God Is Waiting To Welcome You

“Return to me, with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

And rend your heart and not your garments.”

Now return to the Lord your God,

For He is gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness….

Joel 2:12-13

The overriding theme of the Bible is that it is never too late to come to God and ask forgiveness.  God is not keeping a score card of our sins, He is keeping watch over us.  No matter what we have done, God still loves us and will forgive us.  

God invites us to return to Him, and He is waiting to welcome us.  

Do not fear God, know that He is on your side and that He loves you. 

We Are The Messengers

 

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18

There are people who will try to silence us when we talk about the love of God and Jesus. They may taunt and ridicule us.  They are not interested in faith or the Bible.  Some think it is all a myth. 

But I have found that some of those who routinely tried to silence me, came to a point where they recognized that there was truth to what I was saying.  Often it was when they were experiencing some sort of upset to their life.  

When we are approached by these people for assurance, we can embrace them with God's love and God's words of comfort.    

It is not us, but the power of God that changes the hearts of men and women.  We are just the messengers. 

God Will Heal You

 

For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal….

Jeremiah 30:17

When we or our family is suffering with illness or injury, we can stand on this promise from God - He will restore our health.

We know God is true to His word.

And, we are thankful. 

Our Owners Manual

 

For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

My Uncle Al was not a church going man, but he read the Bible.  He said, "It's really heavy."  

The Bible is heavy - the words of the prophets and Jesus call us to repentance - the Psalms sooth our hurting souls - and all through the Bible we are challenged to think about how we live our lives.  

The Bible tells us that we are only required to do two things:  Love God and love our neighbors.  All the rest is to instruct us how to do this and that is where it gets heavy.  

The Bible is our owners manual. Read and learn.

Rejoice In Hope

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:12

Joyce Meyers says if your going to get patience, your going to have to go through some stuff.  

This is true, but we also have hope and prayer to get us through, and for this I am grateful.

Never give up hope. 

 

Find Another Way Around

When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went to enter a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

When His disciples, James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 

But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

And, they went on to another village.

Luke 9:51-53 

Wow!

Look what Jesus said, "...the Son of Man did not come to destroy lives, but to save them."

May we take this lesson to heart and remember when people interfere with our plans that we need to hold our temper and find another way around. 

If it was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for us. 

God Has Got Your Back.

Blessed be the Lord,

Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusts in Him and I am helped;

Therefore my heart exults,

And with my song I shall thank Him.

Psalm 28:6-7

In good times, in bad times and at all times God watches over us. When we cannot see the end, God is already there waiting for us.

And, we are thankful.

God Is At His Best

 

With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord;

And in the midst of many I will praise Him.

For He stands at the right hand of the needy,

To save him from those who judge his soul.

Psalms 109:30-31.

We all know them: Needy people. They may be the victims of situations beyond their control or they may be victims of their own stupidity. They may be us. It is easy to beat up on ourselves and other people when things go wrong. God does the opposite. When everyone else is running away from us, God is running to us. 

When things are at their worst, God is at His best.

Snatch Them From The Fire

 

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

Jude 1:22-23

When I was young and on fire for the Lord, I ran into a friend who proceeded to tell me about his new found faith. The more I listened the more I realized that he was being manipulated by a cult. He had shreds of Bible truths, but the bulk of what he spoke was far outside the truth of Christianity.

I felt panicky about what I should say. I said the first thing that popped into my head; I said, “Hey, why don’t you come to the church I go to on Sunday?”

At first he balked, but then he agreed to come. The next Sunday, he and his family came to church and he and his wife accepted Jesus as their Lord, Master and Savior. Over the next few weeks they discovered that they were not judged by their past mistakes, but were accepted and loved as part of the church family.

This is the mercy we are to have; mercy that extends the love of God and the truth of the Gospel to everyone.

Be brave; snatch someone out of the fire.

Look For God And He Will Find You

 

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7

God does not view humans as humans view humans. God desires that we come to Him, not because we are good, but because God is good. As long as we have a breath in our bodies we are candidates for God’s forgiveness.

Easy Does It

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

These characteristics are big goals. Our human nature causes us to respond to the grating of everyday aggravations with irritability and grouchiness.

Yet, here we are given what we are to aspire to – love, joy, peace and the rest, all of which roundly defeat our natural tendencies to be angry.

And, how do we do this? We do this through prayer, reading the Bible and most of all through the grace of God.

God did not create us to be miserable, angry people. God created us to be filled with love and joy. Let us work to be all we can be with God’s help.

God Is Kind

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7

No Matter What, God Loves Us

 

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.

We have come to know and believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in the world.

We love, because He first loved us.

1 John 4:15-17, 19

No matter what happens in life, God loves us. He does not love us because we are good. He loves us because He is good.

God’s love is unconditional and does not vary because of our success or failure. God sees each one of us as belonging to Him and loves us just as we are. When we realize this truth, it shakes us to the core and produces in us an amazing reaction.

We love, because He first loved us.

Jesus Calls You By Name

 

I am the good shepherd and I know my own and my own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep.

John 10:14-15

In the film The Apostle, the character Sonny is a down, but not out, preacher who is running from the law, but not from God.  When speaking of his relationship to Jesus, he said, "I call Him Jesus and He calls me Sonny.”

The words are true. Jesus knows our names. Jesus is intimately acquainted with us and He loves us. No matter how messy our lives are, Jesus watches over us like a shepherd watches over his sheep, and He will never leave us or forget us.

Jesus calls you by your name.

_______________

Robert Duvall, director, The Apostle, October Films, 1997, DVD.

Pray and Pray Again

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”

And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus was as close to God as anyone could be. He is in fact God in the form of man. When Jesus instructs us to pray and pray again and to have faith that God hears us and will answer us, He is speaking the truth. We as humans want instant results, but God has His timetable for all things and we need to understand that all things happen at the time which is best.

Keep praying and asking. God is listening.

 

Do More Than No Wrong, Do Right

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:10

We can go one step further than doing no wrong to a neighbor; we can do right by them. At the 2014 Olympics a Russian cross country skier broke a ski during a race and a coach from the Canadian team gave the skier a new ski so he could finish the race. I would say that is about as right as things can get.

Love your neighbors.

 

How We Treat Ourselves

 

Do you not know you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16

We are a temple of God and we need to be mindful of how we treat ourselves.  

Taking care of our bodies and minds, is taking care so that we can better serve God and be open to receiving His blessings.  We can take care of our bodies by doing what is health - eating health foods, exercising and in general avoiding things that are harmful.  We can take care of our minds by taking care regarding what we read, watch on TV and keeping our thoughts positive and centered on living a godly life.

God says His Spirit dwells in you, and all you have to do is keep the door open for Him.  

Before We Call

 

...Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear....

Isaiah 65:24

Sometimes, when things are not going well, we question if God is paying attention to us.  God promises that before we ask, His answer is on the way. 

So, do not think it is too late to ask for God's help.  Every day He is working to help you.

Remember, God never leaves us alone.  He is with us and for us. 

Not Fear, But Power, Love and Self-control

 

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7

Wow!  We all need this - self-control.  

I cannot count the times that my lack of self-control has caused me to behave badly when I don't know what to do in a difficult situation.  Yet, here it is - God will put the breaks on our fear response and help us operate from a place of power and love and self-control.

And, for this we are grateful. 

  

 

There Is Liberty

 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Many years ago, I was a very conservative Christian, with many ideas of what was right and what was wrong and very vocal regarding these.

However, as time went on, I was frequently persuaded that some of my views were wrong and I became much more merciful in my view of mankind's shortcomings.   

This change came as a surprise to some of my friends, one of whom said to me, "I am surprised that you being so conservative, have some views that are so liberal."  

My answer was, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

May we all be sensitive to the direction of the Spirit of the Lord and know when to change direction.   

When We Cry For Help

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Psalm 34:17-20

What a good and tenderhearted God we serve.  He does not blame us for our troubles, but delivers us.  He tends our broken hearts and repairs our crushed spirits.

We know that even the righteous suffer pain and illness and hard to define bad times.  Yet, all the while God is there ministering and protecting and saving us over and over and over again from life's pitfalls.

God is with us, and for this we are grateful.  

 

Run Well

 

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

We do somethings for personal gain. We go to work get money to take care of our needs. We buy car insurance so if we have an accident we do not suffer a huge financial lost. Most of what we do is for our own benefit.

But the Apostle Paul points out that while we are doing these things we need to consider that we are children of God, and act like it. This means we operate with honesty, we treat people fairly and in some cases better than we think they deserve. We are generous and merciful. We treat others as we want to be treated.

And, we do not hesitate to share why we do this. We do this because Jesus is our Lord, Master and Savior, and we invite others to know Jesus, too.

Our purpose is not to gain great wealth, but to serve God.

Joy In Heaven

 

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:7

God loves everyone and He seeks those who are lost.  It does not matter what sins a person has committed, God forgives all who repent and turn from sin and ask Jesus to be their Lord, Master and Savior.  Ask God to forgive you today, and experience His love and there will be joy in heaven for you.

God Cares For You

 

Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

He gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds.

He counts the number of the stars;

He gives names to all of them.

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is infinite.

Psalm 147:1-5

God cares for us. He not only cares about our physical health, He cares about our emotional health.  We should not loose sight of this.

No matter what, God is on our side and at our side to help and heals our broken bodies and our broken hearts.

God's promises are true, and so, are these.  He cares for you.

It Is Not About the Buffet

 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17

In the early church there was a lot of disagreement about what Christians should and should not eat.  There were converted Jews who still abstained from pork and there were Gentiles who ate everything.  

What the Apostle Paul told them was it did not matter what they ate or drank because they were redeemed by Jesus and and made right in the sight of God, and God would not judge them based on their diet.

We too can sometimes become encumber by man made rules that will cause us to question our salvation.  Let us be diligent in evaluating whether rules are from God or from man, and so act on them so that we can know the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. 

Good Medicine

 

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

How can we be healed of hurt and pain that come from disappointment?  

The answer is not to wallow in our disappointment, but to move on.  We may move slowly and we may have setbacks on our road to recovery, but God is with us every inch of of the way.  He does not want us to suffer, He wants to restore our joy. 

We can trust God because He has everything under control and know that everything will be alright.

May you experience the good medicine of a joyful heart.

 

God Rejoices Over You

 

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

God promises that He is with us and will save us.  God is glad to know us and His love will quiet our worries and anxious thoughts.  

When God says He will exalt us, He means He will glorify us - that is to offer praise for our faithfulness and our actions.

When everyone and everything indicates that maybe we are not right with God, remember these words - God rejoices over you with gladness.  

One God and Father Who Is Over All

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all  and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1-4

The Apostle Paul had some difficult times in his ministry.  In this case, he was in prison, yet he still wrote words of encouragement to the Ephesians.

Paul reminds us that we are called to be kind and at peace with one another and others.  

And, this possible because we are called by the one God and Father who is over all.  

We are called, let us answer.