Tag Archives: joy

Your Shiny New Year

Devotional, Humanity & Sin, Living the Word, Spiritual Health, , , , , , , ,


Following every glittering testimony of faith from one raised in a stable Christian home- learning at an earthly father’s knee to love The Heavenly Father, happily participating in church life with the family, knowing a lifetime of Christian heritage- is a chorus of genuine amens and hearty hallelujahs! And rightly so!

But for many hearers, there is a whispered, “please Lord, let that be my kid’s witness someday, since it will never be mine.”  There are those thinking of when they were children and rode the church bus alone every Sunday- and still are the only professing Christians in their families.  Many are remembering regular family participation in church- punctuated by long days and nights of familial dysfunction.  Some are reflecting on the festive Easter and Christmas celebrations at church, and the long empty Sundays in between.  There are those who have no memory of attending church as a child, and due to the troublesome vines continuously trying to choke it to death, some folks may not be able to distinguish the branches of their family tree.

Dear Reader, The Good News is:  If you have kissed a hundred frogs and not one of them turned into royalty, if you are sleeping with pigs and slapping off flies, if you do not know your earthly father, much less your heavenly one, if you are running hard and fast from pain, afraid to slow down and catch your breath; there is a GOD in heaven who made you and loves you.  If you seek Him- you will find that He was willing to take human form and die to redeem you from your natural sinful state, and from your proclivity to sin.

Sin has many natural consequences.  Some are merely difficult, others are horrid.  Vitally important however, is the ultimate price of our sin:  It is spiritual death and eternal separation from GOD, and from all that is good and pure.  But, GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY, Jesus Christ has come to buy back His own from the dark side!  GOD, in The Son of God, Jesus Christ, has paid in full for our offenses toward Him and for the harm we  have done others! What?!? It’s true!

Now, respectfully, before precious theologians on every side of the many fences we’ve built prepare to take me to task- I thoughtfully read, The Book.  The Book says, if anyone wants GOD it is an act of His sovereign grace in that one’s life.  It says, if anyone is willing to trust in and sincerely believes on Jesus Christ, The Only Begotten Son of God, for personal salvation from sin, it is an act of sovereign grace.  And if anyone consistently, yet imperfectly, displays the fruits of salvation and of The Indwelling of The Holy Spirit, it is an act of sovereign grace.  And if anyone genuinely wants GOD, he or she is elect.  And if anyone chooses GOD, it is because GOD CHOSE first.  It says, there is not one thing, NO NOT ONE, that any of us lowly humans can do to better ourselves and our positions before A HOLY GOD.  We cannot even WANT God on our own.  We cannot be WILLING to obey on our own.  There is not one tiny work we can do without God either to save ourselves or to keep ourselves saved.  Everything is ALL of GOD and everything is owed to Him.  Justified- sanctified- glorified, ALL OF HIM! By Him, for Him, and through Him, ALL things came to be and are coming to be and will be, and are held together.  These things are in The Book.  These things are in His Word.

Therefore, if you, Dear Reader, are one with a less than sparkling legacy and you truly want God, you will simply turn to Him in trusting faith, as did the thief on the cross that solemn day, long ago on Calvary’s Hill, and you will be saved! Then, as GOD wants you to enjoy fellowship with other like-minded folks and to enjoy His family, you’ll find a local Bible-believing, Jesus-receiving fellowship, and will link arms with your new brothers and sisters and in the power of The Holy Spirit, embrace the struggle against sin! You will go and celebrate the victory that was hard-won for you! Merry Christmas And A Shiny New Year!

Copyright 2023.    L. L. Shelton.

They With Longing Looked

Poetry, , ,

Angels stared in wide-eyed wonder

While our God, His voice the thunder,

Touched the earth as tiny babe,

Travailed with us within our plague;

 

Watched God feel and heal in power,

Teach with care until that hour

Love compelled Him toward the cost,

Where for our sins He’d bear the cross;

 

Saw Christ weeping in the garden,

Begging would there be a pardon,

Blood and tears mixed with the ground,

No person faithful there was found.

 

Angels looked as God ordained;

Let souls in glory ease Christ’s pain,

None to match His disparate sorrow,

Climbed the hill upon the morrow,

 

Raised His head in triumph claimed,

It is finished [in my name]!

Still they marvel, it is said;

The boy God sent us in our stead,

 

Grew in love so bold and pure,

The wrath of God for us endured!

Still they sing, The Great Love Story,

Christ in man, the hope of glory!

 

Copyright 2022.     L.L. Shelton.

Forever Christmas

Poetry, , , , , , , , , ,

Oh my friend! Oh my foe!

Zeal in heaven warmly glows;

For all who will admit defeat,

Learn of Him- commandments keep;


Love for God above all

And for each other is His call!

Kneel before Him, promise claim;

Raise your voices- in His name!

 

Your nature to do evil now

You may subdue in mighty power;

For He who keeps you as you sleep,

Is your fortress- wide and deep.

 

Perfect ever you will be

He is your own identity,

Should you stumble, you’ll not fall;

His Glory Brilliant- standing tall!

Copyright 2022.    L.L. Shelton.

A Good Year

Poetry, , , , ,

THIS IS FOR DONALD.

I’ve gathered the wise,

Professing The King,

I’ve dined with fools,

Who mock everything.

 

I’ve pondered the old,

And welcomed the new,

I’ve injured and mended,

Both lied and been true.

 

I’ve wandered some ground,

And danced a fair mile,

Directed my steps,

Yet prayed without guile.

 

Now I greet the future,

Wearing a smile,

Abandoned to Hope;

I am His all the while.

 

Copyright 2022.      L.L. Shelton.

A Letter To My Daughters

Family Life, Holistic Health, Married Life, Parenting, Personal, Spiritual Health, , , , , ,

My Precious Daughters,

Understand that as a Follower of Jesus your life is not your own, rather it belongs to Him, to your First Love.  In the garden, Eve took her eyes off her First Love for an instant and was mesmerized by evil.  Darkness personified suggested that she could be not only her own head, needing the leadership of herself alone, but that she could manage the responsibilities of God! She fell for the ploy and the fall has been lengthy and beyond challenging.  May I suggest that you begin your journey in Christ by determining to forsake marriage and remain single for the love of Christ alone, or by determining to marry a man who loves Jesus Christ?

Waiting for a boy to grow into a man may be long and difficult.  Waiting for a man to learn the unselfishness of God will take a life time.  Waiting for a young man to become a Christian may be an altogether fruitless endeavor.  The simplest method for ensuring that you are less likely to be joined to an Unbeliever is to set a standard for your romantic life.  For example:  I will not date at all, or I will date only those young men who profess Christ.

I’m sure the decision to remain single in Jesus and for the sake of the gospel, has its own very great rewards, and there are those faithful to this decision and lifestyle who may be of aid to you, should you take this path.  However, I am familiar with the sacrement of marriage.  Marriage is the most beautiful illustration of sacrifice and joy because when done with pure intention; it imitates the sacrifice of God in Christ.  It is a picture of our relationship to Christ, highlighting the sacrifice He made, loving us while we were unlovable, and the blessing and joy He received and receives continually in an everlasting flow as a result.  Christ sits at God’s right hand enjoying Him forever!

Your children, should you receive the blessing of children, will be most greatly affected by your choices in the area of who you consider a contender for the prize of your heart.  They will benefit and suffer in large part due to the relationship you choose to form in marriage.  These effects will come about as a natural consequence of the design intended by the Creator.  You may attempt to use the system in a way that is inconsistent with its design but in return you will miss the consistent blessing of the  fruit of obedience.  Life is difficult in a fallen world, without the intended blessing it can be unbearable, not for you only but also for your children and grandchildren and their children.

Christian devotion and concern for family requires diligence and sacrifice beyond our merely human strength and regularly employs the Holy Spirit of God in Christ; as we ourselves are occasionally difficult to love, so our husbands and our children, and all within our sphere of influence will be.  And yet it is our mandate to love each one well.  And if you are able to love each one well, according to God’s definition of love;  not perfectly, but well, you will meet with God’s idea of success.

Still, the success you achieve within your own family will not necessarily follow in the world outside your family circle and the circle of the true church.  The organized church will be a place of like-minded Believers and fellows in the faith for the most part, but even here you will find some imposters.  There will be some within its walls who serve darkness.  The world will certainly not be without flaw.  And the world will challenge all, including those who have grown up under your leadership, and should you marry, under the leadership of your devoted husband as well.  Only each one’s personal relationship with Christ will keep him or her safe from evil.  We live within a system marred by sin and hatred for what is right and true.  Humans are broken and can only be fixed by God in Christ Jesus.

But in the midst of all, you can find rest knowing that keeping your own eyes on Jesus, you faithfully honored and served your God, and that you led by loving example and tender heart toward those you touched, and that while imperfect, you were an example of His servant leadership to those within your sphere of influence, ever hopeful that each one would receive Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior.  It is the best that any woman can do.

I love you ever and always,

Mother

The Journey Together

Family Life, Health, Poetry, , , , ,

For every up there is a down,
For every joy there is a sorrow,
For every life that’s lived,
There comes a no tomorrow.

Bring on your troubles then,
We’ll carry one another,
Until that very end,
We’ll love like we are brothers.

Together count our blessings,
United we will strive,
We’ll learn and in thanksgiving,
As family we’ll thrive.

Copyright 2019.     L.L. Shelton.

A Mama’s Way

Family Life, Parenting, Poetry, , , , ,

Searching clouds on breezy days
Rolling down the hill
Giggling laughing howling now
Until our aching sides grow still,

Tears blotted from sodden cheeks
Cheers composed and chanted
Into the ear pressed forward
Thoughtful encouragement granted,

Little kisses on upturned noses
Foreheads the hand lightly stroking
Singing prayers into darkest hours
Tender words in kindness spoken,

Tucking children into dreams
To wonder at the night
Illuminating words of Light
Laced through with things we like.

Copyright 2016. L.L. Shelton

Brief Thoughts of Love

Bible Talk, Family Life, Living the Word, Married Life, , , , , , ,

My Young Friend,

Love has been tragically misrepresented and misunderstood. Love both requires of you and insists that you require of yourself; it is both a proper noun and a verb. It requires of itself what is best for another and gives it without reservation. Love demands sacrifice and sacrifice usually stings a bit.  Often it is genuinely painful, at times even debilitating.  Any one who has truly loved has felt both the joy and the bite of it. The idea that love is all pleasant and ever delightful is a gross adulteration.

I hear a great deal these days about fear of commitment, about lack of commitment, and inability to commit. I listen to tales of lack of intimacy and emotional distance in family relationships and in marriage. I am often told of loneliness, and the death of community. I believe these things are symptoms of a lack of love, and I do not believe it is commitment we are so afraid of, rather it is sacrifice that we fear.

Most of us have felt the confusion resulting from a person’s declaration of love for us followed by an expression of our sexuality, only to realize rejection at a later date. Some of us have felt the terrible vexation that comes when a parent who has claimed love for us has then neglected or abused us (or our other parent or sibling) and maybe even abandoned us or left the home. Each of us has been puzzled at one point or another by the expression of love and insult from the same mouth. Each of us has brandished both affection and grief with one tongue.

People are imperfect. We are incapable of either loving or hating perfectly. This is why we are taught to strive always to become perfect in love and to avoid hate altogether. We’re instructed to leave the hating to God. We are taught to learn of repentance and forgiveness and to become experts at both, and there is a Way.

Another method by which love has been horribly distorted is by the idea that love and sexuality can be one in the same. The two are never one. Human sexuality is and has always been one way in a million of expressing love. Obviously, it is often used in a perverse manner to express things that do not resemble love in the slightest.

For many reasons, one being to set the relationship above and apart from all others, and some that are mysterious and still known only to God Himself, we are told that His system is designed to function optimally for us (for all of us individually and as a corporate whole) when each of us limit the expression of our sexuality to one relationship with one person of the opposite sex (gender) for the entirity of our lives. Yet, we are encouraged by God to express our LOVE for everyone all the time!

My third and final offering concerning the misrepresentation of love is this: God is love, but love is not God.  According to His Word, God is many things and love is ever a part of Him; His perfect Love motivating him continually.  Love is only itself.  Love is one of the many attributes of God and is nonetheless the epitome of holiness and the greatest thing.  Love is perfect. God Himself is love, but love is not God. Therefore, we in our love are not God.  God is bigger.

Lastly, in love I offer this truth from God’s Word.   It is an expression of my love for you. May it allow you some clarity and grant you a bit of peace on earth.

An Old Friend

(Please see 1 John 3:16, John 13,  1 Corinthians 13: 1-13)

Copyright 2016, L.L. Shelton