Set your mind……

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3

A pilot friend of mine once said that there was nothing in the world more relaxing than flying. Something about being above it all makes your problems seem smaller. Every now and then I have flying dreams, and it’s wonderful. I soar around skyscrapers and sometimes I just hover and float. Don’t you wish we could just order up our dreams?

There is a way however, that we can lift ourselves above it all, where Christ is. That is by setting our minds on things above. Scripture is the best and most immediate way to do this. Since the Bible is a living book, it has the power to transform our very thought process! This is not Harry Potter magic, where you wave a wand and presto, all your problems go away (darn) This is actually way better, because though circumstances can change in the blink of an eye, God never does!

When we read the Bible with an open heart, we are tapping into the very source of Life itself.

The Word was there from the very beginning………”In the beginning was the Word…….” Not only that, the Bible says the Word and God are one and the same! It is timeless, ageless, and all sufficient. It is wisdom, it is power, it is the bread of life, it is the manna that came down from Heaven! It is the best way I know to keep my thoughts going in the right direction.

If you are living with someone who constantly sees the negative in every situation, it is hard not to find yourself going right down that road with them. To stop being who you are, and become them. But you don’t have to. You can be determined to set your mind above, where God is.

Find some life…..

Go outside, take a walk.

Go to the Mall and watch people.

Get around someone who can show you yourself again.

Do like my best friend who has been known to break into song and dance everytime Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” comes on. And if she can still sing and dance after everything she has been through this year, anyone can….like she is fond of saying:

Sometimes you just gotta give it a little dance.

Happy Birthday Elaine, best of friends…….you continually inspire me to see the good in everything…….

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.

Gratitude is Counter Cultural

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:20

I went on a walk last night, just before the last bit of light was snatched out of the sky. My mood was on the somber side. As I walked, however, I was keenly aware of one thing. That it was still cool. Something in my soul jumped up and said……”Remember this, remember this……” For soon, it will be so stifling hot we won’t be able to walk outside without suffocating.

I found myself at the community pool just as the stars came out……both pools were empty, both the inside one and the outside one. I missed my niece terribly just then. She loves to go swimming more than anything in the world. I could see her in my mind and hear her voice and I felt the regret of knowing all that I have missed with her being one state away.

At any given time in this life there are things to feel sad about. But living this way…..this way of looking back is not what God wants us to do. We have a forward thinking God. When we are depressed, we are off balance. Our vision is skewed. We think of how things were, and compare them to how things are now. When we fear that things will get worse, we assume we know what the future holds, but only God knows that. When I think like that I am playing God.

This is dangerous thinking because then, I forget to be thankful for all those things we can praise Him for right now.
 
I was given a great gift growing up. I was taught it by my folks, who thought it was a value to be passed on, and the best way I can repay them is to pass it on to others. I see this photo of my Mom’s table and I smile. I see in my own table, my own home a reflection of the joy within it. With each and every item on her table, there is a story……
 
The kerosene lamp that she has always had on her table 
 
The robin that has a special meaning of hope in the midst of sorrow
 
The mug from a favorite place, the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite
 
My own prayer journal
 
In a world that says to always seek bigger, better, and more than what you have. I am so grateful for what I do have. For the love that resides in my home, the peace, the smile that greets me……. 
 
I am rich and blessed beyond measure.

We Are Blessed….

Help me not to live too fast or too preoccupied Lord, that I miss the beauty in little everyday moments. For these will not come again, and they need to be caught, captured. They are all a reflection of You….each and every little one.

Sometimes just the acknowledgment of these, is a form of prayer that God hears………He writes it down in His book, He takes note. We thank You, Lord for each and every moment you give us. When the gate of our heart and soul swing open to let You in……if only for a moment between breaths…..

 We are blessed…….

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17

No One Knows

“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” Mark 13:32

In case you have been in a coconut or under a shrub in the desert, (I have seen these people) you have heard that this is the day. The end of the world as we know it will happen just about the time I get off work today….6PM. That is just not right. To think I have to put in a whole twelve hour shift! All kidding aside, I think this has turning into one great big circus. There are billboards all over town sponsored by a radio station called Family Radio, which has nothing to do with the Family Life Radio I listen to every day. They are very distressed about it, even tried to buy all the billboards but they were blocked. Who are these people???

Amidst all the speculation and untruth floating around out there, the Word stands firm on this subject. That is where we need to go, and that is where we need to remain. The end will come someday, but we don’t know exactly when. Jesus said He will come back when we least expect it, but he also gave us some clues and signs we should look for. I don’t know about you, but I think we need to start looking up. It could be today, or it could be in 50 years, but I know one thing, we need to be ready. End of story.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonions 4:14-18
 
That’s God’s story and I’m stickin to it!

Angels at IKEA

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1
It was just another task on the long list of things to be done. Going to get a TV stand to put on the gargantuan TV that came out of the Mother’s house. So many tasks had preceded this one, that all days, for many days, had spilled over into one another. One day bleeds into the next in a seemingly never ending tasklist. It is a military type existence……Up on your feet, lace up your boots, be physically and mentally ready for whatever comes next.
She was running on empty, fumes of exhaustion left over from somewhere in time, when it all started. Through it all, she has kept her sense of humor and momentary lost her sanity. I have been helping out, holding her up…..praying her through it.
She was standing in the aisle of IKEA. Ready once again for a nervous breakdown because the tag on the TV stand didn’t match the one on the display rack. Do you know how big IKEA is when you are exhausted? All the way back upstairs to the display, making sure she had the right tag….”Yep, there it is.” All the way back down to the checkout. Again, error on the scan. Earlier she had led her Mom to a seat and told her to stay there until she came back.
Insert mental image here of elderly woman with Alzheimer’s who walks extremely slow and gets turned around……a lot, in two floor big box IKEA. Another mental image of exhausted, stricken daughter with very large box that won’t scan…..teetering on the edge.
Later she said, “I must have looked pretty bad, like I needed help……” She was standing glassy-eyed in the aisle staring again at the display, contemplating another long walk downstairs, when just then a kind angel appeared at her shoulder, “Can I help you, are you finding what you need?” What welcome words, they might as well have been coming straight from Heaven itself. He knew his job, he saw the mistake right away. He fixed the mess.
Ever had someone come and clean up the mess at a time when it seems all you have been doing lately is cleaning up messes? You never forget it.
All the while, she is hoping and praying her Mom stayed where she put her. She usually doesn’t wander…..yet.
Then, another “angel” came when she wheeled the heavy box out into the parking lot. It was like he appeared from nowhere, she tells me later. She asks me if I sent him. She says, “I know you were praying. “
I said, “Yes, of course  I was.”

Photo courtesy of http://thehalfwaypoint.net/2009/09/50-simple-ways-to-pay-it-forward/

Emptying Ourselves

Enjoy….don’t forget to turn my playlist off!


Use my hands use my feet

To make Your kingdom come
To the corners of the earth
Until Your work is done
Faith without works is dead
On the cross Your blood was shed
So how could we not give it away so freely?

Leeland, sung by Brandon Heath

Thought this was a wonderful video. I had this song playing on my morning walk and I was thinking about how we spend most of our lives trying to fill ourselves, when actually we are called to empty ourselves for others. It is only with the help of God’s Holy Spirit that we can do this without resentment and discouragement. It is not easy, but without Him it is truly impossible. And in the midst of it all He provides the strength and knowledge that nothing we do for Him is in vain…….That is His promise, and He will follow through when everyone else walks away.
“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew19:26 

A Place of Refuge

How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.
In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
from accusing tongues. Psalm 31:19,20
Ever been falsely accused of something? It hurts……Even though you know the truth, and the ones who love you best know. It still hurts. Especially if it is someone in your own family. Jesus knew all about that. His own brothers doubted Him. Those in His hometown did too.”Isn’t this the carpenter’s son…..” And He was God! If you are suffering from this heartache today, please turn it over to the One who truly does understand. He is the One, the only One who can heal from this particular wound that runs so deep.
Let the Balm of Gilead bind up your wounds today……be comforted.
He doesn’t miss a trick…….
From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do. Psalm 33:13-15
Lord, I pray for those today who have been hurt by those who should be closest to them. You know this heartache well. Only You can heal these deep wounds. Bring them to a place of healing today and bind up their hearts with Your precious Balm of Gilead. Let them feel this warmth in their hearts today and let them be restored in You. Amen

Gratitude Still Intact

Shining behind everything this life can put us through is a fierce and undying gratitude because we know God has already given us much more than we deserve.

Sometimes the circumstances of life just tend to deflate you. Today, sitting in prayer I felt emptied out, emotionally and spiritually flat. I stuttered, I stammered, I stopped. The creative energy flow valve was shut off somehow. Caretaking does that. Sometimes taking care of someone else, can literally take the life right out of you.

But this is what is amazing about living the God centered life. Gratitude simply won’t die. We know what we have been saved from…..everything that this life can throw at you can’t make a dent in that…..not for very long anyway. Sometimes that surprises me. The unexpected hope that flowers despite everything blooms in the form of Gratitude…..

Seeking inspiration this morning, I opened the Word which never fails. I read

“As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember as I pour out my soul:

The words, I remember stood out. Gratitude is all about remembering……We have a living gratitude for all that God has done for us that wells up within us even in the worst of circumstances.

By this I don’t mean that we walk around with a fake smile all day, a false front that everyone sees through anyway. No, I mean that even if we are so mad we can spit nails one minute, there is something, rather Someone, that keeps us from going over the edge. Someone that holds us back from total despair. Someone that keeps us thankful at the end of the day, and hopeful at the start.

Satan was working on me this morning. At prayer, and then when I sat down to the computer and didn’t see the pictures I had loaded. I shut everything down, slammed the laptop shut all the while……gratitude still intact, gratitude still intact….NOT. Then Elaine reminded me that she had set up two accounts, one for her and one for me. My little fit was wasted. They were there all the time! I sheepishly sat down to blog

Gratitude once again, intact.

Holding out and holding up.

My soul is downcast within me;

therefore I will remember you……..Psalm 42:6

Continued good health, beautiful Arizona weather, blooming cactus, the gift of laughter through everything, encouragement from the Word, a best friend who appreciates everything I do, good food, enough money to pay bills, new computers that work, the blessing of good neighbors…..#688-698

holy experience

picture taken in my  Mom’s backyard

Lost and Found

“In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Luke 15:7 New Living Translation

I posted earlier in the week about our resident Intel cat who greeted me in the parking lot at work on Wednesday, very displaced and perturbed. Her feeding station is all the way around the back of the building, but the landscapers had shown up and she got scared and fled. Seeing her like that bothered me, I wanted her back in her safe place, away from people who may not be too friendly to her. I saw fear in her eyes. I know she recognized my voice and wanted to trust me, but because she was disoriented and scared, she ran from me.

I contacted Steve, our resident Intel saint. He takes his dogs to hospitals and care homes to visit the shut-ins and does so much for the feral cat population at Intel. He has been known to come in on his days off to trap cats and take them to the vet for neutering….He was worried about “Mrs. Howell” too. I worked all week, but a bit distracted. Thinking of her scared there in the parking lot, wanting food.

Yesterday to my joy and relief, I heard her meow when I called. She had found her way back…….She was very happy to see me, as you can see in the photo.

I thought then……how in God’s name do people live through it when their children are lost? I cannot begin to understand how they keep functioning among the living. How do they get up and go to work everyday, knowing they are out there somewhere. Lost…..scared…..confused, maybe trapped somewhere by something or someone they can’t get away from? I can’t imagine anything worse.

That’s how God feels about us when we are lost to Him. Maybe it’s you that needs to find your way back. Maybe you are out there somewhere far away from God. Away from love, safety, home. Maybe you just feel like you are……He wants you back. He longs for it. With every fiber of His Holy being. He sheds tears when we turn away, intent on going our own way, even for a moment. God-sized tears. Jesus came to bring you back.

Like the father of the prodigal son, He waits. He gazes out the window hopefully, longingly. He aches to see that lone figure upon the road. He aches for you.  And He will keep waiting until every minute of what we call time on this earth is up. 

And all of Heaven will rejoice. Welcome home!

I encourage you today to insert a name after this last line and pray that the individual you hold in your heart will come to the Lord and find out what it means to be truly home……I hold Curtis up today, Lord. He needs to find you. Amen