I am not better than you

I am not better than you.

You are not greater than me.

I don't have the child I desired to give, to share, with my husband.

I am not smarter.

You are not dumber.

I am not wealthy.

You are not poor.

I have friends, yet I am not welcome in some circles.

I am not of your world; you are not of mine.

I am a sinner; so too are you.

We are both sinners, condemned.

Yet, I have been set free. I have been forgiven.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)

I have a new life, a new beginning with God my Father in heaven through His Son, Jesus Christ, whose Spirit abides within my heart.

I am a new person.

Jesus came and lived and taught and died and was buried and rose again.

I AM a new person.

Are you a new person?

Are you free from the bonds of sin?

Have you been forgiven?

Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior?

Have you been changed?

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The Lord says, "Wait"

On May 11 I read, "Do not repay evil with evil. Do not raise your hand to strike. Do not open your mouth in anger. But remain still.

On May 13 I read Jesus saying, "I am with you." (Matthew 28:20b)

On May 14 I write ...

The will of God is revealed anew every day. If I ask, say, Your will be done, give you what I perceive my set of circumstances to be, if I wait for You, on You, in You, Your will for me will be made known to me. Only to me, unless, of course more than one is asking the same. I pray Lord You will show me your will. And then I wonder, have you and I have not seen it or heard it? Speak louder Lord. I do not hear, I am not hearing. I am striving to hear. You tell me to review my stone study. What particular part do you want me to study, to review? What is your will Lord? When will I know your answer? Oh, I know. When it's time. Patience. I must wait. You will tell me when the time is right for me to know, not any sooner.

On May 16 I am dismal. Tell me Lord. Show me Lord. He continues to say, "Wait. I will take care of things."

Do not raise your hand to strike.

Do not open your mouth in anger.

Do not repay evil with evil.

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceable with all men.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12: 14, 17-18, 21)

I remember former days

of being fearful

whatever I did or said

felt I had to walk on egg shells - oh so gingerly

I could do not right

always wrong

I moved away -- I found God

and rested in Him,

sought Him in all my pain.

I found peace.

How unfortunate, now it seems

those former days

have returned, differently.

I have lost.

Or have I?

Maybe it's another who has lost

and it is only by striking out at me

that they think peace will come to them.

I hear the Lord, calling.

He says

Wait.

"Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.

Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, ...

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; wait; I say, on the Lord!" (Psalm 27: 11-12, 14)

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret -- it only causes harm." (Psalm 37: 7-8)

Do not count the days

Do not dwell on the whys, what ifs

Just dwell on Me

"I am with you"

Jesus tells me.

I am with you.

I AM with you.

Wait on Me.

I will answer.

"Truly my soul silently waits for God;

He only is my rock ... He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

My soul, wait silently for God alone; For my expectation is from Him

He only is my rock ... He is my defense; I shall not be moved.

The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Trust in Him at all times, Pour out your heart before Him; ..." (Psalm 62: 1-2, 5-8)

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40: 31)

"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him.

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him,

It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord.

Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him;

Let him put his mouth in the dust -- There may yet be hope.

Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of reproach

For the Lord will not cast off forever.

Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.

Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord;

Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven." (Lamentations 3: 22-26, 28-32, 40-41)

Help me Lord, to wait on You.

Days of thoughts

A week's worth of thoughts are here. Hopefully they are not mumble-jumble.

Judging ....

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:1-2)

How I personally judge another will in turn be how I am judged. Not completely, not fully. I do not know what happened yesterday nor what will happen tomorrow. I only see this moment and that is not enough to make a blanket statement of judgment and/or condemnation.

"Only one who has followed yesterday's steps can be their judge," says Max Lucado.

Were you there? Did you witness the day or days before? Have you assumed too much? Do you think your personal knowledge is all that is needed? Is how you judge the same way you would like to be judged or do you think there should be a different criteria? Why are you different from me?

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (John 7:24)

Injustices ....

"Do not repay evil with evil." -- Do not raise your hand to strike. Do not open your mouth in anger; but remain still.

Suffering injustice does not hurt the Christian, but doing injustice does. Evil can do only one thing to you - make you also become evil. If this happens, Satan has won. You have given in. Don't want to go there, nor be there. What you dole out will in the end hurt you. If you never want to do evil to another do not raise your hand, do not open your mouth, be still. Be silent. Pray. Think on other things.

Will this also keep unnecessary arguments at bay as well?

When you or another strikes out in anger, the best response would be to say nothing; let the evil envelop empty space, have nothing to keep it aflame.

To overcome evil, you have to forgive endlessly.

How? See the evilness in others or yourself as Jesus sees -- He died for us. He loves us.

Jesus ....

"I am with you ..." (Matthew 28:20b)

Who?

Jesus!

Where?

Here. There.

When?

When you want Him, when you don't

At anytime.

Always.

Why?

Because He loves you

How?

He died for you

and me

He was obedient to His Father

He gave His life for you

He took your sins, my sins, upon Himself

He went to the cross

He died, was buried, and after three days,

He rose again.

Why?

Because He loves you.

Me?

He loves me?

Yes! Jesus loves you

and me

all of us

everyone

everywhere.

How about you?

Do you love Jesus wherever you go, wherever you are, whenever, at all times? Are you as obedient to Him as He is? Would you die for Him? Do you know Him and accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior?

"I am with you" - Jesus

The calm of Jesus

We say

"Lord, save us!
We are perishing!"

(Matthew 8:25)

He says

"Why are you so fearful,

O you of little faith?"

(Matthew 8:26)

He rises, He rebukes.

There is calm.

He is The Conqueror

The Victor

The Mighty One

He is our Hope

Our Eternal Hope

past present and in the days to come

He is The One

who overcomes the evil one

who sentences him to eternal punishment

He hears our plea of guilty

when before the judgment seat we stand

and He hears the sinister laugh

of the evil one who thinks he has won

He is The One

who knows our heart

who understands our pain and weakness

who is always there,

ready to encircle us

with His love.

We say

Save us Lord!

Help me Lord!

He is there.

He is The One

who calls your name.

Do you hear?

Do you respond,

"Here I am!"

(1 Samuel 3:4-10)

It is in responding that our life walk with the Lord Jesus Christ begins.

Has your walk began?

Have you found the calm of Jesus?

Graduation Day

May Day. Brings to mind children or adults dancing around a may pole or baskets of flowers given to a loved one. I've never done the former, only the latter, but not this year. The month of May ... Memorial Day activities, high school and college commencement ceremonies, weddings.

This is the second day in 17 days I've had a reasonably good night's sleep, meaning 5 to 7 hours in a row. Thank you Lord, but won't you please, can't you please, make it more frequent... but let's not grumble, I shouldn't be so picky.

Last night I finished the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Renate Wind. Very good book. Made me consider more on the realities of death. What it is, what it means.

Earlier this week, a longtime church member died of cancer.

Death is a part of life, is it not?

Is death the end

or is it the beginning

Is our life on earth as we have it that is so important

or is our life in heaven that which is more so

We grieve.

We grieve again.

We grief for those who no longer live among us.

We grief for ourselves who no longer have the companionship of those gone on.

Grief continues and will always be sadness and sorrow

for companionship of loved ones gone

But joy comes in its wake when we realize ...

There is more, much more to our earthly life when with Jesus we walk.

~~~~~~~

Michael Spencer, the "IMonk" died April 5 of cancer. His legacy, and blog, continues ... Internet Monk

David Wayne, a fellow blogger, wrote about our remaining days being preparation for graduation.

I never thought about death in those terms. Graduation to my thinking is finishing high school or college and moving on to other educational pursuits or into the business world or getting married.

Death is not the end, but a beginning, Bonhoeffer says. It's a beginning because since we are one with the Lord, one in the Spirit, we look forward to, with joyful anticipation, to where we are going - to heaven, of seeing and being with our most precious Lord Jesus, face to face.

Ah yes, graduation day. Going home.