We Have an Advocate

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. — 1 John 2:1 

We are God's beloved children.

And He has given us an advocate in His Son, Jesus.

He is the Righteous One, our Savior.

We are encouraged not to sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father.

Praise God!

We Have an Advocate

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. — 1 John 2:1 

I am a child of God.

And Jesus is my advocate with Him.

Christ is the Righteous One, the Savior of the world.

When I sin, I know I can confess my sin to Jesus and He will stand before the Father on my behalf.

God has prepared a plan and purpose for my life.

He numbers the grains of sand on the beach.

And He knows the numbers of hairs on my head.

I am a child of God.

Continue in Him

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. — 1 John 2:28 

On Friday, Abby and I went to the zoo for four hours.

It was a beautiful day.

A bit chilly at first, but then it warmed up.

We walked continually, enjoying the plants and animals.

We took the skyride across the zoo at the end of the day and then rode it back.

It drizzled for about 5 minutes or less, but we simply pulled our hoods up over our heads.

The animals were out roaming, so we had a chance to see lots of them.

This is a beautiful secretary bird.

Very fun time together.

Happy New Year!

Building Yourselves Up

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. — Jude 1:20

Building ourselves up in the faith is our goal.

And praying continually in the Holy Spirit.

Glorifying and praising God throughout the day.

Giving Him the glory for everything in our lives.

Yesterday I had a chance to pray with a coworker who was going through a hard time.

She is not a Christian and has had some experiences with those who she feels have been very judgmental. 

Even so, she has been very glad that each of her previous jobs has paired her with a Christian friend who has prayed for her.

And she immediately felt a sense of God's calming presence after our prayer together.

Then today she told me that she really felt things had turned around for her, and she thanked me for praying for her.

She later sent me a text of thanks.

Help me, Lord, to continue to pray with and for my friends and family who need to know about You.

My Brothers and Sisters

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! — Philippians 4:1

Last evening we worshiped outside in our church courtyard.

A couple of people had not seen my curly hair.

One didn't recognize me.

She wondered who that lady was sitting way too close to Kirk.

She expected one of our ushers to come let me know we needed to space out.

Then she realized it was me!

Another friend came up to me afterward and asked how I like the curls I have now.

Of course, I had to laugh.

Any hair is better than no hair! I replied.

But actually, the curls are nice, too.

In the 80s I briefly got a perm to add to curl to my hair.

Now it's natural.

I think God has a sense of humor.

Be Quick to Listen

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,  because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  — James 1:19-20

Today I went hiking with some friends.

We had a beautiful day and everything was going well.

Toward the end of the hike, after almost 3 miles, Greta rolled her ankle.

She hobbled on for a while.

Then Kelly offered to give her a piggie back ride.

We headed to the road, resting often to give Kellie and Greta time to rest.

Two guys stopped by to give us their bottle of ice water to help Greta's ankle.

At the road, a ranger met us and drove Greta back to her car.

Other than that mishap it was a fun time.

We had a chance to meet new friends and catch up with old while keeping a safe distance.

Be Confident

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. — 1 John 2:28

Today Abby's phone died while she was at work.

Mine dies every day or two also.

They are getting old and do not work as well as they did three years ago.

I keep an extra cord with me to charge it at work or in the car.

Of course, our phones are made by humans, who are flawed, so the phones are not perfect either.

But we are fortunate that we do not need a phone or anything to be able to talk to God in prayer.

Our communication line will never die out or fade.

He always listens and even knows our thoughts before we utter them.

How wonderful is that.

When we continue in God, we can be confident before Him at His coming!