Jumping to Conclusions

Jumping to conclusions, making snap judgements and circumstantial evidence has destroyed so many relationships.

I know I’ve told you this story before, but it bears repeating. Years ago, I worked in the Dean of Students office at GCC. I was hired to help with the new student handbook and to serve as Admin to the Dean of Students.

Our office was responsible for student ID’s, vehicle usage for the sports teams and even the campus security. We had lots of students coming and going through our office but one young man in particular stood out.

I was a mature married woman of 35. I had 3 children, a husband and was a “good Christian woman”. He was in his early 20’s, tattooed and pierced, looking like a character from Pirates of the Caribbean. He could have been a stand in for Johnny Depp. I judged him based on his appearance and nothing more. (Now, I’m twice that age and occasionally I still jump to conclusions.)

After working with him for several weeks, he came in one morning, late again. When I asked why he told me that the devil had really been working against him that morning – car wouldn’t start, flat tire, wife was sick and it had really stolen his joy. He asked me if I would pray for him throughout the day so that he could keep a good attitude and do his job well!

Oh Lord, I apologize! I judged wrongly, I wasn’t looking for the good in this man, I was looking at him through my own prejudice and I was wrong!

The Bible reminds us to look at people the way God does.

The Lord chose a young teenager to become king of Israel. Jesus saw four burly fisherman and called them to be disciples; He also chose a tax collector. Just yesterday we were talking about being chosen by God. We don’t need to be qualified; we need to be willing.

“When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely this is the man who the Lord has chosen.’ 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Eliab is tall and handsome, but don’t judge by things like that. God doesn’t look at what people see. People judge by what is on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. Eliab is not the right man.’” I Samuel 16:5-7 ERV

And then came this young man, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, a shepherd. David hadn’t even been invited to the dinner because his father had misjudged him as well.

“Jesse sent someone to get his youngest son. This son was a good-looking, healthy young man. He was very handsome. The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Get up and anoint him. He is the one.’ 13 Samuel took the horn with the oil in it, and poured the special oil on Jesse’s youngest son in front of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came on David with great power from that day on. Then Samuel went back home to Ramah.” I Samuel 16:12-13 ERV

Have you been like me and misjudged someone based on appearance, education or some other external character? Perhaps you are like David, the one who is the recipient of snap judgement.

Ask the Lord to show you the heart of people; let the Holy Spirit love through you and see those around you as God does. Jumping to conclusions isn’t good exercise.

Good, Good, So Good

Sunday we sang the song “King of My Heart” by John Mark McMillan and Sarah McMillan. The past two mornings I haven’t been able to get those lyrics out of my mind.

“Let the King of my heart
Be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from
Oh, he is my song

Let the King of my heart
Be the shadow where I hide
The ransom for my life
Oh, he is my song

‘Cause you are good, good, oh
You are good, good, oh
You are good, good, oh
You are good, good, oh”

God is good, good, so good!

“I trust your love, and I feel like celebrating because you rescued me. You have been good to me, Lord, and I will sing about you.” Psalm 13:5-6 CEV

Shout praises to the Lord! He is good to us, and his love never fails.” Psalm 107:1 CEV

“You surely don’t think much of God‘s wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don’t you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?” Romans 2:4 CEV

God’s goodness is incomparable!

He displays His goodness so that people will be drawn to Him and put their faith and trust in Him.

I’ve been reading the book of Jonah. It’s a short book and a good read. It isn’t just about Jonah being swollen by a great fish, although, that is also evidence of God’s goodness. It’s about God offering salvation to 120,000 people who were about to be destroyed because of their wickedness.

Jonah got to Ninevah, after being vomited up by the fish, walk a day’s walk to the center of the city and said this:

“After walking for a day, Jonah warned the people, ‘Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!’

They believed God’s message and set a time when they would go without eating to show their sorrow. Then everyone in the city, no matter who they were, dressed in sackcloth.” Jonah 3:4-5 CEV

It goes on to say that the king heard what was happening and he repented and called for a fast for the entire city. Then God “saw that the people had stopped doing evil things, he had pity and did not destroy them as he had planned.” (Jonah 3:10)

Jonah got angry because God was gracious to these people. God was and is merciful, kind, and good. He told Jonah how much He cared about the people.

Not just the people of Ninevah – God cares about us, even when we are living in rebellion and contrary to His word. It’s His goodness that draws us to Him. His love is everlasting and His goodness lasts to all generations.

The image I am using this morning reminds me of this verse:

 O taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who trusts in Him! O fear the Lord, all you who belong to Him. For those who fear Him never want for anything.” Psalm 34:8-9 NLV

Come – taste and see that God is good, good, so good!

Amazing Grace Is Sufficient

Yesterday I received a text from a friend. She told me how the blog from the last couple of days had been just what she needed. That humbled me and made me smile – I was so glad the Lord used His word through me to touch her heart and encourage her.

I am always amazed how the Lord reaches out to us. He has done it from the very beginning. It has been His purpose to touch our lives with His goodness, power and love. That’s who He is – it’s His character.

“You surely know what happened everywhere in Judea. It all began in Galilee after John had told everyone to be baptized. 38 God gave the Holy Spirit and power to Jesus from Nazareth. He was with Jesus, as he went around doing good and healing everyone who was under the power of the devil. 39 We all saw what Jesus did both in Israel and in the city of Jerusalem.” Acts 10:37-39 CEV

Jesus went around doing good and healing all that were sick. That’s who He was and what He did. His ministry was reaching out to people, touching their lives and impacting them with His love.

Jesus was teaching in the synagogue and told the people listening to Him. This is why I was sent to you.

“Jesus went back to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as usual he went to the meeting place on the Sabbath. When he stood up to read from the Scriptures, 17 he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. He opened it and read,

18 “The Lord’s Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers, 19 and to say, ‘This is the year the Lord has chosen.’”

20 Jesus closed the book, then handed it back to the man in charge and sat down. Everyone in the meeting place looked straight at Jesus. 21 Then Jesus said to them, “What you have just heard me read has come true today.” Luke 4:16-21 CEV

God’s plan was Jesus’ purpose and He fulfilled it to a T. Sometimes we just need a gentle reminder of His grace. The Apostle Paul, truly one of the greatest Christians of all time, experienced severe persecution and affliction. He was subject to spiritual and physical attack. In his moment of weakness he writes these words:

“I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me. But the Lord said, ‘My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.’ So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me. 10 Yes, I am glad to have weaknesses if they are for Christ. I am glad to be insulted and have hard times. I am glad when I am persecuted and have problems, because it is when I am weak that I am really strong.” II Corinthians 12:8-10 ERV

My grace is all you need – My grace is sufficient! Amen. His grace, God’s grace is all we need for our salvation. For by grace have we been saved through faith, not of works. We have no room to boast.

His grace healed the sick, mended the broken hearted, set prisoners free from bondage and gave strength to the weak.

Grace is the overlying attribute of His character. God extending His nail pierced hand to those bound by sin is grace; calming the fears of the disciples on a storm tossed sea is grace; giving peace to Paul & Silas as they were singing in a prison cell after being beaten is grace.

God quieting our hearts when we hear the word “cancer” or the words “we have to let you go, your job has been phased out”, is grace. I have a feeling some of you are like Paul and have asked God on multiple occasions to fix some situation, God’s answer to you is the same as what He said then, my grace is all you need.

“Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

Jesus is faithful, he’s trustworthy and he’s unchanging! Everyone who came to Jesus was drawn by his love and compassion. When you come to Jesus with your needs today, realize He’s never changed. Experience His amazing grace; it’s sufficient.

What to Share?

That’s the question I was asking this morning. The answer was loud and clear:

Share the Gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ!

“My friends, I want you to remember the message I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don’t, your faith was all for nothing.

 I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. This part is:

Christ died for our sins,
    as the Scriptures say.
He was buried,
    and three days later
he was raised to life,
    as the Scriptures say.
Christ appeared to Peter,
    then to the twelve.
After this, he appeared
to more than five hundred
    other followers.
Most of them are still alive,
    but some have died.
He also appeared to James,
    then to all of the apostles.

 Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time.

 I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God’s church that I don’t even deserve to be called an apostle. 10 But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God’s grace at work and not me. 11 But it doesn’t matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.” I Corinthians 15:1-11 CEV

The good news? Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead so that we could have new life in Him!

Salvation is nothing we earn but something we receive. It’s a gift from God, the expression of His grace.

“God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace. I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.” Ephesians 2:7-9 ERV

We can’t boast or brag about our good works, intelligence, financial status or any other thing. It’s all about God and His unconditional love and forgiveness.

I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely,
He did something that no other friend could do.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.”

I am so thankful for my life with Christ. He is my all-in-all; my Lord, my Savior, my Friend!

Changing of the Guard

Have you ever seen the guards at Buckingham Palace? What about the sentry at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? I’ve only seen pictures or videos but those are amazing!

The concentration and determination on the faces of the guards in England is almost mind boggling. How many times a day do they have people getting in their faces trying to make them laugh or a least smile? A wink, a nod, even a twitch would prove that they recognize the existence of the passers-by but nothing. How long do they train for that?

Train they must – what kind of schooling do they go through to keep from reacting? But if they felt their gates were truly being threatened, I’m sure that they would fight to defend it.

I have to ask myself would I make a good guard? Would I be easily distracted by all of life’s little annoyances? Would I scream “enough is enough”? Would I refuse to show up for duty the next day?

“My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. 21 Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, 22 for they bring life to those who find them,
and healing to their whole body. 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 24 Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.” Proverbs 4:20-24 NLT

We need to know our enemy; know the subtle ways that he will use to break our concentration, the ways he will try to get inside our head and get us off track. James says he will use the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. That’s how he brought temptation against Jesus – “turn the stones to bread, throw yourself from the pinnacle of the Temple, if you worship me, I will give you the nations of the world”. (Matthew 4)

Each time Jesus defeated Satan’s temptation with the word – it is written!

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NLT

The distractions, the attacks, the temptations will come but we can be like those guards at Buckingham Palace and while being ready for battle, we can ignore the distractions and the temptations. Like the sentries at the Tomb of the Unknown, we can be consistent in our duties regardless of the storms, the heat, the cold…we stay on task.

I know it’s hard. Sometimes it’s an hour by hour or minute by minute vigil. Guarding our hearts and our minds requires constant discipline.

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10 NLT

It’s often easier to let self-pity stand guard over our hearts but it’s always more profitable, and more difficult, to let God’s peace be our guard!

Let’s Get Started

If you read yesterday’s blog you know that we are God’s garden. Paul said he planted; Apollos watered but God gives the increase. Today it’s time to start preparing the garden.

Each year I had my garden, I would get started by breaking up the ground that had sat through the winter. The surface would be hardened from the long period of being dormant. I would take my time raking through the earth, crumbling the dirt clods, raking it again, watering, raking, crumbling and finally adding new soil as needed.

If you want to have a fruitful garden, you have to have good soil.

“I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’” Hosea 10:12 NLT

Plow up the hard ground of your hearts. Excellent advice.

When we first moved back to Arizona, the ground in our area was sunbaked caliche, a natural concrete type material found in desert areas, beneath it was a red clay. Neither soil type was good for growing flowers and vegetables. It took a lot of work, but I was able to bring in good topsoil, Dave added a drip system and finally we had a garden that would bear fruit.

We don’t have physical stones in our hearts but the Apostle Paul warns us of spiritual hardness.

 But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others.  And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits.” Colossians 3:8-9 CEV

 As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. 18 Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, 19 and they are so greedy they do all kinds of indecent things.” Ephesians 4:17-19 CEV

Breaking up the ground, preparing the soil is hard work.

Sometimes there are big rocks to remove – bitterness, anger, jealousy, deceitful desires – so that you can have a productive garden. And don’t forget about the weeds and the wild uncultivated seeds that seem to grow in this hard soil.

“Other people are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching, and they quickly and gladly accept it. 17 But they don’t allow it to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.

18 “Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, 19 but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop in their lives.” Mark 4:16-19 ERV

I know I’ve given you quite a bit to think about today. Pray on it. Tell the Lord you want Him to show you how to break up the ground, pull out the weeds and how to become more productive in your walk with Him.

He will do the very thing you ask, after all, it’s God who gives the increase! Now, let’s get started.

Love in Action = Grace

Dave and I sat out by the fire last night talking of the friends and acquaintances we have made over the last 50 years. Some of these people are on my Christmas card list and we still keep in touch. It’s amazing how our lives have been blessed by so many.

It wasn’t long until we found ourselves talking of one friend who has been going through a very rough time. He has run headlong into some tough circumstances, some of his own making, and he’s angry, and unyielding. I’m not sure if he’s angry with God or just mad at the world, maybe a little of both. We are praying for him to have a true encounter with the grace of God.

You see, grace is really God’s love in action.

Grace is God’s kindness and blessings showered on our lives when we deserve judgement and condemnation. As a young girl I was taught this acrostic – Grace is God’s Righteousness At Christ’s Expense.

“Christ Jesus our Lord treated me with undeserved grace and has greatly blessed my life with faith and love just like his own.” I Timothy 1:14 CEV

When we don’t realize that we are recipients of God’s grace we demand perfection from ourselves to earn God’s love and in turn, we struggle with being gracious to others. Both scenarios leave us angry and unkind.

“I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.” Ephesians 2:8-9 ERV

Grace is not a one-time thing; it’s a virtue that grows in our lives as we learn more about Christ and His character.

“Let the gift of undeserved grace and the understanding that come from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ help you keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and forever! Amen.” II Peter 3:18 CEV

Grace was love in action when Jesus said to the criminal on the cross “Today you’ll be with me in Paradise”. Grace was love in action when Jesus lifted Peter from the sea when he began to sink. Grace was love in action when Christ cried out from the cross “Father, forgive them”.

“Honor and thanks be to the Lord, Who carries our heavy loads day by day. He is the God Who saves us. 20 Our God is a God Who sets us free. The way out of death belongs to God the Lord.” Psalm 68:19 NLV

“My soul, praise the Lord and never forget how kind he is!He forgives all our sins and heals all our sicknesses. He saves us from the grave, and he gives us love and compassion. He gives us plenty of good things.” Psalm 103:2-5 ERV

Why am I writing this to all of you this morning? The friend I’m talking about will probably never read this blog, but you may have someone in your life that is a lot like him. Someone who needs you to be gracious; someone who needs you to be loving and forgiving.

Someone you know, perhaps it’s you, needs to receive grace which is love in action!

Love Covers

Yesterday I was talking with some friends about our Christmas and what a wonderful time it was for me. Our children, with one simple act, made this my best Christmas ever.

As we were talking Steve mentioned the Scripture that “love covers a multitude of sins” as it says in the book of Proverbs. That really resonated with me and I thought on it off and on throughout the day.

It was on my mind again this morning as I sat down to write to all of you but this time it exploded in my heart!

“Hate starts fights, but love covers all sins.” Proverbs 10:12 NLV

Our prejudice, misunderstanding, cultural differences, and backgrounds are responsible for a great deal of malice. Wars are fought over such things. Families are divided, companies are destroyed, and friendships are broken.

But love covers! Love seeks a way to resolve and repair, to reconcile and restore. Take a look at what the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 13.

“Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things. Love never comes to an end.” I Corinthians 13:4-8 NLV

Now, let me remind you – this is what the love that God has for US does and when we follow the instruction in yesterday’s blog of love the Lord and our neighbors, this is what we should be doing as well.

God, who is love, and who loved us first covered a multitude of our sins with the blood of His Son.

 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” Colossians 2:14 KJV

“We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:14 NLV

Blotted out – covered. In the writings of ages past, there were no erasers, no back space, no white out or auto correct. If there was a mistake, it needed to be blotted out either by covering with more ink making a big spot on the parchment or by trying to remove the unwanted wording with a damp cloth which smeared the ink.

In our case, concerning our sins, the handwritten charges against us were blotted out when they were nailed to the cross and “blotted out” by the blood of Jesus!

Don’t let our enemy satan start a fight by throwing up our past sins. Love, God’s love, has covered them.

His love covered our multitude of sins! Amen!

Where’s Jesus?

I share this story every year because it’s one I want to remember.

Years ago, when we moved back to Arizona from Montana one of our favorite places to go was to Tubac. We had purchased a Santa Fe style home and wanted to furnish it accordingly. This artisan community gave us so many wonderful ideas and was the perfect place to shop. It still is.

Anyway, we had one or two favorite stores and struck up a relationship with the shop keepers. Each year I would decorate our home at Christmas time with nativities and angels. The Country Shoppe had the most diverse selection of nativity sets of any of the stores. It also had the most unusual display.

Looking at each set, small or large, it didn’t take long to notice that something was missing. There was no baby Jesus! Upon closer inspection, shoppers would notice several small handwritten signs.

Please ask for the baby Jesus

I was intrigued. I asked the shopkeeper about the sign. He told me that although the store has little to no theft, the one item that is consistently taken is the baby Jesus. Because of that they keep Him in the backroom, only to be added to the set when a purchase is made.

Who would steal the baby Jesus? But it was definitely a thing. “Ask for the baby Jesus”, the sign was intriguing.

Isn’t that what the shepherds had to do? Ask for the baby Jesus. Afterall, the angels had only told them that He would be laying in a manager in Bethlehem. How many mangers did they stop at? How many times did they ask, “where’s the babe”?

 The angels went from the shepherds back to heaven. The shepherds said to each other, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see what has happened. The Lord has told us about this.” 16 They went fast and found Mary and Joseph. They found the Baby lying in a place where cattle are fed. 17 When they saw the Child, they told what the angel said about Him. 18 All who heard it were surprised at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary hid all these words in her heart. She thought about them much. 20 The shepherds went back full of joy. They thanked God for all they had heard and seen. It happened as the angel had told them.” Luke 2:15-20 NLV

It’s an important question for you and I. Where’s Jesus?

Have we left Him as a babe in the manger, only to be brought out of the back room at Christmas? Is He in a picture on the wall that we look at occasionally and then go on about our day? Or, does He live within our hearts as our constant companion, our Savior, Lord and King?

“There was a rich man named Zaccheus. He was a leader of those who gathered taxes. Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus but he could not because so many people were there and he was a short man… At once he came down and was glad to have Jesus come to his house.” Luke 19:1-6 NLV

Jesus desires to live in our house, in our hearts. Invite Him in. Let everyone know the answer to “where’s Jesus”.

A Joy Filled Life

How’s the Christmas shopping going? Have you purchased all the gifts you intend too? Are they wrapped and under the tree? Are you excited about seeing the faces of those you are giving too?

I really think that’s how God feels. He has given us so many perfect and wonderful gifts. I think His heart is filled with excitement and anticipation as He waits for us to discover each precious gift.

I know my heart is filled with gratitude this morning; God’s amazing love is overwhelming; His peace passes all understanding (that means I can’t figure out how I can have so much peace when things seem anything but peaceful) and His grace (giving me what I don’t deserve) is so marvelous!

Each one of these wonderful gifts are waiting for us. They are wrapped in gold wrapping (the color of my kingly inheritance) and topped with bright red bows (the color of the blood He shed for me). Each day I have the opportunity to receive these gifts anew; each day I have the opportunity to share these gifts with others; each day I have the joy of saying thank you to my wonderful Father who has given these gifts to me!

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7 KJV

“May you have more and more of His loving-favor and peace as you come to know God and our Lord Jesus Christ better. He gives us everything we need for life and for holy living. He gives it through His great power. As we come to know Him better, we learn that He called us to share His own shining-greatness and perfect life. Through His shining-greatness and perfect life, He has given us promises. These promises are of great worth and no amount of money can buy them. Through these promises you can have God’s own life in you now that you have gotten away from the sinful things of the world which came from wrong desires of the flesh.” II Peter 1:2-24 NLV

Through our relationship with Christ we have become God’s children. Through our knowledge of God’s word we learn about the inheritance and the blessings, gifts, He freely gives to each one of us.

“Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman. 29  So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham’s family, and you will be given what God has promised.” Galatians 5:28-29 CEV

The gifts we receive from our Father have no expiration date; they don’t need batteries or a charger. They are powered by His unconditional and everlasting love.

Merry Christmas!