Living Stones

Stones are pretty much just dead matter, right?  They have no intelligence, feelings or spirit.  I am sure you have heard people refer to someone as being “dumb as a box of rocks”.  If you are anything like me, you have probably felt that way too.  Stones are usually slippery when they get wet and can cause you to fall.  They can also get in the way along a path and cause you to stumble.  So stones can cause trouble, but stones can also be a help. 

Stones are used to line paths and sometimes even to build a path or road to help you reach your destination.  Stones can be used to build a bridge to cross over troubled waters.  Stones can be used to build a building to protect you during times of storms.  Stones can also be used to build stairways that lead you to lift you up to higher ground.  So stones can be good or bad depending on the situation.

By now I am sure you are wondering where all this stone talk is leading…  It’s leading us right to Peter and his stone talk in 1 Peter 2:4-6.  “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.  And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.  As the Scriptures say, ‘I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.’”

Jesus has become our chief cornerstone, and we are the living stones that, along with Jesus, make God’s spiritual temple.  I am not an architect, but have been told how important that the cornerstone of a building is, not only, for the buildings structural soundness, but also for its architectural beauty.  Jesus is that perfect cornerstone that keeps the temple safe and beautiful before God, but we get to be one of those living stones in God’s spiritual temple.  That makes me feel really special.  But even more than special, it makes me feel significant.  God wants me to be a part of His worship, and in doing so, a part of Him.  God uses us simple insignificant living stones to, once again, do something amazing through Jesus.

Almost as a side note, Peter mentions one more amazing thing God allows us to do through Jesus.  We actually get to approach the throne of God as the High Priest to offer ourselves as spiritual sacrifices.  We are much more than a box of rocks once Jesus transforms our lives.  We become those amazing Living Stones.

God Bless!

MOM

I simply want to say to my loving Mom and strongest supporter that I have ever had or ever will have that I love you.  Many times I take her for granted and don’t give her the honor and respect she deserves and for this I am truly sorry.

She had a stroke today.  It seems as though she will recover with little permanent damage.  I want to thank God for this.

Many of you who read this have prayed probably without ceasing and for this I want to thank you.

To those of you who may not give your Mom the credit for all she does for you, for all the support you get even when you don’t deserve it and for all the prayers she’s offered up, tears she’s shed and sleepless nights she’s endured for you; please tell her you love her.

I love you Mom and I am so sorry it took this to make me realize how much.

 “A foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.” Proverbs 10:1

God help me to no longer be a foolish son!

God Bless Moms Everywhere!

Getting Past the Past

Forgetting the past is a hard thing to do.  It is for me, and it probably is for you, too.  Can you just lay your past down and step forward toward something new?  Paul tells us that he could. He also told the Philippians that they could and is telling us that we to can do the same.  “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

The great Apostle Paul, the one apostle that was hand-picked by Jesus, realized his weaknesses.  He knew that he was still working on his life and his problems.  He said he hadn’t arrived yet, hadn’t gotten it all down pat, but was focusing on one thing.  Let’s look closely at what his focus was on, moving beyond the past.  I paraphrase here, but that’s exactly what Paul was saying.  He was leaving yesterday behind and looking to tomorrow.  How can we also achieve this kind of focus? 

Paul said that he “pressed on”.  The Message says he was “reaching out for Christ”.  I think that is a good way to look at it.  We reach out (forward) for Jesus.  God is a God of the future.  When we put the past behind us and move closer to God, He puts our sins so far in the past that it’s like they never happened.  Why can’t we do that too?

Once we get past our past and seek to walk with God, what then?  What’s the next step?  We reach the end of the race and hopefully win the prize, Heaven.  Jesus told us in John 14:3-4, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” Jesus is preparing the prize for us right now.  It won’t be long and He will come back to show us what we have been reaching for all this time.  But to move forward we have to stay in the race and quit looking back.  We have to look forward.  That’s where Jesus is.  Reach out for the finish line, we are almost there.

God Bless!

What God Wants You to Know

What does God want you to know?  What does He want me to know?  I have noticed that little icon and message on Facebook, “God wants you to know”.  I understand we have the Bible that is God’s inspired word.  I don’t claim to be a prophet bringing the word of God to you by miraculous means.  I have just been thinking about what it might be that God REALLY wants us to remember.

I think that God might just want us to know that it is going to be O.K.  I know that might sound trivial and maybe there are more important revelations about God and His character, but that just seems to sum it all up for me.  God is whispering, “I am here, I will help you, it’s all going to be O.K.”  What a comfort that is.  Knowing that God is always in our corner is a great comfort.  He told us on so many occasions through the inspired writers.  We just need to listen.

God tells us through the prophet Isaiah, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” (Isaiah 43:5)  Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Even when we walk through the valley, God is with us and comforts us (Psalm 23). 

Let’s once again read from the pen of David in Psalm 27:1.  “The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”  David reminds us that with God on our side everything is going to be O.K.  When we worry about our lives, God is right in the middle of it.  When we face disease and death, God is there to comfort us. 

David goes on in verse 5, “For He will conceal me there when troubles come; He will hide me in his sanctuary.  He will place me out of reach on a high rock.”  God will conceal us when troubles come.  Another version says “he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble”. (ESV)  What a comfort to know that our amazing God cares enough about us to hide us in our times of toil, stress, anxiety and worries.  Our God is a God of not only the sunny days, but maybe more comforting; our God is the God of the storms as well.  That same God who created the universe and stilled the sea wants to hide you and me during our times of trouble.  He whispers through the rain…”it’s going to be O.K.  I AM is here. 

God Bless!

Choosing a Path

Which way do we go?  This is a constant decision making process.  Sometimes we need maps.  These days, we have a GPS to guide us in our journeys, but what about our spiritual travels.  This life is a spiritual journey.  It has a destination … Heaven. 

But exactly how can we figure out which would be the best path to take in our lives.  Jesus talked about taking the “high road”, so to speak, in Matthew 7:13.  “The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”  So He has told us that the road might get treacherous at times and maybe even narrow.  So we will need to be very careful.

Not every fork in the road leads to something bad though.  We are forced at times to make choices that might change the course of our life, but not lead us into anything bad.  How can we make these choices?  We need some way to decide which of two paths to take.  Sometimes these decisions can change the directions of our live and even our destinies.  We sometimes get a second chance, and sometimes we don’t.

Let’s look to God for help in these decisive times. Maybe we should begin in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”  We must put our trust in the Lord to guide us.  Solomon so wisely reminded us that we can’t always see the proper path to take.  God has a “bird’s eye view”. .  He can see the end from the beginning.  But Solomon also reminds us that we need to seek God’s will.  When we do this, He will then show us which path to take.  Too many times we think we have all the answers.  I know I have found myself in that position.  When we can learn to let go and let God guide our path and our lives, we will then be able to make it on to that narrow road. 

Zacharias reminded us in Luke 1:79 that God will “give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace”.  Now that’s what I call a GPS!  With God as our guide we shouldn’t need much else.  Are you ready for the difficult road?  God will be our guide.

God Bless!

Be Still and Know God

“Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10)  Being still seems to be a lost art.  I know it is for me.  Our lives are so cluttered with activities and work and just “stuff”.  We sometimes forget to just be still and recognize where we are in the pecking order.  We sometimes feel if we give God a couple of hours a week, then we have done our part.  God expects more than that. Let’s look back in this psalm and take some comfort in all our God is and does for us.  Maybe we can be still just a few minutes to remember. 

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.  Let the oceans roar and foam.  Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!” (V. 1-3) God is there for us always.  It doesn’t matter what the circumstances…God is there.  Even during the toughest of times, we must put our hope in Him.  It won’t matter that the mountains tremble or the earthquakes of life happen, He will be our refuge.  What an encouragement!  If you are like me, sometimes it seems each day might bring a different challenge, but our God is right there in the midst of it.  He will never leave or forsake us!

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.  Come, see the glorious works of the Lord: See how he brings destruction upon the world.” (V. 7-8) The Lord God has his heavenly armies here to protect and fortify and strengthen those who are His.  God is our fortress.  How amazing that the God who created the universe is willing to protect us with that same awesome power.  We can see the mighty works of God all around us every day.  We must just take the time to look.  Anyone who sees a sunrise or sunset sees God’s amazing power.  He set the sun in the sky.  When we experience the power of a mighty rushing waterfall, we are reminded of God’s awesome hand in our lives.  We don’t have to look far to see God’s glorious works. 

Now we come full circle to verse 10-11.  “Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.  The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.”  We need, no must, take time out each day to remember God’s power and His protection.  We must make time for God. He has made time for us.

God Bless!

Stay In The Herd

A lone gazelle limps along slightly behind the rest of the herd, apparently from an injury suffered during that last leap over the stream.  The herd is moving rather quickly today, sensing something as yet unseen. As the camera cuts away to the lion hiding behind the tall grass, we all know what’s about to happen. It doesn’t look good for that gazelle.  Anytime you venture away from the herd, it is usually harder on you.  Have you been there?

When you step out of “the herd”, it can be tough.  When we isolate ourselves from good people it can be disastrous, just like that poor gazelle.  When we wander away from our “herd”, it is a catastrophe waiting to happen.  I am not just basing this on the Discovery Channel.  Listen to Peter in 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” So the devil is prowling around looking for the weak, the one separated, isolated from the rest.  We make it even easier on him if we surround ourselves with bad people.  It is almost like a gazelle walking into a lion’s den.  I know it sounds crazy, but that’s exactly what we do when we get involved with people that we know will bring us down spiritually.  “Bad company corrupts good character.”  (1 Corinthians 15:33)

We have the greatest Shepherd that ever was who wants us to stay in the herd (or flock) we might say.  You see, when it comes to these things, we aren’t even as smart or fast as a gazelle. We are slow and kind of dumb, just like sheep.  Sheep need a shepherd, and we need Jesus, the good Shepherd.  Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.”   We need a shepherd to keep us in the flock and guide us in life.  Isolation for us means death.  David knew the life of a shepherd and wrote this about the good Shepherd in the 23^rd Psalm.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

Let’s stay in the herd with the good Shepherd, Jesus.  I feel safe there.  Don’t you?

God Bless!

God Sized Faith

Faith…how far does yours go?  What about mine?  How far should our faith in God go?  God has a lot of things to say about faith in His word.  But what does real faith look like?  Should we ask God for things believing He is going to give them to us?  Is it O.K. to ask God to move in our lives?  Can we even ask God to heal someone?  I think we can say an emphatic “yes” to faith in God.  We will look at faith through God’s eyes.  I think we will understand it better then.

God makes it very plain in Hebrews 11:6.  Paul writes, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”  God pretty much lays it out for us there.  We cannot please God without faith.  That’s big.  No matter what we try to do, or what great things we might do, it is not possible for God to be happy with us without this attitude of faith.  Faith is the building block for all other areas of our spiritual lives.  What if we all lived in true faith in God and His awesome power?  What would we do?  Where might we go?

If we had the faith God wants us to have, what might we ask for?  Would it be wild?  Would it be big?  Or would we rather continue living our lives limiting God and His amazing power?  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)  The life I live, I live by faith.  That’s amazing.  That’s what God wants for us through Jesus.  Too often, we limit God.  God will not fit in any building, any country, any city and definitely not any box.  We have to let God out of the box!  We have to dream big dreams, ask for big things, but we must ask in faith.  We can boldly approach God’s throne, and we should as His reverent, but loved children. 

James explains how to ask God for things, even big things.  “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.” (James 1:6)  That is also very plain.  God laid it out simply for us here.  When we ask we should expect something to happen.  It’s O.K. to ask God for BIG, AMAZING, GOD SIZED things, but we must believe.

God parted the Red Sea, stopped the Jordan River, stopped the sun for Joshua, healed hundreds, (if not thousands), through the hands of the Apostles, and God came down from Heaven to save the world through Jesus.  What is it that you think is limiting God today?  What is it that you are too scared or think might be too much for God to handle?  God will listen, and He just might make something big happen in your life.  Maybe we need to God-size our faith.

God Bless!

Seeing God in the Storm

Do you sometimes wonder where God is?  Ever wonder why would God be concerned with little old me?  Sometimes doubt God cares?  We all have had feelings like these.  I doubt there is one among us who has never doubted God at some level, especially during the storms and tears of life.

 I think the answer lies within US, not God.  You see it is ok with God for us to hurt, maybe even to doubt, not that he likes it, because God never wants His Children to hurt.  The problem is that sometimes we can’t see God through the storm, and yes even the tears of our life.  How can we miss Him?  Psalm 42 has meant a lot to me during these times.  Would you share a few minutes with me maybe crying, maybe not, but always looking for God through the tears?

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God.  When can I go and stand before him? Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” (Psalm 42:1-3) 

Have you been there?  People asking, where is your God now, look at you?  You are a mess.  I know we all have been there.  Have you too been that deer so thirsty for God, but not able to see Him for the tears. So what do we do?  Let’s look now to Verses 5-8 for our answer.

Why am I discouraged?  Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!  Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,     from the land of Mount Mizar.  I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.

We sometimes loose hope in God … we sometimes doubt, and God expects that.  What we need to remember is the God we knew before the storm, before the tears.  That’s the God that will comfort and protect us fragile deer during the times we can’t see God for the tears.  Let’s pray to God through the night and storms of our life.  He is there and He is listening.

God Bless!

Legacies

I got to go to a funeral today.  It’s not often that you will hear someone say that, and probably less likely to hear that from me than most.  I typically do not like funerals, do you?  I don’t like being sad or down.  I tend to think of myself as an uplifting person, but I just don’t like funerals.  But today I learned, or was reminded, about a couple of important things at the funeral today.  I thought I would share them here for all of us to consider.

First, I was reminded that life is short.  The man who was buried today was 92 years old.  You might say that wasn’t short.  People will no doubt say he lived a long productive life or something like that; but, let’s think about it from just a little different perspective.  You might say “92 years is a long time. I will be lucky to make it to 50, 60 or whatever age limit you might place here.  But let’s think about 92 years in God’s eyes.  Let’s look at 92 years, or 50 or 60 years from the looking glass of eternity.  What do we see now?  James put it like this, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)  We just never know how much time we have left.  To put it into perspective, our lives are like the steam over the boiling pot of water that vanishes before our eyes.  I have also heard it described as “a dot on a very long line”, an eternal line.  David put it like this in Psalm 144:4, “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.”  You may wonder where I am going with all this.  That leads me to the second thing I was reminded of today….

We leave it all behind, and nothing we leave behind is more important than our legacy.  You see, what we do here on earth matters, and we don’t have much time to do it.  We don’t have to stay in the legacy of our mother or our father or anyone else.  For many that would be a great legacy to leave, but for others that might not be the case.  You see each day we wake up to write the story of our life for that day!  God in His infinite wisdom didn’t make us stay where we have been.  He had so much more in store for us.  That’s why he gave us His Son.  Jesus came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).  Jesus came to help us leave others the best legacy possible.  He came to make it possible to start fresh today with a new legacy.  Who wants to start or continue to leave a legacy that our children and our children’s children will not only be proud of, but will want to follow?  I know I for one want to do the best I can to do the most good I can in the short time I have on this earth.  Then I want God to say, “Well done”.  Don’t you?

God Bless!

Burst the Mold

Jesus came into the world to save it, but the world was taken by storm with Jesus’ knowledge and practice of the law.  To the people of His day, He was a radical.  We may need a little history here…

The Pharisees had taken every Jewish law and defined, refined and distorted the law until what a lot of people were following was just interpretations of the law and not the actual law itself.  Jesus came along and said NO.  This is not what My Father said.  This was radical. 

Jesus tried to explain it to them in His first two parables.  Listen to Jesus in Mark 2:21-22:  “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins;  for the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”

Jesus was trying to explain that HE couldn’t be fit into the mold they were used to using.  He came to burst not only the wineskin and tear the veil, but to overcome death.  He did not just come to modify the old law, but to redefine love and law.  Jesus seemed to pass this passion and love and zeal on to his followers of the day.  They seemed to get into more trouble, because they didn’t fit the mold.  While in Thessalonica they are welcomed with this from Acts 17:6: "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.”

What would people say if we came to their town, would they see something fresh and new and loving?  Would they say we are turning the world upside down like they did of Paul, Silas and the disciples of Jesus day?  Would they be able to tell we have been with Jesus, or would we fit in just fine?  I don’t know about you, but I want to be radical for Jesus.

God Bless!

Extraordinary Things

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.” (Acts 19:11)  That just struck me today while reading.  God was doing extraordinary miracles?  Aren’t all of God’s miracles extraordinary?  Or better yet, isn’t everything God does extraordinary?  This got me to thinking about these things.

God performs miracles every day.  Our bodies work properly for the most part.  That in itself is a miracle.  The sun rises and sets.  The flowers bloom.  A tiny seed can make a huge tree.  You see all these things are miracles in themselves.  God is a miracle just waiting to happen. 

The fact that God loves us is a miracle.  Would you truly love someone who treated you the way you treat God?  Would you die for them? Would I?  You see God doesn’t need us, but wants us anyway, and we need God so desperately.

God was doing miracles “by the hands of Paul”.  What an honor and privilege.  We are now the body of Christ, essentially His hands and feet.  What is Jesus doing with our hands and feet?  Do people see Jesus in what we do?  Is God doing anything with our hands?  Paul tells the church in Galatia in Galatians 5:13, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”  Our hands should be serving others.  Jesus uses us to fulfill His purposes here on earth.  What are we doing to show people the love of Jesus?

Jesus said after Peter’s great confession "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” in Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  This tells me that if the Lord’s church is not growing, or not serving others, it’s not because of Satan or Hell, but because His Church (Body) has become lazy and is not serving.  So what extraordinary things has God been doing with you?  If your answer is nothing (or not much), then lets you and I begin to stretch our spiritual bodies and get to work.  God wants to do extraordinary things with us too!

God Bless!

Spirits

What kind of spirit do you have?  Now that would be a conversation starter wouldn’t it?  But it’s a very valuable question to consider.  When you strip all the fluff and layers and, maybe even walls down, that make up the outside you, what would you have left?  People many times say someone is just “mean-spirited” or he has a “good heart”, but what does that really mean?

We have probably all heard that “God is spirit and that we should worship Him in spirit and truth”. (John 4:24)  God formed us and gave us a spirit.  We were made in the very image of God.  What kind of spirit is in you?  Here’s the kind of spirit the Apostle Paul told Timothy was in him in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

God, first of all, DID NOT give us a spirit of timidity. He did not give us a spirit to be afraid, beaten down, ashamed or unworthy of His love.  He doesn’t want us to be afraid all our lives.  He wants us to live life to the fullest, with passion and zeal, not with timidity or fear.

Look at the spirit God DID give us.  He gave us power.  Power comes through His Spirit that dwells in each one of us.  We have the power of the God Almighty right inside us.  That should make you shiver.  What awesome power, but what an awesome  responsibility at the same time.  God has decided to dwell with you, with me, amazing!

God also gave us two more aspects of our spirit to help us provide the proper context for the first.  That power has to be tempered with love.  We are to have a spirit of love.  Jesus showed us the ultimate example of love in that He was willing to die for us to give us that power.  So we must use the power within us to show those around us that same love of Jesus.

Lastly, and probably most important, is the spirit of self-discipline.  With all that power we have to be careful not to use our spirits in a negative way.  We must be proper hosts for God’s Spirit, never doing anything to offend Him.

So now what kind of spirit do you have?  I am seeking to have a spirit filled with power and love, tempered with self-control.  What about you?

God Bless!

Give God a Call

Ever just needed someone to listen?  Don’t you just sometimes want someone with a kind heart and a listening ear?  We don’t always need someone with all the answers.  We don’t always need someone to fix it.  Sometimes we just need to tell someone about what’s going on in our lives.  But, what if you could talk to the One who could really fix things?  Would you?

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words.  Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge   from their adversaries at your right hand.  Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. (Psalm 17:6-8)

David wrote that Psalm.  He knew that God did listen.  God knows and God cares.  David was a sinner just like you and just like me, but he still knew that God was listening.  God doesn’t just listen, but cares, shows His amazing love and gives refuge at His right Hand.

You see, we can talk to someone who not only listens, but can fix things too.  Even while we wait for Him to help us in our worries or troubles, David reminds us that He shelters us all the while.  How blessed we are to serve such a wonderful, amazing and powerful God.

I saved the best for last.  We are the apple of God’s eye.  We are His chosen, saved and, most of all, loved children.  So when life gets you down, just remember, you are the apple of the Almighty God’s eye.  The One who CAN fix things always stands ready to listen to your every concern and need.  We just need to give Him a “call”.

God Bless!

This Little Light of Mine

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”  We all probably sang that many times as children at a vacation Bible school or church, but did we really get it?  I mean… really?  What about now?  Our light, where does it shine today?  Do we still have the light?  Maybe we should go back to THE LIGHT to remember. 

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12)  Jesus seemed to have to keep reminding the people in His day about the Light, so we shouldn’t feel quite so bad if we forget sometimes.  Jesus offers a way to quit stumbling around in the dark. He offers the light that will never burn out. He doesn’t want us to keep stumping our toes in the darkness.  He reminds us again in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Maybe, just maybe, if we can remember to leave our lights on, someone else might also find the way to the Father through Jesus.  The Light, Jesus, once again in Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” 

So now, it’s up to us.  We have been shown the light and now have been charged with being the keepers of the light.  We are like the old lighthouse keepers.  Without us, many would crash into the shoreline, possibly lost, hurt or even spiritually dead. Those keepers of old were on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

How is your light doing these days?   Is your lens clear so your light can shine far and wide, or does it need a little polishing?  Maybe your light has gone out altogether.  No matter what condition you find your light in today, we still have time before the night comes.  Let’s get our lights ready because before too long the night will come and it will be too late. (John 9:4)

“Trim your feeble lamp, my brother, some poor sailor tempest tossed; trying now to make the harbor, in the darkness may be lost.  Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!  Some poor fainting, struggling sea-man you may rescue, you may save.”1

God Bless!

[1] Let the Lower Lights be Burning by: Philip Paul Bliss

Fall Into the Arms of Jesus

Ever feel burdened with cares, loaded down?  Sometimes wonder if you can carry that around any longer?  I don’t know what “that” is for you, but we all have some things that bring us down, burden us.  Have you ever thought about taking a yoke to make it easier?  Seems like a yoke would just be more to carry, right?  Well not really.

 A yoke is supposed to make things easier to carry if used properly.  It is used on ox and mules to make them able to carry or pull more.  Jesus knew all about this. 

Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Another thing we might want to consider is that when a young Jewish boy was learning under a Rabbi or teacher, he was said to be taking on his yoke.  Many of the Pharisees’ yokes were heavy, because they added so many extra rules and particulars not in the Law of Moses.

Jesus tells us to take His yoke.  We can find rest from our heavy burdens in his care.  Not only rest here, but rest for our souls, deep rest.  I know there are many times I need to remember to fall into the arms of Jesus and just rest.  Are you heavy laden?  Do you need to find rest for your soul?  Fall into the arms of Jesus. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.  He will carry that load for you.

God Bless!