Devotional: Can You Hear Me Now?

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Revelation 3:20

There is a song out by JJ Heller titled "What Love Really Means" There is a part in the song that really speaks volumes in our relationship with God, here are the lyrics..... "He's waiting to die as he sits all alone he's a man in a cell who regrets what he's done he utters a cry from the depths of his soul "Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home". Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside and it said, "I know you've murdered and I know you've lied and I have watched you suffer all of your life and now that you'll listen I'll, I'll tell you that I will love you for you not for what you have done or what you will become..."

This is what really tugs at my heart, God says to this person in the song, "and now that you'll listen I'll, I'll tell you that I will love you for you not for what you have done or what you will become..." How many times have you shut God out? How many times has God been willing to come into your life, your heart and fill you with peace and joy? But we don't listen to God...for a number of reasons, we don't trust Him? We want to do things our way? We are angry at Him because of something that has gone wrong in our life? We have a misunderstand what it all means. We simply don't believe in His power, love, mercy, grace and forgiveness? The amazing character of God is He always loves you and as soon as you say the word, He will enter into your heart.

Today's verse demonstrates that God is ready and willing to enter in your heart anytime you invite Him in. This is a two way relationship and you have to be willing to invite Him, listen to God, hear His voice and receive the gifts He wants to give to you. It breaks my heart that people wander through life with a heavy heart and some, when they come to the end of their ropes they cry out to God, why not cry out to Jesus before you get to a point of feeling hopeless & despair? Perk up your heart and listen to how God is trying to reach you!

God wants a personal relationship with you, He sent His son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16) which broke the veil (Matthew 27:51 & Ephesians 2:14) and allows us to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Let's Reflect:  I encourage you today, right now, that if you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, please pray this verse...Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for being my Savior. I invite you into my heart and I pray that you would give me a heart to hear when God speaks to me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

Be Blessed…Be Bold in the name of Jesus!

You can also follow me on South Jersey Christian Events at http://sjchristianevents.com/devotion-can-you-hear-me-now/

JJ Heller song on You Tube: http://youtu.be/PgGUKWiw7Wk

Devotional: Jenga Anyone?

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the Rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the Rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose and the wind blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” -  Matthew 7:24-27

Have you ever played the game Jenga? If you have, then you know the key is to keep the foundation of the blocks intact because as soon as you remove the bottom blocks the whole tower falls down. The same is true with our life, our relationship with Jesus Christ. When we don’t keep Christ as the foundation in each and every circumstance in our life it’s like removing the bottom blocks and things in our life fall apart. Jesus had the above verse to say about our foundation. I don’t know about you, but I sure want my house built on the Rock-Jesus Christ!

I want to encourage you (“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11) to pray continually as this is part of keeping Jesus Christ as your foundation. Invite the power of the Holy Spirit into your life, each and every aspect and circumstance. In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells his disciples that when He leaves a gift from God will ascend upon them, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Wow! How wonderful that we get to have 24/7 access to God’s Holy Spirit…amazing. But listen to what else God has to say about His Holy Spirit in your life, Ephesians 3:16-21 “I pray that out of His glorious riches He many strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in Love [which is God], may have power, together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Remarkable! I am so excited that God will allow Christ to dwell in my inner being!

Let’s Reflect:

Is the burning question then, “How do we keep our foundation in Jesus Christ?” It’s not just one answer, because it takes more than just one thing, all of these things work together and can’t be isolated. Let’s start off with some basics; Prayer, studying God’s word (as it’s merely not enough to just read it), fellowshipping with other believer’s and attending a bible based church on a regular basis….just to name a few. I would encourage you to look up some scripture this week that gives direction on these points.

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I am amazed that you want to allow your Holy Spirit to dwell in my inner being. Please give me clarity on my journey with you Jesus for me to have the discipline and understanding on how I can continue to grow in Your word and have a solid foundation built on You, my Rock and my Savior.

Be Blessed…Be Bold in the name of Jesus!

Suzanne Willliams

Link to weekly devotional page: http://sjchristianevents.com/jenga-anyone/

Devotional: Let Freedom Ring!

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:16,17 NIV

The 4^th of July/Independence Day is a time of celebration, celebrating our freedoms and liberties here in America. A lot of us got off from work, watched parades and fireworks, invited friends over to BBQ. How many people stopped to actually think about why we get to celebrate this Independence Day? Don’t most of us go through the day and have fun but not honor the reason?

So many people treat their relationship with Jesus Christ in the same way. We take advantage of the freedom we have in Christ at the cross. We need to celebrate the freedom we have in Jesus Christ by engaging in a deeper relationship and showing the “Fruit of the Spirit” in our lives, by being in fellowship with God (through prayer, reading His word & worshiping Him) and serving Him. However, so many of us just go through the motions of our Christianity; attending church, even serving in ministries’ and more, but the intimacy of being in a relationship with Jesus Christ is missing. When the intimacy is missing, how can we truly embrace and engage in the freedom Christ has for us? Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, what then? God’s word says we are called to live by the Spirit. “Live” is an action word, so we need to take action.

 Let’s stop going through the motions.  I want to challenge you, what will it take for you to get a deeper intimacy with the one who is your Creator and your Savior?

Prayer: Lord God our Creator and Savior who gave us freedom and eternity, please show me how I can grow deeper in a relationship with you and follow your ways.

I encourage you to read and study these verses this week and I pray that they do encourage you in your growth in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18

Galatians 5:13, 16, 22, 23

Luke 11:13

John 14:26, 20:22

Mark 1:35

Luke 6:12

James 2:14-19

Be Blessed...Be Bold in the name of Jesus!

Suzanne Williams 

Link to weekly devotional: http://sjchristianevents.com/let-freedom-ring/   from July 9, 2012                           

New Adventure!

I am really excited about my new adventure....writing devotionals on a weekly basis for the website for South Jersey Christian Events, http://sjchristianevents.com/. You can go directly to the devotions site by using this link, http://sjchristianevents.com/devotion-let-freedom-ring/. 


My desire is to encourage and challenge your walk with Jesus Christ, over Lord and Savior. This is what God's word has to say about that....


Romans 11:12 "...that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."


Colossians 2:1-3 "I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."


1 Thessalonians 5:10-12 "He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."


Be Blessed...Be Bold in the name of Jesus!


Peace Out! Suzanne