I've Not Forgotten

I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but I've been teaching Vacation Bible School. At night I have to work on the slide show, and prepare for the next day. I've been very busy at work too; therefore, I'm just rushing from one thing to the next. While I'm typing this, I am making Compact Discs of the music for all the kiddos at VBS to have on Friday. I promise to blog again this weekend and also share pictures of my class at VBS. In the meantime, if you need to read an inspirational blog, you may go to my Uncle Clayton's blog--there is a link to it on my page. He is a Southern Baptist preacher in Texarkana, and he is also more faithful at blogging than I am.

Longing for Home

Most everyone has probably been on a trip and felt that longing to go back home. This weekend we went camping on the beach–in a tent. I’ve stayed at Holly Beach, Louisiana, before in March and October, and it was very pleasant. This was my first time to experience the beach in July. In the summer, there are mosquitoes big enough to carry me off and with the 50 bites that I received–they nearly did. There is also sand everywhere (obviously, it is a beach), and when you are in a tent, you have sand in your bed. Bathing is also problem when you are camping on the beach. Needless to say, I was very ready to come home on Monday. I wanted a shower, my bed, and I did not want any more bug bites. As nice as the beach is with its endless sand, sounds of crashing waves, and beautiful sunrises, I longed for home.

When I was a kid, I remember older people speaking longingly about heaven and how they wished Jesus would come back tonight. They always ended every plan with the phrase "if the Lord doesn’t come back, this is what I will do." I never completely understood this sentiment. I always rather wanted Jesus to wait a little while, for I was quite comfortable where I was. It has only been in the past couple of years, that I’ve come to understand the feeling of longing for a home that I’ve never been to. I’ve also realized that I never longed for it before because I was too comfortable in this world. The more I’ve tried to learn about Him, the more I feel at odds with this world, and realize I am a foreigner. I believe that Jesus has work for me to do here on this earth or He wouldn’t leave me here, but I’ve come to understand that this world is not all I have. I no longer have just a knowledge of heaven, but I truly feel that I have a hope of a better day coming. I’m yearning for that day when the trials and stresses of this life will be ended, and we can all be together as one big family.

The Intensity of His Love

"The Lord is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love." I have come across this phrase multiple times while reading about God's love, so I searched the Bible concordance for it. I have come up with at least 11 instances when this particular phrase is used. I decided to look up compassion to see what the difference was between it and love. Compassion is defined as a sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. In its latin form it means "to suffer with". God loves us so much that He suffers with us. I know you have hurt for someone before, it is a pain in the heart. Today we had to give away two puppies that someone dumped in the ditch outside our house. Hannah had fallen in love with these puppies, and she so dearly wanted to keep them. As she was crying from her heartbreak this morning she said, "it hurts so bad to give away something you love." I know that God's love for us is so much more intense than that. He created us--He knit us together in our mother's womb it says in Psalms. His compassion and love cause Him to be patient and slow to anger with us, and he wants us to be reassured of His great love for us.

He Will Not Desert You

"They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them." Nehemiah 9:17

I love this verse in Nehemiah which is referring to the children of Israel. They were always rebelling and turning away from God despite the mighty miracles they had seem Him perform, yet God forgave them, was compassionate, patient, and it says "you did not desert them." It almost sounds like Nehemiah feels that they should have been deserted, and human love would have given up on them. The reason God's love is so hard for us to understand is because it is unconditional. While God's blessings are conditional, His love is not. I think we sometimes confuse ourselves with God's blessings and God's love. While God may not always be at liberty to pour His blessings on us, He will always love us. It doesn't matter if we fail to do the right thing or fail to remember how he brought us through the last trial, He is always patient and loving. As much as I love my children, I cannot say that I am always abounding in patient love for them. It is so amazing that God's love is so great, so massive, that it will never run out, never end, never fail--He will never desert me!

The Love of God

I attend a bible study during the school year which is called Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). It is an interdenominational bible study that I have attended for 3 ½ years. In May, we finished our study of the book of Romans. While studying Romans, I found myself in a quandry, I began to doubt God’s love. I realized that I had never doubted His love for me before, nor I had I ever been afraid of God. I had doubted that other people loved me and feared their wrath, but I had never felt that God didn’t love me and want the very best for me. While studying Romans chapter 9, the verse (15) which says "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion" kept tormenting me. It almost had a flippant sound to it– as if he would do what He pleased and was not going to listen to us peons. I understand it is God’s prerogative whom He will love, but I had always felt that God loved everyone and was not out there picking and choosing who He would love. Also, in the book of Romans, Paul is determined to make sure you understand that you are a carnal, contemptible creature who does not deserve the love of God, but lucky for you, He has offered it anyway. I decided this summer, to counteract the book of Romans, I would start looking at the love of God. I want to really see what the Bible says about the love of God, and what the characteristics of His love are. In the next few days, I hope to share with you what I am learning and have noticed about his unfailing, enduring, and abounding love.

Calm Assurance

I do not think I actually know anyone who has been brave enough or crazy enough to bungee jump, but I can just imagine what it would feel like being on the other end of that piece of elastic. I know, just before I jumped, I would be shaking and have that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach that I sometimes get when I decide to ride a roller coaster or something equally inane. I would probably be breathing pretty shallow and thinking in short simple sentences like “Jesus, help me.” I will never forget going to Six Flags with Will and Andy. Will and I rode this ride that dropped us about 20 stories in two seconds. As we sat waiting to drop, Will was so scared that all he could do was pray over and over “Jesus, help me.” I think he also promised he would never do this again if He would safely remove him from the ride. I am afraid that I was not very supportive since I was laughing uproariously. I know in my life, depending on Jesus, is sometimes like bungee jumping or a thrill ride. I feel breathless and shaky with fear, but I’ve realized that I really do not have any other options. I just wish I could trust with calm assurance and faith, because I never breathe easy until the trial is past. I know he has always provided for me, but every time I stand at the precipice, about to jump, my heart feels faint and my legs feel weak.

I’ve decided that the secret to calm assurance is understanding His love for me. In Psalms 103 it speaks of His great love for us, and tells us in verse 10 that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” It also says in verse 5 that he “satisfies your desires with good things.” We also know that he loved us so much that he died for us, and we can also rest in the knowledge that His love does not abandon in the time of need for he said "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6). I would rather my life be more like the Log Flume ride which is calm, relaxing, with a little bit of excitment thrown in, but it is normally more like the Roaring Tornoado. Sometimes I just have to stop and tell myself "Jesus loves you and he has always been faithful to provide--so just breathe!"

A New Day

Recently, I became familiar with the world of blogging, and I found it to be quite exciting. I can publish whatever I want on the internet for free. At first, I thought I would start debates, offer helpful hints, and share new recipes, but the blog took on a whole different slant. It was more about encouraging and edifying than anything else. I also realized that in this world of many words, His words are what we need to hear more of. We have enough helpful hints, recipes, and debates of every kind. We really need to hear His words more than our own. As much as I would like to let you know my opinions, even more, I would like to share His opinions with you. I dedicate this blog to Him and pray that I can offer you hope and blessings by using His words and not my own.