It Has Nothing to do with You!

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell

It goes beyond the highest star

And reaches to the lowest hell

The guilty pair bowed down with care

God gave His Son to win

His erring child He reconciled

And pardoned from His sin

Could we with ink the ocean fill

And were the skies with parchment made

Were every stalk on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trade

To write the love of God above

would drain the ocean dry

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky

O love of God how rich and pure

How measureless and strong

It shall forevermore endure

The saints' and angels' song

The love Jesus has for you has absolutely nothing to do with you. Let me say that again: The love Jesus has for you, has absolutely nothing to do with you. Once you get this into your heart, it is a very freeing statement. There is nothing you could do, say or think that can make Him love you less or more - NOTHING! He loves you because He loves you - it has nothing to do with you. This is what Romans 8 is all about - we are free to live because He loves us, and His love is completely unconditional. This doesn't mean that we should abuse our freedom and sin freely; it means that we can walk in His love, and allow Him to live through us and empower us to overcome.

If I were to ask you how do you think Jesus would act towards you if He were to walk up to you right now, what would your answer be? I asked this to someone recently, and he thought Jesus would be ashamed of him. A lot of people think this. A lot of people think that Jesus would be angry at them or that He would be disappointed in them. If you think this way, how would YOU react? You would probably turn away from Him or hang your head, not looking Him in the eye.

Is this Biblical? How many times in the Bible did Jesus look at His disciples or the crowds in disgust, contempt or shame? (Pharisees not included of course; they seemed to be in another category of people!) The answer is not once. Jesus never looked at anyone with anything but love. Not even the adulteress woman or the Samaritan woman. Not the tax collectors, the thieves He died beside or "doubting Thomas." Nothing but love. And that is how He would react to you today if He were to walk into the room. He would tell you, "lift up your head, look into My eyes and see how much I love you."

Lift up your head. Do not walk around in shame or condemnation. It is impossible to disappoint Him - how can you disappoint someone who already knew what you were going to do? It's impossible! His love is Perfect. Perfect love casts out all fear. Walk in His love - walk freely in His love. He will never give you a reason to hang your head in front of Him - never. His love for you has nothing to do with you!

Where is the Love?

"Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails."

Love is essential to our human existence. Without it, something inside of us withers up and we feel like a part of us is dead. I'm not talking about romantic love or infatuation; I'm talking about real and lasting love - the unconditional kind! We were made to love and be loved; God created us with to love Him and love each other. Nowadays though, love seems to be vanishing - even in the church, where it should be the number one commodity.

We have begun to act as if love is not important; truth and knowledge are more important! However, Paul says in I Corinthians 13, that you can do all kinds of good works, speak eloquently and have huge faith, but if you do these things without love, they don't count for anything. Love is the most important part of Christianity!

Our primary motivator should always be love. Whatever we do and say to and for others should always come from a heart of love. Everything that Jesus said and did was out of love. Not once did He let anything deter Him from acting in love. He constantly put His love for others before His own needs and wants; even when He was physically eshausted, hungry and needing rest, He still had deep compassion on the crowds following Him and took care of their needs before His.

Technology has taken the place of human interaction these days, and we are talking and seeing each other less and less. This has also made showing love to one another a lot harder. There are millions of unhappy people out there, and you see many of them every day. Look around the next time you are on the bus or subway or waiting in line at the store. Your smile can lift someone's spirits and make a difference in a stranger's life. Another thing you can do to show love to a stranger or someone you know is to simply ask, "how are you?" and really mean it! This question has become a part of conversation, and most people just answer, "fine, how are you?" Let the person know that you really want to know how they are!

Don't love selfishly; instead, use I Corinthian's 13 as your guide. Remember, one day you will stand before God and He will not be judging us according to your actions; He will be looking at the intent of your heart - your motivation for doing those actions.

Why Was David "A Man After God's Own Heart?"

I've been reading about David lately - not just in Psalms, but in 1 and 2 Samuel as well. The Lord called David "a man after My own heart," and I wanted to know what made David that kind of man. He wasn't perfect - not all of his sins are listed, but he did commit adultery and murder! Yet, the Lord still loved and favored him. I think that part of what made God favor David so much was how David dealt with his sin.

Whenever God sent someone to rebuke David he immediately repented and accepted the consequences of his sin. There isn't a place in the Bible where it talks about David refusing to repent, or being self-righteous about his sins. His heart always yielded to God's conviction right away, and he always repented 100%.

David also stepped out in faith quite a bit. The most famous instance of this was when he fought Goliath. I have read this story many times, but this was the first time I realized that the Bible does not say that God told David to kill Goliath. There are other times when it tells how David asked the Lord for direction before he went into battle, but when he went to fight Goliath, David just stepped out and did it, trusting that God would back him up! After reading that, I had to sit back and think about it for a few minutes. If I were in that situation, would I have done what David did? I hope so, but I have my doubts! David knew that God was on Israel's side, and that He took insults to His chosen people pretty seriously, so from that I guess he figured that all he had to do was take a stand against Goliath and God would go before him. Well, as we know, he figured right!

This decision was made in a matter of seconds! He didn't wait and pray it out, or ask for advice or talk to anyone about it. He just did it - no doubts, no worries. He KNEW that God would do it! He knew God, and what He had done for the Israelites in the past, and David had also seen God come through over and over again in his own life. And that was all it took for David to put his life in God's hands.

Think back and remember what God has done in your life. Read the Bible and take a look at what He did for the people back then. Has He changed? Of course not! Just what He's done in your life alone should be enough for you to put your life in His hands and make it possible for you to step out in faith like David did. He knew God so well that he knew God would bless him in his efforts. He knew what God wanted - even what He would want. Like I mentioned before, sometimes he did pray and ask for direction, and God always answered, but He rarely told David "no, don't do that." David had a heart for God, and for the things of God. He searched after the heart of God, and he knew Him - really knew Him. David knew sides of God that many Jewish people at that time did not know. Read the Psalms - God was David's everything - He was closer to Him than anyone else. He trusted God above everything and anyone. He made mistakes, sinned and messed things up just like we do, and everyone else has done since Adam and Eve. But he didn't let those things stop him for long. He got right back up and continued in his walk with the Lord.

Don't let your sins knock you down for long - Satan would rather you stayed down, buried under shame and guilt for the rest of your life, but God wants us to learn from our mistakes, seek His forgiveness, repent, and move on. (Wow, this post took on a mind of its own! Funny how you start with one idea and then it turns into something else!)

Will Post Soon!!!

Sorry all...I am in the middle of moving, and I haven't had time to post anything new on here, but things should settle down soon, and then I will go back to being regular...I promise!

Living To Die

My eyes were recently opened to how many things in creation demonstrate the things of God, year after year, season after season. There are many, but today I would like to focus on one: seeds.

Every year, in the spring (most people plant on May 24) farmers and gardeners plant seeds of all kinds - vegetables, fruit, flowers and many other plants. Most of these come in seed form, and the seeds have to be planted a few inches under the ground. After a few weeks, with the right care and conditions, the planter will see a green shoot come up through the ground and before he knows it, there will be a thriving, growing plant.

Isn't it amazing that God created this process to mimic what we go through in life? Think about it...let's look at a tomato plant for example. A tomato seed has the potential to grow into a plant that will yield many tomatoes, all through the season. However, if it does not go into the ground and die, nothing good will ever happen to it. It will get old, stale and maybe even moldy, depending on where it is being stored. A seed that doesn't get planted is a waste - even though it has to die to truly live, it is always worth it!

This is what Jesus wants from us - all of us! Dying to self may be painful and hard to do, but just like the tomato seed, without dying, we will never discover what true life really is.
John 12:23-25 - "Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
I Corinthians 15:36-37 - "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else."

After the seed dies and starts growing, it doesn't stop there. Imagine of a farmer only looked after the seed until it came up and then stopped there - weeds, bugs and the elements would stop the plant from growing more. It's not enough for the seed to die - it still has to be cared for and protected so that the conditions will be perfect for bearing fruit.

Jesus will never stop taking care of us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us, no matter what. He will be there when we go through the darkness of death and when we discover the light of true life.

I heard somebody talking about healing the other day, and they said they weren't sure if they believed in "faith healing." That comment struck me as odd because I couldn't think of any other type of healing! There couldn't be. Healing comes from faith in Jesus, that He has the power to heal, just like He did when He was on the earth.

Mark 11:22-24 says: "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Notice that He doesn't say, what you pray for might be yours, or even can be yours; He says it will be yours! The key is to not doubt in your heart what you are praying.

How many times have we prayed for something, even prayed fervently for it, while not really believing deep down that God would actually do it? How many times have we reacted with surprise when He answers our prayers? Too many times...

Of course He answers our prayers! He loves us, and would never turn a deaf ear to our cries. That's just not who He is. When Jesus was on the earth, He never turned a single person away, no matter how tired and hungry He was. Well, guess what...He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He still does not turn anyone away who is seeking Him. The Bible says that all we need is the faith of a mustard seed, which is a very tiny seed, by the way. I am pretty certain that we all have at least that much faith inside of us - we would have to just to get on a plane!

When we fly somewhere, we believe that the plane is safe. Some people worry a bit about flyng, but a lot of people don't even give it a second thought. Shouldn't we worry though? We never get to look at the engine or the fuel tanks - not that we would know what to look for anyway! My point is, that without knowing or seeing whether or not the plane is actually safe, we get on and fly to our destination without worrying about it. (Most times we never see the pilot either - how do we know someone is flying the plane?)

If we can fly 3 or more hours worry free and confident without seeing or knowing how the plane is working, we should be able to go through life without knowing or seeing how He is working. Sometimes we do see and know, but there are plenty of times when He does not allow us to. These times are a test of our faith.

The Key to Christianity Is...

The dictionary defines trust as: Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing.

God wants us to trust in Him. Does He have integrity, ability and good character? Many would answer "definitely!" Why then, do we find it so hard to trust Him?

Oh sure, we can trust Him with the little things, like praying for good weather, asking Him to help us talk to someone who we are having a problem with, etc..but when it comes to keeping our kids safe, taking a test, financial troubles, health problems and the like, God is often the last person we think of.

Everything in the Bible, everything in our lives, everything in creation is all about one thing and one thing only: Trusting in God. Everything boils down to the fact that God wants us to put our trust in Him!

We all know Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." The Message says it this way: "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track."

When we are truly trusting God with our lives, it means that we are not worried or fearful about anything, no not even the big things that come our way. Not worrying doesn't mean sitting back, arms crossed, doing nothing about the situation you are in; it is okay to be concerned about things, but it is not okay to worry and be anxious.

Can we trust Jesus with everything? Of course we can! Think about it...Are you breathing right now? (If you are reading this, I am betting your answer is yes!) God gives you every breath you breathe - we can't even breathe without Him, so how do we think we can do anything without Him? Jeremiah 29:11 says that He has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and that His plan is not to harm us but to prosper us and give us a hope and a future. Our God is trustworthy! Our God knows what He is doing! Our God is mighty to save, and He loves us and has an immense amount of compassion for us.

When we trust in Him completely, we give Him free rein to do what He wants to in our lives. I Chronicles 5:20 says: "They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them because they cried out to Him during the battle. He answered their prayers because they trusted in Him." (emphasis added)

The title of this post is "The Key to Christianity Is..." I called it that because trusting in God really is the key! It is how we are to live our lives - it encompasses everything. Like I mentioned before, everything comes down to trusting in God.

He Wants To

Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, "Master, if you want to, you can heal my body." Jesus reached out and touched him. "I want to. Be clean." Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. - Matthew 8:1-3 (The Message)

Does Jesus want to heal you? Does He want to bless you, protect you and touch your life? The answer is a resounding YES! That is why He came to this earth - to bring us closer to God and make all of these things available to any who would reach out to Him and say a simple, "Lord if you are willing..."

When Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago, He never turned anyone away. There is no record in the Bible of any time when He told anyone that He couldn't do what they asked, or that He was too tired to help those in need. Even when He and the disciples were exhausted, when the crowds came, Jesus had compassion on them and healed their sicknesses and taught them about His Father.

Is Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever, as the saying goes? Of course He is, and He is still willing and able to do the same things He did in the Bible. His compassion for us and our needs has not lessened at all. Now that He is not tied down to an earthly body, He doesn't even get tired anymore!

I had a mini revelation the other day, about making our requests known to God. So many times we hear people say that we shouldn't talk too much about our needs when we pray. Admittedly, if your requests are all that you talk to God about, you need to reevaluate your relationship with Him. After all, no relationship is good when it is all one-sided! However, God knows that we are human - He created us that way! He knows we are not perfect, and although we are to strive for perfection and holiness, He does not have "God-like" expectations of us. We are needy people, and that is okay with God! He tells us in Hebrews 4:6 that we can approach His throne with confidence to find help in our time of need. Other translations tell us to come boldly!

Jesus knows us. He knows what it is like to live here on earth, and He knows that we have needs. It is okay to have a lot of requests for Him, and its also okay for some of our prayers to mostly be about those requests. So don't feel guilty about needing God's help. He really doesn't mind helping...He wants to!

When I Get Where I'm Going

When I get where I'm going

on the far side of the sky.

The first thing that I'm gonna do

Is spread my wings and fly.

I'm gonna land beside a lion,

and run my fingers through his mane.

Or I might find out what it's like

To ride a drop of rain

(Chorus:)

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

there'll be only happy tears.

I will shed the sins and struggles

I have carried all these years.

And I'll leave my heart wide open,

I will love and have no fear.

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

Don't cry for me down here.

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy,

and he'll match me step for step,

and I'll tell him how I missed him,

every minute since he left.

Then I'll hug his neck.

(Chorus)

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

there'll be only happy tears.

I will shed the sins and struggles

I have carried all these years.

And I'll leave my heart wide open,

I will love and have no fear.

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

Don't cry for me down here.

So much pain and so much darkness,

in this world we stumble through.

All these questions, I can't answer,

so much work to do.

But when I get where I'm going,

and I see my Maker's face.

I'll stand forever in the light,

of His amazing grace.

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

there'll be only happy tears.

Hallelujah!

I will love and have no fear.

When I get where I'm going.

Yeah when I get where I'm going.

(Courtesy of Brad Paisley)

Standing On The Promises...

We have all heard the old song, "Standing on the Promises of God", or maybe we have heard people say that they are standing on His promises.

The Bible is full of examples of God delivering on what He promised people. There are way too many to list here, but if you want proof, open your Bible, or go to http://www.biblegateway.com/, pick a translation and type "promised" in the keyword space. There are pages and pages of examples!

What does it actually mean to stand on God's promises? Can we really stand on them? Let's start on what God has promised us: Eternal life, joy, peace, faith, protection, forgiveness and love - just to name a few! Love sort of encompasses all of the things He has promised us, and Romans 8:35-39 says that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God. That is one heck of a promise!

Can we stand on these promises? You bet we can, but how? Believing that God will come through with what He has promised is really easy when life is going our way. When everything is great and the bills are paid with money left over, when we are healthy, have a great job and we are just loving life, it is so easy to trust in God, isn't it? But when life is not turning out quite the way we thought it would, and we feel like our world is falling apart all around us and there is nothing we can do to change it - that is when standing on His promises comes into play.

Almost everyone in the world has to have read the "Footprints" poem by now, so I will not type the whole thing out here. (If you have been in a coma for the last 20+years, Google and you will find!) In Footprints, when there was only one set of prints in the sand, the person thought that they were walking alone, but the footprints turned out to be Jesus' prints. He was carrying them during the hardest times in their life - even though they never knew it!

We all go through times when it feels like God has forgotten about us or He has abandoned us in our time of need. These are the times when we need to stand on His promises. If you are feeling this way, I encourage you not to go by what your emotions are telling you. You know what God's Word says! He says He will never leave you or forsake you - even if your feelings don't believe it, your mind and your heart know it to be true. Grit your teeth and hold on to what the Bible says for dear life, and believe that He is carrying you through!

You are not alone - David went through many times like this. Read the Psalms for encouragement, and notice how many times he had to put his feelings in place.

BUT GOD!

"BUT GOD". Those are 2 of my favorite words (especially when they are together!) Another 2 of my favorites are "I AM". These 2 phrases really go well together in my life, and probably in yours as well.

All throughout the Bible, people were afraid, or they strayed away, or something happened that was out of their control. Whatever it was, their situation was too big for them to handle... BUT GOD came and scooped them up and fought and won the battle for them. All through the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New, God shows up in situation after situation.

In Exodus 13:10-31, the Israelites are being chased by Pharaoh and his army. They are barred off by the Red Sea and cannot run any farther. The army is getting closer and will soon re-capture the Israelites and take them back into slavery...BUT GOD parted the Sea and allowed them to walk across on dry land. Then He drowned the entire army! BUT GOD!

When the Israelites forgot all that God had done for them, and started worshipping idols and doing everything that God had warned them not to do, He got mad at them and punished them. Did He leave them in misery? No, He turned around and said, " 'For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you' says the Lord your Redeemer." Isaiah 54:7-8. BUT GOD!

The biggest one of all is when only the Jews could know God, and He wanted everyone to be able to know him and spend eternity with Him. Yet, someone needed to do something about the sins of the world, both present and future. Sin was blocking man from God. BUT GOD gave His one and only Son, Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins so that we could have a relationship with God and spend eternity with Him. BUT GOD!

In the New Testament, Jesus gives us a ton of BUT GOD moments. He healed diseases that people had been suffering from for years - BUT GOD! He fed the five thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fish - BUT GOD! He brought people back from the dead - BUT GOD!

What is happening in your life these days? Life is good, but life is not always good all of the time. Everyone goes through hard times, and sometimes it seems like there will never be an end to your struggles. Think back to the BUT GOD times in your life. He was there then, and He is here now. As surely as He took care of the people in the Bible, giving them undeserved mercy, winning their battles and doing the impossible for them, He will take care of you too.

Here is the best part - here is where BUT GOD joins I AM! We know the meaning of "BUT GOD", but do we really know about "I AM"? BUT GOD intervenes for us, but I AM carries us through. I AM encompasses all of our struggles, all of our hardships and all of the unfair things in our lives. It even covers things that have happened to us because of other people's choices - things that we have no control over.

I AM is enough. He is bigger than our troubles, bigger than our fears and frustrations, yet He knows and understands what we are going through because He has been there - He's walked a mile in our shoes!

Matthew 11:28 says: "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

My Mistake

When I was reading over my posts (all 2 of them!) I noticed that I haven't been including many Bible verses to back up what I'm writing about. I know it is always a good thing to point to the Bible when talking about God and what He wants from us, so from now on, I will use Scripture in my posts. If I don't or I forget, just leave me a comment and let me know and I will correct it

Grace Is For Christians Too!

Why are there so many Christians out there that are continually bogged down? There are a surprising number of believers who have to pretend at church on Sunday morning, that all is well and they are happy, happy, happy!
As Christians, it's okay not to feel happy all the time - in fact, Jesus promised us in the Bible that when you become a Christian, life will get harder! The good thing is that He will be with us to get us through the hard times.

There are many reasons why there are a lot of Christians who have to pretend to have joy, but I want to focus on what I think is one of the biggest. Grace. When someone new comes to Christ, we are so happy for them, and even the angels in Heaven rejoice and "party on" because of it. Why are we excited? Because that person has received the grace of God. Without grace, no one would be able to go to Heaven at all!

Let's focus on this new believer...he learns more about God, reads the Bible, prays, converts some of his family and friends, goes to church, worships with other Christians, and life is good. Fast-forward a few years. He is still going to church, still prays and reads his Bible (sometimes!) life is still good (sometimes!) but he still sins. Maybe he has a reoccurring sin that is weighing him down so much that it is all he thinks about.

Now he feels guilty, ashamed and condemned. He probably hears Satan whisper things like: "You're a hypocrite!", "How can God forgive you for this over and over again?", "God has given up on you because of this!", and "You might as well do it again because its the only thing that is going to make you feel good now!"

He starts to believe these lies, and he gets trapped further in his sin. But it doesn't make him feel any better; instead he feels more guilty, more ashamed and more condemned.

He will continue on like this unless he remembers how he came to God in the first place - empty-handed. You can't earn God's grace as an unbeliever, and you can't do anything to earn it as a believer either! His grace remains the same no matter what. It is us who change, not God's grace. Jesus died for ALL of our sins, not just the ones we committed before we knew Him! Also, He knew everything we would ever think or do (good and bad) before He died for us, and before He brought us to Him. You can't surprise God!

It doesn't matter how long you have been a Christian, or how much you know about the Bible, or how big your sin is. His grace is enough to cover ALL of our sins, and it is one of the many gifts He gives to anyone who chooses to take it - whether you're new to Him or you've been around for years.

Accept His grace, read Romans 8 and live a free life!

Can We Pick & Choose?

We hear it all the time: "That doesn't matter, it's not relevant because it is from the Old Testament."
Yet, if something will be helpful to our argument or our situation, we will readily take and use truths from the Old Testament.

Some people think that the Old Testament is only made up of interesting stories that can teach children good morals in Sunday school, or that those 39 books are only there as proof that the people mentioned in the Bible were really alive. (This would be done through the genealogies).

We cannot escape the fact that the Old Testament is and always will be a part of the Bible - the infallible and perfect Word of God. We are the reason that God decided to write everything down! It is all there so that we can know how to live out our lives for Him. When the day of judgement comes, I hope no one will stand before God and say something like: "But God, I didn't know how!" or "But I didn't know what You wanted!" You know just how He'll answer that, don't you? He will pick up the Bible and say, "Um, I wrote it down for you!"

So if the Old Testament is a part of God's Word, and we are meant to use it, along with the New Testament, and apply all of it to how we live our lives, then how can we pick and choose what we will or won't use? The answer is simple - we can't.

If you are going to cut up the Old Testament and only take certain things as relevant to you, then you can't take anything from the Old Testament - it all goes in the trash. You simply cannot pick and choose what applies to you and what doesn't. It ALL applies! It is ALL relevant!

The number one thing I hear when people are doing this is: "Tithing is only for the Old Testament, not for the New." Now, I have something to confess here...I am guilty of this myself! I believed this for years, but I never felt truly right about it, and one day I decided to put it to the test. In Malachi 3:10, God says that we can test Him in this (tithing). I tithed for the first time in years. Right away, doors opened up for me that I thought were impossible, and some of them, I never would have thought to ask for! More importantly, I felt right again.

There are other issues that people like to pick and choose about in the Old Testament, and the same applies to these. If it is in the Bible, it is relevant, and it is meant for you!