Not Judged, Just Loved

Man of the wild was he.

Long hair and straggly beard he wore with pride.

His loin cloth he wore as a king wore a robe.

His booming voice trumpeted of the coming king “make a way for him to come in your hearts”.

With water he did purify the saints, but with blood he did pay the price.

Oh man of the wild could you see the decrease?

Could you tell the future of what was to come?

Be not dismayed oh man of the wild fringe for he that comes is to save and heal, and yours is to prepare the way.

Oh man of the wild.

1 Peter 3:15 Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

We all have a story to tell that has shaped us and made us who we are. We sometimes have opportunities to share those moments with others. If those moments come let us not be ashamed of the testimony of God in our lives. Let us be bold in sharing those moments that have shaped and made us. To share where He has brought us from with others is one of the most blessed things we can do. The old hymn says this is my story this is my song praising my savior all the day long. Not only does our testimony witness of God divine nature in our lives but shares the praise of His glory. As I look back on life and realize that at times luck was not the blessing, but God in His infinite wisdom kept me and even at times my path was not the one, he had purposed for me. I can say my story has been one of ups and down and dead ends but at each moment I find He has not left or forsaken me. The poem Footprints in the sand gives us the best illustration of our Heavenly Father always being there.

Psalms 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

The expectation of meeting Christ and seeing him one day is a moment we all look forward to and anticipate. From a message I had delivered years ago I found four things that we can expect from Christ. First, we find salvation through Christ by the cross. Second, we find security as we are assured that neither in life nor death we can be separated from him. Life is what keeps us from knowing him as he is, and death is what unites us to him. Third, he brings peace to our lives. The Psalmist states that thou O Lord are shield for me and the glory and lifter of my head. Fourth and lastly, he is mine and your defense. The rock I find that is stronger than I and upon this rock we must build. All is well as long as we have Christ as our Savior, Security, Peace and Defense.

Urgency is a declaration of hope. Hope deferred makes the heart sick but when desire comes life is renewed. Have you ever lost hope? Many times, we can feel that way with life. No use trying or no need to keep going. Many times, in the bible we see saints urgently praying for God’s deliverance. The enemy at the gates of city the dying child the starving widow preparing the last meal. Lately the times seem that we are standing against over whelming odds. The question is if God be for us who can be against us? The answer is simply no one can be against us. Take faith God is for us not against. Stand urgently therefore having done all. It may feel like we are knocked to our knees but take the unchanging hand. Hope comes only through Christ

HOLD ON:

I hold on again.

I lay it all at Christ feet.

Holding to the unchanging hand.

Not letting go.

Urgently calling for help.

Two people went before me walking together one named Freedom and the other named Burden.

One with the weight of the world on his shoulders,

The other free from all burdens.

Freedom looks to Burden and ask how far are we going.

Burden replies how far do you want to go?

Just like burdens we carry in life Christ is there to set us free from the burdens.

How far will he take those burdens?

As far as we are willing to go with him.

God Bless!

How many times have we stopped to rest? Rest is something that at times we think we don’t need but in truth even Jesus rested. To find rest in the world today we look to many different avenues. Reading, social media, walking, or just taking a rest to watch tv to take our minds off of life. To find true rest lately for me has been to cast my cares on Christ and trust Him to provide the rest I need. Just as Jesus was sleeping in the boat as they crossed the sea a storm came and fear gripped the apostles. They woke Jesus up and asked him what do we do. We are going to die in this storm! Don’t you care that we perish they asked him. The answer we all want to hear in our hearts was the same answer he gave them, yes he cares and yes he desires for us to have rest in our souls from the storms of life for he is larger than any storm or unrest we face. 1 Peter 5:7 Cast or give all your fears, anxiety, worries on him for he cares for you. . Throw your cares overboard and let Jesus calm the storm and give you rest.

Amen

If you are reading this thank you. My hope is that you take something encouraging from the post each day. John 3:17 states that Christ came to the world to save not condemn the world. Christ sent by God to save all. At times we can feel judge and condemn by past mistakes and deeds. Christ has come that we may have forgiveness of the past and hope for the future. Recently feeling judge was the way of life for me until I read John 3:17. At that point I realized that Christ was not condemning me but I was condemning myself. He came to save and to heal us not to stand over us with a baseball bat ready to correct us. Let us not forget at the cross the ground is level for all to stand.

God Bless