Acceptance

For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. Ephesians 1:4-6 (NIV)

We may never receive the full acceptance and approval of the people in our lives. But God has already given us His approval and His acceptance. He chose us. What a thought! He chose us. He didn't have to, nor was He forced to. He loved us before we even loved Him or thought about Him.

Would we dare to even think of living our lives without acknowledging Him?

I know me and I know God knows me. Yet it amazes me that He would still choose me. I struggle so much, I start and I stop. I fight to discipline myself. I have a lot of insecurities and am very self-conscious most of the time. Yet, God predestined me to be used of Him.

Unbelievable!

Mind-boggling!

Humbling!

Lord I thank You for not giving up on me. I thank You that despite my many many faults, You still saw fit to choose me to be a part of Your Kingdom. Thank you Jesus for Your unconditional love. Thank You Lord, for working with me, working on me and by Your Holy Spirit working through me. In Jesus name. Amen

Blessings,
Vickie

Book Review....Max Lucado's "Fearless"

I have heard of Max Lucado, read a few articles by him, but I have never read any of his books. This was my first and I was not disappointed. I first of all was very impressed by his style of writing. It is so captivating that I could hardly put it down. He really has a way with words. This book is so timely. With all that's going on in the world everyone is full of fear. Those who have are afraid they will lose what they have and those who don't have, fear they will never get what they dream of. Many people are living with secret fears and life seems so hopeless for a majority of them.

This book "Fearless" does an excellent job in exposing fear and then showing the way out. It shows how baseless some fears are and even if you have legitimate fears, Max Lucado is not shy in pointing you to Jesus. I really
love the fact that He doesn't hide Jesus behind positive thinking or the likes. His use of the Word and his trust in it encourages you to look to faith in God as the only way out, with numerous supporting examples from the word itself, from his own life, those of his friends and others.

I've already recommended this book to others and am in the process of rereading it
as there are some very valuable things I want to remember.

A very good read.


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FEARLESS
Max Lucado

We fear being sued, finishing last, going broke, the mole on the back, and the
sound of the clock as it ticks us closer to the grave. Every season seems to bring fresh reasons for fear.
And it feels dreadful. Fear sucks the life out of the soul, curls us into an embryonic state, and drains us dry of contentment.
Wouldn't it be great to escape it? What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats?
According to Jesus, this is possible. The one statement he made more than any other was this: "Don't be afraid." In this book Max Lucado invites you to consider Jesus' invitation to courage.
Fear will always knock on your door. Just don't invite it in for dinner. And for heaven's sake, don't offer it a bed for the night.
The promise of Christ and the contention of these pages are simple: we can fear less tomorrow than we do today.

Blessings,
Vickie