is it a blessing?

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—2 Corinthians 13:14

This kind of sounds like an Irish blessing, doesn’t it?

Back in the day, when people saw each other on the street they actually exchanged blessings.

Now we mumble a quick “hey” or we duck our heads or focus on our phones.

I think that we were a better society when we took time to bless one another.

How can you bless someone today?

Have a blessed day.

acceptance

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

- Romans 15:7

It is really easy to find fault in others.

The way they dress, the way they speak, the way they live their lives.

Question for you: when you are finding fault in your neighbor or co-worker, are you may be checking yourself at the same time?

I am very guilty of this, I am especially quick to judge other people on their driving ability and then I find myself committing the same atrocities for which I was angry at someone else.

And then I am ashamed, ashamed of my anger, ashamed of my words and thoughts.

Aren’t we lucky, that we are accepted for exactly what we are?

Song reference!!

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken,
I'm accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your sprit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.

Amazing love,
How can it be?
That You, my King would die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it's true.
It's my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You.

We are accepted, to bring Him glory.

What more could we ask for?

Have a blessed day.

is it good or bad?

This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

- Philippians 1:9-10

I believe that we learn at a pretty young age what is “good” and “bad”.

Things that hurt us or taste icky are “bad”.

Things that make us happy are “good”

Pretty simple, right?

Not always. 

I mean, apples are “good” right?

But, yet, the apple that the serpent gave to Eve was oh so not good.

We need to be able to recognize when what appears to be good is actually bad in disguise.

God can help you do that. 

Once you place your trust (didn’t we just talk about this?) in God, who is faithful and true, He will show us the good.

Have a blessed day.

trust

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

– Psalm 20:7

Did you know that the word “trust” can be found in 127 verses, in 57 chapters located in 30 books of the Bible?

What is it that I am always saying about if something is repeated a bunch of times, it must be because we need to hear it?

The definition of the noun trust is “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.”

The verb trust is similar: “believe in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of”.

I trust that my cat will jump onto my shoulders when I walk in the door tonight, because that is what she has a history of doing.

I trust that my manager knows I will provide accurate information when he needs it from me.

But what is it to trust in the name of the Lord our God?

One of the websites that I frequent says that Trusting is believing in the promises of God in all circumstances, even in those where the evidence seems to be to the contrary.

I don’t think that I can say it any better.

I trust You, Lord.

Have a blessed day.

insults, accusations and persecution

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

—Matthew 5:11-12

There sure are a lot of accusations flying around these days.

All kinds of evil being spoken on both sides.

Unfortunately, none of the parties involved are likely feeling blessed right now.

Sadly, I am seeing this drama tear apart families.

Am I the only one that is noticing this?

It feels like every 6 months or so there is yet another scandal (that is what I am calling it, a scandal) that is driving a wedge between friends, between families.

In the last 3 years I have seen more social media posts saying “if you don’t agree with me, delete me” or “if you stand with this person I want nothing to do with you”.

Don’t you see what is going on?

This is not about who is running for or elected to office, this is not about events that happened decades ago – this is the evil one infiltrating our lives, stealing our happiness, our families and friends!

Jesus said “blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

How much of what is being smeared through the news sources and social media is true, and how much is just evil and false?

The only one that can bring us deliverance through this time of persecution is Christ Jesus.

Please don’t let words and accusations destroy your bonds with your families and friends.

Pray for our leaders, pray for each other and pray for the people to see Jesus.

Have a blessed day.

it’s a test

But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.

– Job 23:10-12

No one in the Bible was tested like Job was tested.

He had his moments where he felt sorry for himself.

He had his moments of anger.

He had his moments where he thought he would have been better off having never been born.

But.

He stood his ground.

He never cursed God, never turned his back on His Father.

I hope, that if I am ever tested, I can stand and say that I treasure the words of my Father more than my daily bread.

Have a blessed day.

don’t be uninformed

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

– 1 Thessalonians 4:13

September 27th, is always a sad day for me.

You see on this day, 58 years ago, my older brother was born.

But 27 years ago, he went home to be with Jesus.

Over the years, I have learned that he was not the saint that I always thought he was, but that is ok.

So he was not perfect.

I am so thankful that I am a child of a God that sees my flaws, and forgives me anyway.

Knowing this means that I don’t have to grieve as others do, because I have hope.

Hope in Jesus.

Happy Heavenly birthday, Jim. I’ll see you someday. J

Have a blessed day.