Mother’s Day Gift

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
(3 John 4 – ESV)

We treat Mother’s Day as special and it is but it only becomes personally special when we put our person into it. A mother can know it is Mother’s Day and know her children love her but she can only feel their appreciation if they make the effort to let her know about it. Their mother may be special to them but on Mother’s Day they let her know that they think she is worthy of special recognition. People set aside special things for that special day. Mother’s Day is for us to remember that the relationship with our mother, although different now if we are married, older, and have children of our own, the relationship is still valuable and precious.

In a sense, Mother’s Day is actually a celebration of children; that is what makes a mother a mother, after all. You are her Mothers Day gift. Give her you; she gave birth to your life and/or life to your years, now bring your life back to her. Mothers want their children to be safe, to be happy, to be healthy, and these are all good things to want for our children. But to be holy, to know God, this is the greatest true safety, the greatest true satisfaction, the greatest true rest that any mother could ever wish for her children. If your mother is a Christian then the greatest Mother’s Day gift you can give to your mother is to let her see that you are walking with God. To see you saved would provide her the greatest comfort, the greatest joy, and the greatest peace.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Little Things are Big Things

Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.
(Song of Solomon 2:15 – ESV)

The little foxes spoil the vine – taking care of those little things means the vine is helped not hindered. Doing those things that seem little foster connection. Just a little extra goes a long way. How many relationships have we gone though the motions because we weren’t actually connected, or that we lost touch because we were losing touch, losing that connectedness? How many marriages has this happened to?

Being poured out is how you are connected. Now when I speak of being poured out I don’t mean you unload on everybody but you give of yourself, you don’t just go through the motions. The little extras show you care. Treating people like a number only makes them number.

Let me give an example where the men mess up, when they could really learn something from the ladies. There is a reason your wife takes so long to get a card for someone, because she wants it to be personal, not just generic. It is because it means something to her, and guys, if you think about it, give her something personal. She would rather have something you made that didn’t look or work all that good than something you just picked up at the last minute, as if it didn’t really matter. Anyone could do that, but only you can put you into a gift. They don’t want the card they want you, the effort not the resultant piece of paper. Not just a signature but also a sign, that the relationship means more than just a passive gesture.

They want passionate and genuine, that is what ignites the fires of fellowship in people, and with God. Just tithing, going to church, daily prayer, and all those otherwise good things can be done without a real heartfelt spirit. It can be done just to get it done, passive, not passionate, and your relationship grows stale. Think about it; you recognize when someone else is just going through the motions with you, why wouldn’t they, why wouldn’t God?

It would be like grandpa signing a card for the grandkids when grandma bought the card, got the gift, made the note and signed her name and all you do is sign too. If you really want to make an impact you should put something personal on the card, not just your signature. If not you are not giving something of your person, you are literally just signing off to her idea, you thought it good but you only added to it as a nod and not as she did. Oh, well that’s just grandma’s job, you might say. Oh really. It’s just a job, I see. Do better than that, give them something extra, because every little bit of sincerity counts. It is the same way with God; the little things are big things (Luke 16:10-12).

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Following Day

Then all the disciples left him and fled.
(Matthew 26:56 – ESV)

Some were coming to seize Him; some were as good as a mile away, and some were near but falling asleep. Three had been with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration and were now closest to Him in the hour of supreme crisis. But we don’t know what happened to James that night, he seems to have disappeared. Peter followed along, but betrayed His Lord when the tempting came. Only one, John, made it to the cross the following day. When the persecution happens, will you keep following Jesus? Will you make it to the cross on the “following” day?

The road to the cross leads through Gethsemane. In the silence of that night the greatest temptation and spiritual battle of all time took place. In the morning hours as Christ was about to be taken away to stand trial and to die on the cross, there were several scenarios playing out among His followers. The crowds had already gone away (John 6). The twelve were separated, the three were sleeping, and the One was suffering.

They had been told what would happen but didn’t grasp its significance. They believed in their Master but could not follow Him where He was going. They trusted in Him but didn’t realize what was happening in those moments. He was about to be taken but they weren’t anticipating it to be right then.

If you are compelled to write out a reflection or meditation you had while pondering scripture, or you are convicted about something, and that is why you talk of it to people, but no one shares in this, or they seem unresponsive, does that mean you were wrong to write or speak it? If God is leading you towards Him, but no one follows, will you turn back?

God must bring you to "feel" the silence so as to foster your sense of His being with you no matter what, when all else fails, when everyone else leaves, and when nothing else can help. Will you call on Him in the calm before the storm, or by your wandering, stopping short, or sleeping will you simply deny that a storm is coming? You’ve been with Him to Gethsemane; will you follow Him all the way to the cross?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©