Glow and Shine

God’s Word:  Proverbs 4:16-19

God’s Message to Me:

The Bible is a history of My interaction with mankind.  It is non-fiction and serious reading.  One who chooses to live their entire life without reading it has missed out on the most meaningful relationship of their life.  In My Word you come face to face with Me in a personal relationship that is “out of this world.”  Our hearts unite in My Word.  I impart joy unspeakable and full of glory into your life.

Still, there are those who choose to reject Me and My Word and walk down the path of perversity.  They claim they find happiness in freedom, in doing their own thing.  Do they?  For a brief moment only.  But when the chickens come home to roost, their world comes crashing down.  Perversity breeds perversity and their lives grow dark with gloom and misery.

Why do some choose a life of perversity and violence? Why would they choose to walk in the darkness when the light of My love is so pleasant?  Because those who know My love have failed to share it.  They turn away from the evil, for fear of contaminating themselves.  My light is meant to be shared and the more it is shared the brighter it shines. The world will not know what they are missing if My people don’t glow with the light of My love.

God’s Question to Me:   Who do you need to share the light of My love with today? Don’t hide your light under the cover of self-righteousness!

God’s Promise to Me:  Darkness and light cannot co-exist.  Darkness doesn’t quench light—light penetrates darkness.  Let Me shine through the words and deeds of your life.

My Song to God:

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Won’t let Satan blow it out.
I’m gonna let it shine.
Won’t let Satan blow it out.
I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Let it shine til Jesus comes.
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine til Jesus comes.
I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel – NO!
I’m gonna let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel – NO!
I’m gonna let it shine, Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Let it shine over the whole wide world,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine over the whole wide world,
I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Tags: darkness and light, read the Bible, shine, shine for Jesus, this little light of mine

Add Years to Your Life

God’s Word:  Proverbs 4:10-15

God’s Message to Me:

Your life was My first gift to you.  Next I provided you with parents to love, nurture and train you.  Added to that there were teachers, preachers, Policemen, doctors, bosses, landlords, and various others to mold and guide your life.  Your assignment is to sift through all the advice you receive and accept the good and reject the bad.  This exercise will add years to your life.

You glean from the lives of others—their experiences and example you either emulate or ignore.   Follow the example of those who walk down Wisdom Road.  The map of their life will lead you to Righteous Road.  You can avoid the blind alleys and wrong turns of life by taking good advice to heart.

Don’t just be hearers of good advice and not doers.  That is foolish and will decrease years from your life.  The doctor’s wise advice is to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly.  Ignore that advice and decrease years from your life.  I gifted you with common sense to make wise choices—don’t relax your grip—don’t turn down wicked bypass.  I am honored when you take good care of My gift of life.

God’s Question to Me:  How will you honor Me today by your use of the gift of life that I gave you?

God’s Promise to Me:  The one who chooses to honor Me by the use of their gift of life—I will honor with the gift of eternal life.

My Song to God:   At Calvary  by William R. Newell  1895

Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.
Refrain:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.
By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.

Refrain:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.
Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary!

Refrain:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.
Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!

Refrain:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.

Tags: calvary, common sense, crucified, eternal life, gift of life, good advice, honor God, vanity and pride, wisdom

Take This to Heart

God’s Word:  Proverbs 4:1-9

God’s Message to Me:

Ignore good advice and suffer the consequences!  Thinking you can “beat the odds” is foolish living.  Look at the prisons, overflowing with those who thought they could “beat the odds.”  Look at the families destroyed and generations hurt because of foolish choices.

Parents are instructed to train their children for living life.  Their advice is meant to guide the child safely through life.  But when the parents go bad, the effect has far-reaching consequences.  Many try to blame the error of their ways on bad parenting, always blaming another for their own foolish choices.  Parents teach their children either the way to live their lives or the way not to live their lives.  Woe to the parents who gives their child a bad example.

My Word is given to provide you with a hope and a future.  Families who ignore My Word suffer, and when the family suffers those consequences are carried to the entire world.  The family unit is the world in miniature.  To ignore the advice of My Word is foolishness.  It was provided to bless and guide you in a life of wise living.  And that is the path to peace and joy everlasting.  Take My wisdom to heart or suffer the consequences.  Wisdom is My gift to those who make good choices.

God’s Question to Me:  Do the choices of your life reflect wisdom or did you let that good advice go in one ear and out the other?

God’s Promise to Me:  Wise living will make your life glorious, garland your life with grace and festoon your days with beauty.

My Song to God:

No one understands like Jesus;
He’s a Friend beyond com-pare.
Meet Him at the throne of mercy;
He is waiting for You there.

CHORUS:
No one understands like Jesus
When the days are dark and grim.
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus;
Cast Your every care on Him.

VERSE 2:
No understands like Jesus;
Every woe He sees and feels.
Tenderly He whispers comfort,
And the broken heart He heals.

CHORUS:
No one understands like Jesus
When the days are dark and grim.
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus;
Cast Your every care on Him.

VERSE 3:
No one understands like Jesus
When the foes of life assail.
You should never be discouraged;
Jesus cares and will not fail.

CHORUS:
No one understands like Jesus
When the days are dark and grim.
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus;
Cast Your every care on Him.

VERSE 4:
NO one understands like Jesus
When you falter on the way.
Though you fail Him, sadly fail Him,
He will pardon You today.

CHORUS:
No one understands like Jesus
When the days are dark and grim.
No one is so near, so dear as Jesus;
Cast Your every care on Him.

Tags: beat the odds, consequences, foolish choices, God loves you, joy everlasting, parents teach, path to peace, peace and joy, wisdom. Jesus understands, wise

The Cold Shoulder

God’s Word:  Proverbs 3:33-35

God’s Message to Me:

I long to bless people—all people.  What do my blessings look like?  Is it money, possessions, position, honor, loved ones, or peace and joy?  Well, it depends upon the individual.  To him who is given much, much is expected.  Blessings are meant to be passed on.  I comfort one so they can comfort another.  However, the wicked receive no blessings by their own choice.

To the proud skeptic I give only a cold shoulder.  You don’t live for the devil and then ask Me for blessings.  However, to the one who has lived for the devil and repents and turns to Me, the blessings will flow—no more cold shoulder.  And to the good person, going through a hard time, I’ll be right there to help.

The blessing of the wise is honor.  Your own words and works earn you this reward.  Honor does not come to the foolish person.  That would be like putting a gold and
diamond ring in a pig’s snout.  You can’t change the person by dressing them up.  Wisdom is a gift, a blessing, that I bestow on those who live with integrity and ask me for wisdom.

God’s Question to Me:  If I treated you as you treat others would you receive many blessings?

God’s Promise to Me:  My blessings, My help and My honor are given to those who live with integrity and eagerly share with others.

My Song to God:    Surely Goodness and Mercy     by John Peterson

A pilgrim was I, and a wandering,
In the cold night of sin I did roam,
When Jesus the kind Shepherd found me,
And now I am on my way home.

Chorus:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

Verse 2:
He restoreth my soul when I’m weary,
He giveth me strength day by day;
He leads me beside the still waters,
He guards me each step of the way.

Chorus:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

Verse 3:
When I walk through the dark lonesome valley,
My savior will walk with me there;
And safely His great hand will lead me
To the mansions He’s gone to prepare.

Chorus:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,
And I shall feast at the table spread for me;
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days, all the days of my life.

Tags: cold shoulder, faith, god, goodness, goodness and mercy, honor, integrity, mercy, share, skeptics

Love the Bully

God’s Word:  Proverbs 3: 30-32

God’s Message to Me:

Do you know someone who seems to carry a chip around on their shoulder?  They are ultra-sensitive and always take everything you say wrong. Your normal response is to avoid them because you don’t really enjoy being around them.  They sense that and it adds to the chip they are carrying around.

Then there are others who bully their way through life.  These are learned attributes, reinforced somehow by the way they were raised, the example that was set for them.  Again your response is to stay out of their way.  Again, they sense that and it adds fuel to their fire of bullying.

Both the person with the chip and the bully have desperate basic needs that have not been met.  They long for love and respect and the only way they know how to get it is to use their anger and bullying to get it.  Even negative respect soothes their twisted souls.  What they really need is someone to step up and reach out to them with unconditional love—My love that will open the eyes of their hearts to a better way of relating to others—My way of love and understanding.

God’s Question for Me:  Will you be My Ambassador to these twisted souls and reach out to them on My behalf?

God’s Promise to Me:  I will be with you, speak through you and love through you as you reach out to these with deep needs.

My Song to God:  Show a Little Bit of Love and Kindness   by John Peterson.

Sing a song, spread some cheer,

There are sad and lonely people everywhere.

Be a friend, show some love,

It will lift them from the dungeons of despair.

Refrain:

Show a little bit of love and kindness,

Never go along with hatred’s blindness,

Take a little time to reach for joy,

and wear a happy face.

Sing a little bit when the days are dreary,

Give a little help to a friend whose weary—

That’s the way to make the world a happy place.

 

Offer help, bring some hope,

To the fainting and discouraged on life’s road.

See a need, lend a hand,

There are many who are crushed beneath their load.

Refrain:

Show a little bit of love and kindness,

Never go along with hatred’s blindness,

Take a little time to reach for joy,

and wear a happy face.

Sing a little bit when the days are dreary,

Give a little help to a friend whose weary—

That’s the way to make the world a happy place.

 

Be a light, show the way,

Be a light within the night for those who stray.

Speak a word, loving word,

That will bring them back to walk the narrow way.

Refrain:

Show a little bit of love and kindness,

Never go along with hatred’s blindness,

Take a little time to reach for joy,

and wear a happy face.

Sing a little bit when the days are dreary,

Give a little help to a friend whose weary—

That’s the way to make the world a happy place.

Listen to the song here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM9zurFe-yg

Tags: bully, chip on the shoulder, God's Ambassador, show a little bit of love and kindness, unconditional love

Never Walk Away

God’s Word:  Proverbs 3:27-29

God’s Message to Me:

Your neighbors are those people your life interacts with.  Your hand is My hand to these people.  Is there someone who deserves a hand—never walk away but freely share.  The qualifying word here is “deserves.”  There will always be those with their “hand out” seeking a hand-out from you.  These people make it their occupation to live off the goodness of others.  To help them is to enable them to get by without working.

Nearly everyone experiences crisis’ due to no fault of their own.  These are the deserving ones I ask you to help.  When their need is so immediate do not put off helping them out.  Treat them as you would want to be treated were you in their place.  You too will experience a crisis and hope that others will be of help.

Every day, in every way, treat others as you wish to be treated.   Don’t take advantage of others to benefit yourself.  Remember that I observe all the good, or ill, that you do to others and accept that treatment personally.  To do, or fail to do for another, when you have the means, is to do, or fail to do for Me.  To walk away from a person in need is to walk away from Me.

God’s Question to Me:  Will you look for opportunities to extend My hand to someone in need?

God’s Promise to Me:  I will be there for you in direct proportion to how you are there for another in their need.

My Song to God:  Help Somebody Today   Carrie E Breck 1904

Look all around you, find someone in need,
Help somebody today!
Though it be little—a neighborly deed—
Help somebody today!

Refrain:
Help somebody today,
Somebody along life’s way;
Let sorrow be ended, the friendless befriended,
Oh, help somebody today!

Many are waiting a kind, loving word,
Help somebody today!
Thou hast a message, oh, let it be heard,
Help somebody today!

Refrain:
Help somebody today,
Somebody along life’s way;
Let sorrow be ended, the friendless befriended,
Oh, help somebody today!

Many have burdens too heavy to bear,
Help somebody today!
Grief is the portion of some everywhere,
Help somebody today!

Refrain:
Help somebody today,
Somebody along life’s way;
Let sorrow be ended, the friendless befriended,
Oh, help somebody today!

Some are discouraged and weary in heart,
Help somebody today!
Someone the journey to heaven should start,
Help somebody today!

Refrain:
Help somebody today,
Somebody along life’s way;
Let sorrow be ended, the friendless befriended,
Oh, help somebody today!

About Carrie:  Carrie spent most of her life in south­ern New Jer­sey. She mar­ried Frank Breck, and they moved to Or­e­gon be­tween 1910 and 1920. A de­vout Christ­ian, she was de­vot­ed to her hus­band and five daugh­ters. She had no sense of pitch, and could not car­ry a tune, but she had the gift of po­e­tic rhy­thm, and wrote more than 2,000 po­ems. She was not par­ti­cu­lar­ly ro­bust in health, and had to take fre­quent rests while do­ing chores. At such times, she would sit in her fa­vo­rite rock­ing chair, take up a note­book, and write po­e­try, oft­en with a ba­by on her knee, or play­ing at her feet.

Safe and Sound

God’s Word:  Proverbs 3:21-26

God’s Message to Me:

“Safe and Sound,” now that is a state where everyone hopes to live.
I offer everyone an invitation to live there and have provided a map, in the Bible, to find that state.  You’ll find it on the corner of “Clear Thinking” and “Common Sense.”  Abide there always and you will keep your soul alive and well— “Safe and Sound.”

Keep “Clear Thinking” and “Common Sense” on your radar and reap life-long benefits.  Safe travel without tiring or tripping, taking a nap when you need one—without worry, and enjoy a good night’s sleep, all when you abide within this radar.  There you need not worry or panic over alarms or surprises or predictions about doomsday being just around the corner.

There is no need to worry when I am right there with you.  And I am with you who remain in “Clear Thinking” and “Common Sense.”  So many benefits come into the life of those who make this choice.  Benefits that will keep you “Safe and Sound” throughout this life, yes even in the midst of your life’s greatest pains and challenges and eventually bring you right into My presence in My eternal heaven.

God’s Question for Me:  Have you found this state of “Safe and Sound” where you can abide in My protected presence no matter what life’s circumstances?

God’s Promise to Me:  Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heaven laden. . . . . . .I will give you rest for your soul.

My Song to God:  Reach Out to Jesus  by Ralph Carmichael  1980

Is your burden heavy as you bear it all alone?
Does the road you travel, harbor dangers yet unknown?
Are you growin’ weary in the struggle of it all?
Jesus will help you with all his name you call 

He’s always there hearing every prayer, faithful and true
Walking by our side, in his love we hide all the day through
When you get discouraged just remember what to do
Reach out to Jesus, he’s reaching out to you

Is the life you’re living filled with sorrow and dispair?
Does the future press you with its worry and its scare?
Are you tired and jealous, have you almost your way?
Jesus will help you, just talk to him today

Tags: come unto me, common sense, Jesus, ralph carmichael, safe and sound