Isaiah 63:9, "In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years." (NLT)


The next time the devil tries to tell you that God doesn't care and that you are going through a valley alone, put yourself in remembrance of Isaiah 63:9.

God does not leave us in our sufferings.  In fact, Isaiah 63:9 tells us that He is right there with us.   Want more confirmation of that truth?   Here are three more scriptures.

Daniel 3:24-25, "Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, 'Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?' They replied, 'Certainly, Your Majesty.' ²⁵ He said, 'Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a Son of the gods.'” (NIV)

Hebrews 2:18, "Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested." (NLT)

Still not convinced?   How about these scriptures?

Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:8, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (NIV)

Joshua 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (NIV)

Ruth said it best in Ruth 1:16 when she reflected the very heart of God, "...Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay." (NIV)

Matthew 28:20, "...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)

God is not sitting on the sidelines of your life or up in Heaven and out of touch far away from you.   He is right there where you are going through with you whatever you are going through.

Love and blessings,

Pastor Sandra

Jesus said in Matthew 10:8, "...Freely you have received; freely give."

You can't give what you don't have. 

Many folks misquote Matthew 10:8 to read, "Freely you have been given, freely give." 

That misquote takes on a whole different meaning than what Jesus intended.   It denotes a sense of a demand from the Lord to give because He gave to us even if we haven't taken that gift.   Thereby, spiritually bankrupting many and placing them under a law they will not be able to keep.   They feel forced.

In actuality, Jesus wants us to know that it is only what we out of our free choice and free will receive that we will then be able to freely give to others.  For example, I can extend to (or give) you a million dollars, but if you don't take (or receive) it, you can't spend it and it will not be a blessing to you at all.

Beloved, God is not telling you to give what you don't have, but to give what you receive. Receive all that He has for you today and you will never be spiritually bankrupt!

Confess with me today, "I believe what Jesus said; I RECEIVE what Jesus said; I rest in what Jesus said."

You are blessed to be a blessing!

Pastor Sandra

Exodus 3:14, "...'This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (NIV)


Have you ever pondered the meaning of God's Name, I AM? That is the first Name He introduced to us through the scriptures even before Yahweh (or Jehovah). What does I AM really mean? Let us first look at it in Hebrew.

I AM is spelled הָיָה and pronounced Hayah. As you may know, Hebrew reads from right to left and each letter represents a picture. Here is the picture of God's Name I AM. The letter הָ is Hey, which is a picture of an open window. It represents God's Grace. The יָ is the letter Yod and is a picture of a hand. Put the pictures together and it shows I AM is a picture of Grace before a hand extended in Grace. Therefore, Grace surrounds God's hand! His Hand is immersed in Grace. Grace is what He puts His hands too. He is Grace!

With God there are no coincidences. Everything is carefully thought out and planned. Nothing is hap-hazardly thrown together. God purposefully sets everything in perfect alignment. That is how He knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb (Psalm 139). He carefully and wonderfully made you.

Since we are on the subject regarding the Hebrew language, here is another tidbit to know. This will really help you in understanding God's heart. The Biblical Hebrew language has been called the language of God because it is the language He spoke when He created all of creation, and the language Jesus spoke when walking on this earth.

Did you know that a Swiss scientist named Hans Jenny studied the wave phenomena of languages called cymatics? What he did was to speak in different languages through a tube called a tonoscope to see if the wavelength developed any patterns. At the end of the tonoscope was sand. All modern languages produced little results, but when he spoke Hebrew through the tonoscope, the sand took the shape of the Hebrew letter he was speaking!

Most interestingly, in the Biblical Hebrew language there is no future tense, only past and present tense. This means that when one speaks it, there is no reference to what will be, but only what was and what now is. That is why God's Name, I AM is not I WILL BE, but always present tense. This validates even more the following scripture in Psalm 46.

Psalm 46:1, "...God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." (NIV)

It is always today with I AM.

The Young's Literal Translation is the most accurate translation of the Hebrew words in the Bible, but it is hard to read because all verses are either written in the past or present tense. There is no future tense. Therefore, when God has given a promise (or blessing), the promise already is or was in God's eyes. Is this perplexing? Let's let scripture interpret God's "line" of thinking. Keep in mind, God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). God wants us to see good things as if they have already happened, as if we already have them.

Mark 11:22-24, "²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Jesus told us in Mark 11:22-24 that we must believe we have it NOW in order to see with our eyes what we have asked for come to pass. Here is another scripture to confirm that.

Romans 4:17, "As it is written: "I have made you a father (Abraham) of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." (NIV)

God told Abraham He had made him a father of many nations one year before Abraham had a son from Sarah. The above NIV translation shows it as present tense, but according to the Young's Literal Translation, the original Hebrew text is written in past tense.

Genesis 17:5, "and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for father of a multitude of nations have I made thee." (YLT)

Beloved, God has a reason for not speaking about His callings, promises or blessings in the future tense. The reason is not only because He is the God of today, I AM, but because if He did, then we would try and earn those blessings. We would still be trying to get from here to there. You see, when someone tells me I will be blessed, then I look for ways to earn those blessings. My thoughts are focused on if I only do this, or if I only do that then I am sure to obtain and keep His blessings over me. It's Jesus and me keeping things afloat. When the reality is, it's not about me at all. It's all about Jesus!

God in His infinite wisdom knowing that it is human nature to earn His blessings, He wanted us to know that we already have His promises and His blessings. Hence, the reason why He wrote to us in His original Hebrew language only in the past or present tense. We either have had them or we have them now. It is just like the fact that Jesus died for our sins 2,000+ years before we were born. Did you know that God saw Jesus crucified in the past tense before it happened, before the foundation of the world was created? The following scripture in the Book of Revelation confirms that.

Revelation 13:8, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (KJV)

Every blessing has already been provided to us by Jesus' finished work on the Cross. He is now sitting down at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3) and we are seated with Him in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The work is done, finished. We only have to receive His gift. We already have His Grace and blessings and we don't have to earn any of it.

Isn't it more freeing to know you already have God's approval, acceptance, blessings and love than to live in fear that somehow you will not measure up or make it and; therefore, miss out on His blessings? That is one more aspect of His Grace!

God has already blessed you! Be blessed and walk in it.

Pastor Sandy

John 8:12, "...He said, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (NIV)

Colossians 1:17, "He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together." (NLT)

I love to teach God's Word and I also enjoy science. I guess you could say not only is it a gift from the Lord, but it is inherent as I come from a long line of teachers both in the religious and secular arenas as well as scientists.  

 

In light of my family history (no pun intended in using the word "light"), I am thrilled each time science confirms one more reason why the Word of God is true!  What do I mean?

As I explain, please keep in mind the two scriptures above regarding Jesus is the Light and that He holds all creation together.  Are you ready for a short quantum physics lesson? 

Science tells us that our bodies are made of cells. Our cells are made of molecules. Once molecules were known in science to be the smallest particle.  However, as science developed, scientists found later that molecules are made of something smaller, atoms.  Atoms in turn are made of protons, neutrons and electrons.

Are you still following me?  Let's keep going and don't forget to keep the two scriptures above in mind as we continue on.

A proton is a subatomic particle found in the nucleus of an atom.  Each one possesses a positive electrical charge.

A neutron is also a subatomic particle found in the nucleus of an atom with no electrical charge. When neutrons bond with protons, it causes nuclear force.

In addition, an electron is a subatomic particle in the nucleus of an atom.  Each electron possesses one negative electrical charge.  Therefore protons and electrons attract to one another with positive and negative electrical charge.  This is happening inside of each cell of your body, exactly the way God designed it to work.

Now don't give up, we have a little bit more to learn before we see the relevance between the two scriptures above and what I am sharing scientifically.

All three subatomic particles, protons, neutrons (known as baryons) and electrons (known as leptons) are made up of quarks (ok, I'm not making these names up!).  We're getting smaller.  Quarks have gluons inside.

Do you know what is inside of a gluon? Gluons have what is known as photons inside. The word "photon" is from the Greek word phos which means light.   It is where we derive our word "photography" from (the Greek word phot, which means "of light" and the Greek word graphy means "drawing") which is the science of creating images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation.

Smaller still, a photon has a quantum (or minimum) of light (also known as electrical magnetic radiation) on the inside holding it together.   At this point, light is the smallest elementary particle known to science.

In the event that I have lost you somewhere in the translation, let me explain it this way.   Every cell in your body at its smallest point within is held together by light!  In fact, every thing created on the earth, also known as matter for if it is tangible and you can feel it, it is matter, is at its smallest point held together by light!

The Light of the World, JESUS (John 8:12) is in everything and He holds ALL creation together (Colossians 1:17)!   How awesome is that?  Bet you never knew how exciting quantum physics could be! 

In parting, I have listed a few more scriptures below to aid in cherishing the thought of how mighty and awesome is our God.  He is in us and we are in Him.

Hebrews 1:3, "The Son is the radiance [shining forth, of a light coming from a luminous body] of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." (NIV)  **The first words God spoke were let there be light (Genesis 1:3) and through that word He has sustained all things according Hebrews 1:3.

1 John 1:5, "This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all." (NIV)

Genesis 1:3-4, "And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness." (NIV)

Ephesians 5:8, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light [spiritual purity associated with it]" (NIV)

God bless you as you walk in the Light,

Pastor Sandy