As I stood by the graveside of a dear friend this past weekend, I couldn't help but Praise the Lamb of God! Psalm 116:15 kept playing over and over in my mind, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." It was goodbye to him on this side, but hello for ever more on the other side! Only christians can truly have joy, can truly know peace when standing at death's door. That peace and grace is through Jesus Christ! Even though we will miss him, he is free from all care, all pain, he is finally at home with his Father! How can you not praise Christ's holy name!
I've been a nurse for almost 19 yrs now. I've been in contact with death more times than I can ever count. At the point of death, I have NEVER had anyone ask to see their car, home, bank statement... nothing materialistic...as they were dying. Why do we strive so hard for these things.............they don't mean a thing when it's time to cross over. I'm reminded of a song my aunts and I sing, "Only one thing will matter, when the time shall come to die. The treasures of this world, won't mean a thing. But the joy of knowing Jesus will vanish all my fears, for He took away death's sting!" My hope, the only hope I have, is in Jesus' blood!
This weekend, I will remember another graveside.......but praise the Lord, this grave is now empty, it was just a borrowed tomb! He is risen, and because He is risen, I have that blessed hope of being united with all those gone before! I want to take the time and praise His holy name! He didn't have to take on my sins, and be nailed to that rugged cross.........but because of His great love, he gladly bore it all that I may have life eternal! How wonderful to know that death in this life is not the end.......its just the beginning to life eternal! If we are saved, our tears of saddness can't help but turn to tears of joy!.........in loving memory of Charles McDaniel 12/1939 - 3/2008.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
What's the Goal of Looking Back
What do we gain when we look back? First, we have to look at the reason. There is a time to look back over our life, and there is a time we are only to look ahead. Looking back over good times, good memories are great. Even looking back at the bad times are okay, as long as it is the mercy and the blessings of God that we are focused upon.
We all know the story of Lot's wife. The Lord was raining brimstone from heaven on Sodom and Gomarrah. He was raining His judgement upon that evil city. God told Lot to 'Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters....lest thou be consumed..." Lot didn't do this directly, did he? Chapter 19, vs 16 says he lingered, but the Lord was merciful and he was able to escape. Look back at the times God has extended his mercy to you, when you may not have made the right choice, but because of HIS love, he helped you anyway! I don't know about you, but that runs a shiver down my spine! But the command was to leave and not look back. Of course, we know what happened, she looked back and became a pillar of salt. We've got to follow the will of the Lord; we've got to realize the goal of our looking back.
In Joshua, the men of Ai looked behind them, and saw their city up in smoke, they had 'no power to flee this way or that way" and Joshua and all of Israel slew them. Don't forget just before these men died, Achan looked back on some silver, a garment and a wedge of gold, and hid them in his tent. He was the cause of 36 of his own men losing their lives, and paid for it with his and his family's lives! We've got to be careful of our goal of looking back!
We can press forward with hope as long as looking back, keeps us on the pathway that God wants us to be on. Israel didn't seek the counsel of God and ended up having to stay true to the treaty they made with Gibeon and the other cities, in which God had instructed them to destroy. Joshua looked back on that, and reminded Israel to always seek God's counsel before making a treaty. Have you ever done that? Are you paying a bill every month on a car that you thought you just had to have....now every time you send in that money and that sick feeling hits you, God reminds you that you forgot to seek Him first? We've all been there, haven't we. No matter how big a decision, or how small, take it to Him, He will direct your paths! Don't look back and see the mistake, look back and thank God, that even though you made the mistake, He never left you once, and is still with you and with open arms!
As in Phil. 3:14, let's keep pressing 'toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!' The mark is found in verse 10...that we may KNOW him, and his power and his fellowship! The prize is the joy of the personal satisfaction of reaching that mark! Our goal in looking back should always be to magnify Him, to get us closer to our mark. If looking behind, looking at your past does not help you reach that mark, be careful, you may just turn into that pillar of salt, you may just look back and see your 'city'... your life... going up in smoke. That's the devil's goal for God's child. He can no longer reach your soul, so he will fight to defeat your walk on this side of eternity. Stay focused on God, from your past, and in your future, that's where your victory lies!!
We all know the story of Lot's wife. The Lord was raining brimstone from heaven on Sodom and Gomarrah. He was raining His judgement upon that evil city. God told Lot to 'Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters....lest thou be consumed..." Lot didn't do this directly, did he? Chapter 19, vs 16 says he lingered, but the Lord was merciful and he was able to escape. Look back at the times God has extended his mercy to you, when you may not have made the right choice, but because of HIS love, he helped you anyway! I don't know about you, but that runs a shiver down my spine! But the command was to leave and not look back. Of course, we know what happened, she looked back and became a pillar of salt. We've got to follow the will of the Lord; we've got to realize the goal of our looking back.
In Joshua, the men of Ai looked behind them, and saw their city up in smoke, they had 'no power to flee this way or that way" and Joshua and all of Israel slew them. Don't forget just before these men died, Achan looked back on some silver, a garment and a wedge of gold, and hid them in his tent. He was the cause of 36 of his own men losing their lives, and paid for it with his and his family's lives! We've got to be careful of our goal of looking back!
We can press forward with hope as long as looking back, keeps us on the pathway that God wants us to be on. Israel didn't seek the counsel of God and ended up having to stay true to the treaty they made with Gibeon and the other cities, in which God had instructed them to destroy. Joshua looked back on that, and reminded Israel to always seek God's counsel before making a treaty. Have you ever done that? Are you paying a bill every month on a car that you thought you just had to have....now every time you send in that money and that sick feeling hits you, God reminds you that you forgot to seek Him first? We've all been there, haven't we. No matter how big a decision, or how small, take it to Him, He will direct your paths! Don't look back and see the mistake, look back and thank God, that even though you made the mistake, He never left you once, and is still with you and with open arms!
As in Phil. 3:14, let's keep pressing 'toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!' The mark is found in verse 10...that we may KNOW him, and his power and his fellowship! The prize is the joy of the personal satisfaction of reaching that mark! Our goal in looking back should always be to magnify Him, to get us closer to our mark. If looking behind, looking at your past does not help you reach that mark, be careful, you may just turn into that pillar of salt, you may just look back and see your 'city'... your life... going up in smoke. That's the devil's goal for God's child. He can no longer reach your soul, so he will fight to defeat your walk on this side of eternity. Stay focused on God, from your past, and in your future, that's where your victory lies!!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Scarlet Thread
The Bible absolutely amazes me! When thinking about starting a blog, I wondered what I could title it. Rahab came to mind. One of the many women of the Bible that fascinate me! My best friend and I were discussing a topic she was preparing to teach. The topic was letting go of past hurts. While studying, I came across the story of Rahab once again, and her topic came back to me. Don't we all have past hurts? Don't we all have problems, disabilities, situations of life that we all have to conqueor? Rahab was a harlot. She was a nobody in everyone's eyes... which by the way is a perfect vessel for Christ. She wasn't rich or had no 'status' in society, no influence. What could she do? She didn't have much 'head' knowledge of religion... but she had the 'heart' knowledge of the Saviour! She told the spies that she knew the Lord had given them the land and that everyone was afraid of them. They had all heard these stories, they realized that Israel's God....was GOD! Here's the thing, though... she put what she had heard, what had 'made her heart melt', into action! What did she do? The first words out of her mouth, after she had told them that she believed in Israel's God were, "I pray you...." Isn't that a picture of us? We heard the Word and believed in Him, we had the faith to make Him our own. What a picture of the scarlet thread! She was told to place that scarlet thread out her window, and when they came, they would see it and she and her family would be saved! I praise God for the day I made the choice to put that scarlet thread out my heart's window and invite Jesus Christ Himself into my heart! Jesus gave His scarlet blood for us to have life eternal!
She could've held on to her 'hurt' of the past, after all, she was but a harlot! She made the choice right there to follow Christ instead of this old world. She had the chance to impress the king (a picture of the world)...she could've told the king just what he wanted to hear, and the spies would've been killed. Guess what....Jericho would've fallen anyway, but Rahab and her family would've been lost as well. God doesn't need us to fulfill His plan! If we can ever get to that understanding.......its nothing in us..........its ALL in Him. Listen to that old hymn when you sing, "He's all I need, He's all I need...Jesus is all I need." We need Him.......not the other way around! That precious scarlet thread allows little ole me to be part of His royal family!!
By making faith an action verb, Rahab and her family were not only spared, but she is forever in the 'hall of faith' in Hebrews 11 and became part of the lineage of David and most importantly Jesus Christ himself!! If she had chosen that day to impress the king, none of this would have included her! So many fight so hard to succeed here on earth. They strive for the praise of their spouse, their employer, their friends, even strangers...when they ought to strive for God's approval, only there will they find eternal life, eternal blessings! Our feeble eyes cannot see past today, we don't know what lies ahead. If we make the right choices, our blessings will grow far more than our imaginations can ever imagine! By helping those spies, Rahab's life was spared....oh but let's look at how that blessing grew! It was enough, being kept alive, Rahab and her family...but look at how much more she received. When she married Salmon and they had a precious baby boy Boaz...what a blessing! But she didn't know that one day Boaz would marry Ruth, that she would receive Obed as a grandson who would in turn have Jesse, who would bring David into this world...and so on until eventually Jesus Christ! What a great legacy she has! When we get saved, we are so thankful to be saved from hell, we cannot possibly imagine just how our blessings will grow! Let's don't forget that we are still human. There will still be mistakes, hurts in our lives. But we must look past those hurts, and make them a positive for Jesus Christ! Who knew this little Canaanite harlot would ever become part of the lineage of Jesus Christ! We are the ones that limit our walk with Christ...not the other way around. he does not limit us by where we come from or what sins we've committed...we do that! If we could ever let go of the 'hurts, the 'buts', the 'what ifs', the 'becauses' of this life and just have the faith of Rahab, make the right choice....to follow Christ...how much the more could our Heavenly Father use us? What kind of lineage could we leave behind?
I praise God for that day when I was a 7 yr. old girl, when I hung that scarlet thread out and God took notice and saved my soul! I've never regreted that choice! I've made a lot of mistakes down through the years, but He has always been there with me and for me. Looking back over the years I stand amazed out how God has allowed my blessing to grow! My heart's desire is to continue to choose to live for Him and watch His blessings grow in my life! Thank you god for that scarlet thread that forever allowed you to live in my heart!!
She could've held on to her 'hurt' of the past, after all, she was but a harlot! She made the choice right there to follow Christ instead of this old world. She had the chance to impress the king (a picture of the world)...she could've told the king just what he wanted to hear, and the spies would've been killed. Guess what....Jericho would've fallen anyway, but Rahab and her family would've been lost as well. God doesn't need us to fulfill His plan! If we can ever get to that understanding.......its nothing in us..........its ALL in Him. Listen to that old hymn when you sing, "He's all I need, He's all I need...Jesus is all I need." We need Him.......not the other way around! That precious scarlet thread allows little ole me to be part of His royal family!!
By making faith an action verb, Rahab and her family were not only spared, but she is forever in the 'hall of faith' in Hebrews 11 and became part of the lineage of David and most importantly Jesus Christ himself!! If she had chosen that day to impress the king, none of this would have included her! So many fight so hard to succeed here on earth. They strive for the praise of their spouse, their employer, their friends, even strangers...when they ought to strive for God's approval, only there will they find eternal life, eternal blessings! Our feeble eyes cannot see past today, we don't know what lies ahead. If we make the right choices, our blessings will grow far more than our imaginations can ever imagine! By helping those spies, Rahab's life was spared....oh but let's look at how that blessing grew! It was enough, being kept alive, Rahab and her family...but look at how much more she received. When she married Salmon and they had a precious baby boy Boaz...what a blessing! But she didn't know that one day Boaz would marry Ruth, that she would receive Obed as a grandson who would in turn have Jesse, who would bring David into this world...and so on until eventually Jesus Christ! What a great legacy she has! When we get saved, we are so thankful to be saved from hell, we cannot possibly imagine just how our blessings will grow! Let's don't forget that we are still human. There will still be mistakes, hurts in our lives. But we must look past those hurts, and make them a positive for Jesus Christ! Who knew this little Canaanite harlot would ever become part of the lineage of Jesus Christ! We are the ones that limit our walk with Christ...not the other way around. he does not limit us by where we come from or what sins we've committed...we do that! If we could ever let go of the 'hurts, the 'buts', the 'what ifs', the 'becauses' of this life and just have the faith of Rahab, make the right choice....to follow Christ...how much the more could our Heavenly Father use us? What kind of lineage could we leave behind?
I praise God for that day when I was a 7 yr. old girl, when I hung that scarlet thread out and God took notice and saved my soul! I've never regreted that choice! I've made a lot of mistakes down through the years, but He has always been there with me and for me. Looking back over the years I stand amazed out how God has allowed my blessing to grow! My heart's desire is to continue to choose to live for Him and watch His blessings grow in my life! Thank you god for that scarlet thread that forever allowed you to live in my heart!!
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