I guess most of you know by now how much I enjoy shopping in the Dollar Tree stores. I can definitely say it is one of my favorite places to shop for various items. I may never buy anything but I certainly enjoy looking. Still I think one of the reasons I like it most is watching the interaction that takes place between people there.
A few months back I was in the store looking around. A new shipment must have arrived because there were different items to look at this time. As I was strolling down one aisle, I had the opportunity to witness an amusing incident.
A woman (I suppose somewhere in her 50's) was on the same aisle I was and a younger woman rounded the corner to come down the aisle too. The younger woman seemed to be a little surprised to see the older one. She took a deep breath and said, "Well hi Mama."
The older woman said, "Hi yourself! So you are going to speak to me here in the store? I haven't heard from you in over a month." Uh-oh! That young lady was caught. She said - "I'm sorry Mom," and began to offer all kinds of excuses. The older woman would have none of it ... she never raised her voice .. and she never cursed or used hateful words; but she definitely let her daughter know in no uncertain terms how she felt about the situation.
In one way it was amusing to watch this interaction. The older lady was kind of funny in speaking with her daughter. (Sarcasm can be amusing). She shot down every excuse her daughter offered up. In another way it was kind of sad to think about because you could tell the mother cared deeply for her child.
To be honest, I can identify with both women. As a child, I haven't always been in touch with my parents often enough -- especially in times past. Mom and Dad - if you read this -- I offer my apologies here and now. As a parent, I understand missing hearing from your grown children.
Knowing and understanding these human relationships, and witnessing this incident made me think of our relationship with the Heavenly Father. He is our Perfect Parent and He loves us so much. He gave His Only Son for us and He longs to hear from us. He wants us to be in touch with Him.
Our Father longs to dwell with us. He wants us to visit with Him often. Our lives go so much better when we communicate with Him frequently! We should long for this as much as God does. He promises so much for our lives if we choose to walk with Him -- to obey His word. He wants us to love Him .. to talk to Him ... to talk to others about Him so we can have that abundant life Christ promised us.
Attending worship with our Christian brothers and sisters every time we get a chance is one way to show Him and our Savior Jesus how much we love them. I know God doesn't reside in any church building. But when we only worship Him once or twice a year .. aren't we kind of like the daughter encountering her mother in the Dollar Tree store?
God gave us our very lives and created a most beautiful world for us to live in. Don't you think He deserves our worship? Christ died for our sins so that we would have a direct line to God. When He died Christ tore down the "wall of partition" and gave us direct access to God -- no intermediary priest was necessary. That is part of the liberty of the gospel.
Direct access to God the Father through Jesus the Son is one of the freedoms we enjoy as Christians. It is one of the advantages over the old law. Our liberty is in Christ. Through Him we are able to come to God boldly and confidently -- but humbly and reverently. And God longs for us to talk to Him. He has always longed to be with His people .. to communicate with them ... to have us include Him in our daily lives.
Prayer changes things. God may not always answer them the way we think they should be answered; but even when He doesn't our trust in Him enables us to be at peace with whatever the answer is. Prayer gives us peace .. and strength .. and courage.
I once saw a billboard that said "Faith is the muscle ... prayer is the exercise." Did you know that the word prayer, pray, or prayed is used in the New King James Version of the Bible 392 times? If it is mentioned that many times, prayer should be an important aspect of our lives. I challenge you to build up your spiritual muscles every day!
What I'm saying isn't new but it certainly isn't outdated either. There's another saying about a popular soft drink ... "Things go better with Coke." That may or may not be true. But I can absolutely promise you that "Life goes better with Christ." It always will.
Studying God's Word is another way to be in touch with our Lord. It is another way of visiting with Him. Meditating on His love and His precepts will refresh our spirits and restore our souls. Knowledge of God's word helps us renew our minds daily so we can live the life Christ would have us live rather than our old worldly life.
The awkward situation I witnessed in Dollar Tree ended up being a sweet scene. Mother and daughter still loved each other and a relationship was renewed and strengthened. Seeing that happen was the best part of being in the store that day.
Let's challenge each other to keep in touch with our spiritual Father. Let's do away with our excuses and remember how much He really does love us .... how He longs to be with us....
Live your life with God in it. It will be worth it!!!
Christ above all things,
Robin
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Saturday, July 9, 2016
God's Promise to Abraham
Long ago God made a promise to Abraham:
"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing ... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
(Genesis 12:2 & 3b)
Well, the ESV and KJV say all families (Genesis 12:1-3). Other versions say all people. Either way, the point is made. Through Abraham's seed would come a blessing for everyone.
Bible students know this blessing was God's own son, Jesus Christ. Abraham followed God. Because of his faithfulness, God kept his promise. Abraham's family did indeed become a great nation - the nation of Israel.
Throughout the Old Testament this nation of people - this family of Abraham's forgot God's laws over and over again. When they fell into sin, God withheld His blessings from them. They would repent and come back to Him. In turn, He blessed them with prosperity and peace.
I think sometimes the people of Israel forgot the second part of that promise..... you know --the part about all the nations of the earth being blessed through their nation.
When Christ began His ministry there was a lot of enmity between Jews and non-Jewish people -- otherwise called Gentiles.
And then there were the Samaritans - the racially mixed people with both Jewish and pagan (Gentile) ancestry. The Jews didn't like them either, and that's putting it very lightly. So the promise of Abraham's family (nation) being a blessing to other families had long been forgotten.
Then Christ came and things changed. The Savior turned the world upside down. He confronted the scribes and Pharisees who were always so proud to say they were "of the seed of Abraham."
Christ was the Son of God. He was of Jewish descent -- but He didn't come for just one race. He came for "all families of the earth." Jesus Himself said, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:16-17 ESV).
So many lessons -- so much can be gained from these two verses. We could talk about the meaning of truly believing means more than just knowing who He is - but also being willing to follow Him. We could talk about so much from these verses. They are truly loaded with meaning.
But the point I want to make right now is that God loves ALL people -- and always has. He has always wanted ALL people to follow Him. God does not want any to perish, He wants us all to repent. (2 Peter 3:9) As I recently saw on a post on social media - God saves souls not skins.
God and His Son is all about love. Christ died for all people no matter what their color -- no matter what their profession -- no matter where they live -- no matter what their political status. Christ showed compassion to the woman caught in adultery and to Zaccheus, the hated tax collector. Another tax collector (Matthew or Levi) was one of His chosen twelve.
Jesus chose ordinary fisherman to serve Him and he healed the Gentile centurion's servant. He loved men and women. He loved the rich young ruler - although he walked away from Jesus very sad. But yet another rich man loved Christ enough to bury Him in his own tomb.
Do you see what I'm trying to say? WE are the promise to Abraham. Christians .... because we have obeyed Christ and followed Him ... because we have chosen to love Him. And WE come from all races and all walks of life ... from all ethnic backgrounds. We are the "all families of the earth."
See, in choosing to follow Christ - we fulfill God's promise to Abraham. And our lives should be marked by love -- the same love God showed to all of us when He sent His Son. Christ said:
" A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this ALL people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13: 34-35)
Yes, Abraham's righteousness was a blessing to us. And now because as Christians, we are the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham -- we must continue the promise. We must be a blessing to others - because we are to do good to ALL men. We must show the world who we are -- by blessing others with the same love wherewith He loved us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ --as part of God's loving promise if the world ever needed us, it needs us now.
Christ above all things,
Robin
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Who Lives Within You?
We were on the way home from a trip and stopped at a motel for the night. The next morning we ate the free breakfast served in the mini cafeteria connected to the lobby. As we walked back to our rooms just off the parking lot, I noticed one of the bushes in the landscape.
It stood at the end of the hedgerow and was slightly taller than the others. I noticed it because it was perfectly pruned in the shape of a Christmas tree. Even in the middle of springtime it appealed to me.
I stopped to admire it. The shape was flawlessly symmetrical, so whoever had pruned it was quite skilled. It was some kind of evergreen, but the leaves were not sharp and prickly like some evergreens are. They were actually quite soft and flexible in my hand.
Suddenly, a little bird flew from the midst of the bush and very close to my face. Naturally, I was startled and jumped - crying out "Oh" as I did so. My parents were behind me on the sidewalk and Dad got a good laugh from this scene. I have no idea where the little bird went; but I'm sure it was somewhere close by waiting to take up its residence once we had gone.
Of course when I first admired the bush -- (a beautiful living thing -- a creation of God) -- I had no idea that a bird was living / abiding in it. But that living creature very quickly made itself known. One life was living inside of another life and it only took a few seconds for the bird to make itself known.
This made me think of Christ and those of us who are His followers. Christ told us in John 14:6 "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. The only way to the Father is through me." (NCV) Think about this for a moment.
WE are living beings -- created by God - but does THE LIFE abide in us. Is there another life living within us? That little bird let him/herself be known almost immediately. When we meet someone new, how long does it take to let them know Jesus - "the Life" is alive in us?
This is not something magical, mystical or supernatural. It is not some elusive thing to which only a few folks have access. Remember who "the Life" is. Our Savior Jesus Christ is the Life and He is totally attainable to everyone. It is a sound scriptural promise given to us by Christ Himself.
Consider John 14:23 - Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." (NKJV) What a wonderful promise this is! Love Jesus - keep (obey - follow) His word and both Jesus and the Father will be with us.
After giving the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus promised that He would always be with His apostles as they continued to teach others about Him. He will be with us today as long as we follow Him. We must be careful not to pick and choose what parts of Christ's Words we want to "keep." We must keep all His commandments.
We can't rationalize that one teaching is good for us to keep while others just may not be for us. But perhaps that's another lesson for another time. We just need to realize that all of Christ's teachings apply to all of us. And if we want to be with the Father -- then Jesus is the ONLY way.
In John 15:1-6 Jesus tells us He is the True Vine and that we must abide in Him to bear fruit for Him - for without Him we can do nothing. To bear good fruit for Him we must cling to Him as a branch clings to a vine. Do we allow Jesus to abide in us?
John 15:10 says: "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love." This is how Christ and the Father come to us -- but we have to come to them first - with loving obedient hearts.
The apostle John speaks of the Lord's abiding love and presence in our lives several times in 1 and 2 John. Perhaps those passages can be shared in another post. They are beautiful verses teaching that our Christ can truly dwell within us - if we love Him enough to obey Him -- if we love Him enough to show that love to others.
So, the challenge for us is to live so that "the Life" lives within us ... and then to make known we have that wonderful Life - that is Jesus - living there. We must learn to let our light shine ... let our life be soon as beautiful .. like that shrub I saw ... and then when folks come to take a closer look ... make sure we let them see the Life - the Spirit of Christ dwelling there.
Christ above all things,
Robin Whitley
It stood at the end of the hedgerow and was slightly taller than the others. I noticed it because it was perfectly pruned in the shape of a Christmas tree. Even in the middle of springtime it appealed to me.
I stopped to admire it. The shape was flawlessly symmetrical, so whoever had pruned it was quite skilled. It was some kind of evergreen, but the leaves were not sharp and prickly like some evergreens are. They were actually quite soft and flexible in my hand.
Suddenly, a little bird flew from the midst of the bush and very close to my face. Naturally, I was startled and jumped - crying out "Oh" as I did so. My parents were behind me on the sidewalk and Dad got a good laugh from this scene. I have no idea where the little bird went; but I'm sure it was somewhere close by waiting to take up its residence once we had gone.
Of course when I first admired the bush -- (a beautiful living thing -- a creation of God) -- I had no idea that a bird was living / abiding in it. But that living creature very quickly made itself known. One life was living inside of another life and it only took a few seconds for the bird to make itself known.
This made me think of Christ and those of us who are His followers. Christ told us in John 14:6 "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. The only way to the Father is through me." (NCV) Think about this for a moment.
WE are living beings -- created by God - but does THE LIFE abide in us. Is there another life living within us? That little bird let him/herself be known almost immediately. When we meet someone new, how long does it take to let them know Jesus - "the Life" is alive in us?
This is not something magical, mystical or supernatural. It is not some elusive thing to which only a few folks have access. Remember who "the Life" is. Our Savior Jesus Christ is the Life and He is totally attainable to everyone. It is a sound scriptural promise given to us by Christ Himself.
Consider John 14:23 - Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." (NKJV) What a wonderful promise this is! Love Jesus - keep (obey - follow) His word and both Jesus and the Father will be with us.
After giving the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus promised that He would always be with His apostles as they continued to teach others about Him. He will be with us today as long as we follow Him. We must be careful not to pick and choose what parts of Christ's Words we want to "keep." We must keep all His commandments.
We can't rationalize that one teaching is good for us to keep while others just may not be for us. But perhaps that's another lesson for another time. We just need to realize that all of Christ's teachings apply to all of us. And if we want to be with the Father -- then Jesus is the ONLY way.
In John 15:1-6 Jesus tells us He is the True Vine and that we must abide in Him to bear fruit for Him - for without Him we can do nothing. To bear good fruit for Him we must cling to Him as a branch clings to a vine. Do we allow Jesus to abide in us?
John 15:10 says: "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love." This is how Christ and the Father come to us -- but we have to come to them first - with loving obedient hearts.
The apostle John speaks of the Lord's abiding love and presence in our lives several times in 1 and 2 John. Perhaps those passages can be shared in another post. They are beautiful verses teaching that our Christ can truly dwell within us - if we love Him enough to obey Him -- if we love Him enough to show that love to others.
So, the challenge for us is to live so that "the Life" lives within us ... and then to make known we have that wonderful Life - that is Jesus - living there. We must learn to let our light shine ... let our life be soon as beautiful .. like that shrub I saw ... and then when folks come to take a closer look ... make sure we let them see the Life - the Spirit of Christ dwelling there.
Christ above all things,
Robin Whitley
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