Wednesday, May 30, 2012

What's Really Real? ...
Ok, so I am not an existentialist, and it's not a trick question.  There is a reality beyond what we can see with our eyes.  The reality of eternity and the world beyond our senses is as real and even more permanent than anything we can touch or feel.  The bible makes it clear that as a believer we are to be focused on the Kingdom of God more than the Kingdom of Man.  But what does that really mean?  I heard a term once that I think gives some clarity to the concept....having "Eternal Eyes", means to see things from the perspective that everything we do ultimately has eternal consequences.  It means seeing things from God's point of view.  Are we living for the material, in bondage to the things that will certainly perish?... Or are we consistently living for Christ and drawing people closer to Him?  That is where the richest blessings are for the Christian.  So the question is...
What's Really Real? 

 What is seen cannot be trusted
It’s the unseen that’s really real
The truth is in what God says
Not in what we think or feel
Reality is what’s eternal
Not this earthly walk of life
Yet we focus on the temporal
Both the glory and the strife
Our feelings are deceptive
The world around will lie straight faced
And if we listen to these voices
Then we miss out on God’s grace
Eyes of faith are what’s required
An eternal mindset is what we need
Looking past the physical
To the lasting reality
There is a joy that is eternal
And a peace that comes with truth
There is freedom found in God himself
From earthly chains we can be loosed
It’s a choice we make each moment
Whether temporal or eternal view
No matter what circumstances come
How you see it is up to you


 John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

2Co 5:4-8 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Jim Elliot

 I want to thank Dr Matt Olsen, President of Northland International University, for the message that he preached on the life of Joseph that prompted this poem.

Thursday, May 10, 2012


Mom...
There is probably not a sweeter name this side of heaven than Mom.  She means more than she probably ever realizes, and gives so unselfishly of herself to serve those she loves.  When I think of the type of love that we are to have as Christians, that agape, self sacrificing type of love...Mom is my earthly role model.  There can never be enough thanks or accolades given for Mom.  She really is my hero and the reason that I turned out to love the Lord and want to do right with my life.  This was originally written for her birthday a few years ago, but with Mother's Day coming up, it seem appropriate.  I will be forever grateful for ...

 Mom

What makes a mom so special
What’s so important about her task
Just listen to her children
And the questions that they ask
Like why is the sky blue
What makes the grass turn green
How do lightning bugs do that
When their tail lights can be seen
What makes the stars so shiny
And does God really live above
But the one thing that you rarely hear
Is “Mommy what is love”
For that question can be answered
Just by living in her care
The tenderness a mother shows
Is in all the world most rare
For she gives without reservation
Of her energy and time
From kissing every boo boo
To reciting each nursery rhyme
You can hear it in her voice
You can see it in her eyes
You can feel it in the pride she shows
In her children’s lives
It’s no wonder she’s their hero
And they understand once they’re grown
What makes a mom so special

When they have children of their own

Pr 31:28  Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her

(For my Mom on her 72nd birthday)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Forgiveness...
I heard a great message this past Sunday on forgiveness and it reminded me of this poem.  I realize it is part of our human nature to harbor hurts and hold grudges.  But the thing is, if you are going to truly live the Christian life, our human nature is the thing we should trust the least.  I have been on both sides of the equation and I can tell you from experience that there is a freedom of spirit that is a natural byproduct on both sides, whether you are the forgiver or the forgiven.  The key, at least for me, to be able to make forgiving an immediate response, is to keep in mind all that Jesus suffered in order to offer me....

Forgiveness

   Forgiveness is a choice we make
        A decision to release
        The hurts and disappointments
        And lay them at Jesus feet
        We have no right to hold them
        Or the bitterness they breed
        After all that Christ has done for us
        It’s His mercy that we need
        To show to those around us
        No matter what they’ve done
        A tender and a loving heart
        As seen in God the Son
        Father, help me to remember
        All you’ve done for me
        Forgiving my transgressions
        Please help me to clearly see
        With all that my soul owes
        The least that I can do
        Is to be kind, forgiving others
        And in me let them see You

Eph. 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

How often do we allow our pride to convince us that we are entitled to our hurts and bitternesses over something someone else has done?  Yet if we will only take a moment and honestly reflect on all that God has forgiven us of, including every wrong thought or motive and every hurtful word or wicked deed, then I believe it becomes much easier for us to forgive others and to release the bitterness that will only harm ourselves.