My day started being thankful just to be alive then I thought about you. I know there are times when we just don’t know what to do, where  we are going, or how we will make it through the day. The month of November begins the holiday season, it seems things hit us harder during this time of the year. It is suppose to be at time of mirth and family gatherings.

That is not the case for many of us. Life has broken our spirits, our hearts are burdened with worry and hopelessness knocks at our door. The clouds of doom seem to fill our sky and the sun is hidden from our view. We think to ourselves things can’t get any worse, yet; they do. Something unexpected happens. You feel lost on an island floating in a sea all alone.

I’m sending you this little love note to let you know three little words hold the key that will help you through this season. The first is Faith. We must believe there is a purpose for our lives, that in some way what we do affects someone else, that we have the power to bring a positive result into our lives and anything we truly believe is possible.

The second  key is Hope. Behind the darkest of clouds hides the sunshine, after every  rain storm there is a rainbow and for every trial we have in our lives there is an end.We must remember we have a creator who’s love,understanding & forgiveness is unlimited and we are never alone. In him all we need can be found no matter how unworthy we may think we are.

The last key is Joy. It would seem in this season of giving and receiving joy would be abounding everywhere you look, but for some the warmth that joy brings to ones life is missing. Missing because they can’t provide the basic needs for their families,some have lost loved ones and the memories are still painful, and some suffer from broken hearts.

When we are in the midst of our pain it is hard to realize there is someone who may be experiencing a greater pain then ours. These are the little ones we must seek out, when we endeavor to help others our problems seem to dissipate and we find joy we didn’t recognize we had. A bright smile, cheerful hello, a hug, a encouraging word and the sharing of a meal.

Sharing the little joy you have with others not only brightens their world but increases the joy in your own.Love is infectious it spreads from each life it touches to another life. When we open up to the influence of love we recognize each life is entwined in one continuous chain called humanity and we are never alone.

At first glance it appeared to be a pile of junk. Further investigation revealed a wooden worn dirty writing desk. It was so heavily soiled it’s beauty could not be seen. Scared by time and use it had been discarded as no longer useful. Each scar I am sure told a different story of better times.

Underneath all the rubbish was a jewel waiting to be uncovered. Being compelled I removed the desk from the pile, loaded it on my truck, and headed to my work shop. The layers of dirt spoke a tale of much neglect and abandonment. It needed a gentle touch.

As I prepared water for cleaning I knew it had to be hot enough to remove the years of neglect but not to blister or further damage what needed to be restored.  So it is with the life of man, wrong choices cover us in the mud and filth of the destroyer.

He disguises his traps so well we fail to recognize we are entrapped. We need someone to love us enough to set us free. We too need a gentle touch.  Each layer of dirt removed reveals a glimpse of life. After the cleaning, a process to restore begins.

We must first determine what is needed. Sanding may be required to smooth out the bumps and bruises, a new coat of stain and buffing to bring out the hidden beauty of the wood. So it is with the life of man, Jesus cleanses us with his blood to remove the mud and filth from our lives.

His love smooths out the hurts, insecurities and misunderstandings of life. We are emptied of all negative impulses and recharged with compassion,joy,kindness and forgiveness. That once discarded as useless writing desk now stands before you renewed, a thing of great beauty.

So it is with the life of man, the trials and test of life experiences is the refining fire. If we choose to walk with our redeemer we will come through the fire and stand before him as a new creation ready for his use. A thing of great beauty.

When you prepare for a trip what do you carry with you? Does it depend on the type of trip you are taking? Sometimes it’s for pleasure and sometimes it’s for business but they both require baggage. You will need  to bring whatever will be needed for the success of your journey.  In life we seem to carry our baggage from one relationship to the other.

Many times the baggage is excessive, we hold on to it and allow it to compound until it affects every relationship we become involved in. Each experience will provide us with positive or negative reactions from the choices we make.  The negative feelings we suppress will infect each new relationship we encounter with the  pain we have packed away in our baggage.

We become distrustful,angry,accusatory, violent and unforgiving . We place upon the new relationship the task of healing the hurt from the old wounds we refuse to forgive. Forgiveness empties the bag of the hurt that blocks us from moving forward in love.  In some cases the baggage has been lying dormant for long periods, even from childhood.

We don’t recognize it because it has always been there and we can’t remember what happened to make us feel the way we do. Then a trigger unlocks the door, we relive the pain from the past long buried. It maybe something said, someones actions,something we see or a place that is familiar to us. We are reminded of how hopeless and helpless we may have felt.

Our immediate response  is to lash out, unfortunately; those who love us are usually the ones who experience the wrath of that anger and not the one who caused the pain. This behavior will manifest itself in our relationships until we unpack our baggage. The guilt about the things we couldn’t control, the feelings of being inadequate, hatred,misunderstandings from words spoken,feelings of hopelessness, past hurt and sorrow.

Once we begin to unpack the healing will begin, when we forgive the process will intensify and when we forget we can move forward to a place of love.  The hardest thing we will ever do is to forgive and forget. We will need help to be successful. That help comes from one who’s heart is so full of love that he forgave his enemies as they were crucifying him.

Give him your baggage and allow him to teach you how to refill your bag with joy and love. Let him restructure your journey so you can travel lite. With him nothing is impossible try him and be revitalized.

Sometimes life is like playing a game of chess. It is your opponents job to block your progress and keep you from capturing his king or queen while he tries to capture yours. Each game begins with an action. The first act of disobedience for Christians and the adversary begins his attack. He encourages a continuous path of disobedience. Our counter move must be repentance and reconciliation; like Saul on the road to Damascus sometimes it takes the blinding light of Christ to knock us to our knees.

It is then we recognize our need for a Savior whose gentle voice speaking to our hearts stirs them to repentance.  The adversary will immediately throw doubt and guilt into the game. He will preview our wretched lives before us to stay any actions we take toward repentance. We must remember Saul was a “murderer of Christians” before his Damascus road experience. Our counter move must be acceptance by faith. We must accept the gift of forgiveness Christ gave to us by his death on the cross of Calvary

We must believe with every fiber of our being that he has forgiven us and we are on the path to reconciliation. Every opportunity must be used to learn more about Jesus and draw closer to the light of his love. Make no mistake the game will get harder after your last move. Your whole world may turn upside down. The real warfare will begin, any and everything that can be used against you will be used. Your faith will be sorely tested.

Family, friends, and church members there are no exceptions, the adversary will begin a vicious attack against you. He will show you who he really is,”a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy”. Your next move is to stand strong in faith knowing that “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world”. We must strengthen our faith with the word of God, have no doubt the Jesus loves us, will not leave us and has already won the battle.

The adversary will try to make us believe we can’t win that he has all power and to fight against him is hopeless. He knows the stakes in the game are high with eternal ramifications. If we fall prey to his devises we will miss our promised Perfect Inheritance.  Our adversary knows the inheritance is real and tangible. He walked the golden streets of heaven, he visited the garden of Eden and he stood at the Holy Throne of God.

It was through his pride,selfishness and disobedience he lost his great privilege. His greatest pleasure would be to keep us from receiving Gods gift, our inheritance. Our last and final move is the Blood of Christ which covers a multitude of faults. Jesus is and will always be the answer. It was Jesus and his angels who cast Lucifer from heaven to the earth. It was Jesus who opened the road to reconciliation after our 1st parents were deceived and disobeyed God our father.

It was Jesus who  made it possible for us to go to the Throne of Grace in prayer by the shedding of his blood. By his death and resurrection the battle was won.  We must bury this truth deep in our hearts and hold tight to the hand of Jesus Christ our savior and redeemer. He has promised to us the “PERFECT INHERITANCE” and he is not a man that he should “Lie”.

There has been so much rain in the last few days, the thought came to me as I observed the overcast sky; “after every storm the rainbow appears”. We seem to go along each day not realizing that life is a gift and each day we wake is another day the gift has been given to us. We fail to realize what we do with the gift impacts everything around us.

We never question why we have the gift or where it comes from. Consider this; man is limited in the things he controls. Yet, he lives in an environment filled with things he can’t control.   He has no power over the rising or setting of the sun or moon, the power of nature, the changing of the seasons or what keeps the earth he lives on fastened in it’s place in the universe.

Now consider this, “who is really in control?”.  If we are honest with ourselves we’ll acknowledge someone beyond our human understanding controls the world we inhabit. Just considering this one question should open our minds to the only answer, God Is. We are the jewels in his earthly creation, his love for us is so profound that nothing we do is so bad that he turns his back on us or leaves us too the consequences of our choices when we ask for his help.

No matter what experiences life brings, faith in God  and his son Jesus the Christ is all we need to overcome any adversity. As the rain cleans and revitalizes the earth to bring forth the beauty of spring, when we open our hearts to his love we are cleansed and given new life in him. He gives us an unexplained joy and peace beyond understanding. Then the world we live in will speak loudly to us saying”nothing is impossible for God”.

We only have to accept his gift of love, trust him, and believe he knows what is best for us. Once we have committed to him the sun will shine continuously in our lives, even through the storms.

The word of God teaches there is a season for everything in the life of man. A time to be born and a time to die,a time to sow and a time to reap, as well as a time to laugh and a time to cry.Death is never in the fore front of our thoughts. We think about how we are going to pay our bills,feed our families and find employment. We never consider the question ,”are we ready if death should come?.” “are we prepared to stand before our righteous judge?” Who is Jesus the Christ.

We take the time to prepare ourselves for each day of our earthly walk. We prepare for our education,marriage,birth of children, retirement and some of us for death. We know there is a time appointed for all men to die,however; the day and hour of death is in the hands of our creator. In Gods word we have the assurance of eternal life through Christ Jesus.

Eternal life in a world reborn,a world without pain,fear, worry, sorrow or death. God loves us so much that he allowed his son to die that we might have the opportunity to be reborn. To shed the sinful natures we were born with and put on the sinless nature of his son. The decision is ours, we must make a choice. Only through Jesus abiding in our lives, being lead by the Holy spirit will we be prepared to transition from death to life.

Only when we give Christ control of our hearts and minds; allow him to change our character will we be prepared to receive the gift of eternal life he offers us. When we give our lives to him we can rest in the grip of death knowing our slumber is temporary and we will be reborn when our redeemer returns for his children. The time draws near, what will your choice be? Eternal life or Destruction///

The word tells us to be angry, but sin not. This requires some thought, what happens to us when we allow anger to inhabit our beings?  Do we think rationally, respond logically, see clearly the situation or do we cast everything to the wind and retaliate to whatever action causes the anger.

Anger can be created several ways. Disagreements can lead to anger when one feels their opinion is more important then the other persons. Words falsely spoken can cause anger, a lie can have a very destructive affect on others. Rebellion against authority can cause anger and inflicting pain wither mental or physical can cause anger.

To experience anger is a normal human reaction. However; as Christians we must allow any anger we experience to be filtered by the Holy Spirit. We are admonished to sin not in our state of anger. Only when the Holy Spirit is leading us are we in control of our emotions and not emotionally out of control.

Anger just like love is an emotion and we have the ability to decide how we will allow it to effect or change our behavior.We must be mindful that anger can lead us into  the dark territory of the evil one if we allow it to control us. Uncontrolled anger can lead to uncontrolled violence,  no forgiveness, and self destruction.

We know a soft answer turns away wrath. It is very important we exhibit the character of Christ at all times. The fruit of the spirit should be the determining factor in our response to anger which are love, joy, peace,long-suffering,gentleness,goodness,faith,meekness and temperance. Remembering “whatever a man sow, he shall also reap.”

Have you ever laid in bed with no desire to get up? You feel as if you are on an island alone and nobody understands what you are going through. There are times in our lives when it just seems we are going around and around in the same place not making any progress. We are up to our necks in bills we can’t pay, our children are living their own lives; they only see us when they need us or need something from us.

To top it all off we loose someone dear to us. Loss can come in many ways but  only in death do we feel hopeless. We know that death is a final express of a life. It seems during the Fall and Winter when nature is preparing for her change these feelings are more prevalent. Life slows down, the trees loose their leaves and the earth prepares to rest.

We have more time to contemplate on our lives and what we have accomplished with them. When we allow the worry of life to extinguish the light of love, have allowed selfishness replace kindness, have forgotten to help those who can’t help themselves, and when we fail to see God in even the tiniest of his creations. How can we claim the name Christian.

Cry help,I need a miracle worker. To the foot of the cross we must go, Jesus was and is the healing balm. Only when we go to him can we receive all that we need to sustain us through those times when we loose sight of the road we should be walking as Christians. Only through faith can we over come the winter storms in our lives. Only with his love inside can we put others first.

We are all created in sin and only through the sinless life of Jesus is there deliverance. Jesus is our miracle worker, the gift from a loving Father to his wayward children. Seek his face, open your heart and be Transformed.

Time appears to be an endless stream of moments strung together like pearls. Life experiences that flow from one to the other. The moments turn to hours, the hours to days, the days to weeks, the weeks to months, and the months to years.  Some of us go through our lives with blinders on, we see nothing but what is right in front of us and have no concern for anything else.

Some of us go through our lives with our only focus on self and what possessions we can obtain. Some of us are stumbling through our lives in darkness and confusion.  Then there are those who have found the key to an abundant life.  We forget how fleeting life can be,how uncertain and unpredictable. We hear sayings like “wake up and smell the flowers” but don’t realize we are sleeping.

Each of us will stand at the gate of time and our pearls of life will dissolve and float away.  It is important  while we are given pearls of life to use them wisely.Jesus tells us that he came that we might have life and that abundantly.  He alone is the key. Open your heart and allow him to enter,fully commit to his leading and accept his gift of a timeless existence.

When we give him control we will experience unspeakable joy in time of sorrow, unexplained peace in the midst of the storms in our lives, love that changes a stony heart into a heart of flesh and the love of a father who will never leave or forsake us. When we are broken he is near,he comforts us in our trials and desires to shower his love on us.

He sent Jesus that through him the love of the father would be realized. No matter how long you have been asleep our heavenly father desires to show you great and marvelous things. He wants to give you an abundant life through his son Jesus the Christ. Wake up from your slumber give your life totally to Jesus Christ. When we have totally submitted the flower gardens of our lives will bloom radiantly.

Then when we stand at the gate of time and our petals float away in the breeze, the fragrance of our love will linger in the minds of all those who visit our garden.

Have you ever experienced a bad dream that you just couldn’t seem to wake from? You toss and turn but the dream hangs on,just when it appears the worse is about to happen you find yourself calling on the Name of Jesus. Isn’t it amazing how even when your conscience mind is turned off there is something within us that still cry out to Jesus in time of uncertain danger.

When Jesus is not in control of your life it is like that kind of dream. We stumble from one bad situation to another thinking we know what to do too solve the problem and change the situation. Yet, things go from bad to worse nothing changes. The night of confusion and bewilderment seem to hold us captive in the darkness of uncertainty.

However, when trouble abounds our hope lies in the name above all names, the name of Jesus. When we call on his name chains are broken. When we surrender our lives to him our direction becomes clear and when we make him the center of our lives, they are filled with love and joy.

He is ever present to intercede on our behalf. we have his assurance he will never leave or forsake us. He stands ready to fight our battles and nothing we do can separate us from the love he has for us. He gave the ultimate sacrifice that we might be covered under the umbrella of his love by shedding his blood for our sake.

He died the death we should have died to remove the stain of sin from our lives. Giving us the opportunity to wake up from the darkness in our lives and step into the marvelous light of his love and forgiveness. We do not have to remain tangled in the web of darkness that surrounds a Christ less life. “Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man open the door I will come in and supp with him”.

Allow the love of Christ to shake you and wake you to new life in the brightness of his Glory. Without Jesus in your life the darkness could lead to eternal consequences.  Do you really want to keep sleeping?