Friday SHINE....
Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 2:1-11
Happy Fun Friday, SHINE girls!
Oh, wow, what a week it has been around our house. A whole lot of emotions going on here.
We had to put our dog, Aspen, to sleep this past Tuesday. She's been with us for almost 15 years. :(
The month after Lem and I were married, we brought her home. She was our very first baby.
We've cried, we've remembered, we've celebrated her sweet life, and we've cried some more.
My tear ducts have run dry.
Yesterday, I spent my day thinking of things I should have done different. I should have spent more time with her. I should have walked her more. I should have petted her more. Did she know how much I really loved her? Did I give her enough attention? And so on, and so on.
It's a natural grieving process. Regret.
Why am I telling you this sad story about my dog, Aspen?
I think it applies to our memory verse this week.
I believe the Lord put this verse in the Bible because He loves us and He wants us to not live life with a heart full of regrets.
We are prone, as humans, to think that life on this Earth will last forever.
It won't.
Heaven is eternal, but life here on Earth is not.
We think that there will always be time to make amends, to apologize, or to get right with a loved one.
It's just not true.
We were created to eventually die.
The sad part of this is not the ones who die, but the ones left behind.
The ones left behind with regrets.
The ones who would do anything for just one more day on this Earth with the deceased loved one.
Even if you had a wonderful, joyful, relationship with the person that dies, you will probably still be prone to have regrets.
I believe this is why God tells us to "love each other deeply". He knows us best. He knows that we need to love, to forgive, in order to have peace and to not live a life full of regrets.
Our Fun Friday Challenge:
If there is someone that you need to make amends with--Do it. Today.
It may not be as simple as just "doing it today". However, you can pray and ask the Lord to show you and to lead you in what you should do.
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you."
Psalm 32:8
Maybe it is just something that you need to go to the Father about, and ask His forgiveness for some
bitterness that has been harboring in that heart of yours.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me"
Psalm 51:10
I challenge you to take it to Him, today.
Or, maybe you are the one left here on Earth, living a life of regret. You may be unable to make amends, because the loved one is long gone from this Earth.
I encourage you to give all of that regret to the Father. Take it to His Throne, and let it go.
God will bring such swift peace to your heart that it will knock you to your knees. He's just so good like that.
"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
Isaiah 43:18-19
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
2 Corinthians 5:17
Will you take this challenge today?
I think I hear the sound of some huge walls of regret and unforgiveness falling down.
What a beautiful sound.
no regrets,
jill
Happy Fun Friday, SHINE girls!
Oh, wow, what a week it has been around our house. A whole lot of emotions going on here.
We had to put our dog, Aspen, to sleep this past Tuesday. She's been with us for almost 15 years. :(
The month after Lem and I were married, we brought her home. She was our very first baby.
We've cried, we've remembered, we've celebrated her sweet life, and we've cried some more.
My tear ducts have run dry.
Yesterday, I spent my day thinking of things I should have done different. I should have spent more time with her. I should have walked her more. I should have petted her more. Did she know how much I really loved her? Did I give her enough attention? And so on, and so on.
It's a natural grieving process. Regret.
Why am I telling you this sad story about my dog, Aspen?
I think it applies to our memory verse this week.
"Above all, love each other deeply,
because love covers a multitude of sins."
1 Peter 4:8
I believe the Lord put this verse in the Bible because He loves us and He wants us to not live life with a heart full of regrets.
We are prone, as humans, to think that life on this Earth will last forever.
It won't.
Heaven is eternal, but life here on Earth is not.
We think that there will always be time to make amends, to apologize, or to get right with a loved one.
It's just not true.
We were created to eventually die.
The sad part of this is not the ones who die, but the ones left behind.
The ones left behind with regrets.
The ones who would do anything for just one more day on this Earth with the deceased loved one.
Even if you had a wonderful, joyful, relationship with the person that dies, you will probably still be prone to have regrets.
I believe this is why God tells us to "love each other deeply". He knows us best. He knows that we need to love, to forgive, in order to have peace and to not live a life full of regrets.
Our Fun Friday Challenge:
If there is someone that you need to make amends with--Do it. Today.
It may not be as simple as just "doing it today". However, you can pray and ask the Lord to show you and to lead you in what you should do.
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you."
Psalm 32:8
Maybe it is just something that you need to go to the Father about, and ask His forgiveness for some
bitterness that has been harboring in that heart of yours.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me"
Psalm 51:10
I challenge you to take it to Him, today.
Or, maybe you are the one left here on Earth, living a life of regret. You may be unable to make amends, because the loved one is long gone from this Earth.
I encourage you to give all of that regret to the Father. Take it to His Throne, and let it go.
God will bring such swift peace to your heart that it will knock you to your knees. He's just so good like that.
"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
Isaiah 43:18-19
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
2 Corinthians 5:17
Will you take this challenge today?
I think I hear the sound of some huge walls of regret and unforgiveness falling down.
What a beautiful sound.
no regrets,
jill
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| Presley with Aspen {the big white dog} and our other sweet dog, Holly. |
