Live!

"For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!" 
~Ezekiel 18:32

Have you ever noticed how the Word of God is being trampled upon, and thrown out of everything from the Ten Commandments on courthouse lawns to some churches ripping out chapters they don't like? It all began in 1963 when Madalyn Murray O'Hair decided she did not want Bibles or prayer in school  because she was an atheist. (Interestingly, her son, William became a Baptist minister). That began a downhill slide in America that continues to this day. We see it on the news every single night with school shootings, crimes of every type, and depravity of every kind, but then, when something happens, God is the first one that people blame. 

You cannot simultaneously ban God on every level and then blame Him for not being there. 

God created us for His glory, not because He needed someone to worship Him, not because He needed someone to tell Him how great He is, but because of His great love for His creation. God's desire is that each and every one of us come to Him in love and repentance. If everyone in this world would bow before God, ask for salvation and repent of their sins, we would be living in the Garden of Eden once again.

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9)."

God could've ended this whole mess centuries ago but because of His great love, He continues to give us time to come to repentance, to understand our need for Him, and to ask for His help. Yet, we continue to ignore Him, deny Him, blaspheme His name, and then blame Him for all that is wrong. Psalm 136 tells us God's love endures forever and we are to give thanks for that love. Instead, we pat ourselves on the back for the good and blame Him for the bad.

God has been so patient with us but that patience will not always be ours. The day is coming when we will stand before the God of gods and Lord of lords. We will stand face to face with the Creator of everything and answer for who we are. Jesus Christ came to earth as the Lamb of God to save us. When He returns, it will be as the Lion of Judah to gather His own to Him, and to bring judgement upon the others. Whether, through our death or through the Second Coming, we will know Jesus Christ is Lord.

"For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God (Romans 14:11)."

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city (Revelation 22:12-14)."

Today is the day for salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2) because we have no idea what tomorrow holds for us. If you were to open your eyes tomorrow morning to find you were standing before God Almighty, is He welcoming you with open arms in the Name of His Son, Jesus? If not, today is the day of salvation for you.

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Leviticus 13:47-15:33

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

He's Calling

"I must perform my vows to you, O God I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life."

~Psalm 56:12-13

Prior to dedicating my life to the Lord, the way I lived had earned me a place in hell. In fact, I deserved that place just like we all do, because every one of us have 'sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23). None of us are worthy of God's great love and if not for Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, none of us would have the slightest chance of making it to Heaven. We are flawed -- fatally flawed. It doesn't matter what we've done, from the most sadistic murderer to the sweetest cookie-baking granny; if we haven't accepted Jesus as our Savior, we will never be good enough to step into Heaven.

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1John 1:8)."

Fooling ourselves into thinking the Bible is no longer relevant, or that we don't need Jesus is one of the greatest lies the devil has perpetrated on mankind since Christ rose from the grave. And, as time draws nearer to the end of days foretold in Revelation, the lies and schemes of satan grows. We see it all around us all over the world, yet we blame God and deny Christ instead of getting on our knees and asking forgiveness. 

"If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14)."

We are all called to be God's people through Jesus Christ, and if we were to all repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, this would be a very different world. Heed the call of Christ today and change the world one soul at a time.

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Leviticus 11:1-13:46

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha

©2018

Marriage Is A Covenant

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."

~1 Corinthians 13:4-8

My husband had this engraved on a leather wall plaque for me as a wedding present 18 years ago, and it has hung over our bed ever since. Over the years, our resolve to live out those words in our marriage has been tested but our love has never failed. 

The divorce rate is now 53%, including marriages among Christians. It seems people are too ready to give up, to go where life looks easy and fun. The problem with that is, life is never easy and the fun is short-lived. Whatever you don't find in your marriage now, you won't find in a relationship with someone else. Marriage is not 50/50, it's 100/100, 100% of the time. If you're only putting in 50%, you're cheating yourself and your spouse.

God never intended for marriage to be a part-time position. He designed marriage as a covenant contract between a husband, a wife, and Himself. The  covenant marriage is a bilateral agreement between parties with equal  privileges and responsibilities. God has likened marriage to the relationship between Christ and the Church, although that is not to say the husband is greater than the wife. The husband's responsibility is to both his wife and Christ, while the wife is responsible to her husband and God. Husband's are commanded to love their wives, while wives are commanded to respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:22-33).

"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body (Ephesians 5:23)."

When both spouses realize that Christ is head of their marriage, and the marriage is a binding contract between spouses and God, the idea of the strength of the marriage begins to change. A cord of three is stronger than a twine of two.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)."

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Exodus 39-40

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha

©2018

So, You're Not A "Couple"

"To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
~1 Corinthians 7:8-9

Suicide attempts, calls to suicide hotlines, and successful suicides go up by about 75% from February 13 to February 16. While some might find that ridiculous, we live in a society that glorifies the short-term relationship and ridicules marriage. We also live in a world where the media rules by dictating what we wear, where we go, what movies to watch, music to listen to, and how we are to spend holidays. Even non-holidays like Valentine's day.

Being single is not an affliction. In fact, the Apostle Paul was single and says that it allowed him to be closer to God because his time wasn't divided with duties to a wife. He also says there is no difference in how we should look at singles. A person who can control his sexual desires should remain single, but if not, then marry (1 Corinthians 7).

While there was no Valentine's day and no Christian Mingle in Paul's day, I'm sure if there had been, he'd have had a few things to say about that too. Since he doesn't, I have a couple of things to say. The idea of Valentine's day is ridiculous. My husband and I don't treat it any differently than any other day of the year. We don't need a date on the calendar to tell us to show our love for one another. Love is something we walk out each and every day of our lives. Candy and flowers do not say he loves me, but the years he's been faithful, reliable, responsible, honest, and affectionate do tell me he loves me.

If we walk with the Lord, then whether we are married or single should also be up to the Lord. That is a part of our faith walk. Will you serve the Lord as fully married as you do while single? That is for each one to prayerfully decide with God, and not by relying on the calendar.

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Exodus 36:8-38:31

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha
©2018

Love One Another

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

~John 13:34-35

The word "love" and it's variations, appear more than 500 times throughout the Bible. Most of those are speaking about God's great love for us but it also talks about us loving God and each other. We might not think it's difficult to love God but even after we've been Christians for a while, we can still find it difficult to love one another. Especially when we are told to love each other the way God loves us.

To love another person the way God loves, means no matter what; unconditionally; whether or not they love us back; forgiving them no matter how they may hurt us; praying for them and showing them Jesus through our actions. Loving someone requires sacrifice, not just words that fade into the wind.

"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another (Romans 19:10)."

When we make an effort to show love to others, it has a two-fold affect. First, we become kinder and more Christ-like. It's difficult to be self-centered when we give to someone else. Secondly, it changes the person we are showing love and kindness to. We cannot know what might be going on in their hearts but a little love and human kindness might be the difference in choices they have to make. Acts of love take so little but can mean so much.

The Bible tells us that we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). And when we show true Christian love to others, they also experience the love of God through us. 

Share the love. Be a blessing!

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Exodus 33:7-36:7

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha

©2018

The Simple Truth

'Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."'
~John 3:3

When I was a kid, we used to sing a little song that went, "If you want to get to Heaven, I'll tell you how to do it...just grease your feet and slide right to it." Of course, it does require just a little more than greased feet to get to Heaven, but the simplicity of the song carries over to God's plan of salvation. Getting to Heaven isn't as difficult as some tend to think.

Jesus Christ did all the work required for humanity to be able to spend eternity in Heaven, and all we have to do is accept the gift of salvation. There is no work required on our side. We don't have to prove to God that we are good enough; we don't have to earn passage into Heaven; and we don't have to prove we're worthy of God's love. We just have to acknowledge that we need a better plan, and ask God to forgive us, and He will.

Being "born again" is not a physical act of the body but a spiritual act where we commit our lives to Jesus. We can't work for salvation any more than we had to work to be conceived in our mother's wombs, or to be born into this world. Our mother's physically labored to bring us into the world, and our lives were a gift. That first breath we took drew life into our bodies. The same is true spiritually when we accept Christ as our Savior. Jesus did all the work at Calvary to give us eternal spiritual life. 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9)."

Salvation is a gift like no other you will ever receive. It is a gift that will last forever, and guarantee you will spend eternity with God.

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Exodus 30:1-33:6

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha
©2018

Taking The Long Way Home

"I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
~Exidus 3:17

The children of Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years when God recruited Moses and Aaron to confront Pharaoh. God had a better place for them, a place "flowing with milk and honey," in other words, a place filled with everything they would ever need. All they had to do was follow Moses across the desert for about 200 miles and enter into the place God prepared for them. So why did they spend 40 years wandering around that desert instead?

My life path feels a lot like the one the children of Israel took across the desert. A couple of steps in the right direction, the a few more back. A few steps to the right, a few steps back. Spin in a circle until you fall down, wallow for a while, crawl away until you can stand. Take a few steps in the right direction, then do it all over again. Sound familiar? 

God has a path for us to follow that leads to the Promised Land, so why do we find it so difficult to stay on that path? Why do we insist on doing things our own way, no matter how much pain it causes? As God said, "They are a stubborn people." (Exodus 32:9)

When I look back at the path I've taken I see all the trouble and and heartache I could've avoided. While some of what happened was beyond my control, there was a great deal that I can blame only on one person -- myself. I was stubborn and willful and refused to heed advice, and I ignored common sense.

"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid (Proverbs 12:1)."

Umm.... Yes. Yes, I was. Extremely stupid!

The path I took to get to where I am now was long and exhausting, however, I am here now. I have arrived at the place God wanted me to be all along, and that is the important part. We have to remember that, especially when we are looking back over the rocky road of our journey. Yes, we could've done things differently that would've saved heartache but hindsight doesn't change a thing. We did what we did but we are still where we are supposed to be. If we are now living the life God wants for us, we can't berate ourselves the path that got us there. We can take those experiences and use them for the glory of God, knowing that no matter what was intended to harm us is being used for good. (Romans 8:28)

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)."

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Exodus 19-21

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha
©2018