Once upon a time…

Once upon a time…

Once upon a time in a land far far away there lived a little dog named Shiloh. He was a happy dog who loved car rides and belly scratches. When left alone he suffered from anxiety and would chew things including and not limited to dumping the trash and spreading it around the house. So the master of the dog kept him close by his side. He made sure to talk to Shiloh often and reassure him that, he, the master, would never be too far away.

The master feeds the dog the same food almost every day. He doesn’t clothe the dog as the dog wears the same coat every single day. Yet the dog doesn’t care; he is happiest when the master is home and doesn’t fuss about such things as food or clothes.

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.” Matthew 6:26-34

As in Matthew, so here too, you are to the master even more than a dog. He cares for you. “…you count far more to Him than…” dogs.

you are LOVED,
cj

Heard for Ourselves

Heard for Ourselves

“We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:42

We, that have given our hearts to Jesus in faith, because we believe, once did so because someone told us about Him. Hopefully, however, as you have grown and matured in your relationship with Jesus, you no longer believe just because of someone else…but because you have a personal relationship with Him.

i was 8ish years old. It was a Sunday morning and Pastor Scott preached a salvation message. He concluded with a call to respond, and so i did. i did so because i heard the words of Pastor Scott. His message somehow resonated with me and stirred my heart to respond. i believed because of Pastor Scott. It was several years and many trials later that i would rekindle that relationship with Jesus and go from believing based on someone else to believing because i knew HIM.

When our relationship is built on someone else’s faith, someone else’s belief, our own understanding is weak. As we grow and mature in Christ on our own through study, prayer, conversation and research our faith becomes our own! My prayer for you is that you grow in your personal relationship with Jesus and that your faith is based on; “…’I’ no longer believe just because of what you said; now ‘I’ have heard for ‘myself’, and ‘i’ know that this man ‘Jesus’ really is the Savior of the world.”

“Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it, you may grow in respect to salvation” 1 Peter 2:2

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

 you are LOVED,
cj