Its all about Grace……

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9

What I keep noticing as I read through the Bible is that thread of grace that runs like a river all the way through it. I have only done this once before, read it all the way through. I am reading slowly, wading through the current carefully, taking my time. I stalled out trying to pick one of the sophisticated plans online. There are so many to choose from…….You Version, Logos, Daily Bible…..God knows me so well, that my indecision renders me useless at times. The Spirit breathed into my heart……”Just pick it up and read from cover to cover.” So that is what I’m doing.

I have reached the story of Jacob and Esau, where Jacob cheated Esau out of his rightful birthright. I think in my own mind, I am wondering why God would continue to bless Jacob and choose him as the heir, especially after what he did to Esau. But when I study further, I find that Esau had many character flaws as well. And Jacob did not get off scot-free. Here is what it says in the notes to my study Bible:

Jacob the trickster gets his due. After pulling off the ruse, he has to run for his life and spends 20 years in exile with his Uncle. Uncle Laban then gives Jacob a dose of his own medicine by planting an unwanted sister in his wedding bed and by repeatedly changing his wages as head shepherd……This reads a bit like a TV reality show.

When I read all these stories, I am deeply affected by how God uses us despite our many failures, flaws and imperfections. It’s all about Grace…..unmerited favor. None of us deserves what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, but He did it anyway. That’s how much He wants to have a relationship with us……

My Father, how thankful I am that you are always active in “good works” towards me. I can never repay your goodness to me. And all that you ask is that I not tire of doing what’s right, no matter how unresponsive the heart of some whom you’ve called me to serve. Only You can give me strength and courage today, because You know where the way is rugged. Fix my sights on the coming harvest of joy! David Hazard…….”Early Will I Seek You”……40 days in the company of Augustine.

The Best Offering

“It was by faith that Abel brough a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.” Hebrews 11:14

The question was posed to me, “How can a loving God send a person to hell when all their life they have done good things, maybe living a better moral life than a believer?” Many people have grappled with this question, and it has become a major stumbling block. It has caused some to question their faith, and it has kept some from seeking a relationship with God. The problem is, they are looking at it from the wrong angle. They are thinking that the works themselves are what makes a person righteous, when in fact, works by themselves can never save anyone.

The person who counts on their own good works to get them into God’s good graces, rejects God’s plan and provision for salvation. They are saying in effect, “I think my offering is good enough.” Look at what Isaiah says: “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” 64:6

And it’s not only unbelievers who can fall into this trap, many in the church today are trying to do good works apart from the Holy Spirit, and as a result they are burned out, discouraged, and ready to quit. We were never meant to do anything apart from the Spirit. Sometimes we try to go back to doing things through our own efforts we fall flat on our face. And God lets us!

It’s kind of like what happened to Cain. He thought his offering was good enough and then was mad when it wasn’t accepted. Abel, however sacrified from the choicest of his flock to give back to God. Somewhere along the line, Cain held back his best. He rejected God’s plan, and then sulked even when God came to him:

“Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Genesis 4:6-7

God never intended anyone to go to hell, in fact He is not willing that any should perish……and all we have to do is reach out and take God up on His offer of salvation. Jesus sacrificed Himself for us so that we might become righteous. He is our righteousness!

The best offering………….
Blessings of this past week…….continued strength and humor inspite of difficulty and challenge……the joy of the Spirit in the midst of joyless company……good conversations about God……fellowship and shared commiseration with friends…..knowledge that we are in the midst of Grace at all times……fruitful quiet times that carry me through, and enable me to help others go through…..questions from others that renew my faith….the support of a best friend who understands…..continued good health……furry ones who give comfort….#647-657

holy experience
Photo by Brunhilde Reinig: public domain pictures

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…..

Lesson by the sea

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea………
……..And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
“Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:1-9
If you have ever planted a garden, you know the importance of getting all the elements right. Way before you plant the seed, you meticulously mix the soil. You add everything you think it needs, just the right balance of every chemical component you can think of that might help turn seeds into plants. You plant the seeds…..you water, you pray for sun, then rain, you go out every morning and if you are like my friend, you speak encouraging words to them….
Then, magically the first green shoot appears and you feel an exultant joy, you are the proud parent of a little sprout! They really do begin to feel a bit like your children! But here is what every farmer or gardener knows. Sometimes no matter what you do, they don’t make it. I know this feeling of helplessness. I recently babysat some little sprouts while the master gardener was gone. I took it personally when some of them died. I asked myself, “What did I do wrong?’ “What could I have done to save them?”  
Sometimes we beat ourselves up because we think we could have done more, said something different, but the truth is, we can only lead them to the living water, we can’t make them drink.
There is not one thing more Jesus can do to save us. I think when He went out into the wilderness for that forty day test, He was thinking of us. He was already praying for those who would accept His message joyfully, but He also knew not everyone would.
“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.’ The Message

all photos from publicdomainpictures.net

Ashes to ashes……

Yet even now, says the Lord,
Return to me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Rend your hearts and not your clothing.

Today I will wear ashes not on my forehead, but I will be wearing them on my heart. I wasn’t raised in the tradition of ashes, in fact I can’t remember ever seeing someone wearing ashes on Ash Wednesday. My own denomination didn’t do that, but sometimes I wish they had. This morning though, I realized something about myself when I was meditating on everything this season means. I was thinking of my habits. How much do they control me, my little rituals?

I am one of those people who love the little things. By the time I get up, my coffee is done. I would never buy one without an auto-setup. That first cup is eagerly anticipated, coveted. It gets me up  in the morning…..And my books, my piles of books. I have them organized, the ones I am reading now in a stack by the bed, and the ones next on the list on another pile in my bookshelf. I am riddled with habits, rituals.

When did they start controlling me? How easily could I let them go? Lent starts all these questions for many people. What should I give up? I tend to want to control that too. I am going about it all wrong just in the question itself. “What should I give up?” As if it is my decision!…..I am worse off than I thought.

I realized it is an open heart He wants. A pliable, yielding heart……one He can work with.

Return to the Lord, your God,for he is gracious and merciful,


slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,


and relents from punishing.

It saddens me that we don’t see people wearing ashes anymore. It seems we are too cool for that. I hear the lament all the time, “Nothing is sacred anymore.” It does seem to be true. We used to close businesses on Sundays. Then we stopped selling alcohol on Sundays. Then it was changed to selling it after noon. When nothing is sacred anymore, everyone loses.

I admire Chick-fil-a for sticking to their guns and remaining closed. I am glad they are so successful. They understand that when you do things God’s way, you will be blessed. And even if you are not, you did what you knew to be right.

Today I will be wearing ashes on my heart, the ones God put there. I will try my best to keep it open and soft…..and to release all those little things I hold so dear.

God’s early light….

I do love Your dawn Lord,
I feel as if I am partaking in somekind of miracle…..
something just between You and me.
And the birds.
There is something about when the first light of pink
touches the sky, earth’s first waking.
Something in me grieves when I miss it,
when I am somewhere I can’t see it.
It’s like I’ve missed something important,
like a miracle.
Today I heard the first mourning dove,
which was answered by another close by.
Maybe that is why I feel a kinship
with the birds, they wake up singing.
They know it’s a miracle too.
Lord, I thank you because everyday
is resurrection day after all.
The earth turns, wakes.
And it will not happen just this way
again….

Taken from my iphone, Lodi, California…..

You can’t outgive God

“Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Malachi 3:10

There is much talk and debate about tithing in the church today. I grew up with the idea of tithing. People say now that we are in the “church age” we are no longer under the Old Testament law of “tithing.” People go back and forth about how much we “should” give. But I think that is missing the point. Giving is all about the heart. This is how Paul put it: “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The New Testament is full of verses about giving…….

When we take the obligation out of giving, everything changes. It liberates us to give out of the abundance and gratitude of our heart.  We give because God has given so much to us. We can never outgive God, He has already given all He has. He gave us His very treasure, the thing that was nearest and dearest to His heart.

God gave His Son…..
And Jesus gave Himself…..

Out of our tremendous gratitude, we give ourselves.

This is not easy sometimes. Especially giving that calls for a sacrifice. Giving that hurts, costs us something. But God attaches a blessing to that, when we do it……”Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” Deuteronomy 15:10

He knows it is not easy. All her life my Mom had to budget. Before computers and online banking, which she has never used, she knew exactly how much money she had in the bank. She still does. My Dad worked two and three jobs, always. He hardly ever took sick time. Mom did childcare in our home. They saved. We didn’t go to fancy restaurants, didn’t go to Disneyland……but they always gave.

They are a testimony of what happens when you spend a life giving……..My Mom says: “I told your Dad how much money we had in our checking account and he just laughed!” She says, “The money just keeps coming in.” And my Mom keeps giving it out! To friends, neighbors, everyone with a need…….She always runs it by Dad, who says, “Don’t tell me how much, just do it.” He has learned you can’t outgive God.

There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered. Proverbs 11:24-25 NAS

Here is the same verse in the Message…..”The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.”

So don’t worry about how much you should give, just give and you will be blessed!

Today I give thanks for all who have sown seeds of giving in me:

the blogging community for contributing their time and talents back to God…..my parents, who went without themselves to give me braces and send me to a dermatologist among many other things……so many friends who over the years, gave me time, support, kindness, laughter, prayers and shoulders to cry and lean on…..relatives now gone who went above and beyond to pay medical bills when I was born, teachers who stayed to visit after school, giving encouragement….Pastors who rightly divided the Word of truth all along the way……And lived it….God, of course, who gave all He had so that I might live…….#639-646

holy experience

"Thar’s gold in them thar hills…."

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121

I get to have this view every evening when I come home, the beautiful and mysterious Superstition Mountains. Their presence comforts me somehow, they are so strong, so steadfast, so solid. I always think of this Psalm when I gaze up at its beauty, especially when the last rays of the sun turn it a deep magenta.

Somewhere up there, the legend says, the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine is hidden. It was named after German Immigrant Jacob Waltz, and said to be the most famous lost mine in the U.S. Many have looked for the mine since the late 1800’s and so far it has never been found.
Moses found treasure one day on a mountain. He didn’t find gold, but something much better, he found God. When I look at these mountains I always think of Moses coming down with those tablets, his face glowing like the sun…..

I can always find God on the mountain.

One particular evening when the sun was doing its magenta magic, I was standing in our community clubhouse. I approached the door because from there you get an unblocked view of the mountain range. Standing in the doorway was a sweet elderly lady who is very sick. She was going home early because she didn’t feel well that night. She paused at the door way, looked up and caught her breath at the magnificent view and said in a hushed voice, “I think God lives up there.”

I said, “Yes, I think He does too!”

If you can’t say anything nice

I have really resisted this. I am still resisting this. I really want this blog to be a place of peace, and rest. A place where you can leave the cares of the world behind as we look to God as our true source of everything good. I need to go to my happy place. I do not want to rant about our current Government. There are plenty of people ranting and raving out there. So I will just post some of my favorite things instead, like Seagulls.

I will dream of the sound of the sea, and warm breezes. I will dream of vacations I have taken, and quiet moments of joy in my yard, and in my place of prayer…..

It all started last night when Elaine informed me that she had to go through the infamous TSA screener. I thought I was over that, but I guess I am not.  This woman, my best friend looks like anyone’s favorite Aunt. She has a face you can trust. Old people and children flock to her. So why does our Government insist that scanning ordinary law abiding citizens, children and handicapped  people keeps us safe? Because it is one more thing that has happened since our President has taken power. It is all about control. All about giving the Government more power. The scanners are not the issue. Just my opinion. The issue is I can no longer travel freely in my own country without being unlawfully searched…..

……….to go to places like this…..one of my favorites, in Carmel, California. The Normandy Inn. Happy place, happy place. Now the President is saying that he will not give U.S. officials guns for protection in Mexico. He is also saying that he is doing all he can to make the border safe. I think he should move his family to El Paso. Once again, he was on TV apologizing for America, just like he has been doing all over the world since he came into office. Sometimes I wonder if he really likes his own country. This is just my opinion.

I love this country. I know it is not perfect, but I also don’t think we have anything to apologize for. The memories are still alive for many, memories of those who lived through unbelievable evil in Nazi Death Camps, hoping against hope, and then grabbing the hand of an American soldier who brought them freedom, and a second chance at life……
I will not watch the news today……I will retreat to my place of peace. Read some Scripture, get my balance back. Realize that God is still and always in control and His is the real Government and the only lasting Government. I will count my many blessings today and try my best to help and uplift those around me, in word and deed. I will realize that disagreement with certain things in our Government is a freedom and a privilege others fought and are fighting for. And any problem I think I have pales in comparison to most other people in the world…….
This is as close as I get to a rant. And it is the first and last time I will post anything about politics. As for something nice to say, he is just about the best I have ever seen with a teleprompter, and he has a very good smile.
”Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:7