Intelligent Design

       I bought the most beautiful chrysanthemum the other day for my desk at work. As I stared at the intricately-designed flowers, I did not hesitate to acknowledge it had to have an Intelligent Designer. Things this beautiful don't just evolve.

       Hmmm....I wonder how the ocean's tide knows exactly how far to come ashore in the mornings and in the evenings. And, how do you suppose the leaves on the red maple tree in the school yard know when its fall? It's funny---each year about the same time, these leaves turn to a stunning mixture of fire red, orange and brown colors, without a command or without being fed anything different. 
       And did salmon get some type or orientation to know they are supposed to feed and grow primarily in salt water, but then return to their native fresh water to spawn? 
        A "big bang" (by explosion or heat expansion, pick one) doesn't bring new and continuous life to everything around us, so it doesn't take much to see we do, indeed, have a Creator who is the Ultimate Designer-----and He didn't even have to go to school for it!   

Scripture Links:  Colossians 1:16; Genesis 1:1; Revelation 4:11

To Receive Jesus as Lord ad Savior:(Sinner's Prayer) Dear God, I am a sinner. I need a savior. I need Jesus. I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose on the third day. I ask Jesus now to come into my heart and to become Lord over my life. Satan h; as no more power over me. I say with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. Father, help me to live for you, and thank you for saving me. John 3:16.

To Rededicate Your Life to the Lord (after falling away):Dear Heavenly Father: I confess to you that I have sinned. You said if I confess my sin you are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I turn away from sin and turn to you, and I ask you to forgive me. I forgive myself also. Father, thank you for forgiving me, remembering my sin no more and allowing me to have right standing with you again. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Love Letters to God - Part IV

I Corinthians 13:7, 8

“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].”

Dear Father:

Father, you say your love can stand up under anything. So anytime I say, “I’ve had enough. I just can’t take it anymore!,” I am obviously operating in my own power. You said your grace is sufficient for me, and your strength is made perfect in my weakness, so when I am weak, I will actually gain strength if I will come out of myself. That strength is not my own but comes from you and is sustained by you, so I must embrace what you have already placed inside me. So, Father, Help me to decrease so you can increase in my life.

Father, you are always ready to believe the best of every person, so I can believe others are honest and intentionally well meaning. So, I won’t allow opinions or experience to paint biased pictures of others in my mind, because actually, who am I to judge? You certainly didn’t place me on the throne of anyone’s life. And when I think about all my mess ups, including my poor choices that never made the six o’clock news, I can easily keep my mouth closed!

Father, I refuse to give up because of what you have placed on the inside of me. You are my reason for living....you are my hope.

I look at all my imperfections on the outside and recognize you think I am beautiful. I am your beloved. You have an 8 x 10 of me on your mantle. You carry a picture of me in your wallet. You cleared your calendar just to spend time with me today. If I wake up in the middle of the night resisting a troubled heart, you’re right there with me, comforting me and saying, “I’ve got this. You can go back to sleep now.”

You carved my name in the middle of a big heart on a tree trunk in the park. You’ve given me the longest love letter ever written, your Word. All the wealth of man could not produce a sunrise or a sunset, but you did it, just for me. Everything good about Jesus is on the inside of me.

Help me never to exalt the opinions of others over what you think of me, Father, no matter what they think. Actually, the only people who will ever let me down are the ones I lean on, so I have to place value in what others think about me for them to hurt me. You are the One who is for me, all the time, not just when I’m riding on the high places in life. You love me every minute of every hour, even when I am unlovely and even when I don’t make you look good or can’t do anything for you, so I think I’ll place my value on what you say. You’re the sure thing, and nothing else matters.

”Father, I thank you for your goodness and for your Word I have received in my heart. Holy Spirit, I invite you to make your love real to me. Speak to me about the good things I have done; I don’t discount the fact that I still have problems and things to change, but thank you for your kindness that causes you to see me in the spirit. I will think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report; things that have virtue and praise. Help me to acknowledge that I am accepted in your beloved. Make your true nature real to me and help me to begin to experience the true nature of your goodness, your kindness and your love. Thank you, Father, that guilt and condemnation leaves me right now. I welcome the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 

"In Jesus' Name, I make a fresh and strong commitment today to live the life of love, to let the tenderness of God flow through me and heal the wounded hearts of those I meet. 

"Father, teach me to love even when things go wrong. To be patient and kind when the children are struggling. To overlook the spiteful words of an angry friend, brother or sister in Christ, family member or co-worker. To rejoice when someone at the work receives favor and blessing. Teach me to talk in love, to lay gossip quietly aside and to take up words of grace instead. 

"Lord, Your Word says that Your love is already inside me...that it has been shed abroad in my heart. So today, I resolve to remove every obstacle that would keep that love from flowing freely into the lives of others. I put resentments behind me, and I forgive all those who've done me wrong.

         "Father, I believe the love you have for me, and I receive this Word with meekness, which is able to save my soul. In the days ahead, cause me to increase, excel and overflow with Your love. Be magnified in my life. Cause me to be what this world needs most of all...a living example of your love.”              

 (some excerpts from Andrew Wommack's "As I Have Loved You" and Kenneth Copeland's "Faith to Faith Daily Devotional")

Scripture Links:  II Cor. 12:9-12; John 3:30; Matthew 7:1; Ephesians 2:4; Philippians 4:8; Jer 31:3

To Receive Jesus as Lord ad Savior:(Sinner's Prayer) Dear God, I am a sinner. I need a savior. I need Jesus. I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose on the third day. I ask Jesus now to come into my heart and to become Lord over my life. Satan h; as no more power over me. I say with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. Father, help me to live for you, and thank you for saving me. John 3:16.

To Rededicate Your Life to the Lord (after falling away):Dear Heavenly Father: I confess to you that I have sinned. You said if I confess my sin you are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I turn away from sin and turn to you, and I ask you to forgive me. I forgive myself also. Father, thank you for forgiving me, remembering my sin no more and allowing me to have right standing with you again. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Love Letters to God - Part III (conclusion)

Father:

You love me, and there is nothing I or anyone else can do about it. Your acceptance of me is unconditional. You don’t love me more when I do good, and you don’t love me less when I do bad. When I read my Bible I get closer to you and learn more of you, but when I don’t, you don’t love me any less. You didn’t come into the world to make me feel guilty, and you don’t shame me into obedience or compliance. You just have plain love for me. And I know when it’s you talking, because the Holy Spirit does not condemn me. He convicts and convinces me of what is right, .and then, He comforts me. That’s the kind of relationship I need. 

Like the woman at the well---you knew her life and what she had been doing; yet, you loved her. Even though she was convicted in her heart, you did not condemn her. You reached out to her and ministered salvation to her and the people in her city. 

So, if others are looking for me to do something wrong, I’ve got something for them, because it’s bound to happen--I’m not perfect. But, Father, you won’t hold it against me, and I hope they won’t either.

The fact is, your grace is greater than every mistake I have ever made or will ever make. Thank you, Father. 

And oh.....the accuser of the brethren will say, “He doesn’t really love you, because if He did, He wouldn’t have let this happen to you. You made confessions, you gave extra money at church last Sunday,.....you even worked the volleyball game last week when nobody else would step up, and blah, blah, blah. God doesn’t really love you. Can’t you see he’s forgotten about you---that you’re a “has been?” 

But, hold on.....I will ask him this question: “If I am not worth much, then how come Jesus paid so much for me? He paid the highest price that’s ever been paid for anything, for me. And now, because I am your sheep and I know your voice, I realize I cannot afford to let the enemy rent any space in my mind.  I will declare with all that is in me, “My God loves me.........my God loves me........my God loves me.” 

       In fact, it's possible I can yell at my children and forget my spouse’s birthday today and you can turn around the next day and bless my socks off. It is possible that I can go on a shopping spree and mess my finances up for the month and you can turn around the next day and get rid of all my debt and place me in a position where I can give more to the gospel than I have ever given. It is possible, that I can eat a big fat cheeseburger, some chili cheese fries and a funnel cake, and don’t get my proper rest this week, and you can still turn around and totally heal my body and give me new organs tomorrow! Why? Because you don’t move in my life based on my performance. My faith, and my faith only is what pleases you.

My failures, my sense of unworthiness and my awareness of all the things I have done wrong was amplified by satan and by religion, not by you. You said  the mountains will depart and the hills will be removed before your love, your kindness and your covenant of peace and completeness will depart from me, because you have compassion on me. You will have mercy on me. You’re looking at the good in my life, because you see me in the spirit. You are not picking me apart and analyzing me the way I have analyzed myself. If you tell me to be longsuffering and kind with others, you must be that way with me. Thank you, Father.

All things are possible to me, because I believe, and because I believe the love you have for me, I shall see your glory! So, I resist guilt and shame, because you love me.

I am your beloved. You actually love me as much as you love Jesus!  Wow....Nothing shall separate me from your love. - AMEN

Scripture Links:  Ephesians 2:4; Revelation 12:10; I John 3:16; Hebrews 11:6; Titus 3:5   Romans 8:39

To Receive Jesus as Lord ad Savior:(Sinner's Prayer) Dear God, I am a sinner. I need a savior. I need Jesus. I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose on the third day. I ask Jesus now to come into my heart and to become Lord over my life. Satan h; as no more power over me. I say with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. Father, help me to live for you, and thank you for saving me. John 3:16.

To Rededicate Your Life to the Lord (after falling away):Dear Heavenly Father: I confess to you that I have sinned. You said if I confess my sin you are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I turn away from sin and turn to you, and I ask you to forgive me. I forgive myself also. Father, thank you for forgiving me, remembering my sin no more and allowing me to have right standing with you again. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Love Letters to God - Part III

I Corinthians 13:6

“It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.”

Dear Father: 

You don’t keep score of my sins or the sins of others, and you don’t expect me to do it either. In fact, once I confess them, you erase them from your memory. 

So the day something bad happened in my life, you immediately went to work to make it turn out for my good. You took my stumbling blocks and turned them into stepping stones. I saw you begin to change circumstances.....and you began to change me. You lifted up my head.

You showed me how to avoid situations like this in the future, and how to forgive like you forgive. Not the kind where I say it with my mouth and still rehearse the offense when it comes to mind, or the kind where I subtly cross the person off my list. The right and truth you talk about prevails when my heart is in the right place. I knew I had truly forgiven when I began to feel great compassion for this person. I am so honored to be your workmanship in progress. 

     So, because I have let go of the fear I could have embraced which is ultimately the root of unforgiveness, I am free from the chains of bondage that would surely have entangled my future, my life. 

Father, in you is light, and there is no darkness! Thank you for helping me to keep myself out of darkness. As I walk in the freedom of your light, then the darkness can never overcome me, because light everywhere dispels darkness. I receive the glory you have given me. 

I realize now that if I stay out of the way, you can make masterpieces out of my messes.  You are always on my side! You will do for me what I cannot do for myself. When the battle tried to knock me out, the realization that you really do love me caused me to pull myself up and put one foot in front of the other......one more time.  (to be continued....)

Scripture Links:  Hebrews 8:12; Psalm 3:3; Ephesians 2:10; II Timothy 1:7; I John 1:5; 

To Receive Jesus as Lord ad Savior:(Sinner's Prayer) Dear God, I am a sinner. I need a savior. I need Jesus. I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose on the third day. I ask Jesus now to come into my heart and to become Lord over my life. Satan h; as no more power over me. I say with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. Father, help me to live for you, and thank you for saving me. John 3:16.

To Rededicate Your Life to the Lord (after falling away):Dear Heavenly Father: I confess to you that I have sinned. You said if I confess my sin you are faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I turn away from sin and turn to you, and I ask you to forgive me. I forgive myself also. Father, thank you for forgiving me, remembering my sin no more and allowing me to have right standing with you again. In Jesus' name, AMEN.