e-mail 1/10/7

Someone very special came to me yesterday at lunch and said that she really appreciated our devotion and wished that I could send it out everyday. I tried to explain to her that I wished I could too but I had said when I first started writing that I would only write when God gave me something that He wanted me to say. The devotion does not go to any one church or denomination, it goes to at least 8 different states across our country and even outside our country that I am aware. Now it is on a blog that I did not set up and I have no idea how many people will be reading it. I have been asked for back issues and those will be available on the blog as they are added in. When I sit to write, I have no concept of what it is that I am going to write, what I will put down or the direction it will take in the end. I will be as surprised at the conclusion of this one as you will be.

I have been up early this morning thinking about the lesson that was to be taught at Toni's today about Creation and why we are here? The tune we sing about "Oh how He loves you, Oh how He loves me, Oh how He loves you and me." seems to play through and through my head. I am not yet sure what this is about but am sure that before this devotion is over, I will know so I am trying to get whatever God is giving down before He takes it away.

I only sleep about 4 hours each night so I am usually up early with a lot of things going through my head as I read my Bible, sit and pray to begin my day. This morning as I sat in my chair, snuggled under my blanket, I had about 2 minutes of sharp pain in my heart. When I tell my cardiologist, she says my heart is being stressed, when I tell my family doctor, he says it is arthritis, so I just don't panic about it anymore. When the pain last longer than two minutes, I go to the hospital. If I don't make it, my family knows where I will be. Bro Gregg's part would be the hardest as he will have to struggle to find a few pleasant words to say over a closed casket and act like he likes me and sing "I Can Only Imagine". JUST KIDDING!

I was so busy yesterday that I forgot to take my morning meds and realized it last night. The cardiologist had doubled the heart meds last week for morning and night and the diastolic was in the red zone so I probably need to put up a sign to remind me to actually take the meds when the alarm goes off instead of turning it off and going about my business until I have time and think about it later.

But back to the point. All of us do us do stupid and foolish things like I did with my meds, even when we belong to Jesus. He still loves us. In His prayer to the Father, He prayed, "Father, I have not lost even one of those You gave me". The problems we face in the church and the world today is distinguishing those who have really immersed themselves in Jesus and given 100% of themselves to Him. It is so easy to have good intentions and want to do the right thing but that is not enough. I had the best intentions in the world when Beanie Babies were so popular and gaining in value that I was going to help send my grandchildren to college; so I began collecting. I now have in sealed boxes more than 350 of those little fuzzy toys that cost from 5.00 - 100.00 each and now can be found on E-bay for .99. My intentions were good but right now they are pretty worthless. I can't get David through one class in his Freshman year with Beanie Babies. I can't even buy his books. But I had good intentions. My heart was in the right place and I won't even tell you how far Bob has driven while we were on a search for some I did not have.

"O how he loves me."It is so easy to mouth the words, "Yes I love Him", "Yes, I want to be baptized", Yes,, I want to join the church", Yes, I want to know Him like you do." But total obedience is REQUIRED. Friends and those I love so dearly, it is not an option.

"Oh how He loves you and me." He wants what is best for us and that comes only through commitment and obedience. He wants our bodies, hearts, minds and souls to be submerged in His blood. How does this happen? Through the Holy Spirit coming alive in our being and our not pushing Him aside for personal reasons or pleasure.

Many years go, I taught a group of Girls in Action at another church and on a particular Sunday night a young girl about 12 years old stayed after class and said to me, "Mrs Peggy, I wish I could know Jesus like you do. I said, "You can. You need to love Him with all your heart, you need to trust Him and be obedient to the things that He teaches in His Bible. I will help you to learn." I will never forget. She said, "I can't, it won't work at my house" I talked a little more and she would not make a decision based on her home life. She continued coming to church sporatically and as she became a teenager and experiencing the world, maybe 10 years later she came back to church one night and I asked her to stay after class, (I was teaching young and middle adults) and I asked her if she ever made that decision to follow Christ)and she said no. I reminded her that she was an adult now, she had a child that needed to be raised as a Christian in a better home environment than she had been. She at first said no, then said "OK, if you will walk down front with me, I will do it." I believed that she meant it - I believed because it was what I wanted for her - because "Oh how He loves you and me". I prayed with her in the classroom, at the altar, and the pastor prayed with her. She told the church that she confessed Christ to me in the Discipleship class, she asked for church for membership based following her baptism. She then walked out the door of the church that night and straight back into prostitution and drugs. I don't think she even went home. She went directly to a local bar according to acquaintances.

Occasionally I see her and ask, "Why? Your life could be so different. I would have helped you to understood. You could have gotten an education, you would not have to be on welfare. You would not have the HIV virus." Her response is always, "I love you, Mrs. Peggy and I always knew you loved me but I just could not make that decision."

"Oh how He loves you and me" Do I try too hard? Probably! Do I get too zealous in my attempts to get people to be saved and know the fullness of grace that is available because of what My Lord did on Calvary? I plead guilty! Am I sorry? No! Do I think that people are too callous about church and following the teachings of Jesus and not taking Him serious enough? Yes.

We talk a lot about Discipleship and I do this a lot. I say we need more discipleship then I need to remind myself what discipleship is. I have been in the church so long that I think that people ought to know our "churchy" words. Discipleship simply means to be a student of somebody. In the church, we mean a student of Jesus. Jesus said in His own red words: "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." I keep looking and have not found yet where it says we get to pick and choose which part of whatsoever I have commanded, and if you know where that part it, please send it to me. Jesus taught: Prayer, Missions, Evangelism and Obedience to whatever the Father asked Him to do.

Hint: The Father never released us from the Ten Commandments. Jesus words, "I came to fulfill the law, not to destroy them".

"Oh how he loves you and me" When Isaiah heard the words "Who will go for us? I believe he did not waste any time in lifting his arms and saying "Here am I Lord, Send me." What love and commitment for his Lord. My prayer is, "If I can't go Father, take me."

You see, for me, it can't be an option, it is a privilege, it's not a duty it is a way of......

Sharing God's Love,

Peggy