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| Today marks one year since the last time I hugged my Daddy. Since I looked him in the eyes. I'm having a surprisingly hard time with this as I'm writing this with tears in my eyes. I loved him so much. I miss him terribly. My daddy was the one man in my life that I knew I could call and just pour out my heart to. And he would just listen. He never ever seemed as if I was an interruption. I love to recall how hard he worked for us. It makes me think of when he and my mama dropped me off at college. Daddy gave me a very tight hug and said how proud he was of me. I think that was one of my favorite things about seeing him. Every time....every time....every time he would stand and give me a hug when I came home. It was the same most times. We'd extend our hands to each other and wrap up our other arm around our backs. I didn't know that at the airport one year ago it'd be my last time. I wouldn't have let go. But that's what my Heavenly Father wants me to do. Let go. What's good is that I can actually start thinking memories about Daddy. Used to be I couldn't even do that. Somehow, my mind just wouldn't let me. I'd try to think about him and remember things, but my mind would just block it out. I hated that, but I knew it wouldn't always be that way. It's still a work in progress, though. What a great man he was. Just friendly and loving. Faithful and true to his family. Though Jesus is the Truth and picture of perfection, I will often check myself to see if I am honoring my Daddy and honoring the principles and values he taught me. Be honest, work hard, love your wife, be courteous, stand when someone walks into a room. These are just a few of the wonderful things that my Daddy taught me. Thank you Lord. Thank you for my Daddy. I will always remember the gift of his love for me. | | |
| 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Sounds like a good idea. We have so many issues in life that require action. Do we actually believe that we serve a loving God who wants us to do this? Perhaps we think that God doesn't really want us to bother Him with small stuff. I read that apparently a caterpillar has about 50 muscles in its head. Talk about small stuff. God says that He knows the number of hairs on our heads. Small stuff. He cares about the small stuff. Think of it this way. Does the small stuff add up in your life when every single thing turns out difficult. We get pretty frustrated with that. It's the person that pulls out in front of us and causes us to miss the green light. It's the person at the check out counter that insists on a certain product costing one price and the checker says another. It's the pain felt when someone is mean to you for no reason. These small things add up and cause us to act in ways that dishonor God. We must bring the small things to God, so that when the bigger things come we can bring those to God also. If we ignore Him in smaller matters that cause us to lose focus on Him and make us angry, what will happen when a bigger problem occurs? This is why we are to cast all of our anxiety on Him. He cares about us, and He wants us to be successful in everything. Everything. We must consider others before ourselves. Why? Because if God cares about us, then that means we ought to care about others the same way. If we do this, much of our anxiety will wash away. Just like the sins He washed away by caring for us on that cross. In Jesus name, amen | | |
| Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.
How cool is this verse? The context of the verse is dealing with Jesus being our high priest and the fact that He fully understands our temptations and our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way, just as we are. Ok...that's good. The one who will be judging my deeds sympathizes with me and understands exactly how I feel when I am suffering and being tempted. Listen to how Jesus' beloved apostle John speaks of our Savior's actions on our behalf, "My brothers, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense-Jesus Christ, the righteous One." - 1 John 2:1
Jesus actively speaks on our behalf, why? Because He knows. He knows exactly how we feel when we are tempted to do any kind of sin. His desire is that we don't do it. But he understands and has covered our sins with His own blood. If we continue to sin without confession, then the Truth is not in us. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the Truth is not in us..." - 1 John 1:8 We recognize that we are sinners in need of a Savior. We need to be able to approach someone who understands how we feel and who has the power to do something about it. I have a thought. Let us approach the "throne of grace." Let's go to the One who knows how we are tempted because He was also tempted. But why should we approach God's throne? Some believe that approaching God's throne sounds like this, "God, please help me get that job. It makes more money, and I will be able to buy that boat and vacation I've wanted since I saw my friend with them." Is it wrong to ask God for things? No, but I don't think those things are God's main concern. His heart is that we would not sin. Let us approach God with confidence, because we know He'll understand what it is we need.
What is the "so that" part of the verse? Why should we even be approaching God's throne? Because He's a vending machine that will give us what we want when we put in our quarters? No! We go to Him to receive mercy. I love this dictionary deal-a-mabobber on my computer. It is helping me to better understand words when I am studying Scripture. Let's look at the word "mercy."
mercy |ˈmərsē|
noun ( pl. -cies)
compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm : the boy was screaming and begging for mercy | the mercies of God.
• an event to be grateful for, esp. because its occurrence prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering : his death was in a way a mercy.
• [as adj. ] (esp. of a journey or mission) performed out of a desire to relieve suffering; motivated by compassion : mercy missions to refugees caught up in the fighting.
We come to God seeking relief. We look to Him to deliver us from that which we cannot save ourselves. We can entrust our whole selves to the One who is merciful and desires that we do not suffer from sin.
We also go to God for grace. God's disposition is to pour out kindness and favor on those who seek Him. Let us go to Him seeking His mercy and grace to help in our time of need. His grace, or His favor, is all what we need to make it through. We must be seeking Him, though. Not looking for a helping hand in our journey to worldly bliss, but as a fallen sinner who desires to please the One who suffered the wrath of God on our behalf. He wants us to be pure. We can confidently approach Him, because He knows. In Jesus name, amen | | |
| Mark 12:29 NIV
The most important one (commandment), answered Jesus, is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.
(Jesus answers the question of which commandment is the greatest by quoting from Deuteronomy 6)
There it is folks. God's heart. That's what He wants from us. Acknowledge God as the one and only true God and love Him with all you have. Then consider others before yourself. It's very unAmerican to take hold of this Scripture and live it wholeheartedly. The reason why I say that is that it is politically incorrect to believe that the God of Israel is the only real God. Also, actually think about what it means to love someone with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. When you are experiencing that kind of love for a person, all you can think about is being with him/her. You want to do nothing else but spend time with him/her, and you will make every effort to please that person. You might even do things that would seem illogical, but you don't care. You love that person and you want to make him/her happy. What if you actually felt that way about God? Would it look kind of different from most other folks? I bet that some people would think you're weird or silly for not only believing such a thing, but for actually investing the short amount of time you have on Earth in someone you can't even physically see with your eyes. But that's exactly what He wants above anything else. He wants us to love Him before all other things.
How can this be possible? How can you love God the same way you love another person? I believe that first you must give him your heart. This requires acknowledging that you are in need of a Savior because you are unable to do good things perfectly on your own for your whole life. You give Him your heart by thinking about what makes Him happy.
Next, go ahead and give Him your soul. This is done by acknowledging that He is God, and He created you, and He controls your eternal destiny. You believe that Jesus came, the begotten Son of God who died for your sins, thus washing away the filth that separates you from being in the presence of perfection, i.e. the Holy God of the universe.
While you're at it, give Him your mind. Jesus says that we should come to Him like little children. The Bible says that God chose the foolish, lowly, weak people of this Earth to become wise in the eyes of God and shame the wise and prideful. Even though we have questions which are so worth investigating, questions that keep people from truly believing, we must give the Lord our minds and come to Him as children saying, "God, your ways are beyond my understanding, and sometimes I can't fully grasp things about you. But I will trust you, my loving Father."
Finally, give Him your strength. When you feel like you cannot go on doing things for Him, you acknowledge that it is not you who is being strong, but in your weakness, God's strength is working through you. I quit drinking 2 years ago. This was not something I did out of my own strength. I depended on my own strength to keep me from getting drunk. But I was in Australia, and in my flesh I failed to make the choice to only have one drink, and I ended up getting pretty drunk. The next morning, in my brokenness, I offered up this weakness of mine to God, and I found the strength given by God to completely give up drinking so that I could effectively serve Him. Drinking had gotten in the way of my witness, and I asked for God's strength to get me out of there. Thanks be to Him, I haven't had a sip since.
Loving our neighbor as ourselves....
If you're hungry, do you feed yourself? If you need some clothes, do you clothe yourself? If you are sick and in pain, do you seek medical help for yourself? Yes to all of them. We love ourselves, for sure. What would it look like if we actually loved others the same way as we love ourselves? This is God's point. Is your life all about seeking your own pleasures and desires before you consider others needs? God commands us to consider others the same way that we consider our own needs. He wants us to outwardly show love by seeking ways to help others the same way that we help ourselves. Not like communist stuff, where everyone is equal. But where people, out of genuine love for others, seek out how they might love another person with the things God has given them. Beautiful.
This is how we live out our faith in God. Let our good works speak for our faith. Let our love for God and for others be seen by the things that we eagerly do, and not by what we don't do. It's with a humble heart that I write this, for I am keen on having this happen in my own life as well as for others. In Jesus name, amen | | |
| Hello, neighbors. Today's Scripture comes:
Hebrews 9:14 NIV
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.
Awesome. This Scripture is amazing because it gives us a picture of the Trinity. Christ, Spirit, God (the Father). It also describes our purpose in life and how God worked out the way for us to know and live this holy purpose. Ladies and gents, it's all about the blood. Jesus' blood cleanses us. I don't know Greek, but I have a feeling that "conscience" isn't the same word describing the little voice in our head that tells us whether or not it's right to eat that extra slice of cheesecake. It's deeper than that. It's our very selves. Whatever it is that Jesus died upon that cross for, that's what that word is about. Our eternal souls were at stake and Jesus, being absolutely without blemish, took our place on the cross and shed His blood to cleanse us from whatever it is that God sees about us. Our very selves.
Here's what I loooove about these "so that" Scriptures. Why did Jesus do what He did? I mean, obviously He died and rose from the dead so that we could be alive and with Him forever in Heaven. But what does God expect, based on this Scripture verse, from all, all, all of us? He cleansed us SO THAT we can serve Him in this life. Let us stop thinking about ourselves first, and instead consider how we can serve the living God! If this is not your first concern in life, then stop...consider what Jesus did and why He did it....and then ask Him to show you from the Word of God how you can best serve Him. (By the way, I'm preaching to myself here, first.) I have been studying in Scripture what God's view of love is. Tomorrow's Scripture will deal with what serving God means and what it looks like. In Jesus name, amen | | |
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