Remembering...

Memorial Day is upon us and many of us will spend time with family and friends over a hot grill next to a swimming pool. Whatever your plans, I hope you will take the time to pause and remember the lives given to make your party possible. Have you ever thought about what the world would be like had Hitler or Japan won WW II? Have you considered how different life might be had communism not been fought in far off places like Korea and Vietnam? We owe much to those who defended liberty by the giving of their lives on far away battlefields.

Our life has been forever changed by the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives for our freedom. One such person who willingly laid down His life for us was Jesus Christ. While the American soldier died to provide us certain rights and political freedoms Jesus died to free us from sin and offer us the opportunity to receive eternal life. Today is a day of remembrance as we consider the sacrifice of those who have made our lives better. I hope you will take a moment to give thanks for the soldiers and the SON who died to make your life blessed!

James

A Little Humor on Your Saturday

New Shoes...

Perhaps you would expect an article on new shoes to come from Kim but sometimes God uses strange things to get our attention and this is one of those times for me. Yesterday, I went to be fitted for a new suit (thanks to my parent's generosity on my birthday) and while in the store saw a pair of shoes exactly like the ones I was wearing on my feet. Unfortunately, you would have never known the two pairs were the same type of shoe! I had been wearing the ones on my feet for a couple of years and had not realized how completely worn out they were until I saw again what they looked like new! The contrast between the shoes reminded me of something God has been recently teaching me through my study of the Book of Haggai.

Several times in the book of Haggai God tells the people of Israel to "consider their ways." We need to be reminded, especially in moments of disobedience, to consider our life for the worn out and broken spots. If we fail to "consider" we can easily live a broken and worn out life without realizing it! The people of Haggai's day had made some terrible choices regarding their priorities and their lives were headed away from God and His blessing. God wants so much better for His people! So God told the people to take inventory of their life and consider where there was need of repentance and a new way of living.

Have you taken the time to consider your life lately? Have you considered what you are doing with the time God gives you? Have you thought about the things which motivate you? Are you living a life pleasing to God? Are there people, things or habits that have become so routine in your life that they have escaped scrutiny? Sometimes it is even the "good" things in our life that need to change so we can have something better from God and give Him greater glory with our life.

We NEED to regularly consider our ways and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of anything we need to change about the way we live. The result of such consideration and change in Haggai's day was great blessing and great opportunity to give glory to God. Because of their obedience, the people in Haggai's day were allowed to build the Temple in which Jesus would someday walk! God will bless and provide you opportunity to give Him glory if you will CONSIDER and CHANGE any unhealthy, worn out or sinful things about your life!

James

Why Share Your Faith?

Why do we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What is our motivation? Have you ever considered, beyond simple obedience to the "Great Commission" Jesus gave us in Matthew 28, why we should be motivated to share our faith? Some would answer that we should be motivated because those who have not received Christ by faith will go to hell if they do not accept Him before they die. Without question this is great motivation for sharing our faith! But there is an even higher motivation for our obedience to God in this matter...

We share our faith with those who are separated from God because God deserves praise, worship, honor, love and devotion from their lips! God created their mouth, gave them life, preserves their life and died on the Cross to offer them salvation from sin; God deserves their life, love and praise! Love of God motivates us to see others love Him too! There can be no greater motivation to share our faith than our love for Almighty God!

James

Monday...One-Seventh of YOUR Life!

Lots of folks dread Mondays and many tend to waste the day away wishing it was Friday! But Monday is fully one-seventh of your life here on the earth! Can you afford to waste one-seventh of your life?

Life is a very precious gift and every moment of it is an opportunity. What you decide to do with this opportunity today will be written in the "Book of the Annals of the Life of YOU!" By the way the word "annals" means a "record of events, especially a yearly record, usually in chronological order." God is keeping a record of your life (Revelation 20:12) and what you do really DOES matter! Don't waste one-seventh of it for anything! Give God glory (be a demonstration of His love, power and character) in your life today! Decide you will be strong in the Lord, have faith in Jesus, work hard and show others what it means to be a follower of Christ...even on Monday!

James

Lord, Lunatic or Liar?

Continuing Education...

Many people reading this blog probably do not know that I once taught school. In fact, for 9 years, my life consisted of writing lesson plans, teaching students, attending in-service meetings and grading papers! I was a teacher 24/7 and I loved my job! It was extremely hard work but it was also full of blessings. I was very blessed to work with some wonderful colleagues, meet some great parents and teach some incredible students! Over the years I gave assignments, projects and tests to hundreds of students. No matter what age I taught, there were always a few students who thought they already knew all the material I was trying to teach them; they believed they knew as much or more than me, the teacher! I tried to keep a sense of humor at those times, because of course, being the teacher, I knew they did not know as much as I did and they had many things to learn.

I wonder how many times our life requires God to have a sense of humor with us? How many times do our actions and attitudes seem to tell God we don't need His help or we don't have anything else to learn from Him? How many times do we try to tell the Great Teacher we know more than He does? The absolute reality is that God is omniscient and knows more than we could ever imagine! I need to remind myself of this fact often and ask God to "Show me your ways, oh Lord teach me your paths" -- Psalm 25:4.

Kim