Category: God’s Love

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Forgiven & Redeemed

I don’t think we can read more than a few pages in the Bible before we encounter the Father’s promise of forgiveness and redemption. That message is the theme of everything the Father is and everything He does!

Forgiven & Redeemed.

In the first few pages of the book of Genesis, after Adam and Eve sin, the Father comes to the garden to walk with them in the cool of the evening. He does not let them hide their sin, in fact, He makes them face what they have done and then forgives them and puts the plan of redemption for all mankind in place.

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is the culmination of redemption’s plan. All of us who have received forgiveness of our sins through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross will live with the Father forever in heaven.

Forgiven & Redeemed.

“Help, God—I’ve hit rock bottom!
    Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears!
    Listen to my cries for mercy.

3-4 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings,
    who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,
    and that’s why you’re worshiped.

5-6 I pray to God—my life a prayer—
    and wait for what he’ll say and do.
My life’s on the line before God, my Lord,
    waiting and watching till morning,
    waiting and watching till morning.

7-8 O Israel, wait and watch for God—
    with God’s arrival comes love,
    with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.
No doubt about it—he’ll redeem Israel,
    buy back Israel from captivity to sin.” Psalm 130 MSG

With God’s arrival comes love, with God’s arrival comes generous redemption – oh yes, our God and loving Father shows us His unconditional love and there was no price too great to pay for our redemption!

So many of the songs we sang in church when I was a kid were void of meaning to me as a child but in my more mature years I have learned to love the lyrics deeply. One song we sang quite often was simply titled, “Redeemed”.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.

Refrain:
Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.

This song was published in 1882 and still the words retain their truth and powerful meaning. When we are redeemed we are forever a child in the family of God.

Forgiven & Redeemed!

Let those words fill your heart with gratitude as you go about your day.

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Big Hugs

I’m a person who loves to give hugs! Plain and simple – I feel hearts connect with a hug.

My hugs aren’t those tiny squeezes with a pat on the back, those remind me of burping a baby. Hugs should be genuine, huggers should be bold and not timid. Yesterday was a good day for hugging. Family came, neighbors stopped over, dear friends visited and even some new acquaintances came.

I think the hardest thing for me during our last months of social distancing was not being able to hug. People were so cautious and even timid about touching. I understand…but for someone who loves to hug it was a very isolating time.

I want to tell you about a man who experienced a life changing touch. He was a man with leprosy. He wasn’t allowed to connect with society. In fact, he and others like him had to live outside the city and announce to all who came close “unclean, unclean”. It was his warning to stay away, social distance, as it were.

Can you imagine the loneliness and despair?

But one day something happened. A man came outside the city and a large crowd followed Him. He was teaching up on a hillside; His words were dynamic, His presence was inviting. One of the things this man said that day was this:

“Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.” Matthew 7:7-8 CEV

The leper continued to listen and then this happened:

“As Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by large crowds. 2 Suddenly a man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus. He said, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”

3 Jesus put his hand on the man and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man’s leprosy disappeared.” Matthew 8:1-3 CEV

This leper encountered a healing touch – no longer unclean, no longer an outcast!

You and I didn’t have leprosy but we were just as unclean as this man. Our disease was worse than COVID, our disease was sin. It separated us from a relationship with God, the Father. “Unclean, unclean”! But the Father wasn’t willing to accept our condition and made a plan for our redemption.

“Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. 7 No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. 8 But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.

9 But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. 10 Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son’s life.” Romans 5:6-10 CEV

” Now that we are at peace with God” no longer do we have to shout “Unclean”, we are redeemed!

Let me tell you, when I reflect on the depth of God’s love for me I feel Him giving me the biggest and best hug ever. When He hugs me our hearts connect and I know that I am loved!

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Good Deeds

After I shared yesterday’s blog on Fall Harvest, I found these words in a little New Testament book, Titus. It gives us a different look on why we should be willing to share our harvest.

“They must always be ready to do something helpful 2 and not say cruel things or argue. They should be gentle and kind to everyone. 3 We used to be stupid, disobedient, and foolish, as well as slaves of all sorts of desires and pleasures. We were evil and jealous. Everyone hated us, and we hated everyone.

4 God our Savior showed us how good and kind he is. 5 He saved us because of his mercy,
and not because of any good things that we have done. God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning. 6 God sent Jesus Christ our Savior
to give us his Spirit. 7 Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life.

8 This message is certainly true. These teachings are useful and helpful for everyone. I want you to insist that the people follow them, so that all who have faith in God will be sure to do good deeds.9 But don’t have anything to do with stupid arguments about ancestors. And stay away from disagreements and quarrels about the Law of Moses. Such arguments are useless and senseless.” Titus 3:1b-9 CEV

I’m making these verses part of my daily Bible reading for a while. I know when the Lord impresses me so much with a Scripture it’s something I’m supposed to dwell on.

Dwell, I love that word! Dwell means to live in, encamp there, permanent residence. These verses will be my dwelling place.

This translation says “be ready to do something helpful” and another translation says “be ready to do good deeds”. That same phrase is used in verse eight of this translation – good deeds.

Always ready – why?

Go back and read those verses again, please. Because of God’s kindness and mercy we have been saved, given a fresh beginning, treated better than we deserve! For this reason, because of what the Lord has done for us, we should show the same kindness and compassion to others.

Be thankful for what the Lord has done for you and “be ready” to do good deeds!

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Fall Harvest

The fall harvest isn’t something we really get to see and enjoy here in southern Arizona. There aren’t many opportunities to enjoy the changing leaves, the vegetable gardens rendering their bounty or workers in the fields.

However, there is a harvest for the soul and it’s called Thanksgiving!

“Make everyone praise you and shout your praises.6 Our God has blessed the earth with a wonderful harvest!7 Pray for his blessings to continue and for everyone on earth to worship our God.” Psalm 67:5-7 CEV

Our God has blessed us…pray for His blessings to continue. Oh yes, yes He has.

I want you to look back at this past year. Can you name three unexpected and wonderful blessings? Now, go beyond those three and add three more blessings from last week. Pick three more of your most cherished moments from the summer – and another three from the spring.

If memories are your harvest and your heart is the wagon that contains them, you now have a dozen praise-worthy blessings to fill it.

I’m sure if you thought a little longer your harvest would increase and your heart would be overflowing with God’s goodness. So, what do you do with the overflow?

God isn’t wasteful and He has a plan for our “wonderful harvest” that the psalmist wrote about.

“When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing around the edges of your fields and don’t pick up what falls on the ground. Leave it for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you. I am the Lord your God!” Leviticus 23:22 CEV

When the Jewish people went into their fields to bring in the harvest they were instructed to leave some at the edges of the field. What they left was for those who were less fortunate.

Look around. Who do you know that has had a rough time recently? Who could benefit from the abundance of your blessing?

I remember a time when our cupboards were nearly bare. When there was very little and really nothing to share but share we did. We never ate the last of the groceries by ourselves, we invited friends to dinner. We had a night of joy and laughter and we praised God for good health and His love.

Each time, I specifically remember, each time we were in such a situation there would be a knock on the door the next day and someone would come by who had just butchered a hog or a beef, someone who had harvested their garden or a dairyman who had extra butter, cheese and a gallon of milk.

These were people who had let us share in their harvest, all without knowing that we were in need but God did and He provided.

Ask the Father if there is someone who needs you to share your bounty. If He doesn’t put anyone on your heart immediately just stay open to when He does. However, if the Lord impresses you with a face and a name, follow through. It could be a blessing of food, time, money, encouragement, or help.

Give generously because the Father has given generously to you!

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Once More With Gusto

Have you ever watched little kids when they sing their favorite song? Their whole bodies become animated – the big smiles, the hand gestures, the emotions.

When I was young I had a voice teacher who would assign me a song for the next week’s lesson and he would tell me “form your words, enunciate, tempo, pitch” – all the things needed for proper execution. Once I could perform these technical details to his standards then he would say “Now, once more with gusto! Let me hear you sing like you mean it.”

That’s what made it fun!

Sometimes we fall into the trap of executing our relationship with the Lord in a proper religious way and we forget to have fun. After all, we are just kids spending time with our Father, and He’s a good, good father.

“Sing a new song to the Lord! Everyone on this earth, sing praises to the Lord, 2  sing and praise his name. Day after day announce, “The Lord has saved us!” 3 Tell every nation on earth, “The Lord is wonderful and does marvelous things!” Psalm 96:1-3 CEV

I was talking with someone at Mom’s celebration on Wednesday and we were saying how our relationship with the Father had grown and developed through the years. I told them that when I was a kid I remember singing “Jesus loves me this I know” at the top of my lungs, over and over again. However, now when I sing it I sing is softly and the tears stream down my cheeks because I am so overwhelmed by the depth of the Father’s love that I have experienced.

For the next several days I am going to be taking some “Me and Jesus” time. I won’t say there won’t be a blog but if there is it will probably come later in the day. It will be just a brief break.

Until I return to pen my morning thoughts I want to encourage you to spend each day singing a new song to the Lord and tell Him thank you for the marvelous things He has done.

Give voice to your song and then sing it “Once More with Gusto”!

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A Stubborn Mule

Have you ever faced a dilemma when you wondered which way you should go – which was the right decision to make? I have on multiple occasions. In fact, Dave and I have a few decisions ahead of us in the next few weeks that we are still seeking the Lord’s direction on.

It’s great to know that we aren’t left to our own limited knowledge. We have Someone we can talk to and gain insight from Who knows the beginning and the end. Someone who is infinite in wisdom and willing to help.

“I was still being held prisoner in the courtyard of the palace guards when the Lord told me: ‘I am the Lord, and I created the whole world. 3 Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don’t know and can’t find out.'” Jeremiah 33:1-3 CEV

I am so grateful that His wisdom goes far beyond mine and that I can depend on the Lord to give me the direction I need. His wisdom keeps us from making mistakes if we are willing to listen.

“You said to me, ‘I will point out the road that you should follow. I will be your teacher and watch over you. 9 Don’t be stupid like horses and mules that must be led with ropes to make them obey.’” Psalm 32:8-9 CEV

The image I used for today’s blog makes me laugh. I have sometimes been like the mule in the picture. Dug in and unwilling to move. However, I am thankful for the Lord’s patience and love. The Bible tells us He is “long-suffering”.

“And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him (Moses) there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,” Exodus 34:5-6 KJV

Thank you Lord for being merciful, gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth!

The Lord is faithful to forgive our sins of stubbornness and disobedience. He is abundant in goodness.

“So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, ‘I’ll tell the Lord each one of my sins.’ Then you forgave me and took away my guilt. 6 We worship you, Lord, and we should always pray whenever we find out that we have sinned. Then we won’t be swept away by a raging flood. 7 You are my hiding place!  You protect me from trouble, and you put songs in my heart because you have saved me.” Psalm 32:5-7 CEV

The Lord is merciful and He always forgives. I think the raging flood mentioned in the verses above is the flood of guilt that rushes over us and keeps us from moving forward. The Lord doesn’t want us being held captive by guilt or thoughts of unworthiness. He not only forgives our sins, He also chooses to forget them.

Those are excellent reasons to sing!

Today I am grateful for the Lord’s leading, for His forgiveness and for giving me a clean conscience.

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Celebrate Life!

Today our family will celebrate my Mom’s life. If you remember I told you of her homegoing last May. Mom was 97 1/2 years old, the half was always very important to her.

Each time I was with Mom, for the last 4 or 5 years, she would say “If I’m not here in the morning tell “them” have a party. I don’t want them crying because I’m gone. I want you all to celebrate that I’m in heaven with Jesus”.

Today, we will have a party and celebrate Mom’s life!

She grew up during the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s in a small farming town in Iowa. She became a school teacher and taught at a one-room school, grades 1-8, for 4 or 5 years before she married my Dad.

Mom and Dad gave their hearts to the Lord at a tent revival shortly after they were married. She loved Jesus – she taught Sunday School, Children’s Church, Vacation Bible School and Young Women’s group. She had a way of always making people feel welcome in our home – she loved to feed people.

She would tell everyone who came to see her – visitors, home health and repairmen about Jesus. She asked that we share from John 14 today, she wanted people to have a relationship with Jesus.

“Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father too. But now you know the Father. You have seen him.” John 14:1-7 CEV

Don’t be afraid. I’m preparing a place for you. Follow me because I am THE way to heaven. I am THE way of life. Mom found her life in Christ. She has her home in heaven and when life for us is over here we will meet up with her there and have a party!

“I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am leaving, but I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be happy that I am going back to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. 29 I have told you this now, before it happens. Then when it happens, you will believe.” John 14:27-29 CEV

Peace – Mom was at peace, she was before she left this earth and she certainly is now that she’s in heaven. She would say to us “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be sad. I’m in a perfect place and I want you to join me here.”

Celebrate, rejoice, in life! The Father has made a place for us to be with Him for all eternity. I am so grateful that my Mom made sure I knew about Jesus!

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A Joyful Noise

We are at NASCAR Championship week in Avondale, AZ. Last night there was a lot of joyful noise!

It was the parade of all the big trucks that haul the racecars to the track. Campers lined the streets to hoot and holler for their favorite driver and the truck drivers accommodated with blowing their air horns.

Lots of joyful noise – lots of celebration – lots of grateful people!

It’s a natural reaction to make noise when something makes you happy. People yell and cheer at sporting events, in fact, in all the years we attended rodeos the announcers would encourage us to “cheer ’em on, make some noise”, and that’s what we would do.

Little kids love to make noise. Each of my children and my grandchildren have sat on my kitchen floor with pots and pans between their legs, banging on them with spoons or spatulas and been the stars of their own one-man-band.

Why should it be any different for those of us who are God’s children? We should be making some noise and celebrating our relationship with our loving Father.

“Shout praises to the Lord, everyone on this earth. 2 Be joyful and sing as you come in
to worship the Lord! 3 You know the Lord is God! He created us, and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep in his pasture. 4 Be thankful and praise the Lord as you enter his temple. 5 The Lord is good!  His love and faithfulness will last forever.” Psalm 100 CEV

Did you see that phrase, “He created us, we belong to Him, we are His people, His sheep”? Those are amazing words!

We belong to Him – we are His sheep! We know from reading Psalm 23 how He takes care of His sheep. He provides us with rest, food, water, protection from our enemies, and He sends goodness and mercy to follow us all the days of our lives.

That kind of loving care is worth shouting about!

If someone carrying a football across the goal line or someone hitting a ball out of the park or someone driving their car across the finish line first is shout worthy, our Father and our God is certainly worthy of shouts of praise.

Come on family – let’s make some joyful noise!

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Teach the World to Sing

In 1971, the CocaCola company wanted to buy the world a Coke and teach it how to sing but the world had been singing in harmony for thousands of years before they came out with that slogan.

The seasons sing in harmony with the earth as they provide the time and the temperature to produce an abundance of crops; the pull of the moon causes the tide to ebb and flow; the course of the earth’s rotation gives us daylight and dark.

The world is singing in harmony.

It’s the people on earth that need more than a Coke, they need an awareness of the greatest of the Lord.

“Tell everyone on this earth to sing happy songs  in praise of the Lord. 5 Make music for him on harps. Play beautiful melodies! 6 Sound the trumpets and horns and celebrate with joyful songs for our Lord and King! 7 Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures, and the earth to shout with all of its people. 8 Order the rivers to clap their hands, and all of the hills to sing together. 9 Let them worship the Lord!…” Psalm 98:4-9 CEV

When the Jewish people left Egypt they put into song the marvelous things they had seen the Lord do. Before they entered into their Promised Land, Moses instructed them to tell their children of all the Lord’s mighty works to make sure they didn’t forget the Lord’s power and His protecting love.

It is incumbent upon us to tell our children and our grandchildren, our friends and neighbors, the amazing things the Lord has done. (that’s why I enjoy sharing this blog with you each day)

“Sing a new song to the Lord! He has worked miracles, and with his own powerful arm, he has won the victory. 2 The Lord has shown the nations that he has the power to save and to bring justice. 3 God has been faithful in his love for Israel, and his saving power is seen everywhere on earth.” Psalm 98:1-3 CEV

The “songs” we sing and the stories we tell aren’t just wishful thinking and fairy tales, they are the stories of the Lord’s faithfulness and His love. They are words of life and encouragement. That’s why I encourage you to keep a Gratitude Journal – the works of the Lord in my life, in your life, need to be recorded so others will know why we have such great hope!

“Even if you have to suffer for doing good things, God will bless you. So stop being afraid and don’t worry about what people might do. 15 Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.” I Peter 3:14-15 CEV

Let’s give the world a new song – a song of hope and the Father’s unconditional love!

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Great Day of Praise

Thank you to those who responded yesterday with comments on the blog telling me three of the things you were grateful for. Add three new things to your journaling this morning – let’s keep this accounting of praise going throughout the month of November.

When I was a child, we grew up singing a hymn in our church, “Count Your Blessings”.

1 When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. 

Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

2 Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by. [Refrain] by Johnson Oatman 1897

Counting our blessings puts our focus where it belongs, on the Lord and His goodness. The Psalms are filled with praise – King David wrote many of the psalms as songs of praise and deliverance.

“Sing a new song to the Lord! Everyone on this earth, sing praises to the Lord, 2  sing and praise his name. Day after day announce, ‘The Lord has saved us!’ 3 Tell every nation on earth, ‘The Lord is wonderful and does marvelous things! 4 The Lord is great and deserves greatest praise! He is the only God worthy of our worship. 5 Other nations worship idols, but the Lord created the heavens. 6 Give honor and praise to the Lord, whose power and beauty
fill his holy temple.’” Psalm 96:1-6 CEV

This psalm admonishes everyone on earth to sing praises, every day! (Read the whole chapter). Praise the Lord because He is great and does marvelous things. Our God is not an idol made with human hands. No, He is the God who created all things.

When we see a beautiful sunrise, praise the Lord. When we experience the beauty of the clouds in the sky, the flowers in bloom, the sighting of a new born calf, a field ripe with grain, the miracle of a new life or the expression of age-old love – we should praise the Lord. He is the one who has filled the earth with wonder and our hearts with love.

“Tell the heavens and the earth to be glad and celebrate! Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures 12  and the fields to rejoice with all of their crops. Then every tree in the forest will sing joyful songs 13 to the Lord.” verses 11-13 CEV

Don’t let the mully-grubs capture your thinking. Lift your voice and make this a great day of praise!

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