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“Do You Want to Live?”

Do you want to live?

This is a question that I don’t think we often ponder.  If we get into an accident or something very serious happens to us or someone close to us, we start to think more seriously about it.  I think most of the time we are so caught up in everyday life that we go on our blissful way and don’t really think about it.

Aron Ralston

I am sure many of you may have heard of Aron Ralston.  It is stories like these that really make you start to think.

At a young age, he became an outdoorsman.  One day as a young man he hiked into the remote Utah Blue John Canyon.  He felt perfectly at home in the beauty of the outdoors.  Then eight miles from his truck in a deep narrow canyon an eight hundred pound boulder came loose tumbling down and pinning Aron’s right hand and wrist against the canyon wall.

For six days, with very little water, food, or warm clothing, and the realization that no one knew where he was, Aron went through his options of escape one by one.  Then the sudden truth came to him, he had no choice but to do the unimaginable.  After the process of breaking his arm, he took his knife, which was not very sharp and started the Job of cutting off his arm.  He knew he had to do this carefully.  Once he had broken through the skin he went inside his arm with his fingers to feel around.  He needed to leave the veins until last.  It was quite a process but within an hour he was free.

Aron hiked out 6 miles before he ran into someone who helped him.  He wanted to live so desperately that he took drastic measures to live.  If he had not taken those drastic measures he most likely would have died.  Since his accident, he has resumed his life of adventure and discovery.

This made me think

This made me think of us as Christians.  How desperate are we to live eternally?  Have we allowed some sin of this world to entrap us?  Just like Aron was willing to endure the pain and suffering in order to live, are we willing to suffer pain in order to allow sin to be removed out of our lives so that we can live eternally?

This makes me think about what Jesus said in Matthew 5:29-30, “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”  Jesus was not suggesting that we actually pluck out our eye or cut off our hand but He was making a point.  The things of this world are not worth losing out on eternity with Him.

Painful

The battle with sin and as it is removed can be painful.  But there is something that we have that Aron did not.  We have the power of God to help us.

As we come to God He will put His hand on ours and help us cut away the sin.  He is the one that does the work we just need to cooperate with Him, not resisting His work.  God will not do it without our cooperation.  He does not force.  God sends the Holy Spirit to prompt us and woo us to Himself but He will never force.  He loves us so much He gave up His Son to die so that we can live.  We need to fall in love with Jesus.  As we fall in love with Him we will want to be with Him.  We will want to cooperate with Him because we will have a longing heart to live eternally with Him.

Dear Father,

We need You desperately.  We need Your forgiveness and Your love.  Thank You that You always love us and are waiting with longing heart to spend time with us.  Thank You for Your patience with us.  Continue to prompt our hearts.  Search us and know our hearts, try us and know our thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in us and lead us in the way everlasting.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Give all to Jesus today and cooperate with Him in the removal of any sin that may have entrapped you so that you will be ready when He comes and then you can live eternally with Him.

Love you all.

What do you do to stay connected to Jesus?  I would love to hear your testimony.

 

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“Light Up The Darkness”

Darkness

I don’t know what you think but it seems to me that the darkness is getting darker.  You may be saying, “What?!  How can darkness get darker?”  Well, it depends on what kind of darkness we’re talking about.  I believe there is more than one kind of darkness.  There is the physical darkness of night and then there is spiritual darkness.

When I look around at this world, which I see very little since I don’t read or watch the news, there is so much darkness.  Things have gotten so bad it is hard to believe any human being would do some of the things that people are doing.  There are also so many people who are suffering because they have no hope.

Light up the world.

For those of us that have Christ in our hearts need to become a light in the darkness.  We need to let our light shine.  As Christ said in Matthew 5:14-16, “Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is a heaven.”

We are an influence on all people, whether good or bad.  God wants us to reflect His character to others through our obedience to Him.  When we are in full surrender to God the trials or bad things that take place will not have the same effect on us because we have a hope within us.  People will be attracted to us because they see peace in our lives.  As it says in Proverbs 4:18, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

How does God form light?

What do I mean by this question?  Well, what I am really thinking about is the work that God does in our lives that prepares us for being able to be a light that shines.  “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” John 8:12.  We become reflectors as we follow Him.

Isaiah 45:7 says, “I form the light, and create darkness…”  I looked up the word form in the Hebrew translation and it carries with it the idea of ‘squeezing into shape’ and means to mold into a form, especially as a potter.  This is exactly what the Lord wants to do in our lives so that we can be a true light in the darkness of this world.  As we shine for Him, the darkness is created (revealed).  Without light, we don’t even know that there is darkness.  It is the light that reveals the darkness.  The process of becoming light is by allowing God to shape us.  “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand”  Isaiah 64:8.

In what ways can we make our lights brighter?

  1. We need to be sure to turn away from darkness.  It makes me think of the story of Saul who became Paul.  He was exposed to the light and he realized his sin.  He confessed to God his wrongs and repented.  God was able to use him in a mighty way.  We cannot help others into the light unless we have the light ourselves.  And our job is, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”  Acts 26:18
  2. Expose everything to the light.  When we are living according to God’s Word we expose everything to light.  Which we cannot do this unless…
  3. We are looking to Jesus.  When we are in full surrender to Jesus and our lives are clear of any known sin we can be a light in the darkness.  We have to stay connected.  Psalms 89:15, “Blessed is the people who know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.”
  4. We need to have a forgiving spirit.  If we are not forgiving others we will not be shining for God.  “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.  But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 1 John 2: 9-11.
  5. We need God’s Word engrafted into our lives, which is done by memorizing.  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.  Psalms 119: 105, 130.
  6. We need to put on the armor of light as it states in, Romans 13:11, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us, therefore, cast off the words of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”  We do not have time to spend in darkness, time is short.
  7. There are many more things that could be said on this subject.  What I have shared here are just a few things for us to think about.  We live in a very dark world at a very dark time.  There are so many in the darkness that need to know about the light.

Dear Father,

We need You.  Forgive us for where we have fallen short of glorifying Your name and being the light You would have us to be.  Continue to guide us as we surrender all to You.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Shine for Him today.

Love you all.

What have you found to help you in shining for Jesus?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

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“How Safe Are You?”

Safety

I don’t know about you but it seems that safety doesn’t always enter my mind.  Every time I leave my driveway for work I send up a little prayer for safety but I am not always mindful of the safety I receive.  It seems like we just expect that nothing is going to happen.  This is where we need to change our thinking.  We should be grateful for every day that goes by where we have made it through the day safely.  God is protecting us each day and we don’t seem to realize but we take it for granted.  We just automatically think we are always going to be safe.

Seconds later

As I was on my way to work one morning I was reminded of the safety that God provides.  When I come to the stop sign that comes out of our road onto the highway it can be hard each morning to get out on the road because the traffic is so heavy.  Looking to my left there is a curve down a ways.  When you just see someone coming around that curve you can still pull out but you better be getting up and going quickly.  If you wait until you see no car coming you would “never” get out.

This particular morning a pickup truck was just coming around the corner and I was going to go.  I don’t even know how to explain it except the Lord.  I was going to go and then I thought to myself, “no your not going to go”, and I didn’t.  Like maybe 2 seconds later a car was just about to pass in front of me.

There was a snow bank to my left and there had been a car that I could not see.  Talk about give me the chills.  If I would have gone there would have been a major accident.  The speed for that road changes from 60 to 55 just before my road but more than likely people are still going 60.  It would not have been a pretty sight.  I realized that thought that came to my mind was the Lord’s prompting and I was so glad that I listened.

Listening

I have found through my life that if I listen to that still small voice more often, that it would save me from so many things.  What amazes me is that God cares about every aspect of our lives.  We tend not to think about the little things that He helps us with throughout the day.  Those promptings that come that we listen to and things turn out good.  We may receive promptings that we don’t listen to and then we blame God for something bad happening to us.  Don’t get me wrong I know that bad does happen to us that we have not brought on ourselves but we would save ourselves a lot if we would listen to His voice.

Am I at fault?

I do believe the devil does a lot of things to try and discourage us.  God doesn’t do those bad things but He has allowed them.  But when bad things happen to us I believe it is good for us to search our hearts and lives to see if we have contributed.  I think there is a lot of things we bring on ourselves and then we blame God and if we had been in line with His Word it could have been prevented.  If we search our hearts and there is anything that we need to confess or give up and we make changes our lives would be so much better through the trials.  Whether we have done anything wrong intentionally or not God shows us through trial those areas of our lives that need changing and refining.

We can blame God and go on in misery or we can use the opportunity to allow the heat of trial to refine our character so that we come out as gold.  As we do this the devil will be defeated.  Jesus already defeated him but we have to accept that defeat by allowing the Lord to refine us through trial.

Let’s get off the blame game

We sometimes blame others for what we are going through as well.  “Well if so and so hadn’t done this or that I wouldn’t be upset, things would be better.”  God has allowed it into your life for a purpose.  Just the attitude of blame shows that there is growth that needs to happen in our lives.

If anyone had a right to blame others and God Himself it was Jesus.  Read about His life.  It was not a bed of roses.  He could have blamed God for allowing the devil to tempt Him and using people to bring pain and sorrow to Him.  He could have blamed each of us for even having to die and give up aspects of His life that He will never gain back.  But He did not.  He knew this was within God’s plan for us to be saved.  And even though we are the blame He did not and has not blamed us but only loved us.  His love is what changes us if we allow it.

Dear Father,

Help us to listen to Your still small voice.  Help us to use everything that comes into our lives as an opportunity to trust You and to grow in You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Praise God for the safety that He supplies for you today.  Listen to that still small voice and allow the trials to refine your character.

Love you all.

Do you have a story about a time you know you receive protection?  Share your story below, I would love to hear it.

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“Joyful or Self-Pity”

Joyful or Self-Pity

Have you ever met someone who seems to always be joyful?  They look on the bright side of everything.  I have met a few.  These are the kind of people who are really fun to be around.  On the other hand, we all have met people who are always in the self-pity mode.  You may be one of them.  It doesn’t see to matter what is happening in life they are just in this “poor me” pit.  They are not happy.  And no one really likes to be around them.

Self-Pity

When looking self-pity up in the dictionary it said, “Self-Pity is to have pity for oneself, especially self-indulgent attitude concerning one’s own difficulties, hardships etc.”

One thing that I have seen in these types of people is that they never take any responsibility for what circumstances they may be in.  They may be there because of their own doing but it is always someone else fault, in their minds, a lot of times.  If they don’t blame others they whine about how horrible of a person they are.

It sounds like a type of person none of us really want to be around but the reality is we all can be like this now and then.  We are not happy when we get in this mode and it makes everyone around us unhappy.

It reminds me of the story in the Bible about King Ahab.  There was a vineyard he wanted to have that was near his palace.  But the man who owned it did not want to get rid of it.  It had been a part of his family’s heritage and he did not want to part with it.  Ahab was not happy.  He went home and was having a feel sorry for me pity party.  “And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would not eat bread” (See 1 Kings 21:1-4).

What Self-Pity can lead to?

When we are constantly in the self-pity mode it does not lead to anything good.  In Ahab’s case, the man was killed and Ahab got what he wanted.  What a spoiled brat.  But this is the reality of our world today.  If people don’t get what they want they go out and kill people.  Now, not everyone is doing the actual deed but they are full of so much hate and anger that they are killing in their heart.

What are the “rewards” for self-pity?

It really brings death and sorrow for others.  When we get caught up in self-pity, which really falls in line with pride as well, we are really dead inside.  There is no joy or happiness.  We make the life of others miserable as well.  And in the end, it will bring eternal death.  God will not allow someone full of self-pity and pride into His Kingdom because that would just bring more misery.

Joyful

This is a much more joyful subject to dwell upon.  This is what the dictionary said, “Full of joy, as a person or one’s heart; glad; delight.  Showing or expressing joy, as looks, actions, or speech.”  I don’t know about you but it brings a sense of joy to my heart just reading it’s meaning.

We all know what it is like to be around a person who is joyful.  We are drawn to that type of person.  As Christians, we have every reason to be joyful.  “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous:  and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.  Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright”. Psalms 32:11 & 33:1.

What are the rewards of joy?

What being joyful does to us emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually is not explainable.  If you have not experienced it, how can I ever explain it?  But those who have experienced it know what I am talking about.  How we think, how we respond, or how we act affects us greatly.  Keeping our minds positive and in a joyful spirit can help us go a long way.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  I also like Proverbs 15:13, which says, “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”  So being joyful is the key to a better life.  So what are the rewards?  A much more fulfilling life and ultimately, eternal life.

What can produce joy?

The first thing that comes to mind is what Christ has done for us.  If we dwell upon the love that Christ had for us in coming and taking our place in eternal death, if we so choose to accept it, wow! How amazing.  This can produce a joy in our hearts that is beyond expression.  Just like Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 10:20, “…but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

A clear conscience can bring joy.  When we have fallen in love with Jesus, we will not want to do anything that is displeasing to Him.  And when we know we are right with Him it brings joy.  2 Corinthians 1:12 says, “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience…”

Keeping the commands in God’s Word can bring joy

When we are in love with Jesus it is not a drudgery to keep God’s commands.  We may have a struggle with self at times but when we fully surrender all to God it brings so much joy.  Just like it says in Psalms 19:8, “The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

God’s promises bring joy

When you have full trust in God we can cling to His promises and they bring joy to our hearts. When I am having a down day if I take a promise and dwell upon it the joy of the Lord becomes my strength.  “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16

When we share with others the wisdom of God’s Word, we get joy.

Every time we share with others the joy of our salvation it produces joy in us.  “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth:  and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!” Proverbs 15:23.  There is so much joy in sharing a word in due season.

Persecution and trials can also produce joy.

You may wonder how this is possible.  It is only possible as we surrender all to God and trust in His plan.  I like this promise, 1 Peter 4:12, 13, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”  I also love this one in James 1:2, 3,  “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

As we see those we share with grow in Christ it also produces joy in us.

I don’t know about you but this brings such joy to me when I see others growing in Christ.  When I see the joy that they are experiencing as they learn more about Christ and fall more and more in love with Him.  lll John 4 says it all, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”  He is referring to those that were growing in the Lord.  It can be our own children for sure but I believe it includes all those around us that are growing.  It definitely brings ultimate joy when we see our own children growing in the grace of Christ.

Joy is produced in us when a job is well done.

When we obey the Lord in what He has asked us to do it brings a joy.  He has given us all abilities and when we use them for Him it produces joy.  And these are the words that I know I want to hear someday and I pray you do as well.  “…Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things…enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”  Matthew 25:21.  As we surrender and walk with Christ, hand in hand joy will be produced in us.

What are some practical everyday things I can do to experience joy?

  1. Be grateful.  Start a grateful journal.  We tend to forget the good things in life.  But we also need to be grateful even for the trials and difficulties that come our way, knowing, “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28
  2. Cry out to God.  When we do have difficulty instead of grinding about it and focusing on it cry out to God for help, courage, and strength.  “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knows not.” Jeremiah 33:3. As we cry out to God in time of trouble with an attitude of unconditional surrender then when God works we can testify to what He has done.  When I can testify of God’s goodness to me the thrill of joy is amazing.
  3. Sing praises to God.  “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” Ephesians 5:19, 20.  I know when I sing it I can’t help but start to feel joyful.
  4. Talk of God’s wondrous works.  As we testify of God and what He has done in our lives or in the lives of others it brings joy to the heart.  “Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.  Glory in his holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” 1Chronicles 16:9, 10
  5. Glory in His name.  “Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.  Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.  Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;” Psalms 105:3-5
  6. Seek His face continually.  We need to be seeking Him constantly.  “Seek the Lord and his strength, see his face continually.”  1Chronicles 16:11.

“The joy of the Lord is our strength” so we need to allow His joy to fill our hearts.

Dear Father,

As we seek You, fill our hearts with Your joy.  Thank You for Your promises.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Get out of the self-pity mode today and fill your life with joy.  It is a choice!

Love you all.

What steps have you taken to keep you on the path of joy instead of self-pity?

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“Rejoice Always? Really?!!”

Rejoice

Have you ever had the thought, “How can I really be joyful in this life?  There is so much sorrow so how can I have so much sorrow and really rejoice?”  It is hard to understand how sorrow and joy can coincide but they really can.  We cannot do it in and of ourselves.  It is only as we allow the Lord to have full access to our lives that we can rejoice through it all.

What we see

We see so little compared to what God sees.  We may listen to the news and hear all the evils that are transpiring in this world.  But we see so little compared to what God sees.  He sees it all.

I am going to veer off here for a few sentences.  May I suggest that listening to the news is nonproductive?  I don’t listen, read, or watch the news.  There may be little snippets I see posted on Facebook or someone may mention to me, “Did you hear….?”  I usually haven’t heard so they give me a little run down.  Sometimes I check it out further but for the most part, I don’t.  What does it gain us in our spiritual walk to focus on the wickedness of this world?  It is discouraging and can suck the joy out of life.  How many people are depressed and angry because of what they dwell upon?  We have got to keep our focus where it belongs.   Our focus should be on having a solid connection with God and then be a witness for Him through our lives.

God sees

God sees all the wickedness of this world but He is also rejoicing, “over one sinner that repenteth.”  And yet it pains His heart every time we don’t accept His ways and choose the wicked things of this world to fill our lives.  The wicked things can be filling our lives as we do them or it can be filling our lives as we vicariously take part.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

If we would make this our Motto in life it would make a difference.  Just because it is claimed to be “true” doesn’t mean it is of “good report”.  When I think of the news there is so much bent to what is said you never really do know what is true.  It is all bent to whatever political party they represent.  Well, I want to represent the “political” party of Jesus.  I want to be like Christ.

Prepare

The only way that we can be like Christ is to be prepared.  We need to be in the God’s Word and in prayer.  As we are in the word we need to be storing it in our hearts by putting it to memory.  This is the only way we will be able to rejoice through all circumstances.

This reminds me of a story that was shared with me.  It was about two men that climbed a mountain together.  It was a dangerous mountain.  The mountain was steep with rock climbing as well as ice climbing.  The mountain was also higher elevation.  It was dangerous with lots of crevasses as well.  I don’t remember how many days it took to make it to the top but they did make it.

The descent

The difficulty came on their descent.  One of them, when going slowly down through the snow stepped in a spot that sent him over the edge.  He broke his leg majorly.  They came up with a plan of how they could get down.  His friend would get well positioned and then lower him 300’, then he would station himself and his friend would follow.  It was a very painful thing for him to be lowered but it was life or death.  His friend couldn’t “care” about his screams of pain he just had to keep lower him.

Then came the time that his friend lowered him and he dropped over a cliff and was hanging and he could not get to the ledge to get well established so his friend could descend.  They were too far apart to communicate so they both waited in the dangerously cold night.  I don’t remember how long his friend waited but he eventually had to make the hardest decision of a person’s life.  He had to decide to cut the rope.  It was now life or death for himself.  He could not survive if he did not keep moving down.

It was so hard to arrive back at camp, where there was another guy waiting for them.  He explained what had happened.  He was in such bad shape himself with frostbite and exhaustion, besides the emotional trauma.  The guy that had remained at the camp felt they should go from base camp down right away but he could not get him to leave.

Falling

When the rope was cut loose the guy on the other end fell into a crevasse.  Surprisingly,  he survived the fall but now what.  He had a lot of rope but what good is that when you have a broken leg.  He anchored himself so he wouldn’t fall farther and called for help but there was no answer.  After a while, he decided to lower himself into the crevasse more to see if there was another way out because he had tried to climb up but with his broken leg he could not.

As he lowered himself he found a spot that was a gradually going up vertically and he was able to crawl out of the crevasse.  It was very painful, and took great effort and several days, with no food or much water to make it back to camp.  What he did not know is when he got to camp would there be anyone there.  But thankfully when he did make it back to camp his friend was still there and his life was spared.  It was nothing more than miraculous.  We have such a drive to live that we will push our bodies beyond the limit in an effort to survive and live.

Do you want to live?

As I have thought of this story it made me think about eternal life.  It actually brought tears to my eyes thinking about it.  We will put so much effort into surviving in this life but how much effort do we put into surviving for eternal life.

Having eternal life is a life and death situation.  How much privation are we willing to endure to survive.  Our spiritual bodies are broken and it is painful but how much effort are we willing to make no matter how much pain or privation it causes.  Are we willing to give up those things that will keep us from having eternal life?  Are we agonizing with God to the point of our sweat being “as great drops of blood” like Jesus did?  Do we want to live?  How much effort are we willing to make?

There will come a time that all our human resources will be cut off and it will be up to us to choose the right things and make the right choices.  We will be alone.  Some of us may even be alone at this moment in our choices to live.  There will come a time ahead of us that we will no longer have “food” (God’s Word) to nourish our spiritual bodies.  There will come a time when “water” will be scarce.  Are we filling ourselves with “food” (God’s Word) right now so that when the time comes we will be sustained?

Grim

You might be saying about now, “I thought you were talking about rejoicing, this sounds grim.”  It may sound grim.  But I can tell you from experience that as I surrender all to the Lord and walk side by side with Him, filling my life with His Word, it brings joy.  I can rejoice through the trials, privations, and hardships.  But if I dwell or get involved with the things of this world, joy fades away.

No matter what we may be going through as long as we are surrendered to God we can know that it will all work for our good.  In this, we can rejoice.

Dear Father,

Help us to see our need for You in our lives.  You are the only One that can give us peace and joy, as we surrender to Your will.  Continue to show us the way.  Thank You for Your patience with us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to God today.  Keep your focus on Him and fill your mind with His Word.

Love you all.

What do you do to help keep joy in your life?

 

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“Travel Carefully!!”

Travel Carefully

For those of us who live in certain places around the world, we have snow this time of the year.  I love the beauty of the snow. It covers all the imperfections.  Although the beauty is wonderful the roads are another story.  The roads can be icy and very slippery, especially when you get off the main road.  The main roads are kept clear by the graders and the salt that they put on the roads to melt the ice.  But even the main roads, at times, are treacherous.

One day I was on my way to work on more treacherous roads.  One vehicle in front of me slid and ended up in the oncoming traffic with an emergency vehicle heading his way.  At the same time, a pickup truck ended up in the ditch to my right.  He drove along the ditch for a while before he was able to make his way out of the ditch.  I am grateful that there was no serious accident and no one was hurt.

More than one road

This experience made me think of the Christian walk.  The beauty of the snow reminds me of the righteousness of Christ.  As we repent of our wrongdoings Christ righteousness covers us and makes us as “white as snow” (See Isaiah 1:18).

As we travel on the “main road” at times it can get slippery if we are not keeping it sprinkled with the salt of God’s Word.  There are times that we slip and slide and even go into the “oncoming traffic” going in the wrong direction but all we need to do is cry out to God in repentance and He will get us immediately back on the road.  At other times we may completely slide off the “road” into the ditch and we go along like everything is just fine.  But praise be to God He gets a hold of us and He makes a way of escape and we are able to get right out of the ditch. He doesn’t force us, He waits until we cry out to Him and then He helps pulls us up.

Trials and persecutions

As we travel this road we will have trials and persecutions along the way.  But as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus He will see us through.  We don’t need to grumble or complain we just need to trust.  And as we trust in Him we will be able to rejoice.

Matthew 5: 10-12,  “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18,  “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

It can be so difficult to give thanks and have joy in our heart during times of trial and/or persecution.  But if we put our full trust in God He will give us joy.

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your Word that can keep us from “slipping”.  Help us to cling to those promises when the trials and/or persecutions come.  Thank You that we can trust You and that You will bring us through every difficulty.  Your love is unbounded for which I am grateful.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Come to Jesus today, He is calling You.  Trust Him with your life.  He will work out every circumstance for You good. (See Romans 8:28)

Love you all.

I love how God is revealed in nature and He can show us connections between nature and our Christian walk.  What has He showed you today?  I would love to hear your story.  Share your story below in the comments.

 

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“Meekness or Anger?”

Meekness or anger

These two words are the opposite of each other.  You cannot be meek and angry at the same time.  As Christians is there ever a time for anger?  This seems to always be the question.  And there are reasons, or I should say excuses, that we always come up with.  Someone may say, “Well, there is righteous indignation!”  And that is true but I believe our natural nature has a hard time portraying a righteous anger.  We tend to have a violent anger or a silent anger that is jabbing.

What about Jesus?

There are many people who look at the story of Jesus cleansing the temple of money changers and say, “Now there is righteous anger.”  And yes I can agree.  But how Christians tend to portray the story of the cleansing of the temple is a violent anger.  I don’t believe that Christ did it in a violent way.  I believe He did it with tears in His eyes and voice.  He was sorrowing over Jerusalem. (See Luke 19:41-48)

No one feels comfortable and safe with a violent angry person, especially children.  And the children were not afraid.  Jesus was meek.

Matthew 21:12-16

“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”

Anger

When I looked up anger in the Strong’s Concordance, it said anger is a natural disposition, temper, and character.  It is movement or agitation of the soul, impulse desire, any violent emotion but especially anger.  In the regular dictionary, one thing it said was, feeling or showing anger or strong resentment.

When I think of anger I tend to think about characteristics, like yelling, destruction, thinking of one’s self and not others.  The atmosphere is anything but relaxed.  There is tension and everyone feels uncomfortable.  “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.”  Proverbs. 15:18

The “rewards” that come from anger reminds me of the story of Moses.  God had told him to speak to the rock, for water to come forth for the people and in his anger, he struck the rock.  God did not allow him to go into the Promised Land. (See Numbers 20:7-12) Our anger will keep us out of the Promised Land, Heaven.

Meekness

When I was looking up meekness in the Strong’s Concordance there were many things that I could glean but this is the one I chose.  “Mildness of disposition, a gentleness of spirit.  Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good and therefore without disputing or resisting.”

If we totally trust and accept His dealings we never have a reason to get angry.  But it is not easy and we can’t do it without His help.  When I think of meekness I think of someone who is not swayed in any way to the things that happen to them.  They are on an even keel.  This is what is pleasing to God.  “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” 1Peter 3:4.

The rewards for meekness are worth it all.  “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” Matthew 5:5.  “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” Psalms 37:11.  I want to have meekness instead of anger.  How about you?

In what ways can I show meekness?

When I think of meekness I think of how I answer anything with the knowledge that I have, whether it be spiritual knowledge or any other knowledge.  Do I do it in a humble way, in a “know it all” way, or even in anger?  “But sanctify the Lord in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.  For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing than for evil doing” 1Peter 3:15-17.

Dear Father,

Help us to do things with meekness.  Having anger and a know it all spirit is natural to our human nature but we want You to come in and change us.  Thank you for Your Grace that has the power to change us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today so that He can fill you with the spirit of meekness.

Love you all.

What are your thoughts?  Have you had an experience where God has given you a meek spirit?  I would love to hear your story about how God has worked in your life.

 

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“Designated Driver”

Designated Driver

When you hear this term your mind probably immediately goes to someone drinking or doing drugs and their mind does not think clearly or even fast enough to drive.  But in this blog, I am going to be talking about this term in a different way.

One thing that I struggle with personally is falling asleep while driving.  This is not a very good thing to have happen.  I have tried different things to help me but alas they don’t work, I only have one answer.  Yes, it is true that I could drink caffeine but the damage it does to my body is not worth it to me.  I had to find other answers.  There are many little tricks that I can do but the one that works the most is communication.

Communication

One of the things that have helped me when I am driving to stay awake is communication.  My mom will often come with me and we will communicate back and forth and it keeps me alert. Now it has to be a two-way conversation because if my mom were doing all the talking I would still have trouble staying awake.  There have been times in the past where I am having such difficulty that I will stop and let her take over the driving.  As I sit in the passenger’s seat I no longer feel the pressure to stay awake.  I can be in full conversation and even be talking myself and I fall asleep in mid-sentence.

Woke up by a semi

I have never had this happen but imagine yourself driving down the road having a struggle falling asleep at the wheel.  Your mind does not even think about the realization of your situation.  All you can think about is just relaxing and sleeping.  But suddenly you hear a horn blow and you look up and see a semi-truck coming at you.  You are no longer thinking of sleeping.  You are suddenly fully awake and swerve just in time to miss the semi-truck.  The adrenalin is running now and you are fully awake.  But as you drive on it start to not seem so worrisome to you anymore.  The drowsiness starts in again and you don’t feel the urgency to even worry about it.

You need a designated driver

It makes me think of the Christian road.  We “drive” along the road of life and things seem to get monotonous.  At that point, we start to get drowsy.  We keep on going along having conversations with God but tending to talk more than we listen.  As we keep talking the activeness of our minds become inebriated with ourselves.  And eventually, we start falling asleep to the reality around us.  All we care about is us.  We find ourselves drifting and a “semi-truck” is heading right for us and unless we veer back onto the right path we will be destroyed with selfishness.

The time has come, we need to “pullover” and allow the Lord be the “driver” in our lives.  We need to surrender all to Him.  He knows “road” very well, with all its potholes, curves, and supposed detours.  And as long as we allow Him to do the “driving”, He will navigate through all these things without a problem.

As He becomes our “designated” driver, He will change our lives so that we will no longer be inebriated with self.  But He does not force Himself in, we have to give Him the wheel.  And as soon as we don’t like the direction our lives are going and we grab that wheel back, He will give it to us.

Right decisions

There is a difference between my driving and allowing my mom to drive and Jesus being a spiritual driver.  He always needs to be in the driver’s seat and we better not relax and fall asleep.  We need to stay in active communication with Jesus and keep our minds active with making the right decisions.

If a “detour” comes up Jesus is not going to choose the right direction for us, we have to consent for Him to continue, “driving” or He will give us back the “wheel”.  We have to make the decision; He will not make it for us.  It is so easy to take the wheel of our lives back in any given situation.  “I want to get angry, He had no right to do that to me.”  I just took the wheel back.  Jesus will not force me to follow His ways.  But if I say, Lord, I am struggling with being angry I need you to continue, “driving” and I am going to choose to not be angry with Your power.”  He will give you the strength and He will stay in the driver’s seat.

“It’s too good to be true”

It sounds easy on paper but letting go of self and letting Jesus have full control is not easy.  This will take great effort.  We will have a battle with self.  It may take crying out to God on your knees, wrestling with self.  But the great news is, as long as we keep hanging on to Jesus, allowing Him full access to our lives, we can have the victory.  Hang on to the promises of God.

Hebrews 13:5,  “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:  for he hath said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’  So that we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

God says we don’t have to have fear because He will help us.

Dear Father,

I want You to be the “driver” of my life, through the indwelling of Your Spirit.  Thank You for Your love for me.  And even if I fail and take back the wheel, You are just a call away.  Thank You for Your willingness to forgive.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today and let Him be the “driver” in your life.

Love you all.

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Is there an area that you have struggled with?  How did God give you the victory?

 

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“Follow Me!”

We are followers

It seems in the world in which we live it is hard to know whom to follow.  Our natural tendency is to follow someone or at least try to mimic the life of someone we admire.  Many people look up to celebrities, whether they are actors, singers, pastors, elders, parents, etc.  Even when they fail in some way they will either defend them with all they have or they will get angry and discouraged that this person disappointed them.  The sad news is humans will always disappoint.  They will fail.  We fail at times too.

So whom should we follow?

I am coming from a Christian perspective so what comes to my mind is something Jesus said when He was on earth.

Matthew 4:19,  “And He said unto them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.’”

As a Christian, we should be following Jesus and as we follow Him, He will make us a witness for Him.  As I daily allow Christ to abide with me, He will give me the ability to attract others so that I can share the truth of God’s love.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Have you ever known someone who is so obsessed with someone or something it seems that is all they ever talk about?  Or they may even do things just like the person as much as possible.  What would it be like if we would become more “obsessed” with Jesus more than the things of this world?

Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

Matthew 16:24, “…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

In following Jesus we need to pursue Him and give up the things of this world, the things that will distract us from following Him.

As Christians, we have been given a commission and unless we are following Christ we cannot fulfill the commission that He has given us.  We have been commissioned to bring others to the truth as it is in Jesus.  To share His love and what He has done for us.  Jesus wants to make us “fishers of men.”

So how does fishing have anything to do with winning souls to Christ?

I did a little research to see what methods were used in Bible times for fishing.  They would do their fishing mostly at night, so the question would be why at night.  They would throw out their nets and the light from their torches would attract the fish.

How do we apply this analogy to “fishing” for people?

I love the night analogy.  As we allow the “torch” of God’s love to shine through us we will attract more people to us and then we can share the truth as it is in Jesus.  If we are trying to attract with a “lure” and “hook” it will not be as effective.  If we are shining, people will be drawn to us. They will be asking us why we have so much peace through the turmoil and why we are calm during the storms of life.  Then we have the opportunity to point them to the One that we are able to trust through every situation.

Matthew 5:16,  “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.”

What is our light?

Our light is the bright presence of Jesus in our lives.  It is not from us but from Him.  And we can only have this light as we allow Him full access to our lives so that He can live in us through the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:6, 7  “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Dear Father,

Thank You that it is all about You, not us.  Prompt our hearts, with every decision that we make, to do right.  I know that as we spend time with You, You will show us the path to life.  Thank You for Your love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give all to Jesus today and let Him shine through you.

Love you all.

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Please share any thoughts below.

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“Pride or Humility?

Pride or humility

This is a question that we need to ask ourselves.  I have been giving pride and humility some thought lately and it is very eye-opening.  We hear these words passed around but what do they really mean.  So I decided to look them up in the dictionary as well as the Strong’s Concordance and do a little study.  What I found has given me much to think and pray about.

Pride

A high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in hearing, conduct, etc.”  In the Strong’s Concordance, it gave me a little more to think on.  “Haughtiness, arrogance.   The character of one whom, with a swollen estimate of his own powers or merits, looks down on others and even treats them with insolence and contempt.

Mark 7:20-23,  “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

Proverbs 16:18,  “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Pride is having an inward thinking.  If we allow pride to rule our lives, every decision we make will be based on “what is in it for me”.

What “reward” do we get for pride?

Proverbs 29:23,  “A man’s pride shall bring him low:….”

Proverbs 16:18,  “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Pride will destroy a person’s life.  The true joy of life you cannot have when your heart is full of pride.  We cannot have meaningful relationships.  A true meaningful relationship is giving to others when there is nothing in it for us.  Pride brings misery and eventually destruction.

Humility

The meaning of humility, on the other hand, is the opposite of pride.  The dictionary meaning said, “The quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.”  In the Strong’s Concordance, it said, “1) having a humble opinion of one’s self.  2) A deep sense of one’s (moral) littleness.  3). Modesty, humility, lowliness of mind.”

1 Peter 5:5-9

“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

The only way that we can have humility of heart is to allow the Lord access to our hearts so that He can come in and change us.  Humility is to have an outward mindset.  When we look at the life of Jesus we can see that His life was a life of thinking of others.

Philippians 2:3,  “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.”  This is what Jesus did and He is our example.

What is the reward for humility?

Proverbs 29:23,  “…. but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.”

Matthew 18:4,  “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

It is only as we come to God in humility, with a child-like faith and wanting to know truth can He teach us.  God wants to teach us His ways.  He wants us to spend time with Him and learn of Him.

John 4:24,  “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

I have wondered many times what this really means.  I am not theologian but I have studied this verse for myself.  And I am going to share what I believe it means. It has been such a blessing to me.

I started out by looking up the word spirit and truth in the Strong’s Concordance.  Spirit can refer to different things but for this study, I am only going to focus on a few.

spirit= seat of emotions, as seat or organ of mental acts (rarely of the will) as seat especially of moral character.

Psalms 143:4,  “Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.”

Proverbs 15:13,  “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

Proverbs 16:19,  “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”

There are so many verses I could use but these are the ones that I am using to show spirit as being emotions as well as character.  And our emotions have a real effect on our character but this is a subject for another time.

truth=of divine instruction

Proverbs 3:3,  “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:  bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.”

This verse is so amazing to me that I looked up some of the words in the Strong’s Concordance to discover the meanings.  Write = record, Table = tablet, heart = inner man, mind, will.  God wants to write truth upon the tablet of our heart and mind.  This is so exciting to me.

Hebrews 10:16,  “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.”

2 Corinthians 3:2,  “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

Did you know that our heart is our second mind and that our heart has a memory?  There are stories of people that have had heart transplants that have started having nightmares, memories of things they had never done in their lives, or cravings they had never had.   This is very enlightening to me.  As we meditate day and night upon God’s word (Psalms 1:2), we are creating pathways in our brains and our hearts.  God is writing truth upon our hearts and minds.

Dear Father,

Thank You that as we immerse ourselves in You, spending time with You, that You will write Your truth upon our hearts and minds.  Thank You for Your mercy and love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I want God’s truth to be so written in my heart and mind. So that my thoughts, emotions, and character change to fully reflect Him.  How about you?

Love you all.

I would love to hear from you.  What has God shown you and how is He leading in your life?