Imitate God~

Greetings in the mighty name of the Lord,

This past weekend my baby brother was in town for a wedding.  He had a pretty busy schedule but managed to make time for a friendly game of ping pong.  He beat me, but by not as much as he thought he would! Nevertheless, while we were intensely rallying back and forth, my dear baby, Hershey Pie, would often trot by, stop and stare, and then trot off again.  I thought nothing of it.  Later that night, however, I heard a weird sound from the back yard - like someone had crashed into a wall.  I peered through the back door and was shocked at what I saw: Hershey Pie was on top of the ping pong table with a paddle in his mouth and was in the process of hitting the ball off the table.  I ran for my phone, managed to quickly access the camera, something I never do, and I took a pic of my brilliant dog in action. 

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  Hershey Pie was imitating what he saw earlier in the day.  And since he was standing on the side where I was, I can only assume he was more impressed with my ping pong skills than my brother's!

Just as Hershey Pie imitated me, his mommy, you and I are also called to imitate our Father. 

Ephesians 5:1-2 "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."

We are to imitate God in every single thing we do.  What would our lives look like if we loved lavishly, forgave generously, and if we followed the example of Christ, who always put others' needs ahead of His own?

Galatians 5:22 "What happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely" (The Message Version).

When we imitate God we receive gifts that make life worth living!

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, that when we live life Your way, You bless us mightily in return.  We desperately need Your good and generous gifts to live life to the fullest. Serenity and exuberance for life are just two of things we could use right now.  Enable us, through the power of Christ, to live our lives filled with love, especially toward those who are just plain difficult to love.  Wait a minute! We have been difficult too, and yet You still love us. We want to do the same.  The best part is that You are willing to help us do our best for You. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

God's Way~

Greetings~

The great Fernandez purge of 2014 is still ongoing, and I found something over the weekend while I was cleaning out a box. It was Rayray’s Christmas wish list from 1999. It’s a small list of only 83 items, one of which is a “Persian cat for mom.” This list is cute or maybe it's troubling. I’m not sure, but I do know there are some gifts that are better than all the stuff on that paper.  

Galatians 5:22-23 “What happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

We get ourselves on the gift list by living life God’s way, and believe it or not, it can all be summed up in one sentence: Love others as you love yourself.  

Six words – that’s it! The antidote for everything we read about yesterday – loneliness, joylessness, dissatisfaction, emotional garbage, a brutal temper etc…is to love others as you love yourself. 

I saw an article on-line yesterday entitled: The Secret of Being Happy. One of the keys to feeling bright and full of sunshine is to serve others.

That’s really no secret at all. The Bible encourages us over and over again to take care of others, put others first, and to love others with the same energy as we put into our own self-preservation. 

When we do this we can expect everything it says in those verses above. I especially love the phrase “exuberance about life.” It’s actually so much more than being happy. It’s excitement, fervor, vitality, zest, eagerness, exhilaration, cheerfulness, AND happiness all rolled up in one!

That sounds so appealing to me. And that’s the kind of life I want for those I love as well.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for encouraging us to think about others and reach out to others. Somehow, by blessing others, we walk away being blessed with the kind of life that’s worth living. In Jesus’name, AMEN~