* Answer the Call

I made the earth, formed it, and set it in place. My name is the Lord. This is what the Lord says: Call to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mysterious things that you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:2-3 God's Word Translation

One of the great frustrations in parenting is calling your child, knowing they can hear your call, and they don't answer. It's just as frustrating in business, and even socially; you call on the phone and get no answer. Nobody likes it. Sometimes, there are reasons for it, especially when you're at work, but other times, we're just busy. Don't you hate that? I know I do - and what I hate even more is that sometimes I'm the one guilty of being busy...

Wanna know something? God hates it, too. And He hates it with a passion. I woke up this morning with Answer on my brain, so I did a word search for call answer on BibleGateway. I was looking for Scripture pertaining to how God answers when we call on Him...and I found those...but I found more Scriptures about what God does and will do when He calls and we don't answer. Woe be unto us... Literally...

However, there are great promises for those who WILL hear God's call and answer Him. Our text for today and these two are some of my favorite passages:

Isaiah 65:23-24, They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed. I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! 

Psalm 91:14-16, The Lord says, I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.

We all love to read how God will answer us when we call, but it's only when we are obedient and listen to His voice. Follow His commands. He's not obligated to hear us if we won't hear Him.

Think about it for a moment. Has God spoken to you - called to get your attention about something? Did you answer? It's either Hello or Woe...  Answer the call.

Prayer:

Father,

         Forgive us for our disobedience - our rebellion - in not responding when You call us. Let our hearts respond to You as Samuel did, Here am I.  In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Remind Me One More Time

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Hebrews 10:16-17 KJV

I think I have reached the limit of my personal gigabyte storage capacity. No, not on my laptop, although that's close. I'm talking mental personal storage capacity. I want to remember, but for some reason, I do not. It can be a good thing. Most times, I don't remember to be angry or to hold an offense. More often than not, though, it isn't a good thing. If I don't write it down, I forget. And if I forget where I wrote it down, or what I named it when I saved it, it's worse than "Where's Waldo?" in trying to find it. And there are things I don't want to forget - like birthdays, checking on a friend who's sick or who has lost a loved one...

There are other things, I MUST not forget. Have you seen the movie, Passion of the Christ? I own it, but I don't watch it all the time. No, it's not one of my favorite movies, but I make myself watch it now and then, so I remember. No, I don't forget Christ went to the Cross. I can't forget that He died for my sin, to cleanse me from ALL unrighteousness. Yes, I still know He took the stripes on His back for my healing. To be honest with you, I hate watching that movie! It turns my stomach when I see how evil mankind can be and thoroughly sickens me when I think how easily I could have been part of that crowd.

However, I find I MUST be reminded one more time of a love SO great I cannot comprehend it! To my dismay, I hate to admit I can so easily get caught up in the petty cares of this world that I become complacent and lose my passion and compassion. I'm irked by little things and lose patience quickly with people God has put within my sphere of influence to love and point the way to Him. Some things if I were to tell you, you might say I have the right to be upset about, but as I watched the movie in horror - and amazement - Christ cries out from the Cross, Father, forgive them...

He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6 NLT

Remind me one more time, Lord.

Prayer:

Father,

          The covenant You have made is to put Your law in our hearts, and to write them in our minds. Your Word declares You are working in us, giving us both the desire and the power to do what pleases You. Please don't stop. Remind us, O Lord, to love as You have loved. To live obediently even unto death. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

7 Truths About Spiritual Growth *

 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 

Colossians 2:6-8 NLT

Alan Neel taught this lesson. You might want to take a few minutes to read the summation of it. These 7 Truths regarding spiritual growth are compelling; both an encouragement and a reality check. Without further ado...

#1
Spiritual Growth is challenging.

James 1:2-3 NLT  Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 

I don't know too many people who consider troubles of life as opportunities for great joy. We must understand that the joy is in the opportunity for a chance to grow our endurance (patience) because as we continue in the text, we find this encouragement, So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

#2
Spiritual Growth is personal.

Paul writes in Philippians 2:12b-13 NLT  Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. In the King James Bible, 12b reads, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

The pastor can teach the Word, but it's up to us to search it out and apply it in our lives.

#3
Spiritual Growth is relational.

 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other.

Romans 12:9-16 NLT

#4

Spiritual Growth is meant to be daily.

Then he [Jesus] said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23 NLT

#5

Spiritual Growth is planned. It takes preparation for growth to occur. Soldiers, athletes and farmers all have to prepare and plan for success in their line of work. So do we.

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things.

2nd Timothy 2:2-7 NLT

#6

Spiritual Growth is confrontational. 

I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

2nd Timothy 4:1-5 NLT

#7

Spiritual Growth is ALWAYS worthwhile.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

2nd Timothy 4:7-8 NLT

Prayer:

Father,

         Help us to keep our hearts pure before You and remain always and ever teachable by Your Word. We want to grow in wisdom, Father, but only by Your Truth. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Recycling +

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.2nd Corinthians 5:17-18, NLT

First, let me write this disclaimer. No, I am not an environmentalist freak. I'm not trying to persuade you one way or the other. I'm just going to share something pretty cool that I believe God showed me, but I need to tell you the first part of the story to make the connection.

Sometime in the last few years, one of my kids showed me an email (or youtube video) about thousands and thousands of plastic water bottles that were in a garbage landfill instead of a recycling center. It made an impression on me, so I started bagging plastics for recycle; you know the drill - water bottles, laundry detergent bottles, milk jugs. I thought it would be a very simple process. Bag the recyclables - put them out for the truck.

However, my little town doesn't offer blue recycling bins with a truck pickup. They have a recycling center by the municipal complex. That meant I would have to bag them, put them in the trunk and take them to the recycling center on the day it was open. Okay, that was a little more involved than I'd planned to be, but I kept remembering those thousands and thousands of plastic water bottles and I knew I needed to do it... So, I loaded it into the car, and drove to the center only to find that it was closed due to some unforeseen circumstance. I have to admit, I was a little put-out by that, so, I drove back home and unloaded it into the garage because I was not taking it back into the laundry room. And there it became out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Oh, I continued bagging more of it, but I would haul it out to the garage, and toss it in, and try not to see how much of it was already in there because I didn't want to take the time to fight the cobwebs, etc, in a dirt floor garage. (and there's a LOT of etc  in a Texas dirt floor garage...) Nor did I want to put that into my car until finally, I had bagged up enough that I needed help to get it there...

I also learned that you don't just throw all the recyclables in one recycle bin. There's #1 and #2 plastic, clear glass, brown glass, blue or green glass, aluminum cans are different than tin cans, cardboard, newspaper and magazines, white paper, and so on and so forth. The first trip was a real eye-opener and overwhelming to boot because I had not separated anything; it was all in the same bag - plastic, glass, aluminum cans. Getting it into the right bins was so much fun...NOT! That was WA-A-AYYYY more than I bargained for when I first made the decision to recycle. I would have to re-think this whole commitment. It would be so much easier and certainly less time-consuming, not to mention more space in the laundry room, just to throw it all in the trash... but I kept remembering those thousands and thousands of plastic water bottles.

Well, I've learned how to do it. In the laundry room, I have the calendar posted with the recycling center's hours. I have a separate bag for each of the types of items I recycle and when one bag is full, I put all of the bags in the trunk and take it to the recycling center on the day it is open. I have days when I don't want to fool with it and would just like to throw it away and not be bothered with the time it takes, but in my mind, I see those thousands and thousands of plastic water bottles... So, I take the time because it's not about me. Recycling has become a normal part of the day because I have chosen for it to be that way.

Now, I look for things I use that can be recycled, and it was in the process of checking an item that I believe God showed me the analogy. We come to salvation because we heard or saw something that led us to Calvary and what Christ did for us on the Cross. It made an impression, so we think we'd better get ourselves to church. Well, the next thing you know, it's not just church on Sunday, it's a mid-week service, too, and then they're talking about being baptized, and reading your Bible every day, with all the thou shalt and thou shalt nots, depending on which translation of the Bible you read - and which one should you read? And does it matter? It's overwhelming, and you think, this is WA-A-AYYY more than I signed up for...  And you want to walk away because it would be so much easier to just go back to sleeping late on Sunday and not feeling bad about what you did or didn't do regarding decisions that never used to give you a moment's pause... but then you remember the Cross at Calvary and how Jesus laid down His life for you and you realize it's not just about you...

You may think there's too much in your life that needs to be changed - you'll never get it all right. You got all this stuff and no way to straighten it all out. Well... you just need a little help to get it all separated in manageable pieces, that's all. Maybe you WILL join that small group they mentioned so you could learn how to do this or do it better... Take a little time each day to read your Bible, learn about it and put it into practice until it becomes a normal part of your day. Will there be days you want to give up? Probably... but then you go back to what took place at Calvary - Jesus on that Cross for our sin... And all those things that were so overwhelming at the beginning? You'll find yourself taking them, one by one, to God and asking, What can You do with this?  Our God has a very sweet way of taking what we've used or done and making good come of it.

Prayer:

Father,

        Thank You for the Cross. Thank You for taking our old lives and making them new. Continue to teach us about bringing our stuff to You, so You can turn it for good use. Open our eyes to see that it's not just about us and what we want. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

When the Battle's Over *

When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you! When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops. He will say to them, "Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!"

Deuteronomy 20:1-4 NLT

"What we do in life echoes in Eternity" - that's a line from one of my favorite movies. I will admit that the first time I watched Gladiator was only because Russell Crowe played the part of Maximus Decimus Meridius. I'm really not into the blood-and-guts genre, although I have come to understand that life has its share of it - in one form or another - no matter what generation is represented. However, from the onset of the beginning battle, I was impressed by the director's ability to create a realistic battle without completely grossing me out. 

What leapt out at me were these four things:

1. As the commander of thousands, Maximus made himself visible to those who were going to fight at his command. There were great differences of who saw what - those who were closest to him not only saw him, they touched him, spoke with him.
2. They followed him because they knew him. His reputation preceded him - he was a victorious leader. They knew he had a plan and knew his way would lead to victory.
3. Those designated to ride into battle with him heard his instruction, Stay with me...Stay with me...
4. When the battle was over, they won. Yes, there were the wounds of battle and there was blood on everything, but they won because they followed his commands.

I'm not here to give you the Siskel and Ebert précis of the movie; as movies go, it had good and bad (which is why we must guard what we put in our spirit). The Truth is, what we do in life truly does echo in eternity, but it's not by being "good" men. It's only in accepting and believing in Christ and what He did on the cross at Calvary that gets us to our reward in Heaven.

Here's what leaps out at me now...

1. As the commander of Heaven's armies, Jesus Christ makes Himself visible to those who will fight at His command. There are great differences of who sees what - those who are closest to Him not only see Him, they touch Him. Speak with Him. And we get closer to Him by obedience to His every command.
2. We follow Him because we know Him. His reputation precedes Him - He is a victorious leader. We know He has a plan and we know His way will lead to victory.
3. Those who dare to ride into battle with Him hear His instruction, Stay with Me...Stay with Me...
4. When the battle is over, we win. There are the wounds of battle but we will win because we followed His commands. And yes, praise God - there is Blood on everything... His precious Blood covers us all...

We must follow Him. We know who He is - Jesus Christ - the same yesterday, today and forever. So, no matter what your battle is today - whether it's a literal army or overwhelming odds - He says to us what He said to the men of Israel...  When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you! When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops. He will say to them, "Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and He will give you victory!"

Prayer:

Father,

         Thank You for the battle plan that will bring us to ultimate victory. Help us to hear only Your voice and not be swayed by the sight and sounds of the battles. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

The Greatest Story * +

Isaiah 53: 
Who has believed our message?
To whom has the lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.
But it was the lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Prayer:

Father, 
          Make this a Rhema word in our hearts! In Jesus' Name we pray! Amen

* Cause for Celebration

Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.
Galatians 3:13-14 The Message

This weekend, we will celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. He is risen - Alleluia! Yes, it is definitely cause for celebration! 

We don't like to think about the suffering of Christ during Passion Week. We don't like to watch the event either, now that "The Passion of the Christ" has brought it to life in all its horrible detail. Have you ever set out to celebrate the Crucifixion? The Cross? 

How many of us truly realize that it was because of the beatings, the whipped stripes on His back, the crown of thorns, the nails that pierced his flesh, the spear that ripped open His side that we even have a cause for celebration?!? It is His SHED blood that pays the debt of our sins. It was the stripes that bought and paid for our healing. Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT reads, ...he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

The work that was accomplished and finished on the Cross - Christ's blood spilled out - was the only power to wash away our sin stains. Without His death on the Cross, there would be no Resurrection. The Cross and the love that held Jesus on it are the true causes for celebration.

Prayer:

Father,
         In and of ourselves, we haven't the words to express our gratitude. Reveal Your Word to us and give us grateful hearts to celebrate what Your Son has done for us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

We're Not Done +

    Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” 

    But Jesus said, “You feed them.” 

   “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” 

   “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”

They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”  Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. 
   Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed from those loaves!
Mark 6:35-41 NLT

Has God ever done the impossible in your life? Has He done the proverbial Made a Way Where There was No Way? Has He ever used you to do or say something that you know - beyond the shadow of a doubt - that it was all God because it was beyond your ability or even your comprehension? It defies all logic. Well, He's not done yet.

Mark 6 is an amazing chapter. At the beginning of it, Jesus heads to His hometown, begins teaching in the synagogue in such a way that the people exclaim, Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles? And only moments later, they reject Him because they can't see or believe through eyes of faith... but He wasn't done. He took it to village after village, teaching, healing.

He launched His disciples, sending them out on purpose without provision, and yet their needs were met and they accomplished what He sent them to do. When they returned, they were stoked! But He wasn't done. 

Also in this chapter, we learn of John the Baptist's beheading - a tragic, horrible murder. It had already happened; Jesus knew about it, but it didn't stop Him because He wasn't done. Jesus wanted to take the boys and get away for a little while, but the crowds wouldn't stop, and because He had/has such great compassion, He stopped for them. 

Then we come to our Promise text for today. The disciples - those He hand-picked - presume to tell Christ how to best care for the people. They present their most logical, well-thought-out plan, but obviously, Jesus wasn't done yet.

You feed them, but the best they could come up with was logic.
We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!

Jesus doesn't fly by the seat of His pants. He doesn't get by by the skin of His teeth. He's not a fly-by-night operation. When will we realize that God has the plan? He's had it from the beginning. Even when there doesn't seem to be any way at all - the odds are too much against us. We can't feed them! There's over 5,000 men here, plus their families... Sure, I'll see if anyone brought anything... Here, 5 loaves and a couple of fish. What are You gonna do with that? There's no way to feed all these people - that's not enough for just us, let alone all of them. I don't know what You're thinking...  What? You don't believe they were thinking along those lines?

He took it, blessed it and broke it. And with that little bit of broken pieces, He fed the multitudes until everyone had as much as they wanted. It was the first All-You-Can-Eat buffet... But He wasn't done. Scripture tells us, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.

Recap: He told them to feed the people. They replied logically, We can't. He showed them how it's done. And when He was done, they picked up 12 baskets of leftover bread and fish. Hmmm... how many disciples were there? 
You get the picture...

I was gonna end there, but I hear the ones making the statement about Judas Iscariot... He didn't hang around too much longer after this, so, I guess that leaves one basket. Any takers? We're not done...

Prayer:

Father,
        Thank You for the ability to think and reason. Forgive us when we use it to try to explain away Your sovereignty and majesty. Help us to realize and KNOW that whatever You've called us to do, wherever You've called us to be, You've made the provision. Let the measure of faith You have given us always override what we can see so that we can DO what You've told us to do.  In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* No Less Love

“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Luke 11:9-12 NLT

I spent the entire day with my youngest granddaughter, Abby. They call it babysitting, daycare, whatever. I call it love in its purest form. It was the best day on several counts, but the two most important are; One - I love being with her. I don't care where it is or what we're doing, I just love being with Abby. And two - God illustrated some real truths for me.

This may be the most basic of understandings and you might wonder how I didn't get this until now, but maybe it's because someone else also needs the reminder of the basics...

I have discovered that my perfect little granddaughter is not perfect. She has a temper and a very strong will. That does NOT make me love her less. If anything, it allows me to love her more and prove it by guiding her in the right direction. She cannot purchase or prepare her own food or drink. She can only feed herself finger food snacks (if I get them from the pantry and dole them out for her). She makes a mess in her diapers and needs to be changed frequently. That does NOT make me love her less. She's still crawling. She can pull herself up on anything and climbs well. She has learned how to stand but will stumble or fall when she tries to walk alone. 

I must appoint times for her to rest and isolate her from distractions and the noise and cares of this world so she may do so. I comfort her even when it's me she's angry with (because I didn't answer her plea the way she wanted it to be answered). That does NOT make me love her less. 

She needs constant supervision because she will get into everything - and some of it even AFTER she's been told 'no'. That does NOT make me love her less, either. Nor does any of it make me want to spend less time with her. 

And if I - being sinful - know how to do these things for my granddaughter and still love her with a love that defies description, HOW MUCH MORE will our heavenly Father do all this and more for each of His children?

Prayer:

Father,
         Forgive us for all those times we didn't recognize Your love in action. Open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to receive and believe Your love for us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Strong Man Contest

For I can do everything through Christ,  who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13 NLT

As Christians, we are so fond of this verse! We repeat it like a mantra. The more outside pressure we feel, the more we chant this verse. But do we get it? 

Do we understand that this does NOT say, I can do everything in my own strength just because I know the Name of Jesus. It says through Him because He's the One that gives me strength.  And it does NOT say strength to stand on my own with Him.   Matthew West wrote and sings a song titled, Strong Enough. It starts out similar to what most of the world thinks. He promises never to put more on us than we can bear - but hellooooooooooo, this is more than I can bear... Have you ever been there? 

I've got a news flash for you - God has never expected you to carry it alone. 

Christ Himself invited us to yoke up with Him. In fact, what it does say about standing on your own strength is this, This is what the Lord says: Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5. 

To that end and to drive home the Truth, please read and meditate on these Scriptures.

Exodus 15:2The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.2 Samuel 22:30In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.Psalm 18:29In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.Psalm 18:32God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect.Psalm 46:1God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.Psalm 59:9You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress.Psalm 68:35God is awesome in his sanctuary.The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!Psalm 73:26My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.Psalm 81:1Sing praises to God, our strength.Isaiah 12:2See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.Isaiah 41:10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work.Hebrews 13:9So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.1 Peter 4:11Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.1 Peter 5:10In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

Prayer:

Father,

         We pray according to Your Word. Psalm 73:26, My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but You remain the strength of my heart; You are mine forever. And then we all sing, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.