The Foot Bone Connected to the Ankle Bone…

Now that you have that childhood tune in your head, I’d like to expound on some verses that have been running around in my head..I Corinthians 12. You know the one. About many members but one body. Just as a refresher….

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The reason this has been running through my mind, is that I happen to over hear someone the other day seemingly attempting to put the person he was talking to on a guilt trip. That fact that there are some of those in Christ who don’t witness to everything that moves and a few that don’t move. This brought back memories of when the youth group I was in was challenged to go out and knock on doors and witness. The thought terrified me. Talking to strangers is NOT my forte. “Oh! But God will give you courage!” we were told. Although I participated, went to stranger’s houses, speaking was not something I did beyond a “hi, we’re from _____ Church” However, I have this friend, and she is THRILLED when presented with the opportunity to speak to strangers. She really never meets a stranger. She will talk to anyone about anything at any time, and will enjoy every minute of it.

Do you see my point? My friend… we’ll call her Pam, is of the body part that God has set aside to be a verbal witness. She thrives on it, and can be discouraged if she goes a week or so without meeting anyone “new”. Me? I’d be just fine not to have to talk to new people face to face. Don’t get me wrong, I have done so, and have forged some WONDERFUL friendships, but not in my own strength. Some of the people I have met along the way in the past years of silence have been God ordained. Let’s face it, when God has it in His mind that we’re to do thus or so, rest assured, we’ll be hard pressed but to do anything else until we DO participate in what God has planned (often wonderful things) for us. But to do anything from the motivation of guilt is a sure fire way to wind up disappointed and depressed.

It’s okay to stop trying to be a body part that you’re not. Some eye may fuss at you, the hand, for not “seeing” things as they do; or the heads may fuss at the feet for not “thinking” they way they do. Just relax. If God wants you to do something, He’ll make it plain to you. This reminds me of another verse:

I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. -Philippians 1:6

See? God, not well meaning other body parts has started this good work in you. He, not anyone else, will bring it to completion. Notice Paul says, “I am sure of this”. To have such confidence! God started this, let Him worry about the specifics!

Sometimes the noise of this world–even in the religious, well meaning world, is so loud I forget the little nuggets of truth. This is one reason why I am grateful to be back. God has reminded me of my place in the body, and it just might not be the same part of the body He’s placed you in. And I’m okay with that. Are you?

I’m Back!

Hi all,

I’m back. The last post was December of 2019?? Oh my goodness. So much has happened since then. From the Pandemic, to the kids growing up and moving out and the arrival of the new grandbaby. Life has been busy around here. I’m sure it has for you as well.

Although things have changed around here, one thing has not changed. God is still on His throne, Jesus sacrifice is still sufficient, and we are still forgiven. Jesus still invites all those who are heavy laden to come unto Him, and He will give us rest. His yoke is easy, and His burden light. We can learn from Him, and He’s meek and humble.

How reassuring this bit of truth is! In the years of silence, things were quite cozy as I enjoyed intimate conversation with other friends who also enjoy the blessed freedom that exists in the New Covenant. Freedom to approach God boldly (not arrogantly) in our time or need. Each Sunday, we gather online and share words of encouragement with each other, and discuss various topics in scripture that have caught our attention. We talk of practical application of God’s grace in our daily lives, and are reminded over and over again just how much God loves us, in spite of us.

Since the last post, God has opened tremendous music venues for which I could participate. Talk about fun?! It almost seemed sinful–to enjoy myself so much. To enjoy meeting other musicians… talk of God’s love with them and share the same through song. However, isn’t this part of the body of Christ? Aren’t we to meet together? Having the music is just an added bonus.

So much has happened. My thoughts are swimming around, colliding with each other. It may take me awhile to get them all nice and organized. I do want to share though. I hope we can meet for coffee at some point and share how God has grown, and is growing, His children.

Come back soon!

God Chooses

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Picking up my Daddy’s worn Bible, I wondered where I would read today. It fell open to Jeremiah  10. Odd. I’m not normally an Old Covenant reader, but I found myself drawn to this particular scripture. Might as well. Might God be fixing to tell me something?

Jeremiah is in mid prayer, where the Bible fell open:

“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life if not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, Lord, but only with justice–not in anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.”–Jeremiah 10:23-24

Then, job hazard set in. As a 4th/5th grade teacher, we have recently been focused on writing, gearing up for our state mandated writing test. One component is to provide evidence for the main idea. For now, this part of Jeremiah’s scripture became the main idea. Where is the evidence?

Consider the following scriptures:

“On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram”–Gen 15:18

God chose Abram/Abraham to be the lineage of Jesus.

“…I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” ——–I Sam 16:6

God chose David to be king of Israel.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”–Jeremiah 1:5

God chose Jeremiah to speak to the nations.

“Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you are to name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you….” Matthew 1:11

God chose Zechariah, Elizabeth AND John to herald the Savior’s birth.

“Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God…” Matthew 1:30

God chose Mary to give birth to Jesus.

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Phillip, ‘Go south to the road…” Acts 8:26.

God chose Phillip to witness to the Ethiopian.

“But the Lord said to Ananias, Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles…” Acts 9:13

God chose Saul/Paul AND Ananias. Paul to witness to Gentiles, and Ananias to help him get started. 

“Then a voice told him, Get up, Peter! Kill and eat.” Acts 10:13.

God chose Peter to help Cornelius. 

As you can see, quite a bit of evidence to show that, no matter what mankind might’ve had planned, God had His own plans. There are also more… God chose Joseph to take care of Mary, Moses to talk to Pharaoh… the list goes on. These scripture verses are in both Old and New Covenant.

How will God direct your steps?

 

 

 

Let God Be Enough

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Child of God, there may be a time when your parents die long before you are ready to let them go. If that happens….

Let God be enough.

There may come a time when your child dies before you do, and we’re NEVER ready to let our children go, no matter their age. If that happens….

Let God be enough.

There may come a time when your marriage that you thought was made in heaven, sinks into the pits of hell, and your spouse, without warning, files for divorce. If that happens…

Let God be enough.

There may come a time when your dream job that you’ve worked hard to get, falls through and you find your self bankrupt and unemployed. If that happens…

Let God be enough.

There may come a time when the doctors tell you that you have a fatal disease, and that you’ll be dead in a matter of weeks. If that happens…

Let God be enough.

Jesus tells his disciples, ‘in this world, you will have trouble’. As if. Believer or Atheist,  we can all agree that statement is true. No rocket science needed to validate the truth of THAT statement.  (That’s John 16:33, if you’re interested) Jesus also encourages the disciples to take heart, for He (Jesus) has overcome the world. Whew! Otherwise we’d be crushed!

There are times, when we’re just sailing along life, minding our own business, and tribulations we never saw coming just knocks the breath out of us. Our spouse, whom we’ve adored for years, suddenly announces that, “I just can’t do this anymore”, takes off and the next thing you know, you’re being served with divorce papers. Why didn’t God fix said spouse like you asked? You prayed to God, you believed God was perfectly capable of getting things done, yet, nothing changed. Why? Well, does God always force you to behave? Does God always force you to treat people as He’d have you treat them? No. So, why should He force the spouse to do so?

When our loved ones die–parents, siblings, children… we mourn.. why didn’t God allow them to live just a little while longer? You prayed for them. You believed that God could heal. Why did the love one die? To us, the “natural” order of things is to live well in your prime, then die peacefully in your sleep. We know that doesn’t always happen. Some of you know all too well what I speak of. It’s not right that we should have to bury our children before us.  Definitely not right to have to bury our GRANDchildren. Yet, God, in His infinite wisdom, says to them, “Come home, child. You don’t need that world” I saw a meme on social media that reminded me of a sweet truth–our heartache could be someone else’s family reunion, as loved ones that pass WAY before us, welcome our loved ones home. Child of God, have hope. You’ll get there soon.

I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul asking God not once, but three times, for God to remove some thorn in the side he had. Now, granted, Paul KNEW why he had been given the thorn–to keep him humble. (Maybe some of us could use a thorn in our lives? Get a little practice in humility? I know there are times I do!) God informed Paul that His grace was sufficient.

There’s a saying that goes, “Sometimes God calms the storms. Other times God lets the storms rage while He calms His child”. Remember the three Hebrew children? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? The king at the time made them go into a fiery furnace. The king was being a jerk, just like some of our spouses (ex?) bosses, and BFF’s. God didn’t make the king change his mind about throwing the men in the fire. That still happened. Just like your divorce still happened, your unemployment still happened, the death of a loved one still happened. God doesn’t always change the people around you, sometimes He just changes YOU! Of course, as we know from reading the book of Daniel, the men had a fourth person in the flames walking around with them–might it be Jesus Himself?  God did deliver the men, but He did so by going into the fire with them, not changing the circumstances.

Remember Lazarus? Mary and Martha prayed for Jesus to heal their brother, and even fussed at Jesus amid their grief saying if he’d been there sooner, Lazarus wouldn’t have died. Of course, after the fact, Jesus raised him from the dead. You do realize, don’t you, that Lazarus died again eventually? Let’s face it, we’ll never be ready to let our loved ones go, no matter their age. I wish God would just take us all at the same time, but I know that’s not going to happen. I have to let God be enough.

So, with or without my awesome spouse, will God be enough for me?

With or without my job, is God enough for me?

With or without my hearing (hearing impairment is my thorn, as I’m a musician as well. Humility 101) is God enough?

People and circumstances will change like the wind in our lives. God will never change. The writer of Hebrews thought it pertinent to quote an Old Covenant verse: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5 quotes Deuteronomy 31:6, if you’re interested) 

I pray that when you do go through your heart breaking, earth shattering trial, you’ll remember that although it hurts and you don’t know what to do, you will remember that God is enough. You might not understand, you’ll cry, scream, holler, try to make deals with God, but nothing will take you around the trial. You’ll see as you go through the trial, that God is with you. You have the fourth person (just like the 3 Hebrew children) in your trial with you.

After all, God is enough.

 

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get______?

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Ideally, we like to finish the above sentence with, “The tough get going!” as in, we buckle down and get through whatever situation we find ourselves in. Sadly, this isn’t always the case.

If at the current moment, you find yourself in an ‘ok’ mode. You have a job, family, vehicle, health is so-so…everything is coasting along, consider yourself lucky. You do realize that it won’t always be that way, right? Sorry to be a buzz kill, but that’s simply reality.

So that brings me to a second question: Exactly where does your dependence lie? In what or whom do you place your trust for your day to day life? When things are good, we can give lip service to God, say in Him we trust, but is there anything intense going on in your okay life that calls for you to trust? Not to say you’re not thankful for your life… job… family… health etc, but is your trust in all of the afore mentioned, or on God? As long as things are okay, we may not realize our guard is down, or our dependence has been subtly shifted from God to maybe our self effort or family.

I have seen countless Christians loose heart in God when their world comes crashing down around them. That husband or wife they thought was just perfect suddenly dies, or worse–walks out on them. It’s been said that a divorce is worth than death, because at least if a spouse died, you can feel confident that they died loving you. In the event of a divorce, the one that parted, or caused the parting did so because they did NOT love you. So, when that perfect spouse leaves you, whether through death or divorce, will you be able to go on? You can if your trust was on God. If you find your trust was on your perfect marriage, you may find your faith shaken.

Other instances–a child dies, or goes missing. A beloved sibling dies. Could we continue on with our lives? That alone would crush me I think. Knowing that it could become a reality, my dependence MUST be on God.

At the same time, I have seen Christians go through horrific situations and still their faith remained unaltered on God. A very dear friend I’ve known since elementary school has had to bury a husband, a child, and I believe 2 grandchildren. She has been disowned, taken advantage of, and in poor health. Yet, in her very heart felt writings, she talks about how God has brought her through all of her tragedies, because it was NOT something that any human could get through by themselves. She simply amazes me.

What about when you find yourself in a horrific situation… and you pray and ask God to fix the situation? You ask that He heal the loved one, to change the mind of a soon-to-be ex, for the boss to decide not to fire you. What if you pray for God to intervene and nothing seems to happen? The child still dies, the perfect spouse still walks out, the boss still fires you, etc.

Where is God in all of this? Why didn’t He wave His magic wand and fix everything?  The apostle Paul had the same question: He asked God to remove the thorn in his flesh. Asked Him three times in fact. God’s answer was firm: “No, my grace is sufficient for you”  (this is found in 2 Corinthians 12) Of course, Paul was told why he was given a thorn–to keep him humble. We may not have our trial explained to us, and God may not swoop down and fix things, but His answer remains the same for all of us: My grace is sufficient for you.

If we believe that, if we TRULY believe that, what would be a by-product of that belief?

Speaking of belief, that reminds me of our Sunday meeting last week. It was mentioned that a set of beliefs–a bullet-ed list, was really secondary to the main thing. Do you know God? Not do-you-have-a set-of-beliefs-about-God. But do you know Him? Have you met Him person to person? I find it a lot easier to trust people I actually know. I MIGHT venture out to trust someone that a friend validates, but there’s still going to be a caution until I know that person myself.

Some of us might place a LITTLE bit of trust in God, based on the validation of a loved one, a respected pastor, etc, but that’s not the same as knowing God personally, without the middle man of a loved one or respected Pastor.

I challenge you, BEFORE you go through a horrific trial, ask God to reveal to you where your trust is. If it’s not where it should be, ask Him to change it. Trust me, He will. If you’re already going through a horrific trial, it’s not too late. Admit that your trust placement was off kilter. Instead of asking God to fix the “other” people who caused the situation, ask Him to fix you… to help you put trust in Him in spite of the other people who caused your trial. You just might be surprised at what comes about as a result of that. I know I was.

Saying Goodbye

A few days ago, family and friends gathered around to say goodbye to a wonderful man. Uncle Gene, a retired police office and Korean War veteran had been in bad health for sometime. God finally called him home and escape that broken down body wracked with pain.

As the police chaplain comforted us with words that Uncle Gene truly accepted Christ and was now in His presence, I couldn’t help but to agree with him. Uncle Gene knew what I didn’t know such a long time ago, and I wished he and I could have talked, “now” that I know what he was talking about a long time ago.

My husband and I would often host family get togethers, and there was one such time, back in my heavy-on-the-churchianity days that Uncle Gene and I were talking. He was a puzzlement to me, because he SEEMED to be a Christian, yet he had no interest in going to church. He could go or not go, he was fine either way. He knew scripture, and seemed to know God on an intimate level. More so than I did, and I WENT to church. At that point I was heavily involved in the church, at the point of forsaking my family for “church activity”. To make me sound more righteous, I would call it “ministry”. Why didn’t Uncle Gene do that? Why was he content in NOT doing that?

Of course, being the “good Christian” that I was, I gently brought up the verse in Hebrews 10, about not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching…

Being the man that he was, he just smiled at me, and reminded me that as the body of Christ, he and I were “assembling ourselves together” right then and there. There had been plenty of scripture talk, not just among he and myself, but a handful of others who were also involved in their local churches. I WANTED to say, “Yeah, but this doesn’t count… we’re meeting for Thanksgiving”. Even at that time, I realized what Uncle Gene was saying–that this particular scripture never said, “Thou shalt go to church”, but rather meet up together–wherever and whenever.

Don’t get me wrong, Uncle Gene (as well as myself) are not “anti-churchianity”. If you want to be involved in a local congregation, by all means, do so and enjoy yourselves. The main thing is knowing–intimately–Jesus. If you desire to meet with people in a local congregation, then do so. I would encourage you to do so because you WANTED to, not because you mistakenly feel that God will zap you if you don’t. I would also encourage you to NOT take the path I chose–went to church every time the doors were opened, and thumbed my nose up at everyone else who didn’t.

Bottom line–in church or out of church, know Jesus. Intimately.

Memories with a smile..

When I first read this, I had to stifle a chuckle. A smile crept across my face as I quietly gave a knowing nod concerning Corey’s thought process. I have no clue as to who Corey is, but his thoughts on what he heard resonated with me. You see, about 20 some odd years ago, this was me saying the EXACT same thing when I first heard we didn’t tithe anymore. Corey watched this presentation:

 

After watching this presentation, Corey had this to say about what he heard:

“So since we are not under the Mosaic Law, I guess I can start telling lies, stealing, and dishonoring my parents? After all, I’m not under the Law. Obviously, these men have not run a church and paid the bills there. ….Unbelievable”

I hear you, Corey. Once upon a time, that was me. It was many, MANY moons ago, and “New Covenant” or “Old Covenant” was nothing more than a time line of the Bible. “Old Covenant” was the Old Testament, “before” Jesus was born to a virgin, then we had the Synoptic Gospels–that was the part of the Bible “during” the time Jesus was here in Earth form, and then we had the Epistles which were the letters that Paul and Peter and a couple of others wrote “after” Jesus ascended back to heaven. Before, during and after. Nothing more, nothing less. At that time of my life, I frequented the halls of Yahoo! Chat room to engage in “Christian conversation”. (HA!) It was there that another chatter started sharing the New Covenant message–the Good News with me.

There were many, many issues I had with him, and at the bottom of the list was tithing. Corey could have been quoting me verbatim. Somehow, we’d gotten on the subject of tithing, and he freely acknowledge that he and his family didn’t tithe. I was mortified. At this point, I was very active in the local congregation, and wondered how on EARTH people expected to keep the doors open. Sure, the message was the main thing, but in order to enable to the hearing impaired to hear, we needed a sound system that ran with electricity. In order to let the seeing impaired see where they were going, lights were needed–that ran on electricity. You get the idea. There were light bills to pay, cleaning people to pay, etc. Not pay tithes?? He clearly didn’t know the ins and outs of keeping church doors open. After much conversation, it was finally realized that he and his family “gave”, as in, they put $$ in the offering  in the plate as it passed their way. He just chose to call it an “offering”, instead of  “tithes”. That was different. As part of the leadership in our congregation, it really didn’t matter WHAT you called it. Call it a fruit bowl for all the leadership cared. Just please continue to put $$ in the plate so that we can keep the electricity on for one more month…. so we could pay a cleaning crew for one more month… Tomato–tomahto. Made no difference to me.

Of course, years later, I realized that the mindset I had was a clue as to my ignorance of the New Covenant, which is another adventure in itself.

I pray the Corey’s of the world keep on questioning, keep on accusing, and keep on learning this awesome relaxing (not lazy–just relaxing) life Jesus has for us. It’s HIS life. Rock on, Corey. You are in for an exciting journey as your continue to “prove” New Covenant ministers wrong. Your life will never be the same.

 

Happy Trails To You.

Today at work, we gave a fond farewell to one of our colleagues. Having come from Corporate America into Education America, she’s finally to the point where she can hang up her spurs and ride off into the sunset.

Since I have been here, I have had the privilege to see several colleagues retire, as well as the heartache of having colleagues pass away, either suddenly through car wrecks, cancer, or other extended illness. Either way, it wasn’t fun.

During our brunch, another friend/college asked as to the location of another colleague we were saying goodbye to. Her husband had been transferred, so she is also leaving us this summer. We all remarked at how many people we were losing this year–through career change, retirement, moving. A couple of us decided we didn’t like change. The people, our family, that are here today, should be here tomorrow as well.

Reality is, within our own sphere of influence, we experience different. What was today, will not be tomorrow. Things that were yesterday are no more. It reminds me of being tossed about on top of the waves. We have no idea where we’re going to wind up next. People come and go in our lives, and quite frankly, we come and go in other lives.

There is something, however, that never changes, and it is SUCH a relief! God’s love for me never changes. God’s love for you never changes, either. No matter how many times I mess up, and no matter how old or sick I get. God’s love is the same, it never varies.

Why Does it Matter?

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Leaving a local church service one evening, I was trying to brush aside my disdain of the closing statement I had just heard: “Every night I ask God to forgive me….”

Great. Another speaker denying that God has already forgiven the whole world. Another speaker yet ignoring Paul’s letters to the Saints at Corinth stating that God was in Christ, reconciling the WHOLE WORLD TO HIMSELF, NOT counting their sins against them. (That’s I Corinthians 5:19 if you want to read it for yourself.) I voiced my disdain to my riding partner.

We had both been visiting a few churches here there and yonder, seeing if we might be interested in attending a brick and mortar congregation. Having different reasons for doing so, we both rode together on various occasions.

In exasperation, she asked me, “What does it matter? He’s not teaching anything bad. You think too much”. I understood her point. It’s not like he was encouraging people to go live a life of sin. He had been encouraging the listeners to behave themselves. That’s not a bad thing, is it?? As we continued our ride home, I was reminded of another conversation years ago from a chat friend. Talking of pulling out of local congregations because of the muddying-up-the-gospel-message, my friend told me, “If you find the perfect church, don’t go to it–you’ll mess it up!” Jokingly being serious, I understood his point. No church is going to be perfect; not the preacher, not the congregation, and definitely not the doctrine.

So, does it matter? Yes it does.

Can you imagine someone loosing the love of their life and wondering if God was punishing them for some “unconfessed sin in their life”? Well, if we’re being taught to ask forgiveness each night, then yes, it’s quite imaginable.

Can you imagine a parent having to bury their young child and wondering if God is “teaching them a lesson”? Well, if we’re being taught to ask forgiveness each night, then yes, it’s quite imaginable.

Can you imagine a woman having miscarriage after miscarriage, and thinking God must not think her fit to be a mom? Well, if we’re being taught to ask forgiveness each night, then yes, it’s quite imaginable.

Along with asking forgiveness, there’s the teaching of repercussion if we DON’T ask forgiveness. God will punish us. God will with hold His blessings. God will have to dig up Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize to them.

So, to make it sound palatable, we preach, ‘Try your best, and let God do the rest”. So we live our life trying to gut it out for God, hoping He grades on a curve, and make sure… make DOUBLE sure you ask for His forgiveness! If you die without doing so, you may very well backslide into hell.  Best be gutting it out for God so that we don’t wind up in hell. “If we’re in the battle for the Lord and the right, keep on the Firing Line…He will only use a servant He can trust… Keep on the Firing Line!” That’s some intense erroneous teaching.

Oh no, one might say. Yes, we ask God to forgive us, but if we forget a sin, or have a sin we don’t know about (really???) Grace covers those. We’ll still go to heaven. We might lose a reward or two, but our lives will be saved. (A variation of the I Corinthians 3:12 wood, hay and stubble verse)

So now, we’re working, gutting it out for God to get more rewards? That’s our primary goal is to get as many shiny rocks in our shiny hat? That’s it? “Will there be any stars, any stars in my crown, when at evening the sun goeth down? When I wake with the blest in the mansions of rest, will there be any stars in my crown?”. Misguided reasoning.

I implore you, reader. Stop asking God to do what He’s already done. You are forgiven. You can accept it or not, but make no mistake. God has already forgiven you. What’d He do with it? Every bit of forgiveness you’re ever going to get resides in the person of Christ Jesus. If you accept Jesus, you get the forgiveness–ALL the forgiveness that God is ever going to dispense. Paul told the folks at Corinth that God was NOT holding ANYONE’s sins against them. Not just the “nice” people. Not just the religious people, and not just the Jews. God was in Christ, reconciling the WHOLE WORLD to Himself, NOT counting men’s sins against them! WHY is this so hard to believe? (Check out 2 Corinthians 5) God can create the entire universe with a spoken word, raise Lazarus from the dead, part the Red Sea, but He’s not capable of forgiving us once and for all?? Seriously?

Maybe we feel that God COULD do that, but it’s not within His character? After all, He had entire civilizations wiped out from existence, and, since our sins will be displayed on that great movie projector in the sky (a misunderstanding of Luke, Ephesians… Corinthians..) so it would be reasonable, we think, for this Ogre of a God to make us dance like puppets in order to get His forgiveness. Of course, His “grace” is to have us “get more forgiveness” so as to have those sin parts edited out of our life’s movie (crazy, I know, but yes, that IS taught)

There is a fear associated with the unknown–that teaching total forgiveness is a license to sin. That’d be understandable–were we to stop at the “you’re forgiven” part. When we keep going, it makes sense.

God loves you. (Cue the song, “Jesus loves me, this I know!”) Do we really know what that means? Do we simply picture a laughing Jesus hugging a small child? It’s so much more than that.  Love is an action. When we were dead in our sins, Christ died for us. At just the right time, God sent His son to be born of a virgin.  So, instead of gutting it out for God, why not simply rest in Jesus, and let Him live out Love through us. We get the privilege to come along for the journey. All of Jesus using all of me. No sweat.

We talk about a judgmental God, yet, Jesus ate with sinners. He didn’t fuss at Mary Magdalene for breaking expensive perfume on his feet. He didn’t fuss at Zacchaeus for being a crooked tax collector.  What about Judas Iscariot? Jesus knew Judas was the betrayer, yet Jesus still fed him. Washed his feet. In spite of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus didn’t hate him. He simply loved all of them. He does the same for us, in spite of what some doctrines teach. Could it be that we have the wrong picture painted of God? How do we reconcile all of those “For I am a jealous God” with the “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself…” verses?

Be content, knowing that no matter what circumstances life throws your way, God loves you and desires a relationship with you. Knowing full good and well your life won’t be free from sorrow and pain, but also knowing that, in spite of these horrific times, God will see you through. Try Him and see.

Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus. Just to take Him at His word! Just to take Him at His word! Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

He is Building a Place

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After their children had moved out and started their own lives, a retired doctor and his wife found themselves becoming a bit restless. An idea came to the Dr. “Why don’t we adopt a puppy? I think a puppy might bring some life back into our quiet home”. The wife hesitated,  “I would love a puppy. However, there are several projects we’ve got going on in our home that need to be finished before we bring him–or her–home”. The Dr. agreed and the next day they went in search of their new puppy.

Visiting the local dog pound, they found one that was just perfect! Remembering the unfinished projects at home, the Dr and his wife made a request of the employee. “We have some renovation going on at our house and we’d really like to finish it up before we bring our puppy home. Would it be okay if the puppy stayed here just a bit longer? We can pay in advance and provide the food ourselves. We just need to finish up the home first.” The employee agreed.

For the next several weeks, the Dr came on a daily basis to visit the puppy. He played with Copper (the new name given), fed him treats, held him, petted him and just loved on him. In return, Copper would curl up in his new master’s arm and snuggle down.

The day they were due to bring Copper home, a family friend came to visit. The wife agreed to go get Copper while running errands so the Dr and his friend could visit. He could tell the man had something on his mind. When he inquired of his friend, the man blurted out, “I’ve got terminal cancer. There’s nothing the doctors can do. I’ll admit, I’m rather terrified of dying. I accepted Christ a long time ago, but I’m now sure what happens when I die. It’s keeping me up at night!”

About that time, the wife came in with Copper. “Is that you, hun?” The Dr. called out. “Yes, dear. I have our Copper with us. I’m in the kitchen putting away a few groceries.” Hearing the kind Dr’s voice, Copper started scratching on the closed door of the study, whining to get in. Thoughtfully, the wise old Dr turned towards his friend. “Do you hear our new puppy scratching on the door? He’s never been here before.  All he knows is that I’m here. He knows me. We’ve spent lots of time together, but this is his first time here at our home. He trusts me.” with that, the Dr walked over, opened the door, and bending over, reached out to take Copper in his arms. “Welcome home, Copper! I’ve been expecting you!”

The friend now understood. Scripture verses from his childhood came back to his memory:

 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:1-3