Just something I wrote tonight

It doesn't rhyme and it probably doesn't even follow a form learned in English class, but here is a poem I wrote tonight.  I hope it encourages you.

 

 

 

Sing praises to the Lord almighty!

Lift your voices high to the Heavens!

Singing praises to His holy name!

 If silent we remain

Then the rocks would commence to sing out his praise!

Jesus Christ the Lord of all things

His name shall be praised!

 

How amazing is our God!

Let all the earth sing!

From the mountain tops we shout His name!

From the valley low do we cry out!

And from Heaven He hears our cry

From His thrown He meets us where we are!

 

He responds to us and answers our prayers!

How great is His love for us!

He always does what is right!

 

 Who are we that God should hear from Heaven?

Who are we that He should hear our prayer?

Yet hear He does

And answer according to what is best for us!

 

With little understanding we look to Him

The one who knows all there is to know

And in a gentle voice He reminds us

 “My child” He says

          “Don’t worry about all this.

It’ll all work out in the end.

          All for you’re good dear one

and for the glory of my name.

          That is a promise upon which you can count!

 I love you more than words can say!

I love you so much that I went to the greatest lengths

To demonstrate to you my love!

For you my loves I gave my life!

For you my loves I give new life!”

 

Sing praise to the Lord all His children!

Sing Hallelujah all who have been given new life!

Worship the Lord and sing His praise!

 

 

 

 

 

Stories

Many of my blogs are inspired by my work with children, and this one is no different.  One of my favorite things to do with my students is read stories.  In school we read mostly fiction, but to the kids the stories are no less intriguing than if they were true.  In Sunday School we read all true stories, from the Bible.  These stories spark something in the children.  They love to hear about heros of faith and even stories about Jesus.  Not only that, but they also love to hear stories from the lives of the adults who are teaching them. 

More than hearing stories, the kids love to tell their own stories.  They tell us about the great new toy they got last week, or the awesome time they had a birthday party.  They tell us about the funny thing little sister did, or how their team won the big game on Saturday.

Stories.  We all have them.  You might say stories are what makes the world turn.  The stories that show where we have been and where we are now.  They show how far we have come.   These are the stories that we all have.  If you're a child of God then you're story will do more than show how far you've come and how different you are now.  It will show the love and glory of your Father in heaven.

If you've given your life to Jesus, then he is the author of your story.  And true to His word, He works all things for the good of those who love Him.  There may be parts of your story that don't make since to you.  You may be going through something right now that you do not understand, how it fits into your story.  Trust me, if you belong to Jesus, it does.  Even this can and will be used to bring glory to your Heavenly Father. 

The best part is, your story isn't over!  There is always hope in Jesus, because the best is always yet to come.  He is the author and, just like He promised, He will continue the work that began in you when you first believed.  So my friends, keep believing and trusting Jesus who is writing the story of your life, even now.  A story that will bring glory to His name!

The following link is an inspiring song about God being the author of our stories.  One of my new favorites: "Write Your Story" by Francesca Battistelli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecV1NHmELuA

Changes to the blog

As you may have already noticed I have changed the name, back ground picture and some other things on my blog.  It has taken me a while to come up with a theme I like. :)  The idea of "Lessons from Life's Playground" comes from what I've learned about teaching children.  In school and in children's ministry we use a lot of hands on learning with the kids, because we have learned that children learn by doing-not just listening to a teacher talk.  We have also learned that, while limited to our kids these days, the importance of free play and the playground.  The playground and in free play is where children's imaginations come to life!  I have enjoyed watching and listening to the conversations of my classes over the years as they play and imagine during recess, centers, building, and free draw times.  (Those rare moments when kids can be kids.)  It is during play that children learn to share, cooperate, get along with others, dream and imagine.

That being said, I like to think of life as a big playground.  Life is the place where people learn to share, cooperate, get along with others, dream and imagine.  That is why I call my blog "Lessons from Life's Playground."  I hope that by sharing some of the things I've learned along the way, I can inspire and encourage you to share, cooperate, dream and imagine. 

Becoming a Butterfly

I once heard a message by Joyce Myers where she was talking about the process of Sanctification.  When we are saved, we are instantly justified, but we are not instantly sanctified.  That is a process that takes years, sometimes even our whole lives.  Joyce talked about this as kind of like metamorphosis.  She used the illustration of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.  The metamorphosis taking place is truly a miracle, but it still a process, as God turns a dirty crawling bug into a big beautiful flying butterfly.

This is not unlike our lives.  When we come to Christ we are like the caterpillar, lowly, crawling, and dirty.  But then we accept the gift of Grace and the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and begins the sanctification process.  This is the cocoon.  Like, the butterfly the cocoon is where our transformation takes place.  Unlike, the butterfly we can remain in our cocoon for many many years!  Yet, even as the butterfly emerges a new and beautiful creation; we too will emerge a new and beautiful creation!

Joyce went on to explain the struggle that the butterfly endures as it changes.  And well, I don't know about you, but that certainly is representative of my Christian life.  Life with Christ isn't always easy, but it will always be worth it!

 

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1:6

 "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"  2 Corinthians 5:17

 "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."  Ephesians 2:10

 

The biggest Family in the Whole World

There is a song we used to do in church which said "we have the best dad in the whole world."  Well, that song had two meanings for me.  First is obvious, because of Christ's work on the cross I have been adopted as a child of God.  Therefore God is my Heavenly Father and he is the best! 

The other meaning is the "we" in that song.  It says "we have the best dad."  It says "we" because everyone who believes in Jesus has been adopted as children of God.  This means that we have the biggest family in the whole world.  A family which includes people from all nations.

Paul reminds us of this in Romans 12:4-5 when he says "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,  so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other."

We belong to Christ and we belong to each other.  It is easy to get caught up in the comings and goings and responsibilities of our own lives that we forget about this great family to which we belong.   

I read an article yesterday about Christian persecution in the Middle East.  One of the comments after the article (by a reader) said that the Christians there and missionaries who go there know the risk.  I found this comment a little distant and harsh.  As the brothers and sisters we need to not only be aware of what Christians around the world are facing, but we need also to pray for them.  In the west we are able to worship God freely without fear of persecution.  Thus, it is easy to distance ourselves from the suffering of our brothers and sisters around the world.  However, this is not something we should allow ourselves to do.  Those are our brothers and sisters over there, members of our own family that are being tortured, imprisoned, and killed for their faith.  We need not distant ourselves from them, but to be aware of what is happening and pray for our family oversees.

Hebrews 13:3 "Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies."

Romans 12:15 "Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep." 


 

Jesus Loves Even Me

My small group is doing a Bible Study about Grace written by Max Lacado.  Tonight we talked about receiving and extending grace to others, even those who have caused us hurt.  The Bible passage came from John where it talks about Jesus washing the disciples feet.  One thing that really stuck out at me that Max said about this story is that Jesus even washed Judas' feet.  But the way he said it was that Jesus didn't pass Judas by, and the way I heard it was "Jesus didn't pass you by."

Did you get that?  Jesus has not passed you by.  In fact his grace extends to everyone who will accept it.  You see, even though Jesus knew that Judas would betray him in just a few hours, he still stopped in front of him and washed his feet.  So, one thing I take from this story is that no matter who you are or what you've done, your not to far away to receive God's grace!

This is also a message to the one who feels that the world is always passing them by.  If you feel invisible or like others don't appreciate you or are just passing you up-take heart.  The king of the universe has come to meet you where you are and has not passed you by.

Shine Bright

The other day as I drove in the rain a thought came to my mind.  It was 2:00 in the afternoon and yet the sky was dark and gray and rain was pouring from the sky.  Yet playing on my radio was the song "Good Morning" by Mandesa.  I thought what an odd selection for such a dreary day, but then I realized something.  It might have been dark, dreary and rainy outside my car, but as I sang along with the radio and praised the Lord the inside of my car was very bright. 

This experience made me realize something.  There has been a lot of talk lately (even-or should I say especially-among Christians) about how dark this world is and how it seems to be growing darker each day.  It is so easy to get caught up in all the bad and evil things happening in our world and forget that there is light, and that light is inside us! 

God did not save us and put his light inside of us so that we can hide from the darkness.  He put his light inside of us so that we can shine bright for him and point people to him (the only source of light).  Matthew 5:14-16 says  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."  So when we find ourselves surrounded by a dark world instead of giving in, hiding from, or complaining about the darkness see it as another opportunity to shine.  Shine bright for Jesus and be a reflection of his love!