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“It’s Broken Down Again?!!!”

Machines!

If you work with machines at all you understand the frustration when it breaks down.  It may even be your car, a blown tire or something you use quite often in your home.  And usually, the timing is never good.

It seems we have breakdowns often at work and the timing is never convenient.  It seems like it happens when we are the busiest.  I work at a print shop and run the digital department.  I have two machines that I run, the full color and the black and white.  The full color we have had for almost a year so it is fairly new.  The black and white was there when I started working and I am told it is old, I believe it because it breaks down a lot.  They keep coming to clean and fix on it but it doesn’t seem to help and my conclusion is that they need to replace parts rather than continue to try and make the old parts work properly.

The digital color is used a lot and needs cleaning quite often and parts replaced now and then.  But when it does need a part replaced it has an effect on the whole shop.  The fact is regular maintenance is necessary if you don’t want a major break down.

Here is where I find the problem, in order to save money they just keep coming out and cleaning often instead of replacing parts.  This does not seem logical to me but they seem to be determined not to give new parts.  I guess it gives the repair guy something to do.

What about us?

This made me start to think about us as Christians.  Some of us are new to our faith in Christ and we are on fire for the Lord.  Some of us have been in the faith for a long time.  But no matter how long we have been in the faith we all go through trials.  Some days are worse than others.  We break down and need some cleaning and repairing.  And it seems the timing is never good.

God wants to not just clean us up but He wants to replace old parts with new parts.  “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean:  from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.  And I will put my spirit within you, and curse you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” Ezekiel 36:25-26.

But our tendency is to want to bypass the new stuff and just keep getting a cleaning.  Because a new heart means total surrender and we are not so sure we want that.  We still have little darling sins we want to hang on to and don’t want to let go and let God.  We think we want “new parts” but when it comes down to it we want to keep our old ways and  “parts”.

What do I do?

The question always comes, “What do I do?”  The Christian walk is not as easy as some may think.  Dying to self and giving up our control and letting God take control is not natural.  It can be our Gethsemane.  How many of us have sweat “as it were great drops of blood” (See Luke 22:44)?  I can say I haven’t.

It wasn’t easy for Christ in Gethsemane to drink the cup.  He took on the sins of the whole world for time and eternity.  Jesus knew it would separate Him from His Father.  He had such a love for His Father that He did not want to be separated from His Father with sin.  We are so drawn to sin that our agony is different.  We agonize over giving up or letting go of sin.  I want to get to the point that I want no sin to come between my Savior and me.  So what do I do?  Get to know Jesus, fall so in love with Him so that you would rather die than hurt Him.

  1. Spend time in prayer.  Don’t just spend time in prayer spend quality time in prayer.  When you are talking to God speak to Him as you would a friend.  Share everything that is on your heart.  Yes, it is true that God already knows but as we speak it to Him it changes us.  Communicate with Him.  For those of us that are married or dating, if we didn’t talk to the one that we say we love our relationship would fall apart.  But if we love them we want to spend time with them.  We don’t have to force ourselves we look forward to it.  If we just said a quick “hi” and “goodbye” to them each day we would be in serious trouble.  The same is true with God.  We need communication with him that is meaningful.
  2. Listen as He speaks to you.  Communication is not one-sided or it is not communication.  If you did all the talking in any relationship you had you probably would lose all your friends, spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. The same is true of our relationship with God.  If we do all the talking our relationship is dead.
  3. Read God’s Word.  God will talk to us through impressing our minds but the biggest way He communicates with us is through His Word.  But if we never open His Word He cannot speak to us through it.  Another way He often speaks to us is through nature.  The more time we spend out in nature the more He can speak to us.  I have been taught so many lessons through nature.  I also realize that if I was more attentive He could speak to me even more.

The reality is if we do not long or even enjoy spending time with Him now we will not enjoy heaven, therefore, we won’t be there.  God wants to enjoy fellowship with us.  He loves us with a never failing love.  His love is nothing like human love.  He is always there willing and ready to forgive and spend time with us.

Dear Father,

Forgive us for our lack of communication with You.  We want that close connection with You but many times we get distracted.  Thank You for Your patience and Your reminders that come in many different ways.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all the Him today, especially your time.  He longs to spend time with you and trust me it is worth it.

Love you all.

As you have spent time in prayer, God’s Word, or nature what has God shown you?  I would love to hear.  Share below.

 

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“What is it?!!!”

The unknown!

Have you ever had something crawling on you and you had no idea what it was?  You brush it off and the next thing you know it is there again and again.

This is what happened to me recently.  We went to a creek with some newly made friends.  We were sitting there with our feet in the water when I felt something crawling on my foot.  I looked down and there was a rock on top of my foot.  Shoving the rock off, I went on listening to the conversation that was happening.  Then I felt something on my foot again.  I looked down and there was another rock on my foot.  And of course, I shoved it off again.  I did this a number of times.   You can see the video here:   IMG_1464

You might be saying, “Well, you have your feet in a creek and water is moving constantly.”  You’re exactly right.  As it kept happening I never gave it much thought but then I looked more closely.  I realized that it was something crawling up onto my foot.   We pulled out the rock and discovered it was not a rock at all, it was camouflaged like a rock but it was hollow inside and there was an animal in it.  I am not sure what it was but when it would come out it was black.  So it would go in to hide but when it thought it was safe it would start to crawl around on the bottom of the creek.  I could not believe how much it looked and felt like a rock.

Lesson

Camouflage can be a good thing.  God has made it a way of protection for creatures.  But there is a bad side to camouflage.  A creature can disguise itself so it is not seen and pounce on its victim when they are not expecting it.

So here is the question, is there a good side to camouflage in the Christian realm?  There are many Christians who just want to fit in with everybody else.  They will become like a Chameleon, act or be like whatever group they are in.  Being different is not what they want to do, they just camouflage right in.  They don’t want to stand out or be different because they are afraid of losing influence, friends, popularity, etc.  I think we have all been there at one time or another.  We don’t want to rock the boat so we just fit in.  What can make the difference?

There is only one thing that can make the difference, falling in love with Jesus Christ.  How can we really do that?  Spending time.  You don’t get to know someone without spending time with time.  You cannot truly fall in love without getting to know a person.  It is the same with Christ.  We have to spend time getting to know Him.  We need to realize what He has done for us.

Think of someone in your life that you would stand up for no matter whom you’re with.  You love them so much that when people start talking bad about them or just act certain ways, you would not just keep silent, and you would stand up.

The only way we can stand up for Christ and what He has done for us is to get to know Him and have such a personal relationship with Him that no one can tell the difference between us and Jesus.  We are camouflaged with Him.  When they have been with us they have felt as if they have been with Jesus.

Counterfeit

Then there is the camouflage we have to keep our eye out for.  The devil has the best camouflage for evil.  And just like this little creature kept creeping up onto my foot, the devil knows how to disguise things so that they look as innocent as the little rock looked to me, and it creeps in.  We start by reading, watching, or listening to something that is mostly good but just has a little taint of bad.  But slowly a creeping compromise happens and we are reading, watching, or listening to things we thought we never would do.

Getting back

Thank the Lord for the forgiveness that He has for us when we return to Him with a confession.  Confession is the beginning of getting back in right relation to Him.

We need to get back to the simplicity of God’s Word.  He makes things so simple but we complicate things.  A lot of times it can be because we just want to keep on doing the “little” things that we so enjoy.

What can we do?

  1. Spend a thoughtful hour each day contemplating the Life of Christ.  As we can come to realize what Christ has done for us so that we can spend eternity with Him, it can help to change our mindset.
  2. Spend time in prayer.  Having that communion with God is so important.  He longs to hear from us.  It doesn’t matter what, He wants to hear our worries as well as our victories or requests.  He is always there to guide us.
  3. Hide God’s Word in your heart.  It is always good to have scripture that we can draw from to guide us with our decisions each day.  Every time we need to make a decision about whether something we want to read, watch, or listen to is right or good, here are a couple good verses.  “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalms 101:3.  And another favorite is in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Dear Father,

You are our ever-present power if we will just reach out to You for strength to overcome.  Forgive us for all our shortcomings and help us to stay in Your Word.  Give us wisdom each day as we are on this journey of life.  Show us Your ways.  Thank You for always being there ready and able to help us as we allow You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give your life in full to Jesus today so that you can reflect His character.  Stay so close to Him that you won’t get caught off guard with the devil’s camouflage, but that you will be fully reflecting Christ.

Love you all.

What is the most unusual camouflage you have seen?  And what spiritual lesson can you share about it?

 

 

 

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“Yes! Backpacking!!”

Backpacking!

Have you ever been backpacking?  If you haven’t you ought to try it.  One of the great things about backpacking is that you can get into some areas that are so beautiful and there are not a lot of people.  I can’t say I am really experienced because I have only done it twice.  I am really grateful to a friend who got my boys interested.  They love it and are now sharing that love with the rest of the family.  Now I have to say that it is tough on me.  But what I can say is no matter how old you are you can learn something new.

Rain

One thing that I have never liked about tent camping is having the rain.  And when you go backpacking into the wilderness, tent camping is the only option.  When we headed to our spot it was beautiful but it was not long when things started looking suspicious.  We got to our camping spot, hurriedly set up our tents and barely made it inside before it started to thunder, lightning, and have pouring rain.

We went backpacking with friends and now we were all lined up in two-man tents.  And one of my son’s had a tarp tent, what good is that in the rain.  We ended up spending the evening and night huddled in our tents.

The next day did not look much better.  When we got up it was not raining.  So after having breakfast, we started thinking about how we could make this day fun despite the rain.  It is amazing what you can do with what you have if you put your mind to it.  We took the three two-man tents and put them together and cover the center part with my son’s tarp tent.  Then we were able to open the doors to our tents and sit around visiting and playing games.  It did let up a little so we could take a little hike.  It was such a beautiful place with lots of little lakes, flowers, and streams.

The big hike

The next day was still looking cloudy but there was some sun.  So we decided to take the risk of heading out hoping it would not pour rain.  Because at that point how would you get warm. It turned out to be a beautiful day.  Yes, we had a sprinkle here and there but nothing drastic.  We were actually thankful for the clouds.  The sun came out a few times, which made it really hot but for the most part, there was a cloud cover.  It was a long a grueling hike but the view was spectacular.

Sunscreen

It seems when there are clouds no one worries about protecting your skin from the scorching sun but WARNING.  When there are clouds it is a time when you can really get burned.  You think you don’t have a need to protect your skin but you do.  A lot of us got burned because we did not wear protection.

I really have not liked sunscreen over the years because they are so toxic but as of late I have been making my own with some more natural ingredients. Here is a general recipe that a person can try.

Natural Sunscreen

3/4 cup Coconut oil (antibacterial and antifungal, coconut oil for

skin is an excellent moisturizer)

1 T.  Bees Wax (helps soften and soothe skin.)

2 T. Zinc Oxide (zinc oxide protects against UVA and UVB light

rays and is often used as a natural, non-toxic

sunscreen to prevent burns)

2 T Shea Butter  (soothing to the skin)

12 drops of doTERRA Helichrysum essential oil (Helichrysum

keeps the skin looking young and healthy.)

You want a double boiler or I take a metal bowl put in my Bees Wax in and then put it in a pan so it is above a couple of inches of water.  As the water gets hot it melts the wax.  Then add the coconut oil and Shea butter. (It is harder to melt the wax.)  Make sure it is mixed well.  Take from the heat and add your Zinc Oxide.  If you want higher protection you can add more zinc oxide.

“Safest Baby Sunscreens For Your Baby” is a great article on some healthier options.  With all the toxic things out there we need healthier options.  To me, if it isn’t good for my baby it is not good for me.

Remember, no matter what sunscreen you use, you need to put it on several times a day as you are enjoying your day in the sun.

Nature

The most incredible thing about backpacking is the nature.  It is worth all the sore muscles and sleepless nights.  I have never been to a more incredible, beautiful place.  Pictures can’t even do it justice.

Imagine in your mind a meadow that is green with wildflowers everywhere of all different kinds.  And through the meadow, a stream is running.  Then you look up and there are incredible mountains of beauty that is not explainable.

And then there are the lakes.  The colors are unimaginable.  They are not full of pollution.  They are crisp and clean.  We filtered water out of the lake and it was so incredibly good.  There are little islands and greenery all around.  It is so beautiful it is hard to explain.

Where there are water and mountains there are also waterfalls.  Everywhere you looked you could see a falls coming down from somewhere.  Some were so far away that you could not see them well but you could hear them as they crashed over the rocks falling hundreds of feet down the mountain.

It was the home to all kinds of creatures, large and small.  It is an incredible place for the creatures to live in.  Way out away from city life.  It is serene and peaceful.  To me, that is where they belong, instead of back at my house destroying my yard and coming into my house.  The mice were everywhere but it did not bother me because that is where they belong.  I am not sure the name of all the creatures but it was wonderful to watch them, chipmunks, ground squirrels, frogs, etc.  We did not see any really big animals like deer or bear, which is fine, especially the bear.

Thinking

This trip in nature started me thinking what an incredible God we serve.  I also started thinking about what spiritual lessons I could find from our adventure.

There were the rolling hills filled with beautiful greenery along with a multitude of different flowers scattered throughout.  You could have picked them and had a variety that would have made a beautiful bouquet.  This reminded me of how beautiful heaven will be but also the results of sin.  We could have picked those flowers and made a beautiful bouquet but the beauty would have lasted a short time because as soon as we picked them they would start to die.  It is the same with us as soon as we come into this world we start to slowly die because of sin.  But even though we may die physically if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus when He comes in the clouds, He will raise us up and take us home with Him and we will live eternally.  And then there will be no more death!  Praise the Lord!

Sunscreen

Whenever you are out in the sun it is always good to protect yourself with sunscreen, even when it is cloudy.  When the clouds are out you think your safe but really you are not.  A lot of the sunscreens are so toxic with chemicals that you wonder if they are safe to even use.

What sunscreen made me think of is how we need to protect ourselves from sin.  Sin can “burn” us and when we least expect it like we get sunburned when it is cloudy.  What is the best protection?  Can there be things out there that are “toxic”?  There are things out there that are toxic.  We can think that it will protect us spiritually but can it really.  Does it have some real truth mix with a little error?  It is like the sunscreen,  it can have a lot of good stuff to protect us from sin but then there are a few chemicals that can be toxic to us that really defeats the purpose of protection.  So what is the best spiritual protection?  Can we rely on men/women?  God uses men/women to share the protection of truth with us but how do we know it is not “toxic”?

The only safeguard is the Word of God.  We need to put on the whole armor of God as it says in Ephesians 6:11-17.  We also need to be as the Bereans and “search the scriptures daily,” to see if what we are being told or taught lines up with scripture.  See Acts 17:10-11.  And then “if they speak not according to this Word” we can know there is no light in them. See Isaiah 8:20.  We need to be sure we are using the nontoxic spiritual “sunscreen” to protect ourselves, God’s Word.

Rocks

We went for a climb up the mountain.  We climbed up the mountain an elevation of 2,000 feet.  Most of the way up it was big boulders and areas of smaller rocks.  We had to be careful when there were the smaller rocks because they could loosen and start to roll down the hill.  There were two things that could happen, if someone was below us those rocks could hit them and cause some real damage or we could slip and start sliding down the mountain.  There were a couple of things that we tried to do.  We wanted to stay on the big boulders as much as possible and if we did have to go through an area where there was no choice but the smaller rocks we did not want someone following us.  The best place for them to be was walking beside you.

This made me realize how important it is to stay on the Big Rock, Jesus Christ.  As we “hike” along in this life, there are so many loose “rocks”.  If we choose to get off the Solid Rock there are two things that can happen.  First, we can fall into sin and secondly if someone is following us we can lead them off the Sold Rock.  And they can get damaged by sin or even lose their eternal life.  We need to stay on the Solid Rock.

Rain

The rain reminds me of the trials we go through as Christians.  Just like we brought our tents together and covered the cap with a tarp tent, we as Christians need to draw together under the “Tarp Tent” Jesus and help each other through the difficult times.  It is so much better than trying to travel alone.  Travel together, pray together and study God’s Word together.

Dear Father,

Thank You for nature and what we can learn through it.  I thank You for being the Solid Rock that we can rely on.  Thank You also that when we do get off on the loose rocks You are there to pull us back onto the Solid Rock, all we have to do is reach out our hand.  I also thank You for Your patience and love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Put the spiritual “sunscreen” on today, stay on the Solid Rock, Jesus, and stay in fellowship with fellow believers.

Love you all!

Have you ever been camping, backpacking or just hiking?  What adventure do you have to share?  I would love to hear it.  Please share below.