can't do both

We can try to carry our burdens,

or we can give them to God.

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,

who daily bears our burdens."

Psalm 68:19 NIV

the greatest one

In our struggle with life and sin

and so many imperfections,

sometimes it helps to focus

on keeping just one commandment,

the greatest one: Love God.

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God

with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind.'

This is the first and greatest commandment."

Matthew 22:37 NIV

faith

Faith is...

trusting God to be at work.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

commandment #5

When we honor our parents, we bless them,

and God promises to bless us.

Perhaps God is the originator

of rewarding children for good behavior.

"Honor your father and mother"

(this is the first commandment with a promise),

"that it may go well with you

and that you may live long in the land."

Ephesians 6:2-3 ESV

Also Exodus 20:12

on prayer

Perhaps the best outcome of prayer

is getting to know, on a more intimate level,

the One to whom we pray.

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."

James 4:8a ESV

truth leads

In the Bible we find truths

that lead us straight to

the arms of God.

"Send out Your light and Your truth;

let them lead me;

let them bring me to Your holy hill

and to Your dwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy."

Psalm 43:3-4 ESV

riding, mowing, living

Great advice for motorcycle riding,

lawn mowing, and Christian living:

Look to where you are going,

not to where you are or have been.

"But one thing I do:

forgetting what lies behind

and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize

of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:13-14 ESV

the impossible

The people who pleased Jesus

were the ones who asked Him to do

the humanly impossible...

and believed that He could.

"Jesus looked at them and said,

'With man this is impossible, but not with God;

all things are possible with God.'"

Mark 10:27 NIV

on offenses

Every offense is the perfect opportunity

to practice forgiveness.

"Whoever covers an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter

separates close friends."

Proverbs 17:9 ESV

the Fixer

The God who made us

is able to fix us.

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully

and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well."

Psalm 139:13-14 NIV

practice curiosity

Curious minds want to know...

and God is happy to tell them.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you

great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Jeremiah 33:3 NIV

wisdom

Wisdom is a good watchdog.

"For wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

discretion will watch over you,

understanding will guard you,

delivering you from the way of evil,

from men of perverted speech."

Proverbs 2:10-12 ESV

on wisdom

This is not a mystery:

God gives wisdom

because He wants

His children to be wise.

"For the Lord gives wisdom;

from His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright."

Proverbs 2:6-7 ESV

on prayer

If God did not enjoy answering our prayers,

He would not have told us to pray.

"The prayer of the upright pleases Him."

Proverbs 15:8b NIV

think about it

If you think God doesn't care

about every little thing about you--

think again.

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb."

Psalm 139:13 NIV

wherever

God is everywhere we are.

"If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast."

Psalm 139:9-10 NIV

God with us

We may not always have

the privilege of feeling God's presence,

but we can know, without a doubt,

He is always with us.

"If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there."

Psalm 139:8 NIV

from a distance?

God is watching us,

thankfully, not from a distance.

"Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?"

Psalm 139:7 NIV

blue skies

God didn't have to make the sky blue.

But aren't you glad He did?

"And God made the expanse and separated the waters

that were under the expanse from the waters

that were above the expanse. And it was so.

And God called the expanse Heaven.

And there was evening and there was morning

the second day."

Genesis 1:7-8 ESV

plans and promises

God makes no promise to bless a work

that has not been committed to Him...

but He often does.

"Commit your work to the Lord,

and your plans will be established."

Proverbs 16:3 ESV

effort

Human effort is swallowed up

in dependance on God.

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed...

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

for it is God who works in you,

both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

Philippians 2:12-13 ESV

merit

Human merit is absent

from the Christian experience.

"When the disciples heard this,

they were greatly astonished, saying,

'Who then can be saved?'

But Jesus looked at them and said,

'With man this is impossible,

but with God all things are possible.'"

Matthew 19:25-26 ESV

what did you expect

Pray for what you want,

but expect something totally different

and far better.

"For we do not know what to pray for as we ought,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us

with groanings too deep for words."

Romans 8:26 ESV

know Him

Every frightening situation

gives us the opportunity to know

the One who calms all fears.

"For I, the Lord your God,

hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, "Fear not,

I am the one who helps you."

Isaiah 41:13 ESV

going?

If you are going to go, go boldly.

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear

but of power and love and self-control."

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

careless?

Only careless soldiers let the weaker one win.

"The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Mark 14:38b ESV

unpopular

The praise of men will not help us

become more like Christ--

and may have the exact opposite effect.

"He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

Isaiah 53:3 ESV

undesirable

Lord Jesus, forgive me for so often

looking in the mirror and longing for beauty--

wishing I had what You did not have nor desire.

"He had no form or majesty that we

should look at Him,

and no beauty that we should desire Him."

Isaiah 53:2b

made by God

May our delight always be

in the One who created

the things we enjoy.

"And God saw everything that He had made,

and behold, it was very good.

And there was evening

and there was morning,

the sixth day."

Genesis 1:31 ESV

we the people

May we become a people

who honor God's name.

"O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name

in all the earth!"

Psalm 8:9 ESV

wherever

Wherever you are, God is.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,

"Surely the Lord is in this place,

and I did not know it."

Genesis 28:16 ESV

good hands

Are you in good hands?

"My sheep listen to my voice;

I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life,

and they shall never perish;

no one can snatch them out of my hand."

John 10:28 NIV

what if

What if you live to be 105?

"Remember your Creator

in the days of your youth.

This is the day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Ecclesiastes 12:1, Psalm 118:24 NIV

seek & prosper

When we do the seeking,

God is committed to doing the prospering.

"...as long as he sought the Lord,

God made him prosper."

2 Chronicles 26:5 ESV

Jesus' joy

When Jesus looks at me

(and each one for whom He died)

may He be overjoyed

for having made the sacrifice.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses...

let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us,

looking to Jesus,

the founder and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before Him

endured the cross."

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV

new baby

God gave me a granddaughter today.

"Children are a reward from Him."

Psalm 127:3 NIV

conquer

People who "more than conquer"

need not fear the battle.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,

or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

No, in all these things

we are more than conquerors

through Him who loved us."

Romans 8:35, 37

lead on

Being led by the Holy Spirit

begins with the realization

that if left to ourselves

we would not please God.

"For if you live according to the flesh

you will die,

but if by the Spirit

you put to death the deeds of the body,

you will live."

Romans 8:13 ESV

Father's Day

This Father is committed

to loving His children forever.

And ever!

"For I am sure that neither death nor life,

nor angels nor rulers,

nor things present nor things to come,

nor powers, nor height nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the love of God

in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39 ESV

on being wrong

If we pay close attention,

every time we are wrong,

we will learn something right.

"He who heeds discipline shows the way to life,

but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates correction is stupid."

Proverbs 10:17, 12:1 NIV

family reunion

I probably won't be attending any

birthday parties or bridal showers in heaven--

but the family reunion, my flight is already booked.

How about yours?

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,

with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel

and with the trumpet call of God,

and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left

will be caught up together with them in the clouds

to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV

Christian

A Christian is...

any person who loves God.

And He said to him,

"You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind."

Matthew 22:37 ESV

on security

We are safe

because God

always finishes

what He starts.

"And I am sure of this,

that He who began a good work in you

will bring it to completion

at the day of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:6 ESV

false teachers

When it comes to soul satisfaction,

false teachers flunk.

Only God completely satisfies

the one who trusts in Him.

"For the fool speaks folly,

and his heart is busy with iniquity,

to practice ungodliness,

to utter error concerning the Lord,

to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,

and to deprive the thirsty of drink."

Isaiah 32:6 ESV

regeneration

By grace alone,

through faith alone,

to God alone be glory.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

only Jesus

Of all the men

who ever were

or will be,

only one never sinned.

"By faith, we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 5:1b ESV

kingdom resident

Lord God, please open the eyes of our hearts,

that we may see Your kingdom,

and want to live there.

"But seek first the kingdom of God

and His righteousness."

Matthew 6:33 ESV

your heart's desire

Dear God, please give us

the desires of Your heart.

"Delight yourself in the Lord

and He will give you

the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4 NIV

WMM 2

There is no motivation more delightful than this:

knowing the one you are working for is watching

and pleased and taking note of every little thing

so that, in due time, he may properly reward your efforts.

"Whatever you do, work heartily,

as for the Lord and not for men,

knowing that from the Lord

you will receive the inheritance as your reward.

You are serving the Lord Christ."

Colossians 3:23-24 ESV

Holy Spirit work

Jesus spoke.

Later on, the Holy Spirit

reminded the apostles

of His exact words.

We read those words in the Bible.

Then later on,

at just the right time,

He reminds us.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

he will teach you all things

and bring to your remembrance

all that I have said to you."

John 14:26 ESV