Posted on

“Are You Making Holes?”

Have you ever felt like you are being filled with holes?  As we go through life there are things that happen that feel like holes in our lives.  We all know the saying, “Sticks and stone may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”  But how true is this saying?  It sounds “good” but in reality, it is not true.

Reality is what people say to us can stick with us for the rest of our lives and give us the trend of our life as well.  We can also say things to ourselves as well that can destroy our effectiveness in life.  It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Words do affect.  Not only do others words affect us we can also affect others with our words.  We tend at times to be so self-absorbed that we only focus on what others say to or about us rather than what we say to or about others.

It reminds me of a story I heard once.  There was this little boy who had a really bad temper. His dad gave him a bag of nails and a hammer. He told him that every time he lost his temper he wanted him to nail a nail into the back fence post. So the first day he nailed a lot. I can’t remember the number but it was a lot. He continued to do this every day. The boy decided that it was easier to hold his temper than to have to go and nail a nail. So after a while, he did not have to do it anymore. He told his dad and his dad told him, every day that you don’t lose your temper you can pull out a nail. Eventually, all the nails were pulled out and he went and told his dad. Then his dad took him to the post and showed him that even though the nails were gone the holes were still there. That is how it is with our words and actions. We leave holes in people and although we may apologize and they may forgive us, that can’t totally remove the wounds that it has caused, there will be scars.

We all have scars from what people have said or done throughout our lives.  And we have all caused scars in others as well.

This makes me think of the biggest scars that we have caused and it has been in our Savior.  Our sin has cost Him those scars.  The nails were put in His hands and feet because of the bad things that we have done.  And when the nails were pulled out the scars were still there and are still there.

The scars are not just still there; Jesus suffers more every time we sin.  Each time we choose to be unlike Him and sin and wound, we are also putting nails in Him. “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Hebrews 6:6. Christ feels the pain every time we choose to sin.

It is so easy to say or do things without thinking. We need God’s help.  Thank the Lord that He is forgiving when we come to Him in confession.

Dear Father,

We are a people who are desperately wicked and we need You. I pray that each one of us will surrender each day to You and I am asking You to prompt us by Your Holy Spirit every time we go to do or speak so that we only do or speak that which You would have us to.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

If you have hurt others confess and God will forgive.  If you have been wounded God is the healer.  Surrender all to Him today.

Love you all.

Do you have a story of pain and hurt that the Lord brought you through?  Maybe you hurt someone, how did God help you accomplish His will through your experience?

 

 

 

Posted on

“Become Like A What?!!!”

Babies!  Who doesn’t like a baby?  They are so cute and innocent.  They have no worries, really.  Yes, they get hungry and want food.  Or they get a messy diaper and want a change.  I think most of us would love to have the innocent life a baby or young child.

Now most of us can’t remember back when we were really young.  I do have a vague remembrance when I was around 2 years old.  As I reflect on that time, I wasn’t worried.  Of course, all of us that have children can remember how our little ones did not seem to be afraid of anything.

As I reflect on little ones it makes me think of about how Jesus said that we need to become as little children to enter into the kingdom.  What exactly does that mean?  I may not understand all of it but I am going to share what comes to my mind.

  • A baby/child is humble. A little child recognizes that they are dependent on those that care for him/her.  So they look outside of themselves for daily provisions.  We need to become as little children realizing that we need to depend on God for our daily needs.
  • A baby/child have a healthy appetite. Wow, do they ever!  All of us as moms can remember what it was like to nurse our babies and try to keep up with their ravaging appetite.  And we know as parents that as the child is developing we need to be careful what we feed them.  We want them to develop an appetite that wants healthy foods.  In turn in our spiritual lives, we need to be developing the right kind of appetite.  We need to have an appetite for the “sincere milk of the Word, that we may grow”. (1 Peter 2:2).  We need to be sure we take in the Word that is unadulterated with the world’s philosophies.
  • A baby/child is teachable. We know how children like to learn.  They start learning movements, like crawling and then walking.  They may fall over or fall down but they don’t give up, they are very anxious to walk.  So they keep trying again and again.  Then they learn to talk.  They want so eagerly to learn that they are constantly asking questions.  We need to be teachable.  As we study God’s Word we should be asking God specific questions just as a child would.  And He will show us the answers.
  • A baby/child is very dependent on the ones caring for them. A baby or child will cling to the one that cares for them when there is any trouble.  They may be afraid of something or even if they have fallen and gotten hurt they cling to their parents or someone they trust.  They feel safe with the one they trust no matter what the problem is.  In turn, as we recognize our needs we should be motivated to abide in Christ.  We should be clinging to Him in all our difficulties.  We should cling to His promises.  This should bring us a peace that passeth all understanding.
  • A baby/child wants to be with their parents. One thing that I noticed when my children were little, it didn’t matter where I was they wanted to be with me.  They were always underfoot and that was frustrating to me at times.  But they were at peace as long as they were with me.  They also would know what was pleasing to me and what was disappointing to me.  They would always try their best to please me.  If they did do something that displeased me they were quick to say I am sorry, when they could talk, but when they couldn’t they had their way of making up, because they did not want the relationship to be broken.  To enjoy our fellowship with Christ we should not allow anything to come between us.  We should not allow our relationship with Him to be broken by unconfessed sin.  When we know we have done wrong we should immediately admit our wrongs and ask God to forgive us.

Dear Father,

Forgive me for not staying connected with You as I should.  Forgive all my wrongs.  Lord, Come and fellowship with me today.  I want that unbroken fellowship.  Convict my heart of those things that come between You and me.  Thank You for Your love and forgiveness.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

It is never too late to become as little children.  Start today.  And if you fall, just like a child learning to walk, immediately get up and keep going.

Love you all.

What are your thoughts about becoming like a child?  How has having the faith of a child been a blessing in your life?  I would love to hear your comments.

 

Posted on

“Did You See The Eclipse? I Did!”

I don’t know about you but I have seen several eclipses over the years.  I remember when a partial solar eclipse happened when I was a kid but this is the first full eclipse that I have seen. Now I shouldn’t say that I fully saw it except on NASA because in the area I live in it did not show as a full eclipse.

In order to see the eclipse, you had to have special glasses, which I did not have.  I was at work when it happened and we went out for maybe five minutes to take a look.  There was no way that you could really see it without something.  One of my co-workers had a welding helmet.  It is not the ideal but we could take a quick glance, just to see it.  The sun is so bright you could not see it otherwise.

It was a very interesting feeling to have it start to get dark.  It was kind of like it was clouding over but there were no clouds.  It felt like it should be heading toward evening rather than being 10:30 am.  It was definitely an experience of a lifetime.

There are several different lessons that can be learned through this experience and I have been debating on which one to share.  And maybe I will share both.  I share what the Lord brings to my mind about any given situation.  I don’t always know what I am going to write as I start but the Lord always gives me things as I write.

The first thought that was coming to my mind was relating this eclipse to the things that are happening in our world today.  There are so many evils.  There are so many things that this person is doing or saying and that person is doing or saying.  It is so easy to get caught up in the things that are happening that it starts to become the trend of our conversations and what we dwell upon.  It starts to blind us to the real things that we should be dwelling upon and talking about.  We can have a tendency to want to read things into every single thing that takes place or what people do or say and try to fit it somehow into prophecy.  And as time passes and things do not happen the way we thought we may get discouraged.  We may be strong enough to handle it but more importantly who have we discouraged and caused to lose sight of God.  Just like watching the eclipse for very long can cause you to go blind, dwelling upon the things that are happening in this world can take us off the correct focus and cause our spiritual eyes to go blind to what really matters to God.

Here is the most important thing to focus on, “…To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.”  “…He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”  …To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” ” …He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out to the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His Angels.”  Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 3:5.

As we are overcoming and our lives are reflecting Christ the next most important thing is to be sharing the love of Jesus with our families first and then to others.  As we are reflecting Christ in every way they will be open to hearing what Christ has done for us.  This is a part of overcoming.  “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11.

Overcoming leads me to the other aspect that came to my mind as I reflected upon the eclipse.  The Lord is coming soon.  And we need to focus on being ready.  There is only one thing that will save us when Christ comes in the clouds.  The brightness of His coming will be so intense we will immediately perish.  There is only one way that we will be able to look upon Him and not perish and that is to be an overcomer.  We have to have “protective” glasses on.  “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Ephesians 6:10-18.

We need to have on the whole armour of God or we will not be able to stand on the day of the Lord’s appearing.  We need to keep our focus in the right area.  The devil doesn’t care how he distracts us as long as he can get our attention away from what matters most.

Dear Father,

Help us to realize how important it is to keep our eyes away from the things of this world.  All the things around us may be signs of Your coming but You have made it clear in Your Word where our focus should be.  We need to keep our focus and conversation on You and not on the things that are happening around us.  Help us to keep our eyes focused on You so that we will be a light to those around and be ready when You come.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

As we surrender to Christ and perfectly reflect His character all who desire something different in their life will want what we have.  And as we share with word and example then the gospel will go to the world and Jesus will come.  I believe God is waiting for a people who will perfectly reflect His character and then He can come.

Love you all.

Did you get to witness the eclipse?  What were your thoughts?

 

Posted on

“The Fire is Coming Your Way!! Get Out!!!”

There are so many fires happening all over the Inland Northwest.  There are people who have lost their homes, others who have been evacuated but they don’t know the outcome of their homes yet, and there are still others that have stayed and are doing what they can to save their homes.

This fire danger is so real.  I know the other morning we had a short lightning and thunderstorm and I was praying!  We are so dry that one strike and a fire would start.

I remember as spring was coming in and we were getting so much rain, we were grateful.  The last three years with the fire dangers and actually having to haul water, we were thankful for the rain.  But now that we have had the longest and hottest period of time in years, we are still dry.

When I heard about some friends that were in fire danger and finally told to evacuate, it made me start to think.  They have chosen not to evacuate at this time but to prepare their house and property as much as possible to protect it.  They have just been rebuilding slowly from a few years after having a house fire caused by a wood stove.

My thoughts have started to collect in my mind what I would take with me if I had to evacuate.  There are things that are not replaceable, like family photos, the money you may have stashed away.  There is also all the important documents, like the marriage license, which I don’t even know where mine is, titles, etc.  Right now every thing is scattered here and there and it makes you start to realize how important it is to have things gathered in areas easy to grab.

Then I started to think about how this relates to our Christian walk.  I think a lot of times we get so caught up in everyday life that we forget that there is a “fire” coming and it is getting closer.  We need to be thinking about the things that are most important to save.

The one and most important thing that we can take with us when we leave this earth when Jesus comes is our character.  If we are hanging onto any worldly things our character will not be in the right place to grab and at that point, it will be too late.  Our characters need to be in the right place not scattered here and there.  We need to have a single mind toward God.

There are other things that are precious that we want to save from the “fire”.  We want to save our families.  The best way to do it is by our example.  How urgent are we?

If we were in the situation my friend is in right now would we be just sitting in our house not paying any attention to what is happening around us or would we be doing everything we could to protect our house?  Our family would feel our urgency if we worked urgently.  But if we were being lazy they would probably not feel the urgency.  The same is true of our spiritual urgency.  How urgent are we about the times in which we live?  Where is our focus?  If we want to save our families our focus needs to change from the world and its wickedness and problems to keeping our focus where it should be.  Our focus should be on Heavenly things.

Here are some things that I am working on to implement into my life.  Our life should be a life of joy, not negativity.

  1. Keep your eyes focused heavenward. There are so many things going on in this world that can discourage us if we focus on them.  We can even live in fear.  The best place to keep our focus is on heavenly things.  Let’s keep our eyes on the genuine Jesus Christ, that is the only way we are going to be ready.
  2. Remember, God, forgives. This is so amazing!  It doesn’t matter what we have done and how wicked we may have been God will forgive us.  He sent His only begotten Son to die in our place so that we can go to heaven and be with Him.
  3. Contemplate His love for you. We have already talked about His forgiveness, which is amazing.  It is good to write down all the things that He does for us that show how much He loves us.  Just the fact that we got up this morning is a miracle.  Our bodies run by Him.  He gives us the breath of life, etc.
  4. Spend time with this amazing God every day. Make sure to spend time in God’s Word each day.  Memorize scripture that can stick with you throughout the day.  And spend much time in prayer.

As we dwell upon these things and keep the right focus, people will be drawn to the love of God.  Love draws.  Fear of consequences can draw but not save.  Being drawn by love can save.

I believe that God is waiting for a people who will perfectly reflect His character (love) and then He will come to take us home.  How are we going to perfectly reflect His character as long as our focus is on the things of this world?  Whether we are doing worldly things or we are talking about the bad of this world and dwelling upon it, it leads to destruction, either of your life or the life of someone around you.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  There is nothing else we need to focus on.

Dear Father,

Help us to realize the love that You have for us.  Continue to draw us to Your love.  Forgive our stubborn hearts, the hearts that want to dwell on the things of this world.  We can tend toward sensationalism.  Something new and exciting to report about the wickedness or the happenings of this world and it becomes the topics of our life.  You need to be our topic.  As we focus on You, people will want what we have.  Forgive us for focusing on the wrong things and help us to live our lives in full connection with You.  Thank You for Your love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your focus on Jesus and heavenly things.  Talk of heaven and what it will be like.  Talk of the love of Jesus and what He has done for you.  Then your life will be filled with joy.  And you will be preparing your “house” against the “fire” that is coming.

Love you all.

What do you do to help keep your focus heavenward?

 

Posted on

“You Can’t Trust Your Vision!!”

Have you ever looked at an example and everything seems so right so you followed it?  Your eyes, senses and every fiber of your being made it seem right but you discover after a time that it was totally wrong.

I am working at a print shop.  I run the digital copy.  You have to set everything up on the computer that speaks to the digital machine and thus you make your product.  It sounds easy but there are a lot of things you have to make sure you do right or it could turn out wrong.

One of the most important things is to read the jacket.  Every job comes with what we call a jacket.  Inside the jacket can be artwork or a sample of what the job is.  But the most important information is on the outside of the jacket.  It gives specific information.  For example, what kind of paper to use, what size the paper should be, whether your printing black and white or color, or whether it is printed on one side of the paper or two sides, just to name a few.

The other day I got the jacket and scanned over it.  I seen it was a spiral bound book.  In the jacket was a sample so I pulled it out and look at it.  I thought, “Great this is going to be an easy one because the pages are just one-sided.”  I was in a rush to get gone because I had an appointment to go to.  So I set it all up and started printing.

After it was done printing I had a question so I went to the guy that has been training me in and he looked at what I had failed to pay close attention to, the front of the jacket.  The sample was a one-sided print but the instructions on the jacket was a two-sided print.  I missed comparing the sample to the instructions.

I went to my boss about the mistake.  Here I had printed several pages and it was wrong.  When He looked at the jacket and the sample.  He even had some confusion on what it needed to be.  The jacket instructions seemed a little confusing.  But after looking things over thoroughly and talking to the one that had put the job together I figured it out.

This reminds me of our Christian walk. We have an instruction book, the Bible.  We need to be thoroughly studying the “jacket” (Word of God).  We cannot go by what we see or hear.

In this world today there can be so many things that we can get caught up in.  It can sound amazing and look amazing but is it really a true “sample” of truth.

There can be so many false things that are out there for us to get caught up in.  Some of those things may be perfectly harmless in and of themselves.  But is it keeping us from focusing on the things we really should be, the true directions for life (God’s Word).

It says in Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christ, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”  We are in a time where we need to keep our focus on the study of the Word of God.  So that we can be so grounded in the true information that we will not be thrown off by what we see or hear.

I don’t think we begin to realize how closely Satan can make things look so real and right that it is very deceiving.  We cannot go by our senses.  We have to go by the truth of God’s Word only.

I could have totally done the job correctly if I had just gone by the instructions written rather than looking at the sample.  I would have been way farther ahead.  If I had been thoroughly studied in the truth of the jacket I would not have been thrown off by the false of the sample.

In the same way if we stay focused on the truth of the Word of God we will not be thrown off by the counterfeits that come our way.  But if we are spending our time focusing on the world and it’s counterfeits we are going to be unknowingly swept in to untruth, which can lead to final disaster.  The devil doesn’t care what rabbit trail he gets us going down, just as long as we are not focused on what we should be.

I was grateful that my boss was so understanding.  When we come to God and admit our mistakes, asking forgiveness He is so understanding as well.

Just like I needed to look at all the aspects of the jacket to know the truth, here a little there a little.  The same is true of the Bible.  We can’t make our decision based on one verse.  We need to study it carefully, here a little and there a little.

I also could not have figured out the jacket unless I had gone to the one who had put it together.  We are not going to understand what we study in the Bible unless we go to God asking for guidance.  Then the Holy Spirit will come and enlighten our eyes.  And those things that have seemed confusing will become clear.

Dear Father,

Help us to realize how important it is to stay focused on Your Word.  Help us to realize the sensational things that we can get caught up in can lead us in a direction to take us off the focus we should have.  Thank You for Your love and Your patience with us.  Continue to guide us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep in the Word, it is the safest place to be.

Love you all.

Have you experienced a “rabbit trail” in your life at times?  What happened to help you get back on track?  What do you do to try to stay on track?