I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
When Samuel was choosing a new king for Israel, the tall and handsome young men seemed to be the obvious choices. But God was adamant that He was looking for someone whose heart was right with Him, not someone who looked good on the outside. God still seeks those whose heart is steadfastly turned to the Lord. All the beauty products and latest fashions cannot change who we are on the inside. God already knows our hearts and wants them surrendered to Him. The outside is a façade, a deceiving look at who we really are. The heart represents who we really are, the secrets we hide from others but can never hide from God.
May our hearts stay ever pure before the Lord, steadfastly seeking His will and His good pleasure and not our own.
Since I was a small child, I have feared the darkness. I always had a night light as I grew up, although my mother wouldn’t allow one plugged into my bedroom socket. Instead, there was a street light just outside my window that shone brightly all night long. When I went to college, I left the bathroom light on when I didn’t have a night light. When I moved into my first apartment, I had a night light in the kitchen and in the bedroom. These days, I have one in the living room and in the bathroom. I just hate it when the electricity fails and I am in total darkness until Dominion Power restores it. I don’t fear the darkness so much these days because I know that God made it just as He created the light. But I much prefer the light and being able to see things instead of stumbling around in the darkness. After all, God called the light “good.”
I feel very bad for those who live in darkness day in and day out. They don’t know about the light that can shine into their world and lead them on the path of eternal life. How difficult it must be for them when they are facing death, eternal darkness! We don’t have to walk in darkness, but some people choose to do so because they prefer not to be seen. They don’t want people to know them as they really are. I’m not sure that they realize that God sees them wherever they are and whatever they are doing. Our sins are always known to the Father who made us and yet He provided a way to save us from the darkness of our sins even before we are aware of His great love for us and His gift of salvation.
The darkness that is in the earth today is because sin is rampant and it doesn’t seem that it’s going to get better. People seem to prefer the darkness of sin and living for the evil one rather than choosing light and living for God. As I stated at the beginning, I don’t like the dark. I am not afraid of what it can do to me these days. Rather, I fear what it is doing in the hearts of mankind, with their permission. They allow darkness in and push the light away, much to the detriment of their souls. I like light. God made it and said that it was good. God separated the darkness and the light for a reason, and He wants us to choose to live in the light. However, mankind wants to confuse the two so that their sin is justified in their own minds. Again, I am afraid of the dark…not for what it will do to me because I am a child of the light, but for what it is doing to sinful man who continues to make the wrong choices and is even leading small children in their sinful ways. God will have the last word just as He had the first ones. He will speak and judgment will fall…darkness on those who chose darkness, for all eternity. I pray that many will repent before that Day of the Lord comes!
May you be blessed with the light of life shining in your hearts and may it reach out to others in the darkness.
No matter what circumstances you find yourself in today, I hope that you set them aside for just a little while so that you can worship the Only One who deserves praise, honor and glory.
There are all kinds of things that can grab our attention as we make our way through the obstacles of life. However, if we keep our attention on the path that God has laid out for us, we will be fine. We have to realize that God is leading us in the way that is best for us, even when it seems crooked or perilous at the time. God knows best, and we just have to keep our eyes on Him.
As we travel down this pathway called life, it is good that we pray for God to open our eyes to see the truth of His Word. The more we know about the Father through studying His Word, the closer we stick to the right path.
I think that it is important to note that Hebrews 12 follows the great leaders of the faith of chapter 11. The word “therefore” connects the two. Our great cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on include the heroes of the faith like Abraham, Enoch, Moses, David, Samuel, etc. We are running a race but it isn’t a sprint. It is a race of endurance that requires that we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who went before us and is waiting for us at the right hand of God.
How can anyone look at all of the marvels of God’s creation and not believe in a Creator? The answer lies in their hearts. They have been deceived by science and man’s own desire to explain away God so that they can be God. Every day I marvel at something new that I see in God’s creation that I never noticed before, and I am thankful that He led me down the path of belief in Him and in His great power. There are so many mysteries in life, but the creation of the world is not one of them. “And God said…and it was good.”
May you be blessed today with feelings of awe and wonder at all God has created for us to enjoy. And may you, in turn, bless the Creator who gave each marvelous part of this world to us and desires to have a relationship with His greatest creation…you!
Now that the hysteria about Covid-19 seems to be dying down, I want to address a plague that is even worse than Covid or the Black Death or anything that the earth has seen as deadly and dangerous. That plague is the plague of accepting sin as normal and this acceptance leads to certain eternal death and separation from God. No matter what we call sin, it is still wrong in God’s eyes and He will one day judge all of it. We have nice names so that what we are doing wrong doesn’t sound so bad. Abortion is a “necessary procedure”, fornication is “hooking up” and adultery is “playing around.” Even homosexuality is called by a euphemism, “switching teams.” God just calls all of it sin and it has become a plague that is destroying society and our values as we have known them. What was once seen as sinful is now accepted and the current mantra is not to judge others, just let them be, accept others the way they are, etc. Unfortunately, that attitude of letting others just live with their own sin leads to devastating consequences for the entire society. The more we normalize sin, the more rampant it becomes and the actions become even more outrageous. So, what is a Bible-believing Christian to do?
In this chapter in Numbers, the Israelites had once again sinned and God’s response was to judge them with a plague. Korah had rebelled against the leadership of Moses and his punishment was to be swallowed up by the earth. The people did not learn from that judgment from God because the very next day, they started mumbling and complaining about what had happened to Korah. God wanted to just wipe them out, but Aaron and Moses stood in the gap and asked God to have mercy. In the verse above, Aaron stood between those who were dead and those who were still alive, with a burning censer and a prayer on his lips for mercy, and God spared most of the people. However, almost 15,000 died because of this rebellion against the leadership that God had established, which was really a rebellion against God Himself. The Israelites are much like people today. They thought they knew more than God and were able to judge what God was doing in their midst. Think about that. Does anyone know more than God? Of course not! But in their arrogance and lack of right thinking, they proudly rebelled and paid a high price.
I believe that the high price of today’s sin is coming and as Christians, we need to stand in the gap as much as possible, pleading for God’s mercy, that some might accept the truth and live. God will not always be willing to look at the sin on the earth and just shake His head with sorrow. One day, His wrath will unfold and it will be a “great and terrible day,” especially for those who have turned from Him and decided that they have no rules to follow or moral code to govern them. So, I implore you to pray daily for God’s mercy and to pray specifically for specific people who need to know and accept the truth. Speak in love to them as God leads you, tell them the truth of God’s Word. Trying to scare them with God’s coming judgment won’t work because they simply don’t fear God, But perhaps they will listen to the sound of love. Be an Aaron in the midst of the camp of rebels and work earnestly to save as many as you can with the message of God’s truth and salvation. The plague that is coming brings eternal death; some will say that it is already here or God’s judgment has already begun. I don’t believe that because my belief is that when God judges, we will all know it, much as the Israelites did when the earth swallowed Korah and then the plague had the rebels dropping dead. What is happening in the earth today is a natural consequence of our disobedience and utter disregard for the Creator and the moral compass that He put inside us. We cannot turn the tide against the evil but we can stand in the gap and in so doing perhaps lead some to safety with the Lord.
Have a blessed day and may you never hesitate to stand in the gap and be an “Aaron” in a world filled with rebels against God.
Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer most known for his search for the Fountain of Youth. Convinced that if he found it, he would never die, he spent his life vainly looking for it. If only he had opened and studies a Bible!
The Scriptures clearly tell us that this world is going away but if we do what pleases God, we will live forever. So, how do we please God? Repent, accept Jesus as Savior and live with Him as your Lord. The secret to eternal life is not finding a non-existent fountain but in finding the Living Water that provides eternal security with God.
Have a blessed day and may your day be filled with the knowledge that you will be with the Lord forever!
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