Give others a chance before separating them from your life

Verses: Luke 13 : 6 - 9

My thoughts about the verses:

Haven't we all been in this place.  We have all been at a place where we  expect people to be living up to our expectations. We may try to reach out but we do nothing to work through issues that may be causing the separation that has risen in our relationship.  We are ready to just cut them out of our life to put them and us out of the misery of  a broken relationship.

When in all honesty we haven't taken the time to figure out what the problem is.  Some of the craziest things have caused friendships, working relationships and even Church relationships to crash.  Yet, why does this happen is there something that we can do to help cultivate the relationship we once had.

I can see the Gardner standing there begging for the life of the tree.  Just give me a chance to work with it.  Let me give it some special care and see what happens next year.  I have a feeling that if we just baby it next year it will grow fruit.  After all that special care if it doesn't work then we will take it down.

Look at your own life.  Are there relationships that need special attention?  Have you moved on with your life without trying to salvage relationships that were once healthy?  Humans have a need for immediate satisfaction if it doesn't come our way then out the door we go.  Yet, we often break away from people and places that only need a little something special in their life.  An extra hug, maybe an extra few minutes of conversation or just a simple acknowledgement of the pains they are facing in life.

Before you decide to cut someone or someplace out of your life ask yourself have I done what all I need to do to salvage the relationship.  I bet there are many times that we will answer no to that question.  I know that I have in the past and sometimes it is harder to go back and fix those than it is giving the extra love in the beginning.

Prayer:

God thank you for loving us even we are stubborn.  Thank you for the special care that you give us so that we may grow and flourish.  Help us to be there for others.  Help us do those special things that are needed to keep our relationships strong.  We ask that you be with us and help us not to cast aside the ones that need us most.  In the name of the Most High we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you have relationships that need special care?  Are you willing to help them grow? 

Repent to have Eternal Life

Verses: Luke 13 : 1 - 5

My thoughts about the verses:

Many of us have a hard time understanding this very simple concept.  No matter what you have done that is outside the will of God you are just as guilty as others that have done wrong.  We want to judge each other and think that they are worse than us.  This theme repeats several times in the Gospels.

We as Humans have a desire to be better than others.  Just look at all of the sports teams that we have around the world.  As I watched the Olympics I saw that people were not only competing for their country but to be ranked the best.  When they fell from that high seat that they once held their pride and ego hurt.

Is this not the way we are with many things in life.  We want to outshine fellow employees.  We want to be the good child.  We are always trying to outdo and outlast others around us.  We tend to forget that we are all in the same boat when it comes to our relationship with Christ.

It doesn't matter how good a person you are.  It doesn't matter how often or how many times you go to church.  It doesn't matter how much you read the Bible.  It doesn't matter how much you pray.  All these things are good but there is only one thing that God wants from us.  That is a simple act of accepting Christ as our Savior.

See it isn't about what we do in the relationship that makes it last.  Rather it is what Jesus did for us all. We try our best to make sure that we get the best seat in the realm of Heaven.  Yet, we often forget the principle of all have done wrong in the eye of  God.  We are not or never will be perfect.

Just go back to the very beginning and think about what occurred in Heaven because of our creation.  Certain Angels revolted including God's most beloved Angel.  See the jealousy was there even before the earth was created.  Those that fought God were sent out of the presence of God.  They fought because they believed God was saying that man would be more important than they were.  In all reality, God loves all of the Creation the same.

The only choice that we have in the relationship is to believe in the forgiving power of God.  We  need to ask Jesus in our hearts.  This way of salvation is something that will spark debate until the end of times.

Prayer:

Dear God thank you for loving us.  We praise you for sending Jesus so that we could rebuild our relationship with you.  We know that the gift of salvation is free helping us to accept it.  Help us to not think that we are better than others.  We ask you to walk with us and guide our every step.  In the name of the one that came to set us free we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you asked God to forgive you of your trespasses?  Do you think you are better than others?  What do you need to do this very moment to reconnect with the one that created you? 

Missing what is Right in Front of your Eye

Verses: Luke 12 : 54 -59

My thoughts about the verses:

We want to think that we understand what is going on around us.  We have taken things that have happened in the past and compare it to current situations.  We believe that certain things will happen to us because patterns that have happened in the past.  We accept that things will eventually happen because they happened in the past.

Yet, the problem that we have is that even though things have happened in the past and have led to a certain result it doesn't always mean that it will happen.  We tend to miss what is happens right in front of us.  We miss the glory because we are concentrating on what we think might happen.  We are so afraid that what happened in the past will happen again.  We are waiting for the signs to become true.

We miss the fact that we are missing what is currently happening.  We are looking into the future instead of concentrate on what is right around us.  At the time of this scripture people were trying to read the signs.  They were looking at prophesies and trying to determine if they had been fulfilled. Imagine standing right there with Jesus and not realizing that you were standing with the Savior.  That was what Jesus wanted the people to understand.  They were missing the fact that their Savior was there to bring them the freedom they needed.

We need to look at our lives do we do the same thing.  Do we miss the fact that the Savior has come.  Do we miss the blessings that come our way because we are waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Has society made us a people that are afraid to accept that God wants us to be happy and free.  In today's society there is so many times that we look at life and wonder what is out there for me.  We watch the signs of the time.  We concentrate on our fears and anxieties and often through that process we do not live a life of freedom.

Think about the last part of the scripture.  Isn't this a further testimony of how we should live life with God.  We need to forgive those that are around us.  We should not concentrate on what others have done to us.  Instead we should do the same thing God has done for us.  We are to do the same thing God has done for us. We are to forgive those that have done us wrong.  We are to ask forgiveness to those that we have done wrong.  In all things we should concentrate on the present.  We should not worry about the future.  We need to let go of the past.

Prayer:

Dear God we praise you for giving us the gift of salvation.  We praise you for the sacrifice that you made for us.  We ask that you help us concentrate on the present.  Help us to forgive those that have hurt us in the past.  Help us ask forgiveness from those that we have hurt.  Help us understand that what is most important is what is happening now.  Help us quit looking for the other shoe fall and accept the good things that come our way.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you asked forgiveness from those that you have harmed?  Are you forgiving those that have done harm to you?  Are you leaving in the past or are you living in the present?  Are you waiting for the signs of the future to come true or looking at what is happening today?