It's A Wonderful Life

There are some basic things that are hidden from the ordinary person that insure a good life. For years it evaded me! Thank You Jesus, I can now live the kind of life He wants for me, a wonderful life! Revealed in 1 Peter 3:10-11 are 5 keys that I believe cover alot of ground for understanding what it takes to enjoy life. #1. Keep your tongue from evil. #2. and your lips from speaking deceit. #3. shun or avoid evil. (What is evil? The answer is in the Bible. Ignorance is not an excuse, but an obstacle.) #4. Do what is right. #5. And search for peace (harmony, undisturbed from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts), do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, your fellow man, and yourself, but pursue and go after them. To have a wonderful life, we need to make a concerted effort to accomplish these exhortations. Doing life God's way brings the life Jesus said that He came to give us. Jesus said in John 10:10, "...I came that they (Christians) may have and enjoy life...". If I don't have joy, I need to seek the Lord and check with the above conditions. I then get myself straightened out and inevitably the joy returns! We all need contentment that comes from obedience and a bright hope for tomorrow. The Holy Spirit helps us and each new day can be a wonderful day!

Meekness, a great accomplishment

Years ago I heard a preacher tell of how Moses was considered to be the meekest man on the face of the whole earth. As a matter of fact his brother Aaron and sister Miriam spoke against him and they were judged severely by God. (Num. 12). The Lord was very angry with them because Moses was close to God. He was humble and allowed God to use him mightily. God heard the complaints and took vengeance on them for Moses' sake. I believe God is on our side when we're meek and He takes vengeance for us when we do not attempt to take it for ourselves. (Rom. 5:19). Galatians 5:22 reveals the distinctive evidence of the Holy Spirit in someone's life> "But the fruit of the Holy Spirit (the work which His presence accomplishes) is love, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (MEEKNESS), and self-contol. The tone of all these qualities is one of meekness. A flavor different than most people have these days! This outlook on life today is prevailing and contagious! I call it self-preservation with an attitude!The Gainesville Sun (9-16-09) printed an article on the front page with this caption, "What's happened to civility?" The article goes on to say, "If the fall tv line-up included a reality show called "America Behaving Badly", the events of recent days would provide enough footage to fill several installments". I know that it is easy to behave badly. It's harder not to! Only by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit can we not be conformed to the world's way of doing things. Help us Lord to be challenged to humble ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to live in and through us. Pray for me as I pray for you! I want to be on God's side and I want Him on my side! (note: this has nothing to do with social justice or law and order. I am talking about dealing with our personal issues like road rage, personality clashes, rudeness, dishonor, outbursts of anger, responding to persecution for Christ's sake, and the like.).

The Essence of Life should be...

The basic nature or essence of my life will be all encompassing. It should be something good and cause good in my life. This morning the Lord gave me something wonderful out of the treasure box of His word. This beautiful gift is a new realization of the fact that the basic ingredient I need in my life everyday is the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord. The verse is in Psalms 15:16 "Better is little with the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord than great and rich treasure and trouble with it." Even when we have little, we can be free of trouble in life when we fear the Lord. We have to understand godly fear. It means to have exceeding respect and honor. I need to honor God and respect Him enough to put Him first above all. (Hebrews 12:28-29;Jer. 5:19-31), "...our God is a consuming fire." In other words...He's amazing and an awesome God! He is also very loving and good! (Romans 11:22). And if I honor Him, then: #1.He will reveal His secrets to me. (Ps. 25:14) #2.I will dwell at ease and my children will be posperous. (Ps 25:12-13). #3.He will prolong my days and I can drink from the fouuntain of life. (Prov 10:27, 14:27). #4.He has great goodness laid up for me. (Ps 31:19). #5.He'll take pleasure in me. (Ps 147:11). And that's just a drop in the bucket! Dig out more for yourself!

In the Know

I am the type of person that has a hard time accepting things the way they are if I don't understand why or how they are that way. My weakness in this is becoming anxious and frustrated, taking matters into my own hands. This approach alienates me from God. I realize that there are some things in this life that I will not understand right now, but I'll have to trust God and wait until I get to Heaven to "be in the know". Nevertheless, God wants me to seek Him for answers. Revealing the answer is up to Him. God makes it clear in the Proverbs that seeking Him for understanding is considered valuable and virtuous. Hidden within God's word is the answer to ALL of our questions. The reason I say "hidden" is because the answers must be found as we read, study, and meditate (think about and pray) on the sciptures pertaining to our situation. When the answer is found and acted upon, the result is phenomenal! God's instructions are right on every time! This is God's way of revealing His truths and wisdom to us personally. In this pursuit of understanding, we discover that God loves us and we experience His faithfulness first hand. Now I can live in peace and joy. I'll get close to God. I'll come to know that He is there for me. I'll find that I can trust Him to lead me and take care of me! Proverbs 3:5-6 (Amp) "Trust (lean on and be confident) in the Lord with all of your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths."

After all, tomorrow's gonna be another day...

The Lord showed me lately that faith and trust in Him is staying calm and holding on to His promises. It's having a positive attitude in difficulty and when facing what appears to be insurmountable odds. It's knowing that He's going to come through for me. We have to know that everything is going to work out ok when we trust in Him. Have you ever felt overwhelmed and hopeless? Well, there's always hope with God. I have learned a lesson from Scarlette O'Hara in the movie "Gone with the Wind". What??? Yes, the Lord impressed upon my heart one time this scene of her in one of the gutters of her life. She was collapsed at the bottom of her glamorous stairway. Her husband had just left her. What would come next? It was a miserable situation! You get the feeling that in all of her drama, she would just have a nervous breakdown or something along those lines. Instead she made an amazing statement in her strong southern drawl that was the ultimate expression of her outrageous resolve. It goes something like this- "...I can't think about that right now. I'll go crazy if I do. I'll think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow's gonna be another day." Amazing! There is so much power in the decision to live by that philosphy. God is faithful! If we hold on to Him and possess this kind of resolve, He will have the chance to prove Himself faithful and good. I've found this to be true! Always!

Have you had your V8 today? A taste of perfection

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 speaks of perfection coming for us someday! Wow! Think about that for a minute...Can you imagine what that will be like? Of course that will be in Heaven. God has given us tools or spiritual gifts to use while we are here on earth to help us know Him more and to enable us to help others know Him better. The gift of prophecy ( interpreting the divine will and purpose) will be fulfilled and pass away. Knowledge will lose it's value and be superseded by evidence of the truth. Both of these are very helpful for us now but Verse 9 says that "our knowledge and prophecy is fragmentary or incomplete and imperfect. Verse 12 says that our efforts on earth are like looking into a blurred mirror. But when perfection comes, we will see in reality and face to face. The Apostle Paul who authored this book said that now we know in part but then we will know and understand clearly and perfectly. Vs 10 states that when that which is perfect comes, the imcomplete and imperfect will vanish away or become antiquated and void. It's like a child not drinking out of a bottle anymore. One gift we that we have that will go with us throughout eternity:LOVE.

Verse 8>>>Love never fails, becomes obsolete or comes to an end...

Have you had your V8 today? LOVE is GREAT>>> GOD IS LOVE!(1 John 4:8)

Am I Critical?

This question is one that we should all ask ourselves on a regular basis. I know that I am critical and judgemental sometimes and I don't even realize it until after the fact. It may be just a thought or something said, either way it's not pleasing to God. It's even detrimental to my relationship with God. Jesus addressed this subject in Matthew 7:1-5 (Amp. Trans). He said not to judge, criticize, and condemn others, so that you aren't judged, criticized, and condemned yourself. He goes on to say that we shouldn't be this way because it will come back on us(vs2) and it makes us hypocrits(vs5). In vs 4 Jesus asks how can we correct anyone for something small when we don't deal with the big things in our own life(ex.pride, self-righteousness, etc). We're all only righteous because of what Jesus did for us on the cross (2 Cor.5:21). God so loved all of us that He sent Jesus into the world to love and save us, not judge, condemn or criticize (John 3:17). His love includes believing the best in others (1 Cor.13:7; 1 john 4:7-17 please look up). There is a place for correction but if it is done in Christ's love, it will be easier for that person to accept. We must be gentle and forgiving(Colossians 3:13) . The goal is to help each other to get close to God. Love, love, love!! It never fails (1 cor. 13:8).