Dear Friend:
After reading Hebrews 11: 13 I emailed my son and questioned “The
sentiments expressed by the patriarchs and heroes of Faith leaves me
feeling like our future is filled with doom and gloom. Do we have any
hope for the future?”
He replied “I read the whole chapter. Paul is
describing faith and the people that showed faith in the Bible in the
past. They all knew God was perfect and they wanted to be perfect like
him. They knew through him they could do this. They were searching for a
better place or things. They showed faith in God and therefore were
commended for their faith. We have been told that there is a better
place and all it takes to get there is faith in Him. These people were
given positive things (children, their lives, lands, etc.) but they were
not given what they were promised; perfection in a better place on
earth. Because if it was on earth we would be separated from God and
therefore not be perfect. God did not want this for us and had a better
plan for us to be perfect like Him. Only together with him can we be
perfect. Even though these people of faith showed their faith they never
received what was promised to them on earth.”
The Bible was written as a history lesson. There is nothing new under
the sun; what the people of the Bible did the people of today have
done. Reading the Bible in its full context reveals an interpretation
that fills us with hope for the future. Paul, in the book of Acts,
repeats the story of the great plight the Jews endured. He assured us
“They enjoyed God’s favor” this side of heaven.
The conclusion is this: if we look for perfection this side of heaven
our outlook will be one of doom and gloom. I want my children to
picture me turning my face up to the sun and saying these words, “Look
at the miracle of a baby forming in its mother’s womb as we welcome them
into to the world, we examine its fingers and toes …God did that. Look
at the beauty of nature-the blossoms and their scent, look at the Grand
Canyon and the landscape around it…God did that. I am convinced there is
a God and for Him alone my life is worth living, this side of heaven.”
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did
not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them
from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on
earth” (Hebrews 11:13 NIV).
PRAYER: Father in heaven, thank You for my life. Thank You for the
creation of this world. Help me to focus today on the tasks You put
before me. Help me to be reminded that I do these tasks unto You. Like
the faith patriarchs I want to focus on You. Amen.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
YOU GOT THAT JESUS' JOY
I wrote this intending post it before Easter
to wish you a Happy Easter.
Dear
Friend:
“When
Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father
the hour has come. Glorify and exalt and honor and magnify Your Son, so that
Your son may glorify and extol and honor and magnify You.”
Jesus
last prayer before he went to the cross is full of His mission, His
convictions, His care, His hope, His perfect love so that…God would be lifted
high and be glorified.
“Father,
glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world
began” Jesus said.
My
prayer for each of us is that motive of our hearts each day we would be led by
the Holy Spirit to please God...for Jesus will be lifted high and glorified.
This
gets hard for each of us when…we lose a job, have a health issue, have a
wayward child, deal with crabby friends or family.
You got that JESUS’
JOY!
“I
am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so
that they may have the full measure of my JOY within them” Jesus spoke.
What does that tell us about Jesus plan of Joy. He did not say I’ll give
them a big house, money and fancy cars so they may have the full measure of my
JOY within them.
“I
have given them your word” Jesus declared.
When
someone says to you “I give you my word”. You really want to trust them, don’t you?
Jesus
is forever and He is alive! He personally went to the cross for you…for me.
Each
day when a negative and anxious thoughts about another person, job loss,
wayward children, health issues…kneel at the throne picture Jesus risen and
alive with His arms extended like any daddy would beckoning you to get up on
His lap.
Let
Jesus renew your mind. Let Jesus give you the strength to take the high road.
You got that Jesus’Joy today!?
I pray you found Jesus in the midst of a Holy
Day that competes with Hallmark.
PRAYER:
Thank You for Your grace that set me free. Help me to take You at Your word.
Give me strength to take the high road. Amen.
Monday, April 7, 2014
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL
I woke up with these words on my mind: “Don’t give up!” I immediately
rejected that thought because I really did feel like giving up and had
no desire to listen. Then I remembered going through YouTube videos one
day and coming across one of this little girl singing “Never give up.”
When my daughter caught me listening to this out-of-tune girl singing she said, “Stop! Turn that off.”
It is such a cliché to say to someone who is struggling “Well, don’t give up, things will be brighter tomorrow.” Some days we can receive advice like that with delight; but on other days we could respond with attitude and completely turn away from those words
.
Can you identify with the struggle I am describing?
I know the people close to me are thinking “When is she going to snap out of this funk?”
If they only knew all the thoughts I was struggling with. That is precisely the point. If they knew all of the thoughts I was thinking, they would tell me to stop it…and then they would nag me to not give up! Ugh! There are those words again. “Don’t give up!”
Instead of those reoccurring words, we could say to one another, “don’t delay, run straight to Jesus.”
The Bible teaches us, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words” (1 Corinthians 2:11-13 NIV).
If we reminded ourselves daily that we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), then we would hold the truth not of the world but the thoughts of Christ in our head and heart. This knowledge is completely different than what the world offers for advice when we are struggling. With Christ’s truth we must look at things differently. All our struggles can be covered by Jesus. We just need to know the truth!
PRAYER: Lord thank you for helping me to understand what you have freely given me. Teach me Lord your way to get through life struggles. Amen.
When my daughter caught me listening to this out-of-tune girl singing she said, “Stop! Turn that off.”
It is such a cliché to say to someone who is struggling “Well, don’t give up, things will be brighter tomorrow.” Some days we can receive advice like that with delight; but on other days we could respond with attitude and completely turn away from those words
.
Can you identify with the struggle I am describing?
I know the people close to me are thinking “When is she going to snap out of this funk?”
If they only knew all the thoughts I was struggling with. That is precisely the point. If they knew all of the thoughts I was thinking, they would tell me to stop it…and then they would nag me to not give up! Ugh! There are those words again. “Don’t give up!”
Instead of those reoccurring words, we could say to one another, “don’t delay, run straight to Jesus.”
The Bible teaches us, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words” (1 Corinthians 2:11-13 NIV).
If we reminded ourselves daily that we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), then we would hold the truth not of the world but the thoughts of Christ in our head and heart. This knowledge is completely different than what the world offers for advice when we are struggling. With Christ’s truth we must look at things differently. All our struggles can be covered by Jesus. We just need to know the truth!
PRAYER: Lord thank you for helping me to understand what you have freely given me. Teach me Lord your way to get through life struggles. Amen.
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