Life: The 8 Second Ride

From time to time, we host a guest and invite them to write a blog post. My husband, Mike, the love of my life and God's gift to me straight from Heaven wrote today's post. Enjoy!

Life is like an 8 second bull ride! (James 4:14)

You have to ride like there's no tomorrow! (Psalm 90:12)

You have to hang on for all you've got! (Matthew 6:33)

You have to live for the moment! (Philippians 4:6, 7)

And don't wait around to hear the buzzer! (2 Corinthians 5:8)

Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for every reader today. We understand our life is compared to a vapor, we holdfast to You and Your law of love. Continue to teach us to number our days, our heart's desire is to have a heart of wisdom. We commit to seek You and Your kingdom first in the name of Jesus! We are bold and strong! We are not anxious for or about anything, but in everything we make our requests known to You with prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving! Thank You for peace! Your peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! 

It's a Dud...

I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5, NLT)

Today is the 4th of July, a celebration of freedom! Picnics with family and friends, BBQ, and fireworks!

I like fireworks, I like fireworks a lot. Every Friday, a resort near our apartment in Honolulu shoots off fireworks and we can hear the crashing boom and see the sky light up. It is a wonderful display of lights and flashes of color!

During their display, there is rarely ever a dud. You know what a dud is right? It's when the firework is launched, a flash can be seen flying higher, higher, higher…waiting, waiting, waiting...but no explosion of color.  No huge colorful lights in the sky.

That made me think, as we let our lights so shine before others bringing glory to our Father, we will never be a dud as we seek Him first and we stay in our Vine. (Matthew 5:16, Matthew 6:33, John 15:5)

Father, thank You for being our ultimate Vine! Continue to lead us and guide us, show us ways to let our lights shine before others and in doing so they will glorify and praise You! Thank You for teaching us to seek You first! Our heart's desire is to stay in You! We stand in awe of You and Your Word! In the name of Jesus, please prompt us to stay in You as we acknowledge You in all our ways! Please continue to make our path straight, saying and doing only what we hear our Father say, drawing others to You through Your unfailing love!

Stay: Remain in the same place; secure or steady, a period of staying somewhere. 

Mucho mahalos for the photo provided by Photog Genius, David Johnson.  http://www.dejphotos.com

First Fruits

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33, NKJV)

Mikea (my nine year old) has a favorite pastime, gardening. Recently she asked for some flower seeds. When I took her to purchase her seeds, she meticulously looked at each seed packet and scrupulously picked out just the perfect flower seeds. At the time, I wondered why all the fuss but I didn't question her. 

When we got home, she planted her seeds right away. She checked them several times a day taking special care to water them and insured they were receiving the correct amount of sun as per the packet instructions. 

One day, she walked in, handed me a tiny flower, and said, "Look Mommy, I've been saving this for you." I said, "Wow Mikea, thank you. It's so beautiful." She said, "I knew you would like it. It is purple and yellow, just like you like. I grew it just for you. It's my very first flower."

I do not even have the words to begin to explain how she blessed me. Through a cracking voice, I said, "That is the most gorgeous flower I have ever seen!" And it's true, because this flower came from Mikea's precious heart. 

My thoughts immediately went to our Father and how we bless Him when bringing Him our first fruits. This experience prompted me to research first fruits. Of all the study available on this subject, I kept coming back to the same scripture and the same simple concept. 

Seek Him first with all our "firsts".