Thankful

As I sit here this morning my heart is thankful, thankful for friends, both far and near.  I am very aware that God has blessed me with people who I love very deeply and love me the same.  I cannot begin to explain to you how God has worked in my life through the people he has placed into it. I have been challenged to love deeper, forgive quicker, try harder, and laugh more often, to give with a heart of abandonment, to hope with a sense of urgency and to believe with a sense of assurance.

I have come to understand that after the gift of Jesus Christ, and without Christ no gift really matters. But after the gift of Christ, the gift of friends is the gift that I hold most dear. And even though I have made mistakes in my past with those I love and had mistakes made against me by those I love, it is still the people that God has brought into my life that makes life all the better.

So I sit here and I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God, how He continues to give to me such blessed friendships, and how He continues to show me through these friends that he gives that He has not and will not give up on me, that his plans for me are to conform me into the image of Jesus Christ and to love me with a love that is so great that my heart, my mind, my soul, and my will are more and more after His.  And the friends that he has placed into my life are being used to accomplish the goal He has for my life. 

So I sit here and I am thankful for the two greatest gifts that a person could ever receive.  Frist, the gift of Jesus Christ, which makes life worth living, and the gift of friends that helps us come to understand how much God loves us, and helps us to understand how better to love.

So to all of you that I have once or now call friends I would say. I am truly sorry and I ask your forgiveness if I have failed you in any way.  If I have failed to be the friend God has called me to be. To any of you that I have not shared Christ with I ask that this Christmas season you would look at Jesus Christ once again and truly ask yourself how your life would be with Him in it. And for you who have stood by me as a friend I say thank you for loving one as broken, but one who is being changed by the love of God and by your love. My prayer this year is that I will be to you all the friend that God has called me to be.

A Time To Reflect

My mother once told me that this life that God has giving us is to be lived with great love for God, great love for people, and a passion that burns for the things of God. As I sit here today, I realize that she was right.

It’s the things that we accomplish for Christ and it’s the love we have for one another that make life so wonderful, that makes life so special. It’s those things that show Christ’s love, and that changes our hearts to love people more that make our time in this life worth living. 

As I look back over my life, I have not always loved people and loved God, as I should, and I now see, it was when I did not love Christ, I was more likely to hurt others. I was more likely to put my needs and wants, my desires above anyone’s. It was during those time that I hurt the people I loved and used people to get what I wanted.

So I sit here telling you that life is bested lived, in love with God. We are better people because of Christ, and we can love people with a true love when we are following and loving Christ.

So as I sit here, I’m thankful that the God of all creation, has saved me, and is transforming me into a person that loves Him and because of that can truly love others. If you take time to reflect on your life, and you are sadden by your past failures, turn to God, love Him deeply and ask Him to give your a heart to love others with a love and passions that comes from Him.

Lessons I Learned…Again!

This week was a time in which God has grabbed my heart again.

A team from our church went to spend time with some of our missionaries serving in a children’s home in Guatemala.  We had the opportunity to serve with them in their everyday life.  I'm taken back by their love for the children and their desire to not grow weary in the work they are doing.  These children are precious and the work is hard.  Most of them come from very difficult situations and need much love and care.  However, this task does not seem to overwhelm or deter these missionaries.

As I was sharing one morning with some of the older boys, my heart was broken.  What could I really do to impact their lives in a week?  No matter how much I served during this week, I would have very little impact on the children.  To these missionaries however, our visit meant the World!  What they needed most was to be loved, encouraged, and poured into by people who love them and what they are doing.  They needed us to see the work they are doing, and share in the difficulties they are facing.

What I came to understand most is how much I needed from them!  I needed to have my heart encouraged by those who gave up so much to follow Jesus.  I needed to see the children and remember that God is working in every part of this world.  I needed to remember the lessons that I have learned about the heart of God.  I needed to have my heart stirred with the Heart of God again so it can once again long for the things of God and the work of God.  

God's heart has not changed.  He loves those who have very hard lives and He has not forgotten them, and we cannot forget them.  We must care for people everywhere and share with them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ so they can be saved.  God loves people and we must be the hands and feet of Christ.

I must remember these lessons and never forget!