Friday, August 13, 2010
Cold...
cold..anybody complaining about it? Want to be hot? Nope...we complain about that too. We want to be somewhere in the middle. What about your spiritual heart? Is it cold or hot? If it's somewhere in the middle, I urge you to the consider this..our God is a consuming fire( Dt.4:24) and it's one or the other...all or nothing...hot or cold. No lukewarm. (Rev.3:16) Don't think to follow God somewhere in the middle.(Rev.3:16)
Sale...
Sales...this time of year everything is 'on sale'. Want a costly item? don't want to pay the price?...wait til it's on sale. What we need most is something we can't purchase...never could, never will be able to. It will never be on sale...in fact it's the most expensive thing to ever exist...And whether you know it or not...it is the only thing that will fill your need, bring you comfort, contentment, and total peace. It is right standing with God, paid for in full by the blood of Jesus Christ. (Rev.1:5) It is the greatest need you will ever have..and He offers to fill that need for us completely. It is the deal you can't afford to pass up....
Time...
What time is it? No....don't look at the clock...look within. Is eternity in your heart?(Ecc.3:11) Or do you measure your life by only this realm? Time and chance happenes to everybody.(Ecc.9:11) It isn't having time that matters...it is what we do with 'now', and if there is any eternal value gained as we pass thru it.
Life...
Life...what is it really? A functioning body of flesh? I think not. But you can't know what you don't know...so many only think they have life. There is so much more...and people need to know! This body of flesh quits working..then what? I think my friend's husband had more life in 2 weeks on the island of Guam than a ...lot of people have in 80+years. And his life continues.. on the other side. With Jesus.
Plans...
Plans...there are plenty today.God has always had a plan."..to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,"(Jer.29:11) We can follow His plan, or "continue with our own plan, each of us following the stubborness of his evil heart."(Jer.18:12) Our plans end in eternal death without Him. The fea...r of the Lord leads to life.(Pro.19:23)...eternal life....even after the last heartbeat...Hallelujah
grief...I've tasted it, but have never had to drink the cup that has been to the lips of so many dear friends. Again today, a dear friend drinks. I have no help...nothing to offer...no way to take it away....I read again Job's story.."If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales...it would surely outweigh the sand of the seas.."(Job 6:2) I can not imagine the heaviness of her sorrow. I can only offer myself to God and ask Him to use me in some small way to bring His comfort. He is the only answer.
"In my distress I called to the Lord. I cried to my God for help From His temple He heard my voice. My cry came before Him, into His ears. (Ps.18:6)
now....Time is not new...but it is important. Now is all we have. Live fully in it. Not in the past. Not waiting for that perfect time yet to come. Now. "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Ps. 90:12) Oh Lord, help us to be wise in our 'now'.
new...we're about to enter a new year. But is anything really new? Solomon says no.(Ecc.1:9) Time is not new. Measuring it is not new. Filling it is not new...no matter what you fill it with. Measured time...hours, days, months, and yes...years...is not new. But eternity will never be old.....Things that have eternal worth are the only things that matter. The only way this coming year will be different from the last will be determined by our relationship with The Creator. Not stuff. Not image or appearance. Not information and knowledge.
"Fear God and keep His commandments..."(Ecc.12:13 )Solomon should know, He tried it all...and found success in his efforts but found no fulfillment from the success...no value.
Make it your business to know His will for your days and years. Seek Him with an undivided heart, and He will be found. (1 Chron. 28:9)...
grief...I've tasted it, but have never had to drink the cup that has been to the lips of so many dear friends. Again today, a dear friend drinks. I have no help...nothing to offer...no way to take it away....I read again Job's story.."If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales...it would surely outweigh the sand of the seas.."(Job 6:2) I can not imagine the heaviness of her sorrow. I can only offer myself to God and ask Him to use me in some small way to bring His comfort. He is the only answer.
"In my distress I called to the Lord. I cried to my God for help From His temple He heard my voice. My cry came before Him, into His ears. (Ps.18:6)
now....Time is not new...but it is important. Now is all we have. Live fully in it. Not in the past. Not waiting for that perfect time yet to come. Now. "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Ps. 90:12) Oh Lord, help us to be wise in our 'now'.
new...we're about to enter a new year. But is anything really new? Solomon says no.(Ecc.1:9) Time is not new. Measuring it is not new. Filling it is not new...no matter what you fill it with. Measured time...hours, days, months, and yes...years...is not new. But eternity will never be old.....Things that have eternal worth are the only things that matter. The only way this coming year will be different from the last will be determined by our relationship with The Creator. Not stuff. Not image or appearance. Not information and knowledge.
"Fear God and keep His commandments..."(Ecc.12:13 )Solomon should know, He tried it all...and found success in his efforts but found no fulfillment from the success...no value.
Make it your business to know His will for your days and years. Seek Him with an undivided heart, and He will be found. (1 Chron. 28:9)...
Translations...
Translations… There are dozens of different ones….yet some people think that the King James is the only reliable one…that it might even be the one Jesus used…
(That was a joke.) The only scripture Jesus used was what we call the Old Testament, and it was written in Hebrew….and on scrolls.
I love the King James. I don’t use it anymore.
I’m not good at memorizing and quoting, but what little I can quote verbatim is from the King James…it was what we used when I was a child. However, a lot of what I read and heard might as well have been Hebrew. I have never spoken “The King’s English”…and I didn’t understand a lot of what King James’s translated Bible said.
Sometimes, what might otherwise be very familiar words, is very profound said differently. Same message, same content, same application…different words…and POW!! You get this big A-HA!!
Here was mine this morning..
“…I tried keeping rules and working my head off the please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a ‘law man’ so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with Him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you….or have your good opinion…amd I am not longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living…is not ‘mine’…but it is lived by faith in the son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”
Wow….
(That is in Galatians 2 for you KJV folks that might want to check.)
(That was a joke.) The only scripture Jesus used was what we call the Old Testament, and it was written in Hebrew….and on scrolls.
I love the King James. I don’t use it anymore.
I’m not good at memorizing and quoting, but what little I can quote verbatim is from the King James…it was what we used when I was a child. However, a lot of what I read and heard might as well have been Hebrew. I have never spoken “The King’s English”…and I didn’t understand a lot of what King James’s translated Bible said.
Sometimes, what might otherwise be very familiar words, is very profound said differently. Same message, same content, same application…different words…and POW!! You get this big A-HA!!
Here was mine this morning..
“…I tried keeping rules and working my head off the please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a ‘law man’ so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with Him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you….or have your good opinion…amd I am not longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living…is not ‘mine’…but it is lived by faith in the son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”
Wow….
(That is in Galatians 2 for you KJV folks that might want to check.)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Dread...
Dread…. Apprehension of evil or danger. Uneasiness or alarm excited because of expected pain, loss, or other evil…
I dread today. I am overbooked. There will be no time for fun conversation, no time for breaks. Maybe no lunch or even potty breaks. Yep…I dread it. But I’m sure thankful for my job and for my clientele. Very thankful.
‘What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting Arm’
It took me several minutes to recall that line, it is a very old hymn. I am reminded that on difficult days, it is most important to be leaning on that Arm and not leaning on myself. Today will be full, but ‘If the Lord delights in my way, He makes my steps firm’
(Ps. 37:23 personalized by me)
There are lots of things on my mind that I dread with all the changes looming in our lives. I am not afraid. I do trust Him. Dread is different from fear, it is not sudden but it is more continued. So this morning, I am admonished to put that dread also into His Arms and trust.
And I am told that if I’m not careful with this matter, I may become ‘a dread to my friends- those who see me on the streets may flee from me.’ (Ps. 31:11 personalized by me) Even the best of friends can become tired of the voicing of my dread!!
I dread today. I am overbooked. There will be no time for fun conversation, no time for breaks. Maybe no lunch or even potty breaks. Yep…I dread it. But I’m sure thankful for my job and for my clientele. Very thankful.
‘What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting Arm’
It took me several minutes to recall that line, it is a very old hymn. I am reminded that on difficult days, it is most important to be leaning on that Arm and not leaning on myself. Today will be full, but ‘If the Lord delights in my way, He makes my steps firm’
(Ps. 37:23 personalized by me)
There are lots of things on my mind that I dread with all the changes looming in our lives. I am not afraid. I do trust Him. Dread is different from fear, it is not sudden but it is more continued. So this morning, I am admonished to put that dread also into His Arms and trust.
And I am told that if I’m not careful with this matter, I may become ‘a dread to my friends- those who see me on the streets may flee from me.’ (Ps. 31:11 personalized by me) Even the best of friends can become tired of the voicing of my dread!!
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