Something to think about as you start a new week

Monday Meditations are quick posts designed to get you thinking about God. They provide a fresh perspective as you jump into your routine.

Have You Seen Jesus?

By Paula Wiseman

Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. (Luke 2:17)

Shepherds.

Regular guys.

Telling everybody they ran into about Jesus.

Have you seen Jesus?

Never Get Over It

By Paula Wiseman

Saturday evening, my five-year-old sat on the edge of my bed and prayed that Jesus' death on the cross would count for her. Simple. Profound. Beautiful.

Sunday, I asked her if she was still saved. She said yes, then she said, "You have to make sure it stays in your brain so you don't get over it."

So I don't settle into an attitude of comfortable entitlement.

So I don't get so clouded by the mundane you lose sight of the eternal.

So my joy isn't bled dry by daily frustrations.

So I don't forget how deeply, intensely, passionately loved I am.

Have we, have you, have I gotten over our salvation?

Maybe we haven't made sure it stayed in our brain.

A Friend of God

By Paula Wiseman

"So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Exodus 33:11

Not as a man speaks to his servants.

Or to his son.

But to his friend.

Jesus reiterated this in John 15:15 "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

Not enemies. Friends.

This includes me. This includes you.

Reflecting Jesus

By Paula Wiseman

"And they realized they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

It doesn't matter if people think I'm good,

Or nice,

Or even smart,

If my actions and my attitude don't reflect Jesus Christ.

Today, every day, how do we complete the sentence –

Now when they saw ____ they realized (he or she) had been with Jesus.

Called By Name

By Paula Wiseman

See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. (Exodus 31:2 NAS)

God looked at a nation of two million Hebrews (maybe more) and called out one man, by name, for a specific job.

By name.

God knows our names, knows us intimately. We aren't part of a nameless, faceless multitude of "believers". We never have to give our 'believer account number' when we pray. We don't even have to wear a name tag.

See, I have called by name ____(YOU)______.

The Lord is in this place and I did not know it

By Paula Wiseman

Not too long ago, I read about Jacob's vision of the ladder. The next morning, he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it." Genesis 28:16

I didn't know. I wasn't aware. I didn't understand. I didn't realize it. I didn't grasp the implications. I didn't take the time.

Busyness. My schedule. My family's schedule. The seemingly urgent. Imagined pressure. Assigned priorities.

God did not call me to finish a to do list. He called me into a relationship with Him. That's what I need to know.

"O God and Father, I repent of my sinful preoccupation with visible things. The world has been too much with me. Thou hast been here and I knew it not. I have been blind to Thy Presence. Open my eyes that I may behold Thee in and around me. For Christ's sake, Amen." A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (p. 41). Kindle Edition.