Posted by: judyhitson | July 24, 2024

The Grace of Worship

The Grace of Worship
by Judy Hitson

Psalm 22:27 NKJV All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s, and He rules over the nations.

Hang on Christians! Don’t give up but give all your concerns over to the Lord. We have so much to look forward to, like this time we read of when all the ends of the world remember and turn to the LORD and all the families of the nations worship before Him.

Reading through all of Psalm 22 we see the suffering, praise and posterity of Jesus Christ as Messiah.

What a contrast this is to think about with the decline of the world we are experiencing at this time of history. Yet it gives hope for how wonderful the new heaven and the new earth will be at the second coming of the Lord.

Now to think about the grace of worship, it is a beautiful thing. How could we worship except for the grace of God?! It is a wonderful spiritual fulfillment to embark in the grace of worship. For the Lord is worthy. As we read in Ps. 22:28, “the kingdom is the LORD’s, and He rules over the nations.”

I am thankful for God’s grace and mercy extended to me through my life. That is His great salvation, deliverance and healing.

Just the title alone of this devotional melts my heart!

Worship to me is drawing near to God, soaking in His presence in the Spirit who gives life. I think of
John 4:24 NKJV, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

This is all by God’s grace.

Looking up the word grace on Dictionary.com, the Theological definition is “the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.” How precious to see this facet of God’s grace available to us. Let us practice the grace of worship.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us as Your people to occupy until You come and worship You in the beauty of holiness as You exhort us in Your word. (Ps.29:2, Ps. 96:9)

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Posted by: Administrator | July 11, 2024

Grace to Proceed in Trust

Grace to Proceed in Trust
Receive God’s Favor on Life’s Journey
By Brenda D. Flowers

Psalm 84:5, 11-12 NKJV
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage…
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You! 

This summer, I am participating in a small group Bible study, focusing on the Psalms. A new friend, Cynthia, graciously invited me to join her and several other women in her home each Friday morning. By God’s prompting, I decided to attend.

Cynthia is leading the group as we journey more deeply into God’s Word. We are hungry to know the truth of God’s Word and to faithfully apply it in our lives. We want to grow in community to encourage each other as we pray for each other. I did not know any of the other women in this group until we started gathering together. But immediately I felt a unity of the Spirit. 

I see in God’s Word that God wants us to be on pilgrimage with Him and others. We are on mission as His faithful followers.

 When on earth, Jesus modeled His dependence and trust of His Heavenly Father.

As we are studying the Psalms in more depth together, we are realizing how Jesus and his disciples would have known the original lyrics and melodies of these songs and most likely would have sung them together as they were traveling.

Can you imagine Jesus and His disciples singing the words of the Psalms as they walked on paths to future destinations?

“O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!”

 Can you imagine how His disciples’ faith grew as Jesus shared stories of God’s faithfulness?

Jesus often quoted God’s Word to His disciples. He was led by His Father to share Truth with them.

Jesus knew His disciples would need help to live purposely with Him. He sent the Holy Spirit to help them stay on His prepared path for each of them.

By the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have God’s grace to live on mission with Him, too. We may endure hardships, but we can trust He is with us. We can proceed forward in our life, experiencing God’s favor and many blessings.

Father in heaven, I want to learn and grow to be more like Jesus, being on mission with Your guidance. Thank You for these readers. I trust You to give us Your grace, Your favor, as we step forward in faith on life’s purposeful pilgrimage. Thank You, Jesus, for showing us the way.

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Posted by: judyhitson | June 24, 2024

The Grace of Joy

The Grace of Joy
by Judy Hitson

Acts 20:24 NKJV But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit let Paul know chains and tribulations await him, read:
Acts 20: 22-23 NKJV. These are the things Paul meant when he said none of these things move him.

Can you imagine?

Wow! Only by the power, love and sound mind of God’s Spirit can Paul or anyone else put Christ first to finish their race with joy while awaiting chains and tribulations.

This reminds me of Jesus in Hebrews 12:2 NKJV looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Joy is a choice. The question is: Will I consider it all joy when I encounter various trials? We read about this in James 1:2-3 NASB Consider it all joy my brothers and sisters when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

If we choose joy in our trials and tribulations, we will be following in the steps of Jesus and as we read in our verse today, we will also follow in the steps of Paul.

Consider the grace of God you’ve experienced in your life. Have you thought about sharing these experiences as the gospel of grace? We often hear the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ or of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Our verse today gives us the perspective of grace in sharing the gospel. It is the good news of Jesus Christ in our own personal lives as born again Christians led by the Holy Spirit to give glory to Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

In my personal life, God has surely extended His grace to save me from my sins and fill me with His Holy Spirit to give me life to live Christ.

Closing Prayer: Father in heaven, thank You for Your grace, that is Your great love, giving Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ that we may believe in Him and have eternal life. For us who believe, I pray You grant us the power, love and sound mind of Your Spirit to choose joy in our trials realizing it is a test of our faith. Amen.

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Posted by: Administrator | June 11, 2024

Grace and Peace from God

Grace and Peace from God
by Brenda D. Flowers

Grace to you and peace from God Our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  (2 Thessalonians 1:2, NKJV)

Do you have any letters or cards you have received that you treasure? I do. In fact, I have special boxes where I keep these treasures.

Why keep these letters and cards?

I guess I’m sentimental. But I believe the reason I keep these “treasure boxes” filled with letters and cards is because of the messages hidden within them.

The words encourage me. As I read the words, I recall special memories or people. The words, especially the handwritten messages, also give me inspiration, hope and love.

Even after reading only a few of them, I feel energized to share more with others so they too may be encouraged and blessed as I have been.

I love that the Bible includes the letters of people of faith who had first-person encounters with Jesus after His resurrection.

The Bible to me is a treasure book or love letter. I can read over and over the inspired words of God and be encouraged.

I notice that the writers of the letters in the New Testament (Paul, Peter, John and others) often included the statement “grace to you and peace from God” (or similar wording) somewhere in the greeting, body or closing of their letters.

For example, when Paul wrote his letter to a predominantly Gentile audience in Rome, he was inspired to write:

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1: 7,  NKJV)

 Grace and peace are like book ends to the glorious life we can experience in Christ.

The writers of the epistles, under the direction of Holy Spirit, wanted us to know this truth.

I encourage you to read through the letters in the New Testament and jot down key messages about God’s grace and peace that comfort and inspire you.

You might want to keep these special love messages from God in a treasure box or journal to recall and share.

I am excited to see how God uses the letters in the Bible to encourage us to live for Him. May our lives exemplify His grace and peace and inspire others to trust Jesus Christ for resurrection life, giving Him glory.

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Posted by: judyhitson | May 29, 2024

The Grace of Inheritance

The Grace of Inheritance
by Judy Hitson

Acts 20:32 ESV And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Grace truly is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

He suffered, died and was buried for us as sinners to save us from our sins and He was raised from the dead to give us eternal life with an eternal inheritance and eternal rewards. In our key verse we read that God gives us the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. When we are born again of the Spirit at the second birth, we receive salvation. Sanctification, is a process of maturing in Christ.

As for inheritance, we find in Gal. 4:7 NLT Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heirs.

How wonderful that God has given us so great a salvation to be His children adopted into His family and make us His heirs.

I don’t know about you, but for me it is difficult to grasp being joint heirs with Christ, Rom. 8:17. Yet it is true for it is the word of God.

How then shall we live in light of this truth?

I hear, “All that is mine is His and all that is His is mine.”

Let us walk in the reality of the grace of our inheritance and have the assurance of the authority we have in Christ when we pray, live and minister to those in need. For example, consider deliverance and healing, mercy and compassion, protection and provision and more.

 Remember Christ in you the hope of glory, Col.1:27. Let us walk in the reality that Christ is our Blessed Assurance. Perhaps you are and experience the fruit of your labor. In that case, I applaud your maturity in Christ.

For me, I see it is a progression step by step in the Spirit and by the Spirit giving us life to live Christ who is our inheritance (Lam.3:24; Ps.16:5). As we stand on the promise of God’s inheritance as His children, we can experience the blessing of the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, Gal. 5:22-23.

In 2020, we wrote on the topic of inheritance. If interested, check ChristianWritersCircle.com and look back at the writings that year.

Prayer: Thank You Lord for the blessing of Your grace of inheritance for us who are sanctified.

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Posted by: Administrator | May 15, 2024

A Place to Find Grace

A Place to Find Grace
by Brenda D. Flowers

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4: 15-16 NKJV)

Have we fully grasped what Jesus accomplished when He came to earth, lived a sinless life and died on the cross? His broken body and blood sacrifice paved the way for us to have restored relationship with our heavenly Father, extending to us His mercy and grace through Jesus Christ.

 At the time of Jesus’s death, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. God was making it clear to all the people who observed this miraculous event and to us in the gospels that no longer was it necessary for God’s people to go through a regular priest to have access to God. 

Jesus Christ is the Mediator of a better covenant. 

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5, NKJV)

May we fully believe and understand that we may come boldly to God’s throne of grace because of the work of Jesus Christ. 

When we spend time in communication with God through prayer, we receive grace for our daily living. Grace is the power, the desire and the working of God’s Spirit to do God’s will in our lives. 

When a person yields his sinful life to God, fully trusting in Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life, he is saved through the power of God’s Holy Spirit at work in him. 

But beyond our initial salvation, God gives us grace to live life victoriously each day as we rely on Him. 

Lord, may we surrender the throne of our lives, our control, to You. You love us and provide the help we need to live abundant lives standing for Truth. Thank You, Jesus, for being the way, the truth and the life. As our Great High Priest, we can trust You to intercede for us and to give us the grace to live to give You glory.

What a joy it is to enter into Your presence, Lord, which is the place where we find grace.

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Posted by: judyhitson | April 22, 2024

The Grace of Deliverance

The Grace of Deliverance
by Judy Hitson

Romans 7:6 NKJV But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I grew up hearing and believing the Gospel. That is the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The problem I had was being taught faith in Jesus Christ through good works. That may come under the category of a false gospel. Do you think?

All I knew was being steeped in the doctrine of a particular denomination. This caused me to miss the  true gospel which is to “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” Acts 16:31.

When it came to the Bible, it was a Holy Book for the church leaders to read and explain.  At the time, it wasn’t a book we were encouraged to read on our own. 

I was taught rituals to follow and prayers to memorize. It was like following the law, not learning about grace and the love of Christ.

Praise God, after being born again when I was 36 yrs. old, He brought Christian women in my life. They invited me to a weekly prayer group in a home, took me to a Women’s Christian Bible Conference and asked me to join a weekly Women’s Bible Study. After a few years of growing as a woman of the Word, I learned of a woman teaching on Deliverance and Healing at a church. The teaching and her testimony brought me to tears. Though I was learning to walk with Jesus, I felt like Lazarus coming out of the grave with grave clothes to remove. The teacher had an invitation for prayer. I couldn’t go forward fast enough wanting her to pray for me.

I won’t go into detail of this experience except to say when she prayed for me it was like she read my mail. No one ever prayed for me like that. She took authority against religious spirits and invited the Holy Spirit to minister life to me and freedom in Christ. When I left the church that day I was free in Christ’s love and life in His Spirit. Instead of following church rules and regulations, I learned to practice the presence of God where there is fullness of joy, Ps. 16:11.

Prayer: Thank You Lord for the ongoing ministry of Deliverance to deliver us from bondage and set us free in Christ. Amen.    

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Posted by: Administrator | April 9, 2024

Grace and Truth Revealed

Grace and Truth Revealed
by Brenda D. Flowers

For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift]. For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1: 16-17, AMP)

On Wednesday morning, the last week of March 2024, during “Holy Week”, I had the opportunity to teach a class of 1 year olds this simple Bible verse, “…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” To plant the seed of truth in their little hearts, we sang this verse to the melody of “Skip to My Lou”, (Singing the verse 3 times and ending with singing the Bible address “John 1: 17b”)

I shared with the children how prayer is talking to God. I prayed with them asking God to show them how much He loved them. I thanked God for sending Jesus to earth to take away our sins so we may truly live with Him.

In preparation to teach these little ones, I thought about you, the reader of this post. Some of you fully understand why Jesus came to earth and why He suffered a cruel death on a cross; however,  there may be others who do not. May we all grasp the greatness of the gospel message, “Jesus is alive!”

There is no doubt for me that if one reads and studies the Bible with a searching heart, he or she will discover how God was very intentional in His plan to redeem us and to empower us to live in victory.

Paul, a former persecutor of Christians in the 1st century was transformed by Jesus to become a faithful missionary and church planter. He testified regarding God’s grace and truth in many of his letters in the New Testament, and he explained why Jesus came:

For God made the One who did not know sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God through our union with Him. (2 Cor. 5: 21, NKJV)  

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2: 8-10, NKJV)

Before I went to bed last night, I had been praying about how to close this blog post. Around 3:00 AM, I awoke suddenly hearing in my spirit the word, “fulfilled”. The experience prompted me to pray, “What are You saying to me, Lord?”

Be full-filled! came to mind.

I felt as though God was challenging me to write about how we can trust God completely to fill us with His essence.

Jesus is our all in all! We can be filled to overflowing with His love, grace and truth when we choose to trust Him. God gives us the full embodiment of Truth and He bestows His grace so we may live on mission with Him.

Living for Jesus is a fulfilling life!

Because of Jesus’s finished work on the cross and His resurrection, we can experience new abundant life in Him, now and eternally. Let’s rejoice together in knowing Jesus spoke these words before He died on the cross, “It is finished!”

Believe Truth.

We can trust God has great things in store for us who do believe! Let’s join our hearts in praise.

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Posted by: judyhitson | March 25, 2024

The Grace of Healing



The Grace of Healing
by Judy Hitson

Psalm 30:2 NKJV O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.

Yes! Time and again I have cried out to the Lord my God and time and again He healed me. How He has bestowed His grace of healing upon me, I don’t understand, but I will be forever grateful.

 Two examples from my life come to mind in regards to healing. One is on physical healing while the
other is inner healing. Both are important for our lives as you may have experienced in your own life.

It was frightening the day I couldn’t articulate my speech. With the fear of having a stroke, I asked the Lord what to do. I heard, “Tell your husband to take you to St. Thomas Emergency Room.” Unable to speak, I wrote a note with this request and soon we drove to that hospital. Only the Lord could provide the best Neurologist in town to see me in the E.R. before leaving for his vacation. He gave instructions to the E.R. doctor to admit me and put me on IV Heparin. Praise God for healing me. By morning, my speech
was restored and I was discharged from the hospital with no ill effects.

Examples like this of healing in my own life are treasures
in my heart and remind me to pray for others to be healed.

My experience with inner healing occurred over a period of years. Now as I recall past hurts, I realize inner healing is a lifelong process to work through even in our latter years. It is amazing how hurts from
our childhood can come fresh to our minds with stark memories that cause us to seek the Lord’s continued healing.

One example in my life is childhood hurts speaking harsh words and negative name calling that our family inflicted on each other. I said when I got older, I would never act like that with my husband and children. Unfortunately, the negative patterns of my childhood were reenacted until I came to a love relationship with Jesus Christ. I began to cry out to the Lord and He healed us.

Praise God for His words of life and transformation to heal our hurts. Here are two verses the Lord spoke to my heart for our family and He started to bring changes in our lives:

Ephesians 4:32 NLT Instead,
be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God
through Christ has forgiven you.

Proverbs 15:1 NIV A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.



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Posted by: Administrator | March 11, 2024

Illuminating Grace

Illuminating Grace

by Brenda D. Flowers

Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with him.

Whatever the revelation-light exposes, it will also correct, and everything that reveals truth is light to the soul.(Ephesians 5:8&13, TPT)

It is interesting to me how artists and cartoonists innately use symbols of light, such as a light bulb or a light shining on a person, to illustrate a person having a creative idea or a person coming into understanding.

God’s light illuminates the mind and heart. He initiates this light, a gift of grace.

The Bible says, God first loved us.

When we fully understand the magnitude of what God did for all of lost humanity, we acquire this understanding by way of His illuminating grace.

Jesus, God’s Son, willingly obeyed His Father. He came to earth to rescue us. He willingly died on the cross to save us so we may be forever with Him. He conquered death so we may have resurrection life with Him, and He gives a guarantee of everlasting life with Him by sending us His Spirit.

Have you received God’s gift?

I remember when I experienced God’s saving grace and understanding of what God had done for me, I truly felt like a light bulb was turned on inside of me. The Gospel message was no longer a mystery to me. I believed in the truth of the words I read and heard from the Bible and I was willing to trust God.

Throughout my journey as a Christian, God has continued to illuminate His Word to me. One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 119. The writer of this acrostic poem, beautifully expresses His longing to have greater revelation of God’s ways and he deeply expresses his love and trust of God’s Word.

As I read this psalm, I often do so prayerfully, speaking the words as though they are my words.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119: 105, KJV)

Break open your word within me until revelation-light shines out! (Psalm 119: 130 a, TPT)

The process of sanctification is God’s doing. God empowers and equips us to be more and more like Jesus by awakening us to Truth and helping us to change by His Spirit. He also matures us to deepen our understanding of Him so we may transmit His light into the world.

We are enlightened the more we remain in His Word and in His presence, allowing God’s light to transform us.

We can trust this amazing truth and promise spoken by Jesus:

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, NKJV)

James, Jesus’s half-brother under the inspiration of Holy Spirit, exhorts his brethren in the faith not to err from truth, but to trust God’s truth:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.(James 1: 17,NKJV)

On March 31, 2024, Christians all over the world will celebrate Resurrection Sunday, Easter. In this time of preparation, may we truly seek the Lord for His illuminating grace to reveal how we may trust Him more and grow in maturity. May we grow in understanding His mysteries so we  may live brightly for Him.

I pray His Light may touch many lives for His glory in this coming season of rejoicing.

Father of lights, thank You for sending Your Son to be the Light and The Way to restored relationship with You. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit who enlightens Truth within us so we may grow and be transformed. May Your revelation-light expose any areas in us where change is needed and may we trust Your resurrection power to work within us so we may be Your lights in this dark world every day. We long to grow to be Your mature sons and daughters shining for You. In Jesus’s name we pray.

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