His Love Is Relentless

My wife and I had an interesting conversation yesterday morning about the 11th hour.  I believe we will be surprised with who's in Heaven when we get there.

"Wait, what? Am I in the wrong place...How did YOU get here?!"

Right? I mean, we all think: this person is holy and that person obviously is not or this person is saved and that person obviously is not. But scripture tells us another story.

Let's look at the cross. There were two thieves on each side of Our Lord that day. Now, you didn't find yourself at the business end of a crucifixtion for nothing! Suffice it to say, these two were probably what we would consider "not holy" and definitely "not saved." However, at the last possible moment one of them accepted Jesus into his heart and Jesus saved him! Talk about saved at the last moment! Thank God for that kind of Mercy and Grace, right? I don't know about you, but I need it everyday!

Quickly let's also look at Jesus's teaching about the 11th hour and "Idle-all-day" people (Matt. 20:2-16). Some workers work all day long and some only work for one hour, yet all were are paid the same amount. My favorite part of this parable is that the lord of the vineyard KEPT going out every hour to look for labourers! He looked for people who were idle... all day! Jesus will never stop! Even until the last hour of the day, He will search for you! His love is relentless!

In Ecclesiatetes 7:8, Solomon tells us better is the end of a thing than the beginning. I've ran marathons, that statement is very true! Sometimes it's how you finish that makes the difference. Goal-setting resolutions can never match the unbelievable blessing of God's divine intervention to have Mercy on us!

So you see, it's never too late. God is waiting on you, not the other way around!

God Bless!

To Love is To Fight

We've all heard the phrase, "I'm a Lover, not a Fighter." Well, the two are not exclusive. If you are a Lover, you have to Fight. You have to Fight Fear. You have to Fight the urge to be Selfish. You have to Fight against Greed, Sloth, and Envy. You have to Fight for what you Love.

It seems like Loving would be easier than Fighting, doesn't it? However, when you really think about it: Loving is way harder. Fighting doesn't require anything of itself. It doesn't demand Sacrifice or Self-Discipline. Fighting doesn't ask any questions. Fighting is survival mode. Fighting is indiscriminate. Get out of my way or pay. Fighting is way easier than Loving.

I Cor. 13:13 tells us the most important things. Faith. Hope. And Love. But the greatest of these is Love. 1 John 4:8 tells us that if you do not Love, you do not know God, because God is Love.

It's easy to Love what is easy to Love. It's easy to Love your wife or husband. It's easy to Love your kids. Try Loving someone who's wronged you. Try Loving someone who opposes you. Fighting them would be so much easier.

Many feel as if God does not Love them. Then answer me this: why did He send His Son? It was the only thing that could save what He Loved so much. The easier thing would've been to Fight us. Instead, He fought FOR us.

God bless!

Not Struggling To Be Free

When I was little, I was scared of quicksand. I was absolutely certain I was going to fall into some quicksand and never get out. I don’t have facts on this, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t even any quicksand in West Virginia. Anyways, try telling that to a 10 year old.

Anyone who has ever seen a Western or Indiana Jones, can tell you – don’t struggle! It will only make you sink faster! If you just remain calm, you may have more of a chance… to find a rope, or branch, or call out for help, or something.

2 Cor. 12:9-10 tells us that God’s Grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in our weakness. Boast happily in your weaknesses and then the Power of God may rest upon you. If that doesn’t make your heart burst in praise, I don’t know what will. The weaker you are, the easier it is for God to jump in and blow that hardship out of the water? Sign me up!

Tenth Avenue North has a song called, “The Struggle.” It has a line that really resonates with my wife and I. “We are free to struggle, We’re not struggling to be free.”

Thank God for that.

God Bless!

The Nose On Your Face

I read somewhere that your brain can always see your nose, but it chooses to ignore it. There is a section in your field of vision that gets continously... deleted.

Sin can be like that. It's gets so constant, that we just sort of ignore it. We knows its there, we can see it... but we continously delete it from our sight.

Conversely, Good can be like that also. Far too often we ignore what's so plainly in front of us: good health, amazing riches, and unbelievable blessings. The fact that you are reading this right now means a coulple of things: 1. You can see. 2. You can read (14% of US Adults are illiterate). 3. You have access to the internet (119 million lack broadband internet). How about thanking God for any of those?

Ignoring something doesn't make it go away. If it's something bad - address it. Proverbs 3:6 says in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. If it's something good - give thanks for it. Psalms 95:2 says let us come before Him with thanksgiving. Either way, let's stop deleting things from our sight and acknowledge our Lord and Saviour!

It's as plain... as the nose on your face.

God Bless!

God is...

Even I know if a=b and b=c, then a=c. My wife, the Mathlete, however informed me that it is called: the Transitive Property of Equality. I love Brittany and her math-brain! She was telling me how by applying I Cor. 13:4-8 to the Transitive Property, we can learn about the character of God.

Anyone who’s ever been to a wedding is familar with 1 Cor. 13:4-8. It is the whole “love is patient, love is kind” spiel that softens even the most stubborn of hearts. John tells us in1 John 4:8, that GOD IS LOVE. Therefore, we can insert God for “love” in 1 Cor. 13 and get a closer insight into who God is.

God is patient. God is kind. God does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. God does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.

Take a minute in your busy schedule today to meditate on this and to thank God for all His astounding attributes! God bless!

*Thanks to Brittany for my math lesson for the day.

**Thanks to Jessica Sell for the pic.

Restore My Joy

Are you a happy witness? That may sound like a childish question, but I would like for you to take a few seconds to meditate on it. Am I happy in my Christian walk?

Everyone loves a camp fire. Camp fires put out a lot of heat and light. But if you don't keep your eye on it, the fire will die down. Ever notice how cold it seems AFTER a fire burns out? It didn't seem that cold before you started! It also seems so much darker AFTER a fire. Your body got used to the warmth. Your eyes got used to the light.

To keep the fire going you have to keep stoking the flames. You have to put more logs on the fire. You have to keep your eye on it. David prayed, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation," (Psa. 51:12).

Only Jesus can restore your joy. Only He can sustain you. It is through His salvation that all things have their luminance. It is through His salvation that all things have their warmth. Renew your relationship with Jesus and then you will rekindle your happiness in your Christian walk.

God bless!

Intercede

Anyone ever ask you to pray for them? Sounds… almost… peaceful, doesn’t it? In reality they are asking you to engage in warfare. Intercession is throwing yourself into the spiritual battle raging all around us (Eph. 6:12).
How do I pray for someone? Charles Stanley mentioned this once and it always stuck with me: Pray Eph. 1:17-19. This scripture is the perfect intercessory prayer to get you started.
Take comfort that you are not alone in this fight. As you intercede, Jesus intercedes for you (Heb. 7:25). As sons and daughters of God, we have a direct line to go boldly to the Throne (Heb. 4:16).
So, the next time someone asks you to pray for them, roll up your sleeves, arm yourself with Eph. 1 and get ready to fight! God bless!