Another lesson from my dogs

 

ANOTHER LESSON FROM MY DOGS

James 4:8

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

The older I get, the more I am learning that attitude is everything. Two people can be in the same meeting and hear the same words being said, but the meaning they get from the words they have heard will be determined by their attitude.

Today, I learned a valuable lesson from my dogs about that very thing. 

Della and I own 3 mixed breed large dogs: Dakota, Cole, and Cowboy. 

Dakota is the mother of the other two. She's a mixed breed lab, huskey, and Weimaraner. Cole and Cowboy have those breeds in them , plus Chow and Staffordshire Terrier. We love all three of them, but they all have vasty different personalities. And with those personalities come attitudes. And those attitudes affect how they see things and how they react to certain situations. 

Dakota is a little bit full of herself. The rest of us live in her world in her opinion. She's got a big heart. But she holds it in reserve. She wants attention when she wants it and how she wants it. It's her way or no way at all. So consequently, she suffers and so do we. She gets in trouble for scratching our arms trying to get our attention when we're busy trying to do something else- like sleep. She sulks in the position she's in (chair, corner, carpet, etc) rather than respond to a call to come to us so we can pet her, etc, when we have the opportunity to do so. But, she's ours and we love her dearly.

Cowboy is a bighearted little boy with a bit of attitude. He's the smallest of the boys in his litter and therefore he has the small dog attitude. He wants to prove (mostly out of fear) that he's just as big and bad as his brothers. This has caused him to be hurt by his brothers. Consequently, he walks around with both a chip on his shoulder and a heart that screams "somebody love me, please!" So when it comes to Della and I, Cowboy tends to hang back from fear, but when he sees a clear opening, he charges in happily to gain our attention. He is most at peace when he's laying on one of us in some way with us stroking his head and neck. 

Cole is the big ball of sunshine. He's not perfect. He can sometimes be a little full of himself. But, mostly, he's happy go lucky. He charges in for our attention like he hasn't seen us in years- even if we just stepped out the door and came right back in. He's quick to climb up in my lap or jump up on the bed and begin to kiss Della or I just to say: "I love you! I love you!" And Cole is so sensitive to the moods of his masters that he lovingly responds when we are upset. He can't fix whatever is bugging us, but his loving response helps to ease our aggravation. 

That having been said, due to their attitudes, I am closer to Cole, who I call my 120 pound lapdog, than I am the other two. 

I love them all the same, but it appears to the other two that Cole is my favorite. 

But the truth is that Cole from day one has actively worked at showing us his love and building a relationship with Della and I. He doesn't expect us to meet him on his terms. He just takes full advantage of every opportunity he has to tell us he loves us and to show it in every way he can. He deliberately spends as much quality time as he possibly can with us.  

The difference between the three is their attitude. The difference between our relationships with them is their attitude. 

It's the same with us and God. Jesus loves us all the same. Jesus died on the cross for us all. Jesus gives the same offer of salvation to all. "And few there be that find it. Matthew 7:14"

Even to those of us who are born again, there can be a difference between our individual relationships with God. 

Some of us are like Dakota. We love God, but we expect him to do what we want, when we want, and how how we want. And when he doesn't, we try to punish him by holding ourselves back and giving him our cold shoulder. All the while, we long to be close to him and held in his arms. Sometimes, we'll take jabs at God to try and scratch him to get him to move in the way we want him to. But God is God and we ain't. He moves and does things when he knows it's right for us and the right time for it to happen. All the while, he beckons for us to come close and let him give us the love he wants to share. 

Some of us are like Cowboy. We have low self esteem- even though the cross proves just how valuable to God we truly are. We spend our time fighting with our brothers in an effort to show that we're just as good as they are. We try and get the attention of those that we don't feel threatened by to gain their approval and feel validated. And when an opportunity comes where we feel totally safe, then we drop all our walls and run to Jesus screaming, "I love you, daddy, I love you!" And for a short time, we feel the love and acceptance we truly long for. A love that we truly had all along, if we had just not held ourselves back. And sometimes, we even get to lay our head in the lap of our master to soak in as much love as we possibly can- in perfect peace. 

And some of us are like Cole. It doesn't matter to us what others think, we're going to charge in to be as close to Jesus as we can at every opportunity. Sometimes, we do dumb things and get into trouble because we get our attention diverted by things other than our master. But, always we run back to him looking to lavish him with our love and build our relationship with him. And like Cole, we are sensitive to the moods of our Lord. We become instantly attuned and are moved by what moves Jesus.

The truth is that we probably all have moments where we are all 3. Sometimes we act like Dakota. Sometimes we act like Cowboy. And sometimes we act like Cole. 

But always, God is totally in love with us and has our best interest and care in mind. 

So the question, every day, truly is what is our attitude with God? Because what our attitude is will determine our relationship with God and what we are able to get from God.

 

Out of the ashes.

 The following post was given to me by God on Sunday June 28, 2015. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2015

"A sad message from the Lord for America.

Thus saith the Lord God of heaven and earth:

When you were young and new, you delighted in my word and I protected you.
When you had trouble, you sought me with your whole heart and I delivered you.
But you prided yourself in the blessings I gave you. You took credit for the prosperity I gave you.
You turned from my ways and followed after other gods, which are no gods at all.
I sent messagers to you, time and time again, but you vilified and ignored what they said to you.
I lowered my hand of protection and allowed your enemies to attack you and for a short season you sought me.
But, in short order, you turned your back on me again and swore to rebuild yourselves better and greater than you were before: as if it were you, and not I, that prospered and protected you.
I sent more messengers to you and still you did not hear.
Therefore, BECAUSE YOU HAVE REJECTED ME AND HAVE EMBRACED AND CELEBRATED THAT WHICH I CALL AN ABOMINATION, THE PROTECTION OF MY HAND IS LIFTED AND YOUR ENEMIES WILL SPOIL YOU.

I WILL DIVIDE YOUR LAND AS A SYMBOL TO THE WORLD THAT I AM INDEED GOD OF ALL. I WILL SAVE A REMNANT FOR MYSELF AND WILL RAISE THEM UP FOR THE WORLD TO SEE. BUT, WHEN THIS DESTRUCTION COMES, REMEMBER THAT IT IS FROM I, THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND REPENT."

The only thing he has impressed upon me to add is this:

"Out of the ashes of the old nation, I will raise up a better one- a people who will follow my ways and stand against the ways of the enemy. 

Two nations will emerge from the current United States. 

One will stand with me and follow my ways. It will expel the apostasy that afflicts the current united states and the world. I will bless and protect them.

The other will reject me and my ways and join with the evils of this world. These I will spew out of my mouth and reject. These will be judged on the day of judgment.

May those that have an ear listen and obey."

Even so, come Lord Jesus!   

Rehashing old truths in the new year, Part 1: the truth about who's truly good and bad.

 John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

This world is a very harsh place. Everybody is trying to make their dreams come true. Everybody is trying to create their own version of paradise for themselves and their families. 

The common belief is that people are good or bad based on their actions. And not just their actions in general, but their actions towards me. If they treated my loved ones and me well, then they're good people. If they treated my loved ones and me badly, then they're bad people. 

And truthfully, I understand the sentiment to a point. A truly good person tries to treat others well. A truly bad person does tend to mistreat people. But, there's another side to that coin:

Sometimes bad people will do good things in order to manipulate people into doing what they want them to do- some politicians for example. And sometimes good people can be pushed over the edge in anger or desperation and do some pretty bad things. But, truly this makes sense. For scripture clearly says that "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23

And herein lies the true difference between good and bad. 

If we judge ourselves against other humans, it's possible to believe that we are inherently good. After all, If we've told a few lies and wronged a few people, but we compare ourselves to a mass murderer or a child molester, we look at it that we're not so bad. After all, look at all that they have done. "I'm not so bad," we say.

But scripture says," 12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." 2 Corinthians 10:12

People in the world compare themselves among themselves in this same way. But, scripture clearly tells us not to do this. We are neither to judge ourselves in comparison to other people. Neither are we to judge other people in comparison to ourselves or other people we consider to be good. 

The truth of the matter is that there is coming a day when we all will be judged by God. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" Hebrews 9:27

And God almighty will not judge us like we do. He doesn't grade on a curve. He doesn't have a grading scale like schools used to have (A-90%, B-80%, C-70%, D-60%, F- 59% and below. Anything 60% or better is passing). We either pass or fail. Period. He judges us against one thing and one thing only: 

"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48

On that day, we will be judged by how we lined up to and obeyed HIS word. He won't look around and tell us, "Well, you were better than these people so I'll let you in." Neither will he say, "you were worse than these folks, so I'm sending you to Hell."

Many times, when we were raising our daughters and one of them had done something wrong, they would respond with, "but what about her?" In their childish minds, they knew that their sister had done some "really bad stuff" and therefore in comparison, they should get off the hook and we should deal with their sister. 

This is the mentality of the world today. 

The liar says, "look at the thief." The thief says, "but look at the molester." The molester says, "Look at the murderer." All believe they should get off the hook for whatever they've done because it wasn't "that bad."

We had to redirect our daughters by telling them that, "we're not discussing your sister. We're discussing what you did wrong." 

God's word says, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Revelations 21:8

Furthermore, it says, "9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

If we take an honest look at ourselves in comparison to the ways that scripture says we need to live we will come to realize that scripture is true: "... all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23

But, God loves us all, right? Yes, he does. But, just because he loves us does not mean that we will make heaven. Most people, if they're honest, believe that some people they've known have been too bad to make heaven- even though God loves them. Just ask the families of murder victims if the murderer made heaven after they were executed. 

With that being said, how in the world do any of us have a chance to make heaven?

...to be continued