Traps - Your Present Doesn't Have To Be Your Future

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. I Corinthians 6:11

This week I didn’t get to make soap as I had intended, but I did come across the biggest writing spider I have ever seen. There she hung beside the downspout. She made squiggles down the middle of her web as she positioned herself look like another flower. Surrounding the downspout were purple coneflowers, day lilies, black-eyed Susans, and butterfly bushes planted in mounds along a split rail fence. Bluebird houses and birdfeeders lined the fence. Hardwood trees of every description brought shade just on the other side. The spider paused to attract her morning meal of bees or butterflies or a juicy grasshopper. Patiently she waited. She had put the handwriting on the wall for some unsuspecting bug.

When I was a kid our parents and grandparents told us if a writing spider wrote a name in a web that person would die! Nearly scared us to death. Every time we saw a writing spider we checked close to make sure she hadn’t written our name. Writing spiders were nearly as good as ghost stories for a good scare or tea cup fortunes to tell us the future. Somehow  adults aren't as interested in their futures as children. We adults tend to live for the present.  

The world puts forth its attractions, spinning a web to catch the unsuspecting; giving us the line that “It doesn’t get any better than this”. The unsuspecting cannot see the handwriting on the wall that says “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” Daniel 5:27.

However there is a way to escape the web weaved to deceive. Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). When we repent of our sins and turn from the world to Jesus Christ, He writes our names in His book. Now, there is the place to see your name written. Revelations 21:27 says, “And there shall in no wise enter into it (heaven) any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they (the saved) which are written in the Lamb’s book of life."

So how about you? Has Jesus written your name in His book? Maybe you think you are beyond hope. That’s another trap of the world. I Corinthians 6:9,10 names some of the traps the world lays for us, but it doesn’t end there. Read on to verse 11. “And such WERE some of you:” Your present doesn’t have to be your future.

Hey Kids

Have you watched a spider spin a web?
Maybe you’ve read The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.

Have you noticed the animal that kept hanging around the web when the other animals left? What happened?

Look around your yard this week for spider webs. Stop and observe for a little while.

What can the spider teach you about hanging out in the wrong place or with the wrong friends?

 

Father, help us to be aware of the traps the world offers and may each of us turn to your Son to find our secure future.  In Jesus name. Amen.

             

Shelter in the Rock

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. Psalms 61:2,3

Hiking a moderately difficult trail along the Blue Ridge Parkway, thunder began to rumble. We knew a storm could be upon us in just a few minutes. Where would we find shelter? Too far to return to the car. Nothing to do but keep walking in hopes the storm would go around us. At the turn in the trail was a huge boulder with a large cleft underneath; the perfect shelter from a storm. We placed our backpacks on the ground for a seat in the rock. The pitter patter of rain began. A flash of lightning, another rumble louder than before. The rain began to pour and wash down the trail just outside our rock. Then as suddenly as it came upon us, the storm passed and the sun shown again. Backpacks back on, we continued the hike, thankful for our rock.

There is the Rock, our Rock who is always with us though we often don’t see how close He is. Storms always come and go in our lives. Sometimes the storm comes suddenly. But Jesus is very near. There is no need to turn back. We need to seek shelter in Him. When the storms rage, rest in Him. There is no better shelter from life’s passing storms than the Rock, Jesus Christ.

Won't you share the shelter you have received from the Rock?

I’m a Loser

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Matthew 7:7,8

I lose my notes. I lose my keys. I drop things in the sofa and in the carpet. Little items drop on the floor then roll and bounce who knows where. In my hurried life I lay things down instead of putting them in place. I find good hiding places for a little stash of cash.  I admit it. I’m a loser.

Just the other day I was searching for some notes to help with a project I was working on. I searched at home. I searched at school. Then as usual after all the searching, I began to pray. My friend looked it up on line and found just what I needed.

I was at a family member’s house. She was frantically searching her car for keys. She called her husband at “the shop”. He frantically searched his car. In my heart, I began to pray. Her husband’s friend, who had helped them with a moving project that involved the key, pulled into the shop.

“Hey, Buddy, do you have a set of keys to that storage unit?”

“Maybe, I wondered what these keys were for.”  Problem solved. But how amazing that he would pull into the shop at just that specific time and have just what they were looking for. Frantically the world is looking for answers to their problems. We can’t cure cancer, fix the stock market or the government, but we do have the key to the world’s biggest problem. We know where to find peace and eternal life. As Christians we have the answer. God is putting us at the right place at the right time every day. Are we praying for guidance in reaching those who are searching? Are we showing the world the key? Are we showing them by our actions as well as our words that Jesus Christ is the answer?

Share Jesus today. Someone is frantically looking.

Building on a Rock

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spririt. Ephesians 2:20, 21, 22.

Have you ever used blocks or bricks or stones to build a house? Playing, we usually build towers that fall pretty quickly. But if we build a corner first, then lay the rest of the house or tower, it will stand.  We also need to overlalp the breaks between the blocks.  Try making a wall without over lapping the breaks of the rectangles or squares. The wall comes down quickly.  Try making the wall overlapping the breaks like a brick mason . Take a look at a house that has bricks in the foundation or walls. Do you see the overlaps? The house is strong becasuse it has a corner stone or brick. It can stand very tall because the bricks or stones  are overlapped in the breaks.

This is exactly what Paul was trying to tell the Ephesians. Our lives must be built on Jesus Christ. He is our foundation. Without him our lives will fall. We may turn over a new leaf but it won’t last long unless Jesus has become our Rock, our cornerstone, our foundation. To be strong in the Lord there needs to be that overlapping of the “bricks” in our lives. The bricks that build us into strong Christians are the reading of God’s Word, and the studying of God’s Word with others, and putting those things we learn into action. We as Christians working together are the place, the habitat, of God’s Spirit. Wow! God’s spirit lives within us if we have been born again. We can do great things together with God’s direction.

We would love to share your experiences in God’s Word. Together we can go into all the world and preach the gospel. Use the comment space to share. On the day of Pentecost 3000 souls were added to the church because the Christians shared the gospel.

Blessings. Gail