Counter culture

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21 NKJV

Let nothing be  done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Philippians 2:3 NKJV

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Philippians 2:14‭-‬15 NKJV

The key to living as Christians is Christ.

Do you live for Jesus every single day?

If “yes” is the answer, how has the Lord helped you learn this?

What choices in your attitudes, outlook, and actions do you consistently hold to?

In what ways do you guard yourself from the lies, snares, and trucks of sin?

How do you cultivate your walk with Jesus daily?

In what ways are you upholding others in their journey with Christ?

No matter the culture one finds themselves in, it can quickly turn one aside from following steadfastly to the path of Christ.

There are so many different ways this happens.

It could be the culture is pagan and the very name of Jesus is illegal.

The culture might be secular, where the common law is “do what feels good” without any thought to the consequences.

It might be strictly religious, without even a hint of the love of Christ, only the rigid unbending laws placed upon man by man.

Or it could be something quiet different.

No matter the culture one finds themselves, it is the individual Jesus came to save.

Therefore each one of us has a choice.

Our individual life was created by God.

He has a plan for every single person.

And He redeems each one who calls upon His name, Jesus saves.

Therefore, each one has the opportunity to a personal day-to-day relationship with Jesus.

Unfortunately, that’s very counter culture.

No matter the culture one lives in, that culture wants each person to follow the culture.

Therefore, as Christ followers, our lives should not look like every other around us.

Infact, we are supposed to shine in the darkness.

Of course a candle doesn’t give off light by itself.

It must be lit.

Only Jesus can shine through our surrendered lives.

Let each one of us Christ followers say along with Paul:

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I  do,  forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13‭-‬14 NKJV

God’s gifts

Psalm 111:4 KJV — He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

I had not realized how much I had wanted to learn this.

Yet, in a conversation with our Bell I realized it might be another gift from God.

He’s blessed me in so many ways, it’s overwhelming.

Yet, I’m learning to simply say, “Thank You, Lord” and walk in whatever He has for me.

Whether I view it as a blessing or not.

This circumstance was definitely a blessing.

Bell bought me the crochet thread and I began on my first table runner.

It took longer than expected.

Yet, I was excited to make it.

Everyone liked it.

Bell encouraged me to try other patterns.

So, the Lord helped me find a YouTube video and I began making these Celtic Flowers.

Once I have enough, I’ll crochet them together.

Although they are more time consuming than I’d prefer, I’m definitely learning patience.

To make each stitch carefully and to be willing to rip it out when I have made a mistake.

After I finished my second table runner, Sis looked at me.

“Mom, I really have a new appreciation for all those doilies I’ve seen over the years.”

I smiled.

“Me too!”

And in this journey of learning something new, I’m trying to be aware of other things.

How many times have I just taken things for granted?

I know my asthma has taught me to be thankful for every breath.

My crocheting has taught me to be thankful for handmade items.

My health has taught me to be thankful for pain.

Without pain, I don’t know when something is wrong.

Without the understanding of my physical or spiritual needs, I’m not going to change my habits or actions or attitudes.

Of course, all these changes are made through Christ Jesus, who helps me learn self discipline.

And as these changes occur, I find life so much more a joy.

The closer I walk with Jesus, the more I learn how to abide in His peace, His joy, and His love.

I learn how to trust Him more.

I learn how to surrender more.

Galatians 2:20 KJV — I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Truly, God’s gifts are amazing!

…with Christ

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NKJV

These words convicted me deeply.

They have returned over and over again, as a reminder of what my life is truly supposed to be.

“I have been crucified with Christ;” Gal. 2:20a

Meditate upon what crucified with Christ means.

My Lord and Savior chose to humble Himself to the point of allowing His own creation to beat Him, scourge Him, and crucify Him.

His words in the garden give us a guide.

Luke 22:42 NKJV — saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Jesus did as the Father told Him.

John 5:19 NKJV — Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

As should I.

I no longer live, Christ lives in me, and my life should reflect that in every area.

Not in a ritualistic pride of false piety.

Nothing, but the humble love and devotion to Jesus Christ who loves me.

He loves each and every one.

“I live by faith in the Son…” Gal. 2:20b

Because life lived by works is again striving to do it on our own.

Salvation is a free gift and Jesus was the only One Who could pay such a costly price.

Therefore, my life is a daily practice of humbling myself before God.

Choosing to say, not my will but Thine.

Choosing to look to Jesus and remember His unfathomable love.

Choosing to walk in faith of which rests souly upon that unfathomable love.

Because anything else is a waste.

I don’t have it down yet.

I expect this to be a lifetime lesson of dieing daily, carrying my cross, and walking in faith with Christ Jesus.

Just that thought brings a smile to my lips.

What a glorious adventure!

To walk daily with Christ Jesus.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your sacrifice. Thank You for being our example in all things. Lord, I love that when questions arise I can always turn to You. When troubles come, I can find comfort in You. When life seems frightening, You are my Refuge and Strength. Jesus, You alone are worthy of all our praise. You alone are worthy of every honor. May Your name be glorified throughout the whole Earth!

Over the fence

It was brief.

Just a few minutes of chatting.

I was on one side of the fence and they were on the other.

We could hear each other but not really see.

It blessed my heart, they inquired after my allergies.

Then asked about our church.

Just a friendly conversation.

But through it two truths surfaced.

“Well, when you’re as old as we are and have underlying health issues you wonder if you’re going to make it through this or not.”

My heart lept.

I actually wished they could see my face and read my feelings.

However, I knew my words were going to have to be my tool.

“Well, with my asthma and other health issues, I am in the category of ‘at risk’. My kids have been worried, asking me what we are going to do.”

“But I told them, God has the exact number of my days in His hand and nothing is going to change that. I don’t know how many that is, but I’m not going to worry. I’m just going to live life unto Him and praise the Lord”

There was a brief pause and then our conversation moved on to other topics.

But in my heart, I truly understand what was said.

There’s something very different about how one looks at life when you realize you are mortal.

There’s yet another change when you realize you may not have a future on this Earth.

That is the truth I heard in their words.

It’s a truth I’ve looked at as well.

Because none of us are guaranteed any allotted time here, but for some reason we assume we are.

When the truth, that no one but God knows the number of your days and you don’t have any idea how many that is, becomes a part of your every day perspective you have a choice.

You can choose to live selfishly and full of fear. Be consumed with trying to get all you can to protect yourself or do everything you’ve dreamed about before the ‘end’. Basically living like this world is the best there is.

Or

You can choose to live daily for Jesus and realize His plans for each of us is the best this world can offer, but through His blood it’s not the end.

Because it is not the end.

Heaven is waiting for those who believe:

John 3:16 NKJV — “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.

John 3:17 NKJV — “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

I made the choice to walk with my Lord and be thankful for each day, no matter how many I have left.

Because like Paul I know this truth:

Philippians 3:20 NKJV — For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Today, my prayers are for those who have yet to make that choice and for those who have yet to realize the truth.

Dear Reader, only God knows the struggles inside your heart, but know that He loves you, deeply. He wants to comfort, guide, and speak truth to you. In these days of uncertainty, please take the time to seek Him. If you already know Him, take the time to praise Him! May God bless you, dear.

God is love

LOVE.

It’s often misunderstood and misrepresented.

It’s been used to buy and sell.

It’s been tainted and tarnished in every way possible.

All because true love comes only from God.

Man without God can’t truly understand love.

Although it’s poured out on us daily by our heavenly Father.

Romans 5:8 NKJV — But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Praise God for His love which brought Jesus to the World, that He might demonstrate love.

John 15:9 NKJV — “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

Through Jesus, through God’s Holy Word, through the Holy Spirit’s teachings, we can find true love.

We can also learn how to love.

Infact the Bible is so full of what true love is, the definition becomes clear.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NKJV — Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. 

And this is only one portion of the many, many passages which teach us what love is.

God’s love becomes a gift to share as we ourselves understand and daily accept it.

Through personal, one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ each of us can not only experience true love daily, we can give it freely.

Because God is love.

He already loves each and every single one of us.

I’m learning, each day, a new way to see God’s love and prayerfully, new ways to share it.

I hope you are as well.

Worship the Lamb

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:13 NKJV

No matter what, we should worship the Lamb.

He has created us.

John 1:1 NKJV — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:3 NKJV — All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

He came as a babe in a manger, to teach us, love us, to shine the light of truth.

John 1:14 NKJV — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

But more than that.

He came to bridge the gap.

John 3:14 NKJV — “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

He came to pay our price for sin, once, and for all.

John 1:29 KJV — The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

And He did.

Revelation 15:3 KJV — And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

This Sunday, be sure to set aside your heart for true worship of the Lamb.

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God.

Snares of the enemy

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10 NKJV

It’s part of living for Christ.

These are His own words.

Awarning us of the enemy and showing the stark difference between Himself and God’s enemy.

Since there is an enemy, it means we need to be aware of the traps used to ensnare us.

There are many ways one is disguised, but the basis of a powerful gripping debilitating snare is

fear.

Stop and ponder the poor choices which have been made due to fear.

The reactions to others, due to fear.

What would even one day look like if fear was totally absent?

It’s a powerful, even deadly, snare.

The Father understands the danger.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Matthew 10:28 NKJV

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Luke 12:7 NKJV

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.'”
Romans 8:15 NKJV

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
II Timothy 1:7 NKJV

And there are many more verses which deal with fear.

Yet, it’s so easy to fall into.

The only way to combat the snare is with faith and trust in Christ Jesus.

He alone can save our souls from the consequences of sin.

He alone can remove the sticky web of fear.

It is through total surrender that one can live in faith and trust in Jesus.

Only when one let’s go of control and passes it into God’s hands can they hold tightly to Jesus.

When that transfer comes the lines of fear are cut.

But it’s a daily, sometimes moment-bu-moment choice.

But nothing can compare to the blessings of the sticky, terrible, strings of fear being done away with.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for cutting the tangled mess of sin and fear. Please continue to help me see the strings and snares of the enemy, that I might avoid those areas. Lord, please continue to teach me how to surrender. I know it’s easy for me to want to control things, it’s hard for me to give up my desire to make the decisions, or to look after my best interests. Really, You alone know what is the best for me and only through total submission can I hear Your plan for me. Thank You for Your patience. Thank You for Your faithfulness and love. May my life be used by You to help others become free from fear.

The Son through the glass

These are so beautiful.

The delicate picturesque adornment tells more than the story it portrays.

As beautiful as each stained glass window is,

it’s unable to reach it’s full splendor on it’s own.

In the dark of the deepest night the beauty of the window is shrouded.

Only when the Sun shines through does the full amount of appreciation for each detail, each color come out.

The same goes for people.

Each and every person was carefully crafted by the finger of God.

Yet, the true beauty, meaning, and depth to each person can only be illuminated by Christ Jesus.

It is through the light of the Son, shining through humans as glass, where each individual’s true beauty is beheld.

“To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 1:77‭-‬79 NKJV (emphasis added)

Christmas Eve

“For unto us…”

The day Jesus Christ was born,
salvation for all of humanity,
came into view.

The world has never been the same place.

Praise God!

Jesus came humbly,
with the enormous duty to pay once for all sins,
yet everything about Him,
including His birth,
teaches about the character of God.

The lives touched by God during this Earth changing event,
are examples of the goodness of the Lord.

Even today there’s people who don’t know,
don’t fully grasp the meaning of this,
yet the example is in Scripture.

They were busy.

Their lives were wrapped up in the long list of tasks.

The things required to be completed to continue their livelihood was the only focus.

But…

“lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for,  behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you;  Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,  lying in a manager. ‘ ” Lk 2:9-12

God stepped into the sheperds’ lives and the Bible records they didn’t shrug it off. They searched until they had found Jesus for themselves and then they shared the good news with many others. Lk. 2:17

The birth of Christ wasn’t something that these men had been watching for.

It wasn’t part of their focus.

But it affected them deeply.

However Jesus being born was not a surprise.

God had announced the occasion hundreds of years before.

His prophets had given words of what He would be and why He was coming.

And there were those who had paid close attention.

There were people looking, searching,  watching for the event.

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down,  and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures,  they presented unto him gifts; gold,  and frankincense,  and myrrh.” Mt. 2:10-11

These men had been focused.

They understood the enormous promise of the birth of Christ.

They had gone to great lengths to reach Him.

It had cost them but it was worth it.

They had found Jesus.

Which are you?

Are you searching,  seeking, looking for Jesus this Christmas?

Or is He really not your focus?

Both groups were never the same after a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.
And that is my prayer for you this Christmas.

No matter what gifts you receive or don’t this Christmas, I pray you are changed by a personal experience with Jesus,  the baby who became a man, the man who is God and paid for all sin, the God who is in heaven preparing a place for those who will accept the gift of Salvation.

                   MERRY CHRISTMAS!