Clay Balls

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore.

In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls.

It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.

They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.

As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock.

Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls.

Each contained a similar treasure.

He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.

Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time.

He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves.

Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people.

We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel.

It doesn't look like much from the outside.

It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy.

But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us.

If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay.

May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you.

Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.

Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet!

"He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in the darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail." I Samuel 2:9

He cares for you!

"Throwing all your cares on Him because you are the object of His concern." (my translation) 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." (Actual Verse)

Being the object of God; He knows what you need, right?

God is able to provide what you need, right?

Then why bother Him about it?

Why pester Him with your constant requests?

After all, you don’t expect your children to come to you for everything do you?

You often anticipate what they really need and fulfill those needs without waiting for them to ask

Doesn’t God do the same thing?

The answer is, “Of course.”

God provides our very existence.

We can be grateful for all the things that we receive from His hand without a single word of request.

That is not the point of Peter’s proclamation, nor is it the point of Jesus’ parables of the unjust judge and the resistant friend, both of which are about the nature of prayer.

The point that Peter wants to make is that it is the nature of God to care.

If we only understood just how much God cares!!...our prayers would be radically altered and our desire to come before Him would be great.

Peter uses the unusual Greek word melei.

The translation “He cares for you,” isn’t quite what this word means. The word means “to be an object of concern.

You are the object of God’s concern! You are the object of His infinite Love!

His concern is focused on you.

You as as an individual.

When we think of someone caring about us, we might not have in mind the intense focus of heart-felt energy that God expends on our behalf.

In fact, God’s care for you and me is demonstrated in the ultimate sacrifice.

He willingly died for us.

God who willing went to those lengths to redeem you is not about to abandon you after He has paid the price to bring you back.

As the object of His concern, every tiny detail of your life comes under His watchful and gentle hand.

Peter underlines this important point by contrasting our cares (anxiety over the things of this world) with God’s care.

Our cares are merimna ! – those things that bring about mental and emotional disruption.

Anxiety fragments us.

It breaks up the peace within and creates instability, worry and fear.

God’s care does exactly the opposite.

Notice that as long as I try to manage and fix the issues of my life, I am subject to the chaos and confusion of the broken world.

Why?

Because my natural life feeds on the supply from this broken world.

It only displays what it eats.

Only when we surrender to the Spirit, we are empowered by a force outside of this natural realm.

When we find food that is not of this world; the kind of food that brings peace, harmony and order; precisely the things that characterize the nature of God who is the source of my new food.

Our daily food is in hidden manna in the form of the Bible - His Word. If we want peace in our life, then we need a new kind of diet.

A diet feasting on His Word and being in His presence.

Only then the care that He has always had for me will begin to be manifest in my life.

Attempting to achieve harmony through personal force produces chaos and anxiety.

The way to harmony is surrender.

Why do I pray?

Why would you not?

When we pray it should expresses my deepest real concerns.

We should pray because of who He is, and what He has done for us.

Our prayers will become joyful conversations with my caregiver.

They are sanity therapy for a hurting soul.

"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:3

Laminins

Laminins - Cool!

A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio...and I was BLOWN AWAY!

I want to share what I learned....but I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want.

I will share anyway.He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is...how He spoke the universe into being...how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire...etc. etc.

Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder.

At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) ...and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork.

I remember so many times thinking...'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???

Louie Giglio went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

I lost my breath, and it wasn't because I was running on my treadmill, either!!!

It was because he started talking about laminin.

I knew about laminin.

Here is how Wikipedia describes them :'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.

You see....laminins are what hold us together ...LITERALLY.

They are cell adhesion molecules.

They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell.

Without them, we would literally fall apart.

I knew all this already.

But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE.

But now I do, and I have thought about it a thousand times since (already)....Here is what the structure of laminin looks like...AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it....if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see...

Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!!

Amazing.

The glue that holds us together....ALL of us....is in the shape of the cross.

Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;all things were created by him and for him.He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER." Colossians 1:15-17

Call me crazy.

I just think that is very, very, very cool.

Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words.

Now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together ...one cell to another....by the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!!

"Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is He that made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100:3

The Collection Plate

The Collection Plate

This will touch your heart.

Here is a true story about a nine year old boy who lived in a rural town in Tennessee. His house was in a poor area of the community.

A church had a bus ministry that came knocking on his door one afternoon. The kid came to answer the door and greeted the bus pastor. The bus pastor asked if his parents were home and the small boy told him that his parents take off every weekend and leave him at home to take care of his little brother. The bus pastor couldn't believe what the kid said and asked him to repeat it.

The youngster gave the same answer and the bus pastor asked to come in and talk with him.

They went into the living room and sat down on an old couch with the foam and springs exposed.

The bus pastor asked the kid, 'Where do you go to church?

The young boy surprised the visitor by replying, 'I've never been to church in my whole life.'

The bus pastor thought to himself about the fact that his church was less than three miles from the child's house. 'Are you sure you have never been to church?' he asked again. 'I sure haven't', came his answer.

Then the bus pastor said, well, son, more important than going to church, have you ever heard the greatest love story ever told?

Then he proceeded to share the Gospel with this little nine year old boy. The young lad's heart began to be tenderized and at the end of the bus pastor's story the bus pastor asked if the boy wanted to receive this free gift from God.

The youngster exclaimed, 'You bet!' The kid and the bus pastor got on their knees and the lad invited Jesus into his little heart and received the free gift of salvation.

They both stood up and the bus pastor asked if he could pick the kid up for church the next morning. 'Sure,' the nine old replied.

The bus pastor got to the house early the next morning and found the lights off.

He let himself in and snaked his way through the house and found the little boy asleep in his bed.

He woke up the little boy and his brother and helped get them dressed.

They got on the bus and ate a donut for breakfast on their way to church.

Keep in mind that this boy had never been to church before.

The church was a real big one. The little kid just sat there, clueless of what was going on.

A few minutes into the service these tall unhappy guys walked down to the front and picked up some wooden plates.

One of the men prayed and the kid with utter fascination watched them walk up and down the aisles.

He still didn't know what was going on.

All of a sudden like a bolt of lightning it hit the kid what was taking place.

These people must be giving money to Jesus.

He then reflected on the free gift of life he had received just twenty-four hours earlier.

He immediately searched his pockets, front and back, and couldn't find a thing to give Jesus.

By this time the offering plate was being passed down his aisle and with a broken heart he just grabbed the plate and held on to it.

He finally let go and watch ed it pass on down the aisle.

He turned around to see i t passed down the aisle behind him.

His eyes remained glued on the plate as it was passed back and forth, back and forth all the way to the rear of the sanctuary.

Then he had an idea.

This little nine year old boy, in front of God and everybody, got up out of his seat.

He walked about eight rows back, grabbed the usher by the coat and asked to hold the plate one more time.

Then he did the most astounding thing I have ever heard of.

He took the plate, sat it on the carpeted church floor and stepped into the center of it.

As he stood there, he lifted his little head up and said, 'Jesus, I don't have anything to give you today, but just me.

I give you me!

I do love Jesus.

He is my source of existence and my Savior.

He keeps me functioning each and everyday.

Without Him, I will be nothing.

Without Him, I am nothing.

With Him I can do all things. Philippians 4:13

NAILS DIDN'T HOLD JESUS TO THE CROSS. LOVE DID!

Do you have that abundant life in Christ?

"What? know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." I Corinthians 6:19-20

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer.

You may be immature, weak and imperfect; but if you have been born again of the Spirit, then He dwells in you!

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:3-6

Do you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you?

or

Does the Holy Spirit have you that He may fill you with abundant life?

This abundant life is not found in our environment, or everyday circumstances, or even in the things that you possess.

This abundant life is only found with the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

To be filled with the Spirit is a command.

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit." Ephesians 5:18

A person filled with the Holy Spirit needs no law to cause him to live a righteous life.

When we put all upon the altar the Holy Spirit will fill us with the love of God.

"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is given unto us." Romans 5:5

You may need a continual refilling, and that is ok.

The Apostles were filled in Acts chapter 2, and again in chapter 4.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit it literally means to be Spirit possessed, Spirit empowered, Spirit led, and Spirit controlled.
Read Acts 8:26-40

You are to be filled that you might have joy.

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:19-20

You are filled with the Spirit for service.

"Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." Acts 6:3

"Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." I Timothy 3:7

You are filled with the Spirit for power to be a witness.

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8

You are filled with the Spirit for the hour of persecution.

Read Acts 7:54-60 and you will find out about the first martyr.

You are filled with the Spirit that you may walk in the Spirit.

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of flesh." Galatians 5:16
There is more in depth on this if you would finish reading the chapter.

You are filled with the Spirit that you may be led by the Spirit.

"For as many are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Romans 8:14

Just a little note that the whole 8th chapter of the book of Romans is on the safety and security of the believer in Christ.

If you have not been yet filled with the Holy Spirit, and you have that desire to be filled, all you have to do is ask with your mouth. Ask Him to fill you and believe that He has done it

"In that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scriptures hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake of the Spirit, that which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:37-39

A Penitent Heart

Pen·i·tent: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin paenitent-, paenitens, from present participle of paenitere to cause regret, feel regret, perhaps from paene almost: feeling or expressing humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or offenses:

Have you ever wondered how did I ever end up like this?

Did you ever wonder who that was in the mirror before you?

Did you heart once burn hot after God?

Have you ever cried out for God to refine you?

Do you often think of the many private conservations that you had with the Lover of your soul?

How long has it been since you knew you had the spiritual victory?

How long has it been since you felt that true closeness to God?

Do you ever think about what to the joy of your salvation?

Somewhere along the way you have compromised, lost your priorities.

When we lose or focus, lose our priority or compromise we are putting increasing distance between us and our Lord.

Every choice that we make to do wrong is called sin.

Every bad or wrong attitude perpetuated and promoted in our life is a choice to push God away and that is sin.

The more distance that we keep going away from God the more our heart dries up.

Do you realize that whatever you put above God it becomes an idol.

In turn becomes sin.

Sin will do what sin is best at.

It takes you away from God.

Well, I don't sin you may say...

Sin is anything that does not conform to God's Word, could be in word, deed or attitude.

In other words it is missing the mark.

When we realize how far we have gone, only then God can accomplish what He has too.

We need that fresh fire and cool wind and that downpour of His grace and forgiveness to wash over our dry and thirsty soul once again.

Revival can only begin as we turn away from what we are doing or what we have done.

Revival begins with your willingness for God to have complete control of the situation.

Revival begins when your willingness lets God have complete control of your life.

Come and let revival begin to saturate you, intoxicate, permeate every fiber of your being as David did.

David had to ask who that was in the mirror.

David the worship leader, he had slipped away from God.

Taken from Psalm 51:1-12 The Penitents Psalm

"Have mercy on me , O God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions."
Deal with this sin in my life, Lord. I have come to you. I have come on Your terms.

"Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."

"For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me."
What I have ignored or dismissed or even rationalized about is now staring me in the face. It is my sin, and it is my fault.

"Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest."
With this sin I have hurt your name for You are righteous and Holy. With this sin I have caused others to misunderstand Your holiness, and how great You truly are.

"Behold I was shapen into in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
All were born into sin..."For as by one man's disobedience (Adam's) many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus) shall many be made righteous."

"Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom."
Apart from God's grace our heart is on evil continually. "Blessed in the man unto whom the Lord imputheth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Psalm 32:2

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
Pardon my sin and let me know they have been pardoned, restore me to those privileges that were forfeited and lost due to sin.

"Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice."
Restore the pain of a heart truly broken, let comfort and joy arise refreshing me.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."
God is the only one who can create a new heart; there is nothing impossible for God. Repair that spiritual strength that has long been depleated as sin took over. Help me to stay in this place until Your work is complete.

"Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy holy spirit from me."
Let me stay under Your divine protection; Your divine presence. Let the holy spirit stay with me to prevent any relapse into sin, let not Your spirit depart from me.

"Restore the joy of my salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit."
Only a child of God knows the true joy of eternal life; God's salvation. Lord, uphold me with Thy spirit lest I fall into sin or despair. Uphold me Lord.

The only way to God is through repentance, to humble our self, confess our sins and seek His face.

The one thing that you can offer the Lord, is yourself.

Lord, here I am, shattered by sin, Lord, here I stand for I know all that it has cost you- make me whole again.

God's way in pardoning us is though His mercy.

How ready He is to receive those that return to Him!

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O god, Thou wilt not despise." Psalm 51:17

Isn't it strange?

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." Psalm 62:5

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone....

Isn't it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you're at church, and how short they seem when you're watching a good movie?

Isn't it strange that you can't find a word to say when you're praying but.. you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?

Isn't it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel or book?

Isn't it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?

Isn't it strange how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events in the last minute?

Isn't it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others;but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn't it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say but... we question the words in the Bible?

Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven but... they don't want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?

Isn't it strange how we send jokes in e-mails and they are forwarded right away but when we are going to send messages about God, we think about it twice before we share it with others?

IT'S STRANGE ISN'T IT?

"And all men shall fear, and shall decalre the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of His doing." Psalm 64:9