Bottom Line

Ephesians 1:1-10

• We were dead in sin
• We followed the ways of the world
• We followed satan and disobeyed God
• We gratified the cravings of our sinful nature
• We were objects of wrath
• We were dead in sin

But because of His His great Love for us, God, who is rich in mercy:

• Made us alive
• Saved us
• Raised us up
• Seated us with Christ
• Seated us in the heavenly realm
• Seated us in Christ
• Showed incomparable rich grace and kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -and this not from yourselves,-it is the gift of God-not by works., so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph.2:8-10)

Disobedience

Psalms 107:13,15 Proverbs 1:5-8

Doing things our way always gets us into trouble all the time...right? It is called disobedience. Lack of trust is disobedience, not doing what we know to be right is disobedience and living in fear and worry is disobedience We know all this yet because of our human frailties we live in this condition most of the time. Is it selfishness, pride, lust or is it all of them? Regardless, it happens daily. So why does God put up with us? Because He loves us anyway and Christ died to cover these sins of disobedience. Now that is not an open invitation to continue in sin. It is an encouragement to causes us to repent and try again. Why? We have been changed and any other path would leave us empty. Our hearts have been changed. There is no other way for us.

As I read these verses this morning I noticed that thread (disobedience) in my own heart. In Psalms 107 it talks about how Gods people continue to do the wrong thing; but the moment they call out to him and repent He rescues them... saves them from their distress. When He does this for us do we praise Him and say thank you?

Then in Proverbs I read how He will give us wisdom if we just ask, believe and not be double minded. Now I know all of you probably knew what double minded meant. I did not till today. It means that when God gives us this wisdom we are to act on it and do what He says. It is not an option to think about it or to decide for our selves if we want to do what wisdom tells us. We are to do it! Well I don't know about you but I have been double minded too many times and wondered why I could not hear from God. If we are double minded then it also tells us we will receive nothing from the Lord and we will be unstable in all we do.

It all Boils down to disobedience...right? If we don't listen and respond; if we just blatantly go our own way, it all boils down to the same thing. Disobedience.

One God

Psalm 119:114-117

Today we hear and many of us follow a type of doctrine that opposes and denies God. It is another one of those sheep clothing things. Yet it is as deadly as the wolf. Ever seen a wolf. They are almost the size of a small pony. They can take down large animals when the pack takes on the chase. They kill.

This false doctrine I speak of can kill, yet seems as innocent as a lamb. It is so natural in our modern language and world. It leads everyone into selfish living. We feel so at home in this climate that selfishness become the norm and anyone who is not clued in to its smoothness is to be pitied indeed. It sound like this:

• If it makes me feel good it is right
• If it makes me happy it is right
• If it gives me what I want it is right
• If it delights my ears it is right

Notice the main character in these phrases...ME. What a small package we deliver when we only deliver wonderful us to the world as we fulfill selfish driven desires. This is a shallow doctrine. Why? Because we become God of our own lives and eventually God of other peoples lives.

Do we know the future? Do we know all and have all power? Can we be everywhere a the same time? Of course not but God can. Why would we even want the job?

• He has a plan for our lives...we follow
• He lead us beside still waters...we follow
• He delivers our us from sin...we follow
• He has a place prepared for us...we follow
• He asks us to trust and obey...we follow

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. Away from me you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God! Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; Do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and I will be delivered;I will always have regard for your decrees. Psalms

Hodge Podge

This morning for my usual devotional I went to the Worship channel and the scriptures to create the atmosphere most conducive for me personally to listen. The message did not come to me in the usual manner. It came as a Hodge Podge of information that took a minute to assimilate. I will relate it to you as it came to me for fun. Since the word of God touches each one of us differently depending on our circumstances, I know it will speak to you. I just do not know how.

• Set your sights on heaven
• Eliminate the security blankets in you life.
• Serve God

It would be impossible, I know, to hear how each of you understood these thoughts but I would have enjoyed hearing them. This is how they ministered to me.

Set our sight on heaven for we are only passing through. Our real life is in Christ and at best we are ambassadors here for a short time to lead others to their eternal home, a home He has prepared for those who love Him and have received Him as Lord and Savior.

Eliminate the security blankets in our lives. So many things are out there to promise security, love, value, acceptance but none of them can come through. Everything this life offers is temporary and has very little value in relationship to our eternal home. What are the security blankets? Anything we depend on for our happiness, value, security, love or acceptance. God is our only security blanket. I often reach out to the wrong thing. Do you?

Serve God. That is different for everyone. The common denominator is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If our site is set on heaven and we know that we are to point others to Him then anything that he calls us to that accomplishes this goal is service.

Hope you enjoyed our Hodge Podge

Our Refuge

Psalms 116:1-2; 118:8-9

Sometimes we get caught up in the world enough to forget where our help comes from. We look to the church, a government, security of money, even a specific person to protect, provide or to be our refuge. Granted we do encourage and provide a safe place to land for each other often, but our real refuge is God.

When I read these verses this morning, the very fact that they spoke to me revealed that I once again fell into that trap. Why would we trust in men or princes when our refuge, our help in time of trouble, our life is in the hands of our merciful Lord.

Maybe it is the state of the world now, economy troubles (which are world wide) endless war, or the knowledge that the days will grow darker as we near His return that pulled me off base. At any rate, I fell prey to the lie that we need to worry about our lives, our situation and find a refuge. Instead, we need to of look to the one who hold our future, the one who delights in us and has provided a home for us in His mansion.

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice. He heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned His ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

Delight

I had an enjoyable week. A very busy week. One of the appointments was with a new friend who was putting together a Bible study on parenting. The course she outlined grabbed my attention. Even though I am a grandmother now, I could see the advantage of the course and hope to be in her class. One of the things that impressed me was the word 'delight'. She said many times parents are so involved in their own agenda and lives they forget to delight in their children. I thought back and remembered I had made the same mistake often. Thus I write to you today to encourage you to take time to delight in your children.

God is our perfect example, the perfect parent. He goes to great length to impress on us how delighted He is with us. By delight, I mean He dances with joy over our existence. Scripture tells us over and over the depth, width and height of His love for us. I have no doubt that if I were to run up to Him, His outstreched arms would scoop me up, His smile and laughter would fill the air and He would receive me unconditionally. Do we extend this to our children?

Do we require our children to jump through hoops beyond their ability to make us feel good, look good and to make up for what we are not, to make up for our shortcomings? Do we try to redo our lives through them and get embarassed because their feelings, attitudes, actions or words do not measure up to our expectations. If they can not feel, think or act out of line in front of us, if they are required to be superkids at home all the time, when do they get to make mistakes and grow up in the confidence of our love for them?

When children have a safe place to land at home, when they believe we delight in them, accept them, believe in them, delight in them, they can face anything in the world. Just as we can face anything in the world because we know God, our parent, is in our corner, accepts us, believes in us and delights in us.

Look at your child's face. Are they depressed, sad, unhappy, fearful, discouraged? Have they quit trying and seem rejected? We are the soft place, the safe place, their cheerleader. They will know if we show delight in our eyes or welcome them in our arms.

Look up 'delight' in the Scriptures and see how many times the Lord delights in us.

Oprah

This video is very disturbing not because it is a sign of the times, not because it seeks to destroy the work of the cross, not because it tells me that new age is alive and well or that God is who ever we want Him to be. Why? Because we were warned 2000 years ago, it's recorded in scripture that false christs would arise, that even the elect would be deceived of possible by people who discount the real truth about Christ. The thing that disturbs me the most is that Oprah is world wide, that her message is deceiving, that even christian women question the truth about their faith in Christ and many will follow the deception.

This is it folks. Read scripture and know in whom you believe. Jesus plainly stated I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by way of Me. Jesus is God and claimed to be God. Spread this news. Take the sheep's cloth off the deceiver. See with your own eyes the wolf at the door that others might know the truth.

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