Love Unlimited

Here is another one of my old writings that spoke deeply to my heart.  Things have changed since I wrote this.  Two of the three fur children here have passed on and are hanging out with Jesus in Heaven.  And we have added four new ones to the family...all different personalities, but the message God gave me years ago regarding the original 3 mentioned in the article still holds true.  God's love is never limited by our personality, our struggles, or our failures.  His love is based in Him, not in us.  Remember,  "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."  Ephesians 1:4.  Here's the original article.

I have three furry children.  One who loves me, but goes his own way more often than not.  Happy go lucky, his own dog I guess you could call him.  Another of my little four legged kids-my first cat, is very angry with me right now.  She want very little to do with me, only accepting when I bring her food.  The last of my children, the new cat (or the interloper as the first cat sees him) follows me round, loves my attention and lets me pretty much do whatever I want with him.  

I am very sad about my first cat.  I miss her love very much.  I know she will come around eventually, but until then I wait for her, giving her the love she allows, when she allows it.  As I was cuddling with my first cat the thought struck me--I don't love him any more than I love her.  I love them both just as much.  And it's the same with my dog.  Even as I need to try and train him and teach him right from wrong (in doggy ways), I love him with all my heart as I do the cats.  And then God spoke to my heart, "This is the way I feel about you."  My heart just broke right there and then.  My experience as a Christian is more like my dog (going my own way) and my first cat (angry at God for this or that) than the new cat (following closely, obedient and compliant).  And I guess I have always felt that God couldn't possibly love me as much as He does someone who is obedient and doing everything right.  

We all know them.  Sister super-Christian who spends three hours a day in prayer and study.  And brother darn near perfect, the one who always does everything right and evangelizes the world.  Well of course I never measured up to either of those ideals.  Still don't.  For many years I walked around feeling second fiddle in God's eyes.  But today, again, God revealed to me He loves  me "just as I am."  Now I have been learning this for a long time, but it was so awesome to get a new revelation on it again today.  I know that God loves me as much as He loves any of His children.  He is pleased with me. (Not necessarily of everything I do.)  And He loves you too--as much as any of His children and He is pleased with you too!!  He told me to tell you so--Yes you reading this now.  

We do need to strive to be like my new cat.  Following God closely ( I am always tripping over my new boy, he is so much underfoot and following close).  Growing in obedience, having a soft, compliant heart.   Yet we have to remember we each have our own pace of growth set by our Father in Heaven.  We have different ways of prayer, study, evangelism, all planned out by God for us.  So be who God is leading you to be.  Don't try to be someone else.  Psalm 139:13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  We were made just so by the Lord.  And don't feel less than someone else.  Each of us, by the Father's design is "fearfully and wonderfully made."  Psalm 139:14

New words.

Now cats and dogs and other animals don't really know they need to change.  They don't understand spiritual growth.  But as humans we do.  We are made to grow in our love of God, to become more like Jesus, to worship Him and draw nearer to our Lord.  But we are not doing these things to get God to love us more but because we love Him and want to be pleasing to Him.   We know He is our Savior, saving us from sin and death and hell.  Our gratitude for this should lead us to obedience.  Jesus has given us hope.  He is worthy of all our love, our praise and our obedience.  We can choose to walk with Him and follow Him.  But even if we don't, even if we live in the consequence of that decision,  His love doesn't change.  Because that is who our God is.  And I am so grateful for that.  

If you have not given this any thought, or have not chosen to accept Jesus' gift of salvation I pray that now will be the time that you do. 

Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Romans 10:9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Lord, thank You once again for the reminder of your unlimited love.  We do not limit your love.  We cannot earn it or lose it.  You love.  It's who You are.  But You are also holy, and awesome and righteous.  We cannot come into Your Presence in our own filthy rags.  We need a Savior.  That Savior is Jesus Christ.  Lord, open hearts today to accept this truth and to embrace it and believe it.  Lord, if anyone is reading this does not know You as their Savior and their Lord, I ask for You to work in their hearts and draw them into a beautiful relationship with You.  Thank You for saving me.  I know that in accepting Your gift of salvation I have the hope of Heaven when this life here is done.  A place of infinite joy, peace, completion, and light.   I am saved from Hell...a place of eternal despair and darkness and torment.  Only You do this for us Jesus.  And because of You we can come boldly before the throne of grace.  Only in You are we found not guilty and only in You can we enter the gates of heaven and come into Your holy Presence.  And only because of You can we come for help, and strength to get through each day.   I am so glad for this great love.  The love that caused You to come to earth, giving up Your heavenly status and to submit Yourself to a horrible, painful, degrading death on the Cross.  A death You took upon Yourself, in my place.   The wages of sin is death.  You took my punishment.  All mankind's punishment.  And You died and rose again on the third day for us to live!  Thank You.  

Remember God's love.  I am praying for the salvation of each person reading this.  

Out With the Old, In With the New

Some years ago I wrote a couple of articles for our church newsletter.  I thought (or I'm pretty sure God gave me the thought) that it was time to put them out there again.  So I will do this for the next couple of weeks.  As we start a new year we look to clean out the old stuff.  In our homes, in our closets, in our lives, in our habits...we look to start fresh, make a clean sweep of what we feel doesn't fit us anymore.  Be it old clothes, an old chair or a bad habit, January is always a great time to be out with the old and in with the new.  Here's the article.

For years now the Lord has been impressing on me that our lives and our hearts are like houses with rooms.  I hear questions in my head like "Whose house are you building?" and "What are you decorating it with?"  As I was reading through Proverbs recently, chapter 24:3-4 brought these questions to mind.  It says: "A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.  Through knowledge it's rooms its rooms are filled with all sorts of riches and valuables."  So I have to ask, "What are we decorating our rooms with?"  What does this house, whose foundations are the apostles and the prophets, Jesus being the cornerstone, look like in you and me?"

God's Word is filled with instruction on what should and should not be in our hearts.  Now remember, what is going on in our heart will determine what is lived out in our lives.  Matthew 12:25  But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  Mark 7:21-23 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”  If your life is consistently exhibiting the kind of thinking and behavior mentioned in these verses, it's time to examine your heart.  

Thinking of our hearts as a house, what are the rooms we have it it.  Maybe there is a room for family, a room for church, for work, etcetera.  What are you putting up as decor in these rooms?  Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to be your designer or are you trying to do it yourself?  Are you getting your decorating ideas from the Bible or from the world?  

What are some of the world's ways of decorating?  We can see a pretty comprehensive list of worldly decorating in Galatians 5:19-21  19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  And also in Colossians 3:5  So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

What kind of behaviors can be traced to this kind of paint on your walls?  Do you always need to be right?  Do you spend more time in front of the TV than with God an family?  Is greed for the good things of this life your flooring?  You're standing on idolatry!  How about the knickknacks sitting on your coffee table?  Are they vases of "anger, rage, and malicious behavior"?  Some other Scriptures that give us the world's idea of decorating:  Philippians 2:3 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Psalm 10:2-3, 7 2The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor.  Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others.  3 For they brag about their evil desires;  they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.  7 Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats.  Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.  I am sure you can find plenty more Scripture to add to this list of bad decorating.  

That is our hearts before Christ.  After we put the blood of Christ on the doorframe of our heart things start to change.  When we invite Him into our lives, it's like we are now on one of those make-over shows.  In Ezekiel 36:26 the Lord tells us He is going to give us a new heart.  26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  

Our houses are getting a make-over!  I can just see the big dumpster being parked out in the driveway!  Out goes all the junk!  (Ow! Getting rid of old stuff hurts!)  Please try to refrain from picking through the garbage once it has been thrown out.  Sometimes a bad habit that has become our comfortable comfort needs to go.  We need to let go of that old furniture.  That old chair (or attitude) may be comfortable, but it has holes and springs are popping out, and it smells bad!  It won't fit in with the new creation God is making our house.  

So, starting with faith as our flooring, it's time to exchange the old for the new.  God has created in us a clean heart and is ready to start renewing a right spirit within us.  Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.   Renew a loyal spirit within me.  On the walls is new artwork.  Pictures of fruit, of the Spirit that is.  Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!  Yes it takes time to do this make-over.  Just like you would spend time pouring over magazines and shopping to redecorate your house, you must spend time with Jesus, pouring over Scriptures in prayer, learning what stays and what goes to fix up your spiritual house.  We didn't get all the filth and grime and old broken-down pieces of furniture in our houses overnight.  They built up over a lifetime.  So too, it will take time and hard work to renew this old house.  Soon instead of seeing vases of anger, rage and malicious behavior on the coffee table, we will see beautiful blooms of tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12  Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.)  Let the music in your home greet your guests with the message of Christ.  Share wisdom, hymns, psalms and spiritual songs with all your encounter.   (Colossians 3:16 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.)

Our new paint color will be called "Love."  Want some more decorating ideas?  Try using praise for your roof (praise goes up to God), prayer for your doorways, (it opens the door for God to work in our lives), and thanksgiving as area rugs (remembering to be thankful in all areas of our lives).

It's our job to keep our houses (hearts) clean.  Our Father tells us in 1 Peter 1:16  "You must be holy because I am holy."  And how do we keep our houses (hearts) clean?  By obedience and following God's ways.  Psalm 119:9 How can a young person stay pure?  By obeying Your Word.  By confession and repentance.  Psalm 66:18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.  1 John 1:9  9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  Psalm 51:17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.  You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

And let's go to one more area of our house.  The safe.  The place we keep our treasures.  Hidden within our hearts should be the Word of God.  Psalm 119:11 I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might now sin against You.  This is what we look at to see if we are getting the decor right.  It is there to teach us,  direct us, to warn us, and to encourage us.  

Lord, help us to fashion our hearts and home after You.  Let Your desires and ways be what people see when they look at our lives.  It's hard to let go of the old.  Some things are so engrained in us, have strongholds in our heart.  But we also know and hold onto Your Word.  Jesus told us in Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”  And you also tell us in Philippians 4:13For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.   Lead us in this redecorating project.  Help us to get rid of our old, negative ways that interfere with the new creation You are making in us, and the plan You have for us.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Spend time with Jesus and find out what new things He wants to do in you!  

New Year, New Verses

God's command to me this year.  STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF.  

The Lord gave me a series of verses to focus on this year.  I think I need to be reading them, praying over them and planting them in my heart.  We all spend so much time fretting over nonsense, little annoyances and minutiae.  It's time to trust even the smallest details of our lives serve God's purpose.   I am set to entrust the whole of my life, the large picture and the tiny strokes to my heavenly Father.  I am set for faith building!  

Psalm 57:2  I cry out to the God Most High, to God who will fulfill His purpose for me.  

Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according the His purpose for them.

Psalm 138:8  The Lord will work out His plans for my life--for Your faithful love endures forever.  Don't abandon me, for You made me.

Psalm 86:5  O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask You for Your help. 

Psalm 103:8  The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get anger and filled with unfailing love.  

Lord, thank You for Your Word that instructs, encourages, corrects and nourishes us.  Let us fill our minutes and hearts with it.  Lord, let each of us meditate and mull over Your Word each day.  Let it change us and fill us with Your heart and love.  I praise Your for Your goodness and patience.  I worship Your for Your unfailing love and mercy.  Lord, make Your Word come alive in our hearts and lives.  In Jesus' most beautiful Name.  Amen. 

Pray over these Scriptures.  Listen for God to speak through them.  They are faith builders!

A Year of Hope

The world around us is in turmoil.  Hatred and strife and distrust abound.  The pandemic hangs on with talons that won't relent.  The world seems restless, and most especially, hopeless.  But as Christians we know better.  We know there is more.  It's just sometimes we forget and we get caught up in the sadness and strife around us.  The Lord tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.  Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.  We are not to live in restlessness and hopelessness as the rest of the world.  We are not to be filled with hatred and fuel disorder.  

Today, as I looked out the window at the woods across the street I saw the deadness of winter.  The grass brown, the trees leafless, the sky gray and cold.  But the Lord reminded me of another tree.  A tree that will never go without leaves and fruit.  The tree of life.  Revelation 22:1-2  Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  It flowed down the center of the main street.  On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month.  The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.  

There is a day coming when all will be made right.  When death and sin will no longer hold sway over our hearts and the world around us.  The One known as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) will return and bring life, justice, judgement and restoration.  Look what the next verse in Isaiah tells us: 10 His government and its peace will never end.  He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity.  The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!

Hope lives.  There will come a day of eternal spring.  No longer will we fall under the winter of sin and death.  Oh, what a mighty, awesome God we serve!  

Revelation 22:7 "Look, I am coming soon!  Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.  

Revelation 22:12 Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20b)   Hallelujah!

Lord, thank Your for the message of hope.  We need not look around in fear and anxiousness.  Instead we fix our eyes on You and the hope of heaven and the promise of Jesus' return.  Lord, you've given us the task of sharing this hope and revealing Your message to the world.  We know that not all will turn to You, but we pray for You to prepare hearts before us to receive Your salvation.  Lord, give us boldness this year to live out this hope and share it with all around us.  The time is short.  We must be about our Father's business.  Lord, give us a holy fire, and a passionate heart for the lost.  Lord, I lack here.  I confess to You my complacency.  Forgive me and help me.  And thank You for the hope that lives in me.  Come Lord Jesus!  Amen.

Read the book of Revelation this year.   Be prepared, be about His work.