TUESDAYS WITH TIZ

Abiding in Christ

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.” John 15:4

What does it mean to Abide in Christ. The word “abide” means to “rest, remain, or continue in.” I must abide in Him if I am to experience the Grace Walk.

If I am abiding in Him, then I am resting, remaining and continuing in Him. Friends, there is no short-cut, no substitute, for the quiet rest of abiding in Him daily, minute by minute. You see, it is living from the inside out because the abiding life is a God-Centered Life. It is a life where we spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer, not because we have to, but because we want to. It is a life where we go to bed with Him on our hearts. We wake up with Him on our mind and in our thoughts. We walk with Him and we talk with Him.

I like using my imagination and just imagine Him holding me in His arms while He tells me how much He loves me and how special I am to Him.

As I walk, clean house, iron, weed and dead head my flowers or whatever I am doing, I can be affirming who I am in Him and who He is in me. I affirm that I am a Child of the Most High God. I am complete in Him. I am clothed in His Righteousness and I am a partaker of His Divine Nature!!! There I go typing myself into the Glory Zone again!!!!
To be continued next week………

“Father, I praise and worship you for who you are today. I thank you for the privilege of abiding in Christ. What a rest!!!! Bless each person reading this post today with an assurance of Your presence in their life. In Jesus Abiding Name, I pray.” Amen

THANKFUL THURSDAY WITH JC

A rainbow is special. I don't know anyone who doesn't marvel when they see a rainbow.

Rainbows are mentioned 4 times in scripture. Genesis 9:8-16 in the story of Noah, God told Noah that the rainbow would be a covenant between Him and the earth that He would not destroy the earth with water again. I noticed God didn't tell Noah that when Noah or his family saw the rainbow to remember but that He (God) would remember when He saw the rainbow from Heaven. Don't you wonder what the rainbow would look like to God? I do.

In Ezekiel 1:28, Revelation 4:3 and Revelation 10:1 the rainbow is associated with God's glory.

I can't help but think of God's goodness when I see a rainbow. It doesn't matter how tired I am or what may be stressing me at the time, when I see a rainbow it is as if God is putting on a show just for me.

Now I know the science behind rainbows and they can be explained away but truth to me is, I don't see rainbows every day so when I do I feel incredibly blessed. This was the case yesterday when I saw the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. It had been a very long, stressful, tiring day. Braces were put on my upper teeth yesterday. When I saw the rainbow, my spirit did a happy dance. I got out of my car and just stood and marveled at its beauty. A special gift from the One who loves me.

Father God, how awesome You are. I don't have the words to express to You how blessed and favored I felt when I saw the rainbow yesterday. You knew I needed to know You were close and in control and You know exactly how to get my attention and speak to my heart. Thank You! You work all things together for my good and Your Glory. How awesome You are. Father, I ask if any one reading this post needs to know Your close by, send them a rainbow. In Jesus' precious, holy and powerful name I pray. Amen

TUESDAYS WITH TIZ

Walking in the Will of God




"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

Another great truth about my Grace Walk is that God is in complete charge of everything. If He isn't, then He is in charge of nothing. He is in control of the universe and all that is in it and I am in it!!! He is sovereign and He will work out His perfect plan for my life. The Spirit of Christ is my internal Guide. This guarantees that I am able to walk in the Will of God. It is not up to me to find the Will of God for my life. God will make His will known to me as I abide in Jesus Christ. That takes the pressure off me. That is God's Amazing Grace.

What is God's will for me? JESUS IS GOD'S WILL FOR ME!!!! The Will of God is a Person, not a path or a plan. As I abide in Him, He will work out His perfect will in my life. I don't need to flatter myself by thinking I am big enough to stop it!!!!


"Abba Father, I praise your sovereign name today. I thank you that you love me enough to give me the assurance that, not only have you taken care of my sin problem, but you are also working Your Will in my life day by day. Bless each person reading this post today with an assurance of Your Love for them. In Jesus blessed name, I pray." Amen

THANKFUL THURSDAY WITH JC

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Phil. 4:13 NIV

I can make it through anything in the one who makes me who I am. Phil 4:13 MSG

I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. Phil. 4:13 AMP

I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me. Phil. 4:13 KJV

When difficult times arise do you remember Phil. 4:13? I hope you do. I'm guilty of not always remember this verse. The context of the verse is Paul saying he knew what it is like to have nothing and to have plenty. He had learned to be content with much or little. What a wonderful testimony!!! To learn to be content whatever our circumstances. Paul knew this because he knew his strength came from the one that make him. How cool is that.

Well, yesterday my dentist quoted this scripture to me. You see I'm going to be wearing braces for awhile, then have dental surgery, followed by more braces and finally in a couple of years dental implants. The first of the process began yesterday when the orthodontist put spacers between my upper back teeth to make room for metal bands that will go on next Tuesday. I went to my Dentist office for a cleaning yesterday afternoon. After the cleaning the Dentist looked at my teeth and the spacers, looked me in the eye and quoted Phil. 4:13. He told me to remember that verse when my mouth was sore and to remember the end result will be worth it.

Little did I know he meant I would be sore TODAY, very, very sore. But, thanks to him I'm clinging to Phil. 4:13. I may have many Phil. 4:13 days ahead. So when you get down and discouraged have yourself a Phil. 4:13 day.

Father God, how wonderful you are to provide just what I need when I need it. Thank you for providing me with Godly Christian Doctors who are not ashamed to speak your word to their patients. I am so blessed. Father, if there is anyone reading this post that needs to be encouraged, I pray they go to your word. In Jesus' holy and powerful name I pray. Amen

TUESDAYS WITH TIZ

Loving Him

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37

Another thing I am learning in my Grace Walk study is that Jesus does not want my performance. He wants me.!!! He is not interested in what I can do for Him. He wants me!!! He wants an intimate relationship with me. I am His Bride. Intimancy develops between those who share themselves with each other. As I communicate with Him in prayer and in His Word, I am spending time with Him and expecting to hear His voice. As I spend time with Him in His Word I get a biblical understanding of my relationship with Him.

The more I know Him, the more I love Him. As I have come to understand my identity in Him, it is just natural to desire an intimate relationship with Him. I realize that He wants a bride who loves Him and not a maid to serve Him. (I am typing myself into the Glory Zone again!!!!!)

So, friends, I will just love Him, rest in Him, abide in Him and we will do the serving through me as He so desires. That's Grace!!! That is His Amazing Grace!!!!

"Father, I am overwhelmed that you chose me to be your Bride. It is just amazing to know that as I abide in You and love You intimately, you will, in turn, love and serve through me. Bless each person reading this blog post today with your Amazing Grace. In Jesus loving name, I pray." Amen

Jen here...

I stand amazed at the way God works. He is so personal to each believer's walk and life. It is not a cookie cutter faith - looking the same for each believer - but a personal relationship tailored to speak to the heart of each individual child of God.

My family and I went to New Orleans this weekend. Although I have to admit the decadence of behavior there was at times shocking, I have fallen in love with certain aspects of this city. The history represented in the architecture is amazing. The number of things for a family to do were wonderful. The sense of safety that I felt as we moved around the city was surprising.

But there was a sense of purposefully avoiding certain areas to keep our visit family friendly. I feel like this is probably true of any major city where there is a large concentration of humanity in a relatively small area.

Maybe New Orleans does have a bit of a reputation like some larger cities. It was certainly understood that as tourists, we needed to be mindful of our own naivete.

I was not expecting God to speak to me in such a mighty way in the "Big Easy."

My husband and I had watched a couple of shows about natural disasters and the destruction that had ensued. My spirit was feeling oppressed by the negative images that I had steadily put before my eyes that evening. I needed to be lifted.

Having left my Bible in the car, I searched in the nightstand on my side of the bed for the Gideon Bible that most hotels have tucked away. The Bible was not there. I leaned across the bed and checked the other nightstand. There it was. I thumbed through the pages waiting for the Word of God to open itself to me and reveal what I would read that night (I do wonder if I am the only person to seek God's voice this way). As I was thumbing through, I spotted where someone had underlined and circled verse numbers. It was in the first and second chapters of Judges, but mostly in Judges chapter 2.

I must confess, I get easily confused when reading the Old Testament. I have been a Christian for many years and I guess it shouldn't confound me as it does. I adore The Book of Psalms (easily one of my favorite books of the Bible) but the historical books lose me at times. After reading these chapters, I went to my computer, looking for commentary that would help me understand what I had read. I wound up HERE.

I should probably go into what the Lord revealed to me but I'm afraid I will make a mess of it. All I can say is I realized small sins and my backslidden behavior have done a lot of damage in my life lately. I did not "drive out the inhabitants" of sin in my life... have not obeyed His voice.... and it has driven a wedge in my life spiritually. I confess this as sin and ask God to forgive me of it.

Did He want me to realize this? Yes, because there I am staying in the room with the Gideon Bible with the scriptures underlined in it that He used to speak to me and convict me.

Judges 2:5 says "And they called the name of that place Bo'chim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord." Bochim means mourning or weeping. This was the only scripture the previous reader of the Gideon Bible circled. It spoke to me... Do I want to live a life of joy and obedience or do I want to live a life of disobedience and weeping?

I want to live a life of joy and I can only do it through Christ.

Father God... forgive me. Thank you for being patient, for not giving up on me. You have said that I am yours and no one can snatch me out of your hand... thank you that even I (and my sinful behavior) cannot take myself out of your hand. Thank you for the finished work of Salvation through your Son.

In Jesus name, Amen.




*Circled verse numbers were:

Judges 1 verses 21,27,29,30,31, and 33
Judges 2 verses 2,3,4,5 (and circled scripture),7,8,9,10 (scripture in brackets and "which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel" underlined), 11,12,14,and 15.

THANKFUL THURSDAY WITH JC

Sometimes life just gets a bit too serious and I need to laugh. You know a merry heart does good like a medicine and nothing makes me feel better than a really good, laugh till I cry, run to the restroom laugh. You know what I mean? The kind of laugh that makes others think you are having some kind of spell. Well, I love Christian comedians or any other comedian that can be funny without being rude or vulgar. You know what I mean? I hope so. Anyway, one of my favorite Christian comedians is Chonda Pierce. Now I admit her voice takes some getting used to but so does Joyce Meyer. She if funny to by the way.

Tonight I needed to laugh so I went to YouTube to see if I could find a Chondra Pierce or Mark Lowery video and I did.

I wanted to share one with you so I hope Jen can put it on this post for me. As you know I'm not very techno savvy and don't know how to put a YouTube video on a post. I'm sure it can't be that hard but I couldn't figure it out. I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning when I check to see if this post is up if Jen got my email. OH ME, the things I'll do for a Thursday post. The reason I find this particular video so funny is that I am easily distracted by body piercings in places like noses and lips. I see a lot of those in folks where I work and the mall and Walmart and the grocery store, etc.

*I did JC! Love you!



FATHER GOD, ABBA, DADDY, HOW WONDERFUL YOU ARE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HUMOR. THANK YOU FOR PEOPLE WITH THE GIVE OF MAKING PEOPLE LAUGH. WHAT A WONDERFUL GIFT TO HAVE. THE GIFT TO COMMUNICATE IN A WAY TO LIFT ONES SPIRIT AND SHARE YOU AND YOU'RE SON AT THE SAME TIME. FATHER BLESS PEOPLE THAT MAKE ME LAUGH AND YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE. FATHER IF THERE IS ONE PERSON READING THIS POST THAT NEEDS THEIR SPIRIT LIFTED WITH A REALLY GREAT LAUGH, I ASK YOU TO GIVE IT TO THEM. YOU KNOW FATHER, I THINK JESUS HAD TO LAUGH, YOUR WORD SAYS HE LOVED CHILDREN AND HE DID TURN THE WATER INTO WINE. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO LAUGH ABOUT AT A WEDDING. I THINK YOU DELIGHT IN MY LAUGHTER MORE THAN MY TEARS. THANK YOU FOR THE SIMPLE MEDICINE OF LAUGHTER. IN JESUS' PRECIOUS, POWERFUL AND JOYFILLED NAME. AMEN

TUESDAYS WITH TIZ

Total Surrender


“I have been crucified with Christ: and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” Gal 2:20

In the Grace Walk study I discovered that life is not about me. The Grace Walk is all about Him and Him living His Life in and through me. In order for Him to live through me I saw that any and everything concerning me must be totally surrendered to Him.

Total surrender means to give Him permission to do anything He wishes to, with, in, or through me!!! Total surrender means I give up my will, my plans, hopes and dreams. I also give Him my family, my finances, my problems and my time. Everything concerning me must be surrendered to Him if I am to experience the Grace Walk.

Total surrender is the most freeing, satisfying, thing I ever did for myself. I have no desire to take back any “rights” I thought I ever had. Oh, the world, my flesh and satan all scream at me, saying “those are your rights, take them back”. I know better – I like being free!!!!

“Father, I praise you today as my source of Freedom and Peace. Thank you for setting me free from myself and all that entangled me. I pray that someone reading this post today will surrender all to you and experience real freedom. In Jesus freeing name I pray.” Amen