In Honor of Matthew's Birthday - this is for you!

Three in the morning, and I’m still awake
So I picked up a pen and a page
And I started writing just what I’d say
If we were face to face

I’d tell you just what you mean to me
Tell you these simple truths

CHORUS
Be strong in the Lord
And never give up hope
You’re gonna do great things
I already know
God’s got His hand on You
So don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
These are the words I would say

Last time we spoke you said you were hurting
And I felt your pain in my heart
I want to tell you that I keep on praying
That love will find you where you are

I know cause I’ve already been there
So please hear these simple truths

CHORUS

Say… from one simple life to another
I will say… come find peace in the Father

Be strong in the Lord
And never give up hope
You’re gonna do great things
I already know
God’s got His hand on You
So don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here

Take your time and pray
And thank God for each day
His love will find a way
These are the words I would say

The Words I Would Say by Sidewalk Prophets

Great is Your Faithfulness!

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." the LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust - there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.

For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

The Law is Fulfilled

When Jesus suffered, died, then rose again, He fulfilled every letter of the law.

What that means for us is that we no longer have to try to keep the law.

Jesus "kept" it for us and now He lives in us. Therefore, we have "kept" the law.

In the Old Testament, God was forever telling the Israelites that if they would keep His law,

this and that blessing would be theirs.

Following my logic yet?

Yes! We have ALL the blessings promised, because Jesus fulfilled the law.

We already posses the "land" through Jesus Christ's fulfillment of the law.

We already walk in every blessing promised to the Israelites through Jesus Christ.

As we discussed at our home group Friday night, we are not antinomian (anti-law).

On the contrary, the law has been fulfilled. The law of the Lord is perfect; it converts the soul.

But what we must remember in the New Covenant is that we are no longer bound to follow the laws, traditions, feasts, etc. of the Old Testament, because for us Jesus Christ IS all those things.

Jesus Christ is our "law"

Jesus Christ is our "tradition"

Jesus Christ is our "feast"

We need no longer celebrate exactly as the Hebrews were commanded to.

We now celebrate the New Covenant that was made alive through Jesus Christ.

We now celebrate Jesus Christ Himself.

I will not boast of anything I have done, but I will boast in the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ.

In the Old Covenant, the Israelites had certain things they had to do to maintain righteousness.

When Jesus said, "It is finished," He not only meant that His work was finished, but I believe He was also declaring, "You must live no longer under the law I handed down through Moses. That law is finished. I have provided for you a new "law"."

The new law is the law of love through Jesus Christ.

Our new commandment is this -

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

That's it.

This is our new "law"

Love one another as I have loved you!

We are free to do this, because we are now totally free from sin.

Jesus Christ was our final sin-sacrifice.

We are no longer slaves to sin.

Jesus Christ conquered death, hell, and the grave.

We are now slaves to righteousness -

A beautiful righteousness that was bought with His precious blood.

I am so thankful!

James 2:17-26

Verse 17: Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Verse 20: There is evidence to prove that faith without deeds is useless.

Verse 21: Abraham was considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

Verse 22: Abraham’s faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

Verse 24: A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Verse 25: Rahab was considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies.

Verse 26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (without force or power, without life, destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, because given up to trespasses and sins, inactive as respects doing right)

Choose Faith!

Finding Acceptance

Yes, those are mustard seeds; a representation from scripture of faith.

Justification – all of us were (and are) on an equal standing with God before He rescued us. I remember how we were imprisoned by sin SO THAT he could show His great mercy to us.

Our justification is a gift to us from God. Once again, the “universe” is equalized. We are once again on an equal playing field. Only now this equal field has nothing whatsoever to do with us. It is only because of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice that we are justified before God.

We are justified as a gift by His grace.

1. As a gift

2. By His grace

See? Nothing to do with us.

He is the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So what is our part? Have faith! (Rom 3:26)

We cannot justify ourselves, so we are wasting our energies to try to perform properly to gain anything from Him.

Either we accept His justification or we are NOT justified (made right with God).

When we try to justify ourselves, we lose our “rest” in Him. We are spinning our wheels with NO result – to no purpose – to no end.

I’d rather rest in His justification just as I have trusted in His grace. And this is done through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Sanctification – we are set apart, set aside. We belong to God as His people.

God is looking for “a people” to call His own – a precious possession.

We are His by His doing, not our own.

Just as we cannot justify ourselves, neither can we set ourselves apart. We would once again be striving and performing if we tried to sanctify ourselves. We must allow ourselves to be sanctified through faith.

Grace through faith.

Justification through faith.

Sanctification through faith.

Notice a theme? We must have faith!

Where do we get faith? That is also given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We have nothing that we have not been given. He gave us a measure of faith with salvation.

We acquire more faith by hearing His Word. Our part is in the hearing of the Word. We must read, and hear His Words to gain a greater measure of faith.

Deuteronomy 1:21 See the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

The Lord has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness through Jesus Christ. Now we must take possession of it through faith. We are not to be afraid or fearful.

What has He given you (or not given you)? Name it. Then possess it by faith!

2 Corinthians 5

1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

7 We live by faith, not by sight.

8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.

13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

14 For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In regard to rest, Winston Churchill has some wisdom that we can apply to our own lives.

In our entertainment-filled world our minds are always engaged in some activity or thought. Some of us view entertainment as a means toward rest. Entertainment, or amusement (without thinking), seems to be a valid way to rest our minds. Or is it?

Others believe that if one could simply sit still for a while, determined to think upon nothing, they could access rest. However, if one has been worried with something, the moment that one tries to forget the worry, it comes crowding back in if her only diversion is to “think of nothing” – clear the mind. If our minds have been calculating or planning, once we determine to “rest”, we find ourselves again calculating or planning.

Mr. Churchill had a different view of what would constitute rest for both the mind and the body. He believed that we must find a hobby that will engage both our minds and our bodies. He said that we must choose an activity that we enjoy that will take our thoughts away from life. I think the reason he believed that our hands must be included was that then the thought could not be mindless. The thought would have action to keep it on track.

Recently I’ve taken up painting – gouache painting to be more precise. And the exciting thing is that I’ve experienced the type of rest Mr. Churchill is referring to in my pursuit of painting. Both my mind and my hands are made busy with my new endeavor. My creativity is being awakened – joy is deep-settled in my soul – there is an inner peace that comes from that place of creative rest.

I know the Lord led me to begin this “diversion” in this season of my life. I had planned to wait until my children were out of school to paint, but the Lord was specific – “Start now!” And I’m so glad I have. In a season of my life when nothing around me is in my control, I have found a place of quiet rest in painting. I’m grateful to my friend Janice for her time in teaching myself and a few other friends to paint. She has no idea what a ministry she is providing.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Mr. Churchill in regard to having a hobby – “Choose well, choose wisely, choose one.”

Is It Possible That Jesus is Enough?

Chapter 4 – How I Lost My Devotional Life

Relationship to God has the freedom to be based on a response to Grace. Notice I didn’t say it “must be based”.

We do not have to see our devotional life as a set of “must do’s”. The joy will be robbed.

Our relationship with God is a gift, as are his blessing and direction. We need do nothing to earn what we already HAVE!

Legalism = death. Death to those who propagate legalism, and death to those who are propagated against. We are ministering death to those we love when we try to force them to live by rules and regulations.

The law kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Cor. 3:6

We cannot attain life through death – attain grace through legalism.

Yes, we need disciplines such as faithfulness and self-control. But these qualities are born out of our receipt of grace from the Lord. If we live legalistic lives, we are only self-righteous and are not able to walk in the free gifts that God has given.

Our obedience is a response to the gift of His righteousness to us.

He works – we RESPOND.

He does – we RESPOND.

We still have an action to perform – work to do – but that work earns us nothing. We work out of a response of love. RESPOND to Him and enjoy life!

Chapter 5 – Legalism Arouses Sinful Passions

Is the law only good for one thing? Is the law only useful to point to sin in our lives?

To show us that we are imprisoned by sin so we’ll have a desire for freedom through grace?

There is another use for the law - the law militates (has force or influence, brings about a change) against legalism because it constantly reveals our sin and our need for grace.

There – we NEED the law, but not only for the reason we normally think we do. The law is not meant to condemn alone. The law is meant to point to grace.

We must not stop at conviction of sin – that is an attitude of defeat and death – a hopeless finality.

We must continue from the law to grace – an attitude of victory and life – a hope-filled grace-filled living!!

Chapter 6 – Satisfied With Jesus

If God the Father is satisfied with Jesus’ finished work on the cross, shouldn’t I also be satisfied?

Would I dare put myself above the Father in my knowledge of a situation?

None of us would knowingly do that – put ourselves above the wisdom of the Father.

But we do so unknowingly by thinking there is more to be done beyond the grace God has ALREADY given us through His Son.

Why do we do that? Is it because we are not used to things being simple? Is it because we as Worldlians (my own made-up word for those of us who live in the world) are used to the hurry-scurry lives we live? We are accustomed to much work; much activity.

Activity and work = productivity. Right?

Perhaps that is true according to the standards of this world. But remember that this world is not our home. Our home has a different set of standards. Those standards are mostly in direct opposition to the ones we are ruled by here.

If you want to live – you must die.

If you want to “get ahead” – you must put yourself last and serve others.

So does it make sense that if we want to succeed (there’s that word again!), we must simply accept a gift and not concern ourselves with having to accomplish that which has already been accomplished?

If Jesus did His work (walked willingly to the cross and defeated death, hell and the grave) and then SAT DOWN. Why are we standing up??? Haha!

It’s kind of funny in a way. Jesus is not worried about something being undone. Why are we?

I hear you – you want this message to be balanced out with our responsibility to do good works. We already talked about that in chapter 4.

We will still do works. But the BASIS for those works will be what it ought to be.

Our basis will no longer be in an attempt to earn something from God. Our basis for good works will be love of our Savior. That’s all. We will still lead disciplined, faithful lives. But that discipline and faithfulness will gain us NOTHING (we already have it all J. We are simply RESPONDING in love. We are hugging the Father and telling Him “thank you” for what You have done – for what You have given. It is enough for me. Now I want to show you that it is enough by my actions and my life.

Same things accomplished – same success – but HE gets the glory instead of ME.

Oh, I feel I’m not explaining this clearly enough. But my lack will have to be made up by revelation from the Holy Spirit.

In that light, I stop here…

Grace Plus Nothing

Chapter 1 – Our Righteousness Can’t Do It

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

How do I move this from my mouth and head to my heart?

This statement says it all – anything other than Jesus’ righteousness is “less”, making it ineffective. I am making no progress if I try to do things in my own righteousness.

All of us are motivated by what we see as success.

In Christianity success is completely opposite of what it is in the world. In the world, success comes from our own accomplishments. All the praise belongs to and goes to us. Perhaps that’s why we love our own successes so much…

But in Jesus Christ our failure means our true success – eternal success. I go back to my post on Why We Fail. We want to know that our lives count – that what we do in life matters to someone.

Without everything being filtered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – through His righteousness lived through us – we will have NO SUCCESS.

Our lives only matter to the degree we hide ourselves in Him.

We hide – He shines.

We are unknown – He is known.

We are less – He is more.

Romans 3:21-24 Apart from the law… our righteousness comes by our faith in Jesus Christ… our faith in Jesus Christ is a gift to us from Him…

Romans 5:1 We only have peace with God when we accept His gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ.

Do you lack peace?

Chapter 2 – Imprisoned For Mercy

Our Savior didn’t create this prison of sin out of spite. He created the sin prison so that He could show us mercy. He WANTS to show us mercy!

We are trapped by sin and death, and our only “door” out is to accept the gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That gift is accepted by a faith that He gives us.

We are being hemmed in, boxed in, unable to escape sin and death. Our only “escape” is Jesus Christ. There is no other way to get out of this feeling on guilt and condemnation. If we want freedom of heart and mind, we must allow Jesus Christ ALL credit for what is done in our lives. WE HAVE DONE NOTHING. We can do nothing – EVER! Nothing that we try will ever, ever, ever “work” to free us from this guilty feeling.

If works righteousness is dead, DEAD… we are wasting our time trying to be righteous. We are getting NOWHERE. We are chasing a path that will not matter – a life that will not matter. Again, do you want your life to matter? Then EVERYTHING must come through Jesus Christ. Nothing that I’ve done will remain – only what I do in Him. The things I do are wood, hay, and stubble and will be burned in the end. The things HE does through me are gold and precious metals. Those are the things that will be reward to me – the things HE has done through me.

How can sin still have power over me if Jesus has defeated sin and death? Sin will only have power over me as I try to live in my own righteousness. Righteousness by works cannot eliminate sin, because it is human based. Sin is eliminated only through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. If I want to walk free from sin, I must walk in His righteousness and not my own. This “works” because He was without sin – sin does not affect Him. Only when I am hidden in Him will I be “unaffected” by sin.

Chapter 3 – Imputed Righteousness

Romans 4:1-5 We do not work to gain righteousness. We must believe in Him to gain righteousness.

This takes all the pressure off us to perform. Again, all we have to do is hide ourselves in Him – hide our lives in Him. That’s it! How hard can that be – to hide under the shadow of the Almighty One! If I will but hide myself in Him, I will have what I need – peace, faith, righteousness – everything.

God made a promise to Abraham, and all Abraham had to “do” was believe. That’s it – just believe.

This must be why doubt and unbelief are so crippling in a believer’s life! Faith is the foundational element to “success” in our lives. That must be why the devil tries so hard to get us to doubt God – to doubt His word – to doubt His finished word – to try to do things on our own. If we doubt and do things on our own – our lives do not matter. We are failing. And we do not want to fail!

“The Lord has promised right standing (righteousness) before him to anyone who will put his faith in the finished work of Christ for forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Therefore, like Abraham, when we simply believe this promise of God, the Lord reckons righteousness to us.”

Faith is key! Belief is key!

Romans 5:17 Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

SUCCESS! This is the path to my life making a difference. The path is THROUGH Jesus Christ!

Why We Fail

Everyone is afraid of failure. I mean really afraid. It’s probably one of our biggest fears (along with the fear of being rejected).

I mean, think about it, we live our everyday lives wanting to make a difference. No one wants to walk through life just marking time. Even the lost man wants to know that his life has mattered. We want to be remembered for the things we did to impact society.

But what types of things matter? What types of deeds and actions will make that longed for impact?

From a Christian perspective, only things that are eternal really matter. And what things are those? Those are the “things” that Jesus died for.

Jesus’ life mattered. He knew His call. He knew His mission. He knew that He was called to die so that we in generations following would be able to live; to truly LIVE.

Temporary life?

No, eternal life.

Life here on earth?

No, life with Jesus Christ; both here and after our earthly death.

Jesus’ life mattered.

How can we make our lives matter when comparing them to the life of Jesus?

There is really only one way.

We must, MUST, impact the lives of those around us for the Kingdom of God.

WE MUST.

But we within ourselves can impact no one.

Without the life of Jesus Christ being lived in and through us, our lives will not “matter”. What we do will not “remain”.

My son, My son, why are you striving You can't add one thing to what's been done for you I did it all while I was dying Rest in your faith, my peace will come to you For when I hear the praises start I want to rain upon you Blessings that will fill your heart I see no stain upon you Because you are my child and you know me To Me you're only holy Nothing that you've done remains Only what you do for Me My child, My child, why are you weeping You will not have to wait forever That day and that hour is in My keeping The day I'll bring you into Heaven For when I hear the praises start My child, I want to rain upon you Blessing that will fill your heart I see no stain upon you Because you are My child and you know me To me you're only holy Nothing that you've done remains Only what you do in Me My precious bride, the day is nearing When I'll take you in My arms and hold you I know there are so many things that you've been hearing But you just hold on to what I have told you For when I hear the praises start My bride, I want to rain upon you Blessings that will fill your heart I see no stain upon you Because you are My child, and you know Me To me you're only holy Nothing that you've done will remain Only what you do for me Keith Green, “When I Hear The Praises Start”

Do You Hear the Sound?

I am hearing a sound in the Spirit

The sound is the sound of faith rising up among the believers

It is the sound of those who know that Jesus Christ is Lord of all

It is a hopeful sound

It is a sound that says a time of great miracles and harvest is coming

There are souls waiting to be born again

I love that term - born again

It is a term that I don't hear as often as I once did

But that is what we hope for in those we love - new birth in Jesus Christ

I've been re-reading a book - No Compromise by Melody Green

It is the life story of her late husband, Keith Green

I have cried, I have longed...

The cry of my heart has been awakened once again

SALVATION

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

The wind blows wherever it pleases.

You here its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Lord, I long to see salvation in this world

Bring life to those who are in darkness...

The Seasons of Our Lives

Recently, a friend asked me a question. She was wondering why she felt like she was not bearing any fruit in this season of her life. She wants to bear fruit. She longs to bear fruit – the mark of a passionate Christian.

As I asked the Lord what to tell her, I was reminded of the 4 seasons that God ordained to order our years. And in the four seasons, I saw a picture of our lives.

Just like real fruit trees, there is not always fruit on the tree.

In autumn, the old, over-ripe fruit has dropped off, and most gardeners know to prune the tree in preparation for more fruit in the coming harvest.
Then there is winter, when the life inside is there, but dormant and quiet -
in preparation for the fruit that is coming again next summer.
In the spring, flowers bud in preparation for the fruit to come.
Then it's summer again - and if the tree has been properly pruned in autumn and cared
for in winter, it produces even more fruit than it did the previous season!

So it is not that one is slacking or unproductive, it is that there is a
process that our lives go through. Each season is important.
Autumn is like a season of repentance when the old is removed so that the
new can come.
Winter is like a season of renewal in the Word where we are quietly and
faithfully preparing our hearts and rebuilding the things that God had to
remove - rebuilding them according to His Kingdom and not our own flesh.
Spring is like a season of hope of the new fruit to come - of joy, knowing
that the Lord has done a work and is preparing to produce fruit through us.
Summer is our season of fruit-bearing and harvest.

John 15 says it well… Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Daredevils

I have been noticing something lately.

Honestly, I've noticed it before, but lately it has fascinated me more than usual.

I'll call them daredevil birds.

You've seen them.

They come swooping dangerously into your path as you're driving along, only to suddenly change direction and swoop the other way.

Sometimes when there are two birds - one makes it across and the other does the sudden switch-back - I've wondered...

Did they plan that?

Did bird one say to bird two, "Hey! Betcha can't make it across the road without getting hit!"

Bird two says, "Let's find out!"

And off they go.

In truth, birds cannot reason. God created only man with reasoning capabilities.

But I do have to wonder what it is within those birds that causes them to want to "play".

If it's true that all of creation worships the King - are they worshiping with their play?

Perhaps I'll never know exactly what the birds are "thinking" as they dart dangerously in front of my car. But I plan to continue to enjoy their "game".

What Does the Lord Require?

God has shown you men and women what is good and excellent; and what does the Lord require of you? He desires you to make just decisions in regard to others; to love goodness, kindness, and faithfulness. And in your going and coming, He wants you to walk in humility with Him. Micah 6:8 – personal interpretation




That is my rendition of this verse.



In times when one is pressed by the Lord to make leadership decisions that involve the lives of others, it is wise to remember humility.




Galatians 6:1-5


Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are filled with and governed by the Spirit of God should mend what has been broken in him gently.

But watch yourself, or you also may be tried and tested in your faith, virtue, and character, by enticement to sin.

Carry each other’s heaviness, weight, burden, or trouble, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (This law states that we are to love one another as Christ has loved us.)

These first three thoughts are unified in that we are dealing with one subject – the temptation to sin that we all face, and our responses to that temptation. If we truly love one another, we will pray for and exhort one another because we should have a strong desire not to see a brother or sister caught in sin.
When we are responding in humility to one another; when we are watching one another’s lives in a way that says, “I love you. I don’t want to see you tripped up by sin in your life,” we are being an example to the world of the love of Jesus Christ.



Our purpose here is two-fold. One, out of love for our brothers and sisters, we want to stand with them in times of temptation and trial. And two, we are evangelizing the lost. Have you considered that when we love one another properly, we are actually engaging in evangelism? Jesus made it clear when he told his disciples that the world would know His love by our love for one another.

The second part of this portion of scripture speaks to us keeping watch over our own souls.

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test (to examine to see whether the thing is genuine or not) his own actions.
Then he can take pride in his own work (that which occupies his effort and time), without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load (or be responsible for the work of his own hands.)

We are to be aware of one another – to remember to encourage, exhort, and love our brothers and sisters. We are also to keep watch over our own lives. We need to watch our attitudes, our responses, our actions, our work (the things that we spend our time on). We will give an account to the Lord for all of these. Are we pleasing God in what we commit ourselves to? This thought ties back into the first portion of our scripture when we are told to watch ourselves.
In being aware of our own lives, we should be brought into an attitude of humility.
I believe we will also notice the fear of the Lord governing our lives.




May the Lord allow us to walk humbly and in the fear of the Lord as He brings us into a season of greater grace!

A Spring Rain by Raymond A. Foss

The world is wet today

luxurious, damp, drenched

drops hug the leaves,

anoint the still budded lilac blossoms

before their blooming

rich purple and plum

made richer by their watery skin

New leaves under the weight

droplets heavy, hanging

bowing the white pine needles

undersides exposed to drink

drink in the morning

hushed in the rain

temperature near the dewpoint

sprouts of just planted flowers

eager from the parched soil

new puddles bloom too

on the ground, the driveway

collect and gather

without the smell of summer rain yet

tears splash and spread

silent shimmers, heralds, messengers

in the spring rain.

Did you know that April is poetry month? I didn't - until this morning.

In celebration of April and of rain - one of my favorite "weathers"...