Tag Archives: Christianity

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What Are You Investing Your Time In?

Jeremiah 2:32 (NIV), “Does a young woman forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.”

How many of us go about our day and “forget” God? I know, we have a multitude of excuses, and reasons, and complicated lives. Yet, it’s all a matter of what is important to us, where our priorities are. Listen to what Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew.

Matthew 6:19-21 (KJB), “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

He is talking to them about what they are investing their time, money, and energies into. Instead of working for things that are short lived (temporal of this earth and for a limited time), they should be working for treasures of heaven (long term, eternal, heavenly things that last forever). Whatever we earn here is quickly used up, wasted, rotted, spoiled, moth eaten, and temporary! Yes, we have to work, yes our kids need shoes and clothes and a warm place to lay their heads. However, that can’t be our first or only priority.

When we put God first, spending time with Him in the word, in prayer, listening to what He has to say, fellowshipping with Him and other believers, the rest will come easier.

Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifespan? And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans pursue all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.”

Stop worrying! Don’t fret. He wants what’s best for us. He always has and always will. Investing your time in a close relationship with Him will always pay off.

“We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength.” Charles Stanley

No matter what happens during our day, when we purpose to spend some quality time with Our Father, peace will come into our hearts and lives.

What are you investing your time in?

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Trust

Jeremiah 17:7 (NLT), “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.”

Blessed is the one who trusts in Him. Period. This isn’t rocket science. If we trust Him, we are blessed.

It all boils down to this: How much does He love me? When we are sure He loves us we stop questioning Him and just do what He tells us to do. This is putting our faith on Him and Him alone.

I have been struggling with some trust issues the past few days, feeling like I have bitten off more than I could chew and felt like I didn’t have it in me to do what I had purposed in my heart to do. An old enemy, anxiety, came creeping back, and I am ashamed to say I didn’t toss him out as quickly as I should. After a wonderful encouraging Sunday morning message, and some lengthy prayer, I finally realized that my lack of trust wasn’t in myself, that unwelcome anxiety was the result of placing my trust in ME instead of in Him.

Simply put, it was sin. So, what does a person do when they realize they have misplaced their trust? Repent! I told God I was sorry, thanked my Pastor for the message, and changed what I was thinking.

This morning during my quiet time with the Lord, He spoke these words into my heart, “I LOVE you, let that be your strength today.”

Do I trust Him! You bet I do. Do I sometimes forget He is trustworthy, sadly yes, yet, He is faithful to remind me of His love. And because He loves me, I can put my trust in Him.

Amen!

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See Him Smiling

Numbers 6:22-27 (Message Bible), God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons, this is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them, God bless you and keep you, GOD smile on you and gift you, God look you full in the face and make you prosper. In so doing, they will place my name on the People of Israel—I will confirm it by blessing them.”

(Verse 25 NIV), “the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;”

I am not sure which version I like better. God smiling on me is a wonderful picture. Who doesn’t like to have someone’s face light up with a big smile whenever you walk into the room? However, the words “His face shine on you” reminds me of the warmth and brightness of the sun. On a gloomy, overcast day, with moods grey as the sky, when the sun bursts forth from behind the clouds, something sings in my heart.

For too long, people have had a vision (a false one) of God being angry, a picture of a stern face and a disappointed Father. It’s not the kind of Father most people would want.

It’s time to get that lie of Satan out of our minds and out of our hearts. He (God, our true Father) is SMILING ON YOU! He is NOT angry, disappointed, or ashamed of you. He loves you, He is there to help you, and He wants only the best for you. He isn’t some distant deity that is watching on high to catch you doing something wrong. He is patiently waiting for you to give Him a place in your heart. He longs for you to return His love, just like a child to a father.

He is not frowning on me, my Heavenly Father is smiling on me!

See Him smiling on you.

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Get Up!

Luke 22:46 (NIV), “When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

We all get tired, lazy, under the weather, weary, and lethargic and the list goes on… But God says to us, “Get up!”

Not much good happens while we sit on our backsides. Sure a bit of office work, some reading or computing, but actual work for the Lord, work that wins souls and pleases Him happens when we are up and moving.

Sure Jesus made it through it all without the prayers of the disciples, but perhaps His suffering would have been less, or maybe the real suffering happened to the disciples because they didn’t watch and pray.

We do get down, but make sure you call on the strength of God and get back up.

We feel week and tired, but He promises us rest.

He also cautions us not to grow weary in well doing. That doesn’t mean don’t do good things, it means build yourself up in His most Holy Word and walk in His love and strength.

Get up!

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What Is Your Bait?

Romans 4:2 (BSB), “Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?”

Matthew 4:19 (NIV), “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

If we look at these two scriptures it is clear that Jesus want us to be a witness to people. He wants out lives to be a shining example of the Father’s love and goodness. Why? Because people will see how kind and caring He is and want what we have… the love of a Father.

If we think a minute about fishing in the natural. We find out what fish like to eat and then we “bait” our hook or traps with it.

We don’t fish with a frying pan.

Neither can we “catch” converts by telling them they are sinners and treating them like they are sub-par to us (Christians).

The end of that fish may very well be the frying pan, yet we don’t show them one and expect them to want to get on the end of that hook. They are gonna run from us.

If we spout hell and damnation to the lost… yep, they’ll run.

The goodness of God turns hearts to Him. Is He good? You bet. Has He been good to you? Tell someone.

That folks is our bait.

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False and Fragile Chains

A inspirational speaker a few months back reminded me of something about elephants in captivity used for entertainment (years ago, not sure if the practice is still used.) When the elephant calves are small they tie a chain around a hind leg and attach it to something solid that can’t be moved. Over the years the elephant learns that it can only go so far, before the chain stops them in their tracks. Eventually a small rope and a tent stake will hold this enormous animal in place, actually it’s the ingrained belief, not the fragile rope at all.

Why did this speaker, Jonathon Thomas, use this elephant story? To point out that what we think, how we train our minds, is very important.

For years, I suffered from anxiety. At one point it almost had me paralyzed. Like those elephants, I believed I could only go so far, with certain “safe people”, and lived a horrible life of fear and bondage. All of this happened while I was a born again Christian! Why did it last so long?

I think mostly because I had to change the way I thought and my expectations. Instead of believing made up lies of the enemy, I should have believed what God said. When I expected God’s best and quit expecting the worst, life got better. Once I sat through a dentist appointment with no pills and no anxiety, the next time wasn’t problem. When I could wait in line, sit in a crowded room, and manage a new situation without the sky falling or the ground swallowing me up, and without fainting or seemingly heart failure, I knew that God had my back.

Whenever feelings of anxiety try to come back, I rebuke them and quote His truth.

What fragile and false chains are holding you back?

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Come Home

Art work by Charlie Mackesy

Luke 15:20 (Berean Study Bible), “ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”

In Luke 15 we can read about a man that had two sons. The younger wanted his share of the inheritance before his father had passed. This can tell us a lot about this young man. Normally an inheritance isn’t given until there is a death. In those days the oldest son got a double portion and it is possible he resented this. People who dream of getting their inheritance early usually dream about losing the person early. But this man begs his dad to give it to him now. He was tired of working his father’s land, he was tired of being the second son, and he obviously didn’t respect his father.

The father, in his love, gives the son all that is due him. What does this selfish son do? He leaves everything behind, the work, the family, his social standing, his home. Then he proceeds to fulfill every lust of his flesh. When you have a lot of money, people suddenly want to be your friend. When you are “paying for the next round” or drive the fancy car with all the bells and whistles, when you throw your money around like it will never run out, people use you.

Before long, this young man who was always provided for, who had a family and a home, had an inheritance waiting, had absolutely nothing, and because he had run so far from it all, he found himself alone and starving.

Good thing he finally “came to his senses”. He remembers how good it was back home, he thinks about how his father even treated the servants pretty darn good. It took all of this for him to realize dad wasn’t such a bad guy after all, and his life was a whole lot better than it was at the end of the rope. He began to miss his old life and says to himself:

“ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ (Luke 15:18-19)

Then while he was way down the driveway his father sees him. That means dad’s been watching and he can recognize this son he loves from even very far away. Does he wait for the prodigal to come to him with his tail between his legs, rehearsing the “did you learn your lesson” speech? Nope, he runs to his son and kisses his neck. To this father, it’s like his son had returned from the dead.

What a love. I want that kind of father, don’t you? Well, it’s time we “came to our senses” as well. We have that Father. He recognizes us better than anyone, He is looking for us to come up the drive, He is ready to give us a party in Heaven. He loves us no matter how we have behaved, disrespected, and squandered what He has already given us. He loves you!

Won’t you come home?