A Little Bit of Whimsy

Hot Days

When the days are so hot,
that all you can think of
is cooling off, it's a wonder
that we cherish this life at all.

When the days are so hot,
that all you can think of
is a cold, very cold drink,
it's a wonder that we
remember the cold days
when we longed for
the hot days.

When the days are so hot,
that all you can think of
is sitting on the couch
with remote in hand
and your feet propped up,
it's a wonder that we
nourish relationships at all.

When the days are so hot,

that all you can think of
is staying indoors with the
fans blowing and the AC
working overtime, it's
a wonder we think of
going outdoors at all.

When the days are so hot
that all you can think of
is just longing for fall,
it's a wonder that our
hearts are grateful for
this life and its blessings.

Yes, it's a wonder that
we are so overwhelmed
by the small details
that we forget to
thank God for each day,
whether hot or cold.

My Dog

          Ozzie

I often wonder why

I don’t run to God for love?

Why is it so hard

to be fulfilled in Him?

Yesterday, as I was sitting

At my sewing machine,

Something occurred to me…

Ozzie, my Golden Doodle,

Came in and nuzzled me.

When I turned to pet him,

He planted his chin squarely on my lap.

He was not budging until

He love tank was filled.

He wanted the full course!

Do I run to God seeking

For my love tank to be filled?

Is my chin planted on His lap

To receive the best He has for me?

Sadly—I often run in for a few moments

Seeking love on the run.

Sometimes Ozzie runs in as well.

But I know that he isn’t as fulfilled

As when he’s there for the full course.

And neither am I.

Change of Direction

My soul has been crying out for poetry. So I am changing the focus of my blog and including some of my poetry.

             Alyssa

I heard a bird song—

It’s low cooing

Lulled me into calm,

Into a quietness

Beyond life’s rush.

Sometimes its song

Echoed joyously--

Filling the calm air

And uplifting my soul.

I sensed the song

Was not mine alone.

Others listened on

The Bird-Song way.

I remembered you

Loved the bird’s song.

It moved your soul

As it did mine.

And then I knew we could

Overcome the distance

by the simple song of a bird.

What a wonder!  

Just One Lamb

I love the intricacy of detail in the Bible. Of course, David cared for all the sheep in his flock, but in 1 Sam. 17:34, it says that David used to fight a lion or a bear when they tried to take a lamb from the flock. A lamb! He would risk his life for a single lamb. It so parallels Jesus when he talked about the 99 sheep and the 1 lost lamb. He went out an found it as well. How wonderful that Jesus cares so much about the singular, the 1 individual. I praise God that He sought me and rescued me placing me in His flock.

Father,
Thank You so much for sending Jesus to rescue me and put me in His flock.
In Jesus name,
Amen

David

This year I am studying the life of David in Bible study. I know that I am going to love it because I love the Psalms. I know why I love them because I love poetry, but I know people, who don't like poetry at all, who still love the Psalms. Why? What is the appeal? I often think it is because of the emotional appeal, the weaknesses, the highs and lows that David reveals to us. We see ourselves in him, and who doesn't like to read about themselves.

Why else might I really want to learn about David? I think I need to see what David endured so that I might understand what produced that kind of emotional upheaval. I know I have endured some chronic illness which has produced upheaval in my life. It caused me to draw much closer to God and changed me as a person. In that respect, I can identify with David.

More tomorrow...

Father,
I praise You for Your Word and for including the Psalms. I thank You for giving me a glimpse into what made David David. This year help me to understand and apply truths from his life into mine. Teach me.
In Jesus name,
Amen

God's Holy Temple

1 Cor. 3:17, 21-23

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple...So let no one boast in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--and you are Christ's and Christ is God's. 

What a truth to realize that we are Christ's, part and parcel and that God's holy temple is within us. It is not a building but a living entity. Amazingly we are privy to Christ and to God. No longer do we struggle with identity or worship. We are His! Made in His image and now to live and breathe in His life! We do not have to have a pilgrimage or go to a specified location. We just have to meet God and Christ in the privacy of our own hearts. He has come to be at home within us, and are we at home with Him. Are we abiding in Him each moment? Are we transformed by His power and grace? Yet often we are like the Corinthinans who were not spiritual people, but were people of the flesh, and infants in Christ who could not be fed with the solid food of the Word but with milk. [1 Cor. 3:1-2] How sad! How really foolish when God has gifted us with so much and we would rather live like paupers. He has blessed us with the rich, spiritual food, but we would rather live on milk. It only reveals the strength of our flesh. I must cry out to God each day for His grace to be my strength to fight the battle against my own flesh, against myself. 

Father,

Help me to think of You throughout this day. Help me to remember that Christ is within me and that my body is Your holy temple. Fill my mind and my thoughts with You. Make my conversation be filled with Your words.

In Jesus name,

Amen

The Lord Looks on the Heart

Ps. 69:30-31

I will praise the name of God with a song: I will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.

God said in 1 Sam. 16:7, But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." With God this is a clearly established principle. Whether singing praises or magnifying Him, it must come from a heart truly in love with God, not from a heart merely going through the motions. 

Ps. 51:16-17 says, For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Once again, the idea of a sacrifice of an ox or a bull, an overt act. But with all overt acts, there is the possibility of reducing the act to mere motions. Mere motions do not cut it with God!! It must come from a broken spirit and a contrite heart. The heart must be right before God. 

So when I praise Him in worship, which should be every waking moment and with every breath that I have, I must have my heart engaged. It must be right before God. Why broken and contrite? Because my sin must be confessed before I can praise Him. I cannot allow my flesh to muddy the waters or to contaminate my heart. One of the first things that my heart wants to do is reduce my relationship with God to mere motions. So sad! I must be watchful always checking my heart. Is it right before God? Is it broken and contrite? 

Father,

I confess my faulty confession. How prideful is that! Somehow being careless about this has such devastating consequences. Please, Lord, blot out those sins that I have allowed, that I have neglected to confess. Open my eyes and my heart so that I may see clearly what I should confess. Help me to praise You from a broken and contrite heart.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Desire and Good

As I was praying this morning, I lifted up Ps. 73:23-26 for a friend, but the words of the passage spoke to my heart as well.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I was impacted by the phrase, there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. How all inclusive is that! David was not attached to things in this world. As I examine my heart, I wonder if my desiring is only for God. Am I treasuring Him above all else? This world, our life style, our plenty and ease of living all seem so good. Have they clouded our love for God? Have our hearts desire wanted to settle in and make a comfy little nest? Have we forgotten that we are sojourners and travelers?

And then in v. 28 it says, But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. In another version it says, God is my good. I love that! Can I say that God is my good? What a thought to meditate on. He has blessed me with so much. I certainly can say that He is my good, but is He my only good?

Father,

Thank You for these thoughts and the power in Your words. You have impacted my life. I do desire You, but I need You to purify my desire. Take away any penchant for this world. Instead unite my heart to be one with Yours. 

In Jesus name,

Amen

Abiding

Jn. 15:1-17

As I read this passage this morning, I am moved in my heart. I must make it my own; memorize and meditate on it. Write about it. I must echo the words of Jeremiah, Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words become to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. I must devour more of God's word and bury it deep in my heart. Only then will it change and transform me. There is always the possibility that when I read Scripture and want to obey, that I will change within my own will and power. Even though my motive is good, the end result is not. It must be all of Him. As Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:10, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

So on to John 15. Initially I must recognize the characters in this passage and their respective positions: Jesus, the Father, and John [speaking for all believers]. 

• Jesus- He is the vine who cleanses me through His words. provides life and sustenance to the branches, and gives me a place ot abide [a home] . 
• The Father is the vinedresser with the responsibility of pruning and then gathering of unfruitful branches to be burned. 
• John and all believers are branches, branches that must be clean, bear fruit, and be constantly abiding in the vine. 

Pruning: The Father prunes not to cause pain or to be cruel, but to make the branches more fruitful. I am not sure how the branches on the vine feel when they are pruned. Do they feel pain since they are a living being? Regardless, as a branch, the pruning would cause intense pain, but pain that has a wonderful purpose. God calls us to endure hardship, to fight the good fight, and to bear the burden. None of these speak of ease. 

Cleansing: Eph. 5:26 says that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. and Titus 3:5 says he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Jesus stated simply that He washed us with His words. How could His words have so much power? He is the logos the living word. When God speaks, words become life! The power of His words was twofold; one a cleansing that washed away our sin, and secondly, a giving of new life. He did not cleanse us to leave a vacuum, but to graft in His being, to make us partakers of the divine nature. 2 Pet. 1:3-4 says, His divine power has granted to us all things pertaining to life and godliness by which He has granted to us His precious and very promises so that we may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped from the corruption that is in the world. Wow! What a glorious gift!

Abiding: He cleansed us to give us new life, this new life is dependent on abiding. Just like a branch dies apart from the vine, so we would die apart from Jesus.  Abiding is essential. It is our power source. If we try and live for Jesus apart from abiding, it will only end in failure. But abiding in Jesus produces much fruit, much power, and much closeness. Jesus states it plainly. Apart from Him we can do nothing! 

Fruitbearing: Once we are cleansed, pruned, and are abiding, then we become productive. Fruit will abound. If we circumvent the divine plan, we will become a withered branch ready to be gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. Who would chose that? No one in their right mind. The Father is glorified by our fruitbearing. Not only that but it proves we are His disciples. It is a mark of our status. It identifies us as a child of God. 

Praying: When we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we can ask whatever we wish and it will be done. Whoa! We have a direct line to the Father. Our words will be answered. But what is the catch? We will be abiding and His words will be in us. Therefore His words will be our words. We will be praying the words of the Son to the Father. Of course, they will be answered. Our abiding in Him and His words abiding in us will unite us with the will of the Father. We will see life as the Father does and His will will become our will. 

Glorifying: By this the Father is glorified. The 'this' includes our cleasing, abiding, fruitbearing,and praying. We glorify the Father when our life is in line with the Son and the Father. When His words abide in us and We abide in Him. We are filled completely by Him and our will has become His will.

Loving: The Father loved Jesus and Jesus has loved us and then we abide in His love. The love originates with the Father and comes down His divinely ordained channel right into our hearts. His love has transformed us into His disciples. As the Son has loved the Father so we must love the Father.

Obeying: Keeping Jesus' commandments is vitally connected to abiding in His love. Jesus obeyed the Father's commandments and so we must obey His. Of course, this is just a greater explanation of what it means to abide. Abiding gives us the power and the desire to obey. Without abiding obeying becomes a duty, a duty that is often too hard to do or to maintain. But if we are abiding, we have the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. It enables us to obey as Jesus obeyed His Father. 

Joyful: (Rats! I couldn't make joyful end in 'ing') The end result of pruning, cleansing, abiding, praying, glorifying, loving, obeying is all joy! Jesus wants us to be joyful! So He has spoken His words, those words of divine power into our lives so that His joy would be in us and our joy would be full! Wow! What a gift!

Father,
Thank You so very much for this great gift! I have been cleansed and have felt your pruning. Give me Your grace and strength so that I may abide in Jesus, obey His commands, love You and others, and glorify You. Thank You for the joy that will be mine.
In the power of the Spoken Word,
Amen

Letters

Rev. 2:1-17

As I read these first three letters to the churches, I see some words that could apply to my life, my time, and my culture. Concerning Ephesus, Jesus commended them on their patient endurance, their bearing up for Jesus' name, and their not growing weary. But they had abandoned their first love.

I am beginning to wonder if something akin to this is happening to believers today. We have endured patiently for many years. We have borne up through wars and financial ruin. Yet, I am afraid our hearts have grown cold. Perhaps we have abandoned our first love, for the sake of prosperity, possessions, and liberal politics and policies. Jesus, our first love, would never condone the wholesale slaughter of unborn babies or the abolishing of the traditional concept of marriage, things that many churches buy into wholeheartedly. Yes, America has lost it's first love, it's foundation in the Bible, and its ethical democracy. But what about individual Christians? Have we cooled so far that we have abandoned our first love. When we read out Bibles, it is a fruitless activity. We we hear of atrocities, what is our response?  This plague of creeping apathy must be stopped. Individually, we must examine our hearts to see if any corners of coldness are thriving and then pour the heat of the gospel and the Spirit right in that spot. It must be dealt with immediately or it spreads without notice. 

Then to Smyrna, the angel of the church wrote that the devil would test them by throwing them into prison. But the angel says to be faithful unto death. Scary words and words we have never experienced in America. But could it be in our future as more and more of our freedoms are disappearing? The war the devil has waged here came on subtly so that now he has such an inroad that he can openly assault and alter our complete way of life. How sad to witness a war being fought with hardly a skirmish! Yet for the individual Christian, this is a wake-up call. Examine your heart and live. Make provision for whatever you need to endure whether, it be fines, prison. or even death.

We must remember the final words of this letter, The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. 

Father,

I ask You to warm my heart today. Pour the heat of the gospel into my life melting any coldness or stiffness that might be hidden there. Help me to be Your vessel to show to all the peoples that Your hand if mighty.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Poor Choices

John 12:37-50

As I read this passage, I just feel the heartbreak of Jesus. Such an intense rejection must have grieved his soul! He offered freedom, but they wanted slavery. He offered light, but they wanted darkness. Unbelievable that man would choose so poorly! In spite of all the signs, the healing, the bread, the resurrection, still there was disbelief. Why? What was the problem? 

Some believed but were afraid of the Pharisees, afraid they would lose the privilege of the synagogue and their own crafted religious system. But the sad thing is that their time in the synagogue was devoid of truth. They lost the most important thing, the true reality for something vacuous and false. 

Others refused because they loved the glory of man more than the glory of God. How heartbreaking that they would reject the God of the universe for the applause of man, the most fickle being on earth! What an indictment! 

Then in v. 44 it says that Jesus cried out. He didn't just speak, but from His agony of soul He uttered great truth. Whoever would believe in Jesus would believe in God, the One who sent Him, the One who had reached out to man to offer a way out of darkness. He sent Jesus, the light of men to shine a light on the darkness of sin and point the way to the Father. Even in the rejection, Jesus did not judge. But the words that He had spoken would judge on that day. The words that they had heard but not believed had come from the Father, and in these words was and still is eternal life. They were so close but yet so far away! The decision was so simple but yet so difficult! They were willing to eat His bread and have their physical bodies healed, but not willing to believe His words! How selfish, grasping, and indulging! 

Father,

I believe Jesus' words, yet in my heart I see remnants of my old nature. I still see my own rank selfishness trying to control and dictate my actions. Keep speaking Your words to my inner man. Keep strengthening me with Your grace. I need You constantly. Help me to make right choices.

In Jesus' name,

Amen

Suffering

1 Pet. 18-25

Suffering is definitely not considered a positive in our culture. But in God's culture, it is! Since we live in this world in a body of flesh, part of our world's culture has seeped in and taken root in our hearts, especially the part about suffering. Yet, God's culture is stronger and has claimed significantly more of our thoughts and hearts. So as I read these words about suffering, I must buy into them! I must be all in!

There is no innate credit for the person who does wrong and suffers for it. In fact that is called justice! But for the person who is good who thinks of others, who is a good neighbor, who pays his bills and his taxes, who is honest and loving, for this person suffering is a gracious thing in the sight of God. It is a gracious thing because it is only through His grace that someone can endure the suffering without getting bitter or hardened.

Even more than that, our suffering is our calling. The believer is called to suffer because Christ suffered. He is our example. What he suffered, we must! Following in His footsteps is no cakewalk! Jesus continually (and not just once) entrusted Himself to His Father. He knew and understood that suffering  could not be accomplished without the Father. Suffering that is gracious has a loving and forgiving spirit toward the one inducing the suffering. Suffering that comes out of nowhere and takes a loved one with no notice can only be endured with the Father. Any suffering no matter how horrendous demands the grace of God to be endured. Without His grace, suffering can cause bitterness, desolation, devastation, depression, mental and physical states from which a person cannot recover. Without the grace of God, suffering becomes a black whole swallowing a part of a person or even the entire person. 

So when it says that Jesus, God in the flesh, someone with all the angels of heaven at His beck and call, had to commit Himself to the Father constantly and continually to endure suffering, then so must we! How can we think that we can handle it on our own? How foolish and prideful! This calling demands God's enabling!

Father,

I confess that I have not always relied on Your grace as I suffer. Help me to do this Give me Your grace to ask for the grace that I need. You must do it all in my life.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Joy and Delight

Jer. 15:16

Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.

What a beautiful attitude toward God's words! Oh that I might be an eater of God's words, that I might devour them and treasure them! What in this world do I joy and take delight in? Family, friends, possessions, esteem? All of those things pale in light of God's word, or should I say should pale. How easily distracted are our hearts! How easily turned to value what is temporal and earthly! We often forget whose name we have taken or has taken us. We are bought with the price of the life of the Son of God and are no longer our own. We are His, and because of this one fact we must take delight in the things that are eternal, in the things that are filled with Jesus.  We must eat the words because they are He. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word, the living Word, the Logos is Jesus Christ. He is our delight and our joy!

Father,

Give me an unquenchable appetite for the Word, for Jesus. Give me that delight and joy that only comes from You. Help me to always remember who has called me and who is my owner. Help me to remember I am called by Your name!

In the name of the Word,

Amen

Final Remarks and Benediction

Heb. 13

This chapter deals with so many issues ranging from hospitality to strangers to adultery and sexually immoral people. The Bible has a word on all the things that we need to know. I want to list some of the topics covered in this chapter: 

• Be hospitable to strangers.
• Remember those who are in prison.
• Hold marriage and the marriage bed in honor and undefiled.
• Keep free from loving money.
• Be content.
• Don't fear what man can do to you.
• Remember leaders, those who taught us the word, and imitate their lives.
• Jesus is timeless and unchanging.
• Watch out for diverse and strange teachings.
• Be strengthened by grace and not foods.
• Jesus suffered outside the camp and shed His blood for us. 
• We have a lasting city yet to come.
• Through Jesus we an offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.
• Do good.
• Share what you have.
• Obey leaders and submit to them because they keep watch on our souls.
• Pray for believers.

So much vital information all packed into one chapter. And yet there is more. The book has a beautiful and fitting benediction.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Father,

I ask that through Jesus You equip me with everything good that I may do Your will. I want to be pleasing in Your sight and give glory to Jesus who is the rightful owner of all glory forever,

In His name,

Amen

No Judgment

Heb. 9:11-28

so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Christ came and died as the sacrifice to put away sin by His righteous substitution. In the same way it is appointed for man to die once, and after death comes judgment. But for the believer not so! Praise God! When Christ appears for us [those who eagerly wait for His return] he will not come in judgment but in deliverance, to pull us out of this world before final judgment. What a savior we have!

Father,

Thank You for the provision of Your Son, for supplying what we needed to be right with You even at great cost to Yourself. Thank You for Christ returning for us. I eagerly wait!

In Jesus name,

Amen

Idols

Heb. 4:1-11

God has promised His people rest, rest from work and rest from the struggle of the flesh and the spirit within each one of us. But what is the one thing that prevented Israel from resting? It was disobedience. They disobeyed the Lord and did not keep Him holy in their hearts. Instead they pursued false gods. It seems as I read the OT that for Israel their sin was obvious, false gods vs. the true God. They seemed inordinately attracted to the gods of the people that they had conquered. But even though things seem so much more gray now as opposed to black and white, I wonder if it seems gray only because we want to perceive it that way. 

We so struggle with the flesh and the spirit, falling prey to the same sins over and over. Is this repetition not a type of false god? Are we not worshiping at the altar of self as opposed to the crucified self? I think it must be a matter of heart. When the struggle ensues and we fall, how do we feel? Do we accept it as the common course of things, or do we grieve over that sin? Do we think about God when we sin or are we focused more on ourselves? Are we taking seriously the commands of Scripture wanting more than anything to obey them, or have we reduced our Christianity to a more convenient relationship, one that is easier to follow and one what does not attract any unwanted attention from the world. Even though we are covered in the grace of God and He views us covered in the blood of Jesus, He still desires us to be holy as He is holy. He desires us to want to be like Him because we love Him above all. 

I think of myself how that many times I accept as the normal course of life my bad attitude when I should be crying out to God confessing and asking for help. It reveals to me how insidious sin is. If sin is given even the slightest inch, it will take so much more. To be victorious, we must be engaged in the battle. We must remember the little skirmishes are as important as the big battles. Heb. 4:11 says, Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Father,

I confess my disobedient heart, my allowing of bad attitudes and a sharp tongue and retort. Give me a heart of love. Pry my fingers off myself sot that You may flood in filling and controlling.This is my desire.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Onesimus-the Beginning of the Story

Philemon 1-11

Paul wrote to Philemon, a slave owner and the owner of Onesimus more specifically, about Onesimus, a run-away slave who had run all the way to Rome where he had come in contact with Paul. That was it for Onesimus! He became a believer and ministered to Paul in an exceedingly helpful way. Even though he was a great comfort and help to Paul, Paul knew that he must send him back to his master, Philemon who was a believer as well. 

Paul began the letter telling Philemon what he had heard about him: his love and faith toward Jesus and toward all the saints. He prayed for Philemon that his ministry would be effective and that he personally would grow to full knowledge. His love had blessed Paul's heart in so many ways, but especially because the hearts of the saints had been refreshed through him. 

I love that phrase, the hearts of the saints had been refreshed through him. I wonder how many of us can attest to this. Have our lives refreshed the hearts of the saints that God has brought across our paths? Is that concept even in our thinking? In what possible ways could we refresh hearts. What comes to mind is multi-faceted: compassion, caring, gentleness in the way we handle people; giving, assisting, praying, and meeting needs in our actions; remembering and thinking about them, and formulating plans in our hearts and minds. If they are not in our hearts and minds, we have absolutely no way of refreshing them. 

Father,

Help me be a refreshment to the hearts of other believers. Open my eyes to opportunities.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Love

Titus 3:1-8

What is love? This question has been pondered for centuries. Some think,'love is an action' while others think it is 'free love'--which is really love without any responsibility or commitment. Still others seek to identify it through the lives of other people, often their parents. Of course, this is where the whole process goes awry because people are so imperfect. The home instead of being the place where love flourishes, is the place where love is attacked and tried. It is in the home that the worst side of every person exists and is seen. But to identify true love, we must look away from humanity and look to God. His love is perfect in every way!

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

God's love reached down to us in our most horrible state. We were not worth saving in any way. Goodness existed in us only as it benefited us. In His own mercy and through the washing of the Spirit we became regenerated and renewed. All of this was through Jesus Christ. He was the One who offered Himself as the substitute sacrifice, the sacrifice that paid the price to take away our sin and rank evilness. Because of Him we are justified [just as if I had never sinned] by His grace so that we have a future and a hope. We will be heirs with Christ eternally. Paul concludes by emphasizing the truth and trustworthiness of these words. We can take it to the bank!! For these reasons our life style should be changed. We now must be careful no longer living haphazardly and without focus. We must do good works reaching out to others with this same message. All of this is excellent and profitable! And I agree!! Amen!

Father,

How You loved me! You are the epitome of love and kindness. Grow me in Your love so that I might reflect Your Son.

In His name,

Amen

Purpose and Focus

Titus 2

Have you ever wondered what you were supposed to be doing in this life? Have you wondered if you made the right career choices or relationship choices? Sadly, often once a path is chosen it's hard to go another way, kind of a 'road not taken' scenario. As I was reading in Titus this morning, the verses seemed to jump out at me saying this is your purpose, this is what should be your focus.

For the grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men,

Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Well there it is! God's grace came in the person of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to all, all who would believe. This salvation as well as Jesus Christ has taught us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. What a big order! We are not just to abstain from them part of the time or have them in a watered down form in our lives, no, we are to DENY them! 

As soon as we get rid of the negative, we are to put in the positive. You can't leave an empty space. The negative will flow right back in! So into the newly emptied space, we are to add in living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Not later in heaven, but right now where everything is flawed and so very difficult. Being sober in focus really has nothing to do with drinking [although it could], but I think it speaks much more to a focus that is not encumbered by a lot of things, things that would make you go out-of-control much like alchohol does. All three of these things come from saturating ourselves in the word and prayer, seeking a closeness with Jesus to the point that this world fades. 

Then finally, we are to eagerly look forward to His return where He takes us to Himself instead of thinking about all the worldly things that you still want to do. Why should I not look at and even enjoy what the world has to offer? Because Jesus gave Himself for us. He redeemed us from sin and all of its evil consequences, and He wants to purify us so that we might be a peculiar people zealous of good works. Peculiar, sure we can see that! But zealous of good works. How many of the world's great humanitarians have been Christians? How often do unsaved people have a much greater compassion for those hurting and suffering? That is to our shame!

So there is the answer to our questions about purpose and focus. If we are doing things in life that taint any of the directives in these verses, then we are not where we should be! Instead of drawing closer to Jesus, we are drawing closer to the world. We can't be neutral. We are either hot or cold.

Father,

I thank You so much for this passage this morning. It has really spoken to my heart. Make my focus and my purpose be always in sync with Your purpose and focus for me.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Strengthen, Endure, Suffer

2 Tim. 2:1-13

Even though Paul was in prison, he was not disabled because the gospel itself was not imprisoned! He was willing to endure anything as long as the gospel would be preached, as long as salvation was offered to the elect. He went on to give advice to Timothy encouraging him to share in sufferings as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Don't shy away from them! Don't hide from them! Instead Timothy was to strengthen himself in the grace that was in Jesus Christ. Then Paul asked him to remember, If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself. Pretty strong words to put Timothy's thinking straight. Pretty strong words for us as well. For me, I need to remember to share in suffering as a soldier of Jesus. I need to be faithful and to endure what comes my way. I need to strengthen myself in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Father,

I confess I don't always embrace suffering or stand as a good soldier. Give me Your strengthening grace that I might be strong for You. I only want to live in and for You! Thank You for Jesus who makes my life in You possible.

In Jesus name,

Amen