Still Praising Jesus With Arms Wide Open

My new grandson will be here any day and I am quite excited to hold this precious one. I have been thinking of starting a business at home. We need the extra income and it will help with me still being able to stay home with the children. It will be an online shop on Etsy. It will take awhile to get it up and running as I will have to get some equipment and learn how to use it. It will be an exciting adventure as well as having the kids help me. I want to make shirts, mugs, hats, etc... I have been doing a lot of research on this and I have a lot of unique ideas. I may try to make wood signs as well or any other crafty thing I can learn how to do. I wish I could start now but must be patient until I can get enough to get started. Once it is up and running (hopefully in the next couple months), I will post the link here. :) That is about it at the moment. Hope all of you are doing well and goodnight.

I posted this on facebook a year or two ago and it popped up on my "memories". Thought I would share it with you and hope it helps someone else today. We have all done things we are not proud of. Some of our mistakes are displayed publicly (a divorce, rebellious children, etc…). Some are private and only known to God and ourselves. No matter which ones, they’re not pretty. We have done things we regret and for the rest of our lives, there will be times where we still mess up. It doesn’t mean we don’t love God or that He is not in us. It doesn’t mean we still can’t be used by God or that we can’t produce good fruit because we have produced some bad fruit. God’s chosen people went against God at times. We would consider it to be horrible things if a Christian did this today. God called certain people to do certain things. Some strayed from His plan and took matters into their own hands. There were consequences for their actions, but God still said they were people of the faith. In the New Testament, some of these same people were mentioned in Hebrews 11 which we call that chapter The Hall of Faith. Their mistakes were not mentioned in the end. Their FAITH was what was mentioned. God still used them after adultery, murder, possible rape, and many other sins that Christians would be appalled to hear about today from a fellow Christian. Does it make it right what they did? Of course not! But, God continued to use them and He saw their hearts. When a Christian messes up and it is displayed publicly, so many others ridicule and some would say that Christ is not in them. Some that sinned already feel guilty enough, have repented, and have taken it up with God. Yes, we are supposed to hold each other accountable and call each other out on things so it can edify us as individuals and edify the whole body. But, this is not what the world sees from most Christians. It is so easy to point the finger to someone that has been divorced if you have never been divorced. If your children walk upright and wait to have sex until marriage, it is so easy to point the finger at someone whose child did not. We still believe God can use people that even make really big mistakes. God has already proven that. I believe in Grace. I believe in Mercy. I believe in Forgiveness. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe a Christian can still mess up big time after they have even seen God do miraculous works. When we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to be released in us and guide us every single day, our flesh wins. I had wonderful Christian friends when I was doing everything right. As soon as I fell, more than half of them left. As soon as a child of mine fell, friends left me, too. The world sees more of what we are against, than what we are for. When you view Christianity as a set of rules only, you become more judgmental. You become a Pharisee and tell people what they are doing wrong. You feel more righteous than others because you are following the rules and someone else isn’t. You may not even realize you are doing it. I think all of us Christians have been guilty of that at one time or another. “They will know you are Mine by your love for one another.” "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." What the devil meant for harm, God can turn it into good. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.These are things I am thinking about and hoping someone else needed this today.