The Promise Brings Peace

I haven’t slept too well tonight…woken up a couple of times…up now at 3:00 am.  Part of me wants to feel discouraged, but His Spirit encourages me.  He reminds me that :

• He loves me
• He’s given me a promise
• He’s always with me
• and He has a plan

My Lord keeps bringing the lyrics of this song to my heart and mind this morning, as I breathe a sigh of relief:

_____________________

“The Martins The Promise lyrics”

I never said that I would give you silver or gold
Or that you would never feel the fire or shiver in the cold
But I did say you’d never walk thru this world alone
And I did say don’t make this world your home

I never said that fear wouldn’t find you in the night
Or that loneliness was something you’d never have to fight
But I did say I’d be right there by your side
And I did say I’ll always help you fight

‘Cause you know I made a promise that I intend to keep
My grace will be sufficient in your time of need
My love will be the anchor that you can hold on to
This is the promise, this is the promise I’ve made to you

I never said that friends would never turn their backs on you
Or that the world around you wouldn’t see you as a fool
But I did say like me you’ll surely be despised
And I did say My ways confound the wise

I didn’t say you’d never taste the bitter kiss of death
Or have to walk thru chilly Jordan to enter into rest
But I did say I’d be waiting right on the other side
And I did say I’ll dry every tear you’ve cried

‘Cause you know I made a promise that I’ve prepared a place
And someday sooner than you think you’ll see me face to face
And you’ll sing with the angels and a countless multitude
This is the promise, this is the promise I’ve made to you

So just keep on walking don’t turn to the left or right
And in the midst of darkness let this be your light
That hell can’t separate us and you’re gonna make it thru
This is the promise, this is the promise I’ve made to you
Oh, this is the promise, this is the promise I’ve made to you

___________________________________

*You may listen to this song here.

Sharing The Good News

Sometimes I start to wonder if I’m not bold enough in my witness to others.  However, I’m quickly reminded that I MUST be led by the Holy Spirit, and I cannot force such things.  In my personal relationships, God will lead me…He will give me the words to say at the right time.  I find when I try to “speed things up” and “take matters into my own hands,” that I can easily become self-righteous or at least come across that way.  The words won’t come out right because the focus was wrong from the beginning.  Our focus should always be on Jesus…His leading, His way, His timing, His power to save.  “Tearing people down” about their sinner status is no better than giving them a false sense of importance.  The point is…excessive pride or self-condemnation put the focus on the sinner, not the Savior.

Any good thing we do is for His glorification.  The sin in our lives is evidence of our need for a redeemer.  I thank the Lord that He didn’t come to make us feel good about ourselves, nor did He come to condemn us!! (“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” —John 3:17 )

He came to give us life and to set us free!! Now that is some good news worth sharing!!

“People don’t need to be beat on the head with the bad news that they are condemned for being a sinner. We should be telling them the good news, that Jesus loves them and died to redeem them from condemnation.”  –Mike Waters

____________________________________

_____________________________________

**For more Christian cartoons by Mike Waters, you may visit: http://www.joyfultoons.com/

Prepared For A Mission

“God has a purpose and a plan for each of us, and in Christ, He has already given us all that we need to fulfill that plan.” –Mike Walters
May 11, 2008

______________________________________

**For more Christian cartoons by Mike Walters, visit:  joyfultoons.com

Can’t Thank Him Enough

Thank You Lord For Saving My Soul

Thank You Lord for saving my soul,
Thank You Lord for making me whole.
Thank You Lord for giving to me,
Thy great salvation, so rich and free.

Thank You Lord for saving my soul,
Thank You Lord for making me whole.
Thank You Lord for giving to me,
Thy great salvation, so rich and free.

____________________________________

Thank you Lord for Your gift of salvation; for your forgiveness, mercy, and love. Thank you Lord for all your many, many blessings. Thank you for my husband, children, family, and friends. Thank you for all Your marvelous provision each and every day.

Please remind me to always give thanks and to teach my children to do the same. Amen.

____________________________________

**To view more posts from other Thankful Thursday participants, you may visit Lynn’s blog, over here.

Monday Message

Sometimes I feel as if I’m not getting the answers from the Lord that I so desperately need. Yesterday afternoon, it occurred to me (once again) that I needed to go separate myself from everyone and everything and just sit in silence before Him for a bit. I saw this cartoon in an email this morning, and I think it captures this need very well…We all need to get away from all of life’s distractions every once in a while, if we want to hear the Shepherd’s voice!

________________________________

_________________________________

**Cartoons by Mike Waters at: joyfultoons.com

Easter Reflections

(by: Helen Steiner Rice)

With OUR EYES we see

The beauty of Easter

as the earth awakens once more…

With OUR EARS we hear

The birds sing sweetly

to tell us Spring again is here…

With OUR HANDS we pick

the golden daffodils

and the fragrant hyacinths…

But only with OUR HEARTS

can we feel the MIRACLE of GOD’S LOVE

which redeems all men…

And only with OUR SOUL

can we make our ‘pilgrimage to God’

and inherit His Easter Gift of ETERNAL LIFE.

These Thousand Hills

This is a song I uploaded on Face-book a while back. It’s one of many by Third Day that speaks to my soul. I am also touched by this You-Tube video by New Beginnings Chapel. Hope you will be as well.

______________________________________________

Easter’s On Its Way

Ya know, Easter Sunday is a week from today! The meaning of Easter is so exciting to me…so much more than just dyed eggs, bunnies, and Easter baskets. However, I absolutely LOVE the following cartoon about a very special Easter basket:

____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

**Now, that’s the kind of Easter basket I can count on…one that will hold up, will last forever, and will never let me down! 🙂
___________________________________________________________

**For more cartoons by Mr. Waters, visit: joyfultoons.com

Oh, What A Treasure…

…and one so easily found!

________________________________

________________________________

**See more Christian cartoons by Mr. Walters at: joyfultoons.com

________________________________

(*Update*)An 8 Yr. Old’s Explanation…

…of God

______________________________

A friend sent me the following:

______________________________

The short essay below was written by an 8-year-old from Chula Vista, California.

He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment,

to “explain God.” I wonder if any of us could have done as well?

______________________________

EXPLANATION OF GOD:

One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones
that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.
He doesn’t make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller
and easier to make. That way he doesn’t have to take up his valuable time
teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and
fathers.

God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of
this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times
beside bedtime. God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because
of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of
noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him
pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting his time by going over your mom
and dad’s head asking for something they said you couldn’t have.

Atheists are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t think there are any
in Chula Vista . At least there aren’t any who come to our church.

Jesus is God’s Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water
and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn’t want to
learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they
crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his
father that they didn’t know what they were doing and to forgive them and
God said O.K.

His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work
on earth so he told him he didn’t have to go out on the road anymore. He
could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening
to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of
and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God.
Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they
got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.
‘You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if
there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God!

Don’t skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to
the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the
beach until noon anyway.

If you don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very
lonely, because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp,
but God can. It is good to know He’s around you when you’re scared, in the
dark or when you can’t swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big
kids.

But…you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure
God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.

And…that’s why I believe in God.

________________________________

Aren’t kids great? Don’t they have a way with words?

Have a great week…and smile. God loves you! 🙂

________________________________

**Update: P.S. Alright, o.k…..Yeah, I’m not really sure if this was really written by an 8 yr. old either. But, hey, it’s still a cute story.

By the way, you can still smile too…and yes, God loves you! 🙂