Author: Michael

As the youngest in a Christian home of 5 children I grew up going to church every Sunday, and for Bible Study and prayer as well.  But I did not commit my life to the Lord and become a dedicated follower of Christ until the beginning of my sophomore year in college.  That’s when I started walking with the Lord.  What I specifically remember about those early days of walking with the Lord was how real Jesus had become to me.  Somehow, I had quickly transitioned from simply going to church and doing church work, to having this amazing relationship with the Almighty God who had become tremendously personal with me.  There was joy inside of me and I found myself singing Christian songs to the Lord all the time.  I loved spending time alone with God, communing with Him and being in his holy presence.  Seriously, it was that real.

Then life hit and a bunch of things happened that worked to distract me from the quality relationship I had with Jesus. The charismatic movement was in full swing at the time, and I remember so many Christians were swooning about the gifts of the Spirit.  I too had been baptized in the Holy Spirit and was equally caught up in this new-found spiritual dimension.  Two to three years down the road, I really felt like the Lord began dealing with me about returning to the joy of my salvation.  You might ask, “Well, weren’t you filled with joy by being baptized in the Holy Spirit?”  The answer is “yes”, but that’s not what God was talking about.  I had gotten to the place where I was exalting my Holy Spirit baptism experience over my daily walk with the Lord.  I wasn’t continuously valuing and appreciating the fact that Jesus had redeemed me from eternal damnation, and had given me new life, hope, and a very different perspective on my present and future.

I repented, and asked the Lord to take me back to the simplicity of my salvation.  And He did.

Through the years that experience has replayed itself several times.  Life throws us curve balls all the time, and the enemy of our souls would like nothing more than to distract us from the primary reason we exist, which is to walk with God in a relationship that is innocent, loving, simple, and yet holy.  Think of Adam and Eve before the fall, walking with God in the Garden in the cool of the day, enjoying the fellowship (communion) between the three of them, and the beauty of nature around them.  As Jesus said about Mary when she sat at his feet and worshiped him while Martha was busy serving and doing, “Mary has chosen that good thing which will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)  It is in the secret closet when we are before the Lord one-on-one where we find all that we need and more, and where He speaks to us and directs us to go out into the world and do the work of God’s Kingdom for His glory and honor.

May I ask you a few questions regarding Jesus and your own life?

• How is your relationship with the Lord God and His son Jesus Christ?
• Is your relationship personal on a moment- to-moment and daily basis?
• Is it growing and fresh, or stale and religious?

Depending on your answers to these questions, do what I have done on several occasions.  Repent of the distractions that have taken your focus away from the lover of your soul, and ask the Lord to bring you back to the simplicity of your salvation, and to the joy of walking with Him in communion, moment- to-moment, on  a daily basis.

Lord, help us all to return to you, our first love. (Revelation 2:4-5)  Amen.

If you need help with this feel free to contact me.

When in distress                                                  Love lifts,

Feeling condemnation                                        Love lifts,

Stressed out                                                            Love lifts,

Fearful                                                                      Love lifts,

Nervous and anxious                                           Love lifts,

Tired of the wait                                                    Love lifts,

Feeling like sin has overwhelmed you           Love lifts,

Feel like giving in                                                  Love lifts,

Seeing no hope                                                       Love lifts,

Feeling like no one cares                                     Love lifts.

1 Corinthians 13  The Message

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

² If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

^3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

^8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹ When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹² We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³ But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Hymn – Love Lifted Me  (James Rowe & Howard E. Smith)

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.

Refrain

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!

All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I’ll cling
In His blessèd presence live, ever His praises sing,
Love so mighty and so true, merits my soul’s best songs,
Faithful, loving service too, to Him belongs.

Refrain

Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves,
He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves.
He’s the Master of the sea, billows His will obey,
He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.

Refrain

Here is a video link of Benita Washington singing part of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ld3pzLFulI

Be encouraged today and allow God’s Love (Jesus) to lift you also.

About two weeks ago my wife and I went out to dinner at a nice restaurant.  During our meal I just happened to look up and notice the people around us.  Across from us were two tables with what I presumed to be families with their children.  What I specifically noticed was that at the  tables the parents/adults were each engaged with their cell phone or digital device, and the child (there was one child at each table) was playing what appeared to be video games on the restaurant tabletop touch screens.  There was no conversation or interpersonal back and forth occurring.  This was very sad to see.

As a parent who is now a grandparent I realize how fast time flies.  I can remember as a young parent when I would love to bring the newspaper (Does anybody even remember what a newspaper is today?) to the table and read the news at the table during breakfast.  My wife put a quick stop to that and told me that when we were together at the table it was family time.  I made the adjustment and grew to love it.

I know different families choose to use their time around the table in different ways, but for us it became a time to share and talk about what was going on with each one of us, and the things happening in the world.  It also became a time of laughter and downright fun as my wife, son and daughter would do and/or say something absolutely silly and hilarious.  (I was always the serious one in our family.)  But around the table is where some of our best family memories were created.

Parents of today, make the most of your opportunities while you have them.  Invest in your family.  Continually build into your relationships.  Enjoy one another’s company.  Don’t allow modern technology to make you strangers in each other’s presence.

We are being attacked throughout each day with words, sounds and images that feed us fear, insecurity, doubt, hatred, and the like.  We may not realize it but all of this has an effect on our mental state and our physical bodies.  We are worrying more.  We are out of rest, and we lack a sense of peace.  Some of us are just downright anxious and fearful of the present and the future.  Hope is missing.

Think on these things

Philippians 4:8  NIV  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Scripture tells us to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.  In other words, think on the good things, which generally will be the opposite of what we are being bombarded with.  Every now and then I think we need to take a mental break and just stop the madness.  Take a deep breath and breathe in the good thoughts, and exhale all of the poisonous thoughts we have previously inhaled.  Do this over and over until it becomes a habit.

Try this my friends and see if it makes a difference for you.  Let me know if it does.

Colossians 3:15  NIV  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…and be thankful.

I love the Lord; He heard my cries,
And pitied every groan;
Long as I live, when troubles rise,
I’ll hasten to His throne.   Author: Isaac Watts (1719)

Isaac Watts was from another time, culture, ethnicity, and country.  I have no concrete idea as to what was going on in his life when he penned the words to the song, I Love the Lord.  But oh how I can identify with the words in just that one verse.  I too love the Lord, and I too find myself constantly crying out to Him for one thing or another.

The good thing about that is this.  God always has time for me.  He always listens as I pour my heart out to him.  And He always welcomes me to come to him once more, again, and again, and again.

I sure do love the Lord, as Richard Smallwood stated.  Because of the Father’s great love for me He sent Jesus to die a horrible death on the cross, in order to restore me back to a right relationship to Almighty God.  The fact that there can be a personal relationship between a frail and sinful human like me, and the supreme, sovereign, and holy God, simply astounds me.  But I sure do love the Lord.

If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, but would like to, just pray this simple prayer with sincerity.

“Lord, I have many questions about you and about life.  But I believe that you are

            real and that your love is reaching out to me right now.  I am choosing to respond

            to your loving tug on my heart, and I am asking that you would now become the

            Lord of my life.  I ask that you forgive me of my sins and that you fill me with

            your Holy Spirit.  Give me such a love for you that I too may say with genuine joy

            that I also love the Lord.  Thank you Lord for hearing and answering my prayer.  Amen”

If you decided to pray that prayer please contact me and let me know so that I may rejoice with you.  A party is going on in heaven because of the heart change that just occurred in you.  Welcome to God’s family!

All blessings and praise to Jesus my Lord!!!

I have never been a person to make new year’s resolutions, but I have known a number of people who do.  But whether you do or whether you don’t, we all have various issues that we want to improve on in life.  For some of you it might be:

• Managing your time better. Do you find yourself running late often, turning in papers or projects after the deadline or right at the deadline in a rush, or constantly being frustrated with life just not lining up the way you would like it to?

I can help you with that.

• Figuring out what is your purpose in life. Are you one of those people who feels like you are existing but not living?  There are some people who are well into their 40’s and 50’s, and perhaps older, who still don’t know specifically why they were placed here on this earth.  They have a job, they may have a family, but they are not fulfilled, and life feels empty or lacking to them.  Or maybe you know your purpose but you’re just struggling to get there and see the manifestation of it all.

I can help you with that.

• Dealing with family life or the lack thereof. Are you a frustrated parent, spouse, teen-ager, or single?  You see other people who appear to be happy and enjoying life but that’s not you.  Communication lines are difficult, relationships are strained, and life is just not the way you had imagined it would be.

I can help you with that.

While I don’t claim to be an expert in anything, I have learned a lot in life, been educated well (a Masters degree), been in Christian ministry and leadership a long time (35 plus years), and have been told by many that I have a lot of wisdom that is beneficial to others.  It does me no good to just hold on to this info.  I truly want to bless you and others, and help you grow and prosper in your journey through life.

So check out my website and let me help you with that.  http://www.masterpiececrafting.com

Someone sent this to me and I could identify with it so much that I wanted to share it with my friends.  Some of you will be able to say “amen” to it, and others of you may be horrified.  I will give it the title of,

Did Your Parents Drug You?

I had a drug problem when I was young.  I was drug to church on Sunday mornings. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.  I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.  I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn’t put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

 I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.

 I was drug out to pull weeds in mom’s garden and flowerbeds and cocklebur’s out of dad’s fields.

 I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place.”

 God bless the parents who drugged us.

 — Author Unknown —

And yes, my parents most certainly drug me.