I wish I could say this is a message asking if you are ready for the return of Christ, but unfortunately it’s not. I just checked into the news channels and two journalists were killed this morning on live television. So what could I possibly be asking what are you ready for?

It’s now a world where you can’t turn the news on without hearing that someone was killed. And sadly, sometimes, there are multiple killings throughout the day. It is getting quite disheartening to think our society has degraded to the point that a human life has minimal value. That if you are having a bad day, you got let go from your job, or any number of other “life issues”, that it is okay to go and take someone’s life.

So what do you need to be ready for? What if today was your last day? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt, regardless of how your demise may occur, that you would instantly be in the presence of the Lord, forever.

You saw the word forever emphasized there. Why? Because we will all stand in front of God. It’s after the Book of Life is opened that we will know where we will be going forever. Will you be welcomed with open arms into the Kingdom of God (2 Peter 1:11) or will you be forever banned from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9)? To spend eternity in the presence of God you must be saved (Romans 10:13). And in order to be saved Romans 10:10 says you must believe in your heart and profess with your mouth.

So again I ask you. Are you ready?

This past week I had to go to a funeral. A funeral for a 1 ½ year old. I was amazed at the amount of people who were there. Who could this little girl have touched in just 1 ½ years? Many. Obviously. As I looked around at the different people I began to think about what a wise man once told our congregation years ago.

If you want to touch lives and leave a legacy, live your life backwards. Write your own obituary. Write what you would want it to say. Then live it out. What a powerful thought. A lot of us just move through life at a rapid speed. Barely able to keep up with the things we have to do, not even thinking about the things that will keep us in people’s thoughts way after we have gone home to be with the Lord. What impact will your life have made?

Will people remember you for the few days that you are memorialized or will you have an impact on people’s lives that will memorialize you forever? What have you done for the kingdom of God today? It doesn’t have to be earth shattering. A simple call to a friend to see how they are doing. Holding a door for someone. A smile for someone who looks like they are on their down and out. A simple, “What can I do?”

I cannot tell you the number of people who on a daily basis tell me how much I mean to them. Honestly, I’m not sure what I have done for them! I serve the Lord with all my heart, and by doing that humanity gets to benefit from that. I see a need, I meet it. Why? Because I’m a great person? I could only hope. But I do it because that’s what Jesus would do. We may be the only Jesus someone “sees”.

What is our life worth? More so the question will be for all of us, what was your life worth? And the legacy you will have left will tell it all. Go. Write your obituary today and live life backwards.

I love pottery! I have even considered taking pottery classes. What draws me? Clay is an ugly, colorless, useless lump that is taken, and with time, made into a beautiful piece of artwork. Isn’t that how we are?

Isaiah 64:8 says, “…O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.”

Think about pottery. You order a bag of clay. (Told you I have considered it.) That bag of clay is going to be just clay until you do something with it. You can’t order a bag of clay, leave it lay around and one day it turns into a piece of pottery. No. There is a process to get a beautiful piece of pottery.

The bag has to be opened up. The clay has to be scooped out, put on a wheel, spun, molded, unwanted parts cut away and the piece has to be kept moist the entire time. Once the piece is created it has to be fired to 1700 -1900°F to strengthen it for glazing. After the first firing the piece can then be glazed. A second firing is required after glazing. This second firing is referred to as heating to maturity. The piece is then complete and can be used to the intent it was created. Is it no wonder God used clay to describe us.

We need to be formed, spun, molded and constantly watered for us to be ready for God’s service. We too need to be put through fire to make us sturdy. Finally, like the potter decorates us with the gifts He has for us. Throughout our lives we are continually facing different fires that mature us. It is at this point we have become the beautiful pottery piece He created.

I encourage you to meditate on this scripture. Are you at a place in your life that you need a little bit more firing to help sturdy you? There is a reason we are referred to as clay. May we always allow our Father to mold and make us into what He needs us to be.

No. This isn’t about money or the saying on our currency. This is truly about In God We Trust. Does your life reflect the trust you have in your Creator? Does your life reflect the dedication to God’s Word? Does your life reflect the very essence of God’s goodness? If not, why not? I would guess it’s a trust issue.

We are so apt and easily persuaded to put our trust in worldly methods. (This includes me!) My husband and I are believing for a home in Florida. What do I do? I look on Realtor.com. What does my husband do? Believes God. My reasoning? How will God know what house I want? My husband’s question. Doesn’t God know what house we need? My question. How much do we want to spend? My husband’s question. God has a budget?

Are you seeing the trust here? We (me included) do this all the time, in every area of our lives. In our minds (at least in mine) I always want to help God. Make things easier for Him. Get the ball rolling for Him. Do as much pre-work for Him that I can because He is a busy God you know. No. We don’t know. God was, is and will be with or without out us. He doesn’t need our help to get anything done. All He asks is will you believe? Will you trust me?

So this week I have decided to take the Realtor.com app off my phone. I have decided to change my prayer. I have decided to take the boundaries off of God. What house do I want? I have an idea, but I think God’s is better. How much do I want to spend? I’m not spending. This is God’s gig. He is my dad. As the world says, dad always knows best. Trust your dad. It’s the only way to live.

I don’t know if it’s me getting older or what, but it is starting to look like the dedication level of serving the Lord is hitting an all time (at least in my time) low. Everywhere I turn people are compromising lifestyles, beliefs, church attendance, and the level of dedication to God is just not there. So it seems to me.

Am I asking too much? Heck. Forget about me. Is God asking too much? When did it become fashionable to give God leftovers? When did church for a real Christian become optional? When I was growing up there were two options for church, go or not go. And you knew very clearly those who didn’t go lacked deeply in the belief department. But today…yeah it is very gray and mucky.

Then we have lifestyles. Help me out here, but I’m a little confused when believers, those who profess to have made Jesus Lord of their life, say they are filled with the Holy Spirit and say they love God with all their hearts, have decided that the law of the land is higher than the written Word of God. That if the law of the land approves of a lifestyle contrary to the written Word of God, it is the law, thus it is okay. Haven’t read that in my Bible.

To be a Christian or not to be a Christian? To be a poser or not be a poser? To be sold out or not sold out? To live for Christ or not live for Christ? To live your life according to that which God has spoken or go your own way? To be all you can be for God or not? To live your life as a Christian or not? To be or not to be? That is the question.

I have just made a pact (with myself) to fast off of the news. I’ve been listening and watching the news (thanks to phone apps) almost 24/7. I was wondering why I was getting such a crummy attitude. Then it hit me. You never hear any good news! Maybe once, if the stars line up perfectly, you will get a positive news report. Otherwise four minutes of news covers every catastrophic event in the world.

So I decided to call it quits on the news. Of course I need to know what’s going on in the world so I listen to the world news on the radio in the morning which is usually four to five minutes long and once just before dinner. (No wonder I’m not hungry when I sit down to eat!) That’s it. Goodbye evil news! So what if I don’t know about all the shootings, killings, earthquakes, wildfires, torrential floods of Biblical proportions (actually heard a reporter say that!), attempted child abductions, our government making bad decisions and the blasted uphill/downhill economy. No thanks. I’ll pass.

I am not checking out of the world, I am just choosing to change my view. I am not unaware of the evil running rampant in our world. The Bible tells us about the end times in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. I choose do what Paul said in Philippians 4:8 – And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

So what do you see? If you don’t like your view, go to another window. If you don’t like what you see, turn around. If you don’t like what you see, change the station or turn it off. You get to decide what you see. Imagine that! Life is that simple!

There is a song by Karen Carpenter that talks about how “rainy days and Mondays always get her down”. I love this song but I change the words to rainy days and Mondays never get me down. I suppose it’s all about perspective. Some people see rainy days and Mondays as bad things. I choose to see them as new opportunities.

Mondays can be “bad” if you already have that mind set as you start a new week. I was like that. The dreaded Monday. But then I changed my thoughts and started looking at Mondays as the beginning of a new, prosperous, do-all-you-can-do week. And it has worked! I don’t dread when I go to bed on Sunday night or when I wake up Monday morning because I have chosen to think of Mondays a different way.

Along those same lines, I am probably one of the few individuals who get excited when it rains. I don’t know. I just love the rain. Yes, it’s dark, gray, and sad looking, but I choose to see it as God’s washing. Getting things clean. Washing away the dirt. See, again it is all perspective.

You may have a dark perspective on life. Your thoughts may go along the lines of “Nothing goes right. If anything bad is going to happen it’s going to happen to me.” How about doing a turnabout on that thinking? What could it hurt? (See my optimism vs. your pessimism?) I challenge you to start with one good thought a day. Who knows? You might even start looking forward to rainy days and Mondays. Anyone up for puddle jumping?

Things are getting pretty hairy in the world. It seems that everything is pulling for your attention and emotions. Supreme Court rulings, terrorist attacks, drive-by shootings, state and federal budget deficits, rain, tornadoes and oh when will it all stop?

This is the time that we need to stay centrally focused on Jesus and the Word of God. As I was going about my errands today I had the song Jesus at the Center by Israel Houghton playing and I began to think about a telescope. How we use a telescope to focus in on things far away, and once we focus in on them we make sure they fill up the whole lens so that we can see every detail more clearly, not wanting to miss anything. That’s how we need to be with Jesus.

He needs to be so big and clear in our life, that honestly, nothing else really matters. As much as people don’t want to hear it, the end times are coming. We have to be so focused on Jesus that nothing can sway us. Regardless of what the news blares in our faces and ears, Jesus is all we see and hear. Those other reports should be like a buzzing insect that we simply swap away so as not to take our focus off of what is really important to us.

Let me encourage you today. Get in the Word of God. Stay in the Word of God. If you don’t read it every day, start today. If you read it once a day, double up. You can never overdose on the Word. Let Jesus be your central focus.