As I Grow Up

Join As I Grow Up in reading Psalm 30 and talking about what happens when we turn our prayers of mourning into prayers of praise. Open your Bible to Psalm 30 and read along. Blog reference: Joy Comes Through the MourningWhy Sorrow Must Give Way to Gladness

In Hebrews Chapter 11, the Bible gives us an account of the heroes of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says: But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must (unnecessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and listen to this episode of "Faith" God Bless.

In this podcast, I talk with Joseph Collins, Outreach Ministry Leader of Kingdom Church, about his personal testimony and what the Lord has led him to do in outreach ministry. Enjoy this personal testimony. God Bless You!

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and listen to this fantastic audio of evangelist Daniel Carver as he gives his personal testimony and shares the ministries he and his family are involved in with the Philippine people.  You can find Daniel Carver on Facebook and support his ministry via PayPal @voluntarilyHIS. Thank you so much for supporting As I Grow Up, and I hope you find this podcast fantastic as I did. God Bless You!

How do you speak to yourself? What words do you say to yourself out loud or in your mind? Proverbs 18:21 says: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it (for death or life). Speak words of life over yourself. Also- buy yourself a copy of "Battlefield of the Mind" and learn where the battle comes from and how to fight it with God's Word. Be Blessed.

What a week. First, I hit my head on the top of the car, causing a contusion. Then I messed up my blog to the point where I actually thought deleting it made sense. And as if that wasn't enough, I convinced myself I could create my own website. What a mess it has been this week. Do you ever have those weeks or days when all you do is mess up? Know that God is with you through it all. God Bless and Have a Great Weekend.

Changes are a certainty in life. How do we cope with them? Grab your Bible and lets read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and talk about changes. Thank you for listening. God Bless.

Revival is happening in Asbury, Kentucky- but did you know it is happening in Africa, India, and other places worldwide? We need revival. We need it desperately in the United States. We need it in every home and heart before the return of Christ Jesus. Grab a cup of coffee and have a listen. Thank you for your patience and understanding- trying to get better. God Bless You, and may you experience the revival of the Holy Spirit in your heart.

Is your brain mush right now? Do you have a lot on your plate? So much you forgot how to put on your shoes? Please grab a cup of relaxing tea and listen to this podcast about my mind of confusion. 23 minutes long, but I think it is worth it. https://asigrowup.blog

Do you ever wonder what you would do without your kids? I do. Especially today when one of them is being mean. Thank you for listening. Please excuse my amateur nature- still learning.

Has anyone out there watched The Chosen? I admit when I first heard about it, I was somewhat skeptical. I thought it was another show about a stern and pious Jesus walking around quoting scripture and having a little personality. I was wrong. It is so much more. Growing up, Jesus never laughed, smiled, or danced at a wedding. Those things were heresy because Jesus was the Son of God, and all I knew was a stern, judgmental God. Yes, He loved me, but He loved me from far away, and He was always ready to send me to hell for messing up, and somewhere out there in the heavens was a lightning bolt with my name on it. That perception changed as I grew in my faith, and I began to realize that God loved me more than I could ever imagine, but I kept messing up, and in my mind, still, was that image of the judgmental and disappointed God that could never fully love me after all I had done. Late last year and early this year, I began to watch The Chosen, and it surprised me. This story about Jesus and how He chose His disciples, and how people were drawn to Him made me rethink that image that had been burned into my brain throughout my life. I saw Jesus smile and laugh and dance. He was often weary and needed to rest. He was hungry, and He was thirsty- He was almost human. I say that lightly because He took human form to be with us, to show us the road to salvation, but He was, and is, and always will be, God. One of the pivotal scenes in The Chosen made me ugly cry. It changed something in my heart. Let me try to set the scene for you- briefly, if possible. Mary Magdalene, as we know from the Bible, was a follower of Christ. Jesus delivered her from the possession of devils, and she was considered a prostitute. Perhaps she gambled and drank with men in the dark rooms of Galilee- she was a fallen woman, and Jesus turned her life around. He offered her salvation, and she followed Him faithfully upon her acceptance of this tremendous gift. Something happens to Mary Magdalene when a stranger, possessed by demons, enters the camp of Jesus and the disciples, and she walks away from the base back into the city, where she resumes her old life. Two disciples are sent by Jesus to find Mary and bring her back. When the disciples find her, she is broken in her spirit because she walked away from the love of God and returned to sin. How many times do we do that? Jesus asks the disciples to bring Mary to His tent, and instead of scolding her and preaching to her, He welcomes her back with love, mercy, and grace. Of course, she is ashamed and unworthy to even be in His presence. She says she has nothing to give Him, no reason or explanation for her sin. But Jesus tells her to look at Him, His face full of love- and says to her that all His Father wants is her heart. So different from the Jesus I grew up with- so different from the parents and friends I grew up with. So different in how I treat myself after doing stupid things and making mind-blowing mistakes. I still expect thunderbolts. If I could ask Mary Magdalene one question would be ‘how did you feel in that moment?” She would probably say she felt loved more than she had ever had in her entire life. I don’t know if this moment ever really happened, and it does not matter. What matters is I saw Jesus forgive and Jesus love- not condemn. How would you feel at that moment? Read the blog for yourself at: https://asigrowup.blog Thank you- I hope you enjoyed it!