Pain

Pain, that’s a word that no one likes.  I think it falls in the class with the 4-letter words.  Some of us self inflict, others inflict it on others.  And often we enjoy inflicting pain on others.  That in itself is just messed up.  The Bible teaches us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets

For the most part I think that is how we, the human race, operate.  You occasionally get the bad seed.  But yeah, we try to treat others good.  But sometimes, and we are all guilty, we mess us.  We hurt our friends, the ones we love, without meaning to.  And it isn’t always the pain you can see; Most of the time it is our words. We should always be an encourager.  Try to lift others up with our words.

Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Sow good seeds with your words.  After we say that hurtful word the damage is done.  We back track and try to take it back.  Say I’m sorry, but the best we can hope for is to mend the fence, ask for forgiveness and hope they have it in their heart to do just that.  Me and my no filtered mouth often finds myself in that predicament.  I am always asking somebody to forgive me.  I know it comes out, I hear it, and then it’s like I can’t believe I just said that our loud.  Sometimes I actually just think I am thinking it buts it’s out there!  In the air.  Damage done.  I have learned  a valuable lesson this week.  When I give my opinion I am going to wait a few seconds, listen to God, and wait for scripture and speak that!  If what you say is scripture, that can’t hurt!  It might sting sometimes, because we don’t always receive what is true and best for us.  We always think we know best and we can fix it.  But we have to give everything to God so he can shape and mold and work things out for our good.  And He needs every little piece!  Every little sliver!.

Romans 8:28 (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose

Why would we want to hold on to our pain?  Sometimes I think in our little minds we think we deserve it.  We have done something to deserve our pain so we keep that little piece to punish ourselves right when we start to feel joy within us.  When we feel Jesus in there, the devil comes along and says but you know you don’t deserve to feel joy, you don’t deserve to have a happy life.  You certainly don’t deserve to move past this pain and move on without it.  Well that’s the devils job.  He lurks around “seeking whom he can destroy” Don’t let him destroy you by holding onto your pain.  Jesus took care of your pain by dying on the cross.  His pain!  I was thinking on my way to work yesterday how sometimes God asks us to do things and we hem haw around before we do them, or even IF we do them.  What would we be, where would we be if Jesus had said, “Nah, God!  Not feeling like hanging on the cross today?”  “Un Uh, not gonna do it”.  But He didn’t, we know how the story ends.  He prayed in the garden, He died on the cross, arose 3 days later!  He did ALL that so we could have eternal “Life”!  Se we could let go our pain!  I can’t begin to imagine what it felt like to hang there!  Tormented feeling like his Father had all but forsaken him.  Here I am nursing a little seatbelt burn on my neck and I am thinking, “What a WUS” and I am!  I will be the first to admit it.  I don’t like pain!  I hurt, I take a pill, I rub something on it, get the heating pad, you name it I have tried it!  But we are human and that’s what we do for the flesh.  But the pain that comes when someone cuts us deep with actions or words will not so easily be fixed.

1 Peter 3:9 (NIV)

⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing

We retaliate with hurtful words of our own and think that somehow helps.  We distance ourselves from the ones we love and that loves us so we protect ourselves and don’t feel pain.  We all have our own coping mechanisms, but how many have tried Jesus?  Most times when we hurt we cry out to Jesus.  And He wants us to!  But He wants us there in the good times too.  And honestly after the last couple of years I can say I know He was there in the bad ties!  I felt his arms around me!  I could feel his peace, his protection.  I could feel his nudging me along, ever so gently.  But what I felt after I started to live again, the good times, is so great!  I hear him telling me what he wants me to do, I hear him whisper to me that things are going to be ok.  He shows me the plans he has for me!

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

So then when the bad times, hard times, come I know what He has told me in the good times!  But you have to let him in during the good times.  That’s how the pain all makes sense!

James 5:7 (NIV)

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

Be  patient!  That is a word that I have come to hate!  A friend told me this week that patience is like an old mean childhood friend that used to beat you up and pick on you.  Now it is like picking at a really bad sore that won’t heal.

1 Corinthians 16:14 Do everything in love.

If you are in pain, let the Bible, Gods word, heal you.  Whether its physical pain, or the emotional kind.  There is a word in there for all of it. He is the Great Physician after all!   He doesn’t care if you have insurance, Obama care, Medicaid, Medicare!  He takes it all.  He will make it good and return so many blessings on you!

Philippians 4:19

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus!

 

Ink

As I sat in the chair I couldn’t help but wonder what Danny would say. Part of me thinks he would say, “Are you crazy?” Another part of me says, “It’s your finger, do what you want! But don’t come crying to me when it hurts!” That’s the Danny I love! The one that tells me there is consequences for my actions! But he loved me anyway! I tossed the idea of a tattoo around for several months. 6 to be exact. When my anniversary rolled around I wanted something permanent to show me that yes he was here! I know that makes absolutely no sense to some of you! Most of you! Because all I have to do is look at my kids to know where he was. I look at the kids who he coached- I see him there. I look at the people he touched every day in some form or fashion. I find out daily how he touched people’s lives. It warms my heart to hear stories of him. My new coworkers have many stories to tell. Stories before I even knew him. Childhood stories. They feel like a part of my family that I am just beginning to know.

Isn’t that how it is in God’s family? Everyone we meet is just another member of the family of God. Of course as I sat there I was still trying to decide if I had made the right choice. Was I in the right place? The right time? You know me I have prayed about this! For six months I prayed! So me and my big mouth (yeah I know you are all laughing) I tell him right off the bat that I am a Jesus freak! He has heard the song, knows the band. So far so good! After all he is the one that is going to be inflicting pain on me! So we begin to share our stories. After all that’s what we are called to do! Oh boy, that’s when it got interesting. He told me he was an atheist! So I let him know right off that I would be talking about Jesus the whole time I was in his chair! After all the customer is always right! Right?! I was curious because I have never met anyone who professed to be an atheist. So I had lots of questions! At that moment I wished I had chosen a more complex tattoo because I knew he was going to be finished way too soon. But I gave it my best shot. He told me that IF there was a here after he thought he would go there because he did good deeds, tried to live and do good for people. So I told him yes there was a hereafter it was called heaven and you couldn’t get there by doing good. You had to have Jesus in your heart. He then surprised me by telling me I reminded him of his mother! She was a praying Christian too! So after I heard that I knew! I told him he didn’t have a chance because if he had a praying mother she had already prayed for him and God was still working on those prayers! See his mother died last September, a month after Danny died! Hello! It was not coincidence that I was there right at that moment. And my tattoo? He was the only one that could do fingers! So yeah, my tattoo was a God thing! He uses everything, even my tattoo. I found out from my new friend that he didn’t believe in Jesus’ unconditional love because He made the path too hard to find Him! He said the Bible for salvation was like taking a toddler into the wilderness and giving them a road map. They would never find their way out! But I told him all he had to do was ask Jesus in his heart and He would do the rest. He would show him the way. No matter where he was! He was extremely knowledgeable of the bible. I am sure he knew more than I did. He has taken several theology classes. So he knew his Bible and the history. But what he didn’t know was that when I pray God listens! And I have faith that God answers my prayers. I told him he was pretty much done for because he was on my list! My prayer list! I would be praying for him every day! And I was sure he would be going to heaven with me whether he wanted to or not. After all, between the prayers his mom prayed and now with me praying he just didn’t stand a chance!

He told me to come back in 2 weeks for a touch up. I assured him I would be back because I wasn’t going to miss a chance to tell him more about Jesus. One of the saddest things I heard him say was that there was nothing in this world that he could chalk up to a miracle. So I asked him if he had children, that’s the obvious miracle. He has a two year old. When I asked him how could he not see THAT miracle when she was born he simply laid it off to science. But I told him it was so much more. So much more! So this morning I was thinking of our conversation and just the fact that YES I have a tattoo, I realized that in order for me to fulfill my purpose, I am going to have to go to places I would normally not go! Let’s face it, when I witness at church, they have already heard it! I have to get out there where people don’t know about Christ! They want to know or my tattoo artist wouldn’t have taken a class! What I am sure of is this; since he won’t go to church and he professes atheism Jesus is going to have to go to him. So I have an appt in 2 weeks! Just for a touch up. But I am thinking, another tattoo? I don’t know, that’s gonna have to be a God thing. I know God sent me to minister and witness to him on that day at that time. He was such a nice young man. I believe he has good values, high standards and I don’t doubt he is a good father. But you have to go past his appearance. I have a feeling just from our conversation he has been persecuted for his tattoos, his piercings, his general appearance; and he has been persecuted by Christians. So he just chooses not to be one of those! He is going to try to get to the hereafter on his own, by works and good deeds.

We, you and I-fellow believers, know this is not how to get to heaven. You ask for forgiveness and ask Him to live in your heart. Not a hard thing to do, but it is very humbling! So I told him I was going to pray that God sends him a miracle. A miracle that he would have no other explanation for except to say, WHOA that was God! So I am asking my face book believers to pray with me for this young man that has no belief in God! And not just him but for all those that say Christ and his unconditional love does not exist. Because I am here to tell you I have experienced it. I have felt the warmth of His embrace. The comfort in the knowledge that yes, I will see those I love again. It brought tears to my eyes as he told me he didn’t believe in Christ and his love. How devastating that would be. So even if I have to get tattooed from head to toe, I will be visiting him and his tattoo parlor. If sitting in his chair is the only way for me to tell him Jesus loves him, then all I can say is get the ink ready!
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Purpose

There are days that I wonder what my purpose on earth is. Most of you are like me; we set the alarm, we get up, we wake up kids for school, we go to work, we interact throughout the day, we come home, we have a little family time, go to bed then do it all over again. There has to be more to life than that! And the sad thing is that we sometimes do this for years before we wake up and say, “What have I been doing with my life?” For those of you lucky enough to not have to lose a loved one in the process, I encourage you to take advantage of the situation! Whether you lose them to death, addiction, divorce…whatever the reason? God is giving you a second chance by waking you up! He is telling you to seize the moment! Let Him come into your broken life and mend it. He wants you to experience the fullness of a beautiful life. He wants you to have that special someone that you can tell anything to, someone to share life and faith with. He wants you to love that little child when no one will. To sit and rock in the wee hours of the morning when they are crying for no reason. When God created the family it was His finest hour! In my opinion it far out shines the hour He hung the moon and the stars! It outweighs the creation of the heavens and earth! Family is so complex yet so simple. All it requires is love! So easy to give and always ready to receive. Yet we toss it around like it is nothing.

Micah 6:8

What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God!

If we could do that how much more would our life mean? So much more! Easy answer. We would work less, love more, we would nurture our family more. We would treat it like it was the most precious gem. When it hurt we would cry. When it felt joy we would laugh. When it felt love…well that’s what it is all about. That’s when we feel everything. All the walls come crumbling down when there is love because that is your safe haven, Your refuge. That is where you can say anything, do anything and still come home. Still be able to know that love will carry you through. It will forgive and continue to love without judgement. After all, who is without sin? Who is to say that it may be us the next time. We may be in that situation that is requiring forgiveness. A family without love is, well, a group of people that may be related by blood that may or may not live in a house together. How sad that is.

Jeremiah 31:16-17

This is what the Lord says; “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,: declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,”declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land.”

I was created for 2 things. To serve God and raise my family! That’s my purpose. My family is almost done! Wow, Jacob will be 15 next month. That is hard to believe. I can remember when my little family was me, Danny and my little dog Prissy! But things change.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new

Do you know your purpose? Whatever your purpose, make sure it honors God. Look to Him for guidance.

1 Corinthians 16:14

Do everything in love.

As you start the New Year remember to seek His guidance but then slow down long enough to hear what He has to tell you!

Psalm 46:10

Be still and know that I am God

Even if that means taking a time out from your family that you love so much. Do it! Go sit by yourself. Or walk! Whatever you have to do to get some alone time! Lock yourself in the bathroom! But go meditate on God’s word. Listen to His voice then put it into action and DO!

Romans 12:2(NIV)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2014

Where do I go from here? What do I do? Which road do I take? Which way do I sway in this dance? I don’t know! I would like to say I don’t care, but I do. Do you make lists? Lists of what you accomplished in 2013? Lists of failures? What you want to do, goals you want to reach in 2014? I want to! I have formulated them in my head. They just haven’t made them to paper yet, which is odd because everything in my head eventually makes it to paper. As I was discussing my weirdness last night with a friend, I realized I have some little tiny goals I have to complete. We tend to always look at the big picture and set our goals. Like I want to lose 100# Well Hello! Don’t start with that! How about you start with I want to get healthy in 2014. Cut back on my sugar, go with low fat! Limit the doughnuts and chips! Eat fruit and veggies. Walk a mile instead of watching that television show. Then before you know it, the pounds will be falling off, but more importantly you will be feeling better. You will have more energy and you will be able to move without your knees complaining. And as you feel better you will want more of that! Those pounds will come easy with health as your motivator! My thing or one of my things is this; I have watched TV for a long time, Danny and I watched a lot of TV! So for the last year I have just quit watching TV. I don’t know why! I don’t enjoy it! But I still feel the need to DVR all my favorite shows. But then every time I think I will watch one of them, I don’t. So I have all these series taking up space on my DVR and I have no desire to watch them, but yet I can’t bring myself to delete them. That’s what I want to do this New Year! Either watch them or delete them! That’s easy enough! Right?

Philippians 1:6

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.

My desire to quit watching TV started after I prayed for God to make me healthy, to clean me up, and to give me a heart like His. I didn’t even finish last season’s finales! And they are still on my DVR. But what I do now instead of watch TV is read my Bible; write words that God gives me, pray! But no TV!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

When I prayed for health, I had no idea He was going to clean up my spiritual health. But He did. Yet I cling to the old way by not deleting that! I have no doubt I am not going to watch it! It’s as if I can hear Him say every time I look at TV, wouldn’t it be better to sit with me for a while? Let’s talk! Get your coffee, I’ll get the word. And how can I argue with that? So I am sure, as sure as I am writing this on paper that I am going to hit the delete button. There is like only 10% space left on my DVR because of all the junk that I have recorded! How much space do you have left in your life for Christ? Is it 10%? 50%? With a new day, a new year, we have a new slate! There is nothing stopping us from hitting that delete button on all the garbage in our life so that we can free up space for Jesus! I am going to start by deleting all that “stuff” taking up space. Then I am going to start looking at other areas of my life. I know I have lots of trash laying or lurking around in my body, my heart, my mind! It takes up space that I could turn over to Christ! If I will let it go! I am beginning to think I am a hoarder not just in my physical realm but in my heart and mind. I get all these things, thoughts, emotions and I think I need to hang on to them. But I don’t and that’s one of the things on my list for the New Year! Letting Go! I need to let go of the things I have no control of, and let God have them. He knows the plans He has for me! I just have to trust Him. He is working everything out for my good! We are just along for the ride!

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

That verse has become my light when it’s dark. My hope when I am hopeless. My strength when I am weak. I know He wants what’s best for me just as He does for each of you! I am holding on to that promise. I know it will happen in Gods time. Not mine. I just have to be patient and wait upon the Lord! Not an easy thing to do, but while I am waiting I am talking with Him! I am praising Him for all He’s done for me! I am serving Him! I am hopeful! I am obedient, while I am waiting!

Psalm 40:1 (NIV).

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.

I am running a race! But not just a race, THE RACE! And during this race, we wait. We learn at the feet of Jesus! For this race is not one of speed, but of endurance!

Galatians 6:5

The Message (MSG)

^4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

As we run our race, on our road of life, we run into temptations along the way. The devil has to try and trip us up. He has snared me plenty times. And does every day! And trust me, I get discouraged. But I am grabbing an accountability partner this year! More than one actually, and I am going to defeat the devil instead of being defeated! Because as a wise friend once told me, “The devil has no power over us except when we allow him to influence our thoughts and words.” So I don’t know about you, but “I ain’t got time for that!” The devil has no place in my life! And if that means surrounding myself with people to remind me of that, then so be it!

Psalms 136:3

O give thanks to the Lord of Lords!

That’s my number one goal for this year! Because without Him and all He has done, I would be doomed! But thanks for Jesus Christ dying on the cross for me, for you, we have eternal salvation. All we have to do is ask!

Romans 10:13 (KJV)

¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

Isaiah 12:2 (KJV)

² Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation

As I move into the New Year, my prayer is to listen to God, not man! Go where He wants me to go! Follow His goals not mine! He has already set down what we need to do! How we need to live! You don’t need to say; yeah I need to lose weight. Just say, Lord, create in me a new thing! Do away with the old! Give me your heart. Make me like you! That was my prayer on April 6, 2013. I will never forget that day! I was broken! Physically, spiritually, emotionally…broken. But God picked up the broken shattered pieces and put them together better than I could have imagined. And He is still working on me! I always see areas in my life that need cleansed up! But little by little bit by bit I run that race, I avoid that temptation, sometimes I get snared by the devil but I can always come back to the One who loves me!

Praise God, there is nothing we can do that would make Him say, you can’t come back! We are human, we mess up, and we ask for forgiveness and because of the cross and the blood that Jesus shed for us He always forgives!

Matthew 21:22 (KJV)

²² And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive

As you embrace 2014, my prayer for you is to begin everything with prayer. Ask what you should do in every situation before you do it! If you are a list maker, let Him help you! Let your goals be for God this year! I can guarantee you will grow! Your path may not be easy but it will be rewarding. You will never be alone and He will always answer your prayers! Just believe and receive!

 

Doors

So here I am once again uncomfortable; with my surroundings, my capabilities, life in general.  I know this means growth but dang if it doesn’t hurt.  I feel like I have nothing to offer in the big scheme of things.  There are more qualified people that can do this!

Then on the other side there are people I know trying to check out on life, some actually succeeding.  And I wonder where did I go wrong?  I know some days I literally feel like the fire hydrant that the dog is peeing on!  But then God sends a little angel by just to say Hi! How are you doing or can I help you, or come by for coffee or I have a hug waiting for you!  That pulls me back to the real meaning of life!  What we are really here for.  We aren’t here on earth to make sure the exam rooms stay clean.  That the instruments are cleaned at the end of the day, that the paper work is all in order.  We are here to make people feel loved and needed.  If we can’t do that while we do all these other things then something is wrong somewhere.

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

That’s what I hold on to.  That’s what I pray every morning.  Lord help me do this job so I don’t come across as a complete idiot!  I did go to school, I do have some knowledge.  But sometimes it just takes me a while.  I am what you call a slow learner.  But once I learn it…I got it for life!

I think I am where God wants me to be, no let me rephrase, I know I am where He wants me to be.  He opened up all the doors to get me right here at this moment.  The same as He opens doors for you in whatever situation you are in.  I read somewhere yesterday that no man can shut the door God opens.  But I also think no man can open the door God shuts!  So if He closes that door it’s for a reason!  Be done with it, don’t look back.  We were talking in our Sunday school class how God is the one who closed the door on Noah’s Ark, simply because it was too big for anyone else. Well in our lives, some of our doors are the same way.  We go in and out of the same door; Back and forth, wishy washy! God is patient but sometimes it’s like OK, I have had enough!  Shut the door already!  Kind of like when you are at home and the kids fan the door.  Letting in the bugs and letting out the heat!  Shut the door already!

That’s how I feel.  I need to just close some doors.  He is giving me the chance to close those doors all by myself.  He knows what I am going to do before I even do it, so sometimes I am like really?  Go ahead and shut it!  Save me all this humiliation, pain, separation, heart ache!  But He doesn’t.  Once again, My God is a patient God.  Long suffering!  Steadfast!  Faithful!

Proverbs 3:3

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck write them on the tablet of your heart.

Psalm 119:114

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.

That’s where my hope lies!  In His word.  When I have a question or don’t know what to do, that’s where I go!

Psalm 33:22

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

In life we get discouraged.  Sometimes we throw up our hands and say that’s it!  I’ve had it!  I’m done!  But don’t let discouragement make you lose faith.  Because faith is the victory, just like that age old song we sing on Sunday morning.  We will get our victory.  We just have to have that steadfast faith.  When the devil tells me I don’t know what you think you have to offer?  I am ready to tell him I can offer My Jesus!  That’s it!  But that’s enough because if I can offer that, He can complete the rest of me!  If He wants me to do a job He will equip me!  I have to quit thinking this is me doing this!  Because it isn’t.  He gives me the knowledge and wisdom.  I just have to move over and let Him do it.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong, do everything in love!

If you mess up- apologize- make a mental note to do better and move on.  Don’t let all that garbage drag you down.  No one is perfect.  We all mess up!  And above all else, no matter what you do, and everything you do- do it in LOVE!  A beautiful 4 letter word that isn’t practiced or heard enough!

And as God opens those new doors for you to go through, have faith!  Don’t be afraid!  He is holding your hand as you go through the door and He has already been there!  He isn’t leading you into a trap, He wants you to prosper and have a great life!

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Ashes

One of the greatest things God has given us, Wow, there are so many, and some may not even see this but I call it a clean slate.  A new day!  When you pray at night for God to take your problems and to work his miracles then when you sleep on it and get up in the morning, its like the old has been washed away and the new is fresh, covered with Jesus!

1 Corinthians 2:9

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

When we ask God to take our burdens we try to tell Him how to fix it.  But our little narrow minds try to hatch out a plan.  But in all truth, if we just pray God take our mess and make it beautiful He will do just that!  Far beyond anything imaginable!  He makes our ashes beautiful.  Every time He does this!  It amazes me everyday how I have ashes all around me.  Sometimes I stand right in the ashes occasionally while it’s still burning.  I hear Him say, stand there just a little longer. Even when I start to feel the anxiety creeping upon me, I hear Him say:

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus!

During these times of standing in the ashes when my feet are burning He says to be thankful!  Sometimes I find that hard to do, but I am getting better.  Because I know without the embers burning making my feet hot, keeping me on my toes wanting to do His will, the devil would creep in.  There is no room in my life for the devil.  He repeatedly knocks on my door.  I look for Christ in every aspect of my life.  The devil uses the 3 D’s to keep us off track; distraction, deception, and discouragement!  If he gets just a tiny foothold in our life He can take over.  That’s why we have to constantly whisper that sweet name of Jesus!

2 Chronicles 15:2

The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with Him!  Whenever you look for Him, you will find Him, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 

The devil is tricky.  He uses things we are familiar with.  He uses things that we want to use.  He will take a memory or a friendship, whatever He needs to and then He will twist it!

Genesis 3:13

And the Lord God said to the woman “what is this you have done?”  The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

He makes it very easy for us.  Almost appealing!  But if we will step back from the temptation and look at the big picture we can tell Satan to crawl back under the rock he came from and go straight back to Hell! Because we know that he is not the one to stick beside us when we are in trouble.  That belongs to Christ Jesus!

Matthew 28:19-20

Go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He is with us!  He is with you and He is with me!  No matter where I go, He goes before me!  He is there!  When I struggle, He is there.  When I am happy, He is there.  When I am sad, He is there.  And above all remember:

Luke 1:37

For nothing is impossible with God!

Just remember ever morning when you wake up, say, nothing is impossible with God!  I have a clean slate, it’s a new day!  Be sure you leave the previous days shattered pieces right there where you left them.  In the ash pile!  Because God has great things in store for the heap of ashes!

Hebrews 6:19-20

We, who are holding onto the hope of God’s salvation promises, have this hope as an anchor for my soul.  Firm and secure.  It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.  He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Malchizedeck.

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Even when our situation appears to be impossible, our work is to “hope in God”. Our hope will not be in vain and in the Lords own timing help will come.                             George Mueller

So This Is Christmas

So this is Christmas! Delivering packages to children with eyes wide with wonder! Taking a meal to an elderly couple and staying to chat about the days events. Christmas caroling through the halls and shaking the hands of the ones that may have no "Christmas company"! Hugging the neck of the one who knows exactly how you feel because their circumstances are just like yours. Childrens Christmas plays, endless Cantata music, Candlelight services...everything Jesus! Thats what Christmas is. Not the presents, not the Christmas dinner, not the big sale at Kohls. Its about making sure your neighbors know when the doors are open to the church. If they can't get out then take Jesus to them. That could be in the form of a snow shovel with the muscle to go with it or it could be sitting beside them and sharing a cup of coffee while they tell you of their sadness and how Christmas brings many painful memories. Don't let the hussle and bussle of the next two days suck the Christmas joy from you! When you start to feel overwhelmed with the craziness of Christmas just STOP and step back. Christmas is going to come and go either way. Whether you bake 14 desserts or find that "perfect" gift, December 26 will arrive and I pray you can say, yes, I enjoyed every last minute of it. Remember Jesus was born to die! That should get more than just a mention on HIS day!

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

This Christmas, we can give the gift of God’s likeness through us. When our lives reflect the God who lives in us, we can be different from the world, and that difference can bless others with the transforming presence of His love and grace. —Joe Stowell
Merry Christmas!