Permission?

A friend of mine asked his neighbor if he could borrow his power washer, even though he had already used it. The guy who owned the washer asked him if he was asking could he or was it alright that he already had? My friend admitted that he had already used it and was that OK? The man with the washer said, "Well, what would your mother say?" I jumped in that point and said, "Forgiveness is easier to get than permission." It totally took him by surprise. As the conversation continued he asked me 3 times to repeat what I had said, stating that he could remember the forgiveness part, but kept forgetting the permission part. When he said it, I felt God say to me that is exactly the way we all are in our relationship with Him. We remember the forgiveness part, and tend to forget the permission part.
PJ

All Alone

Last night I received one of those calls from out of the blue that end up being not only a blessing, but a lesson. A young man from a church in my past called to talk. As we spoke he started to open up about the real reason for the call; his life was a mess and he while he wanted to have Jesus in his life, he was afraid to commit. I tried to help him understand that it wasn't about whether or not he could commit to Christ; but rather about could he love God with all of his heart, soul, mind, & strength. That that is really why God created us, so we could love Him. In fact, that it is quite possible we are His only creation with the capacity to love God back. In the course of our talk he told me about how alone he felt. That all of his friends had abandoned him, or he had moved away. How he was unable to talk to his family, that there was just no one in his life. I told him that was probably a good thing, because it was what may be driving him to God. That's when the lesson hit! We all need to get alone with God from time to time in order to hear what he is trying to say to us, and relate to us! I left the young with a prayer and a promise from him to ask God to fill his heart with love & the desire to live wholly for Him. All i can ask from any of you who read this is for your prayers.
PJ

Psalm 23 (for the work place)

Psalm 23 (For the Work Place)

The Lord is my real boss, and I shall not want. He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me. He gently reminds me to pray and do all things without murmuring and complaining.

He reminds me that He is my source and not my job. He restores my sanity everyday and guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all that I do.

Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mails, system crashes, unrealistic deadlines, budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers, discriminating supervisors and an aging body that doesn't cooperate every morning, I still will not stop--- for He is with me! His presence, His peace, and His power will see me through.

He raises me up, even when they fail to promote me. He claims me as His own, even when the company threatens to let me go. His Faithfulness and love is better than any bonus check.

His retirement plan beats any 401k there is! When it's all said and done,

I'll be working for Him a whole lot longer and for that, I BLESS HIS NAME!!!!!!

A very good friend named Sherri sent me this a week ago, and it blessed me. Then yesterday when I opened my email there was this followup message from her: "I was just rereading this at the end of a tiring week and it dawned on me that when I murmur or complain about my job or about being tired, stressed or overworked I am telling the world that my God is not big enough to sustain me. Instead I should be telling the world that the reason I can do all things and be successful in my job is because he strengthens me! Great paradigm shift! I need to censor my comments and attitudes to praise his sustaining power rather than to complain. Cool."

Thank you Sherri for being so sensitive to the Holy Spirit within you, and for sharing it with all of us.

PJ