Tag: JesusChrist

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!

Why is the World on the Edge?

Look around the world and it is on the edge of destruction. I don’t want to paint gloom and doom. But any way you look at the world we are on the very edge of destruction. One wrong move and the fuse is lit. It may already be lit in the Middle East. Why? Simply because we have lost God in our lives. We have turned our backs on Him.

Never before has the world been so “secular.” Gallup has reported that 81% of Americans believe in God. Wait, that’s high, right? Well, first, that is the lowest number ever recorded, and it’s down from 98% in the 50s and 60s. But more importantly, there is a difference between telling the pollsters you believe versus living your life for and in God. There is no doubt that we don’t live for and in God as a priority.

Ours is the story of the Israelites aimlessly wandering the desert, directionless, and giving into false idols. God was the last thing in their lives. In fact, He was totally forgotten. Look where that got them. Wandering and dying in pain and suffering.

We simply need to turn to God and put Him back in our lives. That’s not hard but we need to put ourselves in the backseat and God in the front. It will happen one person after another if it happens. If not, the world gets closer to the edge or over it. My fear is it’s too late before we scream out to God. Like the Israelites.

Again, sorry for what sounds like gloom and doom. But it’s the hard truth. The good thing is that for all the darkness in the world there is the light of God shining brightly. We just need to turn towards it.

Ponder how you can help change the world this week. Change happens one person at a time. Turn to the light in your life.

Mercy

The world could use a little—actually, a LOT—more mercy. God is abundant in mercy but we are clearly lacking it. God looks at each of us and forgives in mercy. We look at each other and want to do the opposite. That’s no wonder because the world is sorely lacking in God.

We are clearly lost in a world that is becoming more estranged from God and, in the process, mercy is becoming harder to find. Fights, shootings, wars, and lots of terrible things fill the news waves. And the farther we get from God the worse the headlines become.

Change only happens one person at a time. It starts with me and you. I intend to move even closer to God this Christmas season in a renewed to show those around me more forgiveness and, in the process, more mercy. My start is just more kindness!

Turning to God is the necessary first step because without God there is a void. With God, it starts with a smile, helping someone in need, and simply smiling. It’s not rocket science. It’s just God.

Let’s all try to spread a little joy, forgiveness, and mercy. Maybe, just maybe, we can light a fuse and start change.

ENJOY the rest of the week—in mercy!

One Christian Requirement

LOVE. That’s it. If you walk in LOVE you follow the walk of Jesus Christ. You are a Christian. Pretty simple, right? Conversely, if you don’t walk in LOVE you are not a Christian. You are simply something else.

Jesus commanded us to do one simple thing. LOVE. So, if we walk in LOVE, as Jesus did, we are a follower. A “Christ”ian. If we don’t, we aren’t. Again, pretty simple.

There are a lot of self-professed “Christians” in this world that clearly don’t walk in LOVE. So, they may think they are “Christian” but are anything but true Christian. Again, Jesus commanded us to do one simple thing. LOVE. If we LOVE we are followers. If we don’t, we are not.

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” john 15:12 

There is no mistaking that. LOVE. And just to be clear, Jesus is talking about loving all as He loves each one of us. LOVE if you are a true Christian.

Have an EXCEPTIONAL day walking in LOVE!

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!

Don’t Beat Yourself Up!

I screwed up. If truth be known, I screw up now and again. We all do. That’s part of being human. We are simply not perfect. We are imperfect children of a perfect God. But the one thing we can’t do is beat ourselves up. We have to repent—truly repent—and move on.

God doesn’t want me or you to beat ourselves up. The devil wants us to do that. That’s because beating ourselves up over what we did wrong keeps us in the past and focused on how we screwed up. God wants us to learn and move forward. The devil wants us to keep back, frozen from moving forward.

Life is full of twists and turns. We often walk down the wrong path to dead ends. God wants us walking forward on His path, the path laid out by Jesus. It’s the Spirit who guides us along the right path, keeping us focused ahead. It’s the devil that whispers in our ear to take us off the right path.

Admit what you did wrong, and repent with your heart and mind. Then, move on. LISTEN for and to God to guide you along His path, the path that Jesus laid out and that the Spirit guides us along.

Have an AWESOME week ahead, moving ahead on the right path!

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!