Come and Dine The Master Calls You!

We’ve driven by the little diner many times, wondering if it was a good place to eat.  It’s usually week-ends when we’re driving that route and it’s always been closed.  This time it was a week-day and the diner was open, with a full line of vehicles dotting the parking lot. We decided to stop there and have coffee and breakfast.

When we were served our breakfast we discovered that this diner did something outrageous for its patrons.  They served huge helpings! The homemade flaky biscuits were as big as your fist. The pancakes were as big as a platter! No scrimping here. Generous helpings weren’t the only thing we found out. We also discovered that the meals were very good and the service was outstanding.

We decided that we would become regular partakers of this place’s fare. The price was amazing, the helpings were generous and the atmosphere was inviting - great keys for becoming a partaker.  There were lots of different things on the menu.  We only sampled their breakfast fare, but there is much, much more to try. Bikers, especially guys, want to try it all and enjoy everything, so we’ll be back.  The guys will also be telling others about the great food there!

As believers, we are partakers as well. We have a huge menu of delicacies of the faith. Every single item in the Word is ours. Everything is available to us if we just take time to stop and enjoy.  When we realize what all is ours for Kingdom living, we can enjoy the life in Christ with our whole hearts for our whole lives. Unlike the diner, found only in that little town, we have the Word of God and His truths with us always so we are able to have the quality and quantity we need every single time.  God is generous with everything and He paid for it all. He never scrimps with us and He never turns us away.  The things that God has arranged for us to partake of make us grow in faith, grace and knowledge. Unlike gaining a pound or two from eating a huge meal, we gain only good things from His Word. 

Maybe you’ve considered the Word of God, but you didn’t know it was open for you. Every single word was built by the Spirit just for you!  His wonderful promises are yours to ingest and live out. You can take it with you everywhere you go and it never gets stale, never grows old and never leaves you feeling bad. As you partake of His truth, you will find yourself forgiving others, living fully and having new eyes for seeing God’s truth in everyday life.   You may have been disappointed with people, places and things, but you’ll never be disappointed when you stop in and partake of God’s riches.  As you stop in for refreshment, you will be full of His wondrous gifts and drive out into life sharing everything you learned at His feet.

Oh beloved, open the Book of Truth this morning and read. Read about the amazing fare available for you to partake of as a child of God. You have free access to the entire menu of God. Even if you’ve been disappointed by religion you will never go hungry again.  Unlike human food that will make you feel hungry and thirsty again, God’s manna never grows stale, never runs out and always quenches every thirst of your soul.  Let God nourish you, redeem you, regenerate you and fill you completely with His wonderful, magnificent menu of love.  Then you will be so refreshed that you’ll want to tell others of the incredible menu as well!

Oh how God loves you and bids you to come and dine! Partake of Him freely beloved, for that’s where you will find His grace and care for your life always.

Ephesians 3:6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (NAS)

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession… (NAS)

2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (NAS)

2 Peter 1:3 By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One Who has called us by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.   (NAS)

Embrace Life - Don't Avoid It!

My brother has been coming to visit often the last year. It’s been so nice. There were literally years we’d go without seeing each other. You know, you get busy, you’re raising a family, working, all that.  Anyway, I am getting to see him at least every 3 months and we are having a wonderful time together!

When he travels this way, he uses his gps. He sets it to avoid toll roads since he has to come up through the Dallas area to get here. He By keeping away from the roll roads he keeps away from paying for the drive.

Danny’s aunt, who is in hospice, quit traveling a long time ago. She wanted to avoid the long trips and just got to where she didn’t want to go anywhere but church and grocery stores. She began to avoid travel altogether long before she wasn’t able to go anymore.

Sometimes we just want to avoid things because they’re a lot of trouble or they make us tired. Danny and I used to leave for his dad’s house at 6 pm on Fridays. We’d arrive around 2 in the morning. We finally realized that we were too tired to do that anymore. We’d have a hard time driving the  hours it took to get there in the night.

There are specific things we all try to avoid.  Pain, suffering, sorrow, fear, disappointment, discouragement, or loss.  If we’re not careful we’ll find ourselves trying to avoid joy, happiness, discovery, blessings and more.  We convince ourselves that something bad will eventually happen so we avoid the good things that life brings our way.  We could avoid life altogether, but troubles and heartache know our address so they come knocking on our door no matter where we live.

Try as you might, you can’t avoid some things.  There’s no way you can set your heart’s gps to avoid life’s ups and downs.  You cannot isolate yourself but you can insulate yourself. God’s Word will teach you how to make it through the things you would rather avoid.  It will also teach you to embrace the good things and take them as blessings while you can.

Oh beloved, God has a wonderful plan for your life! Even through the hard places, He is with you to carry you through! While there will be hard roads to travel and not so pleasant places to visit – He will be with you always! You never have to go it alone! Unlike a gps, which could fail or send you the wrong way – God never fails and you can trust Him even when it’s hard.

Embrace the joys and take the blessings whenever they come! Rejoice with friends and family. Live well. Laugh often. Love much. Although we don’t know when life’s hardships will appear, we know that as we enjoy the good times we are making memories that will carry us through to heaven. God loves you, He is with you always and He can be trusted to take you all the way home to heaven! And that’s all that really matters.

2 Corinthians 1:4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

Deuteronomy 12:7 There you and your families will feast in the presence of the LORD your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the LORD your God has blessed you.

 

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

Psalm 23:4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

 

 

 

It's Christmas! Be a Kid! The Most High God is your Father!

Our grandson Blake spent Friday night with us. It was his plan to help decorate our Christmas tree and the house. He was a great help! I told him we’d have to be careful with the ornaments because some of them were very old and fragile.  He’d gingerly remove one from the box and ask me if it was one of those special ornaments. Those go up high so that little sister and brother fingers can’t reach them! By the time Popaw had returned from the store with more Christmas lights, 500 to be exact, Blake was beside himself with excitement. We keep our ornaments and other decorations in plastic tubs and he could not rest until the tubs were empty. He even wanted to put the forlorn dozen antique Santas on the tree! I finally convinced him to put those back in the tub.

When Blake’s mom came over to look at everything, she was holding Stella, who immediately started saying “ooooh” and “wow”!  She was ecstatic! Caleb was excited too because he loves the musical bears and snowmen we have around the house. He’d push the button, hear the song start up and exclaim, “It’s working!”  Nothing is more wonderful than sharing Christmas memories and traditions with grandchildren!

There's no pretense with grandchildren. They just love tell you their innermost feelings, they believe you completely and they abandon themselves for the joy of your presence! It’s so sad that when kids grow up they take on the grown up world of suspicion and cynicism.  Children don’t look for hidden motives or intentions. They just love you and believe you and have a blast with you!

Maybe you’re a cynic. You scoff at heartfelt sentiments. You laugh at tender-hearted conversations. You’ve looked under Santa’s beard and you know the truth. Tender memories are for kids. A cynic’s outlook is scornful and habitually negative. Maybe you’ve become a realist. You know things were great as a kid, with all the mystery and wonder of the holidays, but really, there’s no need for that anymore. You’re very practical and stoic. Perhaps you’ve let yourself become suspicious. You’ve become one who doubts others’ motivation and thinking. You think something fishy is going on and everything around you, everyone around you, has become questionable, unreliable and shady. After all you just can’t trust people anymore.

Oh beloved, it’s Christmas! Time to be a child again! It’s time to leave behind fleshly thinking! It’s time to take pleasure again in the delicate, fragile and heartfelt moments of the Season! Be a kid! Have a blast! Enjoy the past, relish today and let yourself have bright hopes for tomorrow! It will be okay because the Lord Himself is with you! Tell Him your innermost feelings for He is waiting to hear and always listens! Believe Him completely for He is Faithful and True!  Abandon yourself to Him for He is Ever Present and Always Reliable!

He’s speaking to your heart this morning. He says to you “I love you! I was born to give you life and give it to you lavishly, abundantly, without reservation and with no hidden motives. You are Mine and I am yours. I AM the gift of your wildest dreams, I AM the answer to your deepest problems, I AM your Abba Father, so you can relax and be My child! It’s Christmas! Won’t you let Me take you into my heart and arms and show you what Christmas is all about? I AM the Reason for the Season and I AM able to make you feel with your heart, trust with your mind and let yourself go for the joy of the moment! Trust Me for I AM Faithful and True! Enjoy the Season for I AM able to make all things work out for you. Together you and I can have the Best Christmas Ever! Why? Because I love you and I’m for you and you can see that all the way from the Manger to the Resurrection. What else could you possibly need?

Galatians 4:6  And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

Psalm 138:8  The LORD will work out His plans for my life— for Your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for You made me.

I Timothy 6:17b “…trust in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy (KJV)

Ephesians 3:6  And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.

Psalm 31:19  How great is the goodness You have stored up for those who fear You. You lavish it on those who come to You for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

Matthew 18:3 And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all]. (AMP)