Posted on January 31, 2014 by vickie j blair
I visited some friends this evening who have a new resident in their home — a puppy! To those of you who are dog lovers, you will fully understand the statement my friend made this evening as she held onto an armful of squirming fur, “I just fell immediately in love.” Yes, it was most evident indeed — that puppy was one greatly loved pooch and would be for all her days in her new home.
As I watched the continued demonstrations of love for this canine wonder, I could not help but think about God and His love for you and me. However, too often, we grab hold of a great distortion of God’s love. It seems, we sometimes feel that we have to earn God’s love. We must obey Him in all things or He might not love us anymore. Having those out of focus thoughts about the love of God can make us shrink back from Him rather than cling joyfully to Him.
But, mustn’t we obey Him? Yes, we are instructed to obey God in all things. Of course, no one is perfect and we all sin, but we always have before us a way of repentance that brings us immediately back into right relationship with our Heavenly Father. When we sin, does God love us less? No. He loves us the same at all times. If God loves us even when we disobey, then why do we need to be so concerned with obedience?
Questions like the above bring me back to my friend and her puppy. She must teach her dog how to obey. The dog is indeed learning but still has a way to go in knowing what is expected of her. When she gets it wrong, my friend still loves her dog completely. Even so, it’s vital that the dog learns to obey for her own protection and joy. For example, if a car is coming, the dog must obey the command to “come.” Ignoring this instruction could bring dire consequences. It’s no different in our relationship to our Heavenly Father.
God doesn’t give us instructions to obey, as a way for us to keep His love; He gives us instructions to obey, to keep us safe and filled with His joy. The words of a favorite hymn come to my mind, “For there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
God has a right path for us to follow, totally because He loves us. The consequences of following His path will be joy, peace, wisdom, and courage to get us through all our days — or — we may choose the wrong path if we so desire, but like the puppy who refuses to “come,” we might get run over by life’s troubles, bringing unrest and absence of peace, that could be so easily avoided.
It’s really true the words to that hymn — “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
Posted on January 27, 2014 by vickie j blair
Posted on January 24, 2014 by vickie j blair
I watched a movie this week about someone who was struggling with how to forgive someone. We’ve all experienced being hurt, whether intentionally or not, by someone’s words or actions. Also, we’ve all hurt someone, whether intentionally or not, by our words or actions. As Christians, we may be well aware of Jesus’ instructions to Peter in Matthew 19:21-22. “Then Peter came to Him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’ ‘No!’ Jesus replied, ‘seventy times seven!'”
We read the words of Jesus above and we are taken aback at His instruction. We question, how on earth, does anyone and everyone, forgive in all situations? Why should we forgive cruelties anyway? Some things are just unforgivable, aren’t they?
First of all, let’s take a look at why we should forgive, no matter what. Further down in Matthew 19:33, Jesus says, “Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?” We don’t deserve forgiveness, but we accept it with a thankful heart. We need God’s forgiveness. It frees us to be who we are meant to be in Him. It frees us to let God do His work in our lives. Taking His forgiveness is imperative to quality of life on earth and promise of eternal life after death.
We see why we should forgive, as we, too, are forgiven, but still the question comes — how do I forgive when I’ve been terribly wronged? The answer in found in Philippians 3:12, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.” The key is this: don’t give up trying. Tell Jesus you can’t do it, and ask Him to be your strength. Tell Him you can’t forgive by yourself. Jesus will be what you need Him to be, but do not forget one very important thing — it takes time and repeated efforts.
All too often, Christians get upset because they feel they’ve forgiven someone; then, in shocking surprise, they realize that they’ve taken back the forgiveness they thought they had given. Do they have to start over again? Answer: yes. Forgiving someone, like any other weakness we are trying to overcome, can be a daily effort. Sometimes we have to call out to Jesus to help us several times in a day.
Don’t beat yourself up when forgiving someone is such effort — just don’t quit trying — call out, daily to God, to be your strength and your help. Keep running toward the goal, and like a trained athlete, when you fall down on the track, don’t lay there in defeat, get up and continue the race.
Posted on January 17, 2014 by vickie j blair
I was watching TV the other day when an advertisement came on showing little children walking in their parents’ shoes. There was a little girl with beads around her neck, dangling to the floor, her feet inside her mother’s high heels. Then, a little boy comes into view wearing his father’s boots, the tops reaching him, mid-thigh. Their faces were all smiles as they scuffled forward in their parents’ shoes. What fun!
This act reveals something very important — love and trust. If these children didn’t love their parents, they wouldn’t have desired to wear their shoes; if they didn’t trust their parents, they wouldn’t have dared put them on for fear of making them angry for having done so. They could dare to imitate only because of love and trust shared between them.
It’s the same with our heavenly Father, too. We desire to be like Him when we love and trust Him. Here, then, comes the question: How do we learn to trust God when we’re so afraid? If we don’t trust Him, we can never hope to be like Him. Does He really even love us, no matter what? Fears and doubts can smother a weak trust. What can we do?
Let’s think back to the above little children wearing their parents’ shoes. How did they come to easily love and trust them? It can only be — through watching what they do, spending time with them, and paying attention to what they say. It’s no different with our heavenly Father. When we observe the world He has made, and the works He does in another person’s life, we see His love, and our trust grows. When we spend time with Him, meditating on the loveliness of His instruction to us, and take time, too, to listen to Him speak into our hearts, we know His love, and our trust grows. Observing, spending time together, and listening — those are key elements in any relationship on which to build love and trust.
As we learn to build upon the love of our Father, trusting His ways with us, then we come to understand the wonderful plan He has designed, individually for each of us. May you be blessed as you build your love and trust in your Father.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster. to give you a future and a hope. In those days, when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.'” Jeremiah 29:11-13
Posted on January 9, 2014 by vickie j blair
The entire United Kingdom is under flood watch. Rain has been coming in torrents, and ground water has been rising. Fields are flooded, along with roads, and in many cases, people’s homes. Great damage has been done. It’s a terrible situation for many.
My friend, Sally, who collected my mother and me from the airport two weeks ago, told me something which I found fascinating. I share it with you now. She was telling me about something she had seen on the TV news in relation to the recent flooding. The news segment showed trees that had been uprooted due to the water surrounding it. The entire root system had been exposed and the tree had floated away by several feet. While that certainly sounds disastrous, it was being explained that, after the waters have receded, the trees can be moved back into position, and it will take root again firmly in the ground. Isn’t that amazing?
As Sally was telling me this, a thought popped immediately into my head — you and I are sometimes like these trees. Our roots are planted firmly in Jesus. We stand strong in His Word, and we do not bend, no matter the storms of life that try to blow us over, or the waters of fear that try to uproot us — or do we? In actual fact, we all have to admit that there have been times in our lives when we began to focus on the rising waters of our discontent more than we were focusing on the strength of God available to us. Eyes were taken off the soil of God’s truth, which holds us firmly in place, and without intending to do so, we fell over. We were uprooted with our weaknesses; our foibles exposed for all to see.
What can we do? We have two choices. One — we can continue to lay there in our misery and failure. Of course, that will only aid in drying us up spiritually, adding to more gloom. A second choice — we can ask our Father, the Master Gardener, to put us upright again, and plant us once more into the good soil of His truth, and love, and forgiveness. Father leaves the choice entirely to us. He is always ready to plant our roots into His goodness, but He won’t force it. It’s our free choice. Only one choice leads to joy and inner peace; it’s the choice with God’s own promise, which reads as follows:
“Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7
What a lovely promise to claim when the waters of difficulty uproot us from our place of strength through Jesus Christ.
Posted on January 3, 2014 by vickie j blair
This past week, Sally, a friend here in the UK, collected my mother and me from the airport. We had been aware of recent weather and of the current forecast — rain, rain, and more rain. However, to the delight of us all, when Sally arrived the sun had broken through the clouds, and the drive home was clear and full of sunshine all the way.
I sat in the passenger seat next to Sally while my mother took the seat in the back. We were are three chatting, enjoying catching up, and soaking in the beautiful scenery along the way. I looked out across familiar fields with sheep grazing. Other fields held horses looking very snug with their winter coats fastened securely about them.
Suddenly, the road curved, leading the car in a direction that put the sun straight ahead. The sun shone brightly through the windshield. That’s when I saw it, and Sally did, too.
Driving along the way, previous to that moment, the windshield appeared to be clear. We could see just fine — or so we thought. In fact, the sunshine blaring straight through revealed that the windshield was actually very smudged and dirty from all the rain of the week. Sally and I were both surprised.
It was that moment of dirty windshield revelation when I thought of our lives as Christians. We get forgiven of our sins, then we go out into our personal worlds where we meet with all kinds of situations. Perhaps we tell a lie, just a little one. Perhaps we are angered unnecessarily. Perhaps we hold a grudge toward someone. Perhaps we have broken a trust. Perhaps we have gossiped, sharing some delicious morsel that we’ve heard about someone else. The list of “perhaps” could go on and on.
We get soiled in the week as the rain of our wrong doings splashes into our lives. Even so, we feel okay. Things look pretty good. Then, the Son shines in, revealing that things in our heart are not as they should be. That’s when we have a wonderful choice available to us. We can go on with dirty windshields, pretending that everything is really okay or we can go to our Heavenly Father and ask Him to forgive our wrongdoings.
What happens then? The most wonderful and joyful thing takes place — Father Himself instantly cleans away the dirty smudges. He cleans our hearts once more. He loves us to Himself. He fills us with joy and inner peace.
Don’t you feel good when you have a clean car to drive? Don’t you love it when the windshield is absolutely clear? It’s even more wonderful to have our lives cleaned up and our hearts made clear by God Himself.
When we ignore our dirty windshield, it only gets worse with time. It won’t clean itself. The same with our lives. The results of sin never goes away with time. We only feel it worse as we drift further and further away from our Father. Let’s all remember, with the start of a new year — go regularly to God’s windshield cleaning service. It’s a joyful start to every day.
“‘ Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.'”
Posted on December 27, 2013 by vickie j blair
I experienced a sweet moment this week from an unexpected place — standing in the doorway to my mother’s bedroom. She had to look for something; I followed her, then stood waiting in the doorway. As I waited I put my hands on the inside of the door frame. That’s when it happened — a sweet, unexpected moment of remembrance.
Years ago, when my parents had moved to the house, the living room and dining room were arranged as an open plan. Desiring to close off the dining room to make another bedroom, my father closed in the wall and put in a door. On either side of the door he made a column of glass shelves. My mother displays her assortment of curios from around the world on these shelves.
I had watched my father build this doorway. I remember how he measured and cut the wood. With special tools, he etched designs in the columns to match on both sides. When he was finished, it was a beauty to behold.
Over the years, I’ve passed through this doorway many times. Sometimes I have thought of how it was made and of who made it, but not very often. Then, this week, when my own hands felt the wood, traced the carved designs with my fingertips, and touched the glass shelves, the memory of it all came flooding in. In my mind’s eye, I could see my father working. I could see the joy he took in his own labors — his labors of love to make his wife a doorway to be proud of, and to enjoy for a long time.
As I stood contemplating and remembering, my thoughts took on a new direction; I thought of my Heavenly Father and His creation — His labor of love for you and me to enjoy for a long time. Over the years I have been aware of the sun rising, the moon appearing at night, patterns of stars strewn across black, velvet sky, autumn leaves that crunch beneath my feet, summer winds kissing my cheeks with warmth. I am aware of cattle in fields, the excitement of horses running wild and free, roosters announcing the arrival of a new day — a day to enjoy more of Father’s creation — but how often do I think about who made this day for me to enjoy?
As David wrote in Psalm 8:3-9, my own heart fills with wonder, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers — the moon ad stars you set in place— what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority — the flocks and the herds, and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!”
In the busyness of our days, let us take time to enjoy all that God made for us. Oh, how He loves what He has created — Oh, how He loves you and me.
Posted on December 20, 2013 by vickie j blair
For the past several weeks I have joined in the prayers for a child who is very ill. His family members are distraught in heart and weary in body. Doctors can’t find a cause; each day is filled with unanswered questions. Some of the family are devout Christians; naturally, they pray for healing for this little one they love so much. So far — nothing.
How difficult to watch someone you love, hurting so much, and you are helpless to make a difference. You pray, even beg God, to please, please do something. In writing this blog, I wish I had a definitive answer to life’s dilemmas. I do not. I can only share what I do when I ,too, have to watch those I love suffer in great pain and difficult situations.
For me, it’s a matter of willing myself to choose on what I think about. The mind is powerful. Our arch enemy, Satan, would have us to think on negative things. Our enemy always directs our minds to false thoughts of God failing us, which leads to feelings of hopelessness and despair.
The Bible instructs us to, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 What a statement! “It determines the course of our lives?” God knows that if our arch enemy wins by leading us away from God through negative thoughts planted in our minds, then, of course, we turn from God. That can have terrible and sad consequences on the course of our lives. We will miss great joy and peace and wisdom from God when we turn from Him.
Even so, it’s difficult and painful to press on when someone we love, and pray everyday for, still suffers. I encourage you to remember: God created a perfect world — mankind messed it up. Therefore, when we hurt due to mankind’s own foolishness that put a curse on the world, God feels our pain. The Bible says that Jesus came to feel everything as a human feels. He understands tears. He knows our pain. He understands fully what living in a fallen world has done to us. He yearns to rescue, and to give abundant life right here on earth, in the midst of all the pain.
We must, therefore, “guard our hearts above all else.” We must choose to say, “Father, I don’t understand why you are allowing this, but I choose to trust that you love, that your ways are perfect, that you are indeed working, in ways unknown to me, to bring this to a good end.” We must cry out, as a boy’s father did in Mark 9:24, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Being honest with God is the best thing to do. Tell Him you don’t understand. Tell Him you are weak. Tell Him you are sinking in a sea of despair — then cling to Him with all your heart, like a drowning man clings to the rim of a boat.
He will lift you up. He will hold you. He promises to pour in His peace in the midst of the storm. The waves are rough, but He is there. Never turn your thoughts from that truth. Remember, He said, “I will never leave you.” Hebrews 13:5
Continue on in those thoughts. Let them seep into the wounds of your heart. Never turn away. Stay focused on the One who knows your pain; on the One who is holding all your tears in His own bottle.
Posted on December 13, 2013 by vickie j blair
All the stores are decorated for Christmas. Lighted trees, inside and out, wreaths hung on the doors, arrangements of brightly colored boxes, carols playing, the salvation army ringing bells, Santa listening to excited requests of children — such happy displays of this joyful season — or is it? For some, yes, of course. Excitement fills their hearts; but for others, Christmas can be a sad and lonely event.
Is there anything we can do to help? Oh, yes! God gives us a wonderful reminder of what we can do to reach out to hurting people: Look at the following in I John 4: 9-11:
“God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear Friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”
Christmas is a lovely season to remind ourselves, and others, of the greatest gift ever given. Do you know that gift? If not, Father God holds it out to you today. You only have to receive it. Open your heart and say, “Yes, Father, I want that gift of forgiveness available through your Son, Jesus; I want that abundant life You have for me, today on earth, and for eternity in heaven. Yes, thank you, Father.” Did you know that, when you receive God’s gift, that He comes to reside right inside you? He does that by His Holy Spirit. He takes up residence to be your peace in the storms of life, your joy in times of sadness, your courage when you’re feeling weak, your wisdom when you don’t know what to do. God takes up residence to guide you through all your days.
It’s a wonderful gift. Have you received it? If so, have you shared with someone else how, they, too, can receive it? Christmas is a lovely season for giving gifts, and sharing the gift of God’s love is the most wonderful and happy gift of all.
Merry Christmas to you all, with much love.
Posted on December 6, 2013 by vickie j blair
A young woman asked to speak to me last week. She began to share the hurt and sorrow she kept in her heart. As she was pouring out her feelings, she made this comment, “I’m just a terrible person; I don’t even know why God loves me.”
Wonderfully, I explained to her, we don’t have to waste time trying to understand God’s deep and unchanging love for us. He just loves us, bestows His hand of grace and mercy upon us, and is ready to be whatever we need, every single day of our lives.
From the moment we receive Jesus Christ into our lives, the Holy Spirit takes up residence, and begins making us into a new person. We know that because the Scripture tells us in II Corinthians 5:17, “…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.” We still live in a fallen world, and we have an imperfect body, and a mind that is weak to temptation. Even so, as we make the decision to give God free reign in our lives, then, slowly but surely, we begin to take on the family resemblance of Jesus. The Holy Spirit in us, shows us our weaknesses, and points us to the strength of God. The Holy Spirit empowers us to overcome — as we let Him. Hence, we begin to take on the characteristics of Jesus. We begin to talk like Him, to think like Him, to seek Father as He did, to love as He loves. Of course, we trip along the way, but when we fall, we don’t have to stay down; the Holy Spirit leads us to awareness of failure and sin, and then to the joy of repentance and forgiveness. It’s a joyful journey that molds us more and more into the image of Christ.
Now take heed — Satan is never pleased to see anyone walking in the ways of Jesus Christ. He hates it, and will do anything to pull the rug of peace out from under our feet. How does Satan do this? First of all, let’s remind ourselves that, in Hebrew, the name Satan means, accuser. Satan is that very thing — a terrible, hateful, lying, accuser. He never stops whispering in our ears that we are weak, useless, and hopeless, He tells us that we will never get any better than who we are today. Satan tells us that we might as well give up, that we will never be as good as others. His lies go on and on like the torture of constant water drops on the forehead. It can drive you crazy with feelings of hopelessness, despair, and self rejection.
You see, Satan is everything opposite of God.
God is love. Satan is hate. God is goodness. Satan is evil. God desires to build you up. Satan desires to tear you down. God will always speak truth to you. Satan will always lie. God tells you to keep running and don’t give up. Satan tells you, you’ll never finish the race so give up now. God seeks to mold you into the lovely image of His own Son. Satan seeks to snare you into a mind-trap of self loathing so that you are not a lovely image at all.
Satan is powerful; of that there is no argument, but remember this — God is all powerful. God can never be tricked by Satan, or made weak by Satan. Remember this, too – God is in us by His Holy Spirit. Therefore, we have a powerful tool in resisting the evil tactics and lies of Satan — we have everything of God Himself available to us. We have His strength, His courage, His wisdom, His peace, and His resolve to press on.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you discover that you have fallen into a trap of self-loathing, feeling like a terrible person, and wanting to quit — I encourage you to ask yourselves — who are you listening to?
If you have unwittingly been listening to Satan, then tell him, in the name of Jesus to get out of here. He has to flee at the very name of Jesus. “Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” James 4:7-8 Of course, Satan will come skulking back at some point, so be aware, and then use your tool all over again to resist him. Call upon the name of Jesus. Speak the name of Jesus. Ask the help of Jesus. Everything of Him is available to us. Isn’t that amazing?
Pay attention everyday, and know with certainty — who you are listening to.
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