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Our society's values are being corrupted by advertising's insistence on the equation: Youth equals popularity, popularity equals success, success equals happiness. ~John Fisher

I was driving to work this morning and as I am driving I look over and there is an empty field.  Well, I say empty.  It had grass but it also had about eight signs all the same size placed every thirty feet or so.  The interesting thing about this was that everything on all the signs was there to try to help me with all my issues.

There was teeth whitening for a brighter smile, massage for my stressful life, insurance for what could happen but rarely does, cell phones for any emergency,  clothing to replace what I already have, weight loss and the ultimate, psychiatry for when the rest of this gets to be too much. 

We are continuously bombarded by advertisements.  They are on the radio and TV, along the road on your way to work and if you are really lucky you will get a few phone calls throughout your work day that are recorded messages telling you what you need to have a better life.  

I have a DVR on my TV so I have learned a trick that will help me skip past all the commercials.  If I turn on the TV when I get home and hit the pause button I can go around the house doing all the things I need to take care of after a long day at work and then when I finally sit down I can fast forward through all the commercials and watch any show within 15 minutes. 

We often wonder why the children of today are so caught up in how they look to the world.  They are bombarded by advertising that tells them how they can correct their issues and the models they see on the covers of magazines have had their flaws airbrushed away.

God didn’t create us to work all our lives to change what we look like.  He created us in his image and trying to fix what we think is wrong with us is like saying to God you made a mistake.       

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I see commercials and I often buy into what they are trying to sell.  You created me as a one of a kind, so please help me to remember that when I start believing what the advertisements say is wrong with me. You didn’t create me so that I would live my whole life trying to correct a mistake.  I am a child of God and there is no mistake in being Your child.

Scripture:   “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:25-34

Doubting Thomas

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog.  Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord

Have you ever felt in the very pit of your stomach that God was asking you to do something?  It is like a never ending thought that just won’t go away and just when you think you have forgotten it, the thought comes to you again. 

Most of the time when this happens it is when you least expect it and whatever it is that God is asking you to do is way outside your comfort level.  That is when we start questioning God to see it he is really serious, because you start thinking about how far outside of your scope of ability this request is and then you start doubting.

When Jesus was crucified and resurrected, he came back and appeared before the disciples.  Thomas was one of the few who did not see Jesus the first time he appeared and he told the others that he would not believe unless he could see the nail marks in Jesus’ hands and put his finger where the nails had been.  Thomas doubted the other disciples and he also doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead. 

Later in this story Jesus said “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  Thomas had the opportunity to see the real thing, Jesus resurrected.  We on the other hand have not seen him in person so we are called to believe even when we can’t see or touch the nail scars in His hands.  It takes faith to see when there is nothing there, and belief when you are not able to touch or talk to the Savior in person. I would like to have the faith of Noah or Abraham who both stepped out in amazing faith at the risk of great loss.      

 

Prayer for the Day: Father, I am guilty of doubting and often will question when you ask me to step out in faith.  Abraham is one of the best examples of faith.  When in his old age you asked him to sacrifice his son, he didn’t wait.  He made preparations to follow You in faith.  I pray that you will help me to build a faith like that so that when You ask me I will not hesitate.  

Scripture:   Now Thomas , one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”  A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.  Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.”  Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”  Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  John 20:24-29

Designer Brand Name

Our clothes are too much a part of us for most of us ever to be entirely indifferent to their condition: it is as though the fabric were indeed a natural extension of the body, or even of the soul. ~Quentin Bell

I watch the news every morning before work and as always, I see something on the news that catches my eye.  Did you know there is a designer who has created a paper lunch bag for the bargain price of $290?  I almost choked on my coffee. 

There is nothing special about this bag except that it comes in two colors, black and paper bag brown, it is coated with a wax coating to keep your lunch from leaking through and it comes with a “designer label”. 

This started me thinking about designer labels.  Why do we put so much value in someone’s name on a label?  Sometimes you will see a designer item and it is just downright ugly.  But there will be someone who will buy it for the name alone and it is even better if it has the logo printed where everyone can see it.  Then people will know that you own something from that designer.  The thing is that designer didn’t necessarily make that item.  Some assembly line somewhere in some big factory created thousands more just like it so you are not the only one that has that exact same color, style and size.  If you have enough money you can get one made by the designer personally for you that will be the only one created.  When this happens we have to be ready to shell out the big bucks.

Why is it that the God who created the universe and everything in it doesn’t get top billing in the designer business?  Why are we so willing to spend fortunes on worldly designers when the Heavenly Designer is available for free?  The God who created us into a living breathing, blood pumping, walking, talking human form is not the most sought after designer in town.  What a designer he is?  Every one of us is unique.  There is not a big factory somewhere creating duplicates just like each of us.  So when you walk out today, you can choose to have the most important label known to mankind printed on you.  The thing is you will have to follow God for anyone else to see it. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You created me as a one of a kind.  There will not be a duplicate anywhere in the world that will be exactly like me.  I praise You for Your amazing creation.  How can I ever repay the love You have for me a sinner?  I can’t, but I can learn to follow You.  Help me to wear Your label everywhere I go so that others may see Your Glory too.

Scripture:  So I said: “Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations.  In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.  But you remain the same, and your years will never end. The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.” Psalm 102:24-28

Learning Scripture

Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study.  Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.  ~Henry L. Doherty 

I never thought I could learn scripture.  I don’t have a photographic memory and chemo killed a few of my good brain cells that I think helped with my memory, either that or I am getting old and it is said the memory is the first to go. 

What I have learned over the past few years is that when I spend time studying God’s Word, often I will remember a verse (maybe not word for word) but at least a paraphrased version of it.  The thing about this is that it often comes to me when I need it most. 

What I think is that first God wants us to spend time and meditation in His Holy Word.  When we need His presence most is when the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the exact verse we need to help us when we are faced with the challenges of life.  The thing is we will never remember those verses if we never spend time in the Bible. 

I have always heard the saying “you will not get it through osmosis”.  I am kind of a curious sort of person so I decided to look up osmosis in the dictionary.  Here is the paraphrase for it.

Definition:  1.    the passage of a solvent (Bible verses) through a semipermeable membrane (my brain) from a less concentrated (ignorant) to a more concentrated solution (wise) until both solutions are of the same concentration (equal).

 I am not going to remember verses by holding the Bible up to my head and thinking real hard.  The first step needs to be that I open it and read it.  It is not going to flow through my semipermeable membrane and make me less ignorant if I don’t read it and apply it to my life.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, you gave us the Holy Spirit to help us in this life on earth.  If I don’t open your Word, read and meditate on it and then practice it in my time here on earth, I will never be what you have called me to be.  Thank you for loving me enough to provide one Book that can provide the answers I need for any trial I face in this life. I praise Your Heavenly Name.

Scripture: My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding — indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.  Proverbs 2:1-8

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:12-14

Where did you get your driver’s license?

To the outside world we all grow old.  But not to brothers and sisters.  We know each other as we always were.  We know each other's hearts.  We share private family jokes.  We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.  We live outside the touch of time.  ~Clara Ortega

When we were younger my grandparents had a camp on the river that we would go to in the summer.   At the time I was fairly new to driving and my brother, sister and I decided we were going to leave the camp to go home.  I don’t know or remember how it was decided that I would be the one to drive. 

The car we had at the time was a Toyota station wagon and I must point out here that it was a stick shift.  If you have ever driven a stick shift, it is a little complicated, especially when you are fairly new at driving one.  You know how you have to push in the clutch to change gears, press on the gas slowly as you let out the clutch.  If you let out the clutch too fast the car will lunge jerkily forward.  When you get really good at it you don’t even notice the changing of gears.  I am thinking that I wasn’t very good at it yet, my memory is sort of vague on these details, but I am guessing my gear change wasn’t very smooth.

Immediately following the less than stellar gear change, my brother or sister, don’t remember which, piped up and said, “Where did you get your license, a mail order catalog?” 

I have always been the quiet one in the family and this time was no different.  I pulled to a stop, (I did have that part down), put the car in neutral, pulled the emergency brake, opened the door and started walking down the dirt road back to the camp.  I just left them sitting in the car.

I can only imagine the looks on my brother and sister’s faces.  They started calling at me to get back in the car, but I just kept right on walking never looking back.

My Christian life has followed along this same path.  In 2007 I rededicated my life to Christ.  I finally realized what my purpose on this earth is and I have never looked back.  Since that time I have had someone tell me that my heart was not right with God and until it was, they did not want to receive my devotionals anymore. 

Honestly, I think I am a work in progress just like any other Christian.  I am a sinner, I freely admit it, and I often make mistakes.  The reality is we are all sinners and God placed us here together to help each other.  If we all waited until we were perfect, there would be no one going to heaven and Jesus’ death would have been for nothing.  When one falls the others are there to help lift them up. My prayer for each of you is that something I write will lift you up and help you come to know the Heavenly Father.  Above all let our Heavenly Father be glorified in everything I do. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to know you better each day.  When I spend time with You I feel your strength in my life.  Help me to only write things that will glorify You.  Thank you for blessing me with what I write each day and I pray that it glorifies Your Holy Name.

Scripture:  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.  For 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, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.  Romans 12:3-8

Consequences

Wisdom is the quality that keeps you from getting into situations where you need it.  ~Doug Larson

There are consequences for everything we do in life.  If we speed there is often a consequence and if we are stopped by the police the consequence is an expensive ticket.  If we decide to drink and drive there can also be a consequence in that we may be taken to jail or worse we could hit another person and take a life and there are dire consequences.  If we cheat on an exam in school there are consequences.  If we rob a bank the consequence is jail.  If we lie to someone the consequence is broken trust and the sad reality is that person may never be able to trust again. 

There are even more critical consequences if we decide to disobey and sin.  It is not just a matter of some worldly punishment.  It can mean the difference in where we spend eternity.  The older I get the more I think about the consequences in everything I do in this life.  I think when we are young we have a tendency to think we are invincible.  We think we will live forever and if we have any Bible knowledge at all, we think of eternity as a far off time that we can worry about later.  The problem is, later may some sooner than we think.  It could be today, before lunch or even right now.

I would like the consequences of my life on earth to be that God turns to me and says “welcome home” and “well done good and faithful servant.”     

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are consequences to everything we do in life and they are based on the choices we make on a daily basis.  I pray that you will help me make the right decisions so that my choices are based on what you would have me do. 

Scripture: I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.  When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.  Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.  Psalm 146:2-5

Running Late

Old Time, in whose banks we deposit our notes
Is a miser who always wants guineas for groats;
He keeps all his customers still in arrears
By lending them minutes and charging them years.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

(Note: I like this saying but Oliver kind of threw me because I didn’t know what a guinea or a groat was so I looked it up.   A groat is worth 4 pennies and after much research and calculations I think a guinea is equal to $20 bucks.   I never said I was the sharpest tool in the shed.)

Have you ever woken up late?  You know the feeling.  You open your bleary eyes or one eye in this instance and glance at the clock and your heart goes into overdrive.  You jump out of bed and think, “What do I do first”.  The odd part about this is that you have a routine that you have followed for years and all of that goes right out the window.

So you are standing there and if you are like me or most women I know, you start asking yourself, “What can I do to shave off a few minutes here and there to save time.”  Can I do without coffee?  Nope.  Can I go without washing my hair?  Then you look in the mirror and the obvious is answered for you immediately.  I can’t go to work looking like a rooster so I can’t cut that out of my routine.  Can I skip feeding the dog?  Not if you have my dog.  He will follow you around and talk to you until you feed him and if you don’t feed him he will go in and wake my husband up by barking real loud.  I can’t skip feeding the dog. 

As you can imagine this is what happened to me this morning.  I felt like I was in a fire drill.  I did cut out several things.  I determined that if I used enough hair spray I could get my hair to lie down, so I skipped the washing of the hair.  I fed the dog and threw some treats at him and I did manage to get out of the house with matching shoes, (I have gone to work with a blue and black shoe before so this is critical). 

I learned two things this morning. Number one is that what I do in the morning to get ready for work is not important and number two is that I waste a lot of time in the morning.  I was able to get up a half hour later and still walk out of the house headed to work at the same time as I do every other day.  Since time is such an expensive commodity in our fast paced hectic world, I think I may just slow down and cut some things out.  So with all this time I am saving, I think I will spend more time with my heavenly Father.  I cannot imagine a better way to spend the extra time I gained by being late.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I come to you often stressed and out of sorts and the reason is because I am wasting time and attention on things that really don’t matter.  Please help me to remember that my most important time is spent with You and the rest is just stuff.  Thank you for opening my eyes every day to the unimportant things that I focus on that could be eliminated that will allow me to spend more time with You.

Scripture: But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.  For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.  Deuteronomy 4:29-31

Solomon's Mistake

 

Remember this.  When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold.  When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness.  This is also the case when people withdraw from God.  ~Augustine
 

Have you figured out yet that God doesn’t need our help?  He is capable of taking care of each and every one of us without any help from us.  Sometimes it is hard for me to wrap my mind around that thought.  If he clothes the very birds of the air and provides food for them, why do we think he will not provide for us?

Part of the problem is that we want more of what the world has to offer.  The majority of the time God knows that what the world has to offer will not be good for us but we pursue it anyway.  The thing is He is not necessarily going to stop us when we pursue whatever it is we think we can’t live without. 

This always makes me think of Solomon.  Solomon had it all and he started out so well in the beginning.  God told Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted and God would give it to him.  Remember, Solomon didn’t ask for wealth, he asked for discernment in administering justice (the ability to distinguish between right and wrong).   God also told him he would give him what he did not ask for, wealth and honor. 

Solomon had a problem.  He had an eye for the ladies, but God had told him not to intermarry into the other nations because they would turn Solomon’s heart to their gods.  Can you imagine having God come talk to you twice and you still don’t believe what He says?  I guess we can imagine it because it happens to each of us every day.  God may be speaking to us right now and unless we work out our soul muscle we won’t hear what He has to say to us either.   The sad part about the story of Solomon was he lost the very thing he had asked God for, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

  Prayer for the Day:  Heavenly Father, I am guilty of pursuing the things of this world.  If you know the number of hairs on my head why is it so hard for me to understand that you can and will provide for me?  When my trust and faith in You falter Father, I pray that You will get my attention by whatever means it takes to draw me back to You.

      

Scripture: “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”  The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.  So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,  I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.  Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor —so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.  And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 1 Kings 3:7-14

Lawn Chair Balloonists

There is an art, or rather a knack to flying.  The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.  ~Douglas Adamsere

Just when I think I have heard it all, along comes another wacky weird story.  Two guys decided to go lawn chair ballooning over Oregon. Now that is weird in itself but they decided they were going to fly from one guys gas station in Oregon to Montana.  The problem was they were 14,000 feet in the air when a storm blew in.  The storm popped 10 of the helium party balloons all at once but the wind took them higher and then they starting descending really fast. 

If you don't know anything about lawn chair ballooning, you take your Red Ryder BB gun (I kid you not) and shoot balloons to make the craft (if you can call it that) descend.  This was for a warmup so they could take another voyage to fly over Iraq. That flight was scrubbed because they failed to get government clearance in Iraq's airspace.  You think!  I don't know about you but last I heard there was shooting going on over in Iraq and do you think someone over there might take exception to a red, white and blue unrecognizable aircraft.  

Sometimes we humans can come up with some really dumb stuff and we actually spend valuable time at it.  Time that could be spent in better ways I think.  I often wonder what God thinks of us sometimes.  I know he loves each one of us, but sometimes I think it must be hard.  He created us in His image and then we do stupid stuff and he has to get frustrated and angry with us.  All I do know is I don't want to meet my Maker after having fallen 14,000 feet in a balloon propelled lawn chair.    

Prayer for the Day:  Father, thank you for your grace and mercy as well as your patience.  I do stupid things sometimes even when I know better and yet you still continue to love me.  I pray that the time I invest on this earth is for your glory and that I will think before I do something stupid.
    

Scripture: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go and tell this people:“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Isaiah 6:8-10

Utility Transfer

There come times when I have nothing more to tell God.  If I were to continue to pray in words, I would have to repeat what I have already said.  At such times it is wonderful to say to God, "May I be in your presence, Lord?  I have nothing more to say to you, but I do love to be in your presence."  ~O. Hallesby

Have you ever tried to transfer utilities?  I called this morning to do that as a part of my job and this is the scenario.  I called at 8:10am.  I’m thinking that this would be a good time because there wouldn’t be as many people trying to call that early in the morning.  Not true.  All representatives were assisting other customers. 

These days when you call a utility company you don’t get a live person to speak with.  Instead you will get the automated machine and that went something like this.  “You have reached Utility Company X”.  “Please state your account number”.  Since I didn’t have an account number there was not an option for that so I said “Don’t have one”.  This confused the automated machine because he then asked me for my social security number.  Well since I don’t currently have an account with them I didn’t see how he would be able to find my non-existent account with my social so I said “Don’t have one”.  So more confusion sets in and he asks me for my zip code.  I stated the zip code and he says, “That is an invalid zip code”.  So then the machine repeats the request for my zip code so I give it to him again.  He is unable to locate that zip code so he tells me to hold for a representative which then brings me full circle back to the “All representatives are assisting other customers.  Please hold.”

As usual, this started me thinking about God.  God is always available.  He won’t put you on hold while he helps another sinner, he won’t transfer you to another representative who is already on another line.  He won’t ask what your sin is and then say that one doesn’t exist or that one is too tough to handle.  Above all he won’t give you instructions that don’t work, and you don’t need to keep repeating your requests because he heard you the first time even if you didn’t state it clearly, he knows what is in your heart.  God is available 24/7 and he hears all of our requests.  He may not answer them in the way we think he should but then he knows what is best for us so that is a good thing.

Prayer for the Day:  Father, thank you for always being available to listen.  It always amazes me when I think of the number of people that pray to you daily and you hear every prayer.  What an amazing God you are and I am forever thankful for your presence in my life. 
    

Scripture:    if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.   I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.  2 Chronicles 7:14-16

The Termite Truck

Some primal termite knocked on wood;
and tasted it, and found it good.
That is why your Cousin May
fell through the parlor floor today.
~Ogden Nash

 

You see a lot of interesting things on the freeway.  This morning was no exception.  I saw a termite truck this morning on my way to work.  How did I know it was a termite truck you ask?  Because it had termite antenna.  Yes, you heard me right.  The truck was bright yellow and the antennas were black and red and were attached to the roof of the truck. 

This started me thinking about termites.  They can be very destructive.  They will come out of the ground and into your home and eat the foundation that holds the structure together. The thing is most of the time you won’t even realize they are there and then the house will crumble around you.  A great example of this is if you have ever ridden out in the country and come across an abandoned barn or old house and the structure is leaning precariously to one side.  It will only be a matter of time before it collapses. 

Satan gets into our foundation the same way and is more destructive.  We make a decision to do something that we know is against God’s will and our structure leans a little.  Then we rationalize a sin and it leans a little more.  Then one day we sin again and the whole thing comes crashing down.  The problem with Satan is when he invades our structure, it is not just our home that we lose.  It is our salvation.

 Prayer for the Day:  Heavenly Father, I am guilty of allowing Satan to invade my life.  I want to live a life devoted to You.  When Satan tempts me I pray that you will remind me of what is at stake so that I don't make the wrong choice.  Help me to always choose You. 
    

Scripture:    “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:40-42

Tree of Life

The dying Jesus is the evidence of God's anger toward sin; but the living Jesus is the proof of God's love and forgiveness.  ~Lorenz Eifert

When you suffer on this earth the place where suffering started is at the Tree of Life.  How ironic is that. When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Life they chose a path that led to decay and destruction.  Up to that point they lived in paradise.  Can you imagine a place where you didn't worry about getting cold or hot because God made the temperature perfect? They didn't need stores because they didn't need clothes and food was everywhere around them so they didn't need Tom Thumb or Walmart.  Medicine wasn't a requirement because you never got sick.  They actually were able to walk with God in the garden.  

Sadly, at the moment that they ate the fruit, their hearts were corrupted and every human after that except Jesus had or has a diseased heart.  Throughout history we have continued to rebel against God and the saddest part is we cannot blame God for our situation but that is often what happens.  We blame God for anything bad that happens to us but praise him for the good.  

Trouble will come to every one of us in this life and if it hasn't for you yet, it is just a matter of time.  I don't say that to discourage you but there is no insulation from the troubles of life in our fallen world.  The best thing we can do in this life is build our relationship with God because He is the answer when trouble comes.  The only thing God ever wanted from us was obedience and we lost paradise because of disobedience.  

Prayer for the Day:  Heavenly Father, I praise you for creating me.  I know that trouble will come to me at various times in my life.  You are not to blame.  Sometimes the trouble is caused by me and my disobedience and other times someone else is disobedient and someone will pay the consequence.  Thank you Father for loving me enough to create a way out for anyone who chooses You.     

Scripture:    To the woman he said,"I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. ”To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  Genesis 3:16-18

Sorry or Not

Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury.  ~E.H. Chapin

I was listening to a song this morning by Tenth Avenue North.  The song is about forgiveness.  This is one of the most difficult things for me to do in my life.  Forgiving someone who has hurt me.  There are times when I can’t even comprehend how someone can forgive another person for murdering one of their family members or a drunk driver killing a person's child.   

It takes an amazing heart to do that kind of forgiveness and I often think that my heart is just not big enough.  If it came down to me losing a family member due to someone being careless or just not caring for human life, that is a whole lot of forgiveness.  

The thing is we are called to forgive even if the other person is sorry or not and 70 times 7 times.  Do you realize that would be 490 times?  That is alot of forgiving.  This made me think about God and how he must have felt knowing that he had control over whether his only Son would die on the cross or not, and then choosing to allow it to happen for the rest of us on this earth who don’t really deserve it.   God gave us a perfect example of what forgiveness means.   

The heart is an amazing muscle.  It is the center of emotion whereas our head is the center of our intellect.  The problem is our head tells us to seek revenge and it is compounded by the fact that our heart is filled with emotion.  I pray daily that I can get them both on the same page. I am still working on it. 

  

Prayer for the Day:  Heavenly Father, I am so guilty of not forgiving others.  How can I serve you with reverence if I am not able to forgive those you love?  It is not possible to praise and worship you wholeheartedly if I am unforgiving.  Please Father, help me to see past the anger and hurt and love others as You love me.  There is no greater love than Yours.     

Scripture:  If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.  I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.  Psalm 130:3-5

Character

A good character is the best tombstone.  Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered.  Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.  ~Charles H. Spurgeon

What does our character say about us?  When you think about it, even when we don't say a word we are speaking to others through our character.  Some qualities of character include honesty, courage and integrity.  It means living life knowing God is watching and can see it all.  He knows the motive behind whatever we do.  When I stop and think of all the things I've done in my life that lacked honesty or integrity it makes me sad and ashamed.  For so long in my life I lived like God couldn't see what I was doing.  

It takes concious effort on our part to remember that God does see it all and knows it all.  I honestly praise God for allowing me to get cancer because it turned my life around.  It made me think before I act and it made me see Him clearly for the first time in my life.  It was what I consider my "saving grace".  I pray that one day when I die, God's name will be carved on many hearts because my character reflected Him.    

Prayer for the Day:  Heavenly Father, there are still times when my character needs work.  I need your help to keep me going in the right direction.  Thank you for being the loving Father that you are and for showing me grace and mercy when I didn't deserve it.  Sometimes you build my character by the challenges of this life.  Thank you for loving me enough to teach me through the trials.  

Scripture:  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we  also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.   And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  Romans 5:1-5

Advertisment

Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product that they do on advertising and they wouldn't have to advertise it.  ~Will Rogers

  

I am not sure what we did before commercials came along.  I have figured out that I have lots of problems if I believe what the advertisements tell me.  Also, if I believe what the advertisements tell me, they have a cure for all of my issues.  I can buy a car cheap, furniture with no interest for a year, vitamins that will cure my every ill, makeup that can remove wrinkles and make me look 20 years younger.  I can save money by spending more, if I use my reward card I can buy more for less. If my hair turns gray I can solve it by coloring it.  According to the advertisements, I can grow stronger, live longer, save energy, and insure everything from my home to my car and even my pet.  

The thing is if I really think about it I don't need any of the stuff that advertises it will fix any problem I have in my life.  I only need to put my faith in one thing and that is God.  He is always there, loves me as I am and can provide the only thing I really need, salvation. 

Prayer for the Day:  Heavenly Father, I am guilty of buying into many of the things that are advertised.  Please help me to always turn to you for provision. Remind me daily of the many things I have to be thankful for and keep me from buying into the worldly things that are not important.  You give me salvation and that is priceless.      

Scripture:  Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:18-20