May My Heart See...

This is a post from March of 2013 - a good one for Holy Week I'm thinking.  Are you a doer?    By that I mean, are you task-oriented?   I am.   I . . . do.   What I don’t get done, someone else has to do.   You know what I mean?   I have TONS of projects in my head that need to be done.   Pray for my husband, please J ! As a Christian, being a “doer” is a good thing – most times.   I mean there is work to be done in the church – and the church NEEDS doers.   “The harvest is plenty, the workers are few “   you know that verse.   So, I’m needed as a doer.   Being a “doer” completes me.   It’s who I am.   But in the kingdom of God , as far as grace goes, there is nothing to be done.   I can’t do anything to get grace or to earn it, so to speak.   Grace has nothing to do with me.   It has everything to do with God.   So, as far as grace is concerned, the job is done already.    It is finished. But wait, what I am supposed to do then?   Just sit here?   I gotta do some

Do you think God has ever been surprised?   I mean, when He created the universe, do you think He didn’t realize exactly what was going to happen throughout all eternity?   Scripture says He can change His mind but, was He ever surprised?   I don’t think so. From the point of, “Let there be light” – and from then on, no surprises. He knew that Eve would eat the fruit. He knew Cain would kill Abel. He knew the Red Sea would need to be parted, that Joseph’s brothers would throw him in a well, that Job would persevere and that Judas would betray. He knew, from the beginning, we would need a savior.   Was He surprised?   Not at all.   As early as Genesis 3:15, Christ is mentioned.    So I’m thinking, there are no surprises with God.   Nothing surprises Him.   He had a plan, from the beginning, and when things weren’t going “well”, He didn’t shake His head and say, “ok, let’s go to Plan B now” – He was not surprised.   Not at all. For me, that thought wraps around m

Have you ever felt punished by God?   Sure that He has brought on all my trouble, I have felt abandoned, unloved and worthless.   How far from the truth that is!   Oh, don’t get me wrong, God punishes sin; He hates it, in fact.   But abandon and hate (not love) you and me – His creation?   There is nothing farther from the truth. Those thoughts and feelings are not from the God Most High nor the King of Kings.   That is not how your Creator and our Redeemer works.   That simply cannot be.   Do you know the story of Naomi and Ruth?   Naomi is a widow who was widowed for about 10 years and then lost both her sons too.   She and her husband had moved away from their home and faith.   Now, she was alone and felt abandoned.   Ruth was one of her daughters-in-law.   Since Naomi’s husband and sons were gone, she decided to go back to her people and it was Ruth’s “duty” to go with her.   Even though Naomi made no obligation to Ruth, and actually told Ruth to stay with her people, Rut