Category: John

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Review and Evaluate

For many years I was responsible for conducting Personnel Evaluations and Reviews. When employees were first hired they had a 90-day review and after that it was an annual evaluation. I always looked for their strengths and tried to encourage change in areas of weakness.

Now I find myself each morning reviewing the events of my previous day. I look back and am thankful for so many things, large and small.  I know some of you do this at the end of your day and that’s great too. This isn’t a performance evaluation because we can never win God’s approval by performance or the lack of it, That was all done by Jesus.

So what did I learn in my review of yesterday?

The day started out spending time with Dave, Pam and Jen. We enjoy being together and it doesn’t have to be something great and significant, just the small things are so much better because of the love we share.

The afternoon was spent resting. It’s important that we give ourselves time to be quiet. Our bodies aren’t made to be on the go 24/7, they need rest. It’s a shame that I had to retire to realize that.

In the evening we went to friends for dinner. Randy and Kristi have been our friends for almost 30 years. Friendships like that are truly nuggets of gold. We spent time catching up on life; children, grandchildren, life’s treasures and disappointing times. We talked of the Lord and His faithfulness and our hearts were more full than our stomachs when we left.

Yes, it was a good day!

So, I began to thank the Lord for the day past and the one to come. I found myself saying “Thank you Father. You make my life so…” and then I searched my mind for the right adjective.

Exciting…adventurous…wonderful…full…marvelous…amazing…peaceful…joyful…loving.

But then I stopped. I realized I didn’t need any adjectives. What I was really saying is “Thank you Father, You make my life!”

It’s that simple. Without the Lord, I really wouldn’t be experiencing true living. He makes it all complete.

“You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care.” Job 10:12

Knowing God and having Him in my life intensifies and magnifies each day’s experiences.  The Apostle Paul said it this way:

“I am full of hope and feel sure I will not have any reason to be ashamed. I am certain I will continue to have the same boldness to speak freely that I always have. I will let God use my life to bring more honor to Christ. It doesn’t matter whether I live or die. 21 To me, the only important thing about living is Christ. And even death would be for my benefit.22 If I continue living here on earth, I will be able to work for the Lord. But what would I choose—to live or to die? I don’t know.” Philippians 1:20-22 ERV

Jesus purpose in coming to earth was to give man a life filled with purpose. He didn’t come to diminish life and cause it to be substandard. No! He came to enhance and improved our lives in a way that we can’t possibly do on our own.

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

“I am the light that has come into the world. No one who has faith in me will stay in the dark.

47 I am not the one who will judge those who refuse to obey my teachings. I came to save the people of this world, not to be their judge.” John 12:46-47 CEV

Now it’s time to get up and start this day. I am really looking forward to it. I know that God has planned my steps and He has great things in store for me! I pray that you are looking forward to the moments of your day as well.

“This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, we beg You to save us! O Lord, we ask that You let everything go well for us! ” Psalm 118:24-25 NLV

 

 

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What Did Ya Come For?

Yesterday we had a strange experience I’d like to share with you.

Dave and I have toyed with the idea of getting an RV since we fully retired 4 years ago. We are up here in the Spokane/Couer d’Alene area and there are a lot of RV dealerships. We decided to just go and look at what’s available.  Mid-morning we took off with our friend, and headed to a few different dealerships.

Since we’ve been thinking about this for a while we know what we want and what we feel would work best for us. We wanted to see what’s available in our price range. This was a fun fact finding mission.

The first place we stopped only had two 5th wheel trailers that matched our criteria. The sales person was very nice and helpful. He understood that he really couldn’t help us. Off we went to the next dealership.

Once again we explained what we were looking for and why. This salesman got his inventory list and was unable to find anything on his lot that matched our wish list. He told us they were having a big sale this weekend, Dave told him we wouldn’t be buying this weekend. Then he blurted out in frustration “then what did ya come in for”.

Oh boy!

Those words stuck with me throughout the rest of the afternoon and I woke thinking about them this morning, “then what did ya come in for”.

There are so many times I go to the Lord and I’m not really sure what I need or what I’m wanting. I have confusion and need clarity. Or it maybe that I just need to talk, uninterrupted and unafraid, as I sort through emotions and circumstances.

The Lord is always there for me and never once has He lost his cool and asked me what I came for. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He tells me to come and I will find help when I need it.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 CEV

The Lord tells me to come when I’m tired and need rest.

“Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. 29 Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest.” Matthew 11:28-29 ERV

When I need wisdom the Father tells me to come and receive teaching that will give me a long and prosperous life.

“The young lions suffer want and hunger. But they who look for the Lord will not be without any good thing. 11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Who is the man who has a desire for life, and wants to live long so that he may see good things? 13 Keep your tongue from sin and your lips from speaking lies. 14 Turn away from what is sinful. Do what is good. Look for peace and follow it.” Psalm 34:10-14 NLV

I did a word search for “come” this morning and I found that there are over 2100 listings in the King James version. I will tell you honestly that I did not read all 2106 verses. However, this one from the book of John has to be one of my favorites.

“Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry. He who puts his trust in Me will never be thirsty. 36 I said to you that you have seen Me and yet you do not put your trust in Me. 37 All whom My Father has given to Me will come to Me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to Me. 38 I came down from heaven. I did not come to do what I wanted to do. I came to do what My Father wanted Me to do. He is the One Who sent Me.

39 “The Father sent Me. He did not want Me to lose any of all those He gave Me. He wants Me to raise them to life on the last day. 40 He wants everyone who sees the Son to put his trust in Him and have life that lasts forever. I will raise that one up on the last day.” John 6:35-40 NLV

I will never turn away anyone who comes to Me. 

What a promise!

He will NEVER turn away anyone who comes to Him. That is an absolute, all encompassing promise.

So forget the rude and frustrated salesman; forget the customer service rep; forget the harsh tone of the banker or the mortgage broker, forget the misdirected words of a mate or friend.

Come boldly and find help, rest, instruction and life. We’ll never be turned away when we come to the Lord!

 

 

 

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All A-Twitter

When someone used to say that they were all a-twitter it meant that they were infatuated or romantically smitten.

Those of us who are fans of Disney, remember well the scenes in Bambi when all the characters became twitterpated in the Spring.

However now when the word “Twitter” is used it’s connected to social media and “following” some of your favorite friends, sports figures, politicians and news makers.

Dave and I are not very tech savvy. Our world is simplistic and old-fashioned. We read books from hard copy, like to have phone conversations instead of texting and enjoyed writing letters instead of emails so when our friend began to tell us about the advantages of Twitter yesterday we were  uninformed but interested.

I do post the blog to Twitter each morning but don’t really have any followers nor do I follow anyone. But our simple tutorial  yesterday morning got me to thinking.

Tweets from the people I follow with just  pop up throughout the day…interesting. So if I find someone who, like me, enjoys sharing Scripture then I could be receiving random verses of encouragement all during the day.

I like that!

If Jesus were alive and ministering today I can see Him having a Twitter account.

“Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee. He saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee. They were preparing their nets to catch fish. Jesus told the brothers to come with him. 22 So they immediately left the boat and their father, and they followed Jesus.

23 Jesus went everywhere in the country of Galilee. He taught in the synagogues and told the Good News about God’s kingdom. And he healed all the people’s diseases and sicknesses.” Matthew 4:21-23 ERV

He reached out to people everywhere He went. So it’s not hard to imagine that he would have a Facebook page, a Twitter account and be on Instagram. Jesus was a people person.  He showed up where they did, touched their lives and they followed him.

“When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.” Matthew 8:1

“And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.” Matthew 8:23

“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us.” Matthew 9:27

“But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;” Matthew 12:15

Doesn’t the same hold true for us? Don’t we really desire to follow Jesus? King David gave us the example of the Lord being our shepherd. Sheep follow their shepherd instinctively.

“Jesus said:   I tell you for certain that only thieves and robbers climb over the fence instead of going in through the gate to the sheep pen. 2-3 But the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and he goes in through it. The sheep know their shepherd’s voice. He calls each of them by name and leads them out.

4 When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice. 5 The sheep will not follow strangers. They don’t recognize a stranger’s voice, and they run away.” John 10:1-5 CEV

It’s important that we listen and then follow as Christ leads us to those green pastures and still waters. It’s there we find rest and peace from life’s stresses.

Our days become so busy. It’s hard to find time to sit and reflect on God’s word without being interrupted. So let me challenge you with this. Find a Twitter account to follow that will periodically tweet out a Scripture verse. When that notification comes, read the verse and say this simple prayer: “Lord what are you saying to me right now, I am determined to follow You.”

We can become more twitterpated for Christ by reading God’s word on Twitter.

“Be followers of God as dear children, 2 and walk in love, even as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice of a sweet savour to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

 

 

 

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No Crows Here

Several years ago I was sitting outside enjoying the beauty of a Big Sky Montana summer morning. It was a beautiful morning and I was dwarfed by the panoramic views from our yard; 360 degrees of unobstructed, bright blue sky filled with large white puffy clouds.  God’s creation is glorious!

I noticed circling high above my head a dark spec on this brilliant blue background. Getting lower with each circling pattern, it didn’t take long to identify this seeker in the sky as a crow. He finally descended to the ground, having spotted his morning’s meal from such a lofty perch.  I couldn’t see what he was pecking at but no doubt it was the carnage left from a coyote’s kill the night before.

I told our daughter, “Imagine how disgusting it would be to spend your life eating what something else had killed and left to rot in the field.”

By now you must be asking yourself “where is she going with this? I thought she was going to write a message. Oh, but I am. Sometimes it takes a while to get through the introduction to the meat of the message but here it is.

This crow reminded me of the raven on Noah’s ark.

“Forty days later Noah opened a window to send out a raven, but it kept flying around until the water had dried up. 8 Noah wanted to find out if the water had gone down, and he sent out a dove. 9 Deep water was still everywhere, and the dove could not find a place to land. So it flew back to the boat. Noah held out his hand and helped it back in.

10 Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again. 11 It returned in the evening, holding in its beak a green leaf from an olive tree. Noah knew that the water was finally going down. ” Genesis 8:6-11 CEV

Noah and his family had been on the ark for over 5 months. The rain had stopped and the ark rested on the top of the mountain. No more floating! Noah waited a bit and then he sent out a raven, which the Bible says went to and from until the waters dried up. Noah also sent out a dove “to see if the water had receded but the dove found no resting place” so it returned to the ark.

Why didn’t the raven come back?

The raven had a ready food source. The bodies of the animals and the people who had drown provided him an unlimited food supply. They also provided him with a place to rest. He could sit on their decaying bodies and didn’t need the trees or the ground.

The dove on the other hand needed life – green shoots and seeds to sustain its life so it returned to the ark. Noah waited 7 days and sent the dove out again. It returned that evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah knew that life was returning to the earth. He waited another 7 days and sent the dove out again. This time the dove didn’t return so Noah knew it had found a place to rest and food to sustain it.

I’m so glad that  Father God used a dove to symbolize the Holy Spirit and not the raven or the crow.

“So Jesus was baptized. As soon as he came up out of the water, the sky opened, and he saw God’s Spirit coming down on him like a dove. 17 A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with him.” Matthew 3:16-17

The Scriptures tell us that when John baptized Jesus that the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. A dove, bringing signs of life – a dove resting on the One who is the giver of life! That really blesses me. The Holy Spirit has been sent to infill and empower each believer as a sign of our new life in Jesus Christ. Jesus said he was the bread of life , living water  and that the Holy Spirit would cause rivers of living water to flow from us.

Christ promises that we will have full and abundant lives when we are following him.  He came to give us life and not just life, but life more abundantly.

“So I am not the one living now—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in[a] the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave himself to save me.” Galatians 2:20 ERV

This wonderful life is a free gift from God. The term  “dirty, rotten sinner” is oh so true because a life of sin is death (crow’s food) but our new life is a gift from God – abundant and free!

“ Sin pays off with death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 ERV

Our life is to be filled with fruit, life affirming attributes that the Holy Spirit brings; love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness and patience.

So I encourage you today to make sure there aren’t any ravens circling over your head. Be a vessel of life and let the “dove” descend and fill you with peace!

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6

Further reading: (John 1:32-34; John 4:10-14; John 6:48; John 7:37-39; Luke 3:21-22; Mark 1:10-11 and Matthew 3:16-17)

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Don’t Forget to Call

With our most recent road trip only days behind me I stopped to consider this morning what really made it special and different from past trips.

It was the conversation.

Dave and I have traveled probably traveled hundreds of thousands of miles on the highways of the western United States in the past 25 years and this is the first one that was really filled with conversation.

Now don’t get me wrong, we spent other trips talking but it was generally about the work we had ahead of us. Making final mental notes of the preparations that needed to be completed, tweeking the last minute details of a trade show or streamlining the daily operations of our jobs was the general topic.

Take those moments and interject computer work, goggle searches for extra information, talk radio or the latest country hits and our time was gobbled up minute by minute without really listening to each other’s hearts.

This trip was 25 hours of enjoying each other’s company!

Have you noticed how text messages and twitter have reduced our conversations to brief snippets and how our cell phone conversations are disjointed and distracted? Does it bother you that we don’t just sit and talk?

So often phone conversations are one sided; I have to hurry and tell you all about me and when you start to talk about you, I get busy on my end doing dishes or folding laundry and I barely listen.

Important stuff like news stories have been reduced to snippets because the viewing public have shortened their attention spans and if you don’t catch my interest immediately I’m off to another channel. So everything appears to be a crisis or a breaking story.

Very few take time to show sincere interest.

The sad thing is I find that happens more often than I like to admit in my relationship with the Lord. The saying “quality not quantity” leaves us making excuses for our actions. But what’s wrong with quality and quantity. Spending time, our only unrenewable resource with those we love especially, our Heavenly Father, should be first and foremost in our actions.

“You can be sure that anyone who serves the Lord faithfully is special to him.
 The Lord listens when I pray to him.” Psalm 4:3 ERV

“The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me. I will always accept them. ” John 6:37 ERV

Our heavenly Father has set an open-door, open-heart acceptance policy for us to follow. He listens when we talk with Him and He accepts us into His presence.

Should we do any less with those that we love?

Write a letter, leave a card, put a note in a lunch bag, sit down and focus when carrying on a phone conversation, turn the TV and other electronic devices off during meals and just visit. There’s a true expression of love in being listened too. There is a difference, a big difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is the comprehension of sound but listening is understanding  the heart.

The Father always listens – He waits for each word and His desire is that we take time to listen to Him as well. Jesus related this instruction to John in Revelation about Christians and lukewarm relationship.

“Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together.” Revelation 3:20 CEV

Jesus is waiting to sit down and visit with you today. Do you have the time?

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Summer is Time to Grow

Dave and I spent 13 hours in the truck driving from Arizona to Nevada. We enjoyed our travel time – we talked, looked at the scenery, talked some more and filled our day with the beauty of God’s creation.

I loved driving through the ranch country. We didn’t see a lot of cattle grazing but the alfalfa fields were filled with big square green bales. The thing I did miss seeing were the fruit trees. I guess the area we were in isn’t known for it’s fruit. But I always love how the spring rains prompt the blossom of the peach, apple, pear, cherry and apricot trees which lead to a full and bountiful end-of-summer harvest.

Summer is good for that – producing a harvest. I feel like I am going through, and growing in, a harvest season of my own. God is working in me, changing me, giving me strength and peace. I can see fruit developing and maturing.

There is a single verse in the Psalm 40 that I want us to look at this morning.

“You, Lord God, have done many wonderful things, and you have planned marvelous things for us. No one is like you! I would never be able to tell all you have done.” Psalm 40:5 NKJV

Look at this phrase “many are the wonderful works which You have done”. Think about that for a moment – what WONDERFUL works do you see that He has done? Was it last night’s sunset or this morning’s sunrise? Was it the love and compassion you felt for a stranger who was in need? Or was it the unpretentious love and acceptance of a child? What did you experience just yesterday that you can see was a wonderful work of God in your life?

“Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” Psalm 107:8 NJKV

“He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” Psalm 111:4 NJKV

“O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” Isaiah 25:1 NKJV

I like the verse above – God’s counsellors are faithfulness and truth. The things that are wonder – full are the things that have the character of God woven through them. Things like faithfulness, truth, love, forgiveness, peace, gentleness, patience, joy. When God’s love fills us, we begin to produce fruit.

In nature a fruit  tree produces fruit for the kind of tree it is. Apples – apples, oranges – oranges, bananas – bananas and so on – you know what I’m saying. When we grow in Christ we will begin to produce fruit that is consistent with the vine we are growing on – we will begin to produce godly character.

As we examine our lives we should see godly fruit is growing. The Father is wanting us to share the fruit that grows in our lives with others. He is wanting to use us to do wonderful things in the lives of those around us.

“Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your prayer will be answered. 8 When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored. 9 I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you. ” John 15:7-9 CEV

I pray that this summer we all produce a bumper crop! May God bless  you with an abundant harvest.

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Set Free

As a young girl I grew up in Yuma, Az, home of the famous Yuma Territorial Prison.

It was a horrible place. One where they sent the worst offenders. I remember going to those ruins as a child. It was a tourist attraction, somewhere we took all our visiting relatives.

When I was in High School we continued to go up to Prison Hill to tour the buildings and the grounds. You see our High School mascot was a “criminal”. We were known as the Yuma Crims because when the High School was started they used the abandoned prison as its classrooms.

But as an adult I took time to think about the horrendous conditions those prisoners and guards must have endured. The heat, the darkness of the cells, the venomous desert creatures, the lack of ventilation. The heat!

Drawing from that history, I have tried to think of what it must have been like to be imprisoned during Bible days. The conditions really couldn’t have been any better and in fact, may have been much worse.

Now think of those who were innocent and imprisoned. How hopeless they must have felt. Needing someone to believe their innocence and fight for their release. How could those conditions be anything but devastating? 

Paul & Silas had been beaten and imprisoned on many occasions for speaking about the good news of Christ’s saving power, the gospel.  In Acts 16 they are once again imprisoned. Once again they were praising God for being counted worthy to be treated with contempt for the Gospel’s sake.

And as they praised God, the place was shaken – the prison doors came open, their chains fell off and they were freed, they and all the other prisoners around them. The jailer was distraught and ready to take his life when Paul called to him out of the night and told him they were all there. No one had escaped.

Then Paul & Silas shared the Gospel with the jailer and he and his entire household were saved! Paul & Silas were always ready to talk of the love of Jesus and they were greatly persecuted for it.  But they also  saw great evidence of God’s power working on their behalf.

They could sing at midnight in a jail cell after being beaten because they knew nothing in their lives, bad or good, could even begin to compare to the love God had shown them through His wonderful gift of salvation. They didn’t flee from the prison cell when their chains fell off because they were already free – free from sin, free from man’s opinions, free to live a life in the power of the Holy Spirit.

“After they had been badly beaten, they were put in jail, and the jailer was told to guard them carefully. 24 The jailer did as he was told. He put them deep inside the jail and chained their feet to heavy blocks of wood.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. 26 Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.

27 When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! No one has escaped.”

29 The jailer asked for a torch and went into the jail. He was shaking all over as he knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. 30 After he had led them out of the jail, he asked, “What must I do to be saved?”31 They replied, “Have faith in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! This is also true for everyone who lives in your home.”

32 Then Paul and Silas told him and everyone else in his house about the Lord. 33 While it was still night, the jailer took them to a place where he could wash their cuts and bruises. Then he and everyone in his home were baptized. 34 They were very glad that they had put their faith in God. After this, the jailer took Paul and Silas to his home and gave them something to eat.” Acts 16:23-34 CEV

Father, show me how to sing at midnight. Let me praise You in my toughest moments. Remind me that in all things You have the power to open the prison door. I am free because You purchased my freedom.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free for sure.” John 8:36 NLV

 

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Promises Kept

Our life in Christ is a life of promise and blessing! The first promise we receive is forgiveness of sin and a new life in Him. That is when eternal life begins.

“After Jesus had finished speaking to his disciples, he looked up toward heaven and prayed:    Father, the time has come for you to bring glory to your Son, in order that he may bring glory to you. 2 And you gave him power over all people, so that he would give eternal life to everyone you give him. 3 Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. ” John 17:1-3 CEV

Eternal life is knowing (having a personal relationship with) God the Father and Jesus His Son. Eternal life begins now, not when we die.

The Apostle Peter wanted to make sure we knew how to live this life eternal so he gave us this instruction:

“From Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To everyone who shares with us in the privilege of believing that our God and Savior Jesus Christ will do what is just and fair.
2 I pray that God will be kind to you and will let you live in perfect peace! May you keep learning more and more about God and our Lord Jesus. 3 We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness.

4 God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.   5 Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, 6 self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7 concern for others, and love. 8 If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.” II Peter 1:1-8 CEV

God the Father has given us marvelous, great and precious promises so that we can live a life that pleases Him and reflects His glory here on earth. Can you imagine the joy that the Father gets when His kids take Him at His word?

Can’t you just see Him at the Saturday football game or the rodeo or the school play? He’s nudging the angels next to Him and saying, “Ya, that’s my kid! I taught Him everything he knows about life and godliness. I gave him my promises, I gave him my word. He’s a chip off the old block.”

Why is it so hard for us to imagine God the Father having a conversation like that?

Yes, He IS Almighty God but He is also Abba Father and nothing gives Him more pleasure than to see His kids imitating Him.

That’s what Jesus did.

“This made them even more determined to kill him. They thought it was bad enough that he was breaking the law about the Sabbath day. And now he was saying that God is his Father, making himself equal with God!

19 But Jesus answered, “I assure you that the Son can do nothing alone. He does only what he sees his Father doing. The Son does the same things that the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does. This man was healed. But the Father will show the Son greater things than this to do. Then you will all be amazed.” John 5:18-20 ERV

The Jews knew Jesus was saying that God was His Father and so He, Jesus, was the perfect representation of the Father on earth. This angered them greatly, it still does. When we talk about our Heavenly Father and His amazing love, grace, mercy and peace and that He has given us His authority to be ambassadors on earth, it will anger the religious people of our day –

“Who do you think you are?”

It’s time we let the world see that true believers aren’t preaching messages to condemn but to restore. God’s amazing love draws sinners to repentance. Jesus made no apology for identifying sin in a person’s life but His message was one of hope, one of freedom, one of new life!

I am an ambassador for Christ – old things have passed away, all things have become new and I have been given the message of reconciliation to let the world know that God isn’t mad at them. He has made a way, through Jesus Christ, for all to be accepted and made right (righteous) with Him! 

“God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.

19 What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace. 20 We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God. 21 Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.” II Corinthians 5:18-21 CEV

There is not one promise that God has made that He has failed to keep! He committed Himself to us through His word so that He could show the world His great love!

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Confidence

There are some things we know we are really good at while others present more of a challenge.

That feeling is called self-confidence. It can be defined as a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s own abilities or qualities. Being sure of our talents and abilities is essential in our careers and daily life.

The Lord wants us to have confidence without being arrogant or self-prompting. He wants us to have our confidence is Him and HIs word. Our total dependence in Him keeps us from carrying the burden of winning approval and acceptance.

Since we have been talking about absolutes I wanted to share this verse with you. It gives us insight in knowing God’s will and provides us with “the’ confidence.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” I John 5:14-15

Knowing God’s will and praying or asking according to that will is a sure fire way to get our prayers answered with a yes every time. So what is God’s will and how can we know that we are asking according to it?

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7

Jesus put it this way to his disciples, if you abide or live in my word, then you can ask what you will and it will be done. We can conclude that God’s word is His will.

Some of us have written our last will and testament. In it we convey our final thoughts and desires and it is must be followed precisely by the executor.  It’s the same for God. He has listed His will in His testaments.

When we pray what we see in God’s word and are living by the instructions in the Word, we can have “the confidence” that God will answer in a positive way.

No more wishy-washy wondering of “you just never know what God is going to do”. Yes, we do! He’s going to keep his word.  He sent Jesus to tell the world what He was going to do and He’s not keeping secrets from us today – all we have to do is open the Book and we can find His will written in His word.

“ Jesus says yes to all of God’s many promises. It is through Jesus that we say, “Let it be so,” when we give thanks to God.” II Corinthians 1:20 NLV

If God made a promise, He will keep it. He can’t lie.

Sometimes we don’t see the answer immediately and we begin to doubt that we’re “good” enough to get an answer from God. God’s never given us anything based on our own merit so we mustn’t fall into that trap.

If that were the case none of us would get born again because we certainly weren’t deserving of that. That kind of thinking comes from a sense of self-confidence or a lack of it. The confidence that we need comes from trust in God’s abilities not our own.

When we’re waiting to see God’s word come to pass and our prayers to be answered we need to follow the instruction of these verses:

“Do not throw away your trust (confidence), for your reward will be great. 36 You must be willing to wait without giving up. After you have done what God wants you to do, God will give you what He promised you. ” Hebrews 10:35-36 NLV

Let “THE CONFIDENCE” in God’s word rule!

 

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Paid It All

Keeping the focus on the absolute truth of God’s word again today.  

Here are a couple of verses that point out the absolute atonement that Jesus provided for our reconciliation with God.

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” I John 2:2

Propitiation is an old word that meanings atoning sacrifice. Jesus is THE atoning sacrifice for sin. He freely gave his life so that we could be brought into right relationship with the Father.

And He’s not just the propitiation for a few but He died for the sins of THE whole world. He has made provision for ALL. No one is excluded or left out.

But why?

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” I John 4:10

Jesus is THE propitiation – the atonement, the reconciliation, the reparation – for our sins. His death was more than enough to provide atonement for all that we have done.

“All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. 24 They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:23-24 ERV

Have you ever looked through binoculars? You know that when you focus in one object the ones around it become blurred.  We need to do that with Christ.

The focus isn’t on us but on Christ and what He has done.

“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

Everyone – there is another absolute – no one is excluded. Everyone is offered the gift of eternal life because the price of sin has been paid in full!

 

 

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