\u201cOnce you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.\u201d<\/em> (1 Peter 2:10 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Yep, at one time, once upon a time, we were not God\u2019s people. We chose to live the sinful life. We chose to rebel against God\u2019s precious gifts. We were aliens and strangers to God. We didn\u2019t want to bask in the glorious riches God wanted to give. Nothing. We wanted nothing from God.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But then the Prince of heaven changed everything for us. When we accepted Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, we became the people of God. We received mercy. And what a beautiful life we have in Him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019m not saying that life is easy-going once we allow King Jesus to sit on the thrones of our hearts. There will be trials and tests and temptations that will try to waltz in and kick King Jesus off that throne. Friends, it is in these moments that we must stand firm. We must remember who we are: God\u2019s people. We must remember what we\u2019ve received: mercy. We must fight the battle to protect our hearts and minds against the evil of this world (Ephesians 6:10-18 provides the perfect battle plan).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But remember, we\u2019re not alone. God\u2019s Holy Spirit is within us to give us all that we need to fight the battle. God is still on His mighty throne and cheering you on through the battle. And Jesus? Well, He knows exactly what you\u2019re going through. He lived through His own trials and tests and temptations and He wants you to finish well. We need this heavenly army surrounding us to fight well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce upon a time\u2026\u201d<\/em> Maybe it\u2019s good to remember on occasion how things used to be before Jesus showed up in my life, but I think I\u2019ll stick to what Paul had to say about the past. \u201cBut one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/em> (Philippians 3:13-14 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Press on child of God\u2019s Kingdom!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard these words before. \u201cOnce upon a time\u2026\u201d Many stories, fables and fantasies have started with these very words. \u201cOnce upon a time\u2026\u201d So why do these words draw us into their tale? Because of what used to be. How life, the world, times once were. We want to remember and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,4664,296,17,14],"tags":[5380,5381,648,1684],"class_list":["post-5448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-believing-god","category-choose","category-experiencing-god","category-obeying-god","category-seeking-god","tag-once-upon-a-time","tag-1-peter-210","tag-ephesians-610-18","tag-philippians-312-14"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5448"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5450,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5448\/revisions\/5450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>For the most part, this is a look back to better days. When things were perfect. The king and queen ruled a perfect land\u2026until an evil villain showed up to mess things up. A peaceful land was enjoyed by all its subjects\u2026until an enemy army attacked. Light and sunshine and rainbows reigned\u2026until darkness and gloom rolled in. The words \u201conce upon a time\u201d are a reminder of how things were when life was good and perfect and without trouble.<\/p>\n