EVERLASTING LOVE

I think we all can say at one time or another we were looking for our one true love.  We dreamed of how they would look, speak, or lavish us with gifts and affection.  Needless to say, when we found them, we had to worry to maintain their affection.  The true relationship is one of give and take to maintain the original spark of love.   We were careful not to do anything to damage the relationship for fear of losing their affection.  Despite all our efforts, that love one either left our lives by way of the gate or the grave.    After the loss of a true love, we may think we’d never love again.  For this reason we should be very careful who we give our heart to.

I have been fortunate to have experienced love many times during my life.  As a result, I’ve had the broken heart that accompanies the end of a relationship.  I’ve also been fortunate that each relationship was progressively better.  I learned more about myself and my unrealistic perspective of love after each relationship.

After the loss of my true love, I realized even then that there was a love in my life that I had overlooked for years.  I didn’t respect His love as I should and consequently didn’t reap the benefits of it during this time of loss.

This is someone who loved me when I didn’t love Him.  He stayed close even when my attention and affection went to others.  His love is everlasting and has stood the test of time.  It’s been with me from my birth and will go beyond my death.  When I finally gave my life to Him, even the angels from His court rejoiced in Heaven.  Even though He shows His love daily, the true sacrifice of His love resonates for me at Easter.  My true and everlasting love gave His life for me at Calvary.  You’ve guessed who it is; it’s Jesus, God manifested in flesh (1Timothy 3:16).

If you’re looking for a real love, like Mary J. Blige sings about, I recommend you look to Jesus.  He’s our true and everlasting love; the lover of our souls. 

GETTING OUT OF DEBT

Each new year before tax season, I review my bills and try to eliminate some debt and future taxes. Large debt reminds me of a terminal illness, once you realize how serious it is, the time is up. At some point, you realize you’re over your head and there is no quick way out. The debt problem today is rampant in our area partly because of the high unemployment rate.

There are many kinds of debt; there is financial debt, a debt to society, or a personal debt. Each debt has their own term and conditions for repayment. The larger the debt, the higher the payment and interest charged. You search for options and solutions to remove the debt. Most credit counselors and businesses offering assistance only talk about debt consolidation, rarely about immediate elimination.

Debt can be devastating. It can force you into many levels of depression and alter your behavior significantly. When a debt is overwhelming, you sometimes feel it could never be repaid, so why try. This cycle of behavior forces you deeper into debt. The get rich schemes are scams. They feed on the desperation of the people in need. Creditors benefit from our debt. The interest continues to eat up any payment we make and the late fees keep the debt at its original amount. The only way to eliminate a debt is for it to be paid or forgiven.

Filing for one of the several types of bankruptcy has become the option for many to eliminate their debt. You must obtain an attorney to represent your case and your debt must be substantial. A judge gives the final ruling to remove your debt.

This reminds me of the debt we owed to God for the sin of Adam, passed to all generations. The wages of sin is death and the only release or payment was an acceptable blood sacrifice. No one met the conditions.

When we understand the gravity of our debt to God and the penalties associated with nonpayment, it can overwhelm us.   We can be flooded with feelings of helpless and hopelessness. This is true, until we consider Jesus.

God recognized our inability to pay our debt. Jesus came to become the acceptable blood sacrifice for the sin of Adam. He came to die so that we don’t have to die in our sins (Romans 5:7-20).

At Calvary the debt was settled.  Jesus rose again, returned to heaven, so another comforter could come (John 14:26) to keep us until He comes back for us. He was our attorney who successfully pleaded and won our case to be free. The only fee required to receive this release from our debt to God is repentance and acceptance of Jesus as our savior.

There is a source that benefits if we continue in sin and derives a certain satisfaction from our weakened condition; this source is Satan. He always makes us feel as if we can play now and pay this debt later.

During this New Year, let’s not forget the debt that was paid on our behalf at the cross. Don’t waste our opportunity to be debt free in the sight of God. Accept the mercy and grace of the cross and follow God’s way and remain debt free. We are free to love and adore a God who loved us enough to give His life to redeem us.

NEW YEAR PRESS

As I look back, I realize the weight of facing some of the worst hardships and life altering challenges during the past two years.  I survived emotionally numbing blows in recent years, and because of the holidays, only to relive some incidents afresh.  I lost loved ones and friends dear to my heart.  I saw the true colors of many, left abandoned and like my grandma use to say, up the creek without a paddle, on several occasions. 

It seemed that at every turn, another door was either closed in my face or at my back.  I felt boxed in and forced in a state of bondage.  There were times I called out asking God if He saw me.  I felt as if He was watching me suffer these things as He watched the guards beat Jesus beyond recognition.  I felt my old nature rise and a bit of old Chris resurfaced; the one that jumps into action to take care of Chris and handle people and situations.  I want to keep that old girl under control because she’s dangerous.  The last time I let her have free reign for just 1 hour, it took years and several attorneys to get things resolved.  The reborn Chris just kept saying be still, do nothing, God is not blind nor has He turned His back on you.  It’s God that has brought you to this place and time in life.  Wait on God, my spirit would say.

I started to imagine my situation.  My spirit was feeling as if I’m standing in a paneled room boxed in with no visible way of escape.  Each wall of this room is touching me on the front, the back, and the sides.   I wait with my hands folded behind my back.  I kept hearing a familiar clicking sound.  Familiar in that I know I’ve heard is somewhere before, long ago.  Then I remembered our old camper.  The cabinets and closets in it didn’t have handles and the surface look streamlined and you had to know where to press them to get them to open.  I had trouble with a few of them, just couldn’t seem to get the press right to make it open until several tries. 

Then I heard God say to press with my hands behind me, and a door opened.  I stepped back and God began to give me insight into why things happened this year.  No great mystery, it was His will and it was what was best for all involved.  He showed me how the past two years were a proving year for me.  He showed me how much He loved me and had invested in me.  It was a year during which I was being branded for His purpose for my life, to write of His glory, as John was banished to the Isle of Patmos to write the book of Revelations.    One mistake was to believe in the word of people and depend on them for help and not look to God first then He would send the help I needed.    

 I found myself back in that paneled room and I was instructed to press again on a place in front of me.  As I did, a door opened.  As I stepped out the way wasn’t clearly marked and a bit foggy and unstable in places.  God whispered, if I trust Him, He’ll lead me and show me the way.  To be successful, I’d have to get rid of the useless baggage from the past year that would hold me down or cause me to fall.

Beyond the love and investment God has placed in me, I take away from this image that even when people and situations seem to have us boxed in, all we have to do is look and wait on Jesus; then press, and He’ll open a way of escape.  If we trust Him, He will lead and guide us through our day to day life.  To be successful, I must press the door closed on the past and focus on today with Christ. 

For 2015 join with me in my resolve, like that of the Apostle Paul described in Philippians 3:1-15, to forget those things which are behind, and reaching for those things ahead, then press the mark, for the prize, which is the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus.  Let’s do a New Year Press.

ARE WE A SCROOGE

I watched one of my favorite holiday movies, a Christmas Carol.  I love the 1938 versions.  One thing I always take away from the story is how Ebenezer Scrooge had more than those around him in during an impoverished period in London, but he was the meanest and most miserable person.  He was so unpleasant that his name goes down in history to represent the worst in people when given to someone.  He was such a miser with money that he misused the money by not using it.

We rarely remember that he turned his life around and made amends with others at the end of the movie after being visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.

Ebenezer Scrooge became repentant after a chain of events occurred.  He first fired his loyal employee, Bob Cratchit, who has many children, one, tiny Tim, who was very ill, and a wife.  Bob holds no grudges even after receiving the harsh news of Mr. Scrooge’s decision.  Instead, in the spirit of hope and belief in the holiday spirit, he goes home spends all his earnings to provide a memorable Christmas for his family, not knowing what the future would hold.  I love at the end how Scrooge talked back to the future ghost, telling him that these things he saw can be changed if he alters his behavior.

Are we a scrooge? Are we blessed to have things but forget to have compassion on others?  Are we holding on to blessings that were intended to share and bless the lives of others around us?  Should the ghost of Christmas past visit us to show us how we became so unpleasant?  Would our Christmas present ghost show that no one finds pleasure in being in our company because we’re mean and unforgiving?  If we chose to continue, our Christmas future ghost would also show us headed down a road similar to Scrooge of separation and doom.  Just as Scrooge turned his life around, we too, can change our future.

During the season we should remember that we all have received the best gift; the gift of life from Christ.  Love and blessings are only good if they are shared and given away.  It’s an odd thing that the more you give of these, the more you get them back.  If you don’t have the money like Scrooge or any gifts under the tree to share, we can be innovative and give the gift that never grows old, we can give ourselves.  Remember, Christ gave himself to us as a sacrifice because of His love for us.  Let’s sacrifice a little of ourselves to help others.  Let’s not be a scrooge this season, let’s show love.  Give the gift of love, give a little of yourself to someone. 

THANKS-GIVING

The tradition for the celebration of thanksgiving began in the 1600’s.  The pilgrims ran from religious persecution in England and landed at Plymouth Rock.  They we not prepared to endure the harsh conditions of a Massachusetts winter and many died.  Those that survived did so because of the assistance they received from the Indians that were already settled in that region.  A feast was prepared for the Indian and Settlers to share and show appreciation for the Indian assistance and the formation of a new relationship.  The second memorable gathering occurred in 1777 after the British were defeated in 1776 and the settlers gained their independence from the old British rule.  Later it was made into a holiday.

Today, we gather with family and friends with a primary focus of the food we are to eat, the football games, or the uncle or aunt that we haven’t seen since last year.  We awake on Friday to initiate the Christmas shopping season.

Now the title of the day was coined thanks -giving because the early settlers were giving thanks with a feast to those who had helped them survive harsh weather or to celebrate the victory. Their survival and victory changed the course of history.

The first mention of thanks is usually when the grace is said.  We generally only spend seconds saying grace for a year’s worth of blessings; if we say grace at all. I know in my family, if you say grace too long you start hearing various ones saying amen for you.

Have we as individuals become less thankful and more ungrateful?  Do we take the good things that happen to us as luck or begin to expect them to happen?  Have you ever noticed when you go into a place of business now you generally are the one who says thank you and not the person you just gave your hard earned money to?  Whatever happened to teaching our children to say please and thank you? Have we begun to take even God for granted?  I was reminded of the scripture 2 Timothy 3:1-9 and it tells of how people will begin to be un-thankful.

I hope you join with me in reversing this trend.  Thankfulness and gratitude are conscious choices.  I choose to be thankful every day and will express my thanks giving longer than the time it takes to say grace.   We have so much to be thankful for that gratitude should be flowing from our lips toward God. 

If you know who you are and where you are, give God thanks.  If you can breathe on your own, thank God.  If you can stand on your own two feet, thank God.  If have a job, thank God.  If you have food to eat, thank God.  Say thank you and give people recognition for their kind acts and consideration towards you, but remember, every perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17).

 It’s not our talents that promote us, but the favor of God.  It’s not our burglar alarms that protect our homes and possessions; it’s the angels of the Lord that He has assigned to us.   It’s not our driving skills or ABS brakes that take us over the highways safely, it is the traveling mercies of God that allow us to go out and to come in safely.

Give thanks freely and the blessings will continue to come.  Let’s put the giving thanks back into thanksgiving and make it a daily habit. We are given something each and every day to be thankful for.  Thank you for taking the time to read my words and making my writing such a fulfillment and joy.   Have a blessed Thanksgiving season and I thank God for each and every one of you.

ASSUME THE POSITION

I remember going through life so unprepared at times and how that taught me the value of being prepared and being positioned correctly.  If I was in a position during a situation where I was standing and should have been kneeling, I remember being knocked to my knees.  If I was kneeling and should have been standing for better balance in the matter, I’d waver uncontrollably, coming close to the ground before being able to regain my stance.    A key part of success for my life has been my ability to assess a situation and determine the best position for that situation, then to assume that position. 

We are familiar with this terminology in many areas of life today.   We hear of police needing to search an individual.  There is a position that makes it easier for the search to occur. If the individual being searched tries to resist the search or moves, they become off balance and the officer can quickly restrain the individual. 

In the corporate world there is a position to assume for success.  It’s a position of knowing when it’s time to be conservative and when it’s time to be aggressive.  It’s having all the key components available at a moment’s notice to move on a capital or investment opportunity.

The same is true in the kingdom of God among His people.  To prosper in God is to obtain all the blessings and prosperity available, you must assume the correct position.   To obtain help from God, assume the position of prayer.  To receive more blessing than you can receive, assume the position of praise.  To receive the continued favor, assume the position of obedience.  To receive God’s unchanging love, assume the position and open your arms and heart to let Him in.

Have you noticed that you’ve been off balance and simple things overwhelm you? From my personal experience, it could be that you need to assume the right position and watch God bless you.