Category: II Corinthians

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True Treasure

One of the things I value most is the cedar chest I have in the guest bedroom. It was my Mom’s hope chest. I loved it when Mom would open it and let us go through the keepsakes that were inside. I remember seeing a newspaper that told about the end of World War II and then there was the program from the Ice Capades, a date night that she and Daddy had so many years ago.

It’s interesting that my kids, grown adults now, also enjoy going through the cedar chest. It’s contents are my most valued treasures. There are the family photo albums which contain pictures of my parents as young adults; my grandparents wedding picture and then the treasures that our kids made in Sunday School or public school. There’s a plastic candy cane wrapped in eyelet, a wooden board that has been sawn in wood shop and painted with red letters that say “#1 Mom”. There’s a sweet letter that tells me how much I am loved and a bud vase with a red rose that was made in ceramics.

My treasures!

All this has me thinking this morning, what have I given the Father that He would deem worthy of putting in the cedar chest for safe keeping? What is valuable to Him? It was then I remembered the story of a widow who gave all. I’m sure her two little pennies are in the Father’s treasure chest.

“Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. 43 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44 NLT

What the widow gave was an insignificant amount but the way she gave was priceless!She held nothing back; she gave her all.

When I was little, before we would head out the door to church, Mom would take some coins and tie them in a hankie for us to take to Sunday School and place in the offering. I remember being so excited to carry that hankie, my offering, and give it to Jesus. Sometimes I would pull the knot so tight, I didn’t want to loose the coins, that I would have to use my teeth to loosen the knot at offering time. I loved giving all I had to Jesus!

If the Lord had a cedar chest I’m sure my hankie would be in it. It was the symbol of a child’s love, a cheerful heart, giving all.

“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.” II Corinthians 9:7-11 NLT

True Treasure isn’t measured by the amount given but by the attitude of the heart. It’s just like that candy cane, wooden sign and sweet letters that are in my cedar chest. Those items have value because they were given from the loving heart of a child to their parent.

Whatever we give to the Father should be given from a heart of love. We can give money, time, possessions, attitudes, kindness. When we give, we are planting seeds and those seeds will return a harvest in like kind.

Give the Father your best; that is the treasure He desires!

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Who Am I?

Some days I have to determine who I need to be. What role requires my attention? Mother, wife, sister, daughter, neighbor, friend. Will I be a quiet listener and observe life around me or will I be an active participant? Will I be self serving or generous and kind? At one point in time I have been all of these and sometimes I have been them all in the same day.

That’s why it’s so important that I start each day in God’s word, reminding myself who He says I am.

Well, this morning I would like to invite you to step into a Bible story and assume a role. You need to choose one of the characters that you indentify with and play the part as we read the verses. The characters; a social outcast, a debutante, an ambitious CFO, a leading CEO and an ambitious type A personality.

Have you chosen your character? Now let’s read the story line.

“Six days before the Passover festival, Jesus went to Bethany. That is where Lazarus lived, the man Jesus raised from death. 2 There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. 3 Mary brought in a pint of expensive perfume made of pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

4 Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers, was there—the one who would later hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said, 5 “That perfume was worth a full year’s pay. It should have been sold, and the money should have been given to the poor people.” 6 But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the moneybag for the group of followers. And he often stole money from the bag.

7 Jesus answered, “Don’t stop her. It was right for her to save this perfume for today—the day for me to be prepared for burial. 8 You will always have those who are poor with you. But you will not always have me.” John 12:1-8 ERV

Jesus knew all of these people well. Three of them were some of his closest friends and the fourth was one of his inner circle. It’s very encouraging to me that Jesus didn’t choose the polished, the refined, the proper when he chose his disciples and his friends. The people around him were flawed, egotistical and others lacked confidence, common and prone to mistakes.

Let’s look at the characters; social outcast – Jesus, debutante – Mary, CFO – Judas, CEO – Lazarus, and type A – Martha. Do you want to change the one you decided to portray?

A few chapters before this Jesus had talked to Mary about being too busy to sit at his feet and hear his words. We find her doing the same thing here. Busy working when she should have been focused on Jesus and what he was saying, after all, he had just raised her brother from the dead a few days earlier.

Now Mary, an unmarried woman (I assume), she was devoted to Jesus and loved to be close and hear his words. She was thrilled that he had brought her brother back to life and was showing her devotion and worship to the Lord in the most impractical way. She broke a bottle of expensive perfume on Jesus feet and wiped them with her hair. In that day, a woman’s hair was her crowing glory and this showed her complete humility and gratitude. It would also bring her ridicule in the community.

The CEO, Lazarus, sat quietly throughout the dinner. His love and gratitude of his Savior compelled him to open his house for a dinner. A dinner to honor the Son of Man who had given him life.

Our CFO, Judas, one of Jesus disciples was a crook. He hid it well but a crook all the same. His only concern was for financial gain. Jesus knew that Judas would betray him for financial gain. This night his protest was “for the poor”. Oh, it sounded good but he wasn’t concerned for the poor but only for the finances that might have been available to him if the perfume had been sold.

Our social outcast is Jesus. Hated by the elite of society and religion, he continued to do the works that his Father sent him to do. He loved people. He continued to minister healing, forgiveness and restoration to all. It cost Him his life.

Sadly, I have played the role of each of our characters; I have been ambitious for financial gain, an overachiever driven by work and less by worship, a silent but grateful recepient of salvation and a demonstrative admirer who willingly gave up reputation to worship the Lord.

In each and every role that I have played Jesus has been there to love me through it – love me into being who He desires me to be. The key is to identify ourselves, make no excuse for our failings and allow Him to change us, to use us and to empower us by His unconditional love.

“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. ” II Corinthians 5:17 CEV

I have a new role to play, I am a new person in Christ. To God be the glory!

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Home Again

Dave and I travel quite a bit. Last night we returned Home Again. This time we were in the Phoenix area and we were only gone 6 days; we had a wonderful time. We saw our oldest daughter and her husband, spoke at a friend’s church, and then spent the remainder of our time with our youngest daughter, her husband and two grandchildren. Before we left our newest grandchild was born and we were able to love on her too.

As much as we enjoy going – visiting family and friends, it’s always nice to come home again.

Last night we were sitting on the couch watching an English program on television. Some of the characters were involved in a play of the Wizard of Oz. One of the most famous lines came at the end when Dorothy clicked her heels together and said “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”. That’s how I felt.

Home again.

And then as I was waking up this morning, later than normal, I heard those words again and thought of Jesus. He left his home, came to earth; some loved and accepted him but others rejected and hated Him. He knew when He left heaven what life would be like on earth and yet He came anyway.

“Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years. 10 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers attacked the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 11 So the owner sent another servant, but they also insulted him, beat him up, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 A third man was sent, and they wounded him and chased him away.

13 “‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will respect him.’

14 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 15 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him.

“What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus asked. 16 “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.”

“How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners protested. 17 Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean?

‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’

18 Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

19 The teachers of religious law and the leading priests wanted to arrest Jesus immediately because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the people’s reaction.” Luke 20:9-19 NLT

Jesus knew. He knew what was in the hearts of those around Him. He knew. But His heart was filled with so much love that He was willing to face the consequences of hate filled and evil men to rescue us from a life of sin and separation from the Father.

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” II Corinthians 5:21 NLT

He was willing to go through it all because He was looking ahead and could see that there was coming a time when He would return to heaven but this time He would be making it possible for us to be with Him.

“Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. 3 After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together.” John 14:1-3 CEV

Home Again.

God, the Father, in his great love has made a place for us in heaven. He has adopted us and He is overseeing the preparations of our home. As much as I love my earthly home I can hardly wait to get to heaven, see my Father and my heavenly home!

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More Peace

I know how truly blessed I am to get up each morning and enjoy the peace which comes with the start of a new day. The house is silent except for the cycling of the coffee maker and the refrigerator. There are no obtrusive sounds of sirens, planes, trains or automobiles. Just the quiet.

As the sun starts to give its first glow on the horizon, the birds begin to sing and welcome to the day. The first to voice its song is the bob white and then the quail. The cactus wren joins in, followed by the morning dove. Peace.

Most mornings my heart joins in. It’s very rare for me to wake without a sense of peace. God’s peace! Before I started to write this morning I looked back over the blogs from the past 2+ years and found that I have written about peace over seventy-five times. It’s a subject that occupies much of my teaching.

To many, peace is a fleeting or even elusive sense of well being. There are so many things that rob peace; text messages, phone calls, conversations, career, doctors reports, financial statements, weather, personal relationships and world conflicts. I’ve found that we must fight for peace or our mind will take us down a road of turmoil.

“We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 4 The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, 5 and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5 ERV

Jesus knew what it was to be bombarded with unsettling and fearful thoughts. In fact, each time he was with someone who was facing a fearful situation His counsel was the same “fear not”. One of his final impartations to his disciples was a message of peace.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:26-27 NLT

Each day I pray for personal peace and then for the peace of my children and grandchildren. I thank the Lord that He is teaching my children, making them aware of His love and bringing peace to their lives.

“I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace.” Isaiah 54:13 NLT

There are times when we have to make decisions, hard decisions, and we are left wondering what to do. Years ago, Dave and I made a commitment that we would let peace rule and direct us. If we didn’t have a peace about something we didn’t do it. There were times that we told the kids they couldn’t go somewhere or do something because we didn’t have peace. There were times we walked away from what appeared to be good business decisions because we didn’t have peace. And quite frankly, there have been times that we made decisions without that peace and regretted it.

“So My Word which goes from My mouth will not return to Me empty. It will do what I want it to do, and will carry out My plan well. 12 You will go out with joy, and be led out in peace. The mountains and the hills will break out into sounds of joy before you. And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress tree will come up. Instead of the thistle, the myrtle tree will come up. It will cause you to remember the Lord, something special to see that will last forever.” Isaiah 55:11-13 NLV

We can always rely on God’s word and His peace to lead us in the right direction.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NLV

Let God’s peace stand guard over your hearts!

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Sealed

A few days ago I visited my neighbor and she couldn’t wait to show me the kitchen table they had built. She told me how just the day before they had put on the third coat of sealer. Now it was fully protected and she didn’t have to be concerned about water rings or food stains getting through and spoiling the surface of the wood.

It was sealed!

That’s an interesting word – sealed. There are so many different pictures that come to mind. A letter can be sealed to keep it’s contents private. If you have a tent you will certainly want to make sure the seams are sealed so the rain water doesn’t get in. Concrete floors and counter tops are sealed just like the wood of my neighbors table. Food packages are sealed. Medicine is sealed. Sweaters are sealed in bags.

The sealing serves a purpose – protection. Protection from destruction or contamination. It also denotes importance.

When treaties were struck or laws were written the king’s seal was placed on the document to verify that it had come from his hand. The most trusted advisor was the one in the king’s court who had access to the king’s ring and his seal.

“The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king’s service.” Esther 8:10 NLT

Kings continued to use seals up to the 1800’s. And then nations developed seals, we have the great seal of the United States.

But there is another kind of seal, it’s the seal that God the Father puts on us, his children; it’s a seal of protection and a seal of importance.

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” II Corinthians 1:21-22 NKJV

or in more modern language: “God is the One Who makes our faith and your faith strong in Christ. He has set us apart for Himself. 22 He has put His mark on us to show we belong to Him. His Spirit is in our hearts to prove this.” II Corinthians 1:21-22 NLT

The seal that God has put on our lives shows that we belong to Him, the Holy Spirit living in us proves that.

“It is the same with you. You heard the true message, the Good News about the way God saves you. When you heard that Good News, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark (seal) on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he promised. 14 The Spirit is the first payment that guarantees we will get all that God has for us. Then we will enjoy complete freedom as people who belong to him. The goal for all of us is the praise of God in all his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 ERV

Jesus said that the reason Holy Spirit came was to be our comforter, our helper, our teacher. He is the seal that shows we are valuable to God and He brings the Father’s goodness and blessings to our lives.

“Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. 31 Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. 32 You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.” Ephesians 4:30-32 NLV

When I read this verse I am reminded of my friend’s table. The wood has been sanded, several times, removing the elements that made it ugly and rough. The surface was smoothed and cleaned showing the beauty that was beneath the surface. Then it was SEALED to protect the beauty and the quality of the wood.

We are to remove those things that make our lives ugly. Then we let Holy Spirit “seal” us for our protection and preservation. Our beauty will shine through, it’s the beauty of a life filled with Christ.

There will be times when our surface gets dusty and dirty by the things we say and do. We will need to be cleansed by repentance but we are sealed by the Spirit of God and our beauty will remain protected. We are God’s workmanship, He created us for good things.

“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 ERV

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Twenty-Three and Me

I think it all started with Ancestry.com. You know the search of where we came from, what is our heritage and who we are related too. It all helps to answer the question “Who am I”.

I have a strong Norwegian heritage and I’m very proud of that. I’ve never really done a lot of research on my family tree nor do I feel compelled too. It’s enough knowing that my ancestors came from Norway.

However, I do spend considerable amounts of time researching my DNA. But the DNA I refer cannot be run for chemical analysis; instead it is revealed in the pages of Scripture. I know I’ve told you this before but the DNA I am speaking of stands for my Divine Nature Ability.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” II Corinthians 5:17 NLT

A completely new life has begun.

This morning I was reading in I John and once again evidence of my DNA jumped off the pages of my Bible.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” I John 5:1-5 NLT

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Then these verses are referring to you. First off, the Christ, means that Jesus is the Anointed One. Not just a man, but one who has been selected as perfect and set apart by God, the Father, to bring new life to us. He gave us the right to be a child of God.

Then our DNA gives us the power to obtain victory in this life through faith. Our DNA causes us to love. Just as naturally as a duck floats on water because it’s his nature, we keep God’s commandment to love. It’s been programmed into us – it’s what we have inherited from our Father, who is love.

Do we ever act unloving? Of course, we do! But…God, through His word, reminds us that we have been given His nature and His ability to life that reflects his character. These are His words to us.

“God has also said that he gave us eternal life and that this life comes to us from his Son. 12 And so, if we have God’s Son, we have this life. But if we don’t have the Son, we don’t have this life. 13 All of you have faith in the Son of God, and I have written to let you know that you have eternal life. 14 We are certain that God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. 15 And if we know that God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been answered.” I John 5:11-15 CEV

He has given us life; He has placed within us His ability, His character. We receive our natural DNA from our earthly parents and we receive our spiritual DNA from our heavenly Father and our life that comes through His Son.

“All of you are God’s children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. 28 Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.” Galatians 3:26-28 CEV

Father, thank you for making us your children and filling us with your power. We have victory in this life because of our faith in what You have done for us and in us!

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Enjoying Tent Life

Dave and I have been home a few weeks and each day we talk about the fun we had while in the mountains. We are looking forward to going back again in August and this time we will have our oldest daughter, son-in-law and grandson join us for a few days. We really do like our tent.

When our kids were younger we did quite a bit of camping. It was relaxing, fun and inexpensive. We weren’t one of those families that pulled in to the campground in our RV but instead we tent camped. It was a nice tent and as comfortable as a tent could be but still it was a tent.

I had my camping boxes that went on every trip. Each box had all the necessities prepacked. The only thing we really needed to think about was filling the ice chest with the refrigerated food and drinks. We could be ready to go in less than an hour’s time.

We had some fun times; oh, we had the soggy ones too. First time out in the new tent we had forgotten to seal the seams so we got as much rain in the tent as out. Then the adventures of wild animals, canoe trips, floating the river and one time we brought everything but the tent. I know…but it happened.

No matter how much fun we had and how beautiful the camp site it was always nice to come home. A comfortable bed, dry clothes, and a warm shower. Awwww.

In my reading today the Apostle Paul is talking about tent camping.

“We know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a home for us to live in. It will not be the kind of home people build here. It will be a home in heaven that will continue forever. 2 But now we are tired of this body. We want God to give us our heavenly home. 3 It will clothe us and we will not be naked. 4 While we live in this tent, we have burdens and so we complain. I don’t mean that we want to remove this tent, but we want to be clothed with our heavenly home. Then this body that dies will be covered with life. 5 This is what God himself made us for. And he has given us the Spirit as the first payment to guarantee the life to come.

6 So we always have confidence. We know that while we live in this body, we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by what we believe will happen, not by what we can see. 8 So I say that we have confidence. And we really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Our only goal is to always please the Lord, whether we are living here in this body or there with him.” II Corinthians 5:1-9 ERV

Life on this earth is like camping in a tent. It’s an adventure but not as comfortable as Home. Going home is something to look forward too with great anticipation. But while we’re in the tent we need to enjoy our surroundings.

Look for the joys of life!

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I Am Blessed!

This morning I woke and my regular Bible reading took me to a place I am very familiar with and it seemed the Lord was saying, “Happy Birthday, these are my gifts to you”.

“Now, if you will be careful to obey the Lord your God and follow all his commands that I tell you today, the Lord your God will put you high above all the nations on earth. 2 If you will obey the Lord your God, all these blessings will come to you and be yours:

3 “He will bless you
    in the city and in the field.
4 He will bless you
    and give you many children.
He will bless your land
    and give you good crops.
He will bless your animals
    and let them have many babies.
    He will bless you with calves and lambs.
5 He will bless your baskets and pans
    and fill them with food.
6 He will bless you at all times
    in everything you do.

7 “The Lord will help you defeat your enemies who come to fight against you. Your enemies will come against you one way, but they will run away from you seven different ways!

8 “The Lord will bless you and fill your barns. He will bless everything you do. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 If you follow the Lord your God and obey his commands, he will do what he promised. The Lord will make you his own special people. 10 Then all the people in that land will see that you are called to be the Lord’s people, and they will be afraid of you.

11 “And the Lord will give you many good things. He will give you many children. He will give your cows many calves. He will give you a good harvest in the land that the Lord promised your ancestors to give you. 12 The Lord will open his storehouse where he keeps his rich blessings. He will send rain at the right time for your land. He will bless everything you do. You will have money to lend to many nations. And you will not need to borrow anything from them.” Deuteronomy 28:1-12 ERV

Now that’s quite a birthday present!

All those blessings weren’t just for the Israelites, they are for me…and they are for you too!!

“You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You get all of God’s blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham.” Galatians 3:29 ERV

“The Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one that Silas, Timothy, and I told you about was not yes and no. In Christ it has always been yes. 20 The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen” through Christ to the glory of God. 21 And God is the one who makes you and us strong in Christ. God is also the one who chose us for his work.” II Corinthians 1:19-21 ERV

The yes to all God’s promises come to us through our relationship with Jesus Christ. The promises that He made in the Old Testament are for us today because of our relationship with Christ.

What a wonderful gift we have – we have God’s unchangeable word!

And then when I finished reading I looked out my window and saw a beautiful sunrise. It was the Lord smiling on my day. I feel very blessed and I love that I get to share His blessings with you.

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The Value of Inheritance

Yesterday morning as I was cleaning house my mind began to think about the inheritance we have as followers of Christ. Strange, right?

Have you seen those shows where people are sought out by someone from a law firm? Someone has died and named them in the will as a beneficiary of their estate. It’s always a feel good story…someone down on their luck, scrapping to get by and then there’s this knock at the door. “We’re so glad we found you! Our client died and you have been left one hundred thousand dollars.” Tears flow, the music swells and there’s lots of hugging.

Or what about those websites you can visit to see if you have any unclaimed money? You know the ones the States have to publish by law so they can return refunds to people; things like utility deposits, inheritances, tax rebates, etc. It’s fun to wonder if someone somewhere has left us something.

They have!

That someone is God, the Father. When Christ died, his will or covenant was initiated and we, who became Christians, are the beneficiaries of the will. We have an inheritance!

“15 I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. 16 So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. 17 I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. 18 My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings (inheritance) that will be yours together with all of God’s people.” Ephesians 1:15-18 CEV

“His glorious power will make you patient and strong enough to endure anything, and you will be truly happy.

12 I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what he has promised (inheritance) his people in the kingdom of light. 13 God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who forgives our sins and sets us free.

These verses, and many others, written by Paul tell us that God has given us an inheritance. Jesus, Himself, told us what we have been given because we choose to follow Him.

“A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. ” John 10:10 CEV

A full and abundant life are part of the inheritance God has provided us. He has rescued us from the darkness and the thief who wants to destroy us. Our inheritance includes forgiveness of sin, peace, joy, power, authority, strength, health, provision, protection – it’s all in the Word.

“The Spirit God gave us (inheritance) does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control. II Timothy 1:7 ERV

“The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ (inheritance). And that is why we say “Amen” through Christ to the glory of God.” II Corinthians 1:20 ERV

It is imperative that we learn what has been given to us and we do that by reading God’s word. I remember the first time I read “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” after realizing this was part of my inheritance.

I wept!

I was overcome by the revelation that Jesus had died that horrible death on the cross and provided me with all the strength I need each day. It was overwhelming to me! Let me leave you with one more verse on our inheritance.

“Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you did not know about the agreements with the promises (inheritance) that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. 13 Yes, at one time you were far away from God, but now in Christ Jesus, you are brought near to him. You are brought near to God through the blood sacrifice of Christ.” Ephesians 2:11-13 ERV

It would be irreverent for us to refuse what He died to provide. We have a great inheritance; we have been made joint-heirs with Jesus. Let’s boldly use what He has provided.

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Easy-Up Living

When I was a kid the majority of our family outings were to the lake and fishing was involved. Mostly, we had “day trips” because of Dad’s work schedule. No time for extended stays and we weren’t prepared to stay much longer than a few hours. No tent, no travel trailer or RV. (Once we borrowed a travel trailer from friends; it leaked but that’s a completely different story.) They were great times!

When our kids were older we got a tent and would go camping with the church group occasionally but it wasn’t until we moved to the northwest that we really got geared up for camping. We had a big two-room Kelty tent, all the sleeping bags, camp cots, air mattresses, water toys, kitchen gear – we were set. One of our favorite things was to throw everything in the back of the Jeep and head for our favorite campground on the Clark Fork River.

The only thing that would put a damper on the weekend was setting up the tent. Let’s be honest, it was a real challenge. Dave and I both had to fight to keep a cool head as we worked together to get the right tent poles in the right slots and then stake the thing down. One year while living in Montana we sold all the camping gear. We were done with overnight camping; those day-trips like we had when I was a kid seemed good enough.

Time and grandkids have changed our minds. Over the past year we have been talking how much fun it would be to take the grandkids camping in the White Mountains of Arizona just like our parents did with us. We have committed to living debt free since we retired so the purchase of a 5th Wheel trailer wasn’t in the budget. Thus began our search for a tent that would be big enough for the family but easy enough for Dave and I to set up on our own. We ordered it last week and it arrived on Tuesday.

Yesterday was the trial set-up. This tent was advertised as an “easy-up”. Take it out of the bag and have it up in 2 minutes. That’s exactly what we were hoping for! Well, it’s up. First attempt only took 9 minutes to have it out of the bag and up. We felt accomplished. And now we are looking forward to many wonderful times, just the two of us or with the family, exploring the outdoors again and camping in the mountains. I even found a Scripture to go with tent camping.

“The tent of a good person stands longer than the house of someone evil.” Proverbs 14:11 CEV

It will be fun to “rough it”. So many wonderful memories to be made however, I am realistic enough to know that it won’t be like home. Home is better. And that’s the lesson the Apostle Paul was trying to get us to see.

“Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings that someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever. 2 While we are here on earth, we sigh because we want to live in that heavenly home. 3 We want to put it on like clothes and not be naked.

4 These tents we now live in are like a heavy burden, and we groan. But we don’t do this just because we want to leave these bodies that will die. It is because we want to change them for bodies that will never die. 5 God is the one who makes all of this possible. He has given us his Spirit to make us certain that he will do it. 6 So always be cheerful!

As long as we are in these bodies, we are away from the Lord. 7 But we live by faith, not by what we see. 8 We should be cheerful, because we would rather leave these bodies and be at home with the Lord. 9 But whether we are at home with the Lord or away from him, we still try our best to please him.” II Corinthians 5:1-9 CEV

Our lives here on earth are like camping, Paul tells us. This tent isn’t as good as our home in heaven, not in the slightest. But we can still be cheerful! We can enjoy the adventure that is ours here on earth. The Holy Spirit is our helper and He will give us what we need here and reassure us that we have a better home coming.

Life here on earth has it’s struggles and challenges but in Christ, our easy-up tents are blessed.

“A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good.” John 10:10 ERV

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