One Thing I Ask

"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock."

~Psalm 27:4-5

No matter what I do for the Lord in this life, it will never be enough to repay Him for what He has done for me. My life was a wreck. I was not just in need of salvation, I was in need of complete renovation. I was like a house that looked great from the outside but when you walk inside, you could see the deterioration and knew that house would have to be gutted and completely redone before it could be habitable. My inner self was the same way. Years of childhood sexual abuse through abuse as an adult, drugs, alcohol, depression, suicidal ideation, to name a few of my ongoing list of problems, made me inhabitable. My mind was a wreck, my emotions were out of control, and I didn't know whether I was coming or going, but whichever way it was, it was the wrong way. I had no help, no hope, no future, no vision for a better life, and at that point, death would have been the perfect answer... or so I thought. What changed my life? I met someone who cared about me, who wanted better for me than I wanted for myself, and I latched on to him. No, it wasn't God, it was my late husband, Bear. The dynamics there would take way too long to explain but he was a liferaft when I was sinking. What I didn't know, and what Bear didn't know, is that God was going to use that relationship for both of our benefits. And that's exactly what He did. That was more than 30 years ago and although Bear has gone home to the Lord, I have never forgotten where I came from or, more importantly, where I would have gone had God not intervened. I was on that wide road to hell, and so was Bear. God had answered the prayers of both our praying grandmothers even though both had gone home many years earlier. 

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14)."

In the years since marrying Bear, since coming back to the Lord where I belonged, I have done everything I can to make sure that others know there is a better way. I have done everything I know how to do to bring the message of hope in Christ to others, and to share my life of horrors to help others see that no matter how bad your life is, Jesus is the only answer. No matter what kind of life you lead, one of hell on earth or one of palatial luxury, Jesus is still the only answer. One day this life will end and each of us will stand before God and answer for our lives. I always imagined God would ask, "Why did you do drugs? Why did you sin? Why were you such a horrible person?" But that isn't what God is going to ask. We will have to give account for our deeds and words but I think God's only question is going to be, "Why didn't you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior when you had the chance?" I think God's heart is breaking over each one that has to hear that question.

Life isn't easy, it's hard for everyone. We make mistakes, sometimes, we make huge mistakes that can't be righted by saying, "I'm sorry." Sometimes, we have to pay for our mistakes in ways we could never imagine. But no matter how big the mistakes, no matter how awful our lives may have been, or continue to be, no matter what happened to us as children that we had no control over, no matter where we came from, we can all make the determination of where we will go when this life ends. Jesus is the answer. He can heal our wounds, our minds, our bodies, and make us whole again. But we have to take the first step of accepting Him as our Lord and Savior. It doesn't mean our lives will start popping up all rosy and beautiful, but it does mean we will be on the road to healing. We may still have to answer for the deeds done prior to knowing Jesus because the laws of the universe don't change. When we choose an action, we also choose the consequences. Sometimes, society requires we pay those consequences in ways we'd rather not but regardless of how payment is garnered, Christ is still with us. 

Don't wait until it's too late. Don't wait until you stand before God and have to answer, "Why didn't you accept my Son?" Allow Jesus into your heart and life so that the healing can begin now, and when you stand in eternity before God, you will hear, "Well done, My child. Welcome to Heaven!" No matter what sins you may have committed, none are too great for God to forgive.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness (sins) and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14)."

If you haven't accepted Christ, do it now, it's not difficult. Say, "Jesus, I know I've sinned and I need You to save me. I accept You as my Lord and Savior and ask You to live in my heart. Thank you Lord for dying for me so that I can live for You. In Jesus' Holy Name, Amen." Yes, it's that simple. You are now a child of the Most High God if you said that prayer and meant it. So, what's next? Find a Bible believing church, go to several and see which one makes you feel at home. I prefer small, independent churches over the larger ones because I don't feel like I get lost in the crowd. Buy a Bible or download one on your phone. There are many versions. I prefer the New King James Version (NKJV), and the English Standard Version (ESV), but read a few different ones to see what is easiest for you. And go to church every time the doors open. Read your Bible every day. Pray. Pray. Pray. Every day. Listen to Christian music and worship the Lord every day. Your life is about to change in ways you never thought possible because you are a new creation! Hallelujah!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)."

Read 1 Kings 5-7; Psalm 27

©2018 Marie McGaha

What God Knows

"And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed His offspring.’ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.”

~Acts 17:26-31

I love the book of Acts and especially chapter seventeen. Having begun in Thessalonica, where the gospel was not well-received, Paul had been sent to Berea, and then taken to Greece, where he preached salvation through Jesus Christ, while all around him was man-made idols and people spouting off the latest in beliefs. Paul observed that the people were religious, and even had an idol dedicated to "the unknown god." These people, unlike those in Thessalonica and Berea, were seeking someone, something, some god to worship. Not knowing who the true God was, they worshipped whatever idol someone else said was the one to worship. They were far off the mark trying to fill the God-shaped hole within them but they were looking for something real to believe in.

Looking around the world today, I see the same thing. People are still trying to fill the God-shaped hole within them, yet they are doing it with false gods instead of the only true God, Jesus Christ. We see people following after musicians, movie and television stars, athletes, philosophers, authors, and other people who have no better answer than the person next to them. We see people lusting after fame and fortune with the belief those things will make them happy and fulfilled. Yet, for all the glamor in the world, for all the riches, bright lights, and glory from adoring fans, we see more depression and unhappiness than ever before. We will never feel content, complete, or fulfilled by the things of this world because those things are temporary and only make us happy for a moment. When the moment is gone, we move on to the next thing that will cure our ills.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21)."

"But godliness with contentment is great gain,  for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction (1 Timothy 6:6-9)."

I am not encouraged when I look at the world. In fact, I am pretty much disgusted by what I see. The lack of morals, respect, values, and work ethic on every level of society is abhorrent. And through my eyes, I see no hope, no future, or any way possible for things to change. However, my eyes do not see what God sees. My eyes cannot tell one thing from another, they cannot see the future, and certainly, I cannot see into the hearts of other people. But God can. He knows the deepest, most inner secrets in each of us. He knows the beginning to the end, and there is nothing hidden from Him. He knows how all of this is going to work out and which of us is on the verge of making the decision to stop following false gods, to start worshipping the one true God, and that is what I have to place my faith in. God is in control and He knows what He's doing.

"Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with You' (Psalm 139:7-12)."

Read 1 Kings 3-4; Psalm 139

©2018 Marie McGaha

Your Choice

"I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before Him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away."
~Ecclesiastes 3:14-15

"What's gonna happen already has. The only thing you can do is your very best, and remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression." That's the advice I've given my kids on numerous occasions. The last time was just a couple of weeks ago when my youngest son called while on his way to the "most important interview" of his life. 

Our lives have a determined pattern; we are born, go through stages of growth, go to school, graduate, get a job, meet the right person, get married, have kids and the process starts all over again. Hopefully, along the way we have good people in our lives who show us by example how to make the most out of life, but all too often that isn't the case. We don't always get the great parents. We don't always get born into the best family. We don't get the greatest opportunities in education or jobs. We don't always meet the right person. Sometimes it seems like everything that can go wrong does. But no matter what, we always have the opportunity to make better choices. 

"When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps (Proverbs 16:7-9)."

No matter what left turns we have taken, or how messed up our lives become, we can make the choice to find a better direction. The way of righteousness may seem far off, but God is as close as a single prayer and He will change your life if you allow Him to.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4)."

No matter where we are, where we've been, or what we've done, as long as there is breath in our body, we have the opportunity to change where we're going. We have choices in life, and no matter what those around us are saying or doing, we can choose to change the road we're on. We choose what to say, how to respond in any given situation, and when we make a choice, we are also choosing the consequences of life or death. When we choose to continue down the path that has already shown us nothing good, we are choosing death. When we make the choice for change, and follow the path God wants us on, we choose life. 

"Now therefore fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:14-15)."

Remember the last line of Ecclesiastes 3:15 above... "God seeks what has been driven away." If you're lost, you can be found. God will always answer those who seek Him with a right heart, and He will answer those who ask with right motives. 

My son got the job he interviewed for.

Read 1 Kings 1-2; Ecclesiastes 3; Romans 8

©2018 Marie McGaha

Just Walk Away

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
~John 14:27

My life wasn't always peaceful, in fact, it was usually filled with chaos and drama. But that was the world I lived in and if there wasn't something horrible going on, I lived in dread until the next thing did happen. Lives lived with drugs, alcohol, and violence are like that. It's a cycle that you can become accustomed to and feel as if you deserve. 

It doesn't matter if the cycle began when you were a child or as an adult; whether you are the addict or live with one, the cycle is the same. And it always feels as if it's sucking the life out of you. In many ways, it does. It sucks your self-esteem,  strength, pride, desires, dreams and ability to break free right out of you. It can make you feel helpless, hopeless, and depressed to the point of giving up. The pain grows to the point of being unbearable and anything, even death, is better than living the way you are. I've been there, and if you're there now, just hold on a little while longer. There is a better way.

"Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)."

Jesus is alive, He's real, and He cares about you. If you can hold onto that thread of hope, your life will change for the better. Sometimes we have to make big changes and walk away from the situation. Just walk away. Sometimes it takes more. You may have to ask for help from wherever you can get it. Call the police, call a hotline, go to the emergency room... Whatever you have to do for you, do it. Even if everything in you is saying "don't," ignore the fear and believe you can have a better life. 

Yes, it's scary. No, it's not easy. But your life is at stake, and more than that, your future, your family, and your eternal soul is at stake. Don't let the lies you've been told keep you from reaching out for help. There is hope. There is help. There's a lifeline but you have to reach for it. Just hold on, pain ends.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they (Matthew 6:25-26)?"

Your life is more valuable than you know. You are loved by God more than you know. You can have a better life full of love and true peace. Don't let the chaos of your current life lead you to death. There's a better way before you. Make the change, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8)."

Read 2 Samuel 18-20; Romans 5

©2018 Marie McGaha

Yapping Dogs

"The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the
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voice of the Lord is full of majesty."
~Psalm 29:3-4

I live with dogs; a Mastiff, a Schnauweenie-huahua, and a dachshund. The latter two are what I call "yip-yap" dogs. Every noise, real or imagined, sets these two off and to me, their shrill yapping is like jamming an icepick in my ears. Actually, an icepick would be preferable. Yelling at them does nothing to quell the yapping, so I have taken to throwing things. An empty gum container or a balled up sock usually does the trick. I've tried bark collars and other recommended methods, but nothing works. I even looked into having them debarked but the cost is out of reach. Actually, I compared the cost to how many pairs of shoes I could buy, and couldn't justify the cost!
So, I continue to throw socks in the general direction of the loudest yapping.

Life is like that - constant noise coming from every direction; television, radio, phones, social media, and people all around us spouting opinions. The world is full of noise, and most of it is useless yapping. I got rid of cable/sattelite TV years ago, and now have a' la carte TV. I can watch what I want without the noise of commercials and the filth that is now considered must watch TV. Other than noisy dogs, my house is quiet, which allows me to really listen and hear God's voice.

"And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper (1 Kings 19:11-12)."

When we have too much going on, or too much noise in our life, no matter where it comes from, it's difficult to hear the sound of a low whisper. God doesn't shout to get our attention. God doesn't yell above the din to tell us something. He waits for us to be quiet before Him. He waits for us to focus our hearts on Him.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10)!”

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning (Psalm 130:5-6)."

Being still and waiting for the Lord is part of our Christian process and growth. Waiting patiently and being still are marks of maturity. Children can't sit still for very long, they are impatient, and they can be noisy too. But as we grow and mature, we're expected to be patient, still and quiet. The same is required with God. We might love to worship loudly and pray fervently, but there comes the moment when we must be still and wait for His voice to speak into our hearts so that we may discern His will.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2)."

Read 2 Samuel 15-17

©2018 Marie McGaha

Grieving God's Heart

"If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you."

~1 Peter 4:14

I've seen a lot in life. I've seen things I wish I hadn't. I've seen things I hope no one else ever does. There's not much in this world that surprises or shocks me, except people. And not just the average non-Christian running amok, but people who profess to be Christians and love God. Yet their actions and words of their mouth show the opposite.

"But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so (James 3:8-10)."

For Christians, our lives are to be modeled after Christ. To walk in love, to be at peace with others, and to show others through our words and deeds that we follow Jesus. Our goal is to bring the light of Jesus into the lives of a desperate and decaying world. So what do we accomplish by attacking other believers? Is that showing Christ in you? Is that appealing to anyone who doesn't know Christ? And what does it say about you if all you can do is criticize and condemn?

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29)."

There is so much trash in the world, and as Christians, we have to be above it. We serve one God in Jesus Christ. We are saved by the same Spirit, and it is the same blood at Calvary that Jesus shed for us all. When I hear Christians bad-mouth other Christians, it makes me sad because it grieves the very heart of God. This should not be so among believers in Christ.

"See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone (1 Thessalonians 5:15)."

Read 2 Samuel 12-14; 1 Thessalonians 5

©2018 Marie McGaha