“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” – Philippians 1:21-23

The arrival of a new year brings thoughts about the future and a lot of resolve to improve, especially in the area of physical health and fitness. But despite all the personal fitness trainers, gastrointestinal bypass surgeries, expensive wrinkle creams and everything else people use to look young and keep fit, the mortality rate still stands at 100 percent!

Someone once remarked that our generation will produce the best-looking corpses in history. Of course, Christians aren’t immune from the desire to live longer and look better in the process. And while there’s nothing wrong with caring for our bodies, Paul reminds us that death is nothing to fear.

Eating, exercising and living right is a good goal and it will make us physically heart-healthy, often increasing longevity. But living in a way to be more spiritually heart-healthy is of even greater importance. After all, our soul and physical heart will one day be separated, but for those whose heart belongs to Jesus will live with him forever. Heaven and hell hangs in the balance.

As you peer into the new year, focus on having being spiritually heart-healthy. To do that, resolve to spend more time in God’s Word and more time in prayer. Design your social life to spend more time with Christian people. Get more involved in your church. Go on a mission trip. Teach or take a class or both. Make sure that your salvation is secure. Witness your faith to others and gently lead them to the experiences of being a saved Christian.

Spend more time with Jesus and realize that He is a more wonderful person than anyone on earth. He is wiser, stronger, and kinder than anyone you enjoy spending time with. He is endlessly interesting. He knows exactly what to do and what to say at every moment to make his guests as glad as they can possibly be. He overflows in love and with infinite insight into how to use that love to make his loved ones feel loved.

With these goals for the new year, life will take on a brighter meaning and you can look forward to not only a more joyous experience while you live out your earthly days, but know that your eternity with Jesus is secure

By John Grant
used by permission
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

RELATED READING

• Year End Reflections
• On Whom Will You Rely in the Coming Year?
• A New Year Perspective
• Is it Time for a Maintenance Check-up? – Spiritual maintenance

You can learn how to start a new life with Jesus.  Read this explanation at:
https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws

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The Carpenter needs the hammer to fasten the nails to the wood, with his many other tools and materials that are necessary for the completion of the work.

God needs you and me to Carpenter with Him through His Son Jesus Christ, by studying the word and applying it to our daily lives.

Being thoroughly furnished with persistent prayer.

God requires you to be fully clothed in His armor, saturated with compassion and love, with a passion for the lost souls, always prepared to minister to those who are in need.

The Great Carpenter Himself then pours the oil of the anointing upon the Evangelist, the Preacher of the word, and the missionary delivering the good news of Salvation, impacting people of every Nation.

Yes the Great Carpenter keeps you renewed, and restores your faith when you falter.

He gives rest in times of weariness, and gives you Wisdom to make decisions of faith.

It is so refreshing and rewarding to help the Carpenter rebuild lives and to keep hope alive against all odds.

Jesus Christ, He is the Carpenter of your life.

By Margaret Mullings
used by permission

more by Margaret Mullings:

• I MISS YOU
• We Spoke No Words
• God’s Love

The post The Carpenter appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“When I came to you … I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-2

The Gospel message has gotten a little foggy these days with all the attention being paid to politics, family values, and culture wars, and a lot of folks have lost track of the fact that it’s all about Jesus. Ask the man on the street what a Christian is today and you’re likely to ask a long time until you hear anything about Jesus or the cross. Our message, from beginning to end, is Jesus — who he was, what he said, and what he did.

The last recognized revival in this country was a movement primarily among baby boom youth in the  1970s that was quickly dubbed the ‘Jesus movement‘. It got that name because everything was focused around Jesus. When you think about it, Jesus was the ultimate hippie — he wore long hair, sandals, and he was against the establishment — and a generation of ideological kids embraced Christ, even while they rejected religion and the institutional church. Jesus was the central figure in all of this. What is now called Christian music was originally called Jesus music. Christians were called Jesus freaks. Now I’m not suggesting we all go back to tie-dyed T-shirts, bell-bottom pants, and Jesus rock, but I am suggesting we could learn something from this emphasis that transcended politics and religion.

Our message is all about a person, and our mission is to share that person with the world. God made us to belong to him; we wandered away; Jesus is the way back. A whole generation of young people found that out 30 years ago and nothing’s really changed about the heart of the message. It’s a personal message. It’s non-threatening. It’s all about a meaningful relationship with God that comes to someone by way of a meaningful relationship with them. There’s not a lot of baggage here. Our main concern is to introduce ourselves to people and in doing so, to introduce them to Jesus, because, as far as we’re concerned, that’s who it’s all about.

Jesus came to save us, unite us, and teach us to love one another. We’ve added a lot of other stuff to this and I’m not so sure it’s helping us do what we’re supposed to be doing. If it makes you more loving to your neighbor, then it’s probably a good thing. If it makes you your neighbor’s enemy, then it’s probably not. If it’s all about Jesus, then it’s definitely right on!

Question: What makes Jesus and His message different from every other “religious” teacher?

By John Fischer
used by permission

FURTHER READING

Acquaint Yourself with Him – by Charles Spurgeon

Called to Holiness by Suzanne Benner

The Winsomeness of Holiness by Max Lucado

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“The chief priests accused him of many things.  So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”  But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.” Mark 15:3-5

Have you ever been amazed at God for not answering?

Maybe it is because the ‘ask’ is for the wrong reason. And perhaps, as with the chief priests who obviously had a wrong spirit, it is with wrong motives.

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”  John 15:7

With a submissive heart and a right spirit we are able to ask God for something to be done because we are then listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit who directs us to the right ask.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

The result of our ‘ask’ should be abiding fruit.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” John 15:16

My prayer for us this week

“Heavenly Father, we stand amazed in your presence. Amazed that you would give us a clean heart and a right spirit if we should but ask. We know that you chose us and appointed us and that too is amazing. We submit to you. Please cleanse our hearts and give us a right spirit so that when we encounter divine appointments they might bear fruit that is glorifying to you. In Jesus name amen.”

Have a great week

by Alec Niemi
used by permission

Related Reading

• Impatient Heart, Be Still
• Keep On Keeping On
• Jesus and Prayer

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As I climbed the stairs a few cloudy and rainy nights ago, I noticed a difference. A veil of darkness blanketed my apartment complex corridor.  Halfway up the outdoor stairwell, the rungs disappeared into blackness. Ahead I could barely detect the light pole across the street, but its glow cast down to the pavement, offering very little help from my perspective. Needless to say, a chill clutched my chest for a second. What if someone lurked by my shadowed door?

Normally, a sconce hangs outside my entry to greet me. Via an automatic sensor, it flicks on when the skies darken. The same detector operates the ones at each of the four apartments in my unit along a sheltered, outdoor breezeway. I have become dependent upon its illumination when I come home after dark. It provides not only better ability to see the stairs and my door’s keyhole, but adds a sense of security. Tonight, that safeness I’d taken for granted didn’t exist.

The unexpected darkness unhinged me a bit.  I felt for the keyhole and worked my key into it. After several tries, at last it slipped into place. I turned it, heard the click, twisted the door knob, and sighed in relief as I entered my apartment with the table lamp lit to greet me. Safe.

Had I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dimmed glow emitting from street lamp across the street, I probably would have been able to detect the keyhole better and determine nothing evil lurked by my stoop.  But being a woman alone in the dark stairwell, I panicked –just a touch. That only made things worse. Time slowed as my anxiety increased. I became jittery with my fumbling to open the door as my brain hissed, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”

As a Christian, have I become so used to the light of Christ that I become anxious when faced with darkness?

Do I need to “see” evidence of  Christ in order to believe He is always nearby?  Now you may argue a Christian is never totally in the dark. However, there are dark periods in all of our lives simply because we walk the earth.

When difficult times hit me suddenly in life, may I not react the same way spiritually as I physically did in that dark corridor. Instead, let me wait patiently for my faith-eyes to locate my Lord, the One who calms, guides and protects my soul. In blessed assurance, may I stand firm in the knowledge that Christ has already won the battle over the principalities of darkness. I know He is my faith’s automatic sensor, illuminating me with truth when things appear darker than normal.

Unlike the one at my apartment, He will never fail to light my life.

Lord, keep the jitters at bay and thwart the desire to handle things quickly on my own. Even if I can’t see clearly with my eyes, may I always recall what the Psalmist states:  “You are the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path.” (119:105) Amen.

By Julie Cosgrove
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• God’s Timeless Gift –  by Allan Mitchell

• One Step at a Time – by Max Lucado

• Our One and Only Guide by Darren Hewer

The post When the Light Goes Out appeared first on Thoughts About God.

Could it be that growing up in my crazy family molded me in a way that would allow God to uniquely use my experiences to help others?

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NASB)

Having grown up in an alcoholic family, I have often looked at “normal” families and thought, “If only I could have been born into that family…,” or “Why me, why did I have to experience the madness of life with a really messed up family?” This pity party only led to sadness. I was good at keeping the doors closed about these private thoughts. Most people did not know about this lingering disappoint; it was like a shadow over my world.

This darkness lingered until it was displaced by anticipation. I finally became convinced that God had a plan and purpose for my life. A statement from the book of Romans was instrumental: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Could it be that growing up in my crazy family molded me in a way that would allow God to uniquely use my experiences to help others? I concluded that the answer was yes. It was like a switch was flipped. Instead of looking back with regret I began to look forward with anticipation. The past did not disappear or become less painful, but it was no longer my focus. I’ve realized it’s hard to walk forward when looking backwards. Each day, I trust that God has a good plan.

God thank You that You are good and wise. I trust that You can cause all things to work together for good, even the things that seem hurtful, sad and disappointing. By faith I look forward to how You will work in my life and through it according to Your good plan in the days ahead. Thank You for Your presence and power each step of the way. Amen.

By Mike Woodard
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  How to be Saved

•  Struggles, Despair

•  Salvation Explained

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There is a Place

There is a place of quiet rest, a place where
you can have peace
where all its beauty is yet to be seen.
A place of refuge for the oppressed, a place
where the Savior makes intercessions for
all of your needs, and God your Father will provide.

A place where you are undisturbed – a place to enjoy
pleasure beyond measure.
A place you seldom want to leave, but He very gently
says “my child you must leave now“, Having the reassurance
that you have the freedom to return as often as you wish.

A hungering and a thirsting is welling up from within that food
and water cannot satisfy.
For it is His presence that satisfies, the hungering thirsty soul.
Yes the Bread of Life satisfies the hungry soul, and with the prompting
of the Holy Spirit you are now praying even more persistently
and consistently.

There is a place when you are battered and torn, when you enter
via the stairway of prayer, there you find healing for each wound
and joy beyond what words can describe.

Oh the richness of His Love and the bliss of His warm embrace.
Everything that hinders is banished in His presence
Purity and truth is revealed in this place, and oh the serenity
of the fountain of living waters flowing, washing you over and over again.
Rejuvenating your body soul and spirit giving to you the radiance of the Lord.

Yes there are many places, but this a specific place it is called
the secret place.
This is the place of intimacy and love beyond measure!!
The place of prayer, make your appointment today and experience
joy and pleasure beyond measure!!!
Meet Him at the place, He is waiting for you!!!!

by Margaret Mullings
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  A Prayer for Strength during troubling times

•   The Lord is My Shepherd

•  Salvation Explained

Follow Us On:  Facebook  • Twitter  •  Instagram  •  Pinterest

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A Poem of Hope

I feel the arms of God around me,
as I lay on my bed at night.
Asleep, I feel the Angel’s touch-
I’m surrounded and held tight.

I don’t know why it is,
that God should love me so,
that he would send His only Son,
to hang there on Death-row.

He guards me night and day,
always bringing love and hope.
Somehow, I know I will survive,
for He will help me cope.

As a father has compassion on his child,
so my Lord has compassion on me.
I know I can count on Him-
There is nowhere from His love I want to flee.

By Helena Fehr

FURTHER READING:

• Hope for the Hopeless
• Good News for You
• God’s Love for you – How to know God Personally

The post A Poem of Hope appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Look! I am doing a new thing…” Isaiah 43:19

The owner of an upscale boutique led me through the aisles of his shop filled with exquisite clothing. It only took a sidelong glance at a few price tags to determine that this was a shop far beyond any budget I could ever hope to have. Quite unexpectedly, the owner-friend said, “Pick out something for yourself, Marilyn,” but instead of quickly choosing a garment, I seemed stunned into inactivity. Finally our friend handed me a beautiful black and white sequined sweater of intricate design. “This is perfect for you.” In just moments the gift was wrapped in fine tissue, thrust into a bag and we walked out of this shopper’s heaven. In the months and years ahead I wore this lovely sweater on many semi-formal occasions and always felt like some woman out of the pages of the fashion magazine.

But one day I noticed that a few threads binding the front of the knitted garment to the bottom band were loose. Soon the entire front had unravelled from the band and my lovely sweater was in fragments. Its parts were still beautiful but because it was no longer whole, my fine garment was no longer wearable. I carefully folded my beautiful sweater and placed it in the back of a drawer where it seemed destined to be unused and unusable, merely a pleasant memory.

Frequently we look at what we consider our human weaknesses or the “little sins” which plague us and decide they are just part and parcel of the human condition. We allow ourselves to be lulled into believing that a consistently negative attitude, lack of discipline in any area of life, listless study of the Bible, or nonchalant attitude toward physical suffering in the world around us are merely actions and attitudes “common to man.” We measure ourselves against what is considered the norm and become complacent with far less than God’s intended holy purposes for our lives.

We have become like the beautiful sweater tucked into a corner of the drawer, remembering past days when we were seen as reflections of God’s glory, when we glowed with the joy of submission to His will, but we now lie unused and unusable, with merely pleasant memories of our past abundant life.

But the story of my sweater didn’t end in the drawer. One day a new friend, an accomplished knitter, showed me some of her beautiful work and I told her the story of my sweater. “Oh, I could fix that so it would be like new,” she said with confidence. I doubted her word and skill at first, but finally placed my sweater into her hands. Imagine my surprise and delight when only a week later she handed me a re-created sweater with not a trace of its former fragmented condition. It had been restored to its former glory and subsequently was worn on many occasions. When I frequently received compliments on my black and white designer sweater, I smiled and said “thank you,” but another kind of smile was in my heart. Only I knew that this sweater had once been put aside as unwearable but had been made new.

What a thrill it must give God when we allow Him to re-create us on a daily basis so that others look at us and see the beauty of Jesus. We know we have been fragmented and maybe even thrust into the dark corners of drawers for periods of time, but God is always willing, ready and able to re-knit us into beautiful reflections of His glory.

By Marilyn Ehle
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

•  He Lets me Rest
•  God, our Shield

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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“But despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us” Romans 8:37

Today I prayed with a beloved friend who is dying of cancer. As he and his precious wife and I held hands, we lifted our voices in praise to God, knowing that He makes no mistakes, that “all things work together for good to those who love Him,” and that he is fully aware of my brother’s body riddled with pain as a result of cancerous cells that are on a warpath. Together we claimed that victory which comes from an unwavering confidence in Christ’s sufficiency.

The victory comes, of course, through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. Such love is beyond our ability to grasp with our minds, but it is not beyond our ability to experience with our hearts. God’s love is unconditional and it is constant. Because He is perfect, His love is perfect, too.

The Scriptures tell of a certain lawyer who asked Jesus, “Sir, which is the most important command in the Law of Moses?”

Jesus replied,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.“

The question may come to your mind: “Why does God want our love?”

From a human standpoint, this could appear selfish and egotistical. But God, in His sovereignty and love, has so created man that he finds his greatest joy and fulfillment when he loves God with all his heart and soul and mind, and his neighbor as himself.

Early in my Christian life, I was troubled over the command to love God so completely. But now the Holy Spirit has filled my heart with God’s love. And as I meditate on the “overwhelming victory” that He gives us, I find my love for Him growing.

Bible Reading: Romans 8:35-39

His great love and “overwhelming victory” for me prompts me to respond with supernatural love for Him and for others.

By Dr. Bill Bright
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

•  Jesus is Always There!
•  God WILL take care of you

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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“This do in remembrance of Me.”  1 Corinthians 11:24

Christians will sometimes forget Christ! There would be no need for Paul’s loving caution if there were not a fearful supposition that our memories might prove treacherous. This is not merely conjecture, because it is sadly too well confirmed in our experience. Forgetting Christ is not just a possibility, but a lamentable fact.

It would seem almost impossible that those who have been redeemed by the blood of the dying Lamb, and loved with an everlasting love by the eternal Son of God, could forget our gracious Savior. But, if startling to the ear, it is, too apparent to the eye to allow us to deny the crime.

Forget Him who never forgot us?

Forget Him who poured His blood forth for our sins?

Forget Him who loved us even to the death?

Can it be possible? Yes, it is not only possible, but conscience confesses that it is too sadly a fault with all of us, that we suffer Him to be as a traveling man, stopping over only for a night. The one we should make the abiding tenant of our memories is instead merely a visitor. The cross, where our memories should linger, is desecrated by the feet of forgetfulness.

Doesn’t your conscience say that this is true? Do you not find yourself forgetful of Jesus? Temptations steal away your heart, and you are unmindful of Him upon whom your affection ought to be set. Earthly business engrosses your attention when you should fix your eye steadily upon the cross. It is the incessant turmoil of the world, the constant attraction of earthly things which distracts us from Christ.

Let us firmly resolve to not forget Jesus our Beloved in our hearts, and, whatever else we let slip, let us hold fast to Him.

Question: What are some of life’s distractions that cause us to “forget” Jesus, if only briefly?

by Charles H Spurgeon
updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2010.

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“They are not of the world even as I am not of it.”  John 17:16

They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. (The Message)

“She has well defined cheekbones.”
“It was a well defined plan.”

Well defined: we hear the term frequently and take its meaning for granted. After reading Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Jesus’ words, however, perhaps we can search for clarification. To define means to establish the character or essence of a person or thing. Who or what is it that gives definition, meaning to my life? Who describes who or what I should be, what I should look like, what career path I should follow, how much money I should earn, what books I should read?

To watch Jesus walking in the midst of his world—his culture—is to give us a picture of a well defined Christian. He didn’t condemn the culture, he didn’t seek power in the culture and he lived harmoniously in a culture rife with discordance. He lived out the spirit of the message given to Jewish exiles in Jeremiah’s time. Without taking on the character of the culture, Jesus “made himself at home and worked for the country’s welfare” (see Jeremiah 29:4-7, The Message). He was in the world but not of the world.

It was not Jesus’ aim nor desire that we be removed from the world, from the culture in which we find ourselves. He has planted us here to be reflections of his grace and love, to be salt and light to a culture that often doesn’t even know it is thirsty and dark. What if the culture saw in Christ followers such similarity to the Savior that they were stunned into silence? Or perhaps at least stunned into questions? What if our character—our very essence—was so Christ like that we would resemble the tastiest food on a banquet table…observable and deeply desired?

Look for ways to be well defined, developing the characteristics of Christ in whatever world he has placed you.

Father, living in my culture is often intimidating. I want to huddle in a safe corner with my like minded friends, safe from the surrounding dangers. But you, in accordance with the prayer of your Son, protect me and give me the commission to live into my world with the good news of Christ and with the power of your Holy Spirit.

By Marilyn Ehle
used by permission

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