We're Loved Even When Life is Messy

by Holley Gerth

Today’s Truth

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39, NLT).

Friend to Friend

I walk into the kitchen on an ordinary morning and sigh at the spectacle in front of me. Mugs half-filled with cold tea. Dishes with bits of red sauce still stuck around the edges. Plates piled high in the sink.

I imagine a hazmat team beating down the door at any moment. One of my in-laws showing up to repossess my husband. Paparazzi peeking in the windows to snap a scandalous shot of the wreckage.

I look at my husband and declare, “I feel like a failure because the kitchen is a mess.” I know these words are irrational. Everyone has messy times in their lives. But on this morning those words feel true. He chuckles at my perfectionist self. “We've been traveling and really busy,” he says with a grin and an arm around my shoulders.

This bit of grace is enough to throw me a lifeline. And into that space comes this reminder: “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38-39).

And quite suddenly and unexpectedly I’m writing my own version….

Nothing can separate me from God’s love. Neither messy kitchens nor dirty dishes, neither stressful deadlines or chaotic travel, neither all I have to do today or what’s on my schedule for tomorrow—not even the lie of the enemy saying “You’re a failure” can separate me from God’s love.

How would you fill in those blanks?

Nothing can separate me from God’s love. Neither (screaming children, a hard diagnosis, the amount of wine I had last night, a crumbling marriage, the bad hair day) nor (what anyone says about me, how many times I’ve messed up before, my insecurity or feelings of inadequacy, the latest bad news on TV)--not even the sneaky attacks of the enemy (on my heart, my work, my family) can separate me from God's love.

There’s always a reason to believe God isn’t going to love us anymore. But there is also one reason we can always know that isn’t true: The Cross. It is bigger than mountains of dishes or the hardest of divorces or the scariest diagnosis. It is the one constant in our crazy lives, the ever-present declaration telling us over and over again, “You are loved. You are loved. You are loved.”

My husband and I clear the counters and load the dishwasher. As we do, my thoughts begin to clear too. It’s so easy to let my circumstances or environment define me. But God alone gets to determine my identity. He looks at all that’s in my life, in my heart, in my kitchen sink and He still calls me always and without hesitation, “Beloved.”

He’s saying the same to you. To all of us. Whatever may happen, however we may feel, Love gets the final word in our lives today.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, I’m overwhelmed by Your love for me. It isn’t based on my track record or my resume. It won’t fail or disappear if I mess up. You love me for me, just as I am. When I try to measure up or listen to the lies that say I need to be more or do more, remind me of grace. Your Love gets the final word.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL SPONSOR:

Salvation; the gift of God

by Elder Burdette Thomas

In the Bible we read about Gods salvation. We understand that it is a gift from God himself and his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is found in Ephesians Chapter 2. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Eph 2:4-10 (KJV)
We hear so many times in the world today that nothing is free. Salvation is still free. The price was paid some two thousand years ago, on a hill side just out side of Jerusalem on an old rugged cross.
You do not have to work for salvation. A good life will not get you salvation. These things are not true. Salvation can not be worked for. It is not merited by mankind. You can’t inherit it and you sure don’t deserve it. Salvation is a free gift from God to all who trust and believe in his Son, Jesus Christ.
I just felt lead to write this little devotion. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was on my mind. Maybe it will help someone. Don’t miss the greatest gift of all, salvation, thinking you have to do something other than trust and believe in Jesus Christ, the one that has already paid for your salvation. So while things in this world are not free Gods salvation is still free.

May God bless you

Yours in Christ,
Elder Burdette Thomas 985-515-1628

2 Ingredient Cinnamon Apple Cake

from http://susanrecipe.com

1 can of apple pie filling and 1 box of Angel food cake (dry mix only).
Combine both ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 deg. for 20 minutes or until top browns. THAT’S IT! I figured it had to be too good to be true but tried it anyway and was pleasantly surprised. I made some minor adjustments though.

Here’s all 2 of the ingredients. Seriously.

When I combined the cake mix and apples, it seemed a little dry so I added about 2 tablespoons or so of milk. That gave it a good batter consistency.

Then, before I put it in the oven, I generously sprinkled a cinnamon and sugar mixture over the top of the batter. (hard to tell the difference in the picture)

I cooked it for about 25 minutes until the top was good and brown. Sorry, the pictures aren't the best. I was in a hurry. ??

You can just see the apples inside the cake.

We ate it after dinner with vanilla ice cream and all four of us agreed that it is great! It’s light and fluffy with a bit of apple. 5 stars for as easy as it is!
Next time I make it, I might try adding a little more fruit though – maybe another 1/2 can of apples or so. I don’t know if 2 whole cans would mess up the baking or not. I might need to try it that way sometime just to find out. I would also suggest serving it warm out of the oven with a little bit of caramel drizzled over the top and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. Hungry yet?

A Little Extra On The Last Day Of JUNE...

Seven Reasons to Believe That Christ Rose from the Dead

1. A Public Execution Assured That He Actually Died

Did Jesus actually die? During the Jewish Feast of Passover, Jesus was swept away by an angry crowd into a Roman hall of justice. As He stood before Pilate, the governor of Judea, religious leaders accused Jesus of claiming to be the king of the Jews. The crowd demanded His death. Jesus was beaten, whipped, and sentenced to a public execution. On a hill outside of Jerusalem along a public road, He was crucified between two criminals. Brokenhearted friends and mocking enemies shared in watching His death. In the four gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus’ death is clearly stated. In Matthew 27:50 and in John 19:30, the writers said He “yielded” or “gave up” His spirit. The other two accounts record that He “breathed His last” (Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46).

As the Sabbath evening neared, Roman soldiers who were experts in crucifixion were sent to finish the execution. To quicken death, they broke the legs of the two criminals. But when they came to Jesus they did not break His legs, because they “saw that He was already dead” (John 19:33). As a final precaution, however, they thrust a spear into His side. The soldiers plunged a spear into Jesus’ side, and from it came both water and blood (John 19:34). Medical experts say that if He were not already dead, this in itself would have killed Him. Others have concluded that the pouring out of water and blood from His side was proof that Jesus was no longer alive.

When Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Christ so he and Nicodemus could bury Him, Pontius Pilate ordered a centurion to verify that Jesus was dead (Mark 15:43-45). The Roman governor would not release the body to Joseph until the centurion was certain that all signs of life were gone. You can be sure that an officer in the Roman army would not make a mistake about an important matter like this in his report to such a high official as Pilate.

As a matter of fact, Justin Martyr, a Christian debater in the second century, said that the record of Jesus’ crucifixion was sent to Rome and stored in the Roman archives and was available for anyone to see as a matter of public record. Jesus was killed by the Romans. It would take more than resuscitation for Jesus to ever trouble them again.

2. High Officials Secured the Gravesite

The next day, religious leaders again met with Pilate. They said Jesus had predicted He would rise in three days. To assure that the disciples could not conspire in a resurrection hoax, Pilate ordered the official seal of Rome to be attached to the tomb to put grave robbers on notice. To enforce the order, soldiers stood guard (Matthew 27:62-66). Any disciple who wanted to tamper with the body would have had to get by them, which wouldn’t have been easy. The Roman guards had good reason for staying alert–the penalty for falling asleep while on watch was death.

3. The Grave Was Found Empty

Surely the authorities of Jesus’ day wanted nothing more than to have Jesus stay where Joseph had put Him. The mere fact that they sealed the tomb and placed guards to protect it–a highly unusual act–indicated that they were determined to keep the body behind that stone barrier. Suppose they had been able to do that. You can be sure the Sanhedrin and other officials would have been the first to use the knowledge of an occupied tomb as evidence when the disciples began to announce to everyone that they had seen Jesus alive. Yet no historical evidence exists to suggest that those officials knew where the body was. “The resurrection proclamation could not have been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact” –Paul Althus.

Second, there is something even more conclusive than the officials’ inaction–the actions of several eyewitnesses. The first to see and report the empty tomb were the women with the spices (Mark 16:5-6). John and Peter were the next to see that Jesus was gone. When they heard the unbelievably good news from Mary and the other women, they raced to the gravesite. John, it should be noted, is the one who wrote this account as recorded in chapter 20 of his Gospel. If you need an eyewitness to convince you that the tomb was empty, you have one in the apostle John. He was there, and he wrote down what he saw. That is solid historical evidence in anyone’s book.

A third strong piece of evidence that the tomb was empty is the reaction of the authorities when the guards reported the events in the garden. They wanted to destroy the credibility and influence of Jesus. Therefore, they would surely have been foolish to spread the rumor that the disciples had stolen the body–if Jesus were still in the tomb. Their collusion with the guards is solid proof that there was no body in the tomb.

We are faced with two facts. (1) Jesus died and was buried. (2) In a short time, His tomb became empty.

4. Many People Claimed to Have Seen Him Alive

About AD 55, the apostle Paul wrote that the resurrected Christ had been seen by Peter, the 12 apostles, more than 500 people (many of whom were still alive at the time of his writing), James, and himself (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). By making such a public statement, he gave critics a chance to check out his claims for themselves. In addition, the New Testament in other places records the following witnesses to the resurrection: Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18), several women near the tomb (Matthew 28:9-10), two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32), Peter (Luke 24:33-35), ten disciples in the upper room (Luke 24:36-43), eleven disciples in the upper room (John 20:26-31), seven men at the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-25), eleven disciples on a mountain (Matthew 28:16-20), and an undisclosed amount of disciples near Bethany (Acts 1:9-12; Luke 24:52). The book of Acts begins its history of the followers of Christ by saying that Jesus “presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by [the apostles] during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

5. His Apostles Were Dramatically Changed

When one of Jesus’ inner circle defected and betrayed Him, the other apostles ran for their lives. Even Peter, who earlier had insisted that he was ready to die for his teacher, lost heart and denied that he even knew Jesus. But the apostles went through a dramatic change. Within a few weeks, they were standing face to face with the ones who had crucified their leader. Their spirit was like iron. They became unstoppable in their determination to sacrifice everything for the one they called Savior and Lord. Even after they were imprisoned, threatened, and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus, the apostles said to the Jewish leaders, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). After they were beaten for disobeying the orders of the Jewish council, these once-cowardly apostles “did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42).

Some would say that the disciples had nothing stronger to spur them on than a story they had made up. But can you imagine what it would take to believe this? Just picture Peter standing up before the disciples, who had remained safely hidden behind locked doors after Jesus’ death for fear of their lives, and saying, “Well, the entire weight of the Jewish religious community and the Roman government was just used to put Jesus to death by crucifixion. Even though we know that He is still dead, we are going to start a rumor that He isn’t. We are going to say that He rose from the tomb and that we all saw Him.”

“Nothing less than a witness as awesome as the resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive.” –Charles Colson

A fictional story can’t possibly account for the changes in the disciples.

6. Witnesses Were Willing to Die For Their Claims

While many will die for what they believe to be the truth, few if any will die for what they know to be a lie. That psychological fact is important because the disciples of Christ did not die for deeply held beliefs about which they could have been honestly mistaken. They died for their claims to have seen Jesus alive and well after His resurrection. They died for their claim that Jesus Christ had not only died for their sins but that He had risen bodily from the dead to show that He was like no other spiritual leader who had ever lived.

Peter would never have been hanged upside down for a trumped-up story. Mark would not have been dragged through the streets to his death if he had been defending fiction. James would not have been beheaded for a falsehood. Thomas wouldn’t have been pierced with a lance for a lie. Yet tradition says that these men died the horrible deaths just described. What a testimony to the truth of their claims! They were willing to die for the One who overcame death for them–and for us!

7. Jesus’ Death and Resurrection was Clearly Predicted

The Messiah’s death and resurrection was predicted in the Old Testament and by Jesus Himself. Isaiah predicted a suffering servant who would be rejected by his people (Isaiah 53:3), crucified with thieves (Isaiah 53:12), bear the sins of Israel (Isaiah 53:4-6), die between thieves (Isaiah 53:12), before God “prolonged His days” (Isaiah 53:10). Psalm 22 predicted an afflicted one who would die a humiliating death by piercing of his hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; also Zechariah 12:10).

Jesus Himself kept saying over and over that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem to die and be resurrected from the dead on the third day (Matthew 9:15; 12:40; 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:17-19). Of course, the apostles minds were so fixed on the coming of a messianic political kingdom that they didn’t believe Jesus would literally die. They probably thought Christ was speaking in symbolic language, since He was one who often spoke in parables. But Jesus clearly predicted His death — which is not too difficult to do — and Jesus clearly predicted His resurrection — which is a VERY difficult thing to do unless the predictor is God Himself.

So Why Should You Believe That Jesus Rose from the Dead?

* Because His death is confirmed by many sources.

* Because a high official secured the gravesite.

* Because there was no body in the grave.

* Because many people claimed to see Him alive.

* Because the apostles changed from confused wimps to courageous proclaimers.

* Because witnesses of the resurrection were willing to die for their claims.

* Because the Bible and Jesus clearly predicted the resurrection of Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Without it the believer has no hope for this life or for the life to come. The apostle Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is worthless” (1 Corinthians 15:17 ). Our belief in this great teaching is not based upon some religious feeling or upon an unfounded idea about what may have happened in the past. Nor are we talking about an isolated rumor, but about a historical fact with solid evidence to support it.

In the early part of this century, a group of lawyers met in England to discuss the biblical accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. They wanted to see if sufficient information was available to make a case that would hold up in an English court of law. When their study was completed, they published the results of their investigation. They concluded that Christ’s resurrection was “one of the most well- established facts of history!”

In his little book, Countdown, G. B. Hardy has given us some thought-provoking questions about how to choose a religion. He says: “There are but two essential requirements when evaluating religions: 1. Has anyone cheated death and proved it? 2. Is it available to me? Here is the complete record: Confucius’ tomb — occupied. Buddha’s tomb — occupied. Mohammed’s tomb — occupied. Jesus’ tomb — empty! Argue as you will, there is no point in following a loser.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a reality. It’s based on solid historical evidence. Jesus is alive! It’s a fact — not a fable! God dipped His finger into the pool of history and the ripples of Jesus’ resurrection effect all of time and space, including your life.

DAILY SMILE:

Stick To The Plan

Submitted by maryjones

I was observing two men that were working for the public works department. One would dig a hole and the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in.

After a while I had to ask, "Why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner follow behind and fill it up again?"

The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, "Well, I suppose it probably looks odd because we're normally a three-person team. But today the lad who plants the trees called in sick."