What Would Jesus Do?

Have you ever read the book "In His Steps"? I have read it many times. It tells the story of a small group of people who are going to ask "What would Jesus do?" before they do anything. It changed their lives and the lives in their community. There is a verse in the Bible that says,

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chron 16:9"

One person can be the vessel for change for a large area or group if they are willing to be used by God.

Thinking about the above, I have been pondering some things. I have been to a couple baby christenings. This is not something we practice, but we went to one about 25 years ago and another a few years ago. I really don't remember much about the one a long time ago. I was asked to be the godmother, but I told the Mom, I wasn't sure what that even meant, so she just asked me to stand with them. The one I went to a few years ago has left some questions in my mind. I heard the parents of the child and both godparents make a vow before the church, us and God that they would do everything in their power to make sure this little one was raised to love, serve and fear God. That is an awesome responsibility. I do believe it is always the responsibility of the parents to do this, but to vow that for a child not your own is a huge responsibility. Now fast forward through the recent years. We have seen the lives of those who made those vows. Have they even thought about their lifestyle or their words or the movies they watch while these children are present? Do they think, "What would Jesus do?" Do they wonder if the Lord is pleased with their choices?

I also hear people who claim they are Christians openly, go to church, etc. yet live with someone outside of marriage. Honestly when I see this situation, my heart goes out to the girl. I want to pull them to me and say, "Do you not realize that you are throwing yourself away?" The boy/man is reaping all the benefits with no responsibility or commitment. Why should they ever choose marriage? God gave you a precious gift in yourself. It is to be saved for marriage. Do these people ever wonder "What would Jesus do?"

Is it outdated to be concerned what sort of witness you are? Where do you go?, what do you wear?, what do you say?, what do you watch?, what do you listen to?. I heard a message one time that says modesty was to be properly dressed for who you were. For instance if you were working on street repair with a jackhammer, to be dressed in a tuxedo would not be modest. That made a lot of sense to me. I am not telling anyone how to dress, what to say or where they are allowed to go. What I am saying is do you ever ask yourself, "What would Jesus do in this instance?" Are all of those areas pointing people to Him? We worked with the college age youth for awhile. We had many discussions about these areas. At the time, there was a popular brand of jeans for women. They fly on the jeans was tapestry or had embroidery on it. Why do you think it was there? To draw men's eyes to areas they should not be looking at.

There is a lot more I could say, but I am not trying to be on a tangent. I just wondered, does anybody out there ever ask themselves if Jesus would be please with them in the different areas. Do they ever make choices that would not be their first choice if Jesus was not inside of them. Maybe it is a gift we can give to Him this CHRISTmas season. I would love to hear what you all think!!!

Count Your Blessings Monday

I am giving us an opportunity every Monday to not only count our blessings, but to share them with others. This is a way that we can encourage one another. Make a post on your blog telling us about your blessing. Please put a link back to this post. You can add the URL of your blog post on Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, then just leave a comment and share your blessing. Many of our blessings we will have pictures of and we can share those as well. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. They encourage others. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!!



My blessing is God Incarnate - Jesus Christ
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:6-14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14


I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. I know that many say that December is not really when Jesus was born. I know that many do not celebrate Christmas. We do however and it makes me stop and think back to the night that Jesus was born. We can't imagine the impact it made on the world of those shepherds or even of Joseph and Mary. Here was God, Almighty God, come down from all the splendor and majesty of heaven. Heaven a place where He speaks the word and it is done immediately. Here was that powerful Creator God in the form of a helpless infant. One who needed others to nourish Him or change a diaper. In the song, "Mary Did You Know", I love the line that said when you kiss your little baby, you kissed the face of God. Imagine that... It leaves me in total wonder and awe. There is another song that I love called Go Thee Down. It starts out talking about a lucky bunch of shepherds on a hill. The angels tell them to... "Go thee down into the town. There's a child there you've really gotta see. Be not afraid, but be excited, you're the first to be invited. Go thee down into the town and once you've seen Him go tell everyone you see. He's the one we've waited for, we're not waiting any more, There's a shepherd born to show the way to you and me." Just think about those shepherds. They had waited their life time for Messiah. Who would have thought it would come in their life time. They were the first to be invited!!!! Not a king or a politician, but every day common folk. This was HIM!!!! They did not need to wait anymore. Oh, what must have gone on in their minds. Immanuel... God with us!!!! Thank you God for being willing to send your only Son. Thank you Jesus for being willing to give up all your glory and splendor and come as a helpless infant, knowing that you were born to grow up and die for sinners. He was born to die. Yet He came!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

Yesterday it rained by the bucketful. We kept waiting for it to let up a bit to start chores last night. After we finally put the cow away and were almost done, it did finally quit. You almost needed a row boat to get across the yard. =) OK, so that was a wee bit of an exaggeration. Michael had his jacket off and was in short sleeves. It was very balmy. This morning he woke up to go to work and had to scrape the windshield of his car. Here is what it looks like outside right now.



These are some sky pictures I took a couple of nights ago. If you click on them and make them bigger they are a bit easier to see. Oh, the colors were glorious. My camera never quite captures that.