by Carol Roberts | Dec 5, 2015 | Salvation
Today Jesus loves us. His arms are always stretched out for us to come as we are. He knew before we were even born each day of our lives. He forgives everything.
The Apostle Paul is a prime example of forgiveness. He made life difficult for God’s people even killing some. He was always plotting ways to make life miserable for Christians yet God called Paul by name and asked why was he persecuting Him. Paul was forgiven and he moved forward to become one of the greatest warriors for Christ. Paul looked back just long enough to make a comparison to his past sins and his present work for our Lord. These types of glancing back bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ in order to show what all God can accomplish through a willing person.
There is another type of looking back that can destroy a person. Living bound up in the past and never moving ahead to accomplish what God intends is an addictive trap. To not feel worthy of God’s best is a horrible bondage. Jesus came to die for all so we could move into His arms and accomplish much. He has set us free. God Himself will see to it all our wrongs are used to bring glory to Jesus Christ. God will destroy bad habits and rebuild a brand new today if we remain focused on Him.
In the old testament God destroyed two cities that were offensive to His kingdom. Before he destroyed the cities He removed Lot and his family and moved them ahead in life to a better place. Looking back cost Lot’s wife her life. It’s the same with us today, looking back will keep us back. Our pasts will also be our present if God is not allowed to move us ahead so He can destroy our past habits and create them brand new. Jesus has declared us worthy to move ahead. It’s not how we feel about our pasts but instead what God knows about our today and our futures.
Genesis 19:23-29
By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
by Carol Roberts | Dec 4, 2015 | Hope
Because of God, all things are possible. The things hoped for may not be a visual reality yet. When working things out with people sometimes hard hearts need to be melted and strong wills need to be humbled. God takes things at a pace where people can understand.
He is also preparing our finite minds to be able to fully understand and appreciate His infinite answer when it happens. All these things combined is a process and not always an instant answer.
Things come up along the way to cause doubt. People will sometimes advise moving on or giving up after much time and prayer has been devoted. This type of advice causes discouragement when we have trusted for a long time. When the things we hope for seem to go the opposite way it’s hard to stand strong.
These strong winds and rains that pound our faith is an opportunity to cling to the truth. In the book of Numbers 23:19 tells us God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through? Through Christ we have everything to hope for. We may get knocked down but we will rise again.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.
by Carol Roberts | Dec 3, 2015 | Salvation
There is no other name but Jesus that can do all things. The Apostle Paul and John The Beloved said there are no words to describe the greatness of the love of Jesus Christ. Paul even stated that he couldn’t tell us even if he wanted to because the infinite glory of God is more than a finite mind can comprehend.
When we live our lives to please God while thinking about His beauty and glory it’s easier to put aside differences. When we were children and birthday parties were planned the excitement of what was to come sometimes made us be nice to people we didn’t get along with. A person may have wronged us in a serious way and only God can mend the brokenness but when we think about the big homecoming being planned it’s time to turn it over to God and get excited about what is to com. The love of Jesus Christ outweighs all things put together.
There is a grand reunion being planned where we are welcomed by our Almighty God. That in itself should be reason to forgive, make allowance for others, be kind to one another and encourage even the ones who may not like us to join in the celebration. When things are all about God, nothing else matters.
Psalm 40:5
O Lord my God, many and many a time you have done great miracles for us, and we are ever in your thoughts. Who else can do such glorious things? No one else can be compared with you. There isn’t time to tell of all your wonderful deeds.
by Carol Roberts | Dec 2, 2015 | Friendship
Silence can be the strongest asset or the worst enemy depending on how it is used. When words hurt people it’s best to remain silent. When a person is reaching out for advice for a situation where all sides of the story are unclear, an offer to pray is the best answer. Sometimes a listening ear is all a person needs plus understanding. In these cases silence heals. Remaining silent and even finding somewhere else to be while people gossip about another prevents a host of consequences.
There is another type of silence called aloof that prevents healing. A school teacher calls roll and a student is not in his seat. When asking where is this student, others respond he’s not here. These students know exactly why the missing student is not there and the teacher is already aware his seat is empty. What if that missing student is in some type of trouble or in a situation that could harm him and the teacher needs that crucial bit of information?
People are all the time witnessing things that could really help others if they took the time to give needed information. There are opportunities to reach out to a hurting people yet there are those who will not lend a hand even though they are fully aware of a serious need. This type of silence is worse than the most negative response.
Trusting God to give discernment to know when to speak and when to remain silent is one of the greatest bonds between God and people. To act or not to act based on the leading of the Spirit is to put God first in the situation. God is always pleased with obedience.
Obadiah 1:11
For you deserted Israel in his time of need. You stood aloof, refusing to lift a finger to help him when invaders carried off his wealth and divided Jerusalem among them by lot; you were as one of his enemies.
1 Peter 3:4
Be beautiful inside, in your hearts, with the lasting charm of a gentle and quiet spirit that is so precious to God.
by Carol Roberts | Dec 1, 2015 | Hope
Growing in grace is never easy. We continue to move ahead in knowledge and wisdom trusting God for all things. Moving into a closer relationship with God means shedding extra baggage that stands between us. To shed baggage means we often have to change our whole way of thinking. There are times when God tells us to wait and let Him work things out when we could easily get things started our own way. God’s ways are higher than our ways and one of the most challenging things we face is waiting.
Baggage could also include habits and life styles that need to change. Being set in our ways is never good when pressing on to a closer relationship with God is what pleases Him. It’s easy to get comfortable remaining the same but being comfortable can hold us back.
There are ones coming to church to sit and listen yet they have been blessed with good singing voices while the choir seriously needs extra people. There are gifted people who sew beautiful clothes but take their patterns and cloth to a seamstress because they would rather spend their time in a daily rut of activities. These are only two examples of ways we can glorify God by just getting busy using talents He gave us.
Baggage could very well mean changing who we hang with. A popular crowd doesn’t always guarantee quality friendships. A good looking boyfriend or girlfriend does not guarantee a quality marriage if things continue to move in that direction. A high dollar job earns only hardships if the boss is a bully or the job itself produces only pleasures of the world.
There are times to walk away and not look back. Walking away from things that hold us back may be emotional but it does not mean we are closing our book of life. We are moving to the next chapter that has just as much excitement as the last chapter. When reading a book, we never read over and over the same chapter because we will never see the excitement at the end. It’s the same with our book of life here on earth. God’s mercies and blessings are new each day but it’s up to us to turn the page to see what God has for us.
Hebrews 6:1a
Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be.