The Latest Craze

Good morning and happy Friday. Remember your latest "thing" ? That thing you told everyone about. It was the best that ever happened to you. You don't know how you lived without it. It's the best. Is it still?  Was it just a phase until the next best thing came along?  We're easily entertained aren't we?  It's a weakness Satan plays on too. All the things we get a kick out of and tell all our friends about, are just for the moment and time. Who still has their parachute pants? But one thing has remained throughout all time. God. And we do it  with Him as well. We get on fire and tell the world around us about it and it's the greatest thing ever. But then the world becomes a fire extinguisher and puts us out. But it's because we're weak and let it happen. Weakness is over come by conditioning and practice. It's a constant daily desire of wanting and realizing our need for Him. He is the greatest thing ever. God is the best thing that can happen to us. That's the craze of a lifetime. One that will never fade away. It's up to us to choose Him. He's already chosen us and we can't make Him love us anymore or less than He already does. In love always <><

"If You Haven't Quit, You Haven't Failed"

Good morning and happy Thursday. I saw this commercial with this boy growing up and going to war and then home and starting a family and growing old. To see a life played from start to finish really brings home a few things. We have no control or idea how our lives will turn out and that when we look back over our life there are lessons and instructions for living along the way that need to be passed on. None of us listened to our parents as we grew up. They had those instructions, we just couldn't see them as knowing anything we were going through. Jesus came here to live as we live. To know all we would experience and then show us and leave us the instructions to make it. Why don't we listen to Him? He's part of the creation of all we know and yet we have trouble listening to His advise and instructions for living. I know we try and do the best we can, but are we really just saying that's all I'm gonna do or wanna do. I hate when I let Him down, and it happens a lot, but a quote I read yesterday gave me hope in myself again, "If you haven't quit, you haven't failed". I'm not quitting. I'm gonna listen better. I'm not gonna fail Him. You in?  In love always. <><

Does He Really Need To Find You?

Good morning and happy Wednesday. Did God have to go find Adam and Eve in the garden? Did He really not know where they were? They really thought they could hide from Him though. This has been on my heart for a while now and this morning it's just what is coming forth. We've all grown up with the stories of the Bible and we all hear the familiar sermons that tell us God will go and find us. i. e. the lost sheep and coin parable in Luke 15. I don't think God has to go look for us when we're lost. He knows where we are. For Petes sake He is with us there. We teach a comfortable, no big action required on our part theology today. Thats scary. We have a big part in our salvation. Jesus went to the cross and paid the bill for our sins. We, are in the store and all we need to do is follow Him out. Our part in this is to repent. To turn away from what we're doing that keeps us from Him and passionately go and pursue Him. He's not going to leave 99 to go "find" 1. He knows where that one is. It's that ones job to come home. I challenge you to read Luke 15 as one conversation, like it's written, instead of three separate parables as we do. He is talking to the Pharisees and how they place more value on things and following rules than the repentance of a lost soul. If that's where Jesus makes a point then that's where we need to be. I've now heard the lost sheep sermon three different times used for God going to find us. It's up to you to go to Him. He's still there waiting for us. He's never left. I think it's dangerous for us to think He will come get us as we live a lost life. He gave us free will for a reason. You must be willing to follow Him. In the final part of Luke 15 we find a father looking down the road for his son. And when he sees he has come home he runs to him and meets him. That's the beauty of it is that we are always welcome home. We just have to go there. In love always. <><

The Sounds of Heaven

Good morning and happy Tuesday. I love hearing the wind chimes on the patio and the clock on the wall tick. I was wondering why that is and I remember when I was a kid I would listen to a watch tick which I was trying to go to sleep. Some of you may be too young to know that a watch used to tick and had to be wound. But I know why I like those sounds; it's comforting, it's soothing and if I close my eyes for a minute I can be far off in a hurry. It reminds me of a time when I was younger and innocent, more so than now. It's peaceful. That's what God offers us through a relationship with Jesus. Peace beyond understanding. Comfort when it shouldn't be. Chaos is where we've made life normal. God offers respite from that. To take us out if the world and into a peaceful place. Only He can do that. We try and fill that void in us with all kinds of crap and even with what seems to be good stuff but it never works because it's not of God. I can't wait to hear the peaceful song of the angels singing and praising the Lord one day. And then to join them. The peacefulness then will be unexplainable. But in the mean time, a small part of that is offered to us now. But the clock is ticking and the winds of time are blowing by. Find peace and comfort and joy in the sounds of Heaven that are all around us. In love always. <><

Make The Resolution Personal

Good morning and Happy New Year, and Monday. So what is it about that one stroke of the clock that makes everything different? Or makes things change?  Nothing really, except the one thing we can do all the time; decide to make it different or choose to make it different. It's a date mark of time to say that's when I changed, fixed or did this differently. It's merely a reference point for us. But can't we do that with the tick of the clock at any hour of any day of the year? Can we decide that this is the moment I'm gonna......? Of course we can.  So when this month is over it will no longer be a new years resolution but a personal one for all time instead. That's the ones that stick. That's the ones we keep. So all those without a resolution this time, decide on a personal one and I bet you'll remember the day and time you did it. All that to say it's never too late to decide to follow Jesus or to go to work for Him. There really is no excuse not to. This has to be personal. In love always. <><

The Last Friday 2011

Good morning and happy Friday. The last Friday of the year. The last message of the year. The last paycheck of the year. The last of a lot things. We will reflect over the year and tv will be full of the best of the year this weekend. But I'm gonna try it different this time. What's ahead next year? What are my plans and goals for next year, better yet for tomorrow?  Jesus told a parable about a man looking back as he plowed the field. The point is, he's trying to make the ground ready for planting but by looking back his rows won't be straight if useable at all. We are not promised tomorrow, but we still have to be ready to wake up and share the good news. Plow next years field looking straight ahead with focus and a purpose for serving God. It will be the best year ever. Remember the past and what you learned from it, but let go and don't cling to something that has past and has been used for it's time. It can keep you from growing and moving forward. Go and plow the field. Happy New Year. In love always. <><

Playing It Safe

Good morning and happy Thursday.  I learned last night that the UIL changed a few rules concerning head injuries to our kids. My youngest took a knee to the head and felt a little dizzy and wobbly, so they took her out and now she has to sit. It will be about two weeks before she can play again and she's not happy. Me either. But it is for the best and it is the safety they are concerned with. I wonder how any of us made it to today. Drinking out of a water hose, riding bikes with no helmets, getting hit in the head and going right back in the game. Have we gotten too soft and playing things too safe? Are we playing it safe with our faith and love for God too?  Gotten comfortable where we're at because we've seen others get hurt by being bold? Safe is easy. Safe feels good. Its time we got out of that comfort zone and began serving the Lord instead sitting back being served. It's time to be like David. While the others coward away to be safe to live another day, be it as a slave, David came forward as a kid and stood up for His God. Stand up and slay your giants one at a time with the help of God and live boldly for Him. We all have them. You're not alone. It's a difference of how safe you want to play it. In love always. <><

It's Worth It All

Good morning and happy Wednesday. Is it all worth it?  Is all the sacrifice worth it? Is the work and dedication worth it?  Apply these questions to anything in your life and you can get some answers. To a job change, a basketball season, a marriage. But the big one was answered for us a long time on hill. You are worth it all. Every lash given. Every kick or punch given. All the ridicule and shame endured. Even the moment He was out of the presence of God. He became our sin and let it be sacrificed once and for all on the cross to die along with Him. And in Him as He rose from the grave, we walk a new life with Him. All because He says you're worth it. All of it. Receive His gift and treasure it deeply and live a life for Him, because He's worth it. All of it. In love always. <><

Pick up His Life

Good morning and happy Tuesday. New years resolutions are coming up, are you gonna make one?  I'm making two; one personal and one spiritual but both require the same thing of me. Stop being lazy. The first will be to get this weight off I have put on. Get back to a good healthy lifestyle. The second is to get deeper into God's word and really find where my heart is in all this. To see and then know if I'm heading at least in the general direction God is pointing me to. Both of these will require that I free up some time and give up something else also. If this is a goal I'm going to set then that is exactly what I must choose. When we decide to follow Jesus then that is what we must do also. Give up the things that have kept us from Him and start doing the things that bring us closer to Him. It's time to put the world down and start picking up the life of Jesus Christ. In love always. <><

Jesus Is The Reason Period

Good morning and happy Monday. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas. And I hope that we all remember to keep Jesus in all of our things for the entire year. You see everyone around Christmas time really pushing the "Jesus is the reason", but soon after the wrapping paper, tree, and lights are put away, we seem to let go of the fact He's the reason period.  He's the reason for January 15th or any other day of the year. I'm glad we take time to celebrate His birth, but we need to be celebrating His life and the gift of life He gave to us. It took 35 years of my life for me to really get that and if I can help keep someone from wasting another day, then that's what I'll do. He came to save us all. And in all the tinsel and lights we can forget about the hurting and the poor and those less fortunate than us. I love Christmas and what it's for but I lose focus for a bit and I don't like that. I wanna be like Jesus. I wanna love the way He does. I wanna see  what He sees. I wanna feel the way He feels. I don't want to forget the bigger picture in all this mess we've made out of Christmas. In love always. <>< 

God's Great Love

Good morning and happy Friday and Christmas eve eve. So if you knew your newborn was going to be sick and have complications throughout their life, wouldn't you still love them with all you have? If your child goes astray in their life and is still in a dark place, don't you still love them with all you are? Of course we do. So if the merely mortals that we are are capable of loving so deeply the things that are hurting us and we have no way of helping them, how great then is the love of God for us? He created us and has sent a way to be with Him. He can help us but a choice by us has to be made first. His love for us is so deep I can't get my head around it. Jesus saw the world being made and the fall of man. He left Heaven and came to be ridiculed and mocked and killed to show the world the way back Home. He gave His life for ours. Why are we not giving back to Him with all that we are?  He's not asking for much. He only wants us to live a life following Him and the way He taught us. He wants our life so that we can be with Him forever. Love Him the way He loves us. To come here as a helpless baby and die just for us. There is no greater love than that. I love you Jesus. In love always. <><

Bring Back Christ in Christmas

Good morning and happy Thursday. My hope for everyone this Christmas season is that it is less about us and more about Him. Our country is loosing it's grip on Christian values and faith. God has been kicked out of every place but the home and church. Look at the state we're in since that began. We are a truly blessed nation but we are taking it for granted. We've commercialized Christmas and are slowly taking Christ out of it. It's up to us to re-instill the old values to our kids. God does not care about how we celebrate this time. He just wants that relationship with Him built up and fortified. That's what's going to matter in the end. Give from your heart not obligation, love with your heart not because you have to. Bring the Christmas Spirit home for the holidays and cherish your time with family and friends. Let's put Christ back in our Christmas and our homes. In love always <><

When It's Coming Apart

Good morning and happy Wednesday. You know that feeling you get when you know everything is going to be ok when it doesn't look like it is? You know how as a parent your kid is going to make it through that rough spot because you went through it too and it came out all right? That's God. When things seem to be coming apart, He's right there helping to hold them together. It's easy to sing His praise when it's good, and we should be. It's easy to call out to Him when it's going bad, and we should. What's not so easy is the trust it requires to know He's there. You will find Him when it's going south. You will call out to Him at some point, either in anger or sadness or confusion, but make no doubt, you will call to Him. And the best part is, He's right there waiting. We simply lack the kind of faith we think we have. It's a daily thing to keep it going. But like an athlete who trains for a long race, your faith will grow and become stronger. He's watching over us knowing it will be ok. You will get through this, trust Him. He's our Father and only wants the best for you and of you. How much of you are you giving to Him? He's prepared to open the flood gates of Heaven for you. So when a bad patch comes in life, and they will, snuggle up in the comfort of God's love for you and march on. Don't let the enemy have a moment of your time. In love always. <>< 

Trusting The Weatherman

Good morning and happy Tuesday. So I woke up this morning expecting to see a whole bunch of snow on the ground. All the best equipment and forecasting technology available said so. I trusted it to be as they said. Now I know the weather is a poor choice of comparison but it still goes to show what we have come to expect. So when I woke up to a few inches of snow I knew I was gonna have to go to work. It amazed me how easily the town started preparing for the shut down. Getting ready for what was told was coming. We are so ready to get ready for tomorrow but are really ready for what tomorrow brings. Tomorrow may be our last day here. Some of us may not live through it. We'll go empty the grocery shelves to survive a storm that may or may not come but won't get ready for eternity with God that is coming. I may not have seen you in a while or even know who you are, but I want to see and meet you there. Don't put it off til it's too late. There's work to be done by us all and everyone is needed now. Get prepared for the end, yours or the world, either way, it's coming. In love always. <><

How Do They Look To Me?

Good morning and happy Monday. What do we see when we see people?  What did we think when we see someone who looks different from us?  What do we whisper about them? I say all this because I saw a young man the other night that had hair that covers his face and skinny and what some may call a skater or one of those terms that puts him apart from the next kid. He had a look that made me think. He had a look that's probably popular with some but might turn a head mostly. It wasn't dirty or crude, it was just different. I wondered what people said about him in school or the mall or if he was even looked at all. But one thing I do know, that kid could play a guitar like nobody's business.  When he was on a stage and plugged in, wow. It's funny how things can change when the circumstances change to what we're used to things being in. We do that though all the time with people. I catch myself all the time doing it. I'm getting better though, but it comes from my growth in my relationship with Jesus. I finally I've come to my senses in the fact that I can't make it in this world without Him. When I filter everything through Him, it's better than Amarillo water out of a Brita pitcher. Goes in bad and comes out perfect. He is our example. One we can never live like, but we must strive do the best we can. I'm sorry to those I've judged. Whatever we have to do to see through His eyes we must do. It will be through those eyes that we also feel the hurt inside others who are trying to hide it. I wanna be like you Jesus. That's our mantra. That's our goal. In love always. <><