Salt and Light...

Good morning, I missed posting for the last few days. I enjoyed a great weekend away with my family, and as you see, I did not post at all. I had the laptop with me, but I resisted the temptation to post. I really gave my family all  of my attention. I enjoyed a great football game, which was played by our local high school football team (we had to travel away to a nearby city to play, because we are now deep into the playoffs). Everyone in the city is so excited, because the football team has advanced in the playoffs, further than they have ever gone before, in school history. They were able to play in one of the NFL stadiums. That was a great experience for all. After the football game , which we WON, we ate at this awesome restaurant, visited family in that city, and then, I attended worship with my sister, at her local church, on yesterday. It was a really great weekend. I was also able to visit someone who had recently had a stroke, I was able to minister to her and encourage her as well. My greatest joy in life, is to be able to minister to someone, to encourage someone, and to give someone hope, and a reason to go on in life!

The minister, where I visited, spoke yesterday on a topic that I am well familiar with, but because of the cares of daily living, I have a tendency to forget....that we are salt and light! As believers, we really are salt and light! We are here to influence, and change our world!

Sometimes, as wives and mothers, fathers and husbands, employees, we often feel unimportant, unappreciated, sometimes unnoticed. Ever felt that way? The message on yesterday, reminded me that God made me, and if I am not important to anyone else, I am important to God! The scripture reference was from Psalm 8:3-8. The Psalmist asked God, "what is it about man (Mankind), that you love so much, that you think about us so much, that you care about us so much, that you would visit? Good question! When I stop to consider how awesome that God is, how mighty and powerful He is, how He holds the entire Universe in His hand, wow, what makes Him love man so much, regard us so much? I tell you what, I am sooooo glad that He does! God loves us so much! I know that I have said it before, but I must say again, that God loves us even more than we could ever imagine! He is NOT mad at us, He is not keeping records of our mess-ups, He is not trying to come up with ways to punish us, He is just not that kind of God and Father! He is not in the business of punishing! Yes, I know that we have been taught that God punishes, that is not true of us today. Back in the Bible when the Jews were under the Law, a man was responsible for keeping the whole Law, and if he broke one of the laws, He would incur the penalty of the Law that he broke. But, Jesus came,(Hallelujah) and God put all of the punishment on Jesus! We don't have to be punished, Jesus bore the punishment for all mankind! GLORY!!! We are forgiven, reconciled to God, and counted worthy, not because of us, BUT because of Jesus! EVERYONE is forgiven! It doesn't matter what you did, God is looking at what Jesus DID!!! That's why God loves us so much, that is why he is mindful of us. We are His children! We are not filthy rags, wormy, sinners! As far as God is concerned we are saints, kings, priests, His own dear children, all of us! This is true of all of us, IF you have accepted Christ's finished work on the cross, as payment for your sin. God has all of these wonderful blessings for all of us. Jesus died for all people, but if you don't accept it for yourself, you miss out, and will be out of God's best for eternity! God left us here for a purpose, to influence this world for Him, to be a world changer! We don't have to be victims of the world system, we don't have to be overcome by the world's challenges, the darkness of the world. We have a voice! We can stand for what we believe!

We are in this world as light in a dark place. As believers, we have the answers that the world needs. We know how to solve the economy problems of the world, the education, government. We have the solution!
We are salt! Salt is a preservative. We know how to preserve and prevent someone from being lost and going to hell, for eternity. Salt seasons. We can season this world with God's way, His presence, His love, His victory! Salt makes one thirsty. We have the ability to make lost people thirsty for Jesus, saved people thirsty for righteousness.

We are here for a reason. We are here to impact this world for Christ, and God has already equipped us to do so! The Greater One is in us! Have a Victorious Day!