In His Love and Glorious Service

FROM SEPT. 1 Back to school! The signs are everywhere in every store. Just in case I have forgotten that my child is eagerly awaiting her 1st day in 1st grade, the stores are there to remind me that I need to buy her new clothes and supplies. Fortunately, we are blessed and can afford to get my precious little girl some nice clothes to wear this year. While I understand that how my child is adorned on the exterior is not the critical issue of her education, it is a critical issue for many parents who are stuck in the "fashion mode," and must keep up with the latest trends. My daughter will be going to public school again this year and while our schools in my home town may be the best in the area, she will not get any spiritual guidance. It is not allowed. This puts the ball squarely and prominently right where it belongs....in my lap...Her Father. God has given me the responsibility for my family. He did not give this responsibility to the principal of our schools. It is my task to learn God's laws and imprint them in my heart and show them to my family through my actions, love, care, study and words..... Beloved, don't shrink from this responsibility. Embrace it! Remind yourself of the promise that is mentioned in the scripture above; "that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth." Your children look to you. Train up your children, as only He would do Experience His love and then show them too. Abide in Him and He will abide in you Chase after His ways and learn them anew. He waits for you to show them love, Excitedly you do Remembering your teacher. FROM SEPT 3 She ran home in tears, sobbing so hard as she stumbled into the arms of her Mom. As she cried and cried, the Mom stroked her head and her back offering words of comfort and peace. Without an understanding of the meanness shown to her, the child looked to her Mother for comfort and it was given to her. Unconditionally Mom reassured her. Without hesitation she offered her child love and surrounded her with her arms. What she couldn't do was undo the sin. What she couldn't do was guarantee no more pain. She did what she could do and that was to love. She prayed for harmony in the neighborhood and sent back love, from whence came hate. And that is the way of the Lord. The way of peace will seldom come when hate is in the air. No song or beat of any drum denies what is right there. The challenge is to be renewed in spirit and in mind. To give back love through and through brings harmony in kind. FROM SEPT 10 Hanging there, He heard the continuous shouting of insults and their laughing. The pain was so great and His breathing so difficult that He almost didn't even feel the spear thrust in His side. With His blood supply almost gone and the anguish beyond belief, He turned to the thief who had not mocked him. He looked into that man's eyes and into his heart, and saw compassion and remorse. He told him that He could come home with Him. He opened up the gates of heaven to this thief who was reborn in the last minutes of his life. Jesus may not have had a watch, but He knew that it was close to the 11th hour for this guy. And so at 11 the thief was saved. At the last moments of a life spent in ways not pleasing to God, this lost man was found by Jesus, right next to Him. The one who mocked got justice; the one who showed mercy got mercy; and then he felt the grace of almighty God surrounding him in love. I wonder what time it is in your life now. Being late might not be bad as long as you can find, the answers that would make you glad; give sight to whom were blind. But often times the clock runs out before we get a chance, to really know and then to shout repentance as we dance unto the Lord of all the Lords and King of all the Kings. For now we are in one accord and wearing heaven's ring. FROM OCT 4 Beloved, I know that I have failed God in my handling of my neighborhood situation. I have taken matters into my own hands, when I had received counseling from a family member to leave the situation alone and just trust in the Lord. I mistakenly thought that God was telling me to go and broker peace, when in fact He was telling me to leave the situation alone, because He knew ahead of time that my efforts would be fruitless and just cause more trouble. He was right and I was wrong. This is NOT my battle. The battle truly does belong to the Lord. I must trust Him that He will deliver water of healing. I must believe that out of this impossible situation will come His will. Somehow, even when we disobey and refuse to follow Him, and begin a plan of our own, God patiently waits for us to submit to Him. When things get worse, He does not wave His finger at us and say, I told you so." God is merciful and will continue to try to bring us into His holiness and righteous plan for our lives. It is no wonder that there is contention. Romans 8:5-8 (NKJV) says "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." FROM OCT 7 It was getting dark that night and Jesus did not know if He could get to sleep. The disciples were all spread out over the garden. He was tired. He had so much on His mind and He felt drained. Here they were, most asleep like babies, and He still had work to do. Walking slowly, His steps taking Him through the garden with just a few of His closest disciples, Jesus looked up through the moonlight and fell to His knees praising His Father and asking Him to give Him the strength to go on and complete the mission. He knew the nails were coming and could almost feel the iron ends of the whip digging into his flesh as they laughed at Him and cursed at Him and spit on Him, while placing a crown of thorns on His head, that dug deep into His forehead and caused horrible bleeding. This was our Lord! This is God! This is the Prince of Peace and the King of King! How dare these evil men do this to Him! He asked for a way out, but gave in to His Father's demands. Alas, if Jesus called on His angels to come and get Him, we would all be eternally condemned to the darkness and fires of hell. Thanks be to God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, that He had mustard seed faith in His Father. Thanks be to God that He remembered my name. Thanks be to God that through the blood of Jesus of Nazareth, which was to be shed on Calvary, we all have hope. Our hope is in Him and in His willing submission to the will of God the Father. Our hope is in the resurrection that gave us all the future we long for. Our hope is in the impossible. So, Jesus got up and went back to His closest friends. All were fast asleep, He became discouraged. Twice more He went back and tried to reason as a man, but decided as God's Son. Twice more He cried out in anguish over the suffering He was about to endure. Twice more He looked into the hearts of you and me and said that He must go on because He loved us so much. Twice more He pleaded and twice more He gave in. Despite the overwhelming burden of all of our sins, He did not refuse. He willingly went to be slaughtered, even though He was holy and pure and had done no wrong. He took your blame. He took mine. He took it all and He did it because we stood accused and condemned and He had to supply mercy and grace. He forgave us. And now He awaits our decisions.