For The Love Of God

When you have discovered the love of God, you will have discovered courage instead of fear, peace instead of chaos, tolerance for differences, and the wonder of a created world. 

The miraculous thing is, that these God made wonders grow and grow the more you know of Him.


copyright 10/26/2014 

Who Has The Greater Love?

It does seem strange to me that the flower of the field and the tree in the wood continues to bloom or grow in spite of disease, pestilence, or war.  A continual blooming before the snow or a bowing to the wind.

How wise are the tender shoots of grass to forge there way forward, ever reaching up for a heavenly smile.

How is it that nature always responds to the call of God, in perfect obedience, while I continue to question His directives and intentions for me.

Who do you think has the greater love?  Me or the tree?

c0pyright 10/24/2024

The Sabbath Is Alive

I hold this day in reverent awe, knowing Sabbath is a celebration of all that my Jesus has done to set me free. It is to be celebrated, for we can be forever free from all the chains that have bound us to this world. 

What are the things that keep us bound to this earth?  To answer that question, we must establish that there are two mindsets; a spiritual mindset and a worldly mindset.

Our spiritual mind has its focus on the things of God  and more importantly, on Jesus, Himself.  But the mind with which we are most familiar, I’m sorry to say, is the earthly mind.  We live here in this world, and too many of us are living as if we belong here, and are making plans to stay.  That mindset keeps us from finding rest in the Sabbath or in any other day for that matter.

We are all familiar with the things that pull us away from the spiritual to the earthly; things that keep us distracted so as not to come to the place of actual surrender. We could try to name all the things that lure us but everyone is different.  The things that block a full commitment to Jesus are as numerous as the sands in the hourglass.

So, as much as I would like to make things easy by listing the pitfalls of the earthly mind, so that we can check them off one-by-one, the only way to identify these things is to take an honest look at ourselves.  That is the only way we will find genuine joy in the Sabbath; when we identify and pray away these things that bind us to the earth.

The most concerning thing for me is the lack of awareness that I see around me.  Most people in most countries live as if nothing unusual is happening. We are apathetic at best. Living inside of ourselves for ourselves. Receiving momentary satisfaction, only to keep searching for that one elusive thing.  

Are we so very callused, or overstimulated with calamities and perpetrated atrocities against humanity, that we just can’t handle them anymore or worse yet, refuse to look at them?

Incredibly so, calculated by the enemy to do that very thing…to keep us from looking at the reality of what time it is on this earth’s clock. Ingenious, but with catastrophic effects for the unobservant. What do you suppose God would have to do to get your attention?

Isn't rest [peace] and security what we all look for?

The Sabbath is not just a rule engraved on tablets of stone or even a memorial of God's blessed creation. We attend memorial services for the dead. 

There is nothing dead here. The Sabbath is living! 

Those words on the tablets of stone became flesh. "In the beginning was the word, and word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning." John 1:1, 2. The ten commandments are a description of who Jesus is; the one and only one we are called to emulate; they became His words in the flesh when He came to earth.  He embodies those commandments.

The Sabbath commandment was given to us as our call to rest in Him.  He is our Sabbath. He is calling us, revealing to us, what this world is all about.  He is providing us with an opportunity to witness the joy of living in Him and He in us. So run away from the counterfeit and run toward the Truth. 

The Sabbath is not just a day.  It’s a person.  It is a rest that is totally unique from all the  other days. 

There was no "and there was evening and there was morning-the seventh day." No, there was no evening and morning on that day because there is no end to the glorious rest we have in Jesus. 

I’ll say it again.  There is no end to the rest that we find in Jesus.  He is our Sabbath.

So beautiful and complete is His love for His children.

He told us to remember. Every week we are reminded to remember.

Remember that it is Jesus that brings us to Truth. 

Remember that it is Jesus that delivers us from the ploys of the enemy.

Remember that it is Jesus that brings true satisfaction. 

Remember that His love covers a multitude of sins. 

Now that is worth celebrating. He gave us an entire day just so that we could celebrate His goodness and love and truth and peace.  An entire day.  A day that never ends but carries us on into eternity.  Eternity is the fulfillment of His Sabbath rest.  One day out of the week is just a sample.  Enjoy it today. 

copyright 9/26/2014 

Today

Today I look back, but must not borrow for tomorrow the failings of yesterday.

To look at yesterday will surely cause doubt that will route the best intentions for today.

If my gaze is on Jesus instead, yesterday is forgiven, today is in His all knowing control,

and the map for every tomorrow has already been drawn up.

What then, is there to fear?


copyright 10/17/2014

Without Restraint

What does it mean to abandon oneself to Christ? I thought about the word itself...abandon. You don't hear that word used very often except in conjunction with abandoned children or perhaps an old abandoned house. When I looked it up in the dictionary, I found why I believe it isn't used so often. 

There is an almost harsh, definite, "no turning back" definition here.
It's hard to look at perhaps, but spiritually necessary.
                                         
                                                  Abandon: 

#1: To give up wholly, desert, forsake. Spiritually speaking...to desert, and forsake my way for God's way

#2: To surrender or give over.

#3: To yield [oneself] without restraint...

 To those of us who like to think we are in control of our lives, this smacks of insanity. But think about it for a minute, are our feelings, and natural impulses a safe guide to follow?

We live by a "take care of yourself first" mentality these days. How often have you heard or even said, 

"You've got to take control of your life. Nobody is going to do it for you"?

So, how is this "giving over," to total-surrender stuff supposed to help me? 

"I've gotten to where I am today because of hard work." 

"I've pulled myself up by my own bootstraps." 

"The Lord helps those that help themselves, you know."

 Taught since childhood, this philosophy has become the bottom line in our society; the bottom line is me..."my way or the highway."

Have you ever noticed that the majority of people live externally? Great importance is placed on things. More noticeably here in America than some other countries who live with far less than we do, but the principle is the same.  

In the overall scheme of our lives, how great of an importance are: money, houses, cars, climbing the corporate ladder to success; buying the right heels for a new dress. It seems rather flimsy compared to life and freedom, doesn't it? 

When September 11, 2001, entered our lives, it momentarily changed us. It wasn't just another tragedy, it somehow became personal, and suddenly our focus and priorities changed. We began to look deeper--internally. Many began to look for spiritual meaning and were willing to give God a second consideration, and we were helping and hugging people we didn't even know.

We learned that man-made things were far less enduring than first imagined. They disappeared before our very eyes. What once was a monument to man's achievement was reduced to a cloud of smoke and rubble. 

The human loss was so great our spirits shrank from the multiplicity of the sight, and yet we were compelled to watch over and over again. As the smoke cleared, for many it became increasingly evident that the only safe place anywhere in this world is in the hands of God.

Oh, I don't mean He will rescue us from the results of living in [what my friend calls] a sin soaked world, but what He does supply cannot be found in less than abandoning ourselves to Him. 

Jesus Christ and He alone is the supplier of hope; in Him alone will we find peace. Looking for contentment and satisfaction? We will never find it in anyone else's arms but Jesus'. In Him there is joy beyond sorrow, mercy and forgiveness beyond deserving, and these things are far beyond what man can give or create.

Being ever present, He is a call away and His strength and word have been proven to be faithful. He doesn't disappear in a moment of crisis or come crashing down when attacked. 

When we abandon ourselves to Christ, the struggle is over, the price has been paid, and we have the guarantee that something awaits us that is infinitely beyond what we could ever hope for without Him. 

A restored Eden! What a picture!

In the hours before His return, He has left us with this promise to sustain us:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid." 

What this means to me is that the world may be falling down all around me, or I may be experiencing personal tragedy, but I know, 

because I know Him, there is hope beyond today, and because I abandon myself to Him, I am secure.

Did you know the most often used phrase in the Bible is:

                                     " Do not be afraid "?

And there you have it! The glorious privilege of utter abandonment.


copyright 10/10/2014