"I Can See Clearly Now..."

Last night our area was hit was some threatening weather.  I use the word "threatening" because it only looked bad.  In actuality it was wonderful.  There was quite a stellar show of God's fireworks as lighting brilliantly lit up the sky.  From the hidden flashes that illuminated the clouds to the sparking blue bolts that blasted across the sky it was awesome.  Almost as an encore the much needed rain fell after the lighting died down and this morning I awoke to the fresh aroma of a drenched but not flooded yard.  I don't know about you but I sleep so well when it's raining.  All these things together made for a wonderful night, but when the clouds were coming in it didn't look as if it would be so.

A few months ago this town was pelted with softball size hail that did a lot of damage.  Homes, cars, and property damage was in the hundreds of thousands.  That experience has made our community a little gun shy to storms.  I made sure to clean out the garage so I could pull one of our cars in and the other I parked under the carport of our church.  How happy I was when all the ugliness that was predicted never showed.

A lot of the time in life we fear things that never come.  We get upset about the possible things that could happen to us while forgetting the probable protection the Lord gives.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:27 "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (other translations say how will worry make you one cubit taller, but you get the idea).  Worrying about those things we cannot change is such a waste.

My dad always told me you prepare for the worst, but believe for the best.  That's a good way to look at life.  Buy life insurance but don't worry about dying.  Teach your kids how to live for the Lord but don't freak out if they're not perfect.  The list of examples here is endless.

The next time clouds look "threatening" to you get prepared but at the same time don't worry.  Do all you can do and then trust the Lord to do the rest.  No matter how stressed you feel just remember the Lord isn't wringing His hands about it.  He IS an ever present help in the time of need (Psalm 46:1).

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and remember YOU ARE LOVED!

Mirror, Mirror

Have you ever felt fat?  C,mon, you know what I mean.  One morning you get up and for no particular reason you feel like the Titanic.  Your clothes still fit, but there's just something you cannot describe and it causes you to feel much bigger than you actually are.  You put on your loose clothes because every time you pass the mirror you feel revolted.  As a result you go on incredible crash diets, you join a gym (3 year membership), and you set out to rearrange your entire life all because how you feel about yourself in that moment.  That's momentary self perception my friend, and it's a very dangerous place to dwell.

In Proverbs 29:11 the Word of God says "A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back."  Now I have often used this scripture to preach on how we need to hold our tongue, a painful lesson I've learned for sure.  But as with so many things of the Lord there's another aspect to this, we need to learn how to hold our tongues about ourselves.

As a pastor I have had people tell me they were "unworthy" or "unqualified" to do something for God or His church.  They beat themselves so mercilessly for old mistakes and past sins.  Even though they may have recently had a "God moment" where they knew the presence of the Lord was there or God spoke to their heart about something no one else could know now they've put on those spiritual "fat clothes" and have deemed themselves too repulsive to be loved by God.  What junk!

1 John 4:7&8 says "Beloved, let us love one another for God is of love and everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God.  He that loveth not, knoweth not God for God is love."  That means love is God's defining characteristic.  Everything He does or will do is motivated from His love for you and I.  Another favorite scripture is 1 Samuel 16:7 where we are told that God doesn't look on the outward appearance (which can be deceiving) but instead He looks upon the heart.

This is why God would use a shepherd to be His king.  This is why God used a murderer to lead His nation to freedom.  This is why Jesus spent time with people His own disciples wouldn't even associate with.  God looks upon the heart and He sees you with all your faults, mistakes and past baggage yet He loves you anyway.

We must get past the momentary perceptions because everyone has a bad day.  Instead we should look and ourselves as the Lord does, through the heart.  If you need to change some things in your life just turn it over to that loving Father because as I often preach, "God doesn't demolish, He remodels."  When the heavenly Father looks on you He knows what needs changing, what needs to be fixed, and what needs to be removed.  Trust His love and what you see in the mirror may look a little different next time.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and remember, YOU ARE LOVED!