Belated Easter Thoughts

I know I'm a little late on this blog post, but I just want to share with you these thoughts.  They came to me late on Saturday night as I was excited about Easter Sunday. 

In my mind I keep calling Easter Sunday "Thanksgiving".  You know how you do, Tomorrow my kids are coming over for "Thanksgiving" after church, when in fact what I meant was Easter Sunday. So I begin thinking about that, for me it did feel more like a Thanksgiving.  What God gave us, what Jesus did for us, it is overwhelming to think about loving so much.  We all say things like I would die for : fill in the blank, but would you really?  Could you willingly give your child to save others?  I am positive I could not in free will give my child, I do believe with all my heart I would give my life for my children. 
 We were already chosen to be God’s own children by Christ. This was done just like the plan He had.  We who were the first to put our trust in Christ should thank Him for His greatness.
Ephesians 1:11-12
And what does God ask from us in return?  Praise Him, thank Him.  It's that simple.  I don't just mean in church, though we are told to worship with others at church and sing songs of praise.
 Tell of your joy to each other by singing the Songs of David and church songs. Sing in your heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19
There is so much more to praising God.  It's our daily actions, how we love & treat others that allows Gods love to shine through us.  What would our lives be like if we really took to heart what praising God was meant to look like? 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-32

Seems like such a small insufficient thing to do compared to a life. 

Prayer: Thank you God for loving me so much as to give your son for my sins and the sins of this world.  Thank you for paying a debt I know I could never repay.   I love you Lord and will sing your praises and do my very best to let your love show through me everyday, for as long as I am here on this earth and look forward to singing your praises in heaven one day. Amen....

Christmas Time

Christmas time...A time for family and friends,food and presents. A celebration of the birth of Jesus....all to often put at the end of a thought. With all the hustle and bustle, parties and decorating, we are left exhausted and  filled with discontent.  You may be resentful of obligations to go places you don’t want to, spend money you don’t have, spend time with people you don’t like. You may envy those with the funds to have a beautiful Christmas celebration and those families that seem to have the “perfect” life. The reason for the season can become all about you, and you ask “What is the significance of it all?” 

Stop! Look around you at the everyday things; the way your child’s eyes light up when they smile, the stars twinkling at night, the way the sun glistens on the snow- or the turquoise water at the beach... 

They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh. Matthew 2:11

In the ordinary things and places.  That is where the wise men found the baby Jesus. In an ordinary barn , in an ordinary manger, birthed by an ordinary woman. 

They came bearing gifts. Gold, a gift for kings.  Frankincense, an incense used in temples to worship God. Myrrh, a spice used on the dead.  All this acknowledging  Jesus is God, King and Savior. 

What will you bring to Jesus for his birthday this year? What can you possibly give? Trust. Yourself. Time. When you trust Jesus you are also having faith, giving yourself and your time to Him will help you grow in that faith and really get to know Him better, as a result you trust even more.  

For the next week think about the new year. What will you trust in? The economy? Yourself? will you trust someone else or will you trust Jesus? 

We’ll talk next Monday....

Merry Christmas!