God's Heart

“When you can’t see God’s, hand trust His Heart.” This line from a song I heard in the middle of Wednesday night was a special blessing to me. I had a fever of 102 and didn’t feel spiritual at all. For me, sickness and spirituality don’t go together, but I know that “all things work together for the good to those who love the Lord….” I may not feel good, but I can love Him and I do. I am much better today and I thank God for doctors and for His hand even when you don’t see it at work. His Heart can be trusted to do what is best for us. I do realize that His Heart so often works through human hands, in fact, His hands can take many forms, but it is His heart that is always reaching for us. So if you find yourself in a place or at a time when you don’t see His hands, join me and trust His Heart. To have the Heart of God interceding for you is the greatest comfort of all.

Heb 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Running Out of Gas

When I was a boy our one and only old car had a leak in the gas tank. My dad used soap to stop it temporarily, but rough gravel roads made it a short lived fix. He patched it over and over. I just repaired a lawn mower tire I have been putting air in for two years. What I have learned about life is when you repair something, something else will break. No matter what I do I can’t get everything working at the same time. The more you have the more you have to patch. I am not complaining, I am a blessed man, but I don’t like living with “what next?” Makes me smile when I think of Heaven where nothing will ever wear out. No repair shops repairing those crazy weed eaters that won’t start because you left last year’s gas in it. No washing machines, I wonder if we will wear the same robes all the time? Come to think of it, a real Church is a kind of repair shop where broken hearts can be mended, where confused lives can find new purpose. Church is not a place it is a people who share each others burdens as we make our journey toward Home. “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.”

Heb 10:35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

Paths

Paths
A path is an expression of a habit,
Evidence of a journey often made,
A habit made visible where others can follow.
Most of us think of a path made by footprints,
But there are paths in the mind, both good and bad.
They are made by repeated words and actions,
Some sharp as daggers, others kind and gentle.
We all leave paths in the minds and hearts
Of those who journey with us,
And it is up to us to see that our path
leads somewhere worth going. jfs
Ps 17:5 Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip.

Overload

I sat watching a beautiful sunset, inspired as I watched our Creator paint in living color. I wish I could have know at thirty-nine what I know now. At seventy-one I now realize the importance of taking in a sunset. Why does it take a lifetime for us to learn what is important? We give ourselves to the plastic stuff. We bow to the pressure of the expectations of others. The out of control life is not confined to the person on skid-row. To be out of control simply means we are not in control. We travel roads we were never meant to travel, take on tasks that are not ours. Looking at all the needs around us, it is so easy to pick up more than we can carry. We are not eighteen wheelers. We were not built for heavy loads. Emotionally we can’t deal with the pain of the entire world. We have become victims of our own inventions. We have expanded our reach beyond our ability to cope. We were created for community, but today our community is the world. We can see around the world any day. We can hear the cry of a child from the other side of the planet. I can leave home in the morning and have lunch in Haiti the same day. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, my burden is light.” Now that is a life I can handle. With the help of God we must learn to live within the bounds of our creation. Think about it, how far can you see with your eyes? To the neighbors house down the road? How far can you walk in a day? How much can you hear just with your ears? Living within the bounds of my creation I don’t have the problems of the world to cope with. I once ruined a car by pulling a heavy load with it. It just wasn’t made for a heavy load. You were not made for a heavy load and the only way to deal with it is to learn to say NO. Then you will have time for a sunset. jfs

Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(KJV)

Looking for Jesus?

One shouldn't have to visit the empty tomb to know that Jesus is alive; all it takes is for the Church to be the Church. The exciting thing about the empty tomb is where He showed up; IN HIS CHURCH! jfs

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.