GOD'S ROSE

Lord God, my heart is open to You,
To Your love, to Your salvation,
My life is Yours, Dear Lord.
My heart cries out only to You, Father God.

My walk with You is like a rose
Like a bud ready to burst forth
Reflecting the depth of Your Glory--
Each petal an expression of Your Love..

Your Majesty  hidden deep within
Until the Son’s rays open the petals
In a burst of unspeakable beauty
Admired by all who notice.
Only attaining its genuine perfection
When Your Face is glimpsed.

Petals fall along the path of life.
Nevertheless Your Grace
Redeems the rose’s allure
So Your handiwork may be appreciated
By all who pass by.

Father God, my heart is Yours.
My life is Yours.
Make way for Your beauty to emerge
Until all that can be seen
Is Jesus’ reflection in me.

STICKY FAITH

 If you were attending a church in Laos, China, India, Syria, Russia, or in any country where
Christianity is discouraged or illegal, are the congregants eagerly worshipping God? Way too many times in this land where we are free to worship God it has become something frowned upon. Some attend out of a sense of duty; all my neighbors are going, I better go also. Some attend because that's what you do on Sunday morning. And then what's becoming a minority are attending because they have a relationship with God and truly want to worship Him with all "their heart, mind, and soul". What if we couldn't worship God openly and freely? How would we worship Him then?
Zephaniah tells us: "The LORD your God is with you.....He will take great delight in you, in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." He does NOT want our relationship with Him to be passive, mundane, inexpressive, or ordinary.  In a sermon, Reverend Jeffery Singletary used the example of those long, sticky strips of paper we hung in days past to catch flies as an illustration of how churches need to be stuck to God. If we had a "sticky faith" with God what would our worship of Him look like? Would our service for Him be different? What would our prayers sound like? Would others see His Light reflecting in us?  2 Corinthians 5:18 states: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and GAVE US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION (my emphasis)." Verse 20 states, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors..." Christ's ambassadors. Google defines ambassador as "a person who acts as a representative or promoter of a specified activity". WOW!! When one's look at me do they see me as Christ's representative or am I just another person in the crowd? Or do my actions promote a specified activity? Does my actions show Christ in me? God "rejoices over me with singing", He takes "great delight in me"!!  Let those words sink in to the core of your very being and then, maybe, we can be the ambassador Christ deserves and we will promote a specified activity such as, "love our neighbor as we love ourselves". Maybe then, our "sticky faith" will shine forth. What do you think?
When we interact with others let's allow our "sticky faith" shine bright. When we go to church next Sunday, let's allow our "sticky faith" flow from us as we worship our God who "rejoices over you with singing".