Oh What A Day That Will Be

August 10, 2023August 10, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Describe your life in an alternate universe.

In that alternate universe, I will not grow old. And in this current life, hitting half a century this year has been one of both joy and a slight irritation.

In that alternate reality, I will not feel pain, sorrow, or grief. I will not deal with disappointment, aggravation or even the threat of disenchantment.

In that new world, there will be no anger, no hatred, no violence, no death.

Can you imagine?

The tears will be wiped from our eyes, and we will never experience agony again. We will never feel heartbreak, regret or brokenness.

Everything will be made new.

Everything will be healed.

Everything will be refreshed, revitalized, restored to it’s beginning.

I will have no failures, no blemish, no flaw.

I will be made perfect, and you will, too.

Can you even imagine?

Oh, won’t it be grand?

And it will all last for eternity.

And to top it off, it won’t be an alternative.

It will be true reality.

You want to come?

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Revelation 21:1-5

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
Revelation 21:6-7

Don’t Worry. Be Happy

August 7, 2023August 7, 2023 / The WheatandTares

List 30 things that make you happy.

Here’s a list of 30 things that make me happy. Some are in specific order but some are not. You can probably guess which ones are which…

1. My Savior, Jesus Christ

2. My husband

3. Holding his hand and saying, I Love You.

4. My boys, both of them.

5. Hugging our boys.

6. Family

7. Friends who stay and stand the rest of time.

8. Worship music that lifts the soul, connects me to Him or just reminds me Whose I am.

9. Coffee, flavored, with cream

10. The little things often more than the big things.

11. A rosebush blooming.

12. A walk in the woods.

13. Sunsets and waterfalls.

14. A hike up a mountain.

15. Having a hope in an eternal life in eternity.

16. Walking along the beach.

17. My cat purring and wanting to be loved.

18. Watching someone give their heart to Jesus.

19. Watching someone’s life being transformed for good.

20. Giving orphans Christmas presents.

21. Holding a sweet baby, no matter the age.

22. Preaching and seeing that someone actually connected with Him.

23. Listening to our almost grown boys talk about God, life, and things they will do, and realizing they have made good choices.

24. Hearing my husband and sons tell me they love me.

25. Having coffee with a good friend.

26. Cooking a good meal or delicious dessert for my family and knowing they enjoyed it.

27. Traveling to distant lands, flying in a plane, or just taking a road trip.

28. Antiquing in a small town.

29. Having deep conversation, light hearted fun, or anything in between with my love.

30. Being able to bring a smile to someone else.

There’s a ton more I’m sure I could share. And probably tomorrow, I’ll look back over this and realize I’ve forgotten to list something oh so very important.

So, please don’t judge. Just enjoy. And maybe take a moment to think of your own listing.

I wonder if you can now tell me your 30 things that bring such joy?

Defeat that Demon

August 7, 2023August 7, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Too many people claim they’re gonna live better, gonna do better, gonna act better, but they’re still holding onto that which brings them down.

Some assert they’re gonna eat right, but the cabinets are filled with junk, and the menu is filled with fast food and calories.

Some proclaim they’re gonna get fit, but the weights gather dust, the shoes stay in the box, and the gym membership rolls through a year with the door never opened.

Some declare they’re gonna speak right, yet the music is turned to trash, the podcasts are filled with perversion, and the languages are covered with cussing and crudeness.

Some affirm they’re going to act better, yet the friends stay the same, the words ramble on with no change, and the actions are as redundant as the clock hand.

If you desire change, it must be proven within.

It you desire an alternate path, it must first be evident in your walk, then the journey will follow.

If you’re still entertaining the demons from which you claim to have been freed, then your receptivity will be the burden on your own shoulders.

It will be the nightmares of your own dreams.

Wake up!

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
Matthew 16:24-27

Silly Saturday

August 5, 2023July 30, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Funny Friday

August 4, 2023July 30, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Be Like Jesus

August 3, 2023August 3, 2023 / The WheatandTares

So many say, “ I want to be like Jesus.”

So many preach, “You must be like Jesus.”

And so many more believe it’s such an easy task.

They claim we simply must be more kind, more loving, and more peaceful.

Yet, when love is proclaimed so elementary by pointing fingers at others and declaring what you must do,

I believe we are neglecting to look in the mirror at our own souls to see what we must do.

When kindness is demanded from others so readily, and it is said to be performed so smoothly,

I believe we are avoiding the reality that our flesh never truly desires to be gracious and kind.

No one is born good. We are not birthed in righteousness.

Our natural tendencies do not lend themselves to be like Christ without first dying to self.

If we long to truly be like Christ, we must remember He had a wilderness where He was hungry, tempted and had to be bold in faithfulness.

If we truly long to be like Christ, we must remember He had a Gethsemane where He was alone, discouraged and had to be brave in love.

If we long to truly be like Christ, we must remember He had a cross by which He was broken, disgraced and had to be truthful in kindness.

If we truly long to be like Christ, we must remember He had a Judas by whom He was betrayed, ambushed and had to be confrontation in peace.

When we profess others should be Christlike, we need to actually know who Christ is and what He did.

When we confess a desire to be Christlike, we need to actually recognize who our Savior is and what He did.

When we assert there is a common ground with a mighty King, we must acknowledge and embrace what must be crucified within us to become someone we are never capable of becoming

Without first, surrendering all to Him.

This is to be Christlike.

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:9-11

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:32

Disagreement isn’t Hatred

August 2, 2023August 2, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

In our modern age, it seems there are becoming more and more polarizations to right and wrong.

Yet there also seems to be more twisting to truth than I believe I’ve ever seen before.

Too often, good is being called evil and evil is being called good.

Too often, those fighting for justice will de over and connive to achieve their purposed goal rather than seeking for truth no matter the cost.

And for certain circles, if you disagree with the relative truth they’ve created, you are relegated as hateful, rude, and even wicked.

Where is the logic in any of this?

Where is the sanity to this altered reality?

There is none.

And my statement of fact will send many into a tumultuous and relentless battle of words.

What happened to the days when truth was sought above all?

What happened to the lives who sought truth at all cost?

There has to be an absolute truth on which to hold firm.

And even if you disagree with that truth, it doesn’t make you a demon of the abyss.

And it doesn’t make you freakish, deformed, or necessarily of a nonredemptive evil.

It just simply makes you wrong.

An absolute truth does not move for modernity.

And absolute truth doesn’t change with new winds of doctrine, opinions or even popularity.

An absolute truth stands firm in it’s truth.

An absolute truth stands true through the tests of time.

And an absolute truth is a rock upon which you can fall and it will sustain you.

I have found this absolute truth.

I will hold on to it.

I will bind myself to it.

And I will run to it in torrential times.

It is a truth that with change you forever.

And unless you’ve found it as well, please know that when my absolute truth disagrees with you, it is not hatred I bring.

It is a love, a peace and a hope that will transform you, heart, mind, body and soul.

He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.
Deuteronomy 32:4

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isaiah 5:20-21

Wasting Time

August 1, 2023July 31, 2023 / The WheatandTares

As my husband would say, “Go and get off the asphalt!”

Too often, we stay in the grind, and we wonder why we have no peace.

We keep our head down, our hands busy, and our feet on flight.

We rush through the routine, seeking more and coming up empty.

But instead of continuing the toil, you’ll find that if you’ll stop to breathe, you’ll actually find more energy.

When you pause, reflect and take a minute, you’ll find the world can stop spinning.

So, go take a deep breath and soak in the mountain breeze.

Stand by a waterfall and remember it’s not about you.

Hike the hilltop and see that you can accomplish and win.

Walk beside a creek and find your laughter again.

Do some star gazing and be reminded of the Creator who causes your heart to beat.

These are never times wasted.

They are moments refreshed, restored and rejuvenated.

They are glimpses of peace and serenity.

Go get you some.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4