Category: Relationship

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It’s Good

Yesterday Dave and I did something I have wanted to do for quite some time, we stopped at an old fashioned ice cream store.

In the town next to us there is an ice cream shop that I first noticed months ago. We had tried to stop in but we were always there before it opened. Yesterday we arrived about 10 minutes too early but since we needed to pick up a few groceries we headed into the grocery store and went we came out we went back to get ice cream.

Oh my!

Dave ordered a banana split, his favorite. It looked delicious and was the size of what I considered a normal helping so I ordered two scoops on a cone. These were not your regular size scoops – they were huge.

I literally felt like a kid in a candy store.

We chose a table and sat down to enjoy this delicious treat. Another couple came in shortly after us and when they saw my cone they said, “That looks wonderful”. And they each ordered a single scoop.

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

Taste and see that the Lord is good. That’s what I hope you do as you read this blog each morning. It’s one thing to see how “good” God looks through the thoughts I share with you but it is another thing entirely when you experience God’s goodness for yourself.

Those folks could have sat and stared at me while I ate my ice cream and heard me repeat over and over how good it tasted but that wouldn’t have satisfied their desire.

The one thing I have learned in all my years of walking with the Lord is He is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t give special consideration to some and refuse to share His goodness with others. He willingly shares His promises with all who come to Him.

I will encourage you again to begin studying the book of Romans and there you will find that God shares His grace and love with all who come to Him.

Be like those folks in the ice cream shoppe, taste and see for yourself just how good it truly is.

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It’s A Gift!

This morning as I sit here, I am replaying in my mind some of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite western movies, Crossfire Trail.

Tom Selleck was cast as the story’s hero, and he had some great one-liners. My favorite – “It’s a gift”.

That line grew so large that it was my only focus. I sat here mulling it over, “Lord, what do you want me to see. What are You saying to me”?

And then it jumped off the page of my Bible:

“ But God has a way to make people right, and it has nothing to do with the law. He has now shown us that new way, which the law and the prophets told us about. 22 God makes people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. He does this for all who believe in Christ. Everyone is the same. 23 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. 25-26 God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in him. God can forgive them because the blood sacrifice of Jesus pays for their sins. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. He was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And in our own time he still does what is right. God worked all this out in a way that allows him to judge people fairly and still make right any person who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26 ERV

It’s a gift!

Our right standing with God – our forgiveness, our salvation, our peace is a gift. It’s nothing we could ever earn, not something we can buy or acquire by our own goodness. It’s a gift.

Recently we were at our granddaughter’s sixth birthday and when it came time to open her gifts, she was reluctant. Everyone was standing around watching and she was self-conscious but once the first gift was opened and she found something she always wanted, she eagerly opened all the others.

Not once did she look at any of us gift-givers and say “Oh, you shouldn’t have. I haven’t been good enough. You need to take this back until I’ve done something to earn it”. That would have been silly and unrealistic. It’s a gift.

She used to childlike faith to accept the gift freely and eagerly and said thank you.

“So do we have any reason to boast about ourselves? No reason at all. And why not? Because we are depending on the way of faith, not on what we have done in following the law.” Romans 3:27 ERV

God’s gift to us should be accepted the same way, with childlike faith. We have no room to boast on our own goodness. We receive right standing with the Father the same way Kristine received her birthday presents – with joy!

If you have felt you needed to be good enough, more pious, or needed to earn your salvation let all of that go and enjoy what Christ has done for you.

It’s a gift!

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Found!

Have you ever lost something valuable? Maybe it was a piece of jewelry, a credit card or maybe something more personal like a relationship; did you search and work hard until you “found” it again?

Jesus taught three stories about things that were lost – a sheep, a coin and a son. The shepherd, the woman and that father searched until all was restored.

Do you know the Father is doing the same with us?

“If any of you has 100 sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won’t you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? 5 And when you find it, you will be so glad that you will put it on your shoulder 6 and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, ‘Let’s celebrate! I’ve found my lost sheep.’

7 Jesus said, ‘In the same way there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over 99 good people who don’t need to.’” Luke 15:4-7 CEV

God, the Father, has been asking man for thousands of years to allow Him to be their God, to lead and direct. Jesus watched as the Father had searched (seek) for His people when they had gone off to follow after other gods and do their own thing. He lovingly brought them back.

Jesus followed the Father’s example as He went from town-to-town teaching, preaching, doing miracles and spreading God’s love. He was reminding them, and our Father will continue to pursue us – He won’t give up.

” Suppose a woman has ten silver coins, but she loses one of them. She will take a light and clean the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. 9 And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost!’ 10 In the same way, it’s a happy time for the angels of God when one sinner decides to change.” Luke 15:8-10 ERV

The Father pursues us diligently just like the woman who lost her coin. Each one of us are valuable to Him. Remember the children’s Sunday School song; “red, yellow, black and white they are precious in sight”. We are precious to Him, that’s why Jesus came.

“The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.” Luke 19:10 CEV

As the Father pursues us, searching for us when we are lost, we should pursue daily fellowship with Him. He is waiting for us to seek Him!

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Incomprehensible!

Some concepts in God’s word are almost impossible to understand. I feel that way about the unconditional love of God. But I know it’s true because He said it was.

Unconditional!

Growing up I had the impression that if I wasn’t a good Christian it somehow affected God’s love for me. It was hard and each time I failed I felt condemned, like God loved me less because I had failed!

“So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2 ERV

I didn’t understand that even though I sinned the sacrifice of Christ had made me free. The book of Romans is a book of grace. Paul points out that God’s love and forgiveness are unconditional but that doesn’t give us a license to live anyway we choose. To quote Paul, God forbid!

“Sin must not have power over you. You are not living by the Law. You have life because of God’s loving-favor. 15 What are we to do then? Are we to sin because we have God’s loving-favor and are not living by the Law? No, not at all!” Romans 6:14-15 NLV

There is a big difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation is accusatory, belittling, insulting in nature. Conviction is a loving and concerned correction, I see it as the Holy Spirit saying, “You’re better than that, I can help you overcome that weakness or action”.

“ At one time you were held by the power of sin. But now you obey with all your heart the teaching that was given to you. Thank God for this! 18 You were made free from the power of sin. Being right with God has power over you now. 19 I speak with words easy to understand because your human thinking is weak. At one time you gave yourselves over to the power of sin. You kept on sinning all the more. Now give yourselves over to being right with God. Set yourself apart for God-like living and to do His work.” Romans 6:17-19 NLV

Yesterday’s blog was about knowing the depth of God’s love to us through Christ. Did you take time to think about just how much God loves you? I did. It’s overwhelming, awe-inspiring, almost unfathomable, but it’s true! The unconditional love of God.

“For I know that nothing can keep us from the love of God. Death cannot! Life cannot! Angels cannot! Leaders cannot! Any other power cannot! Hard things now or in the future cannot! 39 The world above or the world below cannot! Any other living thing cannot keep us away from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 NLV

Let me take this moment to encourage you to not only read but to study the book of Romans.

“Men become right with God by putting their trust in Jesus Christ. God will accept men if they come this way. All men are the same to God. 23 For all men have sinned and have missed the shining-greatness of God. 24 Anyone can be made right with God by the free gift of His loving-favor. It is Jesus Christ Who bought them with His blood and made them free from their sins.” Romans 3:22-24 NLV

God’s unconditional love made a way, through Christ, for us to be free from sin – now that’s almost incomprehensible!

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More Than Expected

I love the mornings when I wake up thinking about the goodness of God!

Frankly, I used to have mornings when I would dread getting up because I knew the day was going to be chaotic and at times confrontational. I went to sleep focused on a problem and it would be the first thing on my mind when I greeted the day. But now, most mornings I am in awe of God’s love.

Do you want to know what was on my mind this morning?

“God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers 17 and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love. 18  I pray that you and all God’s people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep.19 I want you to know all about Christ’s love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.

20-21 I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.” Ephesians 3:16-21 CEV

God is wonderful and He wants us to know and experience the depth of His unconditional, unending, immeasurable love!

There is nothing more powerful than the love of God because God is the full embodiment of love and He wants to fill our lives with all He is. To be filled with that love, that power, working in us is certainly more than I could possibly imagine or ask for.

Our heavenly Father’s desire is to live through us so that we are experiencing the fullest life ever.

“I say this because all of God lives in Christ fully, even in his life on earth. 10 And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.” Colossians 2:9-10 ERV

Those aren’t my words, those come from the Apostle Paul who was writing to Christians who were young in the faith. He wanted them to know, and us to know also, the amazing depth of His love and commitment to us.

It truly is so much greater than anything we could dream of, imagine or ask for but that’s how God is!

When Christ came to earth one of His names was Immanuel meaning God with us. This is so much more than a baby in a manger. This is Christ, the full expression of the Godhead, making us complete and providing all that we need to live the same type of life that He lived while He was on earth.

“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” John 10:10 AMP

More than expected? Absolutely. Our heavenly Father has a life planned for us that is beyond our dreams.

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Do You See It?

I have always had a vivid imagination.

When I was a young girl, I didn’t need books with pictures because my mind would make the words come to life. It still happens today.

Through my mind’s eye I have seen Daniel in the lions’ den, Miriam standing at the riverside watching over Moses, the leper who was healed, the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and Mary in the garden on resurrection morning.

When I read the last few chapters of John and the story of the crucifixion it’s hard for me because my mind takes me there and I can see the anguish on Jesus’ face as he is stripped, whipped and abused.

“He was hated and men would have nothing to do with Him, a man of sorrows and suffering, knowing sadness well. We hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was hated, and we did not think well of Him.

4 For sure He took on Himself our troubles and carried our sorrows. Yet we thought of Him as being punished and hurt by God, and made to suffer. 5 But He was hurt for our wrong-doing. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so we would have peace. He was beaten so we would be healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone the wrong way. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has put on Him the sin of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6 NLV

But the thing that has made the biggest impact on me is His eyes. Going through the pain and anguish that He did, His eyes were never angry, they were always filled with love. It was love that held Him to the cross. It was love that forgave the thief hanging next to Him. It was love that asked John to care for His mother. It was love that said, “It is finished”!

“Let us keep looking to Jesus. Our faith comes from Him and He is the One Who makes it perfect. He did not give up when He had to suffer shame and die on a cross. He knew of the joy that would be His later. Now He is sitting at the right side of God.” Hebrews 12:2 NLV

It was the Father’s love for us that sent His Son and it was Jesus’ love for us that compelled Him to die. Both the Father and the Son are the living examples of unconditional love.

” But God showed His love to us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NLV

Close your eyes. Do you see it? Jesus is looking at you with a smile on His face and eyes filled with love!

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Blessed Assurance

Another morning started with praise!

There is a time and place when completely alone, no noise – only the sound of my own breathing, that from the depth of my heart a song rises up.

“This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.”

That’s the chorus to a hymn written 150 years ago by Fannie Crosby, “Blessed Assurance”. Miss Crosby wrote hundreds of hymns of faith. She was a woman who faced hardships, not the least being that she was blind from the early age of three. Her mother and grandmother raised her to know and trust God’s word and it’s evident in her music.

The first verse of this hymn goes like this:

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.”

Heir of salvation, purchased of God, Born of His Spirit, I’m washed in His blood. What a marvelous truth, a truth to give strength, hope and resolve. The premise for this song comes from a verse in Hebrews.

“So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water.” Hebrews 10:22 CEV

The writer of Hebrews spent the whole book comparing the sacrifices and duties of the Old Testament priests with the blood sacrifice of Jesus. The sacrifice of animals had to be done every year to cover sin but the blood sacrifice of Christ was done once and for all, cleansing us completely.

“But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God’s right side, 13 and he will stay there until his enemies are put under his power. 14 By his one sacrifice he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God.” Hebrews 10:12-14 CEV

A sacrifice that is good forever, never needing to be repeated, offered by the sinless Lamb of God; one sacrifice setting us free from sin!

“ Christ is the sacrifice that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world’s people.” I John 2:2 CEV

This sweet assurance is mine and is available to all who receive the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf. This is my story, this is my song…Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

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Free to Forgive

How hard is it for you to forgive? Sounds like a loaded question doesn’t it?

When we look at forgiveness from a strictly personal, human perspective it can seem almost impossible to forgive some and easy to forgive others. It all depends on how deeply we have been hurt or wronged. Forgiveness seems to be based on our feelings and quite frankly, we often don’t want to take responsibility for letting them go.

However, we are free to forgive because we have been forgiven.

“We have been bought by His blood and made free. Our sins are forgiven through Him.” Colossians 1:14 NLV

In this morning’s reading Jesus was teaching on this very thing.

 “Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, speak sharp words to him. If he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him. 4 What if he sins against you seven times in one day? If he comes to you and says he is sorry and turns from his sin, forgive him.”

5 The followers said to the Lord, ‘Give us more faith.’ 6 The Lord said, ‘If your faith was as a mustard seed, you could say to this tree, ‘Be pulled out of the ground and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’

7 “What if you owned a servant who was working in the field or taking care of sheep? Would you say to him when he came in from his work, ‘Come and sit down to eat?’ 8 No, instead you would say, ‘Get my supper ready. Dress yourself and care for me until I am through eating and drinking. Then you can eat and drink.’ 9 Does the servant get thanks for doing what he was told to do? I am sure he does not. 10 It is the same with you also. When you do everything you have been told to do, you must say, ‘We are not any special servants. We have done only what we should have done.’” Luke 17:3-10 NLV

Jesus talked to his disciples about forgiveness. They tried to make it a “faith” issue. Jesus quickly refuted that and told them they didn’t need more faith – even a small amount of faith was sufficient to make earth moving changes.

What he did talk to them about was their obedience. Verses 3 through 5 don’t seem to tie together with verses 6 through 10 but read it again and you will see the correlation. Jesus starts in verse 6 telling them their faith is sufficient and then immediately goes into a teaching on obedience, the obedience of a servant.

The disciples, servants of Jesus, are being challenged to obey what the Master has said. Forgive!

Take forgiveness out of the realm of feelings and place it where it belongs – it is an act of obedience. We don’t need to struggle with doing something we are commanded to do. Just obey!

Obey because it’s what the Father has instructed us to do. Obey and know that we have done our duty as a servant of the most high God. We have been forgiven and we are charged with following His lead.

We’ve been forgiven so we are free to forgive!

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Love Letters

Each day I am thankful that God has allowed me to share His word with you. I don’t know where I would be without the Father’s love or His wonderful love letter, His Word! In fact, I don’t even want to think about what my life would be like without Him.

God’s Word has brought me forgiveness of sins, health to my body, peace to my soul, healing for my children, enrichment in my marriage. It has provided wisdom when my human intellect was lacking, protection in physical and emotional storms and safety in the face of danger. God’s promises have let me know that He would always supply, and He always has.

I do have to tell you; it hasn’t always been this way. I lived a defeated life for a long time until I saw in God’s word that He has made provision for more than just eternal life and that He wanted me to live victoriously while I was here on earth.

God’s promises are the same today as when He made them. His Word is for everyone. We must appropriate what God has given us; simply put, we must believe it regardless of how we feel or what circumstances tell us we should believe. There have been days that I wake up and don’t feel very saved; but my salvation isn’t founded on my feelings, it’s based on God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice. There are days that I wake up and may not feel healed, but I am because it’s based on God’s promise and Jesus’ sacrifice.

Circumstances said there wasn’t enough lunch to feed 5000 men with five loaves and 2 fishes, but the blessing of God flowed and there was more than enough. The circumstances said the apostles should lock themselves away and hide at the crucifixion, but the power of God was released through His Word and resurrection came!

The medical world said nothing could be done for the woman with the issue of blood but just one touch brought healing to her body. Yes, the word of God changes our circumstances when we believe; it’s called faith! Not faith in ourselves, but faith in God’s unchanging, unfailing love and the power of His word.

“With all my heart I praise the Lord, and with all that I am I praise his holy name! 2 With all my heart I praise the Lord! I will never forget how kind he has been. 3 The Lord forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick, 4 and protects us from death. His kindness and love are a crown on our heads. 5 Each day that we live  he provides for our needs and gives us the strength of a young eagle.” Psalm 103:1-5 CEV

These verses have a heading of “The Lord’s Wonderful Love”.

His love is everlasting – it never comes to an end. All of His goodness can be found in His love letter to us, it’s called His Word!

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God Is Bigger

The last few days I have been frustrated by a hatch of small beetle-type insects. This may be a common occurrence this time of year but they are annoying.

They are everywhere and get into everything. They are black with a little bit of red on their sides, they have wings but they don’t fly much. They crawl and of course are drawn to the light. Dave reminded me yesterday, “don’t worry, they’ll be gone just as quickly as they came”. It can’t be soon enough for me!

While I was muttering about these little pests, I almost missed the gorgeous sunrise that was appearing through my window. Isn’t that how it is so often? We make mountains out of molehills and we miss out on the beauty that God provides.

God is bigger than our problems, bigger than our annoyances!

King Solomon made a simple statement that I have learned to rely on in times like these.

“Catch the foxes for us— the little foxes that spoil the vineyard. Our vineyard is now in bloom.” Song of Solomon 2:15 ERV

This verse is right in the middle of a love sonnet. How strange! But I think it’s a reminder, a caution that we should deal with the little things of life, not letting them create stress and go on.

“We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. 18 So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.” II Corinthians 4:17-18 ERV

The “small troubles” in Paul’s life were things like ship wrecks, beatings, imprisonment, stoning, constant harassment. Little foxes — small troubles.

God is bigger!

Just now as I am writing this one of those small annoyances just crawled across my keyboard. So, what do we do when the stress starts to build and the annoyances come?

“I look to the hills! Where will I find help? 2 It will come from the Lord, who created heaven and earth. 3 The Lord is your protector, and he won’t go to sleep or let you stumble.” Psalm 121:1-3 CEV

With that I’m on my way out to enjoy the sunrise and the majesty of the Father. My God is bigger than anything!

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