Shirlee Abbott

Three-, Four-. Five-Letter Words

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Sin
Hell
Grace

Ephesians 2:8 (NASB)
For by grace you have been saved through faith.

Posted in other | Tagged Ephesians 2:8, grace, Hell, sin | 2 Comments

No Excuses

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

How good are you?

I’m one of the good guys
Could be a lot worse
Good for nothin’

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

I’m not accusing you. But I’m not excusing you either.

Posted in other | Tagged Romans 3:23 | 2 Comments

Looking Good

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Forgive me, Lord, for spending so much time trying to look good in this world, while giving nary a thought about how I’ll look in the next.

Posted in other | Tagged Heaven | 2 Comments

Dress Rehearsal

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Matthew 6:10 (NIV)
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Life here on earth is just a dress rehearsal for the real thing in heaven.

Posted in other | Tagged Heaven, Matthew 6:10 | 2 Comments

Looking Forward

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

Posted in other | Tagged Heaven, Revelation 43 | 2 Comments

The Well-Dressed Soul

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

C.S. Lewis offers this thought on dressing for heaven:

“Women sometimes have the problem of trying to judge by artificial light how a dress will look in daylight. That is very like the problem for all of us: to dress our souls not for the electric lights of the present world but for the daylight of the next.”

Dress up!

Posted in other | Tagged C. S. Lewis, Heaven | 2 Comments

You Will Take It with You

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

I’m planning and packing for a trip. Are you planning and packing for your final trip?

I can’t take it with me
Planning, yes. Packing, no.
I’m going to heaven. Why worry?

True, you don’t pack a suitcase for your trip from earth to heaven. But you won’t go there empty-handed.

You take your history and your faith with you.

You’ll have your garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3). You’ll have your to-do lists (past and present). And a cloak of honesty (seriously, you don’t plan to make excuses in the throne room, do you?).

Posted in other | Tagged garment of praise, Heaven, packing, to-do list | 2 Comments

God’s Favorite

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

“This King, who is full of goodness and mercy, doesn’t punish me. Rather, He embraces me lovingly and invites me to eat at His table. He serves me Himself and gives me the keys to His treasury, treating me as His favorite.”
The Practice of the Presence of God, Fifth Letter
Brother Lawrence (1614*-1691)

*not all sources agree on the date of Brother Lawrence’s birth

Posted in other | Tagged Brother Lawrence, God's table | 2 Comments

Sit Up to the Table

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

I can choose to eat at my computer desk, or off a TV tray, or even at a table in the food court. Or I can let God feed me from the riches of his table.

I’m sorry, Lord — I spent too much time yesterday sitting at the wrong table and not nearly enough time at your table.

Posted in other | Tagged Bible study | 2 Comments

Remember the Box

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Shirlee Abbott

The diner served up more than I could eat. I carried the rest home in a box.

That’s how it is with Sunday’s sermon. I bring some of it home in a doggie bag. Question is, do I eat it later? Or does it languish in the back of the fridge, fuzzy and forgotten?

Refrigerator, rocky ground — it’s all the same:

Matthew 13:20-21 (CEV)
The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. But they don’t have deep roots, and they don’t last very long.

Posted in other | Tagged Bible study, Matthew 13:20-21 | 2 Comments