...door

George Adam Smith, the 19th century biblical scholar, tells of traveling one day in the Holy Land and coming across a shepherd and his sheep. He fell into conversation with him and the man showed him the "fold" into which the sheep were led at night. It consisted of four walls, with a way in.  Smith asked him, "This is where they go at night?"

"Yes," said the shepherd, "and when they are in there, they are perfectly safe."

"But there is no door," said Smith.

"I am the door," said the shepherd. He was not a Christian man and wasn't speaking in the language of the New Testament. He was speaking from a Bedoin shepherd's viewpoint.

Smith looked and him and asked, "What do you mean you are the door?"

"When the light has gone," said the shepherd, "and all the sheep are inside, I lie in that open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and no wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the door."

"Jesus therefore said unto them again, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door.  By me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy: I have come that they might have life, and may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.'"  (John 10:7-11)

trust

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." (Psalm 20:7)

"God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." (Isaiah 12:2)

Recently, I took some neighbor kids to the pool. The six-year-old twins showed absolutely no fear in the water, especially because they've trusted a few adults to hold them and teach them. I was super-excited to see their joy for learning, but I was shocked when I turned around to see one of the boys jump off the ledge and start "swimming" towards another adult. No adult was aware that the child was going to jump, but when we noticed that the boy was moving towards us in the water, the man held out his arms to assist the young learner. The young boy was full of smiles.

Oh, how I wish that I had that same, simple trust in God. God is always there. His plan for us is rarely what we expect, but He has promised:    "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (Isaiah 43:2)

Trusting God means that even during the bad, sad, hard, and miserable times, we still believe that He loves us and that He is good. He will teach us the things that we need to know.

So often, I feel like it's safer sitting on the edge of the pool, maybe dangling my feet in the water. How many times I have jumped into a plan, without God's wisdom! Thankfully, God is always there to pick me up from my worldly choices or unwise ventures and to put me back into His trusting arms.

We need to trust God through all things. He sees our tears and fears; He knows the plans that He has for us; and He wants us to dive into life's situations with the full knowledge of His presence. Trust Him and find joy!

    Trust and obey,

    For there's no other way

    To be happy in Jesus,

    But to trust and obey.

                        - John H. Sammis

-karen lubbers

...fake

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect - if that were possible. (Mark 13:22, Matthew 24:24)

My sister is quite a gardening enthusiast. She loves more than anything to be out in her yard, digging in the dirt, trimming, weeding, planting, transplanting. Poison ivy gets her if she isn't careful, but several bouts haven't stopped her from her favorite pastime. 

In spring, when we were visiting, she couldn't wait to show me around outside. Excitedly, she pointed out this and that. The irises caught my eye. "I love irises! They are just beautiful!" She laughed and said, "Oh, only the top ones are real. I stuck the other ones in there for more color. They're fake!"

They looked real to me. So I got a little closer; they still all looked about the same. I went up really close to inspect, and touched the petals. Sure enough, the purple on top were genuine, the pinkish ones, artificial.

Real, fake. Sometimes it is hard to tell which is which. I have been fooled by plastic food displays, life-like statues, costume jewelry. In the Bible, there's a warning: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them."  (Luke 21:8)

Real? Or fake? How can you tell which is which? When it comes to spiritual things, we can rely on the Holy Spirit, who witnesses to the Truth, which always lines up with the Word of God. Fortunately for us we don't have to guess, we can have supernatural discernment. "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13)   

That is good news.                    

-sally i. kennedy  

chores

Sunday - Wash Day:
    Lord, help me to wash away all my selfishness and
    vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility
    through the week ahead.

Monday - Ironing Day:
    Dear Lord, help me to iron out all the wrinkles of
    prejudice I have collected through the years so that
    I may see the beauty in others.

Tuesday - Mending Day:
    O God, help me to mend my ways so I will not set
    bad example for others.

Wednesday - Cleaning Day:
    Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I
    have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Thursday  - Shopping Day:
    O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may
    purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others
    in need of love.

Friday - Cooking Day:
    Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly
    love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human
    kindness.

Sabbath day - The Lord's Day:
    O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please
    come into my heart as my honored guest so I may
    spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

bundle

I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in a year to a great bundle of sticks, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us first one stick, which we carry today, and then another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, but we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday's stick all over again today, and adding tomorrow's burden to our load, before we are required to bear it.

-john newton

sharing

Avery's elementary school hosted a Grandparents Day recently, and her Grandpa was able to arrange his day to be there. Avery was pleased. And her proud grandfather was looking forward to sharing a special event.

Things ran about as you would have expected. With all the grandparents seated in the bleachers, boys and girls began parading onto the gym floor. Various classes were introduced. People were thanked for helping. And the children were given permission to go sit with their special guests.

As Avery went to her beaming Grandpa's side for a hug, a beautiful smile practically covered her face. But she looked back over her shoulder at the only child in her class who had not left the gym floor to scale the bleachers. Joshua was standing there all alone and looking sad.

"Grandpa," Avery said, "Joshua's grandparents are all dead. So he doesn't have anybody to be with today. Can he come and sit with us?"

"Why, of course he can, sweetheart," came the reply. "It would be great to have him join us." He did. And three people had a great time together.

I only wish you could have seen his face as Avery's grandfather told me the story. He was so proud of his granddaughter for her sensitive spirit and kind treatment of her friend. He teared up a bit as he told me what had happened.  I knew immediately that I had heard a story that needed to be shared.

Jesus once reminded his disciples that they needed to become like little children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. If you've ever wondered what he had in mind with that statement, just picture Avery's compassionate treatment of Joshua. See her giggling, playing patty-cake with her Grandpa, and sharing his presence with Joshua. No jealousy. No selfishness. There was enough human kindness and laughter to go around for everyone that day.

Maybe she will keep that spirit for the rest of her life. But I can guarantee there will be events, people, and circumstances to tempt her to change. Somebody will try to convince her she has no responsibility to anybody but herself. And there will be times of scarcity when her own heart will tempt her to be selfish with something under her control that another person needs. May she rise to the occasion - as she did on Grandparents Day with Joshua.

There will be somebody in my world today who needs an Avery. Since she will be at school, I will try to remember the lesson she taught me and imitate her. You just might run across a similar person in the course of your day too.

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

-rubel shelley

...first

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."  Matthew 6:33

If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will, in the end, make no difference what you have chosen instead.

-william law

"...There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1

Stop condemning yourself!  

God says, 'I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins' (Isaiah 43:25).

When God says He forgets your sin and you insist on remembering it, it's like saying your standards are higher than His. That's akin to idolatry! The Bible says, "...God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32). 

In the Old Testament when someone sinned they brought a lamb to the priest and he would shed its blood on the altar as payment for their sin. Once that was done the record was expunged and the issue was settled.

You say, 'But I don't feel forgiven.'

Forgiveness comes by faith, not by feelings. 

As long as you live by feelings, Satan has a weapon he can use against you at every turn.

You say, "But what I did was so wrong"

As long as you truly repent, whatever you have done can be pardoned.

You say, 'But Satan keeps bringing it up.'

That's because he is called the "accuser" (Revelation 12:10). But notice how you overcome Satan the accuser: "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony..." (v. 11).

Next time Satan accuses you, say, "I'm glad you brought that up."  Then tell him what the blood of Jesus has accomplished on your behalf. If you do that, he will flee.

Learn from your failure, grow stronger through it, use it to bless others, move on with your life and stop condemning yourself!

-bob debby gass

live

It is not enough to own a Bible; we must read it.

It is not enough to read it; we must let it speak to us.

It is not enough to let it speak to us; we must believe.

It is not enough to believe; we must live it.
-william a. ward