"The Testimony"

As I was reading today these words from 1 John 5:11-12  jumped out at me.

And this is the testimony: That God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 

The testimony, the truth, that we all need to understand, to believe, and to walk out is that God has given us eternal life. Period. Its a done deal. He did His part and has given it to us. He has made the way and provided it for us to realize the benefits of this gift of eternal life. We do that by accepting His provision. We do that by understanding that we have the gift of life eternal through His Son. The thing that I love knowing is that He has given not will give but has given. It already exists for us. He gave it to us through/via His Son. 

Think of it this way ... you live across the country, far from your family. You dad goes out and purchases for you, what He consider the perfect gift, to make your life amazing just because He loves you. The delivery man drops it at your house and you have this terrific gift sitting there that will make every area of your life better. Do you open it?

The Father has given us the gift of eternal life and He sent it to us via His Son. Do we start living it? It's an amazing abundant life that begins the moment you take delivery! Start living it today! Don't wait and don't waste it by leaving it unopened sitting on hold. 

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love you and their gift of eternal life is truly the most perfectly amazing gift you'll ever get.

"Imparting Grace"

For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another. Mark 10:49-50

Lord, that we would be the salt in the earth today, bringing to each person we meet the seasoning that Your word brings to each and every life it touches. Help us, Lord, to be ready in season and out to always have the right word to share as we testify of You! Lord, that no corrupt communication would proceed out of our mouths, but instead only what is good for necessary edification, that it may always impart grace to its hearers. Ephesians 4:29

God Bless!!!

Staff of Snack Time Devotions

God Rescues His People

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, "I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people of the land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you." Judges 2:1-4

The people of Israel went into the Promise Land with a clean slate. There was nothing to hold them back. But they didn't do what they were supposed to, they didn't wipe out the enemies that would plague them for years to come. They didn't destroy the altars and the idols, the asherath poles. They let them be, and those things would ensnare them time and time again.

We do the same thing. We have allowed those things that tempt us to stay in our lives. Those besetting sins that we just can't seem to shake. We should recognize those things, realize the traps that they truly are.

God hasn't left us alone in this, nor did He leave the Israelites. "Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers." Judges 2:16

Every time the Israelites cried out, God heard them. He sent people to rescue them. Every time he sent a new judge to save them. The judges accomplished their missions, they saved the people and turned them back to God. But the return to God didn't last. When that judge died, the people walked away. Every time there wasn't someone to watch over them, they went back to their sinful ways.

Don't be like the Israelites were. Don't turn away from God when you walk away from church on Sunday. Don't keep going back to those sins. The Lord rescues His people. Don't let His rescues go to waste.

Sam

"My Certainty Matters"

   Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a ventilation came to Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."
   And Jesus said to Him, "I will come and heal him."
   The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed."
   For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, "Go," ad he goes; and to another, "Come," and he comes; and to my servant, "Do this," and he does it."
   When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even I Israel. And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing
   Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. Matthew 8:5-13

Every time I read this encounter it makes me remember just how important it is for me to KNOW that His authority can reach across any and all distances to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. It also reminds me that my intercession for a loved one is important as well. The centurion knew that Jesus was the answer to his servants need and he proceeded to show that with every word he spoke. Jesus told us "that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks," and the only words that came out of his mouth were words that revealed his faith in Jesus and the authority He walked in. The only words that came from the overflow of his heart were words that confirmed his certainty about who Jesus was and what He could do. He knew that Jesus had the power to heal!!! He knew and because of that certainty his servant was healed!!!

This account reminds me that my certainty ...in Him ...in who He is ...in what He does, and  even ...in His power to heal can make a difference in the lives and circumstances of those I intercede for. My certainty and the profession of my faith matters to the outcome my loved ones see as I bring them before the Lord.

It reminds me to "...Ask in faith, with no doubting ..." James 1:6

Twitch-Free, Bold Moments

There was a part of Peter that couldn't believe he was speaking like this. Normally his knees would be weak by now. Wait a second? Was the voice speaking even his? It was so bold and full of confidence. There was even authority!

What was going on?

It was one of those moments where he felt like he was watching himself. The bold man standing there speaking to the religious leaders was not the wimp he felt like inside. The group of Sadducees were glowering at him, and the sunlight was a hot spotlight, but it didn't phase him at all. He was a lowly fisherman. He wasn't educated. He had no money to his name. He was essentially nothing.

Peter smirked a little and then quickly moved his mouth to a more neutral expression when one of the Sadducees glare turned even harsher.

He knew the reason.

It was Jesus. All of his hope, trust, and faith was in God now. He didn't care how they perceived him. He didn't care if they knew he was uneducated. He didn't care that he used to be a fisherman. He was doing God's work. The rest didn't matter anymore. He had given God his faith and trust, and in return, God had made him bold.

Based on Acts 4:13

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

Ah, boldness. The gift that has always seemed to dodge my clumsy advances.

See I'm the type of person who was always told to "Speak up! I can't hear you!" in school. The high school student whose eye started twitching in speech class so that it looked like I was winking around the room like a sociopath. The scared little girl who wouldn't dare tell anyone how badly she wanted to sing with the worship team. The girl who literally made herself sick before pitching her book at her very first conference. The girl who rehearsed lessons so she didn't sound like a bumbling idiot in front of the youth group.

Please tell me it's not just me. ;)

I read about the bold apostles and disciples and I am green with jealousy. How do I get that? How do I, an uneducated, common person (See, I'm partway there!) get that boldness?

I've found a common denominator.

"In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him." Ephesians 3:12

It's that faith in God. It's putting our trust/our faith in God that makes us bold. It's the amazing revelation of what He's done for us!

My eye usually doesn't twitch anymore. That comes from putting more stock in what God wants to do, then what I want to do. When it doesn't matter what I want from the situation, it's much easier to be bold for God. Those twitch-free, bold moments are because I put all my faith and trust in God's will.

V. Joy Palmer

Our Job Is to Share

He could smell trouble a mile away. And with this many unwashed people gathered into one place, it was much easier to smell trouble.

"What's going on?" He directed his question to the group of Sadducees standing on the outskirts of the people. His ornate robes swirled around his sandal-clad feet as he swooshed to a stop.

A large crowd had gathered around some rather plain looking men. Their group stood just inside hearing range of the men speaking.

An older Sadducee glared and answered gruffly. "They are talking about Jesus."

"And the resurrection from the dead," another younger Sadducee added.

Anger and annoyance bubbled inside of him. This? Again? They were supposed to be done with this! He squinted at the men speaking, and felt his annoyance rise even higher just from looking at them.

He pointed his stocky finger at them. "We need to get rid of them. Something! It is not their place to be teaching the people, and it is certainly a grave wrongdoing to allow them to fill the people's minds with false doctrine."

The rest of the Sadducees nodded their agreement. They planned to arrest the fools, drive them out of the country, and be done with this business once and for all.

Based on Acts 4:1-2

"And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand." Acts 4:1-4

I, like many of you, have friends and relatives that are not Christians. Every time something comes up on Facebook that is not "politically correct," I hesitate sharing the article because I think of them. I worry that they will think I'm trying to shove my views down their throat. I don't even comment on the things they post that are so wildly wrong because I don't want to get into an argument.

What should I do?

Don't get me wrong. The stuff that makes me "me" is still on there. I always share all of my blogs, and you don't have to read those for very long before getting a good picture of my beliefs. But sometimes I wonder if I'm still being too much of a chicken.

Then I read a section like this. It gives me a little perspective, and honestly, a little comfort.

No matter what we do, there will always be people who will become "greatly annoyed" by what we are sharing. Always. They will always be there. So I shouldn't let them impact me so much that I remain quiet. Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying we should shove and preach to the point of alienating everyone around us, as that's certainly not the point of the Gospel. I'm saying it's not worth worrying if we will offend someone, because someone will always be offended.

Our job is to share. God's job is the heart.

V. Joy Palmer

"Thanks! Lord"

   He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.
   Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall,
   But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;
   They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
   They shall run and not be weary,
   They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

Thank you Lord, that You are always the wind that helps me soar!