Category: Christianity

LIGHTS, ACTION, CAMERA

You have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. By His sacrifice and the His blood you have been adopted into a royal family. Now you are under the microscope like the royal family of England or any actor or musician. Everything you say or do will be judged by others who do not even know who you are. Even how you say something can be misinterpreted. The enemy will work through anyone or anything to kill, steal or destroy your life, your credibility. So how do handle this? Do we run and hide? Do we pretend that we are not who we are, and put on a mask? Do wear camouflage so others do not see us?

As brothers and sisters in Christ we are held to a higher standard, like it or not. Scripture tells us that in this world but we are not to be like the world. We are a peculiar people, we are made to stand out. This means we will be scrutinized, every action and word we speak will be judged. This should not keep us from hiding our relationship with God. Put on your armor, and stand firm. You don’t have to defend God, Jesus is our defender, our advocate, and our victory. Be faithful to Him.

His light is shining favorably upon you, your faith is in action, and the world is looking at you. Be the light in the darkness and show others how to get to where you are. We are to do more than hear His Word but put It into action, and not be afraid of what others think. Care only what God thinks of you, and he thinks you are special. He loves you. His love is perfect.

John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

John 12:31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Acts 13:47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'”

Ephesian 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Fire and trials

Thanks to all of you who have read my posts, kept me in your prayers and offered words of encouragement and comfort. A couple of the recent comments had reminded me of a word God had given to me some years ago.

A sword when formed the materials chosen are put through the fire, stretched, folded, and hammered. This is done over and over until the blade is formed. The more the blade is folded the stronger it becomes. The part I am focused on today is the fire which inspired by both a recent painting I had posted, ‘Going through the fire’, and a current one that I have been working on for a client, ‘Risen’. Risen is not ye finished and neither are the rest of us. I like to say we are a work in progress and God is not done with us yet. Both paintings represent fire.

Risen unfinished by Julie Sheppard
Through the Fire by Julie Sheppard

First thought of fire you think of destruction. Homes and forests burned to the ground. Getting burned. Yet fire is not just destructive. You cook with fire. Create with it. Fire can be scary but look at Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abed Nego. They refused to bow down to and idol and were thrown into a fiery furnace. They did not burn and they came out not even smelling of smoke. Then think of the Holy Spirit Fire. We grow when we go through the fire. We are refined. We are made stronger. In the painting immediately above I had explained in a previous post. The current painting which is unfinished I will tell it’s story when it is finished. Clay pots are put into kilns and baked. God is referred to as The Potter and we are His clay, to be molded and shaped into vessel He can use. This also means to be made solid we too must go through the fire. I am not sure how long it is going to take for me to finish my current painting but I will post it when it is finished.

Remember His fire will not harm you but make you stronger!

Message on love/God Our Husband

Message on love/God Our Husband

God Our Husband

The first commandment is there is only One God and that we are to worship only Him. The second tells us that we are not to make any idols or worship them, and it continues to tell us that He is a jealous God. Now how can God be a jealous God, since God is love. In 1 Corinthians 13, we are told that love is not jealous.  So the question how can God be jealous, since He is love? These scriptures seem to be contradicting each other. How can both be true?

Think about marriage. As a husband or wife would you not become jealous if your spouse were look for love or pleasure  in another? I believe we all become jealous when the object of our love seeks love and attention from outside of your relationship. This jealousy does not mean that you do not love your spouse, but that because you are hurt and betrayed. There has become a separation in your relationship even if your husband or wife has not acted upon their desires, the mere thought is an act of adultery. Jesus taught us that if we even look at another with lust in our eyes we have committed the sin of adultery. Now God is called our husband and our maker, how do you think He feels when we turn to the world and seek after our selfish desires. We have betrayed Him and committed an act of adultery, by going after what we want without concern of the pain and damage we have caused.

Look at the life of Hosea. God has him marry a prostitute, knowing that she will not be faithful. Hosea could have refused God, but he chose to obey even though his marriage would cause him pain and shame. Yet just like God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to pay the price for our sins. When Hosea’s wife needed to be redeemed, Hosea paid the price and took her back home, forgiving her and loving her in spite of her actions. This is the love of God our husband.

How man of us are that committed that we would not only forgive the other but pay the pirce for their betrayal. Love and forgiveness are the gift God gives to us. Just as a husband and wife become one, when we enter into a relationship with Jesus we become one with Him. Since Jesus is one with the Father, and is also called our Groom. We are one with Jesus, and one with God, and His Spirit then comes to live in us. We become new. We are no longer who we  were before receiving Him as our Lord and Savior. He takes away our stony hearts, and gives us a new heart of flesh.

Becoming one with Him, no longer being double minded, and tossed about by the ways of the world. We become firmly rooted in His Love, His Truth and His way. One with Christ, One with God, and One with His Holy Spirit. We continue to learn who He is as we grow closer to Him. In learning who He is we learn how lto love, because we learn who love is. For with the new heart comes His love that now pulses through our body, and not only our body but His body as we learn to live in His love.

Scriptures to read

Exodus 20:1-6&14

1Corinthians 13

Deuteronomy 6:4-6

John 3:16

2Peter 3:9

Notes on message of love/What Is Love?

The question here should be, ‘Who is love?’ For God is love, and we cannot know love without knowing who love is. So who is God? He is known by many names, Yahweh, Jehovah, El Shaddai, Lord, God, and the Great I Am, are just a few of the names that we call Him.

He is also known as our Heavenly Father, our Husband and our Maker. The focus of the message today will be on God the Father. Many of you are parents. As a parent you can relate to how He loves us as a Father. As a mother or father you love your children unconditionally. Some of you who are parents have adopted children and you love them as much as if you gave birth to them. You provide shelter, food, clothing, and love. You may not always understand your children, and they do not always behave, but you still love them. This how God loves us. He provides for us and loves us, and even though we may not have been born to Him, He has adopted us, and made us His children.

We have all sinned and this has not stopped Him from loving us. It His love that redeemed us and cleansed us from our sins. There are those who had parents who had abused, neglected and rejected them. Our heavenly Father will never hurt you, leave, you or reject you. He faithful and true. His love is eternal and will never die. He is the Father who sacrificed everything for all of us. Sending His Son to pay the price for our sins.

He is patient and long suffering, loving us as we are. Not demanding that we love Him but inviting us into His family. Waiting for us to turn to Him and love Him in return. You do not have to believe me but believe in His Word. Read these scriptures and see how He loves you.

God is love; 1 John 4:7-8 and 16, Deuteronomy 7:9

Unconditional love of God; Romans 5:6-8,Titus 3:4-5, Matthew 5:43-48, 1 john 4:9-10

Made children of God; 1 John 3:1, Matthew 5:19, John 1:12, Galatians 3:26, Romans 8:15-16, 2 Corinthians 6:18

He is faithful; 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Hebrews 10:23, 2 Timothy 2:13, 1 John 1:9, Psalms 119:90

His love redeemed us Ephesians 1:7, Job 33:28, Psalm 103:4 1 Peter 1:18, Galatians 3:13 Luke 1:68

Notes on message of love/John 3:16

John 3:16

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.

Read these words and see the love of God. It tells us clearly of His sacrifice and His love. It does not speak of of hatred or punishment. It speaks of love and everlasting life to those who believe.

The life of His Son to pay the price for our sins. Loving us before we knew Him or believed in Him. In today’s terms you could say we were prepaid for. A gift waiting for us to recieve. scripture goes on to tell us that ‘God is not slow as we count slowness, but patient not wanting any to perish but that all would come to repentance.'(2Peter 3:9)

Showing His love to be long suffering(1Corinthians 13). He is still waiting for us to turn to Him. He could so easily have started over, especially after that time and again man has chosen to rebel against Him and choose the way of the world. He has given to us more time and mercy than we deserve, and it is His love that covers a multitude of sins.(1Peter 4:8)

Notes message of love/January 11, 2021

Notes message of love/January 11, 2021

The lyrics ‘You don’t know what it’s like, to love somebody, the way I love you’, keep running through my head. It is like God is singing to me, telling me that He loves me and at the same time letting me know I do not understand the depth of His love.

I have always enjoyed how God has spoken to me over the years the closer I have come to knowing God. The closer I become to Him, the more I hear and see Him.(My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow Me. John 10:27)

As I have been focusing my studies on the scriptures about His love, the clearer His voice has become to me. It is not a new to me that no one can put God in a box. He is bigger and greater than we can imagine. Religion and traditions try to put Him into a box, but He is not found only in a building on Sunday morning, or by keeping religious traditions. All this has done is build walls that have separated us from knowing His love and who He truly is. I often think about the conversation between God and Moses, when God told Moses to go back to Egypt and lead God’s people to freedom.(Exodus chpt. 3)Moses asks God who he should say sent him, and God tells Moses to say ‘I Am That I Am has sent me to you’. Simple and straight to the point, ‘I Am’ is the One sending Moses to lead His people to freedom. The problem Moses faced was not with God but with the fact that the people including Pharaoh did not know God.

Unfortunately this is still a problem today. Even I do not know God the way I should. People may know His name, go to church and even serve without truly knowing Him. He speaks through His prophets, ministers, teachers, disciples, and Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Yet many do not listen. They have heard His Word spoken and read the scriptures, but like seeds on rocky ground the seeds of His Word did not get the chance to take root in their hearts, or like seeds that did get planted and did begin to grow were choked out by the weeds of this world. So either the seed does not get a chance to grow or it dies because the world and all of its’ problems smother it and it dies. Either way the seed does not grow and produce fruit.(Matt.13:20-22)

God has never stopped loving us. He still speaks to us today, and is waiting for us to listen to Him. His arms reaching out to us, wanting to embrace us. He longs for us to choose Him over the world, and to become one with Him. He wants you to know Him and to know His love, He is an open book waiting for you, inviting you to come in. Once you begin to know Him you will know His voice and hear Him speaking to you. It is time now for us to want to know Him on a personal life changing level. To want Him more than anything else in our lives. To let His love grow and flow through us. Then when people see us they see Him. Then His love can reach others through us.

Notes on message on love/1st draft on message Dec 27, 2020

Notes on message on love/1st draft on message Dec 27, 2020

With so much scripture on love, and all the notes I have taken and my own personal thoughts, I thought it was time for me to take my first swing at the message. I hope you will share your thoughts, insights, and any corrections you see that need to be made.

Message on Love

How can I share with you what love is, without sharing Who Love is? Should I try romance? Entice you with physical pleasures. Talk to you in a way that pleases you. Doing this might make you feel like you are loved, but as a song by Tina Turner says, ‘What’s love got to do with it?’ The song continues with that it is a second hand emotion. So we have this romantic, sensual, and physical love, which is nothing more than a feeling. It is like a candle that will eventually burn itself out, and leave you feeling like a boat tossed about by the waves of the ocean.

So, what is love?

We all have a mother and father. We may not all have been raised by both parents and some grew up without even one of them. There are those who were raised in loving homes. Who know what it is like to be cared for, and were loved unconditionally. Even when times were difficult, you felt safe and knew that they would take care of you. Unfortunately there are many who grew up abused, neglected, and rejected. Feeling worthless and unloved. Only knowing fear and hatred. If this is you, then you may have a difficult time understanding love or that God is a loving Father. God is our Heavenly Father.

Today I want to help you to see Him, for who He is. I do not know what your childhood was like, and I am not going to get into my own. What I do know is that we all have a Heavenly Father that loves each and everyone of us. It is His love that I need to share with you, because He is love.

Most people have heard John 3:16. Even at a sporting event you have probably seen someone with a cardboard sign with 3:16 written on it.

For God so loved the world He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

This is love, and who God is. He gave us everything, and He didn’t hold anything back. If you are a parent, would you sacrifice your child to save another? We would sacrifice ourselves for our children and even to save the life of someone else we love. I know none of us would sacrifice our child for anyone if we knew them or not, and definitely not for an enemy.

Thankfully our ways are not God’s ways. He did sacrifice His own Son to save not only those who said they believed in Him but for those who rejected Him, who hated Him. His enemies.

His way is love because He is Love. Jesus told us to love our enemies. This is not our way. God showed us this love when He sent His son, Jesus to die for our sins. He did not die for the righteous who were without sin. Is there anyone of us who are righteous and without sin? No. If any one of us had been there when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Him, would one of us been able to throw a stone? No we would not have because there is none who has not sinned. Jesus said that there was no greater love than for a man to lay down their life for another. Many would do this for our children, loved ones, and even a friend. Would any of us die for someone who hated us, or persecuted us. Would you die to save the life of someone who wanted to take your life? Would you die to save the life of an enemy? I do not think one of us would. That is what Jesus did, when He chose to die on that cross. We were all His enemies.

Love gives when there is nothing left to give and expects nothing in return. It shares in our suffering and cries with us. It brings us comfort when nothing else can. It does not kick us when we are down. It stretches out its’ arm and lifts us up and places us in a safe place. Love is mercy and grace. Love is God.

There is so much more about love and God to share, but for today I hope that this message has helped to introduce you to Love and the One who is Love, who is God. For others I hope this has helped to reacquaint you with The One True Love, who Is God.

Scripture reference:

2 Timothy 4:3

John 3:16

Romans 3:10

John 15:13

Matthew 5:44

Please take time to read these scriptures and listen to God speak to you.

Notes on message of love/Dec. 26, 2020

Notes on message of love/Dec. 26, 2020

Continuing to work on the message of love and still welcoming any insights and even corrections. God bless you all.

The subject of love has so many parts, that it can be seen as a body. You read in the Bible how the church is called a body with many parts.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 NLV (One Body with Many Parts) 12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.] 14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

God being Love. can be seen as having three parts.

  • 1 John 4:8 – But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
  • 1 John 4:16 – We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  
  1. God, the Heavenly Father, Creator of heaven earth and man. The great I Am.
  2. Jesus, Son of God. The Word made flesh. Our Savior and Redeemer.
    1 John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
  3. Holy Spirit, The Spirit of God. Our Helper and Comforter. Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

Three that are one. Read 1 Corinthians 12 again and see how we are to be one body. One body has many different parts. Dissect a body and you can see how many parts there are and how they are connected. In a healthy body all the parts are performing their purpose and working together with the other parts. If one part of the body becomes weak, sick or quits, it effects the whole body. The body becomes sick and if left untreated it could die. Each part relies on another part to function and work together. Unified as one.

A problem with love in the world today is that each part is operating separately. Neglecting the needs of the other parts the individual part is only concerned about its’ own needs and desires. That part is selfish and does not care if their actions hurt anyone else. If you read 1 Corinthians 13 you will see that being selfish or demanding is not love. God’s desires for us to become one united in Love. Working together. Understanding each part is equal to the other and no part is greater. One body with one heart, and He is the head.Each part of the body working together, supporting each other in life and love.

1 Corinthians 13 :4-5 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.