Life should be simple...

I am up late - what else is new, but tonight is different. It's 2:32am and I have been to bed twice, trying to shut my mind and my spirit off, when I knew I was really suppose to get up and pray. So after praying I thought I would blog what the Lord is downloading to me and maybe He would release me to go to SLEEP! Funny thing is I am taking medicine for allergies that should have me OUT but OH NO!!

For the last several days the Lord has been stirring up in me simple, simple truths. Things that I don't know about you but things I need to focus my life on. It is SO simple that it would probably make my theological daughters look at me and say "really Mom?". I will get to the simple truths but 1 of the times that I tossed and turned I woke up my sweet Ray and he of course starts down the list - are the kids home, YES - have the kids out of town checked in, YES - are you feeling OK, YES. But after that I just started sharing with him and bless his heart he sat up 1/2 awake and listened then he finally got committed to the convo. and he was awake. Bless his heart!! We start talking about the simple, simple message of a follower of Jesus. Now it's going on 3am and I know the word/bible, I could give you chapter and verse but if I'm gonna do that I am going to question myself so I will need to look them up and frankly it's to late/early and my "older/healed" eyes would probably have a hard time adjusting (I haven't succumb to the Grandma glasses)! So I am just going to share my heart and you can search the Word for yourself. But back to my conversation with Ray that has been going around and around in my spirit for the last few days.

I think of when Ray and I began serving Jesus when we were 18 and 21, the years that followed were really tough in alot of ways spiritually. They were tough because we really made them tough! Let me explain, as a "Christian" we really hate to put a label on our relationship with Jesus because to us it isn't religion AT ALL and to call me a Baptist or Pentecostal or anything would just not work. So we have tried to not major on the minors as believers - just love EVERYONE, not caring about their label. Our only desire is that we ALL believe in Jesus, because He is the major and all of our differences as "Christians" are minors. SO...stay with me. We spent really our 20's and probably most of our 30's majoring on those minors. We tried and we tried and we tried not to but we did. I would like to tell you that EVERY single thing that we have learned/studied and been taught from day 1 as a Christian, is the exact way we still believe. It isn't, I think it's the same as anything in life - OH IF I HAD IT TO DO OVER AGAIN - how many times have us older Mom's thought that about raising our kids? It's the same thing in all the different things that we have learned as Christians. We studied till the cows came home MANY, MANY different "things" - healing, no healing - tongues, no tongues - deliverances, no deliverances - pre trib - trib - post trib -- once saved always saved or no - how long am I "suppose" to pray - prosperity - SO MANY THINGS, the list could go on!!!! We would bog ourselves down on all of these MINORS!! It got in our way SO MANY TIMES -- in our walk. Then over the last several years things have changed --- the simple truth came back to us, the thing that meant SO MUCH to us when we were just newly saved. THE LOVE OF JESUS - the simple, redeeming LOVE OF JESUS!! The same LOVE saved me from death - that saved me from having a life with NO hope in it. You see the world has a false hope, it may last for a time but in the end it is empty. I have felt that hopeless life without Him.

You may get Ray to discuss with you his knowledge on this and that but we have finally came FULL CIRCLE back to the 1 truth - Jesus died for me, He died for me and was tortured and he took on MY horrible, disgusting, terrible sin - FOR ME!!! But He did it at the MERE CHANCE that I would LOVE Him back. Isn't that something to think about. I don't think we put enough thought into what He did for you and me. He hung on a cross and died and was beaten to a point of not being recognized as a human being. Can you imagine all the sin of the world, all the sickness and disease of every one of us? Can we only imagine... He took on MY SIN not knowing if I would give up MY life to follow Him. I love, OH HOW I LOVE that we have come full circle back to a simple message - He loves us! I don't know if you have heard many messages of the kingdom of God and that is Ray's love to preach but its SO SIMPLE people. There isn't anything hard about it. God sent His Son into the world to die so that we can LIVE - but not just live but live for Him!! Walk around not judging everyone that doesn't believe like me but just loving people the way Jesus would love if He was walking the earth still today. We have 2 commands and that is to Love the Lord our God and love our neighbor. Are we doing that today? Am I doing that every day? I fail SO, SO much but I try to get up (sometimes I am a little slower).

I just wanted to share what the Lord put on my heart and maybe it is for you too. He loves me and I am going to love Him by loving every person He brings to me. I have used the analogy before that when you bless my children you bless me or when you love my children you love me. Isn't it the same way with God - in my complicated days of "doing works for the Lord or is it GRACE", I would KNOW that the Grace of God was how the kingdom works but I would then get to thinking that I must EARN His love and EARN faith $$ so that when I needed Him I could cash them in. OH MY!! That ISN'T how we LOVE Him!! We love him by loving his creation - His children! I know some theologians would disagree and they have a million page list on "ways to love the Lord" but He said come to Him as a child. Do you think that maybe He wants us to stop being SO analytical, philosophical, theological and just come like children? I will never forget Grant when he was young and the girls had a friend over Kari and she LOVED Grant. Well she knew that Grant was a little prayer warrior and I bet he wasn't 4 years old anyway she had a bad headache and she asked Grant, would you pray for me, he said SURE and walked over to her put his hand on her head and said, "be healed in Jesus Name"! That's all, nothing long and she was SO moved by his prayer - it was as simple as that but it had so much POWER behind it!!

So as my sweet Sarah blogged about 1 time that was so profound to me - How are we loving Him today? How is our love walk today with the saved AND the LOST? I don't know about you but I want to be found faithful in the little things. Faithful in a smile to a broken heart, a nonjudgmental look when someone is struggling, a heart that breaks at the person that has no hope in Jesus. I want to be found loving Him with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind and loving everyone around me. We don't get to pick only the lovable people to love. Sometimes we are made strong by the 1 that "wants to judge us". Someone may look down on you for the color of your skin or the degree you don't have or the money you don't have. We must love them anyway - we have times that we have EVERY right in the world to be offend but as children of God we have no right to walk in offense. Remember we are gonna be persecuted for His name and that could even be by Christians. It only makes us stronger. But we have to keep on loving...we can't get weary in loving people. His mercy is new EVERY morning with ME can't my mercy be NEW every morning for someone that needs that mercy from me?

I could go on - OH MY I love to share His truths!! For all my fellow brothers and sister in Jesus - let's stop, even if it's for 1 day, Easter, and just put down ALL the things that can clutter our mind and our spirit. All the great sermons that have actually brought you to a place of - "can I follow this man, Jesus, is this too hard?" and let's remember the simple message that He came to bring, and that is He came to die for you and me so that we can now receive Him as the Lord and Savior of our lives and then we can spend eternity with Him. But after we ask Him to take over our messed up lives and we surrender our lives to Him - NOW we are called to share that same AMAZING love to everyone He brings to us!!

I close at 4:25am with such a grateful, grateful heart!! A heart that is SO grateful for a Savior that loved me in my sin, His word says "for God so loved the world!" but He didn't stop there. He gave His only Son - that whoever believes in Him will NOT perish - and the BEST news is we are promised Eternal LIFE!! And that good people is John 3:16. Thank you Jesus for loving me, thank you for forgiving me and thank you for my hope of eternal life with YOU forever!!

I pray you have such a blessed Easter Sunday - but PLEASE remember more that it is the RESURRECTION that we celebrate as believers!! I have been thinking on what He did through his death but OH MY WORD - in 1 day from now He may have me up blogging/preaching about His GLORIOUS RESURRECTION!!! Take time to remember what He did for you!! He is alive people - the only "religion" in all the world that the person that we worship, is ALIVE!! Anyone that wants to change my mind about Jesus has come WAY to late. He has walked with me and talked with me and I'm telling you He is ALIVE!! God Bless You ALL!!!