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A LeAnn Ross

@a_leann_ross

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Acknowledging God In All Of Life
“Everyone enjoys a fitting reply;
it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!” ✝️Proverbs 15:23

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Who are the most difficult people to forgive?

Repeat offenders.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

I heard my daddy quote this adage on many occasions, mostly while trying to teach my siblings and I not to be gullible.

Paul says something very similar regarding our spiritual enemy, the devil.

Don’t want to be outsmarted time and again?

Learn to recognize the thief, who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy.

Someone, a brother, was wreaking havoc in the church at Corinth.

Paul must have written between the letters we know as First and Second Corinthians to counsel and warn the new believers on dealing with conflict within the church.

We learn that it saddened him to write and that his instructions were a test of their faith.

He also counsels them to forgive this brother so that he will not become discouraged.

“Anyone you forgive I also forgive.

Was there anything to forgive?

If so, I have forgiven it for your benefit, knowing that Christ is watching.

We don’t want Satan to outsmart us.

We know how he does his evil work.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬-‭11‬

How do we know?

God has revealed in His Word all that we need for living godly lives.

From the first chapters of Genesis through Job to Jesus’s testing in the wilderness, we see the enemy’s lies.

“But I am not surprised!

Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭14‬-‭15‬

“As you forgive, I forgive for Christ is watching,” Paul says.

But why forgiveness?

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you,” wrote American theologian and author Lewis B. Smedes in his book Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve.

#outsmarted #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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13 hours ago

Anyone who has ever raised children know they mimic us.

They become what we say and do routinely.

Though we tell them one thing, instructing them in the way we want them to go, they emulate us.

The sobering truth is that we are their first glimpse of Jesus.

Until they come to know Him for themselves through God’s perfect Word, our relationship to our children, the biological ones and the spiritual ones, is the way they will relate to God.

Everything we say or do every moment of every day teaches.

We are Christ’s ambassadors.

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.

So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

If your gift is serving others, serve them well.

If you are a teacher, teach well.

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.

If it is giving, give generously.

If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.

And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭6‬-‭8‬, ‭11

Christian, you are influencing the world for Christ and it begins with the next generation.

Your obedience to your Heavenly Father matters.

Your joy in the Lord communicates volumes to a discontented world. We are to be envied.

We have the greatest gift ever given and He lives in us.

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.

And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭19‬-‭20

#tobeenvied #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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4 days ago

While Jesus’s listeners were busy creating a hierarchy of sins, assuming someone to whom something bad happened must be on the receiving end of God’s judgment, Jesus warned them to tend to their own houses and be ready for the Lord’s coming. (Luke 12:35-48, 13:1-5)

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?

I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.

It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock.

When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.

But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation.

When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭46‬-‭49‬ ‭

“And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.

No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭13‬:‭3‬, ‭5

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’s name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.”(Edward Mote, 1863)

#twobuilders #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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8 days ago

Jonah’s story remains one of the most well known Old Testament Bible stories of our day but like many Bible stories retold, especially for children, we have romanticized Jonah as some sort of hero of the faith.

Jonah was far from heroic.

He would fit in perfectly with many of today’s comedians and commentators who use tongue in cheek humor to try and make what’s wrong in our world laughable, thus minimizing its seriousness.

One commentary called the book of Jonah a mirror, revealing us at our worst if we are willing to face its reality.

“For the word of God is alive and powerful.

It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow.

It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.

Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬-‭13‬

Jesus cited Jonah as a sign to the Pharisees and the teachers or the law who would have been very familiar with this brief prophetic narrative.

They, like Jonah, condemned as unrighteous anyone they judged unworthy or unfit for God’s kingdom.

Yet on one occasion, Jesus called them blind guides, saying, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites!

For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces.

You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭23‬:‭13

In the four chapters of Jonah, as in Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan, the people you would expect to act in obedience to God are the ones who refuse to obey while the pagans seem to have God’s Word written on their hearts and respond with faith.

#heartitude #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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12 days ago

May we recognize what the people of Judah did not.

Though man looks on the outward appearance, God sees the heart. (I Samuel 16:7)

My posture in worship cannot hide an unyielded spirit.

My pious sounding prayers may impress some people but not God.

Offering up everything I own does not excuse my disobedience.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭10‬

Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬

“Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him.

But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people.

No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.”
‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬-‭25‬ ‭

“Jesus… knew how fickle human hearts can be.

He needed no one to tell him about human nature, for he fully understood what man was capable of doing.”
‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.””
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬-‭24

#goingbackwards #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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15 days ago

Since Titus was born, Thomas and I have been enjoying some deeper conversations.

When he’s excited or frustrated and feeling the pressure of being good all day with a new baby at home, I remind him that we are both the oldest of three siblings now so we have things in common that only oldest children can understand.

He feels things deeply and he can sometimes be storm-tossed by his emotions.

That, of course is true of all of us.

It came with our fallen nature, the one we inherited from Adam.

When Thomas is open to talking, I make a point to guide him to scripture.

The Bible is filled with practical wisdom designed to aid in living a godly life in a fallen world. (II Peter 1:3)

The one prerequisite for comprehending it is God’s indwelling Spirit. (I Corinthians 2:15-16)

Thomas has not yet made his profession of faith but his heart is tender toward the things of Christ and he is learning to know God through His Word.

It is only a matter of time before he responds to his Maker and begins to walk in genuine relationship with God in Jesus.

What he now knows will belong to him by faith.

As his mom’s favorite verse declares,

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬

Since we are created in the image of God, we have an eternal spirit that will outlive our earthly bodies.

We were each conceived in the mind of God long before our parents existed.

Before God breathed life into Adam, He knew our sin and still He chose to awaken a people for His ultimate glory.

He knew our many sins as he knows our thoughts and the number of hairs on our heads and still Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

Jesus is God saying I love you, I am for you, and I am with you forever.

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8

#howyouloveme #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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22 days ago

Nothing compares to the joy that comes from keeping in step with the Spirit.

I can spend hours reading and studying scripture in context and in commentary and days or weeks meditating on a certain passage of scripture and in a single culminating moment, God’s Spirit can open my eyes to His Truth.

Every time God downloads understanding of His Word, I am overcome by tears.

Since I began blogging five years ago and even earlier when I began teaching Bible lessons, there has never been a doubt in my mind that God is guiding me by His Spirit just as Jesus promised. (John 16:13, 14:26)

I only marvel with David, asking, “Why?”

“what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭8‬:‭4

“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭25‬:‭4‬-‭5

#scripturethatsticks #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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25 days ago

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.

And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.

God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.

When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭3‬

We are indeed blessed to have more access to God’s Word and to study materials meant to make the Bible understandable than any generation before us.

We must also be more discerning than any previous generation.

We must not allow the word of any human, no matter how convincing, to hold the place reserved for God’s Word alone.

If you only have time to read one book, it had better be your Bible.

#scripturesthatstick #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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a month ago

Marriage and motherhood are more sanctifying than any other roles I have known.

God perfectly designed living, breathing mirrors to reveal my own humanity and to call me to holiness.

I have the same choice as Eve.

I can deny my sin and seek to hide from omniscient God, which is only lying to myself, or I can humble myself, confessing my sin with a broken and contrite heart and find rest for my soul. (I John 1:8, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 51:17)

Watching five year old Thomas and two and a half year old Timothy with their new baby brother Titus has been such a beautiful blessing.

So has sitting with their mom during late night feedings and supporting her as she heals and recovers.

I see the tiredness in her eyes behind the joy.

I watch her push herself beyond reasonable limits for her sons and her husband and still show gratitude and concern for me.

I know this is possible as she relies on Christ, abiding in Him daily, confident that in her weakness, He is strong. (II Corinthians 12:9)

“He takes care of his flock like a shepherd.

He gathers the lambs in his arms.

He carries them close to his heart.

He gently leads those that have little ones.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭11

#proudmamamoment #motherhoodasacalling #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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a month ago

Thomas and Timothy met their new brother, Titus, today.

Until this weekend, my five and two year old grandsons have interacted with their brother through the bump on mom’s tummy.

They’ve kissed him sweetly, talked to him and prayed for him, and starting last week, they’ve adjured him to hurry up and get here.

In their young minds, his arrival would bring another playmate, ready to don baseball gear and join in their backyard games.

He will indeed… eventually.

Their mom has been preparing them for months for how fragile their new brother would be but her cautions were entirely abstract until today.

“Gentle hands,” she repeats frequently. “Love brother easy.”

Is this not the essence of what Jesus taught?

Scripture is full of gentle reminders.

“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭18

#gentlereminders #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife 💛 by @a_leann_ross

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a month ago

Accountability has become a double-sided coin in our world.

No one wants it imposed on them but everyone demands it of others.

In the political arena alone, think of the oversight committees formed to unearth corruption on one side of party lines while refusing to accept responsibility for one’s own failures.

We want others to answer to us while we remain answerable to no one but as I remind my grandchildren, God is always watching.

He is not out to catch you with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar, though He sees and knows your thoughts.

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬

Jesus taught that in the world, we are to be like Him, not copying the behaviors and customs of the world but letting God transform the way we think.

When we abide in Him, obeying His commands, we show our love for Him and we become true worshippers in spirit and in truth. (Romans 12:2, John 4:24)

“So Jesus called his disciples together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.

But among you it will be different.

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭42‬-‭45‬

“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?

Any comfort from his love?

Any fellowship together in the Spirit?

Are your hearts tender and compassionate?

Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭13‬

#obscured #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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a month ago

Only God is in a proper position to recognize when wickedness has reached its zenith and requires judgement and when human hearts are humbled before Him in true repentance.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.

In quietness and confidence is your strength.

But you would have none of it.

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.

For the Lord is a faithful God.

Blessed are those who wait for his help.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30‬:‭15‬, ‭18‬

Translated from the Latin, to revert literally means to turn back or to return to a previous state.

Whether this reverting is a good or bad thing is based solely on its direction.

As God stated to Israel through Isaiah the prophet, “Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved.”

Even as He commanded it, He recognized that the people’s hearts were already turned away from Him.

“But you would have none of it.”

This was not the final word of His judgment however.

God’s patience is without equal.

“He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” (II Peter 3:9)

So He waited for Israel and He waits for us still.

#revertingorrevering #afittingreply #readthebible #hopewriterlife by @a_leann_ross

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a month ago