Christian living

In the Morning…….

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope. 
       Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not. 
     They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:21-23

I was thinking about how no matter how tired, worn out, exhausted mentally and physically we sometimes get, there is always a new supply of energy that comes with morning. Our hope is renewed during the night when thoughts are stilled and all is quiet………we are restored once more.

I remember when my Sister in law found the “morning” of her life. She was at the very brink of death when she found it. Really, none of us knows how much time we have. We think we do. But those who are terminally ill have no such illusions. Cancer had made it plain that barring a miracle, she would soon be with Jesus.

She knew what all of us need to know sooner rather than later. Knowing Jesus is all that matters. In Him she found the peace and joy that people travel the world to find. They come up empty, but she was filled to overflowing.
Her favorite song towards the end of her life was “Give Me Jesus.”
 
 
The halls of Heaven have been ringing with her most magical laugh since 1998, and sometimes I still can’t believe she is gone. I know if she were here, she would wish for every single person on this planet to know her Jesus.
 
 
The time is so short……..
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone
Give me Jesus

And when I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die
Give me Jesus

 
 
This song, according to internet sources, comes from an old Spiritual sung by slaves. Also, this more modern version has been attributed to both Fernando Ortega and Fanny Crosby.

What’s Your Heritage?

I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 2 Timothy 1:3-6

If you had someone in your life who taught you about God, you are blessed. Maybe it wasn’t your parents. Maybe it was an Aunt or Uncle, or maybe a Grandmother, Grandfather, a Sunday school teacher or friend……Somebody who came before you thought it was important for you to know about God.

I wonder if that is going away? I can’t say how many times those old hymns that I learned have come back into my mind at the most unexpected times…..have given comfort when I needed it most.

There is a reason why even hardened criminals or people who have been away from the church for many years tear up when they hear the strains of “How Great Thou Art” or “Great is thy Faithfulness.” Or a Christmas carol.…….It is the power behind the words.

So many parents would never dream of telling their children that there is no God, and yet they live as if He doesn’t exist. He doesn’t figure into any of their hopes and dreams. He may be out there somewhere, yet He never comes up in conversation…..Never is He factored into any of their plans. They are unknowingly withholding the greatest most valuable thing they could ever give their children.

A Godly heritage.

If there is someone whose image popped into your mind just now, please keep them in your prayers today and every day.

And if there was someone in your life that gave you that, thank God for them today.

Taming the tongue

Greer, Arizona

On June 11th, what has now become Arizona’s largest wildfire in history was started. It was human caused, reportedly by a campfire. Around 534,639 acres have burned. The Wallow Fire, as it has been named, is dying down at last. My heart was broken when I read about some of the most beautiful country in our state going up in flames, not to mention the houses and towns threatened. No human deaths occured, which is a miracle. I am happy to say that one of my very favorite towns, Greer has been spared. Go here to check out a great place to stay if you ever find yourself in our State.

Such a devastaing fire, started by one small flame……that’s is what was on my mind when I read this verse from James:

In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches……..
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

The other morning I illustrated the validity and truth of Scripture with my own actions. I wasn’t planning on it, of course, but I did it all the same. It happened as I pulled into the parking lot at work, where we have recently installed solar panels. The fact that they are a wonderful power source is a side note to what really matters to those of us who leave our cars out there in the baking sun for 12 hours now that it is approaching 108-110 in the shade. Covering. They only provided us with two rows of them, in a virtual sea of spaces, however. To say that these are much sought after spots is an understatement.

So now I leave at 5:10 instead of 5:20.

I had just finished praying as I approached what I thought was an available spot. There was a motorcycle parked there. Immediately I cursed them. Yes, I did. And then I had to pray again.

For forgiveness.

How quickly my heart and my tongue can turn from blessing to cursing, Father, forgive me. Sweet and bitter water out of the same fountain…..

And yet, He is faithful to forgive….once again.

I think of that devastating fire, all the damage that will take so many years to restore. I think of all the destruction that negative words can cause and how maybe someone can never ever be restored, repaired from the hurt that goes so deep. I think of how much good that wonderful words can do. How a face can light up from a simple compliment.

It is humbling…..makes me want to do better.

What Lasts Forever

“For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say,

“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
There are so many warnings in the Bible about staying focused. God knows the world can knock us off-kilter. It has the capacity to swallow us up and spit us out whole if we are not careful. This morning I read, rather, listened to, the book of Jude. It was very sobering, and all the more when you realize it is written to and about those inside the church, not outside it!
I know the capacity of my mind to wander, leave the trail, go off in a different direction. I go after grass that seems greener, not seeing the steep drop off on the other side until it is much too late. 
Something can seem righter than rain to my own heart, my own intellect…..until I see it the way God sees it, and I can only see it the way He sees it when I am immersed in His word. It is my magnifying glass that allows me to see myself and the world more clearly. It settles me, sets me right again.
Since I started commuting, I have started listening to it on CD. I can’t express what that has done for me. As much as I love to read, usually 2-3 books at a time, I am extremely lazy when it comes to reading Scripture. But I can listen to it for over an hour a day and cover a lot of ground. I figure, this is one thing that is making a change in me for all eternity. It is the mysterious process known as the grafting in of the Word of Life.
This is a change that is not temporary, this is a change that will last forever.
The only single drawback to listening to Scripture instead of reading it is that I sometimes get sidetracked by how the voices sound. I loved the way the reader of the book of Jude sounded this morning. He had a good “Jude” voice…..thunderous and emphatic without being too dramatic. On the other hand, I find the woman’s voice who reads 1st, 2nd and 3rd John very annoying. I actually have to read those books because I find her voice so distracting.
The woman who reads 1st and 2nd Corinthians has a British accent and she is great. I tend to want to hear her again and again. She sounds like a combination of Maggie Smith and Cate Blanchett. Imagine Lady Galadriel reading Scripture!
See how easy it is for my mind to wander? I think I need to read more…..Hmmm.
“Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.” Jude 1:24
Have a peaceful day everyone!

In it to win it

Eph 6:10-17……Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Lately I have tried to go without it. Things have been chaotic, busy, upside down, inside out. God was tapping me on the shoulder. He started with a message I heard on the radio. I thought, “that was a good message, I’m glad I heard it.” Then proceeded to go about my day. And then this morning I read about the incredible account of Balaam and his talking donkey:

“Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.” Numbers 22:31

Again, tap tap tap…….Okay, Lord, I get the message.

This is a spiritual battle we are in, and I’ve been going in without my weapons. I have forgotten what I need to do.

Pray. Get saturated in the word. Maybe even do some fasting.

Exercise and rest help too.

After all, if a heavenly messenger was detained twenty one days in some heavy duty spiritual combat, which is what I believe this verse describes, what makes me think I can function just fine without my spiritual armour?

Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Daniel 10:12,13

This post was incredibly difficult. It took me two days of starting and stopping, sitting down and getting up. This morning I even went to Starbucks to see if that would help clear my head. My mouse didn’t work so I came home. Actually, I was in such an agitated state, I forgot to check the mouse battery. Whatever the cause, I was thwarted once more.

This just serves to prove my point all the more, this is a real battle my friends. But we are in it to win it!

We’re All A Bit Difficult

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

In a recent conversation I said, “The frustrating thing about people is, you can’t make them do the right thing, that’s why I like animals,” I said. She smiled and scoffed,”You can’t even make your cat do the right thing, that’s not a good analogy for you.” I took offense to that because, well…..she was right. The truth is, I spoil him! He jumps on my lap while I am trying to post, he steals my chair when I get up from the table, and he would snatch food right off my plate if I let him.

But it’s easy for me to look past all that because it is easy to love him. He follows me everywhere. He greets me when I come home at night. He circles around my feet when it looks to him like I might sit down, and then he plops into my lap and turns upside down…..one very blissful cat.

It’s the same with people I love…….It’s easy to overlook their faults and little idiosyncracies, even lavish them with affection, because I love them.

But what about strangers? What about someone I don’t know? What about the difficult people in my life, your life? Those porcupines.

What makes dealing with them so frustrating? Because I can’t make them behave the way I think they should. I can’t make them do the right thing, make the right decisions. BEHAVE.  

And because I don’t love them, even though God says I must.

When I am describing “difficult people,” it’s always those people out there. I naturally assume that I am not one of them. It’s a finger pointed outwards, accusingly. We have all worked with them, sometimes even lived with them. Maybe you live with one now. You know the kind……
Complaining, egocentric, selfish, negative, narcissistic, disagreeable, argumentative…….It would be oh so easy to just cross them off. But I can’t.

Because God doesn’t cross me off. No matter how many times I disappoint Him.

Probably, most “difficult” people don’t think they are difficult. And there are times, I am sure, when I am difficult for others to deal with……. and very difficult to God.

Because I know how much slack God gives me each and every day, how much He has lavished on me…….it helps me to deal a bit less harshly with the porcupines in my life. I can only hope.

God reminded me of this today when I was busy complaining to Him about someone else.

Explaining Light

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
Einstein could explain just about everything about how light works, but he couldn’t explain the source of light itself, where light originally came from…..”And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to (can be detected by) the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light 
Source: Wikipedia
We have all these fancy technical explanations about how light works, but until we know the source of the light itself, we will remain in darkness, no matter how well we can explain the theory.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12
I wish for you a sun-dappled path today, and illumination for each situation you encounter. I pray that His healing touch will be a balm to your weary soul and that you will be saturated with His peace. May you feel His grace resting within you, and may you find a quiet place in the sun to rest for a moment as He gives new strength to your bones and joy that touches your heart.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

"I Don’t Think I Can Do This"

I don’t think I can do this……

Sometimes that’s all you can pray. That’s what my prayer was this morning. But there is nothing wrong with praying that way. Actually, that is what our prayer should be every day. Because as soon as we think we can do it, that is, anything without Him. We are done for.

All the great men and women history down through the ages have either thought that, or prayed that.

“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

“But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Here is the Lord’s reply after Moses insisted that he was not eloquent enough to speak to the people: The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

Moses went, and God graciously allowed Aaron to go along, as his mouthpiece……..

And Jesus didn’t waltz His way to the cross, He agonized over it……When He prayed to let the cup pass in the garden that night, that was an I don’t think I can do this prayer. But He did it for the joy set before Him. He had the end-result in His sights.

And as I reflect on what every soldier going into battle must have felt like today, I add this gratitude to my list:

Freedom……

I am thankful today for every person all through the years and up to this very day, every soldier fighting for our freedom and liberty.

For every gut-wrenching, “I don’t think I can do this” prayer they prayed…..

For every tear shed for the ones they left behind, both then now.

I say, Thank you for doing it for me, for us, for our freedom.

Because of them, I can stand on my two legs, walk, run, breathe the free air,….and live, work and worship without fear.

My list has grown to #700…………..and counting.

holy experience

Remedy for Regret

The way I see it, one of the best ways to minimize regret both now and in the future is to cherish the present.  Nothing makes you feel more acutely the weight and passage of time more than knowing that you weren’t fully living it when you were there. The thing is, it takes time to learn that. I think of times spend with loved ones and I want desperately to get that time back because I know where my mind was back then. Too many times it was distracted……or I was irritated by some small thing.
Or focused on myself. I wish I could go back……redeem it somehow.  
Now that I have reached fifty plus two, time feels like an out of control river rushing under a bridge, and me watching from above. Instead of focusing on what time I still have, I get caught up in time I see already gone. It’s like trying to drive by watching the rear view mirror.

I lose sight of what is still to come, and there is so much more.

I think it is a mistake to think that once you get a certain age, the best years are behind you. Every stage of life is important and necessary and of great value and each season carries it’s own unique lessons. And when I think of eternity, all I see is an ocean of time with an giant expanse of more joy and peace than I can possibly imagine. 

I am determined to live more right here in the present. I confess, this week my focus has been on just getting to the end of the week. I started the week already looking ahead to the weekend…..I wonder now what moments I stole from myself or someone else…….

That is the best way I can think of to let the people in my life, and God know that I truly cherish them……

Right now.

First two pics are from google
Last two were taken of niece Lauryn by her big “Sis”

Speak Words of Life!

 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Colossians 3:21
If you speak negative words over your children, you are cursing their future. Moreover, God will hold you responsible for destroying their destiny. With authority comes responsibility, and you have the responsibility as the spiritual authority over your child to make sure that he feels loved, accepted and approved. Joel Osteen, “Your Best Life Now”

Imagine a best case scenario for a book lover. You have a neighbor who is an Amazon seller who leaves you all the books she thinks you would be interested in. She comes like a book fairy and leaves them on my porch swing, or by the door. Each delivery is like a bit of Christmas. This is how I happened upon the Joel Osteen devotional book. I am going to stay far away from a discussion on “Prosperity Gospel Theology.” That is for God to sort out. I don’t believe that if we say and do the right things we will be rich and healthy. I just don’t think it is in the cards, or anywhere in Scripture. Having said that, I can see the value in some of what he says, for instance:

“Negative words will cause our children to lose the sense of value God has placed within them. As parents, we have a responsibility before God and society to train our children, to discipline them them when they disobey, to lovingly correct them when they make wrong choices.”

Our words carry tremendous weight, and negative and destructive ones can leave a child in ruins emotionally, dealing with the by-products and after-effects many years into their adult life. We don’t hear much positive these days. What they put on the news is mostly bad. TV shows that criticise and humiliate people get the ratings. Even the humor is often cruel and sarcastic.

People are hungry for a good word. A positive word. A happy message. I think that is a big part of why Joel Osteen’s pews are filled. Is there someone in your life today who is determined to stamp out your optimism? Your peace? Someone that seeks to drag you down into their muck and mire?  If you are filled with God’s Holy Spirit today, let me tell you that they don’t have that power. They may choose to live that way, but you as a child of God, do not!

This much is true…….A blessing is not a blessing until it is spoken. It is not enough to think it; you must vocalize it. Your children need to hear you say words such as, “I love you. I believe in you. I think you’re great. There’s nobody else like you. You are one of a kind.” Daily Readings from Your Best Life Now

Really, we could all use some words like that. As gifts to each other, and also to ourselves……

Tomorrow I will post about how the Bible says to stay positive when you have someone determined to tear you down with their negativity.