The Nation's Security

Psalm 127:1 CEV Without the help of the LORD it is useless to build a home or to guard a city.

We try so hard to protect our homes with guard dogs and security systems. We seek to keep our country safe with border patrols, fences and a ready military. None of these work very well if the heart of a people or country has turned away from the One who truly is our security, our safe-guard and our protection.

As long as we leave God out, as long as we refuse to acknowledge Him, as long as we turn our backs and refuse to honor Him as individuals, families and as a nation, our safe-guards will fail, our protections will crumple and we will be vulnerable.

Jesus needs to be the center of it all or everything fails.

Help me, Jesus, put you first in my heart and life and stand up for faith whenever I am called to do so. Amen.

Feel Good Religion
Proverbs 30:5-6 GW Every word of God has proven to be true. He is a shield to those who come to him for protection. Do not add to his words, or he will reprimand you, and you will be found to be a liar.

It is easy to embellish good things. Even easier to dumb down the harsher things. This is true of God's Word as well.

We need to be careful not to twist the gospel message or the balance of love and judgment.

There are consequences. I must take care to share God's message His way, without changing it. After all, my job is to share; God's job is to convict, convince and change. And no one needs a feel good gospel that doesn't truly meet the deepest hurts of our lives.

Help me, Jesus, share truth with love but without reservation. The whole truth. Amen.

Birthdays Celebrate Life
Mood:  celebratory

At 2, we're due at the birthday party for my niece's daughter turning one. Talk about birthdays. Last weekend was our granddaughter's 6th birthday. Yesterday our niece Kelly's youngest son had a birthday. Today it is Aniah's birthday. Tomorrow daughter Cassie and her cousin/our niece Anne have birthdays. Monday our nephew Jeremy's daughter has a birthday. And more to come...

Birthdays are a blessing. An excuse to get together. A time of celebration. And certainly a time, at this time of the year, to forget about the cold weather and snow. :) Birthdays remind us that each life is precious and a gift from a loving Creator.

Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a blessing and a gift from the LORD.” No matter how frustrated we may get with our children, God placed them in our lives not only for us to mold and shape them, but for them to mold and shape us. God does have a sense of humor!

Celebrate Life!

Love and Homosexuality
Jude: 7 GW What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities near them is an example for us of the punishment of eternal fire. The people of these cities suffered the same fate that God's people and the angels did, because they committed sexual sins and engaged in homosexual activities.

While it is OK to revile Christians in our culture, it is not OK to say the least negative thing against homosexuality. As Christians we are called to love all, but, regardless of the fallout, we are also to proclaim truth.

God loves all homosexuals, but He hates the lifestyle because it is one that enslaves, not frees. We, too, must be courageous enough to say "no" to more restrictions on proclaiming that there is healing even from a homosexual lifestyle. We must be brave enough to be honest about God's stand on homosexuality even while we share Christ love, forgiveness and healing with His broken creation.

V. 23-24 GW Save others by snatching them from the fire of hell. Show mercy to others, even though you are afraid that you might be stained by their sinful lives. God can guard you so that you don't fall and so that you can be full of joy as you stand in his glorious presence without fault.

Does Your Charity Share Christ?
III John 1:8 GW We must support believers who go on trips like this so that we can work together with them in spreading the truth.

Mission's trip. Sometimes young people get their first taste of serving, of seeing real needs, because others helped sponsor them on a mission's trip.

But not all are the same. Helping is great, but our mandate is to share the gospel. Is the mission's trip simply to help with physical needs or is there a spiritual element?

It is an important distinction for those who wish to go, and for those wishing to sponsor those who go.

In fact, it is something to examine for all charity giving. Can you truly support what the charity does, how finances are used, and whether there is a spiritual element.

Do I use my charity giving wisely, making sure to include charities that truly share God's love by words as well as actions--and follow up with discipleship?

Do I Show Love?
Mood:  special
Topic: Generosity
II John 1:6 GW Love means that we live by doing what he commands. We were commanded to live in love, and you have heard this from the beginning.

Very simple. What we claim is true only if followed by actions. We cannot claim to "be a Christian" or "follow Jesus" if we do not actually obey His commands, love Him, love His people and let His love flow through us to those around us. Real love isn't about our seeking to fell good, but about loving out of our comfortable zone, out of the limelight and not out of convenience.

Do I truly live by God's, my my own, values, principles--love?

V. 9 Everyone who doesn't continue to teach what Christ taught doesn't have God. The person who continues to teach what Christ taught has both the Father and the Son.

Counterfeit Religion
I John 5:11-12 GW This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son. The person who has the Son has this life. The person who doesn't have the Son of God doesn't have this life.

All religions do not lead to God or heaven In fact, many are diametrically opposed to one another.

Only one is based on truth, sacrficial love and a personal God desiring a personal relationship. Only one leads to inner peace and joy not based on circumstances and not based on what we've done, but on what Jesus has already done for us.

God through Jesus accepts as we are, but loves us too much to leave in the mess we've made of our lives.

Why would we want a counterfit religion where we must beg the favor of a capricious god when we can know acceptance from the One who cares and who will never leave nor forsake us? This isn't man-made religion, but faith in One who reaches down to meet me at my point of need.

V. 20 We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we know the real God. We are in the one who is real, his Son Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ is the real God and eternal life.

Is Love My Motivation?

I John 4:8 GW The person who doesn't love doesn't know God, because God is love. 

If someone says love is their motivation, but their actions or words do not support God's principles or if they do not acknowledge the truth of Christ, even twist or distance themselves from the truth in Jesus, that person's motivation is not love. God is love. It is the embodiment of who He is. Without Christ, without God, there is no love. What passes as love comes from a place of selfishness, an agenda or manipulation.

Is what I do motivated by God's love in me or from my own selfish needs?

V. 10-11 GW This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins. Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love each other. 

How Is My Faith Revealed or Is It?

 I John 3:6-7 Those who live in Christ don't go on sinning. Those who go on sinning haven't seen or known Christ. Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what God approves of has God's approval as Christ has God's approval. 

What we believe shows in our thoughts, words, choices and lifestyle. We can say we follow Jesus all we want, but our actions reveal the truth. We cannot say one thing and do another. That is hypocrisy. It is rationalization and a lie.

My faith is revealed by what I feed my mind, the words I speak. It is revealed in my love for Christ, a desire to know Him and His Word and fellowship with His people. It is revealed in how I treat myself and others and how willing to reach out beyond my self-centeredness to help those who need to know God's love.

In a court of law, is there enough evidence to convict me of truly following Jesus?

V. 10, 18 This is the way God's children are distinguished from the devil's children. Everyone who doesn't do what is right or love other believers isn't God's child. ...  Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words. 

V. 23 This is his commandment: to believe in his Son, the one named Jesus Christ, and to love each other as he commanded us. 

God's Way

GOD'S WAY

His message

My Words

His love

Living through me

That I might

Make a difference

Leading others to know

Eternity in Christ's

Sacrificial love.

© 2010 Carolyn R Scheidies

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven. --Mat 5:16

Does God's light shine in me through my words, my writing, my actions?

Willing to Let My Light Shine--Even With Consequences
 Ezekiel 13: 13 GW Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful to me. I will use my power against it, cut off its food supply, send a famine to it, and destroy its people and animals.

How close is America to this consequence? America has turned its back on Jesus Christ, systematically making faith not only an object of scorn, but one that is dangerous and unlawful to share.

Am I willing to let my light shine even with personal and legal ramifications?

I John 2:15-17 GW Don't love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don't have the Father's love in them. ... the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever.

How Will I Live--Today?

II Peter 3:10-11 GW The day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day heaven will pass away with a roaring sound. Everything that makes up the universe will burn and be destroyed. The earth and everything that people have done on it will be exposed. 
    All these things will be destroyed in this way. So think of the kind of holy and godly lives you must live  

We don't know what tomorrow will bring, or today. These few minutes may be our last on earth. We cannot know the length of our lives. Security in job, wealth, people or self is a myth we like to believe, but a myth nonetheless.

Earth itself will stand in judgment before God.

This moment is all I have. Will I let Jesus live in and through me this moment?

Proverbs 21:21 GW Whoever pursues righteousness and mercy will find life, righteousness, and honor. 

Am I a Gossip?

 Proverbs 20:19 GW Whoever goes around as a gossip tells secrets. Do not associate with a person whose mouth is always open. 

Do I listen to gossip, including the gossip that passes as "news?" Do I read gossip magazines and fill my mind with innuendos and rumor? Do I pass on those juicy tidbits of untruth, twisted truth and often just plain lies, whether propaganda by the media, official, co-worker, or friend?

Am I a gossip?

Sin has consequences far beyond what we can possibly imagine. Gossip hurts people.

Do I keep my mind out of the gossip gutter and on Christ, truth and His love? Gossip is not love.

Help me, Jesus, guard my eyes, my ears...and my mouth. Amen.

Whose Prophecy?

II Peter 1:21 GW No prophecy ever originated from humans. Instead, it was given by the Holy Spirit as humans spoke under God's direction. 

Unlike the so-called "prophecies" headlined in tabloids the first of each new year from either those seeking attention or those whose "powers" are suspect at best on source and accuracy, God's prophets, God's ministers, speak truth, they do not assume or guess and must be 100% accurate to be considered a true prophet.

We can rely on God's Words. What the Bible says is true. However, any interpretation whether taken from the Bible or from someone claiming to speak for God must be taken in context of Biblical principles.

Is the prophecy/suggestion/command consistent with the Ten Commandments and basic Biblical principles? Does it meet the challenge of reality and circumstance? Do wise counselors agree or disagree and why?

Test what others say against God's Word and God's leading within, making sure actions taken are consistent with His character. Also search your heart to make sure this is God's will and not  simply a wish fulfillment on your part or manipulation from someone with a less than positive agenda.

Help me, Jesus, truly listen for Your voice, recognizing it because I daily stay close to You. Amen.

My Opinions or His Grace

Proverbs 18:2 GW A fool does not find joy in understanding but only in expressing his own opinion. 

I am stubborn and opinionated. Do I allow my natural tendencies to drown out God's voice or His leading? Do I listen to Jesus more than the sound of my own opinions?

Lord help me to listen first and let You control my thoughts and words. Help me to be quick to go to You and careful in spouting what I think. Amen.

V. 13, 21 GW  Whoever gives an answer before he listens is stupid and shameful. ...The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love to talk will have to eat their own words.