Jesus in the Nail Salon

What girl doesn't love to be pampered?  Having your nails done or a good hair cut just gives you an extra pep in your step.  However, there is a small problem.  These things cost and, sometimes, are not so cheap.  I debated on whether or not to have my nails done a couple months ago.  I could have sent money to support an orphan or help a friend in ministry.  That was literally my thought process.

I ended up deciding to treat myself while Anneli stayed at home with her dad.  As soon as I sat down in the nail salon, there was a lady in the chair directly beside me.  Instantly, she shared with me that it was her 46th birthday.  She was so excited to have her nails done as a special birthday treat!  In no time, she was sharing with me about her life and the health issues she had gone through over the past year.  Her story was heartbreaking.  I was thankful I was there to pay for her nails as a birthday gift.  More than that, I was thankful I had the opportunity to share with her about Jesus.  She was not sure if she would go to heaven.  Her first reason for not being born again was that she had smoked for years.  I told her that God loved her no matter what she did.  He is Love.  After paying for our nails, I had the opportunity to sit with her at a bench in the mall and lead her to the Lord.  As she walked off she said, "Now that was fun!"

She received the best birthday gift of all.  She knows that she will be with Jesus forever!

I haven't had my nails done since, but maybe I should go more often!  No matter where you go, Jesus is there.  He loves for us to enjoy things.  As much as we want to give gifts to our children and make them happy, God's desire to make us happy is even greater.  Enjoy life in abundance!

-Keeli Fawcett

Bathroom Breakthrough: Jesus the... Adulterer?

We are in perfect union with Jesus, as a wife is in union with her husband.  Jesus set very high standards for His bride.  In John 14:12, Jesus said that whoever has faith in Him will do the works He has done and even greater.  Translation: All things are possible.  Reality bends its knee to the name and authority of Jesus.  As a believer, you carry His authority and have taken on the name of Christ, just as a bride takes on the name of her groom.  It was Jesus’ will for His bride to have dominion on the earth and subdue evil.  Then why is the church quick to blame God for something bad?  Matthew 12 is a beautiful picture of Jesus clearly telling the religious folks that He is not operating with or under the influence of the devil.  In retrospect, the devil is also not under the influence of Jesus. The devil is in an nonredeemable rebellion against God.  When we are under the influence, we are full of life, love, joy and the fruit of the Spirit.  The devil has no life, love, joy, or any fruit of the Spirit.  The enemy came to kill, steal, and destroy.  He is a defeated foe.  We have Christ in us… the hope of glory!  Heaven would be bankrupt of glory if we needed anymore.  We have the fullness of God within us.  We do not have a portion of the Holy Spirit.  Even Jesus said that God gives the Spirit without limit.  His goodness and glory fills us.  There is none to spare for the devil.

With that being said, Jesus does not use the devil to accomplish something intended for His bride.  A husband seeking sex apart from his wife with a prostitute is still fulfilling his desire for sex but it makes him an adulterer.  That husband’s desire, as pure as it may have been, becomes tainted in its satisfaction outside of marriage.  Jesus doesn’t seek to fulfill His will and desires through someone outside of His bride.  Jesus and the devil are not having a secret love affair behind our backs.  When the church awakens to this, we will stop blaming God for “using” sickness, pain, disease, poverty, natural disasters, and a life of hard knocks to bring Himself glory.  Remember, in John 9, Jesus said the man was born blind to bring glory to God.  If the glory was in the man’s blindness, then Jesus brought an abrupt and swift end to God’s glory.  But He didn’t!  Glory was not in the handicap but in the healing.  Jesus heals the man of blindness.  He works all things together for good.  All things include some bad things.  He turns bad situations around in confident triumph over our defeated foe.

In conclusion, God doesn’t bring storms, make people sick, or humble you through bad situations. He loves you faithfully.

“If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.” –2 Timothy 2:13, NLT

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzX0jIS-zro?rel=0]

Jonathan Fawcett

Bathroom Breakthrough: The Blame Game

God is good, the devil is bad (and a defeated foe).  Simple?  Not for many in the church.  Though it may seem like common sense, it's often a perspective that is warped by repetitive garbage that we hear, see, and experience.  Have you ever sung, "You give and take away," on a Sunday morning?  The New Living Translation says that Job takes back everything he said (Job 42:5-6), including the line responsible for the bridge of that song.  John the Baptist made an accurate claim of Jesus taking away: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29, NIV) Jesus never blessed a storm.  He never turned someone away from receiving healing.  He didn't teach people a lesson by making them sick.  Enough with the blame game!  Detox, watch, and share:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuXlTjdte3A]

Jonathan Fawcett