Show God You Love Him Every Day

This morning I woke up before my daughter left for day five of her new job. On day three and four she left without saying goodbye. Yesterday, I asked her to please remember to at least yell down the hall before she left the house to let me know she was leaving. I suppose this was mostly to appease my need for acknowledgement.

This morning I had pretty much convinced myself that she was going to fly out the door and not bother to say goodbye again this morning. It was at that moment that the Lord began to prick my heart.

"Ginger...I know exactly how you feel. The mornings that you get up and get your coffee, get on the computer or go about your daily business without even bothering to speak to me hurts me very very much too...."

Suddenly, the door flew open and there stood my daughter with her most cheerful sing/song voice saying "Bye Momma!!!". I said "I know you are running late, so have a good day". She said,"No, I'm good... " I told her to come and give me a hug.

Sweet fellowship.

As she was walking out the door, I felt the sudden urge to do something special for her. The best I could do at 6:30 am was to tell her that if she needed any help with her college books she was buying after work to call me.

Had she not bothered to speak to me this morning, I certainly would not have the desire to do anything special for her.

As I heard her start her car and pull out of the driveway, God showed me that this is very much the way He feels when I take the time to love Him and acknowledge Him each morning. He longs to spend time with each of us every morning and wants to give us good things out of the great love He has for us.


We serve a Wonderful God who Loves unconditionally. We did nothing to deserve the ultimate gift that He gave when He gave His Son as payment for the sins of the world on the Cross of Calvary. ("But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom 5:8) I want to show Him I love Him each and everyday!

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you..."
James 4:8a

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

The Book of Proverbs

My daughters and I began reading a proverb a day over breakfast a few weeks ago and WOW! There is truth in the scripture that says "...the washing of water by the word,.." (Eph 5:6) Today is March 28, so we read Proverbs 28. We also balance it out with a Psalm and a few verses in the new testament.

Today, as I read, the verse that stood out the most to me was Proverbs 28:13 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy." How easy it is for us to cover our sins! This scripture shown a great light on the fact that, although we do sin, when we forsake them, he WILL have mercy! So, instead of hiding and continuing in the downward spiral.. why not just own it?! Confess and turn and the LORD will have MERCY! That's good stuff right there!

No One Ever Cared for Me Like JESUS

Thanks to God for His Unspeakable Gift...

I love the lyrics to this song...


No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus

I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely,
He did something that no other friend could do.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me,
All my heart was full of misery and woe;
Jesus placed His strong and loving arms about me,
And He led me in the way I ought to go.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

Ev'ry day He comes to me with new assurance,
More and more I understand His words of love;
But I'll never know just why He came to save me,
Till some day I see His blessed face above.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There's no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

Unwanted Intrusions vs Open Door Blessings

I sat staring into the doctor's eyes as he told me to "go back on the walker" or else! It was like a bad dream. The "or else" meant another surgery. Surgery number 5.

The prayer went something like this.. "Oh Lord, how am I ever going to deal with this? Why? I asked you to heal me and I am still broken. I do not understand! Please help me understand."

God is very active in our day to day lives. He is continually drawing us and wooing us. He often answers our prayers through people and situations that we don't even realize. Sometimes He answers, but we are so busy looking for some kind of big "revelation" that we don't see the answer right before our faces.

This time, I feel that he answered my prayer for understanding through my Pastor's blog entry. Through this post God showed me how my unwanted intrusion could very possibly turn into an open door blessing.

"Dear Lord, Thank you for answered prayer and helping us to see that although we often view our situations as unwanted intrusions, they may very well be open door blessings. Please help me to look past the flesh and see through to the spiritual. Thank you for using our Pastor, Family and Friends to support, encourage and point us to You in this dying world. Help us as we seek to live a Cross centered life. Amen"

Just a Closer Walk

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Note: You can follow Pastor Blackstock's Blog through this link:

http://cjblackstock.blogspot.com

*Thanksgiving * Praise * Worship*

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During this season of Thanksgiving consider this...

Thanksgiving

Praise

Worship

How important are these things if we truly desire to grow spiritually and why are these concepts so contrary to the human nature's desire?

The Bible clearly points out human nature (flesh) is in constant rebellion against God and is not subject to Him.

So what is the great human problem all about?

Romans 1:21 says "When the knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful.

KNEW means to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of, perceive, feel.

GLORIFIED means "to praise, to honor (close to the meaning of worship), to extol, to magnify.

THANKFUL means "to be grateful, fel thankful, give thanks.

In Revelation4:11 the Bible says "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things for thy pleasure they are and were created."

WORTHY means "weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of value, worth as much"

and WHY IS HE WORTHY? because he has created all things...one who creates has the right to use what he creates in the way he chooses.

and WHY DID HE CREATE US? for his pleasure.

So what is our problem? Isaiah 53:6a says that we have turned every one to his own way. (rebellion against God...missing God's purpose)

So what is the remedy? "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" Isaiah 53:6b Christ's death on the Cross has the power to change us from rebellious, self-centered people to those who value the work of Christ and will thus worship and glorify the One who bought us with His own blood.

God desires our companionship and fellowship and therefore created us in His image. He deserves our thanksgiving, praise, and worship because of who He is and His determined purpose.

Although our human nature (flesh) does not desire to do these things the Bible tells us in Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
If we walk in the spirit it is possible to be Thankful, Praise and Worship our God.

"Be ye thankful Col. 3:15
"Praise the Lord all ye nations" Rom 15:11
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God" Mt 4:10

Dear Lord,
Please help me to walk in the spirit so not to fulfill the desires of the flesh. You are worthy of all praise, honor and glory. In Jesus Name Amen

New Attitude

After returning from this long awaited, first time ever, dream of a life-time cruise, things have suddenly changed.

Having been out in the middle of the ocean for five days, things seemed to have taken on an entirely different meaning. Oh yes, it was beyond wonderful. The beauty of God's Creation left me speechless (and that, my friends, is a miracle in itself).

Suddenly, I felt very very small. So undeserving of such a wonderful experience. The only thing that has ever made me feel this way is knowing and experiencing the Love of our Heavenly Father.

Since I've been home, I cannot get the thought of the dying world all around us out of my mind. It seems that, now more than ever before, God seriously desires us to tell others how much He loves them, and to do this as quickly as we possibly can.

The gospel message has nothing to do with what we do, not because of what they do, but only because of what HE did in dying so that we may live. Dying so that we may know of His Great Love for us, accept his death as complete payment for our sin and live with Him eternally.

"Thank you seems so inadequate, God, for all you do for us. For your Unconditional Love, Mercy and Forgiveness toward us. Please send your Holy Spirit to open hearts to receive Your gospel message of redemption, justification and eternal life through our repentance and acceptance of your finished work at Calvary".


I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Refrain

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Refrain

Created for a Purpose

Some things are made for one purpose and one purpose only. This lady salmon you see in the picture was made to swim from the ocean to freshwater (upstream) for the sole purpose of procreation.

As I ponder this message from our Pastor this evening, I can't help but ask myself, what is my purpose?

The message was clear... bear fruit. Make more Christians.

As I approach living in the latter part of one half century, I can't help but realize some facts of life. One thing stands out over all... just how long has it taken me to come to the realization that my sole purpose in this life is procreation...bearing fruit... making more Christians? I look ahead and realize that some of the best years have swiftly passed. Time to get busy with the remaining days, should the Lord tarry!!

"Lord, please help me to press forward and point others to you. Help me to show others how much you love them and remind me to pray daily for the lost. Help me to kneel at the cross as I continue seeking to live the cross driven life, for however many days you have planned for my life."


Kneel at the cross,
Christ will meet you there,
Come while He waits for you;
List to His voice,
Leave with Him your care
And begin life anew.


Kneel at the cross, (at the cross)
Leave (ev'ry care) ev'ry care;
Kneel at the cross (at the cross)
Jesus will meet you there. (meet you there)


Kneel at the cross,
There is room for all
Who would His glory share;
Bliss there awaits,
Harm can ne'er befall
Those who are anchored there.


Kneel at the cross, (at the cross)
Leave (ev'ry care) ev'ry care;
Kneel at the cross (at the cross)
Jesus will meet you there. (meet you there)


Kneel at the cross
Give your idols up,
Look unto realms above;
Turn not away
To Life's sparkling cup,
Trust only in His love.


Kneel at the cross, (at the cross)
Leave (ev'ry care) ev'ry care;
Kneel at the cross (at the cross)
Jesus will meet you there. (meet you there)