365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 299

Please excuse the way I think. I hope nobody will find this offensive in anyway but I worked an analogy in my mind on the way home from work yesterday. Jesus is like a pancake. Yes, I said, pancake. Let me break it down for you. The first side cooked on a pancake always seems to come out golden with a nice golden rim around the edge, kind of like a crown. hmmmm..... Than you flip it over and cook the other side. This side always looks different, often filled with little holes and is not the golden color but a combination of tans and white. The first golden side of the pancake is Jesus, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, son of God. The second side of the pancake with the holes is Jesus, the son of man, a human being, a person like all of us. Jesus is both of these sides of the pancake. He is the son of God come to earth in human form. Emanuel. If you have studied any other religions, you will know that this is the one and only true God who has come down to us.
Now pancakes can be made in different sizes. You have the dollar size, the standard size and king size. The dollar size pancakes are those people who have Jesus in their hearts but in a small way. They may only think about Jesus once a week at worship service or when a desperate need arises in their lives. The standard size pancake person is actively trying to consistently have Jesus in their lives and they do a pretty good job of it with bible study, worship and prayer. The king size pancake person is the kind of person where Jesus is the central part of their whole life. It is what motivates them in all they do and all they are. This is the person who not only does bible study, worship and prayer but also actively uses their gifts from God for God's calling for them. The good news is we are not stuck being one kind of pancake. Those dollar size pancakes and standard sized pancakes have the opportunity to choose to pour out a new pancake each day and make it bigger, letting Jesus become more and more the central part of our exsistence, our goals, our motivation. Even King sized pancakes can choose to keep being big pancakes but even add some special ingredients like peanut butter, chocolate chips or protein powder. This can give more impact to the King size pancake. So, the next time you are making pancakes or eating pancakes, I hope you will remember this analogy and let the Holy Spirit help you in becoming a specialty King size pancake for Jesus. If you are not yet a pancake, think about letting Jesus into your heart.
1 John 5:11-12 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life”

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 176

As my daughter and I soaked in the hot tub last night, I looked into the sky and found I couldn't see any stars. Maybe it wasn't quite dark enough yet, or maybe its some haze from the fire up north in Ft Collins but I got caught up in this feeling like I would never see the stars again.  Than, I caught a glimpse of a star and felt relieved to see it.  When I moved my position in the hot tub, I found the bright star that I always see. It was in the same place but I wasn't, the Earth wasn't. The stars are like God, always there whether we can see them or not.  It is where we are that determines if we see God in our lives. Are you truly committing to focusing on the Lord in your life or are you letting the day to day and the challenges of life turn your focus away from the Lord. Everything is a choice. You have chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God who came to the world and took on our sins on the cross and conquered death. But have you chosen to committ to focusing on the Lord.  Whether it is with prayer, worship, songs of praise, reading the bible, participating in a bible study, memorizing scripture or anything that makes your focus on the Lord, have you committed yourself to consistently doing it? I committed to doing this praise challenge on my blog for a year and have found it to be an incredible compass that points me in the direction of the Lord. Find your compass that you can committ to doing everyday and let the blessings of the Lord raining upon you.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 58

I live in a beautiful place. God certainly has an eye for beauty and majesty with the mountains. We are having very unseasonably warm winter days and it is wonderful. I don't want to hear anyone crumbling that it's due to global warming or anything else. I just want to enjoy what God has created and relish the warmth while it is hear. Have you ever stopped to consider all the wonders in our world? It often blows my mind how complex the world is and yet how incredibly it all works together. That was not because some single celled amoebas decided to merge. This was definitely the work of a supreme being that had a plan. We did a bible study called Crazy Love last year and there was a video about the amazing wonder of creation and how big it is. You have to see it! I have put the Crazy Love website link in the resources section. Click on it and go to the page with all the chapter videos. Towards the bottom of the page is a video called The Awe Factor of God. Be amazed and be blessed.
Genesis 1: 1-3 In the begining, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 31

One month of praises accomplished! The rest of my life to go...
Today's praise is for the greatest gift given in Jesus because of God's unending love for us. Thank you Lord for your priceless love for us that you would give up your son to save us so that we would have a choice to be with you forever. Thank you for leading us on the path and helping us find our way back to you. We pray today for all those in the world that have not made that choice or who may not even have heard of Jesus. We pray your love will lead them back to you and ask that all of us who do believe will be confident and steadfast in our believe so that you can work through us to bring more sheep to your flock. How amazing that our one true God sent his only son to Earth as a man to live among us! Emmanuel-God is with us! May we have feel and celebrate Jesus everyday of the year. I love you Lord!Merry Christmas to all and Happy Birthday Jesus!
Isiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.