Poetry His Special Gift

Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash

It’s all a gift, all that I have
However I strive to earn or get
If I am honest,
So much is not me at all
Some call it Good Fortune, Luck, Serendipity
Not willing to face the truth
Of a God interactive in time and space…and in our lives
Who loved enough to come and live and die,
Loved enough to sacrifice His life
For yours and mine and why?
That we might see our need and come to Him
Acknowledging what we hate to admit…our sin
We’ve goofed up more than lifted up
Hurt more than helped
We’d rather pretend self-confidence
Boasting of self-esteem on ephemeral things
Rather than basic truth—God exists
He loves us
He died for rebellion, mistakes and sin,
He conquered death, that you and I might live
Asks in exchange for comfort, peace and hope,
My trust, my will—so hard to give up,
But as I choose to do just that,
My Savior Jesus Christ
Turns luck into blessings,
Pain into promise,
And fortune into a sure future with Him
For Jesus offers forgiveness and salvation
Fills our hearts with compassion and caring,
And the realization that it isn’t my striving,
But His love that rescues me—freely given
All a gift
Because of His love.
I bow.
(C) 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies
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Poetry Devotional God’s Message

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. —Matthew 5:16

If only I could tell the world,
The message of salvation free,
Of God's own Son who came to earth,
To die at Calvary.

If only I might spread His Word,
To each and every person on this earth,
To tell them of Jesus and His love,
Would be more than gold in worth.

But I will write the message,
I shall share the simple message true,
That Jesus died and rose again,
To give us life anew.

Lord, give me the skill and the courage to share your love with others. Amen.

(c) 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies
From Journey of Faith
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Devotion Salvation more than a single action

9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
11 Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing. —1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 (NASB 2020)

Christians talk about Salvation as though everyone knows what it means. Yet over time, the meaning has been simplified and dumbed down until even many individuals of faith have only a small inkling of the depth of what this word implies.

True. We are SAVED when we realize our need to accept Jesus into our lives as our Savior, our center, and our hope of eternal life with Christ. This original decision is a work of God’s grace, His unmerited favor called Justification —just as though we never did wrong.

This is a past action for those who’ve made this choice. But if this is all you know, it will be difficult to grow in your walk of faith. Salvation means so much more than a single action.

Salvation is also a present action as we allow the  Holy Spirit to work in our lives. The work of Sanctification is growth as we deepen our relationship with Jesus and our knowledge of His Word.

Salvation is also future. When He takes us home with Him and we share in His final triumph, we are saved forever in him.

Glorification is another element of Salvation. What we need to know is that God has this. He cares, is there, loving us and working for us past, present and future. How can I not trust the One who died and rose again to offer me such a gift?

That is Salvation.

(c) 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies
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Blog Easter--it's our day of hope

We live in a time of fear and hopelessness as many are losing hope that getting back to “normal” will ever happen again. What we forget along the way is fear is no way to live. When we fear, we stop thinking and acting rationally.

Fear and Easter do not mix. In fact, Easter is all about freedom from fear. Easter is the culmination of a very special plan for humankind. We are the creation of a loving being, that chose to give those created a very special gift. Instead of making robots who slavishly did whatever the Creator demanded, the Creator created human beings with minds and hearts and gave those humans the gift of choice.

Since the Creator wished to have a real relationship with those created, the Creator included the choice to say no. Being able to say, “No,” meant humans early on made devasting choices that separated them from the loving God who created them. They began to quarrel and fight and steal and kill as they turned their backs on the very one who had a better plan—one of caring, peace, and hope.

Yet, some strove to follow, even when following proved difficult, even when it meant suffering. The life and love they found in their Creator were worth anything. But these humans only had a glimpse of God’s plan, one that looked forward to a day when the Creator would be revealed as Someone very special. That person was and is Jesus.

Jesus didn’t come simply to show His power but instead came not as a king, but as a servant. He showed how to reach out to care, heal and set free those held captive in pain and hurt and bad choices.

For His actions and teachings, the government and religious leaders hated Him and eventually executed Him. They had no idea Jesus came for that very purpose. He did no wrong. Yet took on Himself all the mistakes, flaws and fears that burden and destroy those He’d created. Jesus died that we might live and proved His power to do so by rising again, as attested to even by the secular sources of the day.

Our Creator is not dead. In power and purpose and love He lives, interacting with and changing lives for the better from that time to this. The cross has become a symbol, not of evil and suffering, but of salvation, peace, and hope. I John 4:18 (NASB) reads, There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

Love casts out fear when we allow our Creator to become our savior. John 3:16-17 is the key to life, love, hope, and Easter. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”

Get rid of fear? Remember love and peace, as well as fear, is a choice. Ask Jesus to show you a love that doesn’t change with circumstances; a love that casts out fear as Easter morning dawns in your heart.

Happy Easter!

© 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies

Published in Kearney Hub 3/29/2021
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