Jesus is the Present God Gave Us. Have a Blessed and Joyful Christmas. Love, Lori
Posted on December 24, 2013 ·
Light of the World
Posted on December 23, 2013 ·
12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. Matthew 5:14-15
One of my friends came to me and said she had a new job but she was very unhappy there. She said she was the only Christian in the whole department. She did not feel any blessing in this.
I have had a similar experience and it is so much nicer to have many Christians working with you but Jesus has a reason for putting us with non Christians. We are to be a light in a dark place. Before my friend arrived at her new job there was no light in the place. Now there is. I think it is a great honor to be in the position of bringing the light of Jesus to our work place. The Lord trusts my friend to be that light and bring the Gospel with her. Even if we can not evangelize just showing the love of Jesus to people shines our light. [Read more…]
Put That Rock Back!!
Posted on December 16, 2013 ·
Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” -Ephesians 5:11-14 (NLT)
In a recent entry I talked about letting your light shine. If you are in Christ and are obeying the Lord you will shine wherever you go. But it’s not always pleasant for people around us when we do shine. Paul says that people’s evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them. That is not a comfortable feeling for people to have. If you have ever been in a dark room and suddenly somebody turns on the light it hurts our eyes. Usually we would say “Turn off the light!!” In other words a bright shiny light can make some people uncomfortable and they want to turn that light off.
I am telling you this so you won’t be surprised that not everybody will have a positive reaction to the love, kindness and consideration you show to them.
We lived in the country for many years. I loved to go exploring with my children as we looked at the beauty of nature. One day I saw a large interesting rock. Wanting to examine more closely, I lifted it off the ground. When I looked back at the place I had lifted it from I saw a whole colony of bugs running around in a panic. They were not happy that I had let the sun into their home. In fact, if they could have spoken to me they would have said “Put that rock back!!!”
So if you find yourself unappreciated for your love, just keep on loving them. Most will eventually get used to the light. Then share the Word as the Lord leads you.
Keep shining!
Jesus is Lord!
An Attitude Adjustment
Posted on December 9, 2013 ·
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:3-5
Think back to 8th grade. We worried about how we looked, what other people thought about us, how we would get that new outfit or video game we wanted. How often did we think about the people in our lives at that time? I really did not see my parents, grandparents or my brothers’ lives or problems other than how their behavior impacted on my life. That is the level of maturity most of us had before we made Jesus the Lord of our lives. It was all about us. [Read more…]
She Said What?!
Posted on December 2, 2013 ·
A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45
The Lord intends that we use our mouths to bless others. Our mouths are to be used to edify (build up) others, bless them and honor the Lord. But where do all these wonderful words flowing out of our mouths come from? They come from our hearts. That is where our treasury is. If we are still angry, bitter or resentful towards others that is part of the “treasure” in our hearts. If we are thankful, appreciative and compassionate towards others that will come out too of our “treasure”.
I have a garage that is full of a collection of things that belonged to my husband’s family. A few of the things there are mine too. There are some good things there, but there are many things that are useless or broken. If you came over you would tell me to keep the good things and get rid of the useless and broken things. You would be right.
Our hearts can be like my garage. Good ideas, thoughts, love and the Word of the Lord can all be in there. But there can be things in there that are useless to us now like old grudges, hurt feelings, bad ideas etc. We know that when we talk long enough, if there is some junk in there, it starts to come out. Been there. Those things need to be thrown out. We want our treasury to be completely beautiful, not a mixed bag of good and bad, so that when we speak – good things come out.
I’m headed out to the garage.
Jesus is Lord!
May the Lord bless you all on this Thanksgiving Day.
34 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
1 Chronicles 16:34
How’s It Going With Your Minas?
Posted on November 25, 2013 ·
“Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them me.’” Luke 19:26
We easily recall the parable of the master who went on a trip and left three servants with money. He gave the money according to the ability of each one. When he returned the servants with ten and five minas had each doubled their money, but the one with one mina had hidden his money away and did nothing with it.
What was the difference between the three? Only the third one was afraid and so he did nothing with the minas he was given. The first two had boldly invested; the third had buried his money where it did no one any good.
The Lord gives gifts to each of us according to our abilities. He fully expects us to use those gifts for the glory of God. Not for selfish ambition, but to please the Lord. [Read more…]
How Long,Lord?
Posted on November 18, 2013 ·
For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent?
Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts ]that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him! Luke 11:10-13
How many times have we been asked to pray about something for someone? Or maybe we or a loved one are going through a time of trial. We know that the Lord wants us to make our needs known to Him. But how many times should we pray? How long should we pray?
Clearly the Lord does not count it against us for frequent asking as we can see in the reading above. In fact he tells us to keep on asking.
When a young relative called us to tell us he had cancer, my husband and I began to pray for him. Even when the news was bad, we did not stop asking the Lord to heal him. Why keep on? Because we don’t know what the Lord’s plans are. Remember Lazarus, Dorcas and the widow’s son. Remember all the people that Jesus healed from the time of His ministry to today. [Read more…]
Jesus is in Your Boat
Posted on November 11, 2013 ·
Suddenly a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. Matthew 8:24
I was thinking about how Jesus was in the boat with the disciples when a storm blew up. Jesus was asleep in the boat.
24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27.
What struck me was the Jesus was in the boat with them. As long as Jesus was in that boat – asleep or not- nothing was going to happen to them. The boat would not sink and they were in no danger of drowning.
Sometimes we are in that boat. The storms of life arise suddenly without warning. A job is lost, a child becomes ill, marriage vows are broken, but if we have Jesus in our hearts He is with us in that storm. The waves can crash against us, the boat of our life can be rocking fiercely but as long as we remember that Jesus is in the boat with us, we are going to be all right. [Read more…]
Pray the Positive
Posted on November 4, 2013 ·
Matthew 21:22 you can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
I was thinking about the many children and young women and men sold into essential slavery of various types in different parts of the world even in this day and age. I thought that I should bind Satan and loose God’s power. But the Lord spoke to my heart and showed me to pray the positive for many of these children.
I began to pray for the families of these enslaved children. Many of these children are sold because of the extreme poverty of their parents. I started to pray that the Lord would bless the families with enough food, clothing and money for housing. I prayed that the Lord would save them and their families. I prayed that the Lord will send Christians to minister to them.
If we live in a community where there is poverty, let us do what we can to help those in need.
Please join me in praying for these precious children. Jesus is Lord!
Matthew 21:22 you can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
