Have you ever heard the expression “the sun only shines on those who look towards it?”  The same is true with the homonym version:  “the Son [Jesus] only shines on those who look towards Him.”

All farmers know that sunshine is necessary for a harvest to occur.  In fact, nothing can grow without sunshine.  The same is true for us.  We can’t grow without the Son.

Another way to look at it is with a half filled glass of water.  Is your glass half empty or half full?

Today, think of the problems in your life and try to find new, positive  perspectives to see through.  Did you learn something from it?  If you are a Christian remember that God uses our mistakes/bad events to help us to grow.  He promises to work good from bad.  See how the amplified Bible renders Romans 8:28:

²⁸We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

Another rendering:

²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

In other words, God will turn it around for good whether it is your mistake or trouble someone has brought your way.

Chasing after empty pleasure
Will not satisfy one’s heart;
But to those who follow Jesus,
Life’s fulfillment He’ll impart. —Sper

Only God can fill an empty heart.

I was wondering what I could add to this to make it more complete.  There is really nothing too much to add except I see so many people desperate for any type of peace and pleasure so they resort to temporary fixes such as alcohol and drugs.  You only dig yourself in deeper.  Your “inner chains” just wrap themselves around you tighter and tighter.

I don’t care how much you have messed your life up, tomorrow is a fresh new day with no mistakes in it.  Wipe your slate clean today.  Let God fill your empty, heavy, and sad heart. Click on the category “how to find Jesus” and find a new life today full of peace and satisfaction.  It doesn’t mean life will be easy and hard times will evaporate, but it does mean you won’t have to bear your burden alone anymore.

   ¹⁸“Come now, and let us reason together,” saith the LORD. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1)

1As the deer pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God.
2My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? (Psalm 42)

Search me, Oh God, and know my heart today!

The purpose of the blog today is to get you into an attitude of worship and to search your heart and cry out to God. Remember, He is just one prayer away!.

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Starting Young August 23, 2010 Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn   READ: Proverbs 2 My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, . . . you will understand the fear of the Lord. —Proverbs 2:1,5 Addie was a bit worried. Before we all sat down for Sunday dinner, someone had started eating. That’s when our 3-year-old granddaughter said, “We haven’t prayed yet.” She was concerned that we might forget to give thanks. Her concern was a good sign. It showed that at her young age, Addie was beginning to form one of those good habits that parents teach their children as part of their instructions for life. This little routine, for instance, helps her see the value of prayer and thanksgiving, which can be a powerful resource for her in the years ahead. Raising children in an age of hostility toward the Christian faith is not easy. Parents wonder how best to help their little ones learn to trust the Savior and live to please Him. Proverbs indicates that a key to directing children is through purposeful instruction by parents (Prov. 1:8) on such things as listening to wisdom (2:2), seeking discernment (2:3), understanding the fear of the Lord (2:5), recalling parents’ teaching (3:1), and gaining insight (4:1). These become habitual when parents give instruction and when children “retain” those words of teaching (4:1-4). Got kids or grandkids? It’s never too early to begin instructing them in wise living. —Dave Branon God gives us children for a time To teach them how to love the Lord, To train them in His righteous ways, To follow and obey His Word. —Sper The character of your children tomorrow depends on what you put into their hearts today.

 FROM GAIL:

There is a concept in psychology called “self-prophecy.”  What this means is that kids will act the way you expect them to act.  This works in the negative and the positive.  Always remember to be careful what you role model for your kids.  The only way they learn respect is for you to show them respect.  Be honest with yourself in front of your kids so they can learn honesty.  The list is endless.  Invite your children to express their feelings openly and honestly.

Life is a love story.  You need me and I need you.  My broken world needs you.  Many a weary troubled heart needs you.  Many a troubled heart will be gladdened by you, drawn nearer to Me by you.

Health–Peace–Joy–Patience-Endurance, they all come from contact with Me

Oh!  It is a glorious way, the upward way, the wonderful discoveries, the tender intimacies, the amazing almost incomprehensible, understanding.  Truly the Christian Life–Life with Me–is a lovestory.  Leave all to Me.

All you have missed you will find in Me, the Soul’s Love; the soul’s Friend, Father–Mother–Comrade–Brother.  Try me.

You cannot make too many demands upon Me–nor put too great a strain upon my Love and Forebearance.  Claim–Claim–Claim– Healing–Power–Joy–Supply– what you will.

Taken from God Calling

From Gail:

Try to apply the concept of the movie, The Wonderful Life to yourself.  Think how the world would be changed in your little world if you had not been born.   Think of little things you can do to make a difference.  If everybody had this attitude, what a wonderful life this could be, but it all starts with you–one person–trying to make a difference.

Love For One Another

August 16, 2010

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: John 13:33-35

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. —John 13:35

You have to work hard to offend Christians. By nature, Christians are the most forgiving, understanding, and thoughtful group of people I’ve ever dealt with. They never assume the worst. They appreciate the importance of having different perspectives. They’re slow to anger, quick to forgive, and almost never make rash judgments or act in anything less than a spirit of total love. . . . No, wait—I’m thinking of golden retrievers!

I laughed when I read this in an e-mail. But having had experience with goldens—and fellow Christians—I think it’s true that sometimes believers are just too easily offended! “The choir director always gives her the solos.” “The pastor didn’t even look at me when he shook my hand.” “I do a lot around here—people ought to appreciate me a little more.”

Anger. Resentment. Pride. Sure, issues between believers do sometimes need to be addressed. But what if we always tried to treat others the way we want to be treated (Matt. 7:12), weren’t quick to judge others but forgave them (Luke 6:37), and demonstrated a little humility? (Phil. 2:3).

And what if the world could actually recognize that we are followers of Jesus by the love we have “for one another”? (John 13:35). Is this true of us? —Cindy Hess Kasper

Lord, let me be a shining light
In all I say and do,
That Your great love displayed in me
May lead someone to You. —Sper

Sometimes the best witness is love.

From Gail:

20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5)

God is trusting you to represent him well and to accurately portray his love so others can see and believe.  Don’t betray this trust.

If you are having trouble reading the Our Daily Bread devotional view the online version.
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One Mysterious God August 14, 2010 Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn   READ: Isaiah 46:8-11 I am God, and there is none like Me. —Isaiah 46:9 My wife and I don’t always under- stand each other. For instance, it’s a great mystery to her how I can watch an entire baseball game between two teams that have no chance of making the playoffs. And I surely don’t understand her love of shopping. To love someone intensely doesn’t mean you have to understand him or her completely. That’s good news, because there’s no way we can begin to grasp the deep mysteries of the God we love. With our finite minds and our self-centered views, we can’t deduce why God does what He does. Yet some people look at tragedies, for instance, and turn their backs on God—assuming that their finite knowledge about the situation is better than His infinite wisdom. Indeed, if we could figure God out—if He were no more than a glorified human with no greater knowledge than that of the smartest person—where would be the awe and the majesty of the Almighty? One reason we know God to be so great is that we cannot reduce His thinking to ours. The apostle Paul asked, “Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” (1 Cor. 2:16). Clearly, the answer is no one. Praise God that even when we don’t understand Him, we know we can trust Him. —Dave Branon Your ways, O Lord, are higher and Your knowledge is immense; So give us strength to trust You when Life doesn’t make much sense. —Sper To fully understand God is impossible; to worship Him is imperative.

From Gail

An attitide of gratitude is essential to maintain a healthy attitude during difficult times.  List things to be grateful for that you take for granted every day.  Are you basically living pain free?  Can you walk?  Can you see?  Do you take your freedom for granted?  The list is endless.  The way you perceive your life makes all the difference.

A grateful heart is a happy heart.  I giving heart is a happy heart.  Give of yourself today, even if it is just a happy smile!  The best therapy for depression is to give of yourself to make someone else happy.  As a psychology major, I know of a case that a depressed person, near suicide, starting making cookies for people in a homeless shelter.  Within a month, her depression had subsided.

 ³⁷“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. 
 ³⁸Give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over…” (Luke 6)

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 
“God opposes the proud but  gives grace to the humble. ⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand. I Peter 5:5-6.

Why is this scripture so important to God?  Because the proud and arrogant portray the attributes of Satan himself.  Exekiel 28 portrays the prideful arrogance of the arch angel Lucifer that God created–probably the most beautiful angel of all he created. This is God describing Lucifer, who after the fall became known as Satan. 

  ” ‘You were the model of perfection,
       full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

 ¹³ You were in Eden,
       the garden of God;
       every precious stone adorned you:
       ruby, topaz and emerald,
       chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
       sapphire, turquoise and beryl.  
       Your settings and mountings  were made of gold;
       on the day you were created they were prepared.

 ¹⁴ You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
       for so I ordained you.
       You were on the holy mount of God;
       you walked among the fiery stones.

 ¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways
       from the day you were created
       till wickedness was found in you.

 ¹⁶ Through your widespread trade
       you were filled with violence,
       and you sinned.
       So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
       and I expelled you, O guardian cherub,
       from among the fiery stones.

 ¹⁷ Your heart became proud
       on account of your beauty,
       and you corrupted your wisdom
       because of your splendor.
       So I threw you to the earth;
       I made a spectacle of you before kings.

What did Lucifer want to do?  Isaiah 14 gives us the answer:

        ¹² How you have fallen from heaven,
       O morning star, son of the dawn!
       You have been cast down to the earth,
       you who once laid low the nations!

 ¹³ You said in your heart,
       “I will ascend to heaven;
       I will raise my throne
       above the stars of God;
       I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
       on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. ^[c]

 ¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
       I will make myself like the Most High.”

So Lucifer was cast from heaven, lost all his glory and honor all because of rebellion, and this is why rebellion is as witchcraft, as God described it to Saul when he took his kingdom from him.

  ²³For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king.” (I samuel 15:23)

Today, ponder what ways you are proud and arrogant.  Do you feel superior to your wife/husband?  Are you rejecting God’s will for your life?  Do you want your will to be God’s will?  Reread my blog on secret sins.  You may need to ask God to reveal to you your secret sin of pride and arrogance.  We are all guilty of the sins of pride and arrogance.  Nobody is exempt.  It is our human nature.  God knows and understands this.  What is is watching for is how we handle it.  Do we entertain it or strive to overcome it?

Job 27

 ¹ And Job continued his discourse:

 ² “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
       the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,

 ³ as long as I have life within me,
       the breath of God in my nostrils,

 ⁴ my lips will not speak wickedness,
       and my tongue will utter no deceit.

 ⁵ I will never admit you are in the right;
       till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

 ⁶ I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
       my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

 ⁷ “May my enemies be like the wicked,
       my adversaries like the unjust!

 ⁸ For what hope has the godless when he is cut off,
       when God takes away his life?

 ⁹ Does God listen to his cry
       when distress comes upon him?

 ¹⁰ Will he find delight in the Almighty?
       Will he call upon God at all times?

 ¹¹ “I will teach you about the power of God;
       the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

It is important to remember that we must never be guilty of adding to other’s sorrows.  Many Christians, sadly to say, are guilty of this.  They want to be part of the problem not part of the solution.

Sometimes, the reason God allows bad things is so His love can show tangibly through you so people can relate to Him.

Today, remember to reach a helping hand to those hurting around you.  Ask God to show them to you so your paths can cross and you show the love of Christ, not the condemnation of Christ, which is a false representation of Him, and Jesus will hold you accountable for being such a poor representation of what He stands for.