Inspirations

The disciples message was simple, Jesus; that’s it, only Jesus.  They had no great theological reasoning.  Instead, they preached Jesus.  The very same Jesus they crucified and buried, rose again was indeed the God of the universe.  Wow!  What an amazing thought.  God used a bunch of unlearned “common” people with the simplest of messages to change the culture and turn the world upside down; the message of Jesus.  They could have spoken brilliant theological arguments but instead they spoke of Jesus. The simple message “that Jesus is the Christ” on their lips powered by the Holy Spirit changed the world.  Today the truth remains God still only needs ordinary men with the simple message of Jesus to change the world.  We don’t need to wait until we have more knowledge God can use us right where we are.  When we are faithful to speak the simple message of Jesus the Holy Spirit take over and people come to Christ.  The beau...

I was reflecting today, and my mind went to a time when my children were younger.  Our older daughter was probably in first or second grade.  She asked me a question that was in her Sunday school paper.  It was a question that I have never forgotten.  She asked, “How as being a Christian changed your life?”  I have to confess, until that moment, I had not given too much thought to how knowing Christ had affected my life.  As I began to answer the question, I had the joyful realization that my decision to follow Christ had changed my life in some dramatic ways.  First, I had problems learning, and I remember crying out to God to help me learn to read so that I could read the Bible.  God, in his grace, chose to answer that young girl’s prayer.  Later, I wanted to go to college.  As I was thinking about colleges, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I knew that I had a desire to go to a Christian college.  My decision to follow God w...

I decided to go for a walk tonight.  As I was walking God reminded me that when I was younger, I was horribly afraid of the dark.  Yet, here I am now walking after dark and loving it. There is something almost calming about watching the night come alive; the crickets singing and the fireflies and stars lighting up the night.  I’m not sure when I stopped being afraid of the dark, but tonight as I was walking; I realized two things that made me see how silly it was for me to be scared.  There was nothing in the dark that was not in the light. I know that sounds funny, but it is true. The other thing I realized was that God was the same during the day as he was at night.  He  didn't  change or go anywhere.  If I could trust him during the day with what I could see, then I could trust him at night with what I could not see. What an amazing truth! The God of the Universe does not change.  He is the same today as he was yesterday, and He wil...

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic,  love  one another, be compassionate and humble.    1 Peter  3:8 I love fountains!  I love looking at and listening to them.  There is something calming and peaceful about them.  I absolutely love fountains that have tiers.  It’s so enjoyable to see the water cascading over the different levels.  Every time I watch fountains, I am reminded of how our love for God should be like a fountain.  When we love God, it will spill over on to those around us.  As we fill up with God’s love, it will have no place to go so it will run over the edges and on to others.  We will create a fountain. Surely our love for God is evidenced in our love for those he put around us.  Soon, they too may be filled up with the love of God and creating a fountain of their own; since they, in all likelihood, know others that we do not know.  We can take great satisfaction in knowing th...

Every now and then, God gives me a glimpse into what real love should look like.  This week, thanks to my sweetheart, I had just such a revelation.  For me, vacation means going somewhere, anywhere, that is not home.  I don’t want to feel like I’m sitting home on vacation.  However, I never realized that, until recently, my hubby would be perfectly happy sitting at home on his vacation.  Yet, for the last few years, we have gone somewhere for vacation.  My darling husband does this not because he loves it, but because he knows I love it.  In short, the only reason that he goes on vacation is because it makes me happy.  He puts his wants aside for me and what I want.  What a beautiful picture of the kind of love we all should have for each other; not just as husband and wife but for everyone.  We are to “consider others better than ourselves”; to put their needs above our own.  We deny ourselves something because we know someone e...