January 2019 - GraceAndWorks

When I went to bed, it was drizzling rain outside and this morning that had frozen and it was snowing. I HAD to get to work!! Sooo, I started the car and let it warm up while I scraped the ice from the windows. WOW, I thought, this is bad. The sky is full of of clouds and now it is REALLY snowing hard. I backed out of the driveway and started on my way. The streets are nasty slick and I’m just inching along. There are cars off on the side of the road. Sure am glad I left early so I could be on time for work. Then I come to a little hill in the road and it was so slick I couldn’t go any farther. Cars were stopped in front of me and they were stacking up behind me. I’m STUCK!! I look in my mirror and see a big sand truck coming. The cars started moving around and we got going. Finally I made it to work. By the time work was over, it had quit snowing and the streets were all sanded and I could make it back home. WHEW!!

I was thinking about this and life is kind of the same was. You get up in the morning, get ready for work, go outside to leave, and the world you enter into is FULL of sin. You inch along trying to find your way, people are “Off in the ditch” not knowing what they are going to do. Finally things become so bogged down you get stuck in the same muck as all the others. Now, what to do?? Try to get out by yourself? Talk to friends about it? Hey, why not talk to God? I remember reading in the Bible that He will never leave me or forsake me. Maybe I’ll try talking to God and see if He can get me unstuck from all this sin. It’s starting to help, I feel better already. Work is over and I’m ready to leave and head home. The clouds of sin are gone from my mind and the sun is shining. YAY!! Made it home and feeling much better. The difference is: The snow only comes around once in a while–Sin is there every day. The battle with it is every day. How we fight it is up to us. Do we succumb to it? Or, do we let God help us fight it? Don’t let the clouds of sin get to you–turn to God and let the sun shine!!

SMILE God loves YOU!! Have a good day all.

Standing outside taking in all the beauty of the flowers, yards, and the skyline we have here in Vegas, I noticed a leaf had come detached from the branch it was clinging to. As it fell to the ground, it nonchalantly waved back and forth in the air until it reached the ground. Not giving much more attention to it, it just laid there. Then a gust of wind came along and swept it away. I just thought to myself….I wonder what happened to that leaf and where did it end up. I suppose it decayed away somewhere. A sad ending for the leaf.

As we go through life, it has been compared to the four seasons. Spring for our youth and younger years, Summer for young adulthood, Fall for middle aged, and Winter for the senior years. That leaf was in it’s senior years and finally after holding on as long as it could to the branch, it’s life was over. The Bible tells us that life here on earth is as short as the life of a vapor. Meaning it doesn’t last long. We hold on as long as we can, but eventually we will all be like the leaf and leave life behind. What we do while we are here is what matters. Are we so tied up with ourselves and our own lives that we have no time for anyone else? No love for others, no care for others, not doing what God wants, no consideration for the elderly, no consideration for the homeless, and the list goes on and on!! The world today tends to only care about themselves. One day Grandparents and parents won’t be here anymore and you’ll wonder, why didn’t I………..? (Or maybe not)

I’ve been in Christ’s church for 55 years and Ive seen a lot of people come and go. Those who have died a physical death and those who have died spiritually. I’ve been guilty of not contacting some of those who left the church, and ask why? What happened to them? Where did they go? It seems that they are kind of like the leaf, just reached the end, swayed back and forth as they fell away from the vine, and then just went away. Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” He will never leave us or forsake us. Don’t let your spiritual life nonchalantly float away like the leaf. Cling onto the vine (Jesus) and you won’t die spiritually. God promised us that if we would keep His commands, He would provide a place for us in Heaven to live eternally with Him. Never to die again. Live this life you have been given on earth, don’t forsake yourself from loving those who mean the most, and above all don’t forsake God and His commands to do right.

SMILE God loves YOU!! Have a good day all.