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“I Know I’m Right!!!”

I’m Right!

Have you ever felt like you are right about something?  You even feel that you are so right you may even argue about it.  You might even feel a little ticked off at someone who tries to tell you that you are wrong.  I have been there!  And it can be so embarrassing when I discover that I was wrong.  I thought I knew the facts but I didn’t.

My husband and I just went to MN where most of his family lives to attend a memorial service for his dad who passed away in July.  One of his aunts invited us to stay at her house.  And since we were flying her granddaughter loaned us her van.  It was so wonderful of them to be so giving.  It helped us save money.

Parking

Our aunt and her husband drove 2 hours to the airport to bring us the van.  They had to drive separate vehicles because we were not going to their house right away.  We had another family that lived south of them about 2 hours that we were going to visit first.

Our aunt met us at the luggage area and walked us to where she parked the van they were loaning us.  She had written down on a piece of paper the location of the van in the parking garage plus the license plate.  She emphasized to us the importance of not losing the key.  It is one of those new kinds of keys that don’t even look like a key.  The only way to get into the car is by pushing a button.

We finally found the aisle where it was parked and then she walked right to the van.  She gave the key to my husband and he went pushed the button to unlock it but it did not work.  She told him he needed to be pretty close to get it to work.  So he got closer but it still would not work.  She could not understand why it was not working.  I asked her if she was sure this was the correct van.  She told me yes and eventually pulled out the paper that she had written the license plate number on.  And sure enough, it was the right van.

She finally took the key and tried herself then called her husband, she told him she could not get the key to work.  She was looking for other ideas.  Then she decided to try the lock button and when she did she heard a beep.  The embarrassing part is that the beep was coming from a van a few cars over.  So we were at the wrong van.  Now the question is how did she get the wrong license plate written down.  She thought about writing down the license plate after she was already part way down the row.  She went back to write it down and chose the wrong van.  They were very similar.  One way she knew it was the wrong van also was the fact when she looked in the window she didn’t see familiar things, like her can of almonds.

Another story

This reminds me of another time I was at a grocery store.  I was with my son and we had just gotten out of our vehicle and headed for the store.  There was a lady walking from the cars parked on the right of us to go to the other side on the left.  She stopped us and said, “I just have to tell someone.”  She had come out of the grocery store and went to her car and loaded her groceries into her trunk.  She went to get into the vehicle and realized it was not her car.  In her case, her keys worked for another car.  I don’t believe it was an electronic lock but just the key.  When she talked to us she was headed to the cars parked on the left where her car really was.  An amazing story!  She did it without knowledge until the evidence presented itself.

Christians

This makes me think about the way the devil works.  He makes his ways look similar to God’s ways, especially from the outside.  It looks like it is safe and won’t harm us in any way.  He likes to catch us off guard.  And he wins almost every time when our guard is not up.  The outside of “the car” looks so similar that if we don’t pay close attention we may not pick God’s ways.  We cannot go through life lazily.  We have to be a diligent Christian.  As it says in Matthew 7:13, 14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”  We have to be alert.

This verse may be discouraging to some.  But I know God wants us to know how serious it is to be alert.  It is meant to help us realize how easy it is to be lost if we are not alert.  But God is the one that does the work in us if we so allow it.  Now, this doesn’t mean if I am alert that I will never make a mistake because it is a growing process.  But I will be on the correct road journeying with Christ.

Alert

So what can I do to stay alert to the wiles of the devil so that I am not pulled in to his sophistries?  He is so good at what he does and we cannot combat him.  We cannot battle with him.  But we can allow God to battle him for us.  Here are some crucial steps for us.

  1.  Prayer.  We need to stay in communion with God.  We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 to pray without ceasing.  This is not meaning to be on our knees every hour of the day. It means that our minds need to be so in tune with God that our minds turn to prayer throughout the day as we encounter every circumstance.  I have found that if I am intentional about spending time with Christ each morning in prayer, the study of His Word, and memorizing scripture it becomes more of a habit to turn to God in prayer throughout the day.
  2. Study God’s Word.  There is such a need to spend time in God’s Word each day.  It is more about quality than quantity.  The bottom line, It is not about how many chapters you have read but how much you understand what you have read and can apply it to your life.  It is best to take a few verses and walk away with knowledge for the day than read a lot and walk away not even knowing what you read but you did your quota.
  3. Memorize Scripture.  We need to hide God’s Word in our hearts.  “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11).  When we are tempted throughout the day we can draw from the scripture that we have placed in our hearts to combat Satan.

It is a heart work and Jesus will do it for us if we give Him consent.  He will identify Himself with our thoughts and aims and bring our hearts and minds in line with His will so that when obeying Him we will be carrying out our own impulses.  This will only happen as we draw closer to Him and allow Him to work.  And we can only get to know Him by spending much time in prayer and study of His Word and hiding it in our hearts.

Dear Father,

I want to recommit my time to You.  There is a time and season for everything and I am not good at regulating my time.  I can get so distracted and forget what the priorities of life are.  Continue to guide me in my journey of drawing closer to You and getting to know You better. I want to be lead by You and to surrender all my ways to You.  Thank You for Your love and compassion for me.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Him today and commit to spending time with Him.

Love you all.

Do you have a memory of being forgetful?  I would love to hear your story.  And what lesson can you draw from it?

 

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“I Blew It Again!!”

Explosion!

I am sure we have all had a blowout at some time in our lives.  I personally have never had a blow out while driving.  But I do remember driving one time and all of the sudden I heard an explosion.  I had no idea what it was but my first response was to break and go over to the side of the road.  It turned out that it was a semi truck in front of me that had the blowout.  If I had not responded the way that I had I could have been hit by a tire.

The tire that you see in the picture above was actually my son’s tire.  He is traveling all over the United States doing deliveries.  My son does what is referred to as Hotshot hauling or Hotshot trucking.  He does not drive a semi truck but hauls a trailer with a pickup.  It seems with all the heat and putting a lot of hours on the road has an effect on tires.  He has had more than one blowout.  It amazes me how shredded the tire was.

Christians

It reminded me of life as a Christian.  As we surrender our lives to Jesus each day and allow Him to have full control, life can get “hot”.  The devil does not like it when we allow Jesus to have full control of our lives.  So he turns up the heat.  The trials come.  And how we deal with the “heat” will determine whether we have a “blowout”.

When you are driving in the heat it is really important to keep the pressure of your tires where it needs to be.  You need to be sure to check them often because the heat causes them to expand and therefore can cause a blowout due to too much pressure.

In the same way in our Christian walk, we have to make sure that we are maintaining our connection with Christ through the study of His Word and prayer.  If we don’t have enough “air pressure” (God’s Spirit) filling our lives we will not handle the “heat”.  Although we can’t get too much of God’s Word or prayer like a tire can have too much air, it is true that we can spend so much time that we do not take care of the responsibilities God has given us to do.  We can use spending time with God as an excuse for laziness, which is just as detrimental.

We need to have balance in our lives.  Just like with a tire on your car, too much or too little air can cause a blowout, so spending too much time or too little time with God can cause us to spiritually have a blowout.  If we are just filling our lives with God and not sharing it we are going to have a “blowout”, just like too much air in a tire.

Trust

What it really boils down to is trust.  When my son is traveling he could be worrying all the time if he is going to have a blowout or he can trust that he has done what he can to keep it from happening and go on without worry.  Does not worrying about it mean he will never have a blowout?  No, but it does make life a lot more pleasant.  And in the event, he does have a blowout he just needs to fix it and get on with life.

It is the same in our Christian walk.  We know the devil is going to pour on the heat.  But if we are doing everything to keep our lives connected to Jesus we don’t need to worry or fret.  We just need to stay surrendered to Him.  We don’t need to worry about whether we are going to have a “blowout”.  And in the event we do, instead of wallowing in the “mud” get up and confess.  Do whatever it takes to make things right.  Fix the “tire” and keep going.  A lot of times we can start saying, “I blew it again”, “I am never going to get this”, “I’ll never make it”, etc.  But that is just where the devil wants us.  He is the one whispering those things into our minds.  Let’s just fix the “blowout” by getting back in connection with Jesus and keep going.

Leak

When we are in the heat of a trial we feel more of a need for Christ.  But the real danger is when we have a slow “leak”.  On our cars when a blowout happens it is like a major trial but there are times that we just have a slow leak and we don’t even notice until we hear or feel something not quite right.  It is the same with the Christian walk.  We can be slowly getting away from that time with God.  We spend less and less time each day, slowly allowing the “air” (power) out of our lives.  And before we know it we have a “flat tire” (discouragement, depression, anger feelings, etc.)

Keep Connected

The key to success is keeping connected with Jesus.  He is the One with the “air” (power) to keep us filled so that we can come through each trial with the victory, no blowouts.  It is when we start to focus on the “heat” of the trial that the friction gets to us and we end up with a “blowout”.

When we have little trials each day they can also draw us away from spending time with God because we are so busy putting out the “fires” that we don’t take the time we need.   I have found that as I spend time with God, no matter how much I need to accomplish in the day that I always have plenty of time with even time left over.  But when I don’t spend that time the day is chaos and I don’t get as much accomplished.  That is the miracle of God.  We work on addition and He works on multiplication.

Dear Father,

Help us to not forget the need to spend time with You, in study and prayer.  I want to recommit my time to You.  Thank You for Your patience and love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Commit to spending time with Jesus today in prayer and study of His Word.

Love you all.

Have you ever experienced a blowout like this one?  If so, how did it turn out and what spiritual lesson could you share?  Share below.

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“What is it?!!!”

The unknown!

Have you ever had something crawling on you and you had no idea what it was?  You brush it off and the next thing you know it is there again and again.

This is what happened to me recently.  We went to a creek with some newly made friends.  We were sitting there with our feet in the water when I felt something crawling on my foot.  I looked down and there was a rock on top of my foot.  Shoving the rock off, I went on listening to the conversation that was happening.  Then I felt something on my foot again.  I looked down and there was another rock on my foot.  And of course, I shoved it off again.  I did this a number of times.   You can see the video here:   IMG_1464

You might be saying, “Well, you have your feet in a creek and water is moving constantly.”  You’re exactly right.  As it kept happening I never gave it much thought but then I looked more closely.  I realized that it was something crawling up onto my foot.   We pulled out the rock and discovered it was not a rock at all, it was camouflaged like a rock but it was hollow inside and there was an animal in it.  I am not sure what it was but when it would come out it was black.  So it would go in to hide but when it thought it was safe it would start to crawl around on the bottom of the creek.  I could not believe how much it looked and felt like a rock.

Lesson

Camouflage can be a good thing.  God has made it a way of protection for creatures.  But there is a bad side to camouflage.  A creature can disguise itself so it is not seen and pounce on its victim when they are not expecting it.

So here is the question, is there a good side to camouflage in the Christian realm?  There are many Christians who just want to fit in with everybody else.  They will become like a Chameleon, act or be like whatever group they are in.  Being different is not what they want to do, they just camouflage right in.  They don’t want to stand out or be different because they are afraid of losing influence, friends, popularity, etc.  I think we have all been there at one time or another.  We don’t want to rock the boat so we just fit in.  What can make the difference?

There is only one thing that can make the difference, falling in love with Jesus Christ.  How can we really do that?  Spending time.  You don’t get to know someone without spending time with time.  You cannot truly fall in love without getting to know a person.  It is the same with Christ.  We have to spend time getting to know Him.  We need to realize what He has done for us.

Think of someone in your life that you would stand up for no matter whom you’re with.  You love them so much that when people start talking bad about them or just act certain ways, you would not just keep silent, and you would stand up.

The only way we can stand up for Christ and what He has done for us is to get to know Him and have such a personal relationship with Him that no one can tell the difference between us and Jesus.  We are camouflaged with Him.  When they have been with us they have felt as if they have been with Jesus.

Counterfeit

Then there is the camouflage we have to keep our eye out for.  The devil has the best camouflage for evil.  And just like this little creature kept creeping up onto my foot, the devil knows how to disguise things so that they look as innocent as the little rock looked to me, and it creeps in.  We start by reading, watching, or listening to something that is mostly good but just has a little taint of bad.  But slowly a creeping compromise happens and we are reading, watching, or listening to things we thought we never would do.

Getting back

Thank the Lord for the forgiveness that He has for us when we return to Him with a confession.  Confession is the beginning of getting back in right relation to Him.

We need to get back to the simplicity of God’s Word.  He makes things so simple but we complicate things.  A lot of times it can be because we just want to keep on doing the “little” things that we so enjoy.

What can we do?

  1. Spend a thoughtful hour each day contemplating the Life of Christ.  As we can come to realize what Christ has done for us so that we can spend eternity with Him, it can help to change our mindset.
  2. Spend time in prayer.  Having that communion with God is so important.  He longs to hear from us.  It doesn’t matter what, He wants to hear our worries as well as our victories or requests.  He is always there to guide us.
  3. Hide God’s Word in your heart.  It is always good to have scripture that we can draw from to guide us with our decisions each day.  Every time we need to make a decision about whether something we want to read, watch, or listen to is right or good, here are a couple good verses.  “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalms 101:3.  And another favorite is in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 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.”

Dear Father,

You are our ever-present power if we will just reach out to You for strength to overcome.  Forgive us for all our shortcomings and help us to stay in Your Word.  Give us wisdom each day as we are on this journey of life.  Show us Your ways.  Thank You for always being there ready and able to help us as we allow You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give your life in full to Jesus today so that you can reflect His character.  Stay so close to Him that you won’t get caught off guard with the devil’s camouflage, but that you will be fully reflecting Christ.

Love you all.

What is the most unusual camouflage you have seen?  And what spiritual lesson can you share about it?

 

 

 

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“Mommy, Wait, Mommy Wait!!”

Wait!

Remember back when you were a kid?  For some of us that is a lot farther back than others.  Remember how you would be almost running along to try and keep up with your mom, whose legs may have been two to three times longer than your own?  At times it may have seemed that mom was oblivious that we were even behind her.  But the reality is, she always knew we were there.  You probably remember the times where she would tell you to quit doing something and she hadn’t even turned her head to look at you.  It was like she had eyes on the back of her head.  I don’t know about you but there were times that I would say, “Mommy, wait, Mommy, wait.”  There was this fear that she would leave me behind.  But, of course, it was unfounded fear because my mom would never have left me behind.

Moms

We live in a world where there are moms that are not really moms but I am not going to address them here.  But what I am going to talk about is how moms should be and most of them are.

Being a mom myself, I realize the heart of a mom.  Once you are a mom life is never the same.  Everything about you is different, body shape, vitality, sleep, worry, love, etc.  When you have little ones and all the care it takes the thought is when they get older I will get some relief.  This is far from the truth but I guess it helps you get through the earlier years.  Even when we were young we wanted to get older because we thought life would get better.  Our perceptions are so wrong.

Then my children started getting older.  Worry set in even more.  They start to make some of their own choices, which are not always what we want for them as a parent.  Moms have to pray a lot.  And, unfortunately, we worry.  It seems to be our job to worry but God does not want us to worry.  He wants us to give our children to Him and pray daily, hourly, moment-by-moment for them.  Praying moms have been what has brought many a son or daughter back to Jesus.  Even if our children are compliant, compliance doesn’t bring salvation.  Compliance that is from a heart of love for God and a connection with Him is what brings about salvation.  We need to pray daily that our children gain that connection with Him that will bring about salvation.

Nature

I was away from home for a weekend and where I was staying they had a large beautiful yard.  Each of the three mornings I was there I would look out the window in the morning and see this family of quail.  The momma quail was running around eating and behind her was her brood.  There was a lot of them.  But the amazing part is that no matter where momma went they were following her.  She was going so fast they had to run to keep up.  It was so cute.  I imagined them saying with their little peeps, “Mommy, wait, Mommy, wait!”

The other thing that I realized, as I pondered what was happening, is the father quail.  He was the keeper of the gate, the watchtower, and the protector from the evils that surrounded them.  He was keeping the predators away.  The mother was not worried about the outside “world.”  She was fully concentrated on her children.  God shows his plan for the family, even through nature.  There has been many a worried mom because they don’t have the protection of a spiritual father.  They could be a single mom, living with a husband who is not a Christian, or living with a husband that is a “Christian” but has not taken up his duty as the spiritual protector and leader.  This can mean more worry for a mom and prayer becomes even more valuable.

God’s plan

I think God’s plan was for a mother to be able to be home with her children.  She was supposed to be the first teacher that they had.  She was to guide their minds toward God and teach them His ways.  But unfortunately, many mothers have to work.  Whether a single mom or a family that cannot financially make it on one income, it is the reality of the age in which we live.  Many children spend more time in daycare than with their parents.  Or once the children are legally old enough they are home alone.  This is a very sad fact.

The plan for the husband and father is to be the spiritual protector from all the things of this world that can trickle into our lives.  I had a father that did this and it was such a blessing.  Many fathers today are not the protector.  They either don’t have the backbone to stand up and do their duty, they have lack of knowledge to know how, or they love the things they love and don’t want to give up what they want to protect their families.

The things of this world can be so attractive.  And the thought may be, “Oh this is not so bad.”  What I like to call it is a creeping compromise.  A good example for me is the television.  How many people, back when television first started, would have accepted what is on television today?  I believe they would have thrown it out in a second.  But that is not how the devil works.  He starts things out as mostly good and maybe a little bad but it is so little people don’t pick up on it.  The things of today, that would not have been acceptable then, are accepted by the majority now.  That is how creeping compromise works.  We have to examine our lives to be sure that creeping compromise has not entered there.

Unfortunately,  we do not live in a perfect world and fathers and/or mothers may not be doing their part.  As a mother, you can do your part all you want and the Lord will help you but if the father is not doing his part it can destroy the family.  It doesn’t mean God is not working or He is giving up but He also gives freedom of choice.  And when compromise happens it is very difficult to gain back the ground you lost.

Dear Father,

The world in which we live is so worrisome.  I know we need to leave all our worries with You.  But Lord it is so hard.  We ask for Your love and grace to come and work in and through us.  Forgive us for compromises that we have made.  I pray that each mother and father will take up their duty with Your help and courage.  Give us strength and endurance to run the race that is set before us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make a stand today to be the father and mother that God has intended for you to be.

Love you all.

I would love to hear your nature lesson.

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“Amazing!”

Nature!

I don’t know about you but I love nature.  Nature has so much to offer us in its beauty as well as in the lessons that we can learn.  And although nature is not what it once was it seems very beautiful to us because this is all we have known.  Can you imagine what it must have been like before sin?  The green was probably greener and the blue of the sky more vibrant.  Every color would have been so beautiful with no taint of sin.  There was no death before sin so there would have been no taint of death in anything.

It makes me think of what it must have been like for Adam and Eve after they sinned.  There had never been death before and when they started to see things die it must have been heartbreaking for them.  In the fall we love the change in the color of the leaves because we see it as beautiful.  But for Adam and Eve when they saw death it must have been very sad for them.  They had never seen death and it must have been astonishing.

Natures Beauty

Despite sin and the ugliness that can be in nature, there is still some wonderful beauty.  A few days ago we were driving along and there beside the road was some elk.  Their beauty was amazing.  They had their new coats that were sleek and perfect.  Their coats can look so bad at certain times of the year but when they are covered with a new coat the beauty shines through.

I am always amazed when I see all the beauty of the newness of nature.  It makes me long for heaven!  I would love to just walk up to the animals in nature.  To look them in the eye and pet their beautiful coats would be amazing.  I think the time for that could be coming sooner than we think.

Then I thought…

As I was thinking about the beautiful elk it made me think of us as Christians.  When we come to Christ and surrender our lives to Him, He will cover us with His righteousness.  The beauty of our lives will shine forth to others and the beauty of His righteousness will draw them.  As we are reflecting the beauty of His righteousness others will be drawn to us.  They will want to spend time with us just like we have a drawing to nature and want to spend time with the beauty of nature.

There are people born and grow up in the big city and they never see the animals in nature.  They may see some in a zoo but they never experience seeing them in their natural environment.  It is the same way in the spiritual realm.  The only opportunity for some people to get a glimpse of Jesus is through the life of a Christian reflecting His righteousness.  Their lives are in the big city of sin and they don’t have the opportunity to see anything different accept as they come in contact with a surrendered Christian.

As we live our lives, we need to keep in mind that people are watching us.   What we reflect has an impact on their lives as well as our own.  The only way we can reflect Him is to stay connected with Him.  Spend time in prayer, the study of His Word, and gratefulness.  If we really meditate on what He has done for us the gratefulness will just overflow.

Dear Father,

Thank You, as we allow You into our lives, that You will reflect through us.  I am so grateful for Your loving kindness.  Your love is amazing!  Help us to stay within Your love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today.  Stay so connected with Him that your reflection to others will be Him.

Love you all.

Do you have a nature illustration?  Share below.

 

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“It’s Too Painful!!”

It’s painful!

There are a lot of things in life that come along that are painful.  We may even feel that they are too painful.  I am sure we have all been there.  Maybe you have lost a spouse, a child, or even had some kind of misfortune yourself that has left you maimed in some way.  We live in this sinful world and none of us escape pain, there are different forms but we all have experienced it.

I can’t imagine the pain of family and friends to a young woman killed in an accident and just a few days have gone by and there has been another accident where another person died.  These are sad and tragic.  And things happen sad and tragic like this every day all over the world.  It becomes even more of a reality when it happens to someone you know or is a friend to one of your friends.  It makes you realize how fragile life is.  We never know when something like this can directly affect us.

My heart pains for those that were at fault as well.  Can you imagine living with the fact that you killed someone?  It was a moment of misjudgment that you can’t take back.  Who knows the reasons for the misjudgments?  Maybe they were doing something that is against the law, texting, speeding, etc.  It definitely makes me think every time I go to do something.  Even doing something not against the law can distract us, depending on what state you are in.  Whatever the reasons it is tragic.

Life is short

It made me think about a connection between the accidents and how this can apply to me as a Christian.  We need to really think about how short life really is.  When we walk out the door each day, we never know if we are coming home again.  We may lose a loved one today as well.  The question is, do you have everything right with each person in your life?  Whether you’re the victim or the one that loses someone you will never be able to make things right again.  Or tell them how much you love them.

The other question to ponder is am I really ready to go.  Have I made everything right with God?  Am I living according to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God?  Do I love God with all my heart, soul and mind and my neighbor as myself?  We need to be having a moment-by-moment connection with Christ so that we will be ready when tragic hits.  We need to be fully surrendered to Him allowing Him to work in our lives.

Stumbling block

As Christians, are we going through life paying attention to what we are reflecting to others?  What you reflect to others could mean their eternal life or eternal death.  Are you distracted by worldly things that are giving others the thought that it is an appropriate thing to be doing as a Christian?

If I am driving along and I break one of the laws of the land and someone is killed the judgment is more severe than if I did something unknowingly.  As a Christian, we are held accountable for being a stumbling block to others.  What we do as a Christian says to others that what you are doing is acceptable to God.  We have a great responsibility as Christians to be a Christ-like witness to others.  Everything we do is a reflection on Christ Himself.  We don’t want to get to heaven and realize someone is not there because of our misjudgment that caused a tragic “accident” in their lives and they were eternally lost.  I think all of us have been there and done things that have not been the right kind of witness to others.  And I praise the Lord for His forgiveness.  We need to stay so connected with Christ that we reflect Him perfectly.

Dear Father,

We are faulty human beings.  Forgive us for those failures that have caused others to stumble.  Help us to stay so connected to You that we will reflect You perfectly because without You we are nothing.  Thank You that You never leave us or forsake us.  Be with those we may have injured in this life and draw their hearts to You.  Bring someone into their lives that will show them a good example of You.  Give us an opportunity to be that person again, reflecting You in the right way.  Thank You for Your patience and everlasting love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Fully surrender your life to Him today so that you can perfectly reflect Him.  Remember He does that work; we just need to allow Him.

Love you all.

How has God worked in your life and showed you the way?  I would love to hear your reflections.

 

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“Father’s Day”

Fathers

For some, Father’s Day is a very joyous day but for others, it speaks only pain.  Some fathers have children that adore them.  They have been a father of love and support to their children.  There are other fathers that have brought only pain and sorry to their children.  For those children, this day is a sad day.  Fathers have a great responsibility and in this sinful world not all accept that responsibility.  This is a sad fact.

My Father

My Dad has always been special to me.  I always remember him being there for me in every situation.  My Dad was always the spiritual leader in our home, guiding and protecting us.  I still go to him today for guidance and so appreciate his insights.  Unfortunately, I did not always listen to his counsel and when I didn’t I always suffered.  Our parents are much wiser than us but we somehow think that they just don’t understand.

I am reminded of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Satan tempted Eve into believing that God was just trying to withhold some good thing from them by not allowing them to eat from just that one tree.  And that is what the devil whispers into the ears of the young people. Your parents are just trying to withhold good things from you.  But the reality is, our parents love us and want the best for us.

I am grateful for a Dad, that may not be perfect, but that is growing in the love and grace of God and striving to serve Him.  And because he is I can have the confidence to seek counsel from him.

Show Honor

We need to show love and honor to our fathers.  Even if they have not been the fathers that they should have been we can still honor the position.  As it says in Exodus 20:12, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”  This command comes with a promise.

You may be saying, “My father is abusive.”  It is very difficult when a person has an abusive father.  What I would encourage you to do is think about his past life and why he may be what he is.  Was he abused also in his growing up years?  There is no excuse for abuse even if he was abused growing up as well but it can help you have a little more understanding.  If you are living in an abusive situation to seek help.  And the sad reality is, you will go on to do the same unless you have made a decided change in your thought patterns and allowing the Lord to have full control of your life.  These are generational sins that get passed down from one generation to another until someone makes a different decision.  I have seen it first hand.

Fathers

As fathers, you have a great responsibility.  You have a spiritual responsibility to your family to be a spiritual leader.  Notice I said leader, not a dictator.  The best way to lead is by example.  As it says in Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  And again in Colossians 3:21, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”

As fathers, you have so much responsibility and you can only do it by keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus.  Draw closer to Jesus, as you do this, you will become more like Him and your life will reflect His character.  And then and only then can you be the spiritual leader God would have you to be.

Dear Father,

Draw each of us closer to You so that we can honor our fathers in the way You would have us honor them.  And continue to draw that hearts of the fathers to their children as they fix their eyes upon You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Christ today and He will help you be who He wants you to be.

Love you all.

Do you have a story you could share about your father?  I would love to hear it.  Share in the comments below.

 

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“Perfect?!

Questions?

There are many questions that come to life.  I am sure as you read this you have already had some questions come to your mind.  There may be a question that you have thought about but maybe never asked.  And then there may be questions that you have asked many people and got a multitude of different answers so that in the long run you had to come to your own conclusion to what answer seemed right to you.

Here is a question that seems to hang around.  Since God knows the end from the beginning why did he create Lucifer or Adam and Eve?  After all, He knew they were going to sin.

God

It is so hard for our sinful human nature to comprehend the answers to some of these questions because we have a sinful nature and we can only speak or think from our sinful perspective.  But the reality is that God is perfect and there are things that are impossible for a Person Who is perfect to do.

God is perfect and has no bent to sin and because of this, He can do no wrong.  He has perfect love and perfect love cannot create only those that He knows will choose to serve Him.  He has to create all people and allow all people to make that choice.

Some say, “but no one would have ever known.”  God would have and His love is so perfect He cannot make this choice because that would be taking away the freedom of choice.

Comprehend

I know it is hard for our minds, in our human sinful nature, to comprehend such love.  But I am grateful to God for His perfect love.  Because of His perfect love, I am here and have the opportunity to choose Him.

There will always be skeptics, the devil will make sure of that.  But I choose to not listen to the skeptics and put my trust in a God Who loves me so much that He has done everything possible to save me.

Freedom of choice

Some say, “If God knows the end from the beginning then He already knows what choices everyone is going to make.”  And some seem to think because He knows that information that it somehow takes away the freedom of choice.

This problem made me think of one of our dogs.  We have a fenced in area for our dogs to be able to freely go out a doggy door and come and go as they please.  But I have pre-knowledge about something.  If there is any hole in the fence I know one of our dogs will go out that hole and run around the neighborhood.  But just because I know that information doesn’t make any difference in the fact that he will go out the hole.  Even though I have the knowledge he still has the freedom to stay in the fenced yard or to go outside of the fenced yard.

In the same way, God has given us freedom of choice.  And just because He knows whether or not we are going to go through the hole (choose sin or not) it is still our freedom to choose to go through or not.

Dear Father,

Your love is so incredible.  You are the One that has given everyone the chance to choose You.  Thank You for our right to choose and for sending Your Son to take my place, to take the penalty for sin.  As I keep my eyes on You and follow You wheresoever You go You will save me.  There is nothing that can really explain my gratitude to You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Choose God today.  Keep your eyes on the One that can save you.

Love you all.

I would love to hear from you.

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“I Think I’m Going To Be Sick!”

Sick!

Have you ever had this feeling in the pit of your stomach that you can’t explain?  Maybe as a kid, you realized that because you just made a bad choice your parents have decided to cancel something they had planned for you.  You have this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach realizing that you just missed out on the most amazing thing.  Maybe you’re like me when I got out to my car from a store and realized my daughter wasn’t with me.  She was young, maybe 6 or 7, at the time and it was the scariest feeling.  Talk about a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My daughter

It was around Christmas time.  Our family was in a store in the mall browsing.  We didn’t find what we needed so we headed out to our vehicle.  When we got there we realized our daughter was not with us.  After losing a daughter that we only had with us for 5 weeks, I was in a panic.  I did not want to lose another daughter.  We went into the store and talked to the workers and we all started on a search.  I don’t remember how much time passed but it seemed like forever.  Finally, one of the workers found her hiding in some clothes.

It turns out she had been skipping the squares on the floor and had not turned with us toward the doors.  When she realized she was alone she tried to go out one door and realized it was the wrong one so she came back into the store and hid in the clothes.  It was a very happy reunion.  I remember how frustrated I would get when we would go anywhere after that.  She was so afraid of being left behind she would hang on to my clothing.  It was hard for me to even walk through a store because she stayed so close to me.  I would say she did that for the next couple of years at least.  It was a very frightening experience for her.  I can imagine the sick feeling she must have had in the pit of her stomach.

The worst sick feeling

So what is the worst sick feeling that a person could ever have in the pit of their stomach?  I have given much thought to this more than once.  It makes me cringe to think about it.  We can so often go through life and not really realize the seriousness of it.  But if you really take the time to give it some thought it can be awakening.

When I think about the worst sick feeling that I could possibly think of, I think of not being ready for the greatest event in all history, the event of Jesus soon coming.  For me, the most sickening feeling would be to hear the words, “…I never knew you:…” Matthew 7:23.  That sick feeling of realizing that I am lost.  I imagine my daughter had the most horrible sick feeling in her stomach when she realized she was lost.  Just like I had the sick feeling in my stomach when I realized my daughter was lost, God has even a greater sick feeling.  He loves us so much and when we don’t choose Him and His ways He suffers.  He has so many children that His suffering is indescribable.

Fear

The great news is that we have a forgiving God.  If we have gone astray and gotten lost there is still time to be found.  Now is the time to come to Him asking for forgiveness and He is ever waiting and longing to forgive.

There is only one thing that we need to fear and that is separation and that separation only happens as we choose it.  God doesn’t bring the separation, we do.  Just like my daughter clung to me thereafter, we need to cling to Jesus.  As we cling to Him there is nothing to fear. We need to walk with Him hand in hand.  We cannot let anything come between Him and ourselves otherwise we will get lost.  He will be constantly searching for us but if we don’t want to be found He doesn’t push His way in.  And if we continue not to listen to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, His voice will get softer and softer until we can’t hear it anymore.

Cling to Jesus

The answer is to cling to Jesus.  We need to stay in full connection to Him.  Here are some ways to stay connected.

  1. I look at prayer as a key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured boundless resources.  We need to be coming to God everyday and speaking to Him as well as listening to His voice.
  2. Be in the word.  We must be in the Word each day.  God’s Word is full of instructions and promises.  As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us we can know which course to pursue.
  3. Memorize verses from God’s Word.  If we have promises memorized from God’s Word, we can bring them to mind when we are having struggles throughout the day or when we are tempted.
  4. Guard the avenues of the soul.  We need to guard our 5 senses.  Making choice that will keep us out of harms way.  We can protect ourselves from temptations by guarding ourselves.  We don’t want put ourselves in a position that will make it harder for us to stay connected.  My daughter was tempted to skip the squares on the floor and she took her eyes off of me and did not see me go in a different direction.  That is exactly what can happen to us if we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there through every circumstance in life.  Continue to prompt our hearts to keep our eyes on You.  And help us to be ready when You come.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your eyes fixed on the One that can lead and guide you through every circumstance.

Love you all.

What illustration can you share today?  I would love to hear it.

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“Scan!”

Scan!

This word can mean a lot of different things.  And as each one of you read the title a different picture came to your mind as to what you thought it may mean in the context of my blog.  If getting out in nature and hiking to the top of a mountain is your delight you might think of scanning the hills and valleys as you look around.  Others, who reading is your greatest joy, may think of scanning a page or verse.  And still others who may be medically inclined may think of getting an X-ray or other such scan.  We all have different things that come to mind.

Printing

I work at a print shop and at times we have people send us things and we scan them into the computer so that we can print them off for them.  They don’t have a digital copy they just have a piece of paper that they want to make more copies from.  There are some that are not even the original.  They want us to scan in a copy that is not very good.  One particular school sends us copies of copies and the page that they have copied is not even straight on the page.  Now they do know that the quality is not going to be there but they still want copies.  The machine is not magical.  Whatever you scan in is what you get out.  Coming in digitally gets a better copy.  You might say garbage in garbage out.

I scanned in a 101 page created scrapbook for a schoolteacher who teaches kindergarten.  There are pictures of the kids throughout the year doing different activities.  Cute kids.  The teacher is putting together these little books so that each child can have a memory book of their year in kindergarten.  Such a great idea.  It isn’t easy to get a decent scan when some pictures are dark and some are light, some are blurry and some sharp.

So how do you make a decent scan?  You have to make sure your settings are correct for the scan or some of the kids will look like little demons.  It is my choice how I set the settings but it is up to the machine to do the work.   Once scanned it is amazing what a little touch here and there can improve the quality of the picture.

Christians

It reminds me how the Christian walk is.  We have choices to make on the “settings” that we choose.  The “machine” (Jesus) can only work with the “settings” that we give Him.  He will not force His “settings” on us.  But when we cooperate and set the “settings” for Christ-like quality it is amazing what He can do.  And our scan will come out the other side perfected for heaven.  We will not recognize our perfections because as we draw closer to Christ we can see more and more “settings” that we need to change.  But those around us will benefit from the beauty of Christ work in us toward perfection. The blessing is that as we cooperate with God the “garbage” that may go in will come out beautiful because God is miracle preforming, unlike my digital machine.  We can say garbage in beauty out.

Settings

So the question is what are some “settings” that we need to set?  Because doesn’t God do all the work?  The “Machine” (Jesus) can’t do the work unless He has something to work with.  I believe there are many aspects to the “settings” but I am going to just name three and you can take it from there.

 1.  Spend time in Prayer

The first thing in the morning, spend time in communication with your Creator.  He cannot force us to communicate or to listen.  This is a “setting” that we have to set.  We have to choose to spend time in prayer.  When we come to God then He can communicate with us and can guide us through the day.  But if we have not asked Him to join us He will not intrude.  And the quality of our “picture” (day) will be distorted.  There will not be clearness to our day.

2.  Spend time in God’s Word

We need the “setting” of reading and memorizing God’s Word so that we are fortified for the day’s trials.  Can God give us a good quality day if we don’t implant His Word in our hearts?  What are we going to turn to when we are tempted or a trial comes our way if we haven’t fortified ourselves?  God cannot bring the Scriptures to our mind if we have not included Him in our “settings”.  We have to choose to spend that time because God doesn’t force.  As we choose to spend time with Him our “picture” will not be blurry, there will be more clarity to the “picture” that is being scanned for the day.

3.  Choose whom you will serve.

Throughout the day we will be given opportunity to make choices.  The Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts but if we don’t listen there is no forcing.  We are faced with choices all the time.  Every time we make a choice in cooperation with God’s will He will give us the strength to follow through and what a beautiful picture will be “scanned”.  But when we are faced with a choice and we choose against God’s will He steps back.  He doesn’t interfere with our choices.  But the “scan” of the day doesn’t turn out so good.  Every day each one of us fail in some way but praise the Lord for an advocate and we can come to Him and He freely forgives and gives us a new start.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there for us even though we think we don’t need You.  You don’t interfere with our choices but when we fail You are right there to pick up the pieces as soon as we realize our need and we reach out to You.  Thank You for Your unfailing love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Set your “settings” to include God in your life today.  It makes such a difference.

Love you all.

Do you have a testimony how, as you cooperated with God and set your day with Him, He blessed you?