It has been quite a week—the horrific tornado in Oklahoma and the tragic loss of so many lives…stuff and nonsense happening in my own life…hearing of sadness and grief experienced by dear friends. All this wears on my heart; have you found this to be so? Sometimes our hearts and minds get distracted by the things of this world and we forget to believe the Truth that we know. And, sometimes, it causes us to wonder, ‘Why?’
Why? The truth is we have an enemy. One who loathes…no…truly hates God and His children. He is determined to take what our Lord came to make available to us. Jesus said,
A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come so that they may have life, and have it in abundance.
John 10:10
The evil that we experience is meant to draw us away from dwelling in God’s presence—to steal. It is designed to dampen and diminish our love for our Lord—to kill. And, ultimately, to cause us to turn away from God and His Word—to destroy. This is what the enemy of our souls attempts to do. However, Jesus has made it available for us to have LIFE full of grace and mercy, free, in abundance, joyous, peace-filled, and blessed! Amen?
So much that God has intended for us is ours to simply receive—by His grace! But we do have a part to play in enjoying this life that Jesus has made available—we need to hold the Truth of God’s Word in our hearts and minds.
Your Word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
Psalms 119:11
Treasured is also translated in other versions as ‘hid…hidden…stored…laid up.’ God’s Word(s) hidden in our hearts keeps us from sinning. When the treasure of His Word is stored up in our hearts we remember what is written in the Scriptures and not only do we believe His promises but we trust in them, we act on them, we obey…all very pleasing to our Father God!
In my own heart, I can be distracted by words (from the past as well as the present) that are NOT the Truth. These lies are the enemy’s attempts to steal, kill, and destroy my relationship with the One Who loves me so. I must take His Word that I have treasured in my heart and remember it, believe it, trust in it, act on it, and obey! When I do…oh, the abundant, joyous, free, grace and mercy-filled life I enjoy! His Word tells me the TRUTH of who I am!!!
See what great love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are!
1 John 3:1
Hello, child of God! What is your ‘name’? I would love it if you would share it with us in the comments below! My name is ‘worthy!’
Praying for each of you! ♥
♥ coleen
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If you would like to send a personal message to Coleen concerning this blog post, you may email her at: Coleen@girlfriendscoffeehour.com
About coleen hayden
Colleen what a beautiful sensitive and joyous response to the destruction and loss we see everyday. Not just in oklahoma. We face an enemy who is relentless and resilient against the children of God. He will stop at nothing!! Praise God for his truth! “For greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” I john 4:4 Let us turn to God and not lose heart.
i love YOUR response, joann: ‘let us turn to God and not lose <3!' thank you stating it so succinctly! <3
Coleen, this is a great way to start our day! Thank you!
I love our grandchildren so much, they are precious to me. In fact, I call our youngest, 4 yr old Alexis, my precious princess. I get the biggest smiles and great hugs every time! 🙂 As I think about what my name is, I believe it is “Precious.” God loves this “little princess” so much that He calls me ‘Precious’.
Each of His children is precious to Him! His Word says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Oh to get His Word, His Truth so implanted in our minds and hearts that we can’t even ‘hear’ the lies of the enemy!
God loves each of you, my precious friends, and so do I!
‘precious’ clella…what a beautiful name! thanks for sharing! (and for the blessing of reminding us that we, too, are PRECIOUS!) <3
What a lovely way to start my Saturday morning, Coleen! You have a beautiful way with words and i LOVE this song. It reminds me every time I hear it how much I am treasured by my King.
you ARE, sherrie! so…is ‘treasured’ your word? <3
Coleen, We ended our Getaway with God Retreat this year with a ceremony where we threw a black stone that represented our old name into a barrel and were given a white stone with a new name on it. Mine was Beloved. Oh, the look on my friend’s face as she helped to hand out the new names at our retreat. We are planning to do this at our women’s conferences in Uganda also. I am so looking forward to doing this over there as I get to help hand out the white stones. I can hardly wait!
oh, peggy…how beautiful! i can only begin to imagine the impact the TRUE names on those white stones will have on your sweet women in uganda!!! <3
The name my parents gave me means “Harvester”, the name my heart wants is “Pure”, the name I give myself is “goober”. 🙂 Most days they all three pertain in one way or another. Thank you for the reminder, dear friend.
🙂 ah yes…we could probably all agree!
for you, friend: “and this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be PURE ands BLAMELESS for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God” (philippians 1:9-11). <3