(((*He is there with us in the storms*)))

He is with us in the storms....yes when the seas spout up with magnificent force, and we feal so frail against all of the torrents that come so swiftly to surround us, and we at times wonder if our Shepherd has abandoned us at the time we needed Him most. But He reassures us He is very near to us in time of distress. It is often then He makes His presence known. But when He still seems so far away, and we are losing our sight, He will bring someone alongside to comfort us and remind us of His unwavering, everlasting love. A friend of mine wrote something sweet that helped me to visualize how we need to trust in our storms of life. She herself has been literally through so much chronic daily pain that I think "Lord why her, such a sweet sausage she is?" But in her pain, she has kept her eyes on the Light of the world, and even reached out to others in their afflictions. She wrote this: He is with us in the storm, and that makes all the difference in the world. He is a fortress where we can hide and rest, and be comforted, while the storm rages outside. He is like a lighthouse on a rock - immovable. I have a lovely poster here at home. It is a photo of a lighthouse. A HUGE wave is crashing over the back of it reaching almost to the top of it. At the front, the door is open and a man stands there smiling as though looking out into his garden. He so trusts the strength of the lighthouse and has been through so many storms in it, that he is obivious to the enormous wave. He is smiling happily at the photographer who must be in a helicopter overhead. It's such a sweet picture of trust. It's not just that he is protected that struck my heart, it is that he trusts the protection if you know what I mean. The storms come but he is not moved, for the lighthouse does not move. I love it! Does this give you an imagry of the kind of trust God wants to instill in us? Does it touch your heart to think of someone going through so much who it gives her heart joy to reach out and encourage someone else though she goes through more than many twice her age ever have to deal with? It does me! She is one who has run into the arms of the Good Shepherd. She looks to her lighthouse steadfastly knowing He is her strength no matter what come what may. This kind of trust can only come from being held in His Arms, and by being taught of Him. I so long to be more like this myself, and to just look to the Lighthouse, Jesus Christ with a smile, even though the waves get higher and higher at times, but knowing He who began this good work is able to complete it till the day of Christ. If you know He is pursuing you, run into His arms. Don't wait one more milli-second! RUN!!!!!!!

WHATZ LUV GOT @ Doo WITH IT?

We've all heard the song by Tina Turner: Whats love got to do with it? Whats love but a second hand emotion? But is this true? Is love just a fickle second hand emotion. I suppose the kind of love we see in the world today would make this song seem very true. Love today has a sensual overtone. It is fleeting many times. It is something people fall into and out of as fast as they change their undergaments in many cases. "Oh is He ever HOT!..I am SOOOOOO in love!!! Wowsa, what a babearama!" Then next week someone more handsome walks into the room, and voila, the 'love' fades away faster than it sprouted up. God's love for us is not like this. His love is everlasting. His love is so deep and wide that He would give the very Son of His love, to die a horrible death on the cross so you and I could be reconciled back to Him. His love is an agape love, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. A friend of mine once compared His love to the Niagara Falls, it just goes on and on, flowing from the heart of Father God towards those who look to His Son for freedom from sin, and who put their faith and trust in Him to save them, and to bring them when they die to Heaven to live eternally with the God who has shed His blood on Calvary's cross? Why do so many spit on that precious cross? Why do so many resist His sweet love instead of running into the Good Shepherd's arms? What is so spectacular this world has to offer> We are born, we live a while...and then we die. I used to live my life in a purple haze of drugs and alcohol to cope with all my inner pain, and I'm far from alone. Meanwhile, what I was lacking was HIM. Him who? Jesus! Can the answer be so simple? Yes! He is the only answer to this sin sick world of so much misery. He has promised to make a new earth where sin sorrow and suffering will be taken away. A place of such bliss and sweetness, our human minds can't even begin to fathom how wonderful that place will be. The Bible [God's Word] gives us a few glimmers of what it will be like, but yet it will be beyond anything we could picture in the here and now. Something so grand it would be beyond our limited human grasp to imagine the eternal weight of Glory.... Do you want to be there? Then run into the Good Shepherd's arms, and tell Him how very sorry you are for sinning against Him. Tell Him you desire nothing more than to follow Him as your Shepherd, and long to be pursued by Him all the days of your life, until death do you meet Him in Glory....FACE TO FACE!

Pursued by the Good Shepherd

Many people in our world have no sense of meaning or purpose. We wake up, and go through the motions of life, and yet we feel such a lack inside, a vacuum that seems like an endless void, and we feel though in such a large world, so small, and so meaningless in this complex world that is very self centered. When we go through difficult times, this void seems even more evident. We may experience health challenges, or a broken home, or a broken heart. So often we look to other people to fill this void, and come up still feeling such an emptiness. I believe this is because we were created for God. To worship Him in sweet fellowship, and since the fall of mankind when sin entered it, the fellowship was broken, and it is only when we go to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, we find what is our true calling in life. Not to make a name for ourself, or leave a grand legacy, but to give our lives to Him..the one we were created by and for [John 1:3] Life may have handed you some lemons, so you've tried to make lemonade, and found the lemonade was too sour to drink. You my friend don't need mouth puckering lemonade, you need the precious living water that only God's Son can give you. Do you sense His knock at the door of your heart? You may think you need to be religious to run into the good Shepherd's Arms, but nothing could be further from the truth. You need to realize though your sins have separated you from Him, but His cross is where you can go to and find forgiveness and healing in the Arms of the One who has given His all for you! He loves you so much, and He has given a new life to so many people of all shapes, sizes, races, backgrounds and beliefs. I was raised in a JW family, and brought up religiously, but I didn't know Christ jesus as my Good Shepherd. I hope this blog helps you to know how much He loves you, and may God shine His Light upon your heart, and soften your heart to this message....