Category: LIVE

He is Risen Every Day

We’re past Easter and the glory of the Resurrection. But Jesus is not past any of it. Because He is Risen every day. In us. If we let Him!

The true glory of Easter is not Easter Sunday but every day. Because Jesus is truly risen every day and in us if we let Him.

What does this all mean? It means that Jesus is in us every day we believe that He is in us. It’s more than a feeling, it’s about the way we live. In LOVE. With every one. After all, Jesus told us that His one commandment to us is to LOVE.

LOVE. It’s truly one of the Real Secrets to Life. We LOVE and Jesus is in us, risen every day.

You don’t have to be a saint to LOVE. It’s starts with a smile, a helping hand, and putting yourself behind others. It’s looking at others and seeing the risen Jesus. It’s not about relighion. It’s about how you live your life.

Enjoy the week ahead with Jesus risen in you!

Celebrate Life!!!

I write a lot about the darkness in the world. Well, there is a lot of darkness in the world right not. It’s hard to deny that. But the way to help clear the darkness is to CELEBRATE each and every day. After all, Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

Jesus wants us to have life to the full. What better cause to CELEBRATE than that? I want to wake up every day remembering that and no matter what is going on in my life to celebrate the new day.

When I’m home and not traveling for work our dog (my boy) Rip wakes up each day wagging his tail and ready for a good scratch. He’s so full of joy! He knows no darkness. Now, I’m not saying we should act like happy pups but we should simply CELEBRATE each day, a day in Christ. Toss your cares away and put them on Jesus.

There is one sure fired way to cast out the darkness in your life. Let the light of Jesus in. CELEBRATE life. Let His light light your light. CELEBRATE! REJOICE! Yes, it’s dark out there but you and I can help light the world!

CELEBRATE!!!

Hate is Like Cancer

Hate spreads like cancer if it goes unchecked. It’s a disease that destroys life. It erodes. Most of all, it is ungodly. Jesus left us with one last commend: to love. Hate is the exact opposite of love. It’s ungodly.

It’s clear to see that hate is spreading across the globe. In the United States politics have become politics of hate. The Middle East is a cauldron of hate. Russia is driven by hate. It’s ungodly. The cancer of hate is spreading. Really bad things follow hate.

I refuse to give into hate. I force myself to see people around me as what they are: all children of God. I’m far from perfect. I’m the perfect sinner. But I do my best to stop hate anywhere in my life. I stop anger and bad feelings immediately because tiny negative sparks can light the fire of hate.

No one who hates is a Christian. You can’t follow Jesus Christ if you hate anyone. In fact, you can’t follow Jesus Christ if you don’t love. This is all very simple.

The devil may be winning and “loving” the spread of hate but it won’t win in the end. The devil loses because Jesus wins in the end.

You pick what side you want to be on and where you want to spend eternity.

LOVE! It puts out the flames of hate!

Light or Darkness?

It’s tough these days to think about living in the light. Darkness is all around us. War, shootings, greed, egos, basic lack of civility, and just a general lack of kindness in the air. It’s depressing. It feels like the darkness is enveloping the world. Yet, if you look through the darkness there is always light. Jesus.

John starts out his gospel by telling us that, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” The light, which is Jesus, shines in the darkness and the darkness “has” not overcome the light. It will never overcome the light of Jesus. Jesus is our light. We just need to let Him into our lives.

Want to see the light? Tired of all the darkness. Simple solution. Spend some time with Jesus. You don’t have to seek Him out. He’s less than a heartbeat away. You simply have to reach out to Him. Jesus is there. He is everywhere.

Find a quiet space. Focus. Be still. LISTEN for/to Jesus because He will speak to you. Trust me. This isn’t some religious mumbo-jumbo. This is life. Real life. Jesus is there, here, and everywhere in abundant, radiant light. Just reach out and see and feel the light.

Be still. Be quiet. Give it a chance, in your mind and heart. Trust me. Jesus is there to shine light in your life.

Have an AMAZING rest of the week in the light!

It’s Not Too Late!!!

As we hit the end of January, and New Year’s resolutions seem a distant memory lost, I’m here to say it’s not too late. Sure, in the resolution department it’s never too late to make a resolution to change for the better. That can happen any day, and not a day too late. However, I’m talking about your life and changing it completely and going in a different direction. It’s never too late for that, no matter what your age is.

Look at Jesus as your model. He lived a life of obscurity as a carpenter in a dusty little town. Then, He spent the next three years—what amounted to about 11% of his life—saving all of us and changing the world forever.

Now, I know what you are thinking. That Jesus is God. Easy for Him to do. But all of Jesus’ life shows the mortal side that serves as a model for us. You just need to decide to follow that model. To get up and do something totally different in your life.

We are creatures of habit that love to live in our comfort zones. Going from a carpenter in a backwater town to the talk of all Israel almost overnight is a big change. We can make any change in our lives if we just believe in ourselves and the power of God.

Itching to make a change in your life? Start by calling on the Holy Spirit to empower you. Push forward and ahead, out of your comfort zone. You can do it if you try. I’m not saying it will be easy. But nothing worthwhile is often easy.

Change today and enjoy it. Change is within your grasp!

So Insignificant; So Significant

You and I are so insignificant, regardless of who we are. If you consider your town or city, your state, your country, the world, the galaxy and universe beyond, we are less than ants. Are insignificance is so clear.

You and I are so very significant. God created me and you. He loves us both, and everyone else in this world, completely and unconditionally. We are incredibly significant, regardless of who we are.

What? How can we be so insignificant and so significant at the same time? Simple. In the scope of the entire universe, which is too infinite to comprehend, we are factually insignificant. We may think we’re important but I don’t care if it’s the President or Elon Musk, we are all insignificant. It’s a fact of numbers.

Yet, God loves each one of us totally and unconditionally. He doesn’t love you, me, or anyone else more or less. We are all the same and all significant in His eyes.

What does this all mean? Just that outwardly we can think more of our selves. But we are just one of many. We need to stay humble when we consider ourselves against each other. But inwardly we need to know that no matter who we are, no matter what we have, God loves us. He has a special, unique plan for each of us. We are significant in His eyes and need to hold that in our hearts.

I hope this adds some perspective to your life. And enjoy the week ahead thinking about this.

You Can’t Fear With Faith

Fear and faith are exact opposites. Faith is the belief that God will take care of anything and everything. But faith isn’t like rubbing a magic lamp. God may not take care things as you or I want, but He will take care of them. That’s faith. Fear is the opposite. There is no belief that God will do anything.

The devil, or whatever you call the evil presence in this world, lives on spreading fear. Because fear blocks out faith. No faith, no God. The devil loves to whisper fear into our ears so that faith is blocked out.

When you have faith you can’t have fear. Because faith doesn’t allow for fear. You may start fearing but when you fall back on faith there is no fear.

I know this sounds overly simple. But as I write over and over again, God means life to be simple. We are the ones who complicate it. It’s that simple that with faith there can be no fear.

If you fear anything you have to tune into God and have faith. Ask Him to bolster your faith. Fall back and into His almighty arms. It works. Trust me. Been there, done that.

Don’t let fear drag you down and hold you back in life. Step boldly forward in faith. God is less than a heartbeat away.

Have a faith-filled weekend ahead!!!

Darkness Overtaking the Light

Boy, it sure feels like it. I mean, when I look out into the world all I see is darkness overtaking the light. I’m not just talking about the war in Ukraine or the latest one in the Middle East, but the darkness is all around. Heard from someone this morning about an ex-husband to a grammar school teacher who entered the school and shot himself in front of students. My friend’s daughter just cries at night and won’t go to school. Darkness. It’s creeping over the world.

It’s times like these that I need to read and meditate on the beginning of the Gospel according to John:

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:5)

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” That’s what I keep on saying to myself as it sure looks like the darkness is extinguishing the light. I realize in the process that the “light” is Jesus in the world and the Spirit He left us with in the world. Times may look bleak but the “light” will always win out in the end.

We have the “light” of Jesus in each of us. If we want the light to overcome the darkness we need to let our lights shine. That involves doing the right things in following Jesus, not being Christians in cheap words but followers in real actions. We need to smile, help, pick others up, serve, love, and everything in between. We simply need to let our lights shine.

Don’t let the darkness overcome us. Do your part today in letting your light shine!

One Little Simple Thing!

LOVE. That’s the one little simple thing God commanded us to do before Jesus’ coming. Then, Jesus before His death commanded us to do the same thing. LOVE. It’s so very simple but as with everything in life we complicate it. In fact, we downright ignore it!!!

Why is the world spinning out of control? Because we ignore God’s command to LOVE. Hatred has taken over so many that LOVE is blotted out. God is shaking His head and the devil is eating up all the hatred. And fueling it!

The only way we will turn this twisted, out-of-control world around is by loving. And that starts with each one of us. It starts with a smile and extends to putting the other person before yourself. It involves me focusing on “you” and not on “me.”

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. It’s a key Secret to Life that we increasingly ignore.

Start by spreading some LOVE today. It’s not hard. And the world needs a whole lot of LOVE to stop it spinning out of control.

LOVE!!!

How Little Has Changed in the Middle East!

War has been a thing in the Middle East since the dawn of time, or at least since the time of Abraham. Read the Bible and it’s one conflict after another. The Holy Land has always been a war zone, is today, and I think will be tomorrow. That’s because God’s call for LOVE goes unheard.

Right now God is looking down at current events and yet another war killing thousands of His innocent children. He is just shaking His head. God has given us a message to LOVE, and even let His Son be sacrificed for LOVE. Jesus commanded us to do one thing and that is LOVE. But we ignore every word. We hate.

What can you and I do with war now going on (again) in the Middle East, not to mention the war in Ukraine? We can love. LISTEN for and to God who is practically screaming, if not really screaming, for us to LOVE. It’s not hard. Just start with a smile, forgive as you want God to forgive you, and think about the other person before yourself. Think God. Think Jesus. Think Spirit. Call for help. They are there.

The world is a powder keg because we can’t LOVE. It’s easier to hate and be mad. But the path to eternal life is LOVE but as a collective people we are taking another path, and the end won’t be pretty.

Change starts with each one of us, person by person. So, you and I can start a chain if we can just LOVE. Like life itself, God meant this to be be very simple. We are the ones who complicate it.

Spread a little LOVE this week. The world certainly needs it!