DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE BEING A GLOVE?

We are all a glove whether we want to be or not.  I will be honest with you, there have been times I wanted to hang a sign out that said, "GLOVE NOT IN USE".  We will never be able to do that because every day we use our hands for good or for bad. 

Each morning when we rise we need to ask the Lord to let us be the glove in which he places his hand.  When we do that we are giving up our will to the Lord.  We will be allowing him to have control.  It will not be what I want to do that day but what the Lord would have me to do.  If we do not ask the Lord to wear the glove then we will be allowing someone else to wear the glove. 

Have you ever allowed bitterness to slide his hand into the glove?   As you go through the day and you begin to dwell on the thing that caused you bitterness, you attack some object and destroy it.  The reason we do this is because we allowed bitterness to wear the glove that day.

Have you ever allowed hatred to slide his hand into the glove?  We read or hear on the news daily of people who murdered someone.  What if they had awoked that morning and allowed the Lord to wear the glove that day instead of hatred.  Not only would the life be saved but also the agony of the person that wore the glove would have been saved. 

What about the glove of rejection?  This glove allows the hand to go right out in front of the person as if to says, "Oh no buddy, don't you think that you will be crossing that line" or "talk to the hand because the face don't understand".  Many times we feel that we have the right to wear this glove.  When we allow rejection to slide his hand into our glove, are we just hurting the people that hurt us or are innocent people being hurt?  What about yourself, have you ever wore the glove of rejection only to realize that the glove didn't fit?  The glove was so tight that it ended up wounding you far more than it did the other person.

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
 kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;


Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another,
 if any man have a quarrel against any:
even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
And above all these things put on charity,
which is the bond of perfectness.

Colosians 3:12-14

SHAKE IT OFF

There are times in life that I am faced with situations that seem much larger than myself  I will let them get the upper hand on me sometimes when the main thing that I am needing to do is get a new prospective.  There have been times that I would bury myself in the well of despair for days, weeks and sometimes months.  Was this necessary?  No, not at all  If I would get a new prospective I could easy overcome the well of despair but sometimes I just feel stuck.  This story was in our lesson Sunday and a perfect example to us of what we need to do when we find ourselves in the well of despair.

There was once a farmer who had a donkey that fell into an old abandoned well.  The farmer couldn't figure out what to do.  He finally called all his neighbors to come over and it was soon decided that the donkey was old and useless.  The owner agreed since there was no way to get him out that they would all get shovels and bury the donkey in the old abondoned well. 

As all the neighbors bagan to shovel dirt into the well the donkey began to cry and wail but soon they could no longer hear him crying out.  The farmer looked into the well and to his surpirse with every shovelful of dirt that hit the old donkey's back, the donkey would shake his back and the dirt would fall to the bottom of the well, and the donkey would take a step up.

The neighbors kept shoveling the dirt in and the donkey kept shaking the dirt off and stepping up.  Eventually the well was nearly full and the donkey shook the last of the dirt off his back, took a step up and walked right out of the well.

I can actually remember a time where I had been in the well of despair for years.  I wrote in my daytimer that on a certain date that I had finally reached to top of the well and was able to crawl out.  I could see the top of the well for months but I couldn't seem to be able to get out of the well of despair.  As I speak with people now I am able to tell them that the main thing is to keep taking steps forward.  Never standing still, and never going even one step backwards.  It may take you months or years to get our of the well of depair, but keep moving forward.  One day you will be able to walk out of the well just like the donkey did.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:

for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,

which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

James 1:12

DON’T SETTLE FOR ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER

Why do we settle for artificial Christianity when we could have the real thing? Is it that we haven’t tasted the real thing in so long that we don’t even know what it taste like anymore?

Steve and I started using artificial sweetner many years ago in our tea. When I go to a restaurant that serves good tea, I remember what I have been missing all those years. McCallister Deli has the best tea ever and when sugar is added to their tea I wonder why I don’t drive to Odessa once a week and get 10 gallons of tea to take home with me. I’m sure our doctor would not agree with that but none the less I think I could become addicted to their tea.

Once we go weeks without the sugar in our drinks and become accustomed to the artificial sweetener, we forget what it was actually like. Are we setting for 2nd best with the Lord also? Has it been so long that you have gone without him that you forget exactly what he is really like? Has our churches slowly but surely over the centuries walked away from the true church? We know that we have but now the question is, “who knows what the true church is really supposed to be?” The Lord gives many examples of what the church isn’t supposed to be.

Let’s look at Psalms 19: 1-10 and let’s ask ourselves this question. When others look at our lives do they see that Christ is more to be desired than much fine gold? If they don’t we might want to see what is wrong with the way we are portraying Christ. Are your friends satisfied with seeing you being an artificial sweetener of Christ or are they asking for the real thing? This has been the cry of many youth in the 21st Century. We are hearing that they want the real thing. Let’s search our hearts and go back to the real thing so others will desire to see Christ whom is sweeter than the honeycomb and much to be desired.

PSALMS 19

The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart:

the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever:

the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:

sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

WEDDING BAND SHOWS GOD'S ETERNAL LOVE

You might ask how God’s love can possibly be like a ring? The Gold in a ring represents God’s purity. A ring is unlike other objects, in that it doesn't have a starting point or an ending point. This reminds me of God’s eternal nature.

John 1:1-3 

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him;

and without him was not any thing made

that was made.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth

  God ‘s love is everlasting. His love will never end. He knew us before we were born and he loved us.  He knew us after we were born and he loved us.  He knows every single bad thing we will do during our lifetime and his love still didn't change.  He loves us no matter what.  You can place your finger on a ring and go around it 1000 times and never find a stopping place. This is how much that God loves us. This ring shows who he is.  He had no beginning and no end. 

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endureth to all generations.

PSALMS 100:5



GOD'S TELEPHONE NUMBER

 

As parents and grandparents we teach our children the importance of knowing their home phone number or cell phone number. We also teach them how to dial 911 in case of an emergency. It's important for them to know how to find their house and how to tell the police their address in case they get lost. There are many things children need to learn about safety.

When I was a very young child my mother taught me how to find my way home and what my address was but she didn’t stop there. My mother knew the importance of my knowing how to call and find my way to the Lord Jesus Christ during a crisis. She continually would ask me what the Lord’s telephone number was. I think it is important that we instill this into our children’s lives.

To this very day if I find myself in a crisis I am reminded to call on the Lord. This is the precious verse my mother repeatedly taught me so I would have access to my Father, God, at all times.

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. (Jeremiah 33:3)

 

 

LIFE IS LIKE A PIANO

 

Our lives are like a piano. As a pianist I have learned the value of the things I do in my life. The choices I make the places I go, and the things I do, are important.

In order for me to play the piano correctly it takes a lot of practice. I wasn't given a natural talent for music and there have been times the Lord and I have had deep discussions about this topic. My heart longs to be able to sit down and play any music put before me, but I'm afraid that just isn't going to happen in my lifetime.

I did learn through some very rough years in my life that whatever I put into that piano is what I would get out of it. If I never practiced, I couldn't play. If I practiced a lot, I could play well.

I remember praying and asking the Lord to continually soften my heart. Not make me a doormat for others to walk on but to take the bitterness out of my soul. Each day I would sit and play the piano for hours. I soon found if I was angry I might start out playing angry notes but as long as it took to soften my heart is how long I stayed at that piano.

My heart was pretty hard and angry so therefore I had to spend hours upon hours each week playing that piano.

After many years of playing the piano for hours every day and talking to the Lord about my deep sorrow and deep anger, I realized slowly but surely my heart was being healed from all the sorrow and anger.

One day I was sitting at the piano, and a God thing happened. You can ask anyone who knows a lot about my piano playing I do not play by ear. Those who hear me play in public believe I could sit and play just about anything. What they don't know is it takes hours upon hours of practice for me to play one little song. Now once I play that song, I have it down for the rest of my life.

 As I was sitting at the piano one day, the Lord gave me a song. If you were to listen to this piano piece of this song you probably would say it was written from a person that has extreme peace in their heart.

This would be true but the story and words behind the song is that of great grief, anger, sorrow, suffering and despair. It took me two years to work the bad stuff out of my heart for my fingers to be able to play the song I wrote.

The words began to flow from my mouth and my fingers began to play a soothing piece of music "Lord I'll Follow You"

We are all going to play a song with our lives whether we want to or not. It can be one of destruction, anger, and despair or one of peace, contentment and joy.

 Some of the trials I experienced in 2002 - 2004 were horrible. Never wanting to recall that experience, but knowing now had I not gone through this time, I wouldn't have seen the importance of continually digging a well.

There are conflicts we face daily that we have to stop and ask ourselves, "What tune do I want the ending note of my piece of music to be?"

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

IF YOU RUN WITH A SKUNK YOU WILL SMELL LIKE ONE

Do you ever feel like you should be the one in control of your life? Do you feel that others try to keep you from having fun? Do you feel you are man/woman enough to do things that some people warn you about? This is something I have heard many people say.

We have often heard how that other people influence our lives and we might agree with that with our whole heart. We might even go so far in this belief that we would never hang out with those the drink alcohol, do drugs or sleep around with other people. We consider them to be living immorally. Yet at the same time we may be pulling away from others and isolating ourselves in a room with a computer, tv or magazine looking at sexually explicit information. Others are not seeing what you are doing. You truly think you are getting away with this but I speak with woman on a regular basis that say,”I have felt so dirty for so long and couldn’t put my finger on it”. Others say, “I have no self-esteem left and really don’t know why.” We don’t fully know why woman feel the way they do except for the fact if you run with a skunk you are going to smell like him. He may be disguising himself to look like a businessman, city leader, youth director or pastor but if he is looking at sexually explicit information he is eventually going to start smelling like a skunk. If you are hanging with him, you also will be sprayed with the horrible fragrance.

You might say, “I didn’t ask for this”, or “I didn’t know he was doing this”. It doesn’t matter satan doesn’t care if you innocently walk upon the skunk or if you lay in the bed with this bad boy. The bottom line is, satan loves for Christians to smell like a skunk. He loves for that smell to bleed over onto other peoples lives even if they are innocent. Have you ever walked up to a skunk and heard him say, “hey there young lady/man how would you like to smell just like me”? No, it isn’t going to happen. You aren’t even going to realize many times that the skunk is hiding in the bush. Once you have been sprayed by the skunk, it isn’t easy to get rid of the disgusting smell. If it’s on your shoes, you must get rid of the shoes. If the smell is on your shirt, then you must get rid of the shirt. The problem with sexually explicit pictures is the smell is left on your heart and your mind. You might even say, “I did that weeks ago, why are you upset with me now”. The answer is, you still have the smell on you and I can’t stand it.” Ask these ladies going through this and I promise they will agree.

The next question is, how do I get rid of my heart and my mind? How do I get the smell off of my children? How do I get the smell off of my wife? Lord knows we can’t destroy those items. Does this mean that we are stuck with this ungodly smell the rest of our lives? First of all, for those of you who haven’t been sprayed by this disgusting creature, run as fast as you can in the other direction. The smell is so disgusting that it even irrates people that you try to hang out with. You might get accustomed to the smell but I promise you those that love you will never get accustomed to it.

I receive phone call, letters and text of woman that are sick and tired of having to live with the smell day in and day out. It has destroyed their marriages and relationship with their children. Many times the person that is hanging out with the skunk will blame somebody else for them not having a relationship with their own children. They feel others placed a wall up when in reality the children can smell the sinch of the skunk. They may not know what’s wrong, but they know something doesn’t smell quite right. This pushes the person further back to themselves because nobody wants to smell like them and they feel more and more rejected.

Romans 13: 1-13

1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God:

the powers that be are ordained of God.

2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they t

hat resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?

do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid;

 for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God,

a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers,

 attending continually upon this very thing.

7 ¶ Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due;

custom to whom custom; fear towhom fear; honour to whom honour.

8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:

 for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal,

 Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet;

and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,

 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 ¶ And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:

for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness,

and let us put on the armour of light.

13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness,

not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

PINATA REVEALS THE TRUTH

   This week we spent several days making piñata.  Therefore it doesn't surprise me that it was one of the choices for doing a devotion.

   The first step to building a piñata is to blow a balloon up.  This balloon represents our heart.  It is soft and pliable.  The balloon will blow in the direction you blow it and when our heart is soft the same is true.  When the Holy Spirit moves in our lives then we are willing to go where he tells us. 

   Each day we would mix flour and water to make a paste.  We would soak a piece of newspaper in the flour and water until it was gummy.  One piece at a time we would place the newspaper strips onto the balloon.  The newspaper tells of all the things in this world and how we allow others to influence us to do some of the things that are written on the pages. 

   At first the balloon was still soft and pliable.  The next day we would go through the same process of dipping the newspaper into the gummy flour and adding it to the balloon. 

   The second day the balloon was still soft and pliable. 

   The third day we added another layer of wet gummy newspapers to the balloon and set it outside to dry. 

   The fourth day, we walked outside and suddenly we could see a change in our pliable balloon.  It was no longer soft.  The balloon was now hard.  It was amazing at how hard it had become.  When we hit it with our hands it actually hurt our hand. 

   The balloon that once was easily directed with just our breath had now become impossible to move when we blew air onto it. 

   As we are going through life we need to make sure that we do not allow people to put all the filth from the world into our hearts.

   We may not even realize that our hearts are getting harder and harder every time we allow the worldly things to enter in. 

   One day we will wake up and realize that we have allow ourselves to be hardened.  When the Lord tries to speak to us, we can't even hear him.  There is only one way to get our hearts back to where it needs to be. 

    A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God .I will also save you from all your uncleanness: (Ezekiel 36:26-29)

 

ONE DOOR BUT YET IT'S TWO

One door and only one and yet it's sides are two.  Inside and outside and which side are you?  God is standing on the outside of the door and he is knocking.  The door is your heart.  He will not force you to open the door, but he does ask that you do.  Has there been times in your life that you just wanted the Lord in someone's life so badly.  We all want our freedom for ourselves and don't want anyone bardging in but there are times that we see the Lord is letting others live their lives in such an aweful way that we almost want to say, "Lord, why don't you just walk into their lives and take over?  Make them turn around from what they are doing.  Make them serve you.  Do you know of any instance where the Lord demanded that you serve him?  No, it just doesn't happen.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:

if any man hear my voice,

and open the door,

I will come in to him,

and will sup with him,

and he with me.

Revelation 3:20

 

 

You may have done some really bad things in your life and think that the Lord will not want to enter in.  Jesus said, "My grace is suffienct for thee".  Grace is receiving something that I don't deserve.  In the story of the prodigal son, we see that the son was mean to his father.  We see the prodigal son took his inheritance and spent it on parties and woman and all sorts of ungodly things.  When the prodical son came home his father ran out to the road and gave him a big hug.  It seemed as if the father was watching down the road for his son.  When Jesus knocked on the door, the only thing the prodical son had to do was open the door.  The father welcomed him back and so did the Lord.  

All you need to do is to open the door and let the saviour in. 

SOUL OF MAN IS LIKE A SHIP

Iridian's choice of objects for our devotion today was a ship that I have in my livingroom.  The ship is brown and has lots of sails on the top of it.  You might ask, "How can my soul be like a ship"?

A ship sets sail out on the ocean.  This great ship may travels weeks and the waves are perfect.  The water is great and the fishing is even better. The sails on this great ship have been raised and set in the direction the ship plans on going.   All of a sudden the sky starts to darken, the captain orders his men to drop the sails.  If the men on the ship refuse to do so, the sails will be ripped apart by the winds.  The captain knows exactly what this ship needs to do in order to survive this great storm.  The captain once again calls out the orders to lower the sails.  The men follow the orders of the captain because they know this captain has seen many storms in his life and he can look at the clouds and know what his crew is facing. 

The ship is our lives, Jesus is the captain of our ship, and the Holy Spirit is the sails.  The Holy Spirit directs our path and helps us to keep on course.  Once the sails have been lowered because of the strong winds, the captain calls out, "lower the anchor".  The captain is aware that the storm is getting stronger and stronger by the minute and if the anchor isn't dropped then the waves will toss the ship in directions that  will cause our ship to hit up against rocks and reefs that will cause damage to the ships hull.  If the anchors are dropped the ship will be able to stay in that one location until the storm passes over.

God is our anchor.  He is unmoveable, unchangeable, undefeatable, and no matter how bad the storms get he can keep us stable and keep us from getting destroyed by the trials and tribulations in our lives.    If people come along and ask us to set our sails in the wrong direction, we need to remind them that we are anchored in the Lord and that is where we plan to stay.  We never need to raise the sails back up on our ship until the storms are over.  When the storms pass we can slowly lift our sails which is the Holy Spirit and once again we can ask him to guide us in the right direction.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.

For he that wavereth is like a wave

of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

James 1:6

MY LIFE IS LIKE A TELEVISION, MY HEART THE REMOTE CONTROL

Mateo decide today that he wanted me to tell him how my life can be like a television.   I began to ponder the thought and was pretty clueless at first.  Suddenly I realized that my life is definitely like a television.  My heart is the remote control.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,

choose you this day whom ye will serve;

whether the gods which your fathers served

that were on the other side of the flood,

or the gods of the Amorites,

in whose land ye dwell:
but as for me and my house,

 we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15

Each day that I go through life I have a choice of which channel I will set my life on.  My heart being the remote control and me being the only one that can change the channel I realized just how great of a responsibility that I have to the world around me. 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;

and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33

 

The very first station we should turn on in the morning is the Lord.   We are the ones in control of the remote so when others come into our lives during the day and try to change our attitude by planting anger, fear, doubt, and worry we are given a choice.  I can leave my heart on the channel I set it on to begin my day or I can change the channel.  I might say, "at work today Johnny made me so angry."  This really isn't a correct statement.  What really took place is at work Johnny said something and my mind began to process the thought but Johnny wasn't the one that changed my channel.  I was given a choice and if I allow anger to creep into my heart then I wes the one that changed the channel.   I need to take responsiblity because I was the one that brought the anger on myself. 

 

At the very moment that Johnny said something I began to process the thought.  I could choose to be angry with Johnny or to forgive Johnny.  I also could talk to Johnny and see if I misunderstood what he was actually saying.  If I choose to change the channel and let anger be what shows on my television then that is what the world we see.  As I begin to process what Johnny is saying I can leave the channel on the one that I set the remote on early that morning or I can change it.  If I decide to change the channel then I need to choose another Godly channel such as Philippians 4:8 states.

 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,

whatsoever things are honest,

 whatsoever things are just,

whatsoever things are pure,

whatsoever things are lovely,

whatsoever things are of good report;

if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,

think on these things.

Those things, which ye have both learned,

and received, and heard, and seen in me, do:

and the God of peace shall be with you.

Philippians 4:8

SOLAR LIGHTS SHOW HOW MUCH WE NEED THE SON

I have a lot of solar lights in my front yard and also around the top, of my above the ground swimming pool. I am able to go out at dark and swim and see very well because of all the solar lights.

One thing I learned about solar lights is if they don't receive the sun rays, they will not shine at night. Our lives are the same as the solar lights. We can live our lives without believing in God and studying his word, without praying and attending church. When the dark times come into our lives, the light of Christ will not be there to guide us through the trials.

We also have friends and families that might be going through a very hard time. We might pick up our light and run to them and want to help them through their trials. Once again if we get there and our light isn't shinning, what have we accomplished?

In order to fully help those in need we need to allow ourselves to sit under the son and absorb his love and compassion. When we get ready to help others they will be able to see the light of Jesus shining through us. Praying diligently we may be able to share Jesus and help them through hard times.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

A DAISY CAN HELP YOU MAKE GOOD DECISIONS

Walking down the road with two children that I was keeping for the day, one of the girls asked me to do a devotion on a daisy. I began to tell here a daisy is a beautiful flower that has a deep brown center and the yellow petal. This flower grows wild all around our alley and when we go walking on the back road it is covered in these beautiful daisies.

Each daisy has a small button in the middle called a stigma and we decided that the small button would represent Jesus Christ. As we hold a daisy in our hands there is a stem with which the flower receives nourishment and the stem represents God. Without God in our lives we wouldn't have nourishment. We wouldn't be able to hold our head up tall and face life. The button or stigma which represents Jesus Christ is on every one of these flowers. If you were to take this little button out of the middle of the daisy then our lives would fall apart just as the petals did when we pulled the center out.

One of the children ask me, "How do you know when you are choosing right and when you a making the wrong decision? It's very simple. If someone is leading you toward Christ you know the center of your life is stable and will continue to hold together. But if someone such as our friends, cousins, teachers, television show, video games or anyone or anything else starts leading us away from Jesus Christ then they will cause the center of the flower to be removed. When Jesus is no longer the center of our lives then we will find the petals start blowing away in the wind.

One day you will find yourself empty and in need of Jesus Christ in your life because of allowing the world to convince you that you no longer need Jesus.

Many times we don't understand enough to cry out to God and ask for him to heal us and take care of us and to restore those petals and we try to keep living our lives without the Lord.

What happens if other things become the center of your life? If it's money and the money system fails, then you will have nothing to stand on. 

 If it's your mother or father and they pass away, you will find yourself lost and empty. Let Jesus be the center of your flower so all the other areas of your life with stay in place just as the petals on this beautiful daisy. The only way the daisy can stay healthy is because it is being fed by the heavenly father.

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:17)

CHILDREN ARE MUCH LIKE GRASS

Since this is the second devotion I was challenged within one day, it may be a bit shorter than normal. Our yard is filled with nice green grass due to the wonderful rain we received not too long ago, and much watering. There are many types of grass in our neighborhood. Some people have Bermuda, and others have fescue. There is a difference in both of these types of grass. Each types of grass require water and without it, the grass would not survive. About every six weeks we must put fertilizer on the grass. If we fail to care for the grass properly it will die.


Children are much like the grass in our yard. If they are left to themselves, they will not survive. Children must be cared for daily in order to grow properly. Children must be shaped and trimmed on a regular basis. The shaping and trimming will enhance proper growth to the grass. The grass requires a good root system, as our children require this also. The most important thing is the watering system. Jesus Christ is the Living Water and our children needs to have a steady watering daily of the Word of God.

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge

of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

To him be glory both now and for ever.

Amen.

II Peter 3:18

THE OAK TREE

Today Iridian started out as soon as she arrived at my house. She said, "today the devotion is on the oak tree in my yard."   She pondered and thought a little while and said, “actually I think today is the day you will start doing two devotions a day.” Now if it was the Lord telling me that I’d be saying, “seriously Lord I can’t do that, I barely could do one a week before last week and now I’m doing one a day”. How could I possibly get two a day completed. I found it’s much easier to verbally come up with a devotion and tell it to a small child than it is to sit down here and type one up before telling it out loud. Out of the mouths of babes the Lord speaketh. There is no doubt because I just can’t tell this precious child no. She informed me that she would pick the second object after I finished the first.

The old oak tree stands in my yard summer, winter, spring and fall. No matter what is taking place with the weather it continues to stand. Although this oak tree doesn’t always look the same. There are many times that people drive by and see the oak tree and its leaves are green and vibrant. They are blowing in the wind and everyone is amazed by its beauty. During this time the tree represents the summer. Everything is going great and we are showing our true color.

But as we all have trials in our lives and there are always storms that blow against us, the same is true for the oak tree. When the cooler weather comes and the storms beat against the tree its leaves turn yellow and then brown and start to drop to the ground. The tree is still an oak tree but when you look at it, it’s not quite as beautiful as before, due to all the bad elements hitting against it.

Then even colder weather comes and the storms blow the freezing rain against the oak tree. All the leaves have fallen to the ground and this tree just stands there totally bare. There is really no beauty left in the oak tree. When you look at the tree you can remember the day that it was strong and filled with joy and happiness and its leaves with vibrant and green blowing in the wind. Those times have passed and now the tree is sad and looks so lonely and bare. It still has the same limbs and the same roots the same as we still have Jesus living inside of us but for this season the bad things have affected our lives.

Then the warmer weather comes and the oak tree starts feeling much better. He begins to smile and thank the Lord that he made it through all the storms and the bad times. He begins to feel vibrant and feel that before long the Lord will allow people to have picnics under his branches once again. The children will run and play and the sun will smile down upon it. It will start to sprout out new leaves and they will grow and look so beautiful. It feels so wonderful to once again have leaves growing and blowing in the wind.

Our lives are like the oak tree. We will all go through the seasons and people will look at us and at times they will see we look sad and almost gone. There will be other times that we look vibrant and beautiful. We must always remember that if we are in the winter, the spring is coming and then the summer. We don’t have to stay in the fall and winter months. We have something to look forward to.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in
n the seat of the scornful But his delight is in the law of the LORD;

and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

\And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shll not wither;

and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so:

but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous:

but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalms Chapter 1

MY HEART IS LIKE A HOUSE

If Jesus came to visit in your home today what would you think?  When others look at your life and see you, do they say, "wow she/he keeps her/his life amazingly clean?  Jesus searches even the smallest area's of our heart and ask us to make sure it is clean. 

When Jesus came for a visit as he walks into the living room he sees that everything is in perfect order.  Ah the place where you have invited guest to join you and you have shared the Word of God together.  Yes, this room has been taken very good care of.  Lots of attention and detail has gone into this room to make sure it is clean. 

Then he walks into the kitchen.  This room also has been cleaned and everything is in place.  The area where you have served the Lord by giving food, drinks and sharing the Love of Christ with others.  Yet even doing all of that Jesus notices how remarkably clean this area of your heart is.

He enters into one bedroom and then the other bedroom.  The place where you can stash and hide things from your mom, dad, sister, brother or if you are married, maybe your husband or wife.  The place you go to rest and get away from all the chaos of life.  Once again Jesus states how clean you have been able to keep these two rooms.  Even under the beds and the closets are clean.  Not one dirty sock under the bed or in the closet. 

The bathroom is next with all the mirrors and glass that is so hard to keep clean.  All of the scale from the hard water starts to collect on the vanity but Jesus notices that you have went into every room including the bathroom and cleaned each room until they sparkled. 

As Jesus is about to leave your house and tell you how great of a job you have done at keeping it clean he notices a door.  Jesus has been inside of your home on a regular basis and each time you show him every room except for whatever is behind that door.  Now why would someone show Jesus their whole house and not show him what is inside of that one room. 

Jesus gently looks at you and says,   "__________, let's open the door to this room.  Your heart rate immediately goes high.  You start to panic.  Jesus has never asked to enter inside of this room before.  You say, "Jesus, this door is locked and I don't ever unlock it."  Jesus says, "__________ today we need to go inside of this room."  Nausea sets in.  This is the room that you haven't even walked into for many years yourself.  This is the room that you hid all that stuff in that you didn't ever want anyone to see much less the Lord Jesus Christ.  Once again the Lord says, "_______________ hand me the key so we can open this door.  We will go inside together.  "You see, my child we are going to clean this room."  It is very hard to open your hand and place the key inside of Jesus' hand and allow him to open the door.  But to have a clean heart it's the same as having a clean house.  If every room is clean except for one, your house isn't totally clean.  Jesus wants you to hand him the key so he can help you, not so he can hurt you.  He truly wants to set you free and make you completely clean. 

Psalms 51: 1-4

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:

according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions:

and my sin is ever before me.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD

The Lord made himself real and put the most awesome bible lesson right before our eyes.   Today was going to be a day of shopping for school clothes. Each year our church usually finds someone to reach out and help with school supplies or clothing. There were several children that we would be purchasing school clothes for this year. I prayed the Lord would lead us and guide us. That he would not allow us to go where we wanted to but that we would go where he knew we could get the best prices for the money we had brought. When I arrived at my friends house I was suprised.  She had a stack of coupons and said let's start at Kohl's.  I was all for it because I had specifically asked the Lord to guide us. 

After over an hour of shopping for all the kids, it was time to check out. We headed for the cash register. Standing in line the ladies that went with me realized there was another register with a shorter line so we decided to switch. The manager had previously given my friend six $10.00 off coupons for us to use.  The lady started running up the totals and it was around $250.00. We had brought several coupons other than the ones the manager had given to us.  The lady started taking them and scanning them. Then she picked up a couple that were outdated and we let her know they were outdated. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh well".  After all was said and done, she gave us the total. The whole amount should have been $658.00 before the sales, coupons and discount cards. We looked at the register and it said $110.00. I asked the lady, "Ma'am will you not get into trouble for what you just did". She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh well, I'm not going to be working here much longer". Shocked by her response I paid out. My friend and I walked outside and both agreed that we really have a bad feeling about leaving the store knowing that we had just received $658.00 work of clothes for a little more than $100.00.  I took all the bags to the vehicle and my friend headed back inside and showed the manager. She told him we can bring the stuff back inside and see what we really owe the store as we knew it was round $200.00. She explained that we didn't want to this young girl in trouble but we really feel badly about the whole thing. Then manager said ,"just one moment and walked to the register and wrote something down and said, "ok". My friend thinks, "ok what?". He said, "ok that's all". Seriously it's ok?   When you know that you know that the Lord just took something and multiplied it that much you realize he can do that at any given moment.  Will he do it on our command?  No, but when he chooses to, don't you want to be the one to get to experience it?

We had prayed and he had answered but honestly our mouths were open in awe that he answered in such an amazing way. God still can take five loaves and two fish and feed the multitude. Because of what he did in that store it allowed us to go to another store and purchase six pairs of shoes also. One of the reasons we don’t see God move in a mighty way sometimes is because we don’t walk in faith trusting him to meet the needs of others. Many times we are being selfish and asking God to meet our needs. Step out in faith and go the extra mile for someone else and see how God blesses you. He is God, he can do those things.

MATTHEW 14: 14-20

14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude,

and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him,

saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past;

send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages,

and buy themselves victuals.

16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart;

give ye them to eat.

17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves,

 and two fishes.

18 He said, Bring them hither to me.

19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass,

and took the five loaves, and the two fishes,

 and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake,

and gave the loaves to his disciples,

and the disciples to the multitude.

20 And they did all eat, and were filled:

and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

LESSON'S ON FORGIVENESS THROUGH A PIECE OF WOOD

Today our bible lesson was about a piece of wood. A piece of wood can be much like our heart. You may say, "my heart isn't anything like a piece of wood". As we take a moment to study this piece of wood you will see exactly how your heart is like wood.

There was a old man who lived all by himself at the corner of town. When everyone looked at this old man they thought of someone with love, respect and honor. He had done many bad things when he was a younger man but after many years he came to know Jesus as his Saviour.  He had asked the Lord to cleanse him of all those sins.  The Lord promised that he would remove the man's sins, so the man was clean in God's eyes.

As this old man would sit on his porch in the old rocking chair he would think back on all those bad things that he had done as a young man. He didn't like the sad feeling that it left in his heart. He knew the Lord had forgiven him but he still felt bad that he had allowed those things into his heart.

We are much like this man. We go through life and we might tell a lie and as we hammer this nail into the wood we see that it represents a lie. A few days later we say a really bad word, and another nail is hammered into the wood. A week later we steal something and a third nail goes into the wood. Before long we look at the piece of wood and it is full of nails. Some of them are old and rusty and some are new and shinny. It doesn't matter how pretty of a nail it is, we don't want it in our hearts.

One day we ask Jesus to forgive us of all those terrible things that we have done. One by one Jesus pulls the nails out of our heart. Do you know where he puts them? He said he will cast them into the sea. This is a place where we can't go and get them back. They are forever gone.

He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us;

he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins

into the depths of the sea.

Micah 7:19

When we pull all of those nails out of the wood we can throw them away but there is one thing that we can't throw away and that is the memory of the bad things. We look at the piece of wood and we see all those ugly holes left in it. We might say, why would we still have all those memories left in our mind if Jesus got rid of all the sins? The reason is because we need to look and see what it has done to us so we will never want to have to go through it again. We don't want to grow old like the little man in our story and be sorrowful for all the bad things we did in the past. We want to ask Jesus to help us not to ever put the nails into our hearts. We need to ask him to give us strength to say no to sin.

Psalms 34:13-17

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous,
and his ears are open unto their cry.

The face of the LORD is against them that do evil,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth,
and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;



YOUR GREATEST NEED

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:

and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh

 you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

I Peter 3; 15

This scripture has been brought to life this week as each day I am challenged to give a devotion off the top of my head. I had no idea that the Lord would use a small child to challenge me in such a great way. 

Today I thought I was going to squeeze through the day without Iridian thinking about doing a devotion. Not that I would mind reading her one but she likes to choose an item and have me give her a devotion based off that one item. The later the day got the more I realized she had forgotten. She waited until late in the afternoon. We were out in the pool and she says, “It time!”. “Time for what was my response” “It’s time for a devotion and today our devotion is about water”.

Water is something we must have to live. Our bodies are about 90% water. Some of the water is in our blood cells and some of it is outside our blood cells. We have water in our plasma and water in the tissues of our body. There is water in our organs and even in our joints. Sometimes we feel that we can go without water and when we try, we soon find out that it is something we our bodies require.  We feel we can live our lives sometimes without Christ dwelling inside of us but just as our bodies require the water, our bodies also requires the living water in order to have eternal life.  We gather water from many sources. The moisture in the air keeps our skin moist and healthy. When we bath our skin absorbs water and we drink water daily to stay healthy.

If there were never a God then water wouldn’t have been created and thus you and I wouldn’t have life. We think we would like to remove God from schools, businesses and even our nation but if we did we would be asking him to leave us to ourselves. He is the one that sends the rain, sends the dew, and fills our lakes and rivers. When we ask him to leave, we are saying that we can survive on our own. We are saying that we as mankind can create our own water source. We are very intelligent people and can create many things but the one thing that mankind hasn’t learned to create is water. We can see how important water is so we need to remember that Jesus Christ is as important as the water we drink. He is the Living Water and the provider of our greatest need.

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him,

and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

For in him we live, and move, and have our being;

 as certain also of your own poets have said,

For we are also his offspring.

Acts 17:27-28

LEARNING THE TRINITY THROUGH COOKING

If I was thinking this week I would write one blog or devotion I certainly found out differently today. Iridian and Mateo stayed the day over at our house again today. About half way through the day Iridian said, ”Ok, time for a bible lesson” Once again it would be an object that she got to choose. So here we are in the kitchen making six very large pans of cookies for all the children that attend our Wednesday night services. This time Iridian said, “ok, I will make it easy on you. This time you get to pick the object and tell the story about anything we see while we are cooking”.


This girl wants to challenge me. I’m wondering if the Lord sent her here this week to pick up the speed of devotions. I thought once a week was doing good and sometimes I post twice a week. Today she informed me that we will be doing a spur of the moment devotion every day this week since she’s coming every day until Friday. I think she loves to see that panic look on my face.

Since we were making Oatmeal Chocolate Chip bars I looked around to find the best item on the cabinet to turn into a devotion. There were eggs in the carton so today’s devotion was easier since I did one on this as a children’s lesson a few months ago.

An egg has three parts, the outer shell, the egg white and the yoke. Although it is made of three parts, it is just one egg. This is much like the trinity. The trinity is made up of God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son. Although they are three parts they are also one. When we look at the egg in the carton we can not see the egg white or the egg yoke. The same is true when we look at the trinity. No man has ever seen God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. The shell on the egg has to be broken before we can even get to the egg white and the egg yoke. The same is true with God the Son who is Jesus. We know that Jesus lived and walked on the earth. He was able to be seen with the human eye. Jesus Christ also had to be broken for our sins. The only way possible for us to see God the Father and God the Holy Spirit was for God the Son to be cracked or broken for us.

Jesus Christ did that very thing when he laid down his life and died on the cross for our sins. All we have to do is believe and trust in him in order to have eternal life. When we put our trust in him we will know God the Holy Spirit and he will live in us. One day God the Father will return for his children and we will go to spend eternity in heaven.

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

DO YOU HAVE A BALANCED LIFE?

Today there were two of the church kids visiting in our home.  We were standing out in the front yard and Iridian said, "Sherry, do you remember the Sunday you taught chirldren's lesson about the feathers you found in your front yard?"  "Yes Iridian I remember teaching you about the eagle and how we are to wait on the Lord."  Iridian said, " over there is a balance and I would like for you to tell me a bible story about that balance".  "Wow seriously Iridian, in 5 seconds you want me to tell you a bible story about an object in my yard".  She giggled and said, "so what will it be"?

The balance in my front yard has a hummingbird on one side and a flower with a ball on the oposite side.  It stands about three and a half feet tall and teeters in the wind.  This was a gift from my son, Josh for mothers day.  I watch it during a rain storm and on windy days and I am amazed at how it stays on the slim little pole no matter what.   

So here was the story I told Iridian about the balance in my front yard.  One day there was a man that lived his life without God.  As we removed the ball from the center of the flower you could plainly see that the hummingbird lost its balance.  The little hummingbird was falling and swaying in the wind.  If the storms came along at this point  the hummingbird would loose its balance and fall to the ground.  One day the man heard about Jesus and he asked Jesus to come live in his heart.  As I placed the ball into the flower I said, when the empty spot was filled the man had balance in his life for the first time.

As the storms came and hit against the man and the winds blew and tried to knock him over, he was able to keep his balance all because of what he had placed into his heart.  We are all like this man, if we don't have Jesus in our hearts then when the storms come and spin us around we also will not be able to stand.  You see Iridian it is very important to let Jesus be in the center of our lives.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;

and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Rom 10:10

 

“Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:

 for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
II Peter 1:10

None of us want to be like Nebucahnezzer in Daniel 5:27 Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

Thanks to Iridian for opening my eyes to something that was right before me every day and yet I had never seen before.

CASTING SEEDS INSTEAD OF PLANTING THEM

Where there is no vision, the people perish:

but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29: 18

If we do not have a vision for our future, we will not take the time to cast seeds out. The vision for our children, their children and other peoples children needs to be real. I’m not even sure we can have the same vision as we have had in the past. Maybe we need to pray and ask the Lord to give us a new vision. We are dealing with children that grew up in a totally different culture than the one we were raised in. We need to pray and ask the Lord what the vision for the children of the 21st Century is.

This is something I have talked with friends about and one I battle with daily. Have I trained my children in the right path?  Did I do all that I could do? Is there something I should have done differently? My one goal from the time I gave birth to my first child until the day my last child graduated from high school was to place the word of God on their pallet every day, in every way. I desired above everything else that all my children grow up and serve the Lord. Did I say, “Grow up and be pastor’s or missionaries?” No, that would be great but I didn’t care what career they choose as long as they walked with God. To me, if my children aren’t walking with God, then I’m a failure. What we must realize now that they are adults and on their own, is that they choose which path they walk down. I’m no longer the one to choose for them.

This can be defeating but today after talking with a dear friend of mine I was reminded that the journey isn’t over. Yes, it is a journey. The more seeds we plant in their lives while they are growing and the more seeds we continue to plant the more chance there is for them to spout forth and start growing in the Lord one day. This verse is from the amplified bible.

ISAIAH 32:20

“Happy and fortunate are you

who cast your seed upon all waters

 [WHEN THE RIVER OVERFLOWS ITS BANK

for the seed will sink into the mud and

WHEN THE WATERS SUBSIDE,

 it will spring up; you will find it AFTER MANY DAYS

in an abundant harvest],

and can safely send forth the ox

the donkey [to range freely].”

PS 126:6

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,

shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

bringing his sheaves with him,

On this journey through life after our children leave home we see ourselves as the child and Christ as the father. Here is the question we find ourselves asking. “When Lord will they be there”?   When are they going to start serving you?  How long is it going to take?”

Last week we kept our grandson Camren, who is a very intelligent young man who loves life to its fullest. He is nine and to him everything is special to the point that everything must be kept or collected. The littlest things plant memories into his little mind. We took so many pictures on our journey last week with Camren so that he could put them on Shutterfly and have the memories. He was so adorable when he walked into our house on Sunday night. He walked into the leaving room, look a deep breath and said, “dreams” oh I meant “memories”. I asked him what he meant and he said, “just memories MeeMee of all the fun things we do”.  I realized we were on a journey and as we travel together that I am planting seeds. I don’t want to drop one or two I want to throw them everywhere so that when the storms come, the seeds wash to the shore, plant themselves into the mud and then grow. Did you notice when they grow? Not while we are walking and talking but when the storms come in his little life. We pray for our children to be protected and not have any storms but it’s the storms that will wash those precious seeds onto the shore. If it’s one seed, chances are it will not develop but if there are thousands of seeds, that child has more of a chance for the seed to develop and grow to maturity.

Driving Camren home on Thursday he would ask often, “MeeMee, how long is it going to take”? MeeMee how far did we drive so far? MeeMee is it as far as when I came to see you the other day? MeeMee, it’s taking a long long time to get there and I’m wanting to see my dad. The questions just kept coming. It was going to be about midnight when we arrived so I just urged Camren to close his eyes and go to sleep. I told him it would only feel like a few minutes if he just rest but if he doesn’t it will still feel like a very long time.

Are we not just like Camren after our children are grown. They are on a journey and probably going to go through some storms. It’s not easy for me because I’m much like the little child saying, “when Lord are they going to be there?” When Lord are they going to see?” Why Lord are they not following you after pouring the Word of God into their lives daily”? When Lord am I going to get to see them walking with you?

The reminder to us is Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Did you read that? Right now we are on a journey with them. We are the one asking all the questions and the Father gently says, if you will rest awhile you will find the journey goes faster. We don’t know how long the Father is going to allow them to go along on their own and it might take some storms to bring them back, but keep casting seeds out into their lives so that when the time is right the seed will wash ashore and find fertile ground.

Our place is not to paddle out into the storm and push the seed to shore. Our place is to rest in the Lord, keep planting, encouraging and praying. One day I truly believe we will wake up and the journey will be over.

Isaiah 59: 19-21

So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west,

and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood,

the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion,

and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob,

 saith the LORD.

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD;

My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth,

shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed,

nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

CHECKING OUR VISION

Do you ever wonder why other people can’t see things the same way you do? Do you catch yourself believing you are the one with perfect vision and everyone else needs to get their eyes checked? Wouldn’t it be grand to see things exactly the way the Lord sees them? To see through his eyes the people that are hurting. To see exactly how we should respond to them. Just to know that when we move in a direction to help them that we will truly be helping them instead of hurting them. Just to have spiritual 20/20 vision.


We need to look around at those who don’t have 20/20 vision and when they are struggling to read or find out something, we need to lend a helping hand. We also need to do this in the spiritual realm , there are those longing to see God better but don’t know how. Will you be there to lend a helping hand to them or will you have no compassion and just walk on past them?

Maybe we need a visit to the great physician. He can help us clear the cataracts from our eyes and help us see things the way Jesus does. He can help us see where we have been looking at situations with a blurred view. When I look at a situation I look at it with my eyes, eyes that have learned certain traits, eyes that have learned to shut out certain facts, eyes that have learned to shade in new colors to make things look differently than they truly appear. Am I the only one that see’s this situation from this prospective? Probably not, for you see there are many of you that were raised the same as I. You have also learned to throw in the shades of colors you choose. When doing so, we are distorting the truth of the matter.

The Lord had compassion on sinners. I was just speaking with a friend yesterday who said, I know I should have compassion but honestly they should have known they were destroying their body. Therefore, “I have no compassion”. Sadly, too many of us say the same thing but we all have things in our lives that we also need to clean out. When the Lord looks down with his perfect vision, he sees his small child trying to do things all by himself/herself. Does he slap the daylight out of us? Does he walk away and say, “He deserves what he gets”? No, with his tender compassion and mercy he says, “come child, let me wipe you off”. “Come and sit with me, talk with me and learn of me so that I can help you see things as I do”.

You see, through his eyes we are all dirty until we allow him to cleanse us. We all make mistakes. I am no better than you and you are no better than me. Just all lost children trying to find the way. The only difference is some go to the father and ask him for direction while others try to find it on there own. Does the Lord come along to them and slap them upside the head? No, he still gently ask them to follow and he still offers his love, mercy and kindness to them even if they do wrong? Does he agree with what they are doing? No, but he never stops loving them. We need sit with the Lord long enough that our eyes of compassion are made perfect. We need to love the unloving, help the hurting, and continue to see the world through Jesus’ eyes instead of our own.

HOW IS YOUR LIGHT?

We have solar lights in the front yard along the sidewalk. This was such a wonderful invention. When I started having so many issues with my back and neck we invested in an above ground pool so that I wouldn’t have to drive to another town and do therapy. I soon found that the solar lights are wonderful to put on top of the edge of my pool. There are about 16 slots where solar lights slide into and they fit like a little pocket for them. For my birthday Steve purchased me lots of solar lights. The lights are perfect for the nights that I decide to exercise after dark. If I am outside and the sun starts going down, the solar lights starts coming on one by one. By the time the sun is completely down, all the lights are on. I never have to worry about not being able to see. It is quite pleasant when I am in the pool now.

When I first discovered how wonderful the lights were around the pool, I had gone into the front yard where I only had a few solar lights. I removed one of the lights from the front flowerbed and carried it through the house for a trial run out at the pool. Immediately, it was decided we needed to invest in a lot of these lights. I loved the relaxing, ambiance feeling that the lights created. It just seemed as if the light were dancing on the water. It was definably decided an investment would be made. I needed to return the light to the front yard but on my way, I became side tracked. This is nothing new for me lately, I am constantly getting side tracked. I laid the solar light on the cabinet and forgot it there for a few days.

I was needing to attend to something in the front yard and my light wasn’t there. I proceded to the cabinet, removed the solar light, and set out to accomplish my goal. Little did I realize when I walked out into the darkness that is where I would remain. My light wouldn’t shine. Does this little light not realize that his job is to shine at night? Does it not know that I am standing here in the utter darkness waiting for it to do its job? Is the light no good? Did I break it, somehow not realizing it? What has happened to my little light that once lighted my pathway?

Just a couple days out of the sunlight and my little light was gone. Could it be recharged? “Yes”, it could be of which I was grateful. Could I plug it in and recharge it? “No”. There was only one way to recharge my little light and that was to sit it under the sun. The light would let the rays from the sun give it energy. Therefore, later that night, the light would be able to once again light my path.

We are so much like this little light. We don’t even realize we have lost our charge but the people around us can see that we have. It’s pretty plain to them what we need to do but we continue on day after day without basking in the Son’s light. There are many people that have gone days, months, or years without letting the Lord’s light shine on them. When a battle comes to a friend they are the first to say, “Let me help you”, “here use my light”. Not even realizing that the light of the Lord is no longer shinning in and through them.

Can your light be charged back up in seconds? How about minutes? “No”, we need to meditate on the Word of God. We need to sit and bask in it for a bit. We need to allow the SON to shine down on us and fill us with his light so that when others need our assistance, we can step forward and say, “Here my light is fully charged, I will help you out”. We can be assured that we will not lose our charge at a very inopportune time.

“Ye are the light of the world.

A city that is set on an hill

cannot be hid.” Matthew 5:14

Can you imagine what the Lord thinks some nights when he looks down on his lights? Can you picture in your mind how many people read the word daily, listen to Christian music daily or discuss the Word of God daily? I know talking to some very devout Christians that most of us don’t stay in the Son long enough to hold a charge. We sit around and wonder why our world keeps groping in darkness? Is it their fault, or is it our fault? We would love to place the blame on them but I’m afraid to many times we want to be sitting under the TV or computer games or just goofing off instead of refueling. You are his solar light and if there are hundreds, thousands or millions of us not sitting under the SON long enough to have a light source when it becomes dark, we can only blame ourselves, not our world. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,

I am the light of the world:

he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,

but shall have the light of life. John 8:12

This verse makes it plain as day that your light comes from him. He is your light source and if you choose to follow him, you will never walk in darkness.

LET’S GET CHARGED UP SO WE CAN BE LIGHT UP OUR WORLD