Our Father in Heaven

Romans 8:38  I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How do you feel about your own kids?  If you have kids, you know exactly what I mean.  There is no love like the love for a child.  Nothing they can do will ever alter the fact that you love them, nothing!  No matter what horrible, disrespectful, or violent act could take away that love.  Now don’t get me wrong, we often don’t condone or like their actions.  And there are actions that may even cause you to turn your child away, there are things that our kids can do or grow up to be that will take them away from us forever, but it could never take away the love we feel for them.  Love does not equal letting them get away with anything.  I want my kids to grow up to be faith filled, responsible, respectful, hardworking… all those good things.  Well that CAN NOT happen without discipline!  If I let my kids get away with anything because that love has made me soft, they will be the opposite of my goal for them – they will become, bitter, self-serving, lazy, and incompetent!  Love is hard work.  Think about the stuff that is easy, is it important to you?  What things are the most valuable – the things that take hard work.  A marriage is hard work, raising kids is hard work.   If it is easy, if you don’t have to spend time on your knees in prayer to do it, then something is not right.  There are easy times, but there are also hard times.

I know, I know, you know all this: love is hard and we love our kids unconditionally – get to the point!  Father.  God is referred to as our Father all the time.  Have you ever wondered why?  Is it just another name or a way to refer to God.  I believe it has a very direct significance that often gets lost in our day and age.  God, our Heavenly Father, loves us like we love our kids.  He loves us with the same unconditional love that we hold for our children!  Nothing will separate us from God’s love.  Now, we can and will do things that separate us from Him (but not from his love – just like our own kids).  We do do things that cause him to discipline us – what is discipline?  Revelations 3:19  I correct and discipline everyone I love.  So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

Discipline is not punishment.  It is shaping; it is helping our kids become a good person – God shapes us because he loves us.  We sin, and God teaches us.  We sin and God does not like that sin, but it does not affect his love for us.  What do we do when our kid makes a terrible choice – we cry, we weep, we break, -we may even be forced to turn them out of our presence and turn them away from our safe haven of a home – but we still love them…  Think about those words… God loves us, when we make a terrible choice, God cries, He weeps, He breaks – He may even be forced to turn us out of his presence or turn us away from heaven – but He still loves us!  His love is unconditional.  1 Corinthians 13:6,7   Love does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

He is just waiting for us to return!  He is waiting for us to turn from our sin and go back to him!  He is waiting for us to repent (apologize) and for our hearts to change.  That is all a parent is waiting for.  We wait to see remorse, we want them back in our arms, we want to hold them and comfort them; we are waiting for them to say they are sorry and return to our open arms!!  It is the same with God, he is waiting for us!  He wants us to return to him and HIS open arms!  It is up to US to make that choice. 

The choice is not God’s, it is ours!!  Just as the choice to forgive your child is not yours, it is theirs.  If your child, as a conscious trained adult, makes horrible mistakes and returns with apologies, then again makes horrible mistakes and returns with apologies, and this continues on and on.  If this continues on a level where you have to remove them from your life, eventually you may stop trying to reach them, you may stop trying to find them, or trying to help them turn their lives around – but we still love them – there may be a point when all a parent can do is pray.  They may not want your help, they may not want to turn their lives around.  This happens with God too.   There comes a point in sin where our Father in Heaven must harden hearts, a point where there is no going back…  Matthew 13:12 – 15 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge.  But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.  That is why I use these parables – For they look, but they don’t really see.  They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand. – This fulfills the prophesy of Isaiah that says, “When you hear what I have to say, you will not understand.  When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.  For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes – so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.”   Scary huh?  

There are people that don’t want His help, people that turn God away with both arms!  Hebrews 6:6… and who then turn away from God.  It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance, by rejecting the Son of God; they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.  But it does NOT end his love and caring for them, for his children on earth.  He created us and loves each and every one – but it takes repentance to enter his presence.   We can only have him in our lives if we are truly and deeply sorry for our sins and willing to make a change.  We can only enter heaven if we are truly and deeply sorry for our sins and willing to make a change in our lives. God loves us SO MUCH that he wants us to be good people; He shapes us in HIS image…  He loves us SO MUCH that He let Christ suffer horrible, terrible, horrible pain - and die - for us - for me - for you…  (reread John 3:16)

When we repent, and truly are sorry and willing for a change, God welcomes us back.  He rejoices over our return.  He loves us that much…

Ephesians 3:18,19  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Thorny Cars

My sons were watching the movie Cars today.  I lay down on the couch for a few minutes and watched with them for a bit.  I saw the part where McQueen is fixing the road and Chick Hicks is being interviewed for the race in California, where he is practicing and ‘schmoozing Dinaco’.  Hicks was in the very place McQueen had intended to be.  The thought popped into my head – if he hadn’t been in such a hurry, Mac wouldn’t have fallen asleep, and McQueen wouldn’t have gotten lost, and he would have had his wish.  That thought was immediately followed with – if he hadn’t gotten lost, he wouldn’t have become a better ‘person’…  This thought was then followed with this bible verse:

Romans 5:3-5  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment.  For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

This children’s movie is a perfect illustration of these verses!  McQueen’s own lack of judgment brought him to the most miserable place of his life.  He was down, he was lost, his enemies were getting the better of him, he was stranded and stuck and didn’t think things could ever be worse.  But BECAUSE of that mistake he made, because of his own character flaws – his life was changed.  He became a deeper, more caring, kinder, stronger, and more trustworthy character.  He ‘developed endurance, strength of character, and confident hope for his’ future.  Because of these changes he did not win the race at the end of the movie, but sacrificed his dream to help someone who was in need! 

This is a kid’s movie, a product of Hollywood.  But I could not think of a better illustration of how God uses the bad things in our lives, our own bad choices, bad events, or our own negative flaws, to change us, to make us better, to make us more like him!  In the movie there is no God and the talking car does not hope for salvation, but the point, the method, is there.  We mess up, we are low and in a terrible awful place, and God uses that awful place to shape us and mold us and prepare us.  He prepares us for our futures and for salvation! 

I am sure you have read this poem / prayer, but it bears repeating:

"My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."

Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.

Author: Unknown

1 Thessalonians 5:16  Always be joyful.

1 Thessalonians 5:17  Never stop praying.

1Thessalonians 5:18  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Open the Windows!

I live in the sticks as far as most people are concerned.  I do live on a paved road!  But I live 10 miles from the nearest town of about 1000 people.  A larger town is about 15 minutes away and Lincoln, NE is about 30 minutes away.  We also don’t have central air (just a window unit).  This is not because we live in the sticks (it is still uncommon in the sticks to not have central air), it is because our house is a couple years away from being 100 years old!  We will have central air sometime.  Cut us some slack, we just recently got power outlets put in upstairs!  Talk about living without something you are used to, all the rooms upstairs had was overhead lights, no outlets,  none.  Actually, part of the reason we have not put in central air yet is that there is no ductwork upstairs either, $$$$!

Anyhow, there is a point to this.  We have had some really HOT days here lately.  Our usual method to keeping the house cool (works great), is to open the house up at night to let the cool night air in, and close it up in the morning and turn on the window units (with outlets and new wiring, we put in one upstairs too!).  This is awesome and effective (I love open windows!).  BUT…. When the days are in the upper 90s and the nights do not drop down to 70, this does not work – the window units put in overtime.  When we went to bed last night you were still hit with a blast of hot sticky air if you opened the door.  Well, I woke up at about 5:30 and lay there listening to the fans and air-conditioner and remembered it was supposed to have gotten down to 65 last night.  

I shot out of bed and ran to the front door, and threw it open.  I was met with a blast of cool, crisp, delicious fresh air!  I scurried around the house throwing open all the windows and shutting off the air conditioner.  That cool soothing air sailed in like a gentle kiss.  With it came the chirping of the morning birds, the cooing of a few distant owls settling down for the day, and the soft whispers of the leaves in the gentle breeze…  Peace.

That is what prayer feels like.  That is what the right church or bible study feels like.  I believe that is what the Holy Spirit feels like as he sails through your heart and soul.

Right now the rising sun is streaming through the east window of this room, turning the whole room a soft and radiant, but glowing and gentle orange.  Like the gates of heaven opening up…

Oh to feel like this all the time…  Later it’s going to get hot again.  The air will steam up and we will sweat just walking to the car.  People’s moods will go down; Satan will sneak in when we are not looking.  We will get grumbly and grumpy; our hearts will feel diseased and sour…  

Don’t let that happen!  Refresh your soul and your heart and mind through praise, worship, thanksgiving, and prayer!  Let the cooling and refreshing breezes of Jesus come into your soul today, keeping you away from the humid cooking heat!  Jesus is always there, God is waiting for a word from us, waiting to come in!  Don’t keep him waiting!

There are times when God seems far away.  I ask what I did wrong, and to please, please, return.  I focus all my energy on God.  I pray for his peace.  And he comes in, rushing like a fresh night wind, cleaning and refreshing the sour staleness of my soul, taking up residence in my heart.  Just as the morning birdsong brings joy through the windows, the Holy Spirit brings joy into my heart.  Just as the early sun sets the room aglow, Jesus brings that glow into my heart and soul.

Please Lord, let us hold that glow and peace today.  Let us rejoice with the songs of our hearts and praise you.  Praise you for your blessings and beautiful magnificent creation!  Keep the glow in our hearts so that no evil can enter, let all evil be blinded by the light with which you have flooded our souls!

Ephesians  6:14-21  When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit .Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 2:18  Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

Ephesians 2:6  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 

Romans 5:11  So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 3:22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.  And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are."

Luke 1:47  How my spirit rejoices

in God my Savior!

Strap on Your Belt of TRUTH

1 Timothy 1:7   For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self – discipline.

I am not sure what to do.  I have been barraged lately with the state of our world.  I usually try to stay away from all the bad that is going on – avoid politics, live my life for God, and touch as many lives as I can.  Meanwhile, evil abounds.  I turned on PBS yesterday; it was some kind of world report show.  I turned it on for noise – I was actually ALONE for a few hours- but it caught my attention when a report about theses ‘churches’ that started in England but are spreading.  They get together every Sunday, they sing, they have a speaker, they have a silent meditation time – yet they are proud to be a “God-less church”.  The interviewees said they get together for community, support, socialization, etc. but they don’t have to hear about God.  The last line of the report was “Christians are welcome, but they need to leave God at the door.”… “Leave God at the door”…  I cried.  These people, who have acknowledged the hole in their lives just by showing up, people who are obviously seeking God but don’t even realize it.  They are being led farther away from the truth; they don’t even WANT the truth.

Then today I peeked at Facebook for a moment and found a sign posted by my aunt.  I must make you realize that she posted it for a totally different reason than it was created.  The sign read “Let’s give every person who picket’s an abortion clinic a border child to save.”  The comments left on my aunt’s page were in the vein of ‘sure, I’ll take one’.  I clicked on the picture itself and was shocked – although my shock just shows how naive I am – to see some of the nation’s comments.  People thought that would be great, but they worried about what kind of rubbish ‘those kinds of people’ would teach the children.  I scanned down, while most comments were uninformed insults to pro-lifers, there were a few that softened the blow a bit.  One man said he ‘would gladly rush across the street to stop the murder of a child but had already raised five kids and was too poor to raise another’.  There was another comment that said the sign was wrong, the children should be sent to homes of those in favor of illegal immigration – but again the person was worried about the children’s safety in those homes.  Both sides exchanging blows; no reasonable conclusions.

I don’t like politics.  I don’t like heated discussions that are just arguments instead of problem solving and cooperation.

On the other side of this barrage, I watched a video the other day.  It was called Monumental.  Watch it!  It shows the outline of how our country began, with God and faith at its center.  The early government knew our country could not make it without God and printed and funded bibles to be distributed in homes and provided for schools.  In it, Mr. Cameron also included encouragement not to sit on the sidelines and watch our country become Sodom or Gomorrah.

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, go and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

God doesn’t want us idle, I know that.  The question that plagues me, and probably most of you, is ‘what can I do?’, or ‘It’s just little me.’  Well, turn aside those arrows of Satan for starters; bring your shield of faith into play.  Strap on that belt of truth!  Ephesians 6:10-18 “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.  For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.  Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.  Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.  Stand your ground, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, and with the breastplate of righteousness in place.  For shoes, put on the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all of these (King James says ‘above all’), hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.  Stay alert and be persistent in your prayer for all believers everywhere.” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I usually use the New Living Translation because it is easier to read and comprehend, but I used some wording from the New International and King James as I felt it stated things more directly in this particular collection of verses.)

God has given us direction of what to do.  We need to seek Him to see how we should follow His direction.

Please read Romans 12.  God has given each of us gifts.  Gifts to use in service to Him!  But don’t limit your gifts to your own church or your own family.  Remember the verses in Matthew: “Go and make disciples of all people”!  And “be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jeremiah 32:27  I am the LORD, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for me?

Isaiah 40:31  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 41:10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up in my victorious right hand.

He will ‘hold us up in his victorious right hand’.  Nowhere in the bible does God promise an easy life.  He DOES promise his help, love, and support.  Anything is possible with God!

PRAY, he will lead you.