Follow Me

John 21:20-23

Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

Just like Peter, sometimes God asks us to do something we really don't want to do. We wonder why we must do it when He isn't asking someone else to do the same. It may seem like they are getting the easy way. However, what does it matter to us what God is asking someone else to do? All we need to do is be obedient to what He is asking us to do.

Feed My Lambs

John 21:15-19

 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

There are many people in this world who say they are Christians, but their actions do not support their words. If you question them, they get defensive (much like Peter did with Christ). If we truly love Christ (i.e. a Christian), then we would do His commands and follow His will regardless of the cost.

Fair

My devotional yesterday was timely and needed. I made a point of sharing it with my children as well. It is something that we need to be reminded of often.

I recommend the Jesus Calling Devotional by Sarah Young. I often find the readings timely and full of wisdom.

Light

Every Good Gift

James 1:17-18

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

We learn much about God's character from these verses.

Everything good we have is from Him. We must thank Him daily.

He is the ultimate light--the Father of Lights. It is only by Him that we see truth.

He is the same today as He was yesterday and as He will be tomorrow. He doesn't turn to the right or to the left. He is solid.

He chose to create us to have communion with Him. He put us in dominion over the earth. We can choose to worship Him now (first fruits) or we will worship Him later when the whole earth (creatures, land, people, etc.) will worship Him.

Philippians 2:10 

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

God's Presence

2 Chronicles 5:13-14

It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

Have you ever been somewhere and felt God's presence? I have. There have been some church services, Bible studies, revival meetings, and such where I knew God was there.

In today's scripture, however, God's presence was so strong that the priests couldn't even stand! What a blessing it would be if we could be in such unity that God's presence was that strong!

My Ways

"ways" = habits

Wouldn't it be great if it was our habit to follow God's commands?!

Keeping Baby's Legs Warm

The women/girls in our family wear dresses and skirts only. Somewhere along the line, all the tights for my baby were lost between now and the last time I had a little girl. I bought one package of three thin tights for $6, but the thicker, warmer tights were $6 each. Since I am quite frugal and money is tight, I couldn't see spending $6 on tights when I would need at least 4-5 pairs. I began a search on Pinterest for tutorials on how to make my own tights. I found two tutorials that I used.

The first tutorial is for baby tights. I made a pair last week and used them to make sure they would work. They are great! I was blessed by a friend with a lot of knit material that I used, but as the tutorial says, she used t-shirts that she either had or bought at thrift stores. The pair I made last week was a white pair and I made another two pair of white and a pair of red. I might make more in other colors.

The second tutorial I found is for leg warmers using adult knee-high socks. I made a pair last week using a some brown knee high socks. They worked great, but were really long on her. They kept falling down over her feet. I tried them again this week but put on a pair of socks and it kept the tights from falling over her feet. I tried another pair using crew socks that I like as well today. I will make more as I find socks I like.

I'm happy that my baby's legs will stay warm this winter and it didn't cost me anything but about a 1/2 hour of my time!

Enduring Temptations

James 1:12-16

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.

We have already established that we will encounter trials/temptations in life (see here), but in today's reading, we learn about a promise for enduring those temptations. We will be blessed/happy and we will receive the crown of life!

In contrast, we also learn what will occur if we don't endure. Temptation itself is not sinful, but if we give in to temptation, it brings sin and ultimately death. When we give in, it is easier to fall.

We are admonished to "Do not err, my beloved brethren."

"err"--Greek word is planao, which means go astray, be deceived, wander.

Do not wander towards temptation or go astray after it!

All Nations