_         “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13).  And that’s exactly what Jesus did for us.  We are His friends, and He chose to die for us because He loved us so much; because we are special to Him.  He didn’t have to do it.  In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 26 while being arrested at Gethsemane, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Mt 26:53)  But He didn’t.  He chose not to.  He said it was to fulfill what was in the Scriptures, but I believe it was also because He truly believed in John 15:13.  Why else would He teach it?  Friendship, true friendship, was important to Him.  And we are His friends as He said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” (Jn 15:14)

            Friends are important people in our lives and can play many roles.  They can be our shoulder to cry on, or the people we can call when we need a good laugh.  They can be our strength in times of weakness, and they can give us a hand when times get rough.  If we choose the right friends they can be our “accountability partners.”  They will make sure that we are continuing on the right path and will bring us in when we start to stray.  Some stay in our lives for a long time, and some come and go quickly.  Each one, though, comes into our lives for a reason and a purpose.

            In 2009 I lost my dad and my grandfather, my son was diagnosed with cancer, and our family was hurt by someone we never expected.  Throughout the entire time I had an amazing friend whom I could talk with whenever I needed her.  During the cancer she asked me to call her each night in the beginning to let her know how things were going.  When my son was settled down for the night I would get on the phone and we would talk.  I loved it.  She was my comfort at that time.  When we were hurt she was the first person I called, and she met me for coffee so we could talk and I could cry.  She helped me through so many tough times that year and I will always be thankful.  We don’t talk as much now as we did before, but I’m still grateful for her friendship and I know that she will be there for me if I need her, and if she ever needs me I will help her.

            The night of His betrayal Jesus brought Peter, James and John with Him when He went away from the group to pray.  He told them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Mt 26: 38)  He chose three close friends to stay near Him while he prayed.  Unfortunately they were unable to stay awake, but I think just knowing that they were near was as much of a comfort as He could get at that moment.  Jesus was all man and all God.  He felt what we feel, and needed the same comforts we need.  Friends can make a big difference in our lives, and it’s up to us to choose the right ones.

            God is our greatest friend.  He is our source of comfort.  He told us, “Come to Me all you weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)  He told us to come to Him for any need.  “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Eph 6:18a)  When we seek Him daily through prayer and through the reading of His words we stay grounded in our faith.  He is the one friend who will take you as you are, and because of that and all the love He has for you, you will want to do what He commands, and what He commands is good and holy.  Not once will He tell us to do something that is evil as “the wrong friend” may try to do.  God is good, and God is love, and He is the best friend we could ever have.

            Seek friends who also believe that He is the greatest friend, for those are the people who will keep you on the path that leads to His kingdom, the kingdom He promises each of us who call on His name.  These are the friends who, like Christ, will lay their lives down for you and you for them.

 

 

I pray that we all have the opportunity in our lives to meet the most amazing, God loving, Christ following, friends that will help us, guide us, comfort us, and always remind us where we’re going and how we’re getting there.

_            When we exchange wedding vows we are promising ourselves to each other; husband to wife, wife to husband.  We pledge our love and promise to be with them through good times and though bad, through sickness and through health, whether rich or poor, as long as both shall live.  And after the vows, the officiator says, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”  It’s a reminder to us that God has brought these two people together, and no person, no thing, should break them apart.  We make a vow to each other that is supposed to last for the rest of our time on this earth no matter what may come our way.  We cannot, should not, separate.

            In the same way that a man and woman pledge an everlasting vow to one another, so too does God pledge Himself to us, and we to Him.  My reading last night was Deuteronomy chapter 26.  The end of the chapter contained such a beautiful passage, and those verses have now become one of my new favorites.  It’s a vow between the Israelites and God, both pledging themselves to each other as a bride and her bridegroom.

            “You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in His ways, that you will keep His decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey Him.” (Dt 26:17)

            “And the Lord has declared this day that you are His people, His treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all His commands.  He declared that He will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations He has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised.” (Dt 26:18,19)

            This is what happens when you choose to follow Him and obey His commands.  When we decide to pledge ourselves to Him fully, then He in turn pledges Himself to us.  And how do we get there?  Through His Son Jesus Christ.  “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” (Jn 14:6,7)   When we choose Christ, we are welcomed into God’s family, and all that He has promised is now also promised to us.  The commands we need to follow are simple: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mt 22:37-39)

            When we make that choice to follow Him we cannot be separated from Him.  Paul writes to the Romans, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8:38,29)  What else, then, is there that could separate us from God?  As my kids would sing, “Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing!”

            So as we walk with Him we need to remember that when we accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts we became a child of God, and there is nothing that can separate us from His love.  Nothing we do, nothing that may happen to us, will keep God from loving us.  The vow we made with Him cannot be broken.  Just as in marriage husband and wife go through ups and downs but still stay strong and stay together, so we should stay strong through Him and never leave Him.  He will never leave us, never stop loving us.  Keep that in mind the next time you go through a “rough patch.”  Focus on Him and on His love to get you through.  Remember that He loves you and wants to be with you.  He wants to give you His kingdom.

 

May we all remember the love He has for us, and the promises He made to us when we gave our lives to Him.  What God as joined together, let no one try to separate.  Amen.

           I was reading Matthew chapter 18 which starts out with the disciples asking Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (v. 1), and Jesus replies, “...whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (v. 4) He then continues to talk about the children who believe in Him, and the importance of not leading them astray.  “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (v.6).  Jesus was definitely not fooling around with this teaching.  We are responsible for the children in this world.  As adults God put us in charge of them.  It is our responsibility to put any evil, any sin, we may hold onto out of our lives. And we need to make sure that we do not influence them in any way that will lead them away from the Lamb of God.

            Children are helpless at birth, but as they grow they learn.  It has been amazing watching my children go from birth to where they are now.  They surprise me daily with what they have learned, how much they know, and my oldest is only eight.  They pick things up very easily.  When my oldest son had cancer (he was five) we dealt with a lot of terms, and my youngest, who was two at the time, came out with the word “lidocaine.”  I don’t even remember why we were talking about it, but I remember sitting in my room with my husband and my kids, and we were talking something having to do with the cancer, the medicines, and his broviac, and out of the mouth of my baby came that word, very nonchalant.  We never know what they’ll pick up from us, what they catch onto even when we don’t think they’re paying attention.  With that in mind we have to be sure that they are learning what should be learned.  Being an “adult” does not give us the “right” to do whatever we want.  We need to be an example to them; a good example.

            But being a good example is not enough.  We need to teach them in the ways that will help them grow in their faith.  We need to teach them right from wrong.  They need to learn what the Bible tells us; the “rules” set up for us to follow, and we need to show them where they can find these “rules” so that as they continue to grow they can return to that book over and over again to seek God on their own.  We need to teach them that being in the world is good, but being of it is not.  Social “norms” are not always what we should follow.  Just because it’s accepted in society today does not mean it’s approved by God, and His way is the only way.  It’s our job to teach them to stand up for their faith, even if it means not “fitting in” with their peers.  And we need to let them know that they can come to us for anything, and with any question, because life is not going to be a smooth ride.

            What happens if we do lead them astray?  As they get older they are more capable of making their own decisions, but those decisions are subconsciously made by what they’ve experienced, what they’ve learned, up until that point.  Then what?

            As I continued reading Matthew chapter 18 I came to the parable of the lost sheep. (Mt 18:10-14)  I’ve heard it before, and, thanks to Veggie Tales (I love Big Idea Studios!) and other teachings of it, I’ve really grasped what it was about.  If we stray from God He will find us and guide us home.  He will help us return to Him and all that He has promised.  And He will rejoice for the one who returns.  I love this parable and the imagery it projects.  If we fail, there is always a way back to Him.  He will always welcome us back, and we need to let them know.  No one can do anything bad enough to keep God from them.  He will not turn His back.  In the Bible we’re told that there is only one sin that is unforgivable, and that’s sin against the Holy Spirit.  “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mk 3:29)  I doubt that is something many people do.

            But we should do our best not to fail.  What I had missed in my previous experiences with this parable was the last line in the section which says, “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” (v. 14)   “These little ones.”  The children who believe in Him.  If they wander off God wants to bring them back again, but He does not want them to get lost in the first place.  And that’s the responsibility He has placed on us.  Therefore we need to strive to be the teachers He wants us to be, the role models we need to be.  We need to be like Jesus.  He was the greatest role model who ever walked this earth.  If we set our eyes on Him and follow Him always, then we will be able to help the children in our lives walk this way as well.  This is what I strive for in my own family, and though I am not perfect, I will continue to teach and guide.

 

May we all set our eyes on Him and be the models He wants us to be and not what society says we should be.  May we teach the children in our lives to love and follow Christ Jesus, and may they continue their faith journey always.  In His name, Amen.

_         Yesterday, while driving home from dropping off my son at preschool, an idea came to me for another post.  I felt so strongly about it that I couldn’t wait to get home and start typing.  When I got home I went right to my computer, turned it on, and then started typing out a few paragraphs.  Well, when my fingers are going too fast I tend to hit buttons I didn’t want to, so when the “Do you wish to save” prompt came up I thought I accidentally hit something I didn’t want to.  So, instead of clicking, “Yes” (which would have been the smart thing), I hit cancel.  Then the program shut down followed by my computer.  Apparently I had missed the fact that my computer wanted to update itself and was getting ready to reboot.  I lost what I was writing.

            Ok, well, that didn’t make me happy, but I decided to write it again, but put a different spin on it.  I started typing up my first sentence when my husband called.  He read about a few tricks I could try to get back my original data.  I tried the first one, it didn’t work, and when I was trying to explain to him what was on my computer he couldn’t hear me since my phone has been acting up lately.  Then we got into a little tiff and decided to end the phone call.  Because I was upset with him I was no longer in the mood to write this post.  I just didn’t “feel it” at the moment.

            Looking back I knew why that all happened.  The post I was writing was all about being prepared.  We don’t know when the end will come, for even Jesus said, “No one knows the hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mt 24:36)  Even He was not privy to this information while He was on the earth.  But He warns us to be prepared.  “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” (Mt 24:44)  “Behold, I come like a thief!  Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” (Rev 16:15). 

            When the time does come, will we be ready?  At that time Satan will be unleashed and allowed to do what he wants.  Those who have not prepared because they have accepted Christ but have not learned from Him, or those who are still sitting on the fence about Him, or even still those who want nothing to do with Him or don’t believe He’s even real will be deceived.  No matter where a person fits in to all that, if they’re not ready, not prepared, then they may miss out.  And, if they have not enriched their knowledge by God’s words, reading them, learning from them, taking them in, then they may be seduced by the power of Satan when he comes.  The anti-Christ, empowered by Satan himself, will come and show many, as those unprepared would call it, miracles.  They will not realize that it’s pure evil that is happening in front of them.

            “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.  He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His name and His dwelling place and those who live in heaven.  He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them.  And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.  All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” (Rev 13:5-8)

            In Revelation, the vision John was given, we read that “a third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of [the horses] mouths.” (Rev 9:18).  And after that happened, “The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands.” (Rev 9:20)  Their vision has been skewed.  They didn’t get what’s going on, and they won’t get it.  When the time comes, how many people will receive, willingly, the mark of the beast?  “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead.” (Rev 13:16).  “This calls for wisdom.  If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number.  His number is 666.” (Rev 13:18)

            Many people have their own ideas about what this number means, but no one knows the answer.  What we need to do is read the Bible, breathe it, and pray.  Pray always.  Because when we are in Him, when we search Him, we will get our answer when the time comes.  There’s no use pointing fingers here or there.  Unless it’s revealed to us by God through our time with Him we will not have this knowledge.  Be prepared.  The time will come, and we don’t know when it will happen.

            There are people today who do not believe any of this.  Some don’t even believe in Satan or hell.  My husband said to me one day, something that he had heard before, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he does not exist.”  It’s a quote by poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire.  There is evil all around us.  We can’t pretend it’s not there.  We need to combat it with prayer, with Scripture (as Jesus did when he was tempted by the devil), and with our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  Only He can protect us.  Only He can clear our vision and show us the truth.  With Him we will not be deceived.

            So, getting back to why I was unable to write what I wanted to yesterday, I believe that someone didn’t want it written.  Well, too bad for him.  I am a follower of Christ.  I am building my life in Him, and through Him I will accomplish all that He wants for me.

            Be prepared.

 

 

May our eyes be opened to all the wonders of God, and may we all make preparations each day, filling our lives with His words, with His Light.  May our vision be clear, and may He grant us the knowledge and wisdom we need now and always to combat every evil that comes our way.  And may we all be invited to the wedding feast.  “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Rev 19:9)

_             “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings.  Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’  Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worships Him who lives for ever and ever.  They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.’” (Rev 4:8-11)

            Worshiping Him over and over and over again is found throughout Revelation.  When I read that I will confess the first thing that came to me was, “Really?”  When I think about heaven I think about complete peace, a warm, sunny place, a place where I can be with Christ.  I can finally relax and enjoy life.  So when I read about worshiping all the time it seemed tedious.  Do I really want to go to heaven and spend all my “free-time” saying, “Yea God?”

            Ok, yes, yes I do.  When I finally got over my initial, let’s call it, stupidity, I realized, I was just being bored by John’s writing.  I was reading their praise in a sort of monotone way.  Of course that doesn’t sound appealing.  But when I really thought about it, I remembered just how much I love praising Him.  I praise Him in song all the time.  The first part of church is praise and worship, and I look forward to that every week.  I listen to K-LOVE on the radio all the time.  It was actually a song on there that helped lead me to my salvation.  I attend the Women of Faith conference every year.  In college I loved attending the praise and worship chapels (I actually stayed for those ones).  I already was worshiping Him, and I loved it.  I still love it.  And the thing is, I can’t get enough of it.

            So now, instead of thinking, “Really?”  I think, “Wow.”  Heaven is a place where I can continue to worship Him, and the people I’ll be with will worship with me.  I can keep my focus on Him, and not on trying to convince others of Him because they’ve all accepted Christ.  Heaven will be completely Christ centered.  We won’t have to run here and there to get things done.  We won’t have to stop praising Him, and we definitely won’t have to hide it.  What an amazing place we’ll be going to.

            “I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.” (Ps 34:1)

            “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess His name.” (Heb 13:15)

            So many people understood this in the Bible, and they wrote about it.  From Old Testament to New, we read about praising Him because He deserves it.  And He does; now and always.  He gave us everything.  We need to give Him thanks and praise.  We need to focus on Him.  We need to start giving Him praise now, and continue all the days of our lives.  And it won’t stop in heaven.  Heaven is our ultimate destiny.  It is the place promised to us.  WHY would we stop giving praise when we get there?  I will praise Him joyfully all my days.



May we all find the joy that comes with praising Him each and every day; praise during the good times and the bad.  And may we continue to look forward to giving Him praise when we finally meet Him in heaven.  Amen.

 

 

_             I have been looking up my genealogy for about a year now.  Thanks to my grandfather I have information on my mom’s side of the family back to my great great grandparents; and thanks to my cousin I have information on my dad’s side.  But of course there are holes, and I’m trying to work through those.  I want to know who these people were; where they came from; what they did.  They don’t have to be famous or anyone of great importance.  They’re the people I came from, and I’m interested in learning all I can about them.  I got excited one day because on one of the census forms I found I was told what job someone in my family had.  I also love listening to stories about different family members (sometimes over and over).  It’s the little things that matter most to me.

            Documenting genealogy is nothing new.  If you’ve read the Bible then you know it’s filled with it.  This person begot that person who begot that one, and so on.  I confess, I actually like reading through those.  As I read more and more of the Bible more and more names pop out at me in these lists, and I have an idea of who they are.  Some names mean nothing to me because they don’t really have a prominent role.  Regardless of who is in it though, they all had their part to play.  If they were in the genealogy line in the Bible, then they had a hand in creating some of the most prominent people.

            From our readings we have an idea of who Abraham came from, and who Moses came from.  And we know the line of Jesus.  They kept some great records back then (I’m kind of jealous).  Some of the people in those lines may have been pretty important at one time or another.  But what about all the others?  Some of those lines are pretty lengthy.  There are people in there who will never have a book written about them, and I’m pretty sure we’ll never remember their names, but each and every one of them helped create the most amazing people who did amazing things.

            And even though we ourselves may never become famous, and we’ll probably never have a book written about us, we are important.  We’re important in the lives of our children and our grandchildren, and so on down the line.  And if we never have children, then maybe we’ll be important in the lives of our nieces and nephews, or the little boy or girl we help out.  In some way we will all impact someone’s life, and we need to decide just how we want to do that.  I remember my paternal grandmother.  She died when I was ten, and she didn’t live nearby, so I never really got to know her.  When she did visit she didn’t leave a good impression.  I can honestly say I never really liked her.  I wish I had known then what I know now.  I would have talked to her more and found out more about her life.  But at that time all I could think about was that one thing she said to me, and how she overstayed her welcome.

            We do have those people in our lives, in our line, who we don’t have the best experiences with.  They may have hurt us, or just made us angry.  They may not have chosen the right way to impact our lives.  But we have the choice.  With my own kids my husband and I have made the choice to be better parents to them and make sure that they know they’re loved, and that we love each other.  We’re trying to give them a healthy environment in which to live.  “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” (Col 3:21)

            And we try to make sure that they know Christ.  We will answer any of their questions as well as we can (and we’ll tell them if we’re not really sure about something).  We bring them to church, and we do devotions with them every night.  We say grace at the dinner table, and we pray together every night when devotions are done.  We want to give them a firm foundation in who He is, but we don’t shove it down their throats.  There’s a happy balance.  My hope is that through the tender teaching we try to give them they will make the decision to accept Him fully, and that when they have kids they will teach them in the same way or even better.  Moses told the Israelites, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Dt 11:18,19), and Paul wrote to the Thessalonians comparing how he, Silas and Timothy treated the church in Thessalonica in the same way a father should treat his child.  “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” (1Th 2:11,12)

            We’re trying to start the ripples by throwing a little pebble in the pond, ripples that will make a good impact on the lives of our family yet to come.  Years down the road, when we’re dead and gone, I would love to have my children’s children telling their families positive stories about us, and telling them how much we all loved Christ, and how one day we’ll all be able to meet up in heaven.

 

 

I pray now that each and every one of us chooses the right way to impact a child’s life.  I pray that through Christ Jesus we are able to walk and spread His joy, His hope, His peace, and His love to the generations yet to come.  May we all gain souls for Christ even when we are no longer on this earth.  Amen.

             I am a child of God.  I am not from the branch of Abraham, the father of all nations with whom God made a covenant many, many years ago, but because I have accepted Jesus Christ, the only Son of our God and Father, I have been grafted into that family.  His people are now my people.  I finally found where I belong, and it is an amazing place.

            “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.  He is the father of us all.” (Rom 4:16)

            The first time I read that verse I got excited.  I share with my husband all the time different things I’m learning from the Scriptures (and he with me), and when I read this I sent him a message on his phone telling him how amazing it was that I was now in Abraham’s family.  It may sound like a strange thing to get excited about, but he was the man who God chose, telling him, “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.” (Gen 13:16).  Abraham was to become “a great nation.”  (Gen 12:2)

            And now I was a part of that.  Because I made the decision to follow Christ, I finally found a place where I truly belonged.

            We spend so much time trying to find a place to belong, people with whom we can “fit in.”  Years of grade school wasted to find that “right place.”  I personally have gone through friend after friend, after friend as I’ve grown up.  I’ve experienced hurt and loss.  I’ve tried to “fit in,” but never really accomplished it.  And when I got hurt, or when I changed, I moved on.  I left the old in search for the new, and went through the same thing over and over again.  I have made friends through the years whom I still talk to today, and I’m grateful for their friendship, but it’s still not where I fully belong.

            This even happens within our own families at times.  We strive to be more like a sibling, or a cousin, and so on.  The settings we try to fit into could be good ones, but the problem is we’re not being who we were made to be.  God made each one of us different; and each one of us special.  He is a God of variety.

             Think for a moment about a place you can go where you are loved for just being you; a place where you don’t have to try to be someone you’re not just to be liked.  It’s kind of refreshing if you think about it.  That is the place we are accepted into when we make that life changing decision.  We are loved for who we are.  We have rules we need to live by, but those come fairly easy when we make the decision to live for Him, and because we’ve made that choice it’s who we want to be, and not who we think we should be to be accepted.

            We no longer need to search for acceptance, for we’ve been accepted by the One who gave us life.  I’m not saying to let that be that.  We still need to surround ourselves with people who will help us in our faith.  We can find it by getting involved in the church we attend, for finding a church to begin with.  A church is a group of believers who come together to worship the Lord; the body of Christ.  Don’t try to “fit in.”  God calls each of His members to play his own part.  “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Rom 12:4,5)

            No place on this earth is perfect, and no person is perfect.  This is why, once we belong to God, we can be comfortable in our own skin.  If we belong to Him, then we’ve made the commitment to obey His commands, and that means loving our brothers, being a part of God’s family, a part of the body of Christ, and sharing His word with others.  We all belong, and we all have our own part to fulfill until the day of glory comes.


If you have found new life in Him, may you find peace in the knowledge that you have found your place, and may you continue to remember that you have been accepted for who you are, not for who someone else is.  And if you have yet to make Him your own, may you come to that same knowledge that your search for acceptance will be over once you choose Him, and that He takes us all as we are.  In Christ's name, Amen.

_         Have you ever looked at something from afar and thought you knew exactly what it was, but when you came upon it you realized you had been completely wrong?  I pondered that as my husband and I were driving to my mom’s house yesterday with our three kids.  As he drove down one street he saw a person by the road with their arm outstretched, hitchhiking.  My husband thought aloud, “Sorry, but I have a full car, and I don’t know you.”  But as we drove closer we saw that it was a woman at the end of her driveway.  She was taking a quick break from shoveling and was resting her arm on her shovel.

            How often do we do that?  What we perceive to be true from afar we find is much different when we are close.  How many times do we do that with people?  We look at them and think we know who they are, how they are, and what they’re thinking.  Just by a glance.  We are quick to judge by appearances alone, or by an action we see quickly.  But if we really took the time to get to know someone, or to stop and talk to them, we may find that what we perceived to be true was not.

            How often do we do that with God?  We know exactly what He thinks.  We know if He loves us or not.  We know if we’re worthy or not.  Sometimes we think that He can’t love us because of what we’ve done.  Or sometimes we’re too cocky and think He loves me, but there’s no way He can love THAT person.  What we perceive to be true about Him is not always what is.  If we sit back and “know” God, but don’t try to actually get to know Him, how can we be sure that what we “know” is true?  We need that deeper relationship with Him so that we can even begin to understand Him.

            If we don’t seek Him, we don’t know Him.  He is a stranger that we see from afar, one that we judge at first glance.  We choose who He is and how He acts.  But God wants us to get to know Him intimately.  Just think about it.  First, He gave us a book filled with words that came from Him; a love story from beginning to end.  Not everything in it is an example of good, but it shows what God can do with situations.  It shows us how He wants us to be, and how NOT to be.  If you read this book, meditate on the words, and become intimate with it, then you know what He wants from you and for you.  It practically spells it out.  This book, of course, is the Bible.  It’s thousands of years old, and still true to this day.  And we know that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16,17)

            Another way He wants us to become intimate with Him is through prayer.  He tells us to come to Him with everything.  Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, writes, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”  (Eph 6:18a)  Even Moses, when speaking to the Israelaites after wandering for forty years in the desert, said, “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him?” (Dt 4:7)  Christ, all man and all God, prayed to God the Father.  He was not without prayer.  For forty days He prayed and fasted in the desert.  He prayed before His betrayal that God take the cup from His hands, but only if it was God’s will.  And he prayed for himself, for his disciples, and for all believers.  He is our example to follow, and He knew how to be one with God…through prayer.  God is there when we pray.  He listens to each and every prayer, and if WE take the time to listen, we will hear from Him what exactly He wants for us.  The more we pray, the more we listen, the more we know Him.

            Through these two things alone we are able to learn and understand more about Him, and we are able to gain a relationship with Him by following what it is He wants for us.  Imagine how much more we will know if we also surround ourselves with other believers, learn from each other, and keep each other accountable?  We no longer make our own assumptions.  God told us not to judge, so why would we not only judge our fellow men, but also Him?  Learn, pray, read; grow in Him daily.  He wants a relationship with each and every one of us.  He wants each and every one of us to enter His kingdom, but we can only do it by having a relationship with Him, and only that through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

            I don’t know what God’s plan is for your life, and without a daily, intimate, relationship with Him, neither will you.  So the next time you think you know who God is, or how He is, think to yourself, “Do I really know Him enough to say that?  Or am I just looking at Him from afar and making my judgment?”

            “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pt 3:8,9)

 

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and may you seek Him in all earnestness, with all your heart, to gain a relationship with Him.  He is waiting for you.  May your love for Him grow as you get to know Him more and more each and every day, and may you realize how great His love is for you, a love that never ends.  Amen

_         Have you ever felt the feeling so strongly that you had to stop everything you were doing right then and there and pray?  And you knew at that moment exactly what or who you had to pray for?  When it comes on me it feels almost like I’m hyperventilating, and no matter what, I have to pray.  I know I’m done praying when the sensation is gone, and I feel at peace again.  It’s not a scary feeling, just sort of…odd.  But I know it’s from God.  It’s the pressing on me to focus on what He needs me to focus on at the time.  I don’t always know what the result of the prayer will be, and I don’t know why it came on my so strongly, but I know that it’s God’s call to action, and I do it.

        It happened a couple different times for the same person.  This person is in prison for things that he did to my family, and yet I’ve felt led to pray for him.  I was reading my Bible one day, reading Luke to be precise, and as I was reading about the end times, I started crying and “hyperventilating.”  I didn’t want people to suffer the wrath that would come on the Judgment Day (I myself had recently been saved and had just asked to receive the Holy Spirit the day before), and the one person who was pressing on my heart was this man.  I prayed.  I prayed for his salvation, and I forgave him.  Whenever I thought about this man I was engulfed in rage.  I was so mad, and I could say I hated him.  But that day I forgave him.  I said the words, and I felt at peace.  Now when I think of him I only feel compassion toward him.  The rage, the anger, is gone.  I want to see his life made new.

        This is a difficult thing for many people.  Forgiveness.  Even I have a hard time forgiving people who have done things not even close to what this man did.  I use that experience to remind me how easy it is to forgive when I have the help of the Holy Spirit.  And I work at forgiving them.  I know I’ll have to forgive them time and time again, but even Jesus said that we should forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven.  (Mt 18:22)  I tell my kids how much that is and they look at me with wide eyes.  I tell them that you have to forgive every single person 490 times.  Each one!  I explain to them how that means you should always forgive someone no matter what.

        And the Bible is filled with forgiveness.  The Israelites, while wandering the desert for those forty years, had to make atonement for their sins.  If you read Leviticus chapter four, it explains who must atone for their sins, and exactly how to do it.  It always required the sacrifice of an animal, whether a bull, a goat or a lamb, and always one without defect.

        Every time they sinned (unintentionally), they had to make this sacrifice, but then they were forgiven.  Without the sacrifice they could not be forgiven.  I can’t even imagine what it must have been like during that time; wandering through the desert for forty years, and making all the required offerings, especially the one for sin.  How often do we sin?  We don’t go out of our way to sin, but we are not perfect and therefore fall into the trap.  And yet, because of the sacrifice Christ made of Himself on the cross, we have been forgiven of all our past sins (the ones made before we became one in Him), and we are forgiven for the wrongs we do now.  All we have to do is ask for it.

        We don’t have to sacrifice an animal, for Jesus was the perfect lamb slain for us.  That thought has so many different emotions set with it.  For one, it brings awe.  Awe that this man, who was still young by any standard, allowed Himself, without argument, to be beaten and mocked, and ultimately, killed.  Awe because He did that for us.  It wasn’t something He had to do.  He could have said, “No.”  But He didn’t.  He took his torment silently, and even on the cross He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34)  Awe because He chose this to save us, grief because He went through such a painful death.  And yet, joy and praise because He rose again, and the promise had been fulfilled.

        And because of that, we are able to be saved; to be forgiven for all our wrongs.  And we don’t have to work at it, just ask.

        All over the New Testament we’re told to forgive as Christ forgave us.  “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Eph 4:32)  “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Col 3:13)

        After reading those in the Bible, why WOULDN’T we want to forgive others.  We have been forgiven, and we should forgive.  We need to remember just how wonderful it feels to be forgiven by Him, and He is our example.  We need to live a life pleasing to Him, and that means we need to be as He was; as He is.  There are things that we think we can never forgive, but if we seek God, if we ask for help, then we will be able to forgive.  We can’t do it on our own.  We need His help.  We also need the help of others on this earth.  James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

        I continue to pray for the salvation of the man who hurt our family, and I still think of him with the same compassion I was given that first day I forgave him.  I yearn for him to be able to meet the Lord face to face in heaven and live with Him all the days of his life.  I pray for his life to be made new, and that Christ does something amazing in his life that may help other men in the same situation, or even before they get there.  I pray that he will be lead to Christ, and then he will lead others to Him as well.  God does amazing things, and through Him all things are possible.

        And don’t forget.  If you have chosen Christ, you HAVE been forgiven.  Everything that happened before you accepted Him has been wiped clean.  He keeps no record of wrongs; He purposely forgets, and they will never be brought up again.  And each time you repent now you are forgiven, and that sin is gone.  Forgive each other, no matter how big or how small the wrong may seem, and forgive yourself for whatever may be haunting you for it no longer matters if you’ve given it to Christ.

 
May the love and peace of Christ bless you, and may you seek Him with all your heart.  May you know how precious to Him you are, how precious we all are, and may you thank Him always that He forgave you and continues to forgive, and that you ask for His help to forgive others.  In Christ Jesus I pray, Amen.