"We love because he first loved us." (I John 4:19)
The love that I feel for Jesus is indescribable. I remember the first time that He entered my life. I had never experienced anything like His love before. I could run to Him and confide in Him any time, day or night and I never doubted for a moment that He would betray my trust, because that is not in His character. Come next month He will have proven Himself to be faithful to me for 26 years. Who would have thought that I would be one of the chosen few.
I remember when I was in high school, I doubted that Jesus even existed and I even went so far as to say that I bordered on the line of an agnostic or an atheist , but Jesus look who loves you now. When my mama used to listen to gospel music, I would be so embarrassed and then to top it off, when the gospel music would end at 11:00 am, she would turn the radio off, because she said " We are not listening to the devil's music in my house". I thought that she was being old fashioned but now I guess I am old fashioned too, because the only music that I thirst for is music that sing the praises of Jesus.
The love that I have for the Lord is not a honeymoon type of love but it is a settled love. I love looking at the clouds because it reminds me of Him. When it rains I look forward to seeing a rainbow because it reminds me of his promise, never to destroy mankind with a flood again. I love to read the bible because it is a love letter to me and it is a mystery to the ones who do not love him. More recently I fell in love with Jesus even more, because I started seeing a change in my daughter that only Jesus could have done and it was genuine.
I told her about a bible study that I was doing by Setting Captives Free called the Lord's Table. She told me that she would do it with me and instantly she was changed in the presence of a Holy God. She is constantly reminding me of what I taught her as a child and how thankful she is for the sound doctrine that she was taught. I cherish these things and they bring me to tears. At any given moment I become "happy". That is what the older people when I was younger would call joy for the Lord.
I feel like David when he asked God " what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?" (Ps: 8:4). God is faithful. None of my labor is in vain. I was like Catherine Booth of the Salvation Army, because I too said said "Lord I will not stand before you without my children". The Lord wanted me to pray for my children and he is so faithful, His word never comes back to Him void. I am leaving a legacy behind and this is what I prayed for years ago. I always told my children that I never desired for them to be rich or famous but I wanted them to do great things for the Lord. Not that I wanted them to be a Billy Graham or a John Calvin, but to me any Christian who submit to the Lord, has done great things for Him and this was and is my desire
God is honoring me because I honored Him. I am in love with Jesus. I love Jesus because He is faithful. I love Jesus because He is Omnipotent, I love Jesus because He is the Savior, I love Jesus because He prays for me, I love Jesus because He did not leave me as an orphan, I love Jesus because He is coming back for me, I love Jesus because He allows my deceased love ones to be in His presence, but most of all the reason that I love Jesus is because He first loved me. It was His love that wooed me unto Him and it was His love that caused me to love Him in return and it is His love that is keeping me. Hallelujah, what a Savior.
God is creating a beautiful tapestry within our lives, though at times the thread of the tapestry appears to be unraveling. The tapestry cannot be seen with the naked eye, so to give us hope, God has given us glimpses of His grace.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Monday, December 12, 2011
Don't Forget About Me
Luke 15:20: And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his
father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him
My dad is just a blur in my memory. I can barely remember visits with him as a child and that suited me just fine. My mama was the only father and mother that I knew. After I married and had children, they had questions about their grandfather but there wasn't much that I could tell them about him, because there was not much that I knew or cared to have known about him. I did take them to meet him once and that placated them for a while, but a few months ago I got a message that I had been dreading and it said "your daddy wants to see you".
I avoided the meeting like the plague. I was tempted to just meet him and get it over with, but every time the thought came to my mind, I would have memories of my mama going to clean houses in the snow to put food on the table and I would become filled with guilt of betraying her and she was no longer alive for me to ask her how she felt about me meeting him.
My mama took care of both of her parents until they died and I made a vow that I would honor my mother just as I was commanded by the Lord to do in Exodus 20:12. For me to honor her was not just to take care of her but to respect her when she was alive and to respect her in her death also. So for me the best thing to do was to forget about the whole situation of meeting this man. As you can see to even say the name dad is foreign to me. I have to be honest and say that even to say the word as it relates to him causes me to have heart palpitations.
But I could not get the thought of him out of my mind. I would wake up in the mornings thinking about him. I would lay down at night thinking about him and then I realized that it was not an issue of me betraying my mama but it was the issue of would I obey my Heavenly Father, whom I said that I love above all else. I made up my mind quite quickly that I would obey God.
I asked my daughter and granddaughter would they go with me to me him and of course they said yes. I told him that we would come to his house this past Saturday at 4:00 pm. As soon as we arrived at the door, we could hear the excitement in his voice. He greeted my granddaughter first, my daughter hugged him and I stood there almost paralyzed without knowing how to greet him and finally he extended his hand and I shook it.
We stayed for a while and we talked about many things. Finally the time came for us to leave and out no where I asked him what was his plans for Christmas and he said that he did not have any and I asked him if he wanted to spend Christmas day with us and he said that he would love to. So we will be having a new member of the family with us on Christmas day.
As we were leaving I did follow my daughter's lead and hug him before we left, and as we were leaving he said the strangest thing. He said "don't y'all forget about me". That was very strange because he was the one who seemed to have forgotten about me all of those years ago when I was a child. That was the reason that my heart grew cold toward him, because he forgot about me when he stopped coming around.
But something wonderful happened for me in spite of him not coming around. I gained a Heavenly Father, who taught me how to be a daughter. The Lord has shown me that I can still honor this man even though he was not a daddy to me. I won't forget about him, because the Lord took me in and became that Daddy that I never knew and he taught me how to be a daughter. I am able to show him unconditional love, by being a godly daughter who can honor him because my Father took His word and applied it to my life and now I am ready to honor my prodigal father.
I made a promise to God that with His help that I will honor my earthly dad until the day I die. I thank God that He did not forget about me. The only thing that I want from my earthly dad is for him to come to know my Abba.
My dad is just a blur in my memory. I can barely remember visits with him as a child and that suited me just fine. My mama was the only father and mother that I knew. After I married and had children, they had questions about their grandfather but there wasn't much that I could tell them about him, because there was not much that I knew or cared to have known about him. I did take them to meet him once and that placated them for a while, but a few months ago I got a message that I had been dreading and it said "your daddy wants to see you".
I avoided the meeting like the plague. I was tempted to just meet him and get it over with, but every time the thought came to my mind, I would have memories of my mama going to clean houses in the snow to put food on the table and I would become filled with guilt of betraying her and she was no longer alive for me to ask her how she felt about me meeting him.
My mama took care of both of her parents until they died and I made a vow that I would honor my mother just as I was commanded by the Lord to do in Exodus 20:12. For me to honor her was not just to take care of her but to respect her when she was alive and to respect her in her death also. So for me the best thing to do was to forget about the whole situation of meeting this man. As you can see to even say the name dad is foreign to me. I have to be honest and say that even to say the word as it relates to him causes me to have heart palpitations.
But I could not get the thought of him out of my mind. I would wake up in the mornings thinking about him. I would lay down at night thinking about him and then I realized that it was not an issue of me betraying my mama but it was the issue of would I obey my Heavenly Father, whom I said that I love above all else. I made up my mind quite quickly that I would obey God.
I asked my daughter and granddaughter would they go with me to me him and of course they said yes. I told him that we would come to his house this past Saturday at 4:00 pm. As soon as we arrived at the door, we could hear the excitement in his voice. He greeted my granddaughter first, my daughter hugged him and I stood there almost paralyzed without knowing how to greet him and finally he extended his hand and I shook it.
We stayed for a while and we talked about many things. Finally the time came for us to leave and out no where I asked him what was his plans for Christmas and he said that he did not have any and I asked him if he wanted to spend Christmas day with us and he said that he would love to. So we will be having a new member of the family with us on Christmas day.
As we were leaving I did follow my daughter's lead and hug him before we left, and as we were leaving he said the strangest thing. He said "don't y'all forget about me". That was very strange because he was the one who seemed to have forgotten about me all of those years ago when I was a child. That was the reason that my heart grew cold toward him, because he forgot about me when he stopped coming around.
But something wonderful happened for me in spite of him not coming around. I gained a Heavenly Father, who taught me how to be a daughter. The Lord has shown me that I can still honor this man even though he was not a daddy to me. I won't forget about him, because the Lord took me in and became that Daddy that I never knew and he taught me how to be a daughter. I am able to show him unconditional love, by being a godly daughter who can honor him because my Father took His word and applied it to my life and now I am ready to honor my prodigal father.
I made a promise to God that with His help that I will honor my earthly dad until the day I die. I thank God that He did not forget about me. The only thing that I want from my earthly dad is for him to come to know my Abba.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Twice Pardoned
Acts 20: 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I
may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to
testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
We were having family time last night and as we took turns telling the Lord of what we were thankful to Him for, my granddaughter Darcel said " I'm thankful to God for not allowing me to die like all of those other babies who died because their parents weren't married, even though they still went to heaven, they had to die in order to go there, but he chose to let me live." I then asked her, since God had spared her life what did she think he wanted her to do with it? and she did not hesitate to say that " He wants me to live my life for Him".
That was an awe inspiring moment for me. You see, my daughter was not married when she became pregnant with my granddaughter and I must admit at the time I wished that the situation would have just faded away, because of the shame that I felt, but anyone who knows me would tell you that I love my granddaughter with every fiber within me and also that I think my granddaughter is one of the greatest blessings that the Lord have ever bestowed upon me.
We live in a day and age when all that we can think of is a quick solution to every problem that comes into our lives and unfortunately abortion is a sad solution that even Christians are turning to. This is what my granddaughter was referring to when she talked about God not allowing her to die like those other babies. She has been taught since she was a small child that her parents were not married but she was given to us from God. I'm proud to hear her say since God spared her life she would sacrifice her life for Him.
I'm thankful that Jesus can relate to my granddaughter and to other children like her because he was ridicule because Joseph was not his real father. I'm thankful that Mary took on the Higher Call of God and gave birth to the Messiah who extends eternal life to all who will believe in Him. My granddaughter is very much aware that Jesus spared her life not once but twice. She knows that God could have allowed her to go to heaven before she had a chance to be born and she is also aware that Jesus spared her life by dying in her place and therefore she has been twice pardoned. We are so grateful to Him for her and we will do all that we can to help her to live her life for Him.
Whether you have been pardoned once or twice, you too, Live your life for Him.
We were having family time last night and as we took turns telling the Lord of what we were thankful to Him for, my granddaughter Darcel said " I'm thankful to God for not allowing me to die like all of those other babies who died because their parents weren't married, even though they still went to heaven, they had to die in order to go there, but he chose to let me live." I then asked her, since God had spared her life what did she think he wanted her to do with it? and she did not hesitate to say that " He wants me to live my life for Him".
That was an awe inspiring moment for me. You see, my daughter was not married when she became pregnant with my granddaughter and I must admit at the time I wished that the situation would have just faded away, because of the shame that I felt, but anyone who knows me would tell you that I love my granddaughter with every fiber within me and also that I think my granddaughter is one of the greatest blessings that the Lord have ever bestowed upon me.
We live in a day and age when all that we can think of is a quick solution to every problem that comes into our lives and unfortunately abortion is a sad solution that even Christians are turning to. This is what my granddaughter was referring to when she talked about God not allowing her to die like those other babies. She has been taught since she was a small child that her parents were not married but she was given to us from God. I'm proud to hear her say since God spared her life she would sacrifice her life for Him.
I'm thankful that Jesus can relate to my granddaughter and to other children like her because he was ridicule because Joseph was not his real father. I'm thankful that Mary took on the Higher Call of God and gave birth to the Messiah who extends eternal life to all who will believe in Him. My granddaughter is very much aware that Jesus spared her life not once but twice. She knows that God could have allowed her to go to heaven before she had a chance to be born and she is also aware that Jesus spared her life by dying in her place and therefore she has been twice pardoned. We are so grateful to Him for her and we will do all that we can to help her to live her life for Him.
Whether you have been pardoned once or twice, you too, Live your life for Him.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
GOD'S LAST NAME IS NOT GOD DAMN
GOD’S LAST NAME IS NOT GOD DAMN
"Thou shalt not take The Name of The Lord thy God in vain; for The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
"My Name continually every day is blasphemed" (Isaiah 52:5 )
"they blaspheme that worthy Name by the which ye are called" (James 2:7)
The story is told about a missionary in the Orient who witnessed a twenty year old native of that land, go up and bow before an idol, then he took a knife and cut his tongue out of his mouth and put it before the idol and right after that, he died at the idols feet, surrounded by his own blood.
The Almighty God does want us to cut our tongues out of our mouths, but He does want it to be set apart for Him. There maybe someone who does not care for Billy Graham or for the Pope but I am willing to bet money that, their names are not used in a disrespectful way. Because we respect them and honor them because of WHO they represent. These men are not to be reverenced but the One whom they represent is to be. I am sure that if anyone heard someone "damn" Billy Graham or the Pope, the nation would be in an uproar, but we are not in an uproar over the disrespectful way the name of the Lord is use. I am sure each of these men will tell you that they would rather for you to have respect for God, rather than for themselves, because it is God who is Holy and it is God who is sanctifying them each day.
The Jews had so much respect for the name of God that they made it a tradition not to even utter His name, but they substituted it for the name Adonai. They has so much respect and reverence for the name of God, that they put a hedge of protection to keep them from using His name in vain.
My personal feeling is, that of all of the profanity that is used, the word God damn is the worst of all, because you do not have the authority to make God damn anyone to hell. He sent Jesus to keep sinners out of hell and it is by their choice that they are damned to hell. The bible say that hell was created for Satan and the demons. Man through his disobedience chooses to go there.
There are many glorious names that the bible tells us that God can be called, and God damn is not one of them. We do not have to be like the Jewish people of old who would not utter the name of God for fear of using it in vain. God loves when we call out His name. This shows our need for Him and our realization that He does not want to damn anyone.
Try this one on for size the next time you are tempted to use God's name in a profane way, remember that He is Sovereign and He, not you have the authority of damning anyone.
God's Last Name is Not God Damn, but for your rejection of Him, He can Damn you to Hell.
"Thou shalt not take The Name of The Lord thy God in vain; for The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
"My Name continually every day is blasphemed" (Isaiah 52:5 )
"they blaspheme that worthy Name by the which ye are called" (James 2:7)
The story is told about a missionary in the Orient who witnessed a twenty year old native of that land, go up and bow before an idol, then he took a knife and cut his tongue out of his mouth and put it before the idol and right after that, he died at the idols feet, surrounded by his own blood.
The Almighty God does want us to cut our tongues out of our mouths, but He does want it to be set apart for Him. There maybe someone who does not care for Billy Graham or for the Pope but I am willing to bet money that, their names are not used in a disrespectful way. Because we respect them and honor them because of WHO they represent. These men are not to be reverenced but the One whom they represent is to be. I am sure that if anyone heard someone "damn" Billy Graham or the Pope, the nation would be in an uproar, but we are not in an uproar over the disrespectful way the name of the Lord is use. I am sure each of these men will tell you that they would rather for you to have respect for God, rather than for themselves, because it is God who is Holy and it is God who is sanctifying them each day.
The Jews had so much respect for the name of God that they made it a tradition not to even utter His name, but they substituted it for the name Adonai. They has so much respect and reverence for the name of God, that they put a hedge of protection to keep them from using His name in vain.
My personal feeling is, that of all of the profanity that is used, the word God damn is the worst of all, because you do not have the authority to make God damn anyone to hell. He sent Jesus to keep sinners out of hell and it is by their choice that they are damned to hell. The bible say that hell was created for Satan and the demons. Man through his disobedience chooses to go there.
There are many glorious names that the bible tells us that God can be called, and God damn is not one of them. We do not have to be like the Jewish people of old who would not utter the name of God for fear of using it in vain. God loves when we call out His name. This shows our need for Him and our realization that He does not want to damn anyone.
Try this one on for size the next time you are tempted to use God's name in a profane way, remember that He is Sovereign and He, not you have the authority of damning anyone.
God's Last Name is Not God Damn, but for your rejection of Him, He can Damn you to Hell.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Good Friday or Black Friday
I've heard so many tragic stories about people who were assaulted on Black Friday. A father and his sixteen year old pregnant daughter assaulted an employee at Walmart because he could not give them the product that they wanted. A father asked the customer behind him to hold his baby and when she did he beat the customer ahead of him because he was tired of hearing him talk. This really does sound like a "dark day" and a lot of people got injured because of it. Was it worth it?
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, this is when retailers offer great sales to start the Christmas Holiday. It is ironic that some people would harm others when they go out and shop for Christmas, which is the day that is set aside to celebrated the birth of the promised Messiah. I'm sure if we could ask Jesus what He thinks about the way we prepare for His birthday, He would say, "no thank you".
We anticipate Black Friday all year. I ask again, is it worth it? I don't think that it is worth it, but there was a day that was worth it all. The only person that was assaulted was Jesus and He was assaulted for us. This day is called Good Friday. On Good Friday if you look around churches, you would not find a fourth of the people sitting in pews that was out on Black Friday. It is a shame and a disgrace to God that He would give up His only Son for us and we still reject Him. We claim that on Black Friday we are preparing to celebrate Jesus' birth, but what we are worshipping is an idol, because we have made Jesus in our image and we are guilty of idolatry (Exodus:32).
Do you not know that the retailers will get back double fold what you paid for those marked down items on Black Friday, but what did God get back when He sacrificed His only begotten Son? He received wretches that was worthy of death. This does not seem fair. Will you FOREVER seek things that will only bring you temporary happiness, when God is offering you "the water that will become in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John:4:14). My heart longs for you to receive this gift. This is my only reason for starting this blog and now let examine the two Fridays.
It appeared to be a Black Friday on what we now call Good Friday,because with Jesus dead it was impossible for the long awaited promise of God to be fulfilled, then came Resurrection Day (John 20: 1-8). You see on every Black Friday that we have had, it led to some kind of tragedy, but Good Friday lead up to Victory, because the Lord defeated sin and death, and that Black Friday over two thousand years ago gave us hope.
There is a Black Friday that comes once a year and people fight to get into the stores for the sales and there is a Good Friday that comes once a year and it leads up to Resurrection Day, no one has to fight to enter into God's Kingdom, because it is freely offered. Jesus said "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:15). Will you please listen?
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, this is when retailers offer great sales to start the Christmas Holiday. It is ironic that some people would harm others when they go out and shop for Christmas, which is the day that is set aside to celebrated the birth of the promised Messiah. I'm sure if we could ask Jesus what He thinks about the way we prepare for His birthday, He would say, "no thank you".
We anticipate Black Friday all year. I ask again, is it worth it? I don't think that it is worth it, but there was a day that was worth it all. The only person that was assaulted was Jesus and He was assaulted for us. This day is called Good Friday. On Good Friday if you look around churches, you would not find a fourth of the people sitting in pews that was out on Black Friday. It is a shame and a disgrace to God that He would give up His only Son for us and we still reject Him. We claim that on Black Friday we are preparing to celebrate Jesus' birth, but what we are worshipping is an idol, because we have made Jesus in our image and we are guilty of idolatry (Exodus:32).
Do you not know that the retailers will get back double fold what you paid for those marked down items on Black Friday, but what did God get back when He sacrificed His only begotten Son? He received wretches that was worthy of death. This does not seem fair. Will you FOREVER seek things that will only bring you temporary happiness, when God is offering you "the water that will become in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John:4:14). My heart longs for you to receive this gift. This is my only reason for starting this blog and now let examine the two Fridays.
It appeared to be a Black Friday on what we now call Good Friday,because with Jesus dead it was impossible for the long awaited promise of God to be fulfilled, then came Resurrection Day (John 20: 1-8). You see on every Black Friday that we have had, it led to some kind of tragedy, but Good Friday lead up to Victory, because the Lord defeated sin and death, and that Black Friday over two thousand years ago gave us hope.
There is a Black Friday that comes once a year and people fight to get into the stores for the sales and there is a Good Friday that comes once a year and it leads up to Resurrection Day, no one has to fight to enter into God's Kingdom, because it is freely offered. Jesus said "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:15). Will you please listen?
Monday, November 28, 2011
How Can I Find Comfort ?
A co-worker today told me about a friend of his whose nine year old son was killed this past weekend in a freak accident at his lake house. The family is devastated which is understandable. He said, "what can you say to someone in a situation like this?, I have not called him because I don't know what to say". I ask you what can you say? How can you comfort a parent who has lost their child? Haven't you heard that parents are not supposed to out live their children? They are suppose to see them graduate from high school, get married and give them grandchildern.
Did you know that the shortest verse in the bible says that Jesus wept? (John 11:35) Jesus was God the Son and He wept over His friend Lazarus, yet He knew that he would raise him from the dead. This tells us that Jesus sympathizes with us and just as He was moved to bring His friend back to life. He is moved to give this family and any other family that grieves life. Eternal life is what He is offering. When Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, he eventually died again, but for all who accept Christ, they will never experience death. Do you not believe that if Jesus allowed this child to die, that He is not a cruel God, but He will be faithful in comforting this family. Jesus loved this child and He loves the parent and the little sister who is left behind to grieve over her older brother.
This tragedy consumes my thoughts, even this late at night. I feel the pain of these parents and the little sister. I can say to my co-worker that he can share with his friends that God the Father will never leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6) and for re-assurance Jesus, God the Son promised to never leave us, nor forsake us.( Hebrews 13:5), and God is not a man that He should lie. (Number 23:19). I can say to Him, to be like Job's friend who was silent with him in his grief for seven days.
We as believers are to comfort others with the same comfort that the Lord has shown to us, but that is temporal because our comfort will not take away the heartache and pain that they experience, but God is the God of all comfort. (Corinthians1:3,4b) and He can take a broken heart and put it back together again. How do I know this?, it is because He did it for me, not once but twice. I do not grieve as those who have no hope, because I know that when my two daughters died, that they were absent from the body, but present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). I now await His glorious appearance.
Did you know that the shortest verse in the bible says that Jesus wept? (John 11:35) Jesus was God the Son and He wept over His friend Lazarus, yet He knew that he would raise him from the dead. This tells us that Jesus sympathizes with us and just as He was moved to bring His friend back to life. He is moved to give this family and any other family that grieves life. Eternal life is what He is offering. When Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, he eventually died again, but for all who accept Christ, they will never experience death. Do you not believe that if Jesus allowed this child to die, that He is not a cruel God, but He will be faithful in comforting this family. Jesus loved this child and He loves the parent and the little sister who is left behind to grieve over her older brother.
This tragedy consumes my thoughts, even this late at night. I feel the pain of these parents and the little sister. I can say to my co-worker that he can share with his friends that God the Father will never leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6) and for re-assurance Jesus, God the Son promised to never leave us, nor forsake us.( Hebrews 13:5), and God is not a man that He should lie. (Number 23:19). I can say to Him, to be like Job's friend who was silent with him in his grief for seven days.
We as believers are to comfort others with the same comfort that the Lord has shown to us, but that is temporal because our comfort will not take away the heartache and pain that they experience, but God is the God of all comfort. (Corinthians1:3,4b) and He can take a broken heart and put it back together again. How do I know this?, it is because He did it for me, not once but twice. I do not grieve as those who have no hope, because I know that when my two daughters died, that they were absent from the body, but present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). I now await His glorious appearance.
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