It’s All Good!

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (I Corinthians 15:58 NLT)

No matter what happens in our daily lives–the good, the bad-the seemingly overwhelming odds we must overcome–we must remember that in the end–the victory is ours if we just stay strong, refusing to be moved by what we see, and know that what we do for the Lord–is all good.

After Paul explains in his letter to the church at Corinth how when we physically die, our corruptible bodies (subject to return to the dust of the earth) will rise incorruptible (spiritually) and we will never die again. Once we understand the purpose of the law (sin-driven) and the work of the cross (sin-defeated), we will have victory over sin–we can and must control our actions and then we have victory over death. Hallelujah!

Many of us get excited about a lot of things–new jobs, new cars, basketball teams, football teams, soccer teams, getting married–all sorts of things that we celebrate. Have we considered celebrating our victory over death? Do we really get excited about God’s love for us–redeeming us from the law of sin and death?

If you think this is just about going to church (as a celebration)–think again. Celebrating victory over sin and death doesn’t have to wait until the doors of the church open–we can celebrate Jesus every waking moment of our lives, excited about what He has done for us and willing to share the Good News with all we meet! We celebrate in our praises, in our dances, in our tears of joy, and in communicating His love with all we do. With joy in our hearts and a song on our lips–we celebrate His love for us! Glory to God!

And when we know what we know and do what we do that pleases Him–we know nothing we do is in vain–with His guidance in everything–it’s all good, nothing ever useless and time never wasted in sharing the news!

Now think–really think–do you have a reason to celebrate Jesus today? If you know Him for yourself, you do–start right now, don’t waste another minute–rise up from your beds of affliction and shout the victory in His name! If you don’t know Him–now is a good time to get to know Him and understand what it is He has done for you–providing an avenue to forsake sin and have victory over death!

Let The Lord into your hearts today and receive all His many benefits–celebrating His love! Hallelujah!

Thank You Lord, for Your Love, for new mercies each morning, for victory over sin and death, for making sure no weapon formed against us will ever prosper, for making us the head, not the tail, for blessing us with success in all things we do to Your glory! Our God is awesome and He alone deserves all our praise! He’s Worthy! There is None Like Him! Nobody can do for us what Jesus does and when we do–out of love–it’s all good!

 

 

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Celebrate!

“Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, Judah, and fulfill your vows. No more will the wicked invade you; they will be completely destroyed” (Nahum 1:15 NIV).

For all who think that we should not “celebrate” certain events in our lives–The Word gives us the right to celebrate “our” festivals. That means that we can have “festivals” that are not necessarily determined to be the “festivals of the Lord” as enumerated in the various ordinances.

Today, we can hear the chains breaking as the shackles fall–we are released from the bondage of thinking we cannot celebrate–birthdays, holidays, and other commemorative events. If we are spiritual Judah–a tribe who praises The Lord at all times–we have no need to slink away from celebrating the births of loved ones or any other of “our” festivals that do not dishonor God.

We also have a hope–that if we continue to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ–we will have peace because we will no longer need to be concerned with the wicked who shall be no more!

The wicked are those who “refuse to acknowledge God” and choose to live a life that is totally immersed with selfishness. The wicked are not concerned with justice and lawfulness; they are consumed with lawlessness and wanton destruction of everything that is of God!

If all who proclaim to believe and trust God would share the Gospel of Jesus Christ–what a wonderful world we would have to abide in peace. If all who proclaim to believe and trust God would release their fears of rejection and apathy–more people would have an opportunity to “see” what an awesome God we serve! If all who proclaim to believe and trust God would love all with whom they come into contact–the world would know love and not hate.

In Christ–there are no denominations or separate religions–we are all one in Christ Jesus when we believe and trust God in all our ways and acknowledge Him in all we do.

When we–who say we know and have a relationship with God–know we have done all we can to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ–we can rest assured that we have reason to celebrate and no need to fear retribution from God because we do. Celebrate! It’s time for us to let the world know–who we are and how much God loves!

Life’s Milestones!

“O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”(I Chronicles 16:34)

O give thanks unto the Lord for all He has done and is doing and will do in our lives!

Celebrating another milestone today–and in the lives of everyone–that milestone could be different for a variety of reasons.

Celebrations of life milestones: (Birthdays)

1st        5th      7th     10th   12th   13th   16th  21st   25th  30th  40th   50th   60th   70th   80th   90th   100th and beyond

Events:

Jobs, graduations, careers, publications, honors, awards, recognitions, births of children, losses of loved ones, etc.

Beginning to live  (beyond birthdays) is another milestone for most Believers–the day we began to understand how much God loves us and what it meant to live for Him! That’s a milestone most never forget.

Thinking back to the life of Jesus–we have no idea how He celebrated milestones in His life, but we do know that receiving Him as Savior in our lives is a milestone for us. We know what happened about the time He was twelve and then when He was thirty. We know He lived and had to do something in between those times, but we do not know what it was. Is it even important to know? He accomplished more during His short tenure of ministry than many of us will ever accomplish if we live to be 100.

That does not mean we should not try to do those things that are right in the sight of God; it simply means that we should be thankful for each milestone–whatever that might be.

It took the death of my youngest brother to bring me to a place where I realized that I did not know how to live because I did not have the direction of the One who loved me the most guiding me in all I did. With his death, Satan almost succeeded in taking me out as well, but God had a plan and it began to unfold almost 30 years ago and is yet unfolding, daily.

So, today, I’m celebrating living–He has given me one more year and I pray that I have made Him proud of me during the past year. And while I celebrate–I’m giving thanks for the next 35 years–and praying for His direction in all that I do so I can hear Him say, “Well done” when the time comes.

What milestones are you celebrating? Whatever they are–O give thanks unto The Lord!

April 1st Tradition

For as long as I can remember, people have loved playing jokes on April 1st and they don’t even know why!

It appears that the first April fool’s joke came about when a new calendar was introduced in the 1500s to the Christian world by Pope Gregory that indicated the first day of the new year was in January. Many didn’t want to change the date, so they kept celebrating the new year on April 1st. From that time forward, people have pulled pranks or jokes on people, just so they could say, “April fool”.

Typically, in April, the newness of spring arrives and is evident in the change of the temperature of the air, the color of the leaves, and the grass that grows. One may hear more birds chirping, expect to get more done in the course of a day because of longer daylight hours, and even just relax outdoors. So, upon further reflection, may the celebration of a new year should be April 1st.

At any rate, pranks or jokes should not humiliate people or traumatize them for life. I’d like to see another tradition become a more typical April celebration. How about on the first of April, everyone pledges to do at least five really good things for other people. That would make a really good April 1st for a lot of people.

Think about it–what could you do to make someone else’s life just a little better today?