Size Doesn't Matter

"As long as I live,
while I have breath from God,
my lips will speak no evil,
and my tongue will speak no lies.
I will never concede that you are right;
I will defend my integrity until I die.
I will maintain my innocence without wavering.
My conscience is clear for as long as I live." Job 27:1-6 NLT

Job is speaking this to his friends that have been telling him that the reason that he has been having such tragedy in his life of late is because he must have had wickedness in his heart or had done something very wrong against His God and His God is punishing him.

Job is declaring his innocence. He is stating that he is not going to admit to doing something wrong in order to appease his 'friends', his counselors. He knows that he is right with his God and his conscience is cleared.

Have you been in that situation? You're with your friends heading into a restaurant and you find a $100 in the parking lot. They say, "You lucky dog. You should go ahead and keep it. You'll never find the true owner." What do you do? Money's been tight and that $100 would truly help the ends meet this month. And your friends are probably right--how would the restaurant find it's owner? The temptation is great--but ask yourself--what would Jesus do? Yup, Jesus would turn that money in. What happens to it isn't your business. What is your business is the condition of your conscience and the example that you are setting for your friends.

We are surrounded every day by little & big temptations that would affect our conscience, which in turn would affect our relationship with our Lord. But with the Lord, I don't think that there is big & little--big sin, little sin--size doesn't matter to Jesus. Sin is sin. Temptation is temptation. You just don't do it.

We are our own worst enemies at times. We want to please. We want to fit in with our 'crowd'. We want what we want. We want to please God but sometimes it's easier to give in to peer-pressure, self-pressure, world-pressure, than it is to stay strong in our God and lean on His strength and stand up for what is right.

Doing right isn't very often easy. Especially on your own. The secret? Jesus. Yes, Jesus is there just waiting for you to ask Him for help. For strength. For wisdom. How do you ask? By praying. How do you know? By being in His Word. And you need to surround yourself with accountability friends that are also strong in prayer and His Word.

Isn't that what Job did? Job knew his God so intimately, that he knew that he wasn't being punished. He knew that his conscience was clear. So he was strong enough to stay clear of temptation.

How's your conscience? Have you checked it lately? Humbly take it to Jesus and make it right. You'll be so blessed!

Good Medicine

"Shout praises to the LORD!
Shout the LORD's praises
in the highest heavens.

All of you angels,
and all who serve him above,
come and offer praise.

Sun and moon,
and all of you bright stars,
come and offer praise.

Highest heavens,
and the water
above the highest heavens, come and offer praise.

Let all things praise
the name of the LORD,
because they were created
at his command.

He made them to last forever,
and nothing can change
what he has done." Psalm 148:1-6 CEV

Are you surrounded with sadness, sorrow, negativity, bad attitude? Sometimes when we get in these ruts, we need to adjust our focus--our heart.

Yes, there is so much stress and bad things happening that at times it's hard to look on the upper side of things. It feels like the Lord has deserted you. Like you've become invisible to Him. But He is there. Truly

Being a Christian and living a Christian life, doesn't magically make all the bad things go away and all the good things become yours exclusively. Being a Christian means that during the times that you are struggling, you know that you have your Heavenly Father there, helping you through it.

So, when you are going through hard times, when you are in a bad mood, when the world that you are in isn't exactly pleasant, read the above loving and peaceful verses--truly read them--they will bring you peace to your soul. Read them, line by line and then ponder on them a moment.

Ask your God to show your heart and spirit what He wants to teach you. Savor the meaning for a minute. By the time that you get through, the not pleasant world may still be there, but your outlook and the spirit in which you see it in, hopefully has changed 360%.

Your God may not be able to take you physically out of a situation, but He has given you the gift of His word to help you through it--please accept and open it!

Soul Food

"You are always loyal
to your loyal people,
and you are faithful
to the faithful.

With all who are sincere,
you are sincere,
but you treat the unfaithful
as their deeds deserve.

You rescue the humble,
but you put down all
who are proud.

You, the LORD God,
keep my lamp burning
and turn darkness to light.

You help me defeat armies
and capture cities.
and your word is correct.
You are a shield for those
who run to you for help." Psalm 18:25-30CEV

These are such a beautiful praise verses. If you get a chance, you should really read the whole chapter. It is filled with just wonderful words of praise, wisdom and thanksgiving. Some days, it does a soul good to just read chapters or verses like these so that your spirit is uplifted.

As you read these, a cool idea is to pray to the Lord to ask Him to embed the word, the phrase, the thought, that He desires you to carry in your heart and spirit today. Then pray that He shows you how He wants you to use it. Maybe you are to share it with a co-worker, a family member, a stranger or He just wants you to use it for yourself.

Your God so dearly loves you--wrap yourself in that knowledge today!

Bragging Rights?

"If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus." 2 Corinthians 11:30 (The Message)

I'm struggling. I feel that the Lord brought this verse to me this morning and I'm not sure why. Maybe I shouldn't be so honest, but there it is.

The one thought that keeps coming to me though-- and maybe this is why we needed to see this verse today is this--that God uses us. He has faith and uses us to further His Kingdom.

But this is what I struggle with--how do you let Him use you and then share the glory of what happened without sounding that you are bragging? I don't want to be the center "me". My prayer of late is to please help me not to keep putting "me" in the center of everything. To take the self focus off of me.

As I've been pondering this, the Lord used a friend to give me some insight. It's not in the words of how you share the miracles, it's in the spirit of how you tell it. Does that make sense?

When God uses you to do something, great or small, if you are to share it, you need to put you in the place of the miracle that you need to be. That is obvious. But it is in what spirit that you share it that makes the difference between "bragging" and just sharing a wonderful God-moment that you were honored to be apart of.

Doesn't that sound so simple? I get it so wrapped up with all sorts of emotions that before I know it, I have a tangled mess of emotions in my hands. And while I sit there, all frustrated with this big ball of tangled mess, Jesus just gently comes over and picks up my ball and calmly unwinds everything and makes it right.

So, go ahead, share your miracles! Our God is an awesome God!

The Gift of Grace

"Real love isn't our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts.

God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us." 1 John 4:10-13 CEV

How do you see love? Is love to you what you see on the movie screens, the soap operas, the prime time evening television shows? Is it what you read about in those romance novels?

True love isn't any of those, as you can guess. True love is what our Heavenly Father did for us. True love is knowing a person's sin, and die for that person anyway. True love is when you don't even blink an eye when asked to protect this person. True love loves even when it is not returned.

The Bible are full of stories that are true love stories--and the greatest one being that of Jesus loving us to the point of sacrifice.

Can you love that way? Have you ever loved that way? Love to the point that all else fades away--that you instinctly and without thinking, sacrifice yourself or your own needs, desires--for the betterment of the one you love.

I truly enjoy how John starts this out--"real love isn't our love for God--But His love for us." You see, John knew that it is usually so easy to love someone if they love you. If that person was good and kind and pleasant to be around, yes, it is usually easy for you to love that person. But what about the person that isn't so nice? Isn't so pleasant? Isn't so good.? What then? Do you love them then?

That is when grace comes in. God, in His Graciousness, loves us in all the above unlovable times. Our God loves us even when we don't love ourselves.

Please remember, that salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered--it is a gracious gift from God to you. It is not necessarily a gift from you to your Heavenly Father--even though when you come home and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, your Father is leaping for joy and happiness.

Grace was created by God and given to man as a gift to show His true love for you--all you have to do is graciously accept it and then past it on.

The Power of a Sigh

"Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing." Psalm 5:1 NIV

"Consider my sighing..." Those words captured my attention. Have you ever been in that place where you just couldn't put into words your feelings? The deep sorrow, a frustration or anger or discouragement, the overwhelming grief, the sense of loss, or just the unnamed feeling that you can't put a finger on?

I have been there. There are times that yes, even me, who never seems lost for words, because even if I am, I seem to keep talking anyways--have been there. And apparently, so has the psalmist, David.

Sometimes, words just don't cut it. Sometimes you can't always put into words what you are experiencing. Sometimes, just a mere sigh, a moment of silence, a look--can say a million words. And it's O.K.

Your Heavenly Father understands. Your Heavenly Father is so in tune with you that you don't have to speak everything--because in your silence, in your sighing, your groaning, your pleading look heavenwards--you are telling Him everything He needs to know.

So please, don't let those deep times keep you from "talking" to your God. Don't let the fact that you may not be able to put into words, you may not be able to voice what is going on inside of you and your spirit, keep you from getting on your knees and just being in His presence.

Maybe prayer is much more than a combination of the 26 letters of the alphabet. If you remember--your God did know you before you could speak. After all, He knitted you in your mother's womb.

"O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb." Psalm 139:1-2, 13 NLT

Just know--He knows & understands--that's enough.

First Things First

"My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us." Psalm 62:5-8 NASB

This is one of those beautiful reminders that God is ALWAYS there for us. He has designed our relationship to be one that has us needing to have a close and personal one with Him and He with us. He is always there, even if you feel that He isn't. He is always willing even if it seems that nothing is changing. He is always listening, even if you feel that you are not being heard.

Your Heavenly father is a father that wants to be active in your daily life, your every thought, your every hurt, your every feeling. He's there to protect you, not only from others and dangers, but more times than naught, from yourself. As you know, sometimes we are our own worst enemy. He can and will keep you on the path that He has designed for you but you need to do your part also.

What is that you have to do? It's pretty simple actually. Jesus Christ wants to have a personal, genuine, healthy relationship with you. He wants to know that you love and trust Him. He desires more than anything to be in 'koinonia' with you. What's koinonia you may be asking? It is a Greek word that means, "communion by intimate participation."

A koinania relationship with your Heavenly Father is achieved by: 1.) first and foremost, humbly confess you are a sinner and sincerely ask for forgiveness. Then ask Him into your life--to be the Lord of your life. 2.) Get into His word. You don't have to read the Bible in a day. That thought will overwhelm you. The important part is to just begin. Begin to read where ever it is that the Lord leads you. 3.) Pray, pray, pray. Praying can not ever be emphasized enough. It's your form of communication. And not only praying for wants and needs--but also remember to pray about praises and good things.

As a side note, another fun way to communicate is starting a prayer journal. It's a wonderful way to see, as you look back on your growth and path, how God has blessed you. You write down your prayer, and as the Lord answers it, then you write that down also.

Dear Child of His, just please remember that whether you have been saved for years, or just today, we need to always cherish this relationship and not take it for granted. We need to keep it nourished by giving it the attention it deserves.