God reminds me

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 15:58

Last week, my Pastor asked if anyone wanted to quote their life verse or a verse that the Lord has given them this year that has helped them.  Immediately, the verse above came to my mind.

The Lord has brought this verse to my mind several times throughout this year in different ways.

He has used it to remind me to be thankful for the faithful, unmovable, steadfast Christians that I know.  I know Christians who have gone through some things, hard things, and they have stuck it out.  They could have easily thrown in the towel, questioned God or just given up.  But they didn't.  They remained faithful.  They called on God.  They leaned upon Him.  They sought Him.  They followed after Him through the valleys and through the trials.  I'm thankful to be surrounded by these kind of Christians.  I can learn from them.

He has also used this verse to repeatedly encourage me this year.

I can question myself, question my life and what I am doing.  I wonder if I am living my life in such a way that I can make an impact of somebody, anybody for Him.  I question and doubt that from time to time and when I do, the Lord brings this verse to my mind.  I am not just saying that figuratively either.  I mean it. 

One day a few weeks ago I was having a rough day at work.  I needed some fresh air so I went out to my car on my lunch break.  I sat out there and just prayed for a few minutes.  Just before getting out, for some reason, I decided to flip on my radio for a minute.  As soon as I flipped it on, that verse came on as the "verse of the week."

Not a coincidence.

I appreciate that about God.

He knows my needs better than I do.  He knew I needed that verse.  He knew when I needed it. 

I'm thankful that God has reminded me this year that although I can feel like I am letting others down or not taking a leap of faith or just doing the same old thing, God knows I am doing my best to do what He wants me to be doing and that my labor is not in vain as long as I am doing it to please Him.

 

The Perfect Gift

Those stockings that were hung by the chimney with such care, are down now, folded and tucked away.  The presents are all unwrapped and now mingled in with our other possessions.  The lights are getting unplugged, wrapped up and ready to be stored away.  The tree is being undressed and will be taken out to the curb. 

We can spend hours looking online or roaming up and down the aisles of the stores and malls, searching for that perfect gift.  But we have already been given the perfect gift.

 

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."  2 Corinthians 9:15

God the Father gave us his Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ gave himself. 

How can I put into words what Jesus Christ and this gift mean to me? 

I'm a writer so ofcourse, I'm going to try but Paul summed it up pretty well by calling it unspeakable.

He's amazing.  He's given me everything. 

He's given me...

LIFE - "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  John 10:10

HOPE - "For thou art my hope, O Lord God; thou art my trust from my youth."  Psalm 71:5

SALVATION - "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among me, whereby we must be saved."  Acts 4:12

REDEMPTION - "In whom we have redemption, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."  Ephesians 1:7

FORGIVENESS - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  1 John 1:9

FRIENDSHIP - "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."  Proverb 18:24

LOVE - "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  1 John 4:10

Those are just a few of the things God has given me as part of his unspeakable gift.  Honestly, I believe this subject is like the words of the hymn The Love of God:

Could we with ink, the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry,

Nor could the scrolll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky!

 

Even though Christmas is the time we celebrate this unspeakable gift coming to Earth, I'm so thankful this gift is unlike any other gift.  It is never out of style or out of stock.  It is always right for me and it is the gift I can share. 

 

Thank you, Jesus for laying your glory by and coming to earth so I wouldn't have to die.

Burdens

I work in customer service and it can be really good but some days may also be really hard.  The normal day includes a balanced mixture of both.  But the other day, it was just a rough morning and I was struggling to keep a good attitude.  The essence of my job is 2 fold: I am to help people but also people call me with their problems.

I don't always feel like handling other people's problems though.  I've got my own problems to handle.  It is not always enjoyable to be loaded down with one problem after another but that's part of the job.

I was having one of those mornings this week.  The type of morning where each call was a complex issue and the person calling just wanted someone to fix it and fix it now.  They don't care about my problems, they just want to me to fix their problem.  My patience was wearing thin and I began to feel frustration bubble up inside.  I tried taking deep breaths but I could tell, it was continuing to build. 

Then the Lord brought these verses to mind...

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."  1 Peter 5:7

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

I was dumbfounded. 

It's hard for me to comprehend the fact that God wants our burdens and our cares.  I am so unlike Christ in that aspect.  It's hard to want to take somebody's burden or problem.  But Christ, He flat out asks us, pleads for us to give our burdens to Him and trust Him with them.

Oh how relieving it is to have someone that I can go to with all my burdens, all my worries and thoughts and desires and cares!  He wants them all.  He wants the good and the bad.  He want the simple and the complex. 

I am so thankful to have a God that loves me enough to take my burdens and carry them so I don't have to.