Tebow

I think there are a few of you out there that would like to know what I think of the whole Tebow thing.

First I am a 49er fan, thru and thru, so don’t expect me to cheer on the Bronco’s : ) I will tell you that I have been a FB friend with Tebow for a couple of years now and I love that he stands up for what he believes, publicly. He is using his fame for good, which is rarely the case. I applaud him for it, and feel very uneasy when people make fun of him. I have had this happen to me as well and it is never fun, but it is not surprising or new. It has been happening for thousands of years and the bible talks about how we can expect to be persecuted for our faith.

I think my Life Application Daily Devotion helps us to understand, what God expects of Tebow and every Christian.

January 15, 2012

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good."

Deuteronomy 10:12-13, NLT

Often we ask, What does God expect from me? Here Moses gives a summary that is simple in form and easy to remember. Here are the essentials: 1-Fear God. 2-Live in a way that pleases him. 3-Love him. 4-Serve him with all your heart and soul. 5-Obey his commands. How often we complicate faith with manmade rules, regulations, and requirements.

Are you frustrated and burned out from trying hard to please God? Concentrate on his real requirements and find peace. Respect, follow, love, serve, and obey.

I know that the Bronco’s lost, horribly, yesterday, but that is only a game and in the big scheme of things will probably be forgotten by next week. What I believe will not be forgotten is Tebows’ unwavering faith in God, through failure.

Wasn’t it Abe Lincoln who said, “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

Go 49ers!

A word for 2012 - Exhortation/ Exhort

And because he gave this word to me, it is first and foremost for me, but according to dictionary.com exhort means:

     ex·hort   [ig-zawrt]  - verb (used with object)

1.         

         to urge, advise, or caution earnestly; admonish urgently.

    verb (used without object)

2.      

         to give urgent advice, recommendations, or warnings.

And so I earnestly and urgently urge you to read this word for yourself as well!

2 Thessalonians 3:5-7 (NLT)

5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. 6 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you.

Proverbs 1:7-9 (NLT)

 7 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,

      but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

 8 My child, listen when your father corrects you.

      Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

 9 What you learn from them will crown you with grace

      and be a chain of honor around your neck.

2 Thessalonians 3:5-7(NLT)  

5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. 6 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you.

Philippians 4:4 (NIV) Final Exhortations

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

The Random Dog Blogspot

Today as the dogs were stretched out in the sun, snoozing away, I started thinking. I thought how short a dogs’ life is and how if one of my doggies died what would I do? I think I would post a little memorial photo shoot with a eulogy on Facebook. That is after I stopped crying.

This is what it would say: I believe most dogs follow the Golden “dog” Rule, which says, “Love others”. I know my dogs do. I never remember my dog saying something that they regretted later. I think I could learn a lot from a dog. For one thing, to keep my mouth shut!

Another thought; Dogs don’t appear to ever look down on each other or have small dog complexes. As a matter of fact, if I could tell you what my seven pound dog was saying, it would be, “I am a huge dog and I love you”.

I used to watch my children sleep. I would think, what an angel, and then they would wake up. Their first word was “no” and they have been arguing with me ever since! Now, I’m not comparing kids and dogs (or am I) but I will say that more parents need to act like dogs. They need to be encouraging and loving toward their kids. They need to protect their children with their own life. My dog would, why wouldn’t I? They need to teach their children how to love. We could learn a lot from a dog.

One more random thought; I don’t ever remember seeing my dog go over to her bowl and say, “I think it’s running a little low” or “Why the dry dog food again?” They do tend to beg, though. I can never eat a meal without, these little puppy dog eye’s saying, “Please, please drop me something and I love you”.

Anyway, I love my kids and my doggies and I think God put them here to love us and show us how to love each other (other than the butt sniffing thing). lol 

This Day Really Sucks

I read and hear a lot of comments like “This day really sucks” or “Why can’t we skip today and move on to tomorrow”.

I know that I sometimes feel the same way, but then I remember two things. One is how our life is brief and the other is how God has a plan for our lives. A better one than we have for ourselves.

Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT)

 ⁴ “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
      Remind me that my days are numbered—
      how fleeting my life is.
 ⁵ You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
      My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
      at best, each of us is but a breath.”
                         Interlude

And…

Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT) For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.                                                                                                                                                                 

Skipping over today may seem like a good idea, especially when today isn’t going so well, but we never get back time. I believe satan wants us to waste time. I’m not talking about the time we spend in prayer and rest in God. That is never time wasted. But the rest of the time we may be missing opportunities to serve and grow. To share what we have or listen to another person’s hurts. To share the Good News with someone who feels like giving up. Opportunities present themselves often for those who love the Lord, but if we are too busy looking to the weekend or other fun event, we will miss them.

The other statement I hear a lot is “I’m bored”.  When my kids were young, they knew, to never use the  words “I’m bored”.  Gary and I would find something for them to do (usually involving cleaning, cooking, folding, etc.)

One of the definitions of “bored” according to dictionaryreference.com is “to make (a hole) by drilling with such an instrument”. Hehehe.  Another is “to weary by dullness, tedious repetition, unwelcome attentions, etc.”

When I look at this definition the only part I relate to is tedious repetition. Like folding laundry or doing dishes. They never seem to end. But then I think how thankful I am to have working arms and I remember what Gods word says. Do everything as to the Lord.

Philippians 2:13-15 (NLT) ¹³ For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

This means that I should do without complaining. Thankfulness is one of the cures for boredom. Start by thinking about all the things you are thankful for and then ask God to give you strength to live a life full of purpose.

In Jesus name, Amen.

100 Years from now

While in church last Sunday, I looked around and realized that in 100 years, 99% of us would be dead. We would be a vague memory for most. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to leave a legacy that would be remembered in future generations? What does that look like?

What kind of legacy will you leave? One where your name is mentioned but God’s name is glorified? One where you decrease in memory as God increases in present time? A life filled with opportunities taken? What does that look like?

I want mine, to be a life remembered, because I loved Him with all my heart, soul and strength. A life that forgave easily and laughed heartily. One where God’s will was my will. I want to be remembered as someone who stood out, as sold out for Christ. What does that look like?

One hundred years from now…

Creation

We have only a couple of TV channels here in Florida. Last night PBS had a show on telescopes, the galaxies and theories of creation.

The more I see of the universe and how large creation is, the more in awe of God I become. Two things that hit me during the show were that they have found billions of galaxies and they said the stars number more than all the grains of sand on the earth. The other is that space is continually expanding or growing. What bothered me, was that after seeing the most amazing, awesome evidence of God, as the creator, many scientists and others try to explain it away.

Romans 1: 18-22 says,  “¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools,” (NKJV)

During last night’s show they discussed “The Big Bang Theory” as a way to explain creation. This theory is based on everything starting from a single explosion.

I will not go into detail but, I will say that I sort of agree. What I want to know is who lit the match or pulled the trigger? Bang! And what existed before existence?

Genesis 1:1-5 says, “¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day….”(NLT)

He (God) spoke, and galaxies whirled into places, stars burned the heavens, and planets began orbiting their suns-words of awesome, unlimited, unleashed power. He spoke again, and the waters and lands were filled with plants and creatures, running, swimming growing, and multiplying-words of animating, breathing, pulsing life. Again he spoke, and man and woman were formed, thinking, and loving-words of personal and creative glory. Eternal, infinite, unlimited-he was, is, and always will be the Maker and Lord of all that exists. (Life Application Study Bible – commentary)

John 1:1-5  “¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (NLT)

Now I’m not a rocket scientist and I can’t fully understand how, by God’s Word, all things are created, but I know that I know. 

In Jesus Name, Amen

The Power of God’s Word

Recently I was talking to someone about cults. I believe that many of them come about because they base their belief system on a portion of scripture, instead of looking at the Bible in its entirety. They may also take the Word of God (WoG) and twist it to fit into their belief system. One of the reasons people fall for this deception is because they don’t read the WoG for themselves.

The bible is our standard for testing everything we see and hear, and so for those who haven’t read it and come up against a deception, it is impossible to know whether it is true or false. It’s like becoming a doctor without going to medical school! 1 Timothy 4:13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.

The Bible tells us that Scripture is God-breathed; 2 Timothy 3:16: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. And although it is recorded by human writers, the words were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

I have heard people say how important the WoG is but I didn’t realize just how important it was until I read it faithfully for a while and then took a day off. Hebrews 4:12-13 (NLT) ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

The only way we can grow closer to God is by reading His Word. You don’t have to spend all day. But in order to know God we must spend time reading His instruction book.

Psalm 119:10-16 (NLT)

 ¹⁰ I have tried hard to find you—
      don’t let me wander from your commands.
 ¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart,
      that I might not sin against you.
 ¹² I praise you, O Lord;
      teach me your decrees.
 ¹³ I have recited aloud
      all the regulations you have given us.
 ¹⁴ I have rejoiced in your laws
      as much as in riches.
 ¹⁵ I will study your commandments
      and reflect on your ways.
 ¹⁶ I will delight in your decrees
      and not forget your word.

Dear Lord,

I pray that you will reveal your will to me as I spend time in your Word. May your Holy Spirit show me the right path, so that I won’t stumble constantly in the dark. I thank you that I can trust Your Word to guide me. Remind me daily to stay in Your Word. In Jesus Name Amen.