God rewards us...go figure!

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.  Heb 11:6

There it is – right in the Bible….believe in God and look for Him in daily life and get rewarded. YEP – new car, new house, cool clothes… all for the price of believing in God. WRONG!!

The reward is nothing of earthly value. It isn’t things we get rewarded with, but belief in God rewards us with more valuable gifts.

1)      Peace of mind. You cannot underestimate the power of peace of mind. As a true believer, you know that there is nothing to fear and you are guaranteed peace of mind.

2)      Friendship. Did you ever wonder why you can go to any Christian event or church and immediately be comfortable? Because one quality of friendship is having something in common with someone else. By believing in God, you already have a bond with every other believer. If you are different financially, educationally, ethnically or any other-ally, you are alike in your spirituality and that makes for a pure and lasting friendship with every other believer.

3)      Love – no strings attached. Yes, God is Love. As long as you believe, you have the untarnished love of God.

4)      An ear to listen. We underestimate the value of just having someone listen. When we fall to our knees in prayer, whether for help or just to share your thoughts, God listens. When we ask He hears us and intercedes on our behalf. We don’t get everything we want or ask for, but God assures us that we get everything we need; even some things we didn’t know to ask for.

5)      Eternal life.  God told us that there was a place with Him in heaven, as long as we truly believe and live our lives as He instructs us.

I believe in God and this is my plan to seek Him. With every step I take I will move in the path my God laid out for me. With every move I make, I will support and help those around me in the example my God showed me. With every word I say, I will praise and glorify the God who gives me opportunity, life and reward.

the persecuted Church

Do you ever get tired of hearing about the persecuted church?

Well guess what? Until every Christian is allowed to worship freely, in safety, there will be a persecuted church.

We can’t all go overseas and help Christians and stand with them against their foes. We can’t all be on the field against the evil doers who are exterminating the faithful for their own gain. We can’t all guard the worship areas around the world, where terrorists break in, threatening, killing and sacrificing Christians.

But we can all pray.

Pray that the believers in the world keep their faith as adversity presents itself.

Pray that the Christians everywhere fortify each other in a unified show of faith.

Pray that the hearts of the aggressors be softened by their inability to overwhelm God’s strength.

Pray that those that do not believe are able to see God at work and accept Him as their own.

Pray that all people, everywhere, work together to destroy all evil.

And when our prayers are answered and our hearts one in Christ, there will be no more persecuted church. It's that easy.

Thanksgiving 2015

Lord – bless my family, far away

As they gather on this day.

Bless the journeys of the few

And the host and hostess too.

Bless the joy and love they share

Bowing heads in grateful prayer.

Bless the feast, the meat, the pies,

The talk and laughter, whispers, sighs.

Lord in love I ask you please,

Take good care of all of these.

Thanks for all the gifts you give

and gratitude for lives we live.

And one more thing I have to say…

Lord, bless my family, far away.

 

not out of reach

I like to think that when we die we get one more chance to accept Jesus. That in that last moment, and if we lived according to His promise and not our own hopes, He will reach down and say “My child – believe in Me now, that I can give you life eternal.”

And in that moment, we need to reach up and grasp the hands of Jesus and enter the kingdom.

But will we?

I fear that I will be so busy holding on to earth that I may miss it. What will happen if He reaches to me and I don’t reach up? Will he take me regardless or will my pride and ignorance condemn me?

I say ignorance because the only reason to not embrace eternal life is by not being aware of the gloriousness of the gift being offered.

The easiest way to guarantee condemnation is bad habits and behavior while on earth, out of God’s glory. True death comes if I look back and see myself alive in body but dead in spirit, active in word but pathetically idle in action.

Not only in the end, but do I see Jesus’ hands reaching to me daily and do I reach for them or am I too busy to raise my arms in praise?

I don’t want to delay – I want to relieve stress now. I want to ensure my eternal life and save God some work by reaching up now and clasping the hands that will raise me up when He is ready for me.  

warning lights

This morning, I turned on my car and all the icons lit up to show me oil, gas, tires, etc, etc.

Then they all went out so I would know that things had been checked out and were working fine… except one. I immediately opened my owner’s manual to find out that the best way to check this out was to turn the engine on and off and if that didn’t work, call my dealer.

If only life were that easy,

Imagine getting up, flipping on the bathroom light and getting a series of icons on your mirror.

The logo of your company – goes off if the day will be productive. If it stays on, be ready for anything.

A picture of your cell phone – goes off to show you it will be working properly. Stays on? Better get your phone on the charger and back up anything you need.

A photo of your closet – goes off to show that you are dressed appropriately for the weather. If it stays on, you may want to grab that sweater you thought you wouldn’t need.

A blur of your refrigerator – goes off to indicate you will have a nutritious and satisfying day. If it stays on, better rethink going out for lunch and pack a few pieces of fruit or healthy snacks.

A cross - to indicate your day will be completed in Christ. And if it doesn’t go off you know what to do. Go to the owner’s manual and read what to do to get things back on track. Maybe it’s John 21:17 for encouragement. Maybe it’s John 3:16 as a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice of love. Romans 12:9-10? General guidance for a good day. Whatever you see, read, digest and act on it.

Now turn the light off and on again.  Is the cross still on your mirror or does it fade to appear in your heart?

If it fades, you know you will have a good day!

Prayer for enlightenment

Lord, I offer as a token, all the times your praise, unspoken, stayed inside this mortal broken
Till I raised my hands to You.

Lord my heart forgets to cherish all the times I did not perish even though my thoughts were bearish, Grumbling and not praising You.

Lord I ask that You relieve me of the people I let peave me, hoping myself to believe me,                 That I’m blessed through them by You.

Let me see the joy, not sorrow; yesterday, today, tomorrow; here and there and near and far. O    Let me live my life in You.

Margaret, 7/13/15

Don't look at me... see me!

When I was young, I wanted to be pretty. “Dear God, let me wake up pretty…please?!”

I would look at magazines and watch TV and I knew the pretty girls had heart-shaped faces (mine was more round…with a chin poking out the bottom), deep colored eyes of brown or blue (mine changed color daily and though my drivers’ license says blue, that is not always the truth), silky hair properly quaffed (not fuzzy curly hair with a mind of its own), long legs, arms and necks, graceful like a giraffe (not stubby and short with the tread of a baby elephant), and perfect teeth, skin and tone (don’t get me started about the crooked, the blotchy and the pasty.)

So I decided that I could be nice, funny and smart and make do with that. But I would never be pretty.

At church, I began to interact with Christian women and noticed that they were past pretty – they were beautiful. Now I resigned myself that I would never be pretty and to boost my self-esteem I was associating with beautiful women instead? That made no sense at all. But I also felt no resentment towards them and they accepted me as if I were one of them.

Then it hit me. I saw their beauty because they were kind and caring… generous and soft spoken… good humored and tolerant… and they loved me because I was their friend, didn’t judge me because I wasn’t as wonderful as they were. Their beauty was the radiance of God and His message shining through. It shone through any dull hair, extra pounds, odd habits. It so overwhelmed the ordinary human figure and made each of them extraordinarily beautiful and pleasing to God and then to me.
I finally accepted that God had created me in His image and He was perfect. Once I did that, I knew why all my church ladies were so stunning. It was because they had accepted years ago that they were indeed children of God and in all their actions, exemplified His glory and purpose for mankind.

I have a new prayer now.

Dear God – I don’t want to be pretty anymore. I want to be beautiful. Amen.