Sunny-Side Up Day

Spring has arrived in Las Vegas. It's forecast to be a warm 80 degrees with no winds. A perfect day!

However, I feel like staying under the covers and going back to sleep. My attitude toward the feels heavy and cloudy. Bad news burst through my door yesterday and decided to spend the night. Now it feels as if a depression may take its vacation in my bedroom.

But again, it's a choice. It's all about attitude and how I have the ability to take control of my thoughts and actions. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans12:2a NIV)

So, because I serve the risen Christ, I will, by choice, make this a sunny-side up day instead of cloudy gloomy day of depression. I choose a sunny-side up day because, "He is risen, indeed!"

Indeed!

Over the past few days, I have heard the phrase, "He is risen!" Somewhere from the recesses of my memory the return phrase, "His is risen, indeed!" as sprung from my mouth.

Indeed! He is risen! Today for our Easter service our church had people's whose lives have been dramatically changed by the risen Christ. Dozens of people without saying a word, held signs that spoke of their previous lives before Jesus. Then they flipped the signs with the victory of Christ now in their lives.

Meth addiction--Drug free.

Insecure and unloved--Loved and secure in Jesus.

Cancer--Healed.

Suicidal--Abundant life.

This Easter message was so powerful. I know I often take for granted what the risen Christ has done for me. Somehow, I lose the gratitude of what took place on the Cross and accept it as my due. Lord Jesus, forgive my arrogance. Return me to wonder and amazement of the resurrection in my life. Christ is Risen--Indeed!

Faith Fun

He scowled at the children. His brow furrowed into itself as the kids scooted down the hallway. Their shrieks bounced off the walls and their laughter echoed into the courtyard. He cringed and stomped down the corridor to put an end to the nonsense taking place in the church.

I was one of the children whom the “the man of God” threatened with a fire and brimstone. The lecture seemed to last for an eternity. My first thought was church was not a fun place. My next impression was that God must be like the man with the mean personality.

I now know that God loves children and laughter—thankfully.

The best influencer to bring children to the heart of God is to make Him appealing to a child’s heart. I want to make my faith fun. My three grandchildren are all under the age of two. I would like to have some suggestions for faith fun.

Anyone want to share some fun-filled, faith-filled ideas?

Easter Invitation

Don’s parents never ventured into a church with him. But a neighbor invited him faithfully to church every Sunday. He went. At the age of eight, Don, gave his life to the Jesus. For years he rode to church with a neighbor. When Don was older he hopped on his bike and peddled himself to church.

All because a neighbor cared enough to invite a little boy to church, all because someone obeyed the command of Mark 16:15, Don, will have eternal life.

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15 NIV)

Easter is the perfect time to invite someone to church. Easter is the time for a new life to rise up with Christ Jesus.

The Shepherd's Arm--A Park Bench

Years ago, my friend sat on a park bench. She wasn’t thinking about God. My friend didn’t consider God in her life—ever. She had been raised in an agnostic home. Intelligent and philosophical she lived her life.

Then the wind blew a piece a paper right into the lap of my agnostic friend. It was a tract that spoke of the love of Christ. It stated, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV) The sun shone bright, but the light in my friend’s heart sparkled even brighter. The words of nonsense—became words of eternal knowledge. The plan of God made sense to her.

That day an agnostic on a park bench became a child of God for all eternity. Sounds too simplistic—doesn’t it?

The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
(Psalm 119:130 NIV)

A God who Sees

I grew up in northern Utah. My hometown was small and behind the times. (Even today, it appears to be caught in a time warp of the 1950’s.) When I was growing up, the town was predominately populated by Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons. Mormons hold strong moral ethics. They stress exceptional family values in order to be able to be in a good relationship with God.

Oh, boy! That left me believing I would never be close to God. A fourth generation alcoholic, he had no clue how to be a faithful husband or a good father. He would disappear for days only to come home in a drunken stupor. Family dysfunction and spiritual darkness hovered in our home.

My mentally ill mother spoke in garbled phrases of schizophrenic fear. She loved me desperately and tried her best to care for me. However, life centered around the committee of voices she heard in her head. The confused and scared little girl in me believed that God didn’t see what happened in my home.

However, my impression of God’s eyesight was mistaken. He doesn’t need contacts, glasses, or eye surgery to see invisible little wallflowers in the dredges of life. God sees every little girl, in every circumstance, everywhere. He is El Roi, the God who sees.

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." (Genesis 16:13 NIV)

He saw me.

To be continued on Monday.

How Long is the Shepherd's Staff?

In just a few days, the sun will rise on another glorious Easter morning. The Son’s radiance will shine into our lives.

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3 NIV)

Between now and Easter I want to explore how long our Shepherd’s arm is . . . what miraculous stories are there concerning our Savior and His love for us. I will share my own introduction to Jesus. How He saw a little girl who was on the road to being a guttersnipe. Nevertheless, He wooed me to being to a princess in the Lord’s kingdom.

“But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.”(Deuteronomy 9:29 NIV)

A Quiet Time

Every so often, I catch up on life. Right now, I am in one those places. It’s such an unusual stress-less place. All my correspondence is update. (OK, I am a little behind on my blogging). But emails and phone calls are all taken care of for the moment.

So, this weekend my husband and son went to the Las Vegas NASCAR race. I took my dogs and went away to begin on my next book. It’s hard to set my butt in a chair and write when I am home. There are so many distractions—phone calls and emails. And then, of course the whole domestic scene of laundry, cooking and cleaning.

This time won’t last long, but for a few quiet days, it just me, my dogs, computer and Jesus. My book’s working title is Dancing with Abba. So, I am hoping to learn some elegant dance step with my Beloved.