I began this blog in 2010 because the Lord has shared many insights...inspirations...musings so to speak...with me as of late and I thought I would pass them along. I pray that everyone who reads them will recieve a blessing from them.
God Bless,
Pastor Ruth
Sheep or Goat?
"and he will put the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left." Matthew 25:33
Proverbs 22:6 (GOD’S WORD Translation) "Train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it."
We wonder at times, what is this world coming to? We hear of children taking their parents to court to divorce them, we see children going to school with guns and knives, we see children in street gangs killing each other, we see children with no respect for others.
How can we fight against such a sad situation...how can we help our children and our children's children?
One way is to set a good example for our children. We as Christian and Non-Christian parents would encourage good habits and behavior by doing this.
I was reading a devotional by Cindy Hess Kasper in "Our Daily Bread" daily devotional and I think she hit the nail on the head...at least it did for me. She talks about 3 ways of setting a good example as Christians.
Praying with them - We can teach them that they can talk with God at any time. They can learn to pray about every thing in their lives.
Reading and teaching them the Bible - They will learn God's truth and what God requires of us. The will build "moral character" by doing this.
Telling them about Jesus - Our children are a mission field for us. we need to withness not only to others outside of our church walls but also to our children at home in in our churchs.
We need to "live out our faith" in front of them so that they, inturn, can learn to live out theirs in front of their children and their children's children...and their children's children's children...and so on...
We are the the "personal trainers" of the children of today and of the children yet to come...
Matthew 5:9 Gods Word Translation "Blessed are those who make peace. They will be called God’s children."
One of the challenges in life on this earth is to be peacemakers. It is hard in this world of hate...this world of bigotry...this world of anger. The people in our lives challenge us at times. We sometimes "get tired of always being the one to make peace with others." But if the whole world...all of humanity...adapted this ideal, there would be no more war...there would be no anguish of war...we would strive for peace not self-centeredness and retaliation. We would be known as the "children of the Most High." What an honor to be called a child of God!
Solomon was the wisest man in his time. He had it all...a beautiful home...joy...happiness...but most of all he had God's blessing on his life. God blessed everything he did. When Solomon was asked what he wanted from God , all he asked for was wisdom...guidance...vision...to lead God's chosen people. That's all...nothing more. God granted Solomon that and sooo much more.
But there was a catch (so to speak), all he had to do was to follow God's way like his father David did...who by the way was a "man after God's own heart". He was told not to marry those who were the foreigners in the land...the people who followed other gods. You see if he did, he was in danger of being led astray...he may follow the gods of his wife. Well...you can guess what he did...he decided to marry women that God warned him about.
We...like Solomon can fall into the same trap. We can be led astray in so many ways, ways that look good but lead to destruction. There is the Internet...movies...music...games...you name it, that can cause us to fall into the "snare of the tempter." We can even be lead stray by people that we think are wise and "can't do wrong."
We need to be very careful. We need to use the wisdom that God gives us...not the "wisdom" of the world in which we live. We need to read and meditate on God's word so that we can acquire this wisdom. We need to be very careful...if not, we could be headed down the wrong road...down a road that leads to folly...a road that leads us away from our "First Love"...our God...the Lover of our souls.
Creator of All...we pray that you would send Your healing rain upon our land. May we be healed and restored to what You intended from the beginning of time...
We need to fall back in love with our "First" love...the Alpha and Omega...the Beginning and the End...the Lover of our souls! We need to love the Lord our God and those around us. Then and only then will the tide be changed...
John 14:1-3 The Message Bible "Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you?3When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too."
What and inviting invitation we are given from Christ. We will be welcomed when we make that final trip on our journey of life. If we believe in Christ, we have a reservation in the "GRAND Hotel!" How wonderful that will be!
As we travel this journey of life on earth, how many time have we entered a place where we immediately felt welcome. Kind of like that feeling you get when you have been away from home for a long time and return. Can you imagime how much more we will feel when we enter the gates of Heaven?
While we sojouorn on this earth, we may meet others that have no feeling of invitation any where. They are lost and alone. They have no place to "call their own." It may be they have no physical home or may not have a "spiritual" place to call home. No matter the circumstance, we, as humankind, were created for community. We all need a place where we belong with people who love us and accept us as we are.
What can you and I do to be more inviting to the lost...marginalized...unloveable? What can we do to make people feel they belong to a community...a family? How can we help others hear the gospel of grace and recieve that grace first hand?
Who are the unloveables...the marginalized...lost in our lives? What will you do to carry out the commandment to "Love your neighbor as yourself?" How will you show your deep love of your fellow man and help them find the grace that only God can supply?
Lamentations 3:55-57 (New Living Translation) But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!” Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”
There are so many situations in life that we just cry out to the Lord...we need help...we have tried it on our own but to no avail. We are broken and wounded. We are brought to our knees. Where will we find our help? Who will come and save us?
Have no fear. Our Lord is there waiting for us to reach out our hand and take His in our own. He is ready to lift us out of the pit. Trust in Him...that's all He asks...Our God has promised He will never leave or forsake us. He is there right by our side...feeling what we feel... He can move the mountains that are in our lives...He can lay them low...He will bring us into that valley of peace. He is able when we are not. He is stronger than the strong...He is more compassionate than compassion itself...He is God!
Ephesians 2:1-10 The Common English Bible At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God. You used to act like most people in our world do. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God’s will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience. At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else.
However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.
You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives
Some Christians wonder why people are not coming to church. There is a younger generation who feel they don't need church. People get disillusioned and leave the church. There are more committees than programs to reach out to the community around them within the church. What is going on? Unfortunately...there are some Christians that are going back to their old ways...they are letting "the old man" come back into their lives. They are acting more like "worldly people" than like "heavenly people". They are "putting in the back of the closet" the new life...the new creation of their salvation. I have even heard the saying from people I know" I would be a Christian but for the Christians I know..."
We have a legacy to to leave for the future generation. We are the ones who are "upstream for those downstream" How will know the path to righteousness if they don't hear it because they feel that "a house of prayer...God's temple" is not a place...a community, that they would want to be part of? How will be turn the tide?
By going back to how we were when we first believed...by showing Gods love and grace to others....by taking seriously our commandment...our call...to preach the gospel to all nations. Sharing the gospel of salvation isn't just in words...it is also in the way we live our lives, the way we treat one another. What better witness?
"They will know we are Christian's by our love, by our love, yes they'll know we are Christian's by our LOVE!"
James 4:10 The Message Bible Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.
As human beings, there are times when we think that all we do is by our own strength...we think that we are where we are because of our abilities...we think that we are "gods". Then we wonder why we may "fall on our face." Where did we go wrong? Why is it that all of the sudden things aren't working out the way we expect it?
Well...we may be too proud and that is when we get ourselves in trouble...that is when we are brought to our knees and made humble...the Lord may be trying to tell us something.
If we are to succeed in life...if we are to follow our "call" in life, we need to realize where our abilities and strength comes from. It is not our abilities that qualifies us, it is God's grace that "qualifies the called". We need to come to the throne of grace on our knees...God is the one who, by His grace from the cross, has redeemed and esteemed us. He is so worthy to be praised!
Humble thy self in the sight of the Lord...and He will lift you up, higher and higher, and He will lift you up!
Philippians 4:8 (The Message Bible) "Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse"
We, as humankind, at times tend to think about only the bad stuff. We tend to think only about the negative. But we as Christan's are called to "higher thinking". We are called to meditate on...to think about...the things that edify, the things that cause a greater good not things that oppress or breakdown, things that are self-serving.
What do you think would happen if we practiced what we profess? What do you think would happen if our glasses were not "half empty" but so full that it was flowing over on to those around us? What do you think would happen if we thought more about giving grace than about punishment in our "righteous indignation"? What do you think would happen if we saw each other as beloved children of God? What do you think would happen if we lived a life of praise?
Sheep and Goats "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'"
When we do the right thing in life, when we care for others and help them in need, we are being the image of Christ to the world. There are so many out there who feel they have no hope, that no one cares. We need to be the image of Christ to give hope to the hopeless, joy to the joyless, peace to the peaceless.
We are called to be "sheep", to be part of the flock. Being sheep, we need to act like sheep and follow the Good Shepherd's example. In doing so, we help others become sheep, they will follow the example we have seen and learned from the "Sheepherder".
It is by His grace each day is new. It is by his grace that we are called. It is by His grace we are forgiven. It is by His grace we are redeemed. It is by His grace we live and move. It by His grace we are anointed and appointed. It is by His grace I live!
Philippians 3:12-14 (Amplified Bible) Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
Praise God that His mercies are new each day. Each day is a new beginning for us. As we strive forward, we need to not dwell on the past. Things we have done that may not have "made the mark" are not the things that define us today. We are being transformed daily into what we were meant to be. What defines us is how we handle the day and how we will handle tomorrow. Will we trust in God and His great love for us or will we be immobilized by our past, not moving forward into the bright future God has ordained for us?
God has a plan for our lives. Before we were born God wrote down our days in His Book of Life. God knows the plans, good and hopeful plans, for our lives. We are anointed and appointed to the call in which we have the choice to answer. Our past has gone by, our present day is here and the future looks bright.
Strive to be the best you can be. That's all God is asking. God will take care of the rest. Life is a new lesson each day. Each day we have a choice to learn or forget the lesson. We are all works in progress (WhIPs) and we may fail but that is part of the growing process. We need to learn from our mistakes, pick ourselves up (with God's help), brush ourselves off and begin again.
"We are not there yet but we are closer than we were yesterday and not as close as we will be tomorrow."
I have always prayed that when I am finally called home, I would hear "Well done". I long to be in the throne room with God and all the other Saints praising Him night and day. Then I had a revelation this morning (not that I have not thought of this before but for some reason it hit home, hard, to me this morning...). My life, here on earth, can be that offering. I don't have to wait until I am in my heavenly home to worship and praise the Alpha and Omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End...my whole life, on earth, can be a "worship session" that never ends. As I have heard so many times "Why put off until tomorrow what I can do today?" (Duh!...I can be so silly at times...lol)
Happy New Year to all my friends and family. This is a New year that I am sure will be filled with many wondrous things. I look forward to what God has in store for me and the church I serve.
This year, instead of making a "resolution" that I know will be forgotten in a couple weeks (LOL), I have decided to do what is actually possible...this year, I plan to:
Be all I can be in all that I do
To take care of myself so that I may take care of others
To spend more time with my first love, our Risen Lord
To trust that God has a plan, in ALL THINGS, that He is working out
To be more faithful in all that I do
With that said, I pray that we all have a year that we meet our Lord in unexpected ways and fall more in love with Him as we have a new revelation of the perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ
