| Life Notes |
| Growth We all grow. We all need to grow. But we need to ask ourselves, how are we growing, stronger or weaker? It has been said that �Time heals all wounds.� Well, that�s not entirely true. God heals wounds, but it will take time. He is almighty. He could heal us instantly, but He knows what is best for us. He is always present, but He wants us to make decisions on our own. We must choose to love others, as He loves us, and forgive others, as He has forgiven us. He can only heal us if we let Him. The wound is infected. The longer we wait, the worse it becomes. The Carousel The world is turning faster than ever. It is like being on a giant carousel. It turns so fast that, in our dizziness, we miss what is important in life. God is always there, waiting for us to jump. But the devil is the one spinning the carousel. He does not want us to find God, so he spins the carousel, faster and faster. God is yelling for us to get off, but the devil spins the carousel, faster and faster. We try to see who is yelling for us; some say it�s God. But we cannot see, in our dizziness. Until we take a leap of faith, we will continue to spin on the unrelenting carousel and its view of the world. Our Part Where will our lives lead? None of us can know the full ramifications caused by our very existence. You may never become famous. You may not play a big part, but you do more than you realize. The effects of our lives carry on through the generations; be the effects good or bad. We all play a part. Though you may not play a highly pronounced part, you still play a part. You may influence someone, who will have a large part to play. Our choices influence not only our lives but the lives of others. The Lord knows the full ramifications of our lives. He knows who you are and what you can accomplish. He knows what you want to be. He knows what you need to be. If we follow Him, He will lead the way for us. You do not know how long you will be on this Earth. If you plan for the future, being blind to the present, you will not see things as they are. We do not know what the Lord has in store us. Our motivation should not be to accomplish our selfish, Earthly goals. Our motivation should be the Lord. When we reach our goals, we are not happy; we set new goals. When we reach the Lord�s goals for us, we get what we have been looking for all along, without knowing it. The House Your heart is like a house. When God rings the doorbell you ignore it. When God knocks on the window, you close the blinds. When God calls on the telephone, you do not answer. But houses are not built to last forever. God is a carpenter; He is there to rebuild. He has chosen your house to be His temple. But He cannot rebuild, if you do not let Him in. The house is crumbling. Soon, it will collapse. You try your best to make it look nice, but underneath the foundation is crumbling. If you do not let Him in before the house collapses it will be too late. You say that you cannot afford to rebuild, but God says, "It�s already paid for." But you do not know if you can accept His gift, but He said it�s �ALREADY� paid for. Do not wait until it�s too late. You think about selling, but your house is not up to code. No one would want to buy it. Only God can help. He has been waiting. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn pass, but He is still there. Everyday, you look and He is still there waiting as usual. Does He ever lose interest? Even after the house has collapsed, He still holds enormous love for it. The problem is that now there is no hope. You have waited too long; the house collapsed. You stand in your yard staring at the pile of rubble. You look over and God�s there, looking at the pile. He is crying. He must have really loved the house. But then you realize, He is crying for you; you no longer have a place to live. The Match Jesus is the match struck in a dark room. That one match can fill a whole room with light. Our sins are left with the darkness and just when our eyes adjust to the light, it grows more intense. When we die, the room fades away, but the light continues to show. We must first, strike the match. Father He has given us everything and we ask for more. He would do it again; we would still take it for granted. We say that we feel as though we owe Him so much. He gave His life for us, but so many times we let Him just fall into the crowd of others who have died. We need to remember that Jesus died for us; He was not just some guy. He was God, as well. When we do the right thing, how often is it simply out of the goodness or our hearts? Never. Only through the Holy Spirit can we pull it off. So many times we give the praise to ourselves instead of to whom it is deserved. We may say that we wanted, wholeheartedly, to do the right thing, but it�s not true. If it were we would know it in our heart. We should not take God�s love for granted. If we do, we will only harm ourselves. You cannot look at people as idols because they are not perfect, they sin just like the rest of us. For those of us who are Christians, God is our Father. He died for us. He took the blame for our sins. He is a Father who takes responsibility for the actions of His child. How do we feel when we picture our parents in the same position Christ was in on the cross. He died for us. We are undeserving yet He loves us more than even our parents can love us. If we do not belong to Him, we are punished. We are like orphans. We walk alone, but God will accept us as His children. But we must sign the adoption papers to make it official. Compass He knows what is in our hearts. If we wish to know Him, He is there. He is always right by our side, never leaving us. But we let ourselves become lost. We need an internal compass. We have one, already, but it�s faulty. It leads us astray. We need a new compass. Understanding If you close your heart to understanding, you cannot understand the truth. Some people close their hearts to the truth for fear of it bringing harm to them. But this is a life and death matter and they need to know the truth. When a tree is about to fall on you, do you close your eyes or move out of the way? When you walking toward a cliff, do you stop or keep going? When your faith rises and falls, over and over, it may be that something is holding you back. You grow, then pause. When you stop, you fall backward, as you would on a treadmill. Then you start walking again, but then you stop. Unless you move beyond that trouble spot, you will continue stopping. If your faith is suffering, it needs tended to before you fall back even farther. Contentment Some things are too big for God to give you a straight answer to right away. When you pray, God does not give you a complete explanation, because you will not understand it. He needs to show you, so that you are ready to understand. There are many things that are too complex for us to comprehend. No one can entertain God�s greatness. While I have many questions about how things happen and why, I am content with the answer I receive because I have faith that He knows what is best for me. Think of the trials you fall into, the temptations you feel, and the pain you are afflicted with, as tough love. God inflicts none of this upon you, but He sent you here, to this Earth, because He loved you enough to let you choose between His way and your way. If He gave you everything, you would not be forced to choose. Only when you are left alone to fend for yourself, will you see that it is better with God. We are here where we must choose. No one can be sinless, except for the Son of God. If we are in Christ, we are forgiven. We must ask for forgiveness, so we can be considered sinless. I want to change. I want to repay Jesus. He died for me. I want to repay the favor; a life for a life. I want to dedicate my life to Him. Though I was bound by sin, I have been forgiven. Though I am no longer bound to the ramifications of my sins, I want to change. I want to give back what was given to me, though no matter how much I give, it will not be enough to repay Him. You are at the bottom of a hill and must ride your bicycle uphill. The higher you go the more confident you are that you can make it. But if you take your feet off the pedals, you will begin to roll backwards. You will still be able to ride back up again but it will be more difficult. You may fall off several times along the way, but the important thing is that you get back on. The higher you are on the hill, the more faith you have that you will be able to get to the top. But when you take your feet off the pedals, you will lose faith in your ability to get to the top. Forgiveness Though we may be forgiven through Christ, we still sin. If we were considered to be sinless, we would be considered perfect. We are not perfect, but we can be, through Christ. Jesus walked a mile in our shoes and He wore them to the cross. We will wear His to heaven. But those shoes He wore are still ours. Just as we still sin, those shoes represent our lives. Our shoes are ragged and dirty. His are brand new, unaffected, unpolluted. The law does not deal as much with who made them dirty as with who wears them. If we wear His shoes we are not punished, because we have nothing to be punished for. If we wear our shoes, we will be punished. In either case, our shoes will stay our shoes. The law does not deal with the owner of the shoes; it deals with the wearer. If Jesus wears our shoes, our life is in His hands, or on His feet rather. We are not sinless, Christ is. Through Christ, we can be considered sinless. We are still sinful, but these wounds are healed. We still do many wrongs, but we are not forced to face the consequences of our actions, if we accept Christ. He takes responsibility for our actions. But we still know when we do wrong and that He was punished for our wrongs. We are perfect in spirit, but not in body or mind. While our hearts are renewed, we still have the need for growth, in our minds and bodies. Jesus bore the punishment for our sins, but we provided the cause. Our sins are taken off the record when we are forgiven. |
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