It is Finished...

"When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit." John 19:30

It is finished… my Savior paid the price for my eternal life when He drew His last breath on the cross. He covered my sin with His blood… He loved me with His life. He rose from the grave and conquered death. Now His Spirit lives in me so I can finish the work I have been called to do. His power is mine to use… His keys to freedom are now mine to share… His grace is my gift to receive. All regret or guilt is gone and new life has come, because it is finished. If there is ever a doubt of how much I am loved, I can look at the cross. It is finished… but it is not over… I will finish strong because of Him.

I pray you always remember the Cross, but the victory came in the resurrection… have a great Resurrection Sunday!



With a grateFUL HEART, carin

Past... Present... Future...

Is it really April 20??? We got piled on with snow last night, but I choose to keep praising my Creator even with this white "stuff" all over the ground.  It really doesn't look like Easter is only 4 days away!!!

Have another birthday card to share with you.  This is the card I made for my sister, Renee.  If you are one of her blog followers you may have seen that she posted it on there.

Past… Present… Future. To some people those words can stand for… Regret… Frustration… Worry.
After reading in Ephesians 5 I see it this way: Past ~ the love that God gave through Christ to redeem me (v. 25) … Present ~ in love He is sanctifying me (v. 26)… Future ~ by His sacrifice and love He will present me to His Father in flawless perfection (v. 27).

No need for me to stress… I have decided to let it all go and let Him have the control.

Feeling blessed and highly favored today! God is so good! How about you?

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Destroying Walls...

We are getting snow here in northern Michigan... actually it is thunder snowing right now as I write this.  Let me see April 19th and we have had over 4 inches of snow this week... interesting!  So I am sharing a Springy looking card today...

Also, I was reading in Ephesians 2 & 4… in 2:14-22 it is talking about the walls being broken down between the Jews and the Gentiles… that by the sacrifice of Christ the walls that divided us were torn down. “For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,” (v. 14 - Amplified)

Then in Ephesians 4:1-3, Paul is begging us as Believers to walk worthy of what God has called us to. Live with meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another in love (Fruit of the Spirit). In verse 3 it says, “Endeavoring (being eager with effort) to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The sacrifice of Christ brought the wall of division down and we are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:22)… He is here with us right now so that we may live in the spirit of unity to fulfill God’s plan.

Another thought I had was if Christ died to bring down the walls between Jews and Gentiles, why is it that Believers are re-erecting the walls between each other??? If we have a union with Christ, then how can we not live in unity with each other… isn’t He what unites us??? Lack of unity will always hinder God’s work… if I will not live in unity with other Believers then I better just get out of His way. Lord, don’t let me be a hindrance to Your work.

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

His Peace...

Fabulous, fantastic Friday to all of you! Going for a quick trip to Traverse City with the hubby for some word related things, but I am hoping for a short stop at a store I want to go to too!

Just a quick post... I have been coming across so many verses about “peace” the last few days. In Isaiah 26:3 ~ You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

And Psalm 29:11 ~ The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.

So I looked up the definition of Peace ~ freedom from war: tranquillity: a calm and quiet state, free from disturbances or noise; mental calm: a state of mental calm and serenity, with no anxiety; harmony: freedom from conflict or disagreement among people or groups of people.

Now that is the way I want my life to be... the answer is right there for me... keep my mind on the Lord... lay all my burdens at His feet.

Also a card to share... it is kink of funny that I would show you such a busy card when my post is about "peace", but I find doing these Zentangle cards to very relaxing to me. I made this one for my niece's birthday.

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Bliss...

I want to share something I shared a couple weeks ago with our "unity prayer circle" we have before Sunday morning service. But first I want to share a card with you...

Living a life in "Bliss" with my Heavenly Father.

I have been really praying for clarity in my life... in regards to relational battles. I really never thought of conflicts with friends or family as relational battles, but it was made so clear to me. I feel like this is something all of us might deal with, but probably women more than men. I think we care way more than we should about being accepted by our peers... we can be our own worst enemy. Am I wrong about this???

Anyway, what was revealed to me, more or less, was why do I waste my breath defending myself or proving my point when it is just a distraction and a waste of time, not to mention it zaps my strength that could be used for God's glory. I can see now that if I stop trying to be “right” and choose to live righteous then God will give me perfect peace.

It is true that trying to defend myself from blame will only leave me with bitterness. It is also true that no matter what anyone says about me or does to me will never stop God’s perfect plan and promises in my life… I have to remember… it is His business… He is my Defender. It is NOW that I will walk away from relational war and wrath and into a life filled with peace. I am determining to fight for the things worth fighting for… winning souls for God’s Kingdom.

In Romans 12:18-19 it says …If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

I pray God will give us the wisdom to steer away from relational traps set by the enemy to distract us. I pray for the Holy Spirit to rise up in us and take control, giving us the words to speak when we may be faced with a relational war. I pray we never again exhaust ourselves with useless arguments. I pray that we will keep our eyes focused on God’s big picture and push past any relationship that can hinder us from being all God has called us to be. I pray God will fill us with His grace and love and boldness to deal with any difficult relationships we may encounter. In Jesus’ name.

The whole chapter of II Samuel 22 is so great, but verse 24 fits so well with this thought of relational battles… I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.

Remember there is no relationship in this world that is worth more than your relationship with the King of Kings.

No matter what the conflict or with who the conflict may be I have the choice of how I will handle it. If it takes at least two people to have a relational war, and I am not going to battle, then there will be no war. “A soft answer turns away wrath.” Proverbs 15:1… the battle will stop with me because I choose to be blameless in God’s eyes. I have no control over what anyone else will choose to do, at this point it is all about my heart being in tune with God’s heart.

An after thought:  Sometimes I need to bite my tongue to keep my tongue from biting others.

with a grateFUL HEART, carin