The Toy Corvette

Mom watched as her young sons played outside. It was so kind of their next-door neighbor to give them the little Corvette riding toy to play with. It had already given them hours of riding fun.

She could hear them laughing as she watched them circle the yard in the little car. One of the most precious sounds in the world for a mother is the sound of her children laughing. But the toy Corvette stopped. It seemed the car was stuck.

She saw the younger brother look at his big brother expectantly. Without a word, big brother jumped out and pushed the car until it started going on its own again. The little brother drove a few feet, then stopped at a different place. He turned and motioned for the big brother to jump in the car again so they could ride together.

It was such a sweet sight. Mom hoped her sons would always be good friends – she wanted them to be close. We all need someone we can count on in this old world. She prayed her little guys would always be able to depend on each other – always – throughout their lives. But for now, while they were little, she could enjoy watching them play.

As Christians, there is One we can always count on. He will always be there for us. He never changes. His love is constant. He is rich in mercy and grace toward. I speak of our Savior. We can depend on Him.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” Hebrews 13:8

The apostle Peter wrote 1 Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

The living hope we have in the resurrection of Christ from the dead is something we can believe in - count on – live by. It is because He conquered death that we can have eternal life.

Jesus is the best friend we will ever have. He came to save our souls. He told us so in Mark 10:45 - "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

He also told His apostles – “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15: 14-15

In Matthew 28:20 before His ascension Jesus told His apostles He would always be with them, “even to the end of the age.” Like the little brother who counted on his big brother to push the car, we can always – in ALL ways – count on our Lord and Savior.

While we were stuck (lost) in our sins – Jesus died a cruel and horrible death to save us. Like Peter who was beginning to sink in the water, He reaches out His hand and pulls us all to safety… if we choose to keep His commandments.

If we do, we have this beautiful promise from Jesus in John 14:23 - “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.”

Jesus Christ our Savior will join us on the path of righteousness – just as big brother joined the little one in the toy corvette. We have only but to invite Him in.

Christ above all things – Robin

Who Was That?

 I’ve worked in the customer service field for a long time.  After speaking with a regular customer only a couple of times, I rarely have to introduce myself.  When I do, the large majority of them will say something like, “I know it’s you Robin” or they will say, “Oh, hi Robin” before I ever get the chance to tell them it is me. 

One customer even told me they would recognize me anywhere.  I guess I have an easily recognizable voice. I know the Southern drawl is there.  I do not even try to deny that.  LOL.

It goes the other way too.  I have a few customers whose voice I recognize very easily.  Others have to tell me who they are.  It is all part of it when a large part of your work is conducted over the telephone. 

In our spiritual life, there is only one voice we should hear.  That is the Good Shepherd’s voice – Jesus Christ, our Savior.  The concept is beautifully described by Jesus Himself in John chapter 10:3-5 “To him the gatekeeper opens.  The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

I find this such a beautiful and comforting passage.  Notice in this passage the Good Shepherd calls all his own sheep by name.  Jesus knows our name.  He is the Son of God, so He knows us all. 

But do we allow Him to lead us out?  Do we hear his voice and follow Him? Do we flee from the stranger – or are we led away from the Shepherd?  If we know his voice, we do not allow ourselves to be pulled away by a stranger. 

Whose voice do we know?  Hopefully, we know only the Good Shepherd’s voice.  Hopefully, we follow only Him.  We should never follow after man.  It should always be Christ.  His is the voice we need to hear.  Flee from the stranger.  He (the stranger) will do everything he can to fool us and get us to follow him instead of Jesus. 

In verses 17 and 18 Jesus says as the Good Shepherd He lays down His life for the sheep.  He makes it clear that no one takes His life from Him.  No man has that power.  Instead, Jesus laid down His life willingly.  He is the One who has authority over His life – not man. 

The other interesting thing about these verses is that Jesus says He will lay down His life and take it up again.  Man does not take the life of Christ.  He gives it…. Willingly.  Then our precious Savior delivers a major blow against that old devil because He conquers death and takes up His life again!  How marvelous is that?  Jesus rose from the grave!!

The question is do we know Who He is?  Do we hear His voice and follow Him?  No one makes that choice for us.  We decide. 

I hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday. 

Christ above all things - Robin

Can You Fix It?

 

Good morning!  Today is the Lord's day.  It is the day we praise and worship Him. What an honor and blessing it is to worship the One True God! Besides, we never know who in our church family needs our love and encouragement today. We all have a bigger influence than we imagine. Let us use it for good.

Can You Fix It?

A mom once wondered why her two young sons were suddenly so quiet in the playroom. She decided to check on them. As she headed down the hallway she could hear the younger one say, "Can you fix it?" Somewhat concerned, but also curious - she decided to slow down and stay quiet to see just where this conversation was going.

The older brother said - "I don't think I can."

The little brother replied, "But you always fix everything."

"Yeah, but this is pretty bad," said Big Brother.

"So that means we are going to have tell Mom and Dad?”

"I think so - I can fix stuff -but I can't fix you."

At that point, Mom was beginning to worry so she rushed into the room to see what was going on. She found them sitting side by side on the bench seat. Everything seemed OK until she noticed the youngest son was holding his foot. One of his toes was pointed at a strange angle. It turns out the toe was broken.

Eventually his toe healed, and everything was fine. Later the mother said it would take more than a broken toe to slow her little one down. I do love this story. Maybe it is because of the faith little brother had in big brother to "fix everything;” or maybe it was the bond that existed between the two boys.

I am reminded of Jesus - our great Healer, the perfect "fixer." He has healed our sin sick souls by the blood He shed. We read in 1 Peter 2:24-25-- "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Beautiful!! Our sweet Jesus, the Son of God made it so our souls can be clean if we choose to obey His commandments. Christ's precious blood reconciles us to God. Through Him we become God's sons and daughters.

We can be complete in Jesus. We can be confident knowing that He really can "fix it." He is our big brother in the truest sense of the word, and He is totally willing and able to heal us - comfort us -- ease all the pain in our hearts. We can have that wonderful, peaceful relationship with Him.

So, the next time you feel lost and all alone, understand you are a joint heir with Jesus Christ Himself. And your "big Brother" really can fix anything.

Christ above all things – Robin

Hey Watch This!

Hey Watch This!

Counselors of younger campers will often hear this during swim time.  They love to show off their skills at the pool.  We hear “Hey, watch this” or “Watch me” several times in that hour! 

One day at the pool I watched kids go down the slide, turn flips under water, and jump in from the side.  My eyes were challenged when one of my campers and a young “pre-camper” who came to the pool with his grandmother asked me to watch them at the same time. 

I did the best I could and managed to be watching at those critical moments when they looked at me for their encouragement.  I was happy to give it to both children.  But it was the little boy who seemed to thrive on the cheers and thumbs up he received. 

The funny thing to me was that I didn’t even know the little boy that well.  I am always happy to encourage a child.  They love to be noticed and encouraged – bragged on even.  It is totally natural and there is nothing wrong with it at all.  For adults to recognize their accomplishments is a big deal. 

What joy we create in a young child’s heart when we give them love and attention!  But this is true of adults too.  We need to be recognized and valued – appreciated for what we do.   I’ve written about this topic before, but I strongly believe in the ministry of encouragement.  Each of us have an amazing potential to do good in this world!

Encouragement saves souls.  I say this for two reasons.  The first reason is because the Bible tells us this.  Parakaleo is the Greek word for encouragement.  Part of the definition for this word also includes to exhort- comfort- strengthen – teach or instruct. 

Acts 14:22 is an excellent example- “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

The second reason I say encouragement saves souls is because I was the recipient of encouragement which brought me back to God.  I believe many souls either kept the faith or come back to the faith because they were encouraged to do so.  It shows we love the souls for others.

God loves us so much; but sometimes we need one of God’s people to remind us of this.  We need encouragement occasionally.  Like the little boy in the pool who said “Hey, watch this!” we all need to be seen.  When someone cheers for us, we are strengthened.  We are lifted up and we get the feeling we really can run this Christian race. 

Let’s encourage one another to keep on going.  We can all get to heaven together!

Christ above all things - Robin

      

Tears in a Bottle

 

Tears in a Bottle

 Sometimes things happen so unexpectedly we are totally caught off-guard.  But who can really be ready for disaster and heartbreak?  Life can really hit hard, can’t it?  Sorrow can cause literal physical pain.  Most of us have gone through that at one time or another. 

 A great loss of any kind can leave us thinking things will never be set right again.  We might feel we will never be able to laugh or be happy again.  We don’t understand how the rest of the world can keep going when ours just fell apart. 

 When we see our loved ones go through such sorrow, we want to do whatever we can to help them.  It grieves us to see others in such pain.  Sometimes it is best not to say anything – but only to be there.  Just to be there.  They need our company more than they need any words we can say.

 God longs to be there for us.  He hears the cries of His people now, just as He heard His people in the Old Testament.  One of the verses about God that I find so touching and comforting is what David says in Psalm 56:8. “You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?”   

 Did you know God kept a record of our tears?  He knows our deepest heartaches and pain.  God also knows that sometimes we can’t see past the pain; but He waits for us.  We just need to hang on to our faith.  Don’t let go of that. 

 We may not understand why things happen.  We might not ever understand it all, but if we reach out for the Savior’s hand just like Peter did when he began to sink out on that stormy sea, He will be there to grab it and keep us from drowning. 

 Peter learned that.  He is the one who told his readers to humble themselves under God’s mighty hand and He would exalt us in due time, “casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you.”  1 Peter 5:6-7

 Paul calls our Heavenly Father, the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).  He also says God comforts the downcast (2 Corinthians 7:6).  Another beautiful passage is found in Psalm 119:50 – “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.”

 We are on a journey here – and if we are found faithful to God, we are on our way to heaven.  There will be no pain, sorrow, or tears in heaven, for we will be in the place Jesus has prepared for us. 

 Turn to God – He will give us help and comfort in our time of need.  As sisters in Christ, we can be there for one another.  Remember God hears our cries.  He keeps our tears in a bottle. 

 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Ps. 46:1

 Christ above all things – Robin