Jesus Is Always Near! by Myra Boozer

“When I walk by the wayside, He is along with me...Amid all my forgetfulness of Him, He never forgets me.” Thomas Chalmers

Oh, the days I look for Him, the days I think, "Where are you, Lord?" I cry out to him, please come and fill my longings and let me know you are here. I wish I could remember that He is always near and never leaves me, but trouble overtakes me, and my heart begins to break. Just for a moment, my forgetfulness rises up, and I despair as Peter did over the stormy weather. Peter was walking on the water to Jesus! Wow, but the winds were overwhelming to his mind. He must have actually forgotten the miracle that was happening right under his feet.

Matthew 14:28-31, "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come and when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. BUT when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying Lord, save me."

How many times is God making a way when there seems to be no way? But one puff of wind from the evil one blows us right off track. We must be like Peter and CRY out in our desperation, "LORD save me." We must never forget that He is ever near when the enemy starts howling and putting up a fight. We must have our minds centered on Jesus and remember that he never changes. Jesus Is Always Near! "For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5 

The Gift Of God Is Eternal Life! Conclusion

(for part 1 see 5/23/26)

God’s desire is for all men everywhere to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:4, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all...” God has prepared the way through the gift of His only Son. The penalty for sin has been paid. All one needs to do is repent of his sins and accept the Lordship of Christ in his life.

Pray this prayer with me and receive God’s unspeakable GIFT of salvation. “Lord Jesus Christ, I desire to be saved from the curse of sin and sin’s punishment. Thank You for paying the penalty for my sin. I believe You gave Your life to ransom my life. I believe You died on the cross, but You rose victorious over death, hell, and the grave on the third day just as You had promised. I’m tired of my life of sin. From this moment forward, I give my life to You. I belong to You. Use me for Your honor and glory, and give me an eternal home with You in heaven. Thank You for Your GIFT of eternal life! Thank You for saving me! Amen!”

I Hope You Dance! by Myra Boozer

"Let God have you, and let God love you. Don't be surprised if your heart begins to hear music you have never heard..." Max Lucado

Surrender is hard for most of us. We have all the answers, and we don't want to give in to anyone. But, it would be nice to be swept off our feet and held in the arms of God for a time of refreshing, a time of laughter, a time of release from this old world and all its cares. The road seems long and tiring on some days, and our cares become attached, as though they are determined to stay and drag us down... way down.

But, as we listen to the voice calling in the distance, "Come to me, my child, and I will carry you, I will give you rest." It becomes a silver-lined invitation on the best stationery you could ever envision. An invitation to lay down all that is bothering you, all that has crept upon you when you were just going about your normal routine of life...

He is calling, and He is waiting with arms open wide. So, what is stopping you? Go ahead, surrender to His voice, yield to His call. “Let God have you and Let God love you, and don't be surprised if your heart begins to hear music you have never heard before."

I pray you surrender, laying every burden down at His feet, allowing Him to lift you above all the cares that so easily beset you. Allow Him to sweep you off your feet and dance. Yes, I hope you dance...

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing..." Psalm 30:11.

The Gift Of God Is Eternal Life!

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Jesus died for us when we were dead in our sins and doomed to an eternity in hell! Our frail human mind is incapable of fully comprehending the magnitude of God’s gift to us. How can someone whom we haven’t previously known be willing to sacrifice His only Son for our benefit? Romans 5:6, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

When we knew not how lost we were, God had planned for our total and complete deliverance. Through the precious blood offering of His Son, Jesus, the pure and spotless Lamb of God, the penalty for sin was paid. God loved us when we were still sinners.

Jesus died for us, and we are justified by His blood. We are saved from the wrath of God as we look to the cross and believe. When the sin in us made us enemies of God, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. We have now received life through the atonement for our sin by Christ Jesus. He died and rose again to provide our deliverance, to free us from the curse of sin and sin’s punishment. (continued) 

Are You All Tangled Up? by Myra Boozer

The BIG fish seemed to be a death trap for Jonah, but it was a life preserver! "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights," Jonah 1:17.

Sometimes the situations we find ourselves in seem hopeless, and we feel helpless. Don't despair! You may be all wrapped up and tangled up in the seaweeds of this world, but keep calling on Jesus. Call out with a heart of repentance and surrender to HIS will, He will hear you!

God is in control of every situation that touches your life. He knows your name. He can turn things around. He can move into the darkest crevice of your world and set things in motion that you never dreamed about. He can break every yoke that binds you!

He can bring about your "release" just like Jonah. You, too, can be cast out onto dry land, maybe a beach. Take notice, this is where many forget the long nights of agony, suffering, and total despair. This can be the time you forget the prayers of repentance and the promises you made to God while you were chained.

Desperation brings about many promises that end up on the "To Do List." The smell of the fresh air and seeing the daylight can cause a freed person to rise up in an attitude of, "I made it! I am strong! I am resilient! I will survive!”

Hold on, this new beginning of freedom is a place of opportunity to do what God asked you to do from the beginning. To Obey Him! Your release did not happen because of your own ability, but because of His great mercy and the fact that you received what "you didn't deserve." Your hope is not because of your strength but His and His alone. This new found freedom isn't to be taken for granted; it is the gift of God. Your new directions will NOT come from your intelligence, but because He knows the way you should take.

Trust in the Lord with your whole heart. Follow Him, and you will not become entangled with this world again.

Warning! If by chance you forget your promises, Jesus may stop reminding you and allow you to go the way you choose. Any path other than His path leads to destruction.

Lord Jesus, Open The Eyes Of Our Hearts!

Lord Jesus, I pray that you make us a blank slate today. That you begin anew to create the persons you want us to be. Remove from us the pride of accomplishments and successes of yesterday. Today is a new day, a new beginning, to fulfill and display Divine tasks fresh from the mind and heart of God.

Lord, remove from us the crushing weight of past failures and inadequacies. Help us to throw off the suffocating thoughts that paralyze our forward movement and hinder us from fulfilling your perfect work in us. Help us to be friends, neighbors, companions, servants, pastors, preachers, prophets, and intercessors. Help us to be faithful, loving, compassionate, gracious, holy, victorious, strong, reverent, thankful, supportive, consistent, anchored, resilient, humble, submissive, trusting, and obedient. And tomorrow, we will start all over again to make each day a new day in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

John 9:10, “Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? 11He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.” Open The Eyes Of Our Hearts, Lord! 

Are You Drifting? by Myra Boozer

Have you noticed how we drift into different ways of living? For example, some people just take life so slowly and easily and don't really want to go anywhere, happy where they are. While others are always in the fast lane with places to go and people to see. They are so busy having fun and accommodating their latest find in food or entertainment that they almost live in a whirlwind.

D. A. Carson said, "People DO NOT DRIFT toward holiness...Apart from grace-driven effort, people DO NOT gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord...We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it Faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation. We slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism. We slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated..."

Age makes a difference in our pursuit of life and what it offers, but I believe we have drifted until many don't know how to find God. Start where you are and surrender ALL to Him. Then, we must pursue HIM until He catches us, captivates and changes us into His image... no longer trapped by the worldly attractions and sounds... no longer drifting on the sea of time... But looking unto our Blessed Hope, who is coming to rescue us from this world and its alluring, deceptive ways. Are You Drifting?

(A ship that loses its propulsion capability flounders helplessly and is at the mercy of the winds and waves. Without the spiritual dynamic of Holy Spirit power, we will flounder helplessly at the mercy of the winds and waves of life.)