Always trust the words of God. I once heard a pastor say that to truly know that it is God speaking verify it. Check it with the Bible. It is easy to hear a thought in our minds and think it is God, sometimes it is God, sometimes it is our own thought.
So verify. Check that what you heard aligns with the Bible. You can’t always do this, I understand that, but prayer and time with the speaker of the words you think you are hearing will help you know your direction. Don’t doubt God’s words, but if you need to, verify.
When Jonah heard God’s word he denied it was God and ran away. God hunted him down, and he became one of the most well known stories (and one of the best speakers) in the Bible.
When it is God He doesn’t just use you a little, He uses you unbelievably so. Even if Jonah had saved only one person he would have listened to God and done something amazing, for that one person.
If God says go to Zambia on a missions trip and you go,
‘No that wasn’t God, and I don’t want to go.’ and you end up reading Jonah, or hearing a sermon on following the prompting of God, or a song on traveling the uncertain road, take it as a conformation. If God wants you to go then He will prompt you and prompt you until you get the message.
Trust God’s word, and He will verify that word for you.
Tag: free devotional
When all the lights go out
When all the lights go out
Crunch, crunch, crunch. Each footfall leaves another indent in the snow, a small trace that you were once there. A tiny blaze is nestled close to your chest as you carry a candle for just a little added light. There are other lights around you, barely visible, just a flicker, like woodland sprites dancing among the trees. The lights make their way softly through the woods and into the town. There, in a single window, is a candle; like the one you carry except for the meaning behind it. Your candle is for light, this candle is for hope. Inside the house you know you will find others like you, Christian worshippers gathering secretly to praise Jesus. You blow out your candle and step inside.
This story you have entered feels like it happened a lifetime ago to someone you will never know; But even today Christian families are having to hide from those who would seek to harm them. I wonder how many are gathering tonight? Slipping through the streets with candles to light their way?
Surprisingly I found many different opinions on the origin of lights on Christmas trees, but the one that I like the best is the one that says that Christians used to come and gather in the woods, to worship in secret because the Government wanted one religion and Christianity was not it. They would put lights deep in the branches of a tree so that the glow would be muted but visible. Even if that is not the origin I wouldn’t be surprised if it did happen. Maybe that is why lights on the Christmas tree feel so warm and homey. I would go so far as to say they make one feel secure.
On this Advent Sunday I want to send out a simple feeling. Gratitude. I am grateful for the Christian people who are faithful to the point of meeting under the cover of a midnight sky, maybe even outside in the cold, so they can keep the candles of Faith burning. Isn’t that the first place Jesus was worshiped? A cold manger stall, the only light probably a candle. Think of that as you feel warmed by your Christmas tree lights and let it fill you with a sense of wonder.
The bare feet of the shepherds
Have you ever noticed that when you buy a manger scene these days there are 3 Wise men and maybe 1, or sometimes 2 shepherds? I was contemplating this while fiddling with the presents and staring at our lit – up manger when suddenly the answer whispered in my ear. The Wise men are prettier than the Shepherds. The Wise men are powerful and high class with elegant clothes and sparkling gifts. The Shepherds are low class, even looked down on. Bearing no presents and wearing no shoes as they peek into the manger. The Shepherds were afraid, the Wise men were not. The Shepherds smelled like travel; That Is one thing they shared with the Wise men. The other thing they shred was a sense of awe at the wonder of the baby. The Shepherds were invited to come, the Wise men were not. God knew that the Wise men wouldn’t get there until Jesus was around 2 years old. If He had wanted the Wise men at the manger God would have made sure they were actually there, but this was the Shepherds’ moment. Their night. They were the first to see the baby, the Messiah, our Emmanuel, no one else. I think God kept the Wise men back for more than one reason. One of those reasons being that He knew they would upstage the Shepherds, like they do every year on our manger scenes. God loves the dirty and unloved. He lifts high the fearful and those considered of low value. They are His precious , unrefined treasures. His favorite treasure to work with. Don’t worry if you are not a Wise man. Shepherds hold the highest honor anyway.
Getting back up
We don’t always spring back up, sometimes we need to kneel first and that’s okay too.
When we fall, to get back up, first we have to get onto our knees. Sometimes on those knees is all we can do until someone comes and offers us a hand to lift us back onto our feet.
When we fall in life and spiritually, first we must climb to our knees and turn it all over to Jesus in prayer. Sometimes it takes a long time of prayer and kneeling before we see an answer, but that is waiting in God’s timing. As my Poppa says, ‘in the waiting we gain sustenance from the knowledge that God is doing something.’
Eventually we will look up from our folded hands to see Jesus reaching down an open hand and smiling brilliantly as He lifts us to our feet.
What does your heart bleed?
What does your heart bleed?
Once there was a little heart wandering through a world of little hearts.
Everywhere she looked she saw damage. Scars and scrapes healed over; open wounds in need of help.
Many of the hearts were bleeding, but the blood was different for each one.
Some bled pain, some bled love, some bled sorrow, some fear, some anger and hatred, some confusion, and as the little heart walked amoung the drips of blood she noticed them sticking to her. She began to bleed what the other hearts were bleeding. The little heart looked around and bumbled into a heart whose wounds were already healed over, she asked
‘what do I do? All these things are sticking to me and causing me pain.’
The healed heart looked at the little heart and gave a small spin; In doing so the little heart noticed a thin layer of callus protecting the other heart.
‘Callus and you no longer feel; then the pain of others won’t stick to you.’
The little heart nodded politely and moved on. To not feel was not what she wanted. Suddenly a large drip landed on her foot. She looked up to see a heart that was bleeding love. The little heart was upset to be even more dirty, until she noticed some of the other drips washing off as the love ran over them. ‘Wait!’ The little heart cried as she chased after the love heart. The heart turned and waited. ‘Why? Why is your love helping clean my pain? It is still bleeding, you still hurt! But your hurt is helping me.’
The love heart smiled.
‘I hurt because I love. If I stopped caring then I would be healed but I would be living an empty life. I allow myself to accept the pain of other hearts and to help them heal. Truth to tell, when others heal because of my love I also heal a little bit.’
Suddenly the little heart understood. The dirt of others was okay to have on you if it meant you got close and showed them love and helped them heal, and suddenly that one drip gave her life purpose.
What does your heart bleed?
Light fills everything
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Isaiah 60:3
Today I came across this verse. It popped up on the Bible app I have as the verse of the day and it made me feel warm. There is a peace that follows this verse. In the mess of politics and undercutting and false accusations and true accusations that we see come out every election, God is still King; He is still on HIS throne.
The Canadian election is tomorrow and there has been so much garbage on the internet and so many opinions thrown around that it is clear to see that no one really knows what they want to see leading our country. Not another Ceaser, perhaps a new Alexander? We don’t want a Saul, we hope for a Soloman. What we are searching for however is clear, and it’s not a human authority. What our country really wants is a Jesus. Something in our souls and minds has been crying out for a Saviour and we think that the right political leader will be just that. Rule us into happiness. But that is not true. The only ruler who brings happiness is Jesus.
‘Kings to your light and nations to your dawn.’ We are dying for the light of Jesus to fix this world and we search in every sidewalk crack if every city hoping to find someone to fill the darkness of our society.
We need Jesus and our hearts know it.
But no matter where we are, who gets elected, what king usurps another, or what Coliseum falls, Jesus is still in control and eventually all will run to Him and find His light and that brings me peace.
Emergencies
So. I ended up in emergency today. My dog accidentally bit my nose and it led to 3 stitches and plastic surgery tomorrow morning. If you knew me well you would know that needles send me. I had 8 of them in my nose today, maybe more but 8 was the amount I recall. There are times in our lives when it is horrible. In those moments we can choose to do many things, when we choose to call on Jesus we find sudden help and relief.
When that first needle went into the open wound my heart screamed out,
‘Jesus PLEASE! HELP ME!’
Every needle after I screamed the same inaudible prayer and everytime Jesus’ presence took over the whole situation and made me feel like I would get through this.
You don’t have to kneel and verbally call out for Jesus to hear you. He hears you. Every thought. Every word. Every need. Every want and hope. Jesus hears you.
He might not take the situation away, but He WILL get you through it.
So this Thanksgiving Weekend I say:
“Thank you Jesus for saving my soul! For hearing my prayers! For caring about every throb of my heart and for drawing me through life and closer to you. Thank you God for not just lending us your son, but for GIVING us your son and allowing us to have Him and you and the Holy Spirit. Thank you Holy Spirit for your patience with us and that you are always here. Amen”
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FRIENDS
If you’re not THIS, God doesn’t love you
If you’re not THIS God doesn’t love you
This world is a broken mess. That is clear, and Christian or skeptic we can all see it.
Sadly the hate of the outside world sometimes seeps into our Churches and into our Brethren in Christ.
It makes me think of an old anime I own. There was a small village living in the waste land of a once fertile country. Little by little the ‘toxic jungle’ spread until the inhabitants had to wear filtering masks when going out doors. Little particles of the jungle seeped into the houses too though, slowly destroying all until there was nothing left. If we took the spore of our world’s ‘toxic jungle’ and eliminated it completely our air would be breathable again. That spore I would like to say is hate, because hate is pretty easy to spot, but hate itself is just an extreme version of the true problem. Judgement. We throw down judgements like it is our job and justify by screaming out, “but the Bible says.” Um, right, the Bible also says many, many times that is not for people to judge that that is God’s job. Next excuse. “We can’t condone that because we are Christians.” Okay, but condoning the sin and loving or even accepting the sinner, these are two very different things.
I have heard too many Church people quote the Bible to make themselves feel more Holy. The problem is that we usually quote it with a, ‘if you don’t do this exactly the way God says He won’t love you’ insinuation. God loves you. That’s it. He loves just you, all of you, and any version of you to come. Does He want His people to be better. Of course! We’re people, there is always room for improvement. But just because you slip, or struggle, or don’t invite the Jones’ out for tea after Church; none of this, and I mean none of it, will EVER make God stop loving you.
If you are dirty, join the club, we are all dirty. If you struggle with drugs, alcohol, porn, infidelity. If you have committed murder, stolen, cheated, or lied, God still loves you. Nothing you are and nothing you have done can change that. Does it hurt God when we do wrong? Absolutley. Does He drop us like a bad connection after? NO! And don’t ever let anyone make you feel like He does. Nothing you don’t do and nothing you do do will change God’s love for you. We can let the need to accuse and judge others seep in from the outside world. By that I mean in from the world of the devil. The one who is against Jesus, that is the outside world. Little by little we destroy our Churches because we don’t want the sinners in to add mud to our name. We destroy ourselves by failing the second greatest command. Love your neighbor. Love can shown by simply going, “it’s okay, I won’t judge.”
I feel passionate about this because of the testimonies I have heard. ‘I have never met a Christian who didn’t judge me.’
I don’t witness very often. I let people know I am a Christian and just let God guide things from there so this is not a look at all the people I talk to thing because I don’t. It is just something that has come up…often. I have also heard pastors who use their pulpit as a shield while they judge and not from a Bible stand point. Please let the Holy Spirit guide your response to sermons and don’t get depressed. If God is telling you to change He will help you do so.
Last thing.
God knows how much you love Him. You don’t have to prove it. Do things to make God happy, but don’t feel He misses the fact that you care, in the simple human way we all do our best to love God like He loves us. Talk about impossible dreams.
So to sum up.
Don’t judge, that is God’s job. Love, that is your job.
God will always love you. No matter what anyone ever says. God says that He loves you. Just read the Bible and you can see for yourself.
Love Lauren
Today I die
Today I die
I sit in my cell with the bare cold hungrily eating into my flesh, my wounds almost numb from the night before. Suddenly I look up into the face of my executioner. He clamps irons on my wrists and I am pushed, pulled, and dragged up the winding stair case onto the street above. A cross is driven onto my back by the ruthless pull of gravity and I am told to walk, so I walk. A soldier follows in place of my shadow and strikes me with his whip whenever I slow down, so I don’t slow down, I move as quickly as my beaten body will allow until I reach the top of the hill where I am finally permitted to lie down upon my burden. I close my eyes and tense my throat as vomit threatens to choke me from the agony of the spikes being driven into my hands and feet. Tears burn my eyes and soak my neck as I am lifted up. Everything turns blurry from the pain, people were laughing, I think, I couldn’t really hear past the high pitched ringing raging through my ears.
Breath comes in gasps as the hours pass by. Hours? Or was it days? It felt like days. My shadow comes along and begins breaking legs. Mine are next and suddenly the troubled breathing turns into no breathing at all. Tell me someone can hear me. I know I am screaming so where are the ones to save me? Then it ends. I awaken to see a judge. Sad eyes touch mine and He shakes his head. Two dark figures grasp my arms and drag me away, forever. ‘Wait!’ I cry. ‘Have mercy! Please!’
But there is silence as the judge turns His face away and I am led off to my eternal sentence.
This is what it would be like if Jesus had not taken that cross for us. If instead we had gone through our own crucifixion. Pain, death, hopelessness, and no promise of rescue.
If we had been sacrificed instead it would never have been enough to pay back all the wrongs we have done. In the end death would lead to death and nothing could change that.
Thank God that He sent Jesus to save us. Thank Jesus that He was willing to come.
Thank the Holy Spirit for residing in us.
Without love, God’s love, we would truly have nothing.
As the true story reads.
God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son. Continue with me. That whosoever believes in Him… should not?…. Might not? Will not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:16
Thank Jesus today for dying for you.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
There is a novel series I enjoy that is based in medieval times. In one part of the series, the sea ports have been affected by a group of human traffickers (which is still a big problem in many parts of the world).
One scene has a big city wide party going on with loud music and cheering and fireworks. In this scene you can notice the slight screams of the people that are being silently stolen out of the crowd.
In this scene the protagonist asks a companion if they had also heard an odd noise, to which the other character answers, “yes. The sounds of the party covered it, but there were screams.”
I wonder how often we miss the screams in the midst of the party. The laughter, the excitement, the fireworks. Noise. Sounds of pleasure that cover the sounds of pain and distress. The people we don’t see due to the crowd who are silently being stolen away. The world has so much suffering that we just don’t notice.
Question. How many of you were at least a little bit surprised when I mentioned that human trafficking is still a problem? How many were angered and disgusted? If I said that many of the people on the streets in large cities have jobs, sometimes several jobs, but the cost of living is simply too high, would you be confused or argue with me?
I grew up near the large city of Vancouver, a city I love and miss, but even the beautiful lady has a dark side. A very dark side. Because of friends who were cops we learned of the on going and somewhat large problem of human trafficking that was happening right out of the inner harbor. A problem that the police struggled to control because of it’s strength. So you didn’t walk the streets alone.
Because of ministry friends we learned of the plight of the hard working man who lived in a cardboard box in the downtown area. There were many just like him. Steady job. Not enough to get by on.
We learned also that we were far from the only city with these problems. In Canada and the US especially it is easy to live the party life because we can have so much. But there are screams that we can’t hear that are happening just down the street.
This is not a criticism. Feel free to enjoy life. But now you are aware of the pain that you cannot see. What can you do about it?
Carried in the cross 