Get What You Give

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).

A truck driver stopped at a roadside diner for lunch. He ordered a cheeseburger, coffee, and a slice of apple pie. As he was about to eat, three motorcycles pulled up outside. The bikers came in, and one grabbed the trucker's cheeseburger and took a bite from it. The second one drank the trucker's coffee, and the third wolfed down the apple pie. The truck driver didn't say a word. He simply got up, paid the cashier, and left. When he was gone, one of the motorcyclists said, "He ain't much of a man, is he?" "He's not much of a driver, either," the cashier replied, "He just backed his truck over three motorcycles." 

Well there you have the worlds way of dealing with 'you get what you give'. How exhausting to have to live that way.  I don't want to spend my days thinking up creative ways to 'run over motorcycles', live angry, or in a payback existence. So hopeless!

The life of Jesus is the best guide I know on how we’re to treat others.  It's a beautiful way to live and think and be.  When Jesus began His ministry on earth, He didn’t come saying, 'I am God, serve me and do as I say.' When Christ came, one of the many things He showed His disciples (including you and I) was how we’re to treat others. He forgave sins and past mistakes, showed mercy and grace to those who didn’t deserve it, prayed for and served others, helped the poor, healed the sick, reached out to sinners and so much more. If you’re treating people with the love of God, people will not only see your good deeds, but they will also see Christ through you and begin praising Him because of the love of God they’ve experienced through you.

 

On the opposite side of the spectrum, if you’re treating people with anything less than the love of God, people will begin to see your angry flair up and selfish behavior. If you say you love God and have asked Him to be Lord of your life (born again) then you are representatives of Christ here on earth, those witnessing and experiencing your angry moods and self serving actions may begin to have negative thoughts about God.

A pearl to string: How you treat others is a reflection of your relationship with God. You cannot have a growing relationship with Christ and continue to treat people with anything else but the love of God.  The more you read the word of God and the closer you are to Him, the more compassion, love and respect you should have toward others.

'let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven' (Matthew 5:16). 

Be blessed and encouraged in Jesus name

and know you are loved.

                                   Lyndi

 

by Lizza Baro

Matthew 16:24-26.
Then Jesus said to his disciples,“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Jesus did not say we should take up His cross but our own crosses. We deny ourselves when we choose God's will rather than our own. Eventually we will loose our old way of selfish living and find the new one the Christ makes for us. Deny self does not mean forcing your self to do things you hate. It means doing things that God loves. It brings delight to you and more importantly God. We find joy and peace when we in step with Him.

My grandmother always used to say my father was her cross to bear. She was a woman after Gods heart. Even though my father did things that hurt her and caused her much pain she continued to love him.  I remember her telling me that "sometimes our cross was our trophies." Things in life that mean the most. Things were proud of. Things we don't want to give up. She always told me "be careful what you put in front of Jesus. He will take it away not to be mean but so we can focus on Him". She was a wise woman. I leaned a lot from her.

We all have our own things that is our cross, that we must carry and endure the pain. sometimes I just feel like throwing it to the side and walking away. But other days I leave it at His cross and say your will be done. I surrender it all to Him. It's a lot easier to just walk away but I would not be learning the life lesson that God wants me to learn. He wants to grow me into His image. Thank you Jesus for pruning me and making me more like you. May I never forget your cross. You gave it all for me. Thank you Jesus.

Our Heart is God's Garden

In the Old Testament, it is clear that God created the garden and He created man and put man in the garden. In the New Testament, God doesn’t put man in the garden; He puts the garden in man. God made man out of the dust of the earth and God made our hearts the spiritual soil from which we grow. Our hearts encompass our spirit and soul.  When we are born again our spirit is changed instantly into the image of God (John 3:3-8) but our soul is changed in process. 

Our soul includes our mind, will and emotions   Our soul learns through our senses (sight, hearing) so what ever enters our soul by seeing, listening, reading or speaking changes the nature of the soul. First step to change our soul that thinks like the world instead of God is to change the way we feed our soul. Our mind, will, and emotions were all trained by our experiences, our parents, our feelings, our church and our school, the movies and our cultural mores. But what we need to do is to renew our soul. It has to be changed, reprogrammed, re-taught and retrained. We need to teach our soul to obey God and to think in agreement with the Word of God.   After becoming a Christian, the Bible instructs us to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). 

“A man out of the good treasure of his heart is going to bring forth good things, but a man out of the evil treasure of his heart is going to bring forth evil things.”  (Matthew 12:35)  So, whatever we sow is what we are going to reap. Our heart is going to produce the issues or the harvests of whatever it is that we put into our life. “Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flow the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:18-20)   

A pearl to string: Christianity is not just another religion.  It is the life of God abiding within and flowing out of the believer. Other religions leave you the same person you were before.  But the wonderful thing about the Christian life is that it will completely transform us.  That's good news to me since I have what my Grandma called , "a wild hair".  My soul needs Jesus. 

He has set eternity in our hearts

Keep growing in Him,

                              Lyndi