Journal of Faith: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12

Any time I do anything that is official that requires credentials I think about how important my name is to me.  I have one of those families that is well known in my community so when I tell people my name I can see them processing all that they know about my family's history.  My name alone can get me welcomed into places where others are turned away.  I sometimes get the benefit of the doubt instead of the accusing stares when uncomfortable situations arise.  The Bible says that a good name is more desirable than riches, and I thank God that my family has had a good reputation.  So what's in a name...quite a bit.  I wonder if God predestined me to be my name.  I wonder if my life would be different if I had a different name.  Either way my name serves me well.  Several times in the Bible God changed people's names to identify them with the purpose or promise that he had for them. He essentially changed their identities, and this changed t...

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.  - This is the word of the Lord concerning us

I recently lost a friend because I didn't take enough time out for them and it hurt so bad I cried  until I couldn't breathe.  I thought how could I have let this happen; how could I have made her feel so bad.  Then I thought about all of the people that I call friend, all the people who call me friend.  Have I been treating everyone like this?  Right then and there I stopped and thanked God that he would always call me friend, but in the same breathe I asked God do I treat you that way?  Do you feel the way that she feels?  The truth is that all relationships take work including our friendships, and sometimes the friendship that goes least maintained is our friendship with God.  I know now that the Lord has been showing me in different ways that I need to be a better friend to him.  I am good at answering people's calls and emails, but God is calling me to initiate the conversations now, to send out the message and wait for the response....

Christmas season is one of my favorite times of year.  I love almost everything about it, the colors, the lights, the merriment, and even the snow when I am not leaving home.  The best thing about Christmas season is the reminder of how much God loves us all.  God gave us a one of a kind gift when he sent his son Jesus into this world.  I have been struck with a spirit of gratefulness the past few months and instead of thinking about what I want for Christmas I can't stop thinking about what I am going to give for Christmas.  When the sheepherds and wisemen came to Jesus they presented HIM with gifts.  I wonder what can I give Jesus this year for Christmas?  Happy almost birthday Jesus!

The life of many people now has become so busy with work, home, and other obligations that the prospect of carrying on any good relationships doesn't look possible.  What happens when the relationship you are trying to nurture is your relationship with God? Many people find church to be a good place to cultivate that relationship, but I am pretty sure that the Bible says we are suppose to work out our own salvation.  What I am saying is that church can encourage us to build on our relationship with God, but church itself is not our full relationship with God.  We need personal time with him.  I need personal time with him,  but where in the world is this time going to come from? I already feel bad for being away from my son so much, I work more than I ever wanted to, and I need to be there for my family.  I rush home from work trying to make it to church sometimes, and I feel like I never get enough sleep. From the human perspective I don't have time for Go...

So the other day I was feeling kind of down because I am tired of living the single mother life.  We all know it's not going to be easy, but some days it just seems like everything is just too hard.  On top of that I was getting to see, at very close proximity, how everyone else in my family was getting help for different things from their husbands or wives to the point that I was even more sad about my situation.  The most recent event was my sister-in-law having her BEAUTIFUL  baby girl on Monday.  Their family looks so beautiful and complete.  It is wonderful to look at them except that it reminds me how my family isn't complete.  I got sad and then I got angry at my son's dad again, then I got mad at myself for being sad.  It was not a great day for me on Tuesday.  Thank God this wasn't the end of the story. On Wednesday,as I was cleaning in preparation for the baby coming home, the Lord showed me something about ...

 I am burdened for people to know that I love them, my family, my friends,and people that I don't even really know.  Do they understand how special they are? Do they feel loved?  Do they see that they matter to me?  Do they know that I am not playing a role, that I seriously love them?  I can see now how sometimes I have craved to receive love and so I gave it with a tag line of  "love me back please."  When I wouldn't get the response I thought I should get it grieved my heart.  I felt bad that they didn't accept that love of God that I had for them, but I also felt like I was unloved and rejected by the world. I believe that the feelings of grief and rejection weren't (and aren't) just my heart but a manifestation of the spirit of God within me.  God loves the world and they reject him all the time even though he gave his own son to die for them. It grieves him that people don't accept his love for them.  ...