Thought of the Day !!

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
1 John 1:9 (NLT)

I read somewhere that God didn't care about excuses. All He wants is to forgive. When we have sin in our lives we can find ourselves feeling guilty and so it's more difficult for us to face God. So confess what's wrong in your life and ask for God's help. He would much rather forgive you than punish you. That's because our God is a loving God.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, it means that He is the one who rules our lives. He becomes our center instead of ourselves. By God's grace, we change in that respect. All aspects of our lives may not immediately change. There very well could be many things about our past lives that we have a hard time giving up, or simply don't want to stop. This happens when people have accepted God's grace but are still clinging on to their old lives.

We have to choose though. Jesus teaches that we cannot serve two masters. Only one can come first. Does that mean that once we become Christians, God expects us to quit all our sinful behavior cold turkey? I believe that God knows how hard it is for us. And all He expects us to do is try to live for Him instead of ourselves. When we do that, and ask for His help, He will help us work things out. He's not looking for perfection out of us all at once. He is, however, expecting us to try. His grace will be sufficient when we fail. And He will guide us to perfection in time.

If your claim is to be a Christian, but your life is the same as before, maybe you should re-evaluate your claim. Remember, Christian means to be Christ-like. Are you really making your best effort to become Christ-like in ALL aspects of your life?

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others?
James 2:1 (NLT)

The real problem is that we can show favoritism by neglect. I will be honest. I will favor my wife over others. I will want to spend more time with her and show her love more often. But this scripture is not about having a favorite person or persons in your life. It's really about neglect.

We might be tempted to favor people with money, power, prestige or celebrity status over those who have little or can do little to help us. But our faith is a faith of love for each other regardless of status.

We can begin this by doing away with our preimagined ideas about status. Don't automatically think that just because of the way a person is dressed or how many places they've got tattooed or pierced or where they live that they are less important than other people.

God loves each of us. He created us. And we are all special to Him. I think He'd like for us to put away favoritism and show His love to everyone.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Isaiah 43:2-3

We are precious in God's sight. He promises to be with us through the troubling times in our lives and to lead us out of them if we will allow Him to. This is one of the greatest promises that God offers us...to not abandon us. People often times abandon Him. But even in the case of those, He never forgets them and accepts them back if they wish to come.

As His children, we should emulate this kind of behavior. I once knew a lady that didn't care much for the Church. That is, until her father was on his death bed. When she saw how her parent's church members gathered around, supporting and showing love to the family, she was changed. And she began going to that church. In her deepest hours of need, she found something out about God. She found out that He would never abandon her. He is not only there when we need Him, but He's not opposed to presenting Himself in tangible ways either. You might not hear Him speak through a burning bush, but you just might through a friend.

Life is supposed to be about relationships with God and each other. It can be as long as we realize that God will not abandon us...and we commit ourselves to never abandoning Him or each other.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way.
Genesis 1:31 (NLT)

I've got a friend (Andy Stoddard) who's gone to Chattanooga for the first time this week and has posted on Facebook and Twitter what a gorgeous site the mountains are. He's not one to go on a lot of vacations, but he posted that his next one (in 20 years) was going to be there.

I too, have noticed the beauty of God's creation as I've driven through the Smoky Mountains and various other wonderful places. And at these times I just couldn't help but give God thanks and praise for all He'd created.

We don't have to go to the mountains or the beach or some far away land to see God's created beauty though. Take special notice today to see where you might be missing God's beautiful creation. And when you see it, stop and give Him thanks that you have been blessed with the opportunity to do so. Give Him praise, for only He is capable of such magnificence.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

As I was riding in to work this day a thought kept coming to my mind. It was that there are so many things in this world that can bring us down. Yet at the same time God offers us His Holy Spirit to empower us against the demons of depression, guilt, and sin. This being the case, I plan on asking the Holy Spirit all day to refocus my thoughts on those things that will bring me joy. Remember, Jesus never promised that our lives would be easy. But His promise to us is that with Him, we can make it through and find joy in our lives.

In the love of Christ,
greg

Thought of the Day !!

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)

In today's world of suicide bombers, rapists, killers, muggers, thieves, etc. there may be very little desire to entertain strangers. As if the real world stuff wasn't bad enough, we then turn on the TV or watch movies that are more violent than ever. And we believe we have to think of our safety and those with us when a stranger comes up to us looking for a handout.

It used to be ok to pick up someone on the side of the road who needed a ride. But how many are willing to pick up hitchhikers today? And then, of course, there's all those out there that are trying to take advantage of us. There are people who don't want to work for a living and would rather con people and work the system.

And still the Bible teaches us to entertain strangers. Jesus says that those who give the hungry something to eat and the thirsty something to drink, who welcome the stranger or visit the sick or imprisoned, will be the ones who will have a place with the King.

Sometimes we just have to step out on faith and ask God to protect us. At other times we have to use our common sense. Cell phones can be used to call for help for someone on the side of the road (instead of stopping) if we're not sure. If somebody comes to us each week needing money for gas to get their momma to the same doctor's appointment, we can say "No more". We can buy the gas for them (instead of giving cash) or help them find a job. The truth of the matter is that even if we're being conned, duped, taken (or however you want to put it) nine out of ten times, we may entertain an angel once. Or to put it another way, we may entertain Christ. For He said if we do for the least, we've done for Him.

I, for one, would rather be duped 9 out of 10 times and do the work of Christ once than let my Savior down.

In the love of Christ,
greg