Grace

Grace--an undeserved favor or gift; the undeserving forgiveness, kindness and mercy that God gives us.

Romans 6:14
Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God's grace.

2Corinthians 4:15
All of these things are for your benefit. And as God's grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.


Jonah 2:8
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

Galatians 2:21
I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.

2John 1:3
May grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God our Father and from Jesus Christ his Son, be with us who live in truth and love.

Revelations 22:21
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Grace. . .Grace. . .Grace

I am a sinner. I need God's grace.

I want to explain grace in a way that people who don't know Christ would understand. . .but i struggle. . . Before I knew Christ I would have already stopped reading. So I am not sure what I can say to keep you reading and convince you that you too need God's grace.

I have so many things that I struggle with. . .I yell at my kids too much, I say mean things to my husband sometimes, I judge people sometimes, and there is more but I will stop there. The point is that at the end of the day I cannot hold on to this stuff I have to understand that I have been given the gift of grace. I need to go to sleep in prayer that I will do better tomorrow, that I am not perfect and I never will be. I need to be thankful for all the amazing things that God has granted me. . .my beautiful children, an amazing husband, a roof over my head, food to eat and water to drink, I get to see the sunrise and set everyday if I choose to and these things are gifts from God. But right along side of these gifts He also has given me grace and I NEED IT!!! I need His grace every single day. . . .every single day.


alright thats all I got for tonight. . .sweet dreams. . .peace and grace be with you!

always, momma avila

I have been studying proverbs with a small group of amazing ladies on Friday mornings at 630am. It is crazy I actually get up at 545am and love it. The sun is not even up and so I usually get to see the sunrise. Each time I see the sun rise or set I am reminded of how big God is—these are holy moments for me. I call this group the sunrise girls. This has been a great time of growth for me.

Proverbs is known for being a book full of wisdom. Wisdom is a great tool for living in this world and if you can apply this stuff to your life it helps you get into heaven.

I am working on lots of stuff—related to mouth, lips, tongue(no I am not being nasty---hehe). . .most people who know me know that I am opinionated, talk a lot, and have a potty mouth(especially when I am mad). Not too long ago I heard my son say “SHIT” when he was mad and I was very sad to admit that it was from me he had learned this. I really don’t need to explain my desire to adjust my vocabulary. It just isn’t cool anymore to curse. What I do want to explain, a bit, is my desire to shift the opinionated part. I am learning to embrace this about myself rather then try to change it. I believe that in the right light this is a good thing and Proverbs is helping me get this in the right light! Being opinionated can be a good thing--it helps with accountability stuff and speaking the truth is good. But, I have to be careful(wise) to recognize when my opinion is not going to be helpful to the situation-- when silence is golden!

A couple verses related to all this. . . Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 17:9 He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent and discerning if he holds his tongue.


I hope this makes sense I am trying--thanks for reading--mommaavila

REST

This year Easter was an intense time for me for many reasons. One reason is because I found myself trying to convince someone I love that God wants to share their burden. The person I talked to did not think that this was possible and I know it is a really hard place to be when you feel a heavy burden on your shoulders and it seems like their is no light at the end of the tunnel. It is my prayer that through our discussion the holy spirit will stir in her heart and she will give God a chance.



This was not the only intense conversation I had that day and I am not complaining. I actually do well with intense. I definately felt tired though on Monday and so I tried to find some time to rest.


Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

If anyone reading this feels burdened with something or just feels lost or tired--God wants to share our burden!! I pray that you can open your heart to this truth-- that whatever you are burdened with if you ask God He will give you rest! Luke 11:9--"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

It sounds easy and it should be but there is so much stuff blocking us from this truth. The hard part is we must invite him in. The hard part is to trust that He is real and alive. The hard part is that this world tells us that if you feel burdened that their is a drug (or a drink or a massage or a new outfit or whatever else it might be) that can give you rest and this might work for a moment but it just doesn't last! The hard part is we have been hurt by people. I can go on and on. . .the point is there is a lot of stuff blocking us of this truth. The truth that God alone can rest your soul.

I pray for those that are reading this that you will wake tomorrow feeling more rested and maybe that will encourage you to ASK, SEEK, KNOCK!


with love, momma avila

Rules for Holy Living

Okay--so this is going to be a short entry. I added some text to my blog on the right side of the page(I think) read it if you like. This was sort of my 2009 resolution. I wanted to start 2009 with a verse that I would focus on and maybe even memorize and this is the one I chose. I am trying to live Holy. It is from Colossians. I don't really think I need to explain anything on this one. But, I am always available for questions!!

with love, momma avila

NOT OF THIS WORLD

I have a sticker on my car and the letters are NOTW. sometimes people think it says NOW with a cross through the middle. Either way I get lots of questions about what it means and so I am going to try to explain.

Let me mention that I also often wear clothes that are made by these people
http://www.c28.com/needjesusMENU.asp?adid=notw_site this is their website and they offer a lot of great information. More then I can deliver in this blog so I encourage you to check it out!

In John 17:16-19 Jesus prays for his disciples--They are not of this world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I santify myself, that they too may be truly santified.

Okay. . . so this is confusing. . .right? . . .I will do my best.

**a couple defintions that will hopefully make this all easier to understand. Disciple= Anyone who believes in Jesus is his disciple. Santify=to make holy; santification is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers. Holy= set apart for God; belonging to God. Holy Spirit- the third person of the trinity; he lives and works in the hearts and minds of believers.

Here I go. . .I am a disciple of Jesus, therefore He is praying for me. He is saying that as He(Jesus) is not of this world neither am I(or any of His believers). He is praying that I/we will be santified by the truth(the truth = God's word=The Bible). This truth, if I believe in it, will make me holy. If I am holy then I belong to God and not this world.

Yes, I live in this world-- but I do not belong to this world. I belong to God. To me that means I try not to let things of this world run my life like money, fashion, media, material possesions, worry, etc. --these things are of this world. God is love, trust, faith, forgiveness, forever, and much much more. These are what I try to focus on. Now don't get me wrong I am not perfect. . .I still struggle with things of this world and probably always will but my goal is to focus on God and not things of this world.

I hope this helps you understand better what the sticker on my car stands for.

Good night and sweet dreams!

with love, momma avila

parables

Hello--

For those of you that already know about parables sorry but 5 years ago I had no ideas what a parable was so bare with me. In the Bible there are these things called parables. My dictionary says a parable is a short simple story teaching a moral lesson. Jesus used parables a lot. I really enjoy reading the parables in the Bible. They are found mostly in the first 4 books of the New testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

So the parable that changed my life is The parable of the weeds--Matthew 13:24-29 and then of course The parable of the weeds explained Matthew 13:36-43. I will not quote the whole thing but I will summarize the best I can. The story is about a farmer who planted good seeds in his field. But while everyone was sleeping his enemy came and planted weeds. When the farmers servants noticed the weeds they told the farmer. They asked him if they should pull the weeds. He said NO because while you are pulling the weeds you may also pull up the wheat. Instead they wait until harvest and separate them--putting the weeds into bundles to be burned and keeping the wheat.


So the first time I heard this story I had this feeling that I needed to understand this deeper. Thankfully I am not the only one and apparently that is why shortly after in the Bible there is a parable where Jesus explains what he means.

So in that parable Jesus's disciples come to him and ask him to explain the parable of the weeds. He says"THE ONE WHO SOWED THE GOOD SEED IS THE SON OF MAN> THE FIELD IS THE WORLD. AND THE GOOD SEED STANDS FOR THE SONS OF THE KINGDOM> THE WEEDS ARE THE SONS OF THE EVIL ONE AND THE ENEMY WHO SOWS THEM IS THE DEVIL> THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE AGE AND THE HARVESTERS ARE ANGELS>

Okay okay are you getting this if not read that part again!!! Please!(remember this is what changed my life I get really excited about this stuff!)

Okay so then Jesus says "AS THE WEEDS ARE PULLED UP AND BURNED SO WILL IT BE AT THE END OF THE AGE> THE SON OF MAN WILL SEND OUT HIS ANGELS AND THEY WILL WEED OUT OF HIS KINGDOM EVERYTHING THAT CAUSES SIN AND ALL WHO DO EVIL>"

So there I was reading this and suddenly understanding why there is still evil in this world. I used to ask "if there was a God then why is there so much evil and bad stuff in this world." This was a huge reason that I did not believe in God. Also, I used to think it was my job somehow to get these evil doers. Maybe this meant talking about evil people behind their back(gossip), or maybe I would take out a soccer player that I played against who had previously fouled me(retaliation), or maybe I would be mean to someone who had been mean to someone I love. I used to think that it just made sense to do these things and people who didn't were weak!!

Now I understand 2 things a) that if I gossip or retaliate then I am an evil doer and I will also go to hell. So when people are mean it doesn't give me the right to be mean. and b) The reason evil exists today is because HE is waiting to the "end of the harvest" to decide who is evil and who is good. THAT MEANS YOU/I STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO BE SAVED!!! I don't know about you but I want to see what heaven is all about and I'm not that curious about HELL...


with love, Heather

this is where it all begins. . .

HI THERE ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY--I decided to start a blog. . .why? well I like to read my friends blogs and I feel like it is a good way to keep people updated on my life. So, here it goes. Heather Louise Clobes Avila starts a blog. Hope you enjoy!!!


I recently attended a concert called the Rock and Worship road show. It was only ten bucks and i got to see Mercy me, Jeremy Camp, Hawk Nelson, and a couple other great bands. I have to say it was the best concert I have ever attended! I have seen many great performances(Metallica, GunsnRoses, Natalie Merchant) but this concert was far better. The bands were great and the ontario citibank place is awesome but more then anything it was the way the whole experience was focused on Jesus.

Anyway Jeremy Camp talked about Speaking Up Speaking Now and Speaking Loud --the link if you want to read more http://www.jeremycamp.com/speak.html -- but this opened my heart to the idea that I needed to let my friends and family know more about Jesus. That is what this blog will mostly be about. Please be open minded--open hearted and trust that I will do my best!


So since the intro this time is long i will keep the next part short.

Psalm 62:5 Find Rest, O my soul, in God alone: my hope comes from him. He alone in my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

This is one the first verses that really spoke to me. To me it says that nothing this world provides can bring us rest. I don't care what the guarentee's says. The only place we will truly find rest is with God. I can tell you that I have spent most of my life being anxious, angry, and just overall not content with things--this made me tired! I can truly say that as my relationship with God grows I am no longer angry(I still get angry sometimes but I am not a angry person anymore). I am absolutely content with my life; I trust that I am exactly where God wants me. I am still an anxious person at times but I rest knowing that my anxiety is safe in Gods arms and that He alone can handle my anxiety. . .I have found REST!!! Thank you, Jesus


FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVE IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. John 3:16