Here we go. Another year will quickly be in our past and a new year will be in our present. We tend to look at the New Year as a chance to change things about ourselves and somehow make ourselves better. Things just feel fresh and, well, new. So my hope for you is that if you need to make changes to your life that you will take this opportunity to start new. Make 2012 your year to be the best person you can be.
~Lisa
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
stuck
Have you ever been stuck? We all have at one time or another; you know the proverbial "stuck between a hard place and a rock". Sometimes it is unavoidable and sometimes it was entirely our own doing. My sweet daughter has been getting herself physically stuck a lot lately (she is only 16 months). She will see something that she just knows needs to be climbed on or needs to be moved or needs her attention and she will somehow get stuck. The awesome part (for this mommy) is that when she is stuck she cries for help and I can go and save the day! It was this morning when she climbed up into a spot, couldn't figure out how to get down, and started crying for me that I realized how much it reminded me of our relationships with God. She wasn't in any kind of pain, she was only scared.
We spend our lives running around, having fun, getting into things, and then suddenly we are stuck. Through all that "fun" we were having we might have stopped occasionally to acknowledge God, we may have said a prayer, sung a hymn, or attended a worship service. We knew He was there, somewhere, so we were content to live our lives exactly how WE wanted to. But then, we got stuck. Suddenly we need Him. We need Him to get us out of this situation, whatever it may be. We expect Him to drop everything and come running to save us like a mommy drops everything to save her child. We deserve it, right? Don't we? Honestly we don't. Thankfully God loves us anyways, even though we mock Him, abuse Him, ignore Him, and curse Him. He loves us so much that He gave us a way out of sin, He gave for us His Son. This sacrifice is infinitely more important than whatever physical needs you have for it transcends the time we spend on this earth and gives us an opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven.
Most of us have heard the saying "this too shall pass". Whatever our physical woes, our financial troubles, our emotional turmoil, it will all pass one day. Either we will get through the tough times or we will pass from this physical life. This life and its problems are only temporary. But so are its opportunities. We only have one life to get it right, only one life to live as God desires, only one life to do our best.
Despite all we say and do that is contrary to God's will, He still desires us to come to Him changed. He still has grace and mercy on our sinful souls. Let us not let this life pass without helping ourselves by becoming Christians and living as God commands. It is time to stop this "me first" mentality and to live for something bigger and eternally more important.
The other morning I was talking with my daughter and asked her if she loves me, she said 'nooooo', then I told her I love her and she responded 'I Know'. Apply this to yourself: Do you love God? God loves you.
~Lisa
Now the important stuff:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, I Pet 3:18
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, Acts 17:30
And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15
We spend our lives running around, having fun, getting into things, and then suddenly we are stuck. Through all that "fun" we were having we might have stopped occasionally to acknowledge God, we may have said a prayer, sung a hymn, or attended a worship service. We knew He was there, somewhere, so we were content to live our lives exactly how WE wanted to. But then, we got stuck. Suddenly we need Him. We need Him to get us out of this situation, whatever it may be. We expect Him to drop everything and come running to save us like a mommy drops everything to save her child. We deserve it, right? Don't we? Honestly we don't. Thankfully God loves us anyways, even though we mock Him, abuse Him, ignore Him, and curse Him. He loves us so much that He gave us a way out of sin, He gave for us His Son. This sacrifice is infinitely more important than whatever physical needs you have for it transcends the time we spend on this earth and gives us an opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven.
Most of us have heard the saying "this too shall pass". Whatever our physical woes, our financial troubles, our emotional turmoil, it will all pass one day. Either we will get through the tough times or we will pass from this physical life. This life and its problems are only temporary. But so are its opportunities. We only have one life to get it right, only one life to live as God desires, only one life to do our best.
Despite all we say and do that is contrary to God's will, He still desires us to come to Him changed. He still has grace and mercy on our sinful souls. Let us not let this life pass without helping ourselves by becoming Christians and living as God commands. It is time to stop this "me first" mentality and to live for something bigger and eternally more important.
The other morning I was talking with my daughter and asked her if she loves me, she said 'nooooo', then I told her I love her and she responded 'I Know'. Apply this to yourself: Do you love God? God loves you.
~Lisa
Now the important stuff:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, I Pet 3:18
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, Acts 17:30
And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15
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