But Who Forgives Little- Loves Little
--Jesus
For a couple of girls with a Christian blog, big hearts, and human opinions, the past few weeks have been difficult to get the fingers to type on the keyboard. I, for one, have opened my laptop and then shut it several times simply because what I start to write about becomes irrelevant in about five minutes because the news will change or will get disproven. That's where my heart was leading me back to this week, though, the hard stuff. Not the feel-good stuff that motivates us to keep trucking on through and getting by. No hearts and butterflies, just Jesus, and how we need Him more than ever.
When I write about oooey gooey topics like about my wonderful husband or my mom and dad, I get so many sweet comments, then when I write about something controversial, well, offensiveness is the bait of Satan himself. I believe a wise queen once said that the same people clapping for you at your coronation are also the same people cheering at your beheading.
As you know, my family is a sports family. We also love Jesus more than sports. We were not the family that stopped watching the Olympics last week after the opening ceremonies, and I’ll tell you why. We have a 14-year-old athlete in our home who dreams of being an Olympian one day on the Woman’s National Soccer team, so we are glued to every match. And as a goalkeeper’s momma, I pray for Alyssa Naehar’s mom, and I pray it doesn’t come down to penalty kicks each game because the hardest job on any soccer field is being a goalkeeper's mom!
I think about every parent who has a kid in Paris right now who took them to all the soccer practices, swim practices, ping-pong practices, whatever it was, and how hard they’ve worked their entire lives to be there-- so to boycott the Paris Olympics to me is silly because we aren’t supporting our American kids. Maybe those American kids love Jesus and have a platform to stand on to share the gospel as well. I hope so. Olympic golfer Scottie Scheffler was emotional after winning gold in Paris and said, “My identity isn’t in a golf score… I believe in Jesus. That’s what defines me the most.” If my kid makes it there one day, I think that’s what she’ll do because she loves Jesus more than she loves soccer. We all fall short, we all sin, I am a sinner saved by grace, I’m not going to stop supporting other people’s kids, and if my kid makes it to the Olympics, God willing, I hope ya’ll tune in too.
As a Christian and follower of Jesus, my heart hurt like so many others over the opening ceremony controversies. Tolerance, in this case, means everyone was welcome except for Jesus, and that just wasn’t okay with me. Jesus does want us to love and not hate. However, we aren’t called to condemn, but we aren’t to condone either. But I wonder how many people have googled “The Last Supper” since those opening ceremonies. The Last Supper is the last banquet before Jesus went to the cross to die for you and for me. For those who don’t know Jesus, I hope some have dug deep into discovering who He is through those searches.
When Tim Tebow wore John 3:16 in eye black for the first time on National television when he played football, he nearly broke the Internet. Did that many people really not know John 3:16 and need to look it up? Maybe someone reading this today doesn’t know John 3:16, well just in case, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life! This verse teaches us that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who died on the cross for our sins, will be saved.
Now, I do pray that the closing ceremonies aren’t as controversial as the opening ceremonies, but if they are, I pray Jesus is there, He will be, and I pray the athletes who love Jesus can share Him and His love on that stage in the most beautiful and respectful way.
Prepare to meet thy God
--Billy Graham
Do you notice what is going on in our world? Are you paying attention to the daily news on the war in Israel? My daddy always had a heart for Israel, as I have written about before; he and my momma had a chance to visit there when I was a kid. My dad actually went twice in his life, which was a blessing to him. Something kept nudging at me this week to dig out the picture album of that trip. (The Holy Spirit, of course!) I didn’t realize the magnitude of that trip at the time because I was so little, I guess. They had both walked Capernaum, where Jesus lived, went to Bethlehem, where He was born, stood at the Jordan River, where John the Baptist baptized Him, and touched the stones that made up the streets of Calvary, where His blood spilled as He carried His on own cross, Golgatha where He hung on the cross and the tomb where He was buried and Resurrected. Gosh, I wish I had paid more attention to the stories. I wish I had asked more questions when they were here with me on this side of Heaven.
I hope you turn off TikTok, and social media, turn off the political craziness in America, and look at the land of God this week. Really dig in and research what is going on in the Middle East. Christian or non-believer, it affects us all.
There are around 2000 prophecies in the Bible, and already about 80% of those have been brought to fruition, leaving about 400 more to come. I am by no means going to pretend to try and be an expert on any Biblical prophecy, but the existence of Israel itself is proof of the existence of God Almighty. My daddy always said keep your eyes on Israel. So that’s what I am going to do. My family and I are going to keep reading our Bible, keep praying together, and keep our eyes on Israel.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Psalm 122: 6
It's Time to Warm Up
--Erica
So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot or cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 4:16
I don’t want to be a lukewarm Christian anymore. My Bible isn’t just a book full of motivational quotes. We can’t just read our Bibles; we must mix it with Faith. Believing in God is not enough; heck, even Satan believes in God. Believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for our sins is the way to Heaven. It's not about religion either; religious people point out other people's sins, but people who are repentive- well, they worry about and fix their own sins and then worry about others and start spreading the joy of Jesus. Spreading the good news of Jesus to everyone around us before it's too late is the real job that matters.
He then brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved- you and your household.' Then they spoke the world of the Lord to him and all the others in his household." Acts 16: 31-32
Jesus is Lord of our hearts, Jesus is Lord of our homes, Jesus is Lord of our marriages, Jesus is Lord of our Nations. Jesus just wants a commitment from you. Jesus will give you peace. A Christian gets to have no fear of the future; we know who triumphs in the end. It’s Jesus.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “ the just shall live by faith.” Romans 1: 16-17
LFG
Let's Faithfully Go,
Erica
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