All or Nothing

If you are hungry, gather at the table.  The meal is just out of the oven and it is plentiful.  If you are full, there is no reason to answer to the call.  Jesus Christ has come to heal the sick, to find the lost, to seek and to save.  He calls those that are sinners, those that are hurting, and those in need.  If you do not find yourself lacking, faithless generation, then do not respond when he calls your name.

He watched his son, thrown to the ground and his body sent into convulsions.  There was nothing he could do.  Helpless is the worst place to be.  And to watch your son in pain, there is no greater torture for a parent.  But there was hope, something that was his last resort, he brought his son to the man he heard stories about.

“Jesus, IF you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Jesus turned to the man.  He saw his pain, he saw his hurt, and he did something that is in his nature.  It is who he is.  He loved him.  Jesus is all consuming love.  But he did not stop there, he addressed something beyond physical needs, he addressed the heart, “IF you can!  ALL things are possible for the one who believes.”  Jesus made the heavens that are so vast that all our technology can not even count the stars or the galaxies.  He knows our bodies down to the smallest atom.  He made it all, he controls it all, there is no IF when God is involved.

We all make mistakes!  Each and every one of us.  The only thing that matters is if we learn from them.  And this man did.  He was at a point where Jesus was his only hope.  When Jesus is all you have, you see at last that Jesus is all you need.  The father of the suffering child called out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

And here I live.  I BELIEVE; HELP MY UNBELIEF!  I want nothing more than Jesus!  HE IS EVERYTHING!  When I lose my life, I find it.  When I give myself, I get all of Jesus in return.  When I abandon my plan, the God of the universe steps in and says, “Watch what I can do!”

Too often I pray for God to speak to me, but what I really want is for him to confirm the comfort of my plans.  Lord, I give it all!  I give you my marriage, it will fall apart without you.  I give you my daughter, you are the perfect parent!  You are all she needs!  I give you my plans, my resources, my health, my very life, I count it all as NOTHING before the throne of your grace and mercy.  And you take me in your loving arms and you give me an inheritance of heaven!

And he is faithful!  THE ONE WHO CALL YOU IS FAITHFUL, HE WILL DO IT!  1 Thessalonians 5:24

If you are not ready for miracles, do not bother to show up.

Advertisement

A Link to My Longest Writing Ever

I have entered my novel into a contest.  If you like what you read here, please visit the link below and download my book FOR FREE!  Each download gives me a vote.  THANK YOU!  I hope you enjoy what you read.

http://freeditorial.com/en/books/spiritual-flesh-and-blood

Naked People in Heaven

Instant bad mood.  I search around for my screaming phone on the floor under my bed.  The damn alarm clock continues to scream at the top of its lungs.  Slowly gaining control of my sleeping body, I step out of bed, pick up my phone and turn off the alarm.  The pain of waking up.  In heaven, I will roll over and enjoy the waking up process just as much as snuggling into bed and drifting off to sleep.  (That is if we sleep in heaven.)

My world runs about me in fast forward.  Honking impatiently at the slow moving car, spending what we don’t have for the newest item that hits the shelves, driving around our children to some place other than home.  Why do I join the insanity of the crowd?  I do believe in busying oneself with hard work, but that is not what is happening here.  We are all consumed with what does not matter.

Now.  What we want is now.  The admiring stares of those we don’t know.  Now.  The praise of what drives us around.  Now.  Winners of the race.  Packed pantries to overflowing.  Fashonable jewelry on our bodies and extra in the closet.  Fancy modern restaurants.  Everything that our neighbors have.  Our neighbors that we want to be like, not the ones outside of our neighborhood.

But all we think about is now and we laugh at anyone that suggests otherwise.

Ted Turner is famous for a lot of things, one of them is stating what is on his mind.  Hey, I can respect that.  He likes to chose his words so that other people listen.  He doesn’t just fit into the crowd.  I respect that also.  But I wish that someone would tell him, and a whole lot of the rest of the world, that they are on the wrong train.  When Turner quoted, “I’d rather go to hell.  Heaven has got to be boring.”  I wish someone would have asked him, “What do you want most in life?”….”It will be in heaven.”

Heaven is better than being a billionaire.  There is money to spare, Hey, let’s pave these streets with gold.  Heaven is better than pornography!  THERE WILL BE PERFECT BODIES WALKING AROUND NAKED!  And it will be a good thing!  No one will be embarrassed!  (There will be no sin in heaven.  Pornography is a destructive, cruel sin.  The point is, naked bodies will be good….and everywhere.)  Heaven is better than Hawaii.  All the food will be paid in full!  Heaven is better than Christmas!  That baby Jesus, he will be with us!  It doesn’t sound boring to me!

And what will not be in heaven?  Babies without mommies.  Wheelchairs won’t be needed in heaven, or medicine, or hospitals.  There will not be divorce, no one’s heart will be broken.  What have you been through?  What hurts?  What tugs at your heart and makes you cry out, “That is not right!”  God will end it.  He will make all the wrongs undone and he will wipe away that tear.

“Jesus’ miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we want is coming.”  Tim Keller.

So, look at this world.  Read the Bible.  Take a look at what is good in this world.  LORD, FIX MY PRIORITIES!  SET MY MIND ON THINGS ETERNAL!  Get ready.  It is going to be the best party of all of eternity.  Don’t throw away your invitation.

This is How it Ends

All readers gather here.  To the Momma late at night, propped up on her pillow and promising herself just one more page.  To the college student that is cramming for class because she could not peel away the romance novel.  I am writing this to the man sitting in his car flipping the pages that needs to go into work.

I hate to give away my personal love life details, but here it is.  James and I fight sometimes.  I know, I know, but it is true.  And maybe, just possibly, we had a little bit of one yesterday.  But do you see that I said yesterday?  As the day ended, I was at his side holding his hand and I thought, “If I would have known this morning, this is how it ended…”

Well, I think that a lot.  HOW DOES IT ALL END?  Does he get the girl?  Does the army invade?  Is there a baby in the future?  Who wins the election?  What’s she going to grow up to be?  Do they ever find out?  What does she decide?

Well, I’m not giving any spoiler alerts here.  Click on the link below.  Chose your method of reading and enjoy a free, yes free, book on me. Then get back to me and let me know what you think of the ending!  http://freeditorial.com/en/books/spiritual-flesh-and-blood

Why do I have Cancer?

There was no fault to be found with Jesus.  He spent his days healing the blind and the sick, he forgave the sins of outcasts of society, welcomed little children, and raised the dead.  Jesus had no home to call his own, he was rejected by his own brothers and his hometown.  Jesus was a man of sorrows.

His death was the great accomplishment of Satan himself.  He filled Judas as he betrayed him to the chief priests and the officers of the temple.  Satan and his legions shrieked with delight.  Jesus was dead!  They knew he was dead!  Their plan had been accomplished!  Satan had defeated Jesus.

But even Satan does not know the future.  And Jesus is alive!  He defeated death and arose from the grave.  How this devastated Satan!  Jesus had won the victory and he knew it!  It was not what he expected!  Jesus did not come to earth as a king and defeat the Romans, he came as a weak baby to a weak family.  He defeated Satan through SUFFERING!

The suffering of Jesus changed our futures forever!  Because of the suffering of Jesus, we can put our trust in him.  He is a God that knows the suffering of mankind.  His death gave us eternal life in perfection.

It is so hard to suffer.  It is so hard to see that anything good could come out of our pain!  But, oh, when Jesus hung on the cross and the demons were claiming the victory, I can think of nothing more hopeless!  But through his suffering, he rescued the souls of man!

In this life, I will have suffering.  It is guaranteed.  But I am not afraid.  I do not ask why do I suffer?  I ask Jesus, why did you suffer FOR ME?

My God! My God! Why Did You Leave Me?!

I see a man upon a cross, my stomach churns in agony.  Who is this man?  What did he do?  Why would God allow him to endure this pain?

I ask among the crowd, I see hate in their faces.  Why do these people hate this man so much?  They yell insults and spit upon his face.  What he did must be awful, he must be a horrible man.

I see a crown of thorns upon his head, I see a sign nailed to the cross.  “King of the Jews.”  I become desperate, my questions turn to pleas.

I see a man upon a cross, he cries out in agony, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

He had been beaten beyond recognition, nails pierced his hands and feet, he hung fighting for his last torturing breath, and yet all his pain was in the separation.  Why?!  Why would his God forsake him?  What reason could he have?  When at his hour of suffering, why would his God leave him?

And then I knew the answer.  ME!  My God!  Why would you forsake him?  FOR ME!  Why would you let him bear this cross?  FOR ME!  Why would you let this perfect man live the most painful life ever endured?  FOR ME!  Why would you leave him when you have been with him for all of eternity past?  FOR ME!

Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?  FOR ME!

The Great Damned One

The peak of the mountain, tallest in the world.  At the point, the tip, he holds me over the edge.  Held by his claw, in his grip, I wriggle and squirm.  Terror seizes my mind, my heart beats like a drum.  The beating of the drum, the battle call.  There is a whisper in the wind.  A cold north wind blows my hair and chills my body.

He screams a high pitched scream, grabbing my dangling body that he is holding over the ledge, cupping his two hands over my ears.  But the north wind blows and the whisper can not be shut out.  And I know.

My closed eyes open.  He knows that I know.  I know that my one hands controls him.  I know fear is his manipulating tool.  But now I know, I know fear is a bluff.  If I fall, I fall into the arms of Jesus.

I know.  I know that if I mourn, I will be comforted.  My tears will be wiped away.  My failing body will be healed, my poor spirit will be lifted up and I will be given power.  I will inherit.  I will reign.

Satan holds the greatest bluff of all time.  The ending is known, God almighty holds the victory over the war.  Great powerful one, Christian, claim your power.  Call the bluff.

Take Me to Church

Who is this God I serve?  Oh the debates, the complications, and the theories.  Is he a God that changes?  How can he be the God of the New Testament and the God of the Old?  A God of Works, of Silence, of Wrath, of live and let live?

What is this label?  Christian.  Those that judge, hate, and do what they condemn?  Who are these christians?  Those that have it figured out?  They know the right from wrong, live in nice houses, don’t curse and don’t hang around those that do?

Korean Pastor Lee Jong-rak built a wooden “drop box” on the outer wall of his home.  The box was designed to be a surrender location for unwanted babies.  Babies with deformities, babies with special needs, babies that would have otherwise been abandoned to die alone find themselves in the arms of a loving father and mother.  This is my Jesus, come broken hearted, come with your addictions and your demons, come with your deformed soul and find yourself in the arms of a loving Father.

But how can this loving father also be the God of Justice?  Let me put it this way, how can he not?  Would he be a God of love if he did not protect his children?  When my daughter was two years old, she was taking a nap in her crib.  I was rushing about the house getting things accomplished in my precious minutes of alone time.  I was startled by the sound of someone in my daughter’s room.  Undoubtedly, I heard the sound of her closet door close.  With a vengeance and determination, I rushed into her room ready to defeat, protect, and destroy with my own two hands.  When I discovered that my baby had crawled out of her bed for the first time, I melted back into her loving mother.

So, why all the hateful Christians?  Because they are really messed up.  So, why all the judgement?  Because the grace of God is not understood.  Why all the self righteous, white on the outside and dirty as hell on the inside?  Because Pharisees are Satan’s great tool.  Remember, they crucified Jesus.

So, I reword and repeat a question.  What is the difference between a christian and a nonchristian?  What is the difference between a believer and a nonbeliever?  I am a christian.  I am a believer.  It means one thing.  I am so screwed up that I know that I need Jesus.  And that is the answer, a believer recognizes their nasty, dirty shortcomings and falls at the feet of Jesus.  The christian is the tax collector refusing to lift his face to heaven and crying out to God to save him.  The world sees the righteous man standing thanking God that he is not like this other man, but Jesus tells us that it is the sinner crying out to Jesus that will be saved.

Lead me to these people, I want to worship with them.  I want to sing praises with those that know we have been saved from death and suffering.  I want to join with survivors of cancer, survivors of addiction, survivors of sin and praise the God that healed us.  I want to hunger for righteousness with those that long for it as I do.  Lead me to the place where people know they are hopelessly screwed up and in need of a savior.  It does not have to be a building.  In fact, I suggest to you that most of the buildings labeled as churches are filled with those that think they have it all together.  Jesus roamed without a home, he gathered under trees, on boats, and on mountain tops, not in a building.

Believers gather.  Our deliver is coming in the clouds.  Knock down the doors that stop us.  Armies gather and take up your weapon.  This world is not our home, do not find comfort here.  Our sins do not stop us, they are a voice from which we have been saved.  Build your drop boxes, label it for those in need.  Grab a hand and lead someone hurting on the way.  Sing a new song.  Stand firm.

Take me to church.  Take me to the feet of Jesus.  Meet me there.

Birth. Death. Living Forever.

“I think, I think my water broke.”  Before the sun came up, we arrived at the hospital. Since I was a child, I had been nervous, terrified, of this day. Labor. I knew I was about to be in infamous, excruciating pain.  But my mind did not settle here. Life. My baby, I was about to see my baby for the first time. 

They stood under the sky. The night was falling. Here they came, led by Judas. Jesus and his disciples stood waiting for them. This moment, since a young child he had been nervous, terrified, of this moment. He knew he was about to be in tormenting, shocking pain that would be written down and read about. But his mind did not stop on the cross. Love. He so overwhelmingly loved me.

I believe in miracles. The nurse laid her in my arms. Happy tears burst forth in a moment forever cemented in my mind. She was perfection, beauty, redemption, the promises of the world. The pains of childbirth, quickly forgotten. My pain brought life.  

“HE IS NOT HERE!  HE IS RISEN!”  I believe in miracles!  Jesus was dead but now he is alive!  ALIVE!  His pain was forgiveness. Like a parent, he looks at me and smiles and laughs.  Like a parent, there is nothing he would not do for me. And he did, he did it all!  He made the world, the hidden beauties to be found. When sin came, he did not turn his back. He had a plan. He paid my debt. He set me free. His pain bought me eternity!  

I am so far from the perfect parent, but it gives me a tiny glimpse of the love my Savior has for me. Jesus loves me, even me. 

 

Hosanna! An Emotional Entry

I know it is Easter time, but I am painting a picture of CHRISTMAS.  The season took it’s time, but the night air was whispering winter time. It was time to build a fire and cuddle indoors. The weekend after Thanksgiving holds the tradition of the Hendrys picking out a Christmas tree and decorating. The day was perfect. Picture perfect memories. The tree was chosen, the lights glowed, and we sat and gave a sigh of adoration of the tree and the promise of Christmas before us. Madison’s eyes had sparkled with joy and excitement the entire day and now was the great cresendo. And then she did something her Daddy and I did not expect.

Madison plopped down on the couch, crossed her arms, puckered out her bottom lip and complained, “Humph!  It is all going to go away!”

Her Daddy looked at me with terrified, shocked eyes, “What is the matter?”

I, surprisingly, smiled with understanding and replied, “She’s a girl.”

Madison understood, maybe for the first time, that nothing of this earth is forever.  Madison was conflicted with emotions of wonder and excitement, and celebration, and a realization of something sad. 

Although girls can sometimes be labeled as emotional roller coasters, emotions are to be shared by both genders. The human race is fickle, easily given to extremes in emotion. 

A few thousand years ago, a man walked into Jerusalem. The word had spread about his arrival. Some of them had recently seen him raise a man from the dead and they thought, “This is our King! He has come to be our ruler!”  

As was fitting, they rolled out the red carpet, spreading their coats and palm branches for the triumphant entry. They yelled out, “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

They praised and worshiped Jesus!  As should be done!  As he is deserved!  

But just a few days later, they let their emotions get the best of them. They were the same crowd yelling out, “Crucify him!”

Why?  They saw he was not going to lead an army. He was not going to be their earthly king.  They got mad. Jesus was not who they thought he was. 

HE WAS MORE!  He was not going to be a great King to rule Jesusalem, grow old and die. He came to set them, and us, free forever!  He had come to crush Satan and deliver us from the grips of Hell!  He was MORE than they could have possibly imagined!  

As mirrored by my daughter, sometimes my emotions get the better of me. But next time I am pouting about some earthly condition, I want to think on a grander scale. Today, while I worship Jesus on Palm Sunday, I want to look ahead to the purpose Jesus came to accomplish. 

Jesus is King not just of earth, but also of Heaven!  He is not only King now, but he is King of eternity.  

And, like the emotional crowd, sometimes when things take a bitter turn and it looks like defeat (the cross had to apper to be a crushing defeat!) I want to get ready and learn from experience that SOMETHING EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN!