Are You Being Compelled?

 

Sometimes a thought occurs to me, seemingly out of the blue. I don’t think that’s how it happens. Long before the thoughts come to me, God planted the seeds that grew into revelation thoughts.

Decades ago, we lived in England when a royal wedding took place. Fergie and Andrew, the event of the year unfolded on our television set. Later that week we went to London to see the flowers at Westminster Abbey.

But what if by some chance, someone sent by the royals showed up at my door and handed me a royal invitation? I wouldn’t have had a thing to wear! But who would see me in the crowds anyways? I’d be there to participate in the celebrations in person! What if upon acceptance, the bearer of the invitation also presented me with a gown to wear, so I’d fit right in!?

Yes, I’d have gone. No hesitation. (I couldn’t have known how the marriage would turn out.)

Let me share a few verses of scripture with you here.

“But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So, the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” – Luke 14:16-23 ESV

If you’re in God’s Word at all, I hope you’ve seen the invitation. God’s servants have come out into the highways and the hedges, seeking even the poor, the crippled and blind and lame and most unworthy among us, compelling us to come to God’s banquet.

Still, there is room.

If you haven’t accepted this royal invitation, know that you WILL fit in. Jesus has provided for you; every flaw and sin or trace of unworthiness is covered by His blood. He’s provided royal attire for you, as well – His very own Robe of Righteousness. He drapes it over you when you turn to accept His invitation and wraps His arms around you and weeps with joy that you’ve joined Him and welcomes you home.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” – Romans 8:1 KJV

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39 KJV

Welcome home.

The Joy of Holy Week

 Holy Week: A Week of Reflection

We rejoice in Christ year-round.

This season brings out the ugliness of the Cross AND the joy that was set before Jesus to endure it. The exciting news is that WE are that joy that was set before Him!

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)

We’ve heard the song (or at least the phrase) “While He was on the Cross, we were on His mind….” For me, that’s the most intimate part of the crucifixion. It’s deeply personal. He looked through time and saw me, and He saw you during the most painful experience of His earthly life. And when He breathed His last breath, He said, “It is finished.” The requirement for our sin was met, He willingly paid the price, because He loves us so much.

“For God so loved the world (US), that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not die but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world (US), but in order that the world (WE) might be saved through Him.” – John 3:16-17

The almost-too-good-to-be-true news! It doesn’t get any better than this! All He asks of us is that we believe – that He IS and that He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) And He’s already given us the measure of faith required to believe in Him! (Romans 12:3)

So many people reject God’s love simply because they don’t believe that God made it that easy to please Him. The Old Testament covenant was filled with laws and regulations to prove to us that we couldn’t measure up. But then Jesus came to fulfill the law and bring His new and better covenant to us. He calls it GRACE and He gives it to us freely!

What are you reflecting on this Resurrection season?

Yes, it’s good to reflect on what Jesus sacrificed for us. But oh, the joy of reflecting on why He did it!

Watering.....

 

Mother’s Day brought flowers, I’ve planted new plants in my yard. They look beautiful, yes, thank you for asking. I make sure to water them regularly because they’re just getting rooted in fresh soil. They’ll take hold and perhaps next year, they won’t need quite as much extra water, though I do pamper the ones I planted last year with some extra water too.

What would become of them if I’d carefully dropped them into the soil of my yard and turned to walk away, never going back to tend them again? Out here in the dry Colorado dirt, they’d quickly wither up and die without some love, attention – and water.

Making this a point to ponder, we can see how watering is important and necessary for spiritual growth. Whether we’re talking about a brand-new Christian who’s just been introduced to the new soil of Christianity or a seasoned Christian whose faith has already been tried, we all need the watering of encouragement.

Evangelists sometimes get a lot of attention; they often make a big splash exposing our need for a Savior. Many of them are louder than the average bear and might pack a bit more energy into their presentations. But we daily share Jesus with the people around us, sometimes quietly and without words. Evangelists might be considered the ‘seed planters’ – and might also be seen as the harvesters. To the lost soul coming to Christ, it may feel like they’re hearing these truths, these ‘seeds of faith’ for the first time. But God has always been sending people along the path of their lives, planting seeds they may not have been aware of, preparing them for the harvester who will come along and lead them straight to the Throne of Glory to receive the salvation they’ve been needing, that maybe they didn’t realize they were looking for.

But what happens in between and after? While some have been planting seeds from the Word of God into the fertile heart of one searching for answers, others come along side them and water those seeds, showering them with encouragement and stories of God’s faithfulness in their own lives.

Without water, seeds quickly die off, even after they’ve sprouted up out of the ground. We may stumble across seeds of Truth, not realizing that God was at work behind the scenes preparing them for us, unnoticed there in the background of our lives. Jesus didn’t die in vain, He’s at work with His Father and His precious Holy Spirit wooing us, revealing Himself to us, softening our hearts and opening our eyes and ears to see spiritual things - and by His kindness, drawing us to repentance.

Without the waterers, what would become of us?

Even those of us who are firmly established in our faith need God’s living water poured generously over us from time to time. God won’t deny us that. He has plenty of waterers around us. No doubt, you’re one of them!

How do we water the people around us? Well, how do you find yourself watered – or refreshed and encouraged? That’s what the people around you need, too.

God’s Word is called Living Water, among other things. The River of Life that flows out of us is the Spirit of God that moves through us to the people around us when we encourage them. When we need encouraging, God sends someone across our path with a fresh bucket of Living Water for us.

If we’re not refreshed or nourished by the Living Water of God, perhaps it’s because we didn’t like the looks of the bucket (pride). How long will we go thirsty?

Much of my poetry refers to gardens and flowers because that’s one wonderful way God relates to me, He fills me with joy and stirs His Spirit within me when I’m outside amidst the beauty of nature, or when I’m breathing in the fragrance of the pretty bouquet my husband nourished me with. (He’s my favorite waterer!)

“As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs for God.” (Psalm 42:1)

And sometimes - it's just rains......

You, my friend, are an incredible waterer. Keep up the good work. You’re VERY important! I thank God for you.

 

Me, too!

 

(picture from Pinterest)

The other morning and God spoke to me so clearly; it made me cry.

I write poetry, often provoking tears in the readers, but usually touching their hearts in a special way. Though I’ve been a Christian, encouraging others for a long time now, I’ve often felt less than worthy of the blessings God pours out on me.

But through the blood of Jesus – I am MADE worthy! Hallelujah!

Someone referred to the gifts God placed inside of us. I naturally thought of poetry; my mind fluttered through the only verses I have memorized – one of my favorite poems. I was halted as I rehearsed the lines in my head with the most wonderful interruption. I’ll include the poem here for reference, I want you to know what I’m referring to:

If you picked a flower for every care in your mind,
how many different flowers do you think that you could find?
If you put them all together and made a huge bouquet,
wouldn’t it give your heart a rest to give them all away?
But, who would want these flowers that represent pains and grief?
I came to bear your burdens, Child, will you give your bouquet to Me?
- Jesus
(Helen Williams! 2002)

The interruption? As I recalled the last line, Jesus lovingly whispered to me, “Yes, that means you, too.”

To you, that might seem obvious. But to me, it felt like my brain had just been dunked into soapy bathwater and pulled out clean! Yes, of course it applies to me, too! I was so excited I cried. But knowing that in my head and knowing it in my heart are two totally different lines of reality.

I am among the redeemed.
I am made righteous by the blood of Jesus.
God doesn’t require perfection from me, He requires that I believe in Him and in His Word; the sacrificial Lamb (Jesus) Who died to pay for my sin.

(picture from 3wordwisdom)

So – why WOULDN’T the poem (and every other word of encouragement) apply to me?

God is always speaking to our hearts. Yet we seldom listen for what He has to say to us as individuals.

Several decades ago, I turned away from God. I stuck my fingers in my ears and didn’t want to hear what He was saying to me. I knew He was still God, and I knew I still wanted His protection and love and blessings, but I turned inward and became very selfish.

It wasn’t long until God once again captivated my attention and by His loving kindness drew me back to Himself. I repented of my sin and turned my heart back to Him. I hurt a lot of people through that painful detour, but God loved me still. Most of those people still love me, too.

The enemy taunted me, insisting that I was no longer worthy of God’s grace. He used truth to weave a lie.

Of course, I wasn’t worthy of God’s grace – that’s what grace is all about! It can’t be earned.

But I was no less worthy of that grace than I was the first time I submitted myself to God’s love and asked Him to reign in my heart. Herein is the message of grace: He loves us anyway.

Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking to kill, steal and destroy – our faith.
(John 10:10)

I took a stance and declared in my heart that even if God could no longer accept me as His own, I would declare His grace to others. How’s that for an oxymoron? How could I effectively share grace if I wasn’t even applying it to myself?

I was the prodigal daughter, willing to return home to be my Father’s slave, yet He wanted me to return to be His bride!

So, let’s talk about worthiness and settle the matter once and for all. In our flesh, we are not worthy of God’s grace or His love. But He chooses to love us anyway.

(picture from pinterest)

There is nothing we can do to stop His unending, unconditional love towards us. Nothing. NOTHING!

No matter how sinful we become, we are not beyond the reach of His love and forgiveness.

He is constantly reaching for us, longing for us to receive His love. When we hear a story about unrequited love, we have NO idea how deep that love can run until we look at the One Who created us, Who walks with us – Whom we don’t even know or desire intimacy with. We search, as through fancy jewelry stores, in every nook and cranny – for plastic baubles to love.

It is the goodness and kindness of God that calls us to repentance. (Romans 2:4)

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:38-39)

“YES, THAT MEANS YOU, TOO!”

What a Mess!

         

(todaysparent.com)

“Mom. M-o-m, come see what Josie did. You’re not gonna like it. Come and see,” Heather giggled and sang out. She could hardly keep from laughing right out loud. She ran into her mother’s bedroom to get her out of bed and into Josie’s room. “Up Mom, come on. You’ve got to see what Josie’s done. You’re not ever gonna believe it. You’re not gonna believe that such a little girl could make such a mess. It’s an awful mess, Mom, but you gotta see it, come on!”

          Heather’s mom had barely opened her eyes and was being pulled out of her bed and dragged across the room. The floor was cold under her bare feet, so she pulled back on Heather’s arm and said, “No just hold up one minute here little girl, let me get my slippers on. What’s all this fuss about? How could Josie have made a mess all by herself? Are you sure that this is her mess? She’s still in her crib, she knows better than to get out before I’m up. And you know she wasn’t feeling very good last night. Did you go in there and wake her up to play with you?”

          By now she’d been pulled down the hallway to Josie’s room, Heather just shaking her head all the way. “Nope, Mom, see for yourself. I didn’t even help make this mess. She did a doozy on it all by herself. But Mom, don’t be too mad at her, after all, you said so yourself, she wasn’t feeling all that well last night when you put her to bed.” Being thrust through the doorway into the room of her precious little girl, Mom could smell the mess before she could even see it.

          “Oh, no Josie!” she declared as she made her way over to her crib. “Oh, my little Josie! Sweetheart, what have you done?”

          Hearing her mom’s voice made Josie jump up to a standing position and reach out for her Momma. “Momma? Momma? Get up? Get up?” she laughed.

          Every morning she looked forward to Mommy coming through that doorway, it meant that her time in the crib was up and she could get out and play with her toys, the ones that hadn’t somehow been tossed into her crib by some mysterious sister named Heather. She giggled with glee as Mommy walked closer.

          Mommy was cringing and wrinkling up her nose, “Josie, Josie, Josie! Look at what you’ve done to your crib, and to yourself!”

          Heather stood in the doorway trying not to laugh too loud. “Mom,” she said, “I think she might be feeling a little better. She seems happy enough.”

          “Heather Elaine, just what are you laughing about? You’ve made your share of messes, too!” But as she stood there shaking her head, she had to hold in a laugh of her own. “You look gross Josie!”     

          “Mom, like I said, it’s not completely her fault. I mean, it’s not her fault that she was sick last night. But she didn’t have to play in it.”

          “And someone didn’t have to give her all those toys to dirty, either.” Mom scolded.

          Josie was still standing there with her arms reaching out for Mommy and jumping up and down. “Josie dear, I love you, but Mommy isn’t going to pick you up and snuggle you with lovin’ until she gets you all cleaned up. Okay? Come on, let’s get you out of there. Now honey, don’t touch Mommy, just let Mommy pick you up. Okay? That’s a girl. No - Josie! Don’t kick your feet! Let me get you into the bathtub and you can play in the water. How about that?”

          To Josie, anything was better that staying in that crib any longer. Although the mess didn’t seem to bother her. Fifteen months old wasn’t old enough to know what she’d done or so Mommy kept telling herself. But Heather was eight years old, definitely old enough to have come and get her sooner, and definitely old enough to know better than to put all of those extra toys in there. Heather followed her into the bathroom and watched her mother take Josie’s clothes off and throw them into the toilet to be rinsed out. She said, “After you get all the poop off her, I’ll give her a bath so you can go and clean her crib out.”

          “How nice of you to offer!” Mom said rather sarcastically. “How about if you go down and wash your hands and get yourself a bowl of cereal?”

          Mom had a job on her hands, one that moms don’t look forward to. Some moms actually think that it will never happen to them, until it does. But eventually she got Josie all cleaned up and brought her down and put her in her high chair and gave her a bowl of Cheerios.

          “Now Heather, can you keep an eye on her while I clean her room? Call me if she starts to make another mess, okay?” Heather lowered her head and nodded, trying as hard as she could not to snicker out loud.

          In a little while Mom came down with a smile on her face and announced, “Nothing like a job where you can see the results so quickly first thing in the morning to get you up and moving, right?” She walked over to Josie and picked her up out of the high chair and gave her a really big hug and put her down on the dining room floor to play. Then she walked over to Heather and said, “Do you know how precious you two are to me? I love you so much. No mess could be so bad that it would make me stop loving you!” She hugged her and smiled really big and went into the kitchen. Heather followed her and asked, “How did you know what I was thinking?” Her mom looked down at her and said, “Why? What were you thinking?” Heather shook her head and said, “Never mind, it was silly,” and started to walk off.

          Her mom chided, “Now wait a minute here Missy, what were you thinking? Now you’ve got me curious.”

          “Oh Mom, I just thought that maybe some of that mess was my fault, but some of it was Josie’s fault, but some of it was Mother Nature’s fault, too. Now, you can’t hate Mother Nature, and well, you don’t hate me either.”

          “Of course not, dear,” her mom said as she picked Heather up and sat down with her. “We just had to clean the mess up. I wasn’t going to cuddle Josie all covered with that mess now, was I? I saw you trying not to laugh. You thought it was all kind of funny. No, you thought it was all sorts of funny and I guess I can see your point of view. I didn’t think it was funny, but it’s all cleaned up now and I didn’t love you any less while everything was messy than I do now, sweetheart. Heather hugged her mom again, really tight and then went off to play with her sister. Heather felt a little special. She believed that her mom would love her no matter what. She figured it must be a special kind of love a mom has for her kids.

          A few days later, in her Sunday school class, Heather found it hard to sit still. So far, the class wasn’t very interesting and the little sticker that her teacher had given her saying ‘Jesus Loves Me’ wouldn’t stick to anything anymore, so she squirmed in her seat. “Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Is that all they ever tell you here in Sunday school? Okay, so Jesus loves me, but I’ll bet He doesn’t love me like my mom loves me,” she thought. She wanted to tell that to the little girl sitting next to her, but she didn’t want to get caught talking and then have to tell the teacher what she’d said out loud, in front of everybody. So, she just continued to squirm.

          “How much does Jesus love you? Jimmy, how much does Jesus love you?” the teacher asked. “I don’t know, Ms. Wally,” and then he added, just to be funny, “How much does He love you?”

          “Ah,” she said, “He loves me just as much as He loves you! And I’ll tell you how much He loves you. He loves you more than anyone else in the world!”

          “Not more than my momma does,” Heather blurted out.

          “Heather, Jesus loves you so much, let me tell you about what He’s done for all of us, and then you decide, okay? Gosh, none of us are perfect, are we? Can you think of something you did that wrong? You don’t have to tell what it was, but just think about it for a minute. I find myself getting into one mess after another. But Jesus always bails me out.”

          “What do you mean?” Stevie asked.

          “Well, everybody in the world sins. We were born into this world of sin, it’s not our fault really that we’re born into this world, it’s the world God made for us. But the sin nature inside of all of us fell to the temptation of sin a long time ago in the Garden of Eden. When we’re tempted to do something wrong, and we do it, we get ourselves into a mess. It causes trouble for us. Let’s say your mom just baked some chocolate chip cookies and you could smell them all the way in the living room. You walk to the kitchen to see them and your mom says, ‘It’s almost supper time, you can have a few cookies later, okay?’ Now those cookies smell so good that you don’t want to wait, so when mom leaves the room, you are tempted to take a cookie and eat it quickly so she won’t catch you. Now, if you take it, that’s stealing and disobeying your mom. So, you’ve done something wrong, right?” Everyone nodded their little heads.

          “Now, the trouble starts. Mom comes back into the kitchen and asks, ‘Did you eat a cookie?’ You don’t want to get into trouble, so you say ‘no.’ Her eyebrows come down and form a frown a mile wide across her forehead. You know you’re in trouble. Not only did you steal, and get caught, you lied and got caught. See what a mess you’ve gotten yourself into? Now if only you could clean up that mess so your mom wouldn’t be mad at you and punish you. Wouldn’t that be great?”

          By now of course, little Heather is thinking about her and Josie’s mess the other day and how her mom loved her so much, she had cleaned the mess up for her. She wanted to interrupt Ms. Wally and tell her.

          But Ms. Wally went on, “You see, we get ourselves into a mess every time we sin. And we can’t clean the mess up before we get caught because God sees us do it. That’s why we need Jesus. And that’s one of the places that Jesus can use for an opportunity to show us how much He loves us. He does the cleaning up for us!”

          “What do you mean?” asked Stevie, “I don’t understand.”

          The wheels in Heather’s head were turning quickly, she was getting a picture of how much Jesus loves her. She said, “Like, He gives you a bath and washes the mess you made away, so He can pick you up and love you! That’s how much He loves me. Just like my mom!”

          Stevie said, “I still don’t understand.”

          “Well, Stevie,” Ms. Wally started, “Do you know why Jesus had to die on the cross? Do you know that He did it for you?”

          “What do you mean Ms. Wally? Why for me? What good did that do?”

          “Stevie, not just for you, but for all of us. We all have sin all over us, like dirt.”

          “Like poop!” Heather thought.

          “But, unlike dirt, water can’t wash away the sin. It takes something special. Something stronger than Tide or Wisk or Dial soap, even stronger that that strong soap that maybe your father uses out in the garage to wash away greasy dirt.”

          “What’s stronger than soap to clean off a mess?” Heather asked. “Yeah?” agreed Stevie.

          “Oh, something special that only Jesus has. He uses it on us every time we ask Him to clean up the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. Sometimes pride tells us that it wasn’t our fault we sinned, but we weren’t in any hurry to stop playing in the sin.”

          Heather could see Josie playing in her messy crib in her mind.

          “What I mean is, that sometimes we don’t seem to be in any hurry to stop the sinning. Maybe if your mom was out of the room long enough, you took two or three cookies, even though you knew it was wrong when you took the first one.

          “So, what washes sin off of us?” Jimmy piped up.

          “Well this might sound gross, but blood does Jimmy. The blood of Jesus. He died and His blood came out of Him so that our sin won’t send us off to be punished. So, if we ask Jesus to forgive us and we’re sorry we disobeyed; so sorry that we decide that we don’t want to do it anymore, we accept the punishment that Jesus took in our place. That cleans us by the wonder-working power of His Blood, our sins are washed away. He makes us clean like the mess was never on us. He can completely forgive us. The punishment for unforgiven sin is hell, but Jesus already took that punishment for us.”

          Stevie still had questions in his eyes, so Ms. Wally said, “Maybe I’m not making myself clear.”

          “Ms. Wally, can I try?” asked Heather. “I think I know. Like when your mom gives you a bath. She can love you up in her arms again, because you’re not dirty anymore. I know moms can’t stand dirt, so maybe Jesus can’t stand sin. He has to wash us off first.”

          “But with blood?” both Jimmy and Stevie squealed. Ms. Wally didn’t know what to say now. She hesitated for a second or two and then said, “Jimmy, Stevie, do you know what soap is made of? My grandmother used to make her own soap herself. Now I don’t remember just exactly what she did to make the soap, but she used fat or lard, which is like the grease your mom uses in the kitchen. She mixed it with an alkaline substance, maybe lye, which comes from the ashes of plants. Now would you want to wash with that?”

          “Gross!” the whole class said.

          “But it gets you clean, doesn’t it? Now, the blood of Jesus doesn’t actually touch our skin, it isn’t our body that has gotten messy with sin, it’s our soul. You can’t touch your soul, can you? But Jesus can wash it off. Here’s a miracle for you. Jesus takes your heart, which is black with sin before you ask Him to forgive you and He washes it with His red Blood and makes it whiter than snow. How’s that?”

          “I think you lost me,” Stevie said.

          “It doesn’t matter how gross you think the blood is Stevie,” said Heather, “you need it to wash away the mess so Jesus can pick you up in His arms and love on you. Like your mom does. Come on, I understand and the next time I sin, I’m asking Jesus to wash me off with His blood, because I like to be loved on. Everybody does. So, everybody needs to be washed off.”

          “Hey,” spoke up Todd, “my dad said that if a skunk gets you, you have to take a bath in tomato juice. Skunks sure do stink, but I think that God thinks sin smells worse, that’s why tomato juice doesn’t work on it.”

          Everyone started talking at once when Mr. Shatson peeked into the room and said that time was up. All the kids ran for the door. Heather walked slowly past Ms. Wally and said, “I understand, I’m bein’ washed. Today, I think.” Ms. Wally smiled and sat down in her chair.

          After church that morning, Heather asked her mom and dad, “Did you get washed in the blood?” They both laughed and her mother turned to her and said, “Why yes dear, we have been washed in the blood. Did you hear us singing that song in church this morning?”

          “No, what song?” she asked.

          “The song about being washed in the blood,” her mom insisted.

          “No, well, gosh, I guess people do sing in the bathtub, why not sing in a blood bath?” Her dad glanced into the back seat at her and asked, “Have you been washed in the blood?”

          “No, not yet. I gotta wait till I sin. Then I will be. Jesus does it you know. He’s the one who gives you the blood bath. But, you know. Huh? Did you feel it? The blood, I mean?”

          “Well, I felt all warm all over when I knew my sins were forgiven, but there was no blood on my body. Just on my soul,” said her mom.

          “Don’t you wish you could see your soul? Then you’d know when it was dirty and then maybe you could see the blood wash away the sins,” Heather said, giggling.

          “Well,” her dad said, “if we could see our souls, I guess we wouldn’t be walking around so self-righteous. But the Bible is like a neat pair of glasses. When we read it, it points out our sins, shows them to us. We can’t see them with our eyes, but we have to admit that they’re there. If we don’t, we’d never ask for that ‘blood bath’ and so we’d stay dirty.”

          “I bet Jesus would still love us anyways, but He couldn’t pick us up in His arms and hug on us, cause the sin stinks too bad,” Heather said thoughtfully.

          Her mom laughed and said, “Are you thinking about the mess that Josie made the other day?”

          Heather laughed, too, and said, “That must have happened for a reason, so I could understand about getting my messy soul cleaned up, huh?”

          “I guess the Lord can use anything,” her mom said.

          “Since I don’t read the Bible, how do I know my soul is dirty?” Heather asked.

          “Well, in church the preacher tells us what the Bible says, and our teachers tell us what it’s about, but really honey, you need to start reading it for yourself. Someday, somebody might try to convince you of something different and you need to know for yourself what the Bible says. You’re not too young to start reading it. Everyone needs to know what it says for themselves. God can talk directly to you through the Bible. It’s important to read it. That’s why Mommy and I both have our own, and why we bought you the one you have with all the pictures in it. Not just so you can look at the pictures. You know how to read and what you have trouble with, you just come and ask us about it. Okay?” her dad answered.

          By then they were home and her dad said, “Are you ready for that bath?”

          “Dad,” she said, “baths are kind of a private thing, don’t you think? But mom can come.” She and her mother went to her room and talked a little more and Mom answered a few more of her questions and read a few scriptures to her. Then Heather asked Jesus to wash her clean, and He did. Now she’s clean and when she gets a little smudge on her soul, she knows where the bathtub is.

Yes, He's Still There

 As intimacy with our Creator grows, it becomes easier to abandon doubt.

How does intimacy grow between two individuals?

We stop holding back from each other, we dare to reveal our whole selves to each other and in doing so, love grows, trust grows and intimacy grows.

Once we’ve been betrayed and hurt a process of withholding begins within us, for the sake of self-protection.

In our relationship with God, disobedience is betrayal. Yet, when creation betrayed our Creator, He already had His arms out waiting for us.

“But God commends His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8 (NKJV)

(discovermagazine.com)

God didn’t wait for us to make the first move. He didn’t wait for us to recognize our wrong doing or to come to Him to ask forgiveness. No, He provided a plan for our redemption and the reconciling of our relationship with Him before we even rebelled.

God’s love for us is unconditional. Nothing can separate us from His love!

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

(cafaweb.com)

Right in the middle of our ugliest sin – God loves us!

Most of us have known personal betrayal and the agony of the pain it causes. Who among us hasn’t felt that anguish?

We know trust is seldom easily restored, and as the betrayals amass, trust can completely fade away.

And even before we consider trusting our offender again, we’re confronted with the dilemma of forgiveness.

I believe the best way to enter any relationship that’s expected to last, especially marriage, is with the intentional plan to forgive. Offenses will come.

(allthingsclipart.com)

“Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!” - Luke 17:1 (NKJV)

Many of us attempt to enter into relationships with each other and with God, and expect to never be offended.

While walking out the gospels, Jesus even said things that offended His followers, many stopped following Him when He told them they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Without understanding, that does sound sick and disgusting.

When God confronts our sin, our pride, our disobedience or even our lack of participation in the relationship, sometimes we tend to get a bit bent out of shape. Don’t we? Often we’ll flat out deny our part in the matter.

(memegenerator.net)

Relationships between people require attention. If you routinely ignore your spouse, they’ll become offended, thinking they’re not important to you. How can we expect to ignore the most important relationship of our lives?

Our wounds can make us do crazy things.

But, unlike people, God is always anticipating our return, always looking to the reconciling of our relationship with Him. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)

God, being God, reaches out to us continually.

Yet, we, in our fear or pride, attempt to hide things from Him, perhaps because we get away with hiding them from ourselves and others for a season.

We all need validation; to share our story in our own way. (I realize not everyone feels the need to talk to anyone, anywhere, like I do.) Yet, we think we can hold back parts of our story from the One Who’s seen it all.

As much as we crave intimacy, we’re the ones who stand in our own way.

God desires intimacy with us so much so, that He chose, out of love for us, to cover the cost of our offenses. He lovingly provides endless intimacy for the taking.

God loved us first, so that we could love Him. “We love Him because He first loved us.” - 1 John 4:19 (NKJV)

It’s our move.

It’s your move.

Decide now; what is your next step?

“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” – Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)

Good News

(photo mine)

So, what’s the point of having an Old Testament if the whole story of Christianity is wrapped up in the New?

While listening to one of our special guests, Fred Markert, at church Sunday morning, I took particular interest when he passionately brought up “healing the Gospel”. Whatever could he mean? As I intently took in his words my heart resounded with every point he was making. He expounded on Ephesians 3:8 – pointing out that “God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when He said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” (NLT)

If God proclaimed the Good News centuries before Jesus was crucified for our sin, why do we start with the book of John?

(Fred Markert teaching at CFAN)

I love Fred Markert. His joy is unbridled. I want to seek him out and become close, personal friends with him. Mind you, not in a stalker kind of way. I’d love to absorb the contents of his heart and his brain! He has more knowledge and wisdom than most of the people I know all rolled into one. Google him, he's an amazing man. Here's just one link: Fred Markert YWAM )

Here in America, our Gospel generally begins with the New Testament; with the short, pointed message that we are sinners in need of a Savior. I suppose as “westerners” we’re inclined to make it more about us than the God that created us and loves us. But, that’s not where the Good News begins! As Mr. Markert so perfectly reveals, it begins with God and all that He is, not with us or our sinfulness.

How can we assure joy to those we’d seek to make known the message of salvation when we start with our own condemnation? Romans 8:1, another one of my favorites, heralds the news that in Christ, there is no condemnation. Yet many of us who declare we are in Christ often reach out to those we perceive as “lost” with empty hearts; no joy in our soul and no love in our message. Ouch!

(thepolicylass.org)

Not pointing fingers at others, not even the ones who may have sternly presented the Good News to us, but looking inside at our own hearts; what is our mindset? Why do we share the message of salvation? Do we “preach Jesus” out of love for our fellow man? Or because “that’s what we’re supposed to do”? Do we even understand the Gospel we believe we’re sharing?

Do we look past the loving, creative God Who literally gave us life because we want to “spare someone the agonies of hell”?

True. I hate the very thought of anyone finding themselves facing Satan and the fires of hell.

But, let’s marvel at the diamond in front of us, lest we freak out over the idea of washing our hands before we reach out and touch it! Let’s stand in awe of the One Who gives life before we even look at ourselves. Let’s take notice of God’s love.

(progressivechurchmedia.com)

God’s salvation comes gift-wrapped in His love. He IS love! Before God even sees our sin, He loves us. Before He sees our accomplishments, He loves us!

Let’s aim higher; think bigger; open our eyes wider and expose our hearts more deeply. Let’s lay fear aside for the moment and seek to take in the awesomeness of our Creator and His creation. Then perhaps we’ll forget what we were afraid of in the first place.

“In the beginning, God……” Genesis 1:1

(crosscards.com)

Open the Ears of Your Heart

(picture from inherchucks.com)

 Have you ever complained that you can’t hear the voice of God?

In a nutshell, God speaks to us from the inside. If you don’t hear from Him, is it because you never invited Him in? If you’re one of God’s own, you’ve heard His voice.

Jesus tells the Pharisees, and each one of us, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:3-4 NIV)

The other day someone shared a quote with me about salvation through Christ. I don’t recall where the line originated, but it stuck with me. The idea that we’re all sinners, always falling short of the high standard of God on our own, ruffles some feathers. “I’m a pretty good guy, why would a loving God send me to a place of torment? I’ve never killed anyone, I don’t steal, I’ve never committed adultery. I’d say I’m an alright kinda guy….” This is one person comparing himself to the unrighteous people he perceives around him. God does not compare us to each other. We stand before His Son, Jesus, who was completely without sin, though tempted in every way we are.

With God’s grace freely available to all of us, we’re invited to put on His righteousness in exchange for our own filthy, sinfulness. The wages of sin have already been paid by our Redeemer. Once we recognize this truth, that’s one sure way of knowing we’ve heard His voice.

Oh, that quote? - “It’s not about being good or bad, but about being dead or alive!”

We can’t impart this truth to one another without the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them…..” (John 6:44 NIV) In Acts 1:4-5 Jesus told His disciples, “…Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” He goes on in verse 8 to say, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses ….to the ends of the earth.” So, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, from the Father, poured out on believers after Jesus ascended into the heavens, we can share the good news of salvation through grace. Our words and actions can present the gospel, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit do we perceive Truth.

Remember when Jesus asked of Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter declared that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. And how did Jesus respond? Yes, He no doubt grinned from ear to ear when He said to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17 NIV)

(picture from rofl-lol.com)

Flesh and blood cannot prove or reveal God’s Truth in any meaningful way without the Holy Spirit. God’s Truth is not a doctrine or a line from the “Good Book” – God’s Truth is a person, the person of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.

To be drawn to God is to hear His voice. Listen not with your ears, but with your heart. The ears of our heart hear music. “….Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” – Hebrews 4:7 (NIV)

What have you heard God speak to your heart?

(photo from wallpapersak.com)