Forgive Your Neighbor

Remember when that guy cut you off in traffic the other day?  Did you raise your fist in anger?  Or did you forgive him and say Blessings over him?

Most people are in a hurry.  In their hurry, they cut me off in traffic and don’t even realize they did it.  My response to that person should be to forgive them.  In Exodus 34:6, God tells us He is slow to anger and filled with love.  We should strive to be like Him.  I know it is hard to show love when my neighbors are showing hatred to me.

Look at Psalm 32.  David tells us what happens when we don’t forgive someone, ” my body wastes away, and I groan all day long.”  What that means is that it eats away at you.  Your insides feels funny, maybe like you are sick but you are not.  Our God is an awesome God and He forgives us for all our transgressions.

When someone cuts you off in traffic, don’t be angry at them, Bless them.  If you know them and see them later, you can tell them what they did wrong.  But still Bless them.  That anger can attack you.  When you Bless them and they still are mad, the Blessings will come back to you.

How do you react to being cut off in traffic?

Do You Love?

How do you love?  Do you know what love is?  The word love is a small word with BIG meaning.  I need love.  We all do.  But how do you give it?  How do you get it?

Look to the Bible.  What did Jesus do?  How did He give love?  When they were about to stone Mary Magdalen, Jesus loved Her without even looking at her.  He was writing in the sand.  What was He writing?  Love.  Not the word, but the meaning.  Jesus’ heart is full of love.  No matter what we do, He loves us.

Remember when you picked on your little sister or brother?  Remember when you yelled at your kids?  Remember when you passed up someone who needed your help?  Jesus remember, too.  But yet He still loves us.  When He passes that love to us, we should pass it on to others.  Keep the love flowing.  Remember to stop and smell the roses.  Jesus created them.  Thank Him for his love.

How have you shown love today?

Gifts and Talents

It says in the Bible that God gives all of us gifts.  And you know that some people have natural talent.  So is natural talent the same as God given gifts?

If someone is good at cooking, does that mean that their gift is cooking?  In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul says that we are given gifts to help each other.  He goes on in this chapter to list the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to us.  He says that we do not all have the same gifts and that we should desire the most helpful gifts.  is cooking the most desirable gift for you?  How can cooking help someone?  Cooking can certainly help a shut-in person who is restricted or limited in movement.  Would you consider that a gift?  It is not listed in that chapter so I guess I’d have to say no.  Cooking is not a gift but a natural talent.

There are many talents which show through when someone is speaking to you.  Do they talk about themselves?  Do they offer to help you in your need?  Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 13 that the greatest gift is love.  Whether you cook for someone or put out their garbage, speaking to them like Christ would is a gift of love.  Let love be you goal.

Natural talents or spiritual gifts?  What do you think?

 

 

Beautiful Spring Flowers and Love

Isn’t spring beautiful?  In dreary February, everything seemed so brown and dead.  Now, we have officially started spring.  Where I live that means all the flowers, are blooming, from azaleas to camellias to weeds.  Everything is blooming.  And it is so beautiful.  I believe God did it just for me.  He knows I love azaleas so He makes sure I see some in full bloom.  Azaleas bloom so full that you don’t see the green leaves underneath the flowers.

My point?  God does something for you too.  Maybe you like the wild flowers.  Look along the road when driving home today.  Maybe you like the sunshine.  Notice the sun as you put out the garbage.    Maybe you like anything as long as it’s not freezing cold outside.  You didn’t need that big coat today.  God loves you too. It is all around you.  Look for it.  And remember to thank Him for giving it to you.  God loves you.  He loves you so much He mad a flower bloom just for you!

Reason Why

When Lazarus became sick, word was sent to Jesus to come quickly.  But Jeses did not.  He waited a few days.  Then, He knew the exact time when to leave and go to Lazarus.

When I ask for help, my prayes are not always answered immediately.  I often wonder why.  But in John 11, Jesus explains to me that it was all for a reason.  His delay had a purpose.  He tells me that the death of Lazarus happened so that glory would be brought to the Son of God.  

My ways are not God’s ways.  I want things impatiently, immediately.  God’s ways are not my ways.  God will answer my prayers in His time.  He knows me better than I know myself.  He knows when I will appreciate His answers and His healings.  God loves me.

I don’t always understand the reasoning behind God’s ways, but I trust and have faith in Him.  He loves me more than I could imagine.

Trust in Him.

Worthy

Do you want to praise God but feel like something is holding you back?  Something like guilt?  Do you feel like you are not worthy of His love?  Is your body wasting away?

God knew us before He formed us in our mother’s womb.  He knew we would sin.  He knew we would turn out backs’ on Him.  God loves us so much that He created an out.

When I feel not worthy, it’s because of sin.  Sin brings me down.  God brings me up.  How do I get up?  It says in Psalm 32 of how David confessed his sins and the Lord forgave him.  That’s what I need to do.  Confess my sin.  When I confess my sin,  the doors to heaven are open.  The guilt is released.  The condemnation goes away.  That guilt is replaced with joy, and joy becomes strength.

The psalm goes on to say that the Lord will protect me from trouble, watch over me, and surround me with unfailing love.  Sounds like He really loves me.  But I must trust Him.  Take my eyes off of me and put them on Him.  Through Jesus Christ, we become worthy.  Shout for joy!

Love

Love is just a word to some people.  But when I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, love becomes a whole lot more.  Do I expect love automatically?  For instance, do I say to myself, ‘I am an adult.  I will find love where ever I go.’  I must seek love, the love Jesus Christ can give me.

The love of God is unconditional.  It does not require me to do something to get it.  No matter what I do, God loves me.  Even if I don’t love God, He still loves me.  Do I need to be faithful to God? God gives each one of us a choice.  I choose to love God.  I choose to believe in His Son, Jesus.  I choose, and He still loves me.  It gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

Am I worthy of His love?  This idea goes back to love being unconditional.  God created me just the way I am.  He knew me before He formed me in my mothers’ womb.  He knew what I would look like and how I would act. And He still loves me unconditionally.  His love is all encompassing.  It covers everything I do.  He loves me when I curse out people on the phone.  He loves me when I cut somebody off in traffic.  He loves me when I forget to pray for my neighbor. 

Never forget that God loves you, too.