Envy

You are walking down the street with your husband and you see this woman with beautiful long hair and you say to your husband how much you would love to have hair like that. Maybe you go to dinner somewhere and are seated then you see this family with the most well behaved children and you say I sure wish our kids were that well behaved. My downfall used to be when I would see a woman that really looked great in a dress, I would usually say, if I could look just have that good. I believe all of have had some type of envy.


Yes, this is envy on our part. Sometimes we don't think of it as envy but it is the starting of envy, this can be a problem if we don't get it stopped. The woman's hair probably looks the way it does because she works with it daily. The reason the kids are so well behaved is because the parents work on this daily, it isn't just an on and off job of disciplining your children. The reason this woman looks so good in this dress is because she strives to look well dressed.

These are just a few things a woman might envy another one for but there are many more reason why they envy others. By the way, it isn't just woman that envy other women or another family, men also envy things about other men, maybe it is their looks, families, or perhaps their job. Both men and women can be guilty about envy.

James 3:14; 'But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.' Envying and strife are opposite of meekness of wisdom. We can not have them both in the same heart, envy and wisdom both come from the heart. A person must decide which they would rather have. Do we want to be envious or would we rather have wisdom?

In James 3:16; For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.' When there is envy it will cause strife and then it results in confusion and evil works.. When we find ourselves envying someone else no matter how small it may seem to us, we need to start working on this immediately. The first place to start is to go to God. God is always there to help us. There is nothing He won't help us with if we just ask Him.  God loves for us to go to Him in our need.

As Christians we know we need to work on our walk with Jesus every single day. Even when we have problems and we have lots of them, Jesus Christ is the only way. As Christians we can also have lots of fun. We keep our minds on the things of the Lord, by doing this our daily walk with the Lord is refreshing and enjoyable. Praise Him!!

A Seedling

We have a Maple tree in our yard so in the spring we have a lot of seeds from this one tree. This summer there were several of the seeds that started growing into trees. There were two that I kept my eye on, I don't know why as they weren't any different than any of the other ones except they were in my eyesight and very close to the house.

I am not a gardener but I do love beautiful flowers, plush green lawns (which I don't have), and beautiful trees. I would even water these two trees when we hadn't had any rain for awhile. Well, it started getting cold and then it got colder, I finally decided I needed to cover them with some leaves to keep them warm. One seedling died but I still have the other one left. One night I covered the tiny tree with leaves and went into the house not giving it another thought. Later that night I went out and the leaves were no longer on the tree so I covered the tree up again. Later when I went out to feed my cat I noticed the leaves were off of the tree again. I was getting upset by this time. Then there was a gentle breeze (was God trying to get my attention) and I saw the leaves being blown further away from this seedling. Well, this tiny tree is still there and I do hope it survives through the winter but if it doesn't I know God has a reason why it didn't.

I thought I was doing something good for the tree, after all I was shielding it from the cold wind and keeping it warm. Then I started thinking, how many times have we thought we have known best in a situation so we didn't think to ask God about it and to ask for guidance? This is what I was doing for this tiny tree but now I can see that perhaps I could be harming it. I looked at the trees around and they had all grown from seeds and they survived.

Well, we may survive a situation that has come up but because we didn't ask the Lord for guidance in the situation maybe we suffered needlessly or perhaps we missed out on a blessing God had planned for us. God knows best. He sees the whole picture where we only see what is in front of us but one day we will see more, I Corinthians 13:12; 'For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.' One day things to be known will be open to our eyes and knowledge will be free from darkness and inaccuracy. We will see God face to face and we will know Him as we are known by Him. This will be an awesome time.

I was looking at what could be seen instead of looking at the things that are not seen. I was looking at the tiny tree thinking all the time I could protect if from what I thought might kill it but I should have looked to God for His protection of the tree. We do this with our lives. God is our protector. God is concerned about us and wants us to give our cares to Him. I Peter 5:8; 'Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.'

When will we learn our Father will take care of us in all situations if we just let Him? I am working on this with things that happen in my life, most of the time I know He will take care of me no matter what but ever so often the doubt arises and that is when I need to get down on my knees and talk to the Lord, He will help me through it. I want to say "Thank you, God for your love, kindness, mercy, understanding, and your forgiveness in my short comings and I love You with all of my heart."

Who Told You That

Excuses and more excuses. How many times have we heard excuses? There are several things that really are hard to understand with all these excuses.


Have you ever asked someone to go to Sunday School or church with you and they give you an excuse, this time it is one excuse and then next time they give another? I think the excuse I hear the most when I ask someone to go to Sunday School or church is "I just don't have the time." I mentioned this to my Sunday School teacher and he said ask them "who told you that?" That is a good question to ask them as they usually have no answer for it. We know God would never tell them this, after all it is just an excuse so it must be coming from Satan, he is the father of lies.

I wonder if these people that say they don't have the time ever think 'I need to make the time.' I am sure they don't or they wouldn't say they don't have the time. There are so many ways to learn about the Lord. Going to Sunday School and church are the beginning. Mark 4:9; 'And He said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' They hear the Word, and if the are listening they will want to read what the Bible says. Now in II Timothy 2:15, it tells us " Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. We know we should study the Bible as we learn the things God wants us to. "In Romans 10:17; it tells us, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." This all works the way it should, now we just need to get them to go to Sunday School and church and the rest should fall into place.

We know God wants Christians to have fellowship with one another. I John 1:7; 'But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' When we have fellowship with one another we also fellowship with Jesus. When we fellowship this is an association with, sharing experiences with the same interest. We find out what Jesus has been doing in one another's life.

We can lift a fellow Christian up when they are down. We can all praise the Lord together, and we can have a joyful time fellowshipping with each other. Being a Christian can be so much fun and we feel the presence of the Lord. What an awesome time we can have.

Friends

We all love to have friends, right? To have a friend is to be one I have been told. Some like to have lots of friends while others are content with just a few.


Are we sure of our friends? Are they godly, are they stuck on themselves, are they ready to help you when you need them? So many questions to ask ourselves. We certainly need to know what kind of a friend we have.

James 4:4; 'Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.' Is this person a friend of the world? If so, this person is an enemy of God for friendship of the world is spiritual adultery . We may think this person would never turn us away from God but God does warn us of this.

I Corinthians 15:33; 'Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.' We can be misled by friends that do not know God and His righteousness and they may tell us everything is okay when it is not. We have to be careful, the Holy Spirit will guide us.

It is great to tell them about the Lord and all of the benefits from knowing Him and accepting Him into their lives but if they laugh at you or make fun of the Lord, it is time to walk away. It is better to leave them than to lose Jesus. We must never give up praying for them or for others unless for some reason the Holy Spirit would happen to tells us to.

I have had a friend since my high school years. She is the sweetest and dearest person. If I ever needed her all I would have to do is call her. She may not be able to come to me at that very minute as she lives in another city but I know she would comfort me over the phone and via email. I have all the confidence that she would come to help me as soon as she could, she is that type of a friend. Proverbs 27:6; 'Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.' She would tell me if I were wrong even though she knew it would hurt me but she also knows in the long run it would benefit me. I can always count on her. She is very special to me and always has been.

I have an other friend that I can count on, my husband. I know he would always tell me what I need to know even though it would hurt but he would be there to comfort me. My daughter is another friend that would help me in anyway she could as it seems she is always helping me out in one way or another. I have a granddaughter that I call on quite often and no matter what she is doing she has time for me, but if for some reason she can't talk she calls me back. My list could go on and on, forever and ever.

Even though I have all these friends and I hold them dear to my heart, I have this really special friend, His name is Jesus. I love that song "Oh, What A Friend I Have In Jesus." I know Jesus will be by my side at all times, He will guide me through anything I go through, no matter what, He will love me. Proverbs 17:17; ' A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.'

I wish everyone knew my friend, Jesus.

Our Gift

Have you ever been setting in church listening to what the pastor is saying to you and all of a sudden your heart just seems to be so warm, I mean actually feels warm?


This is what happened to me today as our associate pastor was giving the message. It is a feeling that I enjoyed very much. I have thought about this message this afternoon and wanted to share some of it with you.

We were given a gift before any of us were born. The gift of Jesus. God didn't have to give His Son for us but He loves us that much. None of us deserve such an awesome gift. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23.

The gift God has given to us is the most awesome gift anyone could receive. Yet there are people out there that just doesn't want to receive this gift. I just can not understand this. My heart and prayers go out to the ones that refuse to accept Jesus, the Gift. They have no idea what they are missing.

There are many benefits to this gift. Of course there is love and forgiveness. There is also guidance, joy, understanding of others, fellowship with God, that in itself is awesome, and what about that awesome home, heaven? Just think what heaven will be like for us when we go home. The happiness and joy is out of this world.

If you were to give someone a gift from the heart, this gift was very important to you yet the one that it was intended for just simply refused it, wouldn't you be hurt? Some say God doesn't hurt, I believe He does hurt as the Word of God says He doesn't want anyone to go to hell. John 3:16; "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." So, when we don't accept the Gift God has given to us, I believe He hurts.
I pray a lot for the people that don't know Jesus. It is so sad to think they will not have a home in heaven with God and us. It saddens me to think of them being in hell where there is fire, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 13:42; "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

It is not that God doesn't love these people because He does but they have refused the gift God has given to them. John 3:36; "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

If a gift is given to someone and they refuse the gift, it is no good to them. They could care less about this gift. I believe it is up to us to pray for them and try to guide them in the right direction, Jesus Christ. I am so glad that I accepted the gift God gave to me. I thank God for my gift, Jesus Christ and give Him glory and honor for His gift.

P.S Go to created to see Debi's comment on God's personality.