GOD IS IN EVERYDAY
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Under Construction

12/23/2012

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Working on a newly-purchased house is both exciting and frustrating.  While it’s fun to make your new home into a reflection of your personality and dreams, it is also challenging as much time and energy must be invested so that the previous
owner’s imprint is removed.
             
While on the outside a house can appear to be a solid and safe structure in which to live, the interior, upon closer inspection, can leave quite a different impression.  Much, too, can be learned about a previous homeowner’s habits, his/her home repair
abilities, and also of their acceptance of a contractor’s level of workmanship.  The hidden potential (or further disgust) of a residence is uncovered each time a major appliance is moved – how can someone live with decades of such accumulated filth? – or else a cobbled-together plumbing or electrical issue is revealed (usually because of a problem that only arises immediately after the sale and/or after move in) that creates sheer amazement in the minds of the new owners as they wonder how the house never burned down either in whole or in part, or kept from being flooded out.

Houses and human beings are quite similar in this respect.  On the surface, we may look as if we are well put together as we go about our daily tasks well-groomed and fashionably dressed.   Yet on the inside, we are sick and feel as if we are dying.  Our negative emotions or hurtful intentions are swept aside and buried underneath the
pleasantries and smiling facades we put on each morning before we face the rest
of the world.  We long for relief; yet are hesitant to open up for fear of rejection.  We know that others would be truly appalled (or scared) if they could read our minds and see what’s really going on inside.  
             
God knows all of the thoughts you have …
      
Psalm 94:11
“The Lords knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.”
             
… and all of the words you will speak.
             
Psalm 139:4
“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”
             
He knows all about you – yes, even those hidden parts - and loves you anyway.
  
Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Bring to Him all of the things that give you pain or shame, all of those things you have been hiding, and God will lovingly dismantle your ‘human’ house and remake you into something new. 
            
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!”

He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


 

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Thanksgiving

11/19/2012

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This week, many across our beloved country will be busily preparing a Thanksgiving feast for their family and/or friends this Thursday. It’s an exciting time of traditional recipes, or for the more daring, new recipes that we hope will turn out picture-perfect and become a new favorite.  In addition to all of the food we will overindulge in, there are football  games to enjoy – “Please, God, if you’ll just let my team win, I’ll thank you from the bottom of my heart!” – as we head into ‘Black Friday,’ the day that usually begins in the wee hours of the morning for many die-hard shoppers so that not one door buster sale is missed.

Yet Thanksgiving is so much more than overeating, watching too many football games or spending more money than we can repay before Christmas the following year.  In our state of bountifulness, it is easy to think that everyone else is also experiencing the same level of plenty.  The truth is that many of the holidays on our calendar can be painful to people who are alone, feel forgotten, or who do not have the opportunity to feast and spend as others do.  For all of us, regardless of where we fall on the ‘plenti-meter,’ Thanksgiving is an attitude that begins in the heart.
 
Psalm 9:1
“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your
wonderful deeds.”


What wonderful deeds has the Lord done for you?  Or do you have a difficult time recognizing any of them because you haven’t received what you think you should have by this stage in your life?   If you are having a hard time seeing them, then start simply and thank God for Who He is.
 
Thank Him because He gave us life.

Revelations 4:11
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their
being.”


Thank Him for His love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115:1
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”

Thank Him for the wisdom …
 
James 1:5
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

 … and for the strength He offers to us.

Psalm 18:32
“It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.”

Thank Him for His constancy.

Deuteronomy 31:8
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

And, best of all, thank Him for the gift of eternal life through His Son.

Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Start a new tradition this Thanksgiving and take time to thank God for all of the good He has given to us, for
“apart from you [God], I have no good thing.” (Psalm 16:2) You will discover that the more you give thanks to Him, the more you will find to thank Him for.  He’s waiting for you.

 
(For more information about  forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


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Can't Buy It

10/16/2012

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The most valuable things in life cannot be purchased.  
 
Before my husband and I married, we lived 1,000 miles away from one another.  Since we could not have the typical in-person dates as other couples do, we had to utilize other media during our courtship.  Very early in our relationship, he asked me what it was that I wanted.  I told him, “I want all of those things that money can’t buy.”

To many in our society who equate the acquisition (or giving) of things as a telltale sign of their desirability and/or success, this statement is incomprehensible.  My husband, on the other hand, fully understood what I meant by those words without me ever having to give further explanation.  
  
What does the phrase “all of those things that money can’t buy” mean?   Simply, it means love, respect, faithfulness, honor and understanding.  These all lend itself to true living instead of simple mindless existence without fulfillment.  It’s all of those
‘heart’  things that people down through the ages have longed for and sought
out.  Sadly, in their impatience over not finding it in another human being quickly enough, many end up settling for less and their heart remains unsatisfied.  It is in this discontented state that longings for true heart things grow until one day the search is resumed and, if not careful, unfaithfulness is born into the relationship.

God knows all about those heart things we crave because He’s the one who designed that desire-specific area in our spirits.  As we go through life, we attempt to fill that God-shaped hole with all manner of things hoping to find the contentment, true love, honest acceptance and the meaningful life we long for, yet all the while, He’s the only one who can perfectly fit (and truly fulfill) that empty place in our heart. 
  
The longings we experience in our physical existence mimic the same deep-seated desires of our spiritual selves.  While it is true that the best things for our earthly life cannot be purchased, so it is also true in our spiritual life.  
 
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God gave His very best to us – His son Jesus Christ - in the form of a gift.  It cannot be bought; it cannot be acquired through works.  This gift has to be received through
faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

I love the definition of the word ‘gift’ according to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: 
1. Something freely given by one person to another for his benefit or pleasure.  
 
God freely gave us His Son solely for our benefit.  This is how deep His longing is for us to not die in our lost spiritual state which would separate us from Him forever.  Instead, He wants us to freely accept His gift to us in this life so that we can then live with Him in the next for all of eternity.  That is how much He loves us!  
  
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Would you like to have all of those things that money can’t buy?   He’s given the gift to us.  You need only accept it.  He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


 

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Good News

10/2/2012

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Did you read or listen to the headlines today?  If not, you are in the minority of the population and probably better off.  It seems that the ‘news of the day’ rarely changes and is full of natural disasters, wars (or the threat of war), and the report of various levels of crimes committed by mankind against his fellow human beings.  
  
While it is good to be aware of what is happening in our neighborhood, region, country and world, a steady diet of so much negativity can be depressing.  It can also make you fearful and cause you to doubt God’s presence in, and His awareness of, what’s going on in this world. 
 
Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake
you.”


Did you catch that?   God is with you and will never leave you.  And just in case that didn’t sink in, God repeated it in another verse.

Matthew 28:20
“Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He will be with you always, to the very end of the age.  How awesome is that?

Our all-or-nothing God, our God of absolutes, wants us to get this message so much that He broke it down even more so that we could better comprehend what He means by the words ‘always’ and ‘never.’

Romans 8:38-39
“Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”


In other words, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Talk about great news!

Dear soul, the next time the news on the television or in the newspaper makes you feel as if you have no hope and makes you fearful over what the future holds, turn to the Good News spoken of in the Bible and learn of the hope that we have through Jesus Christ.  God loves you and He’s waiting for you.


(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


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STUCK NOTES

9/20/2012

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Have you ever had a song stuck in your head?   No matter what else you try to think about, your mind always comes back to the tune and/or the words and you find yourself humming, whistling, or  quietly singing it to yourself.  
 
Such was the case for me this morning.   A song from my youth based upon Psalm 25 came to the forefront of my mind  and refused to return to the portion of my brain that houses distant  memories.   I had to not only sing it in its entirety several times before it was no longer ‘right there,’ but also had to look up the psalm and read it to see how accurate my memory of the words were.  
 
One of the verses in the song that was prominent in my head was  from Psalm 25:7 “Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord.”

As Christians, it is often times more difficult to be around people who ‘knew us when;’ to the time prior to when we chose to live a
life pleasing to the Lord.  These are the same people who talk of us today as if we were still that person of  yesterday.  These are the people who cannot accept our changed state into the incredible new creation we become after we accept Christ, nor do they choose to see the areas of growth that have occurred (and continue to occur) as we are daily molded into what Christ would
have us to be tomorrow.

One of the problems with people reminding you of what you used to be is that their words bring to mind the ‘old tunes’ of the past that were made by the consistent, prolonged negativity spoken to us, with - what I call - words of 'not enoughness.’    Perhaps you were told you were not good enough, or attractive enough, or athletic enough, or fast enough, or organized enough, or well-behaved enough, or smart enough.  And as a result, you felt as if you were not enough.  Period.

Yet the simple truth is that we have great worth and are loved an unfathomable amount by God, so much so that He willingly sent His son to die in our place for our sins.  

     Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We need do only one thing in order to be counted as enough in God's eyes:  accept His Son.

    Psalm 25: 3 “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame.”

When the ‘old tunes’ of negativity arise in your mind, replace it with a new song of praise to the Lord. 

     Psalm 13:6 “I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”

Repeatedly sing your song of praise to Him and soon it will be these notes that will get stuck in your head.  He’s waiting to hear from you.

 
(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


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While it is Still Day

9/14/2012

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Dawn is one of my favorite times of the day.  As the sun gently nudges the edge of the horizon, the muted darkness hesitatingly relinquishes its hold on the sky and pales.  Suddenly a vivid array of violet, blues, and pinks begin to form as the sun continues its ascent and the sky bursts forth in celebration of the new day.

This brand new day is as yet unblemished by negative human
behavior.  For a brief moment, in the peace and silence at the beginning of this fresh start, a day full of promise awaits.  What will you do with it?

Before rushing to begin that huge list of things you have to do today, stop for just a moment to decide Who you will take with you as you journey through this day.

Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Why choose to serve the Lord?  He alone has made provision for us to live in right standing with Him in this life so that we can spend all of  eternity with Him in heaven.  He has proven Himself faithful in His promises to provide all that we need
in our day-to-day living, not just spiritual, but also emotional, physical, and financial.  He also longs to give us the desires of our heart.  What more could we want than all of this?
 
Hebrews 3:15 “As has just been said:  “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.””

To not make a concious decision is, by default, a choice to reject Him and the life of promise He wants to give you.

He’s waiting for you.  The decision is yours.  What choice will you make?

 
(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


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Knit with Love

8/27/2012

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Knit, knit, purl, purl.  The knitting pattern for the baby blanket was repeated for row after row.  My fingers could practically work this pattern on their own, and left my thoughts free to think on the excitement the announcement about this expected new life generated.  With each stitch, I whispered a prayer for the mother and for this little life; for a safe pregnancy and delivery of a healthy baby. And, most of all that this little life will desire to live a life for our Creator.

Right at this moment, God is forming this little one’s body, as well as its mind, personality, likes, talents, and dislikes.  Dreams are also being instilled within its heart; dreams to pursue; dreams to find fulfillment and a purpose throughout its lifetime on this earth.  
 
While we all look similar when we are born, we are each unique and oh-so-very precious to God. There are no carbon copies of human beings.  We are not like car parts on an assembly line where each particular piece has to be constructed exactly alike over and over again.  God has a specific pattern that He follows in the formation of each one of us. 
  
As humans, we understand this formation of life on a rudimentary level while God sees the construction of life in all of its intricacies.  There are no mistakes.  There are no accidents.  God is intentional in the creation of each new life.  
  
Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  
  
Before we were formed, He knew us.  He designed us and throughout life, He never forgets us.
 
Isaiah 49: 15-16 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has
borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;….”  
  
Psalm 139:17 “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!”
 
You, dear soul, were knit together with love by our loving Heavenly Father.  You are not a mistake and He has never forgotten you.  Won’t you remember Him today?  He’s waiting for you.
 
(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this
page.)

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    Welcome to my site!  My name is Robin. I'm a Christian writer with a heart-desire to share how I have found (and continue to find) God in the everyday.  Thank you for joining me on this adventure!

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