Monday, December 29, 2014

New Beginnings Make New Endings

New Beginnings Make New Endings

I recently saw this quote, "No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending" (Unknown). I really began to think about that statement. The conclusion was that we don't start over; but we begin again right where we are, making things better in our lives.

As a believer in Christ, it is not about saying I will do this and I won't do that and then dropping the idea or falling short. It is more about asking the Lord to help us each day, to fall deeper and deeper in love with Him. This way our focus will be set on the things of heaven and not on all this earthly stuff.

If I were to make a New Year resolution, it would be to have a deeper commitment, a deeper love, and a deeper worship for the Lord. In the beginning of this past year, He spoke to me in that still small voice in prayer and said, "I am more than enough. I am more than enough in every area of your life." He also said to tell others the same thing.

This year I am determined to make Him my all and all. He wants our undivided attention in spite of the distractions and temptations that lie waiting around the corner. He has to be our main focus.

How we will end this year will be determined by how we started it. Did we want to get more "INTIMATE" with the lover of our soul? I looked up the word intimacy and the meaning is to be close, familiar, very personal and private.

Do you want a new ending this year? How do you want the ending of your life? If you're not a Christian, please know that this could be the best New Year of your life. Your life can be filled with hope and peace. To know what the ending will be is an extra bonus. Why should every year be the same as the one before with nothing really changing? After all, the New Year resolutions may or may not get accomplished.

If you are a Christian and you feel stagnate in your relationship with the Lord, then now is the time to rekindle the love affair with Him. He calls us to Himself and says, "Come away my beloved." Can you hear Him? He is tugging at your heart. The real ending in our life will be when Jesus says well done my good and faithful servant. That statement will be for someone who took the time to get to know Him.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

She Said Yes

Lordy lordy lordy....look who's 40....to say we have a perfect marriage is foolishness,  because we are not perfect people.

But to say we have love and forgiveness and a God centered marriage would be true. So with that being said....Happy birthday to my best friend.....and welcome to the history of Lonnie and Cathy (Winkle) Love

Boy meets girl. 
Girls says she is spoken for. 
Boy won’t give up. 
Girl gives in says yes to a date 
Girl leaves work, hits boy’s car 
Boy smiles, thinks to himself, going to be a good date 
Boy calls girl, her MOM answers... Don’t like boy’s name
Boy picks up girl. Sees her daddy, takes out all his ear rings 
Boy and girl have fun. 
Year later Boy and girl fall in love 
Girl invites boy to church 
Boy goes, girl prays for boy’s salvation 
Year later boy and girl get engaged 
Girl still prays for boy’s salvation 
3 months later God whispers to girl (I gots this) 
Boy gets baptized 
3 months later boy and girl say “I do” 
Couple moves to Ohio 
Couple love their first small very small apartment 
Boy works at 11 different jobs in 5 years 
Girl wants to move back to Kentucky to start a family 
Boy and Girl move back no home, no jobs, and no money 
Couple prays for a home, couple find a home 
God has plans for couple 
God wants boy to be a Youth Minister 
Couple prays for a family (God hears) 
Couple fall in love and adopted first son 
Couple has a second son 
Couple has a third son 
Boy sees a special doctor. 
Family according to God’s timing 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Do You Hear What I Hear

Can You Hear the Angels? 
Luke 2:8-14

When I read Luke's account of the Christmas story every year, a question lingers in my mind. I wonder, who heard the angels sing? 

This was arguably the greatest celebration in the history of the world, a choir, a presentation that would make the grandest human ceremony seem like a cheap stage production. 

There are several interesting things about the angelic celebration. First, this was one of only three such celebrations. First, the angels celebrated the Creation of the world. Job 38:7 tells us that while the Master Artist of Heaven painted, sculpted, and fashioned this world, "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy."  I suspect the chorus reached its climax when God reached down, gathered a handful of dust, and breathed life into a new kind of creature, man. Man was created in the image of God and given something unique: a soul. 

Then, on an otherwise ordinary night, in a dark field, among common shepherds, the Heavens once again opened and all across the horizon, filling the low hills and pasture fields were innumerable angels. And once again in Revelation, we find that same celebration occurring in Heaven. 

But let's return to that field. The angels came specifically to the shepherds. Why the shepherds? Why did they not announce in a more big, public venue like Herod's Temple or His palace. Why did they not enter the grand palaces of Caesar in Rome? 

The answer, quite simply, is that God visits those who are looking for him. Those that seek find. And so the angels visited upon a young teenage girl, her confused fiancé, a common, elderly prophet, and the shepherds. 

So who heard the angels? The shepherds did. Mary did. Joseph did. The wise men did. Anna and Simeon did. Zacharias and Elisabeth did.  

Herod didn't hear. The religious establishment didn't hear. Most of God's chosen people didn't hear. Even some in Jesus' own family wouldn't hear. 

Today, the message of the angels still rings. A Messiah has come. God has entered our world, lowered Himself and became a baby. God visited us—Immanuel is here. 

This season we celebrate Christmas, but most of the world skips right over the baby in the manger. Even many Christians are stressed, angered, and flustered. They too miss the singing of the angels. 

Don't let that be you this Christmas. Because God has come for you, to be your Savior, your Redeemer, your Lord.

The angels are singing. Are you listening?