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".

'I GIVE THEM ETERNAL LIFE"

LET US BASK IN THE RAYS OF OUR RISEN SAVIOR, JESUS CHRST!! 

Jesus Christ suffered more than we can even start to comprehend. He went to the cross and died a humiliating punishment only thieves and murderers suffered after being flogged thirty-nine times, after having a crown of thorns not laid on his head but pushed down on his head, and for several hours battled with Satan to overcome death. Yes, it all truly happened. Its not a myth. Its real!! Crowds saw it!!

Why, after telling you to bask in the rays of our risen Savior, do I remind you of what he endured before there was an Easter? Because we must know what he suffered, what he overcame so we can truly appreciate the gift he gave us. What is this gift you ask? Well, let's see what Jesus says it is.

John 10:27.28, "My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand."  

What does he mean--eternal life? What is it and when does it start? Well, again, let's see what Scripture says about it. John tells us, "God so loved the world that He gave Hiss one and only Son, so whoever believes in him will have eternal life.....Whoever believes in him is not condemned." Jesus himself tells us, "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." "Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life."

As soon as you believe you have eternal life!! That is why, for a little while, those who believe can bask in the rays of our risen Savior. Do you want to join us? Tell him to come into your heart, ask him to forgive your sins, and believe he died for you and rose from the dead. Now you too can bask in the rays of YOUR risen Savior. Doesn't it feel good? Do you feel the warmth of His Light, the comfort of His peace, the joy of a pure heart? 

Good Friday

A week of contrasts. To me more evident in this week of his ministry than any other week. We start the week with Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. The crowds yelling, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” It ends with the crowds yelling “Crucify him!” 

It starts with twelve of Jesus’ disciples and hundreds of followers to his followers leaving him and his disciples fleeing from him.

It begins with Peter stating he would “go to prison and to death” with Christ to Peter denying him three times.

The very people, the Pharisees, who were most concerned in abiding by the Law of Moses broke several of these laws in order to rid themselves of the man people were crying out to be their King, their Messiah.

What do all these contrasts mean? You may have been one who cheered him or you may have been one who yelled “Crucify him!”, you may have professed your undying love him one minute and then denied him the next, he may have been your closest friend and then when he needed you most you fled from him; whatever your relationship, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. 

HOLY WEEK--WHO ARE YOU?

Approximately 2000 years ago yesterday people lined the road into Jerusalem waving palm fronds and yelling:
"Hosanna!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the king of Israel!"
The people along the road wanted to proclaim this man, Jesus, their king, the long-awaited Messiah. The one who was going to save them from the tyranny of the Romans and establish his kingdom. How many times have we wanted Jesus this for us? Walking along beside Jesus was his twelve closest friends and followers. Among them was Peter who would with John prepare the Passover meal; who would have none of Jesus washing his feet and then beg Christ to wash his whole body; who would deny him three times? How many times have we denied him? Near Jesus was Judas who would betray him for 30 pieces of silver. How many times have we betrayed him? There were the remainder of his twelve who would scatter upon the arrest of Jesus? How many times have we scattered when something fearful and dreadful has happened to us? Following close behind were the hundreds of disciples who had been following Christ faithfully until he said he was "I am". Upon hearing this they followed him no more. How many of us after hearing Christ proclaim he is the "I AM" follow him no longer. And finally, there was those who cheered him on Sunday and cried crucify him at Jesus' trial. How many times have we been filled with bitter disappointment and hopelessness and cried "Crucify him!"
For anyone who answered yes to any of these questions, which I might suspect we all fall into one of these categories, there is good news!! For this, only the Scriptures themselves  can proclaim the Good News. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." And,Ephesians 2:8 and 9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--- and this is NOT (emphasis mine) of yourselves, it is the gift of God--- not by works so that no one may boast." There is nothing you did that is greater than any sin committed in the previous paragraph. Christ lived this week for you, for me. He loved each one of us that much!!

DEEP WATERS

Jesus calls to us and says "Follow me..." There are many ways one can follow Christ; but the only way to be effective is to surrender completely. This sounds easy but most of the time its not. It's hard. A ruler asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life. He told him to obey the Law of Moses, the ruler said he already does this. Then Jesus told the ruler he had one last thing he had to do; he had to sell all his possessions and give to the poor. The ruler could not do this. Complete surrender, no less is what Christ wants. Can you?
Jesus told the ones following him that "that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them." And many of his followers left him. Complete surrender, no less is what Christ wants. Can you?
Jesus borrowed a boat from a fisherman and sat in it as he spoke to the crowds. When he finished talking to them, Christ turned to the fisherman and said, "Put out into the deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." This made no sense to the man called Simon. He and his partners had fished there all night and not a single fish. The sun was high, this was not the time of day to go fishing. But yet, Simon answered Jesus, "...But because you say so, I will let down the nets?" Complete surrender, no less is what Christ wants. Can you?
This same man, Simon Peter, later stepped out of the boat and walked on water until he focused on the world and not Jesus. Complete surrender, no less is what Christ wants. Can you? Later this same Peter denied knowing Christ three times and yet this is the man Jesus chose to build his church. Yes, complete surrender is what Christ wants but he knows we are human. We turn our focus from Jesus to  enticements of this world and he forgives. He picks us up, dusts us off and asks us for complete surrender one more time. Can you?

FAITH

Faith. Why is it we can believe when we put our key in the ignition the car will start but when God tells us to do something we don't trust He will equip us to complete the task? We can be very strong in our faith yet we can waver over and over again because we FEEL weak, inept, insecure, underqualified, and the adjectives keep on coming.
This picture is my Christmas cactus on its third blooming. Why am I showing you? Because after reading on how to get your Christmas cactus to bloom, I did what it said, had faith that it would happen, and it is now on its third blooming with buds still coming. This is what God does with us. He plants the seeds, waters them, and waits; knowing in His perfect timing we are going to bloom and we will keep on blooming. 2 Timothy 2:13 tells us, "if we are faithLESS, He remains faithFUL, for he cannot disown Himself".
Jesus is asking each one of us to step out of the boat, come join Him on the water. If He has called you, He will equip you. Don't let the enemy convince you differently. He attempts it  with me concerning my writing on a regular basis. That's the reason I haven't posted for several weeks but it's not how I feel but do I have the faith God will give me the words, the message. The answer will always be YES because God is faithful, He can be no other way!!