April 29, 2019

April 29

Running with Jesus

Luke 19:41-44 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

      Jesus enters Jerusalem crying because He knew they had their last opportunity to receive Christ their Messiah! 

      My Heart is sad because so many right here in our homeland are rejecting Christ. Jesus prophesied doom would come to them and it did. America the land of the free has believed the lies of the false media prophets "there is no God"! Now just look at the shape our country is in we are in debt we cannot repay and look at the lawlessness in our cities! Where we get slack in obeying God and worshipping Him lawlessness sets in! The society is numb to the things of God.  Look what God promised Israel if they would love God in Deuteronomy:   and if you will love the Lord your God with all your hearts and souls and will worship him,  then he will continue to send both the early and late rains that will produce wonderful crops of grain, grapes for your wine, and olive oil.   He will give you lush pastureland for your cattle to graze in, and you yourselves shall have plenty to eat and be fully content.   He promised they would be fruitful! Why are we deteriorating? We are not showing that we love God! Jesus I am sure is weeping over this land that was built on religious freedom to be able to love Him and serve Him!

Father,  have mercy and awaken the body from their sleep! Help us return to our first Love and help us stand strong in a nation that is rejecting THE ONLY HOPE we have!

           Join me today in prayer for our nation: However, You say if my people will repent and return to Me, I will heal their land. Father, help Your people get rid of their idol, pleasure and anything that is taking our time and energy from our commitment to You! Help our young people that are getting caught up in things that keep them from worship from the first three commands: Have no other gods before You, worship only God and keep the Sabbath day Holy! Remind us Sunday is to be kept Holy! 

Is your house a house of prayer, tomorrow!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

April 28, 2019

April 28

Running with Jesus  

Luke 19:36-37 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

     Jesus life is beginning to lead Him to the cross. Over the next few days the enemy would be working hard to get rid of the trouble maker. Jesus would upset the Pharisee's apple cart!   As Jesus enters the town streets were lined with people waving palm branches and singing praises to God for all the wonderful miracles He had done. In a few days the ones who praised  will be scattered! 

     You know it is easy to praise God when we see miracles and things are going our way. What about the times we can't see the miracles and things are not going our way? We sometimes see people scatter! 

      1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."   Paul tells us to be thankful in all circumstance! Now this is hard for me and God has to remind me so often to praise Him in everything!  Some days my spirit can be up and down like riding waves on an ocean. When things are looking and feeling ok I am a happy Christian, but let the least wind come up and I am reaching for my life jacket and looking for a raft to help me survive because I fear a storm is coming to take me out! There is that ugly stop sign the devil throws up, fear ahead! And then sings his favorite song "I've Got You Babe" and as Fred Sanford would say "this is the big one (Judy) Elizabeth" as he grabs his heart. Just thinking about life storms makes my heart palpitate.

     One of the things we have to learn to do during those hard places is praise God! Not just in the good times. Start by praising God for all His attributes. He is all knowing, He is all powerful, He is all present, He is my fortress, He is my rock, He is the creator, He is my sustainer, He is our protector, He is our defender, He is our advocate, He is our stronghold and this list could go on and on. Praising God and keeping a steady focus upon who He is and what He can do, becomes our life preserver. 

Father, we too enter into worship as we run with the runners of praise today. We are looking intently into the face of the King of Kings riding upon this colt and we are waving our palm branches because we have the whole story to behold and know You are indeed the Messiah, the Keeper of our souls. Thank You for reminding my emotions of Who has us. With praise in our hearts and You as our guide we will keep running right by Your side.

Tomorrow: Jesus is crying!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

April 27, 2019

April 27

Running with Jesus  

Luke 19:29-30a And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: 

      There is a lot of insight packed into these verses. Now, I have never tried to break an animal for riding!   I have been told there are five steps in the process. They are stubborn animals. You have to first groom to bond with them and rub them to have contact with them. Then you halter and walk them, next you put a blanket on them to help get them sensitive to touch next a saddle and then weight bearing! I think we are talking days or weeks! Not Jesus, they brought the animal to Him and off He rode! Gently walking down a path with palm leaves being waved and crowded street with people shouting “Hosanna” and praising God! Now that was another miracle!  God sitting on an untrained donkey! No problem, but the revelation of Who He was and that He was in control and proved it by defying the elements of earth. 

      Often when we are running through life circumstances arise that need more faith than you have ever needed before! When we read God's Word faith is increased and built up. Faith comes by hearing God's Word. We can look at this text and increase our Faith! Jesus was God in the flesh and He is Lord of the Host and Almighty God. This verse shows us Jesus defies the law of earth and that He is not controlled by life and circumstances. He has the power to defy our circumstances and enable us to have faith and strength to press on as we run our obstacle course! 

      So what wild ride are you on today! Look to Jesus, riding this untrained donkey and remember if He can ride and defy earthly circumstances He can help you on this ride of life! He is the key to life circumstance! Anytime we bring Christ into the equation we get the right answer. 

      All day think about this scene. The waving of the branches should have spooked the animal! They did not because God was present. He can keep you calm. Stare intently into His face. 

Father, someone needs to see You clearly today. They need to look at You riding that untamed animal so they can be encouraged by Your control and power! They need to know as they run through life You help them jump obstacles they meet! Thank you for letting Dr. Luke record this event in life! It teaches me You were the Messiah and that You have power to help me sit on the wild donkeys of life! 

    Robert Schuller says, “Within every adversity lies a sleeping possibility.” So today let us look at some things

God can do with our hurts if we let Him defy the earth’s elements! 

A lot of praising, tomorrow!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

April 26, 2019

April 26

Running with Jesus

Luke 19:28-29a  And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.  And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany…

     Well running with Jesus has been an exciting journey! Along the way we have seen miracle after miracle and been taught kingdom living! Jesus has been so busy revealing  Who He is; the Son of God, the Lamb, the Light, and the Door to heaven. 

      I couldn't help but notice the line in this verse "And when he had thus spoken", Jesus is just about to make His entry into Jerusalem for Palm Sunday! He is on His way to die and what did Dr. Luke say after telling a story! We cannot imagine what it would be like sitting among our friends talking and teaching but also knowing the cross was set before Him! He could already see Himself hanging. He never lost sight of His mission! Saving us! Helping hurting people and revealing the truth of salvation! 

      Makes me sad to think how much I ignore opportunities to help some soul. We often lose our focus and mission because we have put "SELF" interest above our mission! Do we have a mission or a vision?   I was reminded of a sermon I heard one time and they ask us "who are you discipling?" We are all disciples of Christ and we should be discipling. Sheep produce sheep! Shepherds don't do the producing, the sheep do! So where is your ministry? If you are not involved in ministry of some sort you are not growing in Christ! It is time to do something. Anyone can volunteer for nursery! That would be helping others go study so you would be helping disciple from a different angle. In Awana you can help a child learn a Bible verse. These are a couple of easy ways to start. We have a meal on Wednesdays to help people be free to come straight from work, another way to help by doing some discipleship in the background! This is where you get your blessings from ministering to others and entering in the work of the Lord! Don't you get it, Jesus died for us! Don't you understand you were bought with a high price! God forbid we sit on the sidelines watching and have no desire to work in the kingdom! I am sorry but if you have no desire for kingdom work you better check and make sure you are born again! Our lives get regenerated when the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts! That heart loves God and the things of God. Jesus was always about His Father's business and we should be!

      Jesus kept a clear vision of His purpose-death on the cross! We are to run with Him to the cross and die to self and be alive to God! 

Father, help us be about Your mission work! Helping others come to know You! Help that one who is afraid to get involved! You did not give that fear! You gave peace and a sound mind! You gave us a gift and the mind of Christ to use them. Help them find someone to disciple! 

Stop sitting, get involved! Watch your life change! Focus on your mission reaching souls for the kingdom and helping others along the way! 

Riding on a colt, tomorrow!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

April 25, 2019

April 25

Running with Jesus  

Luke 19: 24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

     Use it or lose it! We have all heard this! When you are born again God has given you a talent and you should be using it. We are not to be sitting on a shelf looking like a pretty tea cup no one uses. God tells us in His Word that each is given a gift to build up the body and does His kingdom work. I am reminded of a song I here on the radio. It talks about a person looking around and disturbed by what he sees going on and ask God why He doesn't do something!  God responds by saying, "I did, I made you!" Now let's think about that! 

      If you read the whole text today you see that a rich man hired some servants to manage some of his money! (Oops there is money again!) The rich man returns to see what they did in managing the money. The first two yield a return as they invested theirs. The third was fearful and just hid his! What happened? The man took this man’s away and gave it to one of the others to manage it! He told him you could have at least put it in the bank and let it earn interest!  He lost what had been given to be used!  

     You know there have been so many times I have let fear rob me from moving forward in my walk with Christ! But I have experienced first-hand how when we move forward and obey His call He is right there providing and  helping me! I have grown in so many areas in serving God! But I do know we have to learn our gift and then find ways to cause it to grow. That requires stepping out of your comfort zone. 

      Let's think about Moses who had a speech problem and God used him to lead thousands, Zaccheaus had a bad reputation, David was an adulterer and a murderer, Mephibosheth had crippled legs, the disciples had no college degree's mostly fishermen. The list could go on and on and God even used a donkey to talk and save a life. 

      So just start where you are, step out by faith and watch God do amazing things in your life. Watch your gift develop and grow! The body needs you! Don't let God take your talent and give to another. You will miss out running close to Him and that is robbing you of the greatest blessing in life!

Father, help that one afraid to step out by faith to do what You have ask them to do and watch You work! 

Have a blessed day. Oh remember meditation is now a big part of your life. So keep chewing the scriptures - meditate!

Tomorrow: Who are you disciplining?

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015