My worst fears are coming true for her!

Have you ever come to terms with how short life is. I mean, we all say and even commercialize the phrase, "Life is short", but have you ever sat down and thought about what this means? I was talking with God last night and I was telling Him how I was so excited to one day bow at His feet and be in His presence when all of a sudden it hit me... it won't be that long until I am. You know, thinking about how fast the last 33 years have come and gone and how fast my children are growing up... If I live to the expected 90 year mark for most healthy women, I am already a third of the way there. Before I know it, I will be in the eternal company of Jesus, I will be made righteous and reestablished into the presence of God. I will see Him face to face. Really it seems so imminent when you think about it for a moment.

After getting to this point I realized just how imminent it is for us to reach people who are lost. You know, I have an uncle who is not ashamed to curse God. I love this man dearly and grieve for my grandmother because my worst fears are coming true for her. Her son does not believe and he is very much against believing. Can you imagine? I don't want to. I know a lot of people who look at life and how best to live it and never consider God. Happiness is their goal. I know people who have strayed from their first love and have started collecting earthly treasures as a measure to their success. I know people who have never really felt intimacy with God. I know people who cling to religion and never truly accept Jesus' friendship. I know people who have been so scarred by past hurts that they are hurting inside and have not allowed our Healer to set them free. We don't have a long time folks. Don't miss out on the most amazing friendship, most worthy partnership, most incredible gift of mercy... Most of all, those of us who know how great it is to be adopted into God's family and know how we have had God with us all along and have complete access to all of Him-- we need to make sure we are living for Him. We need to make sure that our lives reflect Him. We need to make sure we are leading everyone we meet in the right direction and not putting them off and turning them into the hands of the enemy. Let's not become a stumbling block to anyone. There are two verses that come to mind when I am encouraging myself to live a life reflecting Jesus. The first one reminds me about my words, conversations and reactions. Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. The next one reminds me that in my own way there are efforts I can take to be at peace with everyone. I think that the proverbial, "You can't please everyone" is true; however, it is possible to do everything you can to be at peace with everyone-- NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE OR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO YOU! Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Obviously we can't control the other person, but we have been given a Spirit of Self Control. So I will continue to remind myself that every misspent word, every damaging action, every loss of my self-control will affect others in their walk whether they are on their way to God or whether they have never met Him. No matter what their station in life is in regards to their walk with Christ, my life will either encourage them or cause them to stumble. I don't think that there is middle ground here. I can either be hot or cold, but the tepid is disgusting to God. Don't be tepid!