Finishing Well

     In searching for the elusive cucumbers and zucchini, I have discovered that they plot to hide until they are gigantic. So is sin, starts out small, lurks and entices, anticipates our scrutiny and then BAM, too late. Too big. But for God, we can be overtaken and ruined. Thankful that He is a forgiving Savior.  No sin too big! Cucumbers can be!      Seems all the good stuff is near the bottom, and we have to get down to that level to see the fruits. I open the Bible and sometimes get distracted by the simple reading and not getting anything out of that read and have to stop and bend down to the context or stop and observe more closely.      Then there're bees, busy little critters - all those flowers to visit. Busy stuff is a trip up for many of us. Have to be careful to not get tangled up in the vines while diligently seeking. Keep focus!      Oh I forgot the bunnies and squirrels! They are near. They aren't too ...

     Many people don't want to believe in God, or if they do, they don't fully believe in the Bible. There are so many excuses given to not believe. But what if you're wrong?        What if heaven and hell are real places, for eternity? That's a very long time to be wrong. Hell is real and it's not including an eternal party.        I choose to believe. I have hope that my eternity is with God in heaven. His Word gives me assurance of that.      I choose to believe that God is good, even when this life is not. I believe that God loves me and that He loves you too.      I believe God doesn't make mistakes. (Isaiah 46:10) and that everything that comes into my life has been filtered through His fingers of love.      I know that His grace is sufficient for my struggles  (2 Corinthians 12:9)   I trust that He forgives every sin I confess. Suffering will not last forever, u...

     There's been a quote going around that says don't judge me because my sin is different from yours, and believe me I don't judge, because I certainly do sin. And there is a Holy, Righteous God who does the judging.      The thing is, when I sin, I realize that it offends that Holy God, and because I want to please Him, I desire to repent and not commit that sin anymore. That woman in the Bible, when caught in the act of adultery and was brought before Jesus -  was not condemned before Him but admonished to go and sin no more. I want to believe that she did exactly that.      Sin is indeed judged. Sin indeed has consequences. But God has given us the free will to come to Him and say we are sorry and also the power to not continue sinning.  And when we do that, He forgives. Forgives freely and remembers the sin no more.      But today we don't want to call our behavior sin. Trust me, God still does. He declares s...

     You remember when it happened? Santa wasn't real! The Easter Bunny. I remember the day I saw something my young eyes shouldn't have seen, and shame flooded my soul and I wished I could've "un-seen" it. I remember wondering about everything and everybody after that. Are they nice people or not? Do I trust them or not?      I see pictures of little girls on Facebook and other places that sadden me. They are posed provocatively and dressed like teenagers. Of course little girls all want to look like teens and go to great lengths to try to pull off the fashions they see. But you see, we are shattering their innocence before time. They see too much, know too much, do too much and by the time they actually are teens and young adults they have already been bored by it all. Growing up has already occurred, there's nothing left. So, then, they must experiment in even more destructive behaviors and do things they will regret.      I wish we coul...

     Today people went to the altar during a song, a rather uncommon thing. One of them was a Pastor, and the sight of it made me weep. I don't know why those folks were there except that Holy Spirit God met them and placed them there. I don't know why it made me weep except that Holy Spirit God melted my heart.      There's an old song, The Altar, that says "that's what this altar is for, you don't have to carry those burdens anymore." I don't know why more of us aren't moved to go to that place of unburdening - that place of deliverance - that place of seeking peace - that place of surrender.      We're told to not stifle the Holy Spirit. How many times do we do that when we harden our hearts or see no need for that place?      Move among us please God - set us ablaze with wonder, Your wonder and majesty that still stirs and changes things. Praise and thanks to the God who knows and cares and gives us the power to go, t...

     Why does it often feel like we're the only one going a certain way and everyone else is going a different way? Maybe because they are?      Walking the Christian walk is just plain not like the world - we know that - but the narrow way sometimes is not only a tight squeeze but also very lonely.      Lonely like, where are those I love, like the one who tripped and fell when the road split? Where's the one who's so far behind we can't see them anymore?      It's hard - when their road looks so fun and they seem so happy.      It's long - when the way is straight up steep and it's hard to breathe in the climb - but yet.....we can't go back.      The thing about this narrow way is that no matter how steep or treacherous or lonely or hard, Jesus is still right there beside us. Whether He holds our hand or picks us up or even pushes us! He is there. He is here. He is the end of this road we ca...

     I'm done - finished - over it. How many times have I said it?  Nothing is ever going to be different and I'm tired. Weary of it.      Don't we give up so easily? Don't we get tired of praying and seeing zippo? Couldn't we catch a glimpse of what God might be doing? Couldn't He show us a morsel?  But years go by and nothing. Eons of discouragement. Decades of disappointments. Setbacks and sorrows.      Well, here's a plan.......never, never, never give up. Even when we see nothing. God sees. Even when we think it's even worse than ever, God knows. God's heart is for our good and for His glory.      He has never given up on me. His love has carried me over every obstacle, why shouldn't He lift me over the latest bump in this road called life?  Psalm 103:2 reminds me not to forget His benefits.      If I cast all my cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7), it means that I fling them so far that I cannot g...