Rejoice in The Lord always, and again I say rejoice! It's an interesting concept that we are to praise Him not only "because" but to praise Him also in the "when". Praising Him is a powerful action of both obedience and faith. I have learned this over the last few years of my life and find that it unlocks the floodgates of God's blessings on my life of abundant peace, love, joy, grace, mercy. Praise The Lord O my soul and all that is within me....whether my praise is because of who He is or when it is crucial to recognize He is good all the time regardless of my circumstances. My faith is deepened as I learn to trust Him more and more in the "when's" of life, and can genuinely praise Him through it.

Actually, like the lesson spoke of yesterday, it is through this concept I believe that I have come to truly learn that He is my EVERYTHING....He is my ALL and to fully know how it is to be in love with my Savior!

Amen!
The Lord will give is everything we need to fulfill his purposes for our lives!

Here is what that means to me. Laying up treasures in heaven is meant to be a lifestyle.
Many Christians never move beyond what God can do for themselves and never grasp what God wants to do for the world and their role in that. As Christ followers, this is our mission. Jesus tells us to lay up treasures in heaven and to not be anxious about our own needs being met. (Matthew 6:19-24) I have to recognize that all I have was given to me by God and as a Christ follower, I must view myself as a steward of all that I possess and what I use it for. My actions should be measured by what effect it will have on God's kingdom. God may be calling me to open up my home, he may call me to sacrificial give, he may ask me to serve Him by means of anything I possess. Laying up treasure in heaven for myself would be a result of obeying that call, and building my treasure of everlasting joy with God.
When we view all we have as His, and trust that He will provide for our needs we will experience freedom from fear and anxieties and have true peace and joy. I've never missed one red cent that I've given away, and I truly believe that God has blessed me with more because of that. However, I am not to live with my fists full, but rather with my palms open...ready to receive and ready to give, generously and sacrificially. Ready to obey and to be a conduit of God's blessing to those in the world who need Christ as their Savior. This may not always look pretty and I may be asked one day to make very difficult choices if our religious freedoms were stripped away, but I pray that the posture of my heart would be that whatever a God asks me to do for His kingdom, that I would obey and not forget that he will equip me with every need I have as I fulfill his purposes for my life. But for now, I don't have to make life or death choices, but rather freely and cheerfully give of myself, my talents, my possessions, and my time to promote the kingdom of God. I can measure it by asking myself what am I doing with what I have to exalt Christ and bring glory and honor to God? Less of me, and more of Him, John 3:30. And to me, that is laying up treasures in heaven.

Is that website a .com? .org? Can't seem to find it. I am interested in knowing more

Living God's will for my life used to be such a mystery to me. How do I know? I realized that staying in the word, in prayer, in a lifestyle that pursues a deeper faith, obeying God's calls to me, walking hand in hand with Christ Jesus on HIS path is where I find myself in the center of His will. It is there I find rest and peace despite my circumstances, it is there I find hope in dreams that have been long unfulfilled, it is there I find joy and purpose and it is there that I no longer wonder what God's will is for me, but rather that I am living it. It is the ONLY place I want to be until I am worshipping Him at the foot of His throne in Heaven.

Sometimes we have to clear our hearts and minds of the things that shouldn't be there....clutter, the chatter and the noise before we can hear Him. Unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, fear were common distracters for me. I like to offer up psalm 51:10 to The Lord in my prayers "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." I ask Him to reveal to me things I need to confess as sin so that nothing stands between me and my Lord. I love to hear Him speak to me, through His word, through Godly counsel, through the Holy Spirit.

Spending time alone with The Lord in prayer and in His word are necessary to hear His voice. When I think that I have no time for this is when the noise and clutter come in. The nourishment my soul receives by doing this is so satisfying that my desire to continue only grows stronger with time. It is necessary to actively pursue Him and choose to grow in order to have intimacy with God.

Sometimes we have to ask ourselves some tough questions like do I really want to hear him? Do I really want to put forth the effort? Am I willing to make the changes? I can testify that throwing the white flag and surrendering to The Lord is the most freeing thing you'll ever do and it's a place you'll never want to leave!

Praising Jesus as my Redeemer, my Savior and my Shepherd today!

Sarah Jane, Jesus is relating to Nicodemus in a way he can identify with. Remember that Nicodemus is a member of the highest ruling bodies of Jewish priests, so he knows the law to the most fine detail as well as the history of the Jews. It is also a foreshadowing of Christ being lifted up onto the cross for us to have faith and belief for salvation from our sins.
Don't you love how the Bible is so intricately woven together? I find it fascinating! It is good to question what you don't understand, because it always leads to a more rich and full relationship with God.
I found this article from John Piper that goes into a lot of parallel detail that you might enjoy reading. http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/the-son-of-man...
May God bless you in your desire to know Him more, today. XOXO

Love the recap! Thank you! Well said!

Praying for God to give you an abundance of His sustaining grace to carry you through and that you feel his presence

This is my first Christmas without my father and I can't express how much I miss having him here. Yet, I know that he is praising Jesus every moment in Heaven and I will see him again, one day.

When my father was three years old, his father died in a car accident. My grandmother moved back home, never remarried and worked hard in a time when women rarely worked outside the home. Even though my father never knew what it was like to have a dad, nor did he have a role model for himself to emulate with my brothers and me, he did a superb job and was the best.dad.ever.

Psalm 68:5 sings praises God as the father of the fatherless and defender of widows. I praise Him that I am His child today. And praising Him for being the perfect Father.