Good morning and happy Friday. What's the difference between want to and have to? The heart. When you have to do something, its hard to really get into it. When you want do something, it's all you wanna do. So what if you had to love God? It wouldn't be much for either of you. But since we have free will and choose to love Him, because our heart really does, is't that much better. So where are you on the scale? Feeling like you have to or in it whole hearted? Or are you somewhere in the middle in the luke warm water bobbing up and down. It's always good to step back and look in a full length mirror instead of the shaving/makeup mirror we usually use. Let your heart lead you to where your brain is keeping you from going. Find the want to inside you. It's there, it just has to be found. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Thursday. Have you ever seen a dog tied to a park bench or a pole so the owner could go into a store or something? That's your past you're tied to. You can't go anywhere until you own it and make good from it. Too many times we use our past as the excuse for our present and future. Our past has happened and that's it. We can use it for the good of the Kingdom or we can blame our lives on it. When we go to God for forgiveness, He gives it to us. Now we have to let ourselves be forgiven and not let satan use it to hold us down. Untie yourself from the past and quit trying to drag it around. Quit making excuses for everything going on and move on. Use the past to help others in similar situations. This is community. This is being part of the body. No more excuses. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Wednesday. Who are we, that the Lord of all the Earth, that the eyes that see my sin, would look on me with love, and watch me rise again (paraphrased). I love that song so much. It just blows my mind how much He loves us, how much He cares about every little thing in our lives. How can we not devote our lives to Him? As we near my favorite season of Easter, I want us all to start picturing our Lord drawing near to Jerusalem to die for us. All the things done and given to us sinners from the beginning. He never left our side, it's us who pulled away thinking we could do it on our own now that we're through the rough stuff. He died for us. A horrible ugly death that we deserve, He did for us so that we could be with Him. He must really care about us a lot. And this is how we treat Him in return? Get ready for the walk to the cross. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Tuesday. Sometimes I find myself without a single word to say to God. I love and take comfort in the fact that I don't have to. He hears my inner most feelings and thoughts and concerns. Along with those groans and sounds that only He can understand. And then give the comfort of letting me know He hears me. I feel like I'm in a whirlpool sometimes with all the thoughts in my head. And in the middle of the chaos He's standing there. Has been the whole time just waiting for me to reach my hand out to His. The one that's been stretched out before for me. Refuge is found in the Lord. There is no other place to be. Tell the world of this place you know. There's room for us all. In love always.
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Good morning and happy Monday. When our kids are little they really need us parents. As they get older and mature more they need us less and less. Some hang out and see their parents more then others as they get out on their own. And some just stop in when they need to talk or in a situation that calls for some advise. Either way, a foundation of where to turn to is in place. It's about going to the source of knowledge and know how that makes a life easier to live. Now grown ups, which child are we in our relationship with our Father? Do we go to Him daily or just become and an EC, (Emergency, Crisis or as it approaches, Easter,Christmas) kind of kid? I want and need to see my mom and dad more than I do, but I really need more time with God. What a neat idea of us getting together to do that. Family is always family and our parents are our mentors. But when the first Father is first it all is good. Spend some time each day seeking His guidance and wisdom for the path of life He has for you to walk. It's the best road you can take. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Friday. Why do we leave a comfortable place? What moves us to do something different than what's good right now? Well, we say we hear the Holy Spirit move us. Really? The Spirit moved you to do something stupid? I know I need to grow so I've gotta move to grow right? We amaze me. We can rationalize everything we do. If you have teenagers then you know best of all. But the Spirit and our own desires sound the same because they come through the same voice, but not the same source. So we hear what we want and call it the Spirit. How fast do we move on that? But when we really hear the Spirit move us we ponder and think it out and "pray" about it. The Holy Spirit will move you to uncomfortable places, but as long as God is leading, then it will always be good. This is a struggle for everyone I know, including me, especially me. Be led by the Holy Spirit today and act as quickly as possible. It's really a blessing for us when we do. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Thursday. It seems like the longer I stay away from something that I was closer to before, the more I don't like it and the harder it is to get back to it. With people, it depends on how things were when they last saw one another. With God, it's usually in shame for what we've done but sometimes it's anger. In any case, we have to make the effort to move back to that place of relationship. It's up to us to move. When we've been away from God for a while, that's got to be the hardest to come back to, but really is the easiest and most forgiving place we could find. The past is not held against us in a way that keeps us from Him, but because we've come to Him with a confessed heart, He sees it no more. That's not true with each other. It should be but it's not. Reunions are great and time does heal most wounds but don't take too much of it, you're missing out on a relationship you probably need more than you know. Mend your fences with those who you share them with. Make peace in your heart with God. Find His peace for you today. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Wednesday. It's tough to go through a struggle or trial by yourself. It's worse, in my opinion, to feel alone in it. Going through something alone can be a choice but feeling alone means that there may not be anybody reaching out to you. There may not really be anyone there at all. We all know God is with us always, and He is all we need. But if that were all if it, we wouldn't need each other. We're sons and daughters of the Most High God, making us brothers and sisters. Family is always there. Not the ones in your house growing up, the family of humanity. We have to be available to each other and help when a brother or sister calls on you. This is God at work in the physical. Not expecting a thing, but to simply love the one in need. It's amazing how we feel when it's given and received. Just like that feeling you have when you really ponder the love if God hanging on a cross for us. Sacrifice part of yourself for others. It's the least we can do. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Tuesday. So to finish up yesterday's message: the point was about me clearing out my life junk, but the other was those who were texting and seeing if everything was ok. It's great to be loved and missed, but it's not about us. After we're dead and gone, the people left after us will miss us but they still have a life to live. So, if we're missing the people in our lives this much when gone for just a while, why aren't we missing God in our lives who, for some, hasn't been there in a while? I miss my girls every day that they aren't with me. I know that I still have to keep God first in my life so that my life in Jesus makes a difference to them. So how much is He missing in your life, or have you even considered it? Take a day, or two and escape to Him. Leave this hustle and bustle behind and reconnect with Him and just see the difference. Then keep Him right there and don't take your eyes off of Him. He's in control of everything else. He doesn't need your help for that. He needs you showing Him to others who have left His side so they will come home too. To you I hurt or frustrated, I'm sorry and I love you more than you know. It's hard to do but I needed to check myself and where I was. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Monday. I haven't missed many days at this in nearly two years of this morning text. I missed Friday on purpose. Late Thursday evening I checked out of this busy world we live in as much as I could. No text, computer, t.v. Like I said as much as possible. What I found was a sense of how busy I let things get. How I miss people in my life, and how they, missed me. It brought to life some things about community and the need for fellowship. And then it hit me, how much am I really checked out of God's life and much like my mom and dad, is He missing me. I've got to have Him first and that's what I seem to have found as we talked a lot more than before this weekend. My thoughts were clearer and more poignant. I needed to clear a bunch of life junk out and connect better spiritually with God and now with you. It was a good mind and heart get-a-way. And for those I left alone for what seemed like no reason, I'm sorry, but I really needed to get connected. God, thank you for missing me and holding on a minute while I get it together with you and not without you. I know I was not fully committed and that you have shown me the error of my ways. I love you and give you all the glory. My life is you being lived today. Help me to live better for you. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Thursday. Have you ever looked at something and as soon as you saw it you nearly cried because it was so beautiful? Well, God in all His wisdom, showed me a picture that was just the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time. As I pulled into the parking lot last night, a young single mom was walking her 3 yr old son into church. Doesn't sound like much really does it? Here's why fellowship with one another so important. I know her history, the parts she has shared. Some not able to be spoken about yet. I know that she was left and abandoned at 14. I know she made some bad choices along the way. I know she has a heart that is truly seeking God daily. To know her story and to see her alone with her son walking into church is absolutely beautiful. So then, God gives me the the better picture, a closer more HD look at it after church. This mom and I are talking about stuff and she is going through a rough skid in life again. Satan is attacking, and as we talk she says the most eye opening thing. "Because of my past and what I've done, I know what forgiveness really is". What I saw in the parking lot was what God can do when a heart turns to Him and truly seeks Him. How much do we take for granted what Jesus did for us? How much do we really appreciate all He does for us? She gets it. I'm blown away by her passion for God, because I know it could've been different. He's turned ashes into beauty and it made me cry to see His work. He is amazing. Please tell others about Him. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Wednesday. So I'm sitting at the stop sign and notice my state inspection sticker and it made me realize that all of us have an expiration date. I'm always waiting til the last day of the next month and rushing to get my sticker done before I get a ticket. How many of us are pushing the expiration date before we get a "new" sticker? What are you doing until then.?Will it be a scramble to get there? Are you just living to get it done in the last days before it expires? Trouble is, you don't when you expire. There's no numbers on a sticker telling you when it's over. We have to be making the most of our time while we're here. I'm finding my job making that more difficult. Wait, that's my excuse for it. We really have the time if we are really seeking His face. I've got to do better. I know what it's like to be without Him and I don't want that ever again. Please make the most of it all before time runs out. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Tuesday. How far away is too far? How far away can a person get before it's too late and there's no hope? Well the obvious answer is " with God it's never too far". Say it with some sarcasm too and add a "duh". And while that's true, the point is we say things like that and think things like that. We put limits to everything because we don't get infinity. We don't understand powerful. I love how we throw around Phil 4:13. One, we use wrong and two we don't really believe it all the time. It's handy when it's a rough patch or a bumpy situation, but when it gets down to the core we don't get it. If God gives you strength, then He does all the time. If a situation is overwhelming, then He's in it with you all the time, and not just sometimes. The point is, God is, was, and will be. He hasn't changed, we've just stopped going to Him in all of our needs and thanks and hurts and joy. We've put ourselves out away from Him, but we're never too far. Sometimes we may feel like it, but we're never too far. And here in our own human limitations, no one is too far from us to show the kind of love God shows everyone. He is power and glory forever and ever. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Monday. A definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. How many times have you found yourself not really changing what you're doing but trying to fit the answer into a better result? It seems like we try to fit the world into what God is trying to do in our lives. It's like trying to get a square peg in a round hole. It don't fit. In the busy world In which we live we look for the short cuts to get it done in a day. God wants our time. He wants us to take time out to be with Him. In those times we find refreshment. It's that time when the world goes away and true sanity is found. A peace beyond measure and beyond this world. Until we can change just a little of our routines to include Him more, chaos will ultimately reign. Take refuge in His protection. Find peace in the rest He offers. Come to the Father and rest in His arms. Find that hour you lost right there with Him. In love always. <><
Good morning and happy Friday. Ever say to someone or yourself, "If I would have known that I would have done it different". I know the things I want to do for and give to my daughter, (blessings). The plan is that when she does these things and chooses this road to be on the. At the end of that is reward and blessings besides the ones she got along the way. For example, if you had someone paying you a little rent to stay with you but put the money up for them in a savings to give back when they got back on their feet. It's something they couldn't see or know but the obedience to do that pays out in the end. Both are blessed along the way but a bigger blessing is coming in the end. So if the person leaves and says I'll do it this way instead, only to hear how it would have been had they chose to stay, would later be saying the very phrase above "If I had known.....". If we do that here for each other, how much is God holding for us if we do what He is having us do. Sure it's not about doing to get. It's about how much we do out of love for Him. And out of love for us He just happens to be able to do what ever He wants. I don't want to stand before Him and say, "If I had know that, I would've done that differently". We know what we should do. He talks to us all the time. Stop and hear Him. Listen carefully and obey, and all that good you did for Him and in his name and glory, will come back to you in the end. In love always. <><
