A CLEAN CALENDAR
Last week my boss gave me a new desk calendar. I unwrapped it and put it on my desk ready to write my schedule and appointments on it. As I looked at it I thought how nice it looks, no stains, markings, or cross outs. Each day is clean, white & empty.
Then it came to my mind that this is what the Lord gives us in a new year. The year 2012 will soon be over with all it's victories, failures, disappointments, good & bad memories. When we turn the calendar in a few days to January we have a new opportunity to make our hours and days count for the Lord. Paul put it very well in Philippians 3:13 - 14, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this on thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let me encourage you to set some goals that you can keep with God's help. Determine that you will put the past behind you. It cannot be changed except by God's grace. If you have asked God to forgive you for any known sins, he has. Now it is up to you to move forward in the grace of God using your time to show the world what a forgiven sinner can accomplish with God's help.
I pray that when each of us gets to the end of 2013 we can look back and say that by the grace of God I used my time wisely. I met some of my goals and changed others to align with what God wanted me to do. Would you make a commitment with me to study God's word more and allow Him to work in your life that we may each become a vessel useful for the Master?
I wish you a Blessed New Year loaded with spiritual victories and good memories.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
THREE SCORE YEARS
On December 10 I reached the age of 60. I have never cared about age, it was only a number. But turning 60 does make me stop and think about how the time has flown and what I have accomplished with my life. When I was a teenager I remember hearing older people talk about how time flies. At the time that seemed to be such a dumb statement! Time did not fly, it crawled. I couldn't wait to finish school, have a career and get married yet it seemed like it would be an eternity for any of that to happen. :-) Today I feel like I have blinked a few times and gained 4 decades! How did that happen?
The Bible tells us in James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." When we are young that verse does not make alot of sense. Our days seem to drag like a child waiting for Christmas morning. Those of you that have passed 5 decades or more understand that you look back and wonder where all the time has gone.
Our Creator does not tell us how many years He has given us to work for Him on this earth. What He does tell us is that life is brief and that we should use each minute that we are awake profitably. God tells us in Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 that we should be redeeming or making the best use of our time. When we think of these commands it should inspire us to look at our schedule and ask ourselves where our priorities are.
Has your life been spent serving the Lord? When you look at your accomplishments can you honestly say that you have attempted to put God first in your schedule? December is a great month to ask this question because so many of us in America get so caught up in the gift buying & giving, the decorating, the partying, and the family rituals that we forget that Christmas is supposed to be about God coming to earth in the form of a child to save us from our sins. How does your December schedule look? Have you put Christ first and foremost or is he last on the list?
Let me challenge you, wherever you are in your life cycle, to look at your remaining years and make a commitment. Ask the Lord to show you how He wants you to spend your time that it might be redeemed for all eternity.
On December 10 I reached the age of 60. I have never cared about age, it was only a number. But turning 60 does make me stop and think about how the time has flown and what I have accomplished with my life. When I was a teenager I remember hearing older people talk about how time flies. At the time that seemed to be such a dumb statement! Time did not fly, it crawled. I couldn't wait to finish school, have a career and get married yet it seemed like it would be an eternity for any of that to happen. :-) Today I feel like I have blinked a few times and gained 4 decades! How did that happen?
The Bible tells us in James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." When we are young that verse does not make alot of sense. Our days seem to drag like a child waiting for Christmas morning. Those of you that have passed 5 decades or more understand that you look back and wonder where all the time has gone.
Our Creator does not tell us how many years He has given us to work for Him on this earth. What He does tell us is that life is brief and that we should use each minute that we are awake profitably. God tells us in Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 that we should be redeeming or making the best use of our time. When we think of these commands it should inspire us to look at our schedule and ask ourselves where our priorities are.
Has your life been spent serving the Lord? When you look at your accomplishments can you honestly say that you have attempted to put God first in your schedule? December is a great month to ask this question because so many of us in America get so caught up in the gift buying & giving, the decorating, the partying, and the family rituals that we forget that Christmas is supposed to be about God coming to earth in the form of a child to save us from our sins. How does your December schedule look? Have you put Christ first and foremost or is he last on the list?
Let me challenge you, wherever you are in your life cycle, to look at your remaining years and make a commitment. Ask the Lord to show you how He wants you to spend your time that it might be redeemed for all eternity.
Friday, November 23, 2012
IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It is our official day set aside for us to give thanks to an almighty God for all he has done for us. Unfortunately, many in America did not set aside even a minute or two to thank their creator for all that God has blessed them with. Here in this country even the poorest of us have more than many others in the world. If we had something to eat yesterday (and many of us had too much of that something ), we were more blessed than many in the war torn countries of the mideast.
Personally, this has been a rough year for my husband, Larry and I. It has also been a year of uncertainty and alot of waiting for both of our married children. We all know that God is still on his throne and he is still working for our good. It has just been one of those years where there has been many disappointments and frustrations. For a person like me that likes to plan ahead 1 to 2 years not knowing what is going to happen has been the ultimate frustration. I am positive that God has been working on my patience and waiting skills. No, I have NOT been studying the first chapter of James! :-) We have enough trials, thank you.
God commands us in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 that we are to Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In obedience to that command I want to list the things that I am grateful for hoping that it might encourage some of my readers to also give thanks to our creator for all that he has done for us.
1. I am thankful that I serve a God who has a plan for my life which he promises is for my good and He always keeps His promises. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11
2. I am thankful that my God has planned blessings along life's path to remind me that He loves me. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. Isaiah 45:2-3
3. I am thankful for a husband that loves people, is generous enough to allow people to have differing viewpoints without breaking fellowship with them. Yet, he is a man that once he is convinced of what the Bible is telling us to do will not back down even if it means losing friends and breaking his heart. He is a good husband and a great father with a wonderful sense of humor. Our life has never been boring!
4. I am thankful for 4 (2 by birth & 2 by marriage) wonderful children. It is such a blessing to have children that love each other and their parents. It thrills my heart to watch them grow in the Lord and make good decisions even when the circumstances seem to be against them. I am blessed to watch Ryan & Rachel rear our grandson Isaac. They are doing a far better job with him then I feel we did with Ryan at that age. Of course, Ryan has an advantage. I have told him what a "trial" he was so he has a head start in knowing how Isaac is thinking. :-)
5. I am blessed to have a wonderful father who is still living and to have a daughter & son-in-law who willingly take care of him. If it were not for their wisdom in the medical and nutritional field I fear that Papa would have been dead or in a nursing home by now. My dad's generosity and sense of humor are an inspiration to our whole family so we are blessed that God has allowed him to live for over 92 years.
I pray that this list might encourage someone who reads this to make their own list of thanks. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior and are walking with him there is always a reason to be grateful. Let me encourage you to spend some time each day in your prayers thanking the Lord for all He does and who He is.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It is our official day set aside for us to give thanks to an almighty God for all he has done for us. Unfortunately, many in America did not set aside even a minute or two to thank their creator for all that God has blessed them with. Here in this country even the poorest of us have more than many others in the world. If we had something to eat yesterday (and many of us had too much of that something ), we were more blessed than many in the war torn countries of the mideast.
Personally, this has been a rough year for my husband, Larry and I. It has also been a year of uncertainty and alot of waiting for both of our married children. We all know that God is still on his throne and he is still working for our good. It has just been one of those years where there has been many disappointments and frustrations. For a person like me that likes to plan ahead 1 to 2 years not knowing what is going to happen has been the ultimate frustration. I am positive that God has been working on my patience and waiting skills. No, I have NOT been studying the first chapter of James! :-) We have enough trials, thank you.
God commands us in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 that we are to Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In obedience to that command I want to list the things that I am grateful for hoping that it might encourage some of my readers to also give thanks to our creator for all that he has done for us.
1. I am thankful that I serve a God who has a plan for my life which he promises is for my good and He always keeps His promises. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11
2. I am thankful that my God has planned blessings along life's path to remind me that He loves me. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. Isaiah 45:2-3
3. I am thankful for a husband that loves people, is generous enough to allow people to have differing viewpoints without breaking fellowship with them. Yet, he is a man that once he is convinced of what the Bible is telling us to do will not back down even if it means losing friends and breaking his heart. He is a good husband and a great father with a wonderful sense of humor. Our life has never been boring!
4. I am thankful for 4 (2 by birth & 2 by marriage) wonderful children. It is such a blessing to have children that love each other and their parents. It thrills my heart to watch them grow in the Lord and make good decisions even when the circumstances seem to be against them. I am blessed to watch Ryan & Rachel rear our grandson Isaac. They are doing a far better job with him then I feel we did with Ryan at that age. Of course, Ryan has an advantage. I have told him what a "trial" he was so he has a head start in knowing how Isaac is thinking. :-)
5. I am blessed to have a wonderful father who is still living and to have a daughter & son-in-law who willingly take care of him. If it were not for their wisdom in the medical and nutritional field I fear that Papa would have been dead or in a nursing home by now. My dad's generosity and sense of humor are an inspiration to our whole family so we are blessed that God has allowed him to live for over 92 years.
I pray that this list might encourage someone who reads this to make their own list of thanks. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior and are walking with him there is always a reason to be grateful. Let me encourage you to spend some time each day in your prayers thanking the Lord for all He does and who He is.
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