Tag: Jesus

Lost Sheep

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

Have you ever seen a real sheep wandering around and making the “Baa” sound that we sing about from nursery rhymes? I haven’t seen one often, but I did see a couple when I visited Iceland many years ago. The sheep are all free range and there are laws against harming them. So, they wander freely, get away from their home and “baa” incessantly as they try to find their way back to something familiar. I think that we can learn a lot from sheep and so did the prophet Jeremiah.

Image created on Canva. Scripture from the YouVersion Bible App.

God’s people are compared to lost sheep, but the sheep are not all lost because of wandering away. Their shepherds, the ones responsible for leading them, has led them to the wrong place and then set them loose there. Thus, they are completely lost and can’t find their way home again. Unlike the nation of Iceland in which sheep are protected, the only protection we have against false leaders is God. However, we are only protected as long as we stay in His Word, know what it says and that way we can recognize false leaders and the trails they want to lead us on. Some “shepherds” would have us believe that the Bible doesn’t mean what it says. False! They want us to think that there are many ways to get to Heaven, and one way is as good as another. False! These false “shepherds” want us to call evil good and good evil. False! We don’t recognize the falsehoods unless we know what the truth says, and the truth can only be found in the Holy Bible.

My advice to my readers who are followers of Christ is to read, study, memorize, hold fast to God’s Word. Surely the fake leaders are everywhere these days, so you have to be aware of that in order to avoid being fooled. It’s like the bank tellers who are trained to spot counterfeit money. They know the real thing because that’s what they spend time with! Jesus is the real thing, the ONLY way to Heaven, the One who leads us on the pathway to being more like Him and the One who calls out evil and expects us to do likewise. Don’t be fooled by those who want you to take an “easier road” because that way may lead to being lost and ultimately to eternal destruction. Keep following Jesus no matter how many wolves in sheep’s clothing you encounter. In the end, you will not be a lost sheep but the found one!

Calming the Storms

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

I live on the east coast and we have a good number of hurricanes or tropical storms pass through. The worst one that I can remember was Isabel, a storm that took out our electricity for almost two weeks and forced us to evacuate and stay with friends for a while until the roads were cleared and it was safe to go home again. I vividly remember hearing that the storm was coming and getting ready for it, with flashlights, bottled water and canned foods as well as crackers. Then, as the storm got closer, Harry and I prayed together for safety. The rain was pounding, the thunder was crashing and the lightning just seemed to light up the sky with one lightning bolt after another. We didn’t sleep much that night; the electricity went out early in the evening and since we live rurally we were in total darkness except for our small lanterns and flashlights. But, we made it through the storm safely. When Harry went out to scout around, he found that there were electrical lines down everywhere and it wasn’t really safe to go anywhere yet. But once it was, we moved to stay with someone else who still had electricity. The storm was powerful and scary, but there are worse storms to be in.

There are storms of broken family relationships. My siblings don’t all talk to each other but they all talk to me. That makes things awkward for me, to say the least. Some of my siblings won’t talk to my sons because the latter are so liberal. I don’t believe as my sons do, but they are still my sons, so I try to mediate that situation, too. My sister has a health issue that is causing her to go blind. My daughter had a cancer scare last year. We have three grandchildren going to college this year, and we all know that college is expensive and sometimes their ideas aren’t worth having. My husband and I are both getting older and have decisions to make about our future. The list of storms of life goes on endlessly.

As I look around the “boat of my life,” I am convinced that I would not have made it this far without Jesus calming the storms. He doesn’t always calm the storms around me. He calms me so that I have a different perspective and can maintain peace even in the middle of the storm.

When the storms of life are shouting for attention, Jesus makes them whisper and when the waves want to toss me around, Jesus makes them still. Are there still storms happening? Yes, every day. Why, I can’t go a few hours without someone trying to disturb my peace with a troubling story or a complaint. I take them all to the Lord and continue, with my sea calmed and the voices becoming a whisper in the background. The voice that stands out will be that of the Lord telling me to “Peace, Be still.” Yes, that’s right. He calms me so that I can face the storms. Does that mean that I am always calm? No, but I am a work in progress. What it means is that I am trying to remain calm and when that doesn’t happen naturally (which it seldom does), I ask for Jesus’s intervention and He is faithful to calm me to face the storm. Then, He calms the storm and the thing that I feared or dreaded is not a hurricane but only a mild wind storm that passes quickly.

Peace…be still!

An HD Life

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

Some of us have been saved for many years but we are still not claiming all that is ours and living as if we have eternal life awaiting us. We trudge through life’s daily struggles and challenges, complaining some and wishing for the day to be over. Why are we doing that? I think that it’s because we were meant to have an HD (high definition) life and we are still using rabbit ears and getting a fuzzy picture.

When I was young, we had rabbit ears on the television in our den. We could see the picture on some channels better than on others and the picture came in better at nighttime than during the day. Then, we progressed and my dad put an antenna on the roof, with a little box on top of the TV that controlled it. That brought a much clearer and more stable picture, unless the antenna was being moved around a lot by wind or a storm. The picture was still in black and white but we could see Lucy, Desi and Lawrence Welk much more clearly.

A couple of years ago, our television that was a huge box suddenly quit working. It was old but we couldn’t afford a new one while it still functioned, and as long as it worked, we were okay with it. Sometimes the picture wasn’t as great as the ones we had seen at our children’s houses, but we just wanted a TV that would work so we could enjoy news and a few shows together. When it quit, I was upset but not desolate by any means. However, my generous brother decided to gift me with a new HD smart TV for my birthday. We couldn’t stream shows because we were on satellite at the time, but the picture that the TV has is amazing! Clarity, brightness and just really looks like the people can step off the screen into the den with us. A few months ago we got a fiber connection out here in the woods (amazing to me) and now we can stream. (I love the Pure Flix channel, by the way. Lots of movies about faith and all totally clean shows.) Streaming is like having a direct connection to God. Did you know that is exactly what we have? We can talk to Him anytime, anywhere and about anything. Jesus made that possible as part of our HD life.

We have been gifted with an HD life when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He has a plan for us, a purpose for us to fulfill. But we have to tune in to that HD life and stop living like we still get fuzzy pictures with rabbit ears. We can only tune in when we stay focused on His Word and listen to His voice as we spend time with Him. It does us no good to have an HD receiver and not to plug it in!

We need to start living like we have a promise from God for eternal life and a destiny to fulfill in Him!

Our connection to God is through His Only Son Jesus who died for us. Our HD life starts with accepting His sacrifice for us.

Like I said, some of us are still using rabbit ears and God has provided an HD life for us. Fuzzy picture in black and white or color, clarity and fulfillment? Not a hard choice, is it?

So, choose the HD Life…let God help you to be all He created you to be. Shine in a beautiful array of color into a world that is living in fuzzy, gray areas without purpose or a sense of direction. I choose the HD life that God wants me to have…filled to the brim and abundantly living for Him.

Don’t Give Up

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

I have heard a lot of discouraged people bemoaning the state of the world and the rampant sin that is taking over. God told us that this was coming, so we shouldn’t be surprised. Neither should we give up on the mission that He left for us to do.

The “he” in this Scripture is Jesus (read all of Hebrews 12 for the context). Jesus endured all kinds of spiteful treatment even before He was nailed to the cross. The Pharisees and Sadducees kept trying to trap him into saying something that would turn the people against him. They were incensed at his popularity and wanted to find a way to discredit him so kept asking him “trick” questions. For Jesus, though, they were like little bugs biting at him to no avail. He did not give up on the mission that God had sent Him to complete, i.e. the salvation of mankind and the establishment of a new covenant. Jesus gave His life for our sins and the author here points out (perhaps somewhat prophetically) that the readers have not yet given their lives for the cause of the Gospel. Of course, many early believers were martyred for their faith later; that’s why I say this could be prophetic. Nevertheless, we are called upon to be like Jesus and not to give up. When the world gets darker, we are to shine brighter. When the world seems to have lost their way, we are to show them the only way. When all seems lost, we are to remember that Jesus was and is victorious! No matter what ridicule or condemnation we face in this life, it will be worth it in the end because we will see Jesus and live with Him forever. The MSM paints Christian conservatives as a fringe group, but we are the Army of the Victorious Savior, and we are not giving up on the fight to win souls for Him. We will never give up, never turn away, never stop fighting in His Name for righteousness and truth!

Waves of Doubt

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

I have been faced with a lot of doubts during my long life. This failure to believe in others started when I was very young and watched people around me fail time and time again. My grandfather was an alcoholic, my father ended up being a drug addict after years of being idolized by me and my mom, well, my mom just didn’t know how to love herself or others. So, I doubted that others could or would help me through the storms of life; thus, I was determined to succeed on my own. That is, until one day I was introduced to Jesus and He has made all of the difference in my life.

I am not even trying to compare myself to Peter when he got out of the boat and walked on the water. Rather, I am saying that we all get afraid sometimes and take our eyes off of the Lord. That’s when we start to sink because the doubts overwhelm us. I was sinking in a sea of doubts when Jesus came to me the first time, held out His nail-scarred hand to me and convinced me that He would always love me and be there for me. Did He appear to me physically, like a vision? No, He appeared in His Word and made Himself known to me, in all of His power, glory and humility. I trusted His love and still do.

I will freely confess that sometimes circumstances overtake me and I take my eyes off of Jesus and put them on the problem, focusing on the issues instead of on the problem solver. Then, I read this verse again and it strengthens me. Notice that the verse says “immediately.” Jesus didn’t let Peter flounder around in the water for too long. He IMMEDIATELY reached out His hand to Him and held him. That’s what Jesus does to me over and over again when I start to flounder in the sea of doubt in which I used to be accustomed to dwell. He immediately reaches out to me as soon as I call on His Name and holds me securely in His loving arms, letting me know that the times may be tough, but He is there for me through it all.

Why do I doubt to begin with? I just don’t know the answer to that question. I think it has a lot to do with a lack of trust. I have to go back to the basics of my relationship with the Lord, know without any hesitation that He is totally trustworthy and call on Him to rescue me…again! The wonderful thing is that He has never failed me when I call on Him. He is always right there, close by, reaching out to assure me that He will take care of me. His Word is hidden in my heart and I find the comfort I need through the many verses He brings to my mind just when I need them.

Have a blessed day and remember that it’s okay to doubt and reach out to the Lord. Just don’t linger there lest you drown in that sea. God loves you and will always reach out to lift you up, again and again and again!

The Gifts Are Opened…Now What?

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

So, the day after Christmas and all of the gifts have been opened, exclaimed over and thanks given (I hope, at least) for the time and effort that the giver put into choosing the gift for you. In order to truly appreciate a gift, one needs to be aware of the effort and time that the giver put into the package that he/she gave you. Now, take that thought and apply it to the gift that God has given each of us.

The time God put into offering His Only Son as a sacrifice for our sins…well, He planned it since the beginning. So, more time than I have ever put into a gift, for sure! The effort God put into the gift…well, He gave up His Only Son for each of us to be able to have an eternal relationship with Him. Jesus left His home in Heaven and came to earth, suffered and did. That’s a lot of effort for sinful man, many of whom don’t accept or appreciate the gift. The gift of Jesus was costly and showed an unbelievable amount of love from the Father for each of us, His children.

So, now what? With gifts from family and friends, we express our thanks, sometimes write a thank you note and may or may not actually use the gift. With God, the gift is so wonderful that we need to spend time on our knees thanking Him for it and then we need to spend the rest of our lives dedicated to serving the One who made it possible for us to even exist, much less in a relationship with the Sovereign God and Creator of all. The what next part is giving our lives to Him so that He can then reach out to others who need to know about the gift that they were given but may not have received yet. It’s important that we carry through with sharing the testimony that God has given us so that others can know the same freedom, joy, hope, love, mercy and grace that we have. God sent His Son for all…an indescribable gift that should never be taken for granted but should always stir up thanksgiving and the urge to tell others about what God has done.

May you always know the peace and love that come with the gift of the birth and sacrifice of Christ! Have a blessed day, my friends.

Fourth Sunday of Advent: It’s All About the Light

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

God first separated the light from the darkness, noting that the light was good.

Jesus is the light of the world who shed His loving light on all mankind.

As Christians, we are called to shine our lights, reflecting the light of Jesus to a dark and dying world. The end result is to give glory to the Father who created the light to begin with.

Darkness cannot conquer light but is dispelled by it. That is why it is so important for us to continue to shine in a world that is becoming increasingly dark.

Jesus came as a man and displayed God’s glory to all. Can we do any less if we say that we are but reflections of Him?

Hallelujah! I am a child of the light and so are all who know Jesus as Lord!

Praise God for the fourth Sunday of Advent because being a light gives each of us a purpose and a mission. Have a blessed day!

Overcomer

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song2 Comments

I am an overcomer, and so are you if you are a Christian. Following in the path that the Lord has prepared for us, we cannot always expect the way to be easy. But we can know without a doubt that Jesus goes before us. Since He overcame all that life on earth and Satan threw at Him, we can, too. It takes faith, perseverance and steadfastness, but we can do it!

Overcomer-Mandisa

Have a blessed and glorious day in the Lord!