Acceptance of Love

In reading my devotion from Billy Graham’s Daily Devotions this morning, I learned a new concept of Christ’s love that I never thought of before. Billy Graham said…

A gift is not a gift unless it is accepted. God has given you His Son, but ownership is conditional on acceptance. God does not force His gift on us, but He asks us to receive by faith the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Billy Graham

While I have long ago accepted Christ as my savior, I never really thought about that if you don’t accept Him as a gift, you don’t get to have Him. There have been tangible gifts through the years that I have refused, and I never connected the dots of God’s love, mercy, patience, or guidance as being a gift I would refuse.

A person who deliberately refuses God’s offer of love, mercy, and forgiveness is lost. Most people gratefully receive a gift when given in love. The greatest sin that a person can commit is to refuse God’s love. Billy Graham

I am creating this post not to make anyone feel uncomfortable in their own beliefs but to help anyone realize the beauty, compassion, love, and understanding that is available for accepting the gift from God of his one and only son Jesus Christ.

Remember to always share kindness with others as He has been kind to you.

Mother’s Day Gift

My daughter knows I have a soft heart for animals, especially those picked on by the meanness of man. The wild animal kingdom is in so much danger from poaching, habitat loss, and just basic cruelty of man that my heart breaks for them. One of my most favorites is the elephant.

I have for years called them ef-alants, because of my first child not being able to pronounce such a big word. I have some coconut hair planters, one shaped like an elephant, and then my daughter got me this solar light for the yard of an elephant. It is ways too cute to be outside so I have it next to my elephant planter.

The El-falant Night Light

Remember in all that you do, be kind. You never know when you may be rescuing a hurting soul with a kind smile, a thoughtful deed or a warm hug.

Weekend Encouragement

Its Friday again friends – wow what a week. I hope your week was good and hope this encouragement can help with anything you may face for the weekend

I am enjoying this much needed rain we are getting but I hope we don’t get too much. We are such a silly lot, complain when we don’t get enough and then complain when we seem to get too much.

The encouragement I am sending today comes from various sources that I read and I am combining three of them as they all spoke of a central theme – the various gifts God gives us and how we choose to use them.

The opening statement in Jesus Calling by Sarah Young said “Open your hands and your hearts to receive this day as a precious gift from God.”

There are many forms of gifts we are given and we know from our reading and studying God’s word that each of us has been given a gift unique to us. He takes great delight in reminding us that He is always there and He rejoices when we reflect His beauty in our actions and gifts.

I am taking a writing course in poetry, not what I thought it was going to be, but the lesson I am learning is how sad life can be without God in your corner. God opens doors often to show his great love for us but we have to be willing to open our hands and hearts to accept it. Billy Graham’s devotion had a statement that made me chuckle but only because I fully understood what he was saying where those who don’t know Christ are still floundering on the dry beach gasping for air.

“While the IRS keeps a record of how we spend our money, that is nothing compared to the records God keeps with how we spend/use our gifts.” Billy Graham

The majority of God’s gifts probably are not of monetary value. In some instances they are, but most are gifts to help further His kingdom. And these gifts affect how we walk our in Christian lives. In Oswald Chambers Devotion this morning from Utmost for His Highest, he made a statement that sometimes we can not be effective in our walk until we have been through the Fires of Sorrow.

As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people. Oswald Chambers

And that to me is a true gift from God, the ability to stand strong when chaos is swirling about you, knowing He has got your back; the ability to still see the world through a glass half full instead of half empty; and the ability to show comfort and kindness to others when there have been times when you yourself were not show these things. So I remind you to take courage and peace in knowing God is holding your hand.

And as you feel the love and peace of God surrounding you, remember to be kind. Acts of kindness can have a profound ripple effect.