He Was There All The Time

Here is another video I made.
He was there all the time is referring to Jesus who waits patiently for us to seek Him and the Holy Spirit draws us to Him. Many people get caught in a pattern of finding love in surface relationships and fail to find the love they were made for. This portrays women who try to find love and fulfillment in relationships. Even through the worst of relationships God is there drawing us to Him wanting us to find the love He has to give. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. The only way to heaven is to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. In doing so you will have eternal life and a peace that surpasses all understanding and goes beyond the temporal things of this world. Unlike a person in a relationship God will never leave you nor forsake you. I pray you will find Jesus Christ, the love of your life. Blessings in Christ Sharri

He's Been There

Click on the title for a video I made about how Jesus can relate to anything that you are going through because like the song says, "He's been there." Or you can click on the video player.
Whatever you are going through Jesus is the answer!
Hope you enjoy my first video. I have been so excited to get this done and share it with others.
Blessings
Sharri

Jesus our Kinsman Redeemer

Jesus is our Kinsman Redeemer who has bought us from the slave market of sin and death. In the ancient world slavery was very common. There were many ways a person would become a slave. He might be born into slavery or be a son of a slave who would also be considered a slave, be captured and led away in chains to a foreign country to be sold into slavery or because of debt one might sell himself into slavery to pay the debt owed.
Can a slave ever regain his freedom? Yes. But only if the redemption price is paid. According to Leviticus a person who was a slave could only become redeemed if one of his brothers redeemed him or if he prospered he could redeem himself.
"Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself." Leviticus 25:47-49
This was the law of the kinsman redeemer and to qualify as such the following requirements had to be met:
He must be a kinsman or related to the one whom was to be freed or bought out of slavery.
He must be free from slavery or the debt which had fallen on the one who was to be redeemed.
He must be able to have the necessary sum of money to pay the price.
He must be willing to make the sacrifice of paying the price.
Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements of the Kinsman Redeemer. "Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook in the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." Hebrews 2:14-15
Jesus fulfilled all four of the requirements of a Kinsman Redeemer.
Jesus became a Kinsman by becoming a man (thus related to us) as one of Abraham's descendants. God became man, but more importantly a Jew. If you belong to Christ then you belong to Him and are an heir with Abraham.
He was free from the bondage of sin. Jesus Christ was the only man who has ever been free from sin. From the day that Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden all have been under the slavery of sin. Only Christ was qualified to set us free from our bondage.
He was able to pay the ransom price. Jesus was God in the flesh. Only the death of such a One chould have been sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole world He who knew no sin became sin and conquered sin and death forever.
He was willing to pay the price. God loved us enough to send His Son to die in our place so we could be redeemed and have salvation. This is the great message of the gospel. It is the message that God’s love has triumphed over the work of Satan to set us free.
"That through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil."
The Lord Jesus Christ can redeem. He is able to save. God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name, and some day every tongue must confess and every knee must bow to Him.
"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11
Jesus wants to be your Kinsman Redeemer and save you from the slave market of sin and death. He will if you'll trust Him as Saviour.

Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. With all that is going on in the world how can we rejoice? We can have joy that comes from the Lord regardless of our circumstances. The joy that comes from the world is fleeting and temporary. There is security immeasurable that comes from knowing that God is in control and that regardless of what is happening in the world God is taking all that happens and working things together for the good of those that love God. This promise is found in Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." God allows events and circumstances in our lives that taken individually in and of themselves appear to be of no value or good to the Christian. God's ways are not our ways. God sees a purpose and a plan that we are unable to see. We look with human eyes and feel that many things in life seem unfair because we have finite thinking based on our senses of what is seen instead of supernatural spiritual eyes to allow us to see the unfolding of God's perfect plan. We are much more willing to attribute the pleasant events of our life to the hand of God than we are the painful experiences. We find it difficult to believe that an act of deliberate cruelty intended by an offender to hurt us is being used by God for our good. Some of the most painful horrific circumstances in my life have brought me to my knees and led me to becoming dependent on God. Rejoice in the Lord means to rejoice and praise God always even in the hardest of times. Since God causes all things to work together for good, we dare not assume that every individual event or circumstance will be perceived as good at the moment. It will only be recognized as good at the end of the process, when God is finished with His work in and for us. God’s promises and His prophecies set it out for us to see through the eyes of faith. Hebrews 11:1 tells us what faith is. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." As a Christian I have faith that God's word is truth and because I believe in what is unseen my hope rests on nothing less than God's word. Thus I can rejoice in the Lord always. Always means at all times regardless of the circumstances. James 5:18 also says "in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
God is sovereign. He is in complete control of every event and of every circumstance in His creation. He does not cause all things, such as evil, but He does control all things so that His will is accomplished. God’s sovereign control extends to the acts of unbelievers, of angels, fallen or unfallen, and even to Satan. The sovereignty of God is specifically applied to those who are Christians—those who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
God exercises His sovereignty toward Christians in such a way that everything that touches our lives has been allowed or brought about by Him. Those things which would prove to be detrimental to our good have been kept from us. Those things which will work together for the “good” God has purposed for us, God arranges and controls in such a way as to produce that good. Much of what is defined as being worked for our good is unseen and even in the future. It is a good we can hope for based upon God’s Word and believed by faith. That “good” includes our salvation, sanctification, and our full adoption as sons of God. What is the good that all things are working together for? To make us like Jesus. To be conformed to the image of His Son. There is no higher good than to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. The good is not to make us necessarily healthy or happy but to make us holy, to make us like Jesus. Our goal must be to be conformed to the image of God's Son. Also this promise is only for those who love God. The first and great commandment is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Whatever the circumstances that come to us, we can rely on God's promise in Romans 8:28. No matter our circumstances we can rejoice in the Lord always and no one can take this verse or this promise out of the Bible—and may Satan never take it out of your heart.

I made this graphic today since I was needing the Lord's strength. What a comforting reminder is found in Isaiah 26:4 of God's everlasting strength. I can trust in the Lord for strength. God is strength; everlasting strength. God is love; everlasting love. When I am weak He is my strength, my portion forever. Trust ye in the Lord each day; forever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Whatever I go through I can cling to God's promise that He is everlasting strength.
He is my Abba Father and can be your Abba Father by having faith in Jesus Christ. My salvation is secure. Is yours?

Art is a Gift of God

Like all gifts that God gives, I believe the gift of art is to be developed and then used for His glory. Sugar and Spice Graphics is an expression of my love for art but mostly the love I have for Jesus Christ and to give glory to God. Over the years I have done various types of artwork. As a young curious girl I loved the smell of a fresh box of crayons even if there were only 8 of them. I looked at the huge boxes of crayons that the other students had with the built in sharpener but I was happy to have my colors because they were mine and I could make scribbles or draw anything I wanted to without having to share them with my brothers and sisters on a brown paper bag. In Junior High I took a semester of art both years, then four years of art in high school. As with most art classes I was taught a variety of art, but I particularly was partial to sketching, painting and pottery. I never thought I was any good at anything in particular because I was introduced to such a variety of forms of art without having time to perfect any of them. I enjoyed working with clay because clay starts as hard and firm and with water and the heat of my hands I was able to mold and shape the most interesting looking creatures. I put much effort into making an ashtray however just for my daddy. It looked better once the kiln heated the glaze that I meticulously painted with delight, knowing I was making something for my daddy. I think he only used it because I made it for him because it was somewhat ugly actually. I once made him a sock doll which I later saw that he still kept in his clothes drawer. What a joy to know that those things meant something to him. I think I enjoyed making things more because of the joy I received in giving them once I made them. The years went on and I didn't do anything with my art ability until my daughter got interested in drawing. We both did the correspondence art course from Art Instruction school and then Harcourt Learning Center. They focused mostly on drawing and I started taking magazines, calendars and about anything that had pictures of people on them and drew with pencil and charcoal and did some acrylic painting. I even got good enough to do a huge painting of the Lady of Guadalupe for a hispanic woman. I later realized that the commandment of not making any graven images applied to that painting. I began to use painting as a way to express the abuse that I had endured most of my life. Most of my paintings were dark but I was able to express the inner torment that plagued me as no other way of expressing what happened to me could. I put some of my art in a survivor art show and also in a gallery and sold some. As I healed from my abuse I began to do pencil drawings until I started doing graphic art. Most of my art was portraits of women. I would take pictures of women from playboy magazines and put clothes on them with my graphic design skills. This was another way to heal from my abuse. My art took on a sexy flirty theme and I started making screen savers with titles and music. I became a Christian and my art became totally different. I started doing graphic art and began making tags and incredimail stationary using bible verses and my art took on a whole new dimension. I began to use the talent that I had to give glory to God. I am thankful for the years I was able to use art as a tool to heal and I pray that God will continue to use me for His glory.
This graphic was made with a tutorial from http://www.carolaineweb.us/