Isaiah 4-6; Matthew 23

I know the Lord is good and you may rightly respond – all the time.

So why is it that I step away from Him, try to find my own way, enjoy my own pleasures and even find spiritual words, tasks and behaviours to justify such behaviour?

Have I really stopped thinking about Him?

I am the Lord All-Powerful! Israel is the vineyard, and Judah is the garden I tended with  are. I had hoped for honesty and for justice, but dishonesty and cries for mercy were all I found. At your drinking parties you have the music of stringed instruments, tambourines, and flutes. But you never even think about all the Lord has done. – Isaiah 5:7,12  CEV

I have run into many followers of Christ who say they would never do what the Israelites did crossing the desert to the promised land.  I have said – how could they have forgotten and so quickly, what the Lord had just done one day before?

The words are hardly out of my mouth and I have done the very same thing on the very next day.

There is one secret though that I have found, and it is the most real I can get in my relationship with Jesus.  I fess up right away, I get clean right away, I set things straight and ask for forgiveness.  There is one thing I do not want, will not tolerate and will not accept in my life – the absence of the Holy Spirit.  A hard heart will turn Him away every time.  At some point I would be afraid that I actually might not let Jesus rule my life one day should I keep rejecting His love.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you. I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you wouldn’t let me. – Matthew 23:37  CEV

Father, I know you care for me, You tend to my heart and whisper to me during the day.  You set up so many different ways to protect me in my walk.  Your love is felt as sweetly as the wind that blows around me when I walk and spend time in silent prayer with You.  I cannot believe though that I can, the very next day, not even think about You as I find myself busy, occupied, caught up in something so meaningless. But the beauty of it all is that I notice.  In noticing I can come and ask You to forgive me and You do.  Thank You for being so gentle and so present.  I love You.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

 

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Exodus 38-40; Hebrews 1

Happy Valentine’s Day!

My wife and I celebrated a little bit earlier in the week.  We attended a Comedy Night sponsored by Focus on the Family.  Leland Klassen is one of my favourite comedians and he did not disappoint.

I still remember the day I gave my heart to Jesus, still one of my favourite memories when it comes to matters of the heart. He promised to be with me always, to never leave me, to guide me and lead me in my life and for His purposes.

Those moments I experienced were usually not as intense as when the children of Israel were crossing the desert, however, His peace was just as reassuring.

 No matter where the people traveled, the Lord was with them. Each day his cloud was over the tent, and each night a fire could be seen in the cloud. – Exodus 40:38   CEV

There is something about giving my heart to Jesus that changed quite a few things in my life – but today I will tell you two of them.

First, there was a change in me from how I viewed life.  I was a mean kid, made my older brother mad and made my younger brother cry.  I was a bully at school. Love has a way of reaching into an angry heart and soothing it.  Jesus gave me eyes like His and I saw things differently and saw the needs of others more clearly.

Secondly, I noticed I was different from others and others noticed I was different than them.  Often people would come up to me and ask me how I stayed happy even when they could see the world against me.  I would gladly tell them of Jesus.

You loved justice
    and hated evil,
and so I, your God,
    have chosen you.
I appointed you
and made you happier
    than any of your friends. – Hebrews 1:9  CEV

It is my prayer today, that as we celebrate with the one we love, that we remember the One who loved us first.  I have found my love for Him is an incredible foundation and reservoir of love for me to give away.

Father, thank you for loving so much and giving so much love that when You asked me to love I had more than enough to give away.  I do thank you so much for my wife.  I love her more than any other person and am so happy that she is part of my life.  Today, as I take a moment to remember the day You became the holder of my heart, my love for You knows no bounds.  How often the English language fails me in expressing my love for You.

Erwin