Always On His Mind

Do you take time to sit quietly with your thoughts? That’s what I love most about mornings. The opportunity to sit and reflect on God’s goodness and His amazing love.

A number of Scriptures are filling my heart so I will share them with you.

“I look at the heavens you made with your hands.
    I see the moon and the stars you created.
4 And I wonder, “Why are people so important to you?
    Why do you even think about them?

Why do you care so much about humans?
    Why do you even notice them?”

But you made them almost like gods
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
You put them in charge of everything you made.
    You put everything under their control.
People rule over the sheep and cattle and all the wild animals.
They rule over the birds in the sky
    and the fish that swim in the sea.
Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:3-9 ERV

Father, why do You even think about us? Why are we so important to You? Why is Your mind filled with thoughts of us?

He says, you are always on My mind!

“You know when I sit down and when I get up.
    You know my thoughts from far away.
You know where I go and where I lie down.
    You know everything I do.
Lord, you know what I want to say,
    even before the words leave my mouth.
You are all around me—in front of me and behind me.
    I feel your hand on my shoulder.
I am amazed at what you know;

    it is too much for me to understand.
Your Spirit is everywhere I go.
    I cannot escape your presence.” Psalm 139:2-7 ERV

Our heavenly Father knows our every step, every time we stand up or sit down. He knows when we stumble, and He is here to pick us up and make our steps secure once again. His mind is filled with thoughts of us.

“And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the wildflowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that even Solomon, the great and rich king, was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 30 If God makes what grows in the field so beautiful, what do you think he will do for you? It’s just grass—one day it’s alive, and the next day someone throws it into a fire. But God cares enough to make it beautiful. Surely he will do much more for you. Your faith is so small!

31 Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things.” Matthew 6:28-32 ERV

Our Father who created all the world with its splendor and beauty cares more for us than anything else in His creation. Don’t worry, He knows everything we need.

He is mindful of our needs!

 Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ERV

From the beginning of time, our heavenly Father and Lord of creation, has had one thing on His mind – His love for us.

We are always on His mind!

Pray for Everyone

Last night the following verses became my command for the evening.

“First of all, I ask you to pray for everyone. Ask God to help and bless them all, and tell God how thankful you are for each of them. Pray for kings and others in power, so we may live quiet and peaceful lives as we worship and honor God. This kind of prayer is good, and it pleases God our Savior. God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth, which is,

There is only one God, and Christ Jesus  is the only one who can bring us to God. Jesus was truly human, and he gave himself to rescue all of us. God showed us this at the right time.

 This is why God chose me to be a preacher and an apostle of the good news. I am telling the truth. I am not lying. God sent me to teach the Gentiles about faith and truth.” I Timothy 2:1-7 CEV

I had a private prayer meeting. Others had been invited but I soon realized the room would be filled with just two attendees, myself and precious Holy Spirit. I sat and prayed in the quiet, wondering if I should just leave.

No. It was time to pray.

First of all, I prayed for our political leaders, the ones I agree with and the ones I don’t. I prayed for the Lord to reveal Himself in a mighty way to each of them – letting them know His love and His truth. And then I prayed that God would remove from office those who don’t honor Him and aren’t willing to lead according to His plan and purpose. The rest I will leave up to Him.

But then the words “pray for everyone” kept circulating in my heart.

We live in a small community where I am familiar with most of the names but not all of the faces, so I felt prompted to take a walk through the neighborhood in my mind’s eye. Stopping at each residence and praying for the occupants.

Some have physical needs, others have financial and emotional needs, and we all have a need for a deeper relationship with Jesus, who is our Lord and Savior.

According to the Apostle Paul this kind of prayer is good and “God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth”. Our heavenly Father isn’t a narcissist or an egotistical dictator. No, He gives each of us a free will to do as we please. However, He does know that when we follow Him and His plan for our lives, we will experience a true and abundant life.

“A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so everyone would have life, and have it fully.” John 10:10 CEV

After I prayed for all of them, I prayed for you, my readers.

Never consider the time you spend praying or studying God’s word to be a waste. That is precious time that will enrich your life with strength and power.

“I pray that God, who gives peace, will make you completely holy. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept healthy and faultless until our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 24 The one who chose you can be trusted, and he will do this.” I Thessalonians 5:23-24 CEV

I encourage you to make time in your day to pray.

Trust & Obey

As parents we like our children to be obedient. Sometimes when they’re little it’s “blind obedience”. They aren’t old enough to understand why we say to do the things we do but as we grow together in loving relationship, our children learn to trust us and obedience comes easier when it’s built on trust.

For the last month we have focused on God’s unconditional, unending love. I hope you have come to trust that God loves you and has designed a life filled with blessings for you. Trusting His love brings us to obedience.

 If you love me, you will do what I command. 16I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever.” John 14:15 ERV

There is no need to fear that God will ask us to do something we are incapable of doing or that it would be harmful to us. No, perfect love casts out fear.

“But I will sing about your strength. I will rejoice in your love every morning. You have been my place of safety, the place I can run to when troubles come.” Psalm 59:16 ERV

We run to God and not from Him when we need help in times of trouble. This is our place of safety, for He is our protector and our strength.

 Turn to the Lord for help in everything you do, and you will be successful.” Proverbs 16:3 ERV

This morning’s picture, the little girl and Jesus walking hand-in-hand, that’s trust! You might say, “well, if I saw the Lord holding my hand I would trust too”. That sounds like something . Thomas said when the disciples told him they had seen Jesus but he hadn’t been there. Look what Jesus said to Thomas a week later.

“Jesus said to him, “You believe because you see me. Great blessings belong to the people who believe without seeing me!” John 20:29 ERV

Jesus was talking about us and all those who were born after He ascended to heaven. We are the ones who haven’t seen Him. We are blessed because we believe – we trust, we place our faith in Him.

 God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 1:9 CEV

I encourage you to start each day by trusting the Lord with your plans and your hopes. Lay them out before Him, listen for His instruction, depend on Him for guidance.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and obey His word. He won’t steer you wrong!

In Case You Wonder

I have a few questions for you this morning. Are you in love – have you ever been in love? How often do you tell the person you love, “I love you”? Your spouse, your kids, your grandkids, your friends, do they know you love them?

I don’t miss an opportunity to tell my kids each time we talk or text that I love them. Dave and I start and end our day with I love you; and there are many times in between.

So, when I started to pray about what to share this morning, I heard the Lord say in my heart “Tell them again”! It was a powerful urging. Did someone mess up yesterday and is feeling low this morning? Does someone feel alone and forgotten? We all need a reminder, a daily reminder and that is why I’m here to say, “In case you wonder, God loves you and His love is unconditional”.

“I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. 21 I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.

22 I have honored my followers in the same way you honored me, in order that they may be one with each other, just as we are one. 23 I am one with them, and you are one with me, so they may become completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you sent me. They will know that you love my followers as much as you love me.” John 17:20-23 CEV

The last few days I have taken you through Jesus’ final night with his disciples. His words constantly affirmed His love for them and now we have these verses from His agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had committed whole-heartedly to laying down His life out of love for us. Why?

Because He loves us. Not only that He prayed that the world would know “that you love my followers as much as you love me”. He wants us to know and to never wonder about the Father’s love. I want you to know that God the Father and God the Son love you – you don’t ever have to wonder if that’s true. It’s a fact that has been established on the cross.

“I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and be kind to you! May God bless you with his love, and may the Holy Spirit join all your hearts together.” II Corinthians 13:13 CEV

I said the other day that I find the love of God written on every page in the Bible. It’s the most amazing love letter.

I will say it again, just in case you wonder, God loves you and He wants you and the world to know about it!

Much Fruit

Today will end our month-long teachings on love. That doesn’t mean I will no longer be teaching on or talking about the love of God. It’s not possible to talk about our heavenly Father without mentioning love because that’s who He is.

God is Love.

Our verses for today find us in John chapter 15. The foot washing of John 13 is over, and Jesus is getting ready to head to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. These are His words of encouragement to those He knows will be heart-broken in just a few short hours.

“If you get your life from Me and My Words live in you, ask whatever you want. It will be done for you. ‘When you give much fruit, My Father is honored. This shows you are My followers. I have loved you just as My Father has loved Me. Stay in My love. 10 If you obey My teaching, you will live in My love. In this way, I have obeyed My Father’s teaching and live in His love. 11 I have told you these things so My joy may be in you and your joy may be full.

12 ‘This is what I tell you to do: Love each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one can have greater love than to give his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I tell you.'” John 15:7-14 NLV

The life of Jesus was one filled with compassion. It was a fruitful life, He followed all the Father had instructed Him to do. His life was joyful. He found great joy in making others’ lives better. His final act was His most loving – He laid down His life for His friends.

He wanted, and still wants, those who follow Him to live joyful, compassionate, loving lives. He wants us living by His word; His words are life. His words are our firm foundation. They will keep us steady through the storms.

You will notice that Jesus was asking his disciples to lay down their lives, not on a wooden cross but on a cross of obedience to His word. He asked that we do what He has asked us to do.

“Love the Lord our God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as our self”, then our lives with be productive and we will bare much fruit!

Have a fruitful day my friends!

Change the World

The love of God is world changing! It has certainly changed mine and I hope it has changed yours.

This morning, I took time to reread the 13th chapter of John, in the CEV version. The love that Christ had for His disciples encased every sentence. Please take the time to read that. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13&version=CEV

Jesus only had a few hours left with the men who had walked side-by-side with Him for the last three years. They had seen the miracles – they had their moments of doubting and also of awe. Now, they were about to face their greatest moment of sorrow and they didn’t realize it.

What Jesus does at this time is remarkable!

“It was before Passover, and Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to return to the Father. He had always loved his followers in this world, and he loved them to the very end…So during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples’ feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing…14 And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. 15 I have set the example, and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you. 16  I tell you for certain that servants are not greater than their master, and messengers are not greater than the one who sent them. 17 You know these things, and God will bless you, if you do them…33  My children, I will be with you for only a little while longer. Then you will look for me, but you won’t find me. I tell you just as I told the people, ‘You cannot go where I am going.’ 34  But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13 CEV

Jesus makes one final gesture, an act of humility, an act of love. He washes the feet of His disciples. All of them, including Judas.

Peter the boisterous and the bold is the one to question why Jesus is doing this; Judas sits quietly as Jesus washes his feet, knowing that He is about to betray his teacher and Messiah.

Jesus’ love was unconditional, no one was outside the realm of His saving grace, not even Judas.

I wonder if the disciples thought about that later – thought about Jesus being no respecter of persons. He showed the same servant’s heart to John the disciple “whom Jesus loved”, as He did to the one who sold Him for 30 pieces of silver.

Betrayal of a trusted friend is one of life’s most bitter moments. Jesus turned that experience into an opportunity to teach us all about the love of God. No retaliation, no rebuke, no condemnation only love.

 As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own.  Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other.” Ephesians 4:1-2 CEV

When we drop selfishness and truly love like Jesus did, in a humble and gentle way, we will change our world with the power of God!

Let the World Know

I have a question for you this morning. If I asked you to define friendship would the word love be in your definition?

It should be – true friendship is built on love and trust. A couple of days ago, in my blog “Love Covers” I showed you how God’s love covers our multitude of sins. Remember this verse?

“Most of all, have a true love for each other. Love covers many sins.” I Peter 4:8 NLV

and then yesterday there was this verse

“But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 CEV

Those were the two thoughts heavy on my mind this morning. Am I a good and loving friend? Love and trust. Do I express those two characteristics with the people I call friends and those who are family?

Do I love the way Christ does? I think of the adulterous woman who the religious leaders wanted to stone. Jesus proved to be her friend; she could trust Him. He didn’t humiliate her or put her failure on display, He covered her actions with His love. He told her she was forgiven and to go and sin no more.

Look at Peter. Christ told him to be on guard because satan was going to trip him up and get him to sin. Peter in his own boisterous way said NEVER and then he denied Christ three times before the sun came up. After Jesus rose from the grave and encountered the disciples on multiple occasions He never once ridiculed or chided Peter in public. Jesus only spoke good things over Peter’s life.

How will the world know that we are disciples, followers of Christ? We are to love one another. That means that we cover the failings and shortcomings of those we love. We don’t repeat their mistakes, we don’t embarrass them with their past. We cover them with love.

“You will keep your friends if you forgive them, but you will lose your friends if you keep talking about what they did wrong.” Proverbs 17:9 CEV

There’s a story that you may not know. After he and his family were off the ark and living on land again, Noah got drunk and one of his sons found him naked in his tent. That son went and reported the incident to his brothers. He made his father’s shame public. Look what the other two sons did.

“Shem and Japheth put a robe over their shoulders and walked backwards into the tent. Without looking at their father, they placed it over his body” Genesis 9:23 CEV

They covered their father’s sin and shame. This is what God expects from us. This is how the world will know that we are His disciples.

“Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children.” Ephesians 5:1 CEV

With all we have learned about God’s love for us during the past month we have a mandate to walk in that kind of love to those around us. Be an encourager, be someone who builds others up. Don’t speak of past failures – cover them.

Let the world know we are His disciples by our love!

In Debt to Love

Dave and I have worked for many years to get out of debt and to stay out of debt. Thank God for the blessing of being debt free. There is one debt however that we will never be able to wipe off the books; it will always be on the balance sheet.

 Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands. ” Romans 13:8 CEV

Each and every one of us are in debt to love.

Love is hard. It requires work and it isn’t for the faint of heart. The good news is that we haven’t been left on our own to pay this debt. We have been given help for each day.

 God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23 gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways.” Galatians 5:22-23 CEV

There’s an urgency to be loving. The world is becoming more and more selfish; self-centered ambition drives so much of what is being done. Several years back there was a campaign to encourage people to do random acts of kindness.

What happened to that? Did you know that Jesus taught the same thing?

“The man replied, ‘The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’ …

But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, ‘Who are my neighbors?’

30 Jesus replied: As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.

31 A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.

33  A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him 34 and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, ‘Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.’

36 Then Jesus asked, ‘Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?'” Luke 10:25-27 CEV

Each one of us have been the man who was beaten and left on the roadside and if it weren’t for God’s unconditional love, we would be dead.

“Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. 13 The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them. 14 And you are my friends, if you obey me.” John 15:12-14 CEV

The debt of love is great. Christ freely gave to us, let’s be good Samaritan’s and freely give to those in need!

Love Covers

The first thing I did this morning was start the coffee, get my Bible, computer, journal and my blanket. What is it about being covered that makes us feel warm and safe?

When our grandkids come to visit, each one comes with their own blanket. There’s a sense of security, of comfort. So, of course, this morning I told the Lord how comfortable and safe I feel knowing I am wrapped in His love.

“But I have learned to feel safe and satisfied, like a young child in its mother’s arms.” Psalm 131:2 CEV

One of the first things a newborn experiences is being wrapped tightly in a blanket. It keeps them warm and gives them a sense of still being in the womb. It’s a comforting feeling.

“He will spread his wings over you and keep you secure. His faithfulness is like a shield or a city wall.” Psalm 91:4 CEV

“I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won’t be afraid. You are with me,” Psalm 23:4 CEV

The Father knows we need that sense of security and protection that’s why He covers us when we are in the presence of danger. Do you remember how the Lord covered the Israelites when they left Egypt? The Bible tells us He covered them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

If you haven’t spent much time in the desert those words might not mean much to you but let me tell you on a hot sunny day clouds are a welcome relief. Nights get bitterly cold in the desert and there is nothing more comforting than a fire. Those two things, the cloud and the fire, were a reminder to the children of Israel that they were not alone – God was with them.

They were covered by His love.

Now, we are almost to the end of January and I will probably go on to another subject soon but before I do there’s one more aspect of God’s love we have yet to cover. That is – how do we show God’s love to one another.

“Most of all, have a true love for each other. Love covers many sins.” I Peter 4:8 NLV

We read yesterday that we are forgiven once and for all. We also read that God doesn’t remember our sins, He removes them from His memory. He not only does that for us, but He also does that for everyone we meet. His love covers many sins.

We need to follow His example. Instead of gossiping about someone’s mistakes, failures or sins we should be covering them. Not denying that they happened but not recalling them either. Don’t keep drudging them up; cover them with love.

“But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 CEV

Let’s use our love to cover and bring comfort to someone today!

Because of Love

These past weeks we have been looking at the God’s love and the way He expresses it towards us. Now let’s look at how we express our love to the Father.

 We love because God loved us first. 20 But if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see?” I John 4:18-20 CEV

A big part of our loving God is how we love others. His love for us is unconditional; Paul tells us that God’s love thinks the best of others and doesn’t store up wrongdoings. In other words, love forgives and forgets. It doesn’t keep score; real love wipes the slate clean.

I’d like to share two different portions of Scripture I was reading this morning. They really spoke to me and gave me a mandate of how I’m to live, reflecting the love of God. Maybe they will do the same for you.

“Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head 16  of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.” Ephesians 4:15-16 CEV

Paul, who wrote these verses and the ones we will read next, had a divine insight to love. When he had his conversion experience, he was leading a murderous campaign against Christians. He carried arrest warrants on his person, looking for those who professed Christ and were claiming that Christ was the Messiah. He was on the road to Damascus to arrest many more when Christ appeared to him. He went from hating and persecuting the believers to loving them and teaching them how to be more Christ-like.

“Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands.  In the Law there are many commands, such as, ‘Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others.’ But all of these are summed up in the command that says, ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ 10 No one who loves others will harm them. So love is all that the Law demands.” Romans 13:8-10 CEV

Jesus was the one who taught that the greatest commandment of the Scriptures was to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength and then that we should love others as we love ourselves.

To love the way God wants us to love we first have to receive the love He has for us, experience it for ourselves and then we can be a conduit of love that will flow to others.

“But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 CEV

Each of us will have opportunities to be loving today. Remember, we are up for the task because of His love for us!