A Taste of Heaven

With every passing year (week? day?), every hurdle I face, every body part that breaks down, every headline I thought I’d never see, I find myself longing more and more for my heavenly home.

This world holds less of what I want, but heaven…the home of my LORD, my Savior, my Friend…that is where my heart is. And I know I’m not alone.

 

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope we were saved.”

Romans 8:22-24

Ah, childbirth. In those moments of some of the most intense, blinding, delirium-inducing pain I’ve ever had, I never thought I’d be able to look back and smile. Even chuckle. I barely remember the pain now, but oh, the tremendous blessing I received afterward – now that I remember, and am still blessed with today.

And I can say yes, it was all worth it. The morning sickness, the cravings, the water retention, the back pain, all worth it. I can even cherish it now knowing the beauty that came from it.

And yes, no matter the pain in this life, it’ll all be worth it someday. The day will come when not only our adoption is complete, but we’ll see how the Lord used the trials in this life to mature our faith, to grow us closer to Him, and to receive those treasures we’ve laid up there, treasures greater than we can ever imagine.

For now, we continue to groan inwardly, to wait, patiently, for our time to come. There is a way, though, to experience a taste right now of the future reward for our labor.

Call up an old friend, a brother or sister in the Lord you haven’t seen in while, and invite him or her to lunch, dinner, coffee.

Laugh over old times, eagerly share what’s happened in your lives, how the Lord’s been faithful to always be there in the tough times, and what He’s taught you along the way.

As your heart is filled with the joy of the reunion, let it be a reminder of joy we’ll experience at the great feast in heaven as we join untold numbers of loved ones, those we sorely miss and those we have yet to meet, with our King at the head, and rejoice forever.

Until then, let us hold onto our Hope.

Saturday Song – Burn the Ships

The story goes that in 1519 a Spanish explorer and soldier led an expedition in search of the conquest of Mexico. As he claimed authority over one piece of land, he ordered that his ships be burned to keep his men from retreating. (Although the truer story was probably that he had his ships sunk.)

Still, the term “burn the ships” became a trope meaning “no turning back.”  And for us who are in Christ, there is no turning back to the world or to our old way of life. 

We only move forward in faith, with our LORD, the Defeater of Death, into the waters, into the fires, into the valleys, into the victories of a deeper and more abiding faith, no matter what. 

Whatever piece of the world we’re still holding onto, let’s bravely let it go, burn the ship, claim our new life in Him, and take a step into a new day with our Faithful Father, and never look back. 

”But my righteous one will live by faith.
    And I take no pleasure
    in the one who shrinks back.’

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.'”
Hebrews 10:38-39

 
 
 
Burn the Ships
by for KING & COUNTRY


How did we get here?All castaway on a lonely shoreI can see in your eyes, dearIt’s hard to take for a moment moreWe’ve got to
 
Burn the ships, cut the tiesSend a flare into the nightSay a prayer, turn the tideDry your tears and wave goodbye
 
Step into a new dayWe can rise up from the dust and walk awayWe can dance upon our heartache, yeahSo light a match, leave the past, burn the shipsAnd don’t you look back
 
Don’t let it arrest youThis fear is fear of fallin’ againAnd if you need a refugeI will be right here until the endOh, it’s time to
 
Burn the ships, cut the tiesSend a flare into the nightSay a prayer, turn the tideDry your tears and wave goodbye
 
Step into a new dayWe can rise up from the dust and walk awayWe can dance upon our heartache, yeahSo light a match, leave the past, burn the shipsAnd don’t you look back
 
So long to shame, walk through the sorrowOut of the fire into tomorrowSo flush the pills, face the fearFeel the wave disappearWe’re comin’ clear, we’re born againOur hopeful lungs can breathe againOh, we can breathe again
 
Step into a new dayWe can rise up from the dust and walk awayWe can dance upon our heartache, yeahSo light a match, leave the past, burn the shipsAnd step into a new dayWe can rise up from the dust and walk awayWe can dance upon our heartache, yeahSo light a match, leave the past, burn the shipsAnd don’t you look back
 
And don’t you look backAnd don’t you look back

 

Saturday Song – Give Me Jesus

 

 



Give Me Jesus
by Jeremy Camp

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I riseIn the morning, when I rise
 
Give me JesusGive me JesusGive me Jesus
You can have all this worldJust give me Jesus
 
When I am aloneWhen I am alone, oohWhen I am aloneGive me Jesus
 
Give me JesusGive me JesusYou can have all this worldJust give me Jesus (Jesus)
 
When I come to dieWhen I come to dieOoh, when I come to dieGive me Jesus
 
Give me JesusGive me JesusYou can have all this worldJust give me Jesus
Give me JesusGive me Jesus
You can have all this worldYou can have all this worldYou can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

The Best Things in Life Are Free

Hello Friends,
I’m unable to type much right now, so I thought I’d re-post this from December 2013.  I pray the Lord blesses each of you with the continual gift of knowing and walking in His love and the fruitfulness of sharing Jesus through the spiritual gifts given especially to you.

***

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

They say the best things in life are free.  Yet every year the day after Thanksgiving (well, now you barely have time to eat your last bite of pumpkin pie) the stores open and people rush the gates like race horses at the Kentucky Derby.  Even now there are people everywhere still scrambling to find that last perfect present or two.

I wonder if we really do believe the best things in life are free.  All the frenzied waving of credit cards is really just a distraction, a way to make Christmas mean something when we fail to make it about Christ. And it’s hard to do that when He hasn’t been Lord the other 364 days a year.

Thanksgiving Day I was in the kitchen, as I am every Thanksgiving, going about the cooking I’ve now gotten down to a science, when I stole a moment to take a peek through our kitchen window which faces the front of our house.  The streets were lined with cars that had brought family and friends to spend Thanksgiving with so many neighbors.  It made me feel just a little bit lonely.

I love my family, my husband and our two sons whom we’re still blessed to have at home, but we have no extended family we’re able to spend the holidays with.

I didn’t have much of a family life growing up, so it was always my dream to have huge family gatherings at the holidays, the house full of laughing, eating, cooking, and a dozen different conversations going on a once, catching each other up on our lives, our victories and our defeats, encouraging and loving each other, so that when the day was done we’d be as full in our hearts as we were in our bellies.

A long time ago, though, I accepted the house would be a little less full and a little more quiet. That it would be just the four of us, and I’m happy with that.  Still, I couldn’t help but peer out the window a time or two (maybe three) more and caught a glimpse of all those cars in front of so many other houses.

Instead I’ve filled the holidays with one of the few talents I did have: mad baking skills.  I started baking when my kids were tiny and we didn’t have enough money for store-bought birthday cakes.  I started collecting cookbooks and practicing the art of cake making, frosting, and decorating.  I bought all kinds of frosting tips and every food coloring in the rainbow.  I practiced my royal icing roses. My mouth full of sweet teeth had me quickly expanding to almost any kind of cookie, pastry and dessert you can think of.

And when the holidays rolled around I’d have a field day.  I’d stock up on flour and sugar and butter and chocolate and peppermint candies.  I’d pore through my hundreds of recipes of Christmas cookies and delectable desserts and wonder which to bake first.  Wedding cookies or Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels?  And there are always cream cheese frostinged cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.

But now I have health issues that make it almost impossible to enjoy eating sugar or any kind of carbohydrate. Oh I can eat it, I just have to be willing to face the consequences when I do.  My family is trying to eat healthier, too.  So every year I’ve baked less and less, and this year I haven’t done any.  Yet we are inundated with messages that for Christmas to be Christmas we should indulge in one sugar-laced treat after another.  But since I can’t it’s just one more thing that can make me feel like I’m somehow outside the party peering in.

There are other things, too, that getting older make celebrating Christmas the way I’d like very difficult or impossible.

Sometimes, when we’ve been stripped away of so much that the world says we must have and do to be happy, God is able to show us what’s most important.  To see what the best things in life really are.

No matter what gifts I’ve been given, the best by far will always be my salvation.  Ultimately, of course, I am forever indebted to Christ for dying for me, and to the Holy Spirit for pursuing me, opening my eyes, and revealing to me my need for a Savior. Regardless of what I am not able to have in this life, eternity will be filled with family and feasting.  Relationships will be restored and my body will be perfect.  This life is only temporary.  Eternity’s forever. And I’m looking forward to it!

I would not have that hope if it weren’t for the willingness of some to offer prayers and the honest teaching of God’s Word.  Those were gifts to me, gifts I could never afford.  Gifts that are free.

And now I, and many of you, are in the position to be able to offer those gifts to others.  No credit card needed.  Some may not open their gift of salvation right away, perhaps for years.  But even seeds are gifts.  Water is a gift.

So maybe it’s time to slow down and allow those things the world says we must have in order to have Christmas be stripped away.  Maybe it’s time to give a gift that would last for eternity.  Maybe you’re a seed-bearer, or a waterer.  Maybe you’re a harvester.

Wherever God would have you be in the process, give a gift of your gifts.  Your spiritual gifts have been given to you to not only encourage fellow believers, but to bring truth to unbelievers.  There is no better gift than the truth that leads to salvation.

One phrase that I hear over and over every Christmas season that’s become a pet peeve of mine, is when someone uses the word Christmas in place of the word gifts.  “She won’t be able to give her kids Christmas.”  “They won’t have a Christmas.”

Even the Grinch came to understand Christmas when he’d stripped the Whos of all he thought would make them happy, yet their joy on Christmas morning was undeterred and unrestrained.

“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply MUST hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!”
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”
“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

A little bit more indeed.  A lot more.  It means the birth of our precious Savior who came to give us the best gift of all.

So if you’re struggling this year, I hope you’ll take heart,
And know that the life we live here is only the start!
Christ was born in a stable for you and for me
And He died to give us eternity.
So wherever you are, whatever you do
Remember that Jesus, yes Jesus loves you!
He gave you salvation and that’s the key
To knowing the best thing in life is free.
So remember that Christmas doesn’t come from a mart
It comes when we let JESUS fill up our heart!
So store up for yourselves treasures in heaven
Give the gift of telling others how they can be forgiven!

Merry Christmas and God bless you!

Guest Post – Love Like Jesus

Hello Friends.  Today I want to share with you two things.

First, a post written by long-time fellow blogger, Tim Sherfy, at Even If i Walk Alone.  The Lord put this impassioned message on his heart – Love Like Jesus – and asked me if I would share it. 

We have so many distractions today, and the Lord’s message to us is remember we are His, and remember our purpose – to know God and make Him known. Life is short. What a privilege we have to make it count for Him, and lay up our treasures in heaven.  

Second, Tim has started a campaign with illumiNations to raise money for Bible translation. He says “My goal is to raise $30,765 which is enough to translate the book of John for a people group that currently does not have the Scriptures in their language. There are over 3 billion people in the world who have never heard the name of Jesus, and 3,778 languages that do not yet have a Scripture translation. That breaks my heart.” 

That really should break all our hearts. If you feel led, please donate to this campaign that could change hearts, lives, and whole communities. And please share Tim’s article and campaign with your friends. 

And never forget – Jesus loves you!

God bless!  

 

The Saturday Song – Give Me Jesus

Though this is our heart’s desire, the world seems to be making it easier every day. More and more I see the world offers nothing I want, nothing of real and lasting value, but Jesus holds everything. 

Just give me Jesus. 

 

 

 

Give Me Jesus
by Jeremy Camp

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
 
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus

You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus
 
When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus

You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus (Jesus)
 
When I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die

Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus

You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus
 
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus

You can have all this world
You can have all this world
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

Remain Steadfast

 

STEADFAST


The Lord has been putting this word on my heart lately. 

Remain steadfast. 

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” 
1 Peter 5:8-9

This is Peter telling us this.

Peter, the one who told Jesus he would never deny Him – even if he had to die with Him.

Peter, one of the apostles whom Jesus took and asked him to pray the night before He was arrested, and then fell asleep.

Peter, the one who impetuously drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. 

Peter, the one who vehemently denied Christ three times. 

But all that doesn’t make him less credible; it makes him more. 

He’s saying don’t do what I did! He learned what the devil had been up to and he wanted to warn his brothers and sisters in Christ to be aware. 

To remain steadfast in the faith – steadfast in our convictions, steadfast in the truth, steadfast in our reliance upon Christ and Christ alone, now and forever. 

The devil’s ways are the same as ever. he’s looking for people who are at a weak place, who aren’t being alert and vigilant to the devil’s ways, who aren’t steadfastly trusting in the power and righteousness of Jesus Christ. 

Right now, when the world seems like a raging sea, is an opportune time for the enemy to try to discourage us, to trip us up, to question Jesus, and maybe even walk away from Him, even a step. 

But we who are in Christ can confidently “lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever…” 
Hebrews 6:18b-20

No matter what happens in this life, we don’t have to give in to fear and be tossed around in the waves of confusion. We have an anchor of hope.

We have the promises of God, all of which in Christ are yes and amen. His promises are for this life and extend all the way behind the veil that lies between this life and the next.

Our sure hope, our anchor in rough seas, is that Christ is with us now, and He will surely call us to live with Him in His home where we’ve laid up treasures beyond comprehension, and where love and peace and joy are the way of life.     

And we’re reminded of this hope every time we pray, every time we read God’s Word, and every time we enter into fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Our steadfast anchor of hope will keep us steadfast, too.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
1 Cor 15:58

The Way Out is To Stay In

“For the Word of God is alive and active… Hebrews 4:12a

The author of the letter to the Hebrews implores its readers to not drift away from Christ, from His message, from their belief in Him as their Messiah, the final authority, and the only way to be saved. 

Many of us, if not all of us, will at some point come to a trial that will cause a crisis of faith. A turning point. A time when the pressure will be almost intolerable and we will either press in to Him all the more, or we will look for a way out, and turn away from Him. 

God’s Word clearly states that those who have been truly converted are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and I believe God will keep those believers in the faith through trials. 

And those who completely turn away, who choose unbelief and never come back to faith are the ones who never had a belief in Christ that resulted in conversion.  

But there is a third group, and those are the ones who have believed, who have been converted, but at that turning point choose to allow their hearts to be hardened and walk away, or step back to one degree or another, for a time. 

I think any of us can find ourselves in that category if we’re not careful.  

The author of Hebrews exhorts them to keep believing.  

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that runs away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”  Hebrews 3:12-13

Life can get pretty hard. And we can become disillusioned when we think God shouldn’t have allowed something so intensely painful, or that He should have rescued us in a certain way, or in a certain amount of time. 

Right now we’re all facing a trial together. Many are out of work, many are sick, and many have lost loved ones.  

We can choose to be angry and walk away from God, or we can choose to take our pain and our trials to the One who sits on the throne, who’s always sat on the throne, and who will always sit on the throne. The One who’s also taken up residence inside our hearts, and can heal our hearts and bring us through the trials. 

For that reason, God’s given us His word which is “alive and active…” 

Spending time in God’s Word is not like reading just any other book.

It is “God-breathed…

If we allow it, through His Word God will teach us, rebuke us, correct us, change us, encourage us, reveal to us, cleanse us, fill us with His peace and joy, and draw us closer to Him so that instead of drifting away when a trial comes, our faith will grow stronger than ever before. 

The way out of trials, is to stay in. Walking away from God does nothing but cause more heartache and pain. Stay in the trial, stay in the faith, stay in God’s Word, and let Him bring you out, or through, His way, in His timing, shining with faith.

Did you know it takes 725,000 pounds per square inch of pressure to turn carbon into a diamond? That’s a lot of pressure. But when they come through the process, they are one of the purest, most precious and most beautiful items there is, and because of that, they’ve become symbols of love. 

God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.  Those trials full of pressure will purify our faith if we let them, if we seek Him and His heart-changing Word through them, if we allow Him to have His way in us. And when we come through it all, we will shine for eternity as treasures of God’s great and precious love. 

 

Treasure Hunting

This time of year we start seeing and hearing scripture about the birth of Jesus, and if we’ve been a believer long enough, or even alive long enough, they’re probably all words we’ve heard before…

 “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12

As beautiful as those words are, as amazing and miraculous as those events were and what they still mean for us today, we might start thinking we’ve heard it all before and there’s nothing new to learn. 

But that’s the amazing thing about God’s Word – it is chock full of buried treasure just waiting to be uncovered. 

Rabbi Jason Sobel gives us an amazing jewel that I’d never heard before about Jesus’s birth and the significance of being wrapped in swaddling cloths.

The series Rabbi Sobel refers to – The Chosen – is an amazingly well-done show that portrays the life of Jesus and how He radically changed those who encountered Him. 

I can relate.

Life is hard and I need God’s treasure, the seen and unseen. The treasure left for me in plain sight and the deeper, buried treasure that can only be found by those who are willing to hunker down and dig deep.

More than ever I want to go treasure hunting in the coming year. I want to continue encountering Jesus in new and precious ways so He can continue molding me into the person only He can make me to be.

I hope you come with me as we seek Him and His treasure together.

 

Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your Son.  Please lead us in the coming year as we seek to know you on an ever-deepening level. Change us into the men and women you desire us to be, and may we bring you glory as we follow you.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

The Spirit of Thanksgiving Past, Present, and Future

If H.G. Wells had been able to build a time machine, I wonder how many people would jump in the morning after Halloween, push the lever forward a couple of months and stop on December 25.  Eh, maybe the 24th. Jump from party to party, candy to presents, and skip Thanksgiving altogether.

I’ve never quite understood why some people seem content to forgo Thanksgiving.  Maybe because it’s not a commercial holiday it’s not as popular.

Maybe giving thanks doesn’t come as easy to us as getting gifts. Maybe people don’t understand how vital it is to our spiritual, mental, emotional, and even physical health to have a thankful heart. Maybe people don’t think they have much to be thankful for.  And maybe that answers a lot of questions about the state of our States.

Let’s jump in H.G. Wells’ time machine, pull the lever, and travel back to October, 1863, when Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

***

We’re in the middle of the Civil War.

It might seem a peculiar time to think about declaring a national holiday of giving thanks, but maybe it was the best time. A God-appointed time.

When we’re facing trials and hardships and pain and suffering is when we most need to stop…  and remember all we have to be thankful for, and most importantly, Who we have to be thankful for. 

So on October 3, 1863, roughly six months after he signed a Proclamation of a Day of Fasting, and a year and a half before the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed his Proclamation of Thanksgiving.

Of course, that’s only the beginning of Thanksgiving as our national holiday, but not the beginning of giving thanks. Other historical moments might also seem to have peculiar timing.

Let’s travel back a bit further…

***

After seeking the Lord and fasting, King Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, appointed men to sing these words to the Lord as they went into battle against their enemies:

“give thanks to the LORD,
for His love endures forever.”
2 Chronicles 20:21b

“As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” (2 Chronicles 20:22)

***

While fleeing from his enemies, David gives thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness. (Psalm 7:17)

***

In the darkened night as He faced being arrested, tortured, and handed over to be crucified, Jesus gives thanks.

***

And while in the chains of a dark prison, Paul exhorts all of us to “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philip 4:6-7)

***

If praising God and giving thanks had the effect it did in the lives of all these who saw the Lord triumph in impossible situations, what could a heart of thanksgiving to the Lord do in our own lives?

While most of us aren’t facing a war, or prison, or death, we may be facing other, more personal trials. Could giving thanks not keep our eyes focused on our Father of the heavenly lights, from whom every good and perfect gift flows? And could giving thanks not be a gateway that would open our hearts to God’s joy and love and triumph in impossible situations?

I think so.

Another bit of peculiar timing I love is that Thanksgiving is just weeks before Christmas. Observing a time of giving thanks to God for all we’ve been blessed with might just keep us from allowing greed and materialism and self-importance to swallow up a pure and grateful heart as we (and our children) head into Christmastime, or any time.

Now, let’s time travel into the future just a bit…

***

We’re in heaven, living a life more full of love and joy than we ever could have imagined. God has wiped every tear from our eyes, and there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain. 

We’ve received the eternal inheritance we’d been promised could “never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” (1 Peter 1:4-6)

Truly, we have more to be thankful for, more treasures in this life and in heaven – more than we can see with our eyes, and infinitely more than could ever be contained in this life – than we have time to voice them.

Go ahead, I dare you to try…

 

Heavenly Father, we are filled with thanksgiving for all you’ve blessed us with, and all the blessings you have yet to show us. Thank you for your immeasurably gracious love, for our salvation from certain death, for your continual presence, your faithfulness, and for our eternal home in heaven with You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.