When I am weak and the tank is empty: Christ bids me—show up. When at every turn I meet my shame: Christ bids me—bow down. When failure once again wins the game: Christ bids me—look up.
Life in Christ is: show up, bow down, look up.
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NLT
Sunshine polka-dots floating through the aspen. Snowflakes playing in the wind, dancing to nature’s choreography. Giving glory and praise to God though life is brief. How good it is to sing praises to God. Snow will melt, and the aspen fall, but His goodness and love are everlasting.
Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! Psalm 147:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)
Heavenly Cheers
Those looking down are cheering the race. Applauding the runners not their pace.
Pulling out front does not make them roar. But trusting in God brings shouting for more.
So ignore the distractions that so easily trick. keep your eyes upon Jesus through thin and through thick.
When the day comes that you finish the race. You’ll hear well done, but for now rest in God’s grace.
Joyful water cascading from God’s holy throne. Currents of cleansing that scour my face. Heaven’s outpouring of love and of grace. Anointing me forever His own.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation 22:1
Good times with family are a joy, bringing gladness to my heart. I take solace that we’ll meet again, hope not sadness when we part.
Christmas can be a time of sadness for families who have lost loved ones. That is why Jesus came to give hope where there is crying. God is with us—hope in our grief.
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:23
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, Hebrews 6:19
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Not one of these leaves has fallen outside of God’s sight or understanding. They remind me that God cares.
I repeatedly check the news channels to see if there is any change for the better. I go on line looking for news that will calm my fears, but I only hear words of anger, and terrible troubles. I want to hear words of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness…words with power to control my anxious thoughts.
Beautiful words— God’s words of forgiveness. God’s words of patience. God’s words of His unfailing love. These words I need to hear. Even more marvelous— God wraps these words with a promise. “I will help you and watch over you. I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” Now those are beautiful words.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
In elder years I begin to fret. Forgetting things makes me upset. Is this normal a mind that’s blurry, or do I have cause for greater worry? I forget the date and peoples names. I forget instructions to children’s games. In my angst I lose sight that Jesus is with me through the night. I’m tempted to fear what may be, Angry at God for hardship I see. Feelings takeover and hide the truth— To rely on His strength as I lose my youth. Thankfully He’s numbered those days that groan, and holds my hand to guide me home. Amazing grace from the throne above, being griped forever in His unfailing love.
When I thought, “My foot is slipping,” Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. Psalm 94:18-19
Do not hide Your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love. Psalm 143:7-8
I hear God’s unfailing love in the singing of His birds. I see Your unfailing love in the Autumn colors. I smell Your unfailing love in the scent of the pines after a rain. I know Your unfailing love in the promise that Your Spirit is always with me. I rejoice with all creation for Your unfailing love.
I can describe music, but it is nothing without the hearing.
I can explain a beautiful mountain scene but it is not the same as hiking to the top and being there.
I can read about the great banquet, but knowledge falls far short of sitting at God’s table and tasting.
I can talk about joy, but only by putting my hope in Jesus does it take wing.
We fool ourselves into being satisfied with hollow words, instead of plunging into God’s love and living in Him.
Come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Isaiah 55:1-2
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and believes in Me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35
I can hear about “Living Water,” and the “Bread of life, but until you drink from God’s well of salvation it remains merely words.
So, how does one drink and eat?
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” John 4:10
Stephen L Hufman 