"Hide My Guilt"

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." Genesis 3:8

My little granddaughter is only ten months old so her knowledge is so limited. But today she was sitting in her high chair and I was at the kitchen sink and she dropped her bottle for the fifth time. I looked at her and the look on her face when I asked her if she dropped her bottle again seemed to say,"What bottle? I don't know what you are talking about." Her expression, honestly, appeared to be that of someone who was trying to ignore the conversation to hide their guilt. Even if she was able to fully comprehend the situation and was actually trying to hide the fact that she dropped it, there was no way she could hide her guilt-- I saw everything. I saw what happened. I was well aware of the fact that she had dropped her bottle. There was no hiding it from Nanna.

It reminded me of how we respond to God. When we "mess up", when we miss the mark, when we disobey, when we sin, we may try to hide our guilt or change the subject- but He knows. You can't hide it from Him. He sees everything. He sees what you've done, or haven't done- whatever the case may be. That was one of the first lessons He taught us in the Garden of Eden.

Adam tried to hide his guilt from God's presence. He tried to hide it behind a fig leaf. He tried to hide it behind excuses. He tried to hide it behind his wife. He even tried to change the subject by shifting the blame- but none of it worked. He couldn't hide his guilt from God's all seeing eye. He couldn't hide it, neither can we. We can come up with all kinds of "devices" to cover our guilt but it won't work. Therefore, we might as well come clean before Him and acknowledge what we have done. You know, we can never be successful in covering up our guilt, but God can. Once we confess it and repent, He can cover it by putting it under the blood and in the sea of forgetfulness. Wouldn't you much rather let Him deal with your guilt then you try to do something with it?

Have a great day. We try so hard to cover up our guilt and the only way it can be "covered" is by bringing it out in the open-- and letting God deal with covering it.

"Third Group"

"For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Romans 14:8

My husband was telling me about a conversation that he had with a friend recently. They were talking about being persecuted for Christ- more specifically what would you do if it came down to denying Christ or being put to death. My husband was telling his friend that he needed to decide and determine that nothing is worth denying Christ for and losing your eternal soul. On the subject of giving your life for Christ, I told my husband that there are three kinds of "Christians"- those who live for Him but aren't willing to die for Him; those who are willing to die for Him but don't live for Him; those who live for Him and are willing to die for Him.

I don't know about you but I want to be in that third group. This is the group that is talked about in Revelations- "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Rev. 12:11) I believe that this is a subject we need to give some attention to- especially here in America. We think that we will never have to make that decision- persecution to that degree is a foreign idea to us, we live in a land of freedom. The idea should not be that foreign- our brothers and sisters all around the world are being called on daily to make the choice to either deny Christ or die- it is something we need to think about because who knows what tomorrow may bring.

Even if we don't face this kind of persecution and have to make this decision under "duress" the choice should be simple for us-- nothing is worth sacrificing our relationship with Christ or our eternal soul. Let me take it one step further- out of a "physical" context. When you give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, the third group is true Christianity. Everyday you should live for Him- not just in word only. And everyday you should lay down your life for Him- you should "die" daily to self will, to the desires of the flesh, to being the lord of your own life. This is why the Revelation group I mentioned earlier had no reservations in laying down their lives for Christ- they already "reckoned themselves dead to sin and alive to Christ". (Romans 6:11) They were already "dead". We are to be "dead" men already having denied ourselves and living unto Christ. Are you already "dead"? Is Christ the only one living in you because you have died to self-will? Are you still alive? Which group are you in?

Have a great day. Are you willing to live and die for Him? The decision is easy if you are already a "dead" man... dead men aren't worried about losing their lives because they are already dead.

"Safe Place"

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Proverbs 18:10

You don't have to look very hard, be out of bed very long in the morning, or go very far to find discouraging situations. Just turn on the television or read the newspaper and you'll find plenty enough to make you fearful, worried, anxious and concerned. We live in a day and age when there is so much happening around us- an unstable economy, wars, unemployment, world wide crisis, attacks on religious freedoms and so on. I hate to tell you this, but it's only going to get worse. No, that is not a "negative confession". The Bible tells us that prior to the return of Christ evil men are going to get worse and worse, there will be wars and rumors of war, evil will abound, nations will rise against nations and perilous times will come.

If I stopped here it would leave you feeling hopeless, and I would only be telling you part of what the Bible says. The Bible gives us good news- hope- for these times. We are told that for those who put their trust, faith and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a safe place when the world is being turned upside down and everything is chaotic. The Lord is our safe place. He is our refuge, a shelter in the time of storm. When the plagues were destroying Egypt, God's people were in a place of safety. When the fire was burning around the three Hebrews, the Lord was in the fire with them. He gathers us as a mother hen gathers her chicks and hides us with His feathers under the shadow of His wings. When the flood came and covered the whole earth, there was an ark of protection for Noah and his family.

God always has a place prepared for His people. Just because we are in the storm doesn't mean that He isn't aware of us, isn't with us and isn't providing for and protecting us. When the disciples were in the storm, Jesus was in the boat with them. They were fearful because they saw the waves and felt them beating upon the boat. They didn't realize that they weren't in danger of sinking because Jesus was in the boat. You may be in a storm, the whole world may be in a storm, but as long as you are in the boat with Jesus it's a place of safety and the boat is not going to sink.

Have a great day. If Jesus isn't in the boat, you'll sink. But if Jesus is in the boat, there is no way you can sink.

"Source Of Happiness"

"Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart." Psalm 119:2

Everyone is in search of happiness. We search for it in relationships, through knowledge, through material possessions, through entertainment, through pleasure, through activities, through self improvement and so on. In our search to find happiness we often look for it in the wrong places. Happiness found in the wrong places tends to be temporary. Once the "newness" wears off so does the happiness. Once the relationship loses it's "excitement" we stop being happy with that person. After the event that we looked forward to is over, we begin our search for something else to look forward to. Once we make an improvement with our physical appearance we find something else about us that makes us unhappy and then pursue trying to change it too. It is a never ending cycle.

I have good news for you this morning. There is a "happiness" that doesn't wear off or fade. The Bible equates this happiness with blessings. These blessings aren't based on external conditions and they aren't temporary. To find them you have to look in the right places- not to people, not to things. But there is a condition to receiving them and the condition is written in the verse above.

The true source of happiness is found in keeping God's word- obeying it, applying it to your life, letting it be your guide through all paths of life, hiding it in your heart, renewing your mind with it, letting it transform you and change your attitudes. The true source of happiness comes from seeking the Lord with your whole heart. A divided heart, half heartedness, seeking only on occasion and turning to Him only in times of trouble, will not experience lasting happiness and true blessings.

Are you looking for true happiness? Are you wanting those eternal blessings? Then make God and living by His word your first priority. Start doing what the scripture says and stop running to and fro wasting your time looking for the blessing of happiness in all the wrong places.

Have a great day. Finding true happiness is not difficult-- just keep God's word and seek Him with your whole heart and you will find it.

"Last Place"

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Revelation 22:13

The Lord tells us that He is the first and the last, but just because He refers to Himself as the "last" doesn't mean we are to place Him "last" in our lives. Many put Him in "last" place in their lives. He is the "last" place they go when they need help. He is the "last" resort. He is the "last" one they seek counsel from. He is the "last" on their list of resources. This is by no means what He means when He says that He is the "last".

Placing Him only in last place in our lives is the source of many of our problems. If we would seek Him first, instead of last, we would not have as much confusion in our lives and many problems we face could have been avoided. If we put Him first, we would have a greater measure of peace because He would lead us in the way that we should go. If we place Him first we could save ourselves a lot of pain and heartache. Some of the "stupid" (yes, I said stupid) things that we do we wouldn't do because we would have received His wise counsel.

Abraham wound up with an Ishmael because he didn't seek God first- he listened to his wife instead. We too wind up with an "Ishmael" when we don't give God first place in our (all our) decisions. When we assume that this is God's plan instead of seeking Him to find out, when we lean to our own understanding instead acknowledging Him, when we think we can handle the situation instead of asking God about it, we wind up with something painful, something bigger than we can handle, something that brings conflict into our homes, distress to our hearts, weariness, grief, robs us of peace or even brings destruction in the long run.

What place are you giving Him in your life? Is He first or last? Is He last only- after you have already made your own decisions or only after you need Him to fix the mess you've made? We must not forget that God is "first" also and should be given first place and not last place only.

Have a great day. There is only one place that we should place God in our lives-- first... and last... and everywhere in between.