Some Thoughts....

There was a man in the Bible who was a tax collector.  He cheated and stole from people. Everyone disliked and looked down on him.  It was no secret around those parts that he was a sinner.

Jesus saw him and called out to him by name.  He said tonight I will eat at this mans home.  People were upset that Jesus would chose to eat at the home of this "sinner" It was almost like he gave a great honor to someone who surely did not deserve it.  There was a lot of discussion about it.

For the man, when Jesus called him out by name, he realized Jesus knew him, yet they had never met.  He was further surprised when Jesus decided to eat at his home.

While at his home the man decided to give back all that he had cheated people out of. He decided to change his ways.

Jesus knew this mans sins, yet he did not threaten him with fire and brimstone.

Jesus knew this mans heart and his bad ways.

Yet he chose to reach out to this man and was kind and gentle. The man knew he did wrong all along but the influence Jesus had on him made him change.  Not once did Jesus condemn or treat this man like an enemy.  He gave this man respect and in return the man decided to stop what he was doing...and change.  Jesus said, salvation has come to this house today.

So many people who become "christian" think they have to threaten people with fire and brimstone and the penalty of hellfire and suffering to draw them to salvation and "save" people for God.  Maybe some people need this kind of wake up call.

I know I wouldn't have listened.  It is my experience in life that honey draws more flies than vinegar.

I would rather think of the wonders of Heaven and the love of Jesus than the depths of hell and Satan.  I think as much as going to Hell doesn't sound like fun, people joke about it and don't think it a real place.  A famous wealthy man once joked he wanted to be buried with an air conditioner with an extension cord as he knew he was going to Hell and it was going to be hot down there.

I think love, peace, joy and happiness is a much better lure than threats and judgments and accusations of unrepentence.

My God is a loving father who wants to help his children.  He wants to be in his childrens lives and hear from them.  And like all fathers, he likes to be thanked. If we don't thank him, it is as if we don't realize what he has done for us in our lives.

I know if my children thank me with sincerity, I am more likely to want to help them in the future.  If they don't appreciate what I do for them, and say bad things to people about me that aren't true, I don't see any value in rewarding them. And so I think it is with God our Father.

In my life I always tried to fix things.  I always wanted everyone to get along.  I tried to mediate between people and be a peacemaker.  Sometimes this is not a good place to be.  Sometimes we need to just give things up to God and let him fix them.  Worrying and getting angry and upset doesn't help anything and trying to figure out why someone hurts us can give one a headache.

One of the scriptures that helped me was "Be Still and Know that I am the Lord"  Many times when I feel myself getting caught up in things, I step back and realize I have to give it to God and be still about it, believing he will take care of it.  Sometimes it is not mine to "fix"

One thing to realize too, is sometimes others have to fail, so they can get down on their knees to go to God.  If we are always there "fixing" things, their reliance is on us and not on him.

Surely it is a wonderful thing to "win" a brand new car, but I believe when we earn the money to buy one, we take much better care of it, as we earned the money and our money is dear to us.  Someone else's money is not as dear.