How about you? Are you more interested in what God thinks of you or what man thinks of you? Have you come to the place in your Christian lifestyle that you can honestly say: "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment". 1 Corinthians 4:3 Back in the the day when God's chosen people, the Jews, missed their Messiah, The Lord Jesus Christ; they were all about receiving the praise of men rather than the praise of God: "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. John 12:42.

      Personally, I think your success or failure as a child of the living God is in direct proportion to whether or not who comes first, the King of Glory or man himself. Think about it. The religious leaders were so caught up with their religious titles that they could not see who it was that stood right in front of them. For example, do you remember the response by the chief priests and elders of the people when they confronted their Messiah with the question: "By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?" Matthew 21:23 ...."And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell" verse 27  Why? Because they feared the people.verse 26; or in other words they placed the peoples opinion first before the Lords'.
        Did you know that King Agrippa almost became a Christian? "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.Acts 26: 28 The apostle Paul ,busy About the Master's Business, gave a convincing testimony that apparently struck a chord in the heart of this king; but I believe the reason he did not get saved was because of his religious title and his position. In his mind there was too much to give up. He probably was asking himself: But What Will They Think? Imagine if you will how that sentence will haunt him for all eternity while roasting in the fiery flames of hell. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian". That sends chills up and down my spine. When I think what would have happened to me back in the 70's ..... if I were to say what King Agrippa said or put off salvation...I shudder to think where I would have ended up by now. I am sure I would have either been dead or  strung out on drugs on my way to hell. But thanks be to God I am on my way to heaven instead!!! 
       There is another aspect of this Christian life that every redeemed, blood washed member of the body of Christ must come to grips with once off the milk of the word

and has started to eat the meat of the Word of God. You and I must decide who will be calling the shots, ourselves or God.  Each of us has an individual purpose that the Almighty King of the universe has for us that no one else should be doing. The only reason someone else would be doing what we are called to do is because we answered incorrectly the question:  But What Will They Think? What will my boss or my co-workers think when I tell them I am putting my two week notice in because my Lord Jesus has called me to be a missionary to Indonesia?  Will my family try everything to keep me from becoming all that my Lord and my God wants me to be? This is where you either become a disciple of Christ and truly live a surrendered life and He in fact becomes your Lord or you choose to be much like the Pharisees and the Sadducees and your Christian lifestyle remains a mere religious exercise and Jesus remains as Savior only. "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:33  How many times have you  and I sang: " all to Jesus I surrender" knowing that we are giving lip service to the song but we were  too afraid to actually mean it because we were either asking: But What Will They Think? or what if? What if He were to call me into one of the deepest jungles on earth  or to a place where it is only 2% Christian and the rest was Muslim? What if? What if I run out of money or food? What if God wasn't able to live up to His promises?

      As I close, may I be allowed to ask a question? At the judgement seat of Christ will your friends and family be by your side when you give an account of your life to Christ? Of course not. Then doesn't it make sense to be more concerned in this life with asking yourself what will Christ think of my stewardship  rather than But What Will They Think? This is a question that you and I must ponder in our own hearts. Have you any comments to offer?

      Ever been there? We learn from Scripture that more often than not that those who walk close to the Lord find that their consecrated surrendered lives invites difficulties and insurmountable circumstances that those outside of Christ or even lukewarm Christians would never have to concern themselves with.  Let us who are busy about the Master's business learn how to respond in hopeless situations from those who chose to honor the Ancient of days.
      Remember the decree that King Darius signed? Allow me to refresh your memory. Because of jealousy, presidents and princes came up with the idea to make a firm decree, that whosoever should ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of King Darius, should be cast into the lions den. Did this stop Daniel from doing what he was accustomed in doing, which was to kneel upon his knees three times a day and pray and to give thanks before his God? Absolutely not...."Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." Daniel 6:10   His obedience and faithfulness to the Almighty Sovereign God of the universe almost cost him his life. It's Hopeless, But God. The question is how would you and I respond if we knew that to remain trusting, loving, following and honoring God would invite pending doom to our lives? Most everyone knows that instead of Daniel becoming dinner for those hungry lions, those who plotted against Daniel became tasty morsels. 
      There is another account from the Bible that placed the lives of three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in quite the pickle. These three young men feared God over man. Were they scared? Of course they were! ....."they loved not their lives unto the death." Revelation 12:11... They knew their doom was imminent but chose to obey God rather than Nebuchadnezzar. This reminds me what Peter said in response to those who tried to intimidate him in the book of Acts: "... Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men" Acts 5:28 &29  Even though they were about to be cast into a fiery furnace for disobeying the king they responded by saying: "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3: 17 &18  Nebuchadnezzar was furious! I'm not sure which was hotter the furncace or the king. LOL!!! 

 It's Hopeless, But God. The Lord honored their faith in Him to be delivered; but more importantly, He honored them for loving Him more than their own lives. We can learn a lot from these three courageous men. Amen! 
      Lastly, I cannot pass up the opportunity to share with you  one of my favorite accounts from the everlasting, inerrant, infallible, forever settled in heaven living Word of God. If this doesn't increase your faith then I am afraid nothing will.  "Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him." Luke 8:22-25 It's Hopeless, But God. There is something about that story that resonates in my heart saying: ' never ever doubt God ever again!' While the disciples could only see diasater and death they forgot that the Creator of heaven and earth who fed over 5,000 people with just a few loaves and fishes was on board ship. Even though He was sleeping and perhaps was unaware what was going on, doesn't it makes sense that He couldn't have been sleeping very sound?

 Apparently He was because all the commotion did not wake Him up. Do you think that maybe just maybe He was not the least bit worried what was going on around Him? I like to think that He was tired and would have loved it if the disciples were aware of who was on board and just sat back and enjoyed the ride knowing that He , Jesus was not about to drown nor allow them to either. Scripture kind of leans to that type of thinking based on the response of the Master after He calmed the storm. " Where is your faith? Are you kidding? Come on Lord, aren't you being a little unfair with such a question...where is your faith? Have mercy Lord what if the sandal was on the other foot; would you have been scared Lord?
     I hope your faith has been challenged as mine has by these true accounts from Scripture. If I have learned anything it is this that no matter what the outcome, if you are in the will of God,it is always best to obey God and leave the rest with Him! Amen!

Have you ever been there? or are you there now? How are you handling your hopeless situation? Please share with us .......

      OK so you are thinking about planting your very first garden. If you pull out your copy of the Bible you may be surprised to find out that  "God's Gardening Tips" are found in there...especially in the parable of the sower.    In order to enjoy success with this new found hobby you need to put into practice "God's Gardening Tips".
      Any garden worth having needs the soil tilled before doing anything else. "Break up your fallow ground"  Jeremiah  4:3  Sometimes as Christians we become complacent and before long the soil of our hearts needs roto-tilling if we aren't careful. "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity; you have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way..." Hosea 10:12 &13  The way I see it if we as Christians neglect our intimacy with our Creator and do things our way then the garden of our hearts becomes infested with weeds and tares that cripple our walk with our Lord. We need to implement "God's Gardening Tips" and keep this garden alive and well! 
     Fertile soil and now proper sowing is next. Allow this clip to shed light on what type of soil produces the best bountiful harvest..


From the gospel of Luke we learn that the interpretation of this parable of the sower is as follows:
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Luke 8: 11-15 
      After verse 12, if you notice, the inspired,inerrant, infallible forever settled in heaven, living  Word of God never suggests that the others are not saved..."If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:15   I may be wrong but I think they are in Christ on the way to heaven but bearing little fruit. Of course the parable ends with those on the good ground. Seed sown on right soil with proper use of "God's Gardening Tips' yields much fruit. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good". Ecclesiastes 11:6

 Here is how a Christian Blogger and friend came to know Jesus Christ as her Savior. Learn how she escaped Hell and is now prepared for Heaven.........

Psalm 18:46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
Could I say that life was good? It should have been. I really did enjoy working as an RN after several times of changing majors in college I finally found one which “fit”. I loved biology, science and people. I remember back to the time I was five and my sister was in the hospital for a prolonged period of time. She had polio before the vaccine and before the big epidemic of 1952 and no one was sure how to treat her disease. We came to visit and she was sobbing. Seems that no one answered her call light and she wet her bed, she was then told if she didn’t stop crying her mom and dad would never come to see her again. As she sobbed out her trauma to us it became permanently etched in my heart and mind. This was the main reason I finally ended up in my chosen career of nursing. I remembered and wanted to make a difference for my pediatric patients, one that my sister hadn’t been fortunate enough to have with her nurse.
I was married to a guy I thought the world of but we were partying too much. We drank each and every day. When we tried to quit for a week we made it only a day and a half. Wine coolers, booze in the blender with ice cream calling it desert, mixed drinks loud music and friends who did the same. I was a mean drinker and would zero in to slice up “friends” with my tongue. The next morning I always felt terrible about what I had said the night before.
Tom and I had lived together 2 years before getting married and had been pretty heavily into smoking marijuana too but had quit that when he decided to go back to school. He noticed that friends who were doing any kind of drugs lacked serious motivation in college. He was maintaining a straight A average.
I was a professing atheist. In retrospect I was professing “there is NO God” a bit too loudly.
Our marriage was stressed with me working 6 days a week, all the drinking we were doing and the fact that I became a “mean” drunk. One of the gals I worked with was a born again Christian. She knew not to talk to me about her Jesus but would tell me about her friends at church and what they did. It was evident from her smile and care for her patients that she knew how to love. She patiently listened to me telling her how I thought that smarter beings from other planets came here and did things on earth with and for the people who lived here. They taught us etc. She would always gently tell me that she hadn’t found what I was talking about as truth.
I got to the point where I was really seeking some answers. I had been into Eastern religions, transcendental meditation, astrology, and things which were really into the occult. It came to the point where I was praying to the god I didn’t believe existed. Crying out and telling him I had made a real mess of my life and asking him to forgive me, to take over the control of my life as I was really making terrible choices yet never seemed able to change.
The Lord Jesus Christ met me where I was. To say he changed me would be a total understatement. I sensed a lifting of a weight that had pressed me down for years. I got a Bible and began reading, devouring the Word. Within 3 weeks the Lord had pulled me feet first out of the bottle of alcohol I lived in without going through any withdrawals. I was a serious alcoholic and totally set free. I began to be kind to my friends. My mouth which had been filled with profanity became cleaned up. I quit swearing and realized I had a choice in vocabulary.
God began showing me a bit of my feminine side that I had lost touch with for years. I actually bought a couple “granny” dresses at a garage sale and enjoyed wearing them.
At first I wouldn’t go to church but attended a Bible study that the gal at work invited me to. I learned and asked dozens of questions and studied every spare moment.
God helped me to enjoy my best friend’s infant son. I remember spinning around the front yard holding him and singing to Jesus. I was clean and forgiven. Jesus Christ had set me free and made me new, different, whole. I began to get a glimpse of the fact that He really did have a plan for me and purpose.
That was now over 38 years ago. Walking with the Lord has been a challenge and dynamic that I never regret. I am still learning and growing. Coming to salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is the single most incredible things which I have ever experienced. It was His sacrifice on Calvary which paid that price I couldn’t pay. He is God and sinless so He could effectively die in my place for all the times I had broken His heart. I had to ask His forgiveness, believe He was God and accept His death on my behalf.
Salvation, can there ever be a more perfect love than that which Jesus has for you and for me?

 (C) Marijo Phelps use giving proper credit only - all rights reserved.