WARNING: I'm about to RANT!

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 NIV)

My family knows my favorite holiday of the year is THANKSGIVING . This year I am ticked! More and more stores are extending "Black Friday" to Thanksgiving  Day. I think of Thanksgiving as a holiday with pure motives. The holiday is designed for family. It is designed for a family looking back on the past year and giving thanks. It's not about giving gifts, or getting stuff. It's not about shopping, sales, or bargains. Now that seems to be changing and it's sad. I don't want Thanksgiving to be known as the kick off for shopping craziness. The motive for the change is pure greed! Companies trying to profit and not caring about family. 

We are a blessed nation. Is it too much to ask that we take one day each year to reflect on those blessings? Is it too much to ask we set aside 24 hours devoted to fellowship with our loved ones? Will there be more money to spend by adding another 12 hours to the mall hours? I can't believe people are so heartless they need to ignore this sacred time. We really need to get our priorities straight. Be thankful for our lives. Be thankful for our families. Be thankful for the love of the creator of the universe. Be thankful for the cross where Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins.  Praise God for Thanksgiving Day!

Believe

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NIV)

What does it mean to believe the story of Jesus? The dictionary says believe means to have a firm faith that something is true. Our belief in Jesus is not based merely on physical evidence or fact. God could have left an obvious trail to Jesus. The life of Jesus could have been covered in every culture, society, country or town. The life of Jesus could be indisputable with the right evidence. It's not. I think this is all part of the plan. God wants us to have firm faith when life is not easy. He wants us to trust him when society sees no proof he ever existed. So, our belief is firm faith.

I have a firm faith. I have seen personal evidence on a daily basis of the existence of God. My prayer life, my bible study, my worship, all add to the evidence. I don't have a photograph of Jesus in my wallet. I don't have a copy of a book he personally wrote. I haven't seen him, and I don't know anyone who has seen him. Yet, my faith is stronger today than any other day of my life. 

It just takes an initial "Mustard Seed" of faith and see where it will go. You don't need to start with a form faith. When you do take that first step, you will soon develop that firm faith and realize you have all the proof you need to BELIEVE in Jesus Christ.

Great Promises

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15 NIV)

There is so much comfort in knowing my God will never leave my side. I know that he is not going anywhere until he has brought me home. He has promised to prepare a place for me. He guarantees it. I have nothing to fear and can enjoy life because of his promises. My heart is where it needs to be. That doesn't mean I don't make mistakes. It doesn't mean I can do whatever I want. It does mean I will overcome my mistakes and will learn from them. I will survive the evil and sin of this world, including my own. I feel his presence in my life, he makes sure of that. Praise God that he cares for me, watches over me, and walks with me every day. 

I found my keys!

I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Revelation 1:18 NIV)

I have lost many sets of keys in my life. I remember one time when my daughters were very young, I lost my keys around Halloween. We looked everywhere. I had to get new keys for work, my vehicles, and for home. Around Thanksgiving we were cleaning. I was getting ready to throw out the remaining Halloween candy and guess what I found in the bag of Candy? Yep, I found my keys inside the bag of un-eaten Halloween candy.  Nobody had any idea how they got there. 

I'm pretty confident God would never let me hold the keys to Hades. But, I'm glad he has them. My loving and powerful God is in charge of Eternity. He has overcome death, and wants all of us to join him in Heaven. He grudgingly opens the locked gates of hell. I am so thankful that he has promised me a home with him and that he has prepared a joyous place to live forever. While I'm here on this earth, I will work to bring others with me. I will do all I can to live a life that sets an example for others. I want to lead them to the cross and the sacrifice that Christ made. I pledge to help keep the gates of Hades closed, never to open for the ones I meet!

Predictability

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20 NIV)

Today was a crazy day. We started off our day with great worship at County Line. The sermon was good, even if a little unorthodox. The message was on Gun Control. We left church and went to our oldest daughter's for Thanksgiving. They are going to Florida over Thanksgiving break. Then we came home to April like storms in the middle of November. There were tornadoes, hail, heavy rain, wind, and lots of thunder and lightning. This is typical, unpredictable, Indiana weather! It sure makes life exciting.

Life is full of unpredictable events, some good, and some bad. I like the variety, most of the time. Other times, I am looking for a boring, predictable existence. The most anticipated event of my life is my final trip to Heaven and meeting Jesus face-to-face. If I want to have stability, and predictability in my life I only have to look to God. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever. I eagerly await the time when my only priority is sitting at the feet of Jesus and worshipping him.