April
04 Apr 2011
Spring Snow
When the snow begins to melt in the spring, it is far removed from the beauty it models when it falls in mid-winter.
When it first falls, it lays a beautiful white blanket across the land.
When it melts all the dirt and debris seems to come to the surface.
There are piles of brown, dirty snow everywhere. I discovered that if you dig deep enough into that dirty snow,
there is actually nice, clean snow underneath. Unfortunately, it’s hard for us to look past
the dirty exterior and see the beauty underneath.
That, however, is what God is able to do with our lives. He can easily see past the dirty exterior and see that hidden beauty.
Not only does He see that clean, inner beauty, but He wants us to live out of it.
His desire is for us to allow Him to take care of that dirty exterior and then work on our inner beauty.
No matter how bad we think our exterior is, or how unworthy we think our heart is,
God is able to take it and work with it. All we have to do is ask and He will come.
If you think you are too damaged or unworthy for Him, you are wrong.
He wants you to come just as you are.
11 Apr 2011
Locked?
Someone told me of a problem they had last week. In the morning they went looking for their car keys but could not find them anywhere.
After much searching they were found, in the car door where they had been put the night before when they needed to
get something out of the car. Needless to say, it’s a good thing we live in a small town.
In the city, it may have been more than the keys that were lost.
Most people, even in a small town, still tend to lock their houses and cars.
It makes sense, it’s a major way to prevent robbery.
When it comes to our spiritual life, unfortunately most people still keep their heart locked so no one,
including God can get in. But our spiritual life needs to be just the opposite.
To be happy, we need to leave our heart totally open so God can come and visit or clean any time He wants.
Psalms 44:21 says, "for he knoweth the secrets of the heart." (KJV) He knows what is in there but often
He is unable to help because we have carefully locked our hearts so He can’t get in.
It’s much better to unlock and give Him free access at any time.
18 Apr 2011
Noise or Music
When people talk about their favourite kind of music, often they do not realize that to others it may
sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. No matter what kind of music you choose, there will be some who like it,
and some who don’t. I don’t think there is any kind of music that every person will like.
Neither is there any person who would admit to liking every kind of music.
God, however, listens to music in a totally different fashion than we do.
He listens with His heart and not His ears. It does not bother Him if we sing off key because He listens to our heart.
If our heart is right and we are singing praises to Him, He is pleased.
Psalms 147:1 exhorts us to sing to Him.
"Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely."
Notice it suggests we sing praises, but doesn’t specify how, when or where.
Maybe we are just supposed to sing them from our heart, all the time and everywhere.
I think if we did that God would be pleased. Try it without worrying what it may sound like to others.
25 Apr 2011
My Blueprint
I grew up in a subdivision where there were only two kinds of houses, bungalows and two story houses.
I think they only used two different blueprints for the entire subdivision of a few hundred houses.
The only difference in many houses was the way the owners customized their yards and gardens.
When builders today build houses they have many different blueprints from which
they can choose which makes a wider variety of houses. This makes each house in an area much more unique.
When God builds His houses, us, He uses a completely unique blueprint for each of us.
He has a specific destiny He wants each of us to fulfill.
If we veer off the plan He has made for us,
He will adjust His plan so that we still get to the desired destination.
Unfortunately we can refuse to accept the plan.
This would be similar to a plumber refusing to follow the blueprint for a house and just doing what he wants.
You can imagine what that house would look like.
To keep in line with our blueprint we need to constantly pray to God and ask "God,
what do you want me to do today?"
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LIfe Thoughts Ps. Ray