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.
I don’t know if I am the only one, but I admit that I am having difficulty talking to people about the Lord these days. It’s not because I’m not talking, but it seems to be that they are turning a deaf ear to whatever I am saying. I feel like the problem lies not in my speech or in their hearing but in their hearts. People just want to sin, believing either that there is no such thing as judgment or believing that they still have time to change should they want to or believing that they are just fine as they are. Of course, there is scripture about this condition of the heart.
God knew when He sent Moses and Aaron to talk to Pharaoh that he would not listen. Yet, God offered the truth to him anyway, and a chance to change along with it. But Pharaoh continued to harden his heart even to the end and his ultimate destruction. I am convinced that there are people today who won’t listen to anyone God sends to them because they have hard hearts. They are determined to go to eternity without God and I am afraid that God will allow them to perish in their sins because they refuse to acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. I cannot change other people’s free choices, but I can and will continue to testify about God’s power, greatness and gift of salvation. It is up to the individuals whether they choose to listen and change or not. I can only do what God has told me to do and then leave the decisions up to the person, praying that God will soften their hearts to really hear and accept the truth.
May you never give up telling the truth and may God bless you with fruitfulness, listening ears and a soft heart in each one you speak with. Have a blessed day!
I am so thankful that God is always patient with His children. He doesn’t rush us into situations but rather waits for us to make choices, gently guiding us in the right direction. Many today are looking at what is happening in the world and declaring that it can’t be long now before Jesus returns. Maybe that is true. But, just maybe, God is being patient, waiting for as many as possible to turn to Him before Jesus returns and His judgment and wrath are unleashed on an unbelieving and unrepentant people.
God is not being slow or hesitant about the end of the age. His timing is perfect, His plan is in place and He is as ready as we are for this sinful world to end. But He is being patient because there are many who still need to come to Him. I know more than a few myself, and I am sure that you do, too. So, although I am awaiting with great anticipation the coming of the Lord, I am so very thankful for His patience. Maybe one of those He is waiting for is someone close to my heart, too.
May the Lord bless you and your day with good thoughts, good things and the patience to wait expectantly for God, knowing that His timing is always perfect.
Many years ago, I sent out various applications to colleges that I desired to attend and then waited anxiously to hear about whether I was accepted or not. I did not get into my first choice, a college that was way beyond my financial capabilities anyway, but I was accepted into Mary Washington, graduated from there and went on to teach. It was during the weeks of waiting for the acceptance letters when I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of what would happen if no one accepted me.
Less than a year after my graduation, I was invited and accepted into the family of God. No anxious waiting, no thoughts about a plan B or even any idea that I would not be accepted. Why not? Because acceptance is a gift from God and He does it well.
There is no favoritism with God, no “show me the money and I will accept you” kind of pseudo-acceptance. God truly accepted me because He shows absolutely no favoritism. I had to confess my sins and repent, true, but that is what everyone who calls on the name of Jesus as Savior has to do. There is no magical formula for acceptance with God, no letters of application to complete and no anxious waiting to see if God will allow you into His family or not. He already has…you have to accept the invitation He sent out long ago when He sent His Son to die for you, and then His acceptance of you is automatic. As someone who struggled most of my young life with being accepted, this is the most amazing gift and one I hope that I never take for granted. And I pray that you know the same acceptance and loving grace that He has shown me. It’s free to you although it cost Jesus dearly.
My prayer of blessing for you today comes from the Holy Bible. Accept His blessing on your life as you read and meditate on the Scripture below.
Like many people, I hate total darkness. When the electricity is off in our house, it’s extremely dark because we live in a rural area and there are no lights around us at all. We have purchased all kinds of battery operated lanterns and candles for when those times come because although I know the layout of my home well, I don’t want to stumble accidentally and perhaps fall. But, like everything else, God has a good word for this situation.
The darkness is not darkness to God. That boggles my mind but it shouldn’t since He created the night and the day. God can see in the dark just as if it were light.
Now, think about the analogy between sin and darkness. If we have darkness in our hearts (sin), God can see it. We can put on a smile and do all the right things in all the right places and with all of the right people but God is never fooled. The darkness in which we try to hide our sins is like a fully lit room to the Lord. Since we can’t hide our sin from the One who made us, it seems that we should just confess it and make ourselves right before Him, doesn’t it?
Think about the darkness the next time you are in a totally dark and enclosed room and then think about God looking down on you and seeing you as clearly as if it were broad daylight. Remarkable imagery and good to remember that the darkness tries to hide things but God always brings them to light.
May the Lord shine His light ever brightly on you, in you and through you so that others in darkness may see the light and walk towards His truth, mercy and love.
I am absolutely convinced that the world has lost its fear of God and the judgment to come. I can glance at the headlines or hear the teaser for the news and know that this is true. Parents are befriending their children instead of leading them down the right pathway and disciplining them as they need. The “woke” culture is turning our world upside down and insisting that we accept their lack of morality. Our President has given a speech that is divisive and creates rancor among the people already suffering from his failed policies. All of this, and the people of the world think that they are fine, there is no God and they will just continue on their merry way until one day they are no more. But…
This is truth from God’s Word. We ALL appear before His judgment seat, not just the sinners who never accepted Him. We Christians need to realize that God will hold us accountable for our actions or lack of them.
The good news is that God is in the business of forgiveness. He doesn’t want us separated from Him, but rather, He invites us to draw closer to Him, for our own benefit. We cannot survive what is happening in our world without holding on tightly to the hand of the One who created us and knows us best. The world has gone crazy, but God is still the same. His expectations have not and will not change.
The book of Micah is written to a nation without hope, one that has turned from God and has not remembered all that He did for them. Written to the nation of Israel, Micah encourages the people to hold on to their belief that God will have compassion and forgive once again. We, too, can hold on to that promise of love and forgiveness. Yes, judgment is coming but forgiveness is still available to all who seek Him.
We need to make the first move, drawing near to God and seeking His face. Yes, judgment is coming and the day of God’s wrath will be a terrible one. However, we who believe in the Lord have a hope that He is our Redeemer, that He is our advocate at the judgment and that in the end, we will be with Him for eternity.
But what of our world and the loved ones in it? It is our solemn duty to warn them, just as the prophets of old did. Some listened and repented while others perished in their sins. God has not changed what He expects us to do. The world has changed, with technology making it possible to send out messages in seconds. Should not the message we send out be one of repentance and hope before the day of judgment comes? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by life’s circumstances and all that is happening around us, but God is not feeling defeated. He is victorious and knows exactly where this world is headed. We are all on a one way course to a collision with the truth of the Word of God, a place where sin is sin, not some nice euphemism that makes things sound better than they are. Adultery is adultery, not an “affair’; extra-marital sex is fornication, not a “guilty pleasure”; and homosexuality is a sin, not a trait you are born with. Men are lost and so they sin, excuse their own sin and think that they will escape judgment. That won’t happen. God’s Word tells us what is coming if we just read it, believe it and tell it to others in the hope that they, too, will believe.
I’m sad for our world and all that is happening here, but the rampant sin lets me know that Jesus is returning soon and Judgment Day is coming. I am not a prophet so I cannot say when He is coming; I just know that He is and that His heart must be breaking because of the sinfulness of the entire world that He died for.
May each of us be blessed by the knowledge that God’s Word stands even when all around us there is chaos. Have a blessed day.
Many decades ago, my grandmother collected green stamps in a little booklet. I enjoyed helping her lick the stamps and place them in the booklet in the correct spots so that when she had enough booklets she could go to the green stamp store and use them to redeem something she was saving for. I don’t remember everything she got, but I do recall the ice cream maker, with the nice sturdy crank, that would make yummy goodness after a few hours of cranking, adding salt and ice. Those little booklets weren’t worth anything until Nanny took them to the store to exchange them for a prize.
Jesus is my redeemer. I didn’t have to save up stamps or go to a special place. He just gave His life for me because He knew I needed to be redeemed, to be exchanged for a better version of me, one that is all cleaned up and ready to stand before the Father in His righteousness. No stamps, nothing I had to do except confess, repent and live for Him. In exchange, I get to spend eternity with Him. It amazes me that Job, one of the men most likely to turn from God turned to Him and recognized this truth, long before Jesus came as a baby in Bethlehem. Job knew with whom his salvation lay, in spite of all he had to go through. I know with whom my salvation lies, and I am thankful for Jesus and His sacrifice every day.
The title of this blog is not my creation, but I saw it online and thought it applied to me and my thoughts today. Of course, you know that every day is a new day with God, a chance to start over with a clean slate, forgiven and experiencing His compassion and love. There are even Scripture verses about this very thing, which naturally were in my devotional this morning.
Note that it is all on God that we are not totally destroyed by our own sinfulness. His compassion is new every single day, and I don’t know about you, but I need it daily!
Now about that title word. It could certainly apply to my house. I am the world’s worst housekeeper, especially since the children moved away and no one really comes to visit us out here in the boondocks. My husband is a hoarder, making the task more challenging, so mostly, I just look at the dust and clutter and think that I will get to it tomorrow. That’s procrasti-cleaning of my house.
More importantly, it also applies to the spiritual home of the Holy Spirit, the part deep inside me that I have to keep clean so that He feels welcome and respected. I cannot procrasti-clean my heart because the scum and filth build up and make it almost impossible to get the stains out. I have to clean daily, daily going before the throne of God and asking Him for His grace, mercy and forgiveness. More than daily actually. I find myself speaking to God constantly each time I fail Him, in the little things and in big ways, too. Once, as a new Christian, I thought it was a case of not being struck by lightning or keeling over dead instantly due to my overwhelming sins. Then, I realized that God is patient with me and will lovingly wait until I am truly repentant and will come to Him with a deep longing to restore the break in our relationship. I may still be struck with lightning or suddenly die, but my aim is to always be in a right relationship with my Heavenly Father so that whatever happens, I’m ready for Him and He’s ready and eager to welcome me home. Thus, no procrasti-cleaning of this temple that belongs to the Lord. My earthly home may be a wreck, but my temple that the Lord is building within me is as clean as a prayer and the sacrifice of Jesus can make it. White as snow and washed in His blood! I’m so grateful for God’s attitude towards me of pure love, compassion and faithfulness. Aren’t you?
May you go forth today with a clean temple and a right relationship with God and man. God bless you today and every day with new fervor for Him and His mission that He left us to do.
Our Bible study group is reading a book entitled THRIVING IN BABYLON by Larry Osborne. It’s an enlightening book about God’s judgment and how innocent Daniel was taken to Babylon, not because of his own sin, but because of the sins of his nation. God had called on Israel to repent, repeatedly, in fact, but to no avail. So, God, being the just God that He is, allowed consequences including the Babylonian captivity. Harsh? Yes, but sometimes harsh is the only thing that gets our attention.
In pondering the sins of our nation and how God has called us to repent and the fact that it has not happened on a large scale ( or some would say, at all), I have to say that our nation is ripe for God’s judgment. God has been gracious and merciful with the United States for centuries, but He will not wait forever for repentance. Repentance is change, turning away from sin, not just crying because you’re sorry you were caught. Thus, I believe that the things that are happening in our nation today, with godless leadership who have few morals and no real moral compass, are a direct result of the lack of repentance in our nation.
As Christians, we are appalled at the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ agenda and all of the sin that goes with it. But, are we equally appalled when a young couple comes to church and unashamedly admit that they are living together? God calls that sin, too, but we have come to accept a lot of things as just a change in the culture instead of the sin that it is. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that the couple should not be allowed to come to church. What I am saying is that the fact that they are living in sin should be addressed and they should be told that the only clear path to God is repentance, which might mean they separate or even get married. In today’s culture, that is not at all popular. The current belief system is that you need to “try out” living together before you get married and make that commitment. I’m okay with that if you can show me one place in God’s Word that He says living together is okay. Are we equally appalled at those who steal from their employers by turning in false expense reports? Or those who walk away from a long-term marriage because they have “found someone else”? I think you get the idea.
There are many sins in today’s culture, even in the churches that we attend, and God will not be mocked. He consistently points out the sin and we consistently make excuses. My favorite excuse is, “But, God, what I am doing is not as bad as so-and-so and their sin.” Hmm. God may already be dealing with that other person, but if He is dealing with you and your sin right now, that is enough for you to deal with.
Judgment begins in God’s house, not with the pagans. After all, they are already on Satan’s side, so although God’s love reaches out to them, He is very concerned about the sins that we, the ones called by His Name, have allowed to creep into our own lives. We cry out to God because there are millions of babies killed by abortion. We cry out to God when the President of our nation supports abortion and rant about how godless that is. But, do we not see that our own attitudes towards the sanctity of life have led to this debacle? The silence of the Christian community is deafening. How many judge the one getting an abortion instead of reaching out a hand to offer assistance and counseling?
I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not surprised at the mess that our nation finds itself in. The church is a microcosm of the nation and the church itself needs to repent. Go back to the last thing God told you to do and do it, no matter how hard it is or how humbling. Then, do the next thing, Then, the next thing. The United States may not be carried off in captivity to Babylon (a wicked nation that is used as an example of evil in the Bible), but we may be more like Babylon ourselves than we are willing to admit.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 