Lately I can not get enough sleep. I have no idea why. Maybe my body is preparing for day-light savings time? Or maybe it's because September is so incredibly busy? Maybe it's because God just thinks I need it?
I kid you not, I'm like an 85 year old. About 9 PM I start rubber necking -you know: when your head starts bopping forward and backwards as if your neck were a rubber band.
I'm also nesting. Collecting Fall recipes on Pinterest, re-arranging furniture, replenishing our pantry, and freezer. My husband is even nesting! Yesterday he cleaned out several rooms of bookshelves and dropped off their contents at the SPCA thrift store.
This is not our normal behavior. Yes, we are organized people. {But} we are also outdoor type people. We usually savior every last second of summer on the boat or at the farm. We have never acted like shut-ins in September!
Robin made the comment yesterday that he noticed in early August that the squirrels were already hoarding. This normally doesn't happen until the end of September. Last year the squirrels started eating pine cones and tearing up our yard in early September. Eastern North Carolina had the wettest, coldest, and longest winter since 1989.
So the question remains is God speaking to us through nature and our internal time clocks? I think He is! I think the animals are listening. Are we listening? What should we be listening for?
I think He is calling us to repent and prepare. This is not a popular opinion in this day and time. Most Christians will say "I am covered in His grace! I don't need to repent" or "repenting is works!" Both of these statements are correct. However, He calls us to repent. The Holy Spirit should be leading you to do so as well.
You love your children and your spouse unconditionally, correct? They may have done something horrible at one time in their lives. You offered your unyielding love, support, and forgiveness. Does the grace you offered them cover them for life? In other words, should they never have to apologize to you again because you forgave them for that one large infraction? No!! That one episode you shared taught y'all grace. You probably showed them mercy as well. Jesus gave you the wisdom to approach the situation in grace, love, empathy, and forgiveness. It did not give your child or spouse a trump card for the rest of their lives. You will always approach them with grace. Deal with them with grace and mercy. {But} you expect them to tell you when they are wrong out of respect for you, love for you, and because of the grace you extended them in the past.
Many Christians will argue "Well, Jesus says His grace is sufficient for me!" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Well, yes, yes, it is. {But} in order to stay in His good graces we need to repent. We should want to repent. If The Lord is our everything then we should be craving oneness with Him. {Because} He is sinless He can not be in the presence of sin. Therefore we should check in with Him and present our sins for forgiveness. If we are naive enough to believe that grace is all we need we will ultimately have to live with the consequences of greasy grace.
I don't know what the future holds for this country or the world. I know what Jeremiah, Timothy, and Revelation say. It's not real good news for those who are counting on the longevity of this earth. Repentance and preparation is all I'm hearing in my soul. There is no magic wand being waved, no spiritual voodoo being performed. Just the Holy Spirit whispering to me. I tend to heed his calling quite seriously.The first part of my life I listened to me. I listened to what the world said. It didn't work out so well.
I ran across this scripture early this morning. I am a true believer in paying attention to scripture that grabs your heart. If you hear a verse or see a verse that grabs you by the heart strings...listen. Study that verse and try to commune or discern what He is trying to tell you, teach you, convey to you. Scripture is our direct line, our intimate love letter, between us and The Lord.
"Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and]hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting."-Romans 16:17-18.
It is so easy for all of us to loose ourselves to this world. It woos us, calls our name. Especially this time of the year. The Christmas commercials will soon start telling us what to buy to create happiness. The summer year end car ad's promise us total life satisfaction if we buy a certain vehicle. Hollywood tells us that movie stars and recording artists are living the good life. Therefore we should take heed to what they are wearing, where they are vacationing, and what they are buying.
We are being deceived. Being dependent on the material possessions of this world actually causes complete and total bondage. Don't believe me? Have you ever purchased something you could not afford but had to have? What happened? I bet it turned out to be not that great and you were stuck in debt. Or it turned out to be awesome, as you had hoped, but you were so stressed about the debt you owed it was difficult to enjoy it. The world keeps telling us we need these things because everyone has them and they will make us happy. All they do is put us in bondage. {And} that is exactly where the enemy wants us.
Right now, more than any other time in history, we must be in sync with our Savior. He is our great hope, our Redeemer, our salvation, our beginning and our end, the Alpha and the Omega. He is the sunrise in the morning and the sunset in the evening. He is a starry night. He is our cool breeze in the heat of the day. He is our promise of hope. Our promise of peace. He is our everything. This earth will eventually fall away but His word remains true, constant, and everlasting. There is no other than the name of Jesus.
"His mercies are new every morning"-Lamentations 3:23
