into the deep end without first ensuring a few things: 1) that their child has had proper swimming lessons and has the ability to swim in deep water, 2) that the pool has a life preserver on the side, 3) that there are clear markings for the deeper end of the pool, and 4) that a lifeguard is on duty who is trained in CPR and other life-saving techniques. If you suddenly pushed your child into that pool, without first making sure at the very least that your child could swim, and God forbid they drowned, you would be the one held responsible for your child’s death. I dare say that it would be ruled a homicide, and not an accidental drowning. However, we know that no one with any good sense would do anything like that.
Well, God would never do anything like that to us either, without first making sure that everything was in proper order, and most importantly, without making sure that we can swim. If He did, He’d be drowning us, setting us up for failure, leading us down a path of total destruction, and this is not something that God would ever do. It is something that He is utterly incapable of doing. This is not, however, to say that we will never experience hardship in our lives, and will sometimes have the feeling that we actually are drowning. We absolutely will experience some hardship in our lives, but God also provides us with a way to deal with those hardships. He has provided us with the one known as “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). All God is doing is just waiting for us to learn to swim.
Some of us take a little longer than others to learn to swim. Therefore, God is the one that always has to have patience with us, not the other way around. God already knows where He wants us to be, and He’s already there. He’s simply waiting for us to learn to swim, to be obedient and join Him. But we are the ones that make Him wait. We run away, turn away, jump into the shallow end of the pool and splash around, we use floaties pretending that we can swim. We do things the way that we want to do them, instead of the way He wants them done. We’ll pray to God and then ignore the answers He gives us. We’ll sometimes even fight Him every step of the way, and then think to ourselves, “Oh, I’m just waiting for God, I’m waiting for my breakthrough.” Well, maybe that breakthrough is never going to happen; not in that manner anyway. Maybe we need to stop fooling ourselves, saying that we want to walk with God, but then aren’t willing to make the necessary changes in our lives and take the necessary steps that we need to take in order to follow Him. If we truly want to walk that walk, then we need to make a decision now, to finally do something about it. Stop splashing around pretending that you are swimming, stop pretending that you are walking with God. Stop trying to make God the one responsible for your lack of obedience, your lack of faith, your lack of righteousness.
1John 2:4-6 says, “The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” God can’t bring us out of darkness and into the light is He’s already in the light waiting for us, and we’re still splashing around in the shallow end of the pool. If we’re still fumbling around in darkness – darkness that has the ability to lay claim to our souls – what is God to do? How long is He supposed to wait for us? Why do we expect Him to bring us out, but we’re not willing to simply be obedient when He does? “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (John 3:20).
Don’t continue to make God wait for you. Meet Him where He is. Come into the light. He’s already there and He wants to bring you through, just reach out your hand. All He needs to know is that you are finally ready to be brought out, you are truly ready to have your breakthrough, and you are finally ready to do whatever He asks of you, whenever He asks it. God will even come into the darkness and meet you where you are. All you have to do is ask. Jesus says himself, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Take the first step. Reach out to God. Tell Him, “I’m ready Jesus, please bring me out of my darkness. God I want to walk in your light. Please, take my hand. I need you in my life like never before. Make me over into the Christian that you need me to be. I’m ready.”
And when God does bring you out, it is crucial that you make every effort to be completely obedient to Him and never go back into the darkness and make Him wait for you again. Once you’ve asked God for His hand, He will fill you with His Holy Spirit, and will always keep you in His awesome presence, while maintaining a loving, Godly, righteous and faithful relationship with you. He wants nothing more than to have us walk with Him in His glorious Kingdom, to walk like Jesus walked. And when we have made a decision to walk with God, we will understand that from that point forward, all we will need to do is just be still. Be still and let God be God. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted in among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10).
Allow God to just take over your heart, your mind, your soul and your life. Make Him the biggest part of your life and seek Him first in everything that you do. Hold His hand and never let it go. Once we are able to do that, and we see the awesome, transforming power of our omnipotent Creator, our Heavenly Father, our one true God, and we see the miraculous things that He is capable of, we will forever exalt His Holy name!! Thank you Jesus!!! Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
"Walking With God – Part 2"
Many Christians say they want to walk with God, but will say things like “I’m just waiting on the Lord” or “In God’s set time” or “I’m learning to have patience and wait on God.” I have a question for you though. What if God is the one who is waiting on you? Yes it’s true that God does things in His own time, but He does them in His time because He’s the one waiting for us, not the other way around. He is the one with the perfect knowledge, the perfect wisdom and the only one with the ability to make our paths straight.
No parent would take their child over to the neighborhood pool and suddenly push them into the deep end without first ensuring a few things: 1) that their child has had proper swimming lessons and has the ability to swim in deep water, 2) that the pool has a life preserver on the side, 3) that there are clear markings for the deeper end of the pool, and 4) that a lifeguard is on duty who is trained in CPR and other life-saving techniques. If you suddenly pushed your child into that pool, without first making sure at the very least that your child could swim, and God forbid they drowned, you would be the one held responsible for your child’s death. I dare say that it would be ruled a homicide, and not an accidental drowning. However, we know that no one with any good sense would do anything like that.
Well, God would never do anything like that to us either, without first making sure that everything was in proper order, and most importantly, without making sure that we can swim. If He did, He’d be drowning us, setting us up for failure, leading us down a path of total destruction, and this is not something that God would ever do. It is something that He is utterly incapable of doing. This is not, however, to say that we will never experience hardship in our lives, and will sometimes have the feeling that we actually are drowning. We absolutely will experience some hardship in our lives, but God also provides us with a way to deal with those hardships. He has provided us with the one known as “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). All God is doing is just waiting for us to learn to swim.
Some of us take a little longer than others to learn to swim. Therefore, God is the one that always has to have patience with us, not the other way around. God already knows where He wants us to be, and He’s already there. He’s simply waiting for us to learn to swim, to be obedient and join Him. But we are the ones that make Him wait. We run away, turn away, jump into the shallow end of the pool and splash around, we use floaties pretending that we can swim. We do things the way that we want to do them, instead of the way He wants them done. We’ll pray to God and then ignore the answers He gives us. We’ll sometimes even fight Him every step of the way, and then think to ourselves, “Oh, I’m just waiting for God, I’m waiting for my breakthrough.” Well, maybe that breakthrough is never going to happen; not in that manner anyway. Maybe we need to stop fooling ourselves, saying that we want to walk with God, but then aren’t willing to make the necessary changes in our lives and take the necessary steps that we need to take in order to follow Him. If we truly want to walk that walk, then we need to make a decision now, to finally do something about it. Stop splashing around pretending that you are swimming, stop pretending that you are walking with God. Stop trying to make God the one responsible for your lack of obedience, your lack of faith, your lack of righteousness.
1John 2:4-6 says, “The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” God can’t bring us out of darkness and into the light is He’s already in the light waiting for us, and we’re still splashing around in the shallow end of the pool. If we’re still fumbling around in darkness – darkness that has the ability to lay claim to our souls – what is God to do? How long is He supposed to wait for us? Why do we expect Him to bring us out, but we’re not willing to simply be obedient when He does? “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (John 3:20).
Don’t continue to make God wait for you. Meet Him where He is. Come into the light. He’s already there and He wants to bring you through, just reach out your hand. All He needs to know is that you are finally ready to be brought out, you are truly ready to have your breakthrough, and you are finally ready to do whatever He asks of you, whenever He asks it. God will even come into the darkness and meet you where you are. All you have to do is ask. Jesus says himself, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Take the first step. Reach out to God. Tell Him, “I’m ready Jesus, please bring me out of my darkness. God I want to walk in your light. Please, take my hand. I need you in my life like never before. Make me over into the Christian that you need me to be. I’m ready.”
And when God does bring you out, it is crucial that you make every effort to be completely obedient to Him and never go back into the darkness and make Him wait for you again. Once you’ve asked God for His hand, He will fill you with His Holy Spirit, and will always keep you in His awesome presence, while maintaining a loving, Godly, righteous and faithful relationship with you. He wants nothing more than to have us walk with Him in His glorious Kingdom, to walk like Jesus walked. And when we have made a decision to walk with God, we will understand that from that point forward, all we will need to do is just be still. Be still and let God be God. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted in among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10).
Allow God to just take over your heart, your mind, your soul and your life. Make Him the biggest part of your life and seek Him first in everything that you do. Hold His hand and never let it go. Once we are able to do that, and we see the awesome, transforming power of our omnipotent Creator, our Heavenly Father, our one true God, and we see the miraculous things that He is capable of, we will forever exalt His Holy name!! Thank you Jesus!!! Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Christian Devotional by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Christian Devotional
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
"Walking With God"
When we make a decision to walk with God, we must first be sure to put on the full armor of God. Putting on the full armor of God will protect us from the things that will surely come our way, once we have made the most important decision in our lives – the decision to walk with God. When we allow God to mold and shape our lives, and make us over into the Christians that we long to be, we must realize that it is a life-long process. As I’ve stated previously, it is not something that will happen quickly and it is not something that will happen quietly. We are sure to encounter some hardships along the way, and for some, we must first endure God’s refining fires, in order to become soft and malleable, so that we may begin to take the shape of the image of Christ. However, once we have made the life-changing decision to walk alongside our Father, and we allow Him to completely transform us, we will have peace in our lives, peace in our hearts, and peace in our spirits, like we have never known before. Having Godly peace is a peace like no other. It is a feeling that is utterly indescribable, until you have experienced it for yourself.
God gave us Jesus not only to die for our sins, but also so that we may be reconciled to God’s Spirit, and seek His kingdom in everything that we do. When we are reconciled to God, and we are able to turn our heart, our mind, and our soul over to our Creator, to allow Him to make us over into the Christians, the disciples, the Christ-like people that He needs us to be, God will then baptize us with His Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is a marvelously spectacular, wondrously radiant light that will warm our souls and will emanate from us like magnificent, beautiful, gleaming sunlight just bursting through the clouds. And that light, God’s beautiful, brilliant light, will be radiating from the very essence of our being, and will be a light that can seen by everyone we encounter. When we have a presence of God’s light within us, people that appreciate and understand the brilliance of our light will always be attracted to it. They will want to always be around it, because they are able to connect to it, they feel its power, they see its vibrancy, it vividness, its vivaciousness and they know it will be a blessing to them to be in the presence of God’s Spirit within us, just as it is a blessing for us to be in the presence of God’s Spirit within others.
God’s Spirit, God’s light that glows from deep within our souls, is a light that cannot be detected by the naked eye, but it is a light that can be seen by all. It is a light that is completely unlike visible white light, but it is the brightest, whitest light that exists. It is a light that is outright inexplicable, but it is a light that is completely understood by anyone who experiences it. That light within us gives us the ability to see things that can’t be seen, and to hear things that can’t be heard. That light is God’s light, God’s Spirit, God Himself, who dwells within us when we welcome Him into our hearts and into our souls. And when we have God within our souls, we have His Holy Spirit intertwined with our spirit, and this is when we are able to see and hear the things that are of God, and not of man.
The intensity of God’s Holy Spirit shining within us will penetrate through all the darkness in the world. However, people who are full of darkness will despise that light, they will despise the presence of God within us. Darkness is defined as the absence of light, and this is exactly what people who are full of darkness have, they have dark souls, they have an absence of God’s light, an absence of His brilliance, and a lack of His Holy Spirit within their soul. In John 1:5 is states that “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” This is what happens with people with dark souls, they won’t understand the brilliance of your light, and they will despise you for having it. They can’t appreciate the powerful intensity of your light, so they will do whatever they can to try to make your light as dim as their own, maybe even going so far as to try to destroy it, because they know that your brilliance with always outshine their darkness.
Whenever we come across people who have darkness within them, we must be strong in our faith, strong in God’s Word and strong in God’s Truth, because when we allow our light to be dimmed by others, it affects our spirit, it affects our spiritual connection to each other, and most importantly it affects our spiritual connection to God. It could ultimately make you choose to give your spirituality away. This happened to me throughout much of my life. I allowed my light to be dimmed because of things that happened in my childhood, because of other people’s dysfunctions that affected my life, and because of hardships that I later encountered during my adulthood. But once I realized just how dim I allowed my light to become, when I realized how much I needed God back in my life, how much I needed Him to bring me into His holy presence and never let me go, I begged Him to allow me to walk with Him in His kingdom, so that I will never experience that darkness again. And I made Him a solemn promise to do whatever He needs me to do, to reach whomever He needs me to reach, so that I can help bring others out of their darkness as well. And this is why I write, not just to praise and glorify His name, but to simply say “Thank you.” “Thank you” to Him for everything He has done for me and “Thank you” to Him from bringing me out of my darkness and into His kingdom. “Thank you” for saving my life and saving my soul. And while I’m thanking Him, to possibly be a blessing to others to help them learn how they too can walk with God, in His Holy, omnipotent presence. Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
"Walking With God"
When we make a decision to walk with God, we must first be sure to put on the full armor of God. Putting on the full armor of God will protect us from the things that will surely come our way, once we have made the most important decision in our lives – the decision to walk with God. When we allow God to mold and shape our lives, and make us over into the Christians that we long to be, we must realize that it is a life-long process. As I’ve stated previously, it is not something that will happen quickly and it is not something that will happen quietly. We are sure to encounter some hardships along the way, and for some, we must first endure God’s refining fires, in order to become soft and malleable, so that we may begin to take the shape of the image of Christ. However, once we have made the life-changing decision to walk alongside our Father, and we allow Him to completely transform us, we will have peace in our lives, peace in our hearts, and peace in our spirits, like we have never known before. Having Godly peace is a peace like no other. It is a feeling that is utterly indescribable, until you have experienced it for yourself.
God gave us Jesus not only to die for our sins, but also so that we may be reconciled to God’s Spirit, and seek His kingdom in everything that we do. When we are reconciled to God, and we are able to turn our heart, our mind, and our soul over to our Creator, to allow Him to make us over into the Christians, the disciples, the Christ-like people that He needs us to be, God will then baptize us with His Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is a marvelously spectacular, wondrously radiant light that will warm our souls and will emanate from us like magnificent, beautiful, gleaming sunlight just bursting through the clouds. And that light, God’s beautiful, brilliant light, will be radiating from the very essence of our being, and will be a light that can seen by everyone we encounter. When we have a presence of God’s light within us, people that appreciate and understand the brilliance of our light will always be attracted to it. They will want to always be around it, because they are able to connect to it, they feel its power, they see its vibrancy, it vividness, its vivaciousness and they know it will be a blessing to them to be in the presence of God’s Spirit within us, just as it is a blessing for us to be in the presence of God’s Spirit within others.
God’s Spirit, God’s light that glows from deep within our souls, is a light that cannot be detected by the naked eye, but it is a light that can be seen by all. It is a light that is completely unlike visible white light, but it is the brightest, whitest light that exists. It is a light that is outright inexplicable, but it is a light that is completely understood by anyone who experiences it. That light within us gives us the ability to see things that can’t be seen, and to hear things that can’t be heard. That light is God’s light, God’s Spirit, God Himself, who dwells within us when we welcome Him into our hearts and into our souls. And when we have God within our souls, we have His Holy Spirit intertwined with our spirit, and this is when we are able to see and hear the things that are of God, and not of man.
The intensity of God’s Holy Spirit shining within us will penetrate through all the darkness in the world. However, people who are full of darkness will despise that light, they will despise the presence of God within us. Darkness is defined as the absence of light, and this is exactly what people who are full of darkness have, they have dark souls, they have an absence of God’s light, an absence of His brilliance, and a lack of His Holy Spirit within their soul. In John 1:5 is states that “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” This is what happens with people with dark souls, they won’t understand the brilliance of your light, and they will despise you for having it. They can’t appreciate the powerful intensity of your light, so they will do whatever they can to try to make your light as dim as their own, maybe even going so far as to try to destroy it, because they know that your brilliance with always outshine their darkness.
Whenever we come across people who have darkness within them, we must be strong in our faith, strong in God’s Word and strong in God’s Truth, because when we allow our light to be dimmed by others, it affects our spirit, it affects our spiritual connection to each other, and most importantly it affects our spiritual connection to God. It could ultimately make you choose to give your spirituality away. This happened to me throughout much of my life. I allowed my light to be dimmed because of things that happened in my childhood, because of other people’s dysfunctions that affected my life, and because of hardships that I later encountered during my adulthood. But once I realized just how dim I allowed my light to become, when I realized how much I needed God back in my life, how much I needed Him to bring me into His holy presence and never let me go, I begged Him to allow me to walk with Him in His kingdom, so that I will never experience that darkness again. And I made Him a solemn promise to do whatever He needs me to do, to reach whomever He needs me to reach, so that I can help bring others out of their darkness as well. And this is why I write, not just to praise and glorify His name, but to simply say “Thank you.” “Thank you” to Him for everything He has done for me and “Thank you” to Him from bringing me out of my darkness and into His kingdom. “Thank you” for saving my life and saving my soul. And while I’m thanking Him, to possibly be a blessing to others to help them learn how they too can walk with God, in His Holy, omnipotent presence. Amen.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Christian Devotional
By Christian Author Linda Wiggins-Edwards
"When Jesus Goes Ahead of Us"
In a book entitled "Experiencing God," the authors state, “when you offer yourself to God as His servant, He first expects to shape you into the instrument of His choosing. He will always work in you before He works through you. As you obey, He is the One who completes the work." This work that God must do, is the work that is required to make us more Christ-like, to prepare us to walk in God’s holy, omnipotent presence, in His brilliant light and to ensure that we are invited to sit at God’s table in His glorious Kingdom. When we allow God to mold and shape us into the Christians that we long to be, we must realize that this is a life-long process. It is not something that will happen quickly and it is not something that will happen quietly. Unfortunately for some, we must go through God’s refining fire first; passing over smoldering, hot embers until we become soft and malleable and begin to take the shape of the image of Christ.
During these times if we ever feel ourselves falling away from Christ, falling short of God’s glory, we must remember that Jesus went ahead of us, in order to prepare us for times such as these. He has seen the Father and he agreed ahead of time to lay his life out on the cross, so that in our times of wilderness and desolation we may use him as our source of strength. Jesus has been tempted by the devil, he has been falsely accused, he has been mocked, ridiculed, and cursed at. Jesus has cried out to our Father in excruciating pain, asking Him “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And then he was horrendously and maliciously crucified, all the while maintaining the gracious and graceful manner that we’ve all come to associate with the precious name of Jesus Christ.
And when Jesus died, he died for the sins of all of God’s children, and then he was miraculously resurrected, and ascended up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, to become our Lord and Savior, our intercessor, for all eternity. Jesus did this so that we may be reconciled to God, reconciled to His Spirit, and so that we may seek His kingdom in everything we do. When we are reconciled to God, we are able to turn our heart, our mind and our soul over to Our Creator, to allow Him to make us over into the Christians that He needs us to be. And I ask you, who better to turn to as our supreme example of how to walk in God’s light than the one who did it first?
Hebrews 4:14-16 says “Therefore, since we have a high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” But Jesus not only went ahead of us as our source of strength, he also went ahead of us so that one day he may prepare us for our spiritual journeys. Jesus knows ahead of time what we will encounter along the way, and he has already prepared for our arrival – our arrival to a place called Galilee.
Some of us have been on our journeys to Galilee for a long time. I’ve been on my journey for over 40 years. At one point I even thought I had arrived, and I’m sure there are others who have thought the same thing. I was going to church semi-regularly, reading the Bible occasionally, and praying very sporadically. And I had the nerve to think that that was enough. But after being there a while I realized that I hadn’t arrived – I was only at a rest stop. I was stuck, thinking that I knew everything there was to know, and that I did everything there was to do. But I thank God that He didn’t leave me there. I thank God that He beckoned to me, called my name and let me know when it was time to resume my journey. Once I was ready to continue, I knew that this time I needed to be much better prepared.
This time I made sure to get a roadmap and my GPS, which were my prayers for guidance, so that I would be certain that I was headed in the right direction. Then I made sure to join God’s On-Star system, which is Elmwood United Presbyterian Church, just in case I took a wrong turn and somehow managed to veer off the road, I knew someone would be there to check up on me and help me get back on track. I stocked up on plenty of food and drink, which is God’s Word, our nourishment for the soul, to make sure that I’d have the energy for the long drive ahead of me. I gassed up my car with premium gasoline, which are discipleship classes and Bible study, so that I’d have enough gas to make it all the way through to the other side. I also put a flashlight in my glove compartment, which is God’s Holy Spirit in my heart, so that when the road got dark and confusing, I could just shine my light and see the path that was laid out before me. And with this, I set out to continue my journey.
Initially, things were going smoothly for me, but as I got closer and closer to my destination, I got blinded by violent storms that seemed to come out of nowhere. These storms were called temptation, unforgiveness, low self-esteem, and depression, and unbeknownst to me they had been building up strength for years. When the storms hit I completely lost my way. I got knocked around so much that I ended up stuck in a ditch with an engine that died on me. My GPS fell and broke, my roadmap got all wet, and the storms even knocked out all the satellite dishes in the area, so even the On-Star system couldn’t reach me. I was stuck for what seemed like an eternity. I ran out of food, I had nothing left to drink; I was freezing cold, exhausted, terrified, and utterly alone. I thought I would be lost forever, and I didn’t know what else to do, so I just fell to my knees and cried.
Amidst the tears, I did the one thing that I could think to do while in a dire situation like this. In the middle of all these storms – I got down on my knees and I prayed, “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”
And when I finished that prayer, on that fateful night, I heard a voice say to me, “Linda, I heard your cry. I’ve been here waiting for you. You’re right on time. Now let’s begin.” And Jesus took my hand, lifted me up, and began leading me on the most beautiful, peaceful, spiritual journey that I could ever imagine. And this was the beginning of my spiritual transformation.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
"When Jesus Goes Ahead of Us"
In a book entitled "Experiencing God," the authors state, “when you offer yourself to God as His servant, He first expects to shape you into the instrument of His choosing. He will always work in you before He works through you. As you obey, He is the One who completes the work." This work that God must do, is the work that is required to make us more Christ-like, to prepare us to walk in God’s holy, omnipotent presence, in His brilliant light and to ensure that we are invited to sit at God’s table in His glorious Kingdom. When we allow God to mold and shape us into the Christians that we long to be, we must realize that this is a life-long process. It is not something that will happen quickly and it is not something that will happen quietly. Unfortunately for some, we must go through God’s refining fire first; passing over smoldering, hot embers until we become soft and malleable and begin to take the shape of the image of Christ.
During these times if we ever feel ourselves falling away from Christ, falling short of God’s glory, we must remember that Jesus went ahead of us, in order to prepare us for times such as these. He has seen the Father and he agreed ahead of time to lay his life out on the cross, so that in our times of wilderness and desolation we may use him as our source of strength. Jesus has been tempted by the devil, he has been falsely accused, he has been mocked, ridiculed, and cursed at. Jesus has cried out to our Father in excruciating pain, asking Him “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And then he was horrendously and maliciously crucified, all the while maintaining the gracious and graceful manner that we’ve all come to associate with the precious name of Jesus Christ.
And when Jesus died, he died for the sins of all of God’s children, and then he was miraculously resurrected, and ascended up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God, to become our Lord and Savior, our intercessor, for all eternity. Jesus did this so that we may be reconciled to God, reconciled to His Spirit, and so that we may seek His kingdom in everything we do. When we are reconciled to God, we are able to turn our heart, our mind and our soul over to Our Creator, to allow Him to make us over into the Christians that He needs us to be. And I ask you, who better to turn to as our supreme example of how to walk in God’s light than the one who did it first?
Hebrews 4:14-16 says “Therefore, since we have a high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” But Jesus not only went ahead of us as our source of strength, he also went ahead of us so that one day he may prepare us for our spiritual journeys. Jesus knows ahead of time what we will encounter along the way, and he has already prepared for our arrival – our arrival to a place called Galilee.
Some of us have been on our journeys to Galilee for a long time. I’ve been on my journey for over 40 years. At one point I even thought I had arrived, and I’m sure there are others who have thought the same thing. I was going to church semi-regularly, reading the Bible occasionally, and praying very sporadically. And I had the nerve to think that that was enough. But after being there a while I realized that I hadn’t arrived – I was only at a rest stop. I was stuck, thinking that I knew everything there was to know, and that I did everything there was to do. But I thank God that He didn’t leave me there. I thank God that He beckoned to me, called my name and let me know when it was time to resume my journey. Once I was ready to continue, I knew that this time I needed to be much better prepared.
This time I made sure to get a roadmap and my GPS, which were my prayers for guidance, so that I would be certain that I was headed in the right direction. Then I made sure to join God’s On-Star system, which is Elmwood United Presbyterian Church, just in case I took a wrong turn and somehow managed to veer off the road, I knew someone would be there to check up on me and help me get back on track. I stocked up on plenty of food and drink, which is God’s Word, our nourishment for the soul, to make sure that I’d have the energy for the long drive ahead of me. I gassed up my car with premium gasoline, which are discipleship classes and Bible study, so that I’d have enough gas to make it all the way through to the other side. I also put a flashlight in my glove compartment, which is God’s Holy Spirit in my heart, so that when the road got dark and confusing, I could just shine my light and see the path that was laid out before me. And with this, I set out to continue my journey.
Initially, things were going smoothly for me, but as I got closer and closer to my destination, I got blinded by violent storms that seemed to come out of nowhere. These storms were called temptation, unforgiveness, low self-esteem, and depression, and unbeknownst to me they had been building up strength for years. When the storms hit I completely lost my way. I got knocked around so much that I ended up stuck in a ditch with an engine that died on me. My GPS fell and broke, my roadmap got all wet, and the storms even knocked out all the satellite dishes in the area, so even the On-Star system couldn’t reach me. I was stuck for what seemed like an eternity. I ran out of food, I had nothing left to drink; I was freezing cold, exhausted, terrified, and utterly alone. I thought I would be lost forever, and I didn’t know what else to do, so I just fell to my knees and cried.
Amidst the tears, I did the one thing that I could think to do while in a dire situation like this. In the middle of all these storms – I got down on my knees and I prayed, “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”
And when I finished that prayer, on that fateful night, I heard a voice say to me, “Linda, I heard your cry. I’ve been here waiting for you. You’re right on time. Now let’s begin.” And Jesus took my hand, lifted me up, and began leading me on the most beautiful, peaceful, spiritual journey that I could ever imagine. And this was the beginning of my spiritual transformation.
Written by Linda Wiggins-Edwards
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
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