God's Love

 It always amazes me on how so many religions and so many places have their own set rules, and if you do not follow them then you are not in. I am very glad that I belong to a group that the one in charge does not boot you for not following the rules. God has no stipulations. He has a wonderful book of rules. ( the bible) But he would  never kick us out for not following them. He forgives us when we fall. He loves us, and he accepts us regardless of our faults and our short comings. He just simply points the wrongs out so we can work on them to become a better person.

    I have a few friends and they are living a life completely unacceptable to God's word. At one point the one friend turned to me and said I don't understand, Is your church not against this way of life. We have met many Christians but none like you.  The churches we have gone to of many religion. They put us out of the church and turn us away. They will shut the doors on us, but you still love us. You never turn us away.  I turned to her and I said Yes my church is against this. I also do not agree with this life style. My bible states that what you are doing is wrong in God's eyes. However it is not my job to judge you. It is my job to show you God's love and for God to convict you, and to use me in anyway he can to show you why it is wrong. It is not my job to kick you out of the loop. It is not my job to condemn you.  In the end we both will stand before the King. In the end I will be judged the same as you. I will stand with the murders I will stand with all sinners. All sins great and small.

Romans 14:10 

" But why do you judge your brother?  Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. 

    What are we showing unbelievers by turning them away? When Jesus was here on earth he hung out with the prostitutes the tax collectors. He hung out with the diseased  and the unloving. So why is it that we can't see people for who they are. They are lost and they need to be shown the love of God. The one that has no stipulations, the one that loves us unconditionally. 

Mathew 7:1

“Do not judge or you will be judged.” 

    We all have struggles, we all have crosses to bare. I remember a few years ago. I was really struggling. I was sitting on the fence. So much had happened in my life. I was so mad at God and at everyone around me. I had been hurt by the church people. I had been hurt by family and everyone around me. I had just lost my Dad to cancer, and a lot of other things had come against me in life. I was just bitter. I had been talking to my one friend. And I had stated that I did not know where to turn. I was not sure what side of the fence I wanted to be on. If these were truly God's people I did not want no part of it. If God loved me why would he allow this all to happen. He turned to me and said Rose, I love you. I am here no matter what. I know that you will deal with this and that you will be ok. I do not judge you in anyway with your lifestyle. God loves you and he is the one that will judge you and not me. I got out of his car went into my house. And all night his words kept coming back to me. I love you and I do not judge you. I don't even know if he knows today how much of an impact those words would be to me today. Many others pointed fingers and their idol chitter chatter behind my back. But not this true friend who showed me the love of God. The love that says what you are doing is wrong but I still love you. Without that love at that time, I am sure I would have thrown in the towel and walked away. This is the love I am talking about. The true love of God.

    I think the greatest gift that God ever gave me was my kids. Until I became a parent myself. I never really understood the love of God. God's love for us is a lot like the love of a parent. Sometimes his love is even greater then a parent. He loves us unconditionally. My kids can do something and it upsets me but I will always love them regardless. They are my kids. And we too are God's kids and he will always love us unconditionally. In closing I just want to say, the next time you come across someone that you know is not living right or is just so unloving. Remember the love of Jesus. I am not saying agree with the sin but love the unloving. You may be the only bible that person may read today.

Daddy Catch

When my daughter was younger she use to stand on the top step and say “Daddy catch me”. She would leap into the air for my husband to catch her. She had the faith that Daddy would catch her. She had the faith that her father would not allow her to get hurt and that he would be there no matter what. Children have that wonderful faith. A faith that simple, direct and honest. This same faith is praised by God. He tells us that childlike faith will help us to find the kingdom of heaven.

Mathew 16:3

“Verly I say unto you. Except you be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

There are many different meanings of faith in the dictionary. One is to have confidence or trust in a person. Faith in another's ability. Another is belief that is not based on proof. When we put our faith in God, It is not scientific proof. It is not a random thing. It is an actual hope and belief that God's promises to us are true.

Hebrews 11:1

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

When I think of faith I remember a little song as a child that I use to sing.. It simply said walking by faith, and not by sight. I won't allow this circumstance to turn me left or right, trusting in his promises. I know that I am right I am gonna walk by faith and not by sight.

That is the type of faith we should have. No matter what storms come our way. We still trust God and his word to get us through it.

  

Mathew 17:20 says that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.

So no matter what things come our way with the faith we can move those mountains out of our lives. We just have to have faith and ask.

That is the faith God wants us to have. He wants us to have that childlike faith, to be able to stand on the biggest problem and say Daddy catch. Just like my daughter did when she was little. I can see me standing on the top stair and saying Daddy catch. And God standing at the bottom saying: I will catch you.

There Is Strength In Our Struggles

Have you ever watched someone go through a battle? Only to question… Why Lord?  

Maybe it was your own struggle and you just did not understand why.

When you look into the bible you see many great men and women of God that had to struggle. Job was a mighty man of God and yet he still had his struggles.

Though those struggles and trials he became stronger.

James 1:2,3 say:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

It is those struggles and trails that make us stronger in our faith. It helps us to fly on our own.  

Did you know that when a butterfly starts to come out of its cocoon, It is the struggle that allows it to be strong and fly on its own?

A butterfly is supposed to struggle. In fact, the struggle to get out of the cocoon is what pushes the fluids out of the body and into its wings. Without that struggle that butterfly would never be able to fly. If you where to cut that butterfly free from its cocoon so it did not have to struggle, you would actually hurt the growth of that butterfly.

That struggle that you or your loved one face is supposed to happen. We will not grow in our faith or in life without it. We learn and become stronger when we struggle. The bigger the struggle the stronger we become.

We need to allow ourselves and others to struggle in order for us to grow.

So remember when you come across a struggle this is to help you not hurt you and say Thank you Jesus. Remember he is with you all the way. He will not cut you out of that cocoon but he will strengthen you to allow you to break free. And when you see someone struggle. Don't cut them free but pray for them and watch them turn into the most beautiful butterfly they are meant to be. We all need to struggle so we can fly.

Worship Him

 

 Worship seems to have such a big controversy on everyone. Some raise their hands towards heaven. Some sit in complete solitude. Some do it in private and quiet. God wants us to be totally excited about him. If the Queen and King were to come and visit you today how would you react??

    I remember in 1997 the Queen came to the town that I lived in. People lined the streets for hours, just so they could get to see her. They all wanted to see the Queen first hand. People would applaud as her car drove by them. Some would scream and cry because they were so overwhelmed to see the Queen. This was a chance to see their royal subject. Some tried to even reach out and touch her at some point.

    Why is it alright to have that much excitement for just another person, However when it comes to God, we don't have that same vigor? That same spark? He is greater then just royalty. He is our Lord and Savior. He is the one that gave us life. Without him we would be nothing. Without him we would surely fail. So why are we not more excited and more lively to praise and worship our heavenly father?

    Worship is something we can do individually, but God places special importance on believers worshiping together. Some people feel more comfortable with sitting in their pews and just being quiet. Being quiet is important too.

"Be still and know that I am God" ( Psalms 46:10)

   

Others raise their hands towards heaven and praise the Lord. In the bible many people praised God by raising their hands to heaven. Solomon stood before the altar and raised his hands toward heaven. ( 1Kings 8:22) Then there was David, who raised his hands to heaven in a form of complete serenity. ( Psalms 28:2)

Again David said

“I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” (Psalms143:6,)

   The lifting of hands characterizes prayer in the bible. A symbol of supplication without the need to identify it as prayer. For example, Jeremiah urges, "Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children".

    David also danced before the Lord as a form of worship. Michal saw him and had hatred in her heart for him. God wants us to be on fire for him.

Luke 19: 39 says that I tell you , he replied, “If they keep quiet , the stones will cry out.

    He wants us to give him our all. God is the reason for our lives. What greater reason to rejoice. He is our all in all. And he wants us to praise him no matter how we do it.

Winning the Race

  

 Have you ever watched a baby who is just learning to walk? They stumble and they fall.  I remember when my oldest first started to walk we had moved to a new apartment and it has enamel floors. It was not as soft as the old apartment because there were no carpets. She would sit on the floor and not budge. She was clumsy and unstable and it hurt when she fell. If we stood with her and helped her she had enough faith in us that she would try. Step by step she learned to take bigger steps. Now she is running the race. This is a lot like our daily walk with Christ. Sometimes we stumble, sometimes we fall. When we first start to walk we seem to fall all the time. Sometimes we are fearful because we know that if we fall it will hurt. We need to lean on our father to help us walk. He is there to guide us and to pick us up when needed. He brushes us off and stands us on our feet again. A lot like a parent when their child falls.

Psalms 37:24 says though he stumbles, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

    Little by little we learn to walk on our own with God by our side. Eventually as we read his word, and start to take the steps that we need to take to grow. We get better at it. Sometimes things are put in our way along the road. And sometimes we still fall. Once again God is there to brush us off. Many times along the way we are full of regret and we are hard on ourselves. We may become discouraged. God is there with his gentle hand to guide us and to help us along the way. He is never harsh he is never condemning. He is our father and he wants us to walk with him daily so we can win the race.

Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone

   

Today was a crazy day. We had a crazy snow storm last night. I was getting things together to start my day when I heard from the other room… “Can I go back to bed now?”  It was my eldest daughter. She had received a text from a friend claiming that school buses had been cancelled. After some researching on my part I discovered that it was not our school buses that had been cancelled, but the catholic school board buses. It put everyone behind because she did not want to get up and get ready for school because in her mind, there was no school.  She dreaded the thought of going out in the cold.   It did not matter what I said. I am Mom I was misunderstood. Her friend said there was no school.  I proceeded to tell her that did not matter what her friend said. I am Mom and she was going to school. I text one of my youngest daughters’ friends, to make sure that the bus had indeed picked her up and sure enough it had. This was not the news she wanted to hear. She knew that the bus was coming but still proceeded to object. She did finally catch her bus with much hesitation and complaints but in the end she went.  I am sure this little story sounds familiar to many as a child and as a parent.

Once they had left and I sat down with my tea and relaxed before proceeding onto my day. I thought about how this day reminds me of us sometimes when it comes to God’s direction on our lives. Sometimes God shows us, or directions us to do things and we don’t like the answers he has given us. So we object and we doddle along because we don’t want to do what he is directing us to do.  Just like my daughter this morning who was objecting because she wanted to stay in her comfort zone of a cozy warm home over drifting cold snow. To me that makes a lot of sense. I too would rather stay in my cozy warm home all day if I could.  Many times God’s direction takes us out of the comfort zone.

Maybe the direction is just to exercise our faith in God. First we need to listen to his voice. This could lead us to walk into uncomfortable situations.  It could also be that God is directing you to love the unloving or to forgive your enemy. It could be that he is directing you to reach out to those in need. Maybe it is to just let go and let God. I know my hardest challenge to just hand it over to God and leave it there. I pray for something and then the next minute I find I take it back. My comfort zone is trust. I have a problem of trusting because of things I have dealt with in my past. It takes a lot for me to put my trust in something or someone. Over the years my trust is better.  When you step out of your comfort zone at first it will never be comfy. As we give it to God and we step out in faith, it will become easier. Stepping out of your comfort zone is never easy but it is all worth it in the end.   

Whatever your comfort zone is I encourage you to take the steps to step out of your comfort zone today. 

Just Say The Word

Why do we pray? We pray for a variety of reasons. First of all if you had a friend and you never talked to him. Would your relationship grow? Would you get to know that person without talking? God has called us into a relationship with him. Relationships require communication. Prayer is communication between you and God. We are taught in the bible several times the importance to prayer. It draws us closer to him. Through prayer we become renewed and transformed. It reminds us that we are not totally dependent on ourselves but on God. It allows us to get to know God. He already knows everything about us. He created us and he even knows the numbers of hair on our head. God has a plan for each and everyone of us. How are we suppose to know what his plans are if we do not talk to him?

 God reveals himself to us thought prayer.

 “Teach me to do your will , for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on a level ground” (Psalms143:10)

 We pray because prayer relieves our weariness. God commands us to pray.

  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mathew 11:28)

  “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jerimiah 29: 12-13)

In this crazy world we pray for an antidote to anxiety. .

  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

Most importantly we pray because God cares for us.

  “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7)

He is interested in every little detail of our lives. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives. He promised that he will be there for us in every way. He promises to listen to us, to help us and to protect us. When we pray we are surrendering our thoughts worries and desires to him. We pray because it shifts our attention to him. Who greater to hand all our cares over to, then the one that can do immeasurable things, greater then we could ever imagine. we can never limit God. He is capable to do anything. 

We gain wisdom and understanding when we pray.

  “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)

  “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)

God also extends his power to us through prayer. This is so we may resist temptation.

  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” (Mathew 26:41)

With prayer you will always have an available shield of protection..

All you have to do is just say the word.