Unchanging Love

Such was God's original love for man that He was willing to stoop to any sacrifice to save him; and the gift of a Saviour was the mere expression of that love. Albert Barnes

Andrew Strom wrote the following statement:

Know your HOLY GOD intimately.  (When you have seen His glory, His holiness and His love-by drawing close to Him in prayer – then you can usually see through any counterfeits because you know the “real thing” so well). 

One of the things I love about our Heavenly Father is His unchanging love.  It doesn’t matter what we do, He still wants us to return to Him and be redeemed.  The love that we humans have for each other pales in comparison. 

The thing about love is we have to put it into practice every day.  Too many times what we consider love is merely affection and too many times there are counterfeits out there.  If we don’t meditate on who God is we will never really understand His unchanging love.  The following are verses that you can meditate on that will help you understand how much God truly loves you.

Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephsesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved…

Romans 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Zephaniah 3:17  The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Spend time with God in His Word.  The love we have for each other can’t compare to the love God has for each of us. Christ loved you enough to lay down His very life for you.  There is no greater love.

   

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, when I struggle with how the world loves, I turn to You so that I am reminded of Your perfect love.  Yours is a love that is unchanging and never ending.  Thank You for loving me enough to send your son to die on my behalf.  Thank You Jesus for making the ultimate sacrifice because You loved me.  Words cannot describe that kind of love.        

Scripture: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Fear

Faith, which is trust, and fear are opposite poles. If a man has the one, he can scarcely have the other in vigorous operation. He that has his trust set upon God does not need to dread anything except the weakening or the paralyzing of that trust.  Alexander MacLaren

We have a young girl who lives next door to us.  Last night I was eating dinner when I heard a knock on the front door.  I looked outside and saw that it was my neighbor.  I opened the door and she was selling cookie dough to raise money for her prom.  I placed my order for cookie dough and then we started talking. 

She is a junior in high school and as we talked she made a statement that caught my attention.  We were discussing if she was going to go to college and she said yes, she wanted to become a doctor.  She said “I am so scared about college”. 

That statement caught my attention.  She is afraid.  I understand being afraid of the unknown because I’ve been there and done that.  Still do sometimes.  What struck me about this conversation was that we adults have a tendency to instill fear in children.  I think it is because we have lived with fear in our own life so we want to make sure that children are prepared for this cruel world we live in.   

Have you ever asked your child what they are afraid of?  What would their answer be?  Younger ones are probably more apt to say they are afraid of the dark or afraid of getting lost.  If you are a teenager what might you be afraid of?  How about afraid of not being accepted by others, or being made fun of in front of others, or as Melissa my 16 year old next door neighbor told me, she is afraid of not getting into college or failing.  I told her that she should never give up.  I also said that every one of us fails at one time or another in life.  The important thing is to learn something from the failure and then get back up and go again. 

Sometimes I think we forget to teach kids how to have faith; faith in a Father who will never leave us or forsake us. Faith that He has a plan for each of us and He is there.  Faith to depend on our Creator to get us through whatever trial we face.  The reality is we live in a world where bad things happen and if our faith isn’t strong enough, fear will overtake us. 

Jesus didn’t have fear.  He was placed here on earth to be about His Father’s business and one of the most fearful things to happen to Him was for Him to die on a cross.  He trusted and had faith that God knew what He was doing.  Fear was not the answer, faith was.  Teach your children to have faith and not fear.  The Bible tells us that the only one we should fear is the Lord.  If we don’t practice faith every day, we will give in to the fears of the world.  

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times when fear overtakes me and I react instinctively out of fear.  Help me to strengthen my faith so that when circumstances happen that would normally cause me to be fearful; instead I will turn to You in faith knowing that You know what is best for me and will see me through.  I want to practice the faith of Jesus.  He knew what His life was about and it was all about living for You and saving a sinner like me.

      

Scripture: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.  1 John 4:18-19

Heaven Is Real

The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, lies here, food for worms; but the work shall not be lost, for it will appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author.  Benjamin Franklin

I’ve been studying about heaven lately.  I think the reason is I want a better picture of what eternity will look like.  It is kind of like going on a trip somewhere you have never visited and not taking a map or GPS.  How will we know what it will be like if we never study the Bible to see where we are going?

My cousin and I were talking recently about heaven.  We talked about how some people believe that we won’t know anyone when we get there.  That’s kind of scary if you ask me.  Imagine going to a place where you know no one.  I believe that I will know people when I get there.  If this place described in the Bible will be a place of great joy and peace, then I believe many of my loved ones will be there. 

  

Here is an interesting point.  God gave each of us imagination.  Have you ever planned a trip and imagined what you would do when you get there.  I think it would be sort of like how a young child feels when they step through the gates into Disney World.  I think it is that very childlike quality that we need to have to be able to imagine what Heaven will be like. If we took away the sin, suffering, death and corruption of the earth, we might see a small glimpse of what this place will be like.

 

Another thing I thought about was what will I do when I get there.  I know I will work.  Imagine that you will do exactly what God created you to do.  Imagine something you could work at that you thoroughly enjoy doing; something that you could do every day without ever getting tired of it.  That would be using the natural talent that God gave you.  Sometimes we choose jobs here on earth that we hate, but we choose to stay in them for the money.  Don’t get me wrong.  All of us must earn a living, but the reality of it is I could live with a lot less stuff and still survive.  Too many times we allow the world to dictate what we do in this life. We allow money to be the deciding factor in our work.  I believe that in heaven we won’t worry about money because we won’t need it. 

So if you took away pain, sickness, death, corruption, money, poverty; the list is endless, what would we have.  We would have a place that never dies with people that never die.  We would have a heavenly Father who loves us always.  Not just some of the time but all of the time.  We would have peace, joy and life everlasting.  That sounds kind of like the Garden of Eden doesn’t it.  I can’t wait for an everlasting relationship with my Father in Heaven. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, when I think of Heaven it brings me joy.  As I drove to work this morning I was thinking of all the things I needed to do at work today and then I thought of You.  You have prepared a place for those who believe in and accept You as their Heavenly Father.  I want to see this place You created for us.  I know it will be amazing.      

Scripture:  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Focus on Heaven

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.  Hebrews 11:13-16

How many of us search for happiness on earth?  If we have no true picture of what heaven will be like, we often settle on earth as an alternative.  Death is a reality of life.  We each have the disease known as mortality.  There is not a person on earth who doesn’t have mortality. 

Have you ever really studied the Bible to find out what heaven will be like?  When you were growing up or when you got older, what were you told about heaven.  I have heard various scenarios about what heaven will be like over the years.  Some downright scared me.  Did you know that a large number of Christians think that heaven is an eternity of an unending church service with a never ending sing along in the sky?  Some people believe that they will not know anyone in heaven and they fear it more than look forward to it. 

I think too many times we get comfortable here on earth and that is why we don’t focus much attention on heaven.   Have you noticed that when you get comfortable with earth something happens and it’s not always good?  Illness, financial woes and tragedy are a part of this world we live in.  If we believe this place is a great place to be and spend the rest of our life; give it a few minutes.  Something is bound to happen that will burst that bubble. 

In Colossians 3:2, Paul said “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”  I think Satan plays a big part in our perception of what heaven will be like.  Satan wants us in hell so he would rather we not think fondly of heaven.  When we understand what heaven is really about, the devil loses.  If we really understand heaven we will not want any part of hell. 

There is a book written by Randy Alcorn called Heaven.  It is thought provoking and he uses scripture as the basis of his writing.  He also encourages anyone reading it to contact him if you disagree with his vision of heaven based on Scripture.  Scripture provides us with a great deal of information about heaven.  There are no pictures of it anywhere but God tells us a lot about it in the Bible.  If you want to find out what heaven will be like, spend time in scripture.  God created a place where we can live with Him forever and it’s called heaven.  Focus on heaven because that is something to look forward to. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, over the years I have heard people say what they think heaven will be like.  Some have been scary, others boring, and still others a vision of where I want to be when my life ends.  Thank you for giving me glimpses of heaven in Scripture so that I can keep my eyes straight ahead and my feet moving toward You      

Scripture: If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.  Colossians 3:1-4

What Do You Look Forward To?

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  John 14:1-6

My husband and I were talking last night about our doves.  He read where doves don’t build big sturdy nests.  They stick a twig here and a twig there and they’re done.  Remember our first doves, Gladys Knight and the Pips.  Her nest literally fell apart in a big wind so I helped her rebuild, but she didn’t much appreciate my efforts. 

We spend a lot of time, effort and money on our homes don’t we.  We install marble countertops, wood floors, stainless steel fixtures, double paned windows and too many others to name.  Our home is where we live so we put a lot of effort in making it comfortable and safe. 

Have you ever thought about what your home in heaven will be like?  God created the earth and heavens, light and darkness, land and water, every living thing and then he created man and woman in His image.  We are created in His image.  If you think about it, earth is not God’s home; heaven is.  He created heaven as a dwelling place for us to live with Him.  What do you think it will look like?  The Bible gives us some idea of what it will be like.  Too many times I think we focus our thoughts and energy on this earth and we forget to look forward to what heaven will be like. 

Jesus told his disciples in John 14:2 that “In my Father’s house are many mansions…and I go to prepare a place for you.”  The definition of mansion is a large and impressive house.  I’ll admit, I have a hard time picturing heaven.  Why?  I think it is because God created such incredible things here on earth that we see every day and take for granted.  How can we imagine something that is bigger and better than what we have here?  I think it is because we think small.  If you think of streets paved with gold, walls made of jasper, foundations adorned with precious stones and the gates made of twelve pearls it is kind of hard to imagine.  A gate made of a single pearl.  That’s some pretty big pearls! 

Maybe the problem is, if it was up to us to create it; it would be impossible.  Those who believe in Him can choose to live forever in the most amazing mansion ever created.  What do you look forward to?  Are you looking forward to heaven?  I am. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You created a place called heaven that will be our dwelling place if we choose to follow You.  I look forward to seeing the pearly gates and streets made of gold.  But, most of all, I look forward to spending time with You.  Thank You for preparing a place for us where sickness and pain no longer exist.  Remind me of this place when I get discouraged with this earthly life.  Knowing there is a better place waiting gives me strength.

      

Scripture: Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.  Revelation 21:14-21

Lucy & Ricky

Thank God I have seen an orange sky with purple clouds.  How easy it is to forget that we have the privilege of living in God’s art gallery.  Erica Goros

I don’t know if you received the baby announcements yet, but we are the proud grandparents of two baby doves.  Since Fred and Ethel are the parents, we decided to name them Lucy and Ricky. 

Ethel has been an amazing mother.  When we had snow, ice and freezing temperatures, she never left the nest.  I am thinking that while I was at work Fred was bringing her food because I never saw him.  She stayed on the eggs until they hatched.  God is pretty amazing when you think about it.  I was concerned about the eggs freezing and he gave Ethel the instinct to protect her eggs from freezing. 

So back to the baby announcement.  We noticed a week or so ago that Ethel kept getting higher and higher in the nest.  She finally got to the point that her head was touching the roof of our patio.  We knew something was up; actually two somethings.  A few days later we saw a beak hanging over the edge of the fan casing.  Then we saw two.  Did I mention that they grow extremely fast?  I looked out last week and Ethel was gone.  While she was out looking for food, I took a picture of the babies in the nest.  Their heads were hidden but their tails were sticking up over the top of the fan casing.  It was like they were hiding in plain sight. 

It absolutely fascinates me that these two fuzzy babies are growing feathers within a couple of days.  Lucy and Ricky are actually getting bigger than Ethel.  It kind of reminds me of the cuckoo laying its eggs in another’s nest and letting someone else raise them.  If Ethel is raising two cuckoo’s she sure is a great foster parent. 

I am looking forward to the flying part where Ethel takes them out to the end of the fan blade and tells them to take off.  God created an amazing array of animals by which we can see Him at work.  God isn’t hard to find, if we are willing to slow down and look.

           

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am so amazed by Your Creation.  We are surrounded daily by what You created.  Help me to slow down in my busy life and watch You at work.  We can learn so much about life from the very life You created in us and the nature that we sometimes take for granted.  Thank you for opening my eyes to the little things that can teach me more about You.  

       

Scripture:  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? Luke 12:23-24

Everyday Events

The sacred moments, the moments of miracle, are often the everyday moments, the moments which, if we do not look with more than our eyes or listen with more than our ears reveal only...a gardener, a stranger coming down the road behind us, a meal like any other meal. But if we look with our hearts, if we listen with all our being and imagination…what we may see is Jesus himself.  Frederick Buechner

Are you learning something from God every day?  It’s not easy hearing God speak when we are living in this fast paced world.  Sometimes we miss the answer to our prayer because we don’t slow down long enough to listen for it. 

Yesterday my parents and I spoke at an event.  God speaks all the time and if we are paying attention we will see Him at work in our life and also someone else’s.  There was a lady at our event whose sister was diagnosed with breast cancer.  After I finished speaking one of the ladies in the room asked her to tell about her sister’s cancer.  She began by saying that her sister was diagnosed 6 months ago and was scheduled for a double mastectomy this week.  When she went in for her appointment prior to surgery, her physician looked at the radiology report and it showed no cancer.  They were able to do a lumpectomy instead of a double mastectomy. We later found out that her physician is a Christian and that prayer played a large part during her cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment. 

As I stood there listening to her speak a chill ran up my back.  It was like God reached out and touched me.  I couldn’t help but grin because that was a God moment.  Sometimes he just wants us to slow down long enough to notice that He is there.  Other times he wants us to listen to what He has to say for our own benefit.  Maybe He just wanted me to hear Him speak so that I could repeat the story to you. 

If we are too busy or don’t slow down, we may miss the most important thing God has to say to us.  Take the time to listen for God’s voice.  He is talking but sometimes we just aren’t listening. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I try to listen for You.  There are times when I miss what You are trying to tell me because I am focused on me instead of You.  Help me to clear my mind of outside distractions so that I can hear Your voice clearly and without interruption.  I praise You for caring enough about me to want me to hear what You have to say in the everyday events of my life.

      

Scripture: I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.

Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.  “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.  Habakkuk 2:1-4

Eternal Life

Believing the right things about Jesus isn't enough. You're not adopted as God's child until you confess and turn away from your wrongdoing and receive the freely offered gift of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus purchased with his death on the cross. Until you do that, you'll always be on the outside looking in.  Lee Strobel

What do you think of when you hear the word eternal?  Forever, unending, perpetual, once begun continuing perpetually into eternity.  The life we live on earth is not unending.  Adam and Eve made a choice in the Garden of Eden and that choice took away our chance at eternal life with God.

The amazing thing about God’s love is that he gave each of us an opportunity to use our “Get Out of Jail Free” card.  It is available to anyone who chooses to use it.  I am not sure why we start believing that we will live forever on this earth.  We accumulate stuff like we will live forever here. 

I have been baptized twice in my lifetime.  I know; right about now you’re thinking, “What, you didn’t think it took the first time?”  My grandfather baptized me the first time when I was twelve years old.  At the time I knew right from wrong but I didn’t really understand Jesus’ sacrifice for me.  As I grew older and life threw itself at me; I began to understand that there was more to being baptized than being lowered into the water.  God loved me enough to send His only Son, (who was without sin), to die in my place so that I could be reunited with Him one day.  When I finally understood the implications of that I broke down and cried.  I finally got it.  For someone to die for me so that I could live for eternity with our Heavenly Father was the ultimate sacrifice.

Eternal life means something different for me now.  It means I was reborn into a new life in Christ.  Eternal life means the stuff I accumulate here on earth will one day be gone.  It won’t matter.  The amount of money I make, the car I drive or the house I live in will not matter.  What will matter is where my heart is and whose I am for eternity.  God is amazing!! 

    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am a sinner who fails over and over again.  I praise You for loving me enough to send Your Son to die on the cross for a sinner like me.  I don’t deserve that grace but I will grab it with both hands and cling to You.  You saved me and I am eternally grateful.         

Scripture:  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”  John 3:16-21

The Harvest

He who sows, even with tears, the precious seed of faith, hope, and love, shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him, because it is the very nature of that seed to yield a joyful harvest.  Richard Cecil

I was at an event with my parents yesterday and one of the things we do when we speak at events is we talk about planting, growing and harvesting lavender.   It reminded me how patient we have to be to grow something.  You don’t walk out to your garden and stick the plant in the ground and wait a few minutes and it blooms or produces fruit.  It is a process that often takes years. 

On the other hand, have you noticed how weeds seem to spring up overnight?  We would all be millionaires if there was value in weeds.  Our Christian life is the same.  We are placed on earth to produce an abundance of fruit.   Sin in our life can be likened to weeds.  It can overtake every good thing in our life and choke it out and when it does we don’t produce fruit. 

Another thing that happens is we are impatient.  We want instant success in our gardening endeavors. If we are going to bear good fruit, we will need to be patient.  We can’t walk up to someone who doesn’t know anything about God and expect them to understand Him.  That would be like someone asking me to repair their car.  I don’t know the first thing about engines, brakes, radiators or any number of other things under the hood.  God's Word is very much like that.  When you first open your Bible a lot of what is under the hood is not going to make sense.  There are still times when things in it don’t make sense to me and I’ve been reading it for years.

We have a choice.  We can have a fruitful harvest or we can harvest weeds.  How we live our life can produce an abundance of fruit, but it will be in God’s time not ours.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to have an abundant harvest but many times I am impatient and don’t take the time to nourish the soil.  Help me to be patient and to plant seeds of goodness and love.  Remind me that what I plant will come back tenfold.  I can harvest fruit or weeds.  Thank you for giving me a desire to harvest fruit. 

      

Scripture: The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”  Mark 4:14-20

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”  Matthew 9:37-38

What You Are, Not What You Ought to Be

Ought: Used to indicate something that is probable

Probable: A person who is likely to become or do something

I started thinking about the love of God.  He accepts us when we are dead to sin.  If you look back over your life, as I often do, we often see the worst of ourselves.  We look back on the regrets and transgressions of our life and think, “How could God love a sinner like me?”

Too many times I think we get stuck in that place of “I’m not good enough, I will never be good enough so why would God love me or bother with me. Some of the doubt we have comes from the world we live in.  We are surrounded by sinners just like us.  We also live in a cruel world where hate resides and love for others is lacking.  We live in a world where social media has made it possible for people to lash out at others with hate filled words and we can reach millions in an instant.

Jesus hung out with sinners.  He spent time with tax collectors, murderers, prostitutes and any number of other questionable characters.  His interactions with the sinners of the world should be one of the most important lessons we learn.  He hung out with sinners in order to save sinners.  He also died for sinners. 

If you have someone in your life who you love, think about what it would be like to sentence that person you love to death to save a sinful nation.  If you have children; what if you had to watch as that child was nailed to a cross.  If you don’t have children; what if you had a parent, a brother or sister?  God took His Son and let Him be nailed to a cross until death for you and me.  He wants you, loves you and sacrificed His Son for you.  Not as you ought to be, but as you are.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, when I think of the love You have for me I am in awe.  You love me as I am right now.  You want what is best for me and that is why You continue to pursue me.  I am a child of God and You have given me a way back to You. 

       

Scripture: But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:8-9

Christ in Our Place

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.  Romans 5:6-11

 

Quiet Time

The prayer offered to God in the morning during your quiet time is the key that unlocks the door of the day. Any athlete knows that it is the start that ensures a good finish.  Adrian Rogers

Do you spend quiet time with God?  Too many times we want God to speak to us, yet we don’t spend quiet time with Him.  How can we hear Him speak if we are moving so fast that we can’t hear Him?

If we are going to get the most out of our time with God we need to plan ahead for it.  Too many times we rush through our prayers and conversations with Him and we miss what He wants us to know and learn. 

It has been 9 years since I first started setting aside specific time to be with God.  It wasn’t easy at first because I had become so accustomed to living life at the speed of light that I really wasn’t prepared to hear from Him.  What I learned over the years is that the more time I spend with Him the more I want to devote to Him.  When I get to work, the first part of my day is spent with Him.  That time helps me to prepare for the day ahead. 

There are several things we need to do to make sure our time with God is well spent and to enable us to get the most out of our time with Him.  We need to first be quiet before Him.  Stop the noise, music and any other things that distract us and just be quiet.  Next we need to pray.  Ask God to open our hearts and minds to what He would like to show us.  Too many times we tell God what we want instead of asking Him to show us what He would like us to do.  We then need to read a portion of scripture and then meditate on it.  Our time with God is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.  If we hurry through it we will probably miss something important. 

Set aside a portion of your day to spend time with God.  You will be amazed at what He wants to show you and how it will change your life.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times when I read your Word too fast and I let the distractions of life interfere with my time with You.  I want to hear You speak, but I can’t do that if I am too busy, moving too fast and am not paying attention.  Remind me that for me to hear from You I need to find a quiet place to meditate on Your Word and in the quietness of that time I will hear from You.    

  

Scripture: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3

Do Not Worry

The branch of the vine does not worry, and toil, and rush here to seek for sunshine, and there to find rain. No; it rests in union and communion with the vine; and at the right time, and in the right way, is the right fruit found on it. Let us so abide in the Lord Jesus. Hudson Taylor

Do you have a tendency to fall into worrying?  I know I do.  There are times when I abandon God and worry.  I like to break this word down into two parts when I start worrying.  The first part is “Wo” (i.e. whoa) and the second part is “Rry” (i.e. restart).  When we get buried in worry we have let fear overtake our thoughts.  Fear of the unknown.  If it’s unknown why are we worrying about it in the first place?  When that happens we stop depending on God to know what we need and we don’t let Him take care of it. We need to stop and restart with the knowledge that God will take care of our circumstances.  He doesn’t really need our help.   

It reminds me of when you ride a horse.  When we were kids we rode horses all the time.  When you get up in the saddle you kick the horse’s flanks to get him moving.  When you want him to stop you pull back on the reins and say “whoa Nellie”.  We did actually have a horse named Nellie; although Nellie was about 18 years old in horse years so you never really needed to be concerned about her moving too fast and not stopping.  It was more of a challenge to get her going.

Matthew 6:25-34 it is an excellent reminder of how we should live.  Stop worrying about your life, what you will eat or drink, what you will put on each day.  Life is about more than those things.  If God takes care of the birds and they don’t store up stuff to eat later, how much more important are we His children?  If Solomon with all his wealth was not clothed as beautifully as the lilies of the field why do we worry about stuff like that? He even compares it to growing taller.  How many of us by worrying can make ourselves taller?  It’s really rather ridiculous. 

My favorite verse in this passage is verse 33.  Seek God first and His righteousness and all the stuff you were worrying about will be given to you.  Worrying doesn’t add one iota to your life.  When you find yourself heading toward worry pull back on the reins and say “whoa Nellie”.  Stop and restart. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, remind me that worry is allowing myself to fear something I have no control of in the first place.  You promise me that You will take care of me and that I should not worry about those things but instead depend on You.  My dependence on You releases me from worry.  I praise You for taking care of me.  Remind me that worry doesn’t make me taller and it takes away my faith in You.  

      

Scripture: Do Not Worry

 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  Matthew 6:25-34

Words of Life

God has given us two ears, but one tongue, to show that we should be swift to hear, but slow to speak. God has set a double fence before the tongue, the teeth and the lips, to teach us to be wary that we offend not with our tongue.  Thomas Watson

On Sunday at church we had a visiting pastor who talked about the power of words.  Words can build up or break down.  One of the things he covered was the statistics of how damaging words can be. One of the statistics that struck me was that 1 out of every 4 children have never had a significant conversation with their dad.  Another was 55% of wives don’t like how their husband talks to them. 

Another thing that happens with negative words is that we remember those better than we do the compliments we receive.  Those negative words also are easier to recall and perpetuate themselves in other relationships.

The part of the sermon that caught my attention was when he read from Matthew 12.  In this section of verses it talks about how a tree will be known by its fruit.  He also talked about how what is in our heart will be what we speak.  If we don’t work on our heart; whatever comes out of our mouth will reflect what it in the heart.     

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. Matthew 12:33-35

The verses that struck me the most in this passage were “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”  Matthew 12:36-37 

But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. James 3:8-9

When he said on the day of judgment we will be judged on how we use words, I decided at that moment that I would focus my attention on how I use words.  I will be judged on every word I’ve spoken to another person.  When I look back over my life and think of the times I have said hurtful things to another human being; that gets my attention. 

If each individual is made in the likeness of God and we use words to harm them, then we are using those words against God.  That really gets my attention.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of using hurtful words to harm another.  I ask for your forgiveness for the times I have used anger and hurtful words to destroy another person.  I received a card that was passed out at church on Sunday.  I plan to carry it with me to remind me how important words are and how they can give life or take it away.  Proverbs 18:21 MSG  Words kill. Words give life: They’re either poison or fruit—you choose.      

Scripture: If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. James 1:26