She asked me how to know if something was a sign. She said God answers my prayers all the time, how do I know?
How do I know? I feel sometimes like I have this amazing relationship with God, I actually feel sorry for people who aren’t open to Him, to hear the great things He has to say. I feel like Jesus and I are the best of friends and when I need comforting, He comforts, when I need a good swift kick in the be-hind, I get that too. And sometimes it’s a gentle prod in the right direction because my heart isn’t right.
Yesterday I was making dinner for Katie, Adam, Phyllis, and me. Chicken & dumplings with mashed potatoes and I had a HOMEMADE sweet potato pie… It was just going to be for us. And here’s why.
Last week 3 little boys took my ice cream. Nothing big but it still hurt, they claimed they thought it was someone elses, and that I believe, but none-the-less they still took something that didn’t belong to them. 2 of them, I think, felt really bad, and I told them that they needed to replace what they took. I was mad, not so much at what they took, but that they took it from me. You see with all of them, a lot of times I feel like I don’t fit in. And really, I don’t. I’m the mom, and they are the kids, that’s just how it is sometimes. We fit in, but we’re not at the center.
And as I was taking the skins off the potatoes for dinner, God and I had this huge conversation, one of those that you know the lesson but it just sometimes is hard to actually live it out. And I was like “but” and He was like “that’s not the way to lead by example” and again, I was like "but" and He said "haven't I" and then I decided I didn't need anymore buts, mine is big enough. You see, the boys, they are already forgiven, but even with forgiveness there is consequence to sin. But just so you know, anyone who walked in the kitchen, ate.
The ‘she” from above says “everything in moderation”. And with almost everything in my life, I totally believe that. There is one thing that is the exception to that rule. Jesus. I don’t believe there is any thing about moderation and Jesus that go together. I think it’s either full on or full out. I think you either love or you don’t. I was thinking about it this morning on my way in, having one of those conversations, and then it comes, the word of God.
1 John 4:7-16 7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[a] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[b] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
How do I know? I feel sometimes like I have this amazing relationship with God, I actually feel sorry for people who aren’t open to Him, to hear the great things He has to say. I feel like Jesus and I are the best of friends and when I need comforting, He comforts, when I need a good swift kick in the be-hind, I get that too. And sometimes it’s a gentle prod in the right direction because my heart isn’t right.
Yesterday I was making dinner for Katie, Adam, Phyllis, and me. Chicken & dumplings with mashed potatoes and I had a HOMEMADE sweet potato pie… It was just going to be for us. And here’s why.
Last week 3 little boys took my ice cream. Nothing big but it still hurt, they claimed they thought it was someone elses, and that I believe, but none-the-less they still took something that didn’t belong to them. 2 of them, I think, felt really bad, and I told them that they needed to replace what they took. I was mad, not so much at what they took, but that they took it from me. You see with all of them, a lot of times I feel like I don’t fit in. And really, I don’t. I’m the mom, and they are the kids, that’s just how it is sometimes. We fit in, but we’re not at the center.
And as I was taking the skins off the potatoes for dinner, God and I had this huge conversation, one of those that you know the lesson but it just sometimes is hard to actually live it out. And I was like “but” and He was like “that’s not the way to lead by example” and again, I was like "but" and He said "haven't I" and then I decided I didn't need anymore buts, mine is big enough. You see, the boys, they are already forgiven, but even with forgiveness there is consequence to sin. But just so you know, anyone who walked in the kitchen, ate.
The ‘she” from above says “everything in moderation”. And with almost everything in my life, I totally believe that. There is one thing that is the exception to that rule. Jesus. I don’t believe there is any thing about moderation and Jesus that go together. I think it’s either full on or full out. I think you either love or you don’t. I was thinking about it this morning on my way in, having one of those conversations, and then it comes, the word of God.
1 John 4:7-16 7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[a] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[b] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Love. How do stand in the light of God and not love? And in that, how do we not forgive? Pastor Jim once said in a sermon that forgiving is not about the other person, it’s about us. And I always try remember that. If your heart is inhabited with unforgiveness, hate isn’t far behind.
Adam challenged our kids to live a life ‘full on’ with Jesus. If I truly believe that, I should set the example. I can’t live of life holding the hand of Jesus, having great conversations if my heart is full of hate. And He’s given us the greatest gift, love.
1 John 4:19 19We love because he first loved us.
Adam challenged our kids to live a life ‘full on’ with Jesus. If I truly believe that, I should set the example. I can’t live of life holding the hand of Jesus, having great conversations if my heart is full of hate. And He’s given us the greatest gift, love.
1 John 4:19 19We love because he first loved us.
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