Psalm 89:29-34

"I'll guarantee his family tree

and underwrite his rule.

If his children refuse to do what I tell them,

if they refuse to walk in the way I show them,

If they spit on the directions I give them

and tear up the rules I post for them - 

I'll rub their faces in the dirt of their rebellion

and make them face the music.

But I'll never throw them out,

never abandon or disown them."

Psalm 89:29-34 (The Message)

What a comforting passage! I know this was written and it was talking about David, but I believe this promise of God to "never abandon or disown them" is also meant for us. If we have accepted Christ and truly believe that he died and rose again for the payment of our sins, then God's love is with us forever. Truly, His love for us is with us even before we accept Christ, but we have to accept his love - through Jesus Christ - in order for us to KNOW his love for us. 

It is my prayer that all those in my life come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I can't force it on anyone, but I can definitely pray for them! And I do, every day. I want my friends and loved ones who don't know the freedom that comes from having a relationship with the Lord to find that freedom. I've talked about God with so many of my friends who aren't Christian and so many of them feel that God is an angry, judgmental God when he isn't! Yes, he gets angry AT sin, but he doesn't hate the sinner! He loves the sinner and his heart aches when we refuse to follow his direction. 

If you're a parent you know what I'm talking about. You love your child no.matter.what. Do you always love their behavior? NO WAY! I can honestly say that when any one of my children blatantly and willfully rebels against us, I hate it. It breaks my heart! I literally ache for the decision that they are making at that moment. Why? Because I know when they willfully choose to rebel, they are choosing to remove themselves from God's grace. I'm still there, waiting for them to turn back to me, but oh, how my heart aches at their disobedience! 

God is the same way. He WILL allow us to "face the music" of our actions,  but will he discard us when we sin? No way! He will be there, waiting with open arms, for us to come back to him. And he will celebrate when we do. Oh, how I wish I could get certain people in my life to understand this! I think their lives would be so much richer and meaningful if they did! So, I continue to pray, trusting that seeds are planted by my words and actions and hoping that they allow the Holy Spirit to water their souls so they can blossom into beautiful children of God!

1 Samuel 2:10

"God will set things right all over the earth,

he'll give strength to his king,

he'll set his anointed on top of the world!"

1 Samuel 2:10 (The Message)

Who is Hannah talking about? King? What king? God hadn't appointed anyone king over Israel yet. So, who could Hannah possibly be referring to? The Messiah, of course! This verse is Messianic. It directly points to the coming of The King. 

Did this King do what the Israelites thought He was going to do? No. They thought He was going to ride in and destroy their enemies.When, what He does is destroys God's enemy. When Jesus came, He set things right all over the earth. Is there still sin? Yes. God gives us free will and as humans, we are going to sin. But, God's understanding of setting things right isn't our own understanding. 

Jesus set things right because He brought us back into relationship with God. His sacrifice wipes us clean of our own sin - if we believe that He truly is the Messiah who did this for us. Yes, bad things will still happen... horrible things, in fact. But, God set things right by bringing us a bridge to cross the great chasm - the bridge being Jesus. 

Because Jesus is God, in human form, He has God's strength. Even when he was here on earth, Jesus had incredible strength! Again, not the way the Israelites imagined. Remember, they thought the Messiah would free them from their human oppressors. That he would show his amazing strength and wipe their enemies from the face of the earth. Instead, Jesus showed incredible strength by taking a beating that would kill most of us and then being hung on a cross. I believe that, at any time, Jesus could have stopped it all from happening. That his legions of angels could have come down and attacked those who were abusing the Messiah. But, in His incredible strength, He accepted the punishment that was rightfully ours. He suffered horribly in our place - never once asking his abusers to stop. Taking our punishment with silent lips. Can you imagine the strength that must have taken?! 

God's annointed, Jesus Christ, will come again. And when he does, he will be set on top of the world! ALL creatures, ALL people - every tongue, every nation - will see that Jesus Christ is THE MESSIAH. They will bow down to Him. For some, it will be too late. What about you? Will you be caught up with Christ on that day? Or will you be one whom He denies knowing? If you don't want to be one that is denied - if you want what Jesus has to offer: eternal life with Him and forgiveness of all your sins, all you have to do is ask. If you don't know what to say, here's a prayer that you can pray:

Dear God,

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I have tried 
living my life my way but I now know that I need You to guide 
me. Please forgive me of my sins [if you'd like to, list some here]. 
I want the freedom that a life with Christ can bring me. I believe 
that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. 
I want to live with him in eternity. Thank you for forgiving me. 
Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, for me. 
In His name I pray. Amen. 

If you just prayed this prayer, please leave me a comment. I would love to pray for you as you begin your journey with the Lord. I encourage you to contact a local Christian church in your area. You can also read this article at Focus on the Family for more information as to what to do next. You may also contact them and they can help you as you begin your walk with God. I encourage you to get yourself a Bible and start to read it. The Book of Romans or the Book of Mark are great places to start. If you don't have the money for a Bible, please contact The Gideons and I'm sure they would love to give you a free Bible. (This is the group who provides Bibles in hotel rooms.) May the Lord bless you as you begin your new life with Him!

Mark 14:32-37

"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, 

not even the Son. Only the Father. So keep a sharp lookout, 

for you don't know the timetable. It's like a man who takes a trip, 

leaving home and putting his servants in charge, each assigned a task, 

and commanding the gatekeeper to stand watch. 

So, stay at your post, watching. 

You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, 

whether evening, midnight, cockcrow, or morning. 

You don't want him showing up announced, with you asleep on the job. 

I say it to you, and I'm saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch." 

Mark 14:32-27 (The Message)

The verse that really stuck out at me with this passage is "Stay at your post. Keep watch."

This passage is talking about Christ's second coming. If you have read the text prior to this passage, you'll see that Jesus is warning about false prophets. They will predict when Christ is coming, just as they have all through the years, but they will be wrong. However, their message will seem so right that even Christians will be led astray.

So, first of all, how will we know if someone is a false teacher? By staying at our posts and keeping watch. What is our post? The Bible. The only way that we'll be able to discern whether a person is of God or not is by knowing our Bibles - inside and out. We need to "stay at our posts and keep watch" by continually reading the Bible and getting the words committed to our minds. Then, we will be able to see if what the person is preaching is True and from God. But, if we don't know our Bibles, how in the world can we possibly know what is truth from what is falsehood? 

I love the questions that my husband's Life Application Bible lists for knowing if someone is a false teacher or not:

1. Have their predictions come true, or do they have to revise them to fit what's already happened?
2. Does any teaching utilize a small section of the Bible to the neglect of the whole?
3. Does the teaching contradict what the Bible says about God?
4. Are the practices mean to glorify the teacher or Christ?
5. Do the teachings promote hostility toward other Christians?

Now, as to when Christ is coming? We won't know that until he is here. But, the Bible is quite clear that his coming will be so awesome that no one will be able to mistake it:

"Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds 

with great power and glory. and he will send out his angels 

to gather his chosen ones from all over the world - 
from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven." 

Mark 13:26-27 (NLT)

So, "stay at your posts. Keep watch." There will be no mistake when Jesus Christ comes again! Are you one of his chosen ones? If not, I encourage you to take that step before it's too late. It could be tonight. It could be next week. But, it is definitely going to happen! 

If you're not a follower of Christ, please accept him today. Don't wait. He loves you and wants to be in relationship with you. It is as easy as praying this:

Dear God,

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I have tried 
living my life my way but I now know that I need You to guide 
me. Please forgive me of my sins [if you'd like to, list some here]. 
I want the freedom that a life with Christ can bring me. I believe 
that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. 
I want to live with him in eternity. Thank you for forgiving me. 
Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, for me. 
In His name I pray. Amen. 

If you just prayed this prayer, please leave me a comment. I would love to pray for you as you begin your journey with the Lord. I encourage you to contact a local Christian church in your area. You can also read this article at Focus on the Family for more information as to what to do next. You may also contact them and they can help you as you begin your walk with God. I encourage you to get yourself a Bible and start to read it. The Book of Romans or the Book of Mark are great places to start. If you don't have the money for a Bible, please contact The Gideons and I'm sure they would love to give you a free Bible. (This is the group who provides Bibles in hotel rooms.) May the Lord bless you as you begin your new life with Him!

Proverbs 8:17

"I love those who love me; those who look for me find me." 

Proverbs 8:17 (The Message)

Have you ever felt like God was missing from your life? Like he had abandoned you, despite his promise never to do that? I have. Many, many times. Looking back, I see that it was ME who had abandoned God. 

In the past, when I've gone through hard heart-wrenching times I stopped doing something that was very important to my having a strong relationship with the Lord. I stopped reading my Bible. That, my friends, is one of the most vital things we need to do if we want to feel God's presence! It's how he speaks to us, for cryin' out loud! How can we possibly expect him to be able to speak to us, if we're not in the Word?!?! {I'm yelling at myself here... LOL)

I'm going to be real blunt here. Satan lied to me, and I chose to listen to him! Satan told me that God was punishing me for sins by killing my babies. Satan told me that I must be a horrible mother and therefore God was saving my children by allowing them to die in my womb. Satan told me that I had spoken out about childhood abuse and this was my punishment for having done so. And I believed him! Knowing full-well what I know of Satan - that he is the father of lies. I chose to believe Satan over my loving Father. And this just breaks my heart. 

While that is heart-breaking to fall into that trap, there is a rainbow of grace here. Even in my darkest moments, I still longed for God. I had a deep, deep longing for God to help me through my heartache. I knew that God was the only One who could heal my broken heart. I wasn't able to read His Word for a very, very long time, but then, once I picked it up, I've been having a very difficult time putting it down. I kept looking for God and I am finding him again! I say "finding" because I'll never truly KNOW him until I get to Heaven. In this part of my journey, he is revealing more and more of himself to me and I am seeing how incredibly blessed I am! 

I pray that if you are in that dark place, wondering where God is, that you keep searching for him. Do whatever you have to do to pick up your Bible and read. Psalms is a great place to start when dealing with a broken heart. David wrote most of the Psalms and he knows a thing or two about having a broken heart. He sinned mightily against God, yet he was still called "A man after my [God's] own heart." because he continued to trust and love God. Don't believe the lies that Satan may be telling you. Look to the Bible and find the Truth of what God says about you! You are loved! And God desires to have a personal relationship with you! 

If you're not a follower of Christ, please accept him today. Don't wait. He loves you and wants to be in relationship with you. It is as easy as praying this:

Dear God,

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I have tried 
living my life my way but I now know that I need You to guide 
me. Please forgive me of my sins [if you'd like to, list some here]. 
I want the freedom that a life with Christ can bring me. I believe 
that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. 
I want to live with him in eternity. Thank you for forgiving me. 
Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, for me. 
In His name I pray. Amen. 

If you just prayed this prayer, please leave me a comment. I would love to pray for you as you begin your journey with the Lord. I encourage you to contact a local Christian church in your area. You can also read this article at Focus on the Family for more information as to what to do next. You may also contact them and they can help you as you begin your walk with God. I encourage you to get yourself a Bible and start to read it. The Book of Romans or the Book of Mark are great places to start. If you don't have the money for a Bible, please contact The Gideons and I'm sure they would love to give you a free Bible. (This is the group who provides Bibles in hotel rooms.) May the Lord bless you as you begin your new life with Him!

Matthew 25:1-13

The story of the 10 Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 reminds me to be ready for Christ. It is one I wish one of my kids would get. You don't want to live your life by your own strength and say, "I'll just accept Jesus when I'm older. For now, I want to have fun." It just might be too late because once Jesus comes again.. that's it. 

If you're the praying kind, please pray that ALL my kids accept Jesus without delay. I can't force it. I can't MAKE them believe. I can only teach and lead by example and hope the Holy Spirit brings a conviction into their hearts that they need him NOW, not just later. But, man - I sure do wish we could just force them to believe - it would be a lot easier on the parent's hearts! Alas... just as God doesn't force us - he didn't make us to be his puppets, he wants us to WANT to have him in our lives... I guess I have to give my children the same respect and let them make up their minds about it all. These are the times where I feel powerless as a parent. Thank God, HE is in control and His Spirit can work in ways that my mouth cannot. :-)

I am praying for you as well. If you're not a follower of Christ, please accept him today. Don't wait. He loves you and wants to be in relationship with you. It is as easy as praying this:

Dear God,

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I have tried 
living my life my way but I now know that I need You to guide 
me. Please forgive me of my sins [if you'd like to, list some here]. 
I want the freedom that a life with Christ can bring me. I believe 
that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. 
I want to live with him in eternity. Thank you for forgiving me. 
Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, for me. 
In His name I pray. Amen. 

If you just prayed this prayer, please leave me a comment. I would love to pray for you as you begin your journey with the Lord. I encourage you to contact a local Christian church in your area. You can also read this article at Focus on the Family for more information as to what to do next. You may also contact them and they can help you as you begin your walk with God. I encourage you to get yourself a Bible and start to read it. The Book of Romans or the Book of Mark are great places to start. If you don't have the money for a Bible, please contact The Gideons and I'm sure they would love to give you a free Bible. (This is the group who provides Bibles in hotel rooms.) May the Lord bless you as you begin your new life with Him! 

Matthew 20:1-16

A twist on the Parable of the Vineyard Workers found in Matthew 20:1-16 (I'm not going to write it all out today). 

This parable talks about the last workers to be hired at the end of the day getting paid the same amount as the workers who were hired at the beginning of the day. Something clicked as I was reading this. What if this isn't just a parable about the last being first and the first being last? What if it's also God telling people that even if they accept Christ later in their lives - or even on their deathbeds, that they WILL have just as good a place in heaven as those who accepted Christ as children/teens/young adults? It could be a message to people that even in your old age, you can come to have a relationship with Christ. That there's a place for you in Heaven even if you waited until last minute.

Hmmm... makes me wonder...

I just looked up the passage in Matthew in my husband's Life Application Bible and in the notes it talks about this same thing. And it appears I was right - that this passage IS about people who accept Christ later in life. I love when I have my eyes opened about something in the Word! :-)

If you're not a follower of Christ, please accept him today. Don't wait. He loves you and wants to be in relationship with you. It is as easy as praying this:

Dear God,

I admit that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I have tried 
living my life my way but I now know that I need You to guide 
me. Please forgive me of my sins [if you'd like to, list some here]. 
I want the freedom that a life with Christ can bring me. I believe 
that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. 
I want to live with him in eternity. Thank you for forgiving me. 
Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, for me. 
In His name I pray. Amen.

If you just prayed this prayer, please leave me a comment. I would love to pray for you as you begin your journey with the Lord. I encourage you to contact a local Christian church in your area. You can also read this article at Focus on the Family for more information as to what to do next. You may also contact them and they can help you as you begin your walk with God. I encourage you to get yourself a Bible and start to read it. The Book of Romans or the Book of Mark are great places to start. If you don't have the money for a Bible, please contact The Gideons and I'm sure they would love to give you a free Bible. (This is the group who provides Bibles in hotel rooms.) May the Lord bless you as you begin your new life with Him!