WHAT YOU GOT?

Luke 12:48
48 "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given. NLT
** Sometimes I think I’m in such deep trouble! I know that God has given me so very much and often times I don’t think I’m doing a very good job at being faithful at those things. Many times people don’t want to know very much or be given very much because they know that they will be accountable for it. So what will I do? I will work hard at being faithful and fruitful to all that He has given me so I will make Him proud on the day that He comes and makes me accountable for it. I’m glad it’s Him because I know that He is merciful and that He loves me and rewards me not only according to my works but according to His love for me.

PASSED UP MIRACLE

Luke 9:13-17
13 But Jesus said, "You feed them."
"Impossible!" they protested. "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?" 14 For there were about five thousand men there. "Just tell them to sit down on the ground in groups of about fifty each," Jesus replied. 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and asked God's blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers! NLT
** Ok, so many things I see here… Jesus would have never told them to feed the people if He knew that they couldn’t perform the miracle He was about to perform. Was this just a passed up opportunity to do a great miracle or was Jesus just setting up an opportunity to show the power He had? I believe He wanted the disciples to do the miracle. Just several verses before this, He had given them power to do miracles and cast out demons and now He sets them up to do an unbelievable miracle never to be forgotten. Their response was faithless even though they had been experiencing previous miracles of healing the sick etc. Oh how I fail so many times to do great things…. Miracles… that Jesus has set up for me to do. I too, lack faith when I need to have it the most. God, I pray that I might be a true follower of you and see every opportunity to do miracles and follow thru with them.

DON'T GO CHANGIN

Luke 8:36-37
36 Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 And all the people in that region begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. NLT
** How amazing that they “begged” Jesus to go away and leave them alone! I can’t imagine ever NOT wanting Jesus to be around me….. Unless I am in sin and like my sin and would feel condemned for Jesus to be standing there watching. They were Jews and they were raising pork…. What else were they doing in that town that would make them “beg” Jesus to leave them alone? Today there are many people who beg Jesus to leave them alone. Most of those people are people who enjoy the sinful life that they are in and they don’t want change. People want to go to church to feel good about themselves but they don’t like it if the preacher preaches against sin. Each of us have a choice, do we want change in our lives enough to let Jesus come into our town and live there? I want to be the one that “begs” Jesus to stay.

NOTHING WITHHELD

Ps 84:11
No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who do what is right. NLT
** So much to write about today in the Life Journal reading but this one stood out to me. Everyday we get up we have 2 choices, to do what is right or to do what is wrong. We have these choices all day throughout the day. This verse gives us a nugget of hope to be encouraged to do what is right. “No good thing will the LORD withhold.” That means if I choose to do right throughout the day, God will allow good things to happen to me and He will give me good things.

THE LORD IS THERE

Ezek 48:35
And from that day the name of the city will be 'The LORD Is There. NLT
** I want to dwell in that city…. “The Lord is there.” I don’t ever want to be out of His presence or His will. Oh how important it is to know that God is present among us and how important that we know that He is. Living this life is worthless if it is but for ourselves and not for the Lord God almighty. But so often I find myself working hard for me and wanting to get my way. I have to keep coming back to the cross and realizing that it’s not all about me and so I pick up my cross daily and follow Him. Now I understand more and more that the cross we bear has our names written all over it. Selfishness is my middle name and I must continue to daily crucify myself to be able to let Jesus do all that He needs to do. I get in the way so many times and I think I find myself in the desert of “Me” and out of the city of “the Lord is there.” Paul said it so clear that this verse has stayed with me for years and years: Gal 2:2020 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me…… AMEN!

BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE

Luke 1:44-45
44 When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! 45 You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said." NLT
** Blessed because of belief. This blessing is not just for Mary but for us too. I believe most people are not blessed because of their unbelief. The first thing to being a believer is knowing that the word of God is true from cover to cover. Yes, I know some of the stories are outdated and they apply differently today than back then. But the HEART of the word of God is true and if we will choose to believe the word of God and follow it and allow it to be our map for life, we will be blessed beyond measure.

CAN'T WAIT

Rev 21:1-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever." NLT
** Oh how I long for this moment! One day we will all stand before our creator and be at awe at how great and mighty He is. No more sorrow, pain, crying….. excitement fills my heart! I just can’t wait until He comes and takes us home with Him to be with Him FOREVER!!!!!!

CHAIN HIM UP!

Rev 20:1-3
1 Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon — that old serpent, the Devil, Satan — and bound him in chains for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. NLT
** I can’t wait until this day comes! I know I’ve lived my whole life hearing about this kind of stuff and it’s hard to believe that one day we are really going to be standing in the face of eternity. I hate the devil! I can’t stand what he does to people and all the temptations he throws our way. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has these feelings. I’ve seen him break marriages apart and I’ve seen him destroy lives one after another. I’ve even stood next to a dead body of a wonderful young teen boy who should have had a long life using all that God made him to be be deceived by the devil and thru drugs and alcohol loose his life. One day….. yes one day, I’m going to stand on the edge of the gulf of hell and I’m going to be a front line volunteer to be one of the ones that will kick the devil and all his demons into the fiery pit of hell FOREVER!

FACE THE FIRE

Dan 3:28
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king's command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. NLT
** Here they were willing to die for their belief in God over anything else. And not only did it save them from the fiery furnace but it also made the king acknowledge that their God was the TRUE God. This story in the 3rd chapter of Daniel is amazing! It is definitely a re-read over and over again. I love it when people stand up for the right of serving God. It’s always easy to read but very difficult to do when you are standing in the face of a fiery furnace and you have to make a decision that may cost you your life but you choose to follow God.

GREAT PARENTS

Dan 1:4
4 "Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men," he said. "Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good sense, and have the poise needed to serve in the royal palace. NLT
** So, as I read this, I get the impression that Daniel and the three must have had very good parents to be qualified to this task. This says a lot about their parents that they were “strong, healthy and good looking, well versed in EVERY branch of learning with knowledge and good sense and poise.” Are we sure we’re talking about YOUNG MEN? Where have all the great parents gone? Where have all the great young men gone? God forgive us for not raising our young men in the ways of you. Help us to remember you ways and may the new parents know you and your greatness and raise more Daniels.

TURMOIL

Lam 1:22
22 "Look at all their evil deeds, LORD. Punish them, as you have punished me for all my sins. My groans are many, and my heart is faint." NLT
** Excuse me while I dig myself out of the pit of despair because of reading today’s journal reading. On and on and on it goes because people don’t obey God. Sometimes I just want to scream because it has not changed from then to now. People still do what they want to do and think that there will be no consequences to their sins. As I look around, there seems to be no end to sinfulness in this world. I have often told Tandi that it seems we are fighting a loosing battle. Where are the righteous? Where are the true followers of Christ? Where are Christians who claim that they love God? Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY? Oh God, please help us survive the wrath you will bring upon our nation and upon your church here in America. Give us strength to endure hardships and stand firm even when it seems like all is lost. YOU are my great savior and deliverer! In YOU will I trust for THERE IS NO GOD LIKE YOU IN ALL THE EARTH!

WHAT DID HE SAY?

Rev 10:4
4 When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But a voice from heaven called to me: "Keep secret what the seven thunders said. Do not write it down." NLT
** It is pretty amazing that we don’t get to know that the thunders said. This is the part of God that we all want to know but although we don’t know now, one day we will know Him and He will tell us things that will make our spirit’s jump! There are a few times in the bible that the persons were not given permission to write what was happening down. I’ve always wanted to know what Jesus wrote in the sand during the woman caught in adultery story. I like God, He makes me smile.

AWEFUL

Ok so I don’t know if I can even list one verse here that I can focus on because the whole writing was sobering. Death, evil, destruction, etc. and even when all this is going on NOBODY REPENTS! Maybe I’m just different or maybe I’m weird, but when bad things begin to happen to me and around me, I stop and ask what I am doing wrong or what can I do to get this bad stuff to stop? I’m glad that God spanks me when I do wrong and I’m glad that He gives me warning when I’m going a stray. I don’t have a problem with that. I know that no matter what comes my way, He has my best interest in mind for me. He wants the best for me. Maybe it is because I had a dad that was good to me and I know that he loved me and would give me warnings before he spanked me. But one think I know, God didn’t send His only son Jesus down to this earth to die for me so that he could just sit around in heaven to punish me and make my life miserable. He sent Jesus because He loves me and He allows certain things in my life because He loves me AND He delivers me from those things because He loves me!

SIN BRINGS PUNISHMENT

Ezek 21:24
24 "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Again and again your guilt cries out against you, for you are not ashamed of your sin. You don't even try to hide it! Wherever you go, whatever you do, all your actions are filled with sin. So now the time of your punishment has come! NLT
** Oh how this verse reminds me of our world today. We are no longer ashamed of our sin. I can turn on the TV and see advertisements about things that would have made us sick just 20 years ago. Women are wearing clothing that leave very little room for imagination along with filthy talk that goes on between people. When will we wake up and repent? When will we turn from our wicked ways, our sinful ways? Oh God forgive us for drifting so far from Your truths and going our own way. Please heal our nation and our world from it’s disgusting behavior. AMEN.

I CAN'T WAIT

Rev 7:9-12
9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a mighty shout, "Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell face down before the throne and worshiped God. 12 They said, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and forever. Amen!" NLT
** Many have gone before us and one day we will truly stand before this throne that is talked about here in Revelation! We will stand on that great throne and we will look and for as far as our eyes can see will be others, more than we can count, others that have given their lives as we have to following the King of Kings and Lord of Lord. Oh how great it will be to be in HIS presence and look HIM in the eye and put my arms around Him and smell Him….. just bury my face in His chest and take in a deep breath and smell God! What does God smell like? I don’t know, but I know that I will like it and they will have to come and drag me away from Him. Or maybe they will just join with me in holding and smelling God!!!! I CAN’T WAIT! How awesome He is…. My savior and all I’ve ever hoped to be. Lord Jesus “come quickly!”