"My head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes..
My head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes ..
My head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes all belong to Jesus." That song has been stuck in my head for days now. I learned it last week at camp. We sang it every morning at our pre-breakfast devotional. Naturally, the motions went with it. But I could not touch my toes. I am not in good enough shape to do that anymore. My plan is to change that. Next year, I will be touching my toes. Hopefully, in doing so, I will be more physically fit to serve the Lord.
After all, we are told in Paul's letter to the Romans to be present our bodies as a living sacrifice. I need to start taking at least a little bit better care of mine. It is not something I think of very often; but God does want us to take care of our bodies.
Becoming more fit is not the only thing this little song brings to my mind. If we pledge that we belong to Jesus then we will allow ourselves to be guided by Him. We will love Him and serve Him wholly! Our theme last week was about being different. If we belong to Jesus we will shine as lights in the world. We will be different. People all around us will be able to tell that we belong to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. It should be pretty obvious.
Giving our minds (our heads) to Jesus means that we think differently. We think on things that are that are lovely, pure and holy. We keep our minds focused on the main thing - getting to heaven! Belonging to Jesus means we have dedicated ourselves to be transformed (different) by the renewing of our minds. Christians who give themselves completely to our Lord will pray more often. We will spend time in the Word. We will work on renewing our minds every day. We will understand the meaning of a true relationship with God's Son.
Located a little below our left shoulder is our heart. Giving our heart to Christ not only means we live differently, but we love differently, too. We give of ourselves. We become servants for others, knowing that as we serve others, we are serving Christ. We understand the great love that Christ had for us. Upon that realization our whole thought process changes -- our hearts are set on things above. Our treasure becomes not earthly things -- but God. And as we love God and Christ more and more, we are able to love everyone else more too.
What about our knees? Well we all know what our knees are for. We bend and move using our knees. We can't go where God leads us if our knees don't belong to Jesus! Last but certainly not least, our toes help us maintain our balance as we walk. So if we are being guided by God - then we will faithfully maintain balance in our lives. We will understand what is important and what isn't. Our priorities are much different from those outside of Christ. We put first things first and what comes first is Jesus!
I know it is a bit of a stretch to make these parallels. However, the message in our little song is very important. Jesus wants you, but He wants ALL of you. We can't serve Him halfheartedly. We must love Him, worship Him and praise Him with all that is within us.
We must learn to think like He thinks, love like He loves, go where He would have gone, and keep our priorities straight like He did. He always served the Father. He never lost his focus. He submitted to and followed where ever God led.
If we belong to Jesus, we must live like He lived - fully devoted to the Father. From top to bottom and inside and out -give Him everything that you are. He died for us. We must love Him enough to live for Him.
SO - I ask you this question...
your head, your shoulders, your knees, your toes... YOU - who do you belong to? Think about it.
Christ above all things,
Robin
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
"100 Every Day"
At Maywood Christian Camp, clean up time comes after breakfast every morning. The children are to make their beds and work with their counselors to get their cabins in tip top shape before Bible class. The girls will often make up their beds before we go down the hill for breakfast. That way they have a jump start on everything that has to be done. Clothes are put outside to dry if needed-- or in the dirty clothes bag if they are not wet. Candy wrappers still on the floor from last night's snack are thrown away. Shoes are lined up straight under the bed. Brushes and bath stuff go back in bags or boxes or where ever they are supposed to go. Our part of cleaning the bath house is done and the cabin gets swept out.
Cabin clean up is an important part of the camp experience. There are many reasons for that; but I won't go into them right now. Everyone does their part. Believe it or not, the girls are usually pretty responsible about this. Some of them do a better job at camp than they do at home. At least, I have heard many a parent make that comment!
During Bible class, inspectors come to each cabin to check out our clean up job. Every cabin is given a score. The cabin with the highest score for the boys and the girls are both are rewarded with a big bag of candy for the children to share. Sometimes there are ties, and tie scores are honored. So it may be two or three groups from each side that wins candy. Our girls take great pride in their scores. If we don't score a 100 they want to know why so that they can make sure that problem is taken care of the next day. It really is a pretty big deal!
On Saturday morning, everyone gathered all their belongings and packed up to go home. One little girl was a little bit slower at tackling this chore than some of the others were. So I encouraged her to get her stuff together. When I looked under her bunk, I saw all kinds of things. Someone had to go under there and get them. This sweet child began to pull out bags of chips and cookies, some empty and others with food still in them. She found another pair of shoes and other items that had been meant for her to keep and take home. She did all this work without complaining. Part of the things belonged to the girl who slept on the top bunk above her; but she had already gone.
Her bunk was not the only one that had trash under it. All the bunks did. You see, as the girls sit on their beds to visit with one another, things get pushed out of the way. Every bunk is against the wall, so it is very easy for something to fall back behind the bed and onto the floor. Hence, the effort of special cleaning before everyone goes home. Sometimes the girls find items they thought had been lost.
OK back to the story. As my young friend was pulling out all those things from under her bed, she said "Wow, Mrs. Robin - I don't see how we got 100 every day with all this stuff everywhere." I laughed and said, "Well, I don't either. I guess everything was back so far the inspectors couldn't see it." It didn't take her long to get everything pulled out. I helped her fold her bedding up and we got her belongings together and ready to go home with her.
I have thought about her comment ever since she said it. You know, sometimes our lives are kind of like that. We only show our best to the world. All the trash in our lives gets pushed to the back. We cover up a lot of stuff. We try so hard sometimes to appear like we have it all together. We want people to think our lives are in order. We don't want anyone to know all the junk going on inside our hearts -- our minds -- our lives. Maybe it is sin we are trying to hide from the outside world. We don't want others to know our weaknesses. If we keep them all a secret -- if no one knows what's going behind the façade then it's like we think we are OK. If no one knows - then no one is hurt. If no one knows, then maybe God won't notice either. Where in the world does that come from? It is amazing sometimes how easily we fool ourselves.
When we stop and think about though, we aren't fooling ourselves. We know we can't hide anything from God. We know that our Lord and Savior will judge every secret work. God tells us not to deceive ourselves. He will not be mocked. He also tells us "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall." The good standing we are showing to the world will mean nothing at all on judgment day, not unless we clean out our trash. And sometimes to do that we have to dig pretty deep. I mean maybe we pushed that stuff way to the back of our minds and put all kinds of stuff in front of it. Maybe there are loose ends we need to tie up -- kind of like the half empty bag of chips we found. Maybe there is a relationship we need to mend or a bad habit we need to kick.
We definitely have to stop trying to fool ourselves and others. We must not try to fool God. He knows about every single item of trash. Clean it out, folks. Stop hiding. Make God first. If we need help with our trash, I am sure someone can pray for us and with us. A faithful friend can help you find the help you need. Just throw the trash out. One of the wonderful things about God is that He lets us empty our trash can. And He helps us keep it empty.
What else do we hide besides our sin? How about our trials and our burdens? This old world is tough. The devil will knock us around. Sometimes life just happens and people end up being hurt in the process. Sometimes we might need a shoulder to cry on - or we might need to ask a special friend to pray for us. This is why the church is called the "family of God."
We share because we are all one family. We care for the same reason. We should be able to know that we can turn to our Chrstian friends - our church family.
Pride could be one reason we are unwilling to share. Sometimes we are afraid to be open enough with others because we don't want them to think we are weak and can't handle our problems on our own. We enjoy pretending everything is OK. Then there are times when we might keep quiet because we don't want to burden others with our troubles. We know how busy everyone is. We know our friends may be struggling wtih something too and they need our support -- so we listen quietly and go on our way never sharing our needs with others.
Don't let these things get in the way of sharing our burdens- of asking for help. None of us ever have it "all together" as others may think. Every one of us has a cross we must carry. No one can help us bear with our burden if we if we don't let it be known that we have one. No, we don't have to tell the whole world. We don't even have to tell our entire church family what we might be struggling with. However, I have discovered very loving, and understanding folks in the body of Christ. If you share your junk -- then someone will help you get rid of it.
It doesn't matter if we don't score 100 every day. Hardly anyone else does either. Many times we can't do it without help from others. Our good God and His family -- will help us aim for the highest score. Truth be told - I don't think we ever get 100 on our own. We know it is God who sees us through our sadness and troubles.
As for the sin in our lives, - well none of us is perfect. We would never get 100 if Jesus wasn't on our side. If we are faithful and obedient Christians -- then he grades on a pretty easy scale. With Jesus on our side -- because He loves us and died for us and has washed away our sins; if we are striving to do our best every day then He ups our score for us. If we don't try to hide our trash and keep our priorities straight - then with Jesus guiding us through - we really can get 100 every day!
Christ above all things,
Robin
Cabin clean up is an important part of the camp experience. There are many reasons for that; but I won't go into them right now. Everyone does their part. Believe it or not, the girls are usually pretty responsible about this. Some of them do a better job at camp than they do at home. At least, I have heard many a parent make that comment!
During Bible class, inspectors come to each cabin to check out our clean up job. Every cabin is given a score. The cabin with the highest score for the boys and the girls are both are rewarded with a big bag of candy for the children to share. Sometimes there are ties, and tie scores are honored. So it may be two or three groups from each side that wins candy. Our girls take great pride in their scores. If we don't score a 100 they want to know why so that they can make sure that problem is taken care of the next day. It really is a pretty big deal!
On Saturday morning, everyone gathered all their belongings and packed up to go home. One little girl was a little bit slower at tackling this chore than some of the others were. So I encouraged her to get her stuff together. When I looked under her bunk, I saw all kinds of things. Someone had to go under there and get them. This sweet child began to pull out bags of chips and cookies, some empty and others with food still in them. She found another pair of shoes and other items that had been meant for her to keep and take home. She did all this work without complaining. Part of the things belonged to the girl who slept on the top bunk above her; but she had already gone.
Her bunk was not the only one that had trash under it. All the bunks did. You see, as the girls sit on their beds to visit with one another, things get pushed out of the way. Every bunk is against the wall, so it is very easy for something to fall back behind the bed and onto the floor. Hence, the effort of special cleaning before everyone goes home. Sometimes the girls find items they thought had been lost.
OK back to the story. As my young friend was pulling out all those things from under her bed, she said "Wow, Mrs. Robin - I don't see how we got 100 every day with all this stuff everywhere." I laughed and said, "Well, I don't either. I guess everything was back so far the inspectors couldn't see it." It didn't take her long to get everything pulled out. I helped her fold her bedding up and we got her belongings together and ready to go home with her.
I have thought about her comment ever since she said it. You know, sometimes our lives are kind of like that. We only show our best to the world. All the trash in our lives gets pushed to the back. We cover up a lot of stuff. We try so hard sometimes to appear like we have it all together. We want people to think our lives are in order. We don't want anyone to know all the junk going on inside our hearts -- our minds -- our lives. Maybe it is sin we are trying to hide from the outside world. We don't want others to know our weaknesses. If we keep them all a secret -- if no one knows what's going behind the façade then it's like we think we are OK. If no one knows - then no one is hurt. If no one knows, then maybe God won't notice either. Where in the world does that come from? It is amazing sometimes how easily we fool ourselves.
When we stop and think about though, we aren't fooling ourselves. We know we can't hide anything from God. We know that our Lord and Savior will judge every secret work. God tells us not to deceive ourselves. He will not be mocked. He also tells us "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall." The good standing we are showing to the world will mean nothing at all on judgment day, not unless we clean out our trash. And sometimes to do that we have to dig pretty deep. I mean maybe we pushed that stuff way to the back of our minds and put all kinds of stuff in front of it. Maybe there are loose ends we need to tie up -- kind of like the half empty bag of chips we found. Maybe there is a relationship we need to mend or a bad habit we need to kick.
We definitely have to stop trying to fool ourselves and others. We must not try to fool God. He knows about every single item of trash. Clean it out, folks. Stop hiding. Make God first. If we need help with our trash, I am sure someone can pray for us and with us. A faithful friend can help you find the help you need. Just throw the trash out. One of the wonderful things about God is that He lets us empty our trash can. And He helps us keep it empty.
What else do we hide besides our sin? How about our trials and our burdens? This old world is tough. The devil will knock us around. Sometimes life just happens and people end up being hurt in the process. Sometimes we might need a shoulder to cry on - or we might need to ask a special friend to pray for us. This is why the church is called the "family of God."
We share because we are all one family. We care for the same reason. We should be able to know that we can turn to our Chrstian friends - our church family.
Pride could be one reason we are unwilling to share. Sometimes we are afraid to be open enough with others because we don't want them to think we are weak and can't handle our problems on our own. We enjoy pretending everything is OK. Then there are times when we might keep quiet because we don't want to burden others with our troubles. We know how busy everyone is. We know our friends may be struggling wtih something too and they need our support -- so we listen quietly and go on our way never sharing our needs with others.
Don't let these things get in the way of sharing our burdens- of asking for help. None of us ever have it "all together" as others may think. Every one of us has a cross we must carry. No one can help us bear with our burden if we if we don't let it be known that we have one. No, we don't have to tell the whole world. We don't even have to tell our entire church family what we might be struggling with. However, I have discovered very loving, and understanding folks in the body of Christ. If you share your junk -- then someone will help you get rid of it.
It doesn't matter if we don't score 100 every day. Hardly anyone else does either. Many times we can't do it without help from others. Our good God and His family -- will help us aim for the highest score. Truth be told - I don't think we ever get 100 on our own. We know it is God who sees us through our sadness and troubles.
As for the sin in our lives, - well none of us is perfect. We would never get 100 if Jesus wasn't on our side. If we are faithful and obedient Christians -- then he grades on a pretty easy scale. With Jesus on our side -- because He loves us and died for us and has washed away our sins; if we are striving to do our best every day then He ups our score for us. If we don't try to hide our trash and keep our priorities straight - then with Jesus guiding us through - we really can get 100 every day!
Christ above all things,
Robin
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Unity - Working as One for Jesus
Wow! I apologize for being so long in posting a new blog. We had Vacation Bible School the week of June 9th (Sunday through Thursday) and then on Friday and Saturday of that week I was diligently preparing and packing for another week of spirituality at Maywood Christian Camp from June 16th through 22nd. Physically, I was very tired when I got home yesterday morning; but mentally, emotionally and spiritually, I am totally refreshed and renewed. Many things have happened over the last couple of weeks - especially at camp, and I have quite a bit of material to draw from through the next few days. My mind has been racing since I got back -- trying to remember and write down at least part of the special times I enjoyed and many of the spiritual lessons I learned.
God was good to our family at Hillcrest Church of Christ during Vacation Bible School. I think it was a wonderful success! Sometimes, it is difficult to pull off a work like that without a minister in place. Not that the minister does all the work - far from it. It takes a host of people working and pulling together to pull off a vacation Bible school well. Yet, a minister serves many purposes and works for the good of all in a congregation. That's why most of them have one! I mean there is a reason and a place for a minister in a local church family. However, our congregation is in a transition period right now; and we are searching for and praying for a preacher to welcome into our family here.
I say all that to say I am very proud of our church family. VBS was a great success. The elders and teachers and workers all pitched in to do whatever we could to make it so. Prayers went up to our good and gracious God and work was done cheerfully and willingly. We all pulled together in unity as one and as our Lord would have us to do. I am so thankful and honored to be part of my church family! I think I mentioned our Bible school in a previous blog, but it was a good experience for us and I think everyone who attended and /or participated in any way was truly blessed through their service and attendance.
Last week a number of Christians from different congregations throughout Northeast Mississippi and Northwest Alabama came together to conduct a one week session for 270 children who attended Maywood Christian Camp in Hamilton, Alabama. I have been blessed to be a part of this wonderful group for a number of years. We come together because we love to be together. For many of us, this week is the only time of year we get to see one another. Even so, we consider each other family and we all love one another dearly. We respect the other's talents and understand that we are all faithful to our Lord and Savior. As our director puts it - we just gel together very well.
Ah, but it goes so much deeper than that! Yes we enjoy each other's company; thrive on it, actually. We love the fellowship with one another and the strength we draw from it -- but we all know we are there for the children. We are there to bring Christ to them. This year we counseled, played sports with, fed, taught and loved more children than we have ever had the opportunity to serve. That 270 mentioned was a record for our session.
It is definitely hard work, but we love it -- just ask any one of us. We all know our roles. Some of us are suited to care for the younger children and love it. Some of us are much more suited to guiding the older children and love it. We have extremely talented and dedicated cooks who work behind the scenes and perhaps don't get as much interaction with the children. Some of them prefer to cook - to stay behind the scenes. It is more suited to their personality and talents. However, they are dedicated to the Lord and more than willing to serve Him by feeding "the least of these."
Others are lifeguards or work with the crafts - some teach Bible classes, some plan and carry out sports activities, others lead singing, or pray or guide our minds through a lesson from God's word during evangelistic hour. A few serve as nurses providing tender loving care to any child who needs it. Workers are there to clean after the cooks cook and we all eat. Many do double duty - taking on two or more jobs. And pulling it all together and overseeing it all is our director who perhaps is the most dedicated of us all. He works all year long toward this week. All of us -- all of the work is because we want the children to have the chance to hear about Jesus and to learn to follow Him.
Everyone understands what their job is. Everyone willingly carries out the tasks set before us. We are all of one mind -- we are unified and working toward one goal. Those who work with the younger ones understand it is their job to teach and guide, but to make sure the children make it through the week and go home talking about all the fun they had. They learn about God's word - but they enjoy being there and get excited enough about camp to want to come back every year. If they come back - we have done our job because as the child grows older -they are taught and counseled by others. Then he or she learns more about the Lord. They learn to love, obey and serve Him.
Those who care for the older children guide their maturing minds into a more meaningful relationship with the Lord. They are taught that you can have good clean Christian fun. You can say no to the world. They form friendships that will last for lifetimes and through these friendships they strengthen and encourage one another to remain dedicated to Christ and His church.
And if anyone -- ANYONE -- needs anything - needs are met. Possessions are shared for the good of all. Sound familiar? Maybe a little like the church in Acts? If a towel is forgotten, somebody brought an extra towel. If some child forgot to bring snacks - someone shares snacks or goes and buys snacks for that child. If someone needs sunscreen or bug spray someone else shares sunscreen or bug spray. If a child didn't bring any money for pizza night - well, guess what? It is taken care of anyway. Everyone works for the common good of all. I am not talking about communism here -- I am talking about Christianity. I am talking about continuing in the apostles' doctrine, and prayers and fellowship. I am talking about eating together with gladness and singleness of heart.
What is our singleness of heart at camp? Serving those children and bringing glory to our God in doing so. It is through working together that our love for one another grows. That love for the Lord and for one another sustains us through the week and for most of us, all year. Quite frankly, it is what keeps us going. Like the children - we long to be back there. We long for the fellowship, but we also long for the sounds of children - their play and laughter. We miss the smile on their faces as they learn to make a new craft, or win a sport award or make a new friend. We remember the joy and excitement they feel as they memorize a Bible verse or answer a question in class.
We miss Maywood when we are gone. Why? Perhaps it is because as one of our brothers who has gone on before us used to say -- "On earth, it is the closest thing to heaven that we can get." We know when we come together we are coming together in unity - with one purpose and one heart. That is serving our Lord by loving these children for one week out of a year. We know it is not about us. We have no illusions about that -- we know it's all about Him. It is all about letting these children know that our best friend is their best friend too. Because He loves us - He died for us and He prayed for our unity long ago -- it IS all about Jesus.
Christ above all things,
Robin
God was good to our family at Hillcrest Church of Christ during Vacation Bible School. I think it was a wonderful success! Sometimes, it is difficult to pull off a work like that without a minister in place. Not that the minister does all the work - far from it. It takes a host of people working and pulling together to pull off a vacation Bible school well. Yet, a minister serves many purposes and works for the good of all in a congregation. That's why most of them have one! I mean there is a reason and a place for a minister in a local church family. However, our congregation is in a transition period right now; and we are searching for and praying for a preacher to welcome into our family here.
I say all that to say I am very proud of our church family. VBS was a great success. The elders and teachers and workers all pitched in to do whatever we could to make it so. Prayers went up to our good and gracious God and work was done cheerfully and willingly. We all pulled together in unity as one and as our Lord would have us to do. I am so thankful and honored to be part of my church family! I think I mentioned our Bible school in a previous blog, but it was a good experience for us and I think everyone who attended and /or participated in any way was truly blessed through their service and attendance.
Last week a number of Christians from different congregations throughout Northeast Mississippi and Northwest Alabama came together to conduct a one week session for 270 children who attended Maywood Christian Camp in Hamilton, Alabama. I have been blessed to be a part of this wonderful group for a number of years. We come together because we love to be together. For many of us, this week is the only time of year we get to see one another. Even so, we consider each other family and we all love one another dearly. We respect the other's talents and understand that we are all faithful to our Lord and Savior. As our director puts it - we just gel together very well.
Ah, but it goes so much deeper than that! Yes we enjoy each other's company; thrive on it, actually. We love the fellowship with one another and the strength we draw from it -- but we all know we are there for the children. We are there to bring Christ to them. This year we counseled, played sports with, fed, taught and loved more children than we have ever had the opportunity to serve. That 270 mentioned was a record for our session.
It is definitely hard work, but we love it -- just ask any one of us. We all know our roles. Some of us are suited to care for the younger children and love it. Some of us are much more suited to guiding the older children and love it. We have extremely talented and dedicated cooks who work behind the scenes and perhaps don't get as much interaction with the children. Some of them prefer to cook - to stay behind the scenes. It is more suited to their personality and talents. However, they are dedicated to the Lord and more than willing to serve Him by feeding "the least of these."
Others are lifeguards or work with the crafts - some teach Bible classes, some plan and carry out sports activities, others lead singing, or pray or guide our minds through a lesson from God's word during evangelistic hour. A few serve as nurses providing tender loving care to any child who needs it. Workers are there to clean after the cooks cook and we all eat. Many do double duty - taking on two or more jobs. And pulling it all together and overseeing it all is our director who perhaps is the most dedicated of us all. He works all year long toward this week. All of us -- all of the work is because we want the children to have the chance to hear about Jesus and to learn to follow Him.
Everyone understands what their job is. Everyone willingly carries out the tasks set before us. We are all of one mind -- we are unified and working toward one goal. Those who work with the younger ones understand it is their job to teach and guide, but to make sure the children make it through the week and go home talking about all the fun they had. They learn about God's word - but they enjoy being there and get excited enough about camp to want to come back every year. If they come back - we have done our job because as the child grows older -they are taught and counseled by others. Then he or she learns more about the Lord. They learn to love, obey and serve Him.
Those who care for the older children guide their maturing minds into a more meaningful relationship with the Lord. They are taught that you can have good clean Christian fun. You can say no to the world. They form friendships that will last for lifetimes and through these friendships they strengthen and encourage one another to remain dedicated to Christ and His church.
And if anyone -- ANYONE -- needs anything - needs are met. Possessions are shared for the good of all. Sound familiar? Maybe a little like the church in Acts? If a towel is forgotten, somebody brought an extra towel. If some child forgot to bring snacks - someone shares snacks or goes and buys snacks for that child. If someone needs sunscreen or bug spray someone else shares sunscreen or bug spray. If a child didn't bring any money for pizza night - well, guess what? It is taken care of anyway. Everyone works for the common good of all. I am not talking about communism here -- I am talking about Christianity. I am talking about continuing in the apostles' doctrine, and prayers and fellowship. I am talking about eating together with gladness and singleness of heart.
What is our singleness of heart at camp? Serving those children and bringing glory to our God in doing so. It is through working together that our love for one another grows. That love for the Lord and for one another sustains us through the week and for most of us, all year. Quite frankly, it is what keeps us going. Like the children - we long to be back there. We long for the fellowship, but we also long for the sounds of children - their play and laughter. We miss the smile on their faces as they learn to make a new craft, or win a sport award or make a new friend. We remember the joy and excitement they feel as they memorize a Bible verse or answer a question in class.
We miss Maywood when we are gone. Why? Perhaps it is because as one of our brothers who has gone on before us used to say -- "On earth, it is the closest thing to heaven that we can get." We know when we come together we are coming together in unity - with one purpose and one heart. That is serving our Lord by loving these children for one week out of a year. We know it is not about us. We have no illusions about that -- we know it's all about Him. It is all about letting these children know that our best friend is their best friend too. Because He loves us - He died for us and He prayed for our unity long ago -- it IS all about Jesus.
Christ above all things,
Robin
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Ups and Downs -- Just a Day of Life
Sometimes it is difficult to sit and choose just one topic to share because so many different thoughts run through my head. I need to keep a tape recorder or something with me because I think of a really neat idea from time to time and by the time I get to where I can write it down so many things have happened that I have forgotten what I thought of. Today has been a day of mixed emotions. When I left work this afternoon, I had a wonderful sense of accomplishment because I felt like I had gotten a lot done. Ha! You could even see the bottom of my desk when I left. Then I became frustrated because I lost my phone. I have no idea where it is -- I can only hope I left it at work.
I have been concerned about my friend and supervisor who has been sick. She was off of work last week and is back now, but she is still not completely well. I hope she doesn't push herself too much. She is a dear friend as well as my supervisor. I have worked for her and with her for a very long time now.
Then I had a pleasant surprise this afternoon at work because a dear friend came by for a few minutes to visit and she brought me a coke from Sonic. It was a wonderful feeling to know that she had thought enough of me to come by. We enjoyed each other's company for a while and just those few minutes helped me finish out my day in a good mood!
I was sad today because I went to the visitation (wake) of a dear sister the world lost a few days ago. She was a fine Christian lady who always had the sweetest smile and kind words for everyone. I loved being around her. She was a good friend and a good mom. It is a sad thing to lose a friend or a family member. I will miss her. She was the sister to our youth minister and my heart goes out to him, his wife, their two sons and of course, her sweet daughters.
I went from her visitation to our congregation's Vacation Bible School where the children were led in song by our youth minister's sons. They too, had just left their aunt's visitation to come help out at VBS. Their aunt would have been proud of them. They did a great job with the young children and led all those fun songs that children love to sing. Naturally, the joy and enthusiasm the kids showed for vacation Bible school was contagious. Our class lesson tonight was even on joy and peace. One couldn't help but feel good after being at VBS tonight!
So there you pretty much have my day --
a sense of accomplishment for the work I had done,
frustration because I lost my phone
concern for a friend who is still not well
surprise and smiles because a friend came by
sadness over the loss of a different friend
sadness because of her family's mourning
joy from working with those wonderful children at VBS
Then of course, there is love and laughter, love and tears -- and finally being tired at the end of a full day.
I know - this is just life. Any person's day at any given time could go like this. Life truly is full of ups and downs. Heartaches come --to anyone who has ever cared about anyone - heartaches come. Wonderful beautiful moments arrive -- those kinds of great moments that you remember for your entire life. The happiest time of your life could occur on the saddest day of your life. That's just the way life is.
I once knew a Christian who said that God did not promise us smooth sailing through life. He only promised us a safe landing. And He -- our eternal loving God will be with you through the tough times and will be with you through the good times too. We are not to be conformed to the world -- (Rom. 12) nor are we to allow ourselves to be "spotted" by the world. (per our Brother James). So we aren't supposed to be of the world, but we still have to live in the world. As a result, sometimes life gets really tough. And sometimes, it is extremely and incredibly wonderful!!
Everyone, not just Christians, have to take the good with the bad. The difference is that the Christian has that joy in her heart that will tell her everything is OK because God is in control and He will be with you through your darkest hours and your brightest moments. He will never leave us or forsake us. One of the fruits of the Spirit that we studied tonight was joy. In our class 1st and 2nd grade classes we studied joy and peace. A statement was made that even in the worst of times we can always smile because we know that Jesus loves us. He went to the cross for us and He will never give us more than we can handle. We can have the joy in our hearts which is derived from the knowledge that God is going to take care of us and He going to take us to Heaven to be with Him sometime.
We can also have that beautiful and wonderful peace that passes all understanding. When we are having tough times - we can call upon God for calm, strength and peace. Our total reliance and dependence on God is an amazing encouragement to others because they see how confident we are with our trust in Him. We know that God will take care of us. When we display this particular fruit of the Spirit, we can let our lights shine and set a wonderful example for our Lord.
So again, I am wishing you peace and joy tonight and throughout your day tomorrow. I pray for wisdom for us all to understand that with God's help nothing is impossible and nothing can separate us from His love. I pray that we can know that a mixture of all types of events and emotions can be experienced any day or every day. And that through it all God is there with us and will take care of us.
God bless you.
Christ above all things,
Robin
I have been concerned about my friend and supervisor who has been sick. She was off of work last week and is back now, but she is still not completely well. I hope she doesn't push herself too much. She is a dear friend as well as my supervisor. I have worked for her and with her for a very long time now.
Then I had a pleasant surprise this afternoon at work because a dear friend came by for a few minutes to visit and she brought me a coke from Sonic. It was a wonderful feeling to know that she had thought enough of me to come by. We enjoyed each other's company for a while and just those few minutes helped me finish out my day in a good mood!
I was sad today because I went to the visitation (wake) of a dear sister the world lost a few days ago. She was a fine Christian lady who always had the sweetest smile and kind words for everyone. I loved being around her. She was a good friend and a good mom. It is a sad thing to lose a friend or a family member. I will miss her. She was the sister to our youth minister and my heart goes out to him, his wife, their two sons and of course, her sweet daughters.
I went from her visitation to our congregation's Vacation Bible School where the children were led in song by our youth minister's sons. They too, had just left their aunt's visitation to come help out at VBS. Their aunt would have been proud of them. They did a great job with the young children and led all those fun songs that children love to sing. Naturally, the joy and enthusiasm the kids showed for vacation Bible school was contagious. Our class lesson tonight was even on joy and peace. One couldn't help but feel good after being at VBS tonight!
So there you pretty much have my day --
a sense of accomplishment for the work I had done,
frustration because I lost my phone
concern for a friend who is still not well
surprise and smiles because a friend came by
sadness over the loss of a different friend
sadness because of her family's mourning
joy from working with those wonderful children at VBS
Then of course, there is love and laughter, love and tears -- and finally being tired at the end of a full day.
I know - this is just life. Any person's day at any given time could go like this. Life truly is full of ups and downs. Heartaches come --to anyone who has ever cared about anyone - heartaches come. Wonderful beautiful moments arrive -- those kinds of great moments that you remember for your entire life. The happiest time of your life could occur on the saddest day of your life. That's just the way life is.
I once knew a Christian who said that God did not promise us smooth sailing through life. He only promised us a safe landing. And He -- our eternal loving God will be with you through the tough times and will be with you through the good times too. We are not to be conformed to the world -- (Rom. 12) nor are we to allow ourselves to be "spotted" by the world. (per our Brother James). So we aren't supposed to be of the world, but we still have to live in the world. As a result, sometimes life gets really tough. And sometimes, it is extremely and incredibly wonderful!!
Everyone, not just Christians, have to take the good with the bad. The difference is that the Christian has that joy in her heart that will tell her everything is OK because God is in control and He will be with you through your darkest hours and your brightest moments. He will never leave us or forsake us. One of the fruits of the Spirit that we studied tonight was joy. In our class 1st and 2nd grade classes we studied joy and peace. A statement was made that even in the worst of times we can always smile because we know that Jesus loves us. He went to the cross for us and He will never give us more than we can handle. We can have the joy in our hearts which is derived from the knowledge that God is going to take care of us and He going to take us to Heaven to be with Him sometime.
We can also have that beautiful and wonderful peace that passes all understanding. When we are having tough times - we can call upon God for calm, strength and peace. Our total reliance and dependence on God is an amazing encouragement to others because they see how confident we are with our trust in Him. We know that God will take care of us. When we display this particular fruit of the Spirit, we can let our lights shine and set a wonderful example for our Lord.
So again, I am wishing you peace and joy tonight and throughout your day tomorrow. I pray for wisdom for us all to understand that with God's help nothing is impossible and nothing can separate us from His love. I pray that we can know that a mixture of all types of events and emotions can be experienced any day or every day. And that through it all God is there with us and will take care of us.
God bless you.
Christ above all things,
Robin
Sunday, June 9, 2013
The Faithfulness and Patience of Jesus during His Temptation
We had the best time at Vacation Bible School tonight - or at least I did! Our theme is the Fruits of the Spirit - or rather living a "Blue Ribbon Life through the Fruit of the Spirit." There was just something about tonight -- a wonderful spirit of love and liveliness seemed to fill the building and the hearts of all of that were there. Our youth minister's two sons led the singing for the kids and they did a great job! The puppet show performed by three of our middle school children was good too. The young children always love the puppets and although it was their first "performance," our puppeteers did a fine job too. Our Bible school was announced as being for everyone from 2 to 102 and that is wonderful too! Proud of our elders for always choosing to have an adult class. One of the ladies in our church family is in her 90's and she still loves to come to VBS.
The first lesson tonight was on faithfulness and long suffering. The Biblical part of the lesson was the temptation of Jesus. After our Christ fasted in the wilderness for 40 days, He exhibited both of these traits. It is easy to see why this story was used to teach the concept of faithfulness -- but I never thought about this event in connection with long suffering. It fits though, certainly. He was patient throughout His forty day fast. He never broke it. I can;t begin to imagine how hungry and weak He must have gotten!
The lesson text in our book points out that Jesus was patient when satan tempted Him to make bread out of the stones. He did not do what satan wanted Him too, but instead to do what God would tell Him to do. He was faithful to God through all three temptations and refused to succumb to satan. He was long suffering throughout His fasting and during His encounter with the devil knowing that God would bless Him, if he could just wait and tough it out. Christ did, of course and God did bless Him, of course. He sent angels to minister to Him in the wilderness.
Christ is our supreme example. His life should be the pattern for ours. And though we will never be sinless like Christ was -- that is what we are to strive for. We are to love Him enough to emulate Him - to let Him live in us; to be as much like Him as we possibly can be. That is why we study the Word -- to know Him - to know what to do to be like Him. His word -- the Word comes to us through the Holy Spirit. So when we study the word and exhibit a Christ like spirit - we are yielding the fruits of the Spirit --of Jesus. The Spirit is the Comforter who inspired men to write the scriptures. The Word comes from Christ and through the Spirit.
By choosing to absorb and then display the characteristics of God and Christ in our lives we are bearing fruits of the Spirit! Isn't it marvelous?
Living our lives through Christ not only leads us to show these fruits in our lives -- but of course the scripture also says we reap what we sow. That my dear friends means that as we practice this -- these fruits -- they will return to us -- the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control will come back to us. We show love and patience -- we will be shown love and patience. We exhibit self control with someone -- (like our children or someone we work with) -- then we will benefit by the self control of someone else (like our spouse and more importantly, our God). I don't have to go on and on. You get the point and I think I am rambling anyway.
No question that Christ was longsuffering, patient and faithful during His temptation. He knew that God would reward Him. He knew He would soon be given food, so He waited patiently instead of sinning. He was faithful to God when He refused to cast Himself off the temple. He knew God was going to take care of Him so He had nothing to prove to satan. That was not what mattered. Pleasing God is what mattered. Christ was faithful to His Heavenly Father and understood if He waited patiently that God's angels would come to take care of Him and they did! He was also faithful to God's word when He refused to worship that old devil. Christ knew that God was going to put Him on heaven's throne to rule their forever. He just had to be long suffering and patient during His ministry and crucifixion.
After a closer look at this time in Christ's life, I now understand that He really did exhibit patience and faithfulness at this time. I also think you could say He also demonstrated self control because He denied Himself the guilty pleasures of the food and the kingdoms. He also showed great love for His Father because Christ wanted to please God. He loved Him and obeyed Him.
Remember to walk in the light -- plant your tree. Let the living water of God's word water and nourish it. Let the beautiful light of the Son of God warm it and help it grow. And watch the beautiful fruits you will bring forth in your season. (Read Psalms 1) By doing these things, you will be living the best kind of life. You will be living a Blue Ribbon life -- God's blessings will rain down on you and you will have that abundant life that He promised us.
Wishing you all the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control that one lifetime can hold!
Christ above all things!
Robin
The first lesson tonight was on faithfulness and long suffering. The Biblical part of the lesson was the temptation of Jesus. After our Christ fasted in the wilderness for 40 days, He exhibited both of these traits. It is easy to see why this story was used to teach the concept of faithfulness -- but I never thought about this event in connection with long suffering. It fits though, certainly. He was patient throughout His forty day fast. He never broke it. I can;t begin to imagine how hungry and weak He must have gotten!
The lesson text in our book points out that Jesus was patient when satan tempted Him to make bread out of the stones. He did not do what satan wanted Him too, but instead to do what God would tell Him to do. He was faithful to God through all three temptations and refused to succumb to satan. He was long suffering throughout His fasting and during His encounter with the devil knowing that God would bless Him, if he could just wait and tough it out. Christ did, of course and God did bless Him, of course. He sent angels to minister to Him in the wilderness.
Christ is our supreme example. His life should be the pattern for ours. And though we will never be sinless like Christ was -- that is what we are to strive for. We are to love Him enough to emulate Him - to let Him live in us; to be as much like Him as we possibly can be. That is why we study the Word -- to know Him - to know what to do to be like Him. His word -- the Word comes to us through the Holy Spirit. So when we study the word and exhibit a Christ like spirit - we are yielding the fruits of the Spirit --of Jesus. The Spirit is the Comforter who inspired men to write the scriptures. The Word comes from Christ and through the Spirit.
By choosing to absorb and then display the characteristics of God and Christ in our lives we are bearing fruits of the Spirit! Isn't it marvelous?
Living our lives through Christ not only leads us to show these fruits in our lives -- but of course the scripture also says we reap what we sow. That my dear friends means that as we practice this -- these fruits -- they will return to us -- the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control will come back to us. We show love and patience -- we will be shown love and patience. We exhibit self control with someone -- (like our children or someone we work with) -- then we will benefit by the self control of someone else (like our spouse and more importantly, our God). I don't have to go on and on. You get the point and I think I am rambling anyway.
No question that Christ was longsuffering, patient and faithful during His temptation. He knew that God would reward Him. He knew He would soon be given food, so He waited patiently instead of sinning. He was faithful to God when He refused to cast Himself off the temple. He knew God was going to take care of Him so He had nothing to prove to satan. That was not what mattered. Pleasing God is what mattered. Christ was faithful to His Heavenly Father and understood if He waited patiently that God's angels would come to take care of Him and they did! He was also faithful to God's word when He refused to worship that old devil. Christ knew that God was going to put Him on heaven's throne to rule their forever. He just had to be long suffering and patient during His ministry and crucifixion.
After a closer look at this time in Christ's life, I now understand that He really did exhibit patience and faithfulness at this time. I also think you could say He also demonstrated self control because He denied Himself the guilty pleasures of the food and the kingdoms. He also showed great love for His Father because Christ wanted to please God. He loved Him and obeyed Him.
Remember to walk in the light -- plant your tree. Let the living water of God's word water and nourish it. Let the beautiful light of the Son of God warm it and help it grow. And watch the beautiful fruits you will bring forth in your season. (Read Psalms 1) By doing these things, you will be living the best kind of life. You will be living a Blue Ribbon life -- God's blessings will rain down on you and you will have that abundant life that He promised us.
Wishing you all the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control that one lifetime can hold!
Christ above all things!
Robin
Friday, June 7, 2013
My Momma Won't Let Me Have That
Night before last, I posted on facebook that perhaps I would be able to post a new blog the next morning. I said I had it "in my head," but was too tired to type it out. Well, I apologize for not posting anything at all yesterday - morning or night. I didn't wake up early enough. I do not wake up well -- I like to push that snooze button at least twice every morning. I know it is a weakness of mine and I need to work on this. I just love my sleep - probably too much.
I did have an idea in my idea. The trouble is that now I have several ideas and it is difficult for me to decide which one to post.. That's not totally a bad thing though because it gives me a list of ideas to use in the future. However another incident happened at the Dollar Tree recently that I want to share . I am beginning to love going to that place. It seems I always have an opportunity to observe young children there. And I always experience or at least see something that I can use for a spiritual application to my life. Plus, it's just plain fun to find out what you can buy for a dollar.
OK, I will get on with my story. The other day I happened to watch a young lady take a little girl between three or four down the toy aisle. The young lady was in her late teens. She was either a relative of some sort, or a babysitter or something to this young girl. I could tell she was not her mother.
The young girl said - "OK, let's see if we can find a toy for you." And they started browsing down the aisle. The little girl stopped and looked at several things. I wish I could remember what some of them were. I heard her ask, "What's this?" a couple of times. And I heard the young lady ask, "Well about this?" a time or two. To which the little girl would give one of two replies, "I already have that," or "I don't like playing with those."
They came to some little dress up tutus and the young lady said - "Well about this? It's a princess tutu." To which the child replied - "My mom won't let me have that." I think that surprised the young lady a little bit. There were some tiaras very near the little tutus and upon seeing them the little girl hastily remarked, "But I do have a crown at home."
I honestly don't remember that much of the remainder of their conversation, nor do I remember what toy the little one finally chose. The reason for that is because after she said, "But I do have a crown at home," my thoughts immediately went to heaven and our crown of life which God has promised to His faithful children. Isn't that a wonderful thought? A crown of life!!!! Everlasting life - in everlasting light and love!! In the presence of God, our Heavenly Father. Woo Hoo!!!!
God truly keeps His promises and He truly does promise that crown of life. But it is not free. It never has been. For one thing, your wonderful Savior - Jesus died for you and me; so our eternal salvation cost God the most precious price that could ever be charged or paid. For another thing, there are commandments which we must obey in order to get to heaven. However, His commandments are not grievous. God has never. and will never ask us to do something or go through something that He will not give us the strength to accomplish. If we are seeking the heart of God and striving to please Him, then we must be willing to obey His commandments -- all of them.
John tells us that we must keep His commandments and He will come and make an abode for us. If we love Him we are to keep His commandments. If we are to be called His friends - we are to follow his commandments. (John 14:15 and John 15:14) Then we can have that crown.
The little girl knew her Mother's rules. She had listened to them and chosen to obey them without complaint - with no doubt in her heart -- with no criticism or anything.
We have to know what God's rules (commandments) are and we have to follow them -- ALL of them. We can't pick a few, toss some others away and then toss in changes on one or two. If we beilieve God, and I hope we do -- if we love God, and I pray we do, then we must absolutely study the Word and decide what is true -- then obey it.
So when we are tempted, we have to do just what that little girl did. We have to look temptation squarely in the face and with full conviction and no hesitation whatsoever, we have to say --"My Father - my Poppa said I can't do that." Then we can also tell Satan -- "and if I obey my Father, then He will give me a beautiful crown of life."
Can we be as strong in the face of temptation as that precious child was? Can we be as sure of our reward? Think about it!
Christ above all things,
Robin
I did have an idea in my idea. The trouble is that now I have several ideas and it is difficult for me to decide which one to post.. That's not totally a bad thing though because it gives me a list of ideas to use in the future. However another incident happened at the Dollar Tree recently that I want to share . I am beginning to love going to that place. It seems I always have an opportunity to observe young children there. And I always experience or at least see something that I can use for a spiritual application to my life. Plus, it's just plain fun to find out what you can buy for a dollar.
OK, I will get on with my story. The other day I happened to watch a young lady take a little girl between three or four down the toy aisle. The young lady was in her late teens. She was either a relative of some sort, or a babysitter or something to this young girl. I could tell she was not her mother.
The young girl said - "OK, let's see if we can find a toy for you." And they started browsing down the aisle. The little girl stopped and looked at several things. I wish I could remember what some of them were. I heard her ask, "What's this?" a couple of times. And I heard the young lady ask, "Well about this?" a time or two. To which the little girl would give one of two replies, "I already have that," or "I don't like playing with those."
They came to some little dress up tutus and the young lady said - "Well about this? It's a princess tutu." To which the child replied - "My mom won't let me have that." I think that surprised the young lady a little bit. There were some tiaras very near the little tutus and upon seeing them the little girl hastily remarked, "But I do have a crown at home."
I honestly don't remember that much of the remainder of their conversation, nor do I remember what toy the little one finally chose. The reason for that is because after she said, "But I do have a crown at home," my thoughts immediately went to heaven and our crown of life which God has promised to His faithful children. Isn't that a wonderful thought? A crown of life!!!! Everlasting life - in everlasting light and love!! In the presence of God, our Heavenly Father. Woo Hoo!!!!
God truly keeps His promises and He truly does promise that crown of life. But it is not free. It never has been. For one thing, your wonderful Savior - Jesus died for you and me; so our eternal salvation cost God the most precious price that could ever be charged or paid. For another thing, there are commandments which we must obey in order to get to heaven. However, His commandments are not grievous. God has never. and will never ask us to do something or go through something that He will not give us the strength to accomplish. If we are seeking the heart of God and striving to please Him, then we must be willing to obey His commandments -- all of them.
John tells us that we must keep His commandments and He will come and make an abode for us. If we love Him we are to keep His commandments. If we are to be called His friends - we are to follow his commandments. (John 14:15 and John 15:14) Then we can have that crown.
The little girl knew her Mother's rules. She had listened to them and chosen to obey them without complaint - with no doubt in her heart -- with no criticism or anything.
We have to know what God's rules (commandments) are and we have to follow them -- ALL of them. We can't pick a few, toss some others away and then toss in changes on one or two. If we beilieve God, and I hope we do -- if we love God, and I pray we do, then we must absolutely study the Word and decide what is true -- then obey it.
So when we are tempted, we have to do just what that little girl did. We have to look temptation squarely in the face and with full conviction and no hesitation whatsoever, we have to say --"My Father - my Poppa said I can't do that." Then we can also tell Satan -- "and if I obey my Father, then He will give me a beautiful crown of life."
Can we be as strong in the face of temptation as that precious child was? Can we be as sure of our reward? Think about it!
Christ above all things,
Robin
Monday, June 3, 2013
The Light in the Darkness
As I woke up in the middle of the night, I stumbled through the darkness to the kitchen. I needed a drink of water and did not bother to turn on the lights, but rather felt my way through my bedroom door, into the hallway and finally the kitchen. I have done this many times through the years. Sometimes I bump into the doorway or a piece of furniture on the way and end up with various bruises in weird places (like on the side of my elbow). Most of the time though, I make it without mishap.
My, but it is dark in my house with all the lights off! The darkness is an inky black - so thick you can almost feel it. Sometimes, I hold my hand up in front of my face to see if I can tell it's there - with my eyes that is. Of course, once I get to the kitchen I have to turn on the light. I don't think I could ever "feel" myself to the cabinet for a glass and then get a drink of water. I have often admired the blind for all the things they learn to do. They are to be admired for their strength, courage and adaptability. Many overcome their impairment and lead amazingly productive lives.
However, the other night as I was stumbling around in the darkness I thought about spiritual darkness and where I would be without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the Light of the World. He tells us that in Him there is no darkness at all. How wonderful is that?
We should ever be thankful for His mercy and His loving kindness toward us. Without Him there is no hope for a home in heaven. He is the Way - the Light - the Word. Knowing Jesus -- being IN Jesus -- is the way we see to get to heaven. And in Heaven there will never be any darkness at all. There is no night there. In heaven, we will always be in the Light.
The first chapter of the gospel of John gives us a beautiful description of Jesus. John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Most of us are very familiar with the first few verses of this gospel. John tells us that everything was made by Him. So we know that Jesus was with God in the beginning -- during creation.
In verse 4 & 5 John begins to describe Jesus as light. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Jesus was the Light. The world is full of darkness. Jesus stood out when He was here on this earth. His light shone brightly. But the world did not understand who Christ was. So they crucified Him.
Verse 10 says "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." It is so sad to understand that they didn't recognize their Creator. And yet, even today the world does not recognize Him -- as their Creator - as their Light in the darkness of the world. How sad it is!
There is good news here though -- read verse 12: "But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." That's the Good News. Believe on Him -- enough to fall in love with Him. Fall in love with Him enough to do His commandments. He loves you. He died for you .... we must live for Him. He is the Light and He is the Word. So it is by Him and through Him that we learn about getting to heaven.
Psalms 119:105 - "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." It is the word we have to "study to show ourselves approved unto God." -- So if Jesus is the Word -- then what we study in the Bible is Jesus. And if the light is what we follow out of darkness -- then we follow Jesus. Remember He said, "Take my yoke upon you and LEARN of me." It seems all tangled up in a way -- and yet at the same time it seems so simple. Jesus' Word is what Lights our way. Jesus' words take the darkness out of our lives.
Jesus also describes Himself as Truth. He tells us we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. Do you want to know the truth to be free from the power of sin? Know Jesus! His truth is in the Word. His Word is the light for our path. All we need to do to get to know Jesus is study the Word. If you want to get to know someone what do you do? You spend time with them, of course. If you what to get to know Jesus - what should you do? Spend time in His Word. The Word is the Truth that is the Light that shows us the Way to our Lord. It really is all about Jesus, isn't it?
Christ said "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). If you think you can get to God - or heaven without Jesus, you are so sadly mistaken. Jesus said no man -- no one gets to God except by me.
So to get to the Father, you have to know the Son. It's a little different here on earth, isn't it? Well, maybe not so much anymore, but still quite often when a young man wants to marry a young lady - he goes to the father first. So he doesn't get the daughter without going to the father. Our spiritual lives are totally opposite -- we don't get the Father without going to the Son. There is no other way.
So in order to come out of the darkness of sin - you have to go into the Light. In order to be freed from the power of sin -- you have to know the Truth. Then you will be free to serve the Son and know the Father. If you don't follow the Way - you don't get to heaven. The Word gives you Light to see the Truth and know the Way that leads to Life eternal. It's all about Jesus.
You must be in Him to gain this freedom. You must become part of His body - which is His church - which He died to build.
Finally, in John 14:23 - Jesus made a promise. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and WE will come unto him and make our abode with him."
Are you ready to let Jesus and God make their "abode with you?" Do you want them to come and live within your heart? Then Jesus is the Light, the Way, the Word, the Truth and the Life.
Love Him. Walk in His Light. Keep His words - His commandments -- all of them. We can't pick and choose what to obey and what not to obey. Jesus said "keep my commandments." It doesn't matter if we think in makes sense. To come to the Father - to make it to Heaven, we must obey His commandments.
The world did not recognize Jesus. They did not comprehend that Light that shone in the darkness. Do you?
Christ above all things,
Robin
My, but it is dark in my house with all the lights off! The darkness is an inky black - so thick you can almost feel it. Sometimes, I hold my hand up in front of my face to see if I can tell it's there - with my eyes that is. Of course, once I get to the kitchen I have to turn on the light. I don't think I could ever "feel" myself to the cabinet for a glass and then get a drink of water. I have often admired the blind for all the things they learn to do. They are to be admired for their strength, courage and adaptability. Many overcome their impairment and lead amazingly productive lives.
However, the other night as I was stumbling around in the darkness I thought about spiritual darkness and where I would be without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the Light of the World. He tells us that in Him there is no darkness at all. How wonderful is that?
We should ever be thankful for His mercy and His loving kindness toward us. Without Him there is no hope for a home in heaven. He is the Way - the Light - the Word. Knowing Jesus -- being IN Jesus -- is the way we see to get to heaven. And in Heaven there will never be any darkness at all. There is no night there. In heaven, we will always be in the Light.
The first chapter of the gospel of John gives us a beautiful description of Jesus. John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Most of us are very familiar with the first few verses of this gospel. John tells us that everything was made by Him. So we know that Jesus was with God in the beginning -- during creation.
In verse 4 & 5 John begins to describe Jesus as light. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Jesus was the Light. The world is full of darkness. Jesus stood out when He was here on this earth. His light shone brightly. But the world did not understand who Christ was. So they crucified Him.
Verse 10 says "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." It is so sad to understand that they didn't recognize their Creator. And yet, even today the world does not recognize Him -- as their Creator - as their Light in the darkness of the world. How sad it is!
There is good news here though -- read verse 12: "But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." That's the Good News. Believe on Him -- enough to fall in love with Him. Fall in love with Him enough to do His commandments. He loves you. He died for you .... we must live for Him. He is the Light and He is the Word. So it is by Him and through Him that we learn about getting to heaven.
Psalms 119:105 - "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." It is the word we have to "study to show ourselves approved unto God." -- So if Jesus is the Word -- then what we study in the Bible is Jesus. And if the light is what we follow out of darkness -- then we follow Jesus. Remember He said, "Take my yoke upon you and LEARN of me." It seems all tangled up in a way -- and yet at the same time it seems so simple. Jesus' Word is what Lights our way. Jesus' words take the darkness out of our lives.
Jesus also describes Himself as Truth. He tells us we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. Do you want to know the truth to be free from the power of sin? Know Jesus! His truth is in the Word. His Word is the light for our path. All we need to do to get to know Jesus is study the Word. If you want to get to know someone what do you do? You spend time with them, of course. If you what to get to know Jesus - what should you do? Spend time in His Word. The Word is the Truth that is the Light that shows us the Way to our Lord. It really is all about Jesus, isn't it?
Christ said "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). If you think you can get to God - or heaven without Jesus, you are so sadly mistaken. Jesus said no man -- no one gets to God except by me.
So to get to the Father, you have to know the Son. It's a little different here on earth, isn't it? Well, maybe not so much anymore, but still quite often when a young man wants to marry a young lady - he goes to the father first. So he doesn't get the daughter without going to the father. Our spiritual lives are totally opposite -- we don't get the Father without going to the Son. There is no other way.
So in order to come out of the darkness of sin - you have to go into the Light. In order to be freed from the power of sin -- you have to know the Truth. Then you will be free to serve the Son and know the Father. If you don't follow the Way - you don't get to heaven. The Word gives you Light to see the Truth and know the Way that leads to Life eternal. It's all about Jesus.
You must be in Him to gain this freedom. You must become part of His body - which is His church - which He died to build.
Finally, in John 14:23 - Jesus made a promise. "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and WE will come unto him and make our abode with him."
Are you ready to let Jesus and God make their "abode with you?" Do you want them to come and live within your heart? Then Jesus is the Light, the Way, the Word, the Truth and the Life.
Love Him. Walk in His Light. Keep His words - His commandments -- all of them. We can't pick and choose what to obey and what not to obey. Jesus said "keep my commandments." It doesn't matter if we think in makes sense. To come to the Father - to make it to Heaven, we must obey His commandments.
The world did not recognize Jesus. They did not comprehend that Light that shone in the darkness. Do you?
Christ above all things,
Robin
Saturday, June 1, 2013
"More Value than Many Sparrows"
The other morning on the way to work I followed a bird for a few short seconds. I thought it was going to fly across the road in front of the car, but instead it changed direction and went the same direction I was going. So for about 30 seconds or so, a bird flew several yards in front of me. It was a real treat to watch him fly. I have always loved to watch birds in flight. Most people probably do. I have noticed them a lot more lately. Maybe it is because our theme for the Ladies Retreat this year is "Lifted Up on Wings of Eagles" and perhaps that just put my mind on all birds more lately. I do love watching them, though.
Watching birds fly has always made me think about God. Seeing birds remind me that God is always with me. You see because it reminds me of a couple of scriptures in God's word. The first scripture I think of is from the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. This particular passage comes from Matthew 6: 25 -26 --"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?"
Yes, God loves you. He loves the birds - and takes care of them and then when He created us, He gave us a living soul. So if you can understand that the God who created us all loves the creatures of the earth and cares for them, then you can understand that God cares for us too.
But the scripture I love to think of when I see birds in flight is Matthew 10:29-31 --
"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." See when I see a bird anywhere near me, it just reminds me that God is always with me. He really knows where we are all the time. God keeps up with the birds. He knows where they are and when they fall to the ground. Yet, we are more important than many sparrows. That means - He knows where you are. And if you are walking in the light - then He is with us. For me, that is a great comfort.
That is one of the reasons I love to see the birds - really whether they are in the sky or at the bird feeder in my back yard. Seeing birds reminds me that God is always present -- or that I am in God's presence. I know I an in His presence because Jesus has said God is with the birds. These verses I mentioned are such a great comfort to me. So is the knowledge of God's presence in my life.
I don't even know what kind of bird I saw fly in front of my car the other day, but that doesn't matter. It was just like God was saying -- "Follow me and I am going to show you a wonderful day today!"
I am probably belaboring the point, but that scripture - not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father -- that is an awesome scripture about an awesome God. How many sparrows have their been in this wonderful since the beginning of time? And I don't think it's just the sparrows, do you? It is all the birds. God knows -- they are His creatures -- and when they "fall to the ground" - when they die - He knows. What a great and loving God we serve! It really is mind boggling, isn't it?
Dear Heavenly Father, - thank You for Your beautiful creation. Thank You for making the earth such a wonderful planet. Thank you for all the creature You have made. Tonight, Father - I particularly thank You for the birds of the air -- for you made them all. And we know how much you care about them and about much you care about us. Your power is to honored and praised. Your loving mercy is beyond anything we can comprehend. We are thankful for the blessing you send to us each day and we pray dear God -- we pray that we will always seek to follow Your will -- so that we can always be in your presence. Heavenly Father -- we want to do your will because You have loved us so much. We pray that we will always have the desire to be close to you. In Your Son's precious name, Amen.
Christ above all things,
Robin
Watching birds fly has always made me think about God. Seeing birds remind me that God is always with me. You see because it reminds me of a couple of scriptures in God's word. The first scripture I think of is from the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. This particular passage comes from Matthew 6: 25 -26 --"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?"
Yes, God loves you. He loves the birds - and takes care of them and then when He created us, He gave us a living soul. So if you can understand that the God who created us all loves the creatures of the earth and cares for them, then you can understand that God cares for us too.
But the scripture I love to think of when I see birds in flight is Matthew 10:29-31 --
"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." See when I see a bird anywhere near me, it just reminds me that God is always with me. He really knows where we are all the time. God keeps up with the birds. He knows where they are and when they fall to the ground. Yet, we are more important than many sparrows. That means - He knows where you are. And if you are walking in the light - then He is with us. For me, that is a great comfort.
That is one of the reasons I love to see the birds - really whether they are in the sky or at the bird feeder in my back yard. Seeing birds reminds me that God is always present -- or that I am in God's presence. I know I an in His presence because Jesus has said God is with the birds. These verses I mentioned are such a great comfort to me. So is the knowledge of God's presence in my life.
I don't even know what kind of bird I saw fly in front of my car the other day, but that doesn't matter. It was just like God was saying -- "Follow me and I am going to show you a wonderful day today!"
I am probably belaboring the point, but that scripture - not one sparrow falls to the ground without the Father -- that is an awesome scripture about an awesome God. How many sparrows have their been in this wonderful since the beginning of time? And I don't think it's just the sparrows, do you? It is all the birds. God knows -- they are His creatures -- and when they "fall to the ground" - when they die - He knows. What a great and loving God we serve! It really is mind boggling, isn't it?
Dear Heavenly Father, - thank You for Your beautiful creation. Thank You for making the earth such a wonderful planet. Thank you for all the creature You have made. Tonight, Father - I particularly thank You for the birds of the air -- for you made them all. And we know how much you care about them and about much you care about us. Your power is to honored and praised. Your loving mercy is beyond anything we can comprehend. We are thankful for the blessing you send to us each day and we pray dear God -- we pray that we will always seek to follow Your will -- so that we can always be in your presence. Heavenly Father -- we want to do your will because You have loved us so much. We pray that we will always have the desire to be close to you. In Your Son's precious name, Amen.
Christ above all things,
Robin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)