Jesus, Will Rogers, and Finding What We're After.

Greetings Everybody,


This morning I am concentrating on claiming JOY.
I am concentrating on seeing my Blessings as they occur.
I am concentrating listing Blessings that have already occurred.
I am concentrating on anticipating the Blessings that will be occurring very soon.


This morning I am concentrating on Claiming JOY and Seeing Blessings.


Jesus said...


Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."


Will Rogers said...


 "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Clip Art of Will Rogers

Bottom Line: Religious and Secular folks agree....We tend to find what we focus on looking for!


This morning I am concentrating on Claiming Joy and Seeing my Blessings.


In Him,
Grace

Micah 6: 8

Greetings Everybody,

Lets Start Off This Morning With a Favorite Verse of Mine:

Micah 6:8 " He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

This is such a lovely verse, and it is such a LIFESPAN verse too isn't it!

Act Justly

Love Mercy

Walk Humbly With Your God

                                              What a Mission Statement!

-Corporate-Business Type Folks get all snazzed over really well written Vision and Mission Statements.

-They thrive on GOALS, OBJECTIVES and ACTION PLANS.

-And it is true that really well constructed Vision and Mission statements will put your company on the correct path, and that the Goals, Objectives and Action Plans will keep them there.

But GOD knew about all of this long before Mankind did.

He KNEW that we needed tightly written, focus-driven, action-laden words to guide us too.

                              So He gave us Micah 6:8.

There are lots of scriptures that tell Christians how we are supposed to live, 

but I believe that this verse, even though it was  written long before Jesus was born, 

is one of the best Mision Statements EVER for Believers.

It combines the Law of the Old Testament (Act Justly),

with the Grace of the New Testament (Love Mercy),

and gives us a mandate to live in Harmony with God (Walk Humbly).

-The "Walk Humbly" has HUGE implications for Americans, 

because we tend to view ourselves as autonomous, and self-made.

-Our ego's tend to be a tad inflated at times. and we tend to forget that we are to be in submission to God.

-This part of the verse calls us to remember in whose image we are made.

-And to live our lives in a way that we do not "shame the name" of God or Christ.

Just wanted to share my thoughts on this with you guys today.

May God, Bless and Keep Each of YOU as you

Act Justly

Love Mercy

And Walk Humbly With Your God

In Him,

Grace

Resting In HIS Palm

Greetings Everybody,


This morning I want to talk about Bone-Deep Security and to do so, I am going to apply the "It's Ok Baby, Grandmaw's Got You Now" Analogy.


When I Hold My Grandson, It Never Occurs To Him That I Might Drop Him...And It SHOULDN'T.


He can be QUITE upset and wailing to beat the band...but when I pick him up and cuddle him and place my lips next to his little ear and whisper "It's Ok Baby, Grandmaw's Got You Now"...his life gets better.  He knows that help is on the way.  He knows that somebody who is in control has come to his aid.


As grown ups, we know that this doesn't mean that he will never get uncomfortable again...there will be dirty diapers to be changed...after every bottle there will be pressure in his tummy until he burps...there will be sniffles, and coughs, and cuts and scrapes...and all the trials that come with human life. 


But when he has needs...His Family Tends to them... all of us do that...and WILL do that FOR LIFE!


It's that way us and God... and it's that way with us and The Church as well.


Just as HE tends to US, We Are to Tend after Each Other.


We are HIS CHILDREN...FOR LIFE!


Matthew 19:14 "Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of 
heaven belongs to such as these."


We were designed to ride in the palm of His Hand.
And God Almighty does not drop HIS CHILDREN. 


He will supply all of our NEEDS...not all of our WANTS, but all of our NEEDS.


Phillipians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."


He created us, loves us and knows the most amazing details about us.


Matthew 10:30 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."


He does let us experience troubles...and He is there to help...but He does NOT take away our ability to feel discomfort or to feel pain.  


Sometimes there is great SEARING Pain. 


But HE does not leave us.


It is WE who leave HIM.


We leave Him when we doubt him.
We leave Him when we fail to Submit to His Will.
We leave Him when we fail to Seek His Will.


We leave Him when we get so full of our own autonomy and Free Will that we fail to remember that He supplied our blessings and that we did NOTHING of our own accord.


We fight against Him, and Wiggle, and Squirm our way out of His Protection and in the process get ourselves in all sorts of troubles...and THEN we claim that God let us down.


Hogwash!


Life got awful for us, because instead of resting in His Palm, we fought God and scurried out of His Loving Protection.  


And in THAT process we get emotionally & spiritually and sometimes physically damaged.


Let's just take THIS little Bullet out of the Chamber too...Yeah, Bad Stuff DOES Happen to Good People.


In fact...MOST of the really GOOD people that I have known, had have quite a few difficulties.


Amazing HUH?
How do you think that they got to be so good?


Difficulties make us stronger.
The Most SHALLOW and SELF-CENTERED People I Know have had the Fewest Life Difficulties.
And just like wee children, they never crawl out of the egocentric phase of life...and they think that the world is all about THEM.


Troubles are often called Burdens.
Burdens have Weight associated with them.
Weight lifters know that increasing the load of weight you work with makes you stronger.


So Yeah...Bad Things Happen to Good People...and somehow when you have gone through hard times...you are strong enough to help somebody else who might be going through the same thing.


THIS is the POWER of The CHURCH FAMILY!!!


We are ALL at various times either being nurtured by others or being the nurturer OF Others...by the Grace of God.


Today I invite you to Ride In His Palm with me.


Take my hand and let's just sit in the palm of His hand together for a little while today...and as scripture says...


Psalms 46:10  "He says, “Be still, and know that I am God..."


Today I challenge you to please just sit and contemplate your own life and it's blessings.


Think about how you have arrived at this point in your life.


Ask Yourself this question : "Who Do I Submit To?"


And if the first answer that pops into your head is not Jesus Christ or God Almighty... then I suspect there are some significant troubles in your life.


I suspect that you see alot of discord and alot of inhumanity and alot of greed and that there is a lack of peace within your spirit.


Today, I ask you to set down your pride, your zeal, your causes...and Submit Yourself To The Lord.


Enter HIS PALM...


And prepare for the Ride of Your Life.


In Him,
AMEN

Life Tapestry

Greetings,
Figurative language can be so very expressive and create such imagery.
It aids us as we seek to get others to understand our perspectives.
The following is clearly figurative language:

I believe that each of us is weaving a tapestry that represents our own life. 
The threads we select come in various shades and thicknesses and blends. 
The Fruits of the Spirit  that we experience in this life somehow weave themselves into each tapestry.
These are the beautiful glossy threads in rich hues and tones.
But The Works of the Flesh also show up in our tapestries.
These are the knotted threads and the sections of our tapestry where the pattern seems flawed or the colors are just all wrong.


What if your Life Tapestry were to be unfurled before God when you die one day.  
And What IF God inspects it to review every thought, word and action of your life


And What IF, just before God pronounces your LIFE tapestry unsuitable...what if just before He does that, Jesus declares "This worker is one is my apprentices! Her life may have been less than perfect, but I gave MY life on Calvary, to be able to buy her pardon today."

Perhaps this isn't quite as figurative as first imagined.

Galatians 5: 19-25 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.


He is the Master Weaver.
And He changes lives.
Regardless of the shape your tapestry is in, He can make it beautiful again.
He makes all things beautiful in HIS time...and HIS time is bigger than we can grasp.


Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.".

Jesus please help me choose my threads today!

In Him,
Grace