The Evening's Thoughts

Are you poor in spirit? The kindgom of heaven will be yours.
Do you mourn? You will be comforted.
Are you meek? You shall inherit the earth.
Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness? You will be filled.
Are you merciful? You shall obtain mercy.
Are you pure in heart? You will see God.
Do you make peace? You are the child of God.
Are you persecuted for righteousness sake? Yours is the kingdom of heaven.

- Matthew 5

Until next time,
Juliana.

The Evening's Thoughts...

Truthfully, my thoughts this evening are all over the place. But tonight I'd like to share something I read last night and have been thinking about this evening.

I receive emails from Daily Success every morning. Yesterday the email was about starting your day... in the evening. The evening is a good time to reflect on the day past and evaluate your thoughts/actions/accomplishments/wrong doings etc. and prepare heart and mind for the next day. One thing that was suggested to do was meditate on scripture and setting spiritual goals for the next day as you drift off to sleep.

This evening when I was reading Psalms I read this verse - "...Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still". This is Psalms 4:4b.

Meditate on His word as you sleep tonight and let Him prepare your heart for a fresh, new day of worshiping Him.

Until next time,
Juliana.

Are You Hot or Are You Cold?

^{This evening my thoughts drifted to Revelations chapter 3. This chapter deals with the "dead" church - Christians who have wandered away. The particular passage that sat on my heart was verses 15 and 16.}

^{"I know thy works that art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth"}

^{Hot, as in on fire for the Lord. Cold, as in put out.}

^{When I think of the word cold I get an image of a stone. Cold, hard, grey and unresponsive.}

At the very moment I hold in my hand a rock. It looks similar to the one in the picture. And it is just that. It is cold and hard. When I think of a person being cold and hard I think of a person who doesn't know Christ.

When I think of the word hot, I think of warmth and passion. This is what God desires of His children. A burning passion for He and His word.

But then there is lukewarm. A place in between. And as you read in Revelations this is not the place to be. When I think of a person being lukewarm I think of a person that knows Jesus but has wandered away. A person who does nothing for the Lord. A person who is spiritually "turned off".

Of the three levels above - cold, hot, and lukewarm - God says the most undesirable is lukewarm. He will spue that person from His mouth.

Think of a cup of tea. Tea can be taken either hot or cold. But it is not at all desirable at room temperature. I know I hate lukewarm tea. I can't even manage to swallow it. I believe this is the same way God feels about people. He rejoices over those who love Him, He tries to win over those who do not know Him, and He spits out those that have become spiritually dead.

I encourage you to evaluate your life and make sure your walk with God hasn't dropped to room temperature. Be on fire for Him.

Until next time,
Juliana.

The Evening's Thoughts...

This evening I decided to take a walk down to the creek. It was getting late but I still had about 45 minutes of sunlight left. A big tree is lodged in the middle of our creek and since the water's low right now I was able climb onto it and sit there for a while. It was quite and peaceful.

I was not there two seconds before I noticed a little animal on the bank. I decided to watch it for a while. But to my horror a few minutes into my watching the little animal just fell over and died. I was in a bit of shock at first but as I looked at the little animal I began thinking.

Life is short.

James 4:14 says "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

We only have a limited amount of time on earth. What are you doing for God with the time He has given you? Are you busy about His work?

Until next time,
Juliana.

The Evening's Thoughts..

He will ALWAYS help you through...

No matter how heavy the burden or how large the load He will give you the strength and grace to carry on.

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." I Peter 5:7

"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalms 55:22

Until next time,
Juliana.