TGIGF or Thank God its Good Friday

Welcome all who seek to do confidence done right.
Hope your week leading up to Easter has been a good one.  It is a holiday that we don't normally get time off to celebrate yet it is highly celebrated.  I think--no, I know, that Jesus loves it when we take time during our normal daily activites to highlight Him.  The world watches as we revere the Love of our Life during the spring every year.  I have attended Munday Thursday services, performed in choral events on Good Friday and sang jubilations on Easter morning.  My own church choir (Lascassas Baptist Church) presented a spectacular song of praise to our Lord this past Sunday.  And I can recall singing "Up from the grave He arose" all throughout the year.  What gloriousness!!

What does this have to do with confidence?  Everything!!  Keep reading.

I refer back to "in the beginning" alot and this time is no exception.  Genesis 3:15 (NCV) tells us:  "I will make you and the woman enemies to each other.  Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies.  One of her descendants will crush your heel."   The backdrop to this real story is just after (and I mean just after) Satan had persuaded Eve to eat fruit from the tree of good and evil that Adam followed suit and ate along with Eve.  Both sinned.  They had lived in perfectness.  They had wanted for nothing.  Yet they still sinned.  Sin is attractive.  Sin seduces us--so we must always be alert and ready for something to snag us.  But God knows all about the easiness and prey of sin in our lives.  He is so patient and gracious to us.  After the initial sin He had a plan.  A plan to redeem us.  Redeem is a churchy term that some folks may not understand how God applies it to us.  Webster defines redeem as:  to buy back.  To get or win back.  To free from what distresses or harms.  If sin had not happened Adam and Eve and descendants would have kept on living in the lushness of the Garden of Eden, living healthy, eating healthy, relating healthy, etc.  Lovely picture isn't it?  And it still is.  Holy Dad sent Jesus 2,000 years ago to  buy us back, win us back, free us from our distresses and harms.  He did this by dying on the cross because of His claim of being the Messiah.  You see, in the Genesis 3:15 verse Jesus is the "one of her descendants".  On the day that He rose from the grave He crushed Satan's heel.  The second we commit our souls and lives to Jesus Christ--Satan is defeated.  Our Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us making us one with Jesus.  All that Jesus is--we are, too.  And this very plan was laid out when the first sin was committed.  Isn't God all-wonderful?  Friends, don't let us underestimate our Holy Father and our Savior Jesus Christ.

And don't let us underestimate our very real Holy Spirit.  I love how The Message relays who the Holy Spirit is.  John 14: 26 (MSG):  "I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you.  The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you.  He will remind you of all the things I have told you.  I'm leaving you well and whole.  That's my parting gift to you."  Jesus was telling His disciples of the new plan that was about to unfold.  Jesus knew He was facing death and torture on our behalf--but the disciples couldn't wrap their minds around what Jesus was preparing them for.  Do you see the ongoing love-actions that Christ did and is still doing?  Everything to preserve us.  The Holy Spirit is such a monumental gift.  Massive!!  Please, my fellow Christ follower, don't let us underestimate our precious gift.

So what does our precious gift do for us?  First of all, He is our constant companion.  No waiting to locate Him.  He is INSTANT!!  Instant consultant. Instant therapist.  Instant personal cheerleader.  Instant life planner.  He is everything we need.  You may be questioning all the "instant" that I threw around.  He really is all that--but you and I have a part to play in order to use Him instantly.  You have to get to know Him.  Talk to Him every day all day long.  Consult with Him about all of your decisions and thoughts.  Jesus said that "He will make everything plain to you."  Take His advise.  It is the best in all the world.  Jesus said "I am leaving you well and whole."  Well----the Holy Spirit is the one to help us achieve that wellness and wholeness.  And, of course, He is going to refer you to the Living Word for answers.  The Bible.  Ask The Holy Spirit often to reveal the things in your life that needs to be corrected and be dealt with.  He will direct you.  He is waiting for this request--after all, it is His job.  He wants to do His job and with love, not condemnation.  He won't snear down at you.

You may be wondering what I meant about the lovely picture of living healthy, eating healthy and relating healthy.  These are obtainable with some work on your part.  I want to introduce Galatians 5:22-23 (NCV):  "But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."  I like to refer to these 9 items as confident elements.  Can you picture the confidence that oozes out of the person who displays these things?  And who produces them?  Yes, the Holy Spirit.  But I want to point you in the direction of #9, self-control.  Oh, do we really have to start out with that one?  Yes we do.  It is the facilitator to the other 8 items. 

Allow me to show you a more intimate look at Galatians 5:22-23 from The Message:  "But what happens when we live God's way?  He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard--things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity.  We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people.  We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely."  Isn't this a great life!!  And friend, it is ours, all ours.  Hallelujah!!!!

Hope this is getting you excited because we will be talking about how to achieve confidence done right.  But right now you are encouraged to start, build and strengthen a very real relationship with Jesus.  Friend, He is waiting on you.  He loves you, totally.  Love Him back, totally.

Dear reader, if you do not know Jesus please feel free to talk to me about Him.  I want to encourage you to speak with someone who is a Christian or the pastor of a church as soon as you can.  If you feel that the Holy Spirit is wooing you then talk to Him.  He is very real.  Admit to Him that you are indeed a sinner (as we all are) and that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came and died and 3 days later rose from the dead and is alive even today. 

It is an exciting life!!  Let Jesus lead your exciting life!!  Love to all, Wynndy

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