Worthy of Me

There are so many things in this life that can get us side tracked from God.  The deep sorrow of lost ones in our family is no doubt at the top of the list.  The enemy haunts us with thoughts that they will end up in hell.  This is done to get our eyes off of Christ and our realationship with Him.  We sorrow over them and certainly pray for them, but all too often we let it consume us until we are depressed.

Jesus said:

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 10:34-37

We must love the Lord more than "anyone".  The One who created us must have our full attention.  Of course, we love our family, but if we let it control our thoughts then we fall into a snare of the devil. 

Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

Proverbs 4:25

Travelers

Glitter and gold will you behold?  Lots of shiny things in this world to catch our eye.  The lust of the eye though can get us into so much trouble.  It might even lead to death.  Does this mean we are never to own a new car or home?  I don't think so.  It is the "lusting" that makes it a sin.

"This world is not my home" is not only an old adage, but also scriptural (Hebrews 11:9).  We are but strangers traveling through a strange country looking for our real home.  What does it mean to be a "traveler"?  To me it is the knowing that we own nothing in this world!  In New York did you know when you purchase a building, you must also purchase the air above it?  This would make a good laugh if it wasn't the truth.  Men live in their wisdom, which is foolishness unto God (I Cor 3:19).

"Travel light" is another old adage.  It should be seared into our hearts as those who belong to Christ!  To me, traveling light means we are to be content with what we have.  Our time is brief  on this earth; every breath we take is allowed only to us by our Creator Christ Jesus, who died so that we might have eternal life. (John 3:16)

I Timothy 6:8-10

⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

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Menopause 101

Menopause is spelled "men~of~pause".  God made woman beautiful with all of her wonderful tender qualities...like "nurturing".  To put it plainly ladies "we are a lovely basketful of hormones" [snicker].  No, this is not an article for men, but it would be good reading for all husbands.  We are special with all of our hormones!

In the days of Jesus, when he walked the earth, the average span of life for a man was forty-five years and maybe even less for a woman.  Today women are living to be in their eighties and beyond, so we go through that time when estrogen begins to decrease in our forties.  I won't give you the details of symptoms like hot flashes etc. because every woman has googled them to death!  No, I want to give you something more.

Most women like a good challenge; if this were not so there would be no one wanting to get pregnant!  This is a great challenge and one to behold in all of it's glory!  The challenge of Menopause is a big one too!  After the fall of mankind we can be certain that Eve knew what these changes were, for she probably lived a long time. "There is nothing new under the sun" (Eccl. 1:9).  I'm so glad that the Lord made me a woman!  Please check out the link below, I found it to be very uplifting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1165686/Why-menopause-best-years-life.html



Fornication

1989 seems like a long journey back in time for me.  God laid an event on my heart this morning and I want to share it.   A newly wed couple had moved in next door to us.  She was twenty and he was twenty-one.  They were sweet neighbors.

The girl, Shannon, came over one day and was distraught.  She asked if both of them could come over and my answer was yes, of course.  That afternoon we all sat down together.  She began to cry.  The boy, Larry, did not reach out to comfort her.  I took her hand and waited quietly for her to say something.  She blurted out, "He had sex with another girl before he met me"!  I was not prepared for that and I was hurting for her. 

She was a Christian.  He was a nice boy, but I was not sure about his being a Christian.  Then she asked, "Why couldn't he wait until he meant me"?  I was silently asking the Lord to really help me with His answer!  She had really come to depend on me in the short time we had known each other, so the answer had to come from God and not me!  I was very frank with her:

"Men are geared to sex more than women.  This does not excuse fornication.  It is a sin and he needs to repent of it.  You are already married and I praise you for your honesty in wanting to deal with the situation.  There will be many things in marriage that will have to be dealt with for sure.  You are in the wonderful position to forgive him, if he wants to repent of it.  Another thing, he married you, so what happened with the other girl was just a matter of his hormones.  He chose you for marriage."  She dried her face with her hands and her countenance was one of enlightenment.

I don't know what transpired after that between them, but ever since then it has been in my heart the hope that young women will pray and ask God to give them the mate that He has for them!  I'm writing this twenty-five years later and the days are even heavier in the way of finding a man who has loved God from childhood. 

II Timothy 2:22

Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Is he?

Is he what you wanted as a mate for life?  Yes?  Then why are you trying to change him?  After you say "I Do" then you have agreed to accept him for who he is and he you.  Are you living in sorrow over your choice?  If so, then you have a great opportunity to warn others who are contemplating matrimony! 

What does the Lord want us to do while we are single?  He wants us to set our standards so high for a mate it will cause people to treat you indifferntly.  The Lord wants you to have a good marriage and even when you do find that special person, God's Word says you will have tribulation.  Marriage is a triangle: God, you, and your mate.  If you are a believer and you marry someone who is not, you will live a life of regret.   English Standard Version (©2001)

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?"

Here is an inspired wedding song:

http://youtu.be/t4_sfgjRcfI

Twenty Years

"I will go Church when I'm old" was the response from my sister when I witnessed to her about the Lord.  You would not believe how many people think that going to Church is for old people.  Even worse they associate going to Church with being saved!  They perceive being saved a last minute thing to do in order to go to heaven.  They really do know there is a heaven and hell, but they want to go to heaven on their own terms.  To me, this is truly sad.

My sister has been in hell now for over twenty years.  She never did call upon the Lord for her salvation.  What is twenty years in hell?  We can compare it to throwing an aspirin into the ocean of time! 

Today is the day to call upon the Lord for tomorrow is not promised to no one! 

                                                            http://youtu.be/488FJkmWZbk 

Pipes

Been thinking about the sixty seconds in a minute today.  Have you ever stood by the microwave and waited for a minute?  Try it sometime, it will give you a new perspective on "time".  Will "time" exist after we die?  I guess everyone has thought of that one at some point in their lives.  By now you have already shut this down and gone on to something else on facebook.

If you are still with me, thank you.  When walking through Walmart the other day I looked up at the ceiling.  Why?  I do odd things.  The pipes running every which way and they were all white.  As I studied the "ugly" ceiling exposed with all of the stuff that would turn us off, I looked back down and began to watch the people going to and fro.

In this world we are like those pipes in that ceiling.  We do our job in life and then we are taken down and replaced.  Time is passing my friend and eternity awaits.  Whether you want to believe that or not.  Christmas is almost here and the "baby" Jesus is no longer a baby, but "time" allowed Him to grow up and die on a tree for You.  Please give some thought to that this Christmas.

Galatians 3:13



Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE "--