Posted: 04/18/2009 at 6:59am | IP Logged

"Because I live, you will live also." John 14:19

My mother passed away when I was just barely sixteen years old. She and my little brother were killed in a car accident. Shortly after their deaths, my older brother, who was eighteen, left our home to move out and live on his own. Soon after he left, my father left to take a job in another city. I stayed in our hometown to finish high school. Consequently, at sixteen I was living alone.

During these years, I experienced times of emptiness, loneliness and vulnerability, coming home to an empty house knowing there would not be anyone else but me there. I used to pretend that I had a family, but they were all sleeping.

The loneliness that filled me is difficult to describe. It led to thoughts of life's futility. Depression tried hard to creep into my soul. I began to question my purpose. "Why was I still here? Why was I left alone? Did anyone really care that I lived?"

When I left my hometown to attend college in another state, I knew there was no one who would really miss me. Although that memory seems like an unhappy one now, I can tell you that it honestly wasn't for me then. It wasn't unhappy for me because I knew that God would be coming with me. We were in this journey together and even though I was alone, I would never be lonely because He was with me.

You see, during this lonely time as my heart longed to belong to someone, I was found by Someone who has never left me. Yes, Jesus found me in my loneliness and became more to me than life. He became my purpose for living.

Alone in my home as a young woman, I danced, worshiped and rejoiced with Him. I fell deeply in love with my heavenly Father. He became my father, mother, sister, brother and friend—always loving, never leaving. He was the reason I kept breathing. He alone turned my mourning into dancing. He turned my loneliness around and gave me His joy—a joy that knew no bounds. It was an unspeakable joy, full of His glory.

My heavenly Father gave me His breath to breathe. And for Him, I wanted to breathe more deeply of His life and live to love Him. Because I loved Him, I wanted to live my life for Him and make every breath be my worship to Him.

I loved Him so much and no matter what it took, I wanted to be His little girl. I didn't feel like I belonged to anyone on earth, yet I belonged to Him—the King of Heaven—THE Almighty God. For all eternity I would be His and He offered Himself to be mine—MY FATHER! He belonged to me and I belonged to Him. He promised to never leave me or betray me. Because He loved me, I felt like the richest girl in the world. I would never be lonely again.

What Are We Breathing For?

Recently, my son's best friend was killed in a tragic car accident and the sudden loss of this 18-year-old boy, who'd only begun to live, stunned everyone. Shaken by his death, as he was so young and full of life, left me searching for the purpose of life all over again. I also knew that my son was struggling with the same feelings of emptiness I'd felt at his age when I lost my family.

Shortly after the accident, a friend asked me how we were doing. The words came out of my mouth, "We just keep breathing." Instantly my friend understood. Yes, life goes on one breath at a time.

We keep breathing, but what are we breathing for? Who are we breathing for? If it's our friends, family, church or even ourselves, then we are building our lives on unstable ground. There's only one reason to breathe—only one reason to live. That reason is our love for God. He's the reason we breathe. He is our ONE and only source. He is the life we live.

We can still experience loneliness even when surrounded by people, in the midst of business as usual, because what we're truly longing for is oneness with our Creator. We can have everything this world offers yet feel incomplete. On the other hand, we can lack everything this world tells us we need to be fulfilled and still be completely fulfilled in Christ.

The God of the universe is offering Himself to you, to complete you. He wants to be more than a law, more than a rule, even more than your Savior; He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to be everything to you, to make you complete in Him. He wants more than to love you from a distance. He wants to hold you when you're sad, rejoice when you're victorious and walk through life's journey with you.

Your heavenly Father is offering Himself to you to be your everything—to belong to you and you to Him. But the choice is yours to make. He will never turn away from you, and you could never run so far from Him that He would not still be waiting for you and reaching to you with outstretched arms.

Indeed, He waits in hopeful anticipation to run to you at the first step you make to turn toward Him. He is waiting to run to you and grab you and embrace you for all eternity. The Almighty of Heaven and earth wants you! He loves you! You are His beloved—what He desires more than anything else.

Embracing His Love

In the spirit, God took me on a tour of His home in Heaven and showed me an enormous hallway filled with pictures of His children. I could not see the end or the beginning of the wall He showed me; it was higher than I could see and was literally filled with pictures. That's all it was used for, just for pictures of His children.

As He showed me the wall, I thought He would be proud to show it off to me, but He was sad too. He was sad as He said, "I have so many children, but they won't let me get close to them. They won't let me be a part of their lives. They will not let me touch them. All I can do is put their pictures on this wall and look at them."

As my son dealt with the trauma of losing his friend in such a tragic way, I saw emptiness try to settle in his heart and I tried to help him. I love my son; he and I are very close. At sixteen, he still leans on me a great deal. As much as I want to give him everything he needs, I'll never be able to, nor can any other person. His heavenly Father alone can fill the emptiness he feels now. No one but God can love him the way he needs to be loved or can truly understand his heart. God alone knows his thoughts and understands him completely.

My heart's prayer for you is for your Daddy God to be ALL that you need. Indeed, with God as your source, friends may leave, people may abandon or betray you, but you will NOT be shaken for your strength is not found in people but in Him. God loves you more truly and completely than anyone on earth can ever love you. Embracing His love will give you tremendous power to stand against life's tragedies and become all that God has destined for you to become.

He loves you that much and He wants to be everything to you. He wants to love you when no one else does. He wants to stand by you when everyone else turns away. He will be your family when you have none of your own. He will restore your soul, lighten your load and fill you with His joy.

You have only to turn to Him and give yourselves to Him—body, soul and spirit—to lay down your life, your longings and desires and give Him your every breath. And with every breath you breathe, you will be declaring your love for Him.

When all you can do is breathe—keep breathing!

Victoria Boyson
Speaking Life Ministries
Email: victoria@boyson.org

Posted: 06/22/2009 at 1:43pm | IP Logged

   Do you know what God is doing right now?  Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.  Many people are expecting Jesus Christ to return to the earth in a bodily form and rapture them out of here.  Why?  Because the church or a pastor or someone they consider more spiritual than them has told them that.  If you are waiting around for God to take you away from the earth when things get really bad, which they are, please consider these scriptures.

   Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.  Revelation 5:10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth. God says we are kings and priests.

   Acts 2:34 says; The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool. In other words heaven must contain Jesus until every enemy is made His footstool.  What is the last enemy?  1 Corinthians 15:24-26 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.  For He must reign till He has put all en enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

  As you read these scriptures you may say how can Jesus be reigning if He is sitting at the right hand of God.  He is reigning in the hearts of His people, but He is sitting at the right hand of the Father until every enemy is made His footstool.  This is where the mystery of the ages comes into view.  I am referring to the mystery of Christ in you which has been hidden for generations but is being made manifest in His saints.  Colossians 1:26-27.

   2 Thessalonians 1:10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe.  Notice the scripture says when He comes to be glorified in His saints.
 
   Remember Jesus prayed to Our Father God in John 2 017:15 “I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil one.
 
   Why does He say to diligently seek Him?  Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.  Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

   Why is Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and always?  Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

   He is a discerner of your heart.  Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of20joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

   Ask yourself these questions.  Do you know whether or not Christ dwells in your heart? Colossians 1:26-27 Do you know for sure you are reborn?  John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Do you have the mind of Christ?  1 Corinthians 2:16 For who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

   Are you striving to understand the word of God, or are you happy just being fed milk?  Hebrews 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 

   If so then allow me to show you this parable which Jesus taught and the interpretation which God gave to me.  Matthew 24:19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  Those who are pregnant are those who have received the word of God but have not produced any fruit.  Those who are nursing babies are the pastors and teachers who are still feeding the flock the milk of the word and have not gone on to the deeper things of God.  God is saying get ready. Matthew 24:43-44 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come; he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

   Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ.  Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!  Ephesians3:8-9 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.

   When Jesus walked the earth He revealed the meaning of the parables only to His disciples.  In other words to those who were in relationship with Him.  He does not change.  How deep do you want to go?  You must spend time with Him.  How much time will you devote to know God?

Remember the parable of the man who found the pearl of great price?  Matthew 13:45-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.  Is God really first in your life?  Luke 14: 26-35 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it�  lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish?  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
 
   As you read these scriptures please know God certainly does not want you to hate your parents or your children, but He does expect you to absolutely put Him ahead of everyone and everything else in your life.  So I implore you, I beseech you, I would even beg you, if it would convince you, seek first the kingdom of God and all the things which are keeping you from seeking Him first will be added unto you as well as the peace of mind which passes all human understanding.  The peace I am talking about is the kind where nothing in this world can hurt you.  Not even death when you know that to live is Christ and to die is gain.  Philippians 1:21 for to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Jerry Joyner

Posted: 07/27/2009 at 2:19pm | IP Logged

God's Great Offer

Matthew 11:28 --- "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give