Do you know Jesus?

Prayers go out to the families and friends of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. At some point over the past few decades, these were household names. Whether we appreciated them (or not) for their talents or for the people that they were, the face of the entertainment industry has been drastically changed.

“Did they know Jesus?” I’ve heard this question several times over the past week. At a recent wake for a friend’s family member, I overheard the statement “I hope she knew the Lord.” Several years ago when my grandma passed away, Morgan asked me “Do you think she’s in heaven with Jesus?”

We nod, maybe say a little prayer that the person we knew did know Jesus and is in Heaven, and then we move on. But, really, isn’t it a little late for that question? Shouldn’t we know the answer – particularly of those that we love? Shouldn’t we ask that question before they die?

Now, there’s not a doubt in my mind that my grandma is in Heaven smiling down on us – or maybe shaking her head at us! I know that she knew Jesus and was looking forward to seeing her Maker. I remember when I was a little girl, she taught me the Lord ’s Prayer. I remember having a hard time with ‘hallowed be thy name’. I thought it should be ‘Our Lord be thy name’. Grandma told me ‘you can say that if you want to, but that’s not what the Bible says.’ I think about that every time I say it.

But that’s not always the case. Many times we hear of deaths, attend funerals or stand at the bedside of someone near the end and ask ourselves that question. What if we asked that question the week before … the month before … years ago? What would happen if we’d asked the question when there was time to do something about it? What if we asked that person the question, rather than someone standing beside us at their funeral?

Would it have made a difference? Perhaps not … but what if it could have. What if no one had told them about Jesus. What if they’d been told 20 times – but just needed to hear it once more. Perhaps they knew Jesus – and in knowing that, we could celebrate their new life with our Father without fear and doubt.

Think about the people in your life. Think about those that you want to see in Heaven one day. Do you know, without a doubt, that they will be there? If not – you could change that today with four little words … Do you know Jesus!

Towels and socks included

I was reading the Bible the other day, and there was a word that caught my attention – ‘all’. All blessings come from God. My mind found other words like it that I’d read. ‘Never’ … I will never forsake you. These words … and words like them … ‘forever’, ‘always’ and ‘every’ appear all through the Bible. We find comfort in those words … knowing that no matter what, God will keep his promises and will always be with us – no exceptions.

The word stuck out in my mind because just the day before, I had asked Morgan ‘did you put all of your clothes away’. And, yes, she said she did. However, there were still socks and a couple towels on her bed … but they’re not ‘clothes’, you see!

Aren’t we glad that when God says He loves all of His children … that means every single one of us! No loopholes, no exceptions and no oversights! That includes you and me! It also includes those in prison, those in other countries and those who are homeless and hungry. It doesn’t matter if you’ve just accepted Jesus, or have been studying His word for decades. When He said ALL – he meant just that – socks and towels included!

Quite often we get so caught up in the worlds’ definition of ‘all’ that we forget the true meaning of the word. We are used to having ‘exceptions’ for everything. But God makes no exceptions. He is true to His word. We can be confident and comforted knowing that no matter how many times people in our lives fall short of the task, God will never let us down. Never.

Enjoy what you have, where you are ... right now!

Well, this is it – the last day of school!

How can that be – it seems like it just began!! Soon it will be (and stay) warm, the sun beating down on your face. I enjoy Summer- except for the fact that the kids get to stay home and I still have to work! . I don’t much like Winter – unless we get lots of snow. But it has to be enough snow to close schools AND work!! It just seems a waste to me to be so cold, and have no snow!

Then Spring will come along, and everything in nature will start to come alive again – and then we’re back at Summer again! We’re fortunate in this part of the world, to be able to have 4 distinct seasons. Although Spring and Autumn are getting shorter and shorter!

Our lives are sort of like the seasons – always changing. And just like we’re never happy with the climate, we are usually not happy with where we are in life. When it’s summer it’s too hot – and we can’t wait to play in the snow. When winter gets here, we can’t wait to go swimming.

It’s the same thing in our lives. When we’re little, we can’t wait to ride the big yellow school bus. As we get a little older, we can’t wait to be old enough to stay at home alone. Then we can’t wait to drive! Then we can’t wait to be out of school.

Hindsight is very different, though. We start wishing we were back in school ... suddenly, with the biggest responsibility in our life of keeping our room clean ... doesn't sound so bad! Now I can drive ... or rather sit in traffic - and the cost of gas, insurance, car payments ... make us long for those simpler days of childhood!

So by the time you get to ‘our age’ – whatever age that might be for you – you would think that we’d learn not to wish away the time and enjoy what we’ve got. Nope! I wish it was towards the end of summer– so all of my construction woes would be behind me! I wish it was Christmas so that I’d have a couple weeks off. I wish Jesus would come back so we could all go Home! But we’ve got to stop wishing our lives away – and enjoy each precious moment that we have. We’ll have good times, sad times, content times, stressful times, joyful times, and did I mention stressful times?? But there is something special about each of those times. If we are too busy wishing them away, we miss the purpose that God has for us in that moment. If I am always wanting the beautiful Spring flowers, and the sun beating down on my face, I miss the uniqueness of each individual snowflake. I miss the comfort that a warm fire and hot cocoa can bring.

Take a minute and think about where you are right now – where you are in your life. Enjoy that. Enjoy where you are; where your family is; where your passions are. Enjoy what you have right now – not what you had before, and not what you might have later – take time to appreciate what you have, and where God has you – right this very minute.

In a minute

Sorry I’m so late today! Normally I take time out during the day to talk to God – and it’s usually during those conversations that these messages are sent - but today has been one of those crazy days where things pile up on top of each other and I find myself saying “I’ll do it in just a minute.” Ever have a day like that?? If you've got kids – I know the answer to that!! And I’m sure you’ve heard it just as many times as you’ve said it (or thought it).

God is very patient, though. He waits for us to find those ‘minutes’ to sit down and talk with Him. Unlike our kids ... when we tell them to do something and they say ‘in a minute’ ... 10 minutes later we remind them ...‘in a minute’ ...and ten minutes later…. Finally, it comes to ‘NO – get up and do it RIGHT NOW!” And they look at us like ‘fine, you don’t have to yell!!”

Sometimes I feel that gentle nudge – God reminding me that I need to spend time with Him. And sometimes I say ‘in a minute’. God waits patiently (much more patiently than I wait for Morgan!) and gives another nudge. Sometimes, though, God has to yell at us, too. Sometimes He yells at us individually – like when mom was in the hospital – and I sat in the waiting room talking up a storm to God. At that moment, there wasn’t anything more important. And it’s in those times that I look back over days like today and wonder – really – is today any different than that day? Are these things that I do in the course of a day ... laundry, work, dinner – are they any more important than God? Of course not!!

Sometimes, though, He yells at us collectively – like April, 2 years ago at Va. Tech, and on 9/11. Those are the times in our lives when God has said “No – you’re gonna do it RIGHT NOW!” I don’t think there were too many ‘wait a minutes’ on those days.

It is in the moments like these – individually and collectively, that we get a stark reality check. There may not be a ‘next minute’. There will come a point where that minute – that very minute – will be the last one. Although we ‘know’ that it will be a long ways off. We ‘know’ that Jesus is not gonna come back tomorrow – one day – we’ll be wrong. One day there won't be a tomorrow. One minute there won't be a next minute.

Take some time this weekend ... and next week ... to spend some time with God. Sit down in quiet contemplation, prayer and ask Him to show you the path He wats you to go on. We'd get a lot farther down the path God wants us on if we took the time to listen to Him a little more!