Happy Jesus Day

I am so tired!  My heart tells me that God is tired too!  Tired of all the hatred.  Tired of all the lies.  Tired of all the judging.  Tired of all the selfishness.  Since the time of scripture… since the time of Adam and Eve… we have spent lifetimes worried about what is best for us.  Spending year, after year, consumed with  looking out for ourselves instead of concentrating on what pleases our Savor.  We talk about the person different than us, instead of praying for them.  We run to be first in line, instead of allowing others to be.  We spend countless amounts of money to make sure that our way of life remains the same with very little regard for other parts of the world.   I’m tired… of a world where trivial things, that do not matter to our Savior, are more important than a hungry child.  Our father has given us everything we need to make our world work.  He has given us all the directions we need to have a joyful life.  We simply need to follow the instructions found in his word.  Love him with all we have and love others as much as we love him.  Follow that… teach that… live that…  and don’t make it harder than he intended for it to be. 

Mark 12:29

1 John 4:11

I Love You!

Perry

Take a moment…  

Close your eyes…   

Relax your spirit…  

Can you hear him?  Can you feel his presence?  Can you hear his whisper? Come with me!  Daily he whispers. Come with me!  He wants to show us pure joy that can’t be found without him.  He wants to show us a peace that can’t be understood outside of him.  He wants to show you faith over fear.  He longs to love you like you’ve never been loved before in this worldly place.  A love you will wonder how you ever lived without.  Once you experience it you will never let it go.  He longs to be with you… to hear you whisper back.  He wants to hear you say his name… he wants to spend the day with you.  To show you wonders and amazement.  He longs to know your worries… your concerns.  He wants to break the chains that hold you captive and set you free.  Take a moment and whisper his name “Jesus”.  

He’s listening… 

leaning in… 

waiting for you…  

Let him wake you up as only he can do.  Jesus!

Mark 6:31

I Love You!

Perry

Do you ever think what is the greatest way to show love to someone?  Is it thru gifts? Is it thru words?  Is it thru actions or simply by noticing?  Then my thoughts turn to, how do I show my deepest love to the God who made me?  Trust!!  When you trust God you show him the unconditional love he so desires from you.  During times of your life that all hope seems lost… you must trust.  During times in life when fear is your greatest enemy… you must trust.  During times when the answers don’t seem to come… you must trust. During times when control is out of reach… you must trust.  When you have deep abiding trust in God it is the greatest way to show your love.  At that moment you are telling him.  I believe, without a doubt, everything you have promised.  I believe without a doubt, you are here,  you are watching, you want what is best for me.  Isn’t that what a child does with a parent to show love for them? Children trust mom unconditionally.   If you can’t fully trust the maker of the universe and the giver of life.  Then true love has not found its way into your heart.

Proverbs 3:5

I Love You!

Perry

He is a liar!  He delights in chaos!  He cheers as we dislike others.  As we see differences in ourselves, he dances.  He finds pleasure as he watches us look at others with hatred instead of seeing our Savior in them.  He lives to divide, to cause fear, and to make us turn from the one who can save.  He hates our hope, he hates our love, he hates our compassion and most of all he hates the one we get that from.  Satan has spent a lifetime driving humans to what we have become.  He will continue to push… to influence… to lie to so many as they fight… as they fear… as they look  everywhere else, but up.  Want to defeat the evil one?  Take to your knees in prayer.  Love others regardless of nationality… race… religion… Whether they are good or bad.  Look to Jesus for all the answers and not to the world.  Focus on our Fathers words… our fathers wisdom… and lean not on your own.  Those simple things will cause satan to run and hide.  He is not welcome here.  Drive him out of hearts with unending love for all and worship to our Savior.

Ephesians 6:10

I Love You!

Perry

God is God and I am not.   

He was so big!  Muscles the size of melons.  His armor… it glimmered in the sun.  His spear alone weighed more than I do.  I would be afraid if it not for the living God who stands beside me.   The living God will give me victory.  The living God who takes my fear away and replaces it with rock solid faith.  And so he did.  One small boy… one slingshot… one smooth stone… a dead giant!!  What is your fear today? Your giant? Your mountain to climb?  I see people daily that live in fear of so many things.  Fear of so many situations.  OH! to have the faith of David!   Why do I think I could ever do anything on my own?  I simply can not see the whole picture.  David saw the picture with faith.  David knew in his heart… in his soul… that he could do nothing without God.  By that faith he killed the giant.  By that same faith you can overcome your fear.  Your giant.  Pick up your stones and your slingshot, ask for Gods help and run toward your fear.  God will stand beside you and help… as you slay your giant. 

Romans 8:31

I Love You!

Perry

All the love in this world.  All the worship that can be done… will never be enough for me.  I speak with him nonstop on  those days.  I marvel at his love.  At his blessings.  At his never ending grace.  I worship his amazing creation.  I see… and smell… and feel… all the wonders of his love.  I want more of him with each passing moment.  I long for his look… for time in his presence.  I want nothing more from this life than to be his.  To be his hands… his feet… .  I want others to see him in me and to experience the amazing love and grace of our Savior.  I hold my breath…  I don’t want this moment to vanish.  In those times he sets off a dream in me of days when I can spread his word and demonstrate his love.  Moments that he will be able to use all of me, to his glory.  I want it to echo through the rest of my life until he calls me home.  There are times I stumble and fall, but his love is there to pick me up.  I then think of the day when he has used me fully.  We will walk hand in hand and I will hear those words I long for.  “Good job my faithful servant”.

Luke 4:8

I Love You!

Perry

How hard do you pray?  

She struggled to come into this world.  After being late she had a rough birth and time in the neonatal intensive care unit was a must.  Our daughter was born with complications. Holding her meant a fight with wires, with machines, with gowns, with masks.  As I got home alone… the stress, the strain,  the fear, overtook me.  As I hit my knees, weeping, I had but one prayer.  TAKE ME!  God if you need a soul.  If you need a life, then take mine….  I had never prayed that hard in my life!!  God sees our needs, before we ask.  He sees our hearts.  Maybe sometimes he wants to see how bad we want it.  Maybe he wants to see if we have a strong enough faith to surrender to him and allow him to do what he does best.  LOVE US!  When life takes a bad turn.  When you simply don’t know which way to go… look up and pray.  Show him how much it matters to you.  Then sit back and watch him work.  He did for me.  The next day she was better.  And the next, and the next.  That night he taught me the power of prayer.  He taught me the power of his love.  

By the way,  she is the apple of my eye.  Rest assured I would pray that prayer again… if need be.  John 14:13-14

I Love You!

Perry

Faith is the true shibboleth to determine the people of God.   

Shibboleth was a Hebrew term used as a password to determine if you were an Ephraimites in the book of Judges.  I see so little faith during this season of our lives.  I worry about those that claim to be people of God whose faith is so weak that fear has overcome them.  A kind of fear that is blinding… paralyzing. 

The storm was worse than the apostles had ever seen.  The boat was being tossed violently and they feared for their lives.  One of them remembered that Jesus was asleep in the bow and so they woke him.   “Where is your faith” his words after he calmed the wind with his breath… the waves with his touch.  My heart has been burdened, wondering how many of his people will he say that too, when we get past this time in history.  Faith is paramount in our service to God.  Faith is the cornerstone of showing the rest of the world the joy and confidence that comes from Christ.  When others see you, do they see the shibboleth that points to Jesus, or do they see the fear that comes from the world?

Matthew 17:20

I Love You!

Perry 

Uncertainty is not a word that should be part of our thoughts.  I keep hearing commercials… people talking… ads that claim this is an uncertain time.  That we must face the future with a new normal…  with new focus…  Uncertainty?  God is still on his throne.  Christ is still sitting to his right.  The holy spirit is still beside us watching… protecting…  Our Savior still hears our prayers.  He still loves us.  He still forgives… he still protects… he still wants what is best for us.  In my life, I have never known a time of certainty, outside of my God and his Son.  Each day you leave home with no certainty of your return.  You plan, you save, with no certainty of your future. You exercise, take vitamins, and eat right but health is on the edge of a cliff.   People look for stability in their spouse… in their children… in their finances… in their job.  That could vanish tomorrow like smoke in the wind.  God is still on his throne.  Christ is still sitting to his right and the holy spirit is within you.  Uncertainty, I think not.  Our Savior is still alive and listening!  Be still and know that he is God!

John 14:26

James 4:13-16

I Love You!

Perry

I could stay wrapped in your arms forever!   

Do you ever feel so close to our Savior that it feels like he is wrapping you in love?  There are days, after deep prayer, that I feel so close to him that everything else seems to fade away.  I can feel his presence…  I can feel his warmth…  I can feel his love.  During these times, as troubles fade and are replaced with his amazing love, I wonder why I would ever want to leave.  Father, let me hide in your embrace as close as a mortal heart can be.  Even if it is just on the fringes of your perfect love in this fallen world.  As I pray… as Christ and I become one in the spirit… I know in my heart that the trials of this earth will try to take me from him.  The problems of daily life will pull me in different directions.  At times I fall and his embrace slips from me.  Then I pray harder and his embrace comes back as if time stood still.  His light surrounds me as the world rushes by.  As I become closer… as I feel his love…  as I realize that no matter what this world does, his love is always there.  I start to catch a glimpse of what heaven will be. 

Matthew 6:6 (MSG)

I Love You!

Perry