Because God Cares for Us

Today was an interesting day. My Sunday School class was asked to recite scriptures. Everyone was expected to know a scripture to share with the Sunday School. There was a time when I could not commit scripture to memory, but today, the scripture that I had memorized was 1 Peter 5:7 which states, "Give your burdens to the Lord because He cares for you."

Sometimes it is hard to believe the Word of God, but I do know this, that God cannot lie. So if he says to give your burdens to him, you can and should do just that. Some translations say to "carry your cares to Him." Carry or give, I am glad that the Word of God has provided a means by which I can take my burdens to the Lord. Another translation says, "cast all your anxiety on him." I think I like this version better because I have much anxiety. I know I shouldn't and I know that when you do, you are saying you do not trust God. I sometimes walk a thin line, bordering what I know God's Word says and what I have applied to my life.

My Pastor preached about the storms of life and I think right now with the economy being what it is and people without jobs and can't pay their mortgages, we all are going through a storm. The good thing is we are "going through" the storm. We aren't going to be in it forever. God always provides a way out of a storm. We have to believe and trust in His Word which is an anchor for us. Sometimes these storms in our life are to get our attention. God demands our full attention. He is a jealous God that does not want to share our affections with anything or anyone but himself.

Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never let the righteous fall." Again, the Word of God assures us that we can cast our cares on the Lord and He will support us with His mighty hand. God cares for us! The fact that God cares for me is very comforting to me.

Sometimes just look up the words of scripture. In Webster's dictionary, the word, "sustain," says 1) to keep in existence, maintain or prolong; 2) to provide sustenance for; 3) to carry the weight of; support; 4) to endure, withstand; 5) to to uphold the validity; and 7) to confirm; corroborate. I didn't realize that "sustain" could have so many meanings, but again, what is comforting is the fact I can depend on God, and His Word says that I can cast my burdens on Him. Wow! This gets deep.

I have said this before that what God expects of us is obedience. Are you one of God's righteous ones? Are you striving to internalize God's Word in your heart? Are you living to serve God and no one else? Stick close to God and He will stick close to you.

Thought for Today: How great is it that we have a God who cares for us and will uphold us with His righteous hand!

The Fruit of Your Labor

Have you ever wondered if all you do is work, work, work, and you never see any results for your labor?

Well, the Bible tells us in Psalm 128:2 that "you will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours." Those who are fruitful and prosperous also fear the Lord and are blessed.

We are always waiting for the payoff, aren't we? Who wants to labor in vain, for nothing? When we've put a lot of effort into a project, we hope to see good results.

The Word of God promises that we will eat the fruit of our labor---that we will eventually experience blessings and prosperity. So, all of that hard work will be worth it. But remember, the joy is in the journey! It's not just in the payoff. Your journey is with Christ; he never promises anything that the Father will not give.

Thought for Today: Look to the Lord, from whom all blessings flow.

Invest Your Time; Don't Just Spend It

Now that I am older, I think about time much more than I did when I was younger. Maybe because I am getting closer to the age that the Bible says most of us are allowed. (Psalm 90:10 says "the days of our lives are seventy years, and if by reason of strength they are eighty years.") Many people are living on grace; the Lord has been merciful.

I read quite a few devotionals during the week and so I am quoting from one that Dr. Charles Stanley writes. The scriptures he quotes Ephesians 5:15-17 which says, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

We are walking in days that are evil this very moment. Look around you.

"Time is a most valuable commodity. since it's irreversible and irreplaceable, we ought to give careful consideration to how we spend our days, and even our minutes. Time is a gift from God."

Don't take time lightly. "The fact that time is a gift from God means that we are not owners but stewards and will one day be held accountable for how we used what was entrusted to us.

According to verse 15, there are only two possible ways to live wisely or foolishly.

First, let's consider what is involved in using our time wisely. Those who realize that their days belong to God are careful how they live. Their goal is to understand the Lord's will and align their schedules and activities with His purposes. As they seek guidance each day through intimate fellowship with Him in the Word and prayers, their spiritual eyes are opened to discern what opportunities are from the Father and which are not a part of His plans for them.

But those who are foolish, do not give adequate thought to the way they live. Some become unproductive and lazy, living for their own pleasures while missing out on God's purpose for their lives. However, others may be very busy and extremely successful by worldly standards, but if their days are occupied with activities that aren't God's will for them, they're wasting their time."

Thought for Today: How you spend your time is important to God. Invest your time wisely.

Turn on Your Lights!

I rarely question the Word of God, but sometimes I do, and that is okay, the Word of God tells us it is okay to question Him, but we may not like the answer we get. Job questioned God and God may it clear to Him by asking Job where was he when God laid the foundation of the earth.

Well, this is where I am going. My Pastor spoke today on "Success Starts with Good Soil." The good soil is Jesus Christ! The Word of God is the soil of success! You can't use miracle grow to get good soil. (see Mark 4:1-20). Good sermon. This is the main thing I got out of the sermon is that you must hear the Word of God with your ears as well as your heart and you must obey once you have heard. If you never hear the Word, how can you get it in your heart? You need a good foundation; good soil.

John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning.

I don't need to say any more; I can stop right here, but I want to go on because sometimes we are like cars that have warning lights on the dashboard that tell us when something is wrong that needs our attention. When one of those lights come on, we can do the wise thing and stop to find out what the problem is, and get if fixed, or we can ignore and smash the light.

Rev. Skip Heitzig wrote in Streaming Faith website that sometimes our spiritual lives are just like cars; we do something wrong, and we ignore the the warning lights. The warning lights come on, the "guilt lights" come on, and we do like King David did, try to ignore them, try to smash them. David arrranged to have one of his soldiers killed because he wanted his wife; he had already slept with her and she became pregnant.

Does this speak to you? Have you committed some sign and are trying to ignore or smash it?

God is very patient with us; He waits to see if we recognize our sin and "fess" up to it. Sin has a way of making a person sick if you hold it in too long. If you remember anything at all about the Word of God, it will speak to your heart and you will want to confess your sin.

Here is the point: we all have a will; we all make choices. Are we making good or bad choices? We have free will; a gift from God. You can go your "own way," or you can listen to God. God has creative ways to get our attention if we don't listen to Him.

God knows we are restless apart from Him. Be ready to be honest and confess your sin. God is always ready to forgive. This applies to Christians and non Christians as well. God does not desire that anyone should perish, but that everyone will come to accept His son, Jesus, and have eternal life.

John 1:4 says, "In him, was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. Life is Christ's gift and He is the "light of the world" - He is the wonderful hope for humanity and for the creation.

Thought for Today: The Word was with God and all you have to do is turn on your lights!

An Unspeakable Gift

Recently my church had a three day revival, and one of our guest preachers was Dr. Raphael Warnock, from Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. Formerly the church where Dr. Martin Luther King preached. I am not going to try to recant his entire message but his sermon was entitled, "More Than Words Can Say." I said to myself, oh, boy, we are in for a treat! I had no idea what a treat it would be.

Dr. Warnock cited one of the letters which the Apostle Paul wrote: 2 Corinthians 9:15, which states, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (NIV) He said that God's gift of His Son, Jesus, to us was so indescribable that words were not enough to describe Him! Paul was telling the Corinthians not to be stingy in their giving because God gave the greatest gift to us.

I started researching other translations for the same scripture and one translation described Jesus as "inexpressible" gift (Standard); another version said that Jesus was an "unspeakable" gift (KJV) and the New Living Translation said that we should "thank God for this gift too wonderful to describe."

It made me ponder that the words, "indescribable," "inexpressible," "unspeakable," and "too wonderful to describe" were in all these translations. Can you imagine anything or anyone that is indescribable that there are no words with which you could say anything?

The commentary in my Bible said that God is the first giver; He selflessly gives Himself to us in the person of His Son, and all true Christian giving is our grateful response. We are in God's debt for the unspeakable gift of His Son!

Have you ever had a gift that was so wonderful your lips could not utter a description of it? My, My, My! A gift is something you get for free. Our gifts can never compare to God's sacrifice for us. So when you think about giving, think on this scripture that God gave Himself, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 says that "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." It goes on to say in the next verse that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

I have to admit that John 3:16 is one of my favorite scriptures and really touches my heart that anyone who sacrifice His own Son for my benefit is more than words can say. It is the greatest gift that I could have received.

I am indeed left speechless!

Thought for Today: When you think you have given all you can give, think on God's "unspeakable" gift, His Son.

The Service of Motherhood

Happy Mother's Day. I hope many of you mothers and grandmothers had a wonderful and blessed day.

I am quoting from Dr. Charles Stanley devotion on the service of motherhood. I found it to be interesting and will share some it with you.

"Children are a blessing from the Lord." I looked in the NIV version and it said that "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him." (Psalm 127:3-5)

I had been reading this scripture day before yesterday and then oddly enough, I read Dr. Stanley's devotional this morning. You hear that expression all the time, "children are a blessing from the Lord." It is actually scriptural and biblical. Now I know what scripture from which it came.

I looked up the word "mother" and it said that mother means "the origin, beginning." Giving birth is the beginning of life; the origin of life. I thought how profound is that! Another definition of mother says mother is the female parent. Nothing more is said about mother in the dictionary so it is ironic that I took time to read Dr. Stanley's devotion.

"Motherhood is a great honor and privilege, yet is also synonymous with servanthood. Every day women are called upon to selflessly meet the needs of their families...Sometimes this constant serving can be exhausting and even discouraging, particular for a first-time mother. But we can take real real encouragement from Jesus, who washed the feet of His disciples and showed that the key to true leadership is humility." It is indeed very humbling being a mother as well as a servant.

"Unless you are willing to stoop down and get your hands dirty, you will miss the real riches of motherhood.

It is humility that leads to eternal reward. Many women look upon motherhood as a burden, but as we know, God never puts on us more than we can bare.

In giving us children, God places us in a position of leadership and service. He calls us to give up our lives for someone else's sake---to abandon our own desires and put our child's interest first.

By dying to your own desires and pouring your life into someone else, you become like Christ and create a godly legacy that will carry on for generations to come."

What is very awesome to me is that God allowed women to be the beginning of of life. We carry life in our wombs which are precious to God. For me, it has been both a privilege and an honor.

Thought for Today: Thank God for the blessing of serving as a Mother.

For Ladies Only

Ladies and of course, Gentlemen, for a long time I always felt the guilt of Eve's sin. I thought she was responsible for the fall of mankind. The book of Genesis is one of my favorite books in the Bible.

My husband and I searched through the scriptures today; it was enjoyable talking to him about the Word of God. Well, of course, after reading the first and second chapter, we concluded that Adam really was the one who messed up and all this time, I had thought Eve was the real culprit. Now Eve did mess up, but God had given specific instructions to Adam. Chapter 1:27 states, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." So let's look at what was read and discussed today.

First, let deal with the word, "command." Webster's New World Dictionary states that command means 1) to give an order; direct, and 2) to have authority over; control.

Chapter 2 of the book of Genesis tells of how God formed man, v. 7 and how He formed the woman, v. 22. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it, v. 15, and the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die, v. 17. In v. 18, the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him. There you have it, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden.

In Chapter 3 the serpent convinces Eve that she should eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, v. 1-5. Eve ate and then gave some to Adam, her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, v. 6.

What happens when we do something wrong and we don't want anyone to know? We try to hide and cover up the wrong, v. 8. The only problem here is that you cannot hide anything from God, v. 9; God is all-knowing and He cannot be deceived.

Adam, not realizing that God sees and knows everything, is hiding and he tells God he is afraid because he was naked. I tell you those of you who are mothers, doesn't this sound like your child or children? God asked Adam how does he know he is naked and He asked Adam this question: "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?

God doesn't go to Eve and ask her what she has done, He goes directly to one He commanded, Adam.

Adam, like most children, wanted to lay the blame elsewhere, away from himself. He tells God, "The woman you put here with me---she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it, v. 12. Now we should know that what from this? God created man; he gave him a helper, woman, but God commanded Adam, the man not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What does God expect of us, both men and women? He expects obedience.

God has given us free will but this free will must be in the image of God, used with God's intellect. We should use our free will to make good choices. When God directs us, and God is usually very specific, we are to obey his direction. God is our Creator and He is in command, or better said, has authority over our lives.

The Bible has been said by some to be Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. We are blessed to have the Bible to instruct us on how to live this earthly life. God has given us His specific instructions for a good reason and for His purposes.

Thought for Today: God created us for His purpose, and for His plan.