Tag: love

Safe and Secure

Published on by Nancy13 Comments

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He sat at the round bistro table, feet dangling from his chair.  His white socks stretched to his knees, legs swaying, eagerly waiting for a slice of pizza to satisfy his little appetite.
His tiny mouth puckered around the tip of a straw sipping orange soda while his big, round, dark eyes looked sideways toward his daddy.  He sipped then spoke, sometimes placing his little face in front of his daddy’s eyes.
Deep in conversation they were.  The little one asking questions about many topics.  He had an array of queries about history, math, sports — you name it — he was covering everything and his daddy paid close attention to every detail of every sentence.
Never once did I see a smart phone sitting on their table or in the hands of the father.  Not even to record the special moment with a snap of the camera.  His undivided attention focused on his son.  The little one with the dark spiked hair and toothless grin was of utmost importance to his daddy and the little guy was comfortable in his presence.
If he squirmed or got restless, his daddy responded with gentleness for his son to stay patient for just a little longer.
He watched his father closely and emulated him.   Where his dad placed his napkin, his fork and his drink, the boy did the same.
After sinking his teeth into his first bite of pizza the little boy’s big dark eyes grew bigger.  Glancing at daddy, he tapped his shoulder and said a simple, “Thank you.”
The daddy leaned toward his son, smiled and wiped a little sauce from the boy’s face.   The loving affection for his son was clear and the son sat securely and comfortably in that love.
Their exchange was inspiring.
Is my relationship with my Father in Heaven that comfortable?
Jesus called God the warm; intimate child-like Aramaic word,  Abba Father, a tender, endearing name (like papa or daddy would be).  It’s a perfect example of the affectionate, dependent relationship He had with His Father.
And He wants that for us too.
No lofty prayer, no special words, no cleaning up is necessary before we sit in our Father’s presence.  He’ll wipe our stains clean through Christ.
We can just be ourselves.  We can ask questions.  We can share our needs.  We can say thank you for His unconditional love and for His constant encouragement to reach higher and become better.
And even when we don’t speak, He reads our hearts and responds to our deepest needs.
The good Father challenges us to let go of indifference and to reach, stretch, share and love — like He does.
The hard places discipline us under His careful watch and lead us to say yes to His yes instead of shaking our heads in defiance.
When we say yes to His yes, I bet He smiles.
When He says no to us, I hope we understand that He has only our best interest in mind.
When we ask Him for our heart’s desires, sometimes His answers come as YES, sometimes they come as NO and sometimes they come as NOT NOW — just wait.
But it’s not about the answers.  Not really.  It’s about Him and our relationship with Him and when we realize that’s all we really need, it becomes enough.

Blessings!      Nancy © 2015

Expressions of Love

Published on by Nancy9 Comments
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“Because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.”  Sarah Kay

I’m not sure why I was having a bad day.  It was several years ago.  All I remember was there were tears and I wanted a little slice of time to myself.
Bob left the house and returned later with a box of Good and Plenty, handed it to me and said, “I thought this might make you feel a little better.”
I smiled, opened the box and we went for a walk while I ate my candy.
And you know what?  That simple gesture of love lifted my spirits.
He could have brought home a dozen roses, a box of chocolates and a diamond ring and it wouldn’t have had the same effect.
I’m not saying those gifts would be meaningless but there’s a time and place for everything.
The little box of Good and Plenty was perfect.
Why?  Because it came from someone who has studied me, therefore knows me and my husband picked a simple, thoughtful gift for that day.  Knowing that Good and Plenty was one of my favorite childhood candies, he went out and bought a box.
It was just an ordinary day, with me needing a little encouragement and my husband decided that Good and Plenty may do the trick.  I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I ate that candy–it was many years ago so it was a special surprise.
Silly, huh?  But you know what?  It’s often the simplest gestures of love that mean the most.
As hard as I try to remember, I can’t recall why I was so sad that day and either does Bob but we both remember the gift of Good and Plenty and how it made me feel.
That’s important information for many of us to remember, especially during the month of February when images of love abound as we approach Valentine’s Day.
We can start by studying our loved ones, making mental notes of their likes and favorite things, listening for clues of what may lift their spirits, bring them joy, put a smile on their face and then follow through with a simple gift.
It doesn’t have to happen on Valentine’s Day.  Actually, an unexpected gift expressing love on any day has even more meaning and impact.  However, Valentine’s Day is as good a day as any to express our love to a spouse, child, friend and even a stranger with a random act of kindness.
Sometimes bigger isn’t better and less really is more.  One simple rose (in a favorite color) placed in beautiful vase instead of a dozen roses — a box or boxes of favorite childhood candy instead of a box of expensive chocolates — think, study, explore, put thought into purchasing a simple gift and then share your love.
I took the photo of the sunset, at the top of this post, on February 13, 2014 in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico.  My husband and I were walking the shoreline when we noticed that the sparkling reflection of the sun on the sand looked like a heart.
I refer to that photo as the night that God kissed the shore with a heart for us just in time for Valentine’s Day–a reminder of his love for us.
His love cost everything he had — his only son and his very life.  That’s truly the only BIG GIFT worth receiving, because that’s how we learn how to love even in the smallest of ways.
We love because he first loved us.  (1 John 4:19)
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
The greatest gift is LOVE–go out and express it in creative ways and give someone a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Blessings!  Nancy ❤    © 2015



			
		

	
	



			
				



	
	

		
		
When too much salt spoils the soup

				

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It was a cool autumn day, lunch time, and a hearty bowl of soup sounded good.


Bob and I stopped at a familiar restaurant and ordered the vegetable beef soup and a salad.


As we waited for our lunch, we sipped our coffee.  Not just good coffee but great coffee — something the restaurant is known for and we enjoyed every drop.


When our meal arrived, I scooped up the steaming liquid brimming with chunky veggies and bits of beef and tasted my first spoonful.


Bob asked, “So how is it?”  I swallowed then responded, “It’s flavorful.  Almost too flavorful.  Actually, It’s pretty salty.”


He tried his.  “Wow, you know me, I like my meals salted well but this is overpowering.”


Both of us kept remarking how salty the soup was with every spoonful.  I don’t know why we didn’t send it back.  We should have.


By the time we left, we had a bad taste in our mouths.  Not only because of the overpowering salty soup but toward the restaurant who served it.


On this side of that lunch experience, we have lost our desire to go back there to eat.  We’ve steered clear of it ever since.


Just one bad experience, from a normally good establishment, and we don’t want to return.


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 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13


Recently I’ve heard several people say that Christians have lost their saltiness.


That statement may be true in certain situations.  Salt was used as a preservative in the first century, because of the lack of refrigeration.


Followers of Christ are like preservatives in the world, preserving it from evil.  I get that.


But salt back then was also used as a flavor enhancer.  Just as it is now.  That hasn’t changed.


Followers of Christ should enhance the flavor of our world.  We should influence the world toward good, bringing out the best in it just as salt brings out the best flavors in the food we eat.


    

  • Where there is strife we are peacemakers
    • 

  • Where there is sorrow we are comforters
    • 

  • Where there is hurt we should bind up wounds
    • 

  • Where there is hate we should love
    • 



Did you ever notice the gentle way Jesus engaged the broken, sick, sorrowful, hurting, unloved, abused people in conversation?   With great love.


Did you ever notice who He was the harshest with?  The religious leaders.  The ones who loved to use their religious rules to pour salt into the wounds of people.  The ones with the judgmental pointing fingers — pointing out all the wrongs in others — those were the ones that He was harshest with.


How thankful I am that Christianity isn’t about religion but about a relationship with Christ.  He doesn’t force Himself into anyone’s life but when we open our lives to Him a beautiful relationship begins.  Out of that loving relationship comes the salt of the world.




Back to the soup story.  It tasted as if someone had removed the top of the salt shaker and, instead of a little sprinkling, all the contents ended up into the bowl.


It was too much of a good thing.  A lesser amount would have been perfect.


“You are the salt of the world…


Sure we can lose our saltiness but we can also be guilty of using too much salt and become overbearing like the salty soup we ate that autumn day.


The grace given to us is a flavor enhancer to sprinkle on our surroundings by using just the right amount at just the right time.


We don’t want to pour our salt into the wounds of the hurting.  Those who are grieving over their choices, or the choices of others, those who are trying to take steps back to God don’t need our salt poured out carelessly.


And even if someone isn’t taking steps toward God, even if they don’t agree with us or we don’t agree with their lifestyle, the right amount of salt doesn’t judge.  It loves. It’s patient.  And it’s respectful.


A little salt goes a long way to flavor the lives of others and possibly wet their appetites.


Then hopefully, through God’s grace, they won’t leave our company with a bad taste in their mouths.  I think that glorifies God.  Don’t you?


Blessings!  Nancy ❤


			
		

	
	



			
				



	
	

		
		
It’s the little things

				

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Christmas is over but there’s still remnants left.  There’s a bag of crumpled wrapping paper tucked behind a stool in my living room.  The lights still twinkle on my decorated tree and there’s a few cookie crumbs on a plate sitting next to me on my dining room table.


My fingers click away on my laptop amid all the signs of the Holiday and my thoughts drift back to when my living room was full of chatter and laughter just days before.


Family gathered around our decorated home on Christmas to share a meal, share gifts and share memories of years past.  Lots of the memories hang from the branches of our Christmas tree.  It’s always fun to look at the ornaments and recall the memory attached to each one.  And finally we shared an indoor snowball fight with a pail of forty synthetic snowballs.


I think the best purchase, hands down, that I made this year was that pail of indoor snowballs.  They actually feel like the real deal minus the cold.  I grabbed one and threw it at my son.  Startled he sat back in his chair, smiled and said, “What?  Are those snowballs?”  Then came the laughter while snowballs, being tossed at one another, filled our living room.


In those moments, watching, listening, observing nothing was wrong and all was right in the world.


A few days before Christmas, I was making my mom’s traditional date nut bread–a recipe that she handed down to me.  As I mixed the batter, I watched a couple of neighbor boys, through my kitchen window, playing catch in the street.  As they threw the ball their dog ran along side it trying catch it in his mouth.  The sun was shining, it was 45 degrees and they didn’t have jackets on.  It’s unusual in this area to have such mild temps at this time of year.  What’s even more unusual is seeing kids running and playing outside at anytime of the year in this electronic age.


As I watched the game outside and prepared the nut bread, my thoughts went back in time–a time that seemed a little simpler–with my mom baking the bread and the streets filled with kids throughout the neighborhood and usually in the snow at this time of year.  Being inside the house for too long, wasn’t that common back then for kids.


Then I burst into song.  A song that I wouldn’t ordinarily think of.  I can’t carry a tune and you won’t catch me singing out loud in front of you but alone I’ll belt out anything…


I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.


I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.


The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

They’re really saying I love you.


I hear babies crying, I watch them grow

They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.


Louis Armstrong ©1967


…and I think to myself it’s a wonderful world… and I hummed it for the rest of the day.


The hum carried on through Christmas and there was nothing wrong in my world.


But we all know there is something wrong.  We read the headlines, listen to the news, hear the stories, hear the cries, see the suffering, hearts get broken, tears flow…


We’d like it to stop.  We’d like to see peace on earth and good will toward men.


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Christmas began in the manger but it didn’t end there.  When we put away Christmas, let’s not put away Jesus.  That’s where hope starts.  That’s where love begins.  That’s where joy originates and that’s where peace flows.


Among the chaos of the world, that little child in the little manger brought us God. And He brought us the potential, through our dependence on Him, to have peace on earth and extend good will toward men and women.  It can only begin one heart at a time.


May we embrace it.  Embrace Him.  And in the midst of it all find joy in the little things in life–like those blessings mentioned in the song, “It’s a wonderful world” because the little pockets of joy that we find in the chaos of life are really the big things.


Written by Nancy Janiga @2014


			
		

	
	



			
				



	
	

		
		
No Lists, Just Love

				

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He’s making a list and checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty and nice, Santa Claus is coming to town…


Most of us have heard those familiar words many times.  The nice get a gift and the naughty, well…they don’t get anything or, if they’re lucky, they get a lump of coal.


As my husband and I were traveling down the expressway last week, my eyes caught a sign outside of a church facing the cars that were driving by.


 SANTA ISN’T THE ONLY ONE MAKING A LIST!


“What?!?  Did I read that right?  Santa isn’t the only one making a list!  That’s the message the church is communicating to those passing by?” I asked my husband.


On our next drive down that same expressway yesterday, I stayed alert watching for the sign.  I read it carefully thinking that maybe I was mistaken the first time but I wasn’t.  There in bold letters fastened to the large sign of the church were the words:


SANTA ISN’T THE ONLY ONE MAKING A LIST!


“If you want a gift, you better be good, because Santa is making a list and checking it twice and he’s gonna find out who is naughty and nice,” many parents sing the song and retell the story year after year.


It’s all in fun and I don’t think there’s one kid, that I know of anyway, that has been harmed or traumatized by the story of Santa.


But the message on the church sign?  I’m not so sure about that one.


Is that the message that they want the world to accept?  The message that God is making a list of all our wrongs and that we better be good or He won’t love us?  Is their message saying that we have to perform, do good works, clean up our act, obey the rules, or else?


I know there are thousands of good churches that communicate truth with love and I attend one.  I’m not implying that I know exactly the motive behind the sign but the perception comes across as God is making a list so if you’re naughty you better watch out!


We can shut ourselves up inside brick structures to make us feel safe.  We can hide behind programs, methods, procedures to puff ourselves up and think we’re secure because we’re us inside and not them outside.


We can point out the wrongs in others, forgetting who we are (or who we once were) and erect barricades of false security, we can have rules that make us harsh judges or we can have LOVE.


There in the manger on that quiet night long ago LOVE was born.  When we were the naughtiest LOVE came for us.  Jesus was born to die that we may live.  He took our punishment so we wouldn’t have to.


He knew our list of wrongs, all too well, and left His throne of glory and came down to rescue us.


We receive the gift; the greatest gift when we deserve it the least–we don’t have to be good enough to receive it.  All we have to do is accept it.


That’s the beauty of the gift.  God wipes our list clean in one swift stroke and writes across it PAID IN FULL.  Then slowly but surely we’re transformed in a way that rules could never accomplish.  


When we have LOVE, know LOVE, and extend LOVE our pointing fingers will come down.  Then the greatest gift of Christmas, who wrapped himself in love and is LOVE, can keep on giving…


Written by Nancy Janiga ©2014






			
		

	
	



			
				



	
	

		
		
The Light That Keeps on Giving

				

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Twinkling lights are sure to catch our eye at this time of year.  We’re attracted by their shimmer through our neighborhoods and homes.


I especially enjoy waking up in the morning before dawn and clicking on my Christmas tree lights.  Sitting in the dark with just the glow from the tree is the best part of my day.


Light.  We’re drawn to light.


Jesus referred to himself as the light of the world.  Yet Isaiah 53:2 tells us that, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him”.


The light of the world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords didn’t enter this world with majestic brilliance.  There wasn’t any pomp and circumstance, fanfare, no castle, no royal clothes, no trumpets sounding or a parade to usher in his arrival.  


He wasn’t draped in purple but in simple swaddling cloths.  He didn’t have a cradle just an animal’s trough as a bed.


Surrounded by the smells and sounds of animals and with the love of his parents–a carpenter and young peasant girl–he came quietly, modestly into our world.


Today whenever there is news out of England of a royal birth, the airways, the internet, the media explodes with the light of the announcement.


The only spectacular light that shone the night Jesus was born was around the shepherds.  An angel brought the shepherds the birth announcement surrounded with the glory of God.


Then the sky resounded with shouts of praise from a multitude of angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  Luke 2: 14


The shepherds–who were considered the lowly of the low–they were the ones standing in the company of angels and surrounded with God’s glowing presence.


Did you ever notice that God does things completely the opposite of the way we would expect?


Consider King David whom Jesus descended from–he was just a young shepherd boy tending the sheep when Samuel arrived at his father Jesse’s house to anoint the next king.  Samuel thought for sure it would be David’s older brother, Eliab but the Lord told Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  All of David’s older, stronger brothers weren’t picked by God.  David the youngest, smallest less obvious son was anointed by Samuel to become the next king.  (You can read the story in 1 Samuel 16).  


Our world often focuses outwardly on appearances, the bigger, the better, the beautiful, the powerful, we love the wow factor and success is often measured by the opinions of people.


Jesus’ wow factor came from his words of authority, his light came from turning the attitudes and thoughts of his culture upside down and inside out.


Jesus lived a counter cultural lifestyle.  The King of Heaven’s light burned bright in the way he treated people.  He valued women, reached out to the poor, welcomed the downtrodden, was merciful, associated with those that earthly kings despised, he comforted, healed, loved and protected.  When the religious walked around with a holier-than-thou swagger pointing out the sin in others, Jesus embraced the sinner, offered them abundant life by encouraging them to follow him and he reprimanded the accusers.


Jesus was born to become Israel’s Savior (and ultimately the whole world’s) but the people of Israel thought he’d be a militant savior.  God himself, clothed in skin, didn’t come to save Israel from a political leader and to set them free from Roman bondage.  The people were looking for an earthly king, someone to rescue them from their circumstances.  When they didn’t get what they wanted, many walked away–they turned their back on Jesus.  Their souls became blinded by expectations and they couldn’t see past their perceived ideas.  They couldn’t see that he was their Spiritual Light to lead them back to God and give them eternal life.


Those who did believe, spread the light and it kept burning throughout the world until it reached us and now we, who believe, become light carriers and the Light of Christmas keeps on giving…


Christmas Blessings,


Nancy


			
		

	
	



			
				



	
	

		
		
The Kingdom Comes Through Us

				

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Have you ever been comforted, known peace, joy, love, faithfulness, goodness, or been sustained in other ways through the Spirit of God?  Have you been touched or helped by God through another person?  God’s grace is manifested in so many unique and surprising ways.


When we are blessed, it’s not to hoard the blessings, or to use them solely for our own comfort or to judge others outside of the faith.  We are blessed to be a blessing, to use the blessings–to become ‘kingdom come’ people.


We can spread the kingdom through a smile, a touch, a meal, friendship, a listening ear, a prayer–it’s meeting the needs of others and showing up when others may have turned away.  It’s being present; being the gift.


Jesus talked about seeing the signs of the kingdom displayed through us and he rarely pointed to big things.  It was more about washing each other’s feet.   (John 13:14).




Through his parables we see that the little things are the ways through which the kingdom is often spread: the yeast in the dough, the mustard seed, etc.  (Matthew 13:31-33).


The kingdom comes to earth through us in little ways and little events.  It’s like offering a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty.  It’s simple, easy, loving ministry.  (Matthew 10:42)


When we are available as a kingdom come person, opportunities will open right in front of us.  The question then becomes, will we take the challenge or walk away?  Will we be the person to offer that cup of cold water to a thirsty person?


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I’m always amazed at the situations that my husband, Bob, and I find ourselves in.  Even when far from home and traveling God goes ahead of us and with us to set up divine appointments.  God’s divine appointments certainly reach further than our own neighborhoods.


Last year while walking down a street in Sarasota, FL, we had one of those encounters.


This story is more about the willingness of my husband to be a kingdom come person than it is about me.  I just tagged along.


Our path intersected with a man.  Someone whose hands were bigger than my forearm and whose height towered over both my husband and me.  He shook our hands and introduced himself.  His name was Roy.  He walked beside us and talked and the more he talked the more we came to realize that he was homeless.


I wanted to turn, say goodbye, and move on.  I convinced myself that just praying for him would be enough.  I kept thinking, what if I was walking down this street alone?   But I wasn’t alone, I was there with Bob and something prevented Bob from turning away.  So we walked side by side with Roy.


We heard his whole heartbreaking story as we strolled down a neighborhood street.  He told us about his mother’s death, alone in the world, no direction, no coping skills, no help, no one, nobody, just this big guy up against the big world.  Alone.


As his story thickened, we learned about his prison stint.  Attempted murder he said but assured us it was just a fight with another man and that he was wrongly charged.  “You know, African-American men get raw deals sometimes,” he said.  When he got out of prison he was homeless and alcohol became a remedy for his pain.


I was thinking that would have been a great time to part ways but Bob asked him if he was hungry.  Roy said yes.


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We walked to a nearby restaurant and offered him a seat on their outside patio.


I talked more with Roy as Bob went inside to find a waiter and all along I kept wondering if those working in the restaurant would even agree to serve this homeless soul.


I asked Roy if he knew anyone else in the area that could help him.  He pointed to a Christian church a few blocks away and said that he had been there before, the pastor was kind to him and that maybe they could help.  I encouraged him to go talk to the pastor again.  He said that he would.


Bob gave the waiter some money and pointed to Roy and said, “Give him something to eat.”   The waiter’s eyes grew wide and said, “But I don’t know what he wants.”   Bob explained that Roy was homeless, hungry and that he’d probably eat anything but the waiter insisted on bringing him a menu.


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A pure expression of surprise came over Roy’s face when the waiter approached the table to serve him.  He placed the menu in front of Roy and said, “What can I get for you sir?”  Roy picked a pizza and water.


The waiter told Bob that most people would not have done what he did for Roy and called Bob a good man.  Bob explained that he was only doing what needed to be done and thanked the waiter for serving Roy.


As I watched the waiter bring Roy the menu, treat him with dignity at the linen covered table and prepare to serve him, I realized that God showed up through two willing men that afternoon–my husband and the waiter.


When we said our goodbyes, Bob told Roy that God loved him and would take care of him.  He said, “I know.”


Roy was ‘the least of these’ and the kingdom came to him that day in a tangible way through my husband and the waiter who didn’t refuse to serve Roy.


It reminds me of Matthew 25 and especially Matthew 25:40:  “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”


By being kingdom come people, we not only serve others but we are serving Jesus too.


Written by:  Nancy Janiga©2014


			
		

	
	



			
				



	
	

		
		
Spreading the Kingdom

				

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So I was reading the Lord’s prayer today.  You know the one that Jesus taught his disciples.


“This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…




Then I stopped.  What caught my attention is the part that says ‘your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’.


If Christians throughout history have prayed those words and we have prayed those words, you wouldn’t know it by the headlines.  I don’t see it in the news.  If his kingdom is coming and his will, at this time in history, is being done where is it?


I see war, talk of more war, prejudice, hate, violence, heartache, shootings, looting, abuse and the repeat button gets pushed daily.


Our Prince of Peace, more than likely, is weeping over all we hear and see in the news.


Hatred starts in the hearts of people.  People start wars.  People hate.  People become violent.  People cause heartache.  People are their own worst enemy.  The enemy lies within.


Where is the remedy?  Where is the peace?  It comes through the Prince of Peace and that is a heart issue.


We can’t legislate it, push it, create a law to follow it or demand it.   Even God had laws…the Ten Commandments.  They were all broken.  They were broken not only by them but by us–each one of us.  Maybe we didn’t break all of them but, I can pretty much guarantee, that we each have broken some of them.


Following rules are things that we do outwardly.  It’s a good thing to have a plumb line and boundaries but it’s not what changes us from the inside out.  Before real beauty, love, peace, community, and a ‘one another’ living together in perfect unity can ultimately be brought into the world, it has to come from REAL beauty, love, peace–all that and not only that.  It’s so much more.


It’s a person.  It’s not a religion, a program, a method.  It’s not morality, good behavior, a good example, a good message.  It’s a person.


Once that person…God himself through Christ occupies a person’s heart (the core of his being) then and only then, can the Kingdom come and his will be done.  It happens one person at a time and then has the potential to spread.


When Jesus’ light breaks through the fog of someone’s earthly existence, rest is found and peace follows.


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I needed a ‘Kingdom Come’ person–someone to point me to the truth.  We all do.  We all need truth.  It’s only truth that will set us free from ourselves and that is the only power that can ultimately change our headlines, one headline at a time.


Think about the person who was your ‘Kingdom Come’ person.


Who told you about God’s love?


Who told you that you could never pay the debt or work off your sin?


Who told you that it’s been paid in full?


Who told you that you can live in joy and freedom?


Who told you that you can’t change yourself and being moral isn’t the answer?


Who told you what Jesus’ death on the cross was about?


Who told you that because he is alive and because he lives forever you will too?


Who? What? When?


And if someone never told you then I am.  It’s simple. It’s Jesus.


When Jesus walked the earth, he spoke to two groups of people.  He spoke to the sinners and the self-righteous religious people ( who, by the way, were sinners but they didn’t think they were).  They thought that following the law could save them and make them righteous in God’s eyes.  The religious people hated Jesus, because he loved ‘sinners’ and spent time with them.


The truth is both groups needed Jesus then and they need Him now.


Once we get this straight, we can become ‘Kingdom Come People.’


There’s a world out there who needs Jesus through us–me, you, us!  It needs Christians to spread His LOVE.  One person at a time.


Then we must pray that the seeds of love that we sow will germinate, root, and grow deep into the soil of the hearts whom we share it with so His Kingdom Can Come On Earth As It Is In Heaven.


Written by: Nancy ©pensandjournals.com