This Bride's Diary

The Other Women at the Well...or Who are You excluding???

2011-10-24T10:29:00.001-05:00

The older I get the more I realize people have not changed very much the last couple of thousand of years! We think we have made much progress in the human race but a reality check would prove otherwise. I was studying the passage in the Bible we often refer to as "The Woman at the Well" (John 4) and a stray thought hit me....what about the other women...you know the ones who came early and excluded this one. In order for this woman in our story to feel so left out, they must have been pretty mean to her because women are relational!! Think about that for just a second...and then look at today's world. Mean girls actually grow up to be mean women...exclusionary girls grow up to be exclusionary women...girls who think they are better than other girls grow up to be women who think they are better than other women.

I am in women's ministry!! ( I pleaded with God to give me a group of 5th grade boys instead but...) Women are not easy...(as Jerry Clower used to say, "If I'm lying...I'm dying!!) Just this past week some "friends" of a girl in our youth group had a party but exclued this girl! The girl was devastated. The comments I heard from the grown-ups were: " I hate junior high! Girls are so mean!! I wouldn't go back if I had to!!" Well, the reason we wouldn't go back is we don't have to...we still live that way. In our churches the junior high girls have grown up to be "junior high" women!! I hear from women all over about how they are not included. Just this weekend a woman said to me when I asked her if she was active in her women's ministry that she has been a member of her church for several years but there is a small group of women who don't want any new women to become a part....If this had been an isolated case I would have been tempted to believe she was just paranoid but it is not. I hear it all over. You see these mean girls who were in junior high then are now the mothers (AND grandmothers) of junior high girls now. This is a legacy we need to stop!!

I am really NOT trying to beat up on women. (I am one!) I am just trying to say that this is wrong in every sense of the word. We are to be drawing women into fellowship instead of excluding them. How is it we will go across the world to do "mission work" but will not invite someone who doesn't fit her particular standard to a get together. We especially exclude those who have sinned! We just have forgotten that ALLL of us are sinners...there is not one of us who hasn't.

Those other women....the ones who came to the well in the early morning...I imagine them walking and fellowshiping all the way to the well. I see the woman in our story watching from a distance...wanting and needing just one friend to include her. The happy ending of this story, however, is that the one who was exluded found Jesus!! He knew everything about her, yet did not shame her but encouraged her to live differently. The first thing she did was to go back and tell everyone about Him....I am thinking that included the other women. Wow! See when we encounter Jesus, He removes barriers in our lives. She had become complete in His love and therefore no longer needed to protect herself from the glares of others and was free to encounter them from that freedom.

My prayer for the women in our churches (for many times we are the worst!) is to look at every woman as a "Daughter of Eve" who needs friendship....who needs to feel included...but most of all who needs to know the unconditional love of Jesus. I also pray for our mean women who exclude, to meet Jesus and discover His security and love. That love brings freedom!! Freedom to open our arms wide to even include that one who lives differently.

We can be the difference in our church...in our town...and eventually in our world but we must be willing to quit excluding. We need to be teaching our daughters and granddaugthers how important it is to include even the ones that don't fit our list of requirements!! Jesus did. He did for you and He wants to for all. Let our legacy be: She loved everybody!!!

Share your thoughts on this!!!

Un Belizable!

2011-08-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I have written because I have yet to be able to put into words what this summer has meant to me. I was able to go to Belize and do a series of Ladies Conferences, complete with gift bags and door prizes!! I was overwhelmed with the response of the women there in this very, very poor country.

When we landed and were on our way to the camp that was to be our home for 10 days, I began to see the "homes" of the people to whom I would be ministering. It was then that God spoke loudly to my spirit these words, "Don't you dare treat these women like they are poor! Treat them just as you would any woman in the US! They don't need your pity, they need ME!!" I almost lost my breath as physically these words came alive. I knew it was God and I knew I had to change my attitude if He was to be glorified. Through the Holy Spirit, I was able to look beyond the situations and relate to the hearts of these women. I discovered once again that ALL women are alike...as C.S. Lewis names us in the Chronicles of Narnia...the daughters of Eve! We all have the same hopes, needs and desires and yes, many of the same insecurities. We want our kids to turn out ok and we blame ourselves if they don't. We all want to be beautiful. We all have dreams. And most of all, we all want to be loved and cherished. The Belizian women I encountered wanted all the same things and it was there I began.

I didn't go and "talk" to them. I began "sharing" with them my own dreams and little by little they opened their lives to me so I could pour in what Jesus had done for me. By the end of our time, they became girlfriends. We shared cooking tips, teenage problems, and life in general. Those who were not believers began to ask questions and by the end of our time, came to salvation.

Had I treated them with pity because they were poor, I would not have gotten to know these wonderful women. I learned from them so much. At the end of our time, they brought me gifts: a piece of ribbon, handmade pictures, plastic flowers and notes expressing how they felt about the time we spent together. The last was a gift from all of them. A butterfly. As they gave this to me, their words were, "These are the wings that will bring you back to us." New life...for them but new perspective for me!

Please pray for Lydia and Stephanie as they struggle to live their new lives!! It was a most UnBelizable trip.

Finish well

2011-05-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

(Recently, I wrote a series of lessons on Colossians and wanted to share one with you.)

While reading Colossians 3, verse 17 stood out to me, “Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” Tears steamed down my face as I read that for I am a great “starter”! I begin a hobby at full force buying everything I will ever need and I spend much time learning how to hone my craft making! Somewhere along the way, however, I just quit. Right now in the craft closet are 3 unfinished scrapbooks, and cardstock, stamps and punches enough to make valentines for my whole city…left there because I just quit. Obviously, quitting a hobby is not life shattering, but quitting in my Christian life can be detrimental.

Satan doesn’t mind the starting; it is the finishing with which he is most concerned. He was constantly trying to convince Jesus to quit…to go another way. We see satan’s ploys while Jesus was in the desert, through people’s rejection, and finally in the garden; satan always encouraged an “easier” way. Jesus, however, was given a work from His Father and upon the cross we hear His final words, “It is finished!!!”

There have been times I have just wanted to give up…my cry was, “This is too hard and I am not strong enough!” Maybe you have been there, too. Paul had been there and I believe in verses 2-6 he is giving the way to finish and finish well.

The first thing we are to do is “devote ourselves to prayer!” In the Greek the words, “devote yourselves” mean, “to adhere to or to be to be in constant readiness.” This is the major key to finishing. Jesus finished because He demonstrated that His power came through constant prayer! Why do we think we can do the work with less than this? We often tell people that we are going to pray for them, but do we? When others are too distraught to pray, we are to stand in the gap for them. While in a very dark time several years ago, had it not been for fellow Christians on their knees for me, I probably would have quit! Are you devoted to prayer as your major source of strength?

The next thing Paul says we are to do is to “be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.” (NIV) Outsiders, obviously, were those who did not know Christ. A major result of being devoted to prayer is the discernment gained of what to do in worldly situations. Often we make things harder on ourselves because we speak without His wisdom-- choosing instead to speak what we think is right and using the excuse of “just calling it as it is!” I have a speaker friend, Page Hughes, who offers t-shirts with “Job 13:5” imprinted on it. In looking up this scripture you find the words, “If only you would shut up and let that be your wisdom!” (HCSB) I have had to be reminded of this more times than I care to! Paul had to deal with outsiders all the time, and yet we see those outsiders coming to faith. Are you walking in wisdom when it comes to those who do not know Christ?

Finally, Paul says that our conversations (NIV) or speech (HCSB) should be full of grace while seasoned with salt. Another way of saying this is “speak truth with love!” Jesus modeled that for us to everyone he met and while some did not respond well, the world was changed by His very words. What words comes from your mouth? Are you speaking truth but with love and compassion? Are people drawn to Christ because of what you have said?

These powerful precepts in living will help us remain faithful and finish well. Yes, the times are hard but consider the words of Augustine:

You say, the times are troublesome, the times are burdensome, the times are miserable. Live rightly and you will change the times. The times have never hurt anyone. Those who are hurt are human beings: those by whom they are hurt are also human beings. So, change human beings and the times will be changed.

World Gone Wild!

2011-03-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

Just like you, I am grieving for the people in Japan. The pictures show the physical destruction but the loss inside each person is much worse. Tragedy. I have already heard the cries, "How would a loving God allow something like this to happen to innocent people!" Then there are those who say that this is God's judgement on "these" people! I heard those cries after Katrina...that God was destroying "those evil people" in New Orleans. (Katrina did NOT hit New Orleans...only the effects of Katrina! Katrina hit along the Mississippi Gulf Coast...so to believe it was God's judgement, means that God's GPS was a little off!!)

Then yesterday a book was released by mega church pastor Rob Bell that says that there is not a real hell and that eventually everyone will be saved no matter what...that God's love is so great He couldn't send anyone to a place like hell.

So which is it? God as a big bad judge who kills people for the fun of it or a God who loves so much that no one has consequences for their actions! You see this is the problem of trying to put God in our own little boxes...putting our own reactions to circumstances into God.

God is God. He is creator of all. He has always been. He holds things together and He is Redeemer. God is Holy and just. He created all things perfectly. In His creation of man, He breathed His own breath so we could have life...but we wanted more than that and reached out for what was forbidden. Thus a fallen world emerged. A world that spins out of control...not because God wanted it that way but because we did. God showed His love by providing a way back to His perfection but just as we chose something other than His way the first time, He allows us to choose His way back.

Choice is a precarious thing...Truth on the other hand is never-changing. Jesus is our way back to God's perfection...but we must choose. We can choose to continue in rebellion or choose a way out. Rob Bell doesn't want to have to make a clear choice...he wants it both ways. He has not read the same scripture I have.

The tragedies of earthquakes and tsunami's are not God's judgements...they are natural disasters happening because we live in a fallen world. These are temporary sufferings and we as believers must minister to those who are hurting from the devastation. That is our call. But our call also is to tell them that Jesus is the way to eternal perfection where there will be no crying, no devastation. There is a way...God's way. That is what is important in light of all we are going through.

Japan, I am praying for your grief...I grieve with you as you have lost children and other family members. God is not punishing you...He loves you...choose Him in the midst of this trial and He will give you peace that passes all understanding.

Cool or Committed? That Really is the Question!

2011-02-28T14:37:00.003-06:00

I like to write about uplifting things but this blog is going to be kind of different! I am a teeny bit upset!! I am upset with the modern church but mostly with myself!

I had the privilege of leading a ladies conference this past weekend where the presence of the Lord was evident. By the time it was my turn to teach, the ladies were so ready to hear the Word of God that it was a blessing. So, why am I upset? I am troubled because I don’t see that happening weekly in many congregations. (If it happens in yours, you need to get on your knees and thank God that you have leaders who have their priorities right.) Many of our congregations, however, tend to be more concerned with trying to be cool rather than preparing the congregates for worship. Many “worship” leaders tend to be more concerned with hairstyles, praise team’s age, dress, and having the newest songs rather than calling the people to open their hearts to the Spirit of God. It is about image! I have even heard that a worship leader in our area is wearing eyeliner and blush in order to make a statement that he is inclusive of all types. Music is just the start…sermons are more like motivational discourses rather than the gospel. A blogger I read today said this: Declaring the Gospel is serious business — not a show. Method is NOT more important than the message. Leadership will say they agree with that statement — but actions show otherwise.

The worship leader this past weekend gave all she had to the LORD and it was evident from before she began to lead until we walked out the door. She loved Jesus and that love was all over her! She nearly disappeared as we went to the throne. Her goal was all about connecting corporately with a Holy God. Tears streamed down all our faces but it wasn’t just an overload of emotion…it was a true connection with Our Father!!! It truly was about Him. I came home exhausted but so filled.

It was then God began to speak strongly to my heart. While writing Sunday School lessons from the book of Philippians, I came face to face with how far the church has come from being what Christ called us to be. I pulled out, for reference,
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a book I read several years ago and began to re-read it. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a theologian/political activist from the 1930’s-40’s. His mission was to warn the church of their need to stand up against Hitler who was trying to silence any mention of God in Nazi Germany. The premise of the book is about “cheap grace” verses “costly grace.” He defines cheap grace as, “Preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ!” Costly Grace on the other hand is, “The treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price…It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus at which the disciple leaves his nets and follow him.”

Christ gave His all to us but also said, “Unless you take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27) Being in the worship I experienced this weekend, I realized how far I had departed from what Christ requires. I too have fallen for the hype! I realized I am not called to be “cool” but committed. Not so much “relevant” but reverent before a Holy God. I as well as our churches need to start lifting Christ and Christ alone. I don’t want to be a part of a show but a part of surrender. I want to remember how costly grace is and I need to forget about me and make it about Him…and the strange thing is, when we do that corporately, the world will take note. I want these words to be said of me:

Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Not fashionably dressed, not up to date, not contemporary, not even cool, but the world around them saw that they had been with Jesus! I want people to see that in me-- I want to be a true worshipper…one who worships in Spirit and Truth and who looks only at Him. There, I have said it and I feel better. Hold me accountable but also hold yourself accountable. The world needs us!!!

Thinking He Was Among Them….

2011-02-10T10:47:00.001-06:00

While reading Luke 2 during Christmas, I found myself reading past the “baby Jesus” part until I came to verse 44. I stopped dead in my reading as the Holy Spirit moved my heart to focus on the words, “Thinking He was in their company, they traveled on for a day.” The Holman Christian Standard Version says, “Assuming he was in the traveling party…” and the ESV says, “Supposing.” In all of these what we see is that even though the traveling party knew Jesus well, they didn’t know when he was no longer with them.

I love the Lord, and I love being with people who love the Lord. My closest relationships began with Jesus as the point of contact but this verse caused me to wonder if conversations with my friends about Jesus and what He means to us have become less frequent; focusing rather on things like shopping, weight, food, food, and weight! Have we started talking more about other people and how much better they could be if…? We cover our “gossip” by saying we really care---bless their hearts--- but then realize never once did we pray for them and even worse never mentioned Jesus. In a word…we didn’t even realize that he wasn’t there among us. It is then we see our lives have become mundane---at best.

A friend on FaceBook posted this:

Watching a child as they sing, dance and laugh.
Noticing how everything is fun and interesting and an adventure.
Then I ask myself “When did I stop dancing?”

A child dances best when the person they love most is close by! To answer my friend’s question, perhaps we quit paying attention to the important things and drifted away from the One who loves us most and have forgotten who binds us to each other. His guidance keeps us safe…and we dance in the knowledge that none of the enemy’s ploys will destroy us! (As I typed this, I noticed that the word dance is in guidance. Hmmm???)

So what did the traveling party do when they discovered Jesus was not in their company? “They “went back!” They went back to where they had left Him!

You might be thinking that Jesus is so far away…He is no longer in your company and you don’t know how you got to this place of panic and discontent. May I suggest to you to go back to where you last were with Him; the last time He was real in your life. It takes effort to do that but when you find Him again you will be astonished at what you find- just like Mary and Joseph did. Jesus is all about doing His Father’s will and He wants nothing more than to have you join Him in that will but to do that we must intentionally keep Him in our sight and in our mind. He wants to guide us and He wants us to find peace and joy in Him but He will not force it on us.

Don’t travel another day just “supposing” Jesus is among your traveling party. Know He is. Seek Him and make sure that you don’t get too busy in life. Don’t assume that as you walk away that Jesus will follow. He doesn’t follow us…we follow Him.

Stay warm, friends,…spring is coming.

This Is a Weighty Issue!

2011-02-03T12:19:00.002-06:00

Each New Year the two major resolutions people made are to lose weight/get into shape and more Bible study!

Now, I don’t wait until New Year’s to make my “getting into shape” resolution. I generally make that resolution weekly--if not daily. I especially want to get into shape on Tuesday nights while watching The Biggest Loser and I don’t think that I am alone. This has caused me to think about the whole world of weight loss and I have found there are three types of people:

• Those who really, really want to…they go out and buy all the right outfits, headbands (for potential sweat or just to look cool!), enroll in the local health club, and show up excited! They will try it for a while but because it is too hard, and muscles are hurting they quit! Some people go as far as purchasing their own equipment only to have it sit idle after a month!!
• Then there are those who get involved in every single exercise group available and talk about their diet constantly…telling everyone they need to get involved in what THEY do, if they really want to be in shape. It is an addiction and it is all about the classes and diets. They have no life other than exercise and talking about what foods we should eat and look down on others who are not as vigilant as they are. Attending the class and the social experience is the goal.
• Finally, there are those who understand that a good diet and proper exercise will make their bodies healthy so they can stay active and vibrant. They do what they need to do to accomplish that goal. They are the happiest people I know!!

Do you see yourself in any of those people? I do. I have been guilty of being a part of all three at one time or another. Obviously the third person is the one who truly understands and “gets it!”

I was preparing a Bible study lesson and it dawned on me that there are the same three types of women who get involved in Bible study.

• There are those who really want to study. They know they need it…they go out and buy all the books, colored pencils and maybe a journal or two. She shows up really ready to learn and is excited but after a week they lose interest because they have gotten behind. They don’t really have the time or it is not the right night become excuses…no amount of encouragement gets him/her back…maybe next time!! They want to learn but are not willing to do the work.

• Then there are those women who are in every Bible study offered. They name-drop “Beth, Anne, and Kay”…all over the place. They are addicted and go to every study available but usually will have a favorite author and will follow her much as a groupie follows a rock band. They have their homework done and all their blanks filled in completely and in ink!! They tell others they need to study what they study. All of this is good but after each study, they can’t recall a single point they learned and they have not applied anything from the study to their lives. It was a study and it is over…on to the next study for the goal is to do bible study with no long-term affect. The hard work of letting God change them through His words is ignored…

• Then finally there is the one who has learned that the Bible is more than just a book…it is her guide to how to live life and the way God speaks to her. It is personal. She gets excited when a truth is revealed and she seeks to apply what she learns to her life. She desires God to convict her, comfort her, guide her and encourage her through His word (II Timothy 3: 16) so she can grow in her Christian walk and become mature in her faith. It is more than just a study; it is a way of life and these are the happiest people I know.

Kind of reminds me of what Jesus said to His disciples when he spoke about seeds and three types of ground. Some fell on rocky soil, some on shallow soil and some in good soil.

Don’t get me wrong….I believe in Bible study…it is daily food for the soul! The point is, study the Bible for the right reason…to grow in your life. Bible study ought to change you for you are encountering the Holy One. Afterwards you ought to speak differently, carry out your life differently, and love others more deeply! It ought to be a time of worship and worship brings change.

This year, as you dive into His words, ask Him to speak profoundly to your heart. Ask Him to show you any things that need to change…you will be amazed at what His word can do in every aspect of your life! Don’t let it become just something you do….let it be what you become.

Blog coming

2011-01-27T09:43:00.002-06:00

Dear Friends,

This week my Mother-in-Law has gone on to glory after a long bout with Alzheimer's. We are out of pocket for a short while. I have two blogs just about ready to be posted but please pray for our family...especially my husband as he deals with this. You all are precious people and I love you!!

What Will It Cost Me?

2011-01-17T15:06:00.003-06:00

I have the wonderful privilege to travel to the small country of Belize in June to lead women’s conferences. Belize is a very poor country in Central America and the women there have to work much harder to take care of their families than we in the US could ever imagine. Being in Women's Ministry I have learned that inside every woman, regardless of who they are or where they live, is a desire to be beautiful and feminine and with that thought in mind I want to give to each woman a gift bag filled with sweet smelling soaps, shampoos, body creams and perfume. These things, which are commonplace to us, to these ladies, are treasure. Because I don’t have the funds to do this alone, I have asked others to donate soaps, creams, and shampoos they have gotten from hotel stays; the outpouring has been wonderful. Never in my wildest dreams, however, did I think I would have to say the words, “Un-used” in the description of the items. The great majority of the items I have gotten have been wonderful (and I am so grateful) but I did get one very large bag packed full of half-used and dried up toiletries. A thorough search of the bag resulted in not one item I could use. This would have gone unmentioned but the giver bragged that they were so happy they could help in this endeavor and even made the comment that the women there should be glad of half-used items because they have nothing.

After a couple of days I let this go of my frustration over this but God would not let me forget my lesson from it. Many times have I gone through my cupboards looking for canned goods, I would never personally eat, to put in the community food pantries and the clothes I give to shelters usually contain stained items or things so out of date I would never wear them again yet somewhere in my mind I feel the recipients should be happy with whatever! Never, I am sorry to confess, have I gone shopping for clothes to give to our clothing shelter or gone grocery shopping for the food pantry. I toss my leftovers to the needy and expect God to see my “sacrifice” with a smile.

Do we give God the same? Our leftover time, talents or resources are offered to God with a boasting that we have done something wonderful for the kingdom…yet we save the best for ourselves or our own family. Then God reminded me of a scripture in II Samuel 24:24. King David had wanted to build an altar to honor God on land owned by a man named Araunah. David sent his men with an offer to purchase the land but it was such an honor for Araunah that he told the men they could have the land…no cost. Verse 24 is David’s answer: “But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” [emphasis mine]

This lesson has hit me hard…when I think I am doing something for someone in need does it count if it doesn’t cost me anything? Yes, it will count because God can use anything but the joy is much greater when the one in need is given something new and fresh for that is what God always offers us. Yes, these ladies in Belize will accept anything because they are poor and have nothing. Many are used to cast-offs from wealthy Americans but how much more exciting will it be to look in their eyes when they see new things-- just for them. Perhaps they will understand that they are cherished children of God and He offers them His best. Perhaps they won’t care at all…I don’t know…I just know that as Jesus has given His best to me, God expects me to give my best to others. It will cost me something…perhaps money…perhaps time…most definitely part of myself. But considering that God gave us His most precious son, it should be easy. Paul said in Romans 12 to “present your bodies a living sacrifice!” and then he says… “which is your reasonable service!” KJV

I will go to Belize with a new vision of what I am to do…I will give these ladies gift bags that will make them feel beautiful…at least for a little while…but I want to give them more…I want to give them myself and maybe from that they will see Jesus who will give them His best. How about you?

Unseen Gifts!

2011-01-10T14:39:00.000-06:00

This Christmas one of my grandson’s brought me a present to open but as I opened it, the look in his eyes showed great mischief!! (More than usual!) He watched intently as I carefully removed the homemade bow and slowly unloosed the massive amounts of tape. When I finished, I found nothing! He began to laugh merrily, saying, “I tricked you, Nonnie!!” I feigned disappointment and to his delight reacted just as he had imagined. His goal was to trick me and that he did!

While this is funny to his Nonnie, I began thinking that many of us believe God has done the same thing to us. We hear that everyone has a gift to use for the Kingdom but when we look at ourselves we see wrapping and bows but we can’t seem to find any gift. We start to think that God is being cruel and is laughing at us. We look at others and think if we only could…sing, speak, cook, draw, etc. then we could be greatly used. So we sit in envy of others and wonder why our Christian life is not more exciting.

I wish I had a dime for every person I have spoken to that has stated they have no gifts…yet I find them some of the most gifted people I know. Gifts are varied, yet we often see only the outward gifts! I have one friend who constantly says (and will argue with me!) she has no gifts…yet to visit her house is like going to a resort for when I leave I am refreshed and relaxed…her obvious gift to me is hospitality. The problem is that she doesn’t think that is a gift…it is just something she likes doing!! BINGO! That is the very essence of a gift…it is something that comes naturally to you. Many think if is something that is too easy; it can’t be a gift from God!! Those are the best kind of gifts…those that are so much a part of us that we are not even aware of them keeps us from becoming proud.

God is a God of order and He arranges the gifts together to work out His plan in the Body of Christ. When we look at others and desire their gifts, we are telling God is that He didn’t give us the right gift! Often that thinking will cause us to sit back and do nothing, which can possibly weaken the Body. Beth Moore, a true Mary of Bethany, made a comment that she hopes when invited to dinner that there is a “Martha” somewhere in that home or there might not be food!!! !

Gifts are a part of who you are…some people can organize…others have great ideas…others just know what to do in situations when others are at a loss! Some have just the right words to say when everyone else stays silent. Some encourage others without even knowing it. All of these things come naturally! So, see God gave you wonderful gifts and your gifts are needed.

I just returned from a ladies retreat…the committee had provided a basket for the ministry team. They did not just throw things together but had been intentional in what was included; careful thought for every possible need was provided. I was blown away by the way these precious ladies had provided for us…yet they didn’t think anything about it commenting that any one would have done the same…but would they? No, these ladies had a great gift and used it so the ministry team could be also be used!

God has gifted you, dear one!! He has made you exactly the way you are for the betterment of the Body you serve. Are you using what comes naturally to you or are you envious of others and what they do? If you do the latter, you are denying the Holy Spirit the opportunity to use you!! You are saying to God, “You tricked me!!” He hasn’t tricked anyone…He put you where you are for a specific purpose. Ask Him today where He can use you. You will then be amazed at what will happen!

To Wait or Not to Wait!

2011-01-04T16:19:00.002-06:00

Over the holidays we had the privilege of having our 4 grands with us and they begged us to let them open their presents before Christmas Day. Maybe you had the same experience! They didn’t want to wait and something inside me wanted to let them open at least one, but I didn’t because I knew that Christmas morning would be more exciting if they waited.

I remembered my own childhood and my “very mean” father! I was just like my grandchildren-- only worse!!! I recall one time saying I wanted to open one particular gift “Right NOW!!” (said with stomping feet and raised voice.) Now, this is where my daddy became really mean! He told me that not only would I not get the gift then but I would have to wait until New Year’s Day to open it. Pure torture!! It was not until years later that I appreciated what he did. I know he really wanted to give me the gift but for my sake he delayed the joy.

Most of us have a problem with waiting. If we have to wait to check out we get impatient or if the red light lasts 20 seconds longer than we want it to we throw mini-fits!! What my daddy was teaching me that Christmas, was not that I couldn’t open a present, but that in life we have to wait and the sooner I learned how to wait the better!!

Yet, in this matter of waiting I also realized is that there are times we want to delay…to hesitate… that generally happens when God gives us something to do and we sit back and say things like, “I think I will wait to see if this is really God’s will!”

So, to wait or not to wait? Our selfishness rears its ugly head in this question. If it is something we want, we become impatient or we delay if a directive interferes with what we want…This is one of the most serious of flaws of human nature. Scripture is full of scriptures that show the benefits of waiting… “Those who wait upon the Lord will rise up with wings like eagles” is among my favorite! Waiting is good…if I had not waited for the right person to marry there is no telling where my life would be today and believe me I didn’t want to wait. It was to my benefit.

But on the other side of waiting is an immediate response to Jesus when He shows us what we are to do… When Jesus called His disciples scripture says, “Immediately, they left their nets!!” That word, in the original Greek, means…immediately!! They didn’t stop to think about it or they didn’t ask their friends if they thought this was the right thing to do or they didn’t say, “I will pray about it!” They just dropped their nets and followed Jesus and the rest of their lives were changed forever! There have been so many times that I will wait because to do what Jesus has called me to do because it will interfere with what I want to do…and I miss the blessing of immediate obedience. Jesus doesn’t need me to fulfill His will…He wants me to be involved in His will. It is for my good.

So, as this New Year begins, I want to know when to wait…knowing it will bring greater joy but I also want to know when not to wait for that also brings the great joy. It might seem that it will be hard to know when to wait or not to wait…but that is where my walk with Christ becomes important. It will be clear if I am walking daily with Him.

What about you? Do you have a waiting problem? Ask God to help you this year with it. It will be amazing how our lives will be blessed just by knowing when to wait or not to wait. I wish you all the best year ever!!!

Lemon Tree...very pretty...

2010-10-21T19:08:00.001-05:00

I used to hate the phrase, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” I thought it was trite and silly…that is until life gave me some major lemons!! I struggled through tears to make whatever lemonade I could from the hard situations in my life. Lemonade is suppose to be refreshing but you can’t have it without first squeezing those bitter fruits!! It is from a pitcher of lemonade that I learned some valuable lessons.

Psalm 1 talks about the righteous and says, “We are planted by streams of water,” …streams are fresh waters…or if you will “living” water. Crystal clear and fresh…it is needed for the young sapling to grow…and to eventually bear fruit. Often, if we move away from the stream, we suffer a drought…we need water. Isaiah 55: 1 tells us to “come” to the waters” and as we drink deeply we grow and soon sweet smelling blooms appear---we know the peace of God and believe things are going to be great! In time the blooms fall and fruit begins to develop; we are often surprised that the fruit is a lemon. We taste it and find it bitter and try desperately to make lemonade but find the result to be only cloudy water. We can no longer see clearly…we wonder if the water will ever be translucent again?

Life isn’t fair but it was never going to be no matter what we wanted! Jesus told His disciples, “In this world you are going to have trouble…but be of good cheer…I have overcome the world!” John 16:33. Even in knowing that, we must deal with cloudy water and bitterness. It is hard. What can we do and what if we don’t like lemonade!!??

Consider the ingredients of lemonade: water, lemons and sugar.

◊ The water obviously is Jesus--the living water
◊ The sugar is His Grace given by the Holy Spirit placing His peace and comfort in the hard times of our lives
◊ The lemons, obviously, represent the hardships of the world.

I learned two basic lessons from my pitcher of lemonade. I learnedthat the three components, once mixed, are inseparable. Once we go through a hardship it will always be a part of us and we need to discover how to deal with it. We can have victory! And I learned that the largest component in the pitcher is always the water.

So how does knowing this help us in times of trials? Some will add more lemons and allow bitterness to take over in their lives but that doesn’t help! Others might want to add more sugar to just feel better but after awhile, even that becomes undrinkable. The more I reflected on this it was apparent that I needed to add more water. So I did and the taste definitely changed…so I added more and more water until before long, I could barely taste the lemons…there was a faint flavor but no longer bitter…no longer sour. I tasted mostly water. Do you get it?? When we add more living water in our lives, the taste of the world is less.

It is about our focus! If we focus on the lemons (the hardships) we will want to add more sugar… but if we focus on the water (Jesus and His purposes) that solves the problem. That is what Jesus meant when He said, “I have overcome the world.” He overcomes the bitterness of life. The way we deal with lemons is not just making lemonade but to continue adding the living water. Focus on the water not the lemons nor the sweetener but the one who said he would always be with us.

We started with Psalm 1…being planted by the living water and that is how to deal with lemons…they are going to come….but if we stay planted by the Living Water, eventually we have the victory…and this focus brings the spiritual refreshing we think about when we think about lemonade…it quenches our deep thirsts. We become stronger and even though we might have preferred no lemons, we can use them as a conduit for desiring more of the living water Christ offers. So drink up!! When life gives you lemons…add water!!!! Living water!

The Wait

2010-10-10T21:59:00.001-05:00

Every woman knows, with fall in the air, wardrobe changes are inevitable. I love the colors and the textures of nubby sweaters (and the fact that many imperfections are hidden is just icing on the cake!!) Now, I am not really a stylish person but I love the sweaters this year…long…some below the knees. Yay!! More coverage! I have seen these on others and thought if I ever found one, I would get it.

Labor Day weekend 2010! While visiting my son and his wife in Texas, my daughter- in-law and I went shopping for her birthday. As we walked into the Dress Barn, I saw “it!” A bright light seemingly came down and illuminated the sweater of my dreams. It was beautiful…a mixture of brown and black with ruffles all the way to the knees. The store had very few customers so I decided to “think’ about it while my daughter-in-law tried on her choices. After about 20 minutes we headed to the checkout counter where “the sweater” had been displayed---but where was it? The mannequin once clad in splendor was strangely bare in only a tank top. I felt panic rising as I asked the sales associate about it to which she replied, pointing, “That lady over there got it to try on!” What??? Where had she come from and why would she want MY sweater? I became a crazy woman!! I paced, telling myself that she hadn’t bought it yet…there was hope…and so I waited…and waited…was she trying on the whole store??? She was too short for the sweater anyway!! Couldn’t she see that? Finally she emerged from the dressing room and returned “my” sweater to the sales associate who quickly brought it to this crazy, pacing woman. I had not even tried the sweater on but I had no choice but to purchase it! I left the store tightly clutching this find! My daughter-in-law just shook her head! (She does that a lot when I am around!)

Yes, sometimes we do really crazy things for even crazier reasons. Usually, I don’t try to make a spectacle of myself, really I don’t. I want to be sophisticated and calm but when I am passionate about things, I forget all of that. For years I found myself being less than passionate about what Christ had done for me. I had always been a good kid and so Christianity was just status quo attached to redemption. I lived like that for so many years…I was in church every time the doors were opened but mostly it was because I had to go. I would sit there quietly covering up those “pesky” sins not wanting anyone to know, all the while searching for something “more” but didn’t know what “it” was until I had what I call an Isaiah 6 Experience when I realized who I was compared to a Holy God. It was as if a shining light came down illuminating my unworthiness. I knew I had been found out! At that moment I knew that was what I had been looking for! I wanted more than anything for this Holy God to love me to which He reminded me that He did and that I no longer had to hide those imperfections…He knew about them and His Son’s blood had taken them away. When I came up from this experience, I was different. Truth changes us! I became crazy about Him!! My worship changed…I was passionate about Him and I didn’t care who knew it!

I came upon a scripture in 2 Corinthians 5: 13. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. Paul got it!! David got it, too, when he entered Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant and danced! God had shown them “more!” God had shown me “more!” He wants to show the world His “more!” He wants to cloth us in His splendor…but we have to rid ourselves of all preconceived ideas of who we are and what we want? Are we willing to be a little “crazy” for Him? When we are people will notice…some might think we are crazy but we will be grasping onto the most important find of our lives as we walk! Each time I wear my sweater, I think I will remember this!

Hey, Coach!!!

2010-09-17T10:03:00.001-05:00

Anyone who knows me for 5 minutes knows that I absolutely love football. The excitement of pulling for one team over another and winning…or losing… is compelling to me. (Did you know my Saints won the Super Bowl?) But I digress! While watching a football game with my grandson, William, I asked, “Which person would you want to be if you played football, the one who throws the ball or the one who tackles?” He looked up at me and with great thought (shown by the furrow between his eyes) finally said, “I want to be the coach!” I laughed at that because he obviously had watched the battered ones on the field, vs. the coach who got to wear the cool headset and quickly surmised that the coach has the easiest job!

We make many decisions based on what appears to be the truth…and most of the time the outward is what we base that truth upon. Our world is so outwardly focused. As much as I hate to admit it, I often fall for “the way things seem.” I try not to but…there it is. I can remember in my first teaching job during parent/teacher conference one of my student’s mothers came in dressed very poorly with hair uncombed and flip-flops (before they were stylish). I immediately assumed that she was uneducated and poor and I treated her as such. (Lord, forgive me!) After the meeting I discussed this with another teacher and found out that the woman had a PhD and was from one of the wealthiest families in the city…she just didn’t care about the way she looked. I often wonder what she thought of me after that meeting and I was ashamed.

All through the Bible there are references to the outward and the inward. Jesus was a master at the inward…maybe because he could see what is there so clearly! Who would have chosen a short, hated tax collector to be someone who really wanted to change but just didn’t know how? Once he did, he began giving all he had away! Oh, and that woman…the one at the well. All the town’s people knew enough to leave her alone but Jesus offered her what she really needed-- a new start-- and she used it to bring all those town’s people to Jesus. And then there is that prideful persecutor of Christians…Yes, Jesus saw in Saul of Tarsus, one who would be the first missionary to the Gentiles and the one to write letters that continue to encourage us today. It is all in where we put our focus as to what we see in others but also in ourselves for God sees in us things that we might miss because we tend to look at our own “outwardness.” What does God see in you? Are you willing to allow Him to show you? You might be surprised that He knows your deepest needs, insecurities and your greatest gifts. You might also be surprised that He wants to use the things you think are worthless for something worthwhile.

William thought that the coach only had to stand on the sidelines and chew gum but he couldn’t see the hours of planning that goes into being a coach. The coach also tends to be able to see what each player can do even when that player might not and the simple phrase, “I know you can do this!” can make all the difference in the next play. What was unseen is so much more important than what is seen and so it is with the way we look at others and the way we view ourselves. Be willing to let God show you what is inward truth is and when we do, we will say, “Hey Coach! Put me in!” and that will make all the difference!

The Man Behind the Curtain

2010-08-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

I love going to church…I always have…When I was a child, I especially loved going on Sunday nights… except for one Sunday a year. I don’t know when the tradition began but once a year The Wizard of Oz aired on Sunday nights! My parents would not budge by giving permission to skip church nor would they believe I was suffering from a rare tropical disease so it wasn’t until much later that I actually got to see this iconic movie. If you are not aware of this movie, let me give you a brief summary: tornado, house crashes in another world, girl talks to strangers who are looking for a brain, a heart and some courage. Must go to Emerald City to get said objects. On the way, meet a witch who has a shoe fetish and monkeys for pets. Arriving at the Emerald City, meet the “Wizard” via hologram on a curtain and a mic on high reverb. Girl’s doggie ruins the illusion by going behind the curtain seeing a simple man manipulating some levers followed by the words, “Don’t pay any attention to the man behind the curtain!” spoken by the man behind the curtain!! The travelers discover the things they sought they already had and always had…they just needed to know it. Oh, and then it all ends by the words, “There’s no place like home!” Whew! Of course, I missed some stuff in the middle but that is the gist!!

Simple movie? I don’t’ think so. The older I get the more I see that we treat church much like Dorothy did The Emerald City, Oz. A tornado hits our life and we need answers right away…so we go to a place that is suppose to magically fulfill all our desires and life will be great. We want to believe in an illusion! Many will follow a church or a pastor seeking what they need in their lives but when the church is revealed for what it is (a group of people seeking God together) they are disillusioned. When the pastor is revealed from behind the curtain to be just a man who is also seeking, many leave the church without the thing they really needed to “get!” You see the reality is that God has given each of us what we need to get by in this world…Where did I get that? Read II Peter 1: 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Did you see that? He has given us EVERYTHING we need through our knowledge of HIM…we already have it just as the tin man had a heart, the scarecrow had a brain and the lion had courage…they didn’t need to get it from another…God had given it.

The things you seek are not going to be found in a pastor…his role is to guide you through God’s word. It will not be found in the most up to date “worship” center but in the quietness of listening to His voice. It can’t be found in great worship songs if God’s spirit is not already within you. It will not be found in anyone other than God’s Holy Spirit, which dwells in you for they are all just “the man behind the curtain.”

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain but pay attention to the One who removed the veil from our eyes through the sacrifice of His Son so we can glimpse eternal glory! When you do that you will find “home.” Then when you wake up to this realization you will look at those around you and say, “You were there, and you, and you too!” For we are all in this journey together…that, my dear ones, is what the Church, the Bride of Christ is to be.

Storms

2010-08-19T08:29:00.001-05:00

This week marks the 41st anniversary of Hurricane Camille that hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1969. While to many it was just a news story it was a turning point in my life. Camille was supposed to be a small storm and was not suppose to hit Mississippi. Because of that, many people did not evacuate…my family among them. We were clueless about hurricanes because we had recently moved to Mississippi from the San Joaquin valley of California where the most dangerous weather was extreme heat in the summer.

I remember the day vividly…I went to church that Sunday morning because it was “Youth in Charge Day” (like we weren’t always!) and I was teaching a senior adult class…the rain had begun. By the time I got home from church the news was that the storm was indeed heading our way and it was to land as a Category 5. We lived a block from the beach but thought we would be fine. We began doing what everyone else was doing; boarding up windows, filling tubs with water and praying! It was too late to leave.

There is nothing worse than waiting for impending danger and my family sat in silence as darkness fell and the sound of wind became louder. By midnight all the electrical transformers had blown so all we could do was listen to the howling outside our home. Leaning against the walls of our hallway, we felt the house begin to “breath,” when we were startled by a limb breaking through the board on a window shattering glass in my bedroom. This scared us, but also relieved the pressure that was building in our well built home. Around 4:00 am I fell asleep but woke at daybreak to a sight I will never forget…all around our house was flat…we had had two huge trees that had fallen away from our house. I remember thinking, “This is bad but not as bad as I thought.” This was until I took a walking tour to some friend’s houses…which were gone…familiar sights under piles of rubble…smells of death already beginning to surface from who knows what in the stifling heat that followed this storm. My cousin had lost everything…the only thing left of her house was a clean slab. I was in shock. Friends were allowed to come to my house to stay since they no longer had a place to call home.

I began to feel guilty…I think they call it survival’s guilt. Why would my family still have a home in tact with very little damage? Why us? Why me? Before this, I had been struggling a bit with the reality that God truly loved me and had a plan for me. I then did what I did whenever I questioned life…I went to play my piano. I noticed a hymnal on the piano had been blown open to a hymn I had never seen. In my questioning, God had chosen a unique way to answer my 16-year-old question…the title of the hymn was, Your Heavenly Father Cares for You. I stood there with tears streaming down my face as the words sunk in. He cares for me. He really did.

From that day forward I never questioned that He truly cares…I still can’t get my arms around why others lost everything including family members. I don’t understand it all but I do understand that God was speaking to my young heart.

I believe that God used Camille to show me that after devastation, no matter how terrible, there is a tomorrow. The coast built back-even stronger…lives began again…there was a tomorrow. It was a lesson I learned as a youth…a valuable lesson. I began in earnest my journey with Jesus Christ that day…after a storm. I began to realize also that just because I was a Christian, I was not immune to storms in my life! The fact is there have been many more storms since that August day in 1969…some physical some personal…but the lesson is the same…God provides a tomorrow and with each tomorrow, we grow stronger in Him.

Maybe you are having a storm of your own, right now. May I encourage you to look to Him? This situation was not a surprise to Him and He has a plan in this devastation to strengthen and comfort you in the middle of it all. My go-to verse in this is, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Is 43:2 The important words here are “when” and “through!” You will have storms but when you hold on to His hand you will make it through! Remember, He cares for you!!

Yearly Obsession

2010-08-16T09:33:00.003-05:00

This might seem strange but I love this time of year!! I love to go to office supply stores and examine each and every aisle drooling over the new types of pens and pencils offered. I stand forever looking at notebooks and folders deciding which would be best to keep things in order. Hobby Lobby and Michaels have dollar sections filled with all kinds of matching stationery items!! Heavenly! I have always loved school…I loved taking classes and I loved organizing my life into 6 perfectly divided sections of a day! The problem is that I am no longer in school nor do I still teach high school but that doesn’t stop me from going through this ritual I have observed for longer than I care to admit.

This year I began to think about why I do this. What draws me to school supplies? Is there a gene that makes me crave the smell of fresh textbooks? I don’t think so…in remembering school “startings” as a child, I remember a feeling of being able to start over…that everything I did last year (good or bad) didn’t matter. I remember thinking, “This year I am determined to make all A’s!” It all begins anew. Also, the farthest thing on my mind was my “permanent record!” (By the way, I don’t even know what happened to it…Permanent? I think not!!)

This week a part of me is craving that newness…that feeling that yesterday didn’t really matter that it all goes forward from here out. I have never gotten over my need for a new start! (Maybe that is why I bought that box of pencils and flowery files along with the coordinating folder.)

Perhaps it was the start of the school year when the scholar, Paul the Apostle wrote his letter to the Philippians! As he was talking about all the great things he had been, he added it was nothing…a complete loss compared to the greatness of Christ. Later in the same passage he says these words: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:13b-14

Forgetting what is behind doesn’t just mean the “bad things” but also the great things we have done. Don’t hold onto what you were…it is what you are that matters and what we do from here on out. Set your goal to press on toward the prize! Set your goal to please the One who has given you life!! So it is with the start of another school year…a reminder that we have a clean slate! Press on and if you need to get some new pens to help…go ahead!!!

I'M BACK!

2010-08-02T09:30:00.003-05:00

I know that I said I would write soon but the move this time took a great deal out of me! We are settled and love our new home and pray that God will use it to His glory. All ready we have had college kids stay in the extra rooms, ladies groups come and fellowship and of course, Bible study. May God be lifted up!

Now, what have I learned from this? First of all, I did NOT want to move. I was comfortable with the other house. The operative word here is "comfortable!" Although there were times that that house was not big enough for all we wanted to do, I didn't want to do the work it took to go to another place...I said I was "comfortable" but it was really laziness! It takes work to move...it takes effort and in many ways it takes faith. How did I know this new house would be ok? Was it structurally safe? What if...what if...

I discovered that my life was filled with negative "what if's" instead of looking for what God wanted. God spoke to me during this time that many times I react the same way in my spiritual life. When God wants me to move on to something bigger, I argue that I am comfortable where I am...After all, it takes work to learn something new...to study more, to depend more on His strength! I argue that I often get lonely in new ministry...I NEED the people I have gotten to know...and He answers that all I really need is Him.

I find that the older I get the harder it is to move on! The physical move nearly did me in! I have moved many times in my life but never at this age...Isn't it true that the older we get spiritually the more we want to sit back and let others do the ministry. That is NOT God's way. I often tell ladies groups that, "God is not finished with you until someone looks over your casket and says 'don't she look natural?'" God reminded me of that during our move....His word was that He is not finished "growing and moving" me...there is much more He wants me to do but I must be willing.

The house is great! We are using this gift from Him in ways I could never do in the other house. In my own life, I want to be used for His glory. It often takes me out of my comfort zone but when I get there I am invigorated and energized because God gives me the strength and power it takes.

Some of you are in a place of comfort...But God is wanting to take you further! He did that with the children of Israel when He Joshua said to them, "Consecrate yourself, because the LORD will do wonders among you tomorrow!" Jos.3:5 May I paraphrase that? Pack up! Move on! God has even more exciting things in store!

Get moving!! It's good for you!!

Moving

2010-02-01T22:42:00.001-06:00

Friends,

We are in the process of moving to a new house. I will be writing another blog next week. Thank you so much for your support.

cyndi

Frozen Dangers!

2010-01-19T10:48:00.003-06:00

Frozen Pipes are not just aggravating but can cause serious consequences. Mississippi is not used to long bouts of freezing weather and our lack of preparedness was evident this winter as the City of Jackson had over 180 water main lines burst causing schools, offices, restaurants, and in some cases hospitals to stop or limit their services. As the city came to a near shutdown of activities many were asking how this could have been prevented. The only answer given is that the pipes were old and needed to be replaced. It appeared there was little thought given to this fact until the pipes broke! Some felt the disaster happened because problems were ignored until it was too late. There is a life-lesson in that!!!

Recently, I went for a wellness check-up…I was feeling great…but the results showed a little build up in an artery that could eventually cause heart problems. I was shocked!!! I thought I was doing fine…my blood pressure was low and things were great but a check-up revealed a potential problem. Hearts and pipes are not much different I discovered…they both need care to function properly and that goes for the spiritual heart as well. Many of us ignore this heart until disaster strikes and it breaks with an outflow of pain and waves of desperation. We often live life…going to church, singing the same songs and doing it all by rote but have not checked the heart pipes for a slow freezing. Having lived in the country for a while, I learned that pipes are less likely to freeze if there was water movement within…thus we kept faucets dripping during freezing weather. Movement tends to keep all kind of things from freezing up but one must be diligent in keeping the movement going.

The Bible speaks often of living water and living water is not stagnant! This should give us a clue of what is important to a vibrant Christian lifestyle. Since the heart (both physical and spiritual) is hidden from our eyes and the eyes of others it is easy to ignore possible problems until the “pipes burst!” When we go to pieces over something that is truly minor it might be that there had been no spiritual movement in our hearts for quite a while. I understand this for there was a time I coasted spiritually letting my prayer life and Bible study go to the back burner. Today, I only need a little nudge to get me back on track but I remember a time when I ignored my heart and within a year found it completely frozen; it was hard and unmoving. That hardness resulted in a tough and cold attitude toward God, the church, and folks in general. I had ceased to show any emotion and spent many months not shedding a single tear yet I continued to go to church and kept up the façade so others wouldn’t know but underneath I was in a spiritually dangerous place. One day I came upon a scripture that brought me hope: Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and will put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a new a heart of flesh!” It was not until then that I could really put a finger on what was wrong… I had become hard-hearted…or frozen. I began to pray for that fleshly heart. God answered and when my heart finally broke all the anger and bitterness flooded out until I was completely spent. Then the tears came and that release allowed my new heart to function correctly again.

Maybe you are struggling with some heart pipe problems, too. I am here as a testimony of how good it is to keep the flow of the living water running through the veins. Jesus promised the Living Water. Drink deeply of His water and I promise your pipes will flow freely…even when things are freezing all around. And by the way, these pipes never get too old!

Lions, and Tiger and Dares, Oh My!

2010-01-09T09:51:00.003-06:00

For the last months the news has been inundated with Tiger Woods and his numerous affairs…if you haven’t heard any of it, you have been in a third world country with no electricity. I would have hoped we would have left him alone to work out his personal life but since that isn’t the case I will use his situation as a warning to me about how I too could plummet into sin. I am not immune so I must be aware of how satan works!

How did Tiger fall? The same way we all do…with one little compromise. No thinking person dives into sinful behavior full force, it is small steps; like the popular Christian song says, “it’s a slow fade.” We start with one small compromise and soon find ourselves fully engaged in an affair, fixing the books, or other equally heinous activity we never dreamed we would be involved. The Bible is NOT silent on this. One of the greatest men ever to serve God discovered this; his name was King David. We find his story in II Samuel 11-13. How did this “man after God’s own heart” fall? It was with a single step…not being where he should have been, on the battlefield with the rest of his troops. Our fall often starts when we allow ourselves to be in situations that are not “right”-- engaging in relationships that have consequences beyond what we ever imagined. Christians are not immune! Many are caught in compromising situations and just as Tiger Woods, lose their families. It all started with a lunch or a phone call where the lines of right and wrong were blurred. Excuses like, “I was ministering to him/her.” Or “He/She needed a friend because his/her wife/husband doesn’t understand.” These excuses are the foothold that satan looks for to destroy the witness of a Christian.

All of us have times when our marriages are not going great guns and that is the exact time when satan, a roaring lion, pounces. He whispers, “You deserve more.” And then someone comes along who looks and acts like just what we need. Satan had it all planned…for your destruction! What begins as an innocent lunch ends in a bitter divorce. Lives are wrecked so we offer excuses…Tiger’s excuse was he was bored with his wife and he felt that gave him permission. We need to be aware of when we are “excusing” sin in our lives. Believe me, I know…I have been tempted and had it not been for my godly accountability partner, I shutter to think where my life would now be. Friend, we need boundaries to keep us from the wiles of the lion who is seeking to devour us, our families, and our ministries.

David could see sin in other’s lives but was hesitant to admit it in his own! We are often like that and so we need a “Nathan” in our lives…someone who will tell us the truth and to whom we will listen. When we engage in sinful behavior, the last thing we want is someone pointing it out but that is exactly what we need if we are to gain victory over sin.

David often told the story of killing a lion with his bare hands when he was younger but as he grew spiritually complacent, an even greater lion overtook him, resulting in actions, which David never dreamed he would participate. Many of us have been strong in the faith and have slain many lions but we have become complacent…our walk is not as close as it used to be and that is a dangerous place to be. We need to get back on our own battlefield against our great enemy. We need to stay fresh! May I present you with a dare for this New Year? Find someone to whom you will be accountable to for your actions, to whom you give permission to snatch you from potentially dangerous situations. We are in a great battle and we need each other to keep us “honest!”

I pray for each of you this year that you will remain faithful! Use this thought: There is a Lion…remember Tiger…and take the Dare! Oh, my. Victory is in our reach!

Hey Stranger!

2010-01-05T09:57:00.002-06:00

So how is the first week of 2010 going for you? I am still wondering if I am going to say, “twenty-ten” or “two-thousand ten,” but I digress!! I spent the first few days of this year at our son and daughter-in-law’s home. They have two little boys who are an absolute hoot! The older one (nearly 3) is asking some questions I need to ask myself more often, like, “Mom, what does God do?” The more I think about that question, the more I find comfort in the answer! It is a deep question and one that requires time to consider.

Some would say that God created everything and now just sits back and leaves us to our own devices. Others believe He died in the last century and so doesn’t do anything anymore…that we are in charge. Still others believe God is always trying to punish and keep us from “fun!” So, what does God do? To answer that we cannot rely on our feelings or emotions…we must look into His Word…we find that He created but He is very much involved with His creation. He desires relationship with us! He loves us…He protects us…but He also hates things that will hurt and destroy us…He judges the unrighteous things out of His absolute holiness. A great summary of what God does can be found in Isaiah 40:21-31. (Please take time to read this!) In short…He is God!

But knowing who God is and what He does is just academic if we don’t live out the facts of what we know! Because God is who is says He is, we should live differently…we live in victory even when things are falling down around us because He says that He will never leave us, or forsake us. God knows that we are going to have struggles in our lives…Jesus said it best when he said, “In this world you are going to have troubles, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!” John 16:33 He has warned us but given assurance at the same time.

Our daughter-in-law was doing some Christmas shopping with her oldest child and while standing at the counter paying for her purchases, she warned him of not leaving her side since there were “strangers” all around who might want to hurt him. When she felt that her message was received and understood, she paid for her purchases and they continued to the next store. Holding to his mom’s hand, William entered the next store, looked up at the first person he saw and said, “Hey, stranger!!” and waved happily! Now, while we might think he didn’t understand the warning, what William understood was the very thing God wanted us to understand…yes, there are going to be things that will hurt us in this life…they are all around us…but as long as we are holding on to the hand of the one who loves us most, we can wave and smile in the face of it all.

I have thought of this in my own life and for this New Year, I want to live in victory. I don’t want to cower in fear or despair about the world’s situations. I want to hold tightly to His hand and when those things happen, I want to wave and say, “Hey, recession!” “Hey, sickness!” “Hey, world leaders!” I want to live in the assurance that He is there with me…for that is what He promised. I don’t want to despair as the disciples did when they were in the boat and a storm came. They just knew that Jesus didn’t care because He was asleep but the fact was, they were okay! Jesus, the one who created the sea, was in control even if it didn’t look like He was! The words Jesus spoke to them should ring in our ears when we are losing confidence in our storm, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? Mark 4:40

So, in this year, (20-10; 2000-10???) I am going to resolve to hold tightly to His hand, knowing He loves me with an everlasting love. I resolve to walk closely by His side, listening to His voice! I resolve to, when faced with the “strangers” in life, to lift my hands in praise and shout, “Hey stranger! My God is an Awesome God!!”

Letting-go Resolution

2009-12-28T15:25:00.003-06:00

It is again time for New Year’s resolutions. While some might dread this, I love the thought of new beginnings! As a child, I looked forward to buying new pencils, notebooks and paper when school began because I just knew this was the year I was going to actually “get” math! This weekend I did my yearly cleaning out of my closet and dresser drawers and now I find myself opening the closet doors often just to see how neat it is! Newness and freshness is what most of us look forward to this time of the year so we tend to make decisions to start a diet, exercise, complain less, pray more or get closer to God… You can add your own desire! We start well but most of us barely make it past January 15th! I have been thinking about this and I had an epiphany. Perhaps we cannot keep our resolutions because we are holding on to something in the past! A love for food or unhealthy habits overtakes our resolve to do better! It is like being tied to a wall by a huge rubber band…we try to go forward…and can for a little while, but eventually we will snap right back to where we were! What can we do?

The Bible talks a great deal about letting go and going forward. I guess the most dramatic incident happened to Lot’s wife as she was escaping the doom of Sodom…something inside her would not allow a complete letting go, so she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt! (Genesis 19:15-26) When we hold on to things that are harmful, obviously the results are going to be dire. We often are hurt but others might be hurt as well. In this incident a family was left without a mother and there were horrible results for the whole nation of Israel!! The choice Lot’s wife made was her choice and the hope of a new life was thwarted by not letting go of things in her past.

Another choice was given in I Kings 19:19-21. Even those who want to follow God with all their hearts are not immune to the desire to hold on to things they think are important…as in the story of Elisha and Elijah. The difference between Lot’s wife and Elisha is that Elisha wanted to follow God more than to hold onto the things from which he drew comfort…job, family, and routine. That spoke worlds to me. The things Elisha wanted to hold onto were not bad things but they kept him from going forward.

So what can we learn from this? First of all, admit that there are things that are holding us back from becoming all of what God wants. We must decide to cut that rubber band and go forward with no holding on. Let go of yesterday…good or bad. I know people who still want to live in high school or college…reliving that touchdown or that academic accolade because that was when they felt life was best! (Was it???) Others are stuck in sadness…a death, a broken relationship…and have become bitter and angry…they are not willing to give life another chance! They have found an unhealthy comfort from this “pit of despair.” Then there are habits that have become a part of our lives…like complaining, negative thoughts, laziness and the list goes on. You can fill in the blank from your own life but if you want to move forward in victory, you must make a decision to cut away and let go of things that are keeping you from making your resolutions a reality.

God has promised us the strength to do what He has called us to do but we must take hold of that promise and quit making excuses for not living in victory. Our resolutions can become reality but we must “press on toward the goal to win the prize.”(Phil. 3: 14) Pressing on means pushing…an intentional decision to go forward. Paul began this statement with the words, “Forgetting (Letting go) of what is behind straining toward what is ahead!” So, before you make any resolution this week, first decide what needs to go...clean out that closet and those drawers of your life and you will find yourself opening the door waiting to see what God has prepared for you that is fresh and new! Happy New Year!!!

Mary Christmas (part 3)

2009-12-20T15:43:00.004-06:00

As we end this three part series of the Mary’s in Jesus life, we come to Mary Magdalene a woman whose past is only mentioned once (and then only in passing) in Luke 8:1-2, for I believe her past was not as important as her future! (The same is true with us…God is more concerned with our future…He doesn’t dwell on our pasts.)

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out…

There it was…she was a woman who was completely bound by demons and Jesus had released her. She had been freed from whatever had been controlling her and she could do nothing less than follow Jesus, helping to support Him and His disciples out of her own means. To clear up some misconceptions, this was not the woman who was caught in adultery or even the prostitute at Simon’s home…those women were never named. This Mary was a wealthy woman of the area who had “issues” of being controlled by something externally. She had discovered that her wealth could not bring her freedom from the demons of life…only Jesus could. Once freed, she spent the rest of her life following and ministering to Him. She was there through the good times and the bad….at the healings and miracles, at the trial, at the cross, and finally, at the tomb. I am sure she thought it was over as far as the ministry was concerned but her love for the “teacher” went beyond what He could do for her…it had become what she could do for Him.

Oh, from what has God delivered you? I know He has given me absolute freedom from the many things that had controlled me for most of my life. I wish I had time to tell you of my freedom in detail but know that I can do no less than praise Him for all of it! I consider it a privilege to follow Him wherever He leads. We can be bound by many things…but there is no doubt that He wants us to be free!!

Mary’s “rest of the story” is found in John 20:10-18. Her faithfulness was rewarded by a most wonderful privilege-to hear her name spoken by the risen Lord and to be the first to see Him in His resurrected body. She was overwhelmed by seeing this resurrected Jesus, and wanted to stay in that state of wonder so Jesus’ warning “to not hold on to Him” was similar to the statement God made to Peter on the Mt. of Transfiguration…to get to the work of being a disciple...later you will dwell with Him completely but now you must tell others. Jesus told her to, “go and tell the brothers.”

In order to be prepared for this season we also must first see the LORD and tell others that you have seen Him. What are you telling? Perhaps what we bought, who is coming and sometimes about the baby born in Bethlehem, the Shepherds, and the angel’s rejoicing are our glad tidings. While this is good and necessary, how many of us will include our personal encounter with Christ---when the LORD showed up and spoke our names? The angels rejoiced then, too! So, this Christmas we must tell the brothers (and sisters) about the Living Christ.

I know most of you are finished decorating but may I suggest a three more decorations?

◊ A magnifying glass to remember to magnify the Lord.
◊ A pillow to remind us to rest at His feet in worship
◊ A megaphone to remind us to tell the Good News of our own freedom story because of Christ.

Please, do not under any circumstance go into this season without knowledge of who this season is about. Ask Him to be more to you than a baby in a manger! If there is a coldness in your heart reconnect to Him now and do whatever business you need to do so your hearts and homes will be prepared for this CHRISTmas season.

Mary Christmas! May you have a wonderful New Year!

Mary Christmas (part 2)

2009-12-13T14:16:00.004-06:00

The next Mary in or three part series of Mary Christmas is Mary of Bethany which will be found in Luke 10:38-42.

This story is very familiar to most of us type “A” people. To set the stage it is about two sisters who were cooking for a big bunch of men including Jesus. Hard work for two but when one sits down and leaves all the work for the other, sparks are going to fly. Most of us know the story but the last time I read it I noticed something I had not noticed before: Let’s re-read verses 38-39:

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman NAMED Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister CALLED Mary….

Did you catch that? A woman named Martha had a sister called Mary. I looked at that verse in several versions and they all said the same thing. Everywhere a person is mentioned in the Bible it says their name was…but here it says she was “called” Mary. There must have been a reason and so I looked up the definition of the name Mary. There were four definitions: 1. One who is loved by God. 2. Plump one! 3. Long-awaited child. 4. Rabbi’s understood it to mean “bitter.” So, why was she called Mary? Could it be that she was called bitter? We don’t know but we do know that she was single living with her sister and brother. Did she ever have a husband? Was he dead? Was she jilted? Was she angry at the lot of her life? We don’t know. But if we surmised that she was called “bitter” how would that enhance the story?

Many of us enter this season with great bitterness in our hearts. The reasons vary. Perhaps a loved one is no longer here to celebrate with you for one reason or another. Divorce or death entered you life and so you have divorced yourself from the celebration. Perhaps there is a great hurt in life from which it appears there is no way of forgiving. Whatever it is, you enter this season with bitterness in your heart. You see the laughing faces of others and find yourself angry, envious, or depressed. Could it be this was the way Mary of Bethany came to Jesus? Maybe tired of the pain, she saw an opportunity to be free and sat His feet drinking in everything that He had to say! She brought all of her hurt and bitterness and laid them at His feet. In that very act of sitting there she saw the Master and fell in love with Him resulting into her bitterness being replaced with peace and joy. As Martha complained to Jesus about Mary’s lack of helping, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one things is needed. Mary (I believe it was now definition #1) has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” Martha also had “issues” but chose to “do stuff” instead of admitting her true need. This season, we can choose to admit our need or get really busy and avoid it. What had Mary chosen? Oh she chose to admit! Simply put, she put all of her bitterness at the feet of Jesus and He took care of them.

Dear one, are you entering this season with bitterness? I suggest that before you go a step further in preparing to choose what is best, and sit at His feet until all the bitterness is taken away. Oh, rest at His feet this season.

Mary Christmas (a series of three)

2009-12-08T08:58:00.002-06:00

In my hometown there was a girl whose name was Mary. While that was not unusual, her last name happened to be Christmas! I am sure her parents thought it was cute at the time! I often thought how horrible it would to be named Mary Christmas. What would her mother do when she got angry? Yell, “Mary Christmas!!!!” We laugh but then I begin to think how more and more we have begun to do the same thing with Christmas. We have become so full of “things to do” and “stuff to get” that many of us are yelling, Merry Christmas to each other. A simple look at the faces of those in the mall or my favorite place, Wal-Mart, is evidence of this. Last Christmas, I made a concerted effort to smile at people as I shopped. You would not believe the angry looks I got in return, Christmas glad tidings? I think not!

I began to think of the name “Mary” again and God led me to look at the Mary’s in Jesus’ life as He walked this earth. What could I learn from them? How would they treat Christmas? With that thought, I want to share a three-part series I call the “Mary Christmas” lesson, or how to bring Christ into our hearts and homes this holiday season.

Luke 1: 46-48

The very first Mary in Jesus life was His mother. Who was this woman? We know very little about her other than the fact that she was a virgin, and that she had found favor with God. History indicates that she was a good Jewish girl, from a good Jewish family. They lived in a little town and probably didn’t own many worldly goods. In short, she was a “nobody” whom God chose to do an incredible thing. Some of you are thinking you are just a “nobody.” You have quietly served God all these years and you are just living out the years. Oh, listen to the lesson of this Mary. God wants to do an incredible work in your life if only you do one thing! What did this Mary do?

My soul glorifies (in KJV it is magnifies) the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant!

Friend, the first thing we need to do this season is to “Magnify the Lord” through all we do. There is a tendency to put Him on the back burner while we are making the gravies and sauces for our dinners but to have a true Christmas He must be bigger than life. One year as I was decorating for Christmas…BTW a task I hated and dreaded every year---I put on some music to get me in the mood. I couldn’t find any Christmas music so I settled for a Praise and Worship CD. Paul Baloche sang as I halfway listened, reluctantly hanging garland on one of the fireplace mantles. All of a sudden I clearly heard the words of one of the songs in a way I had never listened before. The words were:

You are the One, You are Holy.
You are the One. You are Worthy.
You are the One.
You are the One I will worship….
You are the one.

I fell on my knees with tears streaming down my face at my sin of thinking this was all about me and all that I had to do. This was a time of remembering HIS birth, which resulted in MY salvation. Oh, when I got up, I began decorating with a new vigor. With every decoration I realized HE was the ONE!!

Oh, this Christmas with all your heart, Magnify the Lord…for He is the One.

Perspective

2009-12-02T09:23:00.003-06:00

I have been reading, Andy Andrews, an author who is new to me…He is not a “Christian” author but his works are definitely Christian. In his book, The Noticer, the overall theme is perspective. This idea, although not new, has been thought-provoking in this season of my life. What is perspective? I guess it is best described by the story of a fly that lighted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Glancing at the crowds who were amazed by the ceiling’s beauty, the fly looked at what he could see from his vantage point and said, “They all came for this?” The fly could only see one tiny part of one minuscule brushstroke in the millions upon millions that make up the entire ceiling. His perspective was indeed limited.

I have been thinking about this since before Thanksgiving. What we focus on, brings our own perspective to situations. If we focus on what we don’t have, our perspective will be bleak and we will become depressed. However, if we focus upon the things we do have the perspective changes! Some examples: “Oh, no, I have to go back to work!” vs. “I am so glad I have a job in this economy!” You get the idea…but what about the whole of life? Perhaps you are going through a very difficult time…how do you get proper perspective? For the Christian, it is called faith! Often we are like flies on ceilings wondering what is going on, when all along God is working out a great plan in our lives or the lives of those we love. We can’t see the whole picture but we have to trust that it looks better from far away than it does in the midst of it! I can give lots of testimony that that is true in my life…once I stepped away from the situation, I could see the bigger picture.

A great example was while in college, I knew I had met the man of my dreams. Plans to marry were made and life was great when all of a sudden the relationship ended…and not well. I became distraught and angry. “Why would God take this person away from me for we had such a great ministry ahead?” I could only see my pain and my will. These long years later, I see clearly that God truly knew what He was doing…(thank God for unanswered prayers!) My perspective changed…I saw more of the picture and because of that (and countless other examples) I have learned that God is trustworthy. Samuel called this his Ebenezer! (I Samuel 7:12-13) He was in a fierce battle with a familiar enemy of God’s people…the Philistines. He wasn’t sure about what the future would hold for him but He knew God was in control! To show his faith, Samuel lifted a large stone, naming it “Ebenezer” which means, “Thus far the LORD helped us!” He didn’t know what was to come but “thus far” and God never changes!!

That is what I have been reflecting upon, as things in life change. “Thus far, God has been faithful,” has become my perspective. Disease enters? Thus far! Child rebels? Thus far! Job loss? Thus far! Friend, I have been on this journey long enough to know that when our perspective remains upon God’s mighty power and everlasting love for us, that we can make it! I challenge you today to remember a powerful victory God has given you in the past, find a stone, label the victory on the stone and call it your Ebenezer! I can assure you that your perspective to the situation you currently are in will change.

I love each of you so much! Focus on Him and let your perspective be, “thus far!”

Pit of Perfection

2009-11-17T10:18:00.004-06:00

I have not blogged in awhile…not because I didn’t want to but I had a fall. I fell into a pit. Perhaps you will understand for you have fallen into pits like this before, too. These pits sneak up on us. One day we are walking around, things are fine, and then there is a hole and we fall in. My particular pit was a familiar one and a dangerous one. It was a pit of “I am not good enough…” Perhaps you have had that kind of fall, too, for like the potholes in Jackson, these pits are everywhere--especially on the streets we travel most. May I suggest this is satan’s biggest weapon for “pits” tend to render us useless.

I need not go into the details of what caused my fall, but it took longer to get myself out this time. Feelings of inadequacy grew from thinking I wasn’t a good teacher to I am not a good person. “Who would ever want to be around me?” became my constant thought. This pit was not a good place to be, let me tell you!! I was not really depressed, just paralyzed in doing what I knew I needed to do. I was trapped…in bondage with chains I had put on myself.

Now, why would I share this with you? After all, I am supposed to encourage and tell you about Christ’s victorious life, aren’t I? That is exactly why I am telling you this…you see I am no longer in that pit and I want you to know how I escaped just in case you are in a similar pit right now.

While I was being all “pit-a-full” I refused to go to Christ for help. Sound familiar? satan had convinced me that God would never want to use me anymore because I was so worthless. This was the trap satan has always used… I can’t believe I fell for this lie again. I thought I knew better! I did not eat of the Word of God and soon found myself starving and willing to eat the lies of the deceiver. Dangerous place! This could have been where the story ends…BUT GOD.

When God can’t reach us the easy ways, He tries creative ways to get to us. My granddaughter, who is 10, quoted her “favorite” scripture to me…Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” She was merely trying to impress me with her memorization, but God wanted to remind me of some very important things:

• I wasn’t good…but God is great…and God is good and He loves me with an ever-lasting love. My only goodness is from Him. Jesus even said to the people to whom he preached, “Why do you call me good…there is no one good except my Father who is in Heaven.” My significance both here and beyond, is in Him…what a wonderful place to be.
• Nothing I do makes Him love me any more or any less. I can do nothing that would cause Christ’s love to be taken away from me. His grace is sufficient for my every need but also for my every failing. It is a gift and not just at salvation but throughout my life.
• He has called me (and you) for a purpose while we are on this earth. It was upon this point that I really needed to dwell. I knew he called me but I had been coasting for a while, doing this “call” on my own…in my own wisdom. (insert hysterical laughter here!) What I had forgotten was what my granddaughter reminded me…it is Christ doing it…not me! If I am to do this thing right, I must immerse myself in His word and depend on His strength. When I do that, the situations and feeling really do change!
• I don’t need to dwell in the pit! There is an escape…and Christ’s strength is the only way.

So, what has changed? Did the situation change? Nope! What caused the fall is still stalking me. What changed was my focus. I chose to look to Christ instead of my circumstances. I used that word “chose” because it is a choice. You, dear one, can choose to stay in the pit…you can even put up curtains with a recliner…but there will be no light and no rest…for it is a pit, and a pit is dark and uncomfortable.

I am back with a vengeance to help others escape despair. Honestly, I had forgotten what it was like to be down, but now I remember…I know how some of you are feeling…I know how hard life can be…but I also know who God is and I know His Word says, “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Is. 40:31 I have never seen an eagle in a pit!! Praise His Name!!!

Pick Me! Pick Me!!

2009-09-09T23:06:00.002-05:00

I am a grown woman with a college degree, seminary, two wonderful adult children, 3 precious grandchildren, and a great husband! Because of Christ, I have had a very good life so what could go wrong? Well, I was reminded this week of how cruel people are and memories of 5th grade came rushing back to my mind!!

I was always taller than anyone else in my class (I still am.) Being tall and lanky also caused me to be a little clumsy so during recess when people were choosing teams for kickball, I was nearly always last in the picking. You all know that feeling. We would go home and cry and our moms would tell us how beautiful and talented we were and that “those people” were just jealous of us! Great words but it never worked did it? The fact that we were not good enough for that special group, for some, left a lasting mark. We often grow out of it and live a fairly normal life until something comes along to remind us of that memory.

That reminder happened twice this week in our household! It didn’t happen to me but to two people I love very much and through them I have re-lived every single moment of the pain I had in the 5th grade. While my rejection happened at school, my loved ones’ rejection happened at a place where rejection should never happen…at church. I will get over this and so will my loved ones but it made me wonder about what we as the church are doing in the world.

I recently read the book, Un-Christian, and thought the authors were way off base ---until this week. The fact is, humans have a need to be accepted and will go wherever that will happen. Psychologists say that is why gangs are so popular among youth…in gangs they are accepted and the members will do whatever it takes to remain a part of the group that accepted them. The world is looking for somewhere to be “picked!” The local church should be that place but is it? Reality is I am accepted in my church and so I assume everyone else who comes is, but this past week I realized that is not the case and perhaps the words in Un-Christian is more accurate than I would like to believe. These incidents happened and I became aware of my own apathy in relating to those who are not in my group of friends!

Jesus saw this attitude as we are told of his encounter with a woman who was not “picked” by those who were a part of the “in crowd”. We call her “the woman at the well” but I often wonder about the other women...you know, the ones who came early and shunned her because she was “one of those women!” Perhaps they felt superior to her and rolled their eyes or giggled as she walked by. Or maybe even worse, they never even noticed her. Oh, she saw them-- maybe watching their conversations wishing she could participate…but she knew it would never happen because she was not good enough…they would never pick her. But on this day things were going to change. Jesus saw her, looked at her, talked to her, and picked her!! He didn’t ignore her sin but He did give her hope that things could be better. The best part of this is that she was given dignity…so much that she had the courage to face the “other women” and brought them to the very person who changed her life.

That is Christ’s legacy to His church and I am afraid we are more like those shunning women rather than those offering hope. Make no mistake, we all have the capacity to become part of the special clique! We also, however, have the capacity to offer hope and dignity to those who so much want to belong but in order to do that, we must look at others through the eyes of Jesus. We must be willing to step out of our comfort zone and take some risks! It may be hard but the results just might cause revival!

Things will eventually settle down in my home; hurt feelings will be healed and I pray I will show compassion to those who were compassionless for that is what Jesus has called us to do---after all, I once was “that woman” but Jesus “picked” me and offered me hope and life! He can do the same for you and through you.

Focus

2009-09-01T08:49:00.002-05:00

I don't like doctors! Nothing personal, I just don't like them. They probe, say little, then give you a bill and maybe some medicine. They really don't want to have conversations with you because they are focused on one thing: getting to the root of what is wrong. Many others share in this dislike of the medical profession so I don't feel alone. I, however,also hate going to the eye doctor to get new glasses. Whoa, now I admit that is weird. You might think I don't like the dilating of the eyes? No, that is cool and the glasses you get to wear are great fashion statements! No, what I don't like is having to make a decision about, "Which is better, This or This?" Arghhh! Pressure. My decision at that moment will last for at least a year...what if I make a wrong choice? I will have to live with it.

It is much like life. Each day God says, "Which is better, this or this?" We are given a choice of upon what we will focus...the negative or the positive. I love being on Facebook but many times status updates are gripes about the silliest things...a choice to focus on the negative and in doing so are setting a foundation for the rest of the day. I am as guilty as anyone about focusing on the half-empty glass! It's easier to do and doesn't require anything other than settling for the way things appear. It is like going to the eye doctor and telling him/her, "I don't see very well out of these glasses but I don't I don't want new ones" and then complaining how blurry everything is!! I remember a story about a construction worker who for an entire week complained loudly about having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in his lunch box. He would complain loudly, "I hate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!" The other workers finally asked him why he didn't just tell his wife to make another kind of sandwich to which he answered, "Oh, I make my own lunches!"

We make our own lunches, too! We get to choose how we respond to the situations in life. Choice "one" is to complain resulting in making yourself and everyone around you miserable! Choice "two" is to focus on anything in the situation that might be positive. That is the harder choice but it is like getting new lenses for the day! This is not just a bunch of happy thought or mind control as many think...it is about where we are going to invest our lives! We were given a model of this kind of living. Hebrews 12:2 says this: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Did you see that? Jesus set joy before Him on His journey which allowed Him to endure all that was going on around Him. Choosing to focus on the positive allows us to endure. I know there are some horrible situations in today's world but when we focus on our faith...it will be perfected. When we focus on where this road is leading...we will endure.

So, which is better? This? (headache, finances, mean people, sickness, government, etc.) or This? (God is in control, He loves me, I am blessed because I am His) Your answer will determine what your day will be! Today, I choose to look toward the joy set before me!

I'm not Apathetic...I just don't care!

2009-08-20T09:11:00.003-05:00

Not often will I put something someone else said on my blog but today I was extremely convicted of my apathy toward a lost world who needs Jesus. Perhaps this writing was just for me...but you might be in need of some reality, as well. Have a blessed day in the LORD friends.
cyndi

What Will You Do?

I love history, especially the tales of small groups of resistance fighters facing great odds or serious obstacles. As a child I grew up with many memories and impressions of World War II. My father served in the Royal Air Force and my mother told me stories of the bombing of the shipyards in Clydebank (Glasgow). I can well remember the strange emotions that arose from imagining "enemy" planes above seeking to bomb us (nice, innocent, sweet Scots) out of house and home. It instilled a sense of awe, but also raised the question: What kind of a world is this where we do such things to one another?

As an adult, I have since travelled to many sites of historical import and have spoken with many old soldiers and service personnel who lived through it all. Perhaps no tale grabs a British heart as much as that of the "Battle of Britain." In the summer of 1940, France and Belgium had been overrun; the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk, leaving behind all the weapons and heavy equipment. All that stood between invasion and the Nazi onslaught was the English Channel and the pilots and fighter planes of the Royal Air Force.

Alex Kershaw, an American writer, has documented how several young Americans were willing to lose their citizenship and risk their lives to volunteer as pilots. In his book, The Few, Kershaw adds to the rich literature of this dark yet heroic time, giving lots of wonderful insight and detail on these young Americans who were almost all killed in the fierce battles that raged over Southern England and the cold, unwelcoming waters of the channel.

I am deeply grateful to those who gave their lives for our freedom. I am also deeply inspired by the sense of vision, courage, and commitment that called so many into action. To me, this offers parallels for the life of faith.

When surveying the challenges that face the gospel and the church in our time, we might ask: How are Christians doing in answering the call Christ outlined?(1) The sheer complexity of culture with all its diversity, its issues, and its needs demands a fresh sense of urgency, passion, skill, and vision. Globally, we see the rise of an increasingly mobile professional population, many of whom are open to spiritual reflection and the deeper things of life. How will they be reached? Who will go? What kind of preparation, cost, and skill will it take?

In 1 Corinthians 9:22, the apostle Paul testifies to just how willing he was to bear the price, what he was willing to do to adapt, and how serious the whole experience was to him. From the stunning confrontation on the road to Damascus to his subsequent boldness in mission, something happened. The apostle was not merely persuaded of the truth of one position over another, though that indeed happened. He was not simply overwhelmed by the good examples of the Christians and their persuasive morality, though this too may have played some part. Rather, he was "gripped" by an encounter with a Person that reframed reality, unsettled his existing world, and called him to a life of service, focus, and action.

I know it's easy to romanticize such people or such events. However, in this case, I believe there is adequate historical testimony to compel us to reflect personally on the nature and demands of the gospel, the centrality of Christ, and the call to mission. For Paul's life was turned around simply because he encountered the truth as a person, as Christ. Having said this, taking up this truth takes courage, demands a response, and is intensely personal.

Shortly after what turned out to be one of the greatest days of aerial combat during the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill was on his way home, feeling stunned by the efforts of the young pilots and overwhelmed by their commitment. In his own inimitable way he said, "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few." Churchill's moving words are a rich tribute to those who gave their all that others might live.

The Scriptures remind us of a time when all will face the Lord who has given even more, and all we have done with our lives will stand with us before him. Might we all hear those wonderful words: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Stuart McAllister is vice president of training and special projects at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Cover of Darkness

2009-08-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

I grew up in the Air Force. We actually lived on a SAC base where there were often practice “alerts” and drills to prepare for a possible attack from whatever enemy might be lurking about. During these drills, the one thing I remember having to do was to lower the blinds and turn out all the lights until the room was a dark as it could be. We had to sit in this darkness until the drill was over and while we were not in any real danger, to a small child it felt real. The only thing that made me feel safe was my daddy who constantly told me this would not last for long…it was just for a time. Through this I learned, however, that darkness was not always a bad thing…darkness could be protection from whatever might be out to hurt me.

While we as Christians are to live in the Light, that doesn’t mean that there will not be times of darkness in our lives. We live in a fallen world and to think that we alone will escape is to not live in reality. Jesus Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world!” John 16:33…at least that is the part we usually quote…let’s look at the whole verse: I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world. Jesus had just told his disciples about some of the terrible things they would be experiencing after he left but He left them with hope. His disciples all suffered greatly…As the church was established many suffered. The thought that we should be immune from trouble is not to be found in the word of God. Darkness will come.

I was reading Job the other day and found myself glibly reacting to all Job was going through. It bothered me until I realized that I could read this matter-of-factly because I had read the ending…it ended better than it started. But Job didn’t know the ending…he lived through death, financial disaster, illness and loss of friendship not understanding why. Although, he questioned God, he never turned from God. His statement was, “I know my Redeemer lives!!!” (Job 19:25) His faith unwavering even though he didn’t know.

During the drills when I was a child, I didn’t really know what was going on, but I felt safe for I was with one who did…He knew when it was going to end and that I would be okay. That in itself was comfort.

Many of my friend’s lives are in great darkness right now…. some have been laid off from jobs they have had for years...others are facing diseases and they are not sure of what tomorrow will bring. Perhaps that describes you, as well. May I just tell you that in your darkest times you might just be in the clef of a rock with God’s hand placed over you in protection. He knows how it all ends! May I encourage you to sit closely to Him in this darkness and listen to His still small voice saying, “My child, this is not going to last long. It is just for a time and it will be ok. Trust me!” This life is just a drill; our real home is where darkness does not dwell for Christ is the light. Until then, place your eyes on the Prince of Peace.

Lessons from Sunscreen!

2009-08-09T16:16:00.002-05:00

I have just returned from a week on the coast and came home without sunburn, which is monumental. As a teen, we lived walking distance from the beach so nearly every summer day would include a trip to the white sands upon which I would plaster myself with baby oil laced with iodine so I would appear tanner. The fact is, what I called “laying out” was really basting my body in the oven of the sun. True, I was tanned to perfection, but now that I am “slightly” older, I wonder about the sanity of those days.

Ah, youth! This observation goes well beyond tanning. The things we do in life all have consequences. Being tanned as a youth increases wrinkles (at the least) or skin cancer (at the worse.) My mother, who never went into the sun and at age 68 didn’t have a wrinkle on her face, would tell me to use sunscreen!!! I didn’t listen!

I got to thinking about this sitting under my umbrella on Ship Island, which is a good place to ponder life! I thought about how as children we were warned by our elders about all kind of things we should avoid because of the life-long consequences. Most of us didn’t listen because we knew more than they did…hey, we knew more than anyone! We were the enlightened ones…that is until the consequences fell down all around us. We cried, “Why didn’t someone warn us??” Fact is, they did, we just didn’t listen.

This is not new…it started in the Garden of Eden when Eve had her encounter with the “snake!” God had set up very specific guidelines but neither Adam nor Eve listened and there were life-ending consequences. In the book of John, Jesus often repeats two phrases: “I tell you the truth”; and “He who has ears let him hear.” God is for us not just wanting to ruin our good time! He has rules for our good but only if we listen and obey! The Word is God is full of instructions that the world calls a list of “cannots.” I have lived long enough to know, however, it is spiritual sunscreen from a loving Father who doesn’t want His children to get burned in life.

King David knew this first hand… only after breaking some commandments did he realized God’s ways were for his good. Psalm 25:10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. God wants us to live a thriving life and sets forth boundaries but when those boundaries are breached there will be consequences. For David, his sin of adultery and murder resulted in the death of his child but even more in his loss of fellowship with the God of his youth. He was a wreck. Read about the guilt and pain of sin in Psalm 32.

My mama told me, I told my daughter, and she has told her daughter how to avoid the pitfalls in life but I didn’t listen, nor did my daughter and I bet there will be some stretching of the envelope from my grand. I am listening now…perhaps you are too. So, do we just give up thinking it does no good to urge others to follow God’s law? No! Listen to the last words David spoke to his son, Solomon, “I am about to go the way of all the earth….So, be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and deep His decrees and commands , his laws, and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go. (I Kings 2: 2-3a) David had learned the hard way what rebellion can do. He wanted it to be easier for his son…we want it to be better for those we love so we continue to tell! It is not our responsibility to make them obey but it is our responsibility to tell them the truth of God…He who has ears, let him hear.

I am afflicted with brown spots and wrinkles because I didn’t listen back then so this past week when my granddaughter and I went to the very same beach I once basted upon, there was one big difference…SPF 50! I am not tanned but then neither am I burned. Maybe she will learn the sunscreen lesson maybe not… But the lesson of following God is much more important. Let it be my desire to teach her, to tell her the truth, and to pray for her to have ears to hear.

Roots

2009-08-01T14:45:00.002-05:00

When you hear the word “roots” of what do you think? About every 6 weeks I think of something that needs to be taken care of (and quickly) before people figure out that I am actually older than 29!!! (denial is a good thing!) In the spring, when we lived in the country, roots were the things we had to cut through before we could plant our beautiful annuals. When I taught English, Roots, was the title of a novel that needed to be read for AR credit!! Today, I am contemplating other roots…those I cannot seem to cover, dig up or read about. These roots are deeply ingrained in me and as much as I would like to forget some of them, I can’t. You know what I am talking about!!! These roots are our growing up times…the people, the places, the sights and smells of our youth!

I did not have the privilege of growing up in one place, so my roots have traveled from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. Having grown up as an Air Force brat, I learned early not to dig too deeply into a place for I would not be there long…that is until my daddy retired and we settled on the Mississippi Gulf Coast…more specifically, Long Beach. It was here I experienced my first encounter with roots! I was in Junior High and had moved in on people who had known each other since birth…plus I was from……(said in whispered tones) California!!! Parents were afraid to let their children hang with me because I was from……California. Roots are hard to establish when you are not a native plant…hard but not impossible.

I was determined to become rooted in this environment….I even tried to say, “ya’ll” like the rest of them, but they knew! This was hard ground but after a couple of months, parents relaxed and I began to be a part of this place but more than that, this place became a part of me!! I was active in the First Baptist Church of Long Beach and my spiritual roots grew for there were adults who invested time and energy into this tall gangly kid from…..California!! My friendship roots grew deep for these are friends I still have today! It was a place I began to call ‘Home” because it was where my parents were. Before I knew it, I had become a Mississippian and finally had earthly roots.

It is because of these roots that I became a little depressed after Katrina…devastation nearly washed away all the things I had grown accustom to seeing on this beach. I almost thought everything was gone, but that is the funny thing about “roots!” They run deep…below the devastation, below the storms. They are safe and secure and cannot be destroyed!

This next week, I will be going back to this place I have called home. I will take my granddaughter and we will walk in the sand. She will not remember what had been there…because she never saw it. She will enjoy what is built new and fresh since the devastation. We will eat in new restaurants and shop in new stores. There will be one thing that we will do, however, that I did with my mother and my daughter…we will go the Friendship Oak! We will walk under its massive branches and wonder in the fact that it has endured Camille, Katrina, and countless other storms since the 1400’s. Why? Because of its roots. They are deeply and firmly planted within the soil that will not move. I will look at this tree as a symbol of my life in Christ. He is my true and eternal home. As we become rooted in Him we will be able to withstand all that life throws at us. John 15:1-8. The promise is, “As long as we remain in Him…rooted and established.”

So, today, I am thinking about roots! I am rejoicing that next week I not only can share some earthly roots with my grand, but I will, while standing under that tree, be able to share some spiritual roots, too!

What do you think about when you hear the word, Roots? Please, share!

Perhaps It Is Not Just Semantics

2009-07-26T21:13:00.001-05:00

I overheard a conversation the other day that went something like this…”Oh, you need to come to OUR church…we are doing such wonderful things. We had about 1,200 in VBS.” The response was like this…”Well, I go to ________ and we are doing________.” It turned into a one-up conversation about each other’s churches and which church was better with the measuring line being how many activities were being done and how many people were involved….

It might just be me…and probably is…but I have noticed there is more talk about what our various churches are doing rather than what Jesus is doing in our lives and in our congregations. Some might think it is just semantics but is it? Do we really mean “Jesus” when we say “our church”? I would hope so but I am afraid at times we are more concerned about the reputation of our congregations than the glory of God.

Maybe I am just being overly sensitive but I know that God alone is to be glorified in this kingdom work. It is with that thought that I want to have your input. What do you think? Maybe you haven’t considered this before but now you are! This is your time so let me know your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you!

AAA of Life

2009-07-21T12:46:00.002-05:00

After I got my first car…my senior year of college…my daddy insisted that I enroll in AAA. I was aghast that he thought I would drink and drive until he sat me down and s-l-o-w-l-y explained to me the difference between AA and AAA! He told me that although I had been taught how to change a tire, it would be nice to have someone come and help me if I were on the road alone and if I broke down, he wanted to know that I could get a tow-truck to take me to a place where my car could be repaired. Then he said, “Cyndi, I won’t be able to come and help you out every time you need it, so I am telling you how you can find help on your own!” My daddy never even got through the 8th grade but he was the wisest man I ever knew.

My renewal for AAA came in the mail this week and I remembered his statement. These years later I see he could have been talking about life and what Christians should be to the world. AAA doesn’t fix our cars…it takes us to places where they can be fixed! Many of us hesitate to minister to others because we think we are to “fix” things. Being surrounded by great hurt can be overwhelming if we believe we are to make everything better. Admittedly, there are things we can “fix” for the moment…a meal, money to pay a bill, a hug, kissing a skinned knee… things we can do for minor hurts and pains but in major things, like great grief, we are helpless so we make trite statements because we must “say or do something” to make it better. We become overwhelmed, discouraged, and often give up and often become depressed ourselves because we thought we could make things better. I have been there…many times; delusional enough to think I actually had any control over terrible situations...thinking if I just said the right thing…if I helped them in another way…if I just stopped them somehow then things would be better.

God never called us to fix…but to take the brokenness to the Great Physician. Knowing this can free us to minister in His power. We are the conduits to the One who can fix…who can bring peace…who is freedom from sinful behaviors. Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Matt. 11:29) He didn’t say, cyndi, take on the world…but He said, bring the world to me.

How do we do that? First of all know Him and realize He has been the comforter, restorer, and redeemer on your own journey! Paul said in Philippians 3:10 “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings becoming like Him in His death.” Spend time with Him; learn to trust Him yourself. Secondly, you cannot lead people where you haven’t been so don’t try! You have, however, been on journeys others have yet to go and own an already-plotted map. Share that “map” when you see others on similar roads for that is ‘sharing in His sufferings’…Jesus understood every trial of mankind and showed the way to the Father to all who would follow. Thirdly, stop to help if you can or at least call a tow truck. We must minister…we can’t just speed by those in need because we don’t know what to do! Stop and offer His peace. When there is a breakdown, be there to take them to the repair shop of God’s presence. On occasion, we can help fix “a flat,” but that flat will eventually need to get fixed or replaced and that needs to be done by Someone who knows what He is doing! Let others know of the flat fixer…and let them know it isn’t you. So, friend, minister to others in the mighty name of Jesus! That is all we are called to do.

Daddy, you haven’t been here to help me out of some pretty bad situations…but you taught me about how to get help…and that has made all the difference. Thanks!

The Blessing Might Be Hidden!!

2009-07-12T17:48:00.003-05:00

This year, for my birthday my very sweet husband told me we were going to go to PF Changs and to get a Big Mac. I am not a culinary genius, but I did know that PF Changs did not serve Big Macs! I was a bit confused but after we ate, we shopped a little. I had wanted two things for my birthday: a MacBook or a CD Changer for my car that would play more than one CD. We ate a wonderful meal then stopped to shop some great sales! I opened my trunk to put in the packages we purchased and noticed that a side panel had fallen down. I have had this car for over 2 years and had never noticed the side panel much less the latch on it…both my husband and I noticed a strange box-like thing within the panel---it was a 10-disc CD changer!! For over two years I had struggled with changing CD’s on busy Interstate Highways with the single CD player inside the car when all along I could have just let the additional changer in the trunk do what it does best…change CD’s! What I had longed for had been there all along but a single latched panel kept up apart.

At times we desire something from God but soon give up when it is not in plain sight. We often settle for something less or give up completely and turn away thinking God had not been faithful. What I wanted was there all along if only I had examined my car more closely and turned a simple latch. Likewise, all we need when looking for God’s presence is found in Jeremiah 29. We love to quote the part where it says, “I know the plans I have for you”…but my favorite part comes in verse 13: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The word “seek” implies much more than a cursory glance…it requires a deep search. It requires time and effort on our part and it requires our heart. When our whole heart is in something we take it more seriously and seldom give up until we find what we look for.

Admittedly, when I had turned on my CD player, the dashboard would state, “CD Changer empty.” The car had tried many times to inform me of the presence of the CD player but since I couldn’t see it I thought perhaps it was only included on another model but not mine. We do that too. The Bible tells us that God is “for” us not “against” us; that He loves us with an everlasting love and has provided all we need in life through the Holy Spirit but we say that “others” have great blessings or abilities from God but not us! The fact is that God is available to everyone equally! The difference is that some seek Him with their hearts while others look for Him like some look for mayonnaise in the refrigerator…if it is not in the front and center it is not there!

God wants to be found…He wants to bless us with the things we need for abundant life and with the power to overcome great obstacles. He through Jesus Christ has removed all the barriers---Luke 23: 45: “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” The one-time barrier for everyone to approach God was gone! Jesus made it possible to go directly to the throne of God to make our requests…so why don’t we? Perhaps a lack of faith? Perhaps a sense that we don’t deserve it? Maybe we are just lazy and would rather complain. Giving up hope often takes less effort than seeking Him but seek Him we must if we are to experience all He wants for us. He is and has been here all the time…don’t wait for a wall (trunk panel) to fall in on your life to see Him. Whatever you need today the answer is, “Seek God!” He is there and when your heart gets hungry enough He will be found.

Oh, and that Big Mac? They had lots of them at the Apple store next to PF Changs! I got the MacBook Pro Combo!!! What a great birthday!

Pictures Don't Show Everything!

2009-07-02T13:09:00.002-05:00

Last week we discussed complaining about our situations even though God is blessing us greatly with all we need. The Children of Israel did that on the way to the Promised Land by wanting more than the daily bread God provided. Today they are in another situation…their journey is almost done…the Promised Land is in reach…yet, they hesitate.
One of my very favorite songs is Sara Groves’ “Painting Pictures of Egypt” on her Conversations album. I love it because it is so much like me. Let me give you some of the lyrics:

The past is so tangible I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy To discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
I am caught between the Promise
And the things I know

I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back!
It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
And the place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
And it wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

I have experienced this feeling many times. I have known that God had something for me to experience…something better and amazing and yet I was scared and played it safe…stayed comfortable. God had something better, but in my little mind I could not imagine “better” and so I hesitated. Sometimes I might have even gone forward a bit but the road became difficult so I returned to what was familiar even though it was not a great place to be. Yeah, It was not great but it was something I knew…it was comfortable.

A funny thing happens when looking backwards…memories seem to be better than the reality of what was! Remember how big things were when you were a child? I think often of the story of an adult bemoaning about how when he was a little boy the snow would come to his knees…then he looked down at his son…who had trouble walking because the snow was so high! Memories lie! Things are not always better “then.”

The Children of Israel were at the Promised Land but they got scared. What they saw ahead were “giants” and they began to listen to the babblings of men while forgetting the miracles of an awesome God. They didn’t listen to Moses, Caleb, or Joshua. They began to sing, “We will, we will not be moved!” and once again God gave them what they wanted…they got to stay in… the desert…wandering until they died.

Read Numbers 32: 6-13. Folks, God doesn’t joke around when He says He will do something. He had told the Israelites that He would give them a land…but they didn’t believe Him and there were consequences. The same goes for us today…God has a plan for us and when we trust Him in that plan He takes care of all the details…when we don’t trust Him, we wander in the desert and eventually die without receiving His promise. I don’t want that, and I know neither do you. Note verse 12 in our scripture that state two men, Caleb and Joshua, were the exception. Why? It was because they followed the LORD wholeheartedly. They received God’s blessing…not because they were special…not because they were better…no, they entered because they followed God wholeheartedly. What a lesson for me in trust. It might sound trite, but when God sends us forward, He gives all we need to defeat whatever is before us. When we refuse, we are saying is God cannot do what He said He will do. That is unbelief and unbelief is a sin.

The great thing about living under grace, is that our sins can be taken care of by confessing them and allowing God to renew us…we are not doomed to wander forever…but we are doomed to wander until we confess…

God wants to give us His best because we are His children. Do you believe that? If you do, then what is holding you back from your Promised Land? 40 years later in our story, Joshua says these words to the next generation: “Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.” Joshua 3:5 These trusted God and passed into the Promised Land and discovered God was faithful. Let us be that next generation…the ones known by following…not wandering.

Have a Happy 4th of July!

Pictures of Egypt

2009-06-26T11:54:00.005-05:00

Part 1
Numbers 11

I am on Facebook and love it. I have reconnected with so many friends and even some family I have not seen in years. I also am on Twitter…but have realized I have more letters in my “tweets” than it will allow so I mostly stick with Facebook. There is a section called, “What’s on your mind?” where friends write how they are feeling that day, some inspirational thought, a prayer request, or something funny! These thoughts appear on my “homepage” and I look forward to reading them…at least most of them! Some are quotes that spurs great thought…others will cause me to chuckle all day…still others will be a request for prayer. But then there are those that are daily complaints about something…their job…people at their job…when is Friday…well you get the picture. Recently, Facebook provided a new feature that allows people to be “hidden.” I guess this is cyber-world’s avoidance of asking “some” people how they are that we often implement in the real world! Personally, I hate to hide people for I really do want to know what is going on in their lives, but sometimes I am influenced by their constant negativity…

It seems to be a natural thing to complain. Perhaps that is why the Bible so often tells us to, “Praise the Lord!” I have to keep my thoughts and complaints in check often for I have a tendency to see the glass half empty…something I am working on…and maybe that is why God led me to Numbers 11 today!

Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them his anger was aroused. Numbers 11:1a

Hardships? Let’s do some review…not long before, these same people had been slaves in Egypt under a cruel Pharaoh. Along comes Moses and with God’s guidance convinces the Pharaoh to “Let my people go!” and away they went. Throughout this journey to the Promised Land, God had been a constant provider of protection and provision…The “hardships” these people were facing at this point concerned their desire for different foods other than what God had been providing for them since they left Egypt. They were blessed daily with something called manna which in Hebrew means, “What is it?” It was tasty and fulfilling and provided all the nutrients their bodies needed yet, they wanted more.

There you have it! The problem from the very beginning is wanting more than what God provides. Eve had everything a woman could possibly want…yet she wanted more and the rest is history. These people wanted more and were spurred on by a group the Bible calls “the rabble among them” (verse 4) These were the influencers. As we continue reading: The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumber, melons, looks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite: we never see anything but his manna!”

Am I part of the rabble? Am I again wailing? It is easy you know. It is all about focus. God’s promise is all about providing our needs…but not our greeds! While writing this I realize I have everything I need…I am healthy, I have a roof over my head…I am certainly not starving…yet at times I want more. It is my flesh and desire for what the world can give…not relying on what God has given. This scripture is a warning for we see that God gave them exactly what they wanted. (Please read verses 18-20 and 33-34) When we desire more than what God has given us it will lead to our demise.

This is a chilling reminder to me that I need to be thankful for my daily bread and that I need to not become a “rabbler”! It is so easy to focus on things we do not have…but we as Christians are called upon to praise God for the things we do have: His daily provisions for life. It really is about focus…when we focus on what is in Egypt (the world)…things become blurry so put your focus on today and the fact that He is good and well you just don’t know…the Promised Land might be just ahead!

Sorry!!

2009-06-24T16:52:00.002-05:00

Dear followers,

I have not posted in a couple of days because I have had my grandsons here and I have been enjoying them. Please check back!

Grace

2009-06-16T23:40:00.004-05:00

I Peter 5: 10, 12b

Back in 1975, after graduating from college, I moved to a small Mississippi town to become a youth director. When I got my first paycheck, I needed to open a bank account and, as my daddy had suggested, borrow $200.00 and repay right away with the small amount of interest to establish credit. I chose the bank with great thought…I thought one had the prettiest building so that is the one I chose. I needed a loan officer to borrow the money and there was only one available…his name was Jerry Grace. Eight months later we were married! Having always been clumsy my home pastor kidded me by stating, “You have looked for grace you whole life…now you have found it!” We all laughed! 33 years later, I am still clumsy but this week I finally understood that “grace” I had been looking for my whole life.

I grew up in church and have heard many sermons on grace. I know facts about it: that the word is from the Greek word charis which means gratitude or favor; that salvation is through faith by grace; that I can’t work for my salvation--another meaning of this word: a gift. I accepted His grace for salvation and beyond that every time I blew it, I called upon His grace for forgiveness. This is what I knew and accepted until this weekend.

I was listening to my iPod while walking our dog when I started crying my eyes out. Earlier I had gotten home from a wonderful prayer retreat and was flying high in the spirit…but then got into a silly argument with a family member. (satan always hits the hardest when you are closest to God.) After things settled down, I began to beat myself up. Over-reacting I began to doubt whether or not I should ever be used again to teach God’s word. God began to remind me of Peter and how he must have felt after denying Christ. (Jesus had even told Peter he would deny Him!) But then God then reminded me of what else Jesus had told Peter, “When you return…” Jesus had given hope to Peter for his failings…even before he failed!

Our mistakes and mess ups are no surprise to God… but afterwards He wants us to go on and not give up. Peter didn’t quit and went on to preach his first sermon and 3,000 were converted to Christ. Often however, we focus on our mistake. I Peter 5:10,12b states that, “Christ Himself will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast…this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.” The writer of these words had personally lived what he said and more than that, understood restoration! What I had never seen was that grace isn't just forgiveness when I blow it…it is also to restore, strengthen, and establish (KJV) me in the faith. Jesus Himself restores us but He doesn’t stop there; we are also strengthened…and if we allow Him He will establish us…which puts permanence to the whole thing! These are grace gifts…and gifts must be accepted.

I am now basking in His restoration! I did teach my class on Sunday and God spoke because I took myself out of the mix and let His word do its work. I am now looking for His strength and desiring to be firmly established so the next time I lose my temper or say something I shouldn’t, I won’t fall apart and give up but will go to Him, confess and ask for the restoration He has promised. I desire to stand fast in this! It might feel a little clumsy at first…standing without falling for me always has been, but hey, that’s why they call me grace!!

I Will Pray for You...oh, really?

2009-06-11T09:19:00.004-05:00

Today I am putting the final touches on worksheets and listening guides for a prayer retreat I am priviledged to lead this weekend. As I do this, God has placed it on my heart how important prayer really is...but prayer in its proper perspective. So many times we casually say we are going to pray for something and then go about our lives never thinking of it again. Or, perhaps we want something very badly and "Pray believing, in Jesus name to receive," only to become disillusioned when we don't get what we want. I have been there. In preparing for this retreat, God has shown me that (and I have had head-knowledge of this) prayer is an extension of my relationship with God and is closely related to my worship of God.

Many equate worship with songs and the "stuff" we do before the sermon on a Sunday morning. It is the time we get emotional and heart-opened for His word that day. While on some shallow level this is a part of worship, may I submit, that what the Bible calls worship is much more serious. The actual word itself means, "to be put under the authority of." We see that when we read Isaiah 6. Everything we think, everything we are, all our desires fall down in front of a Holy and Powerful Yahweh. Paul calls it a "living sacrifice!" (Romans 12:1) Only when that is our worship will we be able to respond, "Here an I...send me."

You might be saying, "But what does that have to do with prayer? Aren't we suppose to petition Him for our needs?" Yes, but only after we truly know what our needs are! We have perceived needs from our flesh...but only after we come in line with God's will for our lives, through worship, do we really know what our true needs are. For example, we might think our need is enough money to pay a bill (that's flesh)...but our real need is to become aware of the constant provisions of God and our need is to increase our faith through that bill.(that's spiritual) We often are not wanting our spiritual life to grow in prayer...we just want what we want!! Prayer cannot be separate from worship or it is just a list of "whines." In the model prayer, Jesus states the order...first put God in control...(Thy kingdom comes...) then petitions.

This week I have learned through seeking Him for the words to teach on this important subject, that He is most interested in my relationship through worship...and as my will aligns with His, my prayers become powerful extensions of that. Jesus said while on earth, "My will is to do the will of the Father!" This concept is all over the New Testament: "If we pray, according to His will, He will give us the desires of our hearts." 1 John 5:14 "But seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you." Matt 6:33

Osswald Chambers says it like this:

Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray.

Life-changing prayer is serious stuff and comes after serious surrender of our will to His will. So, the next time you say, "I will pray for you," make sure you really know what you are saying. It is hard work...but in that work...we become one with the Father just as Jesus prayed for us in John 17.

This weekend can be an incredible time with God whether you are at the retreat or not! Pray with me, "God reveal to us Your will for we want to be under Your authority in all things! Amen and Amen! "

If I Lie... Part Deaux

2009-06-10T09:18:00.003-05:00

Part two

I got to thinking about what would happen if there were immediate results to lying? If we really did stick needles in our eyes I bet honesty would make a comeback-- big time! The fact is there are not immediate consequences for falsehoods and that makes it easier to fall into the trap. I call it a trap because none of us really intend to lie-- it just comes out. We lie …to make ourselves look better to others…even many churches do this: instead of saying we have 420 in worship…we say we have nearly 500! We lie about how much something cost…and it depends on who we are talking to whether we lie high or low! We lie to get out of trouble. I am an only child and I remember the times I told my mother I didn’t do something when I was the only one in the room. (Lying sometimes goes along with not being very bright in my case!)

Lies.Each time I type the word lie, it sounds uglier and uglier. We don’t like that word…so we say things like: stretching the truth…or being creative. We change the name because we think if we call it something else, it will be something else…but Shakespeare said it best, “A rose called by any other name would still smell as sweet.” Lying called by any other name is still not the truth!

It gets even worse when we lie to ourselves…that is called “justifying!” We know we should not participate in something or that we shouldn’t go a particular place but we begin to lie to ourselves to make it all better! We say, “God will understand…or this is not as bad as …” Or maybe we lie to ourselves about why we don’t spend time with God personally or corporately…”I am just too busy to have a quiet time, “or “I need to sleep, Sunday is my only day off..God will understand.” Will He? Hmmm. We lie to ourselves by saying well things are different now…that’s an old fashioned idea! When we really think about it…we shouldn’t participate in some things…we really do have time we have just filled it with something else…and God wants us to have corporate worship for our good… God is the same yesterday, today and forever! We have lied to ourselves and have begun to believe our lies. Before long we are not even aware of the untruth…it becomes our excuse for sinful behavior.

When we begin to believe our own lies then we begin to disbelieve God…we begin then to believe what the world says about God…because it is easier…because we think it makes us feel better…but does it? Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” Maybe that is why our confession time in our prayers is so short…we no longer think we have done anything wrong…we have lied to ourselves. But truth brings freedom!

So, what is the answer? Jesus. The one who said, I tell you the truth…the one who said He was truth…the one who cannot lie…the one who said He loved us…the one who sent the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth. Confess that you want to be a person of integrity for His glory. Ask Him to help you be a truth teller…He will!

Imagine a world where Christians told the truth…all the time. Think it would make a difference? I do. I am going to do some straight talk to myself about my “excuses” then I am going to Him to get cleaned up. Putting my needles away until I need to sew something!!!

If I Lie, Stick a Needle in My Eye

2009-06-04T15:54:00.003-05:00

Part one

On the way to VBS this morning, my granddaughter and I were listening to K-Love’s news about the U.S. president’s address to the Islamic people. She listened and was quiet for a bit (which is very unusual) and then said, “Nonnie, did we know that our president’s dad was Muslim?” I stated that he had said that his father was not a Muslim when he was running for office. Then she said, “Nonnie, presidents should not lie to people.” I nodded in agreement. She is 9.

I have thought about this since I dropped her off. What our kids have learned and are learning from recent presidents staggers the mind and as much as I would like to (in the flesh) make this blog all about bashing our political leaders, I cannot stop this nudging in my spirit to ask what my grand is learning from me and my actions. I was shocked to see that she understood a whole lot more than I thought she did about the world situation…I wasn’t aware she knew what a Muslim was…but she does because of the things she sees on the news for about 30 minutes a day. Then the realization hit that she is with me for hours…and I must ask how are my actions affecting her?

Yes, presidents should not lie to people…but more than anything, Believers should not lie to people. In the book of John, Jesus continually repeats the words, “I tell you the truth.” (NIV) If we are to follow Him, we also must be telling the truth. Telling the truth is important; nothing hurts more than finding out someone has told an untruth (lie) but we tend to not think anything about it when we do it ourselves. Let me give an example: Someone calls and wants to have lunch and instead of just saying , “No, thank you,” we make up some excuse of why we can’t go…or even worse, we had previously said yes, but something better came along and we make up a reason why we no longer can go. (How many sick or dying grandmothers can we actually have????) We call them excuses but to our kids they are lies. God calls them lies. “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” (Deut. 20) Lying is not just a commandment; it is for the good of all for lies affect everyone.

En Vogue…a female singing group, has a song which puts a finger of the pulse of our society. Read these lyrics:

Lies, lies, using lies as alibis
Lie's, lies, just a devil in disguise
It's the same game
Played in so many ways
Everyone is the victim too
It's just a waste of time
Made for simple minds
So why do people insist on lies
I'll give my life a different way
Refuse to let myself become a victim
Getting caught you in a vicious web of lies, they can hurt you
And destroy you, you watch out for lies, just a devil in disguise.
The nation's leaders as well as teachers
Practice lies as a way of lie, yes they do
So think before you speak
Cause what you sow you reap
The truth will always come to light
Will we ever learn one day
That telling lies always bring to matters
Misery and sometimes pain
Lies and deceit
Yes it's running real rampant
Communities suffering, 'yo I can't stand it
When we think of lies we tend to think of politicians
But what about the husband who's on a mission
Lying to his wife so he can get it on and get some
Coming back home with a dumb expression
Written on a face that he's guilty as a criminalI
t's time to change your attitude
People do you hear me, don't listen
To a funky rhyme that's kickin' knowledge that we need
We lie about our hairAnd we know we got a weave
Politicians lie about the things they're gonna do
And everybody's tale affects me and you
A smoker lies about the money that he stole
And a dope dealer never tells you how he got his gold
I guess what Debbie T. is really trying to say
When you break it all down we're all the same
I'll live my life a different way
Refuse to let myself be caught up
In a vicious web of lies

Wow! These lyrics illustrate how lies hurt…they hurt individuals, families, communities and the nation. There are no such things as little white lies…just truth vs. lies. Maybe it’s time we resurrect the children’s verse that says, “Cross my heart, hope to die. If I lie, stick a needle in my eye!” If children understand the importance of telling the truth when they watch us will they be disappointed? Stay tuned to part 2 to discuss how we lie…to others, to God, and to ourselves and what to do about it.

Doors

2009-05-30T12:16:00.003-05:00

John 10:7-10

I love watching HGTV… House Hunters and My First House are my favorites. Yesterday, however, I watched Curb Appeal, and was aghast! The designers decided to paint the door on a beautiful red-brick colonial a bright yellowy-orange. I admit I am not a bright color person when it comes to houses, but this just didn’t fit the style of the house. I was okay with the mosaics on the steps and the cobalt blue shutters…but the door??? The decorators said it made the house stand out as being different! Well, it did…like a clown among Junior Leaguer’s! I don’t think the owners liked it either…but there is was in all its bright gaudiness.

Doors are important. While walking my dog in our neighborhood, I like to look at people’s front doors. I notice some are solid wood, (and thankfully not a single bright yellow one in the lot!) some are all glass…the kind that will let you see an itsy bitsy bit into the front room, (not that I strain to look in, mind you) and others are half and half but they all serve the same purpose: entrances to the owner’s house. Some are more inviting and reveal the personality of those who live there…they say either, “welcome” or “go away.” Some, I have noticed, have the watermarks of past storms and need a fresh coat of stain or paint while some glass doors have broken panes…perhaps from a flying rock or an incident from inside. A few have screen door to allow breezes in while preventing pests. Doors…a lot to think about.

We lived in the country for a short while in Atwater and I loved our back screen door. It was the kind that squeaked from the metal coiled spring that made sure that the door closed with a loud bang after I ran out. There was comfort in that sound…it was automatic…I didn’t have to think about closing the door. Life was simple then. Perhaps you have a similar memory.

As adults, we are still faced with doors…oh, not the ones in our neighborhood but the ones of life. Satan’s doors look exciting, painted a bright yellowy-orange, and seem to offer excitement and adventure but end up being a great disappointment. Because of Jesus, I have learned to avoid most of those doors while others still give me pause! They are the ones which are closed tight…locked never to be opened no matter how much I want to go through them. Lost dream doors… things I really wanted out of life but just didn’t happen for one reason or another. To be honest, sometimes I stand at these doors and regret what could have been, but most of the time I move to other doors…it is my choice. Then there are the doors of faith…those that give just a glimpse of what is inside…but not the whole “room.” We only see colors and shapes…should we enter or not? These doors take courage to go through! The storm-weathered doors are among all of these…reminding me that He has been faithful!

But my favorite life-door is His screen door…the one that is never locked. When I enter this door, I find refreshment and safety and am free to go out with wild abandon knowing I have a secure place to return. Jesus is that door…our scripture today uses the word “gate” another word for door. The more we get to know this “door” the less we want to enter that brightly colored, exciting-looking door. We know this door is the door that opens to His abundance. This is the door of our dreams! This is the door that turns faith into sight and where we get the stain to freshen up the brittle storm-tossed doors.

What door is is in front of today? May I suggest that you open His door, get some lemonade and rest with Him for awhile? He has some great stuff to share with you about all your doors!

People, People who need People...

2009-05-26T12:38:00.006-05:00

Romans 12: 10-13

Okay, now my weirdness surfaces again…I have always been a closet Broadway star…my mirror is my stage and my hairbrush my microphone. My neighbors in Atwater, CA, dreaded evenings for as the sun began to set I would (true story) climb the huge tree in my front yard and sing to the top of my lungs, Moon River….I especially loved the “Huckleberry friend” part! I would do this every night! I was very strange! (Some would argue with the “was”) My tendency for singing at inappropriate times did not end in California. While in high school I saw, the movie, Funny Girl for the first time and now, 100+ viewings later, I still want to become Fanny Brice every time I see an old-fashioned light pole. To the embarrassment of my family, often I will hold on and sing, “People, people who need people…are the luckiest people in the world!”

Just this past week that song came to my mind again and since there was no lamp post I merely listened to the words. On the surface it sounds ridiculous…of course, people need people, don’t they? While we seem to be more connected…cell phones, email, Facebook, Twitter… we are lonelier than ever. Many are connected to jobs and when the day is over there is no more connection to anything. Families are in the same house but are often not on the same page. Always doing-- but seldom just being. My favorite time growing up was after dinner sitting on the back porch sipping what was left of our iced tea just talking…or not…sometimes just listening to the evening sounds together.

People today are with people, but not really. Ears are plugged with some noise while sitting with friends, texting someone else. What happened to just talking to each other eye to eye or just being with another human? I believe Jules Styne understood this when he wrote:

People,

People who need people

Are the luckiest people in the world

Were children needing other children

And yet letting our grown-up pride

Hide all the need inside

Acting more like children than children

Humans have relational needs but often don’t let others know…and by not wanting to admit our need we stay alone and many times lonely. In Romans 12:10-13 Paul felt a need to address this to the church. In order to have people in our lives we must be devoted to people…we must “need” people who also share the love of the Lord. One of God’s extra gifts to Christians is each other…It is said of the first church,”they had all things in common.”

Today how much do we have in common? How often do we practice hospitality as said in verse 13? We need others in our lives for support and encouragement. Christ prayed in John 17 that we all be one in Him just as He is one with the Father. God knows we need each other and provided ways for us to have strong relationships with each other…it is us who have changed but it not too late. Today you can reach out to someone…ask them into your house for cookies! It doesn’t have to be a big ordeal. Turn your phone off and just talk to the person in front of you. I believe you will find:

With one person

One very special person

A feeling deep in your soul

Says you are half now you’re whole

No more hunger and thirst

But first be a person who needs people

People, people who need people

Are the luckiest people in the world

Christ is our common denominator…you can be that one person…that one very special person who can help the loneliness of another go away.

Uh oh, another song is coming to mind and I must sing it!…it’s the 21st century’s version of People….We’re All in this Together! Got to go find a high school gym…later!!

Remember

2009-05-21T22:27:00.003-05:00

This weekend our country will celebrate Memorial Day-- a day created to remember those who “fell in the line of duty” for our freedom but has also become a day to have cookouts, go to the beach, have family time, etc. All of that is good and it would be great if I could sit under an umbrella staring out to waves licking a sandy shore of some island get away but I am getting ready to go to a funeral…so it really will be a day of memory for me. One of my favorite aunts went home to see Jesus face to face last night! Aunt Bonnie was one of a kind!!! She was this California-raised girl’s first introduction to a true Southern lady…one who never went without her nails being done or her hair being colored. (At 88 years old, she still had “natural” hair color--a lesson I will take to heart!) She introduced me to the phrase, “Shut your mouth!” which I discovered really didn’t mean to get quiet. Eating at her house always included at least 3 meat choices with all the “necessary” compliments and came with the insistence that we eat lots!! She loved people and remembered everything about them. She loved me and I loved her! I will miss her very much.

Funny thing about memories…they take us to places we haven’t thought about for years…some bring laughter while others bring pain but they all are a part of what we have become. Some bring us back to where we need to be…the grounding memories. Aunt Bonnie never had a lot of worldly things…she wasn’t an educated person…she lived very simply…but she was the happiest person I had ever met…her concern was always about others…I felt at home with her because there was no pretending. What she felt, she said and she made me laugh because she never took herself too seriously. She knew who she was and modeled for me what Christ said about how we ought to live our lives…and how far I have gotten away from that in my own life.

To be honest I am trying to avoid the scripture God keeps bringing to my mind but I can’t. Revelation 2:4-5 “Yet I hold this against you; you have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

This brings a different thought for my Memorial Day this year—not only to remember fallen soldiers or favorite aunts but to remember who I was before Christ came into my life and how He died for my absolute freedom. I sometimes forget how much He has done for me and I just go about my life. I don’t want my Savior to say that He has anything against me…so this weekend as I remember the life of my precious aunt…I also will remember that I will see her again because of Christ. I will remember that He has given me abundant life. As I see the flags flying, I will remember that His banner over me is love… I will remember how far I have come because of this love! I will remember! How about you?

Spring Cleaning

2009-05-15T11:18:00.006-05:00

I Kings 19:3-18

There is something about spring that causes many of us to look inside our homes and decide we need to clean out the closets, the drawers, the garage, and yes, even the refrigerator. Every spring, surprisingly I find myself wiping out my window seals of dead bugs! I can only guess how they got in for I am a pretty good house keeper and it concerns me that they entered while I was unaware. Though the windows had been shut up for months I realized they entered through less obvious places. It was in an all-out invasion…done in the darkness through little cracks hardly visible to the eye. That’s the way bugs are…sneaky.

What about the “bugs” that have gotten into our lives? You know the ones over the dark cold months of despair… Perhaps they entered as just an egg of a thought but now have hatched and blossomed into an unfounded fear or deep root of bitterness. Sometimes they enter after a great victory in your life! Bugs don’t have a set way of entering! They just know how to find the cracks! Elijah knew about this “bug.” He had just had a great revival where all the prophets of Baal had failed miserably and God had shown up to do immeasurably more than even Elijah had hoped or imagined. Then we read, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” (I Kings 19:3)

Bugs! They know where to get us! They know our weakness and hit at the very place we have left opened…unguarded by the covering of God’s protection. Once they start, unless we catch them early, they will fill up all the holes until we are full of every kind of “bug” imaginable. All we can see are the bugs…and our friends will point out that we have a right to be upset with all these bugs!!! “Where is God???” they ask. We listen to the world and begin to ask ourselves the same thing…”Where is God? I need Him now more than ever…where is He?”

If you read our scripture for today, you will find that God was in the quietness…and He had been there all along. St. Augustine once said, “My soul is too cramped for you to enter it [God].” He recognized that his life was jam-packed full of “bugs” and there was no way God could do anything until he had some major spring cleaning! Elijah, in the midst of his despair realized he had to clean out some thoughts before he could hear God. When he did, he heard God’s voice telling him the truth of the situation.

We must be on alert at all times for the bugs that want to invade our lives. Bugs are liars! God has the truth of our situation and has promised His power to be over-comers. 2nd Peter 1: 3 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Our responsibility is to call upon this power! Confess all the “bugs” in your life…the despair, the worldliness, the secret sins, the pride, the anger…you get the picture…wipe all of those from your personal window seals…then allow His still small voice to come in and give you victory. He promised it…both to Elijah and to Peter…so why not you?

Spring cleaning doesn’t just happen…we must be intentional and it is hard work. It takes time and you might be a little sore when it is done, but when you look over the finished product…there is a sense of freshness! You then realize it was worth it! Now, where did I put that dust rag?????

What's that You Say??

2009-05-13T08:23:00.003-05:00

Oh, boy! We are in a mess and I just don’t know what is going to come about. What is happening to our country? I don’t know how I am going to make it in this economy! Did you wash your hands??? You know we’ve got that pandemic going around!

Do these comments sound familiar? I agree. Things are bad! But Jesus warned us of that very thing while He still walked among us. He said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Now, it is very easy to fall into the trap that satan has set for us but we have the only hope for the world and we are to continually point to the hope we have in Christ. But how? By just doing it! We must continually have His praise on our lips even when we don’t “feel” it. I remember very well after Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast one of the first reports we received was that First Baptist Church Long Beach was gone…little did we know that most of the coast was wiped away but hearing that the church was gone was devastating to me. I had not lived there in many years but this was the place where I had surrendered to the ministry. This is where I was married and had the funeral of both my parents. I took it hard…I began to focus only on the loss and before I knew it I was in a state of depression. It was strange that this would have such an affect for I had been through much worse than the loss of a building but it did. One Sunday afternoon, however, I went to my piano and began to sing “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord….you give and take away…you give and take away…my heart will choose to say…LORD, blessed be Your name!” Just praising Him in the midst of my depressed state brought such joy. My soul was lifted from despair to heights of joy! I “took heart!” There is great power in praise! The church was still gone, but I had hope that God was still in control! That made all the difference. It is about our focus!

Praise often is really a holding on to the truth of God in the midst of great emotional upheaval. Jesus told the woman at the well that one day people would worship God in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:23) I believe that many times we worship Him only in spirit—with our emotions-- and when things are going well, we praise Him but when they aren’t, we fall apart. That is where the truth comes into play…the truth of who God is…the truth of what He says He will do …the truth that He has overcome the world! It is the truth that holds everything together and gives hope in the midst of the storm.

Think about what comes from your mouth when you talk to others about the world circumstances? I am not saying we need to be oblivious to the situations…as I said, things are bad…but what comes from our mouths shows what kind of faith we have. It reveals our heart!
I want to challenge you today to read Isaiah 40: 21-31 and Psalm 42. In these rich verses you will discover who God is, what He is capable of but also what He promises to those who are called by His name. Place your focus on Him! Yes, things are bad…but the Psalmist says, “Why are you downcast, Oh my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”(42:5)

This is the offering we have to give the world. We have a God who knows about tomorrow and lavishes us with His love today. From that perspective…it’s all good!!!

Mother's Day

2009-05-09T17:45:00.005-05:00

In 1993, my mother died a week and a half before Mother's Day. I still remember the lonely feeling I had seeing others taking their mothers out for lunch. I almost became sad until I realized my children were taking me out for lunch and the Sonny and Cher song "The Beat Goes On," started going through my head. (those of you who are under 30 will just have to go to itunes and download it!) I vividly remember thinking, "Now I had to be the grown-up!"...one day my own daughter will be the grown-up...and her daughter...and the beat goes on.

So, now I am wondering what my children will say about me at my funeral besides, "Don't she look natural!" I know what I said at my mom's and it had nothing to do with what I thought growing up! Time changes perceptions. No, she did not do everything right and sadly neither have I. Many of the things I said I would never do...I did and I regret, as I think she probably did, all those times. But on the day of her funeral what I remembered was how much she overcame in her life...the loss of a husband and a child to TB while she was not more than a child herself followed by the same illness that nearly took her own life. I remembered her decision after marrying my daddy to risk having a child and her refusal to abort me because her life was in danger! I remember her strength, her character and her laugh...not her mistakes.

That gives me hope for I still have some time to work towards my own funeral! I pray at that time, my own children will forgive the young mother who didn't have a clue what she was doing...and will remember the older wiser mother...who fell in love with Jesus. You see, Jesus overcame a lot in this former Pharisee. He changed me in more ways than I can count...

Sadly, I don't get a do-over in the rearing of my children---none of us do...but Christ will always give us a life do-over. He has promised to make us new creatures in Him. He grants us grace and mercy for all the mistakes we have made and then He forgets about them...to remember them no more! WOW!

So, on this Mother's Day, whether or not you are a mother, this is His promise to you! He makes all things new when we call upon His name. Now, where do we go for lunch????

If My People Will Pray...Not Pry

2009-05-07T10:58:00.007-05:00

Today is the National Day of Prayer, an event that has been observed in our nation since 1952. Today, however, I have heard more about President Obama not hosting this event in the White House than what churches ARE hosting prayer meetings. Hmmm? Traditionally the theme verse for this event has been 2nd Chronicles 7:14.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

As much as I want President Obama to follow the traditions of his predecessors, we Christians need to contemplate what this verse is saying; it is a verse filled with promise and “if…thens”. It was first spoken by God (Yahweh) at the dedication of the temple Solomon built so the presence of God could come among His people in Jerusalem. Although this was an Old Testament promise I do think that the promise can be applied to us as we are the “temple of the Holy Spirit.” (I Corinthians 3:16) But what does it really mean? Let’s break the verse into its parts.

This was addressed only to God’s people! Are you a child of God? Are YOU praying? Instead of using your energy being focused upon those who are not praying, use it to PRAY. No where does this verse tell us to tell others to pray, it tells us to pray.

In his book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala, when asked about what he thought about prayer being taken out of schools said, “Am I the only one who gets embarrassed when religious leaders in America talk about having prayer in public schools? We don’t have even that much prayer in many churches! Out of humility, you would think we would keep quiet on that particular subject until we practice what we preach in our own congregations….(He goes on) What does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in a prayer meeting, and prayer meetings today are almost extinct?”

Now, that is convicting! We have more emphasis on preaching and music than consulting corporately the One who controls all things. I am not saying we should eliminate preaching or music…don’t go there…But where is seeking God in all the mix?

Do we pray? Really pray? To do this, we must first HUMBLE ourselves! Ask, “Who am I compared to a Holy God?” Make no mistake, when we come into His presence we will be humbled! (Isaiah 6) Only after a humbling and a “confessing,” will God fulfill His promise. Then we must SEEK His face…His will…for us. We really don’t know God’s plan for us until we intently seek His face! He might have some really strange things for us to do…like march around a wall for seven days…or He might ask us to put ourselves in perilous situations…for His name’s sake (Matt.5:10)

Then those called by His name must TURN from OUR wicked ways…opps…did He say turn from OUR wicked ways? That comes right after the humbling part, folks. Does the world see a pure Bride in the world today or a Church living a compromising life in this world?

So, on this National Day of Prayer…people of God-- Humble yourselves…you are nothing without God. Pray, without being so concerned about who is not praying….Seek His will….and do it! Repent of what we have done that is not pleasing to Him. THEN He will hear and will forgive and will heal our land.

If prayer is a political ploy…God won’t hear. If prayer is only an event…He will not be pleased. If prayer is being offered by those who do not know God…He will not answer…It is up to us…we who call ourselves Christ followers. Think about it! Excuse me…I’ve got some praying to do.

A Valiant Story!

2009-05-04T22:28:00.003-05:00

Psalm 51

When I was in high school my daddy and I shared a car. He was a baker and got home around 2:00 PM so when I got home from school the car was mine! Now, please don’t imagine this was a “shiny” anything. It was a 1962 Plymouth Valiant with a rusted -out backseat floorboard. I think this particular car was designed after the WW II Sherman tank (only uglier) and was one of the reasons Plymouth had financial troubles in the 70’s. But it was ours and I was proud I had anything to drive at all! My destinations were mostly to work and piano lessons but one night I went to a friend’s house for a meeting. When the meeting ended I noticed it had become extremely foggy. I didn’t think much about it until I bumped into a fire-hydrant and dented the passenger-side back fender. I was devastated! What would my daddy think? What method of slow death would he employ? Now, I was a daddy’s girl so that was not a rational thought! Gathering my wits about me, I drove the car into the driveway and did what any Christian girl would do….I prayed healing for the fender!!!

Since Daddy left for work around 2:00 AM, I knew that he wouldn’t notice the dent right away so I had time to figure out what to do in case God had not healed it (which He didn’t!). That afternoon, Daddy greeted me as always and kissed me goodbye as I headed to work. “What was he up to?” “It must be a trap!” were my thoughts. That night I found myself sheepishly walking around avoiding all eye-contact and conversation with my daddy while he was acting as if nothing had happened. This went on for about a week…I became angry, moodier than usual and snapped at Daddy whenever he spoke. This daddy’s girl wanted nothing to do with her daddy and avoided him at any cost!

The tension became unbearable so I finally decided I had to just fess up and get the punishment over-with. I marched into the den where Daddy was watching Wheel of Fortune and just blurted out, “I hit a fire-hydrant and dented the car!” I closed my eyes waiting for what was to come…silence…peeking I saw tears in daddy’s eyes. Then I heard him say, “Cyndi, I knew you had dented the car the day after it happened. I was just waiting for you to tell me so I could tell you it is okay, I love you. All I wanted was for you to trust me.” I hugged him and began to cry, as well. We were blubbering idiots but something wonderful had happened…our relationship was restored.

Yes, confession is good for the soul, but more than that it is good for relationships-- especially with God. The times I have felt God was far away, I realized that I had “dented a fender” somewhere and refused to admit it. I began avoiding being in His presence. I even avoided being with others who knew Him! But when confession happens, relief accompanies it and the relationship is restored…so is “the joy of my salvation.” (Psalm 51)

But confession is more than saying, “forgive me of my many sins.” True confession is admitting specific things like: pride, bad thoughts, bitterness, anger. Many times we only focus on the outward or physical sins and think we are home-free… but God wants our inward sins to be cleansed…that is a part of what it means to be “Pure in Heart.”

How’s your relationship with God? Does He seem far away? Ask yourself if you have “dented” something and think it will just go away? It won’t. Take it from me, just tell Him about it and you will truly understand that He loves you and wants you to trust Him.

cyndigrace.com

You Are Invited...

2009-05-01T00:09:00.002-05:00

Luke14:2-23

It’s the time of year that our mailbox begins to fill with over-sized white envelopes with nicely written addresses from people who want us to share their special day whether it is a graduation or a wedding. We have moved quite a bit but when friends remember us and want us to share in their happiness…that is a good feeling. Being in invited makes us feel included…a part of something that is important. (At least for us women …most men would rather have a root-canal than go to these functions.)

I like getting invited but I also love to invite…I really, really, like people to come to my house. Each week I am like a child at the window watching for the precious women of our home Bible study to arrive. When I say, “Ya’ll come now, ya hear?” I mean it. Drop-by-company is my favorite! I can always get the coffee pot brewing and settle in for some good conversation!

But offering an invitation also opens the door for disappointment. This week an out-of-state friend I had often invited to my house was visiting the area and told me they were going to come to our home. I was excited! I kept the house neat and stocked up on refreshments just for their visit. Every day I waited but never heard from them and thought perhaps their plans had changed. Then I discovered they had been not 10 minutes away but never even called.

I was hurt and disappointed. After awhile, I finally went to God! (I knew He would set me straight and I wanted to feel sorry for myself a little longer!) He took me to His word where I read about a person who had invited lots of folks to a huge banquet. Free food! You’d think people would be lined up to go. But the Bible said, “They all began to make excuses.” At this point I realized that God truly understood my situation so I asked Him why even offer invitations when they might not come? Disappointment hurts! Why not just be satisfied with meeting at Starbucks. But in my heart I knew it wasn’t the same because there is a special intimacy that happens in my home. They see our stuff and sit on our couch! They see the stains in the carpet and the dust on the coffee table and its okay because the relationship is what is important. Letting someone into our home is letting them into our lives.

Then I understood why God desires for us to come and “visit” Him…not only in the places we feel comfortable, but in His very Presence! Only there can we share true intimacy. Only there can we begin to see who He really is-- His character, His love, His mercy, His will. There in His Presence it is no longer just a book-only knowledge. But often we have excuses: I have to take care of the kids…I have to work…I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out! vs19 (Well, maybe not) but in any event, He desires our company. He has things He would like to share with us alone! When we refuse His invitation, we miss the best part of being a Christian…and that is resting in Him with no pretense. This is the place where we learn to trust His heart!

We will have as much of God as we have time for! How much of God do you want? He has invited us to His home! How will you RSVP?
cyndigrace.com

And the Gift Goes On...

2009-04-27T22:37:00.004-05:00

(Matthew 25: 14-27)

It would not have surprised my parents that God led me into a speaking ministry because I have been “speaking” forever! Now, I don’t mean talking…all of us do that…I mean standing in front of a group of people, orating-- using proper gestures and vocal inflections. It started in kindergarten. I dramatically recited The Shoemaker and the Elves which I had memorized while sitting in the corner; a clever discipline that kept me from doing my second favorite thing-- bossing the other kids around! This obsession with speaking didn’t end at school! The kids in my neighborhood would sometimes get together to play kickball or ride bikes, but on other days, I would gather them at my house, seat them in neatly-rowed chairs ,and “teach” them complete with tests, report cards, and blackboard! It was amazing that they stayed, but I was much taller and had an incredible “teacher-face!”

When I entered high school, a wonderful teacher-- Joy Montgomery—introduced me to the world of interpretive reading and drama! Whoa! Nellie hold the door, I had found my true purpose in life! I was going to become a Broadway star! To fulfill this dream, I majored in speech and drama but included English so I could actually get a job. (You know, just in case the whole Broadway thing fell through.) As life would have it, the whole Broadway thing fell through (!) and the closest I got was living on Broadway Street in Yazoo City, Mississippi. It was in Yazoo City I was placed, legitimately this time, in front of a classroom to teach…or as I like to say, “Speak with the power of the grade book!”

Our church offers a spiritual gifts test so each member can discover their God-given gifts for service. I thought, maybe I had changed since kindergarten and perhaps God wanted me to do something else! So, with sharpened number 2 pencil in hand I took the test. My gift overwhelmingly turned out to be: Teaching!!! Surprise, surprise. (My lowest gift was “mercy”…but every student I had ever taught knew that!) One thing that did surprise me was my second highest gift: encouragement. Hmm. I sat for awhile and considered if I ever use this gift! This is one gift we aren’t sure about until years later… at our funeral…and even then we don’t know! Then I thought about Miss Montgomery who was a gifted speaker but found time to encourage this would-be speaker. She, according to Matthew 25 “invested” her talent in me!

I coached some talented students this year for the Mississippi Baptist Speakers tournament; four very different students with very different speeches. All of them had winning capabilities but one…loved it…one wanted to give her speech over and over. Kind of reminded me a little of myself --eager to get in front of others and tell them what God has done… I realized one day I will be gone and whatever gift I might have will be buried with me, unless I invest it into the next generation…Maybe Jesus meant this too in His parable of the talents…yes, we must use our gifts but we also are to invest them!

What about your gift? You have one…we all do. (The Bible tells me so!) Are you using it? Are you investing it? If not it will be buried with you! Only in investing can the gift go on! It’s God’s stimulus package! He gives…we invest!!

Thank you Miss Montgomery…where ever you are! Your investment has compounded daily! I pray that it will reap 10 times over what you gave for generations to come!

Peacock or Java Blue?

2009-04-24T17:52:00.003-05:00

“Oh, you are Java Blue! I am Peacock but I think I like Puccini, too!” was a recent conversation I over-heard while browsing a local gift shop. This is the language of “Vera Bradley” and in my small town, many people of the female gender are very bi-lingual! While having lunch with a precious college student, I noticed her car keys attached to a “pattern” I recognized. When I asked her about it she said, “I realized I would never be popular until I had a piece of Vera Bradley!” I nodded knowingly, for I also had a Vera story.

For those of you who do not know, Vera Bradley is a collection of quilted purses created in various shades and patterns and sold only in specialty gift shops. I became acquainted with them when we moved to this college town where many girls had quilted purse hanging to their hips! Wanting to be trendy but completely unaware of what “Vera” was, I found a quilted purse in the dollar store and began to “wear” it, on my hip, thinking I would then be in the “know”… but NO!!! Every eye that glared upon my “wanna-be” purse seemed to scream to the world: fraud!

Frauds are every where! “Take-off’s” abound both in the retail market and in our lives and in thinking about this particular trend, I found a life-lesson! Bear with this blonde’s musings!

There is only one Vera Bradley Company where authentic Vera purses are produced. In order to assure the real deal, one must really know the product. Only then can an imitation be recognized. Since Christianity in it truest sense is the model for faith we see many imitating many of its tenets. We hear celebrities define themselves as “spiritual”or thanking “god”. When I was a child, that meant being a Christian, but in today’s vernacular it can mean anything from worshiping your inner-self to a blade of grass! We must not take familiar terms for granted. Many are trendy by-words! They sound good…might even look good but in reality they are cheap imitations of the real thing and have no value other than noise...kind of like my dollar store purse! Authentic faith always points to a giving up of yourself and turning to One who can be trusted. It is not found any and everywhere but only at the foot of the cross.

We who are believers in Jesus Christ know the truth…but can we recognize a fraud? Some Vera imitations are so good it is difficult to tell--- unless you know the catalog! The only way to recognize God’s truth is to know the Word of God…the Bible. A lack of biblical knowledge places us in a dangerous place of accepting imposters who are, by the way, everywhere!! What they say sounds good, but believers are called upon to know if it is the Word of God! If not we should scream “fraud” with every sentence. Paul warned Timothy of this very thing. “In the last days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits.” (I Tim. 4:1) Paul then urged Timothy to hold on to the truth of God! Do you know scriptural truth or are you being fooled by excellent sounding words? Who guides you? Is it God’s Word or Oprah?

Finally, a real Vera Bradley purse is expensive and I am amazed at how many I see worn around town. The cost of being able to live eternally was paid for by the death of God’s Son… free to us! Are we as determined to “wear Him” to show the world as we are a silly purse? If we aren’t, how will they be able to distinguish authentic Christianity or a wanna-be? I want to be authentic. I want to world to know I have a Real Savior and He wants to be their Savior, too! How about you?

Are We There Yet?

2009-04-22T09:19:00.003-05:00

I am an inter-state kind of girl! Point “A” to point “B” at 70+ miles an hour and zip-boom-bah the destination is ahead on the left! We live just a few blocks from I-20 as does our son and his family…only 6 hours and 5 turns away! They are the parents of our grandsons…interstates are great!

My husband, on the other hand, thinks inter-states are “boring” and prefers the winding back roads with twists and turns. We are different. I just want to get there…to the destination…he wants to enjoy the journey.

I thought about this tonight at Bible study. Do I transfer this to my life? Am I destination-oriented or journey-oriented? I remember as a child taking a trip to Disneyland! I was excited about getting to the Magic Kingdom but these long years later it seems I remember as much about getting there as the actual event! Each day’s travel would end early so daddy and I could swim in the hotel pool and car games like trying to find all the state’s license plates kept me from asking, “Are we there yet?” The novelty of eating breakfast in a restaurant, browsing the cheap souvenir shops or the bee stinging my foot while traveling the multi-laned Los Angeles freeway are all permanently etched in my memory and always bring smiles! Don’t get me wrong, the tea-cups in Anaheim were a blast but getting there was an adventure, in itself.

Sadly, something happened as I grew older…my fascination with just “getting there” took over. If I can just get to 18, then 21… the wedding… have children… get children grown… have grandchildren! I was always rushing to something ahead and on this inter-state kind of life, these things have all come and gone all too quickly.

Thornton Wilder must have been feeling something similar when he wrote the play, Our Town, as it examines life from both sides of the grave. In the concluding scene, one of the main characters, Emily, has died but is given a chance to “go back” for one day and “watch” her life again. The others in the cemetery, having been dead much longer, try to discourage her from doing so, but Emily is determined and chooses her 12th birthday. She observes the simple routine of life–Howie Newsome delivering milk, Constable Warren telling how he rescued a man lying in snowdrifts, Joe Crowell delivering newspapers. Then she sees her mother and father, surprisingly youthful, preparing to give her gifts. She watches herself speak with her mother, who tells her to eat her breakfast slowly. Mrs. Webb gives her a dress which she had to “send all the way to Boston” to get. Her father and Wally also have gifts, but Emily can’t go on any longer and breaks down, saying she didn’t realize how much of the little things of life–things she did not notice before–really matter. Emily returns to the cemetery and addresses Mrs. Gibbs: .......“They don’t understand, do they?” .......“No, dear. They don’t understand.”

I think I am beginning to understand. We are on this life’s journey and one day it will be finished… those of us who are believers can sing with gusto, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!” Oh, it will be and I look toward it with great anticipation but until that day…I want to get off this inter-state- living and travel some back roads-- take some unexpected turns, meet some new folks, tell them where I am going and invite them to come along. While I am still here I want to carry out Colossians 3:10 and do all in the name of the Lord Jesus! I want to live the rest of this life to His fullest and when He is ready to take me home, I want to arrive at my final destination with few regrets…and hope to hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Lesson from My Little Toe

2009-04-20T08:48:00.004-05:00

Spring is here and the sandals are out of the closet!! Yes!! Freedom for the feet! Bright-orange polish and pumiced heels are the order of the day! You might need to know that I love flip-flops and wear them every chance I can. (My favorites are Crocs!) Branching out, though, a friend and I went to PayLess and I bought some “fancy” patent leather, heeled “flip-flops” to wear with nicer clothes. The first time I wore these “fancy flip-flops”, I was teaching Romans 12 at a women’s luncheon. Right in the middle of the lesson, I looked down only to discover that I had neglected to paint my little toe nail!!! For some reason, I felt the need to “confess” this to the whole group who in unison leaned over, trying to catch a glimpse of this bare little toe.

Now, I had a dilemma. I had to somehow turn the focus back to Romans 12 but with this glaring little toe, the task was going to be daunting. Miraculously, the next words I read were: Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we who are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others! (vs.4-5) I continued by saying, “Even the little toe is important!” and spoke about its function in balance and how when it hurts the whole body hurts. Whew! What a save, but after I got home I continued to think about what I had said. God began to reveal the many times I had forgotten the “little toes” in my life until I noticed a lack “of polish” …or of balance … when the tables hadn’t been set up for the event…when the ladies bathrooms were not clean…when the church yard had not been cut! And I can go on. These things I had just taken for granted would be done. I remembered how I felt when my kids thought clean underwear that “just appeared” in their drawers. No, somebody did these things behind the scenes even if I didn’t know who. I was convicted and resolved to keep the whole body in mind especially the parts I didn’t always see. I resolved to always make sure they were sought out and thanked for a job well done.

Some of you might think you are nothing in the kingdom because you are in the background. But you know what? God created our physical bodies with a little toe for a purpose and He has a purpose for the little toes in the Body of Christ. You are the ones with the servant’s heart. You are the ones who quietly do what God tells you without a lot of hoopla. When we read this short chapter of Romans, we find Paul admonishing the church in Rome to “not think more highly of themselves than they ought, “to honor one another,” “to not be proud” and, “to not be conceited!” Perhaps this church had forgotten all about their “little toes.” Maybe our churches have, too. Has our focus been so much on the people who are out front (the mouth!) that we have dishonored those who keep the balance? If you are a little toe and sometimes feel ignored, be of good cheer! God knows your works and His blessings are upon you…

And as for me…well, you are welcomed to look at my sandaled feet! Proudly, my little toe nail is as orange as the rest! It has a new place of importance and, dear one, so do you!!!

Picture of Perfection?

2009-04-18T10:45:00.003-05:00

I hate having my picture taken. Something terrible happens between the snap of the camera lens and the photo that appears in the little window...somehow my face changes shape and becomes distorted! I tend to get discouraged and wonder how all the other people in my life look so great in print! My web-page is about to open and my friend Ginny and I are trying to make me look better! ( do you still believe in miracles?? ;-) ) You see the picture will be the thing people are going to use to judge what kind of speaker I will be if they invite me to their event.
Not fair but we are so outwardly concerned, aren't we? This week, however, our idea of looks and talent were challenged by Susan Boyle, the 47 year old Scottish charity worker who sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables on Britain's Got Talent. Her video has been viewed over 20 million times on YouTube. What a set of pipes! We are all astonished...why? Because she doesn't look like she could sing! Hmmm

I have thought about this from the spiritual side of things. As far as our own pictures are concerned...we want to look better than we do... I can give the excuse when people see my web-page, "Well, I just don't take good pictures. This is as good as it gets!" But do I do the same thing in real-life? Do I excuse bad-behavior by saying, "That's just the way I was raised," or "This is me and if you don't like it..." This kind of thinking will catch us in the grip of defeat when it comes to becoming more like Christ in our living. You see, the way we are now is never what we can be! If something in us doesn't "look like Christ"...it needs to change. Paul the Apostle was a great example. As Saul, he thought he was doing well...living like he thought he ought to and if the Christians didn't like it well they could just be stoned to death! (Acts 7:54-8:1) Saul thought he was doing the right thing but then he met Jesus! From that point on every part of Paul's thinking changed. God changed Saul...even changed his name to Paul. This changed man went on to spread the gospel of Christ to the Gentile world. This happened because God changed what Paul needed to change.

Outwardly many of us look great! Others admire us! Some perhaps want to be like us! But if we were truly honest, sometimes we know that our "inards" don't match our "outwards"! This realization hits when we are alone; by ourselves in the middle of the night! We don't like what we see/are and try desperately to "fix" it! A new face cream? Perhaps some surgery? New shoes? New friends? New job? New church? We try everything to make us feel/look better but what is needed is change! God brings about this change when we trust all our desires, hopes and dreams to Him. He will change our will to His and the more the change comes the more we look like His Son...Our outward might not be what the world considers beautiful...but when we open our mouths...they will be astonished.(Acts 4:13)

So, the picture is set! It won't get any better! My outward is what it is! My prayer when people meet me is, "You sure don't look like your picture!" I will secretly smile and hope what they see is Christ in me...my only hope of glory!

Delayed Obedience...

2009-04-16T17:33:00.001-05:00

For several years now, God has been asking me to do a "certain thing" but as usual, I over-thought the concept...figuring out why I should do it but also listing the reasons why it certainly could not have been God I heard. Finally, however, I obeyed and it has been incredible. Of course, being an over-thinker, I then began to wonder what would have happened had I obeyed from the get-go. I was reminded of Lucy's conversation with Aslan in Prince Caspian. Briefly, Lucy and her siblings had returned to the world of Narnia but found themselves in a "situation." While trying to figure out a solution, in the distance Lucy saw Aslan beckoning her to come to Him. The others, not seeing Aslan, began to mock Lucy and went the opposite way with Lucy following behind. After a day's struggle, tired and right where she began, Lucy once again saw Aslan. This time she ran to Him with wild excitement. She then began to offer excuses for her disobedience... She knew the truth, however, and began to question Aslan about what would have happened had she followed immediately. Alsan answers her with these words, "To know what would have happened, child? No. Nobody is ever told that. But anyone can find out what will happen!"

I have a choice to make. I can either live in the "right now", knowing I was finally obedient and bask in His blessings, or I can regret the months I missed. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know what the right choice is!

Some of you understand exactly what I am saying. You blew it, too! Your obedience was delayed and you feel the guilt. The thing to do is obey Him now...move forward. I have learned, at least for today, that whenever I live this life the way He has asked me to, there is a great adventure ahead...no time for wondering about the "what-could-have-beens." He is ready and waiting with many, many "will be's!"