Don't Be An Assumption

Good morning and happy Friday. There are two people doing the same thing every morning at my job. They come in to sell breakfast burritos. I've watched them now for a while and have noticed something. One has a shirt on with the business name and asks people if they want to buy some. The other comes in regular clothes and doesn't say much. She is assuming people know what she's there for and isn't active in what she's trying to do. The other let's everyone know and gives them all the chance to make up their own mind. That's us with our sharing the faith we have and the good news of Jesus. We just assume people will ask us if we look the part. Needless to say the one talking about his burritos is selling the most of them. People will ask you about salvation but that should be the ones we missed by mistake. Let the world know one person at a time. Go and let the world see and hear you doing Gods work and not assume they know you are. In love always. <><

The Empty Cross

Good morning and happy Thursday. You see all the time a crucifix of Jesus on a cross. It's a good reminder of what our sin cost. We need that sometimes. But what does a cross with no Jesus on it remind you of. I hope that it reminds you these things. It's finished. He has taken our sins away and they are no longer ours to carry. Lay them there at the foot of the cross and leave them. We spend more time beating ourselves up over our sin and feeling guilty than we do getting on with Gods business. When they took Jesus down from the cross, they took down our troubles, woes and worries. He's not on the cross anymore and neither is everything He took there with Him. When you see a cross, rejoice in your salvation and know that death has no victory over you while you are in Christ Jesus. See the empty cross, and know that your are forgiven. See the cross and know that you have been paid for. See the cross and know that you are loved more than you can imagine. But to see the cross in the first place you have to turn and look at it. You are gonna have to move to see it. He's done His part, it's time to do ours. In love always. <><

Don't Loose Focus

Good morning and happy Wednesday. This is the fourth day. The week is busy again. Plans for the summer are being made. Hoping you can go somewhere with gas the way it is. And some just wondering if they will make it period with gas the way it is. A lot of things are on our minds again. Our focus has left Easter. Most of us are no longer talking about the good messages we heard Sunday or what that day was really about. We get back to busy. But we did do Easter. Check that off the list for the year. But Easter and everything it is, is everyday and we just don't make the time to remember it. Don't keep it on a shelf and use it once in a while. Wear it like a new shirt. Everyday all the time. Take it off to wash it and get your stuff off it and put it back on. Wear it out. Stop being so busy we forget and have to be reminded what has been done for us every day. In love always. <><

Now What Are We Gonna Do?

Good morning and happy Tuesday. So now what? He's been seen. He's eased Thomas' doubts and He's gone to Heaven. What they do now is the answer to what we do now. They were scared for their lives and had gotten themselves distanced from someone they knew. But now nothing stops them from telling the world about Him and what He's done and what He can do for them. With more passion than ever they go out into the cities and tell the good news. We've distanced ourselves from Him too at times. We know who He is and what He's done and yet we're still not that close to Him. Many are but more are not. I don't think you can be close to Him and be quiet about it. I just don't hear the noise of people talking about Him much. I want their passion after it was all over. After He was gone from them. That's when they really got it. If you're not talking about Him, start. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few. In love always. <><

Easter Monday

Good morning and happy Monday. So now He's risen. But the stories are already out that it's not true. So for the next 40 days Jesus appears to about 500 different people at different times. All to reinforce what has really happened. What He said is true. He is truth. So everything that He's taught and said about life, death, and eternity are all true. He commanded them to go and spread the good news and make disciples out of the nations. That's our job today. Don't let the meaning of it all die this week. Make it last a lifetime. Jesus is alive today and everyday. Spread the news. In love always. <><

Easter Part 3

Good morning and happy Friday. Part 3. God is so obvious we miss it sometimes. On a hill a picture of the world is played out. Two thieves, the world, and the savior of both. One mocks Him and says save yourself if you're God. He wasn't here to save Himself, so there He stayed, carrying the weight of the worlds sin and the world begins to doubt. The other side a man deserving of his punishment receives salvation, even at the last moment. The only two choices we have really. And our savior in the middle of it all with our sin on Him, so much so that God cannot look upon Him. So with our sin now dead on a cross, people who had been with Him begin to doubt if He really is who He says He is. Our sin is taken from the cross and buried away in a tomb to be forgotten with our faith in Him conquering over it. But it's now Saturday, the doubt must be really growing now. Have faith in Him. Sunday, glorious Sunday. All doubt is removed, at least for some. He is alive and the tomb is empty, except for the sin of the world, which no one now sees. So the choices still remain, choose Him or choose death. That was a long Friday for Jesus. A long Saturday for His followers. A magnificent Sunday for the world. We can never doubt the love God has for us. We just simply read it and say it too fast out of habit instead of seeing, feeling, and hearing what He is so obviously showing us. We have to stop. We have to give value to our lives because they were paid for at very high price. And for that price, it is only asked of you to follow Him and tell others of His love. I think we got off easy. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me. For caring enough about me to die. And in you omnipotence you knew my name and how I would let you down and you still died for me. I love you so much. In love always. <><.

Easter Part 2

Good morning and happy Thursday. Part 2. It's the day before you die, what would you be doing? Living life to it's fullest. Doing that one thing you never got to do. Jesus was with His friends still teaching them what they needed to know to help save others. He had dinner with them and told them things of Himself, themselves and how they were to be when He was gone. They've given up their lives to follow Him and now they hear Him say really, this is it. The rest is up to you. I've shown you God the Father. You've walked with God the Son and you have the gift of the Holy Spirit with you. Tell the world of these things. I get that they were scared when this played out. I get they wanted to just save themselves and hide. That's what we do now. It takes a moment of connection with who Jesus is to truly move our hearts to change and live for Him. Ask Paul, the one killed and persecuted Jesus' people. He changed and wrote half the New Testament. It's never too late to live for Him. In love always <><

Easter Part1

Good morning and happy Wednesday. Part 1 of 3. So you've entered the city and you've been welcomed like a star, yet you know exactly why you came here. Today and the next two I want you to think about your life ending Friday. You know you will die and it will be horrible. Beaten so badly that people can't look at you. Blood pouring out of you to point you may die of the lack of it first. You talk with people and only give a few hints has to your death to your family and friends. But you've done nothing wrong and no one understands why you're saying these things. But they will know and they will see you are who you said you were. I can't imagine the loneliness Jesus must have been starting to feel. He knew His friend would deny even knowing Him just to save himself. To feel like everything He came to do is lost on deaf ears. In Luke 23:31Jesus says, "For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?". He's talking to us. What are we gonna do? He was with them and they killed Him. Aren't we still killing Him today? You die this Friday. Everything you've done means nothing to no one. You're alone and beaten and being led to the place where it ends. Think about Him for next few days. Really try and put your mind around it. Don't let His life on earth be nothing to us now. In love always. <><

Pour Out Your Gift

Good morning and happy Tuesday. You know when you hear one of those songs that just touches you at the heart. You just feel it. Sometimes you feel like it was written just for you. In the beginning of my journey out of the place I was, those songs would make me cry because I didn't feel worthy. Then, the same songs seemed pious and arrogant. That no one was as good as this. We can't forget that those songs were written by people who, just like you and me, were in a place they needed God to help them. They are blessed with the gift of music and so they pour out what God gave them onto us so we can see Him. Plain people with a gift. A gift given by God and used to glorify Him. I'm a plain person that needs to find his gift and use it to glorify Him. No matter how small or big it is, someone somewhere needs you to pour it out for them. It may be the difference of eternity. Glory to God forever. In love always. <><

Auto Pilot

Good morning and happy Monday. The sprinklers came on in the yard early yesterday morning and I thought about how the grass was doing. Long story, but what I realized was that I no longer really take care if my grass the way I used to. The sprinkler doesn't have to be moved and the only time I walk in it is to mow it. If I didn't like it so much I would have someone do that. The point is there used to be a day that I would really tend to my yard. Now things are automated and take care of itself it seems. I think God was telling me yesterday that's how I'm letting my relationship with Him get. Just going through the motions and not really tending to it. If you are finding yourself there too, dig in. Pick up the Word and find a place to start planting the seed God wants you to be planting. Get your hands dirty with doing His work here for His glory. It's time to get off auto pilot and start flying the plane to a better, deeper relationship with God. In love always. <><

Three Holes

Good morning and happy Friday. The Native Americans where found dancing and giving thanks to different gods. They danced prayers for rain and a good harvest. They knew there was something more than just them. They had a stirring in their heart and they knew. So for them, or any other group never exposed to God, they get it. They see that's what they've been missing. There are three holes in the heart that can't be filled by anyone or thing but what is supposed to be there. A mom, dad, and God hole. And no matter what, those are the only things that fill them. Mom and dad are easy. We see that. It may not have been good but we know who they are mostly. Or at least the one who took the role. (Steve). But the God hole is the one we know is there but can't quite figure it out. We use all kinds of stuff to fill a spot that can only be filled by Him. Until He's in our hearts, life isn't as good as it could be. So don't wonder why there is rich people who don't know God. The devil is at work in this too. Just saying. Let God do what He needs to do in you and through you. In love always. <><

Appreciate the Gift

Good morning and happy Thursday. ( Friday eve ). Those of you with kids can relate to this pretty easy. You love them with all you have. You want only the best for them all the time. They let you down here or there with some little stuff, but not too bad, from time to time. Then one day you simply realize they've changed. The change is in one of two ways. For one they have come to expect things to be the way they always have been but not have to do anything different on their part. We call it ungrateful or spoiled. Some where they missed the message we were trying to give them or we didn't get it across well enough. The other is an appreciative person who realizes the things that's been done for them and the cost it has been to their parents. In both financial and emotional senses. Is this not how we the children of God have become also? The saddest part is the fact we realize what's been done and still act the way we do with everybody else. We have all been given a gift. And we still don't wanna share and keep it to ourselves. We have to start living in a way that shows Gods glory and how much we appreciate what it is He has done for us. In love always. <><

The Word is Alive

Good morning and happy Wednesday. So the Apostles drop everything and follow a man they don't even know? People must have thought them crazy. They would today. Waco stir a memory or the ones waiting on a spacecraft to pick em up. So I hear people say how easy it would be to follow Him in those days. To see the miracles done and all that would be undeniable. To hear Him speak and everything of being with Him would be so much easier. Yet many did not follow and many more wanted Him dead and still others killed Him. But the Word became flesh takes on real meaning. The Word is as alive today as it was then. He is doing miracles in lives everyday. The things we say would make it easier are still going on now. The Bible doesn't have a last page that says "The End". It says amen. We win. Game over. If you have followed my instructions I will see you soon. That's how it ends. It never does. He died, rose again, went to Heaven now it's done. Really? That's not the God I read about in the Bible. It's not done and He needs us to do what He asked them to do. Follow Him and tell of the good news. In love always. <><

Put Down Your Nets

Good morning and happy Tuesday. What if someone came by your job and asked you to quit and come work for him now? You'll have to leave your family and the pay isn't any better. Would you go work for him? Probably not. But this happened a long time ago and people are still talking about it. I can't imagine what kind of presence they felt when Jesus was asking them to come follow Him and do His fathers work. To just simply stop working and leave. They asked later to go back and see family. What must being in His presence be like? They didn't know Him or who He was, but they knew something was right in what they were doing. See that feeling they had that day is one that we get today. We have those moments of Him asking us that very same thing. And it doesn't stop as it didn't for them. Tell your story of the things you see God do in your life. As advanced as we have become, the human feeling for God is the same still today. We know something is missing and a hole needs filling and it's God that fills it. Nothing else. That's how they knew it was right to follow. They had faith in who He was and made a decision that changed their lives. He's calling us all to follow Him. Put down your nets and go. In love always <><

It Might Not Be Today

Good morning and happy Monday. There's talk on the news of the second coming. A billboard giving us the last day of the earth and humanity. The only thing they have right is that fact about being ready. I can look back and thank God for the breath I have the next morning after a night before I'm glad wasn't my last. But how bad is bad? Where is the line? A good God fearing word spreading Christian has a bad moment of being cut off in traffic that causing a cuss fest then crashes his car and dies, is that bad enough. I don't know, and really neither does anyone else. God is the only one that does and that is where our heart needs to be. And when it goes astray, get it back there as fast as possible and carry on with the work at hand. Some spend too much time concerned with the end of time and forget about taking care of the present. Today is the day the Lord has made, I'm gonna work on this one today and worry about tomorrow never again. It's not even promised to me. In love always. <><