All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance---an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 1 Peter 1:3-5 NLT
Michael C. and I have been counting the days and it is finally here...vacation! We have a time share condo for the 26th week of the year at Daytona Beach where we enjoy friends, fun, sun, and food (lots of food). We are packed and ready to go. We have paid our fees and trust that this week has been saved just for us at Marine Terrace.
We're looking forward with even more anticipation to a vacation that some rarely think about. Our dues have been paid and we trust that a place has been reserved and saved just for us. It's a place that hurricanes can't touch and rust and decay can't destroy. This time share has a beginning date but lasts much longer than one week. Well...it lasts forever!
It not only lasts forever but it's beautiful beyond imagination. The King of that land bought the place for us and all we had to do was believe it. Now we just wait eagerly for that last day when we get to go to that primo destination spot...heaven.
Yes, heaven. The place where King Jesus, who bought our spot for us with His blood, reigns and lives. Heaven...a place where we will live and love forever. O, and food, there will be lots of food, actually there will be a feast of food.
The day of our expectation has arrived---Daytona Beach here we come! And...perhaps, the day of our Great Expectation, the hope of heaven, will be today. For that day is coming soon. Come, Lord Jesus, come!
To God be the Glory! Amen.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
I Am With You Always
Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. Mark 1:45
Ultimately, we are alone. We came into this world alone and will leave this world alone. No human being can come close enough to fill that void within that cries out for companionship. We try to fill the void in many ways. We buy more stuff. We become addicted to substances that are supposed to make us feel better. We schedule every moment of our day hoping to drown out our heart's lonely cry with busy-ness. But in the end we're still alone.
Then...there's Jesus---Jesus Christ, Son of God creator of heaven and earth. Jesus lived and died just as we do with one exception---Jesus is God. Jesus is also a Man and as a man He knows what it like to experience loneliness. Surrounded by crowds of people most of the time, Jesus' need for companionship could not be filled by another human being. How lonely He must have been. There was no other person who could understand someone who was both human and divine.
Isn't that the cry of our heart? We need someone to understand. We have a void that can only be filled by God himself but the gulf between God and people is too great. Then...there's Jesus. In some mysterious way He took our wrongs and shortcomings, our sin, upon Himself and died on a cross. He was human and He died. But (thank God for the "but"), He didn't stay in His grave. He broke the chains of death and despair. He lives! God can finally have the relationship with people that only One who knows what it's like to be human can have.
And that's not all. Hallelujah, people---you and me---can now have a relationship with God through the only Man who has a perfect relationship with the Father. This Man that is God---is Jesus. Jesus is the One, the only one, that can fill the void inside us. We can experience the deep abiding love of God when we trust in Him, Jesus the Christ. In knowing Him, ultimately, we are never alone.
To God Be the Glory! Amen.
Ultimately, we are alone. We came into this world alone and will leave this world alone. No human being can come close enough to fill that void within that cries out for companionship. We try to fill the void in many ways. We buy more stuff. We become addicted to substances that are supposed to make us feel better. We schedule every moment of our day hoping to drown out our heart's lonely cry with busy-ness. But in the end we're still alone.
Then...there's Jesus---Jesus Christ, Son of God creator of heaven and earth. Jesus lived and died just as we do with one exception---Jesus is God. Jesus is also a Man and as a man He knows what it like to experience loneliness. Surrounded by crowds of people most of the time, Jesus' need for companionship could not be filled by another human being. How lonely He must have been. There was no other person who could understand someone who was both human and divine.
Isn't that the cry of our heart? We need someone to understand. We have a void that can only be filled by God himself but the gulf between God and people is too great. Then...there's Jesus. In some mysterious way He took our wrongs and shortcomings, our sin, upon Himself and died on a cross. He was human and He died. But (thank God for the "but"), He didn't stay in His grave. He broke the chains of death and despair. He lives! God can finally have the relationship with people that only One who knows what it's like to be human can have.
And that's not all. Hallelujah, people---you and me---can now have a relationship with God through the only Man who has a perfect relationship with the Father. This Man that is God---is Jesus. Jesus is the One, the only one, that can fill the void inside us. We can experience the deep abiding love of God when we trust in Him, Jesus the Christ. In knowing Him, ultimately, we are never alone.
To God Be the Glory! Amen.
Friday, June 11, 2010
The Dwelling Place
For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: "I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people." 2 Corinthians 6:16 NLT
God saw fit not only to give me everlasting life through Jesus but to actually live His life in my heart. How amazingly incredible that the Dwelling Place of the King of the universe is my heart. Does He dwell in your heart?
Father, today I ask You to quiet my mind so I can hear you and feel you move in my heart. I pray the life I live will reflect Your loving kindness and faithfulness in the way I treat others. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
To God be the Glory!
God saw fit not only to give me everlasting life through Jesus but to actually live His life in my heart. How amazingly incredible that the Dwelling Place of the King of the universe is my heart. Does He dwell in your heart?
Father, today I ask You to quiet my mind so I can hear you and feel you move in my heart. I pray the life I live will reflect Your loving kindness and faithfulness in the way I treat others. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
To God be the Glory!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Way
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6
Jesus Christ is the personification of Love and the only way to heaven. If I believe him, then I believe to pursue other spiritual paths is to move away from Love not toward love. Many Christians believe that a loving God provides many different paths to Love. Jesus himself says this is not true.
The love of Christ is so great that He gave Himself up to death out of love for you and me. He then arose to Life so that we could experience His great Love forever in His presence.
Therefore, the question is not how a loving God could send someone to hell. The question is how do we respond to the Gift our loving God provided through Jesus. He prepared a way for us to go to heaven.
In the end nothing matters in this life except our response to the Gift. We can accept the Gift of God's Son Jesus or reject Him. What have you done with the Gift?
To God be the Glory! Amen.
Jesus Christ is the personification of Love and the only way to heaven. If I believe him, then I believe to pursue other spiritual paths is to move away from Love not toward love. Many Christians believe that a loving God provides many different paths to Love. Jesus himself says this is not true.
The love of Christ is so great that He gave Himself up to death out of love for you and me. He then arose to Life so that we could experience His great Love forever in His presence.
Therefore, the question is not how a loving God could send someone to hell. The question is how do we respond to the Gift our loving God provided through Jesus. He prepared a way for us to go to heaven.
In the end nothing matters in this life except our response to the Gift. We can accept the Gift of God's Son Jesus or reject Him. What have you done with the Gift?
To God be the Glory! Amen.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Contentment
The fig trees are budding, and the grapevines are in blossom. How delicious they smell! Yes, spring is here! Arise, my beloved, my fair one, and come away.'" Song of Songs 2:13 NLT
Our deck is on the south side of our house where our garden is. That garden receives more affection from my husband, Michael C., than I do. (Just kidding!). He lovingly tends each tiny shoot that rears its head toward the rising sun.
Sitting on the deck yesterday with the warm breeze gently holding me captive, I looked out over the garden at the petunias growing alongside the upside down tomatoes. The confederate jasmine mingled with the scent of honeysuckle and Georgia hedge bush pleasing my senses tremendously.
For a moment, actually quite a few moments, I felt the very real presence of God through the joy of His creation. Contentment---the loving sensual experience from an adoring Father---if only for a moment.
In that moment I was aware of the Holy Spirit of God, Gardner of my Soul, tending His garden within me. For God is the Gardner and He is also the Garden. His Holy Spirit lives within my heart nurturing, pruning,and growing me into His image.
I pray my life will be as fragrant and smell even a tiny bit as sweet as the garden in my backyard.
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To God be the Glory! Amen.
Our deck is on the south side of our house where our garden is. That garden receives more affection from my husband, Michael C., than I do. (Just kidding!). He lovingly tends each tiny shoot that rears its head toward the rising sun.
Sitting on the deck yesterday with the warm breeze gently holding me captive, I looked out over the garden at the petunias growing alongside the upside down tomatoes. The confederate jasmine mingled with the scent of honeysuckle and Georgia hedge bush pleasing my senses tremendously.
For a moment, actually quite a few moments, I felt the very real presence of God through the joy of His creation. Contentment---the loving sensual experience from an adoring Father---if only for a moment.
In that moment I was aware of the Holy Spirit of God, Gardner of my Soul, tending His garden within me. For God is the Gardner and He is also the Garden. His Holy Spirit lives within my heart nurturing, pruning,and growing me into His image.
I pray my life will be as fragrant and smell even a tiny bit as sweet as the garden in my backyard.
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To God be the Glory! Amen.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Come Dine with Me
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will com in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20 NKJV
I truly believe that Jesus is coming soon to get those of us who believe in Him and love Him. We will dine with Him, feasting on the bread of life which is the Word of God, Jesus Christ. As a therapist, I tend to analyze most everything I think about to the nth degree. However, no amount of analytical thinking will help me wrap my mind around Jesus being the Word,the bread of Life.
No, my mind just simply cannot fathom this truth. My mind can't, but my heart can. I know in my soul and believe with my heart that Jesus is who He says He is. He is the great I AM the ever present Savior of my soul and Bread of my life. He is the energy Source of my life and the entire universe. He is before all things and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:17 NKJV).
My heart cries, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come." To God be the Glory! Amen.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
How do we spend our energy?
In John 6:27 Jesus tells us to spend our "energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you." How much thought do we, do I, give to the way I spend my energy?
Having myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disorder that provides a limited amount of energy to my muscles, causes me to slow down and think about how I use my energy. Recovering from knee surgery adds to the low energy component. So, how can I spend my energy seeking the eternal life that only Jesus can give me?
For one thing, we all know we garner our energy from the food we eat. In this same chapter of John Jesus says, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). In order to seek Him I must first feed on Him for He is the bread of life. (You can see why folks in Jesus' day thought His teachings were cannabilistic).
To eat "the bread of life" is to study and learn the word of God, the Bible. Not to just know it but to hide this word in our hearts. Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
As we grow closer to Christ the Holy Spirit will bring to our minds the Words we have hidden in our hearts. In this way God himself provides the energy we need to seek the eternal life only Jesus can give. God is the power source and God is the energy. To God be the Glory! Amen.
Having myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disorder that provides a limited amount of energy to my muscles, causes me to slow down and think about how I use my energy. Recovering from knee surgery adds to the low energy component. So, how can I spend my energy seeking the eternal life that only Jesus can give me?
For one thing, we all know we garner our energy from the food we eat. In this same chapter of John Jesus says, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). In order to seek Him I must first feed on Him for He is the bread of life. (You can see why folks in Jesus' day thought His teachings were cannabilistic).
To eat "the bread of life" is to study and learn the word of God, the Bible. Not to just know it but to hide this word in our hearts. Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
As we grow closer to Christ the Holy Spirit will bring to our minds the Words we have hidden in our hearts. In this way God himself provides the energy we need to seek the eternal life only Jesus can give. God is the power source and God is the energy. To God be the Glory! Amen.
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