What's your duck?

A dear friend sent me this last week, and I've been wanting to post it. So, here it is. :) Be blessed, my dear friend, and consider what your duck might be!

Here’s a great story by Richard Hoeffer:

A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot.
He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. He went back to
Grandma’s back yard, where he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let
fly. The stone hit. The duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead
duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all,
but she said nothing.

After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said,
“Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?”

And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!”

So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if anyone wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I
need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of. Johnny
wants to do it.”

Again she whispered, “Remember the duck!”

Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.

Several days went like this: Johnny was doing both his chores and Sally’s. Finally he
couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he had killed the duck.
“I know, Johnny,” Grandma said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and
saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you
would let Sally hold it over you.”

The question is: What’s your duck?

The MOST excellent way!

Hi, sweet reader! Thank you for coming to visit today; whether it was by your design, or by "chance", I'm glad you're here. I want you to take a walk with me, down a Roman road.

We're just going to stroll down this road together; there are some "sights" I want to point out to you. Don't stop reading! Just get to the end of the path with me. :)

It's a beautiful spring day! Can you hear the birds, and feel the breeze - and see the buds on the trees? Look at that beautiful fruit tree that's full of blossoms ahead!

Here's the first thing I want to show you! It's Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." That's ALL, my friend. NO ONE can save themselves. We were born into sin.

But that's not the end of the road!

This stop is a two-part stop! Look on this side:

Romans 6:23a "The wages of sin is death..." We all will die a physical death. But we don't have to die in our sin - that is not only a physical ending, but a spiritual ending you need to understand we all DESERVE. There is nothing we can do ourselves that can make us righteous.

But look at THIS side of the stop!

Romans 6:23b "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." It's a GIFT!! It's free!! God offers it to you and me, to save us from that sin and from the spiritual death that goes with it. But you do need to receive it.

Let me tell you a story that will illustrate this really well. I used to be the only non-family member of a company. One of the three families involved was REALLY, REALLY disfunctional. I mean, WOW!! So the dad is NOT a nice person at all, but his sons tried SO HARD to get his approval. One year they were feuding badly, but the younger son still wanted to please his dad; he gave him Christmas gifts, came and put them on the dad's desk. THEY SAT IN A CORNER, UNOPENED, all year. The son gave the gifts, but they weren't RECEIVED - the dad ignored them, left them unopened, unused, and neglected.

Let's keep walking! This is a beautiful road!!

Here we are!

Romans 5:8: "God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!"

Oh, dear one, do you HEAR that??? God is outside of time; He sees all time at a glance. And while He was looking at our sin - YOUR sin, MY sin - He knew He wanted to give us that precious Gift. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our gift! He died for us, so we could be saved! Eternal life in God's presence. His presence is so sweet here on Earth - I can't WAIT to be able to see Him face-to-face!!!!!! And it's available to YOU - all you have to do is ASK!

Oh, look! It's Romans 10:13!

"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Anyone can receive this gift! There's no "I'm not good enough" or "I need to straighten up my act first". God will meet you WHERE YOU ARE!!!! Just ask Him!

Oh, here's the last stop on this road. Isn't it beautiful?

Romans 10:9-10: "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

Oh, how LOVELY this stop is. Do you see how EASY it is? God hasn't made a lot of hoops to jump through. There's not a physical torture test, or a decathalon to compete in for this prize.

If you've been down this road before, isn't it a sweet place to visit? To be able to thank God for His incredible, awesome GIFT? I hope our walk today reminded you to praise Him for it!!!

If you've never been down this road, and you've heard Him offering you His precious gift today, you might be wondering what the next step is.

Just talk to Him! We call it "praying", but it's really just having a communication session with The Most High. :) He wants us to talk to Him!!! You can simply tell Him something along this line:

Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I know that has kept me separated from You. I ask You to forgive me of my sins; I want to repent (that just means "to turn 180 degrees" from the way you were going), and ask You to help me walk the way You want me to. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and that He rose from the dead and is alive today. I ask that You become my Savior, and Lord of my life. Thank You! Amen.

Did you know that when you said that prayer, Heaven threw a party for you?!?!??!?! The angels REJOICE over EACH soul that receives the Gift!!!!

I'd like to rejoice with you, too! Please email me, or leave me a comment, and let me know so I can - and so I can pray for you, too! The next step is to find a good church where you can learn more about the decision you made, and start to grow and learn about this new life!

Praise God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Dear one, He rejoices over YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXCELLENT thought for your day!

My dear friend Becky sent me this today. It's from Crosswalk's Daily Devotional. I hope you're as convicted as I am. :)

You Get What You Pay For
Wendy Pope

"You were bought at a price."
1 Corinthians 6:20 (NIV)

Devotion:
Crocs: now those are some ugly shoes in my opinion! I am not always on the cutting edge of fashion but Crocs are foot fashion that I can not embrace. The colors are loud, the shape is bulky, and did I mention the cost can bust a budget? I typically like to invest my money in knock-offs rather than name brands, especially when it comes to my children because not too long after a purchase they either out grow or destroy the item. Therefore, with a knock-off, I typically get my money's worth. Except when I bought "Crocs."

My children wanted Crocs and kept asking for them. I gave in to the asking but committed not to buy the "real" thing. We went to one of the higher priced stores, not a discount box store, to make our purchase. This store was known for quality, not to mention the shoes the kids wanted were on sale. So with great excitement, we tried on some shoes, found the correct size, and paid for them. My children were so excited they asked to wear them out of the store. How could I resist? Everyone was happy for a few hours, then I heard a loud shout from the back of the car followed by a cry, "My Crocs (imitation or not we called them Crocs) broke." I couldn't believe it. I went back to the store with receipt in hand and exchanged my son's shoes.

Two days later the same shout and cry came from my son. The second pair broke. I don't have to tell you that I was regretting my purchase. I put the shoes in a bag with the receipt and was ready to return them the next time we were out running errands. We found him another pair of shoes to wear that day, and he was ready to go back outside to join his sister bike riding. As we walked out, my daughter rode up only to tell me that her "Crocs" had broken too. Are you feeling my frustration?

A week later, with the love of Jesus on my face I returned, not exchanged, the broken shoes. As I signed the receipt, I said to myself, "Well Wendy, you get what you pay for?" It was then I heard the sweet whisper of my Savior, "Do I get what I paid for?" Talk about heavy. What a loaded question.

I did not feel rebuking or discipline from the Lord but more a sense of disappointment. The disappointment I sensed was for His church, His children - me. He paid such a high price for our freedom and our invitation to eternity, but I couldn't help feeling what He often gets in return is our cheap imitation of Him. He paid the high price for the real thing, and I wonder if we give back the "knock-off" of our service and dedication. Do we take for granted that price paid, and neglect to give Him our best?

My children have real Crocs now. I broke down and made the investment. I even found them on sale. The words of the question the Lord whispered in my ear that day still echo in my mind. God made an incredibly expensive investment in my future by giving me the "real thing" of His own Son. It is up to me to make sure He gets what He paid for: a love relationship with me and a heart committed to making that same love known to others.

How about you? Is God getting what He paid for with your life?

Dear Lord, it is the cry of my heart for You know that You made a worthwhile invest by sacrificing Your life for mine. Forgive me for taking the price You paid for granted. With the help of Your Holy Spirit I can live a life that will not be a cheap imitation, but the real deal. In Jesus' Name, Amen.