Have you ever wonder what ingreedient you are in a friendship? If our hearts are not sharing Christ`s love, we can`t show Christ to others. Here is a receipe for friendship. Hope and pray that will make you think of what you can offer in a friendship.• Shortening - Provides texture. Our fellowship and friendship with our sisters in the Lord can add much depth and texture to our lives. We blend together in unity as part of the body of Christ. • Sugar - Adds sweetness. Our fellowship with our sisters adds such a sweet taste to our lives. If we didn't have sugar in our cookies, we'd sure miss it. The same is with our fellowship with our sisters. We can't leave it out of our lives. • Eggs - Holds ingredients together. Sisters in the Lord are someone to lean on. We are held together by fellowship with them. We are stronger because of them, their prayers, and their love in the Lord. We have a special bond in Christ. • Vanilla - Adds flavor. Sisters add that flavor we need. They give us that extra sensation. Without friends and fellowship we become kind of bland. • Flour - Adds substance. We need the substance a sister in the Lord can add. They give us many things by way of mentoring us when we don't even know it. Their shared testimonies and way they live their lives has an impact on us. • Baking Soda - Leavens. Leavening agents in baking helps to lighten the dough. Friendship with our sisters in Christ lightens our burdens through their prayer and encouragement. • Salt - Enhances flavor. We know that friendships add flavor and just when we need it, they help improve the tastefulness and quality of our lives. Friends are the type of people that know just what we are going through and are there when we need them. • Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips - The kind of chocolate chips we normally add to our cookies is semi sweet. Our sister friends tell us what they feel and think and that's okay. They can be honest and truthful to us. "Iron sharpeneth iron" (Proverbs 27:17). • Nuts...Optional - Just a little craziness in a sister friend is great! Sometimes a little zaniness in our friends can be just the ingredient we need.Conclusion:Friendships take a lot of time and effort to bake up but they are worth it when we sense that sweet aroma and special bond that they bring. Friends that have Jesus in common will have lasting relationships, not just here on earth, but will dwell with Christ together throughout eternity. "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and thereis a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24.I wonder if I'm the type of friend that I should be to others, especially to my sisters in Christ. Am I doing all those things that I should be doing, like lifting burdens, adding flavor, helping hold things together with my prayers, and all those other things? I hope I can improve in this area. So, is your life a good recipe for friendship?

Back home! Back to you!

Maybe you will wonder why in the world I left. I have no answer for you right now, but one thing I know, I`m back!!!

The tale of the crucified crook

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” Luke 23/43


The only thing more outlandish than the request was that it was granted. Just trying to picture the scene is enough to short-circuit the most fanciful of imaginations; a flat nosed ex-con asking God’s son for eternal life? But try to imagine the appeal being honored, well, that steps beyond the realm of reality and enters absurdity.

But as absurd as it may appear, that’s exactly what happened. He who deserved hell, got heaven, and we are left with a puzzling riddle. What, for goodness` sake, what was Jesus trying to prove by pardoning this strong-arm, who in all probability had never said grace, much less done anything to deserve it.

If man has no duty or destiny, the next logical step is that man has no value. If a man has no future, he isn’t worth much. He is worth, in fact, about as much as a tree or a rock. No difference. There is no reason to be here, therefore, there is no value!

We say that you are valuable if you can produce. We say that you are valuable if you can slam-dunk a basketball or snag a pop fly. You are valuable if your name has a “Dr.” in front of it or a Ph. D. on the end of it. You are valuable if you have a six-figure salary and drive a foreign car. Value is now measured by two criteria, appearance and performance!

Pretty tough system, isn’t it? Where does that leave the retarded? Or the ugly or uneducated? What hope does that offer the unborn child? Not much! Not much at all! We become nameless numbers on mislaid lists. Now, please understand, this is man’s value system. It is NOT God’s!!! His plan is much brighter!

In God’s book man is heading somewhere. He has an amazing destiny. We are going to live with Him. Reign with Him. We count! We ARE valuable! And what’s more, our worth is built in! Our value is INBORN!!!

You see, if there was anything that Jesus wanted everyone to understand it was this: A person is worth something simply because he is a person! And don’t forget the classic case study on the value of a person by Luke. It is called “The Tale of the Crucified Crook.”

If anyone was ever worthless, this one was. If any man ever deserved dying, this man probably did. If any fellow was ever a loser, this fellow was at the top of the list. Perhaps that is why Jesus choose him to show us what he thinks about the human race.

“Any chance that you could put in a good word for me?”(loose translation)
“Consider it done”

Now why did Jesus do that? What in the world did he have to gain by promising this desperado a place of honor at the banquet table? I mean, the Samaritan women I can understand. She could go back and tell the tale. Zacheus, he had some money that he could give. But this guy? What is going to do? NOTHING!!!

THAT`S THE POINT!!! Listen closely. Jesus` love does not depend upon what we do fore Him. Not at all. In the eyes of the King, you have value simply because you are. You don’t have to look nice or perform well. Your value is INBORN!
Period.
Think about that just a minute. You are valuable just because you exist! T he next time when someone tries to pass you off as a cheap buy, just think about the way Jesus honors you…and smile!
I do. I smile because I know I don’t deserve love like that. None of us do. When you get right down to it, any contribution that any of us make is pretty puny.

And it also makes me smile to think that there is a grinning ex-con walking the golden streets who knows more about GRACE than thousand theologians. No one else would have given him a prayer. But in the end that is all that he had. And in the end, that is all it took.

My Redeemer Lives!....and so do I