Kindness

I wrote on facebook a question for the readers to ponder.  "Kindness.  What does it mean to you?"  There was a variety of responses.  All good, but dealing with something we do.  And yes, we do acts of kindness.  But are those acts of kindness done because we choose to do them at certain times?  Is there a motive behind them that is selfish based?

I would like to put it to you to consider kindness as a condition of the heart. In Ephesians 4:32 Paul tells us to "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." In my acceptance of God's forgiveness towards me I want my heart to become changed, like His.  He leads me to an understanding of what He wants me to be, not just do. 

Ezekiel 11:19 states what God will do for me.  "Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God."


Once God has given me my new heart I will be able to do His will and bear the fruit of the new heart possessed by the Spirit of God that is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22,23) Because of this condition of my new heart I can fulfill the law (statutes and judgment ), "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

I don't want kindness to simply be something I do.  I want it to be a condition of my heart so that when people encounter me they see God's natural kindness in my heart that "God may be glorified."

When Little Ones Pray

It was wonderful today when I was feeding my 13 month old grandson his lunch when he folded his hands and babbled a prayer.  He only has a couple of words in his vocabulary, but I knew when I said, "Do you want to talk to Jesus?" that is exactly what he was doing.  Before each bite he would fold his hands and look at me.  I praised him for praying and we prayed, "Dear Jesus, thank you for this food.  We love you. Amen." 

I wonder if God gets excited about us like I did about my boys when they learned to pray. 

Ephesians 5:1, 2 says, "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children."  How do I do this? "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma." Christ was my example here on earth.  He showed me how to imitate Him for the joy of the Father.  I can imagine Him saying with excitment, "Look, she is imitating me!" Then comes the pleasing laughter of a parent who is satisfied with His child.

God's Awesome Answer to Prayer

I am totally blown away by God.  He has such cool plans and puts them into action before I even know what is going on.  Then when the time is right He opens the gift box.  Out of it bursts and explosion of wonder and awe that I can hardly contain myself at His wonderful greatness and how He showers me with it. 

Pastor Jim started a prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings.  Last night was our second one.  He started it because he went to a prayer conference in Ashville NC and came back impressed that we needed to begin a prayer ministry in our town.  Last night we had a wonderful prayer time and laid ourselves open and repentant before God.  We put our church school on the alter of prayer and asked God to bless it because our finances were drying up and we needed money to keep going.

This morning at 7:20 I received a call from Pastor Jim.  He wanted me to put the speaker on so that he only had to tell this story once.  He was weeping.  He related how he had met a man "David" on the airplane when he went to the prayer conference.  This man developed some equipment or software for Emergency Care facilities and was the founder of his company.  Jim apparently shared with him that he was a pastor, about some of the things he was doing in his home church, and that he was going to this conference.  They parted when the plane landed and Jim thought probably would never see or speak to David again.

This morning when Jim was in his morning visit with God he prayed for the school again and felt impressed to get in touch with David.  Now our pastor literally hates fund raising with a passion.  He hates to even ask his church to give.  But he felt the "noose" around his heart pulling him to call David so with trepidation he made the call.  Unbelievably David was just coming out of a meeting and took Jim's call.  Jim apologized for what he was about to ask but felt moved by the Spirit to make the call.  David answered with, "Why are you afraid to ask.  You deprive people of the blessing of giving." This response amazed Jim.  He didn't expect it at all. Breathing a prayer for help on how to present this Jim explained about our school and our program. David was so moved he donated $1,000.  Jim was floored.  He couldn't believe how God had set this up and how God provided.  He broke down and cried.

Jim got on the phone and called us. What an explosion of encouragement.  What a faith builder.  I had often wondered how God was going to make this school work.  This event let me know that what we are doing to keep our school open and vibrant to provide Christian education to the San Luis Valley is absolutely the right thing because it is God's thing.  We are just His instruments through whom He gets His work accomplished.

If you feel impressed to give to our school our goal is $10,000 this year.  But maybe we shouldn't have put a limit.  We feel the need to build a new school building, but we must do this in God's time.  We want our school to grow and it is.  God has blessed it for many years.  You may make your donation to

Sunshine Christian School

315 Craft Drive

Alamosa, CO   81101

If you have questions please call 719-589-2557 and our teacher will direct you to the best resource.  If you can't give, pray.  As you can see prayer is HUGE!!!! And God's answers are even BIGGER!

Finding A Great Treasure

"I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure." Psalm 119:162

David wrote this psalm.  He was always searching for a way to draw closer to God.  Apparently he felt the need very deeply to get as close to God as possible.  He was constantly being persued by his enemies.  I think David felt keenly the pressure an stress of running, hiding, fighting, defending, and at many times friendless.

Have you ever felt that way?  Like the world is just against you and everything is going wrong.  Depression sets in.  Discouragement is ever present.  Do you long to know what to do to make things better? 

David turned to God and His word. Apparently this is where he drew this strength and gained wisdom to know how to make his next move.  God honored him for it.  God called David a man after His own heart.

Get into His word, my friend. Spend time with Him.  I promise you won't regret it.  He will be there.  How do I know?  Read Isaiah 41:10.  It is an awesom jewel in God's word just for you!

The Bride and Groom

I love weddings.  I love all the decorations, beautiful dresses, smart tuxedos, fancy food.  But most of all I love the happy faces especially on the bride and groom.  The look they give each other on their special day is one that can't be described.  You just have to see it.

A lot of work goes into weddings.  Months of planning, money, time.  But in the end it all seems to be worth it.  Parents are willing to shell out the bucks to make sure their daughter or son have a wonderful day.  They want them to be happy and have a great send off.  Parents also want to show the world how proud they are of their kid. (Well, emerging adult.) So they invite all their friends to come and enjoy the event with them.

May daughters were the most beautiful brides in the world.  I looked at them and thought, WOW!  These are my daughters.  I was thrilled to present them as beautiful, well brought up, loving women.  They are my jewels.  I understand this text in Isaiah 61:10.

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

God wants to gush over me.  To show me off.  To tell all who will listen how beautiful I am.  In turn, I want to gush over Him.  I want to tell all who will listen how wonderful He is.  He saved me and lifted me up from a sinful world and certain death and is preparing a beautiful place for me to live with Him.  He is proud of me.  He loves me.  He cares for me.  That can only make me feel wonderful.

So I look forward with anticipation to that day when the groom, Jesus, comes for His bride, me (and those who love Him).  I can't even imagine the looks on our faces.  I think you will have to be there to see it.

Precious Gems At Adam's State College

Pastor Jim Moon started the "Friday Night Home Cooked Meals" specifically designed for college students (Adam's State College in Alamosa) who would like a warm and inviting place to go and get home cooked food.  Members of our church have students over on Friday evening at 6:30 to enjoy good food and fun times.  Some kids bring their musical instruments, others bring games.  They eat and relax, laugh, and enjoy each others company.  The hosts enjoy being able to shower the young people with love, food, and a cozy home for a few hours.  One student commented that she looks forward to every Friday now.  Others agreed. We are even recognizing some of them around town now. It has been a fun experience getting to know these kids.  Thanks Pastor Moon for the great idea! These people, all of them, are truly precious gems of God!

The Hope Diamond

When I think of a precious "rock" I think of the "Hope Diamond." It was originally owned by Jean Baptiste Tavernier and weighed in at 112 3/16 carats.  He sold it to Louis XIV of France in 1668. It was eventually cut down into a 67 1/8 carat stone.  It had a deep blue color and thus got the name "Blue Diamond of the Crown". The stone was reset and had several owners most being royalty.  The stone has an interesting history of travel throughout time. Eventually in 1901 Lord Francis Hope sold the diamond to pay off debt. This is probably how it got it's name. Harry Winston, who eventually ended up owning the diamond, donated it to the Smithsonian. After being weighed at the Smithsonian it was found to be   45.52 carats.  It is surrounded by 16 white diamonds and hangs from a chain with 45 white diamonds.

I can't even imagine touching such a thing let alone wearing it.  I wonder what the people felt like wearing it - both kings and ladies?  I wonder if it felt heavy?  One thing that made people ooh and aw over it was the deep rich color.  Some described it as having violet hues. But no doubt the deep blue was fascinating to see. For sure, it was considered a "precious stone."

There is a stone that is far greater and more precious that withstands time more pure and perfect than any diamond.  1 Peter 2:6 restates a passage from Isaiah.

"Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."

When I compare both stones in this story I find that Jesus comes out as way more desirable.  No one was able to keep the "Hope Diamond." It changed from owner to owner. But I am able to keep Christ because it is He who keeps me!