Welcome to another collection of my thoughts. By the way, my manuscript is in the hands of Zoe Life Christian Communications and projected to be published in December of 2022. I’ll keep you posted as my first book’s publishing progresses.

I have been listening to Destiny Image with Randy Kay interviewing people with near-death experiences (NDEs). Randy’s desire is that the things his guests share will convince you of the great love of God for all of us. Today I was intrigued when I read: “Three die in fatal crash – he sees his wife who speaks to him on the other side and his toddler-alive”. Since I was busy slicing and freezing sweet banana peppers from our garden, not realizing I need to wear gloves even with sweet peppers, and my fingers began burning as well as the end of my nose I must have rubbed, I enjoyed the company listening to Randy and Jeffery share about the love of God, free will, and no condemnation from the Lord’s side. I encourage you to listen to Jeffery’s message of hope, forgiveness, love and how we can live this life in light of Eternity, walking with Jesus here and now.

I am reminded of Romans 1:8, titled:

Free from Indwelling Sin

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Then in John 3:17 Jesus said,

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

So, if God does not condemn us and Jesus does not condemn us, then who does? The world and people in it, the devil and his minions, and we condemn ourselves to the point we believe there Is no forgiveness possible.

The Blessing of Returning to God

Deuteronomy 30:1“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, ² and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.

God is gathering His people in Israel, showing His faithfulness in keeping His promises. So, what is the aim for this life on earth? To love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength and understanding, and to love others as we love ourselves. You know, because of this ‘free will’ the Lord created us with, we carry heavy loads of condemnation and regret for things we’ve done, things others have done, things we have not done, things others have not done to/for/with us. God did not mean for us to live in condemnation, depression, addiction, or doubt. God has compassion on us and the love that brings that compassion is what God wants to share with us, so we can share it with others.

I have sticky notes hung on my wall above my desk. First one says, “Lord, what are You saying?” Second is: “Discernment… No Compromise and No Apologies!” Third is “Nobody owes me anything!” Then I see: “What happens in our lives is 1.5% our individual control, 16% our influence, and 82.5% totally beyond our control or influence.

I cannot control another person [1 Samuel 15:23 for rebellion [control] is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.] Think about that! Jesus’ obedient, loving sacrifice left us with the fullness of Christ and Holy Spirit to indwell us, making the way for us to use the same power that raised Him from the dead and the same access to Father God He had here on earth. All this turns me back to Philippians chapter 4 where the Apostle Paul advised/commanded us:

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Do you trust that God is always good? That Father, Son, Spirit, angels and saints watching us from heaven have no thought of failure? God uses the choices we make with our free will to work things for good. I think that’s why Paul penned the next verses:

This life we live is all about learning how to love well. This means trusting God has good thoughts about you, great plans for your life and all that concerns you, and He has given you choices to make. Choice means we can choose to not worry or be anxious, that we can say as Jesus: “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” The joy of the Lord truly is your strength, so rejoice in the Lord all ways! Note: Faith actually means trust. See how the Roman Centurian trusted that Jesus would heal, even without Jesus physically going to the man’s home.

Meditate on These Things

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

I pray you grow in your relationship with our Savior and experience the peace and forgiveness found in His love.

I leave you with a picture of my granddaughter Ashlynn exploring the water creatures next to the wading beach at Beaver Camp in the Adirondacks. Her sister Nataleigh and I had a good time at Grandpaent & Grandchild camp at the end of July. Check out the website for more pictures and information.

SHALOM!