Will God Welcome You With Open Arms?

My little Millie came for a visit last weekend. I was extremely glad because I hadn’t seen her since Christmas. I held her, cuddled, hugged and talked lots and lots of baby talk.

You know that I spoke at her level because that's all I could do if I wanted to have meaningful interaction. As hoped, my heart to hurt (in a good way) as she smiled sweetly, cooed and wiggled in delight as she did what she could to interact in return.

I wish more of us who love God and seek to do His will could have more compassion and understanding for one another as we all seek to serve God better. If God did not lower Himself and seek to save and interact in a way that accommodated us and sought our betterment despite our sordid, awful short-comings not a one of us would have a chance ... NOT ... EVEN ... ONE!

I will tell you to do this. CLING to God and love Him for all you are worth. And, all things considered when looked at in human eyes ... we aren't worth much! Not one is righteousness (including you) NOT ... EVEN ... ONE! But with God, He was willing to come to earth, become human and die a horrible and humiliating death to save us. It is through HIS eyes that we must find the measure of our worth.

As you size up others don't forget this. They fall short in many, many ways. Maybe they are too far gone. There is reason to doubt that. But IF they are it isn't for me or you to decide. Reach out to others in love and humility and seek to raise them up in what they lack as you agree to let them do the same for you. Why do we associate with the lowly? It is because we're lowly ourselves!

"Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:16-21

By John Fields

What If I'm Wrong?

If I've heard that once I've heard it a hundred times. Let me take the pressure off because you are too uptight. Brace yourself ... here it comes ... you are wrong! And why would you think that it would necessarily impact your salvation?

Granted, if you deny the resurrection or deny that Jesus was born of a virgin or any number of other things that are plain. Yeah, that would be a big problem. But that requires a stubborn, unyielding heart.

But if you are in Christ and seeking to glorify and honor Him and seeking to honestly follow His will you will remain in Him. That is ... so long as you remember that what saved you in the first place ... Jesus Christ ... is what keeps you saved every minute of every day you are alive.

But you are wrong and will be wrong at various points in your life. God's grace covers that! The key is that you don't need to like it! Don't use grace as a shield and cover to allow you to live selfishly and not for God or others.

But be mindful, one of the slickest cons that the Devil ever pulls is making you think that you have to earn salvation. When you do that you are not serving God out of love for Him but out of love for the benefit you think you will receive from serving Him.

God wants love and gifts from a grateful heart. Give Him that as you live your life and you will not need to fear your safety!

"For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." Ephesians 5:8-10

By - John Fields

SHUT UP! Good Morning …. By John Fields

Rarely was duplicity shown as clearly as it was this morning. A couple of Junior High kids were getting on my bus when one turned on the other and said .. “SHUT UP!!!” Then in one smooth motion came around, sweetly smiled and said to me, “Good morning.”

Although it is rarely that obvious, I think many of us have a problem like this. We are sweet when we want to be, when there might be some advantage to it … but down-right gnarly at other times. God did not call us to be sweetly kind some of the time only to be awful the rest of it.

How often do we give ourselves permission or justification to mistreat the lowest classes of people? If our justifications were given a voice, might they sound like this? “Lord, I thank You that I’m not like others, like … telemarketers, spammers or even those politicians!”

Guess what? God sends His sun, rain and all other kinds of blessings upon these people to. I really have to brace myself from hypocrisy here. I can be very nice in person or to talk to but become a brazen bully in a letter or email. I have to guard against that!

Jesus brother, the Apostle James tells us that what we are … we are to be ALL the time! God created those people!

“But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can saltwater produce fresh.” James 3:8-12

If you’re going to be a disciple of Jesus, you are going to need to love like He does. That can be a life-long endeavor to learn and the temptation to mistreat others a devil to overcome. But Jesus calls us to be overcomers!

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:29-32

Have You Ever Heard of Red? ~ John Fields

You likely know him by his real name rather than the nick-name he earned when he dismissed the greatest blessing in his life for a bowl of red-bean soup. Yep, I'm talking about Esau.

He came in that day saying something like, "I'm so hungry I could eat a camel," and his brother Jacob said, "Would you settle for a bowl of soup?" After telling him he would Jacob bargained, "Will you give me your birthright for it?"

I wonder to this day if he really thought that Esau would do that. Or did he think it was a joke and Esau surprised THE DICKENS out of him by agreeing to that? Regardless of how it began, we know how it ended. Esau thought so little of his inheritance that he gave it up for lunch.

I don't known WHO began calling him Edom after that. But you look up Edom you'll see that it literally means "Red." He EARNED that! "Hey Red ... Red Bean ... Bright Boy .... Have I got a DEAL for you!!!"

Do you know what that birthright meant? It was his place as the first born son. He got a double portion when the estate of his father was settled. He gave up his inheritance for that soup.

Don't forget the lesson. We have "Reds" all around us ... gangs of them! God has something magnificent for them and they won't exchange their handfuls of Monopoly money for the true wealth of Heavenly currency. It may even be your nick-name in Heavenly realms if you are missing your chance to spend earthly funds in a way that nets you Heavenly returns.

Christian, if you miss this opportunity because you won't let go of your worthless "stuff," then mark my words ... if you ever lay eyes on Esau in the next life you may hear him say as he walks away ... "And they said that I was dumb!"

"And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?'" Mark 8:34-37

Who is Jesus? He Is the One With a Scandalous Love. ~ John Fields

Those who speak of Jesus' salvation as a matter of "proper" obedience, as in getting it all correct, really don't seem to know Jesus very well at all. I've heard the examples put forward of Lot's wife, Nadab and Abihu and Uzzah (among others) to show we better "toe the line" or else!

Are they aware of how "well" Jesus toed the line to show His love for the unlovable? Do they know what scandal He endured to chase after that one wandering, pathetic, lost sheep that the rest had written off as a loss? I think they forgot if they ever even noticed at all!

Jesus is the One Who broke the law in the conventional sense when He gave that poor leper what he craved most, the loving warmth of a fellow human being's touch as He healed him.

He is the One Who stood over a woman caught in adultery to protect her as He sent away the accusers in shame and gave her a second chance the rest never did?

He is the One Who spoke with a Samaritan woman when it was scandalous not only to speak with a woman like He was, but unthinkable to hob knob with one considered worse than a Gentile dog! But His salvation spread from her to many others!

He is the One Who speaks of the Father who loses His dignity and hikes up His elderly robes for joy to run and meet His pathetic, humiliated and beloved son as he returned defeated and all alone as he deserved,

He is the One Who broke the Sabbath as applied in His day to preach the Gospel, save lives, heal the sick, the blind, the crippled, the demon possessed and more! In the book of John it even says He broke the Sabbath. But what did Jesus say? "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath!"

He is the One Who reached down and became unclean as He touched the dead ... just before bringing them back to life.

Yep Christian! You better toe that line, get it right, be doctrinally "sound," and make no misinterpretations of truth. Don't you know this only happens intentionally out of rebellion? really?

On our best day we're like the greatest alive in that day, John the Baptist. Our righteousness doesn't surpass his, but his didn't even allow him the self-worth to loosen Jesus' sandal thong!

Given Jesus' track record of touching lepers, speaking to sinful women, eating with "sinners," running to meet rebels, loving poor people, inviting tax collectors and healing the untouchable on the Sabbath do you really think He is going to cast aside those He has saved for their imperfections as they follow Him?

If you do think that ... you must not be reading the same book the rest of us sinners are treasuring!

"Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Matthew 11:11