Jesus Loves You

We are a hurting world.  We are a sad world. We are a sinful world.

We want peace. We want our politicians to be the hero and make everything ok.

There is only one who can bring peace to our nation.

The One True God.

Do you know Him?

God wants a relationship with each of us.  He wants us to be fully devoted to Him.

He doesn't give us a list of rules and regulations. He wants us to admit our need for Him due to our sinful nature.  He wants us to believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He wants us to confess our faith in Him.  He wants us to place Him at the center of our lives and live for Him in each and everything we do.

And yes, that may mean giving up some things.  That may mean a lifestyle change. That may mean the loss of relationships.

But you know what?  God gave His Son for us.  He loves us and He wants us to love Him.

Our world will never know true peace unless every single person on this earth knows and loves and serves Jesus Christ.

Our world will never know true peace until every knee bows and prays to the One True God.

A life lived for Christ is so much more glorious than a life lived for anything else.  We are not promised tomorrow. We are not able to take our possessions with us when we pass from this earth....and we will pass from this earth.  Our bodies are tents for our souls. One day our tents will serve us no more. Our souls will move from our bodies to eternity......either heaven or hell......eternal peace or eternal turmoil.

Jesus loves you so much that He gave his life so that we can spend eternity in heaven, eternity in peace.  Why would we not accept that gift?  If you were starving would you deny the food and water placed before you?  If your house was burning, would you deny the hoses that would extinguish it? Then why would you deny Christ who offers you more than this world ever could?

In June of 2004, 12 years ago, I made a life changing decision. I chose to live my life for Jesus.  I admitted my need for him. I was a sinner. I still am, but now I'm forgiven. I chose to believe that Jesus is God's son, that he died for my sins and rose from the grave so that I would not have to face eternal death in hell.  I confessed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior in Lord. I told of my salvation, I stood before the church, I followed Jesus in baptism.

Every day I am growing, changing, and learning.  I am not perfect. I am a sinner and won't be perfect until I reach my heavenly home.  But Christ lives within me.  He is my one desire.

Yes, I love my husband. Yes, I love my children.  But I can NOT be the wife and mother they need me to be without putting Christ first in my life.  Jesus loves me and I love Him.

And He loves you too.

Oh, I pray that each of you who read these words would know and love Jesus the way that I do.....

If we all, each of us that walk this earth, if we all knew and loved and shared Jesus......my, what a different world we would live in.

Do you know Jesus? Do you love Him?

Jesus loves you!


If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior,  and you are feeling Him tug on your heart, you've pushed him to the side long enough......don't deny him any longer. Open your heart to Him now!

If you do know Jesus, share Him with others.  God commands us to do so.  We aren't meant to keep Him to ourselves.  When something good happens to us, don't we share it?  Don't we rush to Facebook and Instagram and post away?  Well, why not flood social media with the greatest news of all??? Can you imagine logging on to Facebook and seeing nothing but the love of Jesus instead of the hatred and trickery of Satan????

Y'all, this world scares me.  I think of how it has changed since I was a kid and what my children are witnessing and what they will experience in their lifetime.  But this world will not change unless Christians stand up and share Christ.  We must pray without ceasing instead of praying when disaster strikes. Imagine a world where we are united in Christ.  Right now we've let Satan divide us through gender, race, sexuality, politics, and religion. We need to be united in Christ.  We must be united in Christ.

Jesus loves you. What are you going to do about it?

I'm a Christian

Yes, I am a Christian.  A Christ Follower. A Child of God.  Whatever you want to call it.

I made the choice to surrender my life to Jesus Christ.

I believe in the Bible. I believe the Bible.

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

I believe that Jesus lived a perfect life.

I believe that Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross for my sins.

I believe that Jesus was buried in a tomb that was sealed with a large stone.

I believe the that three days later, Jesus Christ rose from the grave.

I believe that Jesus Christ is alive today.

Although I am a Christian, a believer, again, whatever you want to call it, I am also a sinner.

I am not perfect. I will never claim to be. I mess up every day. Just ask those who know me.

Having said all of this, I also want to say that I am tired.

I am tired of Christians being criticized for being Christians.

I am tired of reading and hearing how ALL Christians are racist and bigots and hypocrites and haters.

That simply is not true.

ALL
NEVER
ALWAYS
EVERY ONE
NO ONE
EVERY TIME

Those, My Friend, are dangerous words.

Can I ask you a few questions?

If you don't approve of alcohol, but you see someone drinking a beer or a glass of wine, does that make you a hater?

If you smoke cigarettes, but get upset with your teenager for doing the same thing, does that make you a hypocrite?

If you disagree with your coworkers political preference, does that you a bigot?

I can ask the tough questions, but I won't go there because I think you know what I am getting at.

I'm not vocal about my political beliefs or my opinion of homosexuality.  My opinion doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. If I disagree with you, that's what it is....a disagreement.  I am not judging you. NOT ALL Christians are judging you.  They are simply saying, "I don't agree with you."

Is that wrong?  Is it wrong to not agree with someone?  Does disagreeing make us bigots and racists and hypocrites and haters?

If it does, then we should all move to a little shack in the middle of no where and avoid human contact.

Seriously.

Who said we have to agree?  Who said we all have to be the same? Who said we all have to be alike?

I'm married. My husband and I don't agree on everything.  We don't hate each other.

I have three kids. They don't agree with me A LOT of the time. They think my rules are unfair. We don't hate each other.

I don't agree with my coworkers some times.  I don't agree with my church family some times. I don't hate them.

What matters in the grand scheme of things?

LOVE.

Whether you are a Christian or an atheist or a Muslim or whatever you are.....LOVE. When you agree, love. When you disagree, love.

In my little corner of the world, we call it Love the Sinner not the Sin. 

I can disagree with you and still love you. And just because I disagree with you doesn't mean I hate you.

Seriously.

It is possible. I live it every day.

You tell me that we live in America and have the right to express our opinions, but when Christians speak up, we are immediately told we are pushing our religion and beliefs on others and that we don't have the right to say what we believe and we are being judgmental hypocrites filled with hate.  That's a little harsh isn't it??? Just because we disagree.  Is that fair?

In the grand scheme of things, I am responsible for me and my actions.  I believe that we are all going to stand in judgement before God.  I don't have time to judge you.  I have my own sins to work on.  I just ask that the next time a Christian says, "I don't agree with you," that you will leave it at that and don't accuse ALL Christians of being judgmental hypocrites who hate those that don't share their beliefs.

Living A Love Song

Last year, I "met" Kori Yates through a study of her book Olive Drab Pom Poms.  Shortly after that, she launched an amazing online ministry called Planting Roots.  This ministry is geared toward reaching military families with the Gospel.

I have had the privilege of having Kori and her team of amazing women share a couple of my blog posts.  My most recent one is called Living a Love Song.  I hope you will head over to Planting Roots to read it.

Resolve to Love by Kerry and Chris Shook

Right now, there are three relationships in your life that trouble you. Perhaps a good friend said something to you yesterday. It felt critical, but you’re not sure what she meant. The two of you used to be so close, but lately you’ve been drifting apart. Something’s not right. Oh, and your mother called. There’s that. You know you should return her call, but you haven’t. Why? You know there are things you should have said before, you avoided them, and now you feel it’s too late. It’s always so hard with her. Always messy. And then…your son has been missing. Not missing physically, but he’s been distant, quiet, silent. Missing emotionally. What’s that about? What’s going on in his life? You want to reach out, but he pushes you away. It worries you.


Maybe the relationships in your life aren’t exactly like these, but I’m guessing these remind you of someone close to you, a problem relationship in your life right now. Maybe it’s not your mother but your father, perhaps not your son but a daughter-in-law. It could be your best friend. Whoever it is, he or she is someone who matters to you—or else the relationship wouldn’t trouble you, gnaw at you on the inside, make you question and grumble, or even bring you to tears.


So take a moment and think, who are these three key people in your life? Which meaningful relationships are troubling you? Relationships you wish were closer. Relationships you’d like to be deeper and richer. Relationships that trouble you, bother you, even make you a little crazy right now.


Seriously, think about it. Who are they? And now take a moment to name these three key relationships out loud.


Trust me, this is important for you. In fact, this may be the most significant thing you do in your life right now. Why?


Because life is way too short. At the end of the day—at the end of The Day—in this all-too-short life we share, all that really matters is relationships. Our relationships with the God who created us and with the people we love. Compared to these relationships, the job or career goals we set now aren’t really so important, the ladders we try to climb don’t matter so much, and the objects we long to own and possess seem utterly trivial.


What really counts in the end is that special knowing look you share with your spouse, the arms of your child reaching up to you, or the quiet comfort of a friend who stands by your side in a difficult time.


The award-winning animated movie Up contains some profound truths about relationships. In a breathtaking sequence early in the film, we see the entire arc of the life of Carl, a balloon salesman, as he meets Ellie, falls in love, and gets married. They share a dream to travel to South America and save every penny for their big trip. But there’s something familiar about the way their savings are constantly being used for the urgencies and emergencies of daily life. Before Carl and Ellie know it, they’re in their seventies, and although they have a beautiful marriage, they never realized their dream adventure.


Ellie dies, and Carl is overwhelmed with regret about the trip they never took. In a desperate attempt to escape loneliness and recapture memories of Ellie, Carl attaches a bunch of balloons to his house and sets out for South America!

You begin to realize as the movie progresses that this dream trip they were saving for, this object of their future plan together, wasn’t really that important after all. The real adventure was the life they shared along the way.


The same is true for us: the adventure of a lifetime is right in front of us. It’s just cleverly disguised as a familiar face.


Think about the possible loss of the relationship with one of those three people you named. You can’t do anything about death and the physical departure of one of them from this earth. That’s in God’s hands.
But you can do something about your relationship with them in life.


Much of what you’ve been told about relationships is upside down and wrong.

 
Researchers tell us that a baby sees everything upside down for the first few days of life until the brain can adjust the visual picture to right side up. Most relationships today are stuck in this same infant stage; we tend to see relationships upside down, and our culture only reinforces this view. The concept of love at first sight permeates our music, movies, television, and books. What we learn as children and continue to believe as adults is that a fairy-tale relationship somehow just happens. Now, I’m not bashing romance, but meaningful relationships depend on seeing other people as they are and looking at them right side up. Real love—whether romantic love, a close friendship, or a family relationship—happens long after first sight. It shows up as people get to know each other more deeply and often after they work through tough things together. Real love in relationships isn’t a magic act; it’s a journey.

 
When people say, “It was love at first sight,” what they really mean is “I was attracted to that person the first time I saw them.” There is nothing wrong with being infatuated with someone at the start of a relationship. The real question, however, is, do you have a love that is growing stronger and deeper every day?
I don’t believe in love at first sight; I believe in love at last sight. Each of my relationships has the potential to be better the next time we’re together than it was the previous time so that the last time we see each other on this earth we’re closer than ever before.


I’d like you to join me in the Lasting Love Relationship Challenge. The book One Month to Love is the challenge, and you can do it on your own. Just read a chapter each day. There are thirty chapters, they’re short, and you can probably read one a day pretty easily. At the end of each chapter you’ll find the Lasting Love Relationship Challenge, which is designed to help you take the insights from that day and apply them to your key relationships. Also you can log on to onemonthtolove.com each day to access our personal coaching and get extra encouragement and advice or share your story. Our goal is to come alongside you to help you create the very best relationships possible. Let’s resolve to love this year!


Adapted from One Month to Love by Kerry and Chris Shook with permission of Multnomah Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

How I Love Thee

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a wonderful day to honor those we love!! If you are like me, you want those who are special to you to know not just today, but everyday how much you love them. We go out of our way to show them.

Shouldn't we then go out of our way to show God how much we love Him? Afterall, we know from John 3:16 how much He loves us: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Each day, let your Heavenly Father know that you love Him. Pour your heart out to Him in prayer. Thank Him for the many blessings He has given to you. Thank Him for the trials that have made you stronger. Thank Him for Jesus Christ.

Cards, roses, and chocolates don't matter. Cards get lost or thrown away, roses wilt and die, and chocolates melt or get eaten. But the love of God lasts forever!!!! What better gift to receive?!?!?!

Although I am at home with a sick little one today, not able to sing and worship with my church, I will praise God in all I do, thanking Him for his LOVE, GRACE, and MERCY. This will be my gift to Him on this Valentine's Day and everday.

Am I Doing What I Had Hope?

Last January, I wrote my very first post on this blog.

I am very excited about the fact that I haven't gone without words to continue this blog. I only hope that I am using this wonderful technology to inspire someone. Whether I am posting about my family, my job, or the devotional ideas God leads me to or adding new songs to the playlist, I hope that I can touch someone's heart.

That, afterall, was the point. To allow God to use me to touch others through this blog.

My prayer is that somewhere along the way, something I have posted here or a song that you've heard has given you a little bit of hope or inspiration, that you've felt the love of God here. There has been times that when I've sat here typing away, I've felt God's loving arms around me, giving me love and strength when I've had a rough day or felt lost in a situation. I thank Him for that.

I thank you for continuing to check in on me and this blog. I pray that as I continue to post, that I will be able to touch your heart in some way. Although I do share a lot about my kids (what proud mom wouldn't), I pray that something I say will stand out as God's love.

I've Made Choices

With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Matthew 7:2

Today after VBS, the boys and I went to meet Jeffrey for lunch at the Chinese restaurant. Edie and Lauren were there too, so we all decided to eat together. Approaching our table, I saw an old childhood friend of mine. I've seen her around town, but I haven't talked to her in ages. She fussed over the boys and we chatted. Then she was on her way.

Later, our conversation went to Tonya. I mentioned that we were once very good friends, but our lives went in different directions. By looking at us, you'd think that there is no way we would have been close, but we were. We were like sisters. Lauren asked, "Did you talk to her?" When I told her yes and explained our connections, she said, "Oh, that's cool."

It would be easy for some people to ignore some childhood friend. To make small talk and move on quickly. Some people may be embarrassed by being seen talking to certain people.

However, we all need to think about this....we have all made choices. Some of those choices are good and some are not. I'll admit. I've done my share of stupid stuff (oh, don't tell Colin I said the "s word"), but really, who hasn't? We are not perfect, but by the grace of God, we can be forgiven.

This year, instead of teaching a specific age group for VBS, I am teaching the Missions class to all of the children. It is great that they are learning about the missionaries who travel the world leading others to Christ and spreading His Love. But what does that really mean to children? Many don't have a clue as to how rugged places are and the dangers that the missionaries encounter in serving God. I feel this is a great opportunity for them to learn that they can be missionaries in their own communities.

Think about it.

For many of them, they are the only Christians their classmates, teammates, and neighbors may ever know. For us as adults, we may be the only Christians that people encounter on a day to day basis. Do we want the gospel to end with us? I certainly don't.

I told the kids this morning that we don't have to be best friends with everyone, but we can show everyone God's love. There are always going to be people who are different. There are always going to be people that hurt us. There are always going to be people who do stupid stuff (sorry, Colin). But Judge not, that you be not judged (Matthew 7:1). Glenda tells us what her dad used to say, "People are people wherever you go." Isn't that so true? But wouldn't you like for someone to say, "Oh, that's cool," about you showing your love to others?

A lot of people that do not attend church have been hurt by Christians. They've been turned off by people who claim to serve God, yet live as hypocrites. That is the most common thing I've heard, "Churches are full of hypocrites." I'm sure I am as guilty as the next person. But we can ask for God's guidance in dealing with people who are different so we don't turn them off to the gospel. Actually, there is a book called How to Deal with Difficult People. It is a great book to help you work through your dealings with people. There is more than one way to show God's love. The easiest thing to do is find out what works best for us. Start there. Touch people's lives with that way. Then find another way, another group of people to love.

Isn't that what we all want....to be loved?

My challenge to you: Be a missionary in your own community. Show God's love to others.

The Lord shall judge the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
And according to my integrity within me.
God is a just judge.
Psalm 7:8,11