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Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps

Work, Work, Work

I am sure we have all heard about just pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and getting it done.  We all seem to get caught up in this trap.  No matter what is happening, we are going to do this ourselves.  It doesn’t matter whether we are going to school; we are a salesperson, construction workers, healthcare providers, mothers or fathers, homeschooling moms, and many others; it is all the same.  We try to make the sale, get the building built, take care of people, be a good mom or dad, and get our kids educated, whether homeschooling or helping them through traditional schooling.  We are determined to make it happen, but it doesn’t work.  What happens is that we become physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted.  We get discouraged, maybe even depressed, and the worst part is that many give up even trying.
I remember so well as a homeschooling mom wanting to stay on schedule.  And then one of my boys would do something crazy, get hurt,  and I was off to the doctor.  I would be under so much stress because I had to throw my schedule out the door, and how would I make everything happen.  And then there is running your business.  My husband and I have done so for 33 years at the time of this writing.  We now have three companies that we run, and the stress can be crazy at times.  How do you keep the work coming in but not get too much so you can’t accomplish it all?  Me, I also have a part-time job working away from home.  And when I get to work, I plan out what is before me, and it seems that things will go great, and then a wrench is thrown in.  I feel this tension starting to rise within me.  I am trying to pull myself up by my bootstraps to make everything happen.   But I am failing and getting exhausted in the meantime.  Can you relate?

And then

And then there is my Christian walk with the Lord thrown into the mix of everything.  I need to make sure I am doing all the right things.  Somewhere in the mix, I need to be making sure I spend time with the Lord in Bible study and prayer.  I need to be going to church and make sure I am helping out.  And I should be doing all the right things, like eating right, dressing right, forgiving, no hatred toward others, etc.
The other thing we need to focus on is taking care of our health.  Often our health gets laid aside because we are too busy trying to put in all the other things in life.  I mean, where do I have time to exercise.  And I walk at work, so isn’t that enough?  And what about just having time for myself, doing something relaxing.  Is it selfish to do something that helps me?  These questions have run through my mind many times.  And to even think about it can be overwhelming.  I can quickly get discouraged if I dwell too much on these things.  What about you?  Do you feel what I am feeling?  And the even bigger question is, are there answers?
It is the trap of Satan to keep us running so hard that we don’t have time to think.  He also doesn’t care how he keeps us busy as long as our focus is in the wrong place.  He can keep us engaged, even doing good things by helping out our church, helping out people who need it, and many other things while neglecting the people closest to us.  We can ignore our family or even ourselves.  We can’t help others if we are not physically, emotionally, and spiritually stable.

God has the answer

I know the answer to all of this, but it is hard to do.  Somehow we as humans think we have to be in control of everything.  But what God is trying to teach us through every experience of our lives is to trust Him.  He has a plan for our lives beyond our wildest dreams, but it may not look like we have dreamed it out.  So does that mean I keep trying?  Why make a schedule if God already has a plan for my day.  Planning is a part of life, and without planning, nothing gets done, and life is chaos.  But when something happens that is not expected, we need to trust and rest in God.
What I like to do each morning is lay all my plans at God’s throne of grace.  And then I ask Him to use me today in His service, asking Him to abide with me.  I need Him to direct my path for the day, so I ask Him to lead my way.  As I do this, I know that if anything comes unexpectedly, He has everything under control if I give it to Him and let Him lead.
Let’s break this down a little more.  Right now, I am focusing on the material things in our lives.  Although, what is happening in our spiritual lives affects everyday life.  But let’s look at our jobs, for instance.  As a construction worker, you need a plan for the day.  Now it depends on whether you are the boss or the worker.  But both have to have a plan.  The boss has to lay out the day to keep his employees busy and understand each job.  As an employee, we have a job to do, and we often plan out how we will accomplish what is in front of us.  Now for each, it can suddenly change for whatever reason.  It can be unclear if our boss changes things, but sometimes we can see why changes happen.  It throws a wrench in our day and smooth plan.  The moment comes when we can choose to get angry and frustrated or trust God.  All of this does not blindside God.  So are we going to trust Him?  We can’t see everything that could happen, but He sure can.

What about

There are so many other jobs out there; I can’t address every one of them, but what about those trying to sell something.  Selling covers many jobs, you might be trading cars, houses, products, insurance, dental care, printing (I work at a print shop), and the list could go on and on.
Selling is a struggle for me.  I desire to be of service and be a blessing to others, but I sometimes feel this pressure to sell because I have to make money, too, right?  We all need to make a living, and there is nothing wrong with doing it.  But there can be this guilty feeling at times.  How can I be of service to others and still sell?  Through His Word, the Lord has shown me that I have to take myself out of the equation.  It is not about me and what I can do for others.  I need to think about what God can do.
It doesn’t seem easy to know how to put this into words.  But I have found that God works out all the details as I give my day to Him.  Does that mean I don’t make a plan?  No, but my goals I give to Him.  I have a schedule planned out each day, laying it before God and asking Him to use me in His service and abide with me so that all my work will be for His glory.  And I am always willing to take up or lay down any plan.  If I do this, I don’t have to get frustrated, angry, anxious, or any other negative emotion because I have given my day to God.  Now, do I always give Him my day without taking it back?  No, of course not; I am human and often get in the way.  If my heart is open to service, can God bring me those I can be of service?  Absolutely!  And if I share with someone what I believe can be a blessing to them and they say no, I don’t need to feel frustrated because I have given this all to God.  So no matter what you might be selling, remember that God can lead, guide, and bring the right people to you.  As I try to force things to happen, not only is it exhausting, but it is discouraging and doesn’t help anyone.

Let’s look further

Now I want to switch gears a little, and let’s look further at our spiritual lives.  Do the same principles apply to our spiritual lives?  Let’s start by looking at what it was like growing up.  The authority over us was our parents or a guardian.  We were to do and follow whatever the house rules were without question, and if we didn’t, there were consequences.  And as we became parents, we have done the same to our children.  So we have all grown up and been taught to obey authority.  We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, grit our teeth (make sure no one sees us), and obey.
Many of us obeyed the rules out of fear of the consequences than out of love, and we even started our relationship with God this way.  We do all the spiritual “rituals” in obedience to our parents, but we often don’t understand them.  We learn about all the do’s and don’t’s and follow them as obligations rather than a relationship.  So we go into adult life doing the routine but don’t have a genuine connection with God.  Some give up on God, and others continue the “rituals,” study the Bible, go to church, pray, and the list goes on.  But there is no real peace.

How can we

So how can we have peace?  I believe we can have peace in our everyday work whether we are working for someone else, self-employed, or whatever work line God has given us, like a stay-at-home mom, which is a powerful job.  Is there work we have to do?  Do we have to plan and schedule?  The answer is yes.  You know how the saying goes, what gets scheduled gets done.  If we don’t make plans for our day, we won’t get our exercise, time with God, prayer time, work, school, or anything done.  But how we go about it makes a difference.  We might get fired if we get to work late, but who will fire us if we don’t spend time with God or exercise.  It is easy to allow things to slide in our physical and spiritual lives.  We have to have a plan.
I can’t even explain the peace when I give my day and life to God each day.  It is the most amazing peace.  But I don’t know about you; I keep taking it back.  I keep trying to make my day go well.  And then I try to be a good little Christian, what a disaster.  Does it mean that every day I give everything to God, there will be no disasters?  no, there is a devil!  He wants to discourage us and get us to take back our day.  But I have found that God works out the details if I don’t take it back into my own hands.  You might be saying, “You make it sound so easy.”  It isn’t easy because the fight with self is hard if we do it independently.  And how many of us start doing it on our own as soon as something goes wrong?  Remember our “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jerimiah 12:9.  We don’t even know our hearts.  But God knows our hearts, and He can even change the desires of our hearts if we ask Him.

Simple faith

We need to become as little children; they have a trusting faith.  They have no fear that we will drop them or let them down.  A little child has complete faith and trust in the person who takes care of them.  We need to have the same faith and trust in God as little children.  Nothing we do outwardly can take the place of simple faith and the entire giving up of self.  And we can’t even empty ourselves of self.  We can only consent for Christ to do the work in us.  We can pray, “Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it.  It belongs to You.  Keep it pure because I cannot keep it for You.  Save me despite my weak, unchristlike self.  Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Your love can flow through me.”  God is the only One who can change our hearts, but we have to allow Him to have peace.  “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”  Philippians 4:6,7.

My experience

My experience trusting God with my time is fantastic if I keep trusting Him.  And where it has started for me is making a plan.  My plan begins in the morning, spending time with God in prayer and the study of His Word.  It makes me tear up as I write this, thinking about how powerful God is, and I wonder why I often fail to trust Him.  He is more powerful than I can ever imagine.  God spoke, and things came into existence, and His power continues to sustain everything.
When I start my time with God, I think I lack time, so I will have a quick prayer this morning and then move on to read or study what I have before me.  But God keeps convicting me of how important it is to pray.  I need to pray for my children, family, friends, enemies, our country, and the list can go on.
How can I have time to pray?  I don’t know about you, but I can spend much time praying.  And in my humanness, I can’t imagine how I can have time for all of it.  But here is where the miracle happens if I trust Him.  Every time I trust Him with my time and start with prayer, it always works out.  I get so caught up in worship that time goes by me.  As I come to the end of my prayer, I realize I am probably out of time and won’t be able to spend time studying.  No matter how many times this happens to me, I am always blown away.  As I look at my watch, I am shocked to see how little time has passed and how much I still have left to spend in the Word.  How does God do it?  I don’t know!  But every time, it shows me the power of God.  He is all-powerful.  Why do we fret and worry?  He has our back.  If God is so powerful that He can multiply bread (Matthew 15:32-39), He can multiply time, money, or whatever we need.  We can trust Him!
Dear Father,
Thank You for being so patient with me as I struggle to trust You.  Continue to give me Your promptings to trust You fully.  As I trust You and give all to You, I know I have the most incredible peace.  Please help me and guide me because without You, I am nothing.  I have no strength without You.  Continue to strengthen me as I fumble my way through this life with the hope of the coming life that is soon to come.  Thank You for Your continued love for me.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
I encourage you to trust the One who loved you so incredibly much that He gave His life for you.  He will help you and strengthen you on the journey.
I love you all!
Do you struggle with trusting God?  Do you have an experience that showed you the amazing miracles when you trust Him?  I would love to hear your story.  Please share below in the comments.
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Are You Ready For What is Coming?

Ready or not

We have all heard the saying, “Ready or not here it comes”.  This is so true when winter is coming.  It is going to come whether you are ready or not and it is up to you to be ready.  This was my experience this winter.

The weather app was predicting snow.  And it wasn’t just like 25, 30, or even 50% chance.  It was predicting a 100% chance of snow and with an accumulation.  We had known this for a few days.  And I even said, “I need to get my studded tires on.”

Now I know for those that don’t live in snow country and mountains you may not even know what I am talking about but for where I live it is necessary.  For me to get home, I have to either have studded tires or put chains on to go up to our mountain home.  I put chains on for a few years but I have no desire to do that anymore.  And I don’t even own chains for my car.

Yep, it happened

You know you always question and wonder if the weatherman is right.  Are you going to trust what he says or just take your chances?  Well, some people keep hoping for another day and don’t follow through with what really needs to be done.

The morning of the prediction I went to work as usual.  No snow and the roads were fine.  But when I came out of work there was a good 5 or 6 inches of snow on my car and I knew that meant even more where I live.  I did have a coat and gloves but I was not equipped with boots (always a good thing to carry with you in case you can’t make it home and you have to walk).

The frustration kicked in as I started to clean my car off, knowing I would have to drive home with tires that were not fit for winter driving.  The roads were one aspect but the worst was being able to drive up our long hill to our house.  But I had no choice at this point.  Thankfully I made it home without a huge amount of trouble.

It made me…

My experience made me start to think.  We knew the snow was coming but made no effort to get prepared.  What about Jesus soon coming?  We know it is coming!  We don’t know exactly when He is coming but we know it will happen.  The same is really true of the snow.  There may be a prediction but a lot of times they are off by hours and sometimes days.  But we know the season and recognize the signs that winter is coming soon.

The reality is that we also know the signs of Jesus coming and it is at hand.  Are we preparing like He is coming or are we too caught up in life to notice?  We might even be ignoring it because we aren’t ready and we don’t want to take the time and effort at this point in our lives.  I think we need to start rethinking our priorities, at least I know I do.

I didn’t get my tires on in time and it was a struggle to get home but I made it.  But if we are not prepared when Jesus lays down His Priestly duties of interceding for us to come and get us to take us home and we are not ready, what a sad day that will be.  I can feel that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about it.  But does it make us seek Him more?  Are we ignoring the signs?

This hit home

For me this illustration God showed me hit home hard.  It is so easy to get caught up in day-to-day life that we miss the signs or just plain ignore them.  And it is so easy to get distracted by the things around us.

So what should we be doing?  Should we be keeping up with all that is going on around us so we can “see the signs”?  What about my job should I quit?  Should I stop doing and living a somewhat normal life?

Although I don’t know whether God would want you to quit your job and do something different, one thing I do know is that we do have to keep living even though things around us may seem to be falling apart.  I still had to go to work even though I knew it was going to snow, but I could have been prepared.  And just like I should have been prepared for the snow I can be prepared each day for Jesus coming.  We never know when our last day will be, we have to be prepared always.

Dear Father,

We know that Your coming is soon.  But it is so easy to get caught up with all the things around us that we don’t even give You the time of day.  Surround us with Your Angels that can keep back the one that wants to distract us.  Prompt our hearts daily with your Spirit, helping us to keep our eyes focused on You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Come to the cross each day and surrender your life to the One who can bring you through.

Love you all!

Share a time when you should have been ready for something because you knew it was coming and you weren’t ready? What did you learn?

 

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Spiritually B A L A N C E D Part 2 of 8

B A L A N C E D

Be open to the Holy Spirit

Acknowledge that you’re a sinner

Lament for your sins

Allow God to work in your life

Nourish yourself with God’s Word

Commune with God

Exercise faith in God

Draw strength from God

Keeping our lives balanced can be a challenge whether it is physically or spiritually.  And the next part in our series for a balanced life is no exception.

Acknowledge that you’re a sinner

It can be difficult to truly acknowledge we are a sinner.  We might be able to say it but to really understand what it means is a totally different story.  So the question would be, what does it mean to acknowledge that we are a sinner?  And how can we know that we are a sinner?

Start with…

The first way to know whether or not we are a sinner is to start by looking at other people,  right?  Wrong!!!  But isn’t that what we do a lot of times?  We look at ourselves as better than those people so we must not be that bad.  So we don’t see ourselves as we truly are.  But we are not any better than the next person.  We can look at the most horrific sin out there and think how horrible but that could be us because we have all been born with sinful flesh.  We are no better than anyone else.  “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23.

Now you might be saying but I haven’t murdered anyone or committed adultery.  That may be true but in God’s eyes, sin is sin.  Sin separates us from God.  And remember to hate someone in God’s eyes is classified as murder and what you think in your heart can be adultery.  “…Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” Matthew 5:28.  It is about what is in our hearts and minds.

Begin by…

Where we need to begin is at the cross.  We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and what He has done for us.  The more we focus on Him we see ourselves as we truly are and that is what brings us to the point of acknowledging that we are a sinner.  We cannot realize our need until we come to the point of seeing ourselves as we truly are.  Jesus said, “…For without Me ye can do nothing” John 15:5.  We can’t even see our wretchedness or our worth without coming to the cross.

When we focus on others we look at ourselves as “rich, and increased with goods, and having need of nothing;” and we don’t recognize the fact that we are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” Revelation 3:17.  But when we behold Christ we see our need.  And as we behold Him we can recognize our sinfulness and our need for a Savior.  And that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags but His righteousness is complete.  We need to ask Jesus to come into our lives and let His righteousness live out in our lives.

Dear Father,

We need You to even realize our sinfulness.  But I am so grateful to You that as we come to the cross and realize how sinful we are, the cross also shows us how much we are worth.  Thank You for the love and worth that You have shown to us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Come to the cross today and every day for the rest of your life!  Jesus loves you with unfailing love and is waiting for You.

Love you all!

If you are someone that already comes to the cross each day what blessing has it been for you?

If you have not yet read part 1 in this series check it out here:  Spiritually B A L A N C E D Part 1 of 8

 

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Spiritually B A L A N C E D Part 1 of 8

I talked about having balance in our lives both spiritually and physically.   Now I am starting a series in both areas.  I pray that each one will be a blessing to you as we all grow.

Balanced!

In any of our lives, it can be difficult to have balance but it is crucial that we do what we can to create balance in our lives.  In this series on being balanced in our spiritual lives I will be covering these areas.

Be open to the Holy Spirit

Acknowledge that you’re a sinner

Lament for your sins

Allow God to work in your life

Nourish yourself with God’s Word

Commune with God

Exercise faith in God

Draw strength from God

In part one I will be focusing on Be open to the Holy Spirit.

Be open

After Jesus died for our sins and went back to heaven He sent us the great gift of the Holy Spirit.  And we cannot do anything without the Holy Spirit.  Christ works in our lives through the Holy Spirit and as Jesus said, “…Without me ye can do nothing…” John 15:5.

It is the Holy Spirit that draws our hearts and does the work within our hearts.  We wouldn’t even know anything about God and His love for us if the Spirit didn’t draw us.  He may impress others to share their testimonies, pray with us, or even share some truths from the Bible.  I call this seed planting.  But Jesus makes those seeds grow through the power for he Holy Spirit.

God never forces anyone.  He draws but it is up to us to be open to His drawing.  I believe every one of us, if we are honest with ourselves, can think of a time that we felt the drawing of the Spirit.  And there are times we listen and other times we don’t.  I can think of different times in my life that I didn’t listen to that “…still small voice” 1 Kings 19:13.  He comes to us so gently.  It starts with Him every time.

Think of someone, it may have been you, who grew up not even knowing anything about God and who He is.  God is drawing their hearts through the Holy Spirit.  They don’t know what it is but at times they listen to that still small voice.  I recall my mom telling me about getting the impression that she should or shouldn’t do a particular thing as she was growing up even though she didn’t really know anything about God.  Now that she is a Christian she can look back in her life and see when those times were and what the Lord was trying to save her from.

I have given my heart

Once we have been drawn and learned about Jesus and what He has done for us and we accept Him, He continues to speak to our heart through the Holy Spirit.  Is it an audible voice?  At times it may be but for me mostly it has not been audible.  It is really hard to explain what it is but for those that have experienced it they know what I am talking about.  You might call it an impression.

For me, I always like to invite the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart through God’s Word.  As I read His Word the Spirit impresses me with those things that need to change in my life.  He has also spoken to me through individuals around me.  Sometimes when the Lord uses people we tend to not listen.  It can be a little more difficult but we need to be open to what others share with us.  Go before the Lord in prayer and ask the Lord if He is using the person to show you something.  If we are honest in our hearts we will know if it is from God or not.

What I love

What I really love about God is how caring He is.  He cares about everything in our lives and sends the Spirit to speak to us about the every day mundane things as well.  You would think that He would only care about the big things but not God He is interested in every part of our lives.  He wants to teach us that we can trust Him.  We don’t have to worry about anything that is going on around us.  He has our back.  And everything that happens will work together for our good, even though we can’t see it at the time.

What I realize is how much I really need to write down the things the Lord speaks to me about and whether or not I listened.  It would be good to be able to look back and see those things.

I remember one time when I was grocery shopping.  We all have our particular stores we go to and what we buy at each of those stores.  Well, this particular day I had an item that I wanted to get that I always bought at a particular store because it was less expensive.  I went to two other stores before I was going to the store where I would get that item.  At each of the previous stores I walked passed the very item and a little voice said, “Buy them here”.  But I was determined to get them at the store where it was less expensive.  You have probably figured this out already.  When I got to the store where I wanted to buy it, they were out.  It definitely would have made my life easier if I just would have listened.  But what amazes me about this story the most is that God cares about it.  He wants to help us with everything.  And it starts with listening to that still small voice.

Test the spirits

We do need to realize that there is more than one kind of spirit.  We need to be sure to test the spirits, whether they are of God.  Now obviously it wouldn’t matter to God if I buy a particular item at one store or another He is just trying to make my life easier.  But there are other things that do matter.  We need t always test the spirit by the Word of God.  Because there are evil spirits as well that can speak to us and people do mistaken it of the Holy Spirit.  But if we stay in God’s Word and test everything by His Word we will be safe.

This is why it is so important to spend time each day in God’s Word and in prayer.  We need to have knowledge that will help us discern the spirits throughout the day.  If we have hidden God’s Word within our hearts we will have the discernment that we need.

Dear Father,

We want to have Your Spirit drawing us.  It can be hard at times with our selfish hearts to listen but it is our hearts desire.  You have promised that You will never leave us or forsake us.  We claim that promise and ask for Your Spirit to soften our icebound natures that want to take over.

I pray that the mighty energies of Your Holy Spirit with all quickening, recuperative, and transforming power, may fall like an electric shock on our palsy-stricken souls, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, and restoring us fully from our dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Be opened to the Holy Spirit starting today!

Love you all!

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Nature and Faith

Nature!

I love to spend time in nature.  It seems like there is an endless amount of lessons that can be seen through the observation of nature.  What is my favorite part of nature? It is hard for me to choose just one thing.

One thing that I have been thinking about lately is the colors in nature.  What would it have been like if God would have made the colors different than they are right now?   For example, what if the sky was red, the grass and trees were blue, and the branches and tree trunks were green.  Now, you may be thinking that’s crazy.  But the reality is that if God would have created it that way we would not have known any better.

I can’t imagine the sky red.  Just to think about it makes me feel totally on fire.  I mean red is not a relaxing color by any means and it just makes me feel anxious.  It seems that God has made the colors to reflect what He is and how He wants us to be.

Colors

Blue is a representation of the law of God.  And I love that our sky is blue because it makes me feel God’s protection.  We often think of the law as something bad.  I have to do this or that or I can’t do this or that.  But how do you want to be treated in life?  Do you want to have others steal from you or kill you?  To me, the law is a law of protection.  God loves us so much He wants to protect us from all the bad and evil.

I am grateful for God’s law of love.  He wants to have fellowship with us.  And not only does He want to have fellowship with us He also wants us to have fellowship with each other.

The law of God is all about love, love to Him, and love for those around us.  So when I look at the blue sky, it reminds me of love and God’s protective power.  And then there is the beautiful red that streaks the sky at sunset or sunrise.  It reminds me of the blood that Jesus shed, which brings me back to the love that, leads to wanting to obey His law.

Green is another lovely color that God has given us.  And as many know green is one of the most relaxing colors.  A lot of us know what it is like to go out in nature and sit amongst the green trees on the green grass.  The feeling I get when I do this is so relaxing.  The cares of the world seem to melt away.

Green

I think of green as a very significant color that God has given all around us.  He has made it one of the most prevalent colors around us, at least most of us.  I don’t think it is just because it is a relaxing color, although it plays a crucial role.  I think it is because green represents faith.  He is reminding us all around to have faith in Him.

What is the most relaxing thing that you can think of in this world today?  Well, for me, I think it is faith.  And without faith, it is impossible to please God (See Hebrews 11:6).  If we have total faith in God and His plan for our lives we can be the most relaxed people in this world, no matter what chaos is happening.  It sends chills up and down my spine when I think about it.  But I struggle to have this kind of faith.  Yet, God has given us so much to remind us what He wants for our lives, a life of rest and peace.

What is faith?

If without faith it is impossible to please God then we better know all about it right?  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1.  Here is how the Revised Standard Version states this verse, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

I looked up some things on faith and what it means and here is a summary of what I found.  Faith is an assurance or belief in something, and also a conviction of whatever truth we believe in.  I can have faith that when I sit down in a chair it is going to hold me up.  Most of us never even think about it or fear before we sit down, we just sit down.  Because our belief is so strong in the creator of that chair, the fact is, we don’t even think about it.  And believe it or not, we don’t even know the creator of that chair.

What makes us believe a chair is going to hold us up?  Maybe we trust the place we bought it from, the reputation a company has, other people reviews of the product, etc.  I don’t even know if I have given it much thought of why I have faith in a chair to hold me up.  And there are many more things we have faith in every day, our cars, that our house will stay standing, or the building we work at has been built to continuing standing, that most people are competent drivers so that we don’t shake in our boots every time we go out on the road, how about an airplane, etc.  I could go on and on.

So how does this play into our faith in God?  It is kind of silly when you think about it.  Why would we trust a chair, car, or airplane manufacturer that we don’t know or even investigated but we won’t trust a God who loves us?  He has given all this green around us to say, “Trust Me!  Have faith in the plan that I have for your life, even though you don’t understand or know why just trust me.”  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding” Proverbs 3:5.

It is so…

Why is it so hard to have faith in a God who loves us with an everlasting love and yet we have faith in a chair, car, airplane, etc?  I think that this is a question that we need to chew on.  I know I do!  Believe me, as I write these things I am talking to myself.  When we go to buy a chair or even food for that matter, do we question whether it is safe?  Do we investigate the company to see if we can have faith that what I am buying is safe?  I can say for the most part I don’t.

How many of you order online?  When I order online I will often look at reviews.  But even those are not always helpful.  As a matter of fact, reviews can be downright discouraging.  And why is that?  Because you get these people that say how wonderful the product is and then there can be a small percentage that just is downright cruel about the product.  We have all see them.

The same can be true with Christians.  If we were to look at people’s reviews on Christianity we would get the same thing.  Some have had a great experience and some have not.  So how do we know?  When it comes to buying something the best way to know is to experience it yourself.  Even with reviews, you need to read between the lines.  Why don’t they like it?  Is it because it is not what they were expecting or wanted or was it because something was wrong with it?  Some would say that if the majority thinks it is good then it probably is safe to buy it.

Majority

When it comes to our choices with God should we seek the majority reviews about God?  Is there safety in the opinions of the majority?  Or is it safe to make our decisions based on what we see in other “Christian’s ” lives?  I would say not.  Just because a person claims to be Christian does not mean that they are truly like Christ.  True love gives everyone the freedom to choose whether they want God in their lives or not and whether they want to obey His laws.

Even though nature is marred by sin, it obeys God’s laws.  We are marred with sin as well but we can choose to obey God’s laws.  We can choose to have faith in His Word and the promises that He has given us.  He has given us so much evidence that He loves us.  Why is it so hard for us?  I can speak for myself, I am so much happier in my life when I have faith to lay my life in His hands. Trying to do everything on our own is such a miserable life, why do we choose it?

Look to Jesus

Why shouldn’t we look to people for our guide?  We are all sinners and make mistakes in our judgment, so there is no safety there.  The example that God gave us in Jesus Christ is the only perfect example for us to follow.  So the safest place for us to keep our eyes is on Jesus.  Read about His life, study His life, and then allow Him to emulate His life in you.

Every day as you see the green of the grass and trees bring to mind the faith that you can have in the One that is the most trustworthy.  God has put so much green around us to help us remember.  But often we pass by it all and don’t even see what He has to offer us.  God has put nature around us to remind us of Him and His power to save us to the uttermost if we come unto Him by Jesus, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for us (See Hebrews 7:25).

What is our part?  Our part is to choose Him.  When we are studying His Word and we learn His ways we choose His ways but He does the work to change our lives.  Nature obeys God but it is God’s power that makes nature grow, makes the rain to fall, or the sun to rise, etc. (See Ps. 147:8, 16-19, Matt. 5:45).  And as we choose Him and His ways God will make the seed of truth to grow in our hearts and He will make us more like Him.  He will change our hearts.

Dear Father,

Thank You for giving us the beautiful things of nature to remind us of Your power and love for us.  Help us to see that full faith in You and the plans You have for our lives is the safest and happiest place that we can be.  You are the One that can help us choose You and make us like You.  Help us in the choosing process today.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Have faith and trust in God today!  You won’t regret it!

Have you had faith in God through a tough situation and God came through for you amazingly?  I would love to hear your story.  Share below in the comments.

 

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“I Am Glad You Have…?”

Sick!

I don’t know anyone that likes to be sick.  Now there are those that may pretend to be sick to get off work or school.  But if they are truly sick they are definitely not excited!

Recently, my daughter got sick.  And not only was it not exciting for her I was not too happy about it either.  Now is not the time to get sick with anything because of the pandemic that is taking place right now.  It causes your life to turn upside down.  Life changes and there is nothing you can do about it.

I had to call my work and let them know what was happening.   Naturally, they wanted me and my son, who also works there, to stay home.  “Until we know what she has we can’t allow you to be here and possibly put the rest of us at risk.”

And what did they do?  They scoured the place, Lysol, alcohol, sanitizing wipes, you name it they did it.  Because there is a fear of getting the deadly sickness that can change your life.  There are a lot of sicknesses that can be contagious and it can be good to take precautions so that you don’t get sick.   The biggest one is to keep your immune system strong.

Now one thing I want to be clear about here before I go on.  I am not writing this to take any side about what is true or not true about what is going on in our world today.  But what I want to do is derive a lesson that we can learn.  And in order to derive that lesson we are going to assume in this writing that what is being said is true, this sickness is deadly and you don’t want to get it.  I am not saying I necessarily believe that I am trying to show a spiritual lesson that we can derive from anything that comes into life.  And there are many!

What do I do now?

After calling my work and being band I wanted answers.  I was not going to sit around for 14 days to see what the outcome was I wanted to be proactive on getting this resolved so I could go back to work.

My next step was to call our family physician!  I told them, “My daughter has a fever and a really bad sore throat.  I need to figure out what the problem is so I can go back to work.”  I was informed that a nurse would need to call me back and ask some questions because they were not allowing anyone in the office with certain symptoms.  If she had certain symptoms I would have to take her somewhere else to be tested.

I waited for several hours for a callback but it finally came.  The questions were simple and because I could say no to all three they made an appointment for me to bring her into the doctor’s office.  We were grateful when she was diagnosed with something that you would normally not rejoice over.  But with what is happening in our world today what she was diagnosed with was better than the alternative.

It made me think

Then I got to thinking about sin in the life.  We often look at sin as if there are different categories.  We may think the sin of gossip is not as bad as murder so we are grateful that we may only have the gossip issue.  There are so many other examples that I could give but I think you get the idea.  But in God’s eyes, all sin is the same.  The sins that we think as “little” can be more dangerous to our spiritual life.  It can eat away at our spiritual life little by little without detection.

A disease of the body is like a sin to the spiritual life.  No matter what disease or sickness you have it takes you down physically.  The same is true with sin.  No matter what the sin is it has an effect on our spiritual life.  And just like some physical illnesses are contagious sin is contagious.  That is why it is so important to keep our immune systems strong and keep things out of our lives that lower our immune systems.

Now what?

What is the answer to our dilemma, whether it be physical or spiritual? The answer is really the same.  You need to build your immune system and do things that will support your immune system, whether physical or spiritual.

I am not here to talk about the physical or spiritual immune boosting ideas in-depth but I want to give a snippet to what is coming.  What about our physical and spiritual immune systems?  What can we do to help keep ourselves physically and spiritually well? I have an acronym that I have created to help us look at what things we can do to keep our immune systems strong, whether it is physically or spiritually.  We have to have a B A L A N C E D life in both of these areas.

Physical                                            Spiritual

Bed Time                                        Be open to the Holy Spirit

Aqua                                                 Acknowledge that you’re a sinner

Light                                                 Lament for your sins

Air                                                      Allow God to work in your life

Nutrition                                         Nourish yourself with God’s Word

Control                                           Commune with God

Exercise                                         Exercise faith in God

Dependence on God               Draw strength from God

God has no fear

When it comes to our physical or spiritual lives God has no fear of us coming to Him.  We don’t have to call up the Great Physician and ask if it is okay to come to Him.  He has no fear of “catching” what we have. We can come to Him at any time and He will be there for us.  There is nothing that is beyond His knowledge or control.  What a blessing!  He can take care of any disease, whether it is of a physical nature or a spiritual one.

God does not always promise to heal us physically but He does promise to heal us spiritually.  Spiritual healing is the most important.  If we die physically we have a great hope of the resurrection but if we die spiritually we have lost that hope.  I want to be healed spiritually!  How about you?

Dear Father,

Praise Your name that You are the great healer and You can heal us both physically and spiritually.  I am so grateful that I can trust You with my life.  And I am grateful that nothing comes into my life unless You allow it and it is for my good.  Thank You for Your unfailing love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your spiritual immune system in tacked by connecting with God each day.

Love you all!

What do you do to help keep your spiritual immunity up?  Share below.

 

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“What Has Eclipsed Your Life?”

Eclipse!

We all remember a time in our life where there was a total solar eclipse.  It was so fascinating to watch.  Depending on what your age was when you watched it, the thoughts about what was happening were different.  A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over the Earth.  It may not always be a total eclipse.  Also when an eclipse happens it may not be visible from where you are.

It fascinates me to think about how this occurs.  This can only occur at the phase of the new moon.  And actually, there are four types of eclipses:  total, annular, partial and hybrid.  When you think about the sun being around 864,000 miles in diameter, where our moon is only around 2,160 in diameter, it seems like an impossible event.  But the moon is closer to the earth than the sun thus this event is able to happen.  Although there are some differences between the different types of eclipses I am not going to get into that here.  The main point I want to make here is the difference in power and size between the sun and the moon.

Illustrations

There are so many spiritual illustrations a person can see through looking at an eclipse.  I have in the past talked about the moon and how it would have no light except for the reflection of the sun.  And it is the same with us as Christians.  If we don’t allow the Son of righteousness to shine on us so that we can reflect Him, we are nothing.  We are dark so no one can see Christ and we really have nothing to give to others.  But as I was reflecting on this again another thought has come to me.  There are so many illustrations that God can give us through nature.

There are different kinds of eclipses.  Some are full eclipse but others are different variations of partials.  As Christians, it can be easy to start allowing the world to creep into our lives.  It can be gradual and almost undetected at first because of how slowly it comes into our lives.  It can be something very small and we think, “Oh, this is really no big deal.  I don’t want to be different so I will just compromise a little bit.”

At that moment of compromise, the shadow of the “moon” (the devil) starts to cover the “sun” (Son of righteousness).  And we don’t really detect or notice.  I know when I have watched an eclipse it seems like it is taking “forever” but in reality, it is happening very quickly.  It seems that with each step of compromise it gets easier for the next one and then the next one until we wonder how in the world we ever got here.  And it happens more quickly than we could ever imagine.

It is that moment of realization when you feel so far away from God.  You feel as if you are in the dark.  But the fact is that the “sun” is still shining.  It is us that have changed not God.  He still loves us and wants to fully shine on us.  But because He is a true and loving God, He never forces His way into our lives.  He has given us the freedom to love and serve Him or to reject His ways.

God is still here

I am so grateful for God’s mercy and love.  And that He never leaves us or forsakes us.  He keeps “shining” even though we can’t see it.  He is waiting for us.  And He has promised, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9).  We can confess and He will forgive. And the most wonderful thing will happen.

When we watch an eclipse it slowly covers and then slowly goes away, right?  But when we confess our sins and ask God to forgive us, the response is immediate.  The “eclipse” of the devil doesn’t slowly go away, He has to immediately leave.  And then we receive the full “Sun” (Son of Righteousness) shining upon us.  What a miracle!!  And what love God has for us.

I love these verses that show the love and power of God.  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity…” (Jeremiah 29:11-14).  The captivity that the devil has placed upon us by “eclipsing” us from the “Sun” will be removed as we come to God and seek after Him.

Dear Father,

Lord, You are all mighty and powerful and can accomplish all things.

You have defeated armies and healed people both physically and emotionally.  You have forgiven all who come to You with a contrite heart.

Please show us areas in our lives that we need to confess so that our lives do not become a total “eclipse”.  We praise Your name that You can forgive and cleanse us with Your shed blood.  And that You will accomplish the work that needs to be done within us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Go to God.  He will forgive and cleanse you.

Love you all!

Do you have a story to share how God has reached out, forgiven, and saved you?  I would love to hear your story.  Comment below.

 

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“What?!! Trust Who?”

Trust?

In the world in which we live it seems very difficult to trust.  A young person has a hard time trusting their parents for multiple reasons.  Parents struggle with trusting their children.  It can be difficult to trust a salesperson and you wonder if they are caring about your needs or just trying to make the sale.  Social Media? Some people seem to think if they see it on Facebook, Youtube, etc., it must be trustworthy.  I have news for you it is not a good source to trust.

What about the young people of today?  Why is it that they have such a hard time trusting their parents?  It seems that this is a problem within the church as well as outside the church.  And I think a lot of people are wondering why.  Our young people should feel that they can trust their parents.  There is a lot more trust in us when they are very small but things seem to change as they get older.

Parents

God was the most perfect parent and He still had children that didn’t trust Him.  But I do believe that there would be fewer young people leaving the church if they had more godly parents. You might be saying,  “Well, the Bible says, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it.’  And that is exactly what I am doing.”  This sounds good but my question to parents is are you training up your children in the way they should go?  Or are we training them like we would a horse or a dog?

I don’t want you to get angry with me or think I am pointing fingers.  I am writing this just as guilty as anyone.

My parents taught me all the dos and don’ts.  I was a more compliant child so I did what they taught me.  I am sure they showed me all the reasons and they felt that the reasons were good enough.  But when I left home I was doing the right things but did not have a saving relationship with Jesus.  My parents even today would tell you how they wished they would have understood more.  But that is what growing in Christ is all about.  We don’t have it all together.  We grow!

As a parent right now you may be doing all the right things in your life.  I am not saying that you are claiming to be perfect but you have the fundamentals of right and wrong down.  But I hate to break it to you, that is not going to save us and it will not encourage or teach our children to follow Christ.  It may even turn them off.  Especially since a lot of us may be trying to get them to do the things we are doing and we are really forcing it on them.  They may be compliant but still in a lost condition.

Answers

I have to say here that I don’t have all the answers.  And I definitely don’t have it together either.  But as I study more and more I see what the answers are and want them in my life.  It may seem discouraging and I may wonder if it is too late to rectify the influence that I have been on my children.  But I know that I can trust God’s promises.

Reaching our children or anyone around us starts with us.  As parents we are missionaries and our home is our first mission field.  And what we say doesn’t mean as much as how we live and what we reflect.  Who is the one that is the accuser?  Who is it that wants to condemn?  It is not our loving Savior.  Our Savior is compassionate, forgiving, merciful, loving, shows no anger, etc.  Even when Peter denied Him He looked at him with love.  How do we look and treat our young people when they do not do what we want them to do?

If we are trying to do what is right in our strength we are going to be pointing fingers, getting angry, frustrated, and not showing love and compassion to our children or anyone that does not do what we think they should be doing.  When they see us filled with anger and frustration, or a condemning spirit it doesn’t draw them to Christ.

It starts with us

The answer starts with us.  We may be doing all the “right” things but they mean nothing if they are done in our strength.  When we do things in our strength that is when anger, frustration, no compassion, etc comes in.  We have to allow the Lord to have control of our lives and let the Holy Spirit do the work in us.  If the changes in our lives are not through the power of the Holy Spirit we are not in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  And we cannot reflect Him to others.  Our children will not see Jesus in us and be attracted to a better way of life.  When we are doing it in our strength they see such a struggle in us they want no part of it.

Keeping the law

You may be saying, “I keep the law of God!  I worship God and don’t take His name in vain and I keep His day holy.  And I show my parents honor.  I do not kill, steal, commit adultery, bear false witness, or covet.”  I hate to break it to you that it is much deeper than this.  We may think we are not taking the name of God in vain, using swear words but if we are not reflecting Christ and claiming to be Christians we are taking His name in vain.

And we only have to break one to be breaking them all.  “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” James 2:10.  And Jesus said, “Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:19.  The teaching is done more through our actions than through words.  And if any of you are like me, we have failed bitterly.

Prayer

We need to be in much prayer.  Praying for the Holy Spirit to fill our lives and to change us.  I read once about what a young man had to say about his father and I pray we all can have this said about us by our children as well as others.  He said, “Father, I knew you then and I know you now.  I have seen such a change in your life will you mentor me?”  If we allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives our children will see a change in us.  As we perfectly reflect Him they will see it.

Dear Father,

You have promised Your Holy Spirit to all who ask.  I ask for Your indwelling Spirit to change my life.  I pray that everything I do will be through Your power and not my own.  And as I allow You to have full control my children will see something better and will be drawn to You.  Thank You for working in my life and the lives of my children.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in your life so that your children will not see you but Jesus.

Love you all.

Have you had an experience where you know you allowed the Holy Spirit to work instead of you pulling yourself up by your bootstraps?  Can you share how the difference feels?

 

Note:  Life has been a little crazy and changing in my life thus the break from writing but I hope to be getting back on track.

May the Lord continue to bless each one of you.

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“Really? What Does It Mean?”

Really?

These days you hear all kinds of words flying around, words of truth, gossip, lies (which are really the same as gossip), etc.  In a world where we could be more intelligent than ever, there is so much ignorance.  In an age where everyone wants to be accepting of everything, they are really accepting of nothing.  They want everyone to be tolerant but they are not tolerant themselves.  Accept me for who I am but do not expect me to accept that you don’t agree with me.

We live in a world where love is so misunderstood.  People don’t feel loved unless you agree with everything that they think is good and right.  They don’t feel loved by you if you have your own beliefs or standards of living that may be different than their own.  Unconditional love is unknown in this society.  The “love” of today is a selfish “love” it is not true love.

I remember when I was a kid my mom had a best friend.  Their lifestyles were totally different.  Each one was making different choices in life but they were still best friends and loved each other.  But today it is way different.  It is hard for me to even use the word love when speaking of our society.  There is this mentality, “Take care of me, accept my ways because they are right”, “love” me but I will only “love” you if you agree with me.  The fact is that you cannot really be a true Christian and not treat people with the true love of God.  But what does true Christ-like love look like?

Christ-like love

There are so many concepts out there as far as what Christ-like love looks like.  I think our human nature tends to take over and starts’ defining what we think Christ-likeness is.   But for the most part, it does not come even close to what Christ-likeness is all about.  So where do we even start?

What is unconditional love?  Is it a love that has no law or boundaries?  There is definitely a class of people that have that belief.  Is it a love that fences you in so tightly that you feel controlled?  And there is a class of people that also believe in this way as well.  And there are probably many other options out there.  But I believe Christ-like love is very difficult for us to comprehend.  It is beyond our scope of imagination.  But I believe the Bible gives us a perfect example that we can follow in the life of Jesus.  It is with His love and methods alone that we can win the hearts of men to true love.

You don’t have to agree with someone in their beliefs or ideas to love them.  True love is beyond self.  Self teaches, “You don’t love me unless you agree with all my ideas and beliefs.  Therefore I won’t love you and I will do what I can to destroy you.”  It is true that not everyone goes as far as to destroy someone’s reputation, business, family, etc.  We live in a society that makes us feel “poor me” if someone doesn’t agree with me.  But in reality, none of this is true love it is selfish love and is definitely not Christ-like love.

True Love

True love sighs and cries for the evils of this world, looks passed what things appear to be and sees the potential in each individual.  The only way that we can have this kind of love is to be filled with the love of God.  We are not capable of having this love with our own strength.  When we look at each individual we need to see Christ hanging on the Cross for them.  Christ died for every individual.

As Paul says in Romans 8:38, 39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  If nothing can separate a person from God’s love then why do we try to separate people from our love?  We may be the only “Jesus” they ever meet.  We should be so reflecting Christ that when people have been with us they should be able to say, “I felt like I have been with Jesus.”  And this is nothing of ourselves.  It is Jesus living in us and reflecting through us as we surrender all to Him.

True love does not condone sin and the standards of Christ.  But God gives everyone freedom of choice to choose and we should do the same.  One of my favorite stories is found in John 8:1-11.  This is a story worth reading and I would encourage you to do so.  Here is a couple of verses.  “When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, ‘Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?’  She said, ’No man, Lord.’  And Jesus said unto her, ’Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.’”  She had sinned but Jesus did not condemn her, He loved her.  But He did give her admonition to go and sin no more.

Forgiveness

Although all have to go to God for the forgiveness of their sins we do have a part to play in forgiving.  We can’t forgive someone’s sins for them but we can forgive them for the wrong that they have done to us.  And we can love them through the process.

How could Jesus endure the shame and suffering that He endured here on earth without the love of God?  And the amazing part is that He still showed love and pity to all those that were treating Him with disdain and cruelty.  The love of God is so deep and unexplainable but we can have that same love if we allow Christ to dwell within our hearts.

God loves us so much He has given us the freedom of choice.  We can accept Him and allow Him to change our lives into a character that is fit to live with Him.  Or we can choose our own desires and ways.  He still loves us although He does not accept sin.  His ways and law never change because His law is the essence of His character; it is a part of Himself.

“Tolerance”

Satan’s ways and those who follow his ways do not give every person freedom of choice. The devil only gives “freedom” of choice to those who follow his ways and that is not a true freedom of choice.  He wants to convince all that God is not giving you freedom.

Satan convinced Eve in the Garden of Eden that God was trying to keep something good from her.  But if she ate the fruit she could “know” everything, she could know good and evil.  Knowing evil was not a good thing and led this world into sin.  God never intended for us to know evil.  And what misery it has brought to us all.  But the devil wants to convince you differently.  Thus he brings contention and arguing to our world.  He brings “tolerance” into the equation but tolerance on his terms, which is not tolerance at all.  He is only tolerant of his ways.  When it comes to God’s ways he is not tolerant.  Thus you see the chaos in this world today.

God’s way

There are only two powers in this world of ours and we get to choose which power we want to follow.  We can choose the power of the evil one that is “tolerant” of all those that choose his ways.  Or we can choose God’s ways.

God’s way is a way of love, a love that came to die for you and for me so that we could live with Him forever.  He loves the sinner so much that He doesn’t want to leave them in a state of sin.  But while we were yet sinners He died for us (Romans 5:8).  He does not condone sin but He loves in spite of the sin.  He lovingly draws the heart of the sinner to repentance.  God’s love is so unconditional that He never gives up on you and me.  He sees potential in us.  His heart yearns to give us peace and happiness, which comes with repentance and forgiveness.  The freedom is so amazing.

I want to go with God’s way in my life.  Does that mean I am going to be perfect at it? Probably not, but I am going to strive to look at others as Jesus looks at them.  I want to see Christ dying on the cross for them and love them with Christ-like love.  A love that does not condemn.  I want to have a love that shows in my face when others are not tolerant of my choice to follow Christ’s ways.

As Christ was beaten, spat upon, and condemned to death He still showed love and pity for those around Him.  That is a love that is hard for our minds to comprehend but it is the love that we must have to be a follower of Christ.  And with the love of Christ that flows through us plant seeds that can bring change to the lives of many.  We can only do this as we allow the Lord to dwell in our hearts.  Judgment will come to those that want “tolerance” for themselves with no consideration for others.  My heart longs to plant as many seeds as possible so that each of those individuals will surrender their lives to Christ so that in the judgment they will have been forgiven with the blood of Christ and be saved.  What a glorious day that will be.

Dear Father,

We live in a sin-sick world that must grieve Your heart beyond words.  But You have an amazing love for all.  I pray for that love to flow through me so that others may see Your love.  You are waiting with open arms to save all who come to You surrendering to Your ways.  I want to praise You for Your ways of forgiveness, peace, and life.  The joy that comes to life with full surrender to You is so amazing.  Thank You for loving us with such amazing love.  Today I want to surrender my life to You again.  Prompt my heart to be more like You in showing your love to those around me.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender your life to Jesus today.  Love all those around you with the true love of God, not with condoning sin or joining in with sin, but with a love that makes people know that they can come to Christ.  You may be the only “Jesus” they meet.  How are you representing Him?

Love you all!

Do you have a testimony of how the love of God has changed your life?  I would love to hear your story.  Share below.

 

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“The Sun That Shines!!”

A day…

There is nothing like a day where the sun shines.  It makes everyone more pleasant.  And it seems that more people smile.  There is something the sun gives that changes the life.

A couple of days ago was just such a day.  I was home alone for a few hours, which is unheard of.  We had just had a downpour just the day before so everything was green.  And now the sun was shining brightly.  It made for a wonderful morning.  I actually went out and laid on our trampoline in the bright sunshine.  It felt so amazing!  As I lay there soaking up the sunshine I was also listening to the nature sounds.  Many birds were singing and I could hear the buzz of many bugs.  It was so peaceful and pleasant.

But then…

The day was so pleasant you would think that nothing could change it.  But then I heard it thunder.  I was looking to see where it was coming from because the sky was so blue.  In the distance, there were some dark clouds coming my way.  I watched in amazement as those clouds came closer and the thunder got louder.  And what was so amazing?  It was the split between the sunshine with blue sky and the dark clouds.  There was a definite contrast.  On one side of the sky were the dark ugly clouds and on the other side the beautiful blue sky.

I was inside the house at this point.  And then it happened.  The burst of rain!  It poured rain!!  The rain was coming down so hard and fast that puddles were forming in seconds.  And yet I could still see some blue sky and the sunshine peeking through.  It is not often you see both together.  But there is the bright side.  The rain watered the earth and made things green.

Fear factor…

There is always the fear factor every time we have with thunder and lightning.  There is a fear of fire.  It seems that even though we are only into June things are drying out so quickly.  It would only take one strike of that lightning to cause a fire that could destroy everything.  I can say I don’t always think about it.  But when I do I pray for rain, because as the clouds burst forth with the rain and waters the earth it helps keeps the fire danger down.  And if a strike did happen the rain puts it out as quickly as it started.  We have been saved more than one time from fire, that we know about, and probably multiple times that we don’t know about because the rain came and put it out.

What about…

Then it made me start to think.  What about our lives?  Are there days that the Son is shining and the “sky” (our lives) is blue (going smoothly)?  Life is going great!!  We feel close to God and go on in life with no thought of anything changing.  Everything is so beautiful.  But there is this unsuspecting cloud coming that we are unaware of because we are basking in the Presence of God.

And then we hear the rumbles of a trial.  Sometimes we can see a trial coming and other times it is a total shock.  But there are those times where you sense or can see a forthcoming trial.  Sometimes we get more prepared other times we ignore it but it still comes.  We start to see the “lightning” and hear the “thunder”.  And it continues to draw closer and closer to us.

Fear factor…

Then comes the fear factor.  We wonder if we are going to be struck with “lightning” (succumb to the trial or temptation).  Is an evil “fire” going to start that will burn up our spiritual lives?  Have we become so dry that nothing can stop it from burning?  Are we going to get discouraged or reach out for more support and help?

We have to realize that there is help and we don’t have to succumb to discouragement or give in to temptations.  All we need to do is to call out for a power higher than ourselves.  We need to cry out to God.  And as we cry out to God “rain” (Holy Spirit) will come with power and will squelch out any spark of a “fire”.  God is our strength and He will fight for us.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there for us.  We are a forgetful people.  It is hard for us to give up our control and to allow You to control.  Continue to show us our need of You.  And help us in the process of surrendering to You in the good times as well as in the time of trial and temptation.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make sure to reach out and stay connected with God at all times.  So that when the trials and temptations come it will be automatic to turn to God.

Love you all.

We have all had trial and temptations.  But is there one that has happened in your life where you called out to God and you have seen His work?  I would love to hear your story.  Share below.