Clearing Out the Clutter

Luke 16:13 ESV
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

I once attended a meeting of a group called “Addicted to Christ”. As I got to know the group members I found that, although most had a history of addiction to some substance or of being in an enabling role, there were members who in no way fit the profile.

I asked how they came to be in the group and received this explanation. Anything that is important enough to you that you would let it come between you and your relationship with our Savior has to be an addiction. If not, how would you explain it?

Many times we look in a very narrow way at the person whose life is consumed in the pursuit of financial gain and go, ah ha, I don't do that. I don't place money above my love of God.

This narrow view allows us to avoid looking at the things we do allow to clutter our lives so much that there is no time for worship, no time for praise and only brief moments set aside for thanksgiving.

Exodus 20:4-6 (NIV)
 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Many glibly say “He is the head of my life” and give God less than ten percent of anything they hold dear.

Is it time for spring cleaning. Is it time to assess the things that occupy our thoughts, our time and our resources. Is it time to look at the clutter in our lives and decide what matters not at all and remove it to the recycle bin?

This spring is a good opportunity to evaluate and assure that nothing comes between us and our relationship with God.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!

Living Within His Protective Arms

Deuteronomy 10:17-19
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

How easy it is to live within the protective love our God, our Father. How often in scripture does He invite us into the protection of His love. And He asks so little in return.

Deuteronomy 6:5-6
New King James Version (NKJV)
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

We are invited into the loving arms of a Father of boundless capacity to love and protect. There is no where we can go and no situation we can encounter that puts us outside of His sphere of influence.

We need not make this walk with God too complicated to follow. We need only to hold on to His hand and follow his commandments. And the most rewarding thing is the knowledge that He will help us when we submit to His will.
Matthew 22:36-40
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
36"Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?"
    37Jesus answered:
   Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. 38This is the first and most important commandment. 39The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, "Love others as much as you love yourself." 40All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.
Old Testament or New Testament... The command remains the same. The price of admission into the loving protection of God is reachable by even the lowest of us, His children

Welcome, and come on board!

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!

A Matter of Time

Matthew 6:33
English Standard Version (ESV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Why is it that in this modern society so few of us have time for the best things in life? How interesting it is that the things that matter most are often the things tended to last?

Is there time in your busy life to pray, to offer thanks and praise to a loving God who is there always?

Is there time to appreciate and enjoy family who are with us for such a short time in the scheme of things?

How do we spend the precious time that we are allotted here on earth?

We no longer have to hunt, kill and prepare our meat. A simple trip to the supermarket and we can select the exact cut of meat we want in exactly the size we choose. We even have the means at home to store food in freezers and refrigerators and thus decrease our needs for even this basic trip.

Few of us grow our food, and even those of us who do, do so as a hobby more than as a necessity.

Travel and communications are at incredible speeds. We can see and talk instantly to people all over the world and reach any destination on earth in a matter of days, not months.

So where did our time go?

How important to our eternal life are the things on which we place the most value?

Acts 17:11
English Standard Version (ESV)
11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Each morning when we wake up we have been given another opportunity to prioritize our lives. We have another opportunity to spend our time on the things that matter most. We have another opportunity to be more noble in our relationship with God and with our loved ones.

But we also continue to have free will. It's a matter of time and how we chose to spend it.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!

Glimpses of Heaven

Colossians 3:12-17
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
12God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient.
   13Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.
   14Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.
   15Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful.
   16Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
   17Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him.

It is a very difficult thing to witness the last days of friends. It is a time of continuing prayer that God will give you exactly the right words and the exact times of silence to be of the most help to your friends.

As I prayed for guidance this morning I was given this title and this scripture of comfort. It is amazing that while I was looking for comfort for my friends God provided comfort to me.

How fortunate I am to know that God loves me and has chosen me as one of His special people. How prepared I feel to stand in His Holy Presence and what comfort this is. My purpose here is to share this joy that I have in the Lord asking nothing more than to let the peace that comes from Christ fill our hearts and minds.

I know that God will give me the right words and the right moments of silence because I have asked. I know that He will allow me to be a source of strength and comfort to my friends and I have stopped being afraid because I know that all is in His hands.

Father, God, I thank You for the opportunity to be in Your service.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!

Borrowed Blessings

Genesis 12:1-3
New King James Version (NKJV)Promises to Abram
12 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

It is a joy when someone asks me to pray for them. I feel that they recognize that I love God and I feel it a privilege to go to him in prayer.

James 5:16
New International Version (NIV)16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

I, first, pray for myself that I can reach toward the life that God intends for me. I pray help with my shortcomings. I pray praise for his eternal grace and mercy. I pray that I may be fit to come before him on behalf of myself and others.

I pray thanks for the gift of the Comforter and gratitude for His intercession in my life and for my spiritual life.

I feel that a request for prayer is an opportunity to bring a person before God asking first that their hearts are touched with a desire to be in His will then that he meet the desires of their hearts. The beautiful prayer by Paul on behalf of the Church at Colossae is a wonderful example of this kind of intercessory prayer:

Colossians 1:9-12
King James Version (KJV) 9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

From the first covenant with Abraham through the New Testament promises of Christ Jesus to the present we are admonished to share our blessings as Children of the Living God. One way that we do this is through intercessory prayer.

Malachi 3:10
New King James Version (NKJV)10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Why would we need such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it if not to share in the bounty of our Lord?

Luke 6:38
New King James Version (NKJV)38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

I gladly give my prayers knowing that I am also the recipient of many prayers. I gladly pray for others with the hope that their “Borrowed Blessings” will be the light that leads to or strengthens them in the love of God.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!

He Hath Said

James 1:6-7
New King James Version (NKJV)6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

I heard a teacher say this morning “God does not speak doubt; Faith is the language that God speaks.”

Colossians 1:9-12
New King James Version (NKJV)9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

What a powerful reminder to us that we must approach our Heavenly Father basking in the assurance that he delights in our prayers, praise and worship!

Matthew 7:8-11
Contemporary English Version (CEV)8Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks. 9Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? 10Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? 11As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.

Jesus reminds us that we, as mortals, rejoice and delight when we are able to do good things for our children. Reflect back on a time when you spotted just the right gift for a child of your heart. What a warm and wonderful feeling when you saw the smile of delight that your gift brings! Remember also the simple trust that your child has that you will take care of everything!

We approach our Heavenly Father in prayer with the assurance that he hears prayers of faith. We strengthen that faith by being grounded in His Word. A Word that assures us that as Children of the Most High God, He wants us to come to Him for our needs.

Our prayers are not an imposition to God. Our prayers have a welcome invitation from God Himself.

I Forgot To Pray I got up this morning,
It was time to start the day,
I had so very much to do,
I didn’t take time to pray.

Troubles came tumbling on me,
Heavier became my tasks,
I wondered why God didn’t help me,
He said, “Child, you didn’t ask.”

I tried to see truth and beauty,
The day stayed dark and bleak,
I wondered why God didn’t show me,
He said, “Child, you didn’t seek.”

I tried to enter God’s presence,
I used all the keys to the lock,
God tenderly, lovingly answered,
“My Child, you didn’t knock.”

I got up early next morning,
I made ready to start the day,
I had so very much to do, but
I took the time to pray.
by Georgia P. Buche.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!

"Innocent" Gossip

Proverbs 17:9Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

Children have a rhyme that says “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” and even children know that the rhyme is not true. These words often provide a thin veil to hide deep pain and frustration. The simple truth is that words often hurt in much more lasting ways than sticks and stones.

As technology grows so does our ability to use words in hurtful ways. Now we have “cyber bullying” a way to put hurtful things out for all of the world to see then hide our hands behind cute internet names.

Proverbs 18: 8 The words of a whisperer or talebearer are as dainty morsels; they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

Still, common gossip, careless words said without real intent to hurt, often cause the most pain and we as mature Christians frequently fall right into the murk of gossip.

We are admonished in many scriptures about the dangers of careless words.
Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 1.Haughty eyes, 2. a lying tongue, And 3. hands that shed innocent blood, 4. A heart that devises wicked plans, 5. Feet that run rapidly to evil, 6. A false witness who utters lies, And 7. one who spreads strife among brothers. (emphasis added)

Please note that the use of words is involved in three of these things hated by the Lord: a lying tongue, false witness and spreading strife.

The gossip often defends himself by saying “I was only telling the truth.” The question becomes whose truth and for what purpose. Clearly, if the “truth” spoken serves no purpose except to cause pain for the object of the gossip and generate excitement in the hearer, it is only strife. There are two hated things in this Proverb which involve lying and still the author adds the spreading of strife to the list. The gossip, whether spreading truth or lies is on this list!

Romans 1:28-3028 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Sometimes a difficult thing for us to accept is our responsibility in setting an example for our children. The simple truth is that they most often do what we do, not what we say despite all of our protestations to the contrary. Children of gossips often have great comfort with spreading tales about others.

You might have your child pull up “What the Bible Says About Gossip-Christian Teen-Gossip” (christianteens.about.com/od/whatthebiblesaysabout/f/gossip.htm) and you both take the Gossip Quiz.
If your answers surprise you and you find yourself scoring as a gossip you might appologize to your child and make a commitment right there to change your ways and be the example you want to be!

Proverbs 21:23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.

May God Forever Be a Blessing in Your Life!!!