Our Young Heavenly Father

I was recently reading a friend's "25 Interesting Things About Me" list on Facebook when I was struck silent with awe at the thought he raised. Our Father is sinless, completely perfect in every way. The reason that we age and wrinkle and grow feeble and frail is because of the curse of sin; the unrelenting grip of our own evil. God has never sinned. The thought that struck me so deeply in my heart was realizing that due to His sinlessness and our sinfulness, our Father is younger and more youthful than we. As sin causes us to age and wither, His sinless beauty causes Him to remain as He has always been; young, youthful, sinless, strong...perfect. You've probably always imagined our Father as old with white hair and a long flowing beard. In your mental picture of God, do you see Him sitting contently on His throne, rarely rising from that perch? How mislead we have been! As we force ourselves from bed each day, the stress of yesterday is waiting to grab us once again. We are instantly in a fight for our lives and our enemy refuses to let up...and he plays dirty. He, Satan, has masterfully orchestrated a cunning plan to destroy God's most precious creation, His children. While we continue down the path of life that will eventually lead us to our grave and then to our Father, Satan waits. He slithers around like the stealthy snake depicted in the Garden of Eden, waiting for one of us to let down our guard, allowing him an opportunity to attack. He knows that we are too tired to fight back. Satan knows because he is the one who set that trap for us. He has set us up for a losing battle because he has caused us to overbook our lives with busyness, appointments, practices and meetings so that the last thing we think about doing is relaxing with our Father in prayer and Bible reading. He has caused us to separate ourselves from our source of strength and he has done it so skillfully that we don't even realize that we are the ones who have done it to ourselves. The life we demand to lead, the life that causes us to work more out of greed and sleep less because we have to keep up with the Joneses, is killing us, slowly. He knows that by causing each of us to sin and age, he causes our Father immense pain. We are the conduit through which Satan jabs his weak weapons at our Strong Tower. Can you, as a parent, image watching your child age past you? Your offspring losing the strength to run and jump and play while you still possess those abilities. Would you not do anything within your power to prevent that from happening? Any parent would. Our Parent did. He sent our Brother, Jesus Christ, to live a sinless life here on earth and then to sacrifice Himself on the cross, therefore breaking sin's death grip on us. All we have to do is accept it. Accept that sacrifice. Then, one day when our Dad takes us home to heaven, we will all be like Him; strong, young, sinless...perfect.

Our Leadership

With each day, history is made. No day can or will be repeated identically, good or bad. So many times, we complain that everyday is the same; work, laundry, errands, dinners, baths...then start all over again in the morning. Even the awesome days; the days when we're on vacation at Disney World, or the day that all the stoplights are green on the way to work, or you receive a raise or your hubby remembers to take out the trash without being nagged, are never repeated exactly. Everyday is history. However, some days are more historical than others. Today is one of those days. As Barack Obama is sworn in as our new president, history is being made. Some people are overwhelmed with joy and validation at his election, others are disillusioned and bitter. History, however, should never be judged by the failings of human emotions. Emotions will allow for prejudices to bleed through. Emotions will allow for a sense of superiority to eek in. Emotions will allow for personal feelings of revenge to overcome the day. Today, let us not look at this historical moment with feelings of personal prejudice or revenge. If we are to truly be "one nation, under God", then we are to come together and leave the emotions behind. God has never called us as Christians to LIKE anyone but He has called us to LOVE everyone. On this day, let us truly come together, united, with love for one another. It's 2009. It is time to put away the evils of generations past and look to the future, color blind. It is time to come together as one instead of bickering among ourselves. Whatever your personal emotions on this day, let us remember that we are required to pray for our leaders. 2 Timothy 2:1-2 says, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone---for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." I urge you to be strong in the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and pray for President Obama and all those who he has and will appoint to lead our nation. The responsibility for what they do with their authority will be upon their shoulders; the responsibility for praying for them will be upon ours.

In His palms,
Angie

Changes in the blink of an eye

We've all heard the expression, "Life can change in the blink of an eye.", but what do you think of when you hear it? If you are like most of us, we think of the negative: a car wreck, an accident at work, a devastating diagnosis from the doctor, a death. But how many of us look for our lives to change in the blink of an eye...FOR THE GOOD? Recently, I've become very aware of how quickly life can change and that the change can be a good, or even great thing. Look at what the change could be...the phone call that gives you the job for which you've prayed so much. How about the second you hear the news that you are in remission? For some, that blink in time is when you vow "I do". For others still, the moment when you realize that you just missed making that light and you see the car that would have plowed into you had you punched the gas. The fleeting moment when you first know that you are going to have a baby. Of course, the very second that you ask Jesus Christ to forgive you is a moment in time to alters every other moment after that for all of your life and your eternity. Then, there is the moment that all of us who are Jesus filled Christ followers who long for THE blink of the eye. The very second that our Savior will return to call us home to be with Him in Heaven, forever. I long for that moment with a constant hope that it's not this second. I don't wish for the delay for selfish reasons, well, maybe they can be considered selfish. I pray for the delay for you, if you don't know Christ as your personal Savior. I pray for the delay so that you have another moment in which you can choose Him, He chose you oh so many years ago when He dragged that brutal cross up that cruel hill to die a death that was meant for you and me. He choose in that moment in the Garden of Gethsemane to change our futures. His moment became the moment we were allowed to have the choice to make the change in our lives. If you want to make that moment this one, pray this prayer to your Savior.

Jesus, I know now that I am a sinner. I know that you came to this earth and lived a perfect, sinless life in order to die a death you didn't deserve so that I wouldn't have to die. I ask for you to come into my heart and life now and forgive me of my sins. I've led my life selfishly up until now and now I want You to be the Lord of my life. Thank you for the assurance that with this confession, I am now Yours and will go to Heaven when I die in order to spend eternity with You. Thank you. In Christ's name I pray, amen.

If you just prayed that prayer, your moment has come. You now belong to the family of God. You're forgiven! You're clean! You will spend eternity in Heaven with Christ! Congratulations, you were just changed in the blink of an eye. Now, find an alive and growing church to attend so that you may learn and grow in the decision you just made. Then, you too can pray for the delay in Christ returning because I know you will want the opportunity to tell others what has happened to you and that it can be their moment as well.

Welcome to our family!

Your sister, Angie

2009, the year of hope

Baby New Year has arrived, bouncing with energy and brimming with hope. Hope, the universal truth to which all men cling. It is with hope that the soldiers wait for a cease fire. It is with hope that the unemployed search for jobs. It is with hope that the hungry brace themselves against the cold as they wait in soup kitchen lines. It is with hope that America awaits Obama's presidency. Hope, the light that makes the dark nights just slightly brighter. Hope, the thing that Jesus Christ gives to each of us. Jesus told us "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10b). So many times we look around at our circumstances as an individual, as a group or as a nation and think that it is hopeless. Nothing could be further from the truth. Have life to the full! It is time for us as God's children to quit begging for table scraps from this world and do what Christ has told us to do. We need to look up for our hope. We must take our eyes off of the surroundings with it's ugliness and temporary moments and stare intently into the eyes of our Savior for our hope. It is through faith in Him that we find our true hope and in finding our true hope, we find life...to the full.

Looking forward to a full 2009 with you,
Angie