THE END AND THE BEGINNING!

March 13, 2018March 8, 2018 | lindamowles

There are many things that come to an end during our life on this whirling planet.

Babies wearing diapers. Many a mother thinks that day will never ever, ever, ever come, but it does (unless something horrific intervenes).

The end of the work day. Again, there are times that even that seems to be far off in the distant future if the assignment you are working on is difficult or unbelievably boring. But even that day does, in fact end, at the appropriate time.

One thing that occurs like clockwork (please pardon the pun) is the ending of the day.

Sunset along I 40 4 — Driving westbound on Interstate 40

Heading west on I-40, we can see the sun setting behind the mountains with the beautiful colors lighting up the evening sky. This was the sunset one evening when we visited the family in Virginia.

There are times that God’s creation is simply too beautiful to describe. Pictures certainly do not do justice to the glory that shines out from God’s world.

Sunset and clouds 2 — Setting sun with clouds

We know that God created the sun and the moon – it says so in Genesis:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. … And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night–and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”

Genesis 1:1, 14-19

The Psalmist says it this way:

“Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.”

Psalm 74:16

Ocean sunset with lighthouse (C) — Ocean with far distant shore

In our world of technology and scientific data, we have analyzed, digitized, and categorized the sun, the clouds, the atmosphere, the solar flares, and all kinds of things that I don’t even know. We have studied and drawn, recorded and photographed the sun in our effort to understand it, and we have gone a long way from our forebears who pointed and said “bright!”

But in my little corner of the world, at sunset, I look in the sky and see the hand of my Father, painting a particularly beautiful picture for me to see as I head into the evening hours of the day.

Many are so much more scientific and analytical than I am. They can explain so much about things of nature and of our world. It is my prayer that we all would stop and look at what God has given us, cherish the view, lock the mental picture into our minds, and then thank Him for His unfathomable love and mercy.

When the day is over and the sun is running its course to the other side of the world, they are awaking to the warmth of its rays. “Good evening” to you is “Good morning” to someone else!

The end, thus, is really also a beginning!

I doubt that the little caterpillar in this picture ever would think that he would be transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

The truth of the matter is, however, that the caterpillar must get into his cocoon and shed the body that had restricted him so that the transformation can take place. Rather than crawling along in the dirt, the butterfly can soar incredible distances, looking down on the land that he used to call home. The caterpillar’s end was also its beginning.

For us, when we are relieved of our mortal shell, our physical body, we will be transformed into our eternal bodies, glorious and without blemish.

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.””

1 Corinthians 15:51-54

Billy Graham said this in the years prior to his death:

Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. don’t you believe a word of it. i shall be more alive than i am now. i will just have changed my address. i will have gone into the presence of God.

The end is not really the end … rather, what we think of as the end is actually just the beginning.

Father, I thank You for giving us the example of nature in Your marvelous creation. The setting of the sun where I live is the end of the day, but it is the beginning of a new day elsewhere on this whirling globe. The “death” of the caterpillar is just the transforming work so that it can be a butterfly. Our physical death is simply the shedding off of our mortal bodies into the eternal body that You have prepared for us. Thank You for Your steadfast love and for calling Your children to come to You from every corner of the earth.

THE VINEYARD AND THE CHURCH

January 5, 2018December 19, 2017 | lindamowles

The vineyard and the church — Jefferson’s Vineyards outside Charlottesville, Virginia

As we were going through the vineyards outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, this summer, we stopped to take a picture of just part of the vines in the Jefferson vineyard with a red-roofed church just beyond them.

The juxtaposition of the vines and the church building prompted my mind to go to John 15.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. … Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:1, 4-5

Jesus was speaking to His disciples in this discourse and He was advising them that they had no power in and of themselves to accomplish anything eternal for the Kingdom of God. Indeed, He said “apart from me you can do nothing”!

We think that we can do a lot of things without God’s assistance; but, without Jesus, none of them are of any merit. But, separate us from God and all our works, even the very best ones, are essentially garbage in God’s sight.

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Isaiah 64:6

Our righteous deeds, the ones that we hold up to God as evidence that we should be rewarded, all those nice things we did and said, all of them are considered to be like a polluted garment, filthy rags.

According to Strong’s concordance information, the Hebrew word translated as “filthy rags” relates to menstruation and the soiled garments therefrom. It is profound that Isaiah used this term to describe God’s attitude toward man’s good works.

It is easy to read “filthy rags” as being merely soiled cleaning cloths. But for me, this Hebrew definition puts the “filthy rags” reference into a new light – our good deeds, no matter how costly or how worthy they are in man’s eyes, are worth only to be dumped into the refuse can.

So, what do filthy rags have to do with the Vine?

NOTHING!

When we are in Christ Jesus, when we are connected to the Vine, our acts of righteousness avail much. When we are abiding in the Vine, we have the power of the Vine flowing through us and we can accomplish that which He has ordained for us to do for the Kingdom of God. Then, instead of “filthy rags,” God sees the righteousness of Christ that has become imputed to us through our faith in Him. In short, we abide in the Vine and He enables us to do righteous deeds that are a fragrant aroma to God, not filthy rags.

The church, the bodily manifestation of Jesus Christ after His resurrection, is to do His work.

“And [God] put all things under [Jesus’] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Ephesians 1:22-23

Each of His children are part of the church, the body of Christ, and we each have a role to play as we live out our lives to the glory and honor of our Savior. Paul talks of the body of Christ like this in First Corinthians 12:

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. … Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

1 Corinthians 12:12, 27

In this new year, praise the Lord for the gift of eternal life through His death and resurrection and also for the gift of an abundant life in the here and now. And thank Him that He has grafted us into the Vine so that as His Church we will have the power that comes to those who abide in Him.

The vineyard and the church. The very symbols of the Source of our strength and of the Body which carries the message of our Lord to those with whom its members interact.

Father, Your ways are inscrutable and unknowable to us. We praise You for giving us Your Son as our Savior and we thank You for enabling us to witness to Your incredible love and mercy through Jesus Christ. Thank You, too, for giving us symbols that we can use to remind us of Your grace, providence and goodness. May we glorify You in all that we do, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

GLORIOUS BEAUTY ON DISPLAY

November 14, 2017November 2, 2017 | lindamowles

Sometimes we get a glimpse of the incredible variety and diversity among even things that usually look very similar.

While that sentence sounds like gibberish, I am thinking of the glorious beauty that God gives each Autumn when the leaves on most deciduous trees change from their traditional green color into an incredible pallet of colors of various intensities, hues and shades.

As we were driving through the mountains of Virginia recently, the views from the highway were breathtaking as the colorful leaves broadcast their praise to their Creator. The beautiful views in the mountains made me think of the Scripture speaking of the joy we can have through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

In Matthew Poole’s in-depth commentary on Isaiah 55, he says the scripture speaks of an invitation to seek spiritual blessings from Jesus Christ, who was sent by the Father. We should come to Christ speedily, by repentance, and rest assured that His grace is infinite, His Word is powerful and that believers in Him will have joy eternal.

In Isaiah 55:12-13 God is speaking, and it reads as follows:

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Isaiah 55:12-13

The mountains and hills and the trees of the field will break forth in singing and clapping their hands at the joy of the Lord and at His reign.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter IV.1 says:

It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all very good.

Scripture confirms this statement of faith. See for example:

Colossians 1:16

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.

Psalm 33:5 says:

He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love [goodness] of the LORD.

This world was created by our God for His glory, and even the plants and animals were created for His glory. In fact, we, too, were created by God and it is our incredible privilege to live for His glory and to love Him supremely.

Beloved, does your spirit soar when you consider the love that the Lord has for you? Do you look around at this beautiful time of the year and see the Lord’s hand outstretched before you?

Open your eyes and see the marvelous works of God. Praise His name and come to Him in repentance and love. Bless His name throughout your days, and the peace of our Lord will rest upon you eternally.

Father, thank You for evidence of Your love and blessing as we look around us during the beautiful autumn days. I pray that I would not take these blessings for granted but that I would praise You and glorify You each day that I live. In Jesus name, I pray.

UNPLUGGED – GOOD OR BAD?

August 25, 2017August 21, 2017 | lindamowles

We were camping in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was a beautiful location, with wooded camp sites and quiet surroundings. It is quite a distance from the city, but we were camping so that was perfectly alright.

What we did not realize is that our cellular provider offered no coverage in the area of the campground. The city had good cell coverage, but where we were camping there was virtually none. We were forced to be “unplugged”.

Now that is likely a good thing. We are entirely too used to looking at the cell phone or tablet while spending a nice evening next to each other, but focusing on various news stories, books, card games instead of actually spending time communicating with each other. Perhaps the unplugged status is good after all.

While being unplugged from electronics is an inconvenience, it is not earth-shattering or of eternal significance. However, there is nothing inconsequential about being unplugged from God. The stakes for being unplugged from Him are both horrific and eternal!

The ultimate unplugged condition is that of unrepentant sin. God is a holy God and He cannot and will not tolerate or look upon sin. As R. C. Sproul says, sin is cosmic treason against God. It is against His holy nature and, His justice demands that it be punished, eternally.

As Christians, however, we understand that God’s justice has been satisfied for His children through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross of Calvary. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, paid the price for the sin of His sheep by giving up His life.

He offers us life abundant through His grace and mercy if we are plugged into Him.

Wisteria blooming vine close up — Wisteria vine stem at ground level, providing nourishment for the plant.

The analogy Jesus uses is that He is the vine and we are the branches. If we abide in the vine, we will bear much fruit, but if we are not in the vine, we will be cast out and burned. See the Gospel of John, Chapter 15. We need to be plugged in to the vine for the power to produce fruit for Him. Only through Him can we experience a life that is abundant and fruitful.

Wisteria blooms — Wisteria vine along the front yard fence.

Christianity is a relationship between you and the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither your parents, your pastor, your spouse, indeed no one, can enter a relationship with Christ for you. You must receive Christ through the call that God makes on your heart. It is a gift from God, not of works. Ephesians 2:9.

While each of us has our own unique call into Christianity, once you are a child of God, the life in Christ is not a solitary experience. Our meeting, worship and fellowship together with other believers provides power and strength, accountability and support, so that you can grow in your Christian life and witness.

Just as our cell phone needs charging from a source outside itself, our Christian life needs power that we do not have on our own. Our life charger is not a plug or cable, rather our power comes from abiding in the Vine of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Are you unplugged? Need power? Go to the Cross and repent. Receive your nourishment from the Vine and you then will be able to be used for the Glory of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Father, thank You for providing power through Your Word, Your Spirit, Your Son. Forgive me when I fail to appropriate that power for my life and when I try to life a life in Christ through my own efforts or good works. Give me the power to yield to You solely so that Your Spirit will shine through me.

PRAISE THE LORD

March 31, 2017 | lindamowles

One of the things I love to do while we are camping is to sit outside in the evening/night and listen to the sounds of nature while gazing up into the heavens. Viewing the stars, which are hidden by the city’s lights at home, is an incredible privilege. Watching the sun set in the earth’s inexorable travel around it is mesmerizing to me. Each second of descent below the horizon brings new colors and new beauty.

Sunset over Annandale VA 2 — Sunset over Annandale, Virginia

Scripture exhorts us to praise the Lord, In fact, it further exhorts even creation to praise God.

“Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!”

Psalm 148:3 ESV

“The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.”

Ecclesiastes 1:5 ESV

Redondo beach sunset — Sunset along Redondo Beach, California

“And God made the two great lights–the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night–and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”

Genesis 1:16-19 ESV

Super Moon (C) — Super Moon in Mississippi.

Next time you are outside, whether at sunrise, daylight, sunset or night, look at the heavens and praise the Lord for His glorious graciousness in giving us our beautiful world.

Here is the song “For the Beauty of the Earth” as composed by John Rutter and recorded on the album Gloria – the Sacred Music of John Rutter. Let the beautiful tones of the hymn embrace you as you consider the glorious beauty of God’s creation.

“The fear [reverence] of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”

Psalm 111:10 NASB

Father, thank You for making Your creation so incredibly beautiful in its majesty as well as in its finite detail. I pray that my life would reflect the love of my Savior as the moon reflects the sun. And may I praise Your holy Name. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE FARMERS’ MARKET

March 10, 2017March 7, 2017 | lindamowles

I love going to a farmers’ market to see the cornucopia of produce available to us for consumption. The profusion of apples, tomatoes, squashes, green vegetables … there is no end to the bounty that is available to us from the farmers’ fields.

Several years ago we were in Abingdon, Virginia and went to the Farmers’ Market there. Here is a sample of the goodies that they had (some of which we purchased).

Abingdon farmers market 2 — Farmer’s market in Abingdon, Virginia.

While we were in Abingdon, we also went to another vendor of fine edibles, the Abingdon vineyard and winery. It was in October, so the vines were dormant and they were certainly not a picture of lush green vines. But the prospect of fine wine in the future was evident by the care and tending of the vines, even in the winter.

Abingdon winery outside 5 — Vineyard during the October rest in winter, tended and cared for by the vinedresser.

But, all was not gray at the winery! God’s beauty was evident in the colors that graced the surrounding landscape.

Abingdon winery outside 7 — Shrubs in their colorful finery at Abingdon Winery during October.

However, back to the farmers’ market. Knoxville has a large farmers’ market that is in multiple locations around town. While I enjoy going to see what is available, another market that I enjoy visiting is the farm store at Carver’s Orchard in Newport, Tennessee.

Carvers orchard 10-2016 - even more apples — Wide variety of apples at Carver’s Orchard in Newport, Tennessee.

Bushel baskets of apples adorn the floors and tables of one side of the farm store, with pickles, jams, jellies, butters, honey, ciders and all sorts of other goodies in jars are along the walls. The orchard is huge and the number and type of apples available is staggering. They even have a chart of various apples showing when they will be harvested.

Carvers orchard 10-2016 - apple chart — Apple chart at Carver’s Orchard showing the type of apple and the timing of harvest.

If you turn to look at the other side of the farm store, you will find a variety of other produce some of which is grown at their farm while the rest is from other local farmers. For example, there will be tomatoes, Vidalia onions, pumpkins, potatoes (both white and sweet), gourds, etc.

Carvers orchard 10-2016 - tomatoes — Bounteous tomatoes available at the orchard farm store.

This is not meant to be an advertisement for any specific company or place. Rather, these pictures and comments are intended to shake us out of our apathy, out of our whining about inconveniences and problems, out of our misguided belief that the universe revolves around us or that all we see around us is the result of our work alone.

I fervently pray that the pictures will reawaken our gratitude to God for His great bounty bestowed upon our country. And I pray that we will remember the source of the bounty that farmers present on market day.

“You [God] cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”

Psalm 104:14-15 ESV

I pray that we will honor the One who is the source of our very breath, who gives our bodies the strength for each heartbeat, who gives us the opportunity and ability to do our work, and who is the Lover of our souls.

“These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.”

Psalm 104:27-29 ESV

God’s blessings have been showered on our country for hundreds of years, and for a great many of those years we remembered that He is the source of the harvest. However, in more recent times, it appears that we have forgotten, both as a country and as individuals, that God is the One who provides His bounty for us.

When He is ignored, when we claim that all this came from our own labor, when we take the glory that is rightfully His and claim it for ourselves, we have replaced Him with idols of our own making. This, my beloved, is sin. It is rank disobedience and God will not continue blessing us if we continue in unrepentant sin.

The problem is that God is holy and He WILL NOT share worship with other gods. This is a problem that is as old as … well all the way back thousands of years when Israel would copy worship of the peoples around them, while still saying that they worshiped God. They were taken as captives and moved away from their land, and this was said about the experience:

“And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods…”

2 Kings 17:7 ESV

Scripture continues:

“The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, ‘You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.’ “

2 Kings 17:35-39 ESV. But, the next verse makes an extraordinarily sad pronouncement:

“However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.”

2 Kings 17:40 ESV

Fearing [reverencing], worshiping, and honoring God is neither a suggestion nor an option on the multiple choice test of life. It is a commandment, and it is a commandment that God takes very seriously.

Let us all examine ourselves and see if there is any sin in us;

if we have refused to give God the honor due His Name,
if we have ignored God’s commandments and have flaunted our freedom so that we have trampled on His Word,
if we, in our pride, have claimed to be the creator of our own abundance,
if we have refused to repent when the Spirit has convicted us of our sin,
if we have given lip service to the worship of God while we, at the same time, worship other gods such as money, fame, family, position, ___you fill in the blank____!

Scripture tells us that there is a remedy to this situation – there is hope that God will continue to bless us. In Second Chronicles we read:

“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV

It is not too late – if we as His people will humble ourselves in prayer and repent and seek Him while we turn from sin and look to Him alone, God will hear us and will save us and heal both us and our land.

Father, enable us to see ourselves as You see us … then let us flee to the cross of Your Son and repent of our sin so that His righteousness can be imputed to us and we can live in the light of Your grace. Then, I pray that you would heal our land.

PLAN AND GO – OR GO WITH THE FLOW?

January 31, 2017 | lindamowles

I find it interesting when I talk to people about vacations. Some folks just “go with the flow.” No need to plan where they are going to stop, “there will be a place somewhere!” No need to get tickets ahead of time, “there will be a seat available!”

Others plan every hour and second of their time away from home. They have hotel and restaurant reservations. They have tickets, in hand, for various events they want to see or in which they want to participate. And, they have maps galore including the most up-to-date GPS program available.

I suspect that most people are a combination of these two extremes, but I am mostly a “planner” while my husband is more of a “go with the flow” guy. It makes for some interesting times.

taylor-mcgee-campbell-wisconsin-dormatory — Taylor University, Upland, Indiana — picture of McGee-Campbell-Wisconsin, my dormitory when I was a student in the late 1960s. It had been demolished by the time our daughter graduated from the University in 2000.

We had two children in college at the same time. They both were in out-of-state schools, each about 7 hours away from our home but in opposite directions! This did not create too much of a problem until the year when Parents’ Weekend was held on the same date for both schools. Normally we do things together, but given the circumstances, I went to our daughter’s school and my husband went to our son’s school.

vmi-jackson-hall-1996 — Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, picture taken in 1998 of Jackson Hall (the dormitory) when our son was a cadet there.

Since we were going in opposite directions, leaving at different times, it never occurred to me to make my husband’s hotel reservations. He made his own plans when he traveled for work so I didn’t think twice about his plans for this trip, especially since he was going to an area not far from his birthplace.

I planned my trip and even arranged for an Aunt to meet me in the small Indiana college town as a surprise for our daughter. I had started loading the car with things that she wanted for her dorm room when my husband asked: “Where am I staying tonight?” I responded: “I don’t know; where did you make your reservations?”

The blank look on his face was all the answer I needed. No reservations. “Well,” he said, “there are loads of rooms in the area.” So I headed for Indiana and he headed for Virginia. He knew the area well, in fact it had been his sales territory for a number of years, so I was not concerned about his ability to find lodging.

What neither of us knew was that all of the gazillion schools in northern Virginia had Parents’ Weekend at the same time. What he also did not know, but soon found out, was that no rooms were available in any of the hotels/motels near the VMI campus.

I, on the other hand, was safely booked into my hotel when I tried calling him on his cell phone. At that point in the day, he told me about all the Parents’ Weekend activities and mentioned that he did not yet have a room. He was confident that it would be easy to find one; he just had “not really looked”.

Later, he called to tell me that he found lodging – an hour away from the college and in the direction of our home. He was not in a regular room but in the hotel’s conference room. I then had a mental picture of a long table with all the chairs pushed in forming a fence with his sleeping form stretched out between the chairs, a book for his pillow. Rather like the Biblical Patriarch Jacob, I thought!

conference-room-table

While he let me have that delusion for a while, later in the conversation he told me that the room had a sleeper sofa. There went the Jacob analogy!

Praise the Lord that He is sovereign. In our arrogance and sin, we think that we have our life all worked out, but we must remember that our life is always under His control, whether we plan and schedule or relax about the details. Job learned this millennia ago when he said:

“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.”

Job 42:1-2

Moving into the New Testament, when Pilate said that he had the power to either free or crucify Jesus, Jesus corrected him:

“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”

John 19:10-11.

In Proverbs 19:21 the writer says:

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.”

I have to confess that my planning down to the infinite detail is something of which I must repent since it falls in the category of prideful sin. You know, something along these lines: “I’ve got this, Lord. You can take care of more important things!”

I further suspect that Bill’s relaxed attitude is much more like that which our Lord desires. Rest in His arms and let Him handle the details. I’m basing this on the teachings in Matthew chapter 6, a chapter which I commend to your reading.

In it, Jesus talked about anxiety and told His disciples, and us, not to worry about our life or what we are going to eat or wear. God knows what we need and He will work His will through us. At the end of the chapter, He says:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Matthew 6:33-34 ESV

Yeah, I believe that this supports my husband’s relaxed attitude about planning, and it is something that I have to cultivate in my own life on a daily basis.

Ultimately, both of us had marvelous times with the children on our respective Parents’ Weekends. Even when things seem to be hectic, helter-skelter, and going awry, God has even the tiniest details in His hands. What an incredible, caring and omniscient God we serve. What a glorious blessing it is to call Him “Father” through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank You, Father, for guiding us through the hurdles that we encounter in this world. Thank You for loving us and sending Your Son to be our Savior. Thank You for blessing us with Your Spirit as He teaches and encourages us along the way. Thank You that Your purpose always prevails, even when things seem out of control to our limited way of thinking!

WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE OF OUR LIFE IN CHRIST?

March 8, 2016 | lindamowles

Think about how the New Testament describes the early church in Acts 2:42-47 [NIV]:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. … Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Church with stianed glass window — Church in Roanoke, Virginia in the summer with the roses providing fragrance to worshippers walking along the sidewalk.

What a difference would be made in our lives, our homes, our churches, our communities, or world if we reflected God’s love to all persons we meet throughout our day! The early church was known by their care and love for each other. Theirs was not a maudlin kind of service – Scripture says they were together with “glad and sincere hearts” and they praised God and enjoyed “the favor of all the people.” Incredible. No wonder that, as a result of their gospel-driven witness, the Lord added to their number daily.

Church - St Margarets church in London (C) — St. Margaret’s Church in downtown London, England.

I don’t think our response to the love showered upon us by God through Christ Jesus is intended to result in our withdrawal from society so that we hoard our time with God and ignore our fellow creatures on this whirling sphere we call Earth. No, that is not the life to which Jesus calls us. Rather, He calls us to serve others, as He came to serve. Matthew 20:26-28.

Where is the evidence of my life in Christ? The evidence, my friend, is my focused dedication to obey the commands of my Savior as found in Scripture, the foundational command of Jesus being that we are to first love God with all our strength, mind and heart and then we are also to love our neighbors as ourselves. Luke 10:27.

In fact, Jesus says that people will know that we are His disciples by the love we show to others. John 13:35.

Do I enjoy being with my brothers and sisters in the Lord when I meet with them during worship on Sunday morning, or during Bible study in Sunday School, or during the Women’s Circle Bible Study, or during Choir rehearsal? Do I cherish the people in my church and seek to attend to their needs?

Do I reach out in ministry to others beyond the walls of my church, perhaps even beyond my comfort zone? Do people see the evidence of my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who is my Savior?

I know that I have failed to be the loving witness Christ calls me to be, but I pray that each day I come closer and closer to the target of reflecting Jesus to others, of loving them as Jesus loved them.

Beloved, what has been the evidence of your relationship with Jesus?

How much do you love Jesus? How much do you love those whom Jesus loved?

Father, may I express my love to your Son, my Savior Jesus Christ, by ministering to those He loves, whether they may be among my friends or not. May I express my love to you, Father, by studying your Word and praying, listening to the Holy Spirit urge and direct me as I walk the path you have preordained for me to tread. Thank you Father for your Spirit who comforts, encourages and strengthens me. Please give me grace that I may continue to love and serve You throughout my days, even on the hard ones.