God is our Hope and Our Power of Redemption

Verses: Psalms 130: 1 - 8

My thoughts about the verses:

Many a person has gone through life hoping for a better day.  They have things but they want more.  They wish on the first star that they see each night to bring them good fortune.  They spend money on lotteries wishing that this time will be their time. 

They grow envious of others who are living what they call a good life.  They are depressed because they do not have the things that they dream for.  In the process they miss the things that they do have.  They miss the relationships that they have with others.  They miss the fact that they have roofs over the heads and food on the table.  They miss the simple blessings that feel their days and nights.

I would say we all have done this at one time or another.  Whether you are or rich or poor there are still things that you wish you could acquire in life.  It may be fame or fortune.  It may be friends or family.  We all have times that we hope our life was different.  Then get angry and upset when things do not go the way we hope for.

I want us to look at what we should all be hoping for.  It would be great if we had all the worldly possessions that we desire.    We truly do not need the things of this world.  It is better to hope for a life with God.  We should be relying on God for love and compassion.  We need to lean on God for power and strength.  We should be learning love from the one who is merciful.

Our power and strength does not come from the things this world offers.  We cannot find redemption through having all the riches and fame the world offers.  The only way to have true redemption and hope is through the mercy God gives us. 

Our life is complex and we have all done things that we wish we would never have done.  We feel sorry for those things.  A lot of times people carry that guilt and burden for long periods of their life.  Yet, what we truly need to do is to ask God to wipe away those mistakes we have done.  We should go to God asking for forgiveness for the things that we should have never done.  God is the strength and power that leads to redemption from our worldly errors.

God provides hope that we will one day join the Savior in the promise land.  We are walking our desert now.  Hunting for the land that God has promised us.  Yet, as we walk in our own desert of life we have hope.  We can look back at what God has done and know that we can have redemption.  We can come to the conclusion that our God is not abandoned us on this journey of life.  We can see that God is there helping us and is the hope that we need to make it to the promise land of eternal life.  Isn’t it amazing how God can turn our troubles and sorrows not joy through the power and hope that is God’s love and mercy?

Prayer:

We praise you God for you are worthy of praise.  We thank you God for the hope that you give us each and every day.  We offer our lives over to you.  Help us accept the things that we have in this life.  Help us turn over our worries and fears to you.  Help us dear God redeem our soul and forgive us for what we have done in this life.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accept the hope that is God?  Have you turned your life over to the Savior?  Are you ready to be the child that God desires you to be?

Standing Up to Bullying

Verses: Psalms 129: 1 - 8

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

As a victim of bullying I can tell you that words do matter.  I read something the other day that said sticks and stones may break my bones but words haunt me forever.  Any person that has been bullied in their past can remember the things that were said.  It is sad to think but there are people in the world today that are still living with the hate that was told them when they were kids.

We as Christians are all too often guilty of bullying.  When we decide that certain people are not allowed into our church circle we are bullying.  I think it is so ironic that the people that should be helping are often the victimizers.  We as a church have all too often said things that are hateful and pushed people away.  We have turned the house of God into a place where different cliques instead an opening inviting community.  We have placed people into different circles and we do not play fair with each clique in their involvement with the church.

It is even sadder when you realize this happens even in the most welcoming of churches.  All you have to do is watch how people interact on a Sunday morning and you will see the different cliques.  You do have those that go out of their way to make everyone feel welcomed.  Yet, you still have people that are a part of this circle or that circle.  Very often the circles do not intercept with each other.  No wonder people run away from organized religion.

We as individuals Christians need to realize that we can stop this from happening.  We need to accept people just as they are.  We do not need to put expectations on how people would behave.  We need to eliminate the stereotypes that we have established.  Instead of wanting cookie cutter Christians in our life we need to be open in accepting people just like they are.

Imagine a world where people no longer felt like they were expected to act a certain way to serve God.  They did not have to sing if they didn’t feel comfortable.  They didn’t have to go through rituals of standing or kneeling at services just because others were doing that.  They didn’t have to pray like everyone else.  They could be their own self doing what God has inspired them to do.

Those Churches that have opened the doors to all are in a new frontier.  They have the opportunity to change how their church reacts within itself.  These churches can choose to make the personal experience of Christ the highlight of their ministry.  They can allow people to do things that God have called them to do.  Just think about all the different ministries could exist if we allow the people of the church to express God in their own way.  Instead of setting established pattern of ritual ministry we need to open our doors to new ways of experiencing Christ.

The church has to act first by stopping the bullying that exists.  Our children are learning from us how to separate people.  We are showing them that people are not worthy enough to be friends.  It is a shame when you think about the fact that the church has influenced hate in this world.  Instead of being a place that does nothing but show love and teaches our children how to accept others we have become a place of exclusion.  We have set our standards so high that we exclude the very people that God came to minister. 

Prayer:

We praise you God for loving us just the way we are.  We thank you for not expecting us to be one certain way.  We worship you for your loving embrace.  Help us to open our hearts and our churches to those that the world has set aside.  Help us to be a community that puts love before exclusion.  In the name of the Creator of us all we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Remember one day you were on the outside looking in.  Do you remember how that felt?  If you are now on the inside isn’t it time you help others feel the warmth that you experience?

Happy Are those that Worship God

Verses: Psalms 128: 1 - 6

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

Our life will be full of joy when we worship God.  In our times of sadness God will send us relief.  In our times of fear God will send us comfort.  In our times of sorrow God will give us joy. 

We have an inner peace and struggle.  We are able to have hope in a brighter tomorrow.  We face our struggles as challenges that we will overcome.  We know that God is in our life and we have all the joy that we need.

I can remember working with a group of kids when I was in my twenties.  They didn’t have the best of situations.  They came from broken homes.  They came from a place of struggle.  Yet, they had something that they had to look forward to and it made theirs days easier.  I can remember that first Sunday that we had a few kids a church and the smile on their faces as they played and learned about God.

The weeks went by and we had to make numerous trips with the one van to pick kids up.  The word had gotten out that there was a place that they could go and feel loved and safe.  They talked with each other and spread the word that there were a group of adults that wanted them around.  We were a group of adults that wanted to just be there with them and share in their life.

I watched them as they went from kids who were having hard times to kids that were enjoying life.  Kids that had presents to open on Christmas that they knew came from people that loved them just the way they were.  Kids that grew and accepted Christ because of a group of adults that let them see Jesus. 

The kids taught a group of adults about hope.  They taught us how to see the good in the bad.  They taught us that life was worth living.  They taught us how to dream about a greater day.  They taught us that Jesus was the Savior of the world.

See I learned as much about life as the kids learned about God.  I learned that if you share Jesus’s love you will get love in return.  I learned that nothing is a total lost if you have Jesus in your life.  I learned that kids are stronger and wiser than most adults.  See kids love innocently they don’t expect anything in return.  No wonder why Jesus said that we would have to come as children to the cross.  It is when we come to Jesus as children that we accept love without question. 

I guess the one thing to remember is no matter how bad things are we have Jesus.  When we have Jesus in our life nothing can destroy us.  Things may try to put out our hope yet, we have the love of God.  Nothing can ever take that away from us.  We have our joy because of that love.

Prayer:

We thank you God for your love.  We praise you for your unending hope.  We praise you for always being with us.  Help us share your joy and hope with others.  In your Holy Name we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted the love of Jesus in your life?  Do you feel the joy that is from God above?  Are you willing to turn your bad over to God so that you can receive the good God wants you to have?

Spiritual Parentage

Verses: Psalms 127: 1 - 5

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

This is a hard Psalm for those of us that do not have children to take on as our promise.  Many of us do not have children not out of choice but out of circumstances.  People may have tried for years to have children and have none of their own.  You may be like me and be in a relationship where having a child can be stopped because of lack of funding to pull off the perfect miracle.

I am writing this as a Lesbian that wanted children more than anything else in my life.  I would have done anything to have a little one of my own.  I tried for years to have that special little one in my life.  I now know that God knew better and had plans for me that I would never know about.

See I am a Mom.  I don’t have a little one that looks up to me with those eyes and says I love you mom.  Yet, I have a lot of little ones that I have made an impact on.  Some of them are older than me.  Some are yet to come.  See God has used me as a spiritual parent.  Now this may be a new concept to you but it is something that God gave me as a gift.

See God has allowed me to teach people about the love of God.  I was given the wisdom and knowledge needed to spread the word of Salvation.  Each person in my life that heard those words has a little bit of me in them.  The day they accept Christ in their life I take on a parental role.  I have to be the perfect model to help them understand the love of God. 

See God uses us just where we are.  We might not be able to do the things that we thought but we are instruments for God to use.  We can touch so many lives throughout our entire life.  I am sitting here right now with a big smile on my face thinking back to some of the kids that I have seen grows up.

I have spiritual kid’s that would make any mom proud.  I think about the young ones that decided to teach Sunday school because of their contact with me as a youth minister.  I am thinking about the ones that became missionaries because I had told them to spread the good news.  I know that I am not the only reason that they have done the things that they have done yet, I do know I had a small part.  I know that God gave me the ability to have more kids than I ever would have been able to have on my own.

In fact, right now there is someone that is reading this that felt that same loss that I did when I didn’t have a child of my own.  They are sitting there right now with a smile on their face.  They are thinking about all the lives that they have touched.  They are already planning how to touch other lives. 

You ask how I know because they are just like me.  If you are a spiritual parent remember your job is never done.  You have a lot of work to do.  You have a lot to share with the world.  Take time to smile and then get back at it.  Just think what all we can do with God allowing us to be spiritual parents to the future Christians of the world?

Prayer:

We thank you God for answered prayers.  We thank you for fulfilling our dreams when we were not even seeing it.  We thank you God for using us to share your love with the world.  Help us be the spiritual parents that you desire us to be.  Help us never cease in sharing your love with those that are in need.  In the name of the Heavenly Parent we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted your challenge?  Are you ready to lead people to the cross?  Are you ready to show people a reflection of Jesus through your life?

The Harvest of Joy

Verses: Psalms 126: 1 - 6

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

We need to think about the reward we will receive in glory.  Heaven is full of laughter.  Those who are in Heaven have no tears or sorrows.   We have one guarantee and that is that Heaven will be a place of rest and worship.

It is hard when you look around the world to imagine a place with no sorrow.  We see wars and brutality.  We see sickness and death.  We witness betrayal and defeat.  Yet, we are guaranteed one thing Heaven is our reward.  Joy is our gift.

We have seen so many bad things in the last few weeks around the world.  People are dying because of the color of their skin.  People are being persecuted because of who they love.  We have seen people punished because of their religious views.   We need to remember that this is what the news portrays yet there is much good.

I have taken it upon myself to find videos to combat the hate and violence.  I have watched videos of people randomly helping people that they didn’t know.  One of my favorite was this short video of this man that decided to give a homeless man a thousand dollars.  Instead of just handing it to him he told him he didn’t have any money and offered him his lottery ticket.  They went in the store and even though it was technically losing ticket they had staged it so that it would be a winner.  The man started crying and the first thing he wanted to do was to give part of it to the man that gave him the ticket.

Think about this a second how hard it would be to be out on the street.  You are depending on the kindness of strangers to help you just getting by.  All of a sudden you have a thousand dollars.  What would you do?  Would you want to give part of it away? 

See we need to sow the seeds that change people lives.  We need to step out of our own worries and problems and see what others are experiencing.  It isn’t about giving a handout instead it is a hand up.  A helping hand that plants a seed of hope in someone’s life.   Your life will be changed when you give to others.  It isn’t about getting things but being there for others.

We are here at Christmas time.  A time when we worry about what we are going to get.  A time we stress over just the perfect gifts to get our friends and family members.  Yet, do we take the time in this hustle and bustle to enjoy what we have.  We need to stop for a second and listen to the laughter of a child who has been touched by our gift of love.  We need to stop and enjoy the smile of someone’s face that we just shared Jesus with. 

We have a great time this season to plant the right seeds.  We can plant the seeds of joy and laughter.  We can plant the seeds of hope and strength.  We can be Jesus to someone today.  I cannot think of any better gift to give anyone.  The gift of loving someone and helping them find their Savior.

Prayer:

We praise you God for the joy in our life.  We thank you for the answered prayers.  We praise you for your hope and salvation.  We honor you for you are worthy to be praised.  Help us to focus on the right seeds to plant.  Help us to take time to spend with you in love and praise.  Help us be a reflection of you in someone’s life today.  In the great Giver of Joy we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you ready to show someone love today?  Are you ready to give your life over to planting the seeds of hope and salvation?  Are you ready to experience true joy and laughter?

God Promises us that we will be Secure

Verses: Psalms 125: 1 - 5

Song inspired by the chapter:  Song has been uploaded from YouTube.com and is not my original.

My thoughts about the verses:

There are moments in all of our lives that we have fear.  We have fear that we will fail at work.  We have feared that we will let our family members down.  We have feared that we will let our friends down.  We have feared that we will lose all that we have.  We have fear of death.

Yet, we need to realize is that this is not God’s way.  God doesn’t want us to be afraid of our future.  We have nothing really to fear if we put our trust in God.  We are so worried about the future that we miss the gifts that are given to us.  We miss the love of our Savior.  We miss the strength of our Savior.

God is not to be feared.  We should love a worship God.  God is there with us through all of our life’s struggles.  God doesn’t turn away from us when we are weak or afraid.  God lifts us up and helps us get through the entire day to day grind.  It is a gift that we have surety in because God is our blessed Savior.

We need to look back over our lives and see those moments that we thought we would never get through.  We need to thank God because we are where we are now.  See when we were going through those hard times we had our answer with us.  Yet, we were so busy worrying that we missed the presence of our Savior.  Now think about all the things that are coming and know that God will be there with you.

I read a blog today from a mom whose child was facing a reoccurrence of Cancer.  You could feel the fear that she had.  You could also feel the assurance she had in a higher power.  A power she had experience when her son had beat cancer once.  She was expressing her weakness and her strength.  She knew that it would be a struggle yet; every day would be a blessing. 

We all need to come to understand the blessing of each day.  The knowledge that God has got us to where we are and God will not leave us when we need the tender presence in our life.  Keep that in mind the next time you fear the future.  Know that God will be there helping you if only you will allow it.  Amazing how different our lives are when we allow our fear to take a back seat to the security we have in God.

Prayer:

We praise you God.  We offer thanksgiving up to you for all that you have and will do in our lives.  Help us accept your security in our life.  Help us let go of our fear.  Help us be secure in your loving touch and presence.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you feeling afraid today?  Have you turned it over to God?  What do you have to fear when God is on your side?