Thanksgiving

I must keep reminding myself,
God is not my personal Genie.
I don't get to keep Him for myself
to tend to my personal needs
and be at the top of His to-do list.
God's blessings are not just for me.
Christ died to make sure that God is
for everyone.

And while it is true that we are all
beloved by God,
none of us is "special" to Him.
If we believe we are "special"
then we don't know God at all.
Lord help me to remember that.
Help me to treat all your children with
the same Love and Mercy that You do.
Thanksgiving indeed.
Thank you Lord for the most precious blessing of all.
That You are.
Your name is "I am that I am".
Thank you for being.

All Things Are Made New

Some kind of  thought keeps trying to form in my brain.  Some kind of Truth of God's Kingdom. And the thought is, it's all about your mind.  What you hold in your mind.  "The Kingdom of God is within you."   "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."  "All things are made new".

All things are made new when we choose to be in Christ and see things according to his nature, not ours.   Let's face it, our attitudes are determined by how we choose to view things.   The key word is "choose".

 Angry because of lack?  Or grateful for what we have?  
Sad and desperate because of an ending?  Or hopeful and joyous at the prospect of a new beginning?  
Fearful because of an uncertain future?  Or calm and peaceful because we know God is a faithful Father?

Some days it seems impossible to control our thoughts.  Fear seems so much stronger and bigger than faith when we're caught fast in our tangled ball of troubles. 

But God truly is bigger than all our fears.  Jesus didn't just suggest that we calm down.  He commanded it:

"Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear." (Luke 12:22)
"Do not worry about tomorrow." (Matthew 6:34)
"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." (John 14:1)

He instructs us, he tells us, "don't let.."  That means we have control over it.
I believe that in the middle of trouble, we can disengage ourselves from the trauma by filling our minds with the glory and promise of God, displacing the fear with faith.  The situation may still exist for awhile, but with practiced faith thoughts, I truly believe we can ease the anxiety, ease the fear, and watch God untangle the yarn of trouble. 

Dear God, please help me remember that you "have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  Please help everyone who is looking to you for hope today. 
In Jesus' Holy Name,
Amen

What is True?

Just when I find one more answer, I have twenty more questions.
Is the Bible all true? 
Yes, the Bible is all true.
Is it all literal?  All factual?
Ah, there's the question.
True it is.  But Truth is bigger than facts. 
I can't just go knee-deep into the Bible and take it at the literal level.
I have to jump in and totally immerse myself in it to see the Truth it reveals.
If everything we need to know is written down in the Bible, then why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit to explain more to us?  To teach us more about Him? 
I think we make a big mistake when we take the Bible so literally that we are afraid to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and learn more.  And that's More with a capital M.  Divine More. 
I never doubt where the Bible points.  It points to God, the Creator, the one and only God of the universe.
And the entire Bible leads us to Jesus, who shows us the very nature of God. 

I once heard a Christian radio show where the famous host made a statement I'll never forget.  He said, concerning the Bible, "Focus on the essentials, not the incidentals."

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Thought for Today

We cannot fight hate with hate.
We can only dissolve hate with love.

What Am I Doing?

Today on this beautiful Sunday morning I sit and wonder, what am I doing to help spread the knowledge of God?
I have friends who are Christians and friends who don't believe at all.  I have tried to share my faith with one of those unbelieving friends, but I have not tried very hard.  I am not bold.

I am not ashamed of Jesus, not ashamed of God, and do not hesitate to state my unconditional belief. When the subject comes up.  But then what? 

Well, I pray.  I pray that everyone will know God.  I pray that the people of this stupid, off-kilter world will begin to love one another as they begin to know God.  I pray that we all see God in each other.  And in the mirror.  I pray that God will do what I cannot possibly do.  Convict and convince everyone that He is not only real, he is their Father.  I cannot convince anyone.  That's between them and God.

But I will continue to pray.  And I will continue to tell people I'm praying for them.  I will continue to let people know that my husband and I could not have made it this far without a complete surrender to God.  That God has carried us when we could not walk, could not stagger, through the mess we had made of our lives.  That He forgave us and blessed us as if we weren't the sinners we clearly were.  And of course, no one is without sin, so we are sinners still.  and He is faithful still.

Help me Lord to be bold when that is what is needed.  Help me to be subtle when a whisper will work better than a strong wind.  Help me to speak the Truth and trust You to give me the right words to say.  Help me to remember that even though I don't trust myself to say the right thing, I can always trust You.
Thank you Father. 

Be the Book

Once again I'm thinking about my unfinished book about God.  My ongoing work-in-progress.  It's intended as "an introduction to God" for those who don't know Him but are willing to hear about Him.  (Inspired by a friend who said she doesn't really believe, but would be willing to "keep an open mind" if I wrote something.)

Anyway, I've started it three times over the last five or six years.  The title has changed four times.  I write some, then give it a rest, then read it back, scrap a lot of it, and start again.

I do want to finish it (as if a book about God could ever be finished!) but it occurs to me that before I can write the book, I have to be the book.  If I'm rightly related to God, then people should be able to look at me and read what God has written on my heart. 

Lord, help me today to be Your living, walking book.

Written On Our Hearts

Long ago God promised that with his "new covenant", he would write his laws directly on our hearts and minds.  He promised that we wouldn't have to inquire of anyone about Him, because we would have his laws imprinted within us.

I believe He has done it.  I believe everyone knows what's right and wrong because it is written on their hearts.

I believe that we embark on the road to hell when we choose to ignore what is written on our hearts by God himself.  When we choose "the world", when we choose greed, when we choose to win at all costs, we are choosing various forms of death.

So choose Life.  Take a look inside your heart and read what's there.  There is your happiness.
There is Real Life.