Category: Theme

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The Final Word

I’m sure that at one point or another you have all watched a court proceeding either on television or in person. The symbol that brings order and conveys authority is the gavel.

When the judge bangs the gavel he calls for order and silences the gallery, the attorneys, the witness. It brings everything in to order. He has the authority to dismiss a case or to bring judgement. He reads the verdict and pronounces sentencing. He has the final word!

That reminds me so much of God our Father. He is the one who requires justice, justice for the sin that Adam brought into this world. God had created a perfect environment for Adam and Eve but they chose to disobey what God had said and so sin had to be dealt with. God provided that way through Jesus.

“This is what happened: Sin came into the world by one man, Adam. Sin brought death with it. Death spread to all men because all have sinned… .15 God’s free gift is not like the sin of Adam. Many people died because of the sin of this one man, Adam. But the loving-favor of God came to many people also. This gift came also by one Man Jesus Christ, God’s Son. 16 The free gift of God is not like Adam’s sin. God told Adam he was guilty because of his sin and through this one came sin and guilt. But the free gift makes men right with God. Through One, Christ, men’s sins are forgiven. 17 The power of death was over all men because of the sin of one man, Adam. But many people will receive His loving-favor and the gift of being made right with God. They will have power in life by Jesus Christ. 18 Through Adam’s sin, death and hell came to all men. But another Man, Christ, by His right act makes men free and gives them life.” Romans 5:12-18 NLV

You could say that this is the evidence that has been presented in heaven’s courtroom. Yes, we are all guilty of sin. There was only one person who was born on earth that was perfect. That person is Jesus. His birth was planned. He came to earth and provided the payment for sin and made us right with God once again.

“Christ never sinned but God put our sin on Him. Then we are made right with God because of what Christ has done for us.” II Corinthians 5:21 NLV

As the prosecutor is presenting the evidence against us, things look bad, real bad. There’s a long list of transgressions that can be found in our lives. When asked, we have to admit that yes, we are guilty. It seems inevitable that a guilty verdict will be delivered and we will be condemned.

But wait…

“When you were dead in your sins, you were not set free from the sinful things of the world. But God forgave your sins and gave you new life through Christ. 14 We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross. 15 God took away the power of the leaders of this world and the powers of darkness. He showed them to the world. The battle was won over them through Christ.” Colossians 2:13-15 NLV

Jesus, our attorney for the defense, stands before the judge’s bench and says “Your honor, my client is guilty. They have transgressed the law. They have sinned. These charges are correct. However, Sir, the price for those sins has been paid on their behalf. I ask that you expunge their record. I paid the price. I gave my life in exchange for theirs.”

“God has shown His love to us by sending His only Son into the world. God did this so we might have life through Christ. 10 This is love! It is not that we loved God but that He loved us. For God sent His Son to pay for our sins with His own blood.” I John 4:9-10 NLV

To this testimony that Judge raises the gavel and says “I declare that payment has been met. Case dismiss. This is my final word!” And the gavel falls. We have been made right with God through the blood of Jesus.

There’s a song that was running through my mind this morning as I woke. The lyrics written by Cody Carnes go like this:

“The cross has the final word
The cross has the final word
Sorrow may come in the darkest night
But the cross has the final word

There’s nothing stronger, nothing higher
There’s nothing greater than the name of Jesus
All the honor, all the power
All the glory to the name of Jesus

The cross has the final word
The cross has the final word
Evil may put up its strongest fight
But the cross has the final word

There’s nothing stronger, nothing higher
Nothing greater than the name of Jesus
All the honor, all the power
All the glory to the name of Jesus

The cross has the final word
The cross has the final word
The Savior has come with the morning light
The cross has the final word”

What’s your situation today? What are you facing that appears to condemn you? Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

“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 8:38-39 NLV

Just remember – The Cross of Jesus Has the Final Word!

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What Time Is It?

I’m late, I’m late for a very important date!

We seem to be a people obsessed with time. Everything is scheduled; appointments must be kept. No room for variance. Heaven forbid that something or someone interrupts our schedule.

Sun dials, sand timers, church bells striking the hour, and now probably the last thing many see each night is the clock on the dresser and alarms are set for morning rising.

I’ve hear it said that time is the most valuable commodity. When it’s lost it’s impossible to get it back. No one person has any more time than another. Wealth can’t buy it and poverty can’t deprive us of it.

The important question is what do we do with the time we have. Do we use it wisely or do we waste it? With the recent passing of Barbara Bush many have referred to a speech she gave at a college graduation. She talked about the important things in life, time. Time spent with loved ones, time invested into their lives far outweighs the time that is spent making a deal or gaining another step up the ladder.

If we follow the example that Jesus gave we will be more concerned with people than with things. He had time to play with the children, talk to a beggar, heal the blind and provide emotional healing to the outcast.  He had time for all these people because He first took time to spend with His Father.

“Jesus healed many of those who had different kinds of sicknesses…The next morning Jesus woke up very early. He left the house while it was still dark and went to a place where he could be alone and pray.” Mark 1:34 & 35 ERV

What time is it for you? Since we are connected through the internet it may be early morning – midday or perhaps you are reading this in the evening but whatever time it is  it is time to praise the Lord!

“I will sing praises to you, my source of strength. You, God, are my place of safety. You are the God who loves me!” Psalm 59:17 ERV

You could be in a time of trouble, a time of fear, good time, dinner time, party time, time of loneliness, time of sickness or time of concern. No matter, it is time to praise the Lord!

Why? Because He is Lord of all and Lord over all and all who trust in Him will never be ashamed! Just so you know, all those times listed above – I’ve been there and the thing that ALWAYS brings me through is praise time! Remembering that my heavenly Father is bigger than anything here and that He has a plan for me to prosper and have good success gives me reason to praise.

“I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace. 2 I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. 3 Let us praise the Lord together and exalt his name.

4 For I cried to him and he answered me! He freed me from all my fears. 5 Others too were radiant at what he did for them. Theirs was no downcast look of rejection! 6 This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. 7 For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence him.

8 Oh, put God to the test and see how kind he is! See for yourself the way his mercies shower down on all who trust in him. 9 If you belong to the Lord, reverence him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those of us who reverence the Lord will never lack any good thing.

11 Sons and daughters, come and listen and let me teach you the importance of trusting and fearing the Lord.” Psalm 34:1-11 TLB

Did you notice these verses are relational? King David wasn’t just focusing on his situation. No, he was taking time with others. Telling them what he had learned and experienced. He was investing in those around him and telling them of the goodness of God.

What time is it? Time to look up and be glad. Time to invest in the lives of those we love.

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Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Have you heard the expression let sleeping dogs lie?

Interesting concept – but the idea behind it is one of cowardice. It creates the image of trying to sneak in and get something before you can be met with resistance.

We as Christians should be living offensively. Moving forward regardless of the obstacles and resistance.

“Do something, God! Scatter your hateful enemies. Make them turn and run. 2 Scatter them like smoke! When you come near, make them melt like wax in a fire. 3 But let your people be happy and celebrate because of you. 4 Our God, you are the one who rides on the clouds, and we praise you. Your name is the Lord, and we celebrate as we worship you.

5 Our God, from your sacred home you take care of orphans and protect widows. 6 You find families for those who are lonely. You set prisoners free and let them prosper, but all who rebel will live in a scorching desert.” Psalm 68: 1-5 CEV 

In another version of this Psalm the first words are “let God arise”. God is not a sleeping giant that we have to wake to come to our defense. No, instead He is always on point, always looking for ways to help us. He’s there even before we cry out for help.

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…” II Chronicles 16:9a NKJV

God is always looking for ways to help us. The problem is we aren’t always looking for or to Him. We try  to do things on our own and then after we’ve exhausted all our other resources we call out to God. Or we even blame Him, “why isn’t God helping me or why did He let this happen?”. When in all truth  we haven’t asked Him to help us.

Remember, we are told to “ask and it shall be given, seek and we will find”. It’s silly to blame God or make it His fault, if we aren’t asking. In one of the verses that I quote often  we find  that the Father is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him by faith.

To let God arise means we elevate Him in our own eyes; in our estimation we lift Him to a place of priority. He is the creator of heaven and earth and there is no one higher. Until we let Him rule in our hearts, we aren’t letting Him “arise over our situation and scatter our enemies”.

Let God arise today!

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What To Do with Condemning Thoughts

Am I the only one who wakes up at 4:30 am and says “I’m late”?

Just when I was getting ready to condemn myself this Scripture verse came to mind.

“You rise up early, and go to bed late, and work hard for your food, all for nothing. For the Lord gives to His loved ones even while they sleep.” Psalm 127:2 NLV

Thank you Father for giving me the rest I needed and thank you for providing me with your peace where there had been condemnation.

You see I have lived most of my life with the attitude that being late is almost a sin. We used to say that if we weren’t 15 minutes early we were late. Being punctual is a big thing to me and it can be very upsetting to be late.

Now that we’ve dealt with the thing that tried to start my day out wrong let’s look at your day. What type of things bring condemning thoughts to steal your joy?

It might be a failed relationship, an affair, a bankruptcy, a test grade that was lowered than anticipated. Perhaps you are dealing with position failure, you know what I mean, you thought you would be in a better position (whatever it is) at this stage in your life and so you fight feelings of failure.

Let’s look at what God has to say about things that condemn or try to condemn us.

“So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. (condemned) 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death.” Romans 12:1-2 ERV

Condemning thoughts have a way holding us in a prison of fear. God never intended us to be afraid.

“ For God did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of power and of love and of a good mind.” II Timothy 1:7 NLV

When thoughts of self-doubt come- you can’t do it, you’re not good enough, no one wants to be around you, give up now, you’ve failed too many times – we take those thoughts and give them to Jesus. He will replace them with His loving thoughts.

“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

Still I can hear someone saying “but you don’t know what I’ve done”. True, but God does. Because He knows that we fail in lots of different ways, and that we sin in lots of different ways He tells us to come to Him and to confess what we’ve done and we will find forgiveness and help.

“If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin. ”              I John 1:9 NLV

“With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16 ERV

And God not only forgives, He forgets. How is that possible, I don’t know, I’m not God. When someone wrongs us and we forgive them we need to be more like God and also try to forget it. We shouldn’t hold them in captivity by reminding them of the wrong they’ve done – we need to free them the same way God does us.

“I will show loving-kindness to them and forgive their sins. I will remember their sins no more.”  Hebrews 8:12 NLV

“Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. ” I Corinthians 13:5 NLV

God’s love is truly amazing! He doesn’t condemn, He covers. He doesn’t criticize, He convicts. His words are never “you awful thing, how could you do something like that” no, He says “you’re better than that, that was wrong, trust me to help you next time and I’ll give you the strength you need not to fail”.

When we do fail and do something again that we have asked forgiveness for He’ll be there to forgive again. Why? Because He loves us!

So what started out as a morning thought of “I’m late”, now what”, has become a reassuring lesson from the Father that I am dearly loved.

“The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.” 18 The Lord has promised: Your sorrow has ended, and you can celebrate.” Zephaniah 3:17-18 CEV

Let God’s love free you from condemning thoughts today!

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Over, Under, Around or Through

Those of you who had young children in the 70’s, or perhaps you were a young child then, know that phrase well. It came from the characters on Sesame Street.

 

It was repeated continually to teach kids the directional concepts of over, under, around or through.

So many times we look for ways to get over (above) our circumstances instead of being under them. We would like to go around difficulties but are never too anxious to go through them.

A while back I did  a search on the word “bridge”. I wanted to share with you some wonderful thoughts about Jesus being our “bridge over troubled waters” (yes, our church youth choir actually sang that when I was in high school). But there is no bridge in Scripture.

And then I got to thinking about times in the Bible when people would have needed a bridge. Crossing the Jordan, The Red Sea, Sea of Galilee. You know what I found – God either parted the water or gave power to walk on it.

Some may be looking for a bridge. Looking for something to help you cross a river of circumstances in your life. I want to offer you a new prospective. Instead of looking for a way over, look for a way through.

“But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says: Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up—the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, your Savior, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 43:1-3 TLB

The Father has victory for us if we keep our eyes on Him.

“At once, Jesus said to them, “Don’t worry! I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.” 28 Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him.” Matthew 14:27-29 CEV

The first thing you will hear from the Lord is “don’t worry, don’t be afraid”. In other words I can hear Jesus saying, “I’ve got this!” Peter’s problem came when he got his eyes off Jesus and on the circumstances. We must keep our focus and not become distracted from God’s promises.

But if we do, like Peter, we call out for help and Jesus will grab ahold of us and bring us to safety.

So instead of trying to build a bridge today go through and see what God will do!

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Protect What Hurts

This morning I was reminded of an accident I had several years ago.

I was working for a large animal vet and was cleaning surgical instruments. I stabbed my thumb with a surgical blade and it was wrapped with a large bulky bandage and was very sore. The cut wasn’t deep or really that long but it hurt for days and my entire body encouraged me not to bump it against anything. When I did excoriating pain shot through my hand and arm and went coursing to my brain.

Maybe you’ve had an injury like that. Perhaps a broken bone, a back injury or a migraine. If so, you know what I’m talking about and you know how pain in one area can effect every other part of your body.

I was living the scripture in I Corinthians 12. Many members in one body, not all having the same part but still a member. This morning my other digits are compensating for the loss of the use of my thumb. They are protecting it, they are working overtime to make up for what’s lacking.

“The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. 13 Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God’s Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.
14 Our bodies don’t have just one part. They have many parts. 15 Suppose a foot says, “I’m not a hand, and so I’m not part of the body.” Wouldn’t the foot still belong to the body? 16 Or suppose an ear says, “I’m not an eye, and so I’m not part of the body.” Wouldn’t the ear still belong to the body? 17 If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn’t hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn’t smell a thing. 18 But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.
19 A body isn’t really a body, unless there is more than one part. 20 It takes many parts to make a single body. 21 That’s why the eyes cannot say they don’t need the hands. That’s also why the head cannot say it doesn’t need the feet. 22 In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. 23 We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, 24 but we don’t have to be modest about other parts.
God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. 25 He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. 26 If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy. 27 Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body.” I Corinthians 12:12-27

In God’s eyes everyone of us are valuable. We all have an important part to play. That’s the way the body is designed. The parts that are hidden, not on public display, are the ones that are doing some of the most important, life-giving work; i.e., the lungs, the heart, the intestines.

Scripture tells us that Christ is the head so He’s the brains of the outfit. He is the data processing center that gives directions to the rest of the body. If we are to function in harmony we need to follow the instruction He sends out to our member. We mustn’t get caught up in criticizing the foot, the hand, the toes or the ears because they don’t seem to be functioning right. No, instead we need to be the best part we can possibly be and come to the aid and support of others that aren’t operating properly.

Do you know another Christian today that is hurting? It’s one thing to sympathize with them and if you only consider them a “brother or sister”, you can easily let it go at that. But if you consider them to be a true member of the body of Christ, the body to which you are also a member, you will reach out to protect them and to help them heal.

Who do you need to reach out to today?

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No Introduction Needed

Jesus knows your name. You know that don’t you?

He knows the very number of hairs on your head; He saw you as you were being formed in your mother’s womb and considered you perfect. He has been there every day of your life and has been as intimately involved as you have allowed Him to be. There’s no introduction necessary, He knows you!

I know I have brought this as the morning devotion before but I am so in AWE of the fact that God the Father, the Almighty God, Creator of the Universe knows my name. He not only knows it but He calls to me each and every day! His desire to provide for me and have me rest in Him.

“Don’t be afraid. I saved you. I named you. You are mine. 2 When you have troubles, I am with you. When you cross rivers, you will not be hurt. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not hurt you. 3 That’s because I, the Lord, am your God. I, the Holy One of Israel, am your Savior:” Isaiah 43:1-3 ERV

The prophet Isaiah wrote this as a reminder to the people of Israel that God was there for them – the situations of life would not bring anything so large that God was not with them; He is the Lord, their Savior.

He says the same thing to us in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews.

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:5-6

We don’t need to be looking at others and wishing we had what they have because we have God who has promised to never leave us or forsake us. We have our help that comes from the Lord so we should be “fear free”; our God is greater than any man.

I know, I can hear you saying – “That sounds good on paper but those are just words on a page. Where is God now? Do you know what I’m going through?” No, I don’t but He does!

I’ll leave you with this thought. Remember when Mary went to the garden along with the other women. She went early in the morning to properly prepare Jesus body in his death. When they arrived the tomb was open and empty. They were just as heartbroken then as they were when they saw Jesus crucified. The women had gone to pay their last respects, to do one final thing for the Lord – to give him a proper burial and He was gone! Someone had taken his body away – what a cruel joke! Who could be so mean?

Mary looked into the tomb and saw the angels but all she could think of was the gravity of the situation and Jesus was gone.

“Mary Magdalene stood crying outside the tomb. She was still weeping, when she stooped down and saw two angels inside. They were dressed in white and were sitting where Jesus’ body had been. One was at the head and the other was at the foot. The angels asked Mary, “Why are you crying?” She answered, “They have taken away my Lord’s body! I don’t know where they have put him.” As soon as Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know who he was. Jesus asked her, “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener and said, “Sir, if you have taken his body away, please tell me, so I can go and get him.” Then Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni.” The Aramaic word “Rabboni” means “Teacher.” John 20:11-16

In her darkest hour, in her deepest grief, in her hopelessness, eyes filled with tears she didn’t recognize that Jesus was there and then…He spoke her name. What is your situation today? Are your eyes filled with tears? Have your circumstances obscured your vision? Are you blinded from seeing the One who has promised to never leave you or forsake you?

Listen – listen carefully – you will hear Him call your name!

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Refined Like 24k Gold

A new day – a clean slate! Today we have the opportunity to be refined.

 

God wants to purify our thoughts in the same way a refiner purifies gold.  He desires to work with us to remove what’s impure so that we can shine brightly.

“Fire is used to make gold and silver pure, but a person’s heart is made pure by the Lord.” Proverbs 17:3 ERV

As a mother and as a kid, I heard and said “Watch your tongue!” An admonishment I didn’t always follow and so my mother made sure that there were consequences for those improprieties.

We learn to discern what are the right and wrong things to say and when to say them. But the meditations of the heart, our thoughts, are just as important as the words we say.

In fact, what we think or meditate on will effect the things we say. What do we dwell on? The word meditate paints a picture of a cow chewing her cud; going over and over and over a matter in our minds. So if we want to say the right things we need to be thinking on right things. That’s what Jesus told his followers.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

Our thoughts and our meditations will direct our lives and can bring us to a successful place or a place of turmoil. Think on what it good today.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9

When we meditate on God’s word we begin to think like He does. Our thoughts begin to be refined and we start to see ourselves as God sees us.

King Solomon put it this way in Proverbs 23:7. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”

If we see ourselves as God sees us and we meditate on His word, we will be victorious when the battles and the challenges come. We’re told

…I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

…My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.

…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

…If God be for us, who can be against us

…the thief comes but to steal, kill and destroy but I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly

…if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally

…He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed

God tells us that the battle is in our minds and we are to renew them to His way of thinking and not to be caught up in man’s natural way of thinking. Successful people throughout time have used God’s principal of renewing their mind and have come through with God-like results.

“Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. 2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.” Romans 12:1-2

This is what David did as a young shepherd; all the armies of Israel were in fear of one giant but David knew that God would fight with him and so he had no fear and defeated Goliath single handed.

Abraham knew he had God’s promise for a child and so at 100 years old he held on to God’s word and a miracle of conception took place and Sarah gave birth to Issac.

Peter was in a sinking boat when Jesus came walking on the water and at Jesus’ word, Come, Peter stepped out and walked to Jesus.

The men and the women of the Bible were/are people just like us, 100% human, what made them special is they chose to believe that God’s words had power and they let those words refine and purify their thoughts and  change their circumstances. We can do the same today.

We should give God’s word more credibility than the word of our neighbor, our spouse, or a trusted friend. Let His words fill our thoughts.

Begin the refining process today. Soon we’ll see that our thinking can be stamped 24k.

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Let’s Have Coffee

First We Have Coffee, a book by Margaret Jensen, describes her life in Canada in a Norwegian pastor’s home. I read this book many years ago and it intrigued me for two reasons; 1) because she was Norwegian and 2) because she was a pastor’s daughter. Being Norwegian, I found many of the things they did in their home very humorous and oh so familiar.

But the thing I liked most was that her parents built relationships with the people before they felt they had a right to minister to them. The full title of this book is First We Have Coffee Then We Talk. What an example of Jesus this is. He found himself constantly developing relationships – helping fisherman who hadn’t caught any fish; rescuing a prostitute; having dinner with a tax collector; bringing wine to a wedding, on and on it goes.

Without relationship we really don’t have a right to bring a message. Folks need to know our heart, to know that they aren’t being “preached” too or being judged. Jesus didn’t judge – He loved unconditionally. Yes, He definitely had a message of salvation for all He met but He didn’t judge. He encouraged, corrected, cured and showed compassion but He didn’t judge.

When Jesus was asked a trick question by an attorney – which is the greatest law, He wasn’t flustered or ashamed. His answer was clear.

“He said, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?” 37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’ 40 All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands.” Matthew 22:36-40

When we love God the Father with our whole heart it changes us and we develop a sense of self-worth we can’t get any other way. God’s love elevates the way we think about ourselves because we begin to see ourselves the way He does – we have value, we were worth dying for. And when we begin to accept the love God has for us, we can then see that He has that same love for others and we begin to see they have value too. So we can love them the way the Father has loved us, the way we love ourselves.

So this morning, I had my first cup of coffee with the Father and now I get to share one with you. Thank you for allowing me to build relationship with you. I value the time we share.

“Every time I think of you, I thank my God.” Philippians 1:3 CEV

God bless you all this day!

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Follow Instructions

Those of you who know me personally know I love to bake and cook.

But I have had a few disasters in my kitchen and some of them were from failure to follow instructions.

I remember one time in particular that I was making cinnamon rolls. I had only made them a couple times before so wasn’t very familiar with the process. I had my Mom’s recipe before me and I started in. Step 1 was to prepare the yeast mixture with WARM water but Step 2 was to add HOT water to the shortening, sugar and salt.  I decided that I would save a time and use hot water for both.

Little did I know that hot water will kill yeast. I waited impatiently for the yeast to rise and although it grew a little it didn’t process as it should. Did I stop and start over – No! My attitude was keep going, it will be ok. Suffice it to say the rolls never did rise the way they should and that day I made cinnamon crackers, not cinnamon rolls.

I learned a very valuable lesson about following instructions.

The last few days we have been talking about following the leader. God went to great lengths to give us an instruction manual for life.

“All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. 17 Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17 ERV

We need to follow instructions. Not to conform to some religious list of do’s and don’ts. God’s word comes from the heart of a loving Father who wants to give his children what they need to navigate life victoriously.

It’s so important that we have God’s word as the basis of all we do. It needs to be our foundation so that we are standing firm. It’s our bedrock for life.

“Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on solid rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 CEV

I’m sure everyone of you can recall a time when you didn’t follow instructions and the end result was less than perfect. Mistakes were made, hopefully they were remedied easily but some of them may have been costly.

“These are the proverbs of Solomon, the son of David and king of Israel. 2 They will help you learn to be wise, to accept correction, and to understand wise sayings. 3 They will teach you to develop your mind in the right way. You will learn to do what is right and to be honest and fair. 4 These proverbs will make even those without education smart. They will teach young people what they need to know and how to use what they have learned. 5 Even the wise could become wiser by listening to these proverbs. They will gain understanding and learn to solve difficult problems. 6 These sayings will help you understand proverbs, stories with hidden meanings, words of the wise, and other difficult sayings.

7 Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the Lord, but stubborn fools hate wisdom and refuse to learn.” Proverbs 1:1-7 ERV

You’ll be surprised how many mistakes can be avoided by praying and asking God for wisdom before proceeding. I’m not telling you that we will never make mistakes but they will certainly decrease significantly when we take our direction from God’s word.

“ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not trust in your own understanding. 6 Agree with Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight. ” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLV

Lord, when I get in a hurry remind me to follow Your instructions. Direct my path. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to follow your lead. AMEN!

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