“In ALL your ways acknowledge HIM, and He will direct your paths.” -Proverbs 3:6
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Are you lost? Only you can answer this question.
Some of you reading this, know that you are lost. You don’t KNOW Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. You have not as yet asked Him into your heart and life. Read more…
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Jude 1:3
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One of the meanings of contend is from the French “to strive with,” and it is a literal fighting, as in “to contend with fists.”. Most contemporary uses of the verb contend illustrate competitions of proof or defense, where a person will contend that something is true, or better, or wrong. Read more…
As I read the following words this morning, I was reminded of a T-shirt I had long ago. On it, was a parchment note, attached by three rusty nails. It simply read:
“I’ve gone to see My Father. We’re building you a beautiful house. So get ready, because I’ll be back soon to get you! Love, Jesus
Take a look….
At times, we of the lower middle class look at those more financially fortunate than ourselves, and envy what they have.
“Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot; This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe.” Joel 2:13-14 (MSG) The (NIV) puts it this way: “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” Joel 2:14
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“YOU CANNOT HAVE A COMEBACK WITHOUT EVER HAVING A SET BACK!”
This was the sermon we heard yesterday from Pastor Danny. It really hit home to me! As I shared with some of you yesterday morning, I woke up very frustrated. My anger was “kindled” against my dog Teddy. For those of you reading this and not knowing the story, let me explain.
Teddy wants to eat ALL OF THE TIME! I only feed him twice a day. Once in the morning, and once in the late afternoon. He thinks he needs a bedtime snack. To make a long story short, when I put him out to do his business right before we go up to bed, he invariably sneaks over, in the dark, to the place where I put bread crumbs out for the birds…and eats his fill. He did this Saturday night. We went to bed, and in the wee hours of the morning, I heard him gagging. I was exhausted and fell back to sleep. Suddenly, around 5 a.m., I awoke to an unpleasant situation…Teddy had thrown up on the bed! Needless to say…I was more than frustrated. I was completely “ticked off!” So here I am, on an early Sunday morning, when I could have slept in for a bit, but instead…stripping the bed, and having to wash everything…even the blankets!
When we got to church, we all stood in a circle, holding hands and were praying for the morning service. I prayed for peace in my own spirit. I asked God to let me lay down my frustration of the morning, and let me come before Him in a quiet spirit so that I could receive what He had for me. It worked! After hearing the sermon, my eyes were opened, and I had to ask myself, “How many times do I frustrated a Holy God with my disobedience?” “How many times do I sneak off in the dark, and do my own thing…go my own way, and never give a thought to His commands?”
We all have appetites that aren’t easy to satisfy due to our fleshly nature. I’m sure God’s anger was kindled against Adam and Eve when they partook from the very thing God told them to leave alone! They not only sickened, and brought death to themselves…they brought the sickness of sin and death to the whole human race.
The thing God showed me from the message was this: Teddy’s no different from me. I want God’s favor and love. I want His mercy. But I also want to do what I want to do. It doesn’t work that way! It says in the above verse, if I want God to be gracious and compassionate, kind and merciful, and put up with a lot from me…then I NEED to “Come back to Him; change my life…not just my clothes!” In another place in Scripture, it talks about the Pharisees only cleaning the outside of the cup, but leaving the inside still dirty.
Changing your clothes…self-reformation…”looking” Holy, will not satisfy God. He wants us to change our life…let Him come in and reform our hearts…become Holy through the blood of Jesus. When we have been changed on the inside…it shows on the outside!
Teddy is forgiven, for I see my own self in his actions. I will be kind and merciful…take a deep breath and put up with all of his messes just as I want God to do for me. But Teddy’s a dog…he can’t change his life, or his clothes; but I can. I can allow God to change me from the inside out, and let Him clothe me with the robes of righteousness that I so desperately need!
“Light is sown for the righteous, gladness for the upright in heart.” -Psalm 97:11
Wow! I hate feeling old and despise being unable to do the things I used to do and took for granted at the time!
I look at my eight-year-old in amazement. I put him to bed at 9:30, and many times he is still awake and talking at midnight. Last Friday night, I let him watch a movie when he went to bed. It was only to last for an hour or so. I woke up at 4:20 a.m., and went in his room to check on him and turn things off only to find him sitting up in bed, playing with his toys! AWWW! To be young again!
Kids don’t stay sad for very long either…have you noticed that? One minute, they are crying because they weren’t able to do something they had their heart set on, and a few minutes later, they have forgotten all about their anxiety and sadness and have moved on to a new adventure.
This is how we as Christians are to be. When the trials of life seem to get us down, our crying and sadness should soon stop, for we KNOW that God will make a way…it’s time to move on to a new adventure. But sometimes we get “old and crotchty”, we get bitter at the things life has dished out to us. But I want you to remember this quote from Max Lucado: “Play hard, laugh hard, and leave the worries to your Father.” That’s how we need to live! Our Heavenly “Daddy” will take care of everything!
Jesus left His throne in Glory and came to earth for:
THE LAST
Matthew 20:16 (KJV) tells us this…
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
THE LOST
Luke 19: 10 (KJV) says…
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Read more…
I went to the Promise Box this morning and found the following:
“Jesus said unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father, but by Me.” -John 14:6
I began to ponder that verse in my mind-asking myself such questions as:
