Inspirations

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. THAT’S NOT FAIR!!!!  How many times have we thought that or said it to our children or someone else?  If you’re like me you have said it or at least thought it many times.  I would also like to add to that life is NOT always fun.  I remember when I was 16 or 17 thinking, “I can’t wait to be an adult and make my own choices, do my own thing.”   What was I thinking?  Most of us as adults realize that life is not all fun and games.  You NEVER completely get to “do your own thing” and there is also more responsibility.  While you’re busy wanting to have fun, cars break down, people get sick, and surprise! It's not the fun you hoped for.  I was lamenting this fact, just the other day.  I thought, “I just wish life could be fun.”  I know, you’re all thinking, “Well, don’t count on that!”  Have no fear. I’m not counting on that.  As I was...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians   5:17 noticed a rock on the side of the road.  It was a bigger rock but not so big that I  couldn't  carry it.  I suddenly got the crazy idea to bring it home and paint it and maybe use it as a paper weight.  I thought it would be fun to transform that dirty worthless rock that a farmer had likely thrown out of his field when he was plowing and make it something fun and beautiful.   So I picked it up and continued my walk.  As I walked, I was reminded of how when we come to Christ we are like that rock filthy and insignificant. However, he looks past all of the ugliness that we and others see and sees the possibilities. He picks us up and says, "I have plans for you."  Then he in his wisdom transforms us into something beautiful and useful to him.  The most amazing thing about it is that we do nothing.  G...

Often in our lives, we only focus on the negative things that happen.  We have too month left at the end of our money, or we or a loved one gets sick and we start to get stressed.  I know my friends that there are mega tons of misery in this world which is why I felt the need today to remind you, and myself, that God is in control.  There are good things that happen each day.  Sometimes we just need to focus on the good things that God does not the bad things that happen.  This morning as I started to worry about the cares of this life, how to pay bills specifically, God reminded me that he had the problem in this hands.  We went to pay the water bill, and were informed that there was a credit.   WOW!! I was flabbergasted but I was also ecstatic.  Since there was a credit (I have learned not to question the how of these things) our bill was much less than expected.  YIPEE!!!!  And Praise God!!   Next came the oil change o...

Have you ever noticed that thank you seems to be an extinct word in our society?  In fact, it so rare that we are surprised and left speechless when someone uses it.  How many of us have done something for someone for which the person never said a “thank you” or maybe worse they acted like it was expected of you and you owed it to them to do this deed.  They go on their “merry” way and you are left feeling disillusioned.  I know that, as a Christian, we are not supposed to do things to be noticed.  So I often struggle yelling at myself for those feelings of disappointment and hurt; trying to reconcile my feelings with what God says.  I have decided that, even if the person will not be appreciative and they NEVER say “thank you”, I will still choose to do nice and good deeds because I want to not because I have to do them. I have also come to the conclusion that desiring or wanting to hear a thank you is not wrong.  Jesus, when he healed the ten le...

The very last thing that Jesus told his disciples in Luke was to “stay in the city until you are given power from heaven.”  At the beginning of Acts, Luke reminds us that this was Jesus instruction to the disciples.  We see that the disciples are obedient to the directions given by the Lord.  They are gathering together in the upper room.  In fact, we are told that not only are they gathered together, but they were also all meeting in the same place.  I love this little picture of obedience!  They knew that the one thing that Jesus asked of them was that they remain in Jerusalem.  Jesus said, “Don’t go anywhere until you receive power from the Holy Spirit.”  Looking back, from our perspective, it seems like an easy task, but to them this may not have been easy.  After all, they had no idea HOW long they would have to stay in Jerusalem they only knew that he said to stay put and wait.  However, how many of us like to wait even a...

As we look at the book of Acts, perhaps the first question we need to ask is why is Acts even in the Bible and why is it important to know the book of Acts? Why we can't be sure why Luke wrote the book of Acts what we do know is that he wrote the book of Acts to tell about what happened after Jesus went back to heaven.  Perhaps he wanted his friend to be sure that Jesus really existed and that the power that Jesus had when he was on earth was alive in his followers.  He wanted his friend to know that when Jesus went back to heaven, that was not the end; it was only the beginning and greater things were yet to come.  As we read Acts, we can be sure that God was still working in and through those who were committed to following him.  We will see God actively working to bring to himself those who will believe. We see that God can take a handful of people and turn the world upside down.  He didn't need an army.  He only needed a few willing obedient men an...

About two weeks ago I recreated our counter-top (I gave it a face lift) in a faux granite look.  I love it.  Over the weekend, I was given five baskets of tomatoes.  What a blessing!! So I made spaghetti sauce.  Do you know it’s very hard to make spaghetti sauce without making a mess? It is, trust me on this.  This morning as I was making coffee I decided to wipe off the counter-top.  It didn't look too dirty, so it wouldn't take too long, right?  Wrong!!! As I started cleaning, I noticed that the counter-top was filthy even though it didn't look dirty at all.  I was congratulating myself on choosing colors that would hide the dirt well, then suddenly I stopped and laughed at myself.  Did I really want the dirt to be hidden?  Of course not!! I want The counter-top to BE clean mot just appear to be clean.  I thought of when Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs.   What he was saying is that, although they lo...