God and Our Hearts.

The following verse was written about Jesus.

"And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth..."  Isaiah 11:3,4

Most of us judge a person by what they do and what they say. Some of us think we are great judges of character, but honestly, we're not. We simply don't have enough information.

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  1 Samuel 16:7  

God judges by seeing a person's heart. What is their intent? What childhood and background did this person have and how did it affect his actions and thoughts? 

I've written about my grandson, Craig, who died one night after drinking too much. He also had a trace of cocaine in his system. He lay face down on a sofa and smothered. He was 21, and a young man full of emotional pain. 

I have said I believe my grandson was saved by Jesus because in his heart he wanted to live better. He wanted to tell teens at high schools not to go on drugs, even though he was doing them himself. He told his brother he wanted to one day have a wife and kids and he wanted the same for his brother so they could always be close and their children grow up together. He was attracted to what was good.

 At his funeral, we were amazed by how many people he helped in his short life. People came who had been in elementary school with him and told us of how Craig had helped them - with school work and also coping with life.

But there was a dark side to Craig, his pain also made him lash out at people. He did some really bad things. He told me once, "I regret so many things I did."  But the problem was, he kept doing them.

Well, the point of me writing this is that one day this year, I was on a Christian site and a man there took a dislike to me. (How is that possible?) lol  He read my post on Craig and came back to the Christian site and said, "This woman believes drug addicts will be saved!"   

The church I grew up in would probably say that a drug addict would have to change before he could be saved. But since our standing with God is not by our works but by our belief in him, I do believe people who are doing wrong will be saved because as the Scriptures say, God looks on the heart. It is our heart we will take to heaven with us when Jesus comes. If our heart loves what is good, (even if we can't do it) we will be very happy in heaven where all is good and beautiful. 

My grandson had a friend who wore spikes around his neck and arms and was pierced on his face. He wore black all the time and I guess some people would be afraid of him. But he was one of Craig's nicest friends. His father was a Hell's Angel and had beaten him all his childhood. All of Craig's friends either had no fathers or mean ones. When you see a young person who looks scary, remember that God sees his childhood and his heart. 

Let's not judge people by what they do, what they look like or what they say. Let's leave all judging to God. Only he is wise enough to judge a human heart.

Why Did God Send A Flood?

I've heard some people say they think it was awful for God to send a flood and kill all those people. I've heard the same about Sodom too. I've always accepted God's judgement on those people because I know he is wise, loving and just.  Personally, I wouldn't want to live next door to Sodom and I doubt you would either if you read the story. (It isn't about gay people; it's about rape and murder.)

As I was reading Genesis along with a Bible Commentary, I found out there are those who say it may be that God foresaw the inhabitants of the world killing each other off; that their death was inevitable. The original Hebrew could mean that.

The Bible says, "Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth."

Pulpit Commentary

"...while a third, that the end spoken of is the issue to which the moral corruption of the world was inevitably tending (Keil, Lange), does not materially differ from the first."

"has come before me" ...is in the contemplation of my mind as an event soon to be realized" (Murphy), with perhaps a glance at the circumstance that man s ruin had not been sought by God, but, as it were, had thrust itself upon his notice as a thing that could no longer be delayed.

There was one man on earth who was not evil and violent: Noah. If God had not intervened, perhaps the violent people of the earth would have killed him and his family and then each other.

"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time."

Genesis 6:5

Thank God we cannot say that of the world today. There are many people filled with the Spirit of God yet in the world; there are many people who have not given themselves over to evil completely.

I do see this similarity between now and Noah's day: violence. Violence is filling the world more and more, or at least it seems so. But there is also something new: global warming. The Bible speaks of days of immense heat. Are we going to destroy ourselves as the antedeluvians were going to destroy themselves through violence?

This is written about in Isaiah:


 The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.   Isaiah 24:4-6

"Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment And its inhabitants will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not wane." 

Isaiah 5:16

"The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, 

and it was given to it to scorch men with fire."   Rev.16:8

One of the last plagues on earth is the sun burning people. God won't be doing it to us, it will be the result of losing the layers above the earth that protect us. It will be the result of the sin of polluting the earth.

What did Jesus say about this time:

"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."   Matthew 24:21,22

"And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.   Rev. 11:18

"Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.   Psalm 102:25

We are now destroying the entire world with our pollution. Our only hope is in God, who will change our hearts into a heart like his: forgiving, loving, giving and compassionate. Our only hope for a new life in heaven is to give our life to Him who made us and died for us. 

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. 

And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  

And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.   Mathew 24:30,31

We may die before Jesus comes for us; or we may be alive when he comes to save us from a dying planet. We don't know, but we can know him who knows everything and trust him as he leads us. We can find peace and shelter under the shadow of his wings.

Love that Sacrifices.

“Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own”
– H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him."  Isaiah 53:6

Every good parent loves their children more than themselves. I remember the day my daughter, Sandy, was born. I held her in my arms and was overwhelmed by a feeling of love and responsibility. I realized I could not just live for myself any longer.

Sandy was so little, vulnerable and innocent. I was not a Christian when that day began, but I became one as I looked on her face. I asked God to help me raise this tiny human. I knew I would mess it up if he didn't help me. So, it was my baby daughter who brought me to Christ. I've always told her this. 

Her, and her sister's happiness was always more important to me than mine. Sometimes when they were very sick, I would ask God to take their sickness and give it to me. He did that only once and I remember being so grateful to have the pain off of them and put on to me.

When I have sinned and feel bad about myself and guilty, I remember God feels the same love for me as I do for my children and grandchildren. No matter what they do, I love them. 

"Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. 
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."

Isaiah 49:15,16

"...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 
Hebrews 12:2

What was the "joy set before him"?  It was knowing his suffering and death would save billions of people who would come with him to heaven when he returned. It was joy because he loves people. He loves you and he loves me. He loves us more than he loves himself. 

Jesus was willing to go through terrible physical pain and humiliation. but not only that, he took sin upon himself and the Bible says, "he became sin." How that felt, we do not know, except that he sweat drops of blood and in his agony, he said to his father, "Why have you forsaken me?" 

His father had not forsaken him, for the Bible says that God was in Christ on the cross. But Jesus felt forsaken - all alone. He did not know if he would see his beloved father again. 

I remember once, my grandson told me that God couldn't love him because he had done so many bad things. I said, "Craig, God loves you even more than I do."  He knew the depth of my love for him, and I think he took to heart what I said because he began to pray to God after that.

Everything that Matters was Nailed to the Cross - Even You.

I was reading a book about how our salvation worked through Jesus' death on the cross. The author said it is mysterious and we won't understand it in this life.

I was telling my husband about this and he said, "I don't see why people don't get it. Jesus died on the cross and the law died on the cross. We are saved because he kept the law, was equal to the law (since he made it) and we can't keep the law so he did it for us."

I was a bit stunned because number one, I'm not a Bible scholar, and number two I had never thought about the law being nailed to the cross. I had heard from my church that it was only the ceremonial law that was nailed to the cross, but my husband showed me that was wrong. All law was nailed to the cross.

So, I was thinking about the 10 Commandments being nailed to the cross and Jesus too and then I remembered what Jesus said about taking up our own cross and following him.

"Then he (Jesus) said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  Luke 9:33

I started studying and I saw that it isn't our own separate cross we take up; we were nailed to Jesus' cross along with him.

 "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20

"But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin."  1John 1:7

Imagine being nailed to the cross with Jesus. His blood would pour out on us.

So, now the 10 Commandments are on the cross, Jesus is on the cross and we are on the cross.

Is anyone else on the cross?  Yes! God the Father and the Holy Spirit were on the cross because they are one. The Father is in Jesus and they are both in the Holy Spirit and they were on the cross there suffering with Jesus in their hearts and minds.

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:19

I read that the law was like a contract signed to buy a house. But you don't have good credit so you get a co-signer. Maybe your parents. Then you decide you can't keep the house. It is too much money, it is too hard to pay and you walk away. The house must be paid for. No getting the bank to forgive that loan, so the co-signer must pay. 

Someone had to pay for the laws of the universe being broken and this is where the hard part comes in, understanding why.  All I know is that the co-signer has the money. You don't; he does. And he is glad to pay it for you! It is a sacrifice for him but he loves you. You can even live in the house- he gives it to you free of charge.

Okay, so this is what I've been thinking about for two days and I'm not sure why, but I love the image of the cross with the broken Commandments, Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit and me hanging there all together with the blood of Jesus covering everything.

When you think about it, everything that really matters in the universe is hanging on the cross.

I'm Not Good Enough to Be A Christian.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

a King who will reign wisely

and do what is just and right in the land.

In his days Judah will be saved

and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name by which he will be called:

The Lord is Our Righteousness.

Jeremiah 23:6

Are you a Christian who has given up or feels terrible about how much you sin?  Are you someone who doesn't become a Christian because you think you can never be good enough?

I have been both of these people.

But there is good news.

The Lord Jesus is our righteousness. 

Jesus lived a righteous life for us. 

He knows we  cannot be righteous.

His righteousness covers us like a robe or coat.

We can, "come boldly to the throne of grace..." just as we are - every day.

"And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was recorded but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Romans 4:22,23

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile."  Romans 3:22

"..that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  Philippians 3:8-11

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags."  Isaiah 64:6

We are saved by grace through our faith (or belief in God and that he sent his Son to save us) not by one thing we do. 

Eternal Life.

If someone would have asked me what eternal life is; I would have told them it is living forever.

I heard a preacher say that was wrong. Jesus told us what eternal life was.

He said, "And this is eternal life, that they might know you (God the Father) and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."  John 17:3

The preacher said eternal life is not a time-span.

Eternal life is a person.

I was at a family dinner one time and one of my son-in-laws asked me, "Do you know God, Belle?"  I answered, "Yes." Then he asked everyone at the table, my daughters and their children, "Does she know God?"  They said, "Yes."

But, now I would say, "I know him in a small way. I am learning about him and knowing him better day by day."  Because what I thought I knew about God has grown and expanded from the day I gave my life to him when I was nineteen. And I won't fully know him until I am in heaven and can learn more and more of his love and goodness.

How can we know God? Read the Bible each day and tell God you want to know him. It's that simple, but also hard because we must persevere and not give up.  ""You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."  Jeremiah 29:13

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24

"I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart."  Jeremiah 24:7

"And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest."  Hebrews 8:11

"If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  John 14:7

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me."  john 10:14

"Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?"  John 14:9

Immanuel.

Jesus wasn't loaned to us. He was given to us forever. He is still what he called himself so many times, "The Son of Man," yet he sits on the throne with his father. They have united with their created beings. What did Jesus give up to become a man? What did God the Father give up when he gave his only son? We don't know now, but perhaps someday.

"For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty

will accomplish this."

Isaiah 9:6,7

"All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us')."

Isaiah 7:14

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

A Time for Tears and Joy.

Photo by Laitche

Who is God?

He is the creator of time and space.

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
To every thing there is a season,.... A set determined time, when everything shall come into being, how long it shall continue, and in what circumstances; all things that have been, are, or shall be, were foreordained by God, and he has determined the times before appointed for their being, duration, and end; which times and seasons he has in his own power: there was a determined time for the whole universe, and for all persons and things in it; a settled fixed moment for the world to come into being; for it did not exist from everlasting, nor of itself, nor was formed by the fortuitous concourse of atoms, but by the wisdom and power of God; nor could it exist sooner or later than it did; it appeared when it was the will of God it should; in the beginning he created it, and he has fixed the time of its duration and end; for it shall not continue always, but have an end, which when it will be, he only knows: so there is a determined time for the rise, height, and declension of states and kingdoms in it; as of lesser ones, so of the four great monarchies; and for all the distinct periods and ages of the world; and for each of the seasons of the year throughout all ages; for the state of the church in it, whether in suffering or flourishing circumstances; for the treading down of the holy city; for the prophesying, slaying, and rising of the witnesses; for the reign and ruin of antichrist; for the reign of Christ on earth, and for his second coming to judgment, though of that day and hour knows no man: and as there is a set time in the counsels and providence of God for these more important events, so for every thing of a lesser nature...

Who am I?

A grandma who lost her dear grandson. But I trust God's timing and purpose in his death. Today is his birthday, a time we miss him very much, although Christmas and Thanksgiving are the hardest. But something wonderful happened yesterday that made this day happy for me.

Craig's brother, Jordan, asked his mom to buy him a Bible. He was reading a tiny Bible I had given him many years ago. It was a New Testament and Psalms Bible. He said he heard about a text and wanted to look it up but his little Bible didn't have that book. So he asked why it didn't. Sandy told him he only had half a Bible and then came and got a new Bible from me and gave it to him. I am so full of joy right now! I was thanking God over and over, because I didn't know if Jordan would ever be interested in knowing God or not.

Jordan loved his brother so much. I think perhaps Craig's death has lead him to search for God because he wants very much to see his brother again. This is how God brings beauty out of ashes! "Oh Lord, I do pray they will see each other again and be together with you forever in heaven."

When I heard about Jordan, I remembered the praise Mary gave God when she was visiting her cousin Elizabeth. I looked it up and the words describe how I feel today.

And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

Luke 1 :46-55