We can Choose

 
 

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.
My Father will love them, and we will come to them
and make our home with them. 
Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
These words you hear are not my own;
they belong to the Father who sent me.
John 14:23-24 (NIV) 

We can choose

To listen to God, to obey Him, to love and pay

attention to His voice, or …  

We can choose to let the world’s voice control us.

I do want to give God the reins of my thoughts, my emotions and my actions - to let His word control my life.  But it’s a constant battle - choosing to listen to His Spirit rather than the voices around me.   

As I listen to the noise of the world, I sometimes wonder whether anyone is really choosing, or if we are just being swept along by the tide of our culture.  And I wonder how much of the time I’m being led by something other than the Word of God.

It doesn’t come easy, and it’s not a given, that if I believe in Jesus, the Son of God, I will automatically live within His direction.  I must still choose.

As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is God’s letter to the world, and I specifically know that the words in that Book are applicable to my life as a child of His.  So I will choose to trust that God has directed the words written there.

God does not change, and God does not need to be taught by people in our time who want to change His word to suit their own desires.  What He has said in this Bible will forever stand. 
 
We are all made in His image, and in that, we are made so that we can choose.  And what we continue to choose determines who we are - whose children we are – the Children of God, or children of Satan.  We cannot just go our own way and think that God will bless our lives – it doesn’t work like that.  We must choose His directions on this path of life.

So we can choose.

When the world says it’s right to dishonor God’s word - 

when I’m told that God changed what He's always called sin.

I can choose to believe the words of false prophets,

or believe what God said.  

I can choose to trust Him.

I can choose to remember that I can’t control

what others believe or how blinded they’ve been.

But 

I can choose to remember that God is 

“The Word.” 

He is trustworthy and true 

and today I can choose 

to believe only Him.

Pictures in Time

Dear Friends, 

I spent a few minutes this morning looking at some old photos, I can’t believe how the years have flown by.  We were so young, so alive, so able – and now, what I find are many beautiful memories inspired by the pictures on my computer.  

These, my memories, belong to the cherished ones in those pictures, and we all see them differently.  I see them as they surround me, and Ron sees them through his eyes.  I don’t know what the other faces in those pictures remember, or whether they smile at the memories,  But those times, they are past, and I cannot live in the past.

Lately, I’ve also spent some time thinking about the future.  Oh yes, at 84, there is still a future, but it’s definitely not anything like those pictures on my computer, or in my mind.  It’s a future that my mind can’t even decipher.  When I try to think of the immediate future it’s a little difficult, since it could contain more beautiful memories, or maybe some truly difficult times.  I guess I believe it will be a combination of beauty and pain.  

So when I look at the future, I find myself not wanting to spend time thinking about the immediate future, but instead, looking  forward to the future time when I’ll be taking a trip to my final home, my ultimate life.  

Trying to picture the beauty and the excitement of seeing my Savior, my God, gives me comfort, and yes, excitement.  I’m also filled with peace when I think of that life.  It’s something so beautiful and so foreign that my mind cannot paint a picture of it.
So, I will just bask in the reassuring picture that Jesus gives us when He says – 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

and

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, 

would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you

 to be with me that you also may be where I am.  John 14:2-3 (NIV)

The Heavens Declare

In the silent night – the expanse of the heavens may tell us a little about the God who made them.   As I look at that night sky from a place far from city lights I believe that, if I can focus these human eyes further into the heavens, I’ll be looking right into the throne room of God. 

Here we are, minuscule ants in the vast universe, alive on a planet spinning in space.  The heavenly vastness is almost unbelievable.  It tells of a powerful unfathomable maker, and I know with certainty that it didn’t just happen to be so beautiful, so unreachable.

Psalm 19:1-2 (NIV)
The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

 Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

When I hold a tiny kitten – a newborn, when I stroke his soft fur and feel the beat of his little heart, I see the tenderness of God right there in my hand.  When I was allowed to hold my own babies and can remember the choking in my throat at the wonder of such a gift - such a helpless, precious gift, I can feel God’s tender heart touching mine and I know for certain that this tenderness didn’t just happen to be so unspeakable.

Matt 6:26 (NIV)
Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns;
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Matthew 11:29 (NIV)
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.

This world is full of many created beings that inspire admiration – admiration and fear.  Or maybe not necessarily fear, but maybe an intake of breath, a feeling of caution or a wariness.  But, no matter - large and small, God made them.  Predator and prey, He made them beautiful, awe inspiring, and necessary in the arrangement of His world. 

When God created the things of our world, He said, “It is good.”  I believe He was and is delighted with the work of His hand.  I believe we can almost see Him smile as magnificent horses run in unison across the open prairie.  I believe He likely chuckles as the bear cubs tumble together in the woods, and maybe He grins as the tuxedoed penguins show off the clothing that He gave them. 

Genesis 1:25 (NIV)
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, 

the livestock according to their kinds, 

and all the creatures that move along the ground
 according to their kinds. 

And God saw that it was good.

Another thing I see that speaks a picture of God is love.  When we see, in God’s people, a love for others, it tells us something about our God as well.  The quality of love must come from someone who loves. 

We see the “good Samaritans” in our world reaching out to the hurting.  We see love in families, friends, and even strangers.  We see a willingness to put others before ourselves.  We see hospitals and homes for abused women established by believers, and we see them meeting in prisons and other places of need, and God sees them as well.  And I believe He smiles. 

1 John 4:19 (NIV)
We love because He first loved us.