Forever Engraved

“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…”
Isaiah 49:16

When you engrave something it is meant to last a lifetime. Usually special notes, dates or events are engraved so they aren’t easily forgotten. Many people engrave their wedding rings and others engrave watches & bracelets. We want the person receiving the engraved gift to know it’s something special and thought of before hand; not just a quick last minute purchase.

The same is with God he has engraved your name on his hand, on the tender inside part of his hand. To him you are special, special enough to send his one and only son (John 3:16) to die on the cross for our sins; to be the sacrifice because we would never be able to bridge the gap between us and God. He knew that, not to mention he knew all our sins and still loved us enough to pay the price and engrave our name on the palms of his hands.

Some of us are thinking we are not special, have no talents to offer or no where you can think of to serve God. Take heart, God doesn’t make mistakes and you are wonderfully made by the unique hands of God. If you think you have nothing to offer God I encourage you to search your heart and seek first the Kingdom of God – if you seek HIS will for your life he will provide you your hearts desires and his.

God bless...

Excuses

John 15:22
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

When we want to justify ourselves for any reason we give an excuse. Here are a few reasons why we don’t follow God;
I haven’t had enough fun yet – God isn’t FUN???
I will when I am older – You’re not old enough NOW???
God is boring – God is NEVER boring and has a wonderful sense of HUMOR!!!

To those that do go to church but yet don’t follow his command of tithing we get some of these;

I can’t afford to tithe
I couldn’t pay my bills
My family will go hungry
I won’t have any clothes
I can’t put gas in my car

In Matthew we find that the second set of excuses is thrown out as well.
Matthew 6:31-34
“So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

It doesn’t matter the excuse you have it doesn’t hold water. God gave us guidelines to follow for us to live a life that will glorify HIM, if we don’t follow the Bible we don’t glorify the Father or the Son. As we can read this scripture says he [Jesus] came so they would NOT be guilty of sin at the time of judgment and now no one has an excuse as to being guilty. The price has already been paid all we have to do is get the complimentary token to get on the ride and have the best journey of our lives. Life is way more fun when you have someone to journey with you and you’re not alone. God is always with us and never leaves us ever.

Scripture is clear about who loves Him

John 14:21
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

I John 5:3-5
“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world, only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”


No Excuses!!!

Grow Where You’re Planted

Have you ever stressed over what to do and when? Many times we do over such things whether we have control or not over that situation. I have a friend that knows she has a calling to do something further in her walk with Christ but that next journey has not become clear to her. She could grow weary trying to figure it out and become antsy for the next step which clearly isn’t the time yet, but she has decided to grow where she’s been planted. How can that be? Is she giving up on the journey that awaits her? No, most certainly not! She has come to trust her Savior & obey the one who is in control.
Ephesians 4:12-13 says; “We are to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Titus 2:3-5 also states, “3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.” But the chapter starts out with this to say, “1You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.” How is it that we can do this mere women that range in age and occupation from stay at home homeschooling mothers to mothers or ladies that work outside of the home? How can we make that kind of a difference? You can make a difference by remembering you are where you are by divine intervention. We are in direct contact with others every day. There is someone that crosses your path on a daily or weekly basis that needs you. Has God laid someone on your heart maybe you know the reason or maybe you haven’t a clue but you know God has asked you to pray on their behalf? Has someone called you for guidance lately and you are wondering why they called you? Remember back to the scripture, we are to prepare Gods people for works of service so that the body may be built up until we ALL reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge. You are where you are and until God moves you or changes your direction you are to Grow Where God Planted You. It may be for your own personal growth but it may also be for someone else’s growth with God. You may be at the crossroads in life not sure of what to do or where to go; one thing is for sure, with much prayer and reading the Word of God your next move will be as clear as a bell when the time is right. Gods timing is never late and never early, it’s always just right and on time! Let us come together those young and slightly seasoned with age and wisdom, we have much to accomplish for the Kingdom of God as we grow where we are planted and wait upon the Lord to give us the guidance for future plantings! You may not be in an area of service for your personality to blossom but as you serve think of Ephesians 6:7. It says, “Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men” and continues to say in verse 8 that “the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does.”
The Bible says, “to be filled with the Spirit knowing the Lords will, speaking to one another in Psalms, making music in your heart to the Lord, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, letting your conversations be full of grace seasoned with salt, and being mindful to encourage others of the hope we have in our Savior Jesus Christ.” If we remember to do these it won’t be that had to grow where we are planted.

If I Had Known...

The saying "Hindsight is always 20/20" is so very true. I have a question for you, if you had known would you have done it differently, sooner, or even later... or have you at all given your life to Christ? You may think that is a silly question. Well really when you think about it it's not. we all think we have to give stuff up or be perfect to accept Christ and begin on the journey. It's a false idea that Satan uses all the time and has gotten very good at. Those people and things we think we have to give up for Christ we actually don't have to because they usually end up giving us up. They don't want to be around someone who is full of joy all the time and happy for the little things in life. They want someone to complain with and to see the ugly all around. And the things we end up giving up, everyone has at least one thing and some of us have many things, we don't even think about before we give them up. We give up stuff all the time without thinking first all because we love Christ and want what he wants for our lives. You know you are on the right track when your hearts desire is the same as Gods desire for your life. If you are one who hasn't given your life to Christ because you are afraid of what you'll have to give up to serve Jesus, why don't you try it, trust him and see if he tells you to give something up. I don't remember him telling me to give anything up... I stopped because I loved him enough to do my best at making him happy. And isn't that what the relationships in life are all about, trying to please the person we love so much? When you love someone with a sincere love you will do all you can to see them smile, our relationship with Jesus is no different. So if you haven't taken the first step towards salvation and your relationship with him go ahead, you won't be sorry! You know when you go to the pool or the beach, the best way to get in the water is to just "jump in", it's the same way with God. Just jump in and you'll land in his hands! God is more than wonderful, he's more than anything you've ever experienced on this earth and he loves you. He loved you enough to send his son to die on the cross for the redemption of our sins that anyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life with him, John 3:16. I gave my life to Christ as a child and I have never been sorry I did. Have I always been the perfect? No. I have never claimed to be perfect nor will I ever claim to be, when I am perfect Christ will take me home. In life we make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes are called SIN, it's what we do next that counts. Do you walk away from a loving Father that is waiting for you to repent and come home or do you keep walking farther and farther away from the one that loves you so much. I can say if I had known Christ earlier it would've been better for me. Make the right choice today and choose Christ now and forever! God bless...

Forever Made Perfect

“For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.”
Hebrews 10:14

Did you know that when you repented of your sins and accepted Christ as your Savior that you were made perfect? How can we be perfect, I surely thought when we reached perfection we would be taken home to Heaven. Well, the perfection this is talking about isn’t an earthly perfection. It means that through the blood of Christ that we accepted God now sees us perfected, that he no longer sees the ugly gulf of sin that we once had. Through Christ and his sacrifice we have been made clean and presentable to God as white as snow. That is not the end we are constantly being made holy through the Holy Spirit.
The scripture continues to say,

“And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,
“This is the new covenant I will make
with my people on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
Then he says,
“I will never again remember
their sins and lawless deeds.”
“And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.” Hebrews 10:16-18

Being forgiven is a wonderful experience. So many things happen, mainly you begin to blossom and grow in all areas; heart, body, mind and soul. You begin to see things differently as the Holy Spirit opens your heart and mind and you begin to be more like Christ. The things that you once enjoyed lose their flavor and you crave God and the things of God. You want to grow more in his wisdom and knowledge. Does being made holy and perfect in his sight mean we have “made it” and we have obtained all we set out to gain? By all means no, we have to continue to be careful not to get too comfortable with ourselves and where we are in our walk with God. We need to remember that there is no neutral, you are either moving forward or backward, forward is a good thing. It means your relationship with Christ is getting stronger and you are becoming more like him daily. If this is not describing your walk with him you can turn it around and have the close relationship you desire to have by repenting of your sins, being sorry for your actions and turning from the ways of your past, and asking Christ to cleanse you and make you clean and presentable unto God and ask him to come and live inside you forever. By your confession of faith that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that Christ is God’s Son whom he raised from the dead you will be saved, Romans 10:9-10. This is a big step, it isn’t easy but it isn’t hard, once you make the first step towards forgiveness and salvation Christ is with you all the way. He never leaves you alone or lost; scripture says in Joshua 1:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” All the other times you have felt lost and alone those will be no more once you accept life with Christ. What a wondrous feeling! I pray your walk is right and if not it sure can be, give God the chance he wants to give you. God bless…

Rules for…

Colossians 3

My study took me to Colossians 3 this morning. I just love my study time, I take each section of scripture and look at it from every angle and see how I can inject the Word into the many facets of my life. Many scriptures popped out at me and I thought I should write about them but as I went back over the chapter as a whole something bigger came to me. I am guilty. The section titles for Chapter 3 are titled “Rules for Holy Living” and “Rules for Christian Household.” NO-ONE LIKES RULES, that is my downfall as well. I want to have fun when I want and how I want, sounds carnal doesn’t it, maybe even childish. But that’s how we as humans are. Well then it got me to thinking about where rules are in place. They are everywhere. Why so many rules and who decided there should be rules in the first place and why? Well that takes us way back to “In the Beginning… GOD”, remember he gave the first rule to Adam. God told him “not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, Genesis 2:17. As soon as God put man in the garden he gave a rule. Why? As crazy as it is we need to know the boundaries and there are consequences for crossing the boundary. There are always consequences, good or bad we are subject to them. Genesis 2:17 goes on to say that “when you eat of it (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) you will surely die.” There is our first rule. Wow, only one man on the face of this earth and we have rules. How sad is that. Well then I thought about play time, driving, swimming, work, school, church, family time, hanging out at home, hanging out at other people’s homes… there are rules. And there are rules so we know our boundaries and can live around others not disrespecting them and to keep everyone safe. Some people believe rules are only handed down to make people miserable. Just think of the misery we would be in without rules. How loud and miserable would your house be if there were no rules? How safe would driving be if we didn’t have transportation guidelines and limits? I wouldn’t want to drive or even be on the road for that matter. Another word for Rules is the word Law. God gave us the law a long time ago so that we would know right from wrong and how to conduct ourselves. Some say well when Jesus came the law was done away with. Jesus says in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Just because the King comes to town doesn’t mean we can all go crazy, we still have to conduct ourselves as if he wasn’t here; which is also talked about in the passage. Col 3:22-25 says, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.” When you think about it we all work for someone; either we as wives work for our husbands to keep the house and children straight, you own your own business you are working for the customer and there are those that have a boss. Even though we work for the paycheck to feed, clothe and shield our family from the elements we should also remember we are working unto the Lord and let that be our reward knowing he will provide our needs. As you go through this day if you can I urge you to pick up your bible and read through Colossians 3 to see what God has for you.
Have a beautiful day!

Fleeting Thoughts

We all have them, those thoughts that run through our mind and we give no account to them. So much of our time is wasted on these thoughts. It’s as though we can’t stop ourselves from this kind of random thinking that disturbs us or keeps us from doing what it is we really need to do. We ponder things we can’t control or have no desire to change. We think of our next meal when we aren’t done with the meal we are partaking of. We think of what we’ll wear days in advance. We look at things and instantly we have a thought about what it is we’ve just seen; the same goes for things we’ve heard. We also tend to have fleeting thoughts about “what if”. What if someone says this or that, I’ll respond with ___, you can fill in the blank we’ve all had this happen to us. So much of our lives are spent waiting, at the Dr., at red lights, in the grocery line and while we wait for life to continue our minds roam and thoughts race.
One question that came to mind is this… Do our fleeting thoughts reflect Christ? Are we being careful even with our fleeting thoughts to reflect Christ at all times? Or are we just letting our thoughts be random thinking we can’t control some of what we think and it’s okay to be random with our whispering thoughts. If this is true then the Bible must be wrong when it clearly states in Matthew 22:37, “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” Meaning we aren’t to just let our thoughts be random and fleeting. We must be self-controlled even in our thoughts. Also in Romans 8:5-7 it says this, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their mind set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance to the Spirit have their mind set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of a sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.’ We must be sold out to God to allow him to work through all; heart, soul & mind.
As we prepare our heart, soul and mind for the day let us recall these scriptures when our mind is in random mode. Psalm 26:2, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me and I walk continually in your truth.” This next passage is one of my favorites and has been one that I use in prayer time with sincerity as I ask God to do this in me daily. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24. I hope this is your prayer as well.

God bless, and have a beautiful day in HIM!

The Forbidden Fruit of Favoritism

James 2:1-4

1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Haven’t we all tasted of this forbidden fruit of the spirit of Satan? Most of us, if not all, are guilty of this ungodly fruit. When we are out and see those that are beggars, homeless or even a lower class of income we react as if we are somehow better than they. Why? Is it because we have a home, a job or nice clean clothes on? Is this the teachings of our Lord and Savior that had compassion enough for the lost soul to go to the Cross? No, it’s not! This passage reminds us that we are not to show favoritism and the very next verse of this chapter shows us we see differently until we look through the eyes of Christ.

5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

And does this same verse remind us it is not for us to judge who is and who isn’t worthy of our compassion, if it is up to you to judge that then what was it that made you worthy as Christ showed compassion on you? I remember the WORD of GOD stating that not one is worthy.

Austin and I spent some time with some friends one day, as we went to a local fast food restaurant for lunch the mother and her teenage son began talking as we entered the door. We made our orders and found our table and the teen took some food off the tray and went outside and came back in. What I didn’t see the teen saw around the side of the building was a man in need. A bit later the teens’ father came in and told us how he helped the man before he came in. How is it that some of us would have seen the dirty maybe even stinky man outside the door and walked out of the way to another door as to not cross his path? I am sure there were many that day. There was an instance where a lady came out from the church on Sunday morning after the service to see a lady that appeared homeless. For some reason the lady was drawn to the other lady in the parking lot. The two women had a pleasant conversation, which the lady from the church probably doesn’t even remember what was said at the time. One part of the conversation the homeless looking lady commented on the other ladies jewelry. The lady instantly look off her earrings and necklace and gave it to her. How many women would have not thought twice about giving their jewelry away to someone on the street? Instead of saying “thank you” she put action to her compassion.

Jesus had compassion for everyone that littered the streets that others looked upon as filth. He did not have the kind of compassion that felt bad for you then walked away he showed us how to put action to our compassion. We have opportunities to see others with the compassionate eyes of Christ, not just to pray for them but to act as Jesus would act.

I witnessed this past Sunday a man stopped at a red light give “something” to a man standing in the median with a sign, that’s action. Do you remember how cold it can be on the coldest days of winter? You’re Christmas shopping and you almost run through the parking lot because you are so cold just going from your car to the entrance. As you enter the building you hear the “bell” in the background. I know a man that goes in the store purchases either coffee or cocoa for the Salvation Army Bell Ringer to help them warm up as they do a service for others. Again, that is putting our compassion to work, making a difference in someone else’s life when it really matters. It’s easy to love and have compassion for the ones we know and love it’s not that easy when it takes us out of our comfort zone. Jesus teaches us to be careful when we are too comfortable, the leaders and teachers of his time were comfortable especially in their knowledge when they should’ve been a bit more compassionate to the one who was known as the Son of God. When he leads us to do for someone it may make us a little uncomfortable and vulnerable but in the end it’s worth it. There are many scriptures that talk about compassion if it weren’t so important it wouldn’t be in the Bible. Some may think this title doesn’t fit the text. Think about it for just a moment, if we don’t show compassion when God leads us to, then aren’t we showing favoritism by disobedience to God and to those he feels compassion for? Have you ever said no, you wouldn’t help because the person was the wrong class, sex, or even color? If so, you’ve shown favoritism. Our prayer should be that when we have the opportunity we put our love of Christ to action and have the kind of compassion for others that Jesus did.

God put a song in my heart last night as I couldn’t sleep, I believe it fits.
“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days, all the days of my life”

Gauging Value

“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.
The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance,
But the LORD looks at the heart.’"
1 Samuel 16:7



It’s amazing how we look at things. To begin with we see through carnal eyes then add the media that continues to mold for us the ideal look & value of a person. Even as godly as Samuel was when he saw Jesse’s son, Eliab, he “saw” the next king. We fall into the same trap in many ways.


We base someone’s value on what they are worth to us personally or
professionally. If they are helpful to us in any way they have a
value, on the flip side of that people are less valuable if they
are less helpful to us.

Knowing a person also gives them value in our eyes, we have heard
many times it’s “WHO you know not WHAT you know.” We are quick to
have an attitude in a store with a long checkout line until we know
the cashier or someone in the line; then our attitude changes.
Therefore, knowing the person gives them more value.

People we like have more value than those we tend to dislike. Those
we like seem to have more credibility.

Financial standing on the income ladder is another way we place value
with a person or a family. If they have a lower income standing we
tend to think they have less value and vice versa.


Sometimes people rub us the wrong way, it’s inevitable we aren’t going to best friends with everyone all the time. Some days we are going to be less our self than others and on those days we need to try much harder to show the heart of Christ. When we get to the point that we see people as too much stress we need to look at them through the eyes of Christ. As Jesus traveled the tiresome dusty roads he encountered many people that were poor, unhelpful, unknown and disliked to many. How he reacted to them shows they were a joy not stressful. He treasured and valued each person enough to shed his blood on the painful cross. Shouldn’t we see each person as valuable and a treasure as Christ did?

Beyond Yesterday and Today

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them as he healed their sick.”
Matthew 14:14

It sure is hard to get over the past isn’t it? Someone has wronged you in some way and it hurts deep. I try to remember the hurt Jesus felt many times, not just in the end when he was paying the price for all sin, but when he went town to town giving the accounts of the Old Testament and telling of the future to come; and the people said mean things or spit in his face. I remember as a child younger than 3, living in the gray house in Houston, there was a family with many kids and chickens living behind us. I wanted to go play with them so I went over there and the kids started throwing chicken feed at me. I ran home and I never went back. It really hurt me and the feed as it hit me didn’t feel good either. I cried and cried; all I wanted was to play and have fun maybe make some new friends. I don’t remember how long we lived there but I know I never tried making friends with the family behind us.
In this chapter of Matthew, which I love, it begins telling us of how John the Baptist was imprisoned and then beheaded. In the verse previous to 14, Jesus had just found out of the calamity of his cousin. He withdrew to find solace and solitude and to pray. Sometimes we are the same, just needing that quiet time to be with God after a tragedy has occurred. As Jesus went off in the boat alone many people caught wind of him leaving and they traveled by foot getting to where he would be. The last thing Jesus probably wanted was a crowd, if he really wanted to be with the crowd of people he could’ve stayed where he was. As he landed he saw the people and had compassion on them and began to heal the sick. As he was healing them one by one, I know he saw their past and present but overlooked that because they needed a healing. He also overlooked their future. Of those he healed, some would turn their back on him and would cry out “Crucify Him!” Yet Jesus had compassion on them; he loved them enough to forgive their past, their present and overlook their future.
Just after this passage of scripture Jesus feeds them, more than 5,000. Again he has compassion on them remembering how exhausted he is after his long day of hardship with a death in the family, not to mention the crowds that just won’t leave him alone to have some peace. He now wants to feed them so when they leave they won’t be hungry and nothing else will happen to them on the long journey home.
The next section of scripture of Chapter 14 takes us to Jesus telling the disciples to go ahead in the boat as he dismisses the crowd. The disciples are in the boat and the wind picks up and the waves begin to roll and the boat is thrashing back and forth with the waves. The men are scared and full of fear then as if that isn’t enough they see a GHOST on the water coming towards them! Immediately Jesus calls out to them “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Hearing this Peter says if this is really you then call me out of this boat. And Jesus does. Knowing what we know about Peter; 1)we know he loses faith and sinks and 2) he denies Christ 3 times even AFTER Jesus tells him he will do it, Jesus still has compassion on him and doesn’t toss him aside because of his past, present or future.
We ask ourselves why Jesus doesn’t give up on us as a people or as individuals. And in verse 33 we can see why. It says that those that “were in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” It is for the unbelievers to witness the fullness and glory of God. How can we win the lost if things don’t happen in our lives? If we are never to be forgiven then how can we tell of the grace and mercy of God? It is in these tough times we are tested and we learn the character of God. It is in these times we are to put on what we learn of him. It’s like a lady buying new clothes or a man buying new tools; you don’t make the purchase thinking you’ll never use them you make the best effort to use what you purchased. I try to wear that new outfit immediately. And it’s the same way with what we learn from God we are to add to our knowledge what we have learned and USE IT!
In the same manner we are to live as Christ lived. We will be hurt and ridiculed but we can’t remember the past or the present and overlook the lost and dying world around us. We must overlook their past and present and help them have a life eternally worth living. Just as Jesus did so long ago and continues to do. It is what we are all called to.
I hope this encourages you to forget what we know of someone to help them along their way to salvation. For those that are saved that fall, forget the sin and give a hand to your brother /sister in Christ that’s exactly what Christ does, he doesn’t kick the dirt in their face as they are down. If you are the one who is lost accepting Jesus as your Savior is like saying you’re A, B, C’s. A- Admit you are a sinner and need Jesus ~ Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” B- Believe Jesus is God’s son ~ Romans 10:9-10 “”That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” C- Confess with your mouth you are saved ~ Romans 10:11 “it is with your mouth you confess and are saved.” Then go tell the world!

Much love & God bless you all ~ Tina

Await the Return

Luke 15:21
“So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."

Have you ever taken the time to listen to your animals outside the door begging you to either come outside or let them in? And when you have food in your hands for them – how they begin to tell you about how hungry they are. Or how happy they are you didn’t forget them during the day. Have you ever thought what your animals do while you go about your busy life and leave them home alone? I have had the opportunity to be at several dogs homes when the owner has been gone. I can tell you they “wait” for you to come home. They get into their comfy place and don’t get up until they have to. One dog in particular has a table by the window and rests his head on the window ceil until his family comes home.

God is the same way – he waits for you to come home. Like the father of the prodigal son he saw him far off because he was looking and waiting. He lets you go along without him because you were too busy to invite him but can’t wait for you to open the door and let him in.

Like the animals outside the door he speaks and nudges us so that before we totally fall on our face we remember “Oh, I haven’t asked him or talked to him in a while.” Once you give him the slightest interest oh the joy that overcomes his glorious face, kind of like the dog and the wagging tail.

We try to make God more difficult than he is really is. All he wants is us, all of us. He gives us simple illustrations to help us along the way. All he asks us to do is to trust, believe and confess; the rest is his to handle.

A Task for Only the Holy

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17

Chores, nobody likes them; although some people think that some chores are better than others. Maybe you remember some horrible chores you had to do as you were growing up. It didn’t matter to me one bit I hated all chores and in my mind there was not one better than the other. And to this day I still don’t like the chores at hand. Have you ever had someone over that while they were having fun playing with your stuff you had to stop and do the dreaded taking out the trash or a much longer one washing the dishes? How horrible was that? And all the while you got a bit angry that they didn’t even offer to help you so you could get done quicker. Then come to find out some of your friends didn’t even have chores. After school they were playing and you were doing those same chores day in and day out. Finally once you are done and can play they have to go in because it’s getting too late, well I remember those days. I like to think of the 2 Mary’s that knew the Lord’s body needed to be prepared after his death. I believe that would have been a task. The body would’ve been in the tomb for 3 days now and the smell alone would’ve been enough to make you sick just thinking about it. I can only imagine how they felt that they had this large task ahead of them and it was overwhelming. Have you ever felt this way the task was too big so why even try? Maybe they felt that way and really didn’t want to continue, it was going to be too hard and then the reminder of their Lord crucified on a cross, how tragic. Just think if they had given up, who would the messenger have told of the resurrection? Better yet who would’ve heard of the Lord having gone on into Galilee ahead of the disciples? Yes, I am sure there would be someone to fulfill all the testimony to the fact. It just makes you think. I am sure the ladies felt very alone and that what they were experiencing no one else could sympathize with. Sometimes our valleys are so low and the mountains too hard to climb and we feel we are all alone and no one cares if we make it or not. Well one thing is for sure God knows how we feel and he does care if we make it. That is why the scripture John 3:16 is so valid it tells of how much he cares. It says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” How amazing that God sacrificed his only son that we wouldn’t tortured for all eternity in hell. Which brings us to Jesus, do you think the chore he had to endure, an innocent death on the cross, was a bit much or overwhelming? I do believe it was even to the point that Jesus sweat drops of blood as scripture says. How alone do you think he felt when his own father did nothing to stop the innocent crucifixion? It says in the Bible that Jesus called out ”why have you forsaken me?” Which takes us back to John 3:16; because he loved the world so much that he GAVE. I can see all of heaven ready to fight standing ready for the call from God to release his only son off that cross. Sometimes it’s as if God is sitting on his hands but what good would it do if he always came to the rescue and raised us out of the yuck in our lives, would we learn anything. Well, he does help us he just doesn’t do it for us we have to help him help us. Just like in salvation we have to take the first step after that he helps us with every other step in the path. Yesterday, Austin wanted help climbing a tree in the yard. Really since he couldn’t get into the tree himself he wanted me to pick him up and put him in the tree. I said no, I would help him find a way to get into the tree for himself. Once he accomplished that he understood why I did it the way I did. Now he can go get in the tree anytime he wants to because he knows how. And I also made him find his own way out of the tree, I was there for guidance but I wasn’t going to take him out of the tree; what would that have taught him? Same with God it wasn’t that he didn’t want to help his only son but he knew what had to be done to fulfill the scriptures but also to help the other children he had that were lost and needed the bridge to walk across to salvation. Some things are hard and we grumble about doing them but this scripture says to do it for the Lord giving thanks. Sounds like God is telling us to change our attitudes about the tasks at hand for we never know who we will reach in the process that needs the help of a brother or sister in Christ. Each task brings us to a closer relationship with the Father who loves us so much.