ASK FOR SOMETHING BIG

Luke 18:35-43 tells us of a blind beggar who encountered Jesus. Jesus asked him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight" (verse 41, NKJV). This man was used to asking people to help him by giving him money. But he knew who Jesus was, and asked for more than money. This showed his faith in Jesus's power and kindness. If we believe that Jesus is powerful and kind, we should ask for great things.

SECOND CHANCE

"He also spoke this parable: 'A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.'" "Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?'" "But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.'" (Luke 13:6-9, NKJV) I love the way this parable shows God's heart: when we aren't doing well, He doesn't cut us off. He helps us; He enables us to bear fruit; He is there for us. Then we can say, as King David did, "Your gentleness has made me great" (Psalm 18:35 NKJV).

THE LOVE OF GOD

"The Lord you God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice overt you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV). The Lord is singing a love song to us!!

PRESENCE

At work I got promoted to kitchen manager, which is exciting, but it comes with a learning curve and a lot of responsibility. Lately my job has been consuming my mind, even at night when I'm trying to go to sleep. It does calm me down to know that I'm not alone in my busy life. My husband is always there for me, and God is an ever-present help. Hallelujah!

HEARING FROM GOD

"Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God..'" "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it'" (Matthew 16:16-18 NKJV). We know that Peter failed at times, but he also had a real and meaningful connection to the Lord. God revealed to him that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. When we come to understand spiritual truth, we have heard from God. God Himself has spoken words of life and love to us. This is a big deal.

REMEMBERING WHO WE ARE

If people aren't careful about the way they correct me, I feel like they're angry at me, and I want to get out of being blamed. I get overwhelmed with fear, insecurity, and guilt. I get angry, make excuses, and find fault with the unfortunate soul who's trying to help me. If only I remember to turn my attention to Jesus and talk about it with Him, and ask Him, "Lord, am I a bad person?" this is what He tells me: You are my precious bride. You are altogether beautiful and spotless, and I have given you My glory. I will stop at nothing to be there for you now, and to someday bring you to My home where we will be together forever. "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them" (Jesus praying to the Father, John 17:22 NKJV).

GROWING

We all wish we could be different in some way, don't we? I wish I was more of a supportive, compassionate, affectionate person. I know that I don't have the power to make this happen. It's too hard. Which can be discouraging. But God turns weakness into strength (Hebrews 11:34). And in so doing, His power is seen (2 Corinthians 12:9). I (and we) need to grow in love. We become more loving only after we grow to know God's love better. "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19 NASB). And what a wonderful process this is! What could be a greater blessing than to experience more and more of the Lord's infinite, tender love, and then to share it with others?

FEEDING CHILDREN

I'm reading Becoming Myself by Stasi Eldredge. On page 99 she says, "What would youdo with your life if you were free to do anything at all?" My answer: write. So here I am, writing a blog. Lately, the Lord has been using my job to teach me to trust in Him. I recently became kitchen manager at an elementary school. I think I'm going to love my job, but at the moment it's a source of stress for me because I haven't gotten the hang of ordering food yet. In May we had to turn in orders for the first six weeks of meals for the fall. I've been awake at night worrying about whether I ordered too little, or too much. (The storage areas in my kitchen are very small.) I prayed about this, and the Lord reminded me of Jesus' words: "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26 NKJV). So there's nothing to worry about, because the Lord will see to it that the children are fed. Yet I still felt overwhelmed, and I kept asking Jesus, "Will you help me with this job?" His answer came to me from Joshua 1:5,9: "I will not fail you or forsake you...Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (NKJV). There it is! God said, "I will not fail you or forsake you." Each of us can confidently know that although things may not go perfectly well (in our thinking) every day, God will not fail us, and we will never be alone. Jesus, please help us to be confident that You will help and guide us. Help us to experience Your presence with us and Your peace in our hearts as we walk through each day. Thank You that Your peace guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

FREE WILL/ PREDESTINATION

This is a difficult subject to understand. It was the topic of discussion at a small group I visited recently. We talked about Romans 9:10-13, where it says that before Jacob and Esau were born, God loved Jacob and hated Esau. It was pointed out that Esau received God's justice, while Jacob received God's grace. In other words, God's condemnation is fair, since Esau sinned (which we all do), but God's grace is not fair. We like grace anyway! Another interesting point that was made is that in Romans 3:10-18 it says "there is none who seeks God" (NKJV). If we were left to our own devices, we would not choose God. He calls us, and we choose to accept or reject Him. Does He call everyone? Certainly He reveals something of Himself to everyone. Romans 1:19-21 says, "...what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (NKJV). God reveals Himself to everyone through creation. I believe this is how He begins to call each person. The real concern here, I think, is this: Does God give everyone a chance to be saved? I think so. It is His desire for all to be saved. We see that clearly in Second Peter 3:9, which says that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). Jesus said, "...other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:16 NKJV). This is His heart.

WE GIVE WHAT WE HAVE RECEIVED

"Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." -Jesus (Matthew 10:8 NKJV) Jesus said this to the twelve disciples, but I don't recall that any of them had been healed of physical illness or demon possession, nor had they been raised from the dead. But certainly they had been healed of spiritual sickness. It is the same with all of us. If Jesus is in our life, we've experienced His healing in some way. We've seen His truth set us free from lies. This is what we have to share with others. I love the word "freely". God freely, abundantly, and generously helps us and heals us. And when we see Him work this way, we are filled with joy and can't wait to share our story with others. And His truth helps them as it has helped us.

FLAVOR

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?" (Matthew 5:13 NKJV) What tastes good to you? fresh-baked bread? fresh strawberries? a just-picked apple? cheesecake? pizza? When we enjoy food, we breathe in the aroma, we see that it looks appetizing, and we taste its deliciousness. It's a rich, full experience. Love also comes to us in more than one way and is a rich, full experience: a mother's tenderness, a spouse's attention and devotion, a comforting hug, sharing a laugh with a friend, getting a call or e-mail from someone who's thinking of you, God's multitude of thoughts toward each of us, Jesus suffering and taking on our sins, being honored on your birthday, a friendly hello, hanging out with people who care about you. As we walk with Jesus, He shows us His many-faceted, new-every-day love, and then we, by the Spirit's power, pass this love on to others. His word helps us: "...as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:2-3 NKJV). The word helps us to taste His graciousness. Enjoy!

BEING CLOSE TO JESUS

"We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2 NKJV). To have a close relationship with Jesus, we must know Him. Knowing Him enables us to become like Him and experience oneness with Him. Sin cannot be part of this. It is sin to be unloving. First John 3:14 says that those who hate abide in death. But loving people is hard sometimes. That's why we need God's Spirit within us to enable us to love even when it's hard.

THOUGHTS

HEROES OF THE FAITH? Hebrews 11 commends many noble people who lived by faith and made God proud. But there are a couple of men mentioned as heroes of the faith who made such serious blunders that I wonder why God honors them. Hebrews 11:32 names Samson and Jephthah as men of faith. But when we go to the book of Judges, chapters 11-16, we learn that Samson was a self-centered man who often disobeyed God. He died in an effort to kill an idol's temple full of Philistines. The Philistines were enemies of God, but Samson didn't want them dead for God's sake; he wanted revenge because the Philistines gouged out his eyes. Jephthah was another man that God used to destroy His enemies; but Jephthah also killed his own daughter because of a very foolish vow he had made. If God honors such hugely fallible humans for their faith, He will also honor ordinary Christians for our faith. Actually, in God's family, no one is ordinary; we are all recipients of His grace (1 Corinthians 1:4) and temples of His Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). FAITH/WORKS "...a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:24 NKJV). What!?! Is this verse really in God's word? Yes, it is. James is not saying that we have to earn our salvation; that's impossible. He is saying that true faith results in good works. Jesus called it good fruit: "Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit...Therefore by their fruit you will know them (Matthew 7:17-20 NKJV). If we have received the gift of salvation through Jesus, we have also received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He changes us. He makes us good; He gives us hearts that love what is good; and good people do good works. CREATION RESTORED What will heaven be like? It will be as earth was always supposed to be. Here are some verses that give us clues to what we might see and hear in heaven: "Sing O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted....For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isaiah 49:13; 55:12-13 NKJV). Singing skies and mountains, and trees that clap their hands--there will be so much joy that all of nature will be bursting with it. All this and Jesus too!

LUNCH LADY NEWS

Super nachos day was making me crazy, especially when the third graders came to lunch. They wanted the meat on the side, or the cheese sauce on the side, or everything on the side. They were all talking at once, which was confusing me. I said, "No other class has been as fussy as y'all. You need to go to Burger King." Later I realized that this attitude of mine had not made me a popular lunch lady. But it also wasn't the way Jesus would have handled the situation. Jesus is gentle and gives rest to souls. He wouldn't have been so cranky, but would have good-naturedly encouraged the kids to be patient and polite. It's so good to know that even if we come to the Lord with self-centered demands, He will respond with gentleness and kindness. One of many attributes that make Him so lovable! I applied for a kitchen manager position, and I was pretty nervous as I was driving to the second interview. It dawned on me that I wasn't afraid of disappointing any of the people who were interviewing me, but I was very afraid of disappointing myself. In an effort to straighten out my thinking, I asked myself what the Lord was expecting of me. The answer that came to me was that He wanted me to depend on Him. That's it. He's so easy to please (and I should be too). We can relax and be who He created us to be, knowing that we are where we are for a purpose. There's freedom in that. Thank the Lord! By the way, the interview went well and I got the job! I'm excited to see what God wants to do in and through me in the new position.

LOVE

"Love edifies" (1 Cor. 8:1). It is easy for me to try to help people by sharing insights from God's word. But I think it's so much more helpful to listen, empathize, share from a heart of love in a way that the other person can relate to.

I wanted to add to the thoughts that I just posted: there is a time to weep, when things are dark. But the Lord is with us at those times, to comfort us: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).

LOSS

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me....to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:1,3 NKJV). If we experience loss, the Lord will give us joy. The circumstances may not change, but He Himself is the source of our joy (Philippians 4:4).

Prayer

Sometimes I'm desperate to get prayer answered, and I start to wonder if I'm praying the right way. But Romans 8:26-27 tells us that though we don't know how to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us according to God's will. So there's no need to worry about composing a good prayer, because the Lord prays for us! GOD REACHING OUT It's so good to know that God is always lovingly pursuing us. All we have to do is look up into the sky, and we see His glory (Ps. 19:1-4). We can be sure that just as He knows the number of stars and has named them all (Psalm 147:4), so He knows every detail about us, because He cares. And He wants to hang out with us. He's always knocking on our door (Rev. 3:20), so open the door and enjoy some sweet fellowship with the one who loves you the most! GOD'S GLORY The ultimate goal of everything is for God to be glorified. How then is He not egotistical and selfish? The Bible assures us that He isn't. Look into howthe Lord is glorified. He shares His glory with us (Col. 1:27)! He is glorified through us.Ephesians 1:10-12 shows us more about God's ultimate goal: everybody will be one in and with Christ, and by this He will be glorified. No, God is not conceited. Because the more He gets exalted, the more we get exalted right along with Him. And He throws in infinite blessing with the package. Sounds great to me!

CHRISTIANITY IS A RELATIONSHIP

CHRISTIANITY IS A RELATIONSHIP Jesus is the Word (John 1:1-14). Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Jesus is the bread and the life (John 6:35, 14:6). Jesus is the light (John 8:12). Jesus is the way (John 14:6). All of this comes to us from a Person.