Encouragement

5 Great Reasons to Believe

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

When I was wide awake this morning at 3am, I was thinking about how grateful I am that I can turn to the Lord at any time and He is always there. This started a mental list of reasons why I love being a Christian and wouldn’t trade my relationship with the Lord for anything in the world. As the cats blinked at me in puzzlement at the sudden light flooding the room, I wrote the first two down. The rest came a bit later.
 
We have a friend to turn to in our best and worst days……….He loves the part of me that no one sees. Yesterday I was feeling a bit irregular, like I wasn’t fitting anywhere. Every now and then those days come and I feel much like I did back in high school, like I want to hide in the bathroom stall. Like I want to avoid people, like I don’t like this version of me. But God loves even the part of me that no one sees. I can take all those strange feelings and He knows exactly what to do with them!
 
Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. Hebrews 2:18

We have an instant family…….Many people given the choice, would not have picked the family that God picked for them. But through that family we got here. However dysfunctional it may have been, (or still is) it made you what you are today. Through that family we have the opportunity to become part of God’s family! God has adopted us as sons and daughters, how cool is that? It always amazes me that when I talk with someone in God’s family, conversation never seems to run out.

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5

We have a purpose, we no longer have to wonder why we are here or how it all got started………Suddenly we have new eyes to see with. We are seeing things through the Spirit that we never saw before. We have an assignment, a task, a mission, above and beyond what we do for money. God becomes our life-coach.
 
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20
 
We have abundant life now, and eternal life later………We no longer have to fear death! The Bible is clear that the instant we die, we are with the Lord. We have a taste of it now, in the Holy Spirit who has been given to us as a deposit, a guarantee of what is to come.
 
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10

We can always find that place of rest………Whenever I feel burdened and stressed and I long for the ocean or that retreat in the mountains, I can take these feelings to the Lord and I get the true refreshment that only He can give. I can go into my closet and pray and He refreshes my soul. He knows what I need. It is a bit like taking a power nap in the middle of the day. I feel like I can go on again.
 
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28

Invite Yourself

“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,” Colossians 1:13
 
“If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning… Face it, friend. He is crazy about you! ” Max Lucado
 
Have you ever uninvited yourself from an event, a party, a rest? Deemed yourself unworthy? Maybe you thought you wouldn’t fit in, so you mentally crossed yourself off the list. You came up with all kinds of reasons….
 
I don’t have kids or grandkids to talk about…..
I am not in that social group…..
I’m not smart enough…..
I can’t make witty conversation…..
I am not attractive enough……
I don’t have a great career….
I am single….divorced…..my marriage is rocky…..blah blah blah
 
God says you are royalty. Jesus thought you were worth dying for and even now, He is interceding for you before the Father. The Holy Spirit makes His home within you. God says you are all that!
 
So, give yourself a break today. Invite yourself to the party. Carve out an hour or so of rest. Get dressed up and wear the hat. Know that you are worthy of going to Buckingham Palace. Envision yourself waiting to meet the Queen at the Garden Party. I bet if you think hard enough, you can find someone in your life who thinks you are just wonderful the way you are, perfect in fact……God does.
 

 
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17

all pictures from google images

Keeping a proper focus

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8

There will be a “Super moon” on March 19th. The moon will be closer to earth than it has been in 18 years. Some say this will cause earthquakes and strange weather. Scientists have disputed this in many reports I have read. And then we have 2012 coming up, according to Nostradamus that is when the world will end…..that is also when the Mayan calendar runs out.

There has always been speculation about when it will all end. Many believe it can’t go on this way forever and they are right. One day it will end. The disciples came to Jesus privately one day and asked Him: “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”  Jesus told them many things, but He stressed these three main points:

Don’t be alarmed
Don’t be deceived
Be ready and watchful

We see so many terrible things happening in our world today, and we wonder…….how long? We turn our eyes heavenward because it seems as if everything is out of control, but those of us raised in church should not be surprised by any of this. I remember hearing sermons about eschatology and the end of the world ever since I was old enough to sit in a pew. I know one thing, we are nearer now than we were before. I like how Paul breaks it down for us in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians: (my paraphrase)

Be prayerful
Be watchful
Be encouraged
Keep loving each other
Get right with God
Live your life


“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12,13

Its all about focus, and balance, and keeping our eyes on Christ, who is our living hope.

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25

I pray today for those suffering terrible losses from the devastation in Japan. I can’t imagine how terrible it would be to have everything you have worked for washed out to sea, but even worse, the loss of friends and family members. I pray for recovery, healing, and rescue for those still lost. Amen

The ways God speaks……

….”But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” Psalm 73:28

I love this verse, because David is not speaking about God, but actually to God……God’s nearness is something we can actually experience. The book of James says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Imagine, a God we can actually have a personal experience of nearness to. The beauty of how God speaks to us is revealed in the many different ways He speaks to us as individuals.

The personal ways………

I have written before about the robin appearing at dawn on the awful day after my husband died, and the snow white dove appearing on my parents window sill as they were praying.

I have been lamenting the loss of my little cactus wren. When the cactus came down, “wrenny” flew the coop. Cactus wrens are very industrious and fun to watch. They are always busy, always working. I would see him hopping up and down the sidewalk, collecting nest material, finding food.

They have a very interesting call and I have missed seeing him perched on top of the Saquaro. Usually I wake with the mourning doves, their soft cooing has become my morning “collect.” I have grown very used to the sound of them accompanying my prayer. Yesterday I had a different visitor. He was perched right above my neighbors door and sang there non-stop for about 30 minutes. I have no idea what kind of bird he was, but he was there, singing God’s praises to me loud and clear.

I heard him this morning also, a good distance away.

But yesterday he was there for me, and so was He, in the lowly form of a little bird.

God speaks, we only need to have hearts and ears to hear.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17

In your time of worship and reflection today, please take a moment to pray for the people of Japan……

Peace Be Still…..

“He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:26,27

The people of Japan are experiencing the horrific effects of a massive earthquake. The footage is heart-breaking. To see homes, buildings, streets washed away is devastating. It was unexpected and there is never any preparation for something like that….It happened around 2 PM right in the middle of a work day. The fear is resulting Tsunamis up and down the coast…..

The truth is, there are all kinds of Tsunamis in life. My best friend feels like she is standing in the midst of one right now. She is under so much stress she actually forgets to breathe. She has the burden of taking care of both elderly parents, neither one of whom can get around, one suffering from Dementia and one from Alzheimer’s. Most of the time, they don’t talk, they bark orders.

She feels like her world has stopped, and it pretty much has. Life is going on normally without a hitch for others, but hers has stalled out. There is no time for herself. And it is affecting her health…..Life can feel very much like you are standing in the middle of an earthquake that is still going on. Nothing feels stable, nothing can be planned, because the job is never over………Whether it is a natural disaster, or a family problem, the symptoms are the same. Stress is stress, and the body doesn’t know the difference. It screams, fight or flight.

She longs to hear the words of Jesus, “Peace Be Still.” Oh, how she wishes she could be still, just for a moment. How she longs to be in that boat with Him.

Hear the wind cease…..feel the torrential wind die down……hear the sound of the waves lapping gently against the boat…..

But she can. As believers we have the assurance that He is keeping us. That He is here with us, this He has promised us. His peace is for us. And we have help…..”But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.” John 14: 26,27

Know right now……..He is keeping you. You may not feel Him there, but you know He is. You have not blown up, hit anyone, exploded, and you are still laughing at times. He is keeping you…..and He will continue to keep you. Sometimes it just boils down to that. And one minute, one hour at a time.

When I was writing this post I remembered this song that was popular back in the seventies….

“Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
By puttin your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee….”
(As recorded by Ocean) GENE MACLELLAN 1970

I am so glad I know that Man, and so glad my friend does too…….Please pray for those in Japan today and all others affected by stress of all kinds. If you can, help them carry their burden today…..

Bear one another’s burdens

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else,  for each one should carry their own load.” Galatians 6:2-5
At first glance I was confused by these verses because they seem to contradict one another, first it says to carry each other’s burdens and then it turns around and says for each to carry their own load. But after some online study I found that it does not. The key is in the meaning of the words burden and load.
The word for burdens is baros, which means “heaviness, weight, burden, trouble” In verse six the word for load is phortion and means, “of burdensome rites.” While the first speaks of helping one another through troubles the second speaks of the responsibility each person has for their own troubles and sins.
Helping someone to carry a burden is a very good thing. But, actually taking the load on yourself is much different. It is like two people walking, one carrying a very heavy pack. They make it look easy so you say, “Here friend, let me take that awhile”…..WHOA! once you strap that pack on yourself you realize just how heavy it is. I got a picture of Frodo and Sam this morning while I was thinking about this. Sam was always supporting Frodo as he carried the weight of the ring, but there were times when Sam actually wore the ring himself, and immediately he felt the montrous weight of the burden Frodo carried.
What started this whole train of thought was yesterday. I felt just a tiny bit of the load that my very best friend carries dealing with a Mom with Alzheimer’s and a Dad with Dementia, that is, Dementia with quite a bit of meanness thrown in, I might add. I was on the way to get them groceries for them, as a favor to her. It’s the least I could do since she actually got to get away for a bit. I stopped at a red light. Just for a second, I felt just a bit of what she must feel all the time……….Tears sprang to my eyes. She has dealt with the loss of both of them this year, but still they hang on.

“God, there but for the grace of You go all of us……” 
I thought of how you have to put your own mind in a very strange state to deal with people who aren’t in their right mind. I am sure she wonders at times if she is losing her own sanity just trying to deal with them. She does amazingly well. She knows who her God is and that He is a very Big God. He can handle it when she cannot.
And behind it all, one thing stands out……
There was One who took our burden for all time. A very awful burden. One that only He could carry, and He did it willingly for us. He didn’t want us to have to. He knew that we couldn’t carry it, not even for one moment. I think, in light of that we are “more than conquerors in this life.”
When all the dross of this life is burned up, there will be one thing left.
Endless Gratitude.

pictures from google images……

A bouquet of praise………

“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11

Corrie Ten Boom was released from Nazi Death Camp Ravensbruck due to a “clerical error.” All women her age were killed soon after her release. Shortly before her sister Betsy died there, she and Corry led church services from inside Barracks 29. She or her sister would read from their one “secreted” Bible. Here is how she describes one of those typical evenings there surrounded by the unspeakable evil of everything that was going on around them:

“At first Betsie and I called these meetings with great timidity. But as night after night went by and no guard ever came near us, we grew bolder. So many now wanted to join us that we held a second service after evening roll call. . . (These) were services like no others, these times in Barracks 28. A single meeting night might include a recital of the Magnificat in Latin by a group of Roman Catholics, a whispered hymn by some Lutherans, and a sotto-voce chant by Easter Orthodox women. With each moment the crowd around us would swell, packing the nearby platforms, hanging over the edges, until the high structures groaned and swayed.”
“At last either Betsie or I would open the Bible. Because only the Hollanders could understand the Dutch text we would translate aloud in German. And then we would hear the life-giving words passed back along the aisles in French, Polish, Russian, Czech, and back into Dutch. They were little previews of heaven, these evenings beneath the light bulb” (Ten Boom 1971, p. 201)

Betsie’s last words to Corrie before she died there in that concentration camp were: “…(we) must tell them what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here.” (Ten Boom, 1971, p. 217)

Corrie spent the rest of her life traveling around the world and speaking to people about all the things she had learned through her experiences. After every engagement people would gather around her and thank her for so greatly encouraging them in their faith. Every time she would give the glory to the Lord. She would go back to her room, get down in her knees, and present those compliments in thanks to God. She called it giving God a “bouquet of praise.”

I like that…….Corrie learned the secret of praise, and counting your blessings even when it seems there are none to count. She learned that if you start praising and thanking God, the blessings come……I am counting with Ann today and everyone else in the Gratitude Community, and remembering Corrie.

people who give even at the risk of their own life, people who have inspired me, encouraged me in my faith, some I have known, some I have not, people who have not only shared my burdens, but worn them, people that have stood behind me all my life so that I never had to go through anything alone, God who is faithful, who never asks me to do anything without His strength! 631-638

holy experience

Just stoppin in…….

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27
Today I stopped in. I decided to touch bases with everyone who follows. I confess that it has been too long since I have done this…..I came to your porch and knocked softly. I confess I wanted to steal a peek in your window, your porch looked so inviting. With most, I made my presence known with a comment and an encouraging word. It was good to see you again. To get a glimpse into your corner, your world. And I was touched.
I saw and felt, love, sorrow, joy, humor…with some pain sprinkled in. I breathed prayers over you, your families….did you feel it? When I read your posts, I tried to envision your porch as I stood there. I listened for sounds within…..I heard children playing, life happening, cereal spilling, dogs barking, doors slamming, cars starting up and pulling into the driveway.
I heard laughter, and saw someone bend down to pet a cat that had wound itself around a pair of ankles. I heard pages turning, furniture creaking, floors groaning, heaters coming on, flaring up after being turned down at night.
Sometimes I heard soft weeping, and that was when I hoped you felt my prayers wrap around you…….Sometimes I heard anger and that was when I hoped my prayers made somebody stop, think…..say “I am sorry, will you forgive me?” Because life really is too short to get mad over silly little things.
I saw you smile, and then I smiled too!
Thank you for fellow bloggers and also those that have none but are reading along with me. Thank you for letting me into your world, and allowing you to see into mine.
Be blessed today, and tell your loved ones how much they mean to you!
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galations 6:9,10
photo from flicker and publicdomainpictures.net

Loved and Accepted…..

Love becomes practically meaningless apart from acceptance…….Bob George, “Classic Christianity”

I recently picked up a book that someone had left at my Mom’s house. In it the author poses a question to his son, who had recently been going through some difficult situations. His son was quick to tell him that he had never doubted his father’s love for him, expressed in many different ways over the years. Though this pleased the father very much, he says he felt like there was something unfinished. He says that God put the thought in his head to ask the question, “Have you always known that I accept you?”  His son asked him what he meant by that. His father said this:

“I mean, there is a difference between love and acceptance. You say you’re confident that I love you, but acceptance is something else. Do you know for example, that I accept you just like you are? That I really like you?”

The son goes on to say that, no, he really didn’t felt accepted even though he knew he was loved. He went on to say that he felt that his Dad would have liked him to be more spiritual, be more involved in Christian activities like he was, read his Bible more, or maybe went into full-time Christian work. This one exchange had the power to change their relationship forever.

How many times do we do the same thing to God. We feel loved by Him but do we feel accepted? I had to answer honestly that many times I do not. I have this unrealistic picture in my head of all the things I feel God wants me to do, and all I can seem to see is how many times I fail. How many times I don’t measure up to what I think God wants me to be, to do?

But the truth is, God accepts us and loves us just as we are. This should release a well-spring of joy inside us that people should be able to readily see. Until we really get that, we are a lamp partially dimmed, throwing out half light upon a world that needs full strength. So many times we walk around with an unrealistic picture in our own head that we will never be able to measure up to.

Walk through that door today, and feel His ocean of acceptance……..He has lived a perfect life, the one we never could live. He died and rose again so that we could walk in newness of life. We don’t have to try to be perfect anymore.

He does want us to mature and grow, but never believe for one second that He will only accept you if you reach a certain level and not until then.

Prayer for today: Help me God, to stop giving You my shabby religion and give you my whole accepted self. Amen

God is in Control

This is a repost from 2009, with all that is happening in the world right now, it seemed like the timing was right to post it again…..


 Image by Todd Haven

Psalm 8:3-9

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Ever have one of those nights? You know the kind, tossing and turning, riddled with worry. All your problems seem magnified and beyond solving, it seems hope is snatched away with the light of day. You feel almost like you are going insane. I have them every now and then…..my Dad has them often, he tells me. The other night he was restless, worried about things. He almost woke my Mom just to have her sit with him awhile……

He started praying and meditating and God gave him a picture in his mind of the earth and how it looks from space. Part of us seeming to go about our business on the top of the ball, some on the bottom, yet we are all walking around on flat ground.

He thought of this strange dance of the planets, and how if the sun was a fraction closer to earth we would be vaporized in flame, or too far and we would be frozen faster than we could blink. But it all keeps going; perfectly set in motion by God. Soon he found himself enveloped in a peaceful sleep, sleep that had so eluded him before.

Contrary to popular thought, we will not destroy the planet. God will not let us. He put everything in motion and He will be the one who decides when to stop it.

So next time you are having one of those nights, go outside. Gaze up at the moon, focus on the depth of space, the infinity of the stars, the deep silence that speaks of God. He is there, and He is holding it all together and will continue to do so until He decides it’s time to start again…..

Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. Isaiah 65:17