Category: February2021

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Imperfect But Loved

I don’t know if you have realized it or not but the Bible is filled with imperfect people. Ordinary people just like you and I.

There are men who lie, women who are jealous, the unfaithful and disloyal. The cheats and scoundrels. The fearful and the timid. The rebellious and the braggarts. We have their stories as a guide of what not to do but also as an encouragement.

An encouragement of our Father’s unconditional, unfailing love!

I’ve been reading the story of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. He was a manipulative, devious man. He stole his brother’s birthright, the inheritance for being the oldest child and the blessing that went with it. He deceived his father and cheated his brother.

But God blessed him and through his descendants the nation of Israel was blessed.

“The Lord was standing beside the ladder and said: ‘I am the Lord God who was worshiped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. 14 Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people.  15 Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won’t leave you—I will do all I have promised.’ 16 Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, ‘The Lord is in this place, and I didn’t even know it.'” Genesis 28:13-16 CEV

On the night that Jesus was arrested He was celebrating the Passover with his twelve disciples. He knew two of these men were going to betray Him that evening. Judas, a paid informant, told the religious leaders of Jesus’ location which led to his arrest, trial and crucifixion. Peter also betrayed Jesus that night, denying his association with Jesus three times during the course of the evening.

Judas was so remorseful that he killed himself. It’s very sad that he died not realizing that Jesus’ death was for the forgiveness of all sin, including his. Peter, on the othe hand, had an encounter of forgiveness with Jesus after His resurrection and went on to be instrumental in evangelizing the world with the message of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness.

“Peter and the apostles replied: We don’t obey people. We obey God. 30 You killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross. But the God our ancestors worshiped raised him to life 31 and made him our Leader and Savior. Then God gave him a place at his right side, so that the people of Israel would turn back to him and be forgiven. 32 We are here to tell you about all this, and so is the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to everyone who obeys God.” Acts 5:29-32 CEV

Imperfect people are all God has. Some seem worse than others but we all fail to measure up. That’s why Jesus died – He brought us forgiveness and a relationship of love and peace with the Father. If we were perfect we would have no need for a Saviour, no need for unconditional love.

“All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.” Romans 3:23-24 CEV

Isn’t is good to know that no matter our failures or imperfections God chooses to love us unconditionally!

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Spoiler Alert

In yesterday’s blog we looked at the practical teaching of joy. This morning I was reminded of a time when an every day situation had me so frustrated that I wanted to scream. The Lord taught me a valuable lesson through it.

“Catch the foxes for us— the little foxes that spoil the vineyard. Our vineyard is now in bloom.” Song of Solomon 2:15 CEV

King Solomon said that we are to catch little foxes because they spoil our fruit. In this case, the fruit is joy. I kept running into little foxes on this particular day.

I had just gotten a new computer. My old computer had been around for the last 4-5 years. I knew it inside and out, literally. But it was old and running so slow. I asked our son-in-law to recommend a newer and better computer that would meet my needs and have a relatively easy learning curve for both Dave and I.

I made a list of everything I needed to move from one computer to the other and methodically went about my task. I felt pretty accomplished for a non-computer tech type person. Checking off each item as I completed them. Yes, this was going smoothly until one of those little foxes showed up!

It came in the form of a command “restart to activate new software” and there was a glitch. A phone call in the midst of my concentration proved to be another little fox, a fox of distraction. Launch again, a missing element, another little fox! Frustration mounted…

I’ve learned to recognize the “big” things in my life that seek to get me off course in my relationship with the Lord but more often than not, I get tripped up by these little foxes.

It was certainly time to pray.

I had done that when I started, asking for wisdom and thanking the Father for guiding me through this process but somewhere along the way, I had allowed the frustration to override my peace.

Then I heard these words in my mind, “in my presence is fullness of joy”.

“I don’t feel very joyful right now Father.” “Then you’re not in My presence”. It was a short conversation between the Father and I and He was right.

I was wrapped up in my own little world and I’d forgotten to lean on Him. If God, the Father, is concerned with a small thing like setting up a new computer, let me assure you that the weightier matters of life are certainly within His provision as well.

“LORD, you give me all that I need. You support me. You give me my share. 6 My share is wonderful. My inheritance is very beautiful…8 I always remember that the LORD is with me. He is here, close by my side, so nothing can defeat me. 9 So my heart and soul will be very happy. Even my body will live in safety..11 You will teach me the right way to live. Just being with you will bring complete happiness*. Being at your right side will make me happy forever.” Psalm 16:5-11 ERV *(fullness of joy, KJV)

What little foxes are spoiling your vineyard? Capture them and sit in the Father’s presence. There you will find FULLNESS OF JOY!“

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Smile & Feel Better

Today’s blog is amazingly practical.

Late yesterday Dave and I were watching a program on television that was dealing with some real life, very emotional issues that face teenagers. They were completely without hope and it left both of us sad and downcast.

I knew I couldn’t let this premeate our evening or we’d both go to bed feeling depressed. I asked him to find something funny we could watch, “I need something to make me laugh”. He switched to YouTube and there we found old clips of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. We watched a few of those and then Dave found an old Abbott & Costello movie – more laughter.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” Proverbs 17:22 NLT

“Happiness makes you smile; sorrow can crush you.” Proverbs 15:13 CEV

We went to bed last night with a smile on our faces and our spirits were lifted.

Somedays it’s hard to be joyful. I understand that completely but we must take these verses on joy and happiness for what they are – instructions from the Lord. He wants us to have a glad heart, He wants us to be “care free” and roll all our worries over on Him. When we do He promises to replace our worries with His strength.

“Ezra said to them, “Go, eat and drink what you enjoy, and give some to him who has nothing ready. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 NLV

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” I Peter 5:7 NLV

A couple of weeks ago I had to go into the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my mother. As I was standing in line waiting for the pharmacist the woman at the counter turned and looked at me. Behind her mask, I saw that her eyes were filled with sadness. She turned back and then turned around one more time, we made eye contact and I gave her my biggest smile, behind my mask. She said to me “I can tell you are smiling. Your eyes are twinkling. Thank you I needed that”. I said a simple “God bless you” and our encounter was over.

Lord, I want you to use me and all who read this to bring joy to a hurting world. We have a message to proclaim “Joy to the world, the Lord has come”!

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed… 3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.” Isaiah 61:1-3 NLT

The words above were written about Jesus. This is why He came – He came to bring God’s favor (His life) to the earth.

The next time you are feeling down ask the Lord to fill your heart with joy. He will! With joy will come strength and with His strength we can do all things!

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Be Encouraged

There are so many influences that we encounter that are discouraging and disheartening but God’s word is contrary to that. In life’s darkest moments He offers us encouragment and consolation.

The word encourage is used 58 times in the New Living Translation of the New Testament. Most of these references are in the letters Paul wrote to Christians around the world.

“And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. 13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.” I Thessalonians 2:11-13 NLT

Paul was a man who didn’t just talk the talk but walked the walk. He knew what is was like to face hard times; he had been arrested, beaten, ship wrecked, run out of town and under house arrest. Yet his message remained the same.

“Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.” II Corinthians 13:11 NLT

He was confident that the new life we receive in Christ is a life of strength, joy, power and victory. He was compelled to share that message everywhere he went. It was his life goal, having turned from persecuting the Christians, to bring the message of restored relationship through Christ Jesus to the world.

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” II Corinthians 5:18-29 NLT

Our sins are no longer counted against us. God the Father, in his great love, adopted us to be His very own. His desire is to have a deep and enduring relationship with each of us. He’s not out to destroy our lives but to bring meaning, hope, joy and fulfillment to them.

“For I know that nothing can keep us from the love of God. Death cannot! Life cannot! Angels cannot! Leaders cannot! Any other power cannot! Hard things now or in the future cannot! 39 The world above or the world below cannot! Any other living thing cannot keep us away from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 NLT

NOTHING can separate us from God’s love! Nothing.

The Father even loves us when we are rebellious. Remember the father of the prodigal son – He watched for him to return everyday and embraced him when he did. That’s the way our Father feels about us.

I hope this encourages you and I pray that you will be an encouragement to someone also.

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” I Thessalonians 5:11 NLT

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Singing in the Storm

Imagine with me that you and your closest friend had been arrested. Before you are taken to your cell you were beaten and then chained in a dungeon. You know you are innocent of any crime and still here you are!

What will you do next? Many of us would probably curl up in a corner and bemoan our fate. Life is unfair! Fear would seep in and probably cover us like a blanket. Hope would be gone BUT not if we had our hope anchored to God’s love and His promises. (we read about being anchored yesterday)

This is a real life story so let’s look at what these two friends did.

“After they had been badly beaten, they were put in jail, and the jailer was told to guard them carefully. 24 The jailer did as he was told. He put them deep inside the jail and chained their feet to heavy blocks of wood.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. 26 Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.” Acts 16:23-26 CEV

Paul and Silas sang at midnight!

They prayed and they sang. Maybe they remembered the words from Psalm 23:

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.” Vs 5 NLT

Maybe they thought of Daniel being thrown to the lions or of those three Hebrews would were condemned to the fiery furnance. Whatever their thoughts, they were focused on the Lord and they were singing.

One of the songs we sang at on-line church on Sunday was running through my mind as I got up this morning. Here’s just a few of the lyrics of Raise A Hallelujah by Bethel Music:

I raise a hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies
I raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief
I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody
I raise a hallelujah, heaven comes to fight for me


I’m gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!

No situation or circumstance is hopeless when we know the One who opens prison doors and sets the captives free. No situation can defeat us when our faith is established in Jesus. Our Father, the God of heaven, comes to our cry.

“Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us, 4 because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against the world. 5 It is our faith that has won the victory against the world. So who wins against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” I John 5:3-5 CEV

If you’re in the middle of a storm right now, warm up those vocal chords and get ready to sing. Anchor your hope in Christ – the King is Alive!!

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Anchored in Life

Dave and I like to watch sailing shows; there are several on YouTube where couples and families have left the sticks and bricks behind and taken to the water. They have some amazing adventures as they circumnavigate the globe.

Since the videos are never more than twenty to thirty minutes long most of the footage they show is of the “fun stuff”. Sailing in beautiful waters, meeting interesting island natives, fishing from the back deck, snorkeling – all of these are an enticement to this carefree lifestyle.

It’s not all fun and games. There’s a lot of work that must be done to keep things ship-shape. This last week two of the sailing couples each focused on the work that has to be done to keep their boats in good repair.

I was particularly interested when they showed the anchor and the chain that secures it. Sailing is a continual cycle of dropping anchor, retrieving it and moving on to the next anchorage. A good anchor is a must.

Anchors are used in both calm and rough seas. It’s important to be well anchored. If not, the boat will drift and move off course. I found that to be true with our small fishing boat. If we weren’t using our trolling motor to slowly move around an inlet we dropped anchor to keep us from drifting too close to the shoreline or getting caught up in a submerged tree or hitting a log.

We all need a good anchor. It’s an essential in life.

“God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed. We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us. 19 This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls.” Hebrews 6:18-19 CEV

Hope in God’s promises is our anchor, not just when things are rough and stormy but also when life is calm and smooth. We place our confidence, our hope, in the Father’s promises and they hold us secure. It’s easy to drift off course and lose our bearings without this anchor.

“Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.” Colossians 1:22-23 NLT

Let me encourage you to drop anchor. Make sure you are securely attached to the solid rock of God’s word. It will keep you from drifting – it will fill you with hope!

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Good Morning

Most mornings I have no problem at all rising early. It’s been my way of life for over thirty years. For me, sleeping in is not getting up until after 6 am. But this morning is different.

I woke up but the idea of getting up wasn’t a pleasant thought. Have you ever had a morning like that?

The coffee has just finished brewing and my first cup is about half gone. My heart is focused and there is a prayer on my lips. “Lord, let me use this day to honor You. I need Your strength and wisdom for this day. I’m not sure what You have planned for me today but I know it’s good because You always want the best for me. I love you Father, I love you Jesus, I love you Holy Spirit. Thank you for being all I need. In Jesus name.”

Getting up early to spend time with the Lord is never a waste of time.

Give Me Jesus by Fernando Ortega

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

In the quiet I find it easier to hear the Father speaking to my heart. There are no text messages to interrupt, no emails requiring answers and no distractions to sidetrack me.

“Be proud of his holy name.  You followers of the Lord, be happy! 4 Depend on the Lord for strength. Always go to him for help. 5 Remember the amazing things he has done.  Remember his miracles and his fair decisions.” Psalm 105:3-5 ERV

I depend on the Lord for my strength. He’s always there to help!

I’m praying for those of you who woke early and are having a hard time getting started this morning. I’m praying that you are strengthened for the day; energized for the opportunities ahead. We don’t know what appointments God has for us today. Does someone need encouragment – a kind word, help with a task? Maybe one of our family need some one-on-one time to express their heart. Is the Father putting someone on your heart who needs prayer for healing, for peace, for a miracle? It’s these kind of things that I hear the Father speaking to my heart in the early morning.

Second cup of coffee is almost gone and I am excited to see what the day has in store.

“I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. 12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 ERV

I can’t wait to see what good plan the Father has for me and He has one for you too!

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Big Mess!

One of our grandsons had a saying when he was about two, “Ooo mess”! This was his comment when things were out-of-order or just didn’t look the way he felt they should.

On occasion I have looked in the mirror and thought ooo mess. Have you? I’ve sometimes felt that I was the world biggest mess.

Let’s evaluate yesterday. Was it a good day? Was I productive and helpful or did I let self-pity and hurt feelings rule? Was my speech kind or harsh? Was I critical or complimentary? Did I look like Jesus or did everyone see an old version of myself, that should be buried?

Were the words “ooo mess” the best description of my day or was it “wow, message”?

If you were more of a mess than a message I have good news for you.

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” 25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.” Lamentations 3:22-25 NLT

As I sit here looking out my front window the sun hasn’t come up yet. It’s still dark but I know a new day is coming and with it I have God’s promise of mercy for whatever the day holds.

I am so thankful that the Lord doesn’t look at us and say – ooo, mess. Instead He sees us and says “wow, I have a message of mercy for you”. It’s a new day and the Father is covering us with mercy.

“‘Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.'” Isaiah 1:18 NLT

The little boy in this morning’s picture was a mess; his Mom saw a masterpiece. Her lovingkindness covered him with warm water and soap bubbles and what had been a mess was now clean.

“O God, favor me because of Your loving-kindness. Take away my wrong-doing because of the greatness of Your loving-pity. 2 Wash me inside and out from my wrong-doing and make me clean from my sin.”Psalm 51:1-2 NLV

The message of this morning is this: yesterday’s mess, big mess, has been taken care of. The Lord has washed and cleansed us with His love and mercy. Before the sun comes up, He has given us new mercies for the day and He is faithful to His word, “come boldly to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace in our time of need”.

We are no longer a mess but our life is a message!

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Trust & Wait

I woke up several times in the night and these words filled my mind every time I did, “Trust in the Lord and wait patiently on Him”. Over and over again the words came. When I woke and knew it was time to get up I laid there for a few minutes longer, pulling together my thoughts and everything left except “Trust and Wait”.

“Depend on the Lord. Trust in him, and he will help you. 6 He will make it as clear as day that you are right. Everyone will see that you are being fair. 7 Trust in the Lord and wait quietly for his help.” Psalm 37:5-7 ERV

Both the trusting and the waiting can be hard and they are only developed through experience. The word depend also means to commit. One version of the verse reads “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” (NLT)

Everything.

We are to involve the Lord in everything we do. He will prove Himself faithful. Some people are of the mindset that they won’t bother God with the small things; those they can handle themselves. It’s only the “big” things that they feel they should bother the Lord with.

Things that are big to us barely make a blip on heaven’s radar. What could we possibly bring to the Father that He considers big? When we fail to bring Him the things we consider small issues we will find that we lack the experience to trust Him with life’s larger challenges.

David, as a young shepherd, saw the Lord’s faithfulness while taking care of his father’s sheep. He depended on the Lord to help him keep the sheep safe and so when the lion and the bear came to attack his flock he knew God was with him to defeat them. When the time came to face Goliath David was ready. He had already experienced God’s faithfulness in smaller things.

“Sir, I have killed lions and bears that way, and I can kill this worthless Philistine. He shouldn’t have made fun of the army of the living God!” I Samuel 17:36 CEV

Answerrs to small prayers give us courage to face down the giants.

“But I trust the Lord God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer.” Micah 7:7 CEV

Waiting on the Lord for answered prayer isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of great strength. It takes strength to pray and ask God for the next meal to feed your family and not worry. It takes strength to wait on the Lord to bring you to the next job when the company you worked for closed. It takes strength not to crumble when the doctor gives you a bad report.

That strength comes from trusting, depending on, being committed to dependence on our heavenly Father and His word.

“Even very young men get tired and become weak and strong young men trip and fall. 31 But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak.” Isaiah 40:30-31 NLV

Trust and Wait! It’s there we find strength.

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Spring Cleaning

The last two days I have been busy cleaning baseboards. Yes, baseboards!

I have a thing about baseboards. When we check into a hotel and everything looks fresh and clean I look at baseboards. When I have company coming and I’ve changed the sheets and cleaned the floors I look at the baseboards.

Normally, I get around to doing them twice a year but in the past few years I have stretched that out to every eighteen months with spot cleaning of different rooms as I deem necessary.

There’s a life lesson to be gained here.

There’s only one good way to clean baseboards. It requires a basin of warm, soapy water, several soft clean rags and a small scrub brush. It must be done on hands and knees. They can’t be thoroughly cleaned without being on floor level and since I’m there it’s also a good time to wash the tile floors by hand.

Now, for the life lesson.

There isn’t much else I can do while scrubbing them than think. It’s a good time to take personal inventory; a time to examine heart motives, physical activities, prejudices & irritations, hurts and fears. Removing the dust and spots from the baseboards is also a great time to clean some of life’s dusty corners.

“Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.” II Corinthians 7:1 ERV

“Put out of your life these things also: anger, bad temper, bad feelings toward others, talk that hurts people, speaking against God, and dirty talk. 9 Do not lie to each other. You have put out of your life your old ways.” Colossians 3:8-9 NLV

The Lord and I had a good talk about some things I had let build up; things I had ignored. Spring cleaning is good for our homes but even better for our soul.

“…Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.” Ephesians 5:25-27 NLT

Invite the Holy Spirit to help you with those hard to reach areas in your life. Get some Spring cleaning done. I can tell you from personal experience you’ll be glad you did!

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