Family

Family is a wonderful gift from the Lord.  In the beginning God ordained it.  Adam and Eve were instructed to multiply.  I am a mother so I love my children with a bond from the Lord that cannot be broken.  To hear a child say "I love you" are words filled with joy.  God is great in that He created the family!

The child of God has another family.  It is an eternal one that will never end.  In this family there is the precious bond of sharing God and everything that concerns Him!  They love you with a heavenly love.  The fellowship between the brothers and sisters in Christ are precious.  Who can explain it?  We will live together in eternity forever in that place where King David said "there are pleasures forever more".

PRICELESS

When We Hurt

After the Joplin Tornado in May of this year, there is still a lot of clean up work to be done.   They have  a long way to go before they can rebuild.  This got me to thinking about a different kind of hurt.  One that drives us away from the very One who created all things.  Oh, the hurt may be kinder in your life than someone else, but still our Lord Jesus tenderly looks after it with concern.   Psalms 138:8  says that He will perfect everything that concerns us.  He will restore us daily as a medicine that heals.

He will fix our hurts and He will talk to us about them if we listen.  He will be the doctor of our soul tending to every need we have in this life!  This world is a dump and the war is ugly in the heavenlies!  We are in that war which someday when we see Him face to face we will understand all of the sorrows.  Who could hurt more than someone loosing a child to death?  It must be the worst kind of hurt that exists, and yet He longs to help. 

We have been called to a great purpose!  Not one of fine cars and houses, but His purpose which is to save those who can be saved from eternal hell. 

"Dear Lord Jesus....help us to focus on what will transpire after we take our last breath.  Help us to think on eternal things for the sake of the Cross.  Help us to be obedient to the Holy Spirit.  We are weak Father, but through your strength we can do all things through Christ who empowers us!  Thank you Jesus for your loving care this day and in all the days forever to come".  Amen.

Revealed

The Son of God is revealed only to those who believe in Him.  Many will say, "Oh, I know that Jesus is the Son of God"...but do they?  The Son of God, Jesus, is revealed to people today the same way as He was two thousand years ago.  The world knows about Jesus, but until He is revealed to them they are still dead in their sins and without salvation.

What happens when Jesus is revealed to a person?  The definition of "revealed" is to make known through Divine inspiration.  That is done through the Holy Spirit.  We cannot understand this, it is a mystery and then when it happens we know the truth of Jesus! 

"Dear Heavenly Father....thank you so much that Jesus was revealed to me so many years ago!  Thank you for your mercy!  Thank you for your salvation!  Thank you that my name is written in the Lamb's book of Life!  Thank you for saving me from me from an eternity in hell!  Thank you Father God that I will live forever with You!"  Amen



Testimony

In the early 1960's there was a movement proclaiming that God was dead.  They have gone to their place by now.  How do I know that He is alive?  How do you know that He is alive?  It is your testimony that proves He is alive and well!  Over a billion people around the world have come to know Christ.  Think of that, over a billion...why?

A billion testimonies that Jesus Christ is Lord!  It is too amazing to think about!  Why are there so many people who believe in Jesus and the Cross?  There is only one answer, He was who He said He was!  He changes hearts and lives by His Holy Spirit!!!!  How marvelous to know the God who created you!!!!  How wonderful that He would lay down His life for us!  He is alive and your testimony counts!  Your testimony is precious!  It is a living thing and will live on forever!!

This is my prayer: "Precious Lord Jesus...thank you for giving me a testimony!  It testifies to who you are and how big your plan of salvation is for the world!  Thank you for the blessings of knowing you!  Who am I that I should be loved by You"?  Amen.

Good Intentions

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"...John Ray...1670.  This is a much debated statement over the centuries and some even say it in the Bible.  I searched for it and could not find it.  My belief is that our flesh is filled with "wants" to do things for God.  We fail easy and therefore I do not believe that we are held accountable for wanting to do something for the Lord and failing to follow through.  It has been my experience that what God wills in us to do will be done and without any reservation on our part.

It is like wanting to give to every charity organization who does a great work for Christ.  It is better to choose the charity closest to your heart and go with that one.  Mine is missions and Right to Life.  When you see starving children on television while you are eating dinner, a great wave of guilt most likely will come over you.  It may be that this is where you are to give, but the safer way is to stay with what is closest to your heart.  God is working in the world and He has not forgotten anyone!  We need not jump to the beat of a commercial that would cause us guilt.  If you do give to a world organization to help, make sure of their creed!  UNICEF is evil for they give to planned parenthood.

Rejecting Christ is the road to hell.  It is the only road to hell.



Hypocrites?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  The apostle Paul said that our lives were living epistles!  Some people say they will never go to Church because there are too many hypocrites there.  The definition of the word 'hypocrite' in the Hebrew is: "godless".  There are only two kinds of people in Church...saved and unsaved.  Jesus said that the tares would be planted by the enemy among the wheat...Matthew 13:25.  Tares are the unsaved and wheat are the saved.

Jesus used the word hypocrite only to describe the religious leaders of His day.  They were refusing to believe that He was the Son of God and always sought to kill Him.  He never called anyone else hypocrites.  We as Christians can sin and do, but we are quick to repent and ask forgiveness from the Father!  I saw a bumper sticker just recently that said, 'not perfect, just forgiven'...Christians will never be perfect like the world (lost) expects us to be.  We are being watched by the world however, so it would behoove us to obey the Lord so that others might see our lives as righteous.  Then we will be a truly  living epistle to the world!

This is my prayer: "Dear Lord Jesus...please keep the evil one from me.  Help me to resist the devil so I might not sin.  Help me to be a living epistle of righteousness for you every moment.  Help me to put on the whole armor of God so that I will be able to withstand the darkness who wants to kill my testimony, steal my joy, and destroy my relationship with you".  In the name of Jesus Christ I do pray...Amen.



What Is It Like?

What is it like to be born again in the Spirit?  Your conscience becomes alive to the living God.  Some people experience a dramatic change, like the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.  Have you ever met someone famous?  It would be like meeting the most important person in the world, only you would have heavenly feelings of joy and that no man can describe!  Some who grow up in the Church struggle with the thought of being born again because they have heard all about Jesus  and feel as if they know Him.  Knowing about God and being born again is like the difference between day and night.

Jesus said,, "Unless you are born of the Spirit, you will never see the Kingdom of God"... John 3:3.  Seek Jesus and you will find Him.  If you have grown up in the Church there must be a specific time where you can point to and say, yes this is when I met God.  If you cannot do this, then you are still lost in your sins.  When your conscience becomes alive unto God, you are aware of sin.  It cannot be said any plainer than that!  God does not leave you at that point, He fills you with the reality of Him and that is the heavenly joy.

This my prayer:  "Dear Heavenly Father...thank you for my salvation!  How can I thank you with mere words for it?  I can only live with a grateful heart displaying to others that I belong to you.  Oh, God may I live so others will say, "she has been with Jesus".  Eternity awaits and someday I will see Him face to face.  Draw me ever nearer to you Father is the cry of my heart!  In the precious name of Jesus Christ I pray".  Amen. 

Home Sweet Home

The origin of this saying was created by Edwin Forbes from a set of etches concerning the Civil War.  It was etched in 1876.  I have always thought this to be a warming statement, but to think it was connected with the War was a surprise to me.  Soldiers longing for home.  Longing to be safe.  Longing for family.  Lonely and wanting to feel loved.  The soldiers were desiring so many things of home.

We are soldiers in a war while in this flesh.  We fight against darkness...Ephesians 6:12.  This world is not our home, but whether it exists in a city far away in eternity.  We are pilgrims traveling through this world.  Dear Christian, don't get too comfortable for we are not in control of our lives.  Who can add a day to his own life?  We act as if we are capable of doing this though!  I am thinking about what living for Christ means today.

This is my prayer:  "Dear Heavenly Father....I am on my face in my spirit today Lord for I am ashamed that I have not confessed you in a way to impact those around me!  Allow me another day so that I might live more honorably for you"...in the name of Jesus Christ"...Amen.

Where Could We Go?

"Where could I go but to the Lord"?  It is an old hymn, but echoes the cry of the heart when it is so burdened with the sorrows of this world!  King David once said, "Oh, that I were a bird so I could fly away from all of my problems".  When we stop to consider the great sorrows around us, we long as David did just to get away from it all.  We end up at the feet of Jesus every time, for there is no where else to go.

We pray for we want the Lord to deliver someone from great sorrow whom we love.  We pray that He will act quickly to eleve suffering of the one we love.  He hears our prayer if we have confessed all sin in our lives and come before Him with a believing heart.  We have seen Him do marvelous things in such a short time when we have sought His face with much diligence!

This is my prayer:  "Dear Heavenly Father....come quickly to rescue the one whom we love so dearly.  Hear my cry and deliver them.  Your mercy is great and delivering in times of trouble.  You are a Heavenly Father who weeps with His children.  You are not far from us, but ever so close.  Answer my prayer for I think I have prayed in the Holy Spirit.  In the blessed name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord forever".  Amen.

The Cross

Who can understand the love of God that took Him to the Cross?  His love is not earthly, so we struggle with the receiving of it.  We fully accept the love from people, but why is it so hard for us to let God love us?  We can only know His love through the Holy Spirit and then time and time again we struggle to reach out and take it for our own.

The Cross is the ultimate demonstration of His love for us...more He could not do!  This thing of sin keeps us from fellowshiping with Him.  Even though we have asked forgiveness, we engage with the enemy who tells us that God does not love us now!  It is a lie and we know it is and yet we, for a short time, adhere to it as if it were true.  Oh, what a wretch that I am!  Repeating the same sin that besets me over and over!

This is my prayer:  "Dear Jesus...I struggle in this vessel of earthen clay!  Help me Father to have a heart that desires to know you!  The Apostle Paul said he had only one desire and that was to know Him (Jesus).  Let that be the cry of my heart also Lord.  In the name above all names, Jesus Christ".  Amen.

Love Letters

There are so many times when I feel unloved.  If you are a Christian reading this the following will not sound kosher to you, nonetheless I dare to write it.  Jesus makes it clear in His Word that He loves us....John 3:16....Romans 5:8 and the list is long.  When I feel like I am not wanted or loved I let Jesus talk to me and I write it down.  He tells me that I am lovely to Him and He cares for me beyond anything that I could ever think or imagine.  He gave me my red hair and my height...He knew me before I was formed in my mother's womb!  He gave me my personality and my laugh...and He knows when I am sad and when I am happy.

He says He thinks of me all the time...Psalms 139....He tells me He loves me with a heavenly love, not earthly that will pass away!  How would you like to get a love letter like that in the mail?  I rely on His Word as my love letters, especially Psalms 139!  He loves like no earthly father can or any husband can!  I am off to read another love letter from Jesus.



Good Times

During the great depression there was a man who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel and fell to his death.  Whether he did it for money or not we do not know, but such a waste.  Jesus has so much living water to give and yet we seek it not.  We praise Him in the good times and have a tendency to ignore him in the good times!  He longs to let the living water flow over us and we continue to live in the dessert most of our lives.

This is my prayer for today for anyone who reads this:  "Dear Heavenly Father...let our focus be on your kindness that flows from the Cross of Calvary.  May we forever keep our thoughts on eternal things even while we must attend to the things of the daily life.  May we see others as we pass by and consider their soul.  Let us say Thank you constantly out loud and in whispers.  Help us to consider what it meant for you to leave heaven for our sake.  In the precious name of your only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Amen, so be it.

A Girl With Curls

Little children are precious.  They are gifts from God.  Very young children will tell you like it is in any situation.  They will never hold grudges, but forgives quickly.  They will speak their minds even if it offends those who was not looking for the truth.  It is no wonder that Jesus said we must become as little children before we can enter into the Kingdom of God.  Trusting the Savior with child like thoughts pure and innocent.

Children coming unto a certain age will no longer have these traits.  As I think back on the day I sat in that fourth grade class and stared at the girl with the beautiful curls.  I was jealous and coveted those curls.  Children coming of age need the Savior with the understanding that they are in need of forgiveness from the one who died for the world.  Inside the Church we are afraid to speak to children in this manner.  We have been deceived into thinking that young children cannot understand what sin is or have a relationship with God.  Children of missionaries of old had knowledge of these things.  We must never take up with the thought that children are unable to comprehend sin and the Savior.



Accident?

The Lord loved flowers and in every color imaginable!  Who can explain a flower?  We can explain the process of it's growth, but who can explain it?  I want to go even further and ask you to explain to me the wonderful scent of a bunch of violets!  We can't see the scent nor can we touch it.  We can no more explain this than we can the love between a man and a woman.

When I look at Creation the word 'accident' is such a slap in the face of the Creator!  I want to go even further and talk about the love of God...who can explain it?  Oh, how the world bashes the God who created them, saying that it was all an 'accident'!  If you are an accident how would you grade yourself...bad, worse, most worse?  The definition of the word 'accident' is: 'an unforseen or unplanned event'.  If you, as a baby, were not planned then we must out of all due explainations call you an 'accident'!

The love of God no man can explain, but the joy of knowing it can be felt!





A Long Time