Social Media

Good morning and happy Friday. So now I'm seeing all these videos on YouTube about man and religion and Jesus and one not liking the other. It's interesting in the way they are presented these cases for Christ and religion. I'm glad it's there getting the reviews they are because maybe somebody will hear something that turns them in a new life direction with God. Social media dominates our culture today and I wonder where and how it fits in, and when you step back out of it it's amazing. The Word is reaching people from all over in a new way. But just like when it was written by a scribe and to be interpreted into daily use, man is able to twist it and make it fit his ideology. Nothing has changed except for the way the game is played. Newer more modern equipment and much a bigger audience. Jesus preached a lot of His messages at the ones in power and kept things, including the Word, from the less fortunate. I don't think the less fortunate today have a laptop or smart phone to play in the social media game. We still need to have our hands in the mess and getting dirty instead of calling this good enough.  We have powerful weapons at our disposal to spread the Word fast and far, but it still gets back to the basics of a relationship with Jesus and doing His work, however that may be. Get the Word out the best you can but being the Word is the best of all. In love always. <><

The Purpose of a Life

Good morning and happy Thursday  sorry for the length of this today but its dear to me. The purpose of a life is not easily determined. A newborn who passes away; what was the purpose? Could it be that a person is born and raised and we meet and grow together and bond in a way that is beyond friendship, that their death is their purpose for my life. It happens to us all the time when a loved one or close friend passes away. We change the way we see our life and the way we're gonna live it. It's a huge feeling in the pit of your stomach that says; do it this way from now on. Is that the purpose of the life that has passed? Did God really put into motion a life born, lived and died just for the purpose of changing me at a crucial point? Yes He did. The little baby was born only for a few days before passing and has touched the lives of many people. A grandparent who dies late in their life that as they are dying the family is reflecting on their life and has a changing impact on a lot of lives. When those deaths happen, don't we begin to search for the meaning behind them and then make changes in our own lives. Well it happened a long and it was very deliberate in it's purpose. Jesus was born and lived and died to change our lives. Death of our loved ones and ourselves are simply that again, as a reminder of what's been done for us by God Himself through His son Jesus. Don't let the purpose of a life lived be lost on our own idea of life. Let your life be changed by those who have gone on before us, but especially by the one who went first before us all. That's where all life is pointed to. Jesus' life was to die for us. You are born to die so others may change from your life lived. Not to take away from the actual life itself, changing others as it is lived. But sometimes the only way we see it is when a life is taken away from us. Happy Birthday Trenton. I miss you. In love always <><

LIfted Up In Prayer

Good morning and happy Wednesday. Have you ever had someone just pray over you for no reason other than they just wanted to? To just lift you up out of love for you? It's an awesome feeling, but to find out that someone has been doing it everyday at the same time for a long time is simply amazing. To find out is not the goal and the intent was not to satisfy a need of their own, but to simply pray for them. We do a great service for others when we lift them up in prayer. Just as Jesus stands before God on our behalf, we can take a friend or family member to Him also. True, sometimes God needs to hear from that person, but to lift them slowly means that it will begin to sink in. God is a good listener. He will hear what we say to Him. And to be doing for others makes His heart swell. To go to Him on their behalf is a sacrificial act of service. That's what He wants from us. Especially if we are about that with a joyful heart and not seeking personal gain. That's what love is. When you love someone you will do these things. Love will have you doing all kinds of things. Love on someone today and pray over them. Really lift them up in love. In love always. <><

Right Where You Are

Good morning and happy Tuesday. I hope that you had a nice long weekend. Some of us didn't. I find it interesting how we look at others and wish we had what they had. A day off because they have a "good" job. They're money because they have a nice car. We don't really know the whole story or how happy or sad they are, or what their relationship is with God. I went through a neighborhood one time of a pretty poor and run down part of this small town. As I looked around I noticed some things; the families were outside cooking out and playing because they had no a/c in the house and it's cooler outside and they're together. It was all over the place and I saw how happy they were, where they were. I'm sure they want it to be better but for now it is what it is, make the most of it. God blesses us with the Holy Spirit and with meeting our needs. It's by the Holy Spirit we are guided and to see needs of others we can be a blessing too. We shouldn't want the place of another. Be happy where you are because that's exactly where God wants you. And you never know the troubles you may be wishing for in that fancy car. Or just because someone has the day off on a day you're working means they have a job at all. Be thankful where you are,move as God moves you and only then. He loves you and has great plans for you. In love always. <><

"Times"

I have always loved this song by Tenth Avenue North. These young men wrote about a conversation many of us have had many times with God. Its starts with them talking to Him, Then His answer. The key is being quite to hear Him speak over you.

"Times"

I know I  need You 

I need to love You

I love to see You, but it's been so long

I long to feel You

I feel this need for You

and I need to hear You

is that so wrong?

Now You pull me near You

When we're close I fear You

still i'm afraid to tell You

all that I've done

are You done forgiving?

or can You look past my pretending?

Lord, I'm so tired of defending

what I've become

what have I become?

Now the answer, listen to Him

I hear You say "My love is over,

it's underneath, it's inside, it's in between

the times you doubt Me, when you can't feel

the times that you've questioned 'is this for real?'

the times you've broken, the times that you mend

the times you hate Me and the times that you bend"

Well My love is over, it's underneath

it's inside, it's in between,

these times you're healing

and when your heart breaks

the times that you feel like you've fallen from grace

the times you're hurting

the times that you heal

the times you go hungry and are tempted to steal

in times of confusion and chaos and pain

I'm there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame

I'm there through your heartache

I'm there in the storm

My love I will keep you by My power alone

I dont care where you've fallen, where you have been

I'll never forsake you

My LOVE never ends, it never ends

I take great comfort in the fact that He is always with me, always. In love always <><

Do You Trust God?

Good morning and happy Thursday. Do you trust God? Do you really trust Him?  We all say yes immediately, but if we stop and think about our actions and how we're living our lives on our own terms, the answer might be different. As Christians we're supposed to trust Him, that's the rule. I'm a Christian and haven't been really trusting Him either. I haven't been out on many ledges where all I have is Him. But that's what we need to be doing. Getting to that place He's lead us to and just say I trust you to pull me through this. Today I am on a ledge because I don't know how it will be able to be done, but I am trusting God in His promise to see us through it. Right now it looks insurmountable, but with Him, it's all possible. His timing is uncanny and His methods are unorthodox, but I trust Him. It is easier to do in some smaller areas but this is bigger than I think. Which tells me He's been preparing me this whole time to take this on. It's amazing the work He's doing in lives every day. It's amazing to see how they all connect to make every one involved stronger than than know. Trust him with everything you have. Trust Him to always be there no matter what you've done or where you've been or how good you've been. In God we trust. It's not just a saying, it's "the" way of life. In love always. <><

A Place In Time

Good morning and happy Wednesday. Is there a time and place in history you would like to go back to to live in, not just visit but live out the rest of your days?  I don't know why but I would like to have lived in the time of the gladiators and Spartans. Ever think about why we would like to live at another time than we do now? What do you know about that time?  What do you know about this time and tomorrow?  Through our history books we can know a lot about the past, but the biggest thing is we know how it ends. Can't say the same about today can you?  This goes back to safe and secure. We like that feeling. But that takes us away from our faith in God. If we went to another time we would know things that were coming and so we would not have to rely on God the way we do now. So there's the rub; relying on Him now. That's not easy and it requires action from us. Well that stinks right?  I just want us to see our dependence on Him and to surrender to it. Then we will be safe and secure in this time. Trust Him to lead you on a wonderful journey with Him. It'll be worth telling later. In love always. <><

Something Worth Dying For

Good morning and happy Tuesday. MikesChair's song "Something worth dying for" just keeps playing over and over in my head. It's about seeing your own self worth in the eyes of the Father. That's the key to it all is seeing ourselves through His eyes with His heart. We place too much value on what other people think of us. With that said if you're going through it all wrong to begin with and actin like heathen, then yeah, peoples opinion will matter as they should be guiding us back on track. But aside from that situation, there's not a person one that can save you from hell or get you into Heaven. That being the case, who can? Then that's who matters and that's who loves you more than anything. He's the one and only person that can make an eternal difference in our life. They're are people who help and have a hand in but it boils down to Jesus and you. He's waiting for you to decide to join Him. The angels of Heaven wait to sing and rejoice your answer. All of heaven already knows you are worth dying for or else He wouldn't have came and done it already. And that's just Jesus' love. The Father loves us so much He gave His son up so we could be with Him. Love is at the root of all of this, and it's what we have the hardest time doing it seems. Don't let the world tell you you're something you're not. We all have a purpose that was given by God. That's all that matters; our relationship with Him. In love always. <><

God In The NFL

Good morning and happy Monday. So they said he really isn't an NFL quarterback. He had unbelievable stats in college and set all kinds of records. Became the first to win the Heisman trophy as a sophomore, why wouldn't he succeed in the NFL? It's because people said so. All the experts and they were saying it last night before the game even started. He did not have what it takes to beat the Steelers. Well, I guess people are wrong sometimes. Persecution is not something we face much if at all here in this country. At least not on a scale you would in the Middle East or China. But Tim has faced a little more than most and had his faith called into question. So how did he handle it? With the grace of a true Christian. He went out and did what he was supposed to do and shocked them all. Did he have a battle inside he was facing along the way, probably? But I'm sure he got on a knee and prayed and sought the guidance of the one true God. This is the Christian life being lived on a grand stage. Is God still at work here, obviously, because the experts said it couldn't be done. God showed them. Not to take away from Christians on the Steelers team, its just they aren't under the scrutiny Tim has been. And just for a conversation piece, Tim threw for 316 yards last night. That's cool. All this from not a Denver fan, but a  faith in God fan. In love always. <><

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. <><