All Things For God's Glory

I'm thanking the Lord today for his amazing grace. Last night, I had a sinful tantrum over some jars of stuff that got broken accidentally on the way in from the car to the house.  I knew immediately that it was very stupid (actually the correct word is sinful) to be fuming over something so insignificant in the whole scheme of things. I'm thankful for God's always bringing just the hot water (trials) that bring out the tea in the bag of my heart so I can repent and change.  I don't know about you all, but my very first reaction when money is involved in an accident, is to seize up with a fearful, "What if God doesn't provide THIS time?".  I am always struck immediately then with the knowledge that, "Yes! He will provide and He's bringing this to show me my lack of trust in Him".  That I'll not give into sinful first emotions and act on them is my prayer today.  Perfect love definitely casts out fear.  When I truly believe that God is t...

Yesterday we had our Little Gems Club.  We have 4 girls now on a regular basis, and I love those girls!  They all came in and gave me a big hug (one of them even gave me a kiss on the cheek and kept telling me she loved me!).  Since it's nearly Christmas, I got out the fancy glass dishes and punch cups, and made little sandwiches to have with fruit and pretzels.  They ate every scrap, and kept thanking me for being so nice to them, and for feeding them!  I think I've taken for granted the basic kindness of my mother and siblings and many other people in my life over the years.  When I see what an impact just a little kindness and effort and thinking ahead does for these girls, it makes me very thankful for all the kind people the Lord has allowed in my life over the years. So, after we ate and while one gal was doing homework, one of the other girls, who's been to our house on a number of occasions in the past, asked if she could get out the American Girl...

Today is a dreary day outside - it poured all night last night and so far today it's been pouring all day.  On days like today, I tend to think about the past more, for some reason. But today, as I think about my sinful past, I've been thinking about the truth of the gospel, that Jesus lived a perfect life before the Father, so that I can stand perfect and complete in Him.  I don't have to be bound by  my past failures and sins - Jesus has redeemed me and bought me to Himself.  And  His grace is right now covering all my sin.  Am I saying it doesn't matter how I live, because God will forgive and forget what I do anyhow?  No way!  What I am saying is that my righteousness resides in Jesus, and not in myself.  That motivates me to want to love God and please Him with my life.  I don't have to sit around and feel bad for all the things I've done and said.  I can, instead, ask the Lord to forgive me, turn my back on my sin, and have ...

    I've been thinking a lot these past few weeks about my responsibilities as a child of God.  I know we all like to think about the blessings of belonging to Jesus Christ, of which there are many.  We like to hear about God's love, His mercy, forgiveness, provision, and eternal riches.  And those things are all ours, after we put our trust in Jesus Christ to be our sin-bearer.     But there's more to this business of living than just sitting around being a child of the King.  The Apostle Paul, in 2 Timothy 2, calls us to live life like a soldier of Jesus Christ.  Now, I don't know about you, but I don't know much about being a soldier.  I've never been to boot-camp, and never experienced the grueling discipline required to become a soldier who is ready to win any type of battle.  I don't always treat my body like the temple of God that it is.  I don't always make the choice to do what pleases the Lord at the expense of my ow...