Oh my goodness! I was so blessed to hear this little girl this morning! It takes me back to my childhood when I had folks teaching me the importance of hiding the Word in my heart in order that I might not sin against the Holy One.
This little girl is to young to understand just how much that Psalm is going to comfort her over the coming years as she grows up in this crazy world. But I am just so grateful to have heard her. The Word of God has been my life line and it continues to be as I go through some difficult times right now.
What about you? Are you hiding the Word in your heart? Don't miss out on the blessing of Scripture memorization. It will be your comfort and calm in a sin sick world
How does one become a "person of prayer"? Does it mean that I lock myself in a room for hours praying.....it could mean that, certainly there is nothing wrong with that. Does it mean I pray long beautiful flowery prayers that impress everyone......well others may be impressed, but I don't think God is impressed.
I want us to look at Nehemiah....someone I would call a man of prayer. Please take time to read this wonderful book as it has numerous lessons that we can learn and apply in our own journey. But for now, I just want to point out this man's way of handling things. I would call Nehemiah a man of prayer.
Nehemiah 1
Nehemiah is talking with some friends and he asks them how things are going in Jerusalem. The news is not good. vs 3 reads "Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire."Nehemiah's response: 1:4 "When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven."
Nehemiah 2
Nehemiah is still saddened by the bad news. As a cupbearer to the King, Nehemiah spent much time in the presence of the King. The King asked Nehemiah what was wrong and how he could help.
Nehemiah's first response: 2:4 "With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied......."
Nehemiah 4
Nehemiah is facing opposition from enemies and they are mocking Nehemiah and the workers.
Nehemiah's response: 4:4 "Then I prayed"
Later in the chapter Nehemiah, once again, faces the harassment of these same persistent enemies.
Nehemiah's response 4:9-"But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves."
Later in the chapter when the workers are facing discouragement and are weary
Nehemiah's response 4:14- "Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious....."
Nehemiah 5
When Nehemiah defends the oppressed, this is how he deals with it
5:19 "Remember, O my God, all that I have done for these people and bless me for it."
Nehemiah 6
Nehemiah is facing heavier opposition- the enemies are trying to trick Nehemiah with the hopes of killing him.
Nehemiah's response 6:16- "Remember, O my God, all the evil things that Tobiah and Sanballet have done. And remember Noadiah the prophet and all the prophets like her who have tried to intimidate me."
At the end of chapter 6 we read that the wall was completed in record time- 52 days! Verse 16 reads "When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God."
Nehemiah was a man of prayer from the beginning. Before he followed his emotions and began such a great and costly task- He sought God. Emotional decisions are not wise- we must step away from the situation and ask God what He wants us to do.
When the King asked how he could help Nehemiah, Nehemiah took that moment to send one of those "911 prayers" to God before he opened his mouth. I believe this speaks of the strength of Nehemiah's prayer life. He had confidence in that "911 prayer" because he had a strong prayer relationship with God.
When Nehemiah faced opposition, He could have argued and debated the enemies, he could have caved to intimidation and the work could have ended right there. But Nehemiah prayed. He fought the enemies with prayer. This was a powerful weapon. The enemies never saw this weapon with their eyes- but undoubtedly, this invisible weapon was the most powerful one Nehemiah had!
When Nehemiah found his workers discouraged and losing heart, the work could have hit a road block. Nehemiah had wisdom and he encouraged the workers by reminding them to pray and remember God.
The end result was that the wall was completed and the enemies were humiliated. The greatest thing is the enemies understood who was behind it all- THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
When we seek God's wisdom in our life and apply that wisdom, we will always ultimately come out ahead. Those folks in our "world" will have no choice but to say "to God be the glory".
Don't set out to pray for a certain amount of time a day- just set out to pray each day
Don't set out to have a 10 page list of everything you are going to pray for- rather just set out to pray for people and needs as they are brought to your attention.
Don't only think of prayer as a time where you get away and pray.
Rather think of prayer as dialogue with God throughout your day, while driving in the car, on your lunch break at work, waiting in line at the grocery store, etc.
Understand that none of the things I told you not to focus on are bad or wrong. But, sometimes we get a little legalistic or we set the bar so high that we can't reach it and then we get discouraged in our failure and stop altogether.
As you start with goals that are easily reachable, you will find that you will crave prayer more and more and you will grow in the amount of time you spend with the Lord in prayer and how you pray. In fact, it will grow out of desire and not even intentional growth.
We have been given an invitation to enter into the presence of the King. May that humble us, encourage us, and draw us to the One who sent out that invitation.
I consider myself very blessed to have grown up singing the hymns. I am not sure why so many churches have abandoned these beautiful songs and the stories behind them- but I can still play them anytime thanks to CD's!
One beautiful song has a chorus that goes like this:
"Nothing between my soul and the Savior
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor
Keep the way clear...Let nothing between"
How beautiful is that!?!
Let's look at this line "So that His blessed face may be seen". As a child of God, I am aware and I hope you are too, that without the Holy Spirit residing in me, I have nothing to "show off". It is not my "blessed face" that needs to be seen. I am only a vessel and it is the light of Christ that is to radiate through me. That is one reason why it is vital that you and I have nothing between our soul and our Savior.
My purpose as a child of God, your job as a child of God is to shine! We are be illuminated with the salvation story, the love of Jesus Christ and the message that needs to get out across the world. There are many different ways of doing that. God has called some to be preachers, some teachers, some homemakers, some medical professionals and so on......but at the core it is always the same. We are to shine.
We know many things about the sun and the moon. I want to use them as examples of what I am saying here. The moon has no light of its own; it only reflects the light of the sun.
You probably have heard of a lunar eclipse. That is when the moon passes behind the earth. The earth blocks the sun rays from striking the moon. Basically, the earth gets in the way of the sun and the moon and the moon, having no light of its own, can't shine.
Wow, we can relate to this can't we? Jesus is the sun, (the bright light)...we are the moon (we have no light of our own)....the earth represents sin. When sin gets in our way of the sun (or the SON, Jesus Christ) we will no longer shine.
What are a few of the sins that crop of that cause blockage between us and the Light, our Savior?
1.) Pride
2.) Unforgiveness
3.) Activities that don't bring glory to God
4.) A loose tongue- (gossip, lying, slander etc)
5.) Submitting to temptation
6.) A lack of spending time with our Lord
These are just a few.....although when I think about it, I guess I would have to say the major problem that will block the light of Jesus Christ from shining through us is #6. - a lack of spending time with the Lord.
When we are spending time with the Lord we will find that the other problems will not so easily trip us up.
Just in case you've been hibernating- let me catch you up to date...we are living in a very dark world! The world just can't seem to get enough of the darkness. But, the problem is not just "in the world". The church has her own set of problems as many churches have forsaken their once strong stand for a "doctrine" that is not of God. If there was ever a time when we need to shine and reflect Jesus Christ it is now....we do not have time to waste.
Let's take a moment to spend with the Lord and ask Him to point out anything in our lives that is preventing our light to shine brightly. What a privilege we have been given to carry on the work the Christ left for us when He ascended to the Father. Let's be responsible in the work He has given us to do.
If you are reading this and you do not know the Jesus I speak of, please don't delay in inviting Him into your life. Click on my tab on having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You will not regret this most important decision.
With yesterday being Memorial Day, I found it fitting that God would lead me to I Timothy 2: 1-3.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. (NKJV)
Yesterday I thought about all the men and women whose bodies lie in a grave today......because they defended America and the blessing of freedom. It blows my mind when I think about how many thousands of soldiers over the last couple hundred years have waged war so that I can enjoy the freedom of even sharing the Word of God with you as I am doing right now.
That blessing of freedom is slowly eroding away and unfortunately seems to be picking up speed. America has essentially kicked God out....we have decided we don't need Him and we are reaping the fruits of our decision.
There is a prayer in the book of Ezra that is very fitting for America today.
Ezra 9:6 (NKJV) "And I said: "O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads and our guilt up to the heavens."
If America has any hope at all, it will be found in God's church, His people. We must turn back to God. We must be praying for those who are the rulers in America. President Obama needs our prayers. He currently fails to see the errors, the sin of abortions and same sex marriages. As these folks are gaining freedoms, the Christians are losing theirs. But it is not just those sins.....it is also the sins within God's church.
Brothers and Sisters: We are not called to hate homosexuals, or those who have abortions. We are not called to march around town with a sign that says "God hates fags"......He doesn't. We are not called to anything other than prayer to God and showing the love of God to those around us. We are also called to live a holy life that is acceptable in the sight of God. We must stand for what is right. I believe that is part of living that holy life. We must carefully select those we elect into office who will make decisions on important issues. That is part of living that holy life. We must forsake our own sins.
We must pray......we must pray.......we must pray. When we seek God's face with sincere hearts, we will then look up to the see the ear of God leaning our way. He will forgive our sins and He will heal our land.
The hope of America is only as strong as the prayers of God's people.
One more thing......thank you to every soldier who has fought for my freedom. Thank you for every family that has an empty place at the dinner table because their loved one is fighting for freedom or has paid the ultimate sacrifice while engaged in the battle. Thank you every soldier who today walks with a limp or wears a prothesis so he or she can walk.....crippled in the fight for freedom. "Thank you" is not sufficient....but I know of little else I can say. One thing I do and that is I pray for you and I will continue to do so. You have a special place in my heart. May God bless you and your family and may America forever hold you in the highest honor. It is not the NBA or the NFL or the Hollywood industry where we find our hero. It is you, the soldier. Thank you
Now if you were to ask the crowds these days who Jesus was...well you would probably hear something like "He was a religious figure" among many other answers I'm sure.
Interestingly enough, I don't believe for one second that Jesus would have called himself a "religious figure". Jesus was not into religion. However, He was all about relationships.
There are no Baptist or Catholic or Methodist or Lutheran or Presbyterian folks in heaven. Oh, they may have defined themselves as that while they were on the earth.....but they won't carry that title with them to heaven. Unfortunately heaven AND HELL will be populated with "religious folk" What do I mean by that? Well people would call me "religious" but I am well aware that my "religion" will not get me to heaven. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. That is what will transport me to heaven one day when I die, or when the Lord returns. On the other hand, you have folks who call themselves "religious", but have never accepted Jesus as their Savior and invited them into their lives. They are trusting their "religion" to get them to heaven. While in reality, their "religion" will be their transportation to hell one day.
Hopefully by now, you see the necessity of understanding the difference between the two and how important it is to take a moment and evaluate our own lives to see which category we fall into.
God, all throughout the Bible has initiated a relationship with us. Let's look at what He has done in attempts to initiate a personal relationship with us. I am not going go through every example, but I do want to hit the ones that stand out to me.
1.) He created us in His image- Contrary to evolutionist teachings, it is God who created us and created us in His image.(Genesis 1:27) He desired fellowship with us. After creating Adam, He walked and talked with him in the garden and they had fellowship with each other. (Genesis 3:8)
2.) He has made Himself the source for our every need.- Throughout Scripture, both Old and New Testament, God is either meeting our needs or encouraging us to come to Him and make our needs known to Him and He meets them. (Nehemiah 9:21- Philippians 4:19)
3.) He made a way for us to be made right with Him by sending His Son to die for us. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are then brought back into a right relationship with God.- (Romans 5:1)
4.) God uses very intimate terminology in describing the relationship we are to have with Him and His Son. It's terms that we understand and we can relate to
He is
Our Friend- A friendship is defined by loyalty, reliability and love. - (John 15:15)
Our Shepherd- A Shepherd protects his sheep. A shepherd will kill predators such as a lion or a bear if they are endangering his sheep. (John 10:11, Psalm 23)
Like a Mother in His concern for us- He says-"Can a mother forget the baby she gave birth to?"-(Isaiah 49:15)
A Gardener- He tends to our lives lovingly and with great care as a gardener would tend to his garden-(John 15:1-2)
Our Bridegroom- God created marriage to be forever. The unconditional love and partnership in marriage and the sacredness of the vows in that relationship is the same thing that God offers to us- (Matthew 25:13)
A Father- The most endearing term. If you want to better understand the type of Father that God is to us, read the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-33) This is a story about Father God and His child that returns to Him.
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You can't converse with religion. It is a monologue. God desires a dialogue. "Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord"- (Isaiah 1:18)
Religion changes- Just look at the sects within the same denomination! All because someone has changed their teaching or their doctrine! God is the same, yesterday, today and forever!- (Hebrews 13:8)
Religion can't forgive you- It is not a person with feelings or emotions.
God forgives- I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Religion brings guilt- Religion is rules
God is relationship and He brings life and freedom-(John 8:36)
Religion is striving- ever striving to live up to the rules of that particular religion...
A relationship with God is resting- Understanding that God sent His Son. He is the gift of salvation. It is not something we strive for, rather, it is a gift we freely accept.- (Romans 6:23)
When we have a true relationship with God, our whole outlook will change. It may be immediate, or may be over time but rest assured our outlook does change.
We find that we enjoy spending time with God. It is not a duty but rather a delight.
It is not out of fear, but rather a craving that keep bringing us back for more.
Tithing (giving 10% of our income to God) is no longer something we do with dread. It becomes easy to give back to God just a morsel in comparison to all He has given us.
Sharing Jesus with others begins to feel natural.
We experience peace. We know that the work God does in our hearts will change us from the inside out. Religion tries to change from the outside in- which never brings forth true change.
The Holy Spirit will work in our lives.....growing us..... and His fruit will manifest itself in our lives.
(Galatians 5:22-23)
When we have a relationship with God, we will WANT to obey God- understanding that He has set up guidelines for our good. True relationships have no desire to hurt the one with whom they have a relationship.
I so desire to get to know better and better and draw closer and closer to the One with whom I will spend eternity! I hope you have that same craving! I pray that you do!
I read this little chart on the difference between religion and a true relationship with God. I want to share some of it with you.
Religion says salvation is something I must "do"
Relationship says salvation is something only God can do
Religion is summed up in one word "do"
Relationship is summed up in one word- "Done"
Those with "religion" are busy working in order to be saved
Those in a true relationship with God are "resting" upon the finished work of Jesus Christ
Religion is "trying"-
Relationship is "trusting"
Religious people are hoping to save themselves
Those in a relationship with God understand their hopelessness and God's ability to save the hopeless
Religion is man trying to bring himself to God
Relationship is Christ bringing us to God
Religion is man trusting his own good works
Relationship is man trusting the work which Christ did on the cross
Religion is ritual
Relationship is real
Do you have religion or a relationship with God? Oh how God desires a relationship with us.....more than we can ever realize. He wants to be our BFF! (I think that's "best friend forever" for all those texting folks!).
Don't rob yourself by getting caught up in religion in rules. Enjoy life and life abundant which is available to those who have a relationship with God.- (John 10:10)
Well, six o'clock came and went.....no rapture......just a lot of mocking and laughing, undoubtedly some disappointed followers of Harold Camping who "invested" their life savings and their all to this cause. The false prophet, Mr. Camping....no where to be found. Christians who know the Word of God hopefully were not surprised by this failed prophecy.
I want to talk about what happened, why some believed it, and how not to be one of the causalities of this man or any other man who will surely show up again with another lie.
As I listened to this man and read some of his interviews over the last few weeks leading up to May 21, several things he said caused red flags to immediately go up in my mind.
1.) First and foremost, Mr. Camping distorted the Word of God and manipulated it to say what he needed it to say in order to support his idea. It is possible to pull verses out of context and make them say just about whatever you want them to say. It is important that we look at Scripture in context. Who was God speaking to, what were the circumstances surrounding these verses, do these verses apply to everyone of just the people of those times.
2.) Mr Camping had come to the conclusion that every other pastor, every church, every Bible teacher had it all wrong......everyone but Mr. Camping had it wrong. BEWARE of any man who claims to be a teacher of the Word of God and claims that everyone is wrong but him. Mr. Camping teaches that all the churches and their pastors don't teach the Word of God correctly, in fact, he goes on to state that the devil runs the churches and the Holy Spirit has left the churches. My friend, step back and think about that. The church is not a building, rather it is you and me, we are the church. The moment we accept Christ we receive the Holy Spirit and the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit will remain with us so that He can comfort us and counsel us. He is the Paraclete.-a Greek word that means "Comforter" and "Counselor"
DON"T BE SUCKED IN BY ANY TEACHER WHO CLAIMS HE IS THE ONLY ONE WITH THE ANSWER. Step back, pray and ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit who resides within you in order that He may help you discern right from wrong, truth from lie!
3.) Mr. Camping taught a false doctrine on salvation- In the end all Mr Camping could say was "I hope I make it" You've got to be kidding me! Mr. Camping is saying he is the only one with the truth yet the best he can say is I hope I can make it. Jesus said I came that ye may know that ye have eternal life.
I John 5:13- (NKJV)- These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life; and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God
So why were people deceived, why did people fall for his teaching only to be disillusioned at 6:01pm?. How can we guard ourselves from being entrapped by such teaching.
1) Know God!- Do you have a relationship with God or do you try to feed off someone else that claims to have a relationship with God. Let me explain through this example- Have you ever heard something about someone that you know of but you don't really know. Perhaps on your job someone will tell you something about another co-worker. They may know that co worker better than you do so you just automatically take that juicy bit of gossip as truth....after all they seem to know that person. All of a sudden we view that person through the eyes of another. It can be that way with God. If we don't personally know God, we will just live off of what someone else has to say about Him- it may or may not be true. When we have Jesus Christ as our Savior we can know God. When we know God we grow in discernment of the Truth and we will be less likely to be fooled by false prophets
2..)Know the Word of God, know the Word of God, know the Word of God!!! The best way to detect the lie is to know the Truth. We learn the Truth through :
1) Our own study of the Word- When you get ready to read the Word, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and help you understand what you are reading.
2) Be in church- Look for a good, Bible teaching, Bible believing church where you can grow in your understanding of the Word. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right church. Don't stay in a church that is teaching a false doctrine!- It is easy to get comfortable where we are at and just stay there even when we know it is not where we should be.
3) Test everything you hear up against the Word of God.- When you hear someone say something about the Bible or God that just leaves you with questions- go home and search the Word of God and pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern Truth from error.-This is what a group of people, known as the Bereans
did as we read about it in Acts 17:10-12:
Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away bu night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.
We are also reminded to do this very thing, as we read I John 4:1- Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits, whether they aer of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
4) Remember that God never acts in a way that is contrary to His character. So much of what Mr. Camping had to say was not consistent with God's character. That immediately poses a problem for Mr Camping. God never goes contrary to His character. As we know God and know the Word, we learn the character of God and we are better able to discern Truth from error.
5) Surround yourself with some godly men and women from whom you can seek counsel concerning any questions you may have about the Bible or something you have heard someone say about God or the Bible. Make sure that your "cabinet of counselors" always take you to the Word of God to find your answers. This is one thing I love about my pastor. When my husband or I have had questions and we go to him to seek counsel, he immediately takes us to the Word and supports his answers with the Word of God.
6) Run from anyone that claims to be the only one with the answers concerning God- When everyone else is wrong and this man is the only one that understands and the only one with this knowledge from God, step back. Pray for discernment. Do not take a man at his word when he makes this bold of a statement. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the truth!
7.) Remember, God is not a God of confusion- When someone stands before you and gives some mathematical equation in order to predict the date of the end of the world- run! God desires the salvation messages gets out for He is not willing that any should perish. (II Peter 3:9)
God is pretty black and white. If God went to such great lengths to offer us the gift of salvation- it makes no sense to think you need an abacus or calculator to figure Him out.
8) When a man speaks something contrary to the Word of God- stick with the Word of God not the man. Mr. Camping, in all of his calculations and calenders still had one HUGE HUGE problem. There is a very simple verse in the Bible that, try as he might (he did and he failed), could not explain. "NO MAN KNOWS THE HOUR OR THE DAY, NOT EVEN JESUS" When we hear falsehood from some Bible teacher, - At that point we must be bold, be ready reject the man, stand on the Word of God. and say "God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me."
Matthew 24:36- (NKJV)- But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.- This is Jesus speaking.
So what do we make of Mr Camping ?- While I can judge his falsehoods using the only standard, God's Holy Word....I cannot judge his heart. That must be left to God- and trust me, we can entrust that job to God with absolute certainty that He will handle the situation. My job is not to judge Mr Camping's heart, my job is to reveal his errors using the Word of God and praying that people are not led astray by Mr. Camping's false teachings.
What do we make of Mr. Camping's followers- Once again, I cannot judge their heart. They could have been, and probably were, innocently sucked in to his teachings. This is the very reason that we must have the Truth hidden in our heart. Discernment is easier when we are already armed with the Truth. This armor will guard against false teaching even getting a foot in the door of our hearts and make attempts to poke holes in our faith.
Advice to us all- Just because a man carries a Bible and can quote it and sound very confident doing so, does not mean he is a man of God or a Christian or anything else. Yes, the world is getting a kick out of all this, mocking us, putting all Christians in the same camp as Mr Camping (no pun intended). We are not in the same camp as this man- we stand on the Word of God. There are false teachers by the numbers out there, there are deceptions in every field. I have watched news shows about individuals who pretended to be doctors, some show how they were able to fool the hospital and the people that should be checking their credentials. Some have even done minor surgeries (appendectomy, etc) in a hospital without even having a license to practice medicine! That is scary. How did this happen? Well, my guess is if the people who were supposed to be carefully checking their credentials had done investigation properly, this would not have happened. The fact that this fake doctor made it to the operating room and performed surgery on someone could come with some dreadful consequences, even death of the one who is under the knife. The consequences are also great for the hospital. When the word gets out the reputation of this hospital is marred by this one crazy man who faked being a doctor.
So it is in this false teaching of Mr Camping. If we fail to check his credentials (teachings) up against the Word of God, there can be great consequences, even some walking away from their faith or, God forbid, some spiritually dying and facing an eternity without Christ, but rather in judgement and an eternity of suffering and torment of a place called hell.
The reputation of the church will be marred in the eyes of the unbelievers. We must rise to the occasion and speak the Truth with boldness and in love so that the eyes of the unbelievers will be opened.
The Lord is returning- all events seem to reveal that His coming is right around the corner. Nonetheless, we don't know that day or the hour, so we must live our lives each day as if He were returning today.
Matthew 24:44 (NKJV)- Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Don't become discouraged by the mocking and such that the unbelievers and atheist are having a great time doing. Don't let your faith be shaken. Our trust is not in Mr Camping, our trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to just keep on speaking of and living out and standing on the Word of God!
Ephesians 4:14- That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.
God said it, I believe it, that settles it for me!
This is a subject I 've had on my mind a lot these days. Finally I am getting around to writing about it!
Roses are one of the most adored, if not the most adored flower. They are placed into a beautiful bouquet for the bride to carry as she walks down the aisle on that most special day of her life. They are carefully assembled and placed on top a casket of a loved one who has departed from this life. Valentines Day and Mother's Day are very important days for a rose. We will empty our wallets and pay the premium price to make sure the one we adore receives that dozen of red roses on those holidays.
Much time has been given to ascribe meaning to the color of a rose. Such as...
.a red rose represents romance and love.
A deep pink rose represents "Thank you".
A regular pink rose represents happiness.
A light pink rose represents sympathy.
A white rose represents innocence and purity.. When combined with red roses it represents unity.
A yellow rose represents friendship and caring.
A lavender rose represents "falling in love".
An orange rose represents "desire".
A blue rose symbolizes the rarity of your partner. "You have attained the impossible"
Yet, in the midst of their beauty and their lovely fragrance, they have something other beautiful flowers to not have......thorns! If you've ever met up with one of these nasty thorns, you know how they can prick the finger and draw the blood. Therefore, when we handle roses, we do so with the utmost care, lest we experience the pain that a thorn can cause.
So why does a beautiful flower have such ugly thorns! It just doesn't add up. Well, I have read about those thorns and found out that those thorns are there to protect the rose! The thorns keep animals and insects from eating the blooms and destroying the beauty of the rose! What a brilliant invention! I imagine biting into one of those thorns would do the trick....I don't think I'd be desiring to eat a rose ever again!
One thing is certain, the thorns on roses may deter the insects and the animals but they have never lost their value or admirers. In spite of their thorns, they remain the most desired flower of any girl, they remain an expensive flower and they remain the flower of choice for the many special occasions in our lives.
What do we have in common with the rose? Yep, you guessed it, those nasty thorns! We all have them, they come in many different forms. Some of us have thorns of a chronic health condition that continually drain our energy and our pocketbooks, some of us may have the thorn of having been physically or mentally abused by someone that was supposed to love us. Some of us have thorns of fighting an addiction or a sinful habit that continually tries to erect a wall between us and our Savior. These are just a few samples of thorns, I have in no way come close to giving you a comprehensive list!
Yet, we also have something else in common with a rose. With all the thanks and praise going to Jesus, I want to tell you what else we have in common with roses.
1. Our thorns can protect us- Listen closely......our thorns have a way of keeping us humble. We are so easily prone to pride, an attribute that is not of our Savior, rather, of the one who became so prideful he actually thought he could overthrow God. His pride bought him an eternity in hell. Our thorns have a way of bringing us to our knees in prayer. Our thorns remind us of our helplessness and take us to the One who has promised to meet our every need. The Apostle Paul realized this. Listen to what he writes in
II Corinthians 12:7-9. "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should become exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that is might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
. Our thorns enable us to help others who are going through similar struggles. It can be very comforting to hear those words "I know how you feel, I've been through that exact same thing" Yes, our thorns can be used to protect us from the ugly "insect" of sin, and draw us closer to our Gardener, the Pruner, Jesus Christ.
2. Our thorns do not diminish our value to God- I have yet to hear that the prices of roses are reduced because of their thorns. Nor have I heard someone unwilling to pay the price for roses because of their thorns. The rose is an expensive and treasured flower in spite of the many thorns each stem has. My husband buys me roses quite often. I have yet to think about the thorns. I know they are there and I am careful in my handling of the rose, but I've yet to tell him or even think of telling him to get me a flower that doesn't have the thorns. I am so taken in by their beauty and their fragrance.....
If you see yourself as a rose with a host of thorns, come to the throne of grace. When we submit ourselves, our thorns and all to God, we will feel the hand of God embrace us. Don't worry, He is not harmed by our thorns. He will fully embrace us.
You know, there is one Rose who had no thorns, yet interestingly enough wore a crown made of thorns and felt the piercing pain of those thorns as the roman soldiers pushed that crown on to His head, causing the thorns to dig into His scalp. That rose is the precious Rose of Sharon, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus understands all about thorns, He wore them for you!
You are very valuable to the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Do you know Him? Please don't turn Him away. Don't let Satan whisper in your ear trying to convince you that you are not precious to God because of your thorns. Don't let another day go by without Him! You can know that you know that you know that you know that you will spend eternity with Him. Click on my page on how to have a personal relationship with God.
If you accept Jesus into your life, please let me know. I would love to rejoice with you and send you (if you would like) a Bible and some helps to assist you in growing in your relationship with your Savior.
