Open My Eyes Lord!

I have always enjoyed nature, even before I started a closer walk with God, nature amazed me. The experience of nature has always been soothing, and beckoning, almost begging me to look deeper into what was in front of my face. Now, as I try to get closer to God, I find, that nature sparks even more wonder and awe in my spirit, and an even greater desire to know more.

I find it to be breathtaking, to think of all of creation, living things and non living things alike, and then think about how they all depend on each other to survive. Every creation that God made has a purpose, and He made everything with purpose. I think upon this so many times, especially when I read of endangered species, or man made disasters that threaten our wildlife and habitat. Not one creation is without purpose. Not one. And God gave them all for us to take care of, but I believe there is a also important lessons about God in nature, as well.

I often watch the birds as they sing and play, look for food, and on occasion get into nasty bird battles in my yard. I name birds that I see often, and learn their habits and quirks as though they are a friend, given to me by God to love and enjoy. They are such frail little creatures, yet they live on so vividly. 

All the bird knows how to do is be a bird, and while he is being a bird, I realize, he is glorifying God by being what God created him to be. Just like the bird, we need to immerse ourselves in God's Word, so that we may learn about His will, and give opportunity to hear Him speak to our hearts.

Even as the bird just goes on through the day, he is doing God's work. There are so many blessings these little birds have given to me, but by far, showing me God's love is my favorite of them all.

As the bird flies about, and eats berries, God is thinking about so much more than just the bird's hunger. In that act, the act of feeding itself, the bird will deposit the seeds of the berries in it's droppings, and more berries will grow for other birds to eat. Most would overlook a blessing in a pile of bird droppings, but God spoke to me through one!

While we go on about our lives, we feel that the bad things in our lives are like droppings, just mere filth and trash that is vile and to be cleaned away. But God shows me that even though Satan wishes to put piles and piles of droppings in our lives, to discourage and beat us down, make us feel unworthy and filthy, He plans to bring a blessing out of any bad thing that may happen. He promises us that He will work all bad things to our good, whether it be in this lifetime, or eternity with Him, we can be SURE He does not go without noticing our obedience (Jeremiah 29:11). All He wants is for us to trust Him, wait on His timing, and KNOW He will give what He promises.

God is in everything that is around us, and He is waiting to show us His love in so many endless ways. My prayer is that I may be still enough to know that He is God, so that I will not miss His gentle whispers to my soul

The Especially Wicked Sinner Luke 7:37-48

The story of the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears has always touched me. It is a comfort to know that God always sees us for who we can be, and not see all of the brokenness in us. He knows if we will just trust Him, and obey Him, that we will have peace like we've never imagined.

When I think about this story, it brings me such comfort. After all, if Jesus can forgive a woman that everyone considered to be such a great sinner, then there is hope for us all, right? Of course!

The Pharisees could not understand why Jesus let this woman touch His feet, and questioned Him in being a prophet. Jesus knew who this woman was, and what she had done, but He also knew her heart.

I think about how that woman must have felt. Everyone knew her sins, and yet still she sought Jesus and His forgiveness. What drew her to go to Him, when everyone else judged her greatly, what made her go to Jesus without fear? Love, Jesus' unconditional love.

We all find it hard to forgive people that do things that hurt or upset us, or even do things that we don't understand or agree with, but if we have Jesus' loving attitude, we can help heal those hurting hearts, rather than allow them to fester in their agony. Jesus came to give life, and giving life to someone that is oppressed, by others or their own sins, has a power that can not be matched!

The woman was so remorseful and so thankful to Jesus, that she washed His feet with the tears that streamed down her face. How resourceful this woman was! How many times I have sat crying because I had done something I wish I hadn't, or felt condemned and paralyzed by my own actions, when I could have used my tears for His good. I learn a lot from this woman's actions, she took the pain of her actions, and used it to glorify God. Perhaps we cannot understand how much this might have meant, but in those days, washing of someone's feet was an act of love, and she truly loved Jesus.

Jesus explained to the Pharisees why He allowed her to wash His feet, and pour perfume on them. She had many sins, but she was so grateful for His forgiveness and chance to redeem her life, that she poured her tears out of her heart, and used them for His good. When many sins are forgiven, the heart loves greatly, and I imagine when she left Jesus that day, everyone who saw her noticed the difference!

We are to mimic Jesus and try to live a life of love, as He showed us. Showing love to those that are caught in sin is the ONE powerful way to bring them to God. Jesus showed love to everyone, and without love we can do nothing. I think sometimes we feel like we can't love a sinner, because of their actions, but in reality, we are just forgetting the most powerful gift God has given us, love.

We are all sinners, there is not one of us that doesn't sin, and we must show love to one another. Love covers a multitude of sins, and just like Jesus showed that woman mercy, we are instructed to show mercy to others as well.

When sin floods your life, and you feel you cannot take the shame or the pain, just turn to Jesus, and ask Him, what might I do with these tears, to honor You, Lord? Jesus died to take the condemnation away, He gave nothing but love to us to show us the way, and He will never leave us, no matter how many people try to shame us, He is on our side.

Gratitude

A very amazing man, David Kim, asked his FB friends to consider the power of Gratitiude. He posted it a few days ago, and I have been thinking about it ever since, and I'd like to thank Mr. Kim for encouraging me to do so.

Dictionary.com defines Gratitude as the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful. I always looked at gratitude as a feeling, more so than a quality. My OCD afflicted mind needs to think about all angles of a subject, and the dictionary is always a good start, whether you know the definition of a word or not, I promise, many times you'll be amazed at what words mean in their entirety.

A quality is something that you build, you tend as it grows, carefully watching that it goes as well as it can, so the quality can be the best that it can be, in whatever quality you may be trying to get. Quality in products is important if you want to be successful, and so the quality of things really does depend on one's dedication to creating the very best result possible.

Feelings are so fickle, they come and go, and one day may we may feel the complete opposite than the day before, and our feelings aren't always built on logic. Feelings are great, when they are good, but bad feelings can cripple a person's will to strive for the best quality in their life. Feelings are unreliable, while something with quality is firm and strong.

What does this all have to do with considering the power of Gratitude? Well, I'm so glad you asked :)

When I thought of gratitude, I thought how it is the wonderful feeling that someone gets, when a dire need or hurt has been taken care of, and the release of the burden and pain being lifted, creates a lightness in spirit, and gratitude of heart. This is true, but as I think of that, how sad it is that we tend to be grateful only in times when needs are met, and how if one has the 'quality' of gratitude, they would not need to be broken to be thankful.

An important lesson was in this question from my FB friend. Sure, we can say we are thankful for this or thankful for that, but unless we work to have the quality of Gratitude, to truly be grateful for the things we have, for the things that we don't have that would hurt our lives, for waking up everyday, for being forgiven our sins, so many things that we can have an attitude of gratitude about, we just have the 'feeling' of gratitude, not the 'quality'.

The Bible says to consider it all joy to be in various trials, for trails test your faith, that produces patience, and then let patience have it's perfect work in you, that you may become perfect and lack nothing. (James 1) I believe this passage is talking a bit about the power of gratitude that we can have in our lives. God will help us through everything, and so, being grateful to Him for everything, good times, bad times, for all we have, and don't have, thanking Him in everything, and getting the quality of gratitude, even when we don't feel like it, will give us the QUALITY  of gratitude, and not just the FEELING.

I pray that I may grow and tend my quality of gratitude, so much so, that I shall never be ungrateful again, no matter what my situation, for God is with me, and if God is for me, who can be against me? I have all I need in Him!

Again, thank you, Mr. Kim, you're a very inspirational man, and your love for God is encouraging and beautiful. I am blessed so much by your testimony and example. May God continue to use you for His glory, and may He bless you dearly  :)

Jesus Gave Our Warning

Jesus gives us the proof we need, if there be any doubt, that no man knoweth the hour that Jesus will return, in Matthew 24:25, He says, "See, I have told you beforehand". Jesus gives us a full account of what to look out for, to know He is returning, there is no need to have a prediction, when He already gave us warning....

Matthew 24..

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these thingsmust come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-10

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

It is in my belief that when Jesus referred to the abomination of desolation, He was talking about the Antichrist, that will stand in the Lord's Temple, claiming to be god over all gods. In the prophesies of Daniel, he also talks about the same thing, therefor, as we watch for Christ to return, these signs are what are told to us by God's word.

Only when the evil one is revealed, will Christ return, and destroy him. Let those that have ears to hear, listen, and those with eyes to see, see......

May 21, 2011, Judgement Day??

In Matthew 24, Jesus gave us a detailed description of what it will be like in the end times. The Bible tells us that no one, not even our Saviour Jesus Christ knows the day or the hour, only our Father. If God would warn us when He is returning, then people could live their lives as they want to, until the time is coming of Christ's return, and thus, they would not be living truly for God.

I Thessalonians 5:1-11 says:
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.


Jesus already told us what the signs of the end of the ages are, and we are instructed to watch and wait. We must not be deceived by false statements that are not in line with God's Word. God does give His children warning of impending doom, but in the case of the end of the ages, God is clear, no one knows the hour, and we are to expect Him, and wait for Him.


If Jesus returns on May 21st, it is because that is how God planned it from the beginning of time, not because a preacher or any other man predicted it. After all, God may have set aside TODAY for Judgement. Be ready, watch and expect that God will not tarry!