"A Long and Meaningful Second"

Today I was reminded that our time here on Earth is so limited. The Bible says our life is but a mist..It is here today and gone tomorrow... That word mist is "Psssst" Pretty quick.. For some it seems like ages..and for some, like me, it went so fast. My years are but a fuzzy blur..I prayed last year "God please slow down time for me" He did..It seems to be to be slowing down and I am grateful. Maybe that is just old age!

Where does our time go? What do we spend it doing? I challenge you to ask yourself the question..What are the eternal consequences of what I choose to do? God gives us JOY beyond measure and sometimes tears beyond belief. Do we really give our day to God, or just minimal parts?

Let's look at it from a parents perspective..How would any of you parents feel if you could see your child through a glass each day( like a one way mirror) but they only spoke to you when they had time..You wait patiently, hoping for just a small conversation..You relish anything they might give you..a smile, an acknowledgement of any sort. You start to wonder, "Do they even love me?" You bang on the glass trying to get their attention..you yell..you scream.."please talk to me!!!"

You wave and eventually sit down in your sadness and wonder..What happened? Why are they ignoring me??Well friends..That is what God does everyday..He waits for us to pray to him..TALK TO HIM..He longs for us to give him TIME!!!! What do you do with your time?? We are but a mist. Please give your Father what He longs for, a kiss of time, a hug of prayer and a smile of gratitude for giving us "a long and meaningful second"

Touch the Untouchable!!

As we sat watching the kids ride the rides at Wet 'n' Wild water park, I was day dreaming about my childhood, and was thinking intently about how fast my life has gone. I remember vividly saying to myself.."Wow the year 2000 will never come, it is so far away!!" Now I am ready, in a few years, to send my last off to college.Where has your life gone? Have you accomplished what you set out to do?

Are you satisfied with the things you have mastered?I am sorry to say I have not accomplished near what I believe God has left for me to do. Unfortunately, for people like me..most of my life has been a huge learning experience..just to get me here and I still feel half baked.."Hurry God turn the oven up" Some people just " get it"

I still don't even know what the "it" is.Even when we don't understand why we are here, God does have a plan and uses us, if we are usable.Do we get up each morning saying.."Okay God ..here I am" or "Okay God here I go" If it is the latter, I ask you to pull out your spiritual heart and examine it..Check it out.. Is it pliable? Is it workable? Does it listen to God when He speaks?? Do we walk by our own plan for the day? Or plan made the night before? Do we stop when we hear a whisper from Him saying.."Hey. I need you to do this for me"

We are the eyes, ear, hands, feet, and voice of Jesus who has physically left this world. He left His Spirit in us, and we are HIM. We are His BODY on this earth. We do what He would have done if He were still here!!So when the whisper comes..don't ignore it..move like Jesus would have.Love the beggar, hug the un-huggable, touch the untouchable...Jesus did..He touched the leper and healed Him..We must do that too!!

We must do the unthinkable..the gross, the "out of our comfort zone" things.Did you know that the leper had such wonderful faith to even seek out Jesus!! Lepers had to yell "UNCLEAN" when approaching a crowd of people..imagine the guts it took to even get to Jesus for perhaps a healing or not.The leper didn't even know if Jesus would touch him, let alone heal him.

If God puts a leper in your life...take the time to heal him. Touch him and do what Jesus would have done.We only have so much of this stuff called TIME. I am running out..so I am going to listen more intently for His whisper and touch the untouchable..What about you?

"What Must I Do?"

I find myself asking "What must I do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?" Oh I have kept all the "rules" from childhood..I can hear the "rich young ruler"say. I have done all the right things...and yet something tells me Jesus is saying, "fill in the blank"For the rich young ruler, it was sell everything you have and give it to the poor.

What is Jesus saying to you and me?This story says..We all have something that could keep us from entering..Only Jesus and I know..Thank goodness!! "What must I do?" The Bible says 2 Tim 2:15 Be diligent (Do everything possible) to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. Ashamed!! Could I actually be ashamed of myself before God..What happens then?

I must approve of what I do and He must approve as well. I don't know about you, but that puts a new light on things..What do I approve of everyday that God would not? Do I study to find out? Am I really being honest with my life or am I just ridin' the fence.We are not to be of this world brothers and sisters. We have to be in it, but not of it!! What does that mean? Can you see a difference in your life compared to someone who does not know Jesus?

Are there things in your life that you are glad only Jesus and you know about? Are you ashamed of them??Only you can judge yourself now..You HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST. You must judge now so on that day you will not be ashamed.Romans 6:1-2 says...What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly Not!!Let us dig deep and gouge out that eye..lest we "do not enter" Grace is imparted to us through Christ, but let me ask you a challenging question....

Would you tell any of your children " I accept anything you do..even things that are wrong and you can do them all the time" I think not!!Let us remember He is our Father and He wants A SPOTLESS church to marry His son. Let's be that church for Him!! He DIED for it!!"What must you do?"