As I was reading through my blogroll this morning I noticed the title of a blog on the side of one - Shrinking the Camel. Immediately my mind sprang to the verse
Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Luke 18:24-26
This blog is about “Connecting Spiritual Life with Business Life” but what got me was the great banner picture. Please go and take a look.
I think if you are asked this question most people would say, quiet a lot! Most of the time imaginations are to be cast down, but just for now, have a huge imagine. Dream anything that you may want. Now, you can ask it of your Heavenly Father, if you truly think it’s for the best and in His will.
Now for the scripture that has prompted this post.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Notice the underlined part? God can do Immeasurably. Not just from real, but from the point of your furthest imaginations. Immeasurably MORE than ALL that we Ask or Imagine.
That really blows my mind.
That the God of the universe, who breathed out stars, loves us more than we can ask or imagine. He gives us more than we can ask or imagine. He is at work in our lives more than we can ask or imagine. He forgives us more than we can ask or imagine.
He has 2009 in His very capable hands. He IS Goodness and He has nothing but that for you this year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Today I was reading my blogroll and came across a sad true story of a security guard who lost his life, doing his job. It was the day after Thanksgiving in America in a Walmart shop where people had been queueing all night to buy heavily discounted items. The guard was trampled to death by people rushing to buy things. These things may have been necessary for some people’s existance, like new white goods or warm clothes. In reality most of the items being bought are probably Christmas gifts for family and friends who really don’t need them or just more things for themselves.
What have we come to that a life can be taken while people are stampeding to buy more?
Its an addiction to stuff that needs to be fed.
Christmas is a time for giving and sharing, but empty meaningless gifts are not what it is about. We should be celebrating and sharing the true gift of Jesus’ birth into this world so that He could save us from greed, envy and every other sin that we have all committed. Believe on the name of Jesus and be saved.
One of our most beloved Christmas carols was written in 1865 by William Dix, an Englishman who managed a maritime insurance company and loved to write hymns. Sung to the English melody “Greensleeves,” some versions use the latter half of the first verse as a chorus for the other verses:
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard
and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud—
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
But in other versions, each stanza is unique. The second verse, rarely sung today, looks beyond the manger to the cross:
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear, for sinners here,
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Simeon said to Mary, “This Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).
The Child of Christmas came to be our Savior. “Joy, joy for Christ is born, the Babe, the Son of Mary.” — David C. McCasland
The birth of Christ brought God to man; the cross of Christ brings man to God.
I was just reading through my blog roll and need to point you once again to Pearls and Diamonds…these girls can write in a way I don’t think I ever could. Its about 6 things God has taught them in 2008.
Enjoy.
I’m always on the lookout for good blogs and recently I found a pearler appropriately names Pearls and Diamonds. Today I read this entry, which to me highlights Christmas. Its the reason why we celebrate the birth of a baby 2000 years ago, for this following reason.
Her name was Ellen. She was about fifty-five years old. I will never forget the Saturday morning, over a year ago, that she arrived at the dental clinic to have teeth pulled and met a man she already loved.
Every year, Dr. Don opens up his dental clinic for a “Free Day” as a way of saying thank you to Jesus. Following in the way of the Master, he reaches out to the “sick” on a physical level in order to meet their spiritual needs. While each patient waits to be worked on, a believer is able to come into the room and share the gospel with them.
That Saturday I was privileged to be a gospel sharer.
She was very nearly missed. The morning was almost over, and after having to wait outside for hours, and barely getting in to be worked on, she was waiting quietly in a dental chair. I’d been told everyone in the rooms on that side of the building had already been talked with, but one of the guys came to find me, whispering, “There’s a lady in here who doesn’t have a goodie bag. Do you want to talk to her?”
Meagan and I had no trouble striking up a conversation with her. She was having all the teeth on one side pulled. She considered herself a Baptist. To her, Jesus was her best friend. “He got me here today,” she said, smiling shyly. “I pray to Him all the time.”
I began to probe for divinity. “Why do you pray to Him? Normally, you know, we pray to someone who is divine—a God.”
Confusion clouded her eyes. “I don’t know.”
Did she consider herself a good person? “I try to be.” Can we take a look at some of God’s laws to see if that’s true? “Okay.” Her mild blue eyes were riveted on me as I elicited from her confessions that she was a lying, thieving blasphemer, fallen short of God’s glory.
“If he judges you, will you be innocent or guilty?”
Without hesitation, she answered, “Guilty.” Her concern etched deeply into the lines across her forehead and around her eyes. When I offered hope, her heart reached eagerly for it.
I began to tell her about Jesus—the God who became a man, who became our intercessor with an angry and Holy God. I shared how He came to earth, born of a virgin, born under the Law so that He might redeem those under the Law. How in that hour on the cross, an innocent substitute, He cried out, forsaken by God, bearing the sins of the whole world. I explained how God heard His plea on our behalf and raised Him. “This is why we pray to Jesus,” I finished. Her eyes never left my face. I asked if she knew how to become right with God through Jesus.
“Tell me.”
“Repent, put your faith is Jesus’ ability to save you and tell Him you want to follow Him. Do you want to do that?”No doubt. No hesitation. “Yes.”
My heart dropped out the bottom and I blinked. I’d gotten this far before, even had willing listeners, but when I’d asked that question I’d always heard an excuse. “Later” or “I’ll be okay” or “Let me think about it.”
I swallowed, trying to digest a three-letter word. “You do?” What in the world was I supposed to do next?
“Yes.” She answered again.
What followed was the most beautiful prayer I have heard: stripped of pretense or poetry, she poured out her plea for salvation from the penalty and the power of sin, sang her praise to her Merciful Mediator and owned Him as her Lord. Before she finished, I was on my knees at her side, holding her hand and crying with her, praising the Lord for her salvation. When I stood up, the light of Jesus shone from her eyes.
“Hug me,” she begged.
“I will!”
I handed her the “goodie bag” we’d prepared—the one my friend had noticed she didn’t have yet. I showed her the Bible and found the gospel of John, marked it for her and gave her a highlighter. She held it open, ready to dive in to discover this Savior who had brought her to a dental clinic in Russellville, so that He could save her soul.
“Do you want me to stay and read with you?” I asked.
“No!” was her quick reply. “There’s other people out there! Go tell them!”
Actually, she was the last patient that day to hear the gospel. After the group of gospel sharers finished praying in the waiting room, they asked to be introduced to their new sister.
When we came back into the room, we found her bent over her Bible, blue highlighter in hand and evidence of its use on the pages. She smiled up at me, “It’s good so far.”
In that moment, Ellen was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
The book of Psalms says that God “will beautify the afflicted with salvation.”
As we left the clinic that day, we were all awed by the work of the Lord. Realize, my friends, that Meagan’s and my part in this drama was very little. The Lord had prepared Ellen’s heart for His good news. We were like the farmer who sowed seed and went to bed and the seed sprouted and grew, but he knew not the way. The Lord is preparing the fields—they are ripe for harvest. Since I’ve moved to the Bible belt, I’ve become increasingly aware of the emptiness of religion. I can hardly believe how many “churched” people that I’ve been able to talk with have never even heard the gospel. Beseech the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His fields—beseech Him to send you.
I’ve found the Way of the Master to be a great aid in random evangelism. They have tracts that can be left for others to find, as some of my shy friends have done, or tracts that simply open up the way for a conversation. Or you can make your own! When I visited Lauren for my 18th birthday we created a “survey” and made our own tracts with an outline of the gospel. The angel announced to the shepherds that the good news is for everyone–and the shepherds went home praising God and telling everyone they met of the Savior God had sent. Good news is for sharing!
If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord, please go to this page. Eternal life is the ultimate Christmas gift.
ODB 28 May 2008
A fascinating film made in 1950, The Next Voice You Hear, tells a story of a family with a typical amount of trials and tensions. Then, one night, the voice of God speaks on the radio. But not just their radio—God’s voice is heard throughout the world on every radio, saying the same thing at the same time.
At first people react with disbelief, then fear. After several days of hearing “The Voice,” however, people’s attitudes, actions, and priorities begin to change. The impact of what God is saying directly affects how they live their lives.
I have heard people say, “If only God would talk to me! If He would just tell me what to do, I would do it.” The simple fact is that God has already spoken to us through His Word, the Bible. Do we listen to Him as He speaks?
The psalmist desired to obey God’s Word “continually, forever and ever” (119:44). And James warned about ignoring it when he said, “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).
How would you respond if God began to speak to you on your radio? We can be thankful that God does speak to us—not on the radio but in the Scriptures. May we be wise enough to listen and obey.
Instill within my heart, dear Lord,
A deep desire to know Your Word;
I want to learn to hear Your voice
So that Your will becomes my choice. —D. De Haan
In God’s works we see His hand; in His Word we hear His heart.
Raising two girls, with the goal for them to be, all that they can be in Christ, brings up the subject of modest dress. It may sound very old fashioned or totally unfashionable to some, but the point here is that it has NOTHING to do with fashion but has everything to do with dressing in a way that pleases God and does not cause others to be tempted to stumble.
If we were to rewind about 100 years, what our children (and most of society) wear now would be classed as underwear. That to me is disturbing, how quickly things have degraded. Now, I’m not going to start telling my girls that they must dress in constrictive layers, as our hot climate just doesn’t allow for that and I think it’s over reactive. But I do teach them to wear clothes that fit properly, look girlie and are not tight or revealing. I know my girls are only young, but I’m not going to let them dress how the world tells them to until their early teens then suddenly throw a fit over things like mini skirts and tight, barely there tops. “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6
(As a side note - I do not agree with this new “tweens” label and the poor little children feeling that they have to begin to dress like teenagers. It steals their innocents and pressures them to follow trends.)
We should all dress in the way we have been convicted to through the Word.
For us it is modestly, not causing others to stumble.
What prompted me to write this post? Well the other day I was looking for a simple A-line skirt pattern to make for the girls (rare as hens teeth out there!). Then today I was reading through my blogroll (as I do daily) and the Maxwell Family Blog has a 7th part to a series which addresses how ambassadors should dress. I recommend you read it.
As I go to bed, I read some of the bible so that the last thing I’m thinking about is God. Last night I read
1 Corinthians 1 (NKJV)
Now there is a lot in that passage but what stayed with me was the final part -
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”[c]
It made me think about my life and all the things I do, some good, some not so good, some frivolous, some eternal. God wants all things to point to Him. ALL glory to God. I know there are areas where I need to let go of things that don’t glorify God. I know I am a work in progress and will not be perfected until that day but it’s something worth looking at. Does EVERYTHING you do glorify God? The way you live, think and act……
If somebody likes something you don’t or doesn’t like something you do,
Does something in an other way or is motivated by an other reason,
It doesn’t make them better than you or worse than you,
Just different.
Celebrate the differences.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
