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“It is Too Late!!!”

To Late!

What is the feeling you get when you realize that you are too late?  Maybe there are some things that you are late for that don’t really bother you, like being late to church or to an appointment.  But there are other things that you may have a sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize you did not make it, like your flight or maybe being late to work when you know it could mean you lose your job.

We are human and we can disappoint people many times because we are late or forget different things.  Maybe we forget an anniversary, birthday, or some special occasion.  Or maybe we miss or are late to a funeral, wedding, or something that means a lot to someone if we are there.  What would it be like if you are a bride or groom and you are late for your wedding?  There could be a lot of feelings like fear and anger.

What about God?

So what about God is He ever late?  In human thinking, I think we would all say at times, yes.  But when we go through a situation and we are able to look back most of the time we can see His leading and know that He is always right on time.

We have been in business for ourselves for close to 30 years in our area and it has not been the greatest since 2008.  After that time, we were not surviving and ended up in a lot of credit card debt.  For the last couple of years, we have not had money to pay our taxes so we have had to do an extension.

I finally went to work outside the home to try to help and we also started another business.  For our 2016 tax year, we had to extend and we filed in October of 2017.  We had some money we could send when we filed but we did not have the full amount.  We kept praying and asking for jobs with our new business because we knew if we just got one good job we could pay our taxes.  But it did not come.  Then one day we finally got a job.  It would be enough to pay our taxes but then there is a waiting game because we get paid from insurance companies.  God had it all under control because the check came like a day or two before the IRS bill.

God hurry up!

Have you ever felt frustrated with God about His timing?  I have been there multiple times and I know He is trying to teach me to trust Him.  And because I am failing He keeps bringing me around to the same trial again.  He wants me to trust Him no matter what happens.

Our taxes for 2017 were no different.  We had to extend and actually file in October.  I kept thinking I don’t have to worry because God has this, He will supply it when I need it.  But the time kept going by and no job to cover the taxes.  We filed in October of this year and were not even able to send money with the filing.  So we waited for the bill and the fine that would result.

And praise the Lord again we got a big job that would pay our taxes but there was a hitch.  The insurance company was not paying as quickly.  They were taking their time.  We had not received the tax bill yet but I knew it would be coming soon.  I started to get anxious and frustrated.  I failed to trust.

Soon the tax bill came and still no check.  I was like “Lord, why?”  My husband would call the company.  The person that writes the check is out of the office.  Or the most famous line of insurance company’s is “We are dropping it in the mail today.”  And then you call them a week later and they just dropped it in the mail yesterday.

I was rather fit to be tied at this point.  Knowing that a double fine was going to be happening if we did not get this check in the mail.  Yes, the check finally came.  It was going to be late so I tried to pay online but could not get it to work so we did second-day air to try and get it there on time and paid extra for it to happen.  Of course, it did not happen.  So it was late and yes we got more of a fine.

What is God trying to teach me?

So I start to question, what does God want to teach me through this whole experience.  I know that He wants me to trust Him through each circumstance.  A big thing that I am realizing is it is all His money.  If He wants to “waste” money on fines then it is really His business.

What I do is I start to look at all the things that I could use the money for, the bills that I could pay off so that we are closer to being out of debt, etc.  But God has other plans.  He wants to refine my character.  My money, time, family, debt, etc. all belong to Him and I need to let Him work out the details.  We have been following a plan to become debt free and I need to just give everything to Him and allow Him to keep it instead of continually taking it back.  The thing is that He always comes through.  It may seem late to me but His timing is never late.

I am sure I am not the only one that struggles with these issues.  I encourage you to trust Him fully.  And I can attest that God always comes through.  “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6, 7

Dear Father,

I know that You want to teach us to trust You.  Please forgive us where we have failed.  Give us the courage and strength to lay all in Your hands and to leave it there.  Thank You for Your love and patience with us.  Your love is way beyond our comprehension and we struggle with understanding it.  But we thank You for it.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today.  He loves you and wants the best for you.

Love you all.

Do you have an experience that you can look back and see the hand of God, even though when you were going through it you could not?  I would love you to share your experience below.

 

 

 

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“What is Whiter Than Snow?”

Snow!

I don’t know about you but I love this time of year to see all the beautiful snow that covers the earth.  Yes, there is a love-hate relationship with the snow because it takes so much work.  What I love about it is how it covers all the ugliness and makes everything look clean and white.

Although, if the truth is known, snow is rather deceiving.  It may look white but it is very dirty and unclean.  It amazes me that it even has a semblance of white when it gets to the ground.  But if you look at it really closely it is not really white.  It is absorbing all the toxins and dirt in the air.

This makes me think…

This makes me think of the Christian life.  We think that all the good things that we do are for the glory of God “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags…” Isaiah 64:6.  We may think that we look as “white as snow” but if we look a little deeper we can see all the dirt mixed in.  I think of that dirt as self-woven into the Christian life.

Whiter than snow

How many of you have studied a spider web?  It amazes me every time I look at one and study it.  Spider webs are so intricate.  It reminds me of the way a life of a Christian should be.  But we cannot weave a web that is that intricate or perfect.  We need to let God do the weaving.  As we draw near to God, humbling our hearts, He will draw near to us.  It is God that does the work in us, by us, and through us to the glory of His name.  But if we weave self into the web, the beautiful pattern that He can create will be spoiled.

Our part is to allow Him to do the work in our lives and to follow Him as He leads us.  God does not just want to make us as white as snow.  He wants to purge us with hyssop so that we can be clean: wash us and make us whiter than snow. (See Psalms 51:7)

When we try to do the work on our own the “snow” is polluted with the “toxins” of this world and self.  We need to let go and let God do the work in us and cooperate with Him.  It is our decision but it is His power.

Dear Father,

Forgive us for trying to do things on our own.  Please help us to surrender all to You and to cooperate with Your leading in our lives.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to God today and let Him “weave” your life to be like Him.  And then you will be whiter than snow.

Love you all!

What memories do you have about snow?  And what spiritual lesson have you learned?  I would love to hear your experience.

 

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“I’m Afraid!! What’s Next?”

Fear?

There is a lot of fear in our world today?  There is this fear of what is going to happen next?  And there is also the question; do I really need to be afraid?

When I was in the grocery store the other day I was talking with the cashier, which we have known for years.  I was telling her that I have a son in Africa right now and he will be coming back soon.  But then in January, he is going to India for 2 months.  She had a question for me and I can’t remember it exactly.  But she wanted to know how I could handle him being gone to those other countries.  She felt that I must be full of fear.  I have to say here that I am human and there are times the fear can start to grip me.   But what I told her is that I have to trust the Lord otherwise I couldn’t make it.

The reality is God loves my son way more than I ever could.  His goal is to bring about the Salvation of each soul and He allows only those things into each life that can bring them to the point of realizing their need of Him.  And once a person’s life is fully surrendered to Him it doesn’t matter what happens.  It doesn’t change the pain of losing a loved one if that were to happen but it can take away the sting.  So my prayer for my family is always the same.  “Bring into their life whatever it takes for their Salvation.”  And then I have to trust Him.

What’s Next?

There are so many things going on in our world today that can bring fear.  And it is not just in the political world it is also within the religious world as well.  Everyone has their own opinion of how things should be and how things should go and they are out trying to force their agenda.  And on top of that, they are angry with anyone that does not agree with their opinion.

So there is all this unrest and people fear what is going to happen next.  And is what happens next going to affect my family and me.  It seems so unsafe!

Now we are in this season of celebrating the best gift that was ever given to man but the focus is on fear for the future and self.  The focus is on what “my” agenda is about and I don’t care what I have to do or say to get what I want.  And amongst all this what is the truth.  Which news or social media post are you going to believe?  Is there a political party that you can trust?  Or how about a “religious” party?  Where do you put your trust?  And do you have have to fear about what is next?

What should we fear?

I don’t think we have anything to fear unless we forget how the Lord has led us in our past history.  There is something for us to fear but not what is going on politically or religiously.  “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” Matthew 10:28.  We need to fear anything or anyone that can destroy our spiritual connection with God.

We don’t need to fear what is happening we need to fear are we ready.  Are we ready for what?  Are we ready for what all this unrest is going to bring?  I believe what is taking place is signs that the time of the end is near and we are soon going to see Jesus coming in the clouds of Glory.  Do I know when? No, but we can know when it is near and I believe it is near.

The devil knows he has such a short time.  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” 1 Peter 5:8.  The devil doesn’t care how he devours us as long as he can keep our focus on everything except what our focus should be on.

I believe our biggest fear should be where and what our focus is on.  We can get so caught up in the religious and political problems that we let slide our own personal connection with God. Being right with God so we are ready when He comes is not based on whether someone else is doing the right things and having the right agenda.  We are only saved by our own choices.

What can we do?

So the question may arise, then what can or should we be doing?  We need to make sure that we are in God’s Word and being fully surrendered to His will for our lives.  Prayer needs to be a major part of our lives.  Praying not only for us but also for others.  We need to take our focus off of others and what they are doing right or wrong, in our opinion.  And keep our eyes focused on the One that came to save all men.

The church and the world are being shaken and who is going to be able to stand?  Only those that keep their eyes on Jesus and pray will be able to stand.  We need to “…weep between the porch and the altar, and…say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them:” Joel 2:17.

We need to be as Daniel as we pray.  He prayed for the sins of his people and he included himself (Read Daniel 9).  Often times we look at ourselves more righteous than someone else but the reality is we are all sinners saved by grace.  So when it comes to the church we need to be crying and sighing for the abominations, praying God to forgive us all and ask for His leading.

We need to be lifting up in prayer our spiritual and political leaders and then leave them to God to do His work.  When leaving them with God then we shall speak no evil thing of them or anyone else.

“If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” Ephesians 4:21-32.

Dear Father,

Your ways are beyond our human thinking and ways.  We need You!  Without You, we cannot do Your will.  Please forgive us where we have fallen short.  Give us the strength to do Your will.  Help us to not get caught up in the things of this world whether it be religious or political. And help us to keep our focus on what matters most, our connection with You.  The devil doesn’t care how he trips us up.  He just wants to get our focus off of You and onto something else so that we don’t see our own deficiencies.  Help us, Lord; we cannot do this without You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep God #1 in your life.  Surrender all your plans, thoughts, and ideas to Him today.

Love you all.

What keeps you from being afraid of what is coming next?  Please share below.

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“Today is Your Last Day!”

Your last day!

What if you were told that today was your last day to live?  What would become the most important things in your life?  Would you do things differently?  I think for most of us the answer would be “yes”.

I think we often get so caught up in our days that we forget how important we are to others and how important others are to us.  And when someone you know or even yourself goes through some hard times or facing death, it is a wake-up call.

An acquaintance

What has really gotten me thinking?  I have some dear friends who have a relative that I am acquainted with who has gone through a tragedy.  It was something so sudden that it was a shock.  This acquaintance could have died but after much time survived.  But still, it is going to be a long road to full recovery.

I’m sure that it has given the spouse a new perspective.  I don’t know them well so I don’t know what their family life is like.  But I do know that we all tend to get caught up in life and it is things like this that make us stop and question what are the most important things in life.

And what about the children?  How has this affected them?  When you realize that you may lose a parent your perspective of them suddenly changes.  You realize how much they mean to you and how much they have done for you.  Even if there have been mistakes made you start to realize you don’t want to lose them.

Perspective

I think tragedy suddenly makes a person’s perspective change.  What are the most important things in my life?  What can I change to make things better?  If this were my last day what would I really want to be doing?

Unfortunately, we all have to work and may not have the time with our spouse, children, parents, etc. that we really want to have.  But what can we do differently?  You can reprioritize your life.  Look at what is most important.  If you really look at your day you can probably find some time wasters.  Cut all the time wasters out.

Another thing that is so important is to take care of yourself.  You can’t be there for a parent, children, friends, etc. if you are not taking care of yourself.  Make sure you are living a B A L A N C E D life.  Bedtime, Aqua, Light, Air, Nutrition, Control, Exercise, and Dependence on God.  A lot of times we think we are only hurting ourselves when we fail to take care of us.  But that is far from the truth.  When we fail to take care of ourselves it affects all the people around us.  It may not seem like it at the time but when we become sick or even die it affects everyone we know.

Change

Just stop right now and be thankful for all those friends and loved ones you have around you. And then decide to make a change.  I would suggest you put your day before the Lord and ask Him to help you reprioritize.  Plug into place all the “must” things you have to do, like go to work, if you have a job outside the home.  And then prioritize all the rest of each day.  Make sure to include God in your decisions.

Dear Father,

Today I consecrate to You.  Help me not to calculate for the months and years ahead, I know these are not mine.  I know You have given me this day.  Focus my mind to see this day as if it was my last here on earth and to work during its hours for You.  I Lay all my plans before You to be carried out or given up as Your providence shall indicate.  Help me to accept Your plans instead of my own even though their acceptance requires the abandonment of cherished projects.  Through You, mold me more and more after Your divine example and give me the peace of God, which passeth all understanding keeping my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender each day to God.  Give your family an extra hug today because you never know when it may be the last one.

Love you all!

What has happened in your life that has given you a wake-up call?  Share your experience below.

 

 

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“Happy Thanksgiving!”

Thanksgiving!

What is Thanksgiving?  Is it all about the food?  Filling our guts until we can’t hold anymore and sitting down in misery?  Maybe we don’t think about the misery part but when you overeat you definitely feel it and it is no fun.  But a lot of people forget and do it all over again next year.

But when I think of Thanksgiving I think about family.  I think about it being a time for the family to get together and enjoy fellowship.  And to be thanking and praising God that He has brought us through another year, taking care of us through any trial or difficulty.

When you think about the first Thanksgiving, the year had not passed without difficulties.  They had lost family members; there were major difficulties they had overcome.  But the time of Thanksgiving was to praise the Lord for what they did have and for what God had brought them through.

Memorable

I am sure you have some memorable Thanksgivings.  As I sit here and think, there is one that comes to my mind.

Our family had gone for the day to my husband’s brother’s home.  All the children were still young enough that they enjoyed going outside and playing.  One of their favorite things to play was tag in the dark.  They would try not to come in the house because they would be afraid we would be ready to leave and if they showed up we would be prompted.

One year we were visiting as adults have a great time.  Suddenly someone came in with one of my boys.  There was a definite problem.  He had been running through the dark and ran into a barbed wire fence.  The warning had been issued but there are just some children that don’t really listen or think about it.

When I saw his eye I had to praise the Lord.  Right under his eye, he had been sliced open.  If he would have hit a little higher it would have been his eye and he probably would have been blind in one eye.  We immediately took him in for stitches.  Thanksgiving day was almost over but we had the biggest praise.

Then I thought

As I have sat here thinking about this story I thought about another aspect, a spiritual one.  For those of you that know my family you would know which child this happened to.  And we can think that he just never listens or does things without thinking.  These things are very true but how many of us do the same thing.  You might be thinking, “I have never been hurt like that, maybe once in my life but not like this kid.”

I can agree physically speaking but what about spiritually.  How many times do we not listen to God and what He is trying to tell us?  Maybe we don’t even study God’s Word because we don’t want to even know.

What happens is we end up with “wounds” when we choose not to listen?  God is the only One that can “Stitch” up those “wounds” but the scare will always be there.  Every time we make a decision in life we need to consider the “wounds” we cause ourselves or others and whether it is worth it.  But most of the time we don’t even think we just do what seems right feels right, or just what we want to do.

Dear Father,

Help us to examine our lives to see where we really are.  We need You to stay close to us and not give up on us.  Give us the courage to study Your Word and listen to Your voice.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember to be thankful this year.  Surrender all to God and listen to His voice.

Love you all!

Do you have a memorable Thanksgiving?  I would love to hear your story. Share below.

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“It’s Broken?!!”

Is it really broken?

Have you ever had something quit working and you wondered if it was really broken?  You looked it all over but couldn’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be working.  Or may you drop something and you pick it up and looked it over very carefully and didn’t see any cracks or any evidence of a problem.  But the next day it falls apart in your hand.

I work at a print shop and run the big digital machine.  There are so many intricate parts and pieces, along with the fact that it is digital that many things can go wrong.  Recently, I came into work and started the process of doing all the things I need to do to prepare the machine for the day, cleaning, calibrating color, etc.  It wasn’t long into the process when the machine gave me an error code.  The error let me know that I need to change a part that is called the cleaning web.  It is a web that runs through its cycle and you have to take it out and put and new one in.

The company where we bought the machine leaves some parts there that are easy for me to change out and the webbing is one of them.  I have done it before and it is very easy to do.  I swapped out the parts but there was a problem.  When I put the new part in, the machine was not detecting it as a new part so it would not let me print.  I had to call the service department to come in and fix the problem.  Now when you call service and when you actually get someone to respond to your call it can be several hours before someone comes to fix it and that means not printing for several hours.

What else could I do?

I had another cleaning web.  It wasn’t brand new but a tech had replaced the webbing part of it so that I could reuse it.  So I decided to try it to see if it would work.  But it did not work either.

When I finally got a call from a tech guy to let me know when he could make it out, he told me that when you replace just the webbing of the part you need to make sure and wind past the blue strip before it will register.  I let him know that I did not replace the webbing part myself it was a whole brand new part, done by a tech.  Then he let me know he couldn’t come out but would try to find someone that could.  I had so much printing to do that it was hard to wait.

I went to the Bindery department and started helping them out.  The Lord gave me this idea.  We actually have two places in the machine that have this same part.  I thought that maybe if I swapped out the parts it would register.  So when I went to go try that I noticed that the cleaning web that I had used that the tech had put new webbing in was not wound past the blue line.  So I did I wound it and yay it registered with the machine and I was able to get on printing.  I still had the brand new one that wouldn’t work but I wasn’t concerned because I would have the tech figure that out when he came in.  Now I was up and running and that was all that mattered.

New Webbing

I was thinking about the cleaning web and how it relates to our relationship to God.  The brand new part reminds me of how God wants to give us a brand new heart.  Where the problem starts to happen is when we try to do things on our own.  We have come to God and given Him our heart and he has come in a given us a new heart but then we start to try to do things on our own.  And at that point, our new part is not registering with the “Machine”, the One that can keep our heart clean and keep our spiritual machine running correctly.

Then there is the side where we don’t really want God to replace our heart and give us a new one we just want to do a little cleaning.  So on our own, we try to replace the “webbing” but the problem, we have is that blue line and our lives are not registering with the “Great Machine” (God).  And the blue line is sins that we aren’t willing to give up and they are coming between God and us.  But the beauty is that if we confess the Lord will forgive and it will be just like winding the web forward, we will be able to connect with God.

What should we do?

Stay connected to God each day by prayer, the study of His Word, and putting His Word to memory.  Put your full trust in Him to do the work in your life.  He will lead you and when He shows you the path follow His leading.

The Lord is in no hurry.  A lot of times we begin to weave in our human threads to compose the pattern of the web.  But He waits until we lay down our own human inventions and will accept His way and will.  Then He can come in and do a marvelous work in us.

Dear Father,

Thank You that You will do the work in our lives if we allow You.  Lord, we need Your help in doing this.  We are so weak and feeble.

Lord, I give you permission to take my heart: for I cannot give it.  It is Your property.  Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for You.  Save me in spite of myself my weak, unchristlike self.  Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Your love can flow through my soul.  Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today and allow Him to weave the web of your life.

What has been a help to you in your walk with the Lord?  I would love to have you share about your experience.

 

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“Oh No, I’m Bleeding!!”

Open wounds

Have you ever cut yourself and you were bleeding all over?  It seems like a ridiculous question because of course, the answer is yes.  We all have had some time in our life where we have injured ourselves.

Whatever profession you have decided to take there are always risks.  When you are learning anything in life there is a time when more accidents happen.  And hopefully, you learn something in the process so that the next time you’ll remember what you don’t want to do.  But even if you are seasoned in your profession you never know everything.  You are always learning.  If you come to the place that you think you know everything there is to know in your profession, you really are not a blessing to anyone.  Know it all’s are not learners.  And just because your seasoned doesn’t mean you still don’t have accidents.

I have a young friend who is learning construction.  As my friend has been learning, he has had several accidents that have resulted in blood.  And some of his accidents could have been really bad.  There are other times where there could have been a serious accident but he was spared by the hand of God.  I think he may have two guardian angels.

It made me think

It made me start to think about how this is a good example of our spiritual lives.  When you become a real Christian, it is a process.  You may be wondering what I mean by a real Christian.  Well, you may have grown up in and around Christians but that does not make you a Christian.  What makes you a Christian is your own connection with God.  We cannot have a connection vicariously through our parents or anyone else, it has to become our own.  How would that work in your profession?  It would not!  You have to learn yourself with the help of the master teacher.

Spiritually speaking God should be our teacher.  He is that Master and can truly teach us how to be a Christian.  Can we learn from others?  Yes!  But ultimately we need to be learning from the Master.  When you get a job there may be others that know things within your profession that you can learn from but you better be sure it lines up with the master teacher (your boss) or later on there will be some repercussions.

I have followed what others said and it turned out to be wrong.  Or I have even given wrong advice that turned out to be wrong.  The one that gets the most reprimanded is the one that did it wrong, not the advice giver.  Why is that?  Because the master teacher (boss) says you should not rely on what others have told you but go to the one that knows, your boss, supervisor, etc.

So how does that look when it comes to our walk as a Christian?  We can learn from others but we always need to be sure that it lines up with the Master Teacher.  In the end, when we follow the advice of others and do not follow through with checking it out with the Master Teacher, we will receive the repercussions of our decisions.  We are responsible for our own decisions.

Growth takes time

Just like when your learning a profession it takes time, so does growing as a Christian.  In any profession, there are those times that we may choose to do something that we know isn’t the best thing but we know that we can get it done more quickly.  It may not be bad in and of itself but our master teacher (boss) has said he wants it done a certain way.  And most of the time, in the end, we may have made a mistake that could have caused us harm or someone else.  It is the same in the Christian walk.  Sometimes we choose deliberately to do something that we know is not pleasing to the Master Teacher (God) but we think we know best but in the end, we discover God always knows best.

Then there are those times that we are going along at work and after the fact, we realize we have made a wrong move.  Sometimes the consequences are minor but sometimes more severe.  In our Christian walk when we are walking along there are going to be times that we make a mistake that we did not even realize until after the fact.  It could be that we are still in the growth process and the Lord has not revealed it to us yet or it could be we did something without thinking.

In whatever case we find ourselves, I am so thankful for a God that is forgiving.  We can come to Him with a contrite heart and He will forgive.  And just like God is so merciful to us we should be merciful to others.

One of the faults that can break down the camaraderie in the workplace is to have a superior feeling.  If others around you feel like they can’t ever do anything right and that you feel superior to them it breaks down any relationship.  This happens within the Christian walk as well.  We have to be careful not to be pointing our fingers at others and thinking ourselves superior because we are following this rule and that rule.  The fact is we can be lost just because we have an attitude of superiority.  In the workplace, you can end up losing your job.  In the Christian walk, you can end up losing your salvation.

We need to allow everyone to grow as God leads them.  And God leads everyone on a different path because everyone’s journey is different.  The best thing we can do for someone is to love him or her and pray for them.

Growing

So how do we keep growing?  When we start in a profession there is definitely a learning curve and the same is in our Christian walk.  So do I eventually learn it all and don’t have to keep learning?  The answer is no.  This applies to the workplace as well as the Christian walk.  When we stop learning we become stagnate.  No matter what profession you have chosen there are always changes that take place due to new technology.  And if you don’t keep learning you’re going to fall behind and eventually probably lose your job.  The same is true in our Christian walk if we don’t keep learning we stop growing in our knowledge of the truth.

Some may say it isn’t really the same because our profession changes because of new technology but God’s truth has always been the same.  My question would be, has the technology always been there but we are just learning about it?  I would say the affirmative yes.  It has just taken someone to come along and discover the technology.  We all have the opportunity to discover the “technology” of truth from God’s Word but we all discover it differently because that is how God works.  We should not rely on people to discover the truths of the Bible and then tell us, we should be discovering it ourselves.  Because even if someone has discovered a truth in the Bible we are supposed to study for ourselves and see if those things are so.

Dear Father,

I am so grateful for Your saving grace.  As I cling to You and stay in Your Word You will lead me into all truth.  Keep us faithful to You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Stay connected to God each day.

Love you all.

What accidents have you had in life that you can draw a lesson from?  I would love to hear your story.  Share below in the comments.

 

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“Asleep, While Walking!”

My daughter (14) had a really good illustration and I want to share it with you.

Asleep!

“Our everyday lives are full of biblical illustrations.  Just recently, my eldest brother, mom, and I went for an afternoon hike up our mountain.  It is a fairly difficult hike.  And to make it worse there were a lot of dead and dry pine needles on the ground.  You would take a step and nearly start to slide down the hill.  It took a lot of effort to make it up.

I had just stopped to rest and I began to think.   I remember taking hikes life this when I was little.  When we would hike I would start out hiking along beside my parents but when I felt tired or just couldn’t make it any longer, my dad would pick me up and put me on his shoulders.  It was great to ride up high, I could see so much more.

Most of the time when I would ride on my dad’s shoulders I would fall asleep.  At this point, I was no long grueling up some hill or down some path. I could just relax.  As I had been walking it seemed that we would never get there and it took forever.  But as I rode on my father’s shoulders I had no fear or worry about getting to our destination, I had trust in my father that I would get there.  And the amazing part was when I would wake up from sleeping we would be there and it seemed such a short time.

Another thing that I was remembering is when we would be coming home from visiting someone.  I would always fall asleep on our way home.  I never sat there and worried about falling asleep, wondering how I would get in the house once we were home.   But I knew I could trust my father to carry me in the house once we got there.  And most of the time when I did wake up I was already in my bed.  I never knew how I got there except by the faith that I had in my father to accomplish it.

What about God?

These experiences made me start to think about God and how I need to have that kind of trust in Him.  No matter what situation that I am in He is always there.  I can trust Him through the grueling trials or whatever comes my way.  And if I can learn to trust Him as I did my earthly father, the next thing I will know is I will be on the other side of my trial or hardship and it will seem like it has been a short time.  My question will be, ‘How did I make it through so quickly?’  I will not know how I have gotten through the trials except by faith in God that He has accomplished what He has promised.”

—Rebekah

 

Get to know Him!

How can we learn to trust God as my daughter trusted her dad?  We have to come to the point that we don’t fear God.  And the kind of fear I am talking about is the fear that He won’t take care of us.  We have to come to the point that we trust Him fully and there is only one way.  In order for us to trust anyone, we have to get to know him or her.  We have to know that God has our best interest in mind and the only way that this can happen is to spend time in prayer and in His Word.

You may be saying, “That is what you always say.”  And you are right.  There is no other answer in life.  We have to have an intimate relationship with Him.  And the devil does everything in his power to keep us from spending time with God.  It doesn’t matter what he can distract us with, he will distract.  Often times he uses good things because we seem to be able to justify it more.

It may seem at times, as we go through difficulties that God is not there.  But what we need to realize is that when we are going through our most difficult times He is carrying us, and we can rest in Him.  At those times we have to claim His promises and not go by how we feel.

This is a poem that I have always loved.  It really brings it home.

 

FOOTPRINTS

“One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.

For each scene, he noticed two sets of

footprints in the sand: one belonging

to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,

he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of

his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very

lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he

questioned the LORD about it:

“LORD, you said that once I decided to follow

you, you’d walk with me all the way.

But I have noticed that during the most

troublesome times in my life,

there is only one set of footprints.

I don’t understand why when

I needed you most you would leave me.”

The LORD replied:

“My son, my precious child,

I love you and I would never leave you.

During your times of trial and suffering,

when you see only one set of footprints,

it was then that I carried you.”

Mary Stevenson

 

Dear Father,

Thank You that You are always there for us.  I pray that we will realize our need to stay so connected with You that You will carry us.  Forgive us for getting caught up with the things of this world and neglecting time with You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give yourself to God each day and trust His leading.

Love you all!

Do you remember being carried by your dad, whether you were hiking or being brought in from the car after a trip?  What lesson can you draw from it?

 

 

 

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“40 Years?!!”

Life is short!

When you think about the average of lifespan on this earth it is a very short time.  The older I get the more I realize it.  The average is what?  Around 80 years, give or take a few.  There are so many factors but we know that it is short.  And the bottom line is that it can be even shorter than that.  We never know when we walk out the door in the morning if we are coming home.  So this day could be our last no matter what your age, 18…40…50, you name it.

Accident

It came to my mind more vividly one day as I was driving home from town.  At one of the lights, I was going through, there had been a recent accident.  One car had been really smashed on the driver’s side.  It appeared to me that they were working on cutting him out.  I was driving and wanting to make sure I didn’t cause another accident so I couldn’t take in what might have happened.  It appeared that he was alive and I pray that his injuries and all that were involved will heal quickly.

But it made me think.  All it takes is one accident and your life can be over or changed forever.  And the big question is, am I ready?  My judgment has been decided if I die and have allowed God to keep my heart connected to His.  I know that if I am permanently damaged that God will give me the strength for as I need it.  But if I am not staying closely connected with Him now it will be harder to stay connected through difficult times.  We need to stay focused on Christ and not lose that focus.

Distractions

There can be so many distractions that can keep us from keeping our eyes on our Savior and staying connected with Him.  There are many that I could address here but I am going to tackle one that I believe is a big one.

Taking our eyes off of Jesus and placing it on others distracts us.  It is so easy to get caught up in looking at others and seeing their wrongs.  As we point the finger or just have negative thoughts about their choices it draws our attention away from where it should be.  We are responsible for ourselves and no one else.  Now some may be saying, “We are responsible for others’ salvation.”  There is truth to that but where our focus is, determines whether we can help others.

When we keep our focus our Jesus and allow Him to work in our lives we then, and only then can we properly witness to others.  We need to have a Christ-like love for others and we cannot do that without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  We are the seed planters and the Holy Spirit is the One that makes it grow.  Somehow we think that we have to make it happen.  We plant seeds and love them even if they don’t accept what we have shared with them.  God is working with each person and He is the One that knows the right timing for each individual.  God doesn’t always bring change overnight.  He brings them through step by step.

How much time?

So how much time will it take for someone to see the truths of God’s Word?  I think one thing that we do is we forget what our own journey has been like.  We want to bring people to our level of knowledge and commitment overnight but how long did it take us to get to where we are.  And another thing, we should be realizing that we have a long ways to go and we have not arrived.  The Lord keeps growing us and we will be growing and learning how to walk the walk until He comes.  We need to give others the freedom to grow.

This reminds me of the story of Moses.  How long did it take for Moses to unlearn the ways of Egypt and to have such a walk with God that he would not waver?  God worked with him for 40 years to get him where He could use him to bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt.  This shows God’s patience and He knows what is needed in someone’s life to bring change.  God has perfect timing.  He is never late, rarely early but always on time.

We are only the seed planters and the only way those seeds can fall and maybe come to fruition is if we do it in love and let the Lord take it from there. We need to get out of His way and let Him work.   And as He works we continue to love and be there for the person through whatever difficulty, without condemnation.  This is a hard thing to do and it cannot be done in our own strength.

Human Nature

Our human nature tends to want people to be where we are in our spiritual journey and if they are not we tend to want to condemn and be critical.   We need God’s help in this area of our lives.  As we look at people we need to see them through the eyes of Christ, who came and died for them.  We can only do this as we stay connected with God.  This makes me realize how much we need to be in prayer and in the Word each and every day.  And spending time each day reading and/or thinking about the life of Christ, especially those last scenes.  If we can understand what He has done for us we can have more compassion for others.  We also need to reflect on where He has brought us from.  How long did it take for us?  We tend to forget how patient the Lord has been with us.  We need to have that same patience with others.

Dear Father,

Help us as we see others to see You as You hung bleeding on the cross for them.  Give us the ability to be earnest, broken and humbled as our petitions ascend to You for wisdom that we may have success in saving, not only our own souls but the souls of others as well.  We can only help in the saving of others as we stay surrendered to You and as we allow You to work through us so we can reflect You.

Forgive us where we have fallen short in reflecting You and work now in our lives that we can perfectly reflect Your character so that we can go home.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Commit today to not say anything negative about another person.  And commit to continue planting seeds in others lives, loving them, and not shunning them because their choices are not what you think they should be.

Love you all.

What thoughts have gone through your mind when you have seen an accident?  What lessons have you drawn?  Share below.

 

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“Trapped!!”

Trapped!

Have you ever felt trapped?  Maybe you feel trapped in an unhealthy marriage, friendship, family, or even your job.  What can make the difference?  We can’t always get out of situations that we are in but we can change how it feels.

I am reminded of something that just happened recently at my parents.  My mom called because a Bluebird had managed to make its way down their chimney into their stove.  Dad, who has a really bad shake, needed some help to get it out.  Mom is no help when it comes to things like this.  As a matter of fact, we told her to go outside while we did it.  She gets so freaked out.

My daughter (14) and I went over to help.  We took a plastic bag and taped it around the door and then opened the door with the bag.  We wanted to try to draw the bird into the bag.  But because the bag had to be black, in order to be big enough to go around the door, there was really no light to draw him.

So my daughter used the bag to go in and try to grab him.  The interesting part was that he did not try to fly all over to get away.  We thought that maybe he was injured or near death because he was not trying to get away.  It took a little bit because she could not see what she was doing, but she finally was able to get him.

Anticipation

We carefully closed the door and untapped the bag, closing it carefully in case the bird would get out of my daughter’s hand.  I was anticipating that we would have to maybe care for a bird that was injured or not well.

When we got outside and opened the bag and immediately he flew to the nearest tree.  As he flew out of the bag he started to sing.  Then he landed on a tree branch and sat there and sang and sang and sang.  We felt as if he was thanking us for helping him.  We realized that he had felt that we were trying to help him and that was why he cooperated with us.  And then to have him thank us with his singing was such a delight.

It made me long for heaven and the connection we will be able to have with the animals.  What it will be like to swim with the dolphins, pet and lay with the big lion, ride a horse without a saddle or reins, and even be able to have any bird sit on your finger or shoulder and sing and sing and sing.

Analogy

The trapped bird reminded me of how some of us feel trapped.  It doesn’t matter what it is.  It could be a debt hanging over your head, maybe you are trapped in yourself and can’t seem to reach out to others, but whatever, whenever, or where ever you feel trapped there is a solution.  Your situation may not change immediately but how you feel about it can.

Many times we are in the situations we are because of our own choices.  We may be in a bad marriage because we did not seek or even listen to the Lord or Godly counsel.  It also could be that we married before we gave our heart to the Lord and our spouse did not give their heart to God as we did.  Most of the time debt comes from our own bad choices and we have trapped ourselves in the “stove” of debt.  But even in our bad choices, there is a Helper.

When that bird went down the chimney she didn’t just happen to stumble in.  It has a special spark arrestor on the chimney so the bird would have had to actually go into it to fall down the chimney.  There are many times that we do the same thing.  We are walking along in life and we see a job, person, things that we feel we need or want and we don’t investigate thoroughly before we make the choice to dive in headfirst.  And then afterward, too late, we realize it was a big mistake, just like the bird realized too late.

There are other times that we are walking along and it is not something really obvious and we fall in.  But the solution for both is still the same.

I like to call it S U R R E N D E R

 

  • Start your day with God
  • Utter words in prayer
  • Read your Bible
  • Recite verses to memory
  • Encourage others
  • No criticizing words
  • Direct praise to God
  • End your day with God
  • Rest in God’s promises

 

The only way we can have success in our lives is to Start our day with God in Uttering words in prayer, Reading His Word, and Reciting His Word to memory.  When we have His Word in our hearts He can draw it to our memories in the day when we need encouragement or help with any temptation or decision.  Encouraging others always helps to get our minds off of ourselves.  And when we are speaking No words of criticism about people around us or even about ourselves, it draws us closer to God and away from that depressing feeling of being trapped.  It doesn’t help the other person or us when we criticize.  We should be Directing our praise to God each day for what He has done for us.  It may take some time for us to become grateful because we have been so negative but it can happen and what joy it brings.  Make sure to End your day with God.  Recite a verse you are memorizing and pray.  And then Rest in His promises.  If you do these things you will be able to sing a song of praise to God for His help of drawing you out of the “stove” (pit) of sin.

Excited

What I am most excited about is to be totally rescued from the “stove”.  Soon Jesus is coming to take us home, to take us out of this “stove” (world) of sin and sorrow.  When He comes and takes us to heaven that will be the ultimate joy.

I can just imagine myself singing as I ascend up to meet Him in the air, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

And then when I am actually in the city the joy will be so overwhelming I will burst out with singing praises to the One that has made it possible for me to be there.  I will sing my gratitude of praise to Jesus, “…. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” Revelation 5:12.   What a glorious day that will be.  And I don’t know about you but I don’t want the things of this world to destroy that moment.  I want to surrender all my life to Jesus.

Dear Father,

“Take my life, and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my hands, and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love;

At the impulse of Thy love;

 

Take my feet, and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing

Always, only, for my King;

Always, only, for my King;

 

Take my lips, and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold:

Not a mite would I withhold;

Not a mite would I withhold.

 

Take my will, and make it Thine,

It shall be no longer mine;

Take my heart, it is Thine own,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

It shall be Thy royal throne.

 

Take my love, my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store;

Take myself, and I will be,

Ever, only, all for Thee.

Ever, only, all for Thee.”

— Frances Ridley Havergal

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today.  He will help make your path straight and bring you joy and peace no matter what situation you face.

Love you all.

Do you have a nature story you can tell?  I love to hear nature stories.  Share what you learned from your experience.