The Choice to Love

God commands us to love people. He commands us to love one another. He even commands us to love our enemies! If He commands us to do it, we must have the ability to do it. But we don't always have the desire to do it.
Love is a choice. We must choose to love people. We must choose to love people not when we think they deserve our love, not when we "feel" emotionally inclined to love them, not just because they love us and not only when they are "lovable"! We must choose to love them because God commanded us to and because they are made in God's image and because God loves them!
If we are waiting for that fuzzy, warm feeling to hit us before we love people, we are obeying our emotions and not our God. Choose today to love everyone no matter what. It isn't easy, that's for certain. But it is God's will for us and His commandment to us. If we love Him, we will obey Him.
Jesus said that the world will know we are His "because we love each other"! Love is the trademark of God's children! God is love and His children will exhibit love toward people because God's love has been shed abroad in their hearts!

Christmas Present

Do you know what I would really like for Christmas? I would like to hear the trumpet sound and then look up into the eastern skies to see Jesus coming in a cloud with His holy angels! I'm ready for things to be as they should, the way God intended from the very beginning. I'm tired of the hate, the fear, the disease, the pain, the suffering, the hunger, the wars, the selfishness, the racism and all the other evil that plagues this Earth! I'm ready for everything to be made right!
I know that the end will not come until the very last person who will be saved is saved, and I know that no one knows when that will be. But I say the sooner, the better! I'm ready for Jesus to have Satan tossed into the lake of fire for all he's done to people. I'm ready for sickness and death to be thrown in after him. I'm ready for the new Jerusalem to come down and Jesus to take His place on the throne of David to reign forever. I'm ready for a new Earth under new Heavens; a place where there's only peace and love and mercy for all eternity. I'm ready to lay aside all this mortal baggage and be made incorruptible and immortal. I'm ready for REAL life to begin for us all!
Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

Forgiver and Forgiven

The Bible tells us we must (not should...must!) forgive. The Bible tells us that God forgives forgivers. Conversely, God doesn't forgive those who won't forgive. If we refuse to forgive, we sin by not doing what we're told to do. Unforgiven sin will keep us from the presence of God and hinder our prayers. OK.... that seems pretty simple to follow. So, why is it that we keep asking God to hear our prayers and bless us when we know there are people we are holding grudges against?!
Do we think He doesn't know? Or maybe we think He knows you were wronged and that you have a right to hold that grudge and therefore He'll overlook it? Wrong!! God knows our thoughts, so we can't hide anything. And He tells us to forgive those who mistreat us, even our enemies!
We all need to search our hearts and forgive and release those we have been holding something against. When we do, we'll begin to see an outpouring of God's blessings on our lives.

Keep Saving Me

I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me ~ Josh Wilson "Savior, Please"

I know Jesus saved me.... but sometimes I find myself asking him to keep saving me. I try hard. I live my best. But I see that my righteousness is filthy rags and on my own I'm a miserable failure. I need Jesus' strength, Jesus' companionship, Jesus' righteousness. Please, Savior, keep saving me.

Curve Ball

I must admit that there are times when God really messes with my theology. I know I don't have everything figured out (who could possibly "figure out" God?) but just when I think I have one little topic in hand, He does something that blows me out of the water. It's very confusing. It's very frustrating. It's very humbling.
He doesn't leave me completely in the dark though. He uses my confusion to lead me into prayer and meditation where He can teach me deeper truths. Besides, He just loves me too much to let me get too big for my britches!
When God throws you a curve ball, don't get angry or let the devil tempt you to doubt. Go to God with your questions and let Him teach you. Meditate in His Word and let the Holy Spirit lead your thoughts.

Childlike

I think we have gotten it backwards. It's our child"ish"ness we're supposed to grow out of, not our child"like"ness! 1Corinthians 13:11 says "When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." Matthew 18:3 has Jesus saying "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven." Being childish is one thing but being childlike is something altogether different! Mature Christians shouldn't be selfish, silly, whiny, mischievous and the like. But neither should we forget how to have fun and enjoy the simple things in life! Children believe their fathers can fix anything and trust them implicitly. Children can play with others and never even notice the color of their skin. Children forgive and forget so easily. May we always be childlike and never childish!
" To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." ~ CS Lewis

Sin

We have lost our desire for holiness. We have lost our hatred of sin. We have turned God's mercy into a license to do evil. We no longer tremble at the thought of God's wrath and judgment. We have been told that the God of the old testament, the one who erupted in anger and wrath at the sins of His people and slaughtered the men, women and children who worshiped other gods, isn't the same God we serve today. He is a God of mercy and grace and He won't punish sin like He used to. He's not quite so finicky these days. He lets a lot of the "little" things slide. We are in for a very rude awakening!
God's mercy and forbearance is meant to give us time to repent. But when God doesn't immediately judge sin, we start thinking that maybe we got by with it; Maybe God doesn't care about sin anymore! Maybe we are living under grace and we can do as we please! We are fools if we think that.
The Bible says that the wicked are "laying up wrath" for the "day of wrath". Every sin, every selfish deed, every corrupt thought is being noted. The bank account is filling up quickly and one day the total amount will be withdrawn and paid in full. The wrath of God will fall heavily! And do we escape because we confess Jesus as savior? Can we act any old way we want and God's grace blinds Him to it all? Not for one minute!
Sin is still cosmic treason! It is rebellion against the highest of authorities! Sin is still arrogance at it's extreme!

Happy Face

I would like to introduce a new word to many of my Christian brothers and sisters - SMILE. I see so many people who are confessing Christians who apparently don't know how to smile! They go around with a bad look on their faces all the time and they wonder why their witnessing isn't effective..... uh, well, maybe people don't want what you have if it makes you so sad all the time! Smile!!!... If anyone in this world has a reason to... it's you! You have every reason to smile and absolutely no right to frown. Hey, I know things get hard sometimes and bad things happen to us all now and then; But we are representatives.... we are ambassadors of Christ! We are supposed to reflect the character of God! Smile! Don't let people tell you that to be a "real" Christian you have to look like you've been suckling on a dill pickle all day! Smile! Smile like you mean it.... like you are happy to be saved.... happy to be justified in God's eyes.... happy to be a citizen of Heaven.... like you're happy to be one of God's children! People are watching..... so smile already!

Seeker Sensitive

Have you noticed that the overwhelming desire of people these days is the desire to be entertained? We spend billions and billions of dollars each year on entertainment! We buy music, we go to the movies, we go to sporting events, we get on the internet. We get bored so very easily with everything. We're like children who are crying for new toys three days after Christmas because we're already tired of what we got! Entertain me!! And keep on entertaining me; Push the envelope; Come up with something new because I'm bored with the old stuff!
And now we see the church trying to use this fleshly desire for spiritual purposes. What?! The very body of the Lord Jesus has gotten into the entertainment business!
I understand the underlying motive and I do believe that it is sincere: If we make our churches more inviting to the lost, they will come in and hear the good news. If we shorten our services, maybe lighten up on the sermons that condemn sin, liven up the worship music, and loosen up the dress requirements, we will be able to preach to people we have never been able to preach to before because they wouldn't come to church! While they're here, we'll be able to save some of them!
I respectfully disagree. It sounds good, but I don't believe it's biblical. I'm all for getting people into church and I'm all for trying different techniques for doing so. I'm not rigid, Pharisaical and religious, but I see a great danger to the church in what we are doing.
We do not decide how God is worshiped; God decides how He is worshiped! God is awsome and terrible and all those in the Bible who came into His glorious presence even a little were overwhelmed by His glory. Some fainted, some swooned and some even fell down as dead men! God is not safe! He is glorious and holy beyond our ability to understand! When we are in His presence (and if He if not present in our church services, why are we even there?!) we must be careful to not be nonchalant and "comfortable"! We are in the presence of the living God who created all things and that honor must be recognized and appreciated!
In the parable of the sower, there were seeds that fell on the side of the road and, even though they found enough soil to begin to grow, their roots didn't go deep into the ground. When the sun got hot they shriveled and died. Is this what we're doing? Are we more interested now in quantity than quality? Are we raising up a generation of believers who will fall apart the first time things get tough? The first time they're not "entertained" will they get bored and walk away? Are we making things "easy" for them to come in and then expecting them to stay when things get tough?
Preach the gospel. Tell people about Jesus. Give them the whole Bible. Don't try to make it "easy", make it true! Don't try to be seeker sensitive, be seeker loving and seeker truthful and seeker honest. If they're seekers that's what they're seeking!

Introduction

I know a lot of Christians who are very disappointed that they haven't been able to lead their loved ones to Jesus. They feel like they have failed and wonder just what else they can do! I often hear them say "How can I get them to believe in Jesus? How can I make them see?!" The secret is in the phrase "lead them to Jesus".
There's a saying I love that states "Jesus doesn't need us to explain Him, just introduce Him." When we start trying to "make" or "get" people to believe in Jesus, we're overstepping our bounds. Let me give you an example: Let's say you have a male friend who is single. Let's say you also know a female friend who is single and looking for a mate. She sees you talking to your male friend and says she'd like to meet him. You take her over to him and you say "Tom, this is Mary. Mary is a close personal friend of mine and I can't say enough good things about her. She's wonderful and I think you two would be perfect together." Then.... you leave them alone! Your job is done! She talks with him and he talks with her and they decide what happens next. The ball is in their court! Anything else you try to do will probably be counter-productive.
Jesus wants us to introduce people to Him. He wants us to tell them how wonderful He is and what great things He has done for us. We are to give an introduction, be a witness to His goodness and that's all! Of course, we continue to pray that that person will choose Jesus, but it's out of our hands at that point. Jesus can handle the rest. We can plow the ground and plant the seeds, but only God can send the rain and bring about growth. If we try to do what only He can do, we will be perpetually frustrated!
Pray for your loved ones, tell them about Jesus, let them know what He means to you and then wait... knowing that Jesus is faithful.