Your Personal Relationship With God by Carol DeBlasis

Philippians 3:7-11 "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (NIV - New International Version)

Have you ever thought about how privileged we are to be acquainted with the Son of God? I mean, think about it: we did nothing to deserve this divine relationship, yet, just because we believed - Jesus Christ came to live in our hearts.

Considering all He did to allow us this right, it seems like a small price to pay for His presence! For us as believers, no other relationship, or material possession in our lives can compare to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord!

The amazing young man that delivered folks from demons, raised the dead, healed the sick and preached the Kingdom of God is our Brother! What an amazing blessing! So what’s holding us back from diving headfirst into this miraculous kinship?

Perhaps it is the busyness of life, the desire to make a fortune, a feeling of unworthiness, or that no one has ever taught us that we were allowed to be intimate with our Lord. But whatever the reason, we must be like Paul and cast every excuse aside and press into this divine romance! Over and over again He has invited us to take His yoke, taste His goodness and receive His Light. He’s willing, are we?

We should be so willing, in fact, that we are ready to count everything a loss compared to gaining Christ and to be found in Him! Our relationship to Him needs to be prioritized over our possessions and our relationship with husbands, wives, children, parents, siblings, friends and even Pastors!

Because when we give Him first place, all of our other relationships fall under the same grace, love and acceptance that we experience with Jesus! We become better stewards, spouses, parents, grandparents, employees and church members.

And when you think about it, He is the only One who will be left when money, husbands, wives, children, parents, siblings, friends and Pastors are no longer around! So why not spend the majority of our lives investing in Jesus, since He will be the only One waiting for us at the end of this long, long road?

With arms held open wide, He is the only true friend we will ever have. He knows the most disgusting secrets of our lives and loves us anyway. He is always available and immediately on the scene when we call on His Name. What other “pitiful issue” in our lives can take precedence over our relationship with this gracious Lord?

We should want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. Our desire should be to become like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Worldly possessions and distractions should be cast aside in our pursuit of Christ’s power, love and humility! Oh to flow in the earth as He did: laying hands on the sick, loving the unlovable and sorrowing over the lost.

May we too glorify the Father at every opportunity and shine bright as the siblings of Christ!

We should be more than willing to do whatever it takes to know Him more and to be used to advance His Kingdom. After all, isn’t that what we promised when we originally invited Him to be the Lord of our lives? Didn’t we say “use me for Your glory”? Well, He’s here now to take you up on your offer. All He requires is to be the delight of your life and the very reason for your existence. Which is little to ask, considering that is exactly how He feels about you!

God Offers a Fresh Start Each Day

It’s January 2009 and it’s a great time to focus on the new year, new beginnings and making a fresh start.

As I discussed in this month’s Positively Sage column, God’s mercies are new each day. When we wake up in the morning, we have a clean slate for that day. God is a God of second chances.

Ezekiel Chapter 36 verses 24 through 27: “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all our idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (NIV)

What does this mean? Here is what the NIV Life Application Study Bible says about these verses.

“God promised to restore Israel not only physically, but spiritually. To accomplish this, God would give them a new heart for following him and put his Spirit within them to transform them and empower them to do his will. Again the new covenant was promised ultimately to be fulfilled in Christ. No matter how impure your life is right now, God offers you a fresh start. You can have your sins washed away, receive a new heart for God, and have his Spirit within you – if you accept God’s promise. Why try to patch up your old life when you can have a new one?”

If you are ready to receive the Lord, will you pray with me?

Dear Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart, forgive me of my sins and allow me to feel your Holy Spirit. Lord, I ask you to make all things new. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Friend, God wants to make all things new for you. God bless you now and always!

Sage Buitron
Founder
www.positive-talk.com

Let There Be Peace on Earth.....

Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth,
The peace that was meant to be.

With God as our Father,
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother,
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me,
Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take,
Let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment,
And live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.

I wish each of you a peaceful, joyous and very Merry Christmas!!!

Sage Buitron

FounderPositive-Talk.com

My Testimony by Sage Buitron

( Photo: Me and my precious daughter, Isabella. I now realize each birthday I celebrate is truly a gift from God. Each day is a gift!)







God has been pressing upon my heart for the last few months, asking me to write about my personal testimony of how I came to know Him.

I have to admit I have been resistant. Each month, I have been putting off writing about my testimony. I think it’s because I don’t like to talk about the negative things that brought me so much pain. I am a firm believer in pressing forward and leaving the past behind.

But it is those very negative “things” that are responsible for my new life. The pain I went through, both physical, spiritual and emotional, brought me to my knees. I had to get on my knees, humble myself before God and cry out to Him to heal me in mind, body and spirit. And He did!

My story begins approximately five years ago in 2003, when my husband and I began trying for a second baby.

Our marriage was very much on the rocks and God knew a second child would not be in the cards, but I was hard-headed and persisted in trying for a second baby anyway.

We saw a fertility specialist and so the roller coaster journey began. I had lots of complications with the hormones I was injecting, but during one attempt we did get pregnant. However, I knew something was very wrong six weeks into the pregnancy when I was doubled over with a stabbing pain in my left side. I was taken to the hospital at 7p.m. and by 10p.m. they were performing an emergency laparoscopy due to the ectopic pregnancy that was suspected.

When I awoke, my suspicions were confirmed. It was indeed an ectopic pregnancy. They also had to take my left fallopian tube. If an ectopic pregnancy ruptures, the result is likely fatal and I had given permission to take my fallopian tube if necessary.

Aside from feeling physically horrendous after the procedure, I was incredibly depressed. In the days that followed the miscarriage, a non-stop, excruciating pain developed in my low and mid-back. The pain was debilitating, it never stopped. I became sleep deprived, irritable, even more depressed and the pain grew more intense.

I cried a lot. I remember standing in the shower, tears streaming down my face and I silently began to pray to God for Him to either end my life or take the pain away.

In the weeks that followed I researched and found a pain management Dr. She placed me on lexapro which she said helps greatly with chronic pain. She also placed me on kadian, which is slow release morphine. Meanwhile, this Dr. began giving me monthly epidurals which were excruciatingly painful. She eventually went deeper into the spine by treating me with neuro-foraminal injections. These were even more excruciating. But with each series of injections into my spine, I noticed my chronic pain was improving. My Dr. is a practicing Christian and very involved in her church. As I lay on her treatment table, she would speak blessings and words of encouragement over me. She told me I was going to be fine, that I was doing great, that I would be healed very soon.

I also began attending church. I sat in the back and most Sundays I just wept and wept, especially during the worship music. I filled out a prayer request card asking for prayers of healing, I went forward and prayed with elders during service and they prayed for my healing, I prayed constantly for God to heal my chronic pain.

At one point in my journey the pain was so bad, I could not sit or stand for more than 10 minutes at a time. I was only 40 years old and I felt as if I were living in a 100-year-old body. One that had betrayed me on every level.

I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. As I prayed, God opened my heart wider and wider. He showed me His everlasting and enduring love that He has for me. My heart became soft and I could feel God moving in my life. My treatments continued, the nerves in my spine began to heal more quickly.

After 12 treatments, each a month apart, I asked the Dr. to take me off of the morphine. She did so and I eased off of it with her medical expertise within 10 days. I chose to stay on the 10mg of lexapro and it is a medication that I still take daily.

Today, I am a single mom. God healed my chronic pain, but my marriage was not salvageable. However, it is this very chapter in my life – my journey with chronic pain – that brought me to the Lord. I would not have chosen this path for myself, but it is the path that I needed to take. Today I give thanks for all that has happened.

I was baptized in October 2005, along with a very dear friend of mine. I was baptized as a young child, but this time it was a personal decision for me because I chose to be baptized.

It is through my growing relationship with God that this website was born. God spoke to my heart about launching this site and nine months later, the site is growing and God just continues to amaze me. In this month of Thanksgiving, I am so grateful, sometimes my heart feels like it is just overflowing.

I am grateful for the life God has given to me. I’m grateful for the daughter I have. I’m grateful to be alive and to be healthy and pain free.

Now that I know Jesus, I know that no matter what comes against me, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

That gives me great comfort. I want to know God even more and to live a life that honors Him and brings Him glory.

If you are reading this and struggling in your life, I want to encourage you to find a good bible-based church. I also want to encourage you to invite Jesus into your heart.

You can say this simple prayer:

Dear Lord: I ask you to come into my heart. Forgive me of my transgressions. Thank you for loving me and for dying on the cross for me. I make you Lord of my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer, congratulations friend, you have been born again. I encourage you to read your bible each day, to get stronger by being with fellow believers and by attending a bible-based church.

Thank you for reading about my testimony.

May God Bless you now and always!

Smile Pastor Terry and Edna - You're in the Encourager Spotlight! by Sage Buitron

Pastor Terry and Edna Piscatello – You may have retired from Parkway Christian Church in Davie, Florida, but you can’t retire from our hearts. If ever there were great encouragers, it would have to be the two of you.
Pastor Terry, not only did you lead your sheep for almost a decade at Parkway Church, you wept when we wept, you laughed when we laughed, you gave praise when we were victorious, you prayed over each of us and you led me right to the Lord when I was hurting physically and spiritually. You ministered to my hurts and encouraged my walk with God. You checked in often to see how Isabella and I were doing. You and Edna hugged us each Sunday after service as we walked out the church’s doors to head back into the world.
I was blessed to be baptized by you – a day I will never forget. If it were not for you Pastor Terry, I might still be struggling physically and spiritually. But God used you in such a glorious way. We were blessed to be your sheep. I am forever thankful that you were my Sheppard. We miss you, but we know that God has very special plans for both of you. God Bless You! We love you, Sage and Isabella

Congratulations Otis Brown, You are in the Encourager Spotlight by Sage Buitron

Not many people get to say they have two moms. I am one of the very, very lucky ones!

My “other mother” or “second mom” as I like to refer to her is Otis Brown. Otis has been a friend to our family for 35 years.

I know that God was guiding my mom, Sheila, when she found herself in desperate search of someone to help her out with the craziness of looking after four very young children while my father worked and traveled for business.

My mom needed someone reliable, trustworthy, organized, helpful, balanced, loving and calm. She needed a rock to lean on. God led my mom right to Otis Brown.

Otis has been a constant rock in all of our lives. Not only was she there to help my mom while we were growing up, but she has gone on to help me and my sister with our families, as we attempt to balance our busy lives between work and home.

Otis is one of the most Godly women I’ve ever known. She is a prayer warrior, and I know she has prayed for my family and over my family for decades. I credit Otis with bringing more Godliness into my own home as a single mother.

I owe you a debt of gratitude Otis. Words can never express the depth of love in my heart that I have for you and for the countless ways in which you have blessed me and my family.

I love you!