What A Friend

We have all had people come into our lives and become our friends. In some cases that person turned out not to be a friend. Started off wonderful and things were great for quite a while. You did things together. Went places, laughed together, shared some of your most inner feelings and it was good. That’s what friends do. The best part was you were finally able to be yourself. We felt so good.

Then we started to ask ourselves, is this the real me? Some of us have been caught up in that huge deception, finally asking the question of who the real me might be? We thought we knew who we were and then we changed. It started small but grew with each passing day. It was as if we were becoming what we thought the other person wanted us to be. For some reason, we have thought for generations, other people wouldn’t like the real me? Could anyone of us decide the perceived me was better than the real me?

 That is when things started to come unraveled and life got complicated. Some friendships disintegrated before our very eyes. We went our separate ways and tried to start another friendship. But now we were starting off, not as we really were but who we thought people would like us to be. The vicious cycle continued. Until we realized that the real me was awesome and amazing and . . . . And loved.

That is when we met Jesus. He and His father loved us for who we really were, no, for who we are. After all, didn’t He say that He created us?  That ‘us’ was perfect in every way. Then we knew the friend we wanted to have and we learned more about each other with each passing day. Then we knew the truth of the song, “What a friend we have in Jesus”.    

Something to think about.

Rob

Oh, Just Forget It.

Something bothering You? Do you lay in bed rehashing all your mistakes? It may be that you ask yourself many questions similar to ‘was that a mistake to do this or speak up when I should have listened or just kept my thoughts to myself?’ Are there nights when what you did keeps coming back and you wish you had done it differently? All part of getting life right you might think.

Many of us recognize our mistakes, after the fact. In fact I would say that we lie awake at night thinking about the day and wondering. . . This then leads to reliving past mistakes, or as the bible calls them, sin. And this then brings to mind other deeper sins and on and on and on. I have good news, don’t sweat it.

There are two things about our memory of past circumstances and situations and wrong decisions. The first is, they are there to remind us that we should never do that again. NEVER! That’s a good thing. My father once told me to “learn from my mistakes because you probably wouldn’t live long enough to make them all yourself”. Learning from our mistakes is so beneficial in getting better at life. Maybe God had something to do with that part of our memory.

I believe the second dimension about our memory is that we remember the mistakes that God has forgiven us for. The Bible tells me in Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Even when we lay awake at the thought of what we have done wrong, we remember for our future good, and God forgets because He can forgive us when sometimes we can’t forgive ourselves.

And maybe He sets the example for us to follow in His steps with other.

Something to think about.

Rob

March Break - Go Break Something

Something simple to share with you this week. As everyone in this part of the world knows, it’s March Break. The kids are not in school this week. For many of us, we see them sitting around on their electronic devices, burning up time at doing nothing. After all, they muss, isn’t that what the break is all about? Then there are the many others who will spend their time involved in activities that are more in line with what moves them.

For us parents it’s a very precarious balancing act in keeping them involved and at the same time, not pressuring them into things they have no interest in doing at this time of year. When they have opportunity, they will let us know when not to ask them to clean up the yard or clean their room etc.  There is something else that is on our minds as parents. Where are they, what are they doing, who are they with, are they safe, will they call me if they need me. Okay, I’ll stop there. As you can guess, I’m still a parent. My youngest will turn forty in a couple of weeks. I still ask all those questions. Maybe not as often as you who have young impressionable inquisitive minded children, but I do mentally ask.

I’m here to tell you, you are not alone in wondering and caring for your children. What we find in us is not something foreign, but something we get from our Father in heaven. The verse is, “He cares for you.” Now think the other way. We are the child, He is the parent that doesn’t sleep nights when we are absent and not calling home. What a wonderful image of God and how it has been passed down to us. Do you know where your children are? Have a great March Break.

Something to think about

Rob

Another Survey

Do you ever read the results of studies? Yesterday I read a number of things that relate to people who are left handed. I was curious because I’m left-handed. One item said they are prone to having asthma. Interesting, I was born with asthma but it disappeared when I turned one. The second item that caught my attention was; more left handed people suffer from insomnia than right handed people. To which I said, “WoW!”

So last night I lay in bed for hours asking myself if I have insomnia. I guess I didn’t finish thinking about it when I fell asleep because I woke up at 2:43am thinking more about it.  Just before I climbed out of bed at 4:30am I found myself thinking; maybe just reading this stuff, has become auto-suggestion and it makes us think we have the same symptom or maybe it helps us to create them in ourselves?

So here is one other personal study for the text book. I think that everyone who reads this column has a vested interest in spiritual things more than those who don’t read this column. Remember I’m just thinking and have never taken a survey to find out the truth. Another thing we know is, everyone reading the paper needs to vote to get a true result. Now it’s your turn. Do you think that is true? Or, could it be that there are many people out there that are actually looking for God and trying to find Him where ever He may be found?

I don’t care who you are, we are all looking for God. For some people, they become their own God. But let me say, there is something innately evident in the mind and heart of people that seeks after God. There is a scripture that burns a hole in my mind when I think on this. It says in Deuteronomy 4:29, But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.  And that truth you can take to the bank without a survey.

Something to think about

Rob