Thursday Thoughts

“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is…. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in.” ~ C.S. Lewis

from God’s perspective

I have a tendency to worry about things that I really can’t control. I think we all do to a certain extent.

Personally I spend a good amount of time concerned with what’s going to happen next; what the next steps will be, how the future will play out. Honestly, I don’t know why, because I really can’t do anything but live my life and let God work out the rest.

Today as my flight was taking off, I was amazed at how much I could see from the air. Literally, I could see from the airport, past my apartment, to the END of Florida. And then it hit me. This is the big picture. This is what God sees.

At some point, our vision leads to the horizon, and we have to trust God for what lies beyond that point until we get there for ourselves. And knowing that God can see the BIG picture, far beyond what we can imagine; it would serve us (especially me) well to trust that He has everything worked out. I think Albert Einstein said it best, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.”

Just my thoughts! Peace and blessings!

OUCH! The Feeling of Conviction…

So, I have always maintained that being convicted is a good thing. To me, it lets me know where I can improve as a Christian, and it’s a reminder of being in the will of God. Though life has been overwhelming me, I have realized that one of the challenges that I am facing is to STILL praise God and be in communion with God as I was BEFORE I received these recent blessings. Note Deuteromony 6:10-12:

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

But, today’s devotional was also an EXCELLENT reminder for me of the importance of being a bold, and living witness of the power of Christ in my life. The devotional was based of 2 Corinthians 2:15 which says,

“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”

Then, there was the following statement:

When I enter a room, do my words and deeds give testimony of a life changed by Christ or evidence of an inconsistent walk with God? Am I a pleasing fragrance to God? The spiritual influence we have on others is the fragrance that God senses. What impression of Christ do I leave with those I meet each day?

So yeah, I was convicted…cause I KNOW how I can be from day to day; even on my “good” days. But the real truth is that even on our “bad” days, every day is a good day to exhibit the love of Christ and his power in our lives.

Be encouraged all…