The Run of the House
Growing up as a young boy, I used to enjoy going over to my Aunt Geneva's house on the other side of Macon. It was so different.
We lived in the country on 40 acres of land in a mobile home. Our nearest neighbor was a quarter of a mile away. The nearest grocery store was 5 miles, school was 6.
Aunt Geneva's house was in the city. A store was on the corner, and school was down the street. Railroad tracks ran alongside the street, and one of the busiest streets in the whole town was a block away.
But it was her house that really fascinated me.
It was old, with high ceilings, fireplaces, and wood floors. Every room seemed to lead to another. I don't believe there was a hall in the place. And I explored every inch of it from the attic to my uncle's aborted attempt to build a Cold War bomb shelter in the basement.
Except the living room.
It was off limits to kids. All kids. Even extra specially good kids like me. Oh I would look over into it and notice the gleaming wood floors, the perfect furniture and antiques. But to go into it? Never happen. I thought of that today when I read this verse.
1 John 4:16-17(Msg)
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's.
When we give Christ our lives and pledge to follow Him, what we are doing is throwing open all the doors in our life and saying to Jesus, "come on in. My house is your house."
And since God is love, His nature begins to affect what we do, until we do what he would do in an increasing attempt to be like Him. We don't hold Him away from any area of our lives.
And love has the run of the house.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Friday, September 03, 2004
Thursday, September 02, 2004
When Tomorrow Didn't Come
September 3, 1752 never came.
I'm not sure what everyone was looking forward to, but having the government steal 11 days from their lives must have meant something to the British people - they rioted in the streets.
The kingdom had adopted the Gregorian Calendar (developed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582) to replace the inaccurate calendar created by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. And in order to catch up to the new order of days, 11 whole days were lost forever.
You know we can't count on tomorrow...
1 Peter 4:7-11 (Msg)
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted.
Stay wide-awake in prayer. [8] Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. [9] Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. [10] Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: [11] if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help.
That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
No, we can't count on tomorrow, but we can count on God! And practice God's plan for living like there was no tomorrow - Stuff the most acts of caring and love for your fellow man into every single day - loving God through them. That way God will get the credit.
Don't worry about tomorrow. Just live to please the One Who gives us each day - each day.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
September 3, 1752 never came.
I'm not sure what everyone was looking forward to, but having the government steal 11 days from their lives must have meant something to the British people - they rioted in the streets.
The kingdom had adopted the Gregorian Calendar (developed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582) to replace the inaccurate calendar created by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. And in order to catch up to the new order of days, 11 whole days were lost forever.
You know we can't count on tomorrow...
1 Peter 4:7-11 (Msg)
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted.
Stay wide-awake in prayer. [8] Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. [9] Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. [10] Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: [11] if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help.
That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
No, we can't count on tomorrow, but we can count on God! And practice God's plan for living like there was no tomorrow - Stuff the most acts of caring and love for your fellow man into every single day - loving God through them. That way God will get the credit.
Don't worry about tomorrow. Just live to please the One Who gives us each day - each day.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
To Give Voice To Our Hearts
I've been cranky.
There, I've said it to a few hundred of my closest friends. :)
It happens.
Mostly when something is really bothering me.
When all my time honored ways of dealing with discontent aren't working.
Don't you have those? We used to call them "work-arounds", or "patches" in the computer business.
They were handy when you couldn't fix the problem right then. When you were too busy, too overwhelmed, or just too tired to look into it. So you'd work around it.
You can get to the isle of discontent from a lot of places. Worry can send you there. Hurt will buy you a ticket. And you can work around it by feeding your face (there was a time when a half gallon of Bryers..), or feeding your ego (wouldn't I look good in that...), or just retreating into a shell.
But you knew eventually you'd have to face up to what ailed you, and deal with it. And at times, it's hard to put "it" into words. It's hard to give voice to our hearts.
Today I was listening to a worship song, in the stillness of my study, and every barrier fell. Every wall I had put around my heart came down, and the love of Christ flooded in. As the music played, "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on me." He did.
Later, I came across this verse and it said exactly what I felt.
Romans 8:26 (Msg)
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.
Our loving God gives voice to our hearts, to our very souls. When words fail us, His love never does, for He needs no words to communicate with us. We are in Him, and He is in us. It doesn't matter if we cannot say one word. When our hearts turn toward Him...
He hears.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
I've been cranky.
There, I've said it to a few hundred of my closest friends. :)
It happens.
Mostly when something is really bothering me.
When all my time honored ways of dealing with discontent aren't working.
Don't you have those? We used to call them "work-arounds", or "patches" in the computer business.
They were handy when you couldn't fix the problem right then. When you were too busy, too overwhelmed, or just too tired to look into it. So you'd work around it.
You can get to the isle of discontent from a lot of places. Worry can send you there. Hurt will buy you a ticket. And you can work around it by feeding your face (there was a time when a half gallon of Bryers..), or feeding your ego (wouldn't I look good in that...), or just retreating into a shell.
But you knew eventually you'd have to face up to what ailed you, and deal with it. And at times, it's hard to put "it" into words. It's hard to give voice to our hearts.
Today I was listening to a worship song, in the stillness of my study, and every barrier fell. Every wall I had put around my heart came down, and the love of Christ flooded in. As the music played, "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on me." He did.
Later, I came across this verse and it said exactly what I felt.
Romans 8:26 (Msg)
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.
Our loving God gives voice to our hearts, to our very souls. When words fail us, His love never does, for He needs no words to communicate with us. We are in Him, and He is in us. It doesn't matter if we cannot say one word. When our hearts turn toward Him...
He hears.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
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