"The laws of the Lord are right, and those who obey them are happy." Psalm 19:8 Are you happy? Really happy?
Well let's make a list.
1. Do you know Jesus?
2. Are you living for the Lord?
3. Are you obeying God?
Pretty simple huh? Just three things? Yep. "Happy are those whose lives are faultless, who live according to the law of the Lord. Happy are those who follow his commands, who obey Him with all their heart." Psalm 119:1-2 Ok I know what you are saying. Who can live a faultless life? Well we can't. BUT GOD! The blood of Jesus covers ALL sin and yes, because Jesus died on the cross and rose again, once His blood covers our sins we are FAULTLESS!
So. 1. Do you know Jesus? Have you asked Him to forgive you of your sins and be your Savior and Lord? If not, please pray "Dear Jesus. I'm a sinner and I know it. Without You I am bound for hell. Please forgive me Lord. I know You died on the cross all those years ago so that I can live free and eternally with You. I accept Your forgiveness and I thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You Lord for coming into my heart, cleansing me of my sins, and setting me free. Amen." Now you are beginning a new life! Praise God!
But what if you are already saved? You were a kid and walked down the isle at Vacation Bible School maybe. Or you were at a revival as a teen and felt convicted. Maybe you were an adult and realized what you did as a kid wasn't the real deal so you prayed again. It's ok. Whatever you did, accepting Jesus is accepting Jesus no matter your age. The only expiration date on getting saved is death.
But 2. Are you living for the Lord? When was the last time you prayed? When was the last time you took inventory of your life, your actions, your reactions or your thoughts even? Is there anyone you need to forgive? Is there anyone you need to ask forgiveness of? Living for Jesus is a lot more than just going to church you know. It's a daily commitment. It's a renewing vow you make daily. In fact sometimes we have to renew that vow several times a day.
Suppose you broke one (or two or three) of God's laws. Does that 'unsave' you? Nope. You probably already know this but you're human. Yep. You're gonna mess up. The great thing is though, Jesus doesn't stop forgiving as long as you don't stop asking. Does He mind if you repeat the same sin over and over? Beyond a shadow of a doubt! Does He give you all you need to overcome that sin so you can stop repeating it? Again, beyond a shadow of a doubt! Just ask Him.
Ok we are to 3. Are you obeying God? Now you may be an adult and think you don't have to 'obey' anyone. But do you obey the traffic laws? If you are in a theater do you yell and jump on the furniture? Or do you obey the rules? If a sign at a beach says 'no swimming' do you get in the water anyway even though you see shark fins sticking up above the waves?
Ok so I'm thinking you get the idea. Obeying God, even more than obeying traffic laws etc, is for our own good. He wouldn't tell us to do anything that wasn't good for us. In fact the Word tells us in Romans 8:28 that God even causes all things to work for the good of those who love Him. Wow!
So. First know Him. Second live for Him. Third obey Him. Happy? Well He IS causing all things to work together for our good. So shouldn't we be?
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Have You Ever?
Have you ever wondered why you are where you are? Did you do something good to deserve it? Did you do something bad to deserve it?
We've all heard "you reap what you sow". The Word truly does tell us "Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. People will reap exactly what they sow." (Galatians 6:7) Funny that people tend to use these verses as a declaration of judgement on others when they think someone deserves that judgement. But have you ever looked at the following verses?
Galatians 6:8-9 "If they sow in a field of their natural desires, from it they will gather the harvest of death; if they sow in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit they will gather the harvest of eternal life. So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest." So many times we stop at "you reap what you sow" and use that to judge someone. But when we do that are we approaching the situation from a Spiritual viewpoint or natural viewpoint? Ah.......
So what is the Word really saying here? Ponder this if you will: When we do things that aren't glorifying to God, things that are contrary to His Word, while we may be having fun for a while our end results will be death. Death. It may seem great while we are doing it, but it's not the amazing plan God has for us. And, because we are not being obedient to His Word, He has no choice but to judge us even though that's not what He wants to do. We, in our sin, leave Him no choice. Again, it may look good for a while but God assures us it won't end in anything short of death.
But if we sow to the Spirit, oh my! Living our lives according to God's Word, being obedient and trusting Him, and our reward will be eternal life. No death! None! Never! Easy right? Not exactly. Have you ever had your faith stretched to the limit and just thought you couldn't go one more day of doing things God's way? Sometimes it even looks like failure for a while.
Here's the deal. As children of God there's another part to this whole thing. James 1:12 says "Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love Him." So even though it gets really, really hard at times, we must persevere. We must continue sowing according to the Spirit. The result is always life.
Can we say that temptations are from God? No. Because God can't be tempted by evil and He Himself tempts no one. But people are tempted when they are drawn away and trapped by their own evil desires (their own choices). Then their evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15) See the connection here? When you give in to your evil desires, they give birth to sin. When you sow evil, your garden is overgrown with sin. And the end result? Always death.
So. Have you ever wondered why you are where you are? Are you sowing in the field of your natural (sinful) desires? It's not too late. If we simply agree with the diagnosis of sin, Jesus has already provided the cure. He wants so much just to forgive you. In fact, He's waiting to forgive you and give you a whole new life. Have you ever repented? Have you ever let Him change your life? Will you now? I guarantee it's something you will never regret.
We've all heard "you reap what you sow". The Word truly does tell us "Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. People will reap exactly what they sow." (Galatians 6:7) Funny that people tend to use these verses as a declaration of judgement on others when they think someone deserves that judgement. But have you ever looked at the following verses?
Galatians 6:8-9 "If they sow in a field of their natural desires, from it they will gather the harvest of death; if they sow in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit they will gather the harvest of eternal life. So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest." So many times we stop at "you reap what you sow" and use that to judge someone. But when we do that are we approaching the situation from a Spiritual viewpoint or natural viewpoint? Ah.......
So what is the Word really saying here? Ponder this if you will: When we do things that aren't glorifying to God, things that are contrary to His Word, while we may be having fun for a while our end results will be death. Death. It may seem great while we are doing it, but it's not the amazing plan God has for us. And, because we are not being obedient to His Word, He has no choice but to judge us even though that's not what He wants to do. We, in our sin, leave Him no choice. Again, it may look good for a while but God assures us it won't end in anything short of death.
But if we sow to the Spirit, oh my! Living our lives according to God's Word, being obedient and trusting Him, and our reward will be eternal life. No death! None! Never! Easy right? Not exactly. Have you ever had your faith stretched to the limit and just thought you couldn't go one more day of doing things God's way? Sometimes it even looks like failure for a while.
Here's the deal. As children of God there's another part to this whole thing. James 1:12 says "Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love Him." So even though it gets really, really hard at times, we must persevere. We must continue sowing according to the Spirit. The result is always life.
Can we say that temptations are from God? No. Because God can't be tempted by evil and He Himself tempts no one. But people are tempted when they are drawn away and trapped by their own evil desires (their own choices). Then their evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15) See the connection here? When you give in to your evil desires, they give birth to sin. When you sow evil, your garden is overgrown with sin. And the end result? Always death.
So. Have you ever wondered why you are where you are? Are you sowing in the field of your natural (sinful) desires? It's not too late. If we simply agree with the diagnosis of sin, Jesus has already provided the cure. He wants so much just to forgive you. In fact, He's waiting to forgive you and give you a whole new life. Have you ever repented? Have you ever let Him change your life? Will you now? I guarantee it's something you will never regret.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Be My Valentine
Roses are red. Violets are blue. Did you ever write a Valentine's Day poem like this? I did too!
So we all have our expectations for this special day. Be it an expectation of love, an expectation of surprises or an expectation of loneliness. Emotions and imagination just seem to take over.
Remember when we were kids? It really seemed complicated to me. First grade and a Valentine mailbox made from a cornflake box covered in tin foil and paper doilies. I'm sure the assignment was for the student to make their own Valentine mailbox but, just like mine, it was pretty obvious most if not all were made by our moms. Anyway, we were to bring Valentines for each classmate and teacher. So much pressure!
By second grade I had the whole thing down. I knew what I was doing and I was going to go the extra mile, making each Valentine card special. Diligently I worked. When I was finished and showed my work to my mom, she wasn't sure how to react. I had written "I love you" on the back of each card instead of simply signing my name. She warned me that there might just be a little boy or two who would take it the wrong way. Oh my. What had I done! It was too late to replace the cards. They had to be given just like they were. I'm pretty sure there weren't any hearts broken that day but I knew not to do that again! Boys had cooties and telling them I loved them was a really dumb thing to do.
Fast forward to1997. Little kids at home with Grandma and we were on our way to a Valentine's Day weekend away. We actually didn't get to go until the 15th because of work, but it still counted as Valentine's Day anyway. Boy was it strange driving away from our babies and knowing we wouldn't see them until late the next day. But we actually got to talk as we drove instead of handing sippie cups back to kids and refereeing fights. And then checking into a hotel with no kids. Not the norm for us those days.
We rode the elevator up to our room and walked in, kinda surprised by the quietness. There on the floor was a cute little red sequin in the shape of a heart. Someone had obviously celebrated there the night before and the heart was left behind. I picked it up and imagined who might have left it. Was it on a ribbon perhaps? One that decorated a vase of red roses? Maybe it was one of hundreds that had been scattered around the room the night before. However it got there, I took it home. Putting a tiny bit of glue on the back, I attached it to our dresser mirror. And that's where it stayed for almost 18 years. A reminder of our special trip.
Recently we got new bedroom furniture. After the old mirror had been taken out to the garage I just felt like something was missing in our room. I went out to the garage and peeled the little red heart from the mirror. It's not attached to our new mirror yet but it is in our room!
Fast forward one more time to this weekend. Another trip away. No kids. As plans were being made I couldn't help but think of that little heart we had found. I looked for hearts like it at various stores but didn't find anything even close. However I did find some cute pink and red glittery hearts of various sizes. So while decorating our room with them, I made a decision. One would be left behind.
As we got ready to leave, I picked one small red glittery heart and placed it by the heart shaped jacuzzi. Kinda hid it under some greenery. And I imagined. I imagined about the young couple who might honeymoon there this next weekend. I thought about it catching the bride's eye. She will lean over to pick it up and wonder who left it. She will put it in her bag and take it home. A special little heart that would remind them of their time there. And I prayed for them. For whoever finds it. That it will be a reminder of their love for years to come.
So we all have our expectations for this special day. Be it an expectation of love, an expectation of surprises or an expectation of loneliness. Emotions and imagination just seem to take over.
Remember when we were kids? It really seemed complicated to me. First grade and a Valentine mailbox made from a cornflake box covered in tin foil and paper doilies. I'm sure the assignment was for the student to make their own Valentine mailbox but, just like mine, it was pretty obvious most if not all were made by our moms. Anyway, we were to bring Valentines for each classmate and teacher. So much pressure!
By second grade I had the whole thing down. I knew what I was doing and I was going to go the extra mile, making each Valentine card special. Diligently I worked. When I was finished and showed my work to my mom, she wasn't sure how to react. I had written "I love you" on the back of each card instead of simply signing my name. She warned me that there might just be a little boy or two who would take it the wrong way. Oh my. What had I done! It was too late to replace the cards. They had to be given just like they were. I'm pretty sure there weren't any hearts broken that day but I knew not to do that again! Boys had cooties and telling them I loved them was a really dumb thing to do.
Fast forward to1997. Little kids at home with Grandma and we were on our way to a Valentine's Day weekend away. We actually didn't get to go until the 15th because of work, but it still counted as Valentine's Day anyway. Boy was it strange driving away from our babies and knowing we wouldn't see them until late the next day. But we actually got to talk as we drove instead of handing sippie cups back to kids and refereeing fights. And then checking into a hotel with no kids. Not the norm for us those days.
We rode the elevator up to our room and walked in, kinda surprised by the quietness. There on the floor was a cute little red sequin in the shape of a heart. Someone had obviously celebrated there the night before and the heart was left behind. I picked it up and imagined who might have left it. Was it on a ribbon perhaps? One that decorated a vase of red roses? Maybe it was one of hundreds that had been scattered around the room the night before. However it got there, I took it home. Putting a tiny bit of glue on the back, I attached it to our dresser mirror. And that's where it stayed for almost 18 years. A reminder of our special trip.
Recently we got new bedroom furniture. After the old mirror had been taken out to the garage I just felt like something was missing in our room. I went out to the garage and peeled the little red heart from the mirror. It's not attached to our new mirror yet but it is in our room!
Fast forward one more time to this weekend. Another trip away. No kids. As plans were being made I couldn't help but think of that little heart we had found. I looked for hearts like it at various stores but didn't find anything even close. However I did find some cute pink and red glittery hearts of various sizes. So while decorating our room with them, I made a decision. One would be left behind.
As we got ready to leave, I picked one small red glittery heart and placed it by the heart shaped jacuzzi. Kinda hid it under some greenery. And I imagined. I imagined about the young couple who might honeymoon there this next weekend. I thought about it catching the bride's eye. She will lean over to pick it up and wonder who left it. She will put it in her bag and take it home. A special little heart that would remind them of their time there. And I prayed for them. For whoever finds it. That it will be a reminder of their love for years to come.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Don't Let Your Glove Get Swept Away
Many years ago, and yes I mean meany because I was in Jr High back when bell bottoms were in style, I got a cute pair of gloves for Christmas. They really came in handy (pun intended) on the long school bus rides over the mountain to and from the boonies each day. So one day at lunch I happened to be in the hall at school. The janitor was doing a quick sweep up and down the hall and I noticed a glove that looked just like mine in the pile of dirt, paper scraps, gum wrappers. I briefly let the thought run through my mind that the glove was mine. But no. It couldn't be. Mine was in my locker along with its mate.
So I went through the rest of the day and didn't give it another thought. Until time to go home. That's when I discovered there was only one glove in my locker. Frantic, I went back to where I had seen the pile of trash by the big broom that was leaning on some lockers. Of course the broom was gone and so was the trash. Funny, about 40 years later and I can still see that pile of rubbish with my glove, right there in the hall. That building has been demolished but my memory of that glove is still here.
Regret. Yeah I had it. It was Friday afternoon and I wouldn't even be back in town from way out in the sticks until Monday when I rode the cold school bus back for more educating. I went to the office first thing Monday morning to see if anyone had turned it in, but nope. I'm guessing the janitor just thought it wasn't a big deal. It was to me. It was my only pair of gloves. Well my only nice pair of gloves that fit anyway. And one wasn't good without the other.
So why do these things happen you think? Maybe a lesson in it? I suppose I could just chalk it up to carelessness. And yes there was some carelessness involved. But what I'm getting at is more than that.
I believe sometimes things like that happen to teach us a life lesson or two. What would have happened if I had just gone over and picked up that glove that looked like mine? Sure it would have been dirty. But it could be washed. And I would have still had a pair of gloves. Both hands would be warm.
What about the remaining glove? Yeah it was nice. But it wasn't worth much without the other glove. Guess I could have walked around with one hand in my pocket since I only had one glove. But still.
You know what the real lesson was for me when I let my glove get swept away? To be bold. To not be afraid to step out of my comfort zone. Back then I was shy, timid even, and kinda faded into the lockers or whatever other scenery was around. Lesson learned. No one would call me shy today!
And one more thing. People. If you love someone, don't let them get swept away with the dirt and scraps of paper and gum wrappers. Do you see a loved one in that pile of rubbish? What if you are the only one who cares enough to help? Will you? No judgement because they got caught in a mess. Like my glove that I dropped in the hall, maybe you were even a part of that person's undoing. Maybe you didn't realize it just like I didn't realize I dropped my glove.
Is that loved one waiting to be picked up, dusted off and cherished? Most likely. Will they remember being in the rubbish? Probably. But will their lives be changed for the better because you chose to step out of your comfort zone and do whatever it took to save them? Most definitely. Don't let your glove get swept away. It's something you will always regret.
So I went through the rest of the day and didn't give it another thought. Until time to go home. That's when I discovered there was only one glove in my locker. Frantic, I went back to where I had seen the pile of trash by the big broom that was leaning on some lockers. Of course the broom was gone and so was the trash. Funny, about 40 years later and I can still see that pile of rubbish with my glove, right there in the hall. That building has been demolished but my memory of that glove is still here.
Regret. Yeah I had it. It was Friday afternoon and I wouldn't even be back in town from way out in the sticks until Monday when I rode the cold school bus back for more educating. I went to the office first thing Monday morning to see if anyone had turned it in, but nope. I'm guessing the janitor just thought it wasn't a big deal. It was to me. It was my only pair of gloves. Well my only nice pair of gloves that fit anyway. And one wasn't good without the other.
So why do these things happen you think? Maybe a lesson in it? I suppose I could just chalk it up to carelessness. And yes there was some carelessness involved. But what I'm getting at is more than that.
I believe sometimes things like that happen to teach us a life lesson or two. What would have happened if I had just gone over and picked up that glove that looked like mine? Sure it would have been dirty. But it could be washed. And I would have still had a pair of gloves. Both hands would be warm.
What about the remaining glove? Yeah it was nice. But it wasn't worth much without the other glove. Guess I could have walked around with one hand in my pocket since I only had one glove. But still.
You know what the real lesson was for me when I let my glove get swept away? To be bold. To not be afraid to step out of my comfort zone. Back then I was shy, timid even, and kinda faded into the lockers or whatever other scenery was around. Lesson learned. No one would call me shy today!
And one more thing. People. If you love someone, don't let them get swept away with the dirt and scraps of paper and gum wrappers. Do you see a loved one in that pile of rubbish? What if you are the only one who cares enough to help? Will you? No judgement because they got caught in a mess. Like my glove that I dropped in the hall, maybe you were even a part of that person's undoing. Maybe you didn't realize it just like I didn't realize I dropped my glove.
Is that loved one waiting to be picked up, dusted off and cherished? Most likely. Will they remember being in the rubbish? Probably. But will their lives be changed for the better because you chose to step out of your comfort zone and do whatever it took to save them? Most definitely. Don't let your glove get swept away. It's something you will always regret.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Anything That Costs Me Nothing
What does God want? Just want does He want from me? Surely He doesn't want me to do without does He? If I have a free day and give Him 15 minutes of it that's okay as long as I give Him something right? I work hard for my money. I need all of it for me and for my family. Right?
"I cannot come before my righteous Holy Lord and offer to Him worldly things I do not need and hope He's pleased." Like I mentioned in Just One More Minute I've been listening to us sing lately. It's become my CD of choice when I'm driving. The first song on the CD is one my husband enjoyed singing even before we met. "Anything That Costs Me Nothing". It's a beautiful song and he did an amazing job singing it. But just what does "Anything That Costs Me Nothing" mean?
Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord puts a target on your back. The very second you confess your sins and become a new creation in Christ, the enemy starts keeping a file on you. He watches everything you do and hears everything you say. He didn't need to watch you before because you weren't a threat to him. But now. Oh my.......he's a selfish dude. You belong to Jesus and the devil knows it and of course he doesn't like it. He's gonna do anything he can to destroy your life, your faith, your reputation, your family and anything else that truly matters. And he's going to do it his usual way.....lies.
"For He wants me to give a heart that's truly His. An offering of highest price. A servant whom the Lord can use." The devil will try to convince you that you don't have to give up anything. That he owns it all and can give you more for free than you could ever get from God. How do we know he will do this? He tempted Jesus in the wilderness and told Jesus He could have it all if He would just worship him. Seriously? The devil tried to trick Jesus into worshiping him. That crazy booger tried to convince Jesus that he could give Him something that Jesus Himself created and owned in the first place! So let me ask you, do you want to be a servant of Christ or a servant of the devil? Jesus wants our hearts. He wants our hearts to be completely His. And He doesn't take it lightly or for granted when we give Him our hearts. He knows it's our highest offering.
"To serve Him is my goal. Oh how could I withhold. Whatever's mine He's given me, it's not my own. It's His alone." Serve Him. He is God! He is not here to serve us. We are here to serve Him. Nothing good does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. (Psalm 84:11) Whatever is mine came from Him anyway. I thank Him and praise Him for it.
"Whatever He requires, that is my desire. Whatever He may need from me, I'll pay the cost, gain or loss." Wow. What is Jesus requiring of you? Your money? Your time? Really.... it's your heart. Your obedience. He just wants you. He loves you so much that He gave His very life for you.
Is it really your desire to obey Him?
"I will not offer anything that costs me nothing. I'll place before Him nothing less than my very best. And if I'm called to sacrifice it, it will be worthy of my Christ. I will not offer anything that costs me nothing." Is there anything you've been holding back? What does God want from you? What is your time worth? Is it really worth anything if you try to keep it from Him? No. It's not. How about your mind? Your heart? It's worth nothing until you give it to Him. Then you find out it was worth everything to Him.
Without Him, we really are nothing. He gave everything, absolutely everything for us. We owe Him our everything. Will He leave us wanting or needing anything? No. He gave us everything. Absolutely everything when He gave His life for us. What do you have to offer Him? He wants your heart.........
"I cannot come before my righteous Holy Lord and offer to Him worldly things I do not need and hope He's pleased." Like I mentioned in Just One More Minute I've been listening to us sing lately. It's become my CD of choice when I'm driving. The first song on the CD is one my husband enjoyed singing even before we met. "Anything That Costs Me Nothing". It's a beautiful song and he did an amazing job singing it. But just what does "Anything That Costs Me Nothing" mean?
Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord puts a target on your back. The very second you confess your sins and become a new creation in Christ, the enemy starts keeping a file on you. He watches everything you do and hears everything you say. He didn't need to watch you before because you weren't a threat to him. But now. Oh my.......he's a selfish dude. You belong to Jesus and the devil knows it and of course he doesn't like it. He's gonna do anything he can to destroy your life, your faith, your reputation, your family and anything else that truly matters. And he's going to do it his usual way.....lies.
"For He wants me to give a heart that's truly His. An offering of highest price. A servant whom the Lord can use." The devil will try to convince you that you don't have to give up anything. That he owns it all and can give you more for free than you could ever get from God. How do we know he will do this? He tempted Jesus in the wilderness and told Jesus He could have it all if He would just worship him. Seriously? The devil tried to trick Jesus into worshiping him. That crazy booger tried to convince Jesus that he could give Him something that Jesus Himself created and owned in the first place! So let me ask you, do you want to be a servant of Christ or a servant of the devil? Jesus wants our hearts. He wants our hearts to be completely His. And He doesn't take it lightly or for granted when we give Him our hearts. He knows it's our highest offering.
"To serve Him is my goal. Oh how could I withhold. Whatever's mine He's given me, it's not my own. It's His alone." Serve Him. He is God! He is not here to serve us. We are here to serve Him. Nothing good does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. (Psalm 84:11) Whatever is mine came from Him anyway. I thank Him and praise Him for it.
"Whatever He requires, that is my desire. Whatever He may need from me, I'll pay the cost, gain or loss." Wow. What is Jesus requiring of you? Your money? Your time? Really.... it's your heart. Your obedience. He just wants you. He loves you so much that He gave His very life for you.
Is it really your desire to obey Him?
"I will not offer anything that costs me nothing. I'll place before Him nothing less than my very best. And if I'm called to sacrifice it, it will be worthy of my Christ. I will not offer anything that costs me nothing." Is there anything you've been holding back? What does God want from you? What is your time worth? Is it really worth anything if you try to keep it from Him? No. It's not. How about your mind? Your heart? It's worth nothing until you give it to Him. Then you find out it was worth everything to Him.
Without Him, we really are nothing. He gave everything, absolutely everything for us. We owe Him our everything. Will He leave us wanting or needing anything? No. He gave us everything. Absolutely everything when He gave His life for us. What do you have to offer Him? He wants your heart.........
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Just One More Minute
4:49, 4:50. Come on! 10 more minutes and the weekend starts! 10 more minutes and I'm outta here! Ever wished time away? Just couldn't wait for the end of the work day or holiday or vacation to start? Yeah, we've all done that.
Something recently occurred to me though. While one person is wishing time would hurry, another is sitting in a hospital ICU by a loved one's bedside and wishing for just one more minute. One more hug. One more 'I love you'. One more anything.
One more minute. When I was a little girl and just starting school, I can still remember (yes that was a long time ago) wanting to to stay in the car just one more minute. In fact I begged to stay in the car just one more minute. My family was going to have a great day without me and I just didn't want to miss it. Why did I have to get out of the car and go to school? I just wanted to stay with them one more minute.
Luke 12:25 Asks an interesting question. "Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?" This passage is actually talking about trusting God for everything, in everything. No matter how hard we try or how much we worry, we can't have even one more minute than God had planned for us from the beginning. We can't be 'good' enough to live longer. We can't be smart enough or cunning enough. God had our days numbered before we were even born.
Ever wish you could go back a minute? Back to one minute before you said something hateful to your spouse? One minute before you lost your temper at your kids? One minute before you made a decision that would forever alter your life, your spouse's life, the lives of your kids? I know I've wished to go back. Boy, would I do things differently.
But here's the deal. While we can't go back, we can be forgiven and have the life God has planned for us. "From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! If you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you." (Psalm 130:1-4) God You keep no record of our sins! Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are forgive. Dear Lord, I stand in awe of You...........
And if God can forgive us, shouldn't we forgive each other? Ever repeated The Lord's Prayer? Matthew 6:12 says "Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us." Wow.......Is there anyone you need to forgive? Sounds like we only want God to forgive us like we forgive others. Does that mean that if we don't forgive them, God doesn't have to forgive us? Hmmm......
So you've done too much you say? Really? That's not what God says. Recently I found recordings we made as Christmas gifts in 1990. Expecting a baby and having very little money, we decided to record some songs and give the collection to our families as gifts. So after converting one of these cassettes to CD last month, it has become a 'hit', well at least in my car. I absolutely love listening to the songs and hearing our 'young' voices harmonizing praises to God. The song that has gotten my attention the most these last few days is "In Heaven's Eyes".
"In Heaven's Eyes, there are no losers. In Heaven's Eyes, no hopeless cause. Only people like you, with feelings like me. And we're amazed by the grace we can find In Heaven's eyes." No matter what we've done, as long as we have one more minute, it's not too late to forgive someone who has wronged us. It's not too late to ask for God's forgiveness. There is absolutely no one who is beyond His forgiveness. There is positively no sin Jesus' blood can't cleanse.
About that one more minute.......wouldn't you rather have a lot of minutes? A lot of hours, days and years to live the life God has planned for you? Jeremiah 29:11 tells us God has amazing things planned for us. But we must seek Him (v12-13) with our whole hearts to get to experience the future He has planned for us. How about this minute? Come to Him now. Please. He's waiting. It's a minute you will always remember. One minute that will change your life forever. Won't you choose to have that minute now?
Something recently occurred to me though. While one person is wishing time would hurry, another is sitting in a hospital ICU by a loved one's bedside and wishing for just one more minute. One more hug. One more 'I love you'. One more anything.
One more minute. When I was a little girl and just starting school, I can still remember (yes that was a long time ago) wanting to to stay in the car just one more minute. In fact I begged to stay in the car just one more minute. My family was going to have a great day without me and I just didn't want to miss it. Why did I have to get out of the car and go to school? I just wanted to stay with them one more minute.
Luke 12:25 Asks an interesting question. "Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?" This passage is actually talking about trusting God for everything, in everything. No matter how hard we try or how much we worry, we can't have even one more minute than God had planned for us from the beginning. We can't be 'good' enough to live longer. We can't be smart enough or cunning enough. God had our days numbered before we were even born.
Ever wish you could go back a minute? Back to one minute before you said something hateful to your spouse? One minute before you lost your temper at your kids? One minute before you made a decision that would forever alter your life, your spouse's life, the lives of your kids? I know I've wished to go back. Boy, would I do things differently.
But here's the deal. While we can't go back, we can be forgiven and have the life God has planned for us. "From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! If you kept a record of our sins, who could escape being condemned? But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you." (Psalm 130:1-4) God You keep no record of our sins! Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are forgive. Dear Lord, I stand in awe of You...........
And if God can forgive us, shouldn't we forgive each other? Ever repeated The Lord's Prayer? Matthew 6:12 says "Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us." Wow.......Is there anyone you need to forgive? Sounds like we only want God to forgive us like we forgive others. Does that mean that if we don't forgive them, God doesn't have to forgive us? Hmmm......
So you've done too much you say? Really? That's not what God says. Recently I found recordings we made as Christmas gifts in 1990. Expecting a baby and having very little money, we decided to record some songs and give the collection to our families as gifts. So after converting one of these cassettes to CD last month, it has become a 'hit', well at least in my car. I absolutely love listening to the songs and hearing our 'young' voices harmonizing praises to God. The song that has gotten my attention the most these last few days is "In Heaven's Eyes".
"In Heaven's Eyes, there are no losers. In Heaven's Eyes, no hopeless cause. Only people like you, with feelings like me. And we're amazed by the grace we can find In Heaven's eyes." No matter what we've done, as long as we have one more minute, it's not too late to forgive someone who has wronged us. It's not too late to ask for God's forgiveness. There is absolutely no one who is beyond His forgiveness. There is positively no sin Jesus' blood can't cleanse.
About that one more minute.......wouldn't you rather have a lot of minutes? A lot of hours, days and years to live the life God has planned for you? Jeremiah 29:11 tells us God has amazing things planned for us. But we must seek Him (v12-13) with our whole hearts to get to experience the future He has planned for us. How about this minute? Come to Him now. Please. He's waiting. It's a minute you will always remember. One minute that will change your life forever. Won't you choose to have that minute now?
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