Brotherly Love

I remember a beautiful day when the grandkids (Damian was 8 and Skyler was 4) wanted to go to the park. When we arrived at the playground early that morning, the equipment was still wet from an overnight shower. Water puddled on the slide.

"Sorry, Skyler," I explained, "You won't be able to go down the slide." She looked so disappointed, but before I could finish my sentence, up the ladder went Damian, and down he came right into the puddle. I was just about to question his judgment when he took her hand and sweetly said, "There you go, Skyler; my jeans soaked up all the water. Now you can slide!"

Ephesians 5:2 tells us: "Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that."

Jesus' Reward

Have you ever seen a bride-to-be with a new diamond on her finger? She turns her hand this way and that, so the facets of the stone catch the rays of light. She is mesmerized by the colors of the prism shimmering in the sun.

God gazes upon you with great pleasure. You are His many-faceted gem. Contained within you are many gifts that shine through to everyone around you.

You are a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You are Jesus' reward, His inheritance.
And He is your inheritance!

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."
Genesis 15:1

You're HOW OLD?!

A while back I was teaching fifth grader math students who needed extra help, I found them reluctant to even open their books. Although I worked the first problem on the board for them, they still wouldn't even copy it on their papers.

The task for the day was coming up with strategies to solve word problems.

Finally, I set the books aside and gave them "real life" problems to come up and write on the overhead. I asked them, "In what year will you be my age, if I was born in 1950?" It made it a little easier that they were born in 2000 :)

They really got interested in asking and answering questions related to the ages of their family members. We ended up with a pretty successful lesson after all.

It amazes me that many of the kids don't know about measurements: cups, quarts, gallons, etc. Then I realized that a lot of families no longer "bake from scratch". Really, that is how we learn anything: DOING rather than just hearing or reading facts off a page.

James 1:22 says, "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only."

Lord, teach me to love in word and in deed.

CHOSEN

Chosen

Yes, you!

Long before time

Called to be Mine.

My child

Tell of My goodness

Display My might.

You were rescued from darkness

To walk in the Light.

Karen

But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

1 Peter 2:9-10 Message

Timely Word!

Sometimes we get all tangled up in the problems of life: bills to pay, chores to do, and people to get along with who don't always follow the golden rule!

One morning as I was getting ready to pray about my "mountain" of problems, I realized that I was sitting on a piece of mail. When I opened it, it was a message from Sid Roth, a Jewish believer in Jesus as Messiah.

This is what it said:

You are the generation to welcome the Messiah's return!

All the things that you have done in the past were only preparations for what you are going to do.

The greatest things and the things that will bring the most glory to God are yet to be revealed and yet to be done.

God wants you to prepare your heart so that you will not doubt Him when He speaks.

After reading that, my "mountain" didn't seem like such a big problem anymore!

Lord, I pray that I will have childlike faith to take you at Your Word.