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“Deadly”

Have you ever really considered how many times you may have been spared from some danger?  Maybe you know of times that you have been spared.  But there are those times also that you know nothing about.  I am looking forward to the time when my guardian angel will share with me all those times I have been kept safe because of his watch care.

Scary

What about the times that we do know about?  Do we praise God as much as we should?  I am praising the Lord today for His protection.

Just before winter, I started to notice a noise in my car as I drove back and forth to work.  I don’t remember how many days I drove it but I finally said to my husband, “The noise sounds scary to me.  I don’t want to drive the car again until we figure out what the noise is.”  At that point, he took it to our friend mechanic.  The noise sounded as if it was coming from one particular tire.  So our friend proceeded to take the tire off and that is when he discovered that the lug nuts were loose on the tire.  It turns out that was the only problem.  Apparently, when my husband changed the wheel bearing he had not gotten the lug nuts as tight as they should have been.  But who knows for sure, it seems rather strange.

Deadly

So this last week I was driving our van because my brother-in-law was here and needed to borrow a car.  I drove our van for two days and on the third day as I started off to work I started hearing a knocking sound.  It seemed strange to have the sound not there one day and then there the next.  I was a little worried on the way to work.  As I was driving it home I had already determined that I would not drive it the next day.  I told my husband that it was one of those scary sounds again and I felt it was too dangerous to drive.

The next day my brother-in-law was going to drop me off at work because he still needed the car.  But at the last minute, he decided to take the van and drive it in the hopes he could figure out what was wrong with it.  He didn’t drive it long when he felt uneasy to keep driving it.

He ended up taking it into the place that we get our tires done to have them check things over.  It turns out that the lug nuts were loose on one of the tires; only this time our tire place had been the one to do the work.  And the condition was way worse.  One of the studs had broken off losing the stud and the lug nut.  Everything was so loose that the rim of the tire was damaged to the point of needing replacement.  The tire place had to replace every stud and lug nut and order a new rim.  The wholes on the rim where the studs come through so you can put on the lug nuts had gotten so big from the wear that they had to replace the rim.

Protection

I marvel at the protection that the Lord gives.  I know there are many times that the Lord protects me and I don’t even know it.  But every once in a while He gives me a little glimpse of what He is doing.  The devil wants to take me out but he has no power over me as long as Jesus is on my side.

Stay connected

We have to stay closely connected to Christ just like the lug nuts need to be tight to the rim.  As we go along in life, just like driving our vehicles, and we don’t have a tight connection there starts to be a separation from Christ.

The separation can be gradual, just like it was with my van.  It wasn’t noticeable to me at first.  Usually, in our lives, the separation from Christ starts with little things and we don’t notice that there is a problem.  But as we continue to ignore it, things start to get worse.  If I would have ignored the awful sound that I was hearing and just kept driving my van I could have had a terrible accident, bad injuries or even death.

It makes me think of our spiritual walk If we choose to keep ignoring the warning signs of separation we will lose that connection altogether and have a terrible accident, receive bad injuries and the possibility of spiritual death.  But the amazing part is as we are choosing to separate ourselves; God is using every means possible to get our attention to draw us back.  We don’t want to ignore the warning signs.  God wants to spare us from destruction.

Dear Father,

Thank you for your protection.  You protect us in so many ways, some of which we don’t see. But I praise Your Name that You are always there beside us.  Forgive us for allowing the things of this world to separate us from you.  Continue to draw our hearts to stay in tight connection with You, allowing nothing between us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today.  This reminds me of the song written by Charles A. Tindley.  This is my prayer for you.

“Nothing Between”

“Nothing between my soul and my Savior,

naught of this world’s delusive dream;

I have renounced all sinful pleasure;

Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.

Refrain

Nothing between my soul and my Savior,

so that his blessed face may be seen;

nothing preventing the least of his favor;

keep the way clear! let nothing between.

2

Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;

habits of life, though harmless they seem,

must not my heart from him ever sever;

he is my all, there’s nothing between.

3

Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,

though the whole world against me convene;

watching with prayer and much self denial,

Triumph at last, With nothing between.”

Love you all

Do you have a story to share how God has protected you?  I would love for you to share.  Share your story below in the comments.  We can praise God together for what He does.

 

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“Make Things Right!! What?!!”

Make things right

It seems that making things right with others can seem like an overwhelming task.  For some it may be easy, I think that is very few.  For some, they may not even know how to begin.  But for others, they are just too afraid to face it head on and do it.  The question is why do we need to make things right anyway.  Well, no one is being forced. Whether you are a Christian or not if you want to live a happy, healthy successful life it definitely makes a difference.  And as a Christian, it is a must if we want to have things right with God.

Make things clear

Before I get too far into this I want to make things clear.  Part of what I will be talking about here is reconciling with those we have done wrong to, as it says in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; (this is usually because we have done them wrong) Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

We may also reconcile with someone who has done us wrong by letting them know we have forgiven them.  But this is really where I want to make things clear.  There are times that we cannot reconcile with someone.  We always need to forgive in our hearts with the help of God but that does not mean that we need to go and reconcile directly with the person.  This is mostly referring to those that have abused us in some way.  We always need to forgive but that does not mean associate.

Anger

Just before Jesus talked about being reconciled He was talking about anger.  A lot of times someone does something we do not like we can tend to start saying things that are not so nice.  We start making belittling remarks whether it is directly to them or about them.  Which really reveals a pride issue within us.  And when pride gets in the way it often leads to anger.

This reminds me of the story about Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible.  The story is found in Daniel 3.  He built an image of gold to represent himself and then he wanted everyone to bow down to it.  There were three Hebrews that refused.  Nebuchadnezzar said he would give them a second chance and they said even if he did they would not bow.  Wow! Then his anger was kindled.  He made the fiery furnace 7 times hotter.  When we want to be right and hold onto our pride it turns to anger when things don’t go how we want.

Building walls

Are you a builder?  You may say no but if you do you are thinking of the wrong builder.  Do you build emotional walls?  The sad thing is that if we build walls it leads to murder.  You may be saying, “I have never killed anyone.”  Well, maybe you have.

When someone does something to us we don’t like if we allow those things to eat away at us we start to build a wall of “protection”, at least so we think.  But what it does is leads to hate and in God’s eyes hate is the same as murder.  “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” 1 John 3:15.  Jesus also stated that we are to love our enemies (See Matthew 5:43-44).  If we are to love everyone, even our enemies, we should not be building a wall.

We cannot accomplish this on our own because our human nature always wants to take over when we are offended but God will help us if we let Him.  Making sure that we are not doing anything that can cause others to build walls against us is another thing we need to do.  We need to reconcile with them when we do them wrong.

Reconciliation

When we are in close connection with God reconciliation is usually prompted by God.  Now whether we listen to the promptings is another story.  He sometimes shows us but we shove the conviction away.  We need to be open to His leading.

What I encourage is self-examination.  Every night before going to bed just lift up a prayer to God about your day and ask Him to show you any area of your life that needs reconciliation and He will show you.  Ask for forgiveness right then and make plans to reconcile with the person as soon as possible.

Cry out to God

There are times that reconciliation can be very difficult to do.  We need to cry out to God for the help and grace to do it.  It makes me think of Jacob in the Bible when God had directed him to go back to his homeland.  He was going to be going back to where his brother was and the last time he had seen him his brother wanted to kill him.  Jacob had done his brother a grave wrong.  You can read the story about his return to Canaan in Genesis starting in chapter 32.  He cried out to God and God answered his prayers.

Just like in the case of Jacob reconciliation may take giving a gift.  Or maybe we do owe something to them as restitution.  God will direct us to what we need to do.  We need to do what it takes for the individual to really know that we are truly sorry because actions speak louder than words.

Pride

In order for us to be reconciled to someone, we need to humble ourselves.  A lot of times pride gets in the way of us doing what we really need to do.  We need to be willing to serve.  That is where Jacob was.  He was willing to be as a servant to his brother.  He referred to himself as servant and Esau, his brother as master.  We can only do this with the love of God flowing in our hearts.  That is why our connection with Christ is so important.

Repentance

We cannot reconcile with anyone without repentance.  And the only way we can have true repentance is to come to the place David did in Psalms 51:4, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”

We need to realize that the greatest offense that we do is to God.  When we do wrong to others we are wronging God because they are His and He loves them.  We, as parents, understand this concept.  If someone does something to us we deal with it but when someone does something to one of our children, wow! We are not happy.  When we wrong others we are wronging Christ so we need to start by repentance with God and then He will help us go to the ones that we have offended and bring reconciliation.

Christ initiated reconciliation

It makes me think of us and our connection with Christ.  We have offended Him with our sins and He initiated reconciliation.  Jesus is the Greatest Reconciler.  “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:19.

Jesus humbled Himself

Here He was the King of the universe yet He humbled Himself and came down to this dark world as a Babe.  When I think of His life here on earth and the humility that He showed throughout His ministry and His death for us, it is amazing.  These are things we need to contemplate.  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” Philippians 2:5-8.  We need to be like Christ.

He tore down walls

Jesus could demand our acceptance of Him but He is a God of love.  True love does not force.  But He does wait and look for opportunities to bring things into our lives to get our attention.  He wants us to see our need for Him and when we do we come willingly and allow Him to work.  Thus He tares down the wall between Himself and us.

He made restitution

He made the most amazing restitution.  Christ made the ultimate restitution.  And if we accept it we have eternal life through Him.  “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” 1 Peter 1:18-19.

He anguished

This reconciliation did not come easy.  There was anguish involved.  Christ had anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.  “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood” Luke 22:44.  I have never anguished over reconciliation like that.  We tend to just let things go and try to forget about it.  But God wants us to be reconciled with Him and others and sometimes it takes real anguish to get to the place to do what God has asked us to do.  But the greatest thing is that He understands and is there to help us and He will go through it with us.

He showed unconditional love and complete forgiveness.

I am so grateful for His unconditional love and the forgiveness that He has shown me.  He has given us the greatest gift and that gift is the Holy Spirit.  He will help and guide us.  If we do not resist His leading we will have greater happiness.

Grateful

I am so grateful for what Christ has done for me.  I want to show the same unconditional love that Christ has for me to others.  This is a  quote I like written by Thomas A Kempis, “How rarely we weigh our neighbor in the same balance in which we weigh ourselves!”  We need to focus on examining ourselves instead of examining others and comparing ourselves with others.  Let’s compare ourselves only to Christ and allow Him to change us into His likeness.

Dear Father,

Thank You for loving us so much to send Your Son so that we can be reconciled to You.  Keep us and guide us as we examine ourselves so that we can be fully reconciled to those around us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give all to Him today allowing Him to reconcile you to Himself.  And make things right with those around you.

Love you all.

Do you have a story about how God worked in your life and helped you in reconciling with someone?  I would love to hear your story.

 

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“It Doesn’t Work In Harmony!!”

Harmony

Harmony is so important.  There are so many things in life that just don’t work well without harmony.  Marriages break up because there is not harmony.  Parents and children go decades without even seeing or talking to each other because there is no harmony.  And this doesn’t just apply to human relationships.  This also applies to mechanical things as well.  If all the parts in our car are not running in harmony we end up in the repair shop.

Paper

Running the digital at a print shop I use a lot of paper.  The thing that I have realized about paper is that it also has to work in harmony.  Let me explain.  There are so many different types of paper.  Paper comes with different types of texture, weight, and coating not to mention different sizes as well.

One of the hardest papers to run is a paper that is not in harmony.  A paper that I consider not in harmony is when one side of the paper is different than the other.  One side has a smooth shiny coating, which is actually call coated.  And the other side is uncoated and it looks dull and much easier to write on.  Because it is different on both sides they work against each other and cause the paper to have more of a tendency to curl.

As this paper is used for what it is intended for, its differences become a problem.  Whether you are using a color press or a digital machine this paper has a hard time passing through “life”.  Because of the curl it does not have harmony, therefore, it causes the paper to jam in the machines.  The machines are meant for paper that works in harmony and stays flat.

As I was experiencing this the other day it made me think of us.  We are really not a whole lot different.  We need to live our lives in harmony with something or things do not go well.  Whether it is living in harmony with our husband/wife, our children, our friends, or even our boss.  Things can get really rough if we cannot learn these skills.

Christians

Then it made me think a little deeper.  What about a Christian?  Is there a difference in our lives if we live in harmony with Christ?  Are there two sides to us?  Do we live one way at home and another way at church or work?  If we are living in harmony both sides of our lives should be the same.  We should be working in harmony otherwise a “curl” gets started and we cannot run smoothly through life.

I want to think of my life as paper.  When we give our lives to Christ we marry Him, we become one with Him.  What we give up is our “uncoated” life to become “coated” with Him.  And as long as we are “coated” with Him our lives flow in harmony.  Any time we try live our lives our own way without cooperating with Him our lives will “jam” every time just like the paper would jam.  When our lives our twisted with sin “jams” are in inevitable.  When we don’t trust God in His ways and try to go our own way there is never harmony.  I want to stay “coated”.

Dear Father,

I want to be in tune with You.  I do not want anything to come between You and I but I want to be “coated” with You so that my life will move with precision and purpose.  My goal is to always  trust You so fully that even through the fiery trials, we, together, can flow through unscathed.  Thank You for always being there for me and for Your patience and for leading me gently on.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Allow God full control of every area of your life today.  It brings harmony into the life, which makes life so much better.

Love you all.

How has God blessed you, as you have trusted Him through difficulties?  I would love to hear your story.

 

 

 

 

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“Commitment?!!”

Commitment

Have you ever made a commitment?  Maybe you have made a commitment to a special someone and now you are married.  Or maybe you made a commitment to exercise more, eat better, pay off your debt, etc.  There can be a lot of things that we may commit to do.

I have had two things that I have done in commitment to the Lord where He has abundantly blessed.

Debt

Due to some circumstances our family has gotten into a lot of credit card debt.  I never had a desire to go work away from our home but the realization that I needed to came to me a couple of years ago that I needed to do something besides just work in our home business.

The Lord opened the doors for a job that is close to home and has just been a great job.  I had been working a few months when I made a commitment to the Lord.  I pay a certain percentage of my check to the Lord and I decided that I would take the same percentage and put toward our debt.  We are already doing the “Debt Snowball” but this would be extra toward it.  This was not long before Christmas that I made this commitment.  A few days later my boss called me in and gave me a raise, and it was not just a few cent raise.  I was praising the Lord.

More blessings

I first started working as a temp but when I was hired to work on a regular basis I was working full-time throughout the summer and then went to part-time so I could home school.  The big project where I was originally hired as a temp has now come back around again and more people have been hired as a temp.

I decided that I would tell my boss that I would work full-time during this temp job.  And I made a commitment to the Lord that I would take that extra money and put it toward our next credit card that we want to payoff with the idea that I would be able to completely pay it off.  I didn’t know for sure if it would be enough money to pay it off but I made the commitment to do what I could.

I went to my boss one morning and let him know that I would work full-time during this big project.  He was very grateful.  At the end of the day when I was ready to go home he wanted to talk to me.  He let me know that he was giving me another raise.  It was twice as much as the last raise that he gave me.  I walked out of there walking on air knowing that I just received another blessing from God.  This is going to make it possible for me to fulfill my commitment to the Lord.

Do blessings always happen?

When we have a prompting from God and we follow through with the prompting I believe there is always a blessing.  I think the real question is, do we recognize it.  I believe there are times we receive blessings that we don’t realize are a direct result that comes from obedience.  We may even take the blessing for granite.  The blessing may not even come right away either.  And when the blessing does come days, weeks, months, or even years later we don’t make the connection.

Trusting

What it really boils down to is trusting God.  I could have made that commitment and never got a raise and I would not have even known the difference.  And God still could have multiplied my money to pay off the credit card without the raise.  Do we really believe we can trust God to do it?  That is the real question.  How much do we trust God?

Excited

When I wake in the morning with the attitude of excitement to see what the Lord is going to do in my life today, life is exciting.  Do I always wake with that attitude, no, but when I do it makes a difference.  We do not praise the Lord enough.  He is working all the time for our good, even if it doesn’t look like it to us.  He knows what we need to get ready for His soon coming.

Dear Father,

Help me to live with the anticipation of what You are going to do in my life.  Thank You for showing me Your love by giving me the abilities You have given me and for the raise you have provided.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Commit all to God today.  Do not be afraid to follow through with your commitments, He will bless you.

Love you all.

What blessing has God give you?  I would love to hear your story.

 

 

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“Is It Wrong To Be Stingy?”

Is it wrong to be stingy?

What a great question.  There are multiple ways that we can be stingy.  It seems when people think of this question they think mostly of money.  But we can be stingy with our time, strength, emotions, or money.  So here is the real question, is there a time to be stingy or should we always be full of generosity?

Stingy

What does stingy really mean anyway?  It means that a person is reluctant to give or spend; not generous.  When I think of stinginess it reminds me of someone who holds on to everything he has without any consideration of others.

It makes me think of Judas in the Bible.  He was a disciple of Jesus but we know that when it came to money he was not generous with others.  He definitely had no problem taking care of himself though.

You might be saying, “But we do have to be careful who we give to because we can be taken advantage of.”  This is true and that is where stewardship comes in.  But we have to make sure that we are not being selfish under the guise of stewardship.

Generosity

So what does being generous mean?  Here are two.  “1. A readiness or liberality in giving.  2.  Freedom from means or smallness of mind or character.”  When I think of generosity I think of someone willing to give of their time, money, and resources.  The most generous person that ever walked this earth was Jesus.  He did not think of Himself and His comforts but He was always thinking of others.

Rewards for Generosity

  1. When we are generous we have a countenance that shines because we are filled with joy.  We cannot out give God.  He will take care of us.  When God prompts our hearts to help someone whether it takes our time, money, emotional or physical strength He will supply us with what we need.  We don’t have to worry.  I would encourage you to read Matthew 6:19:34.  God will take care of you so you don’t have any reason to worry, you can be filled with joy.  As it says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  That is a great promise.
  2. We have a special love for God when we trust Him.  “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.
  3. When we realize that all we have, whether time, money, emotional or physical strength belongs to God, we have a fear (respect) for the Him.  And we are rewarded for that respect.  As it says in Proverbs 22:4, “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life.”
  4. The greatest reward is having treasures in heaven.  “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” Matthew 6:20.
  5. When we are generous another reward is the victory over the “root of all evil.”
  6. Generosity rewards us with escaping from lusts and sorrows.  “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” 1Timothy 6:9, 10.

Rewards for Stinginess

The “rewards” for stinginess are just the opposite of generosity.  And it brings sorry and not happiness.  There are several stories in the Bible that stinginess makes me think about and what the results were.  I think of Judas who held the money-bag.  He eventually betrayed the Son of God to His death and then he committed suicide.

It also makes me think of Ananias and Sapphira who sold their property and promised the money to help the cause of God.  But then they decide to keep back some for themselves and they lied saying they had given all.  They lost their lives (see Acts 5:1-11).  Claiming to be generous but really lying about the facts does not get you anywhere good.  “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon” Luke 16:13.

Does this all mean that it is wrong to earn good money.  No, but we need to make sure that our priorities are straight.  It doesn’t mean we can’t live comfortably but we should not be living extravagantly.  As the Lord blesses we need to properly take care of our families and then help others.  And as we do this he will continue to bless us.  Stinginess does not bring happiness.  I am sure we have all known them, and it may be ourselves, people who are stingy are not happy people.  True generosity brings contentment and happiness.

What about motivation?

We do need to have the right motivation for our generosity.  We should not be doing it for the praise of others.  Our motivation should come from the realization that whatever we have is because God has given it to us.  This makes me think of the rich men who gave generously into the treasury but Jesus said a poor widow gave more than they all with only two mites.  They gave from their abundance and she gave all she had (see Luke 21:1-4).

What can we do to be more generous?

Being more generous starts with knowing that all belongs to God and dedicating all our resources to Him.  We need to practice being frugal with our money.  Setting up a budget is a good thing to do.  We can rely on God to help us know what we need to give and when.  Give of yourself as God directs you.  And as much as possible make it anonymous so that God gets the glory and we can stay humble.  “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which is in secret himself shall reward thee openly” Matthew 6:3, 4.

Dear Father,

We commit our lives to You.  All that we have is Yours.  We want to listen to Your voice and do those things that are pleasing to You.  Give us Your wisdom.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give all to Him today and let Him lead and guide you.

Love you all.

How has the Lord blessed you as you have given to Him?  I would love to hear your story.