A Mother’s Love

If I live in a house of spotless beauty when everything in its place,

but have not love, I am a housekeeper — not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,

but have not love, my children learn cleanliness — not godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child’s laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through the trials.

Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child,

then stands beside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Love is the key that opens salvation’s message to a child’s heart.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.

Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child.

As a mother, there is much I must teach my child,

but the greatest of all is love.

I’m Too Young!!

Young people can easily feel intimidated in the presence of older adults, especially if they must perform a solo activity or take a stand for a principle.  When Jeremiahwas called by God to serve as His prophet to Judah and the nations, he complained that he was too young (Jeremiah 1:6).  Perhaps he was imagining how the stern faces of his elders would look would look when he announced that God was going to judge them fir their sins.

Like Jeremiah, you may feel intimated by older coworkers and superiors, members of your community, or relatives.  Perhaps you are new on the job or have just graduated from school, or maybe you have just settled in a new community.  As the young newcomer, you may be afraid to “make waves” especially if living according to biblical values goes against the prevailing culture.  Consider these suggestions:

• Remember that you are God’s representative - in your community, on the job, in your family.  Ultimately, you are where you are to seek His glory not your own power or prestige.
• Listen carefully for God’s instructions to you.  They normally come through prayer, reading or studying the Bible, and paying attention to the advice of seasoned believers who have walked the path before you.
• Place confidence in God’s power and provision.  The Lord will use your skills and abilities, but in His way, in His time, and for His glory.

What God did for me!

Have you ever wondered what if a person is really changed after they gave their lives to God?  When God speaks to you, listen.  Listen, because you have nothing to lose if you do.  If you ignore God calling you to be His child, you will lose eternity.   Eternity is forever and ever.   Is the risk to listen to God to small for you?  I just want everyone to know that God did change my life.  I now have a reason for living, a purpose on earth.  I look forward to moving on from this life into Heaven.  Sometimes the devil starts to tempt me that I won’t make it.  I need to continually look to my Savior for the courage to face each day as a lamb in a pack of wolves.  God never promised that the life on earth would be easy, but He did promise eternity with Him for those who are faithful. 

“Praise God I am free, free, free from this world of sin,”

Distractions on the Highway to Heaven

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”  And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” - Luke 38-42

As Christians, we find ourselves on a highway to Heaven.  We are on a journey and our vehicle is headed to Heaven.  Along the way we are faced with many distractions.  Because the devil hasn’t succeeded on keeping us off the highway to Heaven, his goal is to distract us that our goal becomes unclear and we soon drive off the highway.  But because the Lord goes on before us, it is possible for all of us to make it.

There are natural conditions such as wind and rain and other poor road conditions and sometimes there are steep hills.   There are road conditions that we can’t avoid no matter how good of a driver we are.  God never promised that the highway to Heaven would be easy.  Distractions to watch out for:

1. OTHER DRIVERS.   Along our highway we will find other drivers.  Often they are helpful and help lead us, but more times than not, they can become distractions.  Mary had become a distraction to Martha.  It is up to us not to let the other drivers to become a distraction.  “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?”  Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” 
   Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” ” - John 21:20-22  We are to follow Jesus because there are hypocrite drivers.  Let’s move forward following Jesus because He is the driver we can always rely on.
2. ACCIDENTS.  On the christian highway there are car wrecks.  Timothy writes about believers  “concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck” - 1 Timothy 1:19.  When others have accidents, instead of stopping to help, some drivers simply gossip about the person with the spiritual accident.  If we can’t help, let us drive on.  Because if an accident can happen to others, it can happen to us.  Roads can be icy.  Temptation is that our nerve to keep driving will slip away.  The devil wants us to pull over to the side of the road and stop.  We need to trust God is with us and will help us to move on.  God has given us everything we need to get to Heaven.  He has given us all the information we need to keep driving.   Sometimes we need new tires.  Often we need to refuel ourselves by spending time with Him.
3. FAMILY.  What about those backseat drivers in our lives?  At times the family can be a great help on the road.  May God help us that the entire family is on the highway to Heaven.  Is our love for our family more that our love for God?  We need to make our backseat drivers second priority to God.   It is impossible to take our family along if we don’t give priority to our Pilot.  We are personally responsible to not let others be a distraction.  Matthew 10:37-38 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
4. REAR-VIEW MIRRORS.  God wants us to look ahead at His Will, but if we continually look back at the past, it is impossible to keep driving.  Maybe we are boasting about our past successes after many years of serving God.  Many people lose it just before there final destination.  Maybe you are looking back and thinking that you should be farther.  Maybe you feel as though you haven’t done good enough.  Look ahead.  “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” - Philippians 3:12  Maybe you are focusing on failures, but look ahead, he will guide you doe as long as you are on His Highway.

May God help us on the Highway to Heaven that we may never get distracted by the devil.

A time for everything!

There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak, 

 a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.

God Bless Your Day

A day of blessings filled to the brim,

a day of good things that come from Him.

A day of beauty, a day of grace,

a day of sunshine touching your face.

A day that keeps you in peace and rest,

a day that brings you all of God’s best.

The power of prayer!

PRAYER

No ocean can hold it back.

No river can overtake it.

No whirlwind can go faster.

No army can defeat it.

No law can stop it.

No distance can slow it.

No disease can cripple it.

No force on earth is more powerful or effective than the power of prayer.

by Linn Carlson

THE PRAYER OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE.  JAMES 5:16

10 Reasons why we don’t pray

1. Worldliness–Through prayer we can resist worldy desires and influence.  We need watch that we are a light in to the world of darkness.
2. Busyness– Just like Martha, we don’t take enough time to simply communicate with God like Mary did.  When our lives get busy, prayer is usually the first thing to be left out.  Our daily priority should be prayer, everything else follows.
3. Foolishness– When we take our focus away from God, we often become confused over what is foolish and what is wise.  We need to stay in constant prayer with our Father in Heaven so that we can pray for wisdom to do what really counts in life.
4. Distance– Sometimes we put distance in between us and God when our lives get busy.  When there is a problem in between God and me, i am the problem and need to come to God.  God wants me to reconnect because He never stops loving me.
5. Ignorance– When we feel thaat we can rely on our own abilities, we tend to ignore God.  God wants to give us the desires of our hearts, we just need to ask.
6. Sinfulness– When there is sin in between God and us, we are afraid as Adam & Eve were and tend to hide from God.  When we confess our sins and pray for each other, our prayers become powerful and effective.
7. Faithlessness– When we see a situation is hopeless, we lack in faith to our Almighty God.  No situation is to big for God.  Don’t tell God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big God is.
8. Pridefulness– Because the more we pray, the more we depend on God, we lose our will and our will becomes that of our Father.  Sometimes the very reason we don’t pray is because we feel we are fine and can take care of ourselves.  We need to humble ourselves and enjoy the many blessings tha come form a soul of humbleness.
9. Inexperience– Another reason we keep silent is because when we don’t pray, we think we don’t know how to pray.  By praying more we learn to pray “better” and we are encourage to pray more.
10. Laziness– Sometimes we simply waste time doing absolutely nothing with eternal value, when we could be in prayer with our Heavenly Father.  We need to motivate ourselves to spend more time in prayer.

God Uses Little Things

Years ago, it was spring time when we got our two baby rabbits. One we named Blossom because he was a runt, and we hoped he would “blossom”. God blessed him, and indeed he did ‘blossom’ into a beautiful bunny, with very gentle, expressive eyes. The other we named Grizzy (Grishilde). We enjoyed watching them run, hop and nibble grass in our backyard. They grew quickly and before long were full grown. Blossom and Grizzy were good friends. They would lie down in the sun together, and groom each other. We noticed that Grizzy was the protector, watching for danger. Blossom was the adventurous one. He loved to discover new things! God blessed them with many happy years together. One very sad day, Grizzy died because a cat had bitten him three times. The cat had come into our backyard and Grizzy, as the protector, had faced him so Blossom could hide. Grizzy died a very noble death, because he helped his friend and brother Blossom. Blossom, now all alone turned to his human family for friendship. I became his close friend and we spent many happy times in our backyard together. Blossom especially loved it when I sang to him. He also learned to trust me. He showed me his bunny love by licking me, nuzzling me, doing ‘happy runs’, and just by his quiet obedience and trust. Then, last winter, Blossom became very sick. Before my Dad took him to the vet, Blossom gave me one more nuzzle. For me, it was as if he was saying, “Good bye, Cheri. I love you. Keep singing.” That evening, my Mom and I visited him in the veterinarian clinic. They had put him in a special oxygen box so he could breathe better. He was so weak that he could not eat, but he moved himself so he could see us. As we were leaving, something very special happened! He positioned himself, this time so that he was facing the direction we had come from and would be leaving in. We both went back one more time so that he would know that we had come back from that direction. Later that evening, he died. We were very sad, but God used Blossom to leave us with a very special and important lesson. Acts 1:9-11 describes how Jesus ascended into heaven:
” Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
After Jesus went back to heaven, the disciples were looking in the direction in which He had gone. Blossom had positioned himself in the direction from which we had come, and were leaving in. We also, need to position ourselves in the direction in which Jesus left earth, and is coming from again - heaven ward. The Bible tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus and to set our minds on things above. We were Blossoms masters and our Master - Jesus - is coming back! We also need to position ourselves so we are ready when He comes!
Read Luke 12:35-40

What God wants in Prayer

God wants all my attention during prayer.  Matthew 6:6 - But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

God wants me to know that He will answer if i ask, seek & knock.  Matthew 7:7-8 - “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

God wants me to never give up.  Luke 18:1 - Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

God wants me to be joyful, patient and faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

God wants me to be praying all the time in variety. Ephesians 6:18 - And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

God does not want us to worry or be anxious because God will take care of me.  Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God wants me to be devoted. Colossians 4:2 - Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

God wants me to know that He listens.  1 Peter 3:12  - For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

God wants me to come to Him in prayer all day long.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 - pray continually