Pause for a Second

This was written by friend Caylin. It is SO good I just had to share it :)

This is how we do it. We sit and learn our brains, throw our hats and work the grains. Make big money for more learning, and more learning for more earnings. We go build ourselves our mansions and fancy reputations. There's little life to savor so forget about our neighbor. No room for selfless sacrifice and our hearts now they roll the dice.



We throw it all away at the end of our day and step on others' shoulder to make us even taller. We find safety in the madness, denying that our life's a mess. Before we know it we're old and grown and the only thing we own is not the shirts on our backs but an emptiness inside. "Was it worth it? Was it foolishness? How can I ever fix this mess?" This is our own doing.



Pause this now, quit cryin'. Look up and see Orion of whose belt God buckled with his own hands, the same God who's numbered the grains of all the sands. He holds electrons in their orbit, sustains all life, and more than that: God has made us in His image. We're His children called by name, not one of us the same. He has planned and he has purposed. Displays pure justice and divine mercy. Remember? Sins wiped away? What now have we left to say?



Now tell me what's worth living. Go back and work the grain, pursue a life of fame, or shall we invest in an eternity? Forever peace with God the King? Oh, isn't it exciting?



I know people think it's strange that I wear a ring alone but it reminds me that God owns this life I'm living. Stay humble. Keep on giving. There's thrill in this purpose. I was made for God's service. And for me no gain is lost, see, Christ in me, He paid the cost. My plate now is clean--God and I a team.



This is how I'll live this life. Worth every second of my strife. I'll stand on God's word, the Solid Rock, I've learned. A foundation never changing. Thank God for some consistency, 'cause the world is so unstable. Now I'm at God's table and I'm home. This is where I want to be. I've tasted His food and know that it is good. My soul is satisfied.



"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.'"



- Matthew 16:24-28 NIV

"dead"...?

Today as I was tending our humongous 30 year old Christmas cactus I found some dead connections of leaves. They had fallen to the base of the plant. Collecting the dead "branches" <-- If you would call them that, I was about to throw them away. As the waste was about to meet its doom, my Mom said something that got me thinking. She said, "If you take those and put the ends in water, they will actually start growing new life again." There is so much truth in this, not just for the plant but in regards to salvation. We are the broken and "dead" branches, fallen because of our sin. But we are given new life because of God, and his decision not to throw us away but to put us in replenishing water.

"Scripture does not portray people as merely sick or even confined to intensive care. They are spiritually dead. They are religious and moral cadavers! Yes, people are very much alive physically and mentally and emotionally. But they are dead spiritually. This is not to say that faith and repentance are unnecessary. If a man is to be saved it will be through faith, or not at all. But because he is spiritually lifeless, he must first be made alive by the power of God’s grace before he is able to repent and believe." Sam Storms

We are only saved and made alive by his grace and mercy! Words cannot describe how thankful I am for that.

Ephesians 2:1-2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

He's callin...

As we all know, even when a man turns from God, God's mercy and grace is always reaching out. This "invitation" continually tugs at this man. Finally, with one last glance at the invitation he makes his decision. It sends chills up your spine and possibly brings tears to your eyes as the doors open and the man takes off his hat, smiling. A silent way of saying, "I'm finally home."

Held.

My God loves me,

He holds me like a mother holds her child,

Caresses my heart when I am downtrodden,

Blows away my fears like whispers in the wind,

There is none like him.

My greatest desire is to please him,

He covets my thoughts and prayers like none other,

It saddens him to see me fall,

It gladdens him to see me succeed,

He is my father.

I am his princess.

Words may make me stumble,

But he grasps my wrist and pulls me up.

Always loyal...always...there.

These are just words that were on my heart, I hope they speak to yours.....:)

Be a willing tool in Gods hands, who knows what you could accomplish!

"When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ and He shows me His plan for me; The plan of my life, as it might have been, and I see how I blocked Him here and checked Him there and would not yield my will. Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes, grief though He loves me still? He would have me rich, but I stand there poor, stripped of all but His grace while memory runs like a haunted thing down a path I can't retrace. Then my desolate heart will well nigh break with tears I cannot shed. I'll cover my face with my empty hands, I'll bow my uncrowned head"...then this prayer..."Oh, Lord of the years that are left to me, I give them to Thy hand. Take me, break me, mold me to the pattern that Thou hast planned." -- John MACARTHUR