Anonymous

On a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His father, working in the yard, saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could. Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a u-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. . . .

From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. . . . That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because My Dad wouldn't let go."

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But some wounds my friend are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you. . . .

The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril[.] And we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins—and if you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He did not and will not ever let you go!

God has blessed you, so that you can be a blessing to others. You just never know where a person is in his/her life and what they are going through. Never judge another person's scars, because you don't know how they got them. . . .
Right now, someone needs to know that God loves them, and you love them, too—Enough to not let them go.

Always Tell Your Family And Friends How Much You Love Them!!!

From Tentmaker Ministries (http://www.tentmaker.org/)

Love

The command to love, as most consider it, "If you love me (God) you will keep my commandments," is not to do anything because it will prove one's love. It is rather a matter of the doing spontaneously springing from love. We give our lives for our children, partners, strangers, or neighbours because of its spontaneous rising from love not as a effort of proof. The spontaneous act proves our love. Love drives action. Action does not drive love.

What Is Jesus Doing?

It has become popular if not simple cant, to ask, “What would Jesus do?” There are necklaces, wristbands, car stickers, decals, shirts and hats, and all-manner of merchandise carrying this question. Or should we call it a slogan. A banal slogan, as it is usually applied so loosely without thought or even serious application.

From the first sightings of this marketing blitz, I was wary that although it may have begun as an altruistic attempt to move believers in the direction of a Christ-centered life, a life that might witness to a fallen world. Or was it, or had it become, one more ploy to sell “Christian” merchandise. Whatever your judgment on this little saying and its use, your heart will testify to your attitude regarding it as you try to deal with its challenge. “What would Jesus do,” may lead you into a best a guessing game based upon your understanding of Scripture and at worst a set of rules and an attempt to follow numerous commandments bordering on Leviticus. Remember, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit
gives life” (3 Cor. 3:6).

It immediately occurred to me, “Why would we ask, ‘What would Jesus do?’” In fact he is doing. The question we must ask is, “What is Jesus doing?” When Jesus walked the earth he gave us the model: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19). So then we must do what we see the Son doing, which is precisely what the Father is doing. The Godhead is one and not thinking, “What would my Father do?” The Son does what the Father is doing and the disciples of Jesus do what they see the Son is doing.

Jesus is living today. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father (Acts 2:33). He is interceding for us and apparently he even sometimes stands to receive his martyred children (Acts 7:55-56). In fact, by his Spirit, he is living within his redeemed (Romans 8:11; 2 Cor. 1:22; 3:17; Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1:19; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:13). And he will come again to receive his own unto himself and pour out judgment on a sinful world.

If any of his words recorded in the Scriptures are meaningful; if they are filled with the power they suggest, if his commands and promises are real, then he is living and “doing” now as you read these words.

He is living and the God of the living not the dead (Psalm 42:2; Matt. 16:16; 22:32). Our faith is vital, intimate, and relational with an imminent God. To ask, “What would Jesus do?” is to confess a great measure of separation between God and us. It is to confess our distance from his living heart and will. We always know what the object of our love is doing, if we are in the presence of that object. Young betrothed couples know the smell of each other, the rhythm of one another’s breath, and the moods of each. Is it any different with the couples of Jesus and his believers, if in fact we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalms 34:8)?

So then, let’s abide in Jesus and spontaneously do what he is doing. The world doesn’t need to see poor attempts at mimicking Jesus. “Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’” (John 12: 20-21). The world needs to see Jesus (Luke 19:3; John 9:35-38). If you are a disciple of Christ, saved by his life, death, and resurrection, with his Spirit dwelling within you. He is active within you. Offer yourselves in sacrifice to him that he might be doing in and through you. This is our “reasonable service” or “spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Can it be seen through you, through me, what Jesus is doing?

Christian Spirituality: Some beginning points of what Christian spirituality looks like

· Intimacy with God · Walking by the Spirit of God · A transformed mind · Not conformed to this world · Living with wild-abandon to God · Following the leader—Jesus · Not fulfilling the lust of the flesh · Dying to self · Seizing the divine moment · Loving God · Living God's adventure · Loving our neighbors · Hating sin · Hanging out with and loving sinners · Caring for the world and Earth · Meditating on God's word · Spending, even "wasting" time with God · Obeying God's word · Disciplined · Not domesticated · Wild as John the Baptist or Peter · As peaceful as Mary · Leaning on God's breast like John · Praying without ceasing · Not caring what people think of us, if it is to serve God's glory · Caring what people think of us, as it affects God's glory · Not Democratic · Not Republican · Perhaps a Demo-publican · A peacemaker · Not a warmonger · Standing against unrighteousness · Standing with the disenfranchised · Loving God with your whole being, all that you have, all you can be or will have ——— Darryl Wooldridge, August 2005

Tired, Poor, Refuse, And Homeless

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!—Emma Lazarus, @ the foot of the Statue of Liberty. 

How might we interpret these words in light of the challenges of immigration, gender difference, today's poor, refuse, and homeless? It seems to me that many are fond of hailing to this country's beginnings and yet forget what it claimed to represent despite its often failed example.

God's Time

I have been considering for a long time that time may not be sequential in God’s economy. Apparently I am not alone: “But the imposition of linear time on what is an eternal idea is what creates the contradiction. I don’t try to make a theologian out of Einstein, but he did show us that events that happen in sequence can also be events that happen simultaneously. If Einstein can imagine that in terms of physics, theologians can imagine it also in terms of the intrusion of eternity into linear time—that we are both immediately raised and raised together.” —Thomas G. Long (Candler School of Theology). It also indicates that it is never "too late" to pray.