LOVE CHANGES PEOPLE MORE THAN PEOPLE CHANGE PEOPLE!

Posted on September 20, 2014 by randscallawayffm

Long title, but isn’t it true? God knew that. He sent His One and Only Son to prove, explain, show and live God’s love for us. Jesus Christ loved like His Father and magnificently SHOWED us how to love. His beloved disciple, John, writes three wonderful letters about love. We are going to spend some precious, meaningful time meditating on small bites at a time and be filled, once again, and over and over, with the knowledge of God’s love. Breathe in God’s love and exhale His love for others. Then, maybe we will be changed in the process. Mm.

The most difficult things to get straight in life are love and God. More often than not, the mess we make of our lives can be traced to failure or stupidity or meanness in one or both of these areas.

“The basic and biblical Christian conviction is that the two subjects are intricately related. If we ant to deal with God the right way, we have to learn to love the right way. If we want to love the right way, we have to deal with God the right way. God and love can’t be separated.” — Eugene Peterson

Let’s dive in…1 John 1, Msg:

“From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in–we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.” 1 John 1, Msg

“We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for wring is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!”
1 John 1, Msg

Wow, JOY doubled! Yes, we want this! Reminds me of the Psalmist who cried out, “Restore the joy of my salvation!”

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Dear Heavenly Father, You already have our attention with John’s opening of his letter…Your Word to us. The more we learn of love, the more we will know You, for You are love. You and love cannot be separated. Yes, we think our joy is already building and growing to greater depths just thinking about it. May we be changed, transformed even, in the coming days as we read and become more like You and Your Love. In Jesus Name, Amen

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LOOK FORWARD!

Posted on September 19, 2014 by randscallawayffm

You see it physically with kids all the time…while running to get ahead of the person behind them…they look back at their competition and fall or run smack into an obstacle right in front of them!

Sometimes, as a first grade teacher, I would play a little game while walking my line of little chicks to another part of the building. They didn’t know the game, this was just a way to focus their attention while getting from point A to point B. First graders look all around instead of forward most of the time. There are so many distractions. So, to cure this a bit, I would stop the line suddenly to watch the “domino” affect of my little chicks stacking up on each other because of not looking forward. After a few times of domino-ing, they watched the teacher intently to see when she would stop and what she was going to do next! It worked. Every time.

Are we adults like that? Absolutely. Peter knew that. Peter was like that sometimes, too. He learned to never take his eyes off the Master. We would do well to look intently at the Master and be alert to his signal to stop, move forward or turn around and go another way. HIS way. God knows what is best for us. He will be with us and protect us. Always.

“So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. Interpret our Master’s patient restraint for what it is: salvation.” 2 Peter 3, Msg

“Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Glory to the Master, now and forever! Yes!” 2 Peter 3, Msg

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Dear Heavenly Father, By not looking at you and going my own way…quickly…I have fallen, taken missteps in direction or have run right into walls of obstruction. Going my own way does not work nearly as well as going Your best way for me. You know me well. So, I will be more alert, looking up to You while listening with alert ears to hear Your whisper to my heart. Help us, Lord, to always look forward and not back. In Jesus Name, Amen

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UNDISTRACTED ATTENTION…IS IT POSSIBLE?

Posted on September 18, 2014 by randscallawayffm

The world is full of voices trying to get our attention to buy this, improve yourself, reach higher, get more, treat yourself, listen to me, take my advice, do it my way so you can do it your way, you won’t regret it! Yikes! We probably will regret it if we follow the wrong voices.

The bumper sticker reads, “Don’t follow me, I’m lost”. Isn’t that the truth some days. We trudge along life, just trying to survive, and provide for our families. Then an unexpected crisis comes that halts the mundane. God seems to use those moments in time so He can have our undistracted attention to guide us to His best.

I have also discovered in my lifetime that in the midst of the mundane we get lazy…With every action and every thought. We are more susceptible and more easily duped by false teachers because we are not reading God Word for ourselves, asking God to convict, encourage, motivate and teach us. We rely on others to do that…because it’s easier and we don’t have the time. Yikes, again. If you are too busy to come face to face with God each morning, to seek His direction for Your day, then you are too busy. Our Father deserves our highest praise…our undistracted attention.

Peter writes of this in his second letter, inspired by God, to us…

“My dear friends, this is now the second time I’ve written to you, both letters reminders to hold your minds in a state of undistracted attention. Keep in mind what the holy prophets said, and the command of our Master and Savior that was passed on by your apostles.”

THE LAST DAYS…Why our undistracted attention is so important!

“First off, you need to know that in the last days, mockers are going to have a heyday. Reducing everything to the level of their puny feelings, they’ll mock, ‘So what’s happened to the promise of his Coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, and everything’s going on just as it has from the first day of creation. NOthing’s changed.'” 2 Peter 3, Msg

“They conveniently forget that long ago all the galaxies and this very planet were brought into existence out of watery chaos by God’s Word.”

“God is poised, ready to speak his word again, ready to give the signal for the judgment and destruction of the desecrating skeptics.”

GOOD NEWS…
“He is restraining himself on account of you, holding bacfk the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”

SO…
“Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival.

OUR UNDISTRACTED ATTENTION WILL RESULT IN…
“The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day–but WE’LL HARDLY NOTICE. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.”

Yes, Lord, Yes!

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Dear Heavenly Father, May Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Your undistracted child who love You with all her heart, mind and soul.

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LYING LEADERS!

Posted on September 17, 2014 by randscallawayffm

Liar, liar pants on fire….wouldn’t be great if lying leader’s pants actually caught fire? They would be so much easier to spot and run from with great speed! But, evil doesn’t work that way. Evil has only one way…to lie. But evil is not more powerful than God. Evil has used this same trick, his only trick, over and over, since he was booted from heaven. That trick is to tell lies. It began in Eden. You know the story.

So, centuries later, Peter deals with it in God’s church. In turn, we deal with it daily in our world. Peter’s strong, passionate reminder about lying leaders is good to read and ponder and be alert. It is also good to evaluate ourselves and make sure we are not one of those lying leaders. Truth. God’s Word.

“But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They’ll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other–biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They’ve put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can’t tell right from wrong.”

“They give the way of truth a bad name. They’re only out for themselves. They’ll say anything, ANYTHING, that sounds good to exploit you. They won’t, of course, get by with it. They’ll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on.”

“God didn’t let the rebel angles off the hook, but jailed them in hell till Judgment Day. Neither did he let the ancient ungodly world off. He wiped it out with a food, rescuing only eight people–Noah, the sole voice of righteousness, was one of them.”

“God decreed destruction for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A mound of ashes was all that was left–grim warning to anyone bent on an ungodly life. But that good man Lot, driven nearly out of his mind by the sexual filth and perversity, was rescued. Surrounded by moral rot day after day after day, the righteous man was in constant torment.”

“So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.” 2 Peter 2, Msg

So, at Judgment Day, liars pants WILL BE on FIRE! (Smiling.)
We just have to wait. AND we have to make sure it is not us! How do we tell the difference? In leaders’ motivations…is what they are saying going to benefit them or others? We must examine our motives daily.

Speak Truth. The world is “dying” to know Truth.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Passionate Peter speaks of the history of evil as well as today’s evil. We know you are the Judge. We know You have won this battle. So, in the end, we go home. But before we do, fill us with Your Holy Spirit so that we will discern evil quickly and run from it and for sure NOT be a part of it. Keep us from causing pain to anyone, but use us to encourage. Help us to always speak Truth. In Jesus Name, Amen

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GOD’S TRUTH IS…THE TRUTH!

Posted on September 16, 2014 by randscallawayffm

God is Truth. Jesus Christ is the Person called Truth. God’s Word is Truth. Jesus was the Word made Truth. Jesus came down from heaven to SHOW and TELL the Truth so we would “get it”. Whether we choose to believe, live it or tell it, or not…God is Truth. God’s Word is Truth. There it is.

Peter was an eye witness to the Truth as the Person of Jesus Christ. He was an “insider” to the knowledge of the Truth in pure form, without opinion of mankind. One last time, Peter passionately reminds us what Truth is…”not something concocted in the human heart”…but is Truth that lives forever.

EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT…
“We weren’t, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: ‘This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight.’ We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.”
2 Peter 1, Msg

GOD’S VOICE..CONFIRMED!
“We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard–GOD’S glory, GOD’S voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word.

And someday…Truth will come back for us, to take us up to where He is, to live with Him forever and ever, Amen!

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Dear Heavenly Father, We hear so many voices about what is true and what is not…it is affirming to concentrate and meditate on the main thing this morning…Your Truth, pure and simple, yet profound. Thank you for this reminder..Peter’s reminder to all of us, through Your Word to focus on what really matters. Yes, the best is yet to come. Thank you, Lord!
In Jesus Name, Amen!

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NO GRASS GROWING UNDER THESE FEET!

Posted on September 15, 2014 by randscallawayffm

I have a confession. I have been known as a bit of a hyper, excited individual who likes for things to happen…NOW. People describe me as the person who never lets “grass grow under her feet”. My soul is sparked by an action plan and the implementation of a plan. That strength, however, can be a weakness if it is not in the right direction…or guided by the Hand of God! Sometimes I’ve “cut off a soldier’s ear who gets in the way” so to speak. (Impulsive moment of Peter’s…John 18:10)

Yes, I am passionate person about those things that I believe in with my whole heart. Maybe that’s why I relate so well to who Peter is…a passionate go-getter who runs to the tomb, jumps in the water, but then learns to yield to the Master. This revolutionist got in trouble for not moving with God’s timing. But by the power of God’s Holy Spirit and the teaching, mentoring, shaping and molding by Jesus, the Master Teacher and Savior, Peter is transformed to write God’s Word to us with guided passion for God’s glory! Read and get excited with me…!

“So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.” 2 Peter 1, Msg

“So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; DO IT NOW. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open inot the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1, Msg

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Dear Heavenly Father, Yes, Your Word is personal. Your Word to us gets to us in powerful ways! It convicts with grace and forgiveness with new direction with right motivations. Thank you! Thank you for Peter’s example of transformation. Thank you for unconditionally loving sinful people, forgiving us and saving us by your grace. Thank you for loving, shaping and molding me. Keep on…I need You every hour. In Jesus Name, Amen

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I’VE GOT A TICKET TO RI—IDE! (RIDE)

Posted on September 14, 2014 by randscallawayffm

Yes, I’m old enough to remember the pop song, “Ticket to Ride” by the Beetles, playing over and over on the radio when I was a teenager. It’s a catchy tune, but the lyrics leave a lot to be desired. Do we ever really read over the lyrics? Mm. How foolish the world is to fall for empty lyrics to a pop song when the real ticket offered by Jesus to ride higher, deeper, stronger is just waiting for us.

Peter passionately opens his second letter in God’s Word to all of us offering an invitation for a new “ticket to ride”. Who knows better than Peter, the close and dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, about His life-transforming power!

Consider Peter’s background for a moment. Let’s try to imagine the night Peter stood around a campfire in the courtyard of the palace, trying to stay close enough to see what was happening to Jesus, but far enough away to be protected. What was going through his mind when, like Jesus said he would, Peter would betray his Master Teacher? Not once, but THREE times! Then, when he finally gets a glimpse of Jesus on the way to the Cross, imagine the exchanged looks between Master and Student, with the student disciple knowing he had failed his Teacher with betrayal, doing the exact opposite of what he had previously said he would do, “I’ll go with You, I will die with You!” Yes, imagine those Eyes.

Then Jesus comes back, risen from the dead, and Peter one of the first to RUN to the tomb to see that Jesus is not there. Then Peter encounter’s Jesus again with Those Eyes. Both sets of eyes lock on the other. Peter’s eyes are full of guilt, somber remorse, and maybe a little fear. But he can’t look away. Love keeps their eyes locked. Yes, Peter looks intently into the eyes of Grace…the Amazing Grace of his Teacher and forgiveness floods his soul with the mere look of the Master’s eyes. Does Peter see his own reflection in the eyes of his Master? Does the Master see His reflection in the eyes of his student? Either way, the slate is wiped clean. Lesson learned. Joy swells in their hearts and souls. Peter will now be the “Rock”, through his own life transformation, upon which Jesus’ church will be built. Wow!

Yes, this ticket to ride with God is life transforming. Are you ready?

“I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.” 2 Peter 1, Msg

YES, who knows better than Peter?

“Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you–YOUR tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.” 2 Peter 1, Msg

“SO, don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given…”
2 Peter 1, Msg

MORE later…let’s celebrate the transformed life of Peter and worship in gratitude for the grace and transforming power that God has done in our own lives!

“While we were yet sinners…Christ died for US!” (Romans 5:8)

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Dear Heavenly Father, THANK YOU, thank you, thank you for never giving up on us! Thank you for Your salvation. Thank you for consistently transforming us to be more and more like you as we yield our lives to you. Here I am. Do what You must. Just be gentle. As I know You will.
In Jesus Name, Amen

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PEACE TO YOU!

Posted on September 13, 2014 by randscallawayffm

PEACE TO YOU!.

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PEACE TO YOU!

Posted on September 13, 2014 by randscallawayffm

Before we move on to Peter’s second letter in God’s Word to us, I caught the “last words” of his first letter and cannot move on without meditating on them for today.

“Give holy embraces all around! Peace to you–to all who walk in Christ’s ways.” 1 Peter 5, Msg

May this day be encouraging to You. You, know, I spent a lot of time this morning praising God for all of you who read this every day. I prayed for our family and friends. I also prayed for our “enemies’ for more of Christ in them so they would no longer be enemies. Yes, I pray a lot. Why? Because I believe and trust in the God who created all of us. I am committed to Him. My focus is on His face, although I may not physically see Him, so that I will obey his call as quickly as His words fall on my heart.

Seeking Him every morning over some coffee and cheerios gives me peace and calm with the assurance that whatever I face that day, He will be with me. I love having breakfast with the Savior who is King of kings and Lord of lords! Amazing that we have the privilege and opportunity to do that!! I do not take this lightly. I do not take this for granted.

So, may Peter’s last words encourage YOU as they encourage me all day long. It is my prayer that you feel my “holy embrace” to you spiritually even though most of you are many miles away….

“Give holy embraces all around! Peace to you–to all who walk in Christ’s ways.” 1 Peter 5, Msg

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Dear Heavenly Father, Hallowed is Your Name! May Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us THIS day our daily needs, as You see fit, to bring You honor and glory with our lives. And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from evil and evil’s schemes to bring us down. For You have all power. To You be all glory forevermore. In Jesus Name, Amen

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GOD HAS THE LAST WORD!

Posted on September 12, 2014 by randscallawayffm

GOD HAS THE LAST WORD!.

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