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“Did You See The Eclipse? I Did!”

I don’t know about you but I have seen several eclipses over the years.  I remember when a partial solar eclipse happened when I was a kid but this is the first full eclipse that I have seen. Now I shouldn’t say that I fully saw it except on NASA because in the area I live in it did not show as a full eclipse.

In order to see the eclipse, you had to have special glasses, which I did not have.  I was at work when it happened and we went out for maybe five minutes to take a look.  There was no way that you could really see it without something.  One of my co-workers had a welding helmet.  It is not the ideal but we could take a quick glance, just to see it.  The sun is so bright you could not see it otherwise.

It was a very interesting feeling to have it start to get dark.  It was kind of like it was clouding over but there were no clouds.  It felt like it should be heading toward evening rather than being 10:30 am.  It was definitely an experience of a lifetime.

There are several different lessons that can be learned through this experience and I have been debating on which one to share.  And maybe I will share both.  I share what the Lord brings to my mind about any given situation.  I don’t always know what I am going to write as I start but the Lord always gives me things as I write.

The first thought that was coming to my mind was relating this eclipse to the things that are happening in our world today.  There are so many evils.  There are so many things that this person is doing or saying and that person is doing or saying.  It is so easy to get caught up in the things that are happening that it starts to become the trend of our conversations and what we dwell upon.  It starts to blind us to the real things that we should be dwelling upon and talking about.  We can have a tendency to want to read things into every single thing that takes place or what people do or say and try to fit it somehow into prophecy.  And as time passes and things do not happen the way we thought we may get discouraged.  We may be strong enough to handle it but more importantly who have we discouraged and caused to lose sight of God.  Just like watching the eclipse for very long can cause you to go blind, dwelling upon the things that are happening in this world can take us off the correct focus and cause our spiritual eyes to go blind to what really matters to God.

Here is the most important thing to focus on, “…To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.”  “…He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”  …To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” ” …He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out to the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before His Angels.”  Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 3:5.

As we are overcoming and our lives are reflecting Christ the next most important thing is to be sharing the love of Jesus with our families first and then to others.  As we are reflecting Christ in every way they will be open to hearing what Christ has done for us.  This is a part of overcoming.  “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11.

Overcoming leads me to the other aspect that came to my mind as I reflected upon the eclipse.  The Lord is coming soon.  And we need to focus on being ready.  There is only one thing that will save us when Christ comes in the clouds.  The brightness of His coming will be so intense we will immediately perish.  There is only one way that we will be able to look upon Him and not perish and that is to be an overcomer.  We have to have “protective” glasses on.  “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Ephesians 6:10-18.

We need to have on the whole armour of God or we will not be able to stand on the day of the Lord’s appearing.  We need to keep our focus in the right area.  The devil doesn’t care how he distracts us as long as he can get our attention away from what matters most.

Dear Father,

Help us to realize how important it is to keep our eyes away from the things of this world.  All the things around us may be signs of Your coming but You have made it clear in Your Word where our focus should be.  We need to keep our focus and conversation on You and not on the things that are happening around us.  Help us to keep our eyes focused on You so that we will be a light to those around and be ready when You come.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

As we surrender to Christ and perfectly reflect His character all who desire something different in their life will want what we have.  And as we share with word and example then the gospel will go to the world and Jesus will come.  I believe God is waiting for a people who will perfectly reflect His character and then He can come.

Love you all.

Did you get to witness the eclipse?  What were your thoughts?

 

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“The Fire is Coming Your Way!! Get Out!!!”

There are so many fires happening all over the Inland Northwest.  There are people who have lost their homes, others who have been evacuated but they don’t know the outcome of their homes yet, and there are still others that have stayed and are doing what they can to save their homes.

This fire danger is so real.  I know the other morning we had a short lightning and thunderstorm and I was praying!  We are so dry that one strike and a fire would start.

I remember as spring was coming in and we were getting so much rain, we were grateful.  The last three years with the fire dangers and actually having to haul water, we were thankful for the rain.  But now that we have had the longest and hottest period of time in years, we are still dry.

When I heard about some friends that were in fire danger and finally told to evacuate, it made me start to think.  They have chosen not to evacuate at this time but to prepare their house and property as much as possible to protect it.  They have just been rebuilding slowly from a few years after having a house fire caused by a wood stove.

My thoughts have started to collect in my mind what I would take with me if I had to evacuate.  There are things that are not replaceable, like family photos, the money you may have stashed away.  There is also all the important documents, like the marriage license, which I don’t even know where mine is, titles, etc.  Right now every thing is scattered here and there and it makes you start to realize how important it is to have things gathered in areas easy to grab.

Then I started to think about how this relates to our Christian walk.  I think a lot of times we get so caught up in everyday life that we forget that there is a “fire” coming and it is getting closer.  We need to be thinking about the things that are most important to save.

The one and most important thing that we can take with us when we leave this earth when Jesus comes is our character.  If we are hanging onto any worldly things our character will not be in the right place to grab and at that point, it will be too late.  Our characters need to be in the right place not scattered here and there.  We need to have a single mind toward God.

There are other things that are precious that we want to save from the “fire”.  We want to save our families.  The best way to do it is by our example.  How urgent are we?

If we were in the situation my friend is in right now would we be just sitting in our house not paying any attention to what is happening around us or would we be doing everything we could to protect our house?  Our family would feel our urgency if we worked urgently.  But if we were being lazy they would probably not feel the urgency.  The same is true of our spiritual urgency.  How urgent are we about the times in which we live?  Where is our focus?  If we want to save our families our focus needs to change from the world and its wickedness and problems to keeping our focus where it should be.  Our focus should be on Heavenly things.

Here are some things that I am working on to implement into my life.  Our life should be a life of joy, not negativity.

  1. Keep your eyes focused heavenward. There are so many things going on in this world that can discourage us if we focus on them.  We can even live in fear.  The best place to keep our focus is on heavenly things.  Let’s keep our eyes on the genuine Jesus Christ, that is the only way we are going to be ready.
  2. Remember, God, forgives. This is so amazing!  It doesn’t matter what we have done and how wicked we may have been God will forgive us.  He sent His only begotten Son to die in our place so that we can go to heaven and be with Him.
  3. Contemplate His love for you. We have already talked about His forgiveness, which is amazing.  It is good to write down all the things that He does for us that show how much He loves us.  Just the fact that we got up this morning is a miracle.  Our bodies run by Him.  He gives us the breath of life, etc.
  4. Spend time with this amazing God every day. Make sure to spend time in God’s Word each day.  Memorize scripture that can stick with you throughout the day.  And spend much time in prayer.

As we dwell upon these things and keep the right focus, people will be drawn to the love of God.  Love draws.  Fear of consequences can draw but not save.  Being drawn by love can save.

I believe that God is waiting for a people who will perfectly reflect His character (love) and then He will come to take us home.  How are we going to perfectly reflect His character as long as our focus is on the things of this world?  Whether we are doing worldly things or we are talking about the bad of this world and dwelling upon it, it leads to destruction, either of your life or the life of someone around you.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  There is nothing else we need to focus on.

Dear Father,

Help us to realize the love that You have for us.  Continue to draw us to Your love.  Forgive our stubborn hearts, the hearts that want to dwell on the things of this world.  We can tend toward sensationalism.  Something new and exciting to report about the wickedness or the happenings of this world and it becomes the topics of our life.  You need to be our topic.  As we focus on You, people will want what we have.  Forgive us for focusing on the wrong things and help us to live our lives in full connection with You.  Thank You for Your love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your focus on Jesus and heavenly things.  Talk of heaven and what it will be like.  Talk of the love of Jesus and what He has done for you.  Then your life will be filled with joy.  And you will be preparing your “house” against the “fire” that is coming.

Love you all.

What do you do to help keep your focus heavenward?

 

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“You Just Had Egg, Yikes!!!”

Have you ever done something or ate something that could cause you real harm but you did not realize it until after the fact?  “Oh, we just walked through a patch of Poison Ivy.”  Or you’re in a foreign country, “You just ate that piece of fruit? Did you know it hadn’t been washed yet?”  If this has happened to you what went through your mind when you realized what you had done?  I can tell you for me it was fear.

My body does not handle eggs.  I fear to even touch it.  I know I am not that sensitive as to react to touch.  It started back when I was 17 years old.  The first time it happened we had no idea what was going on.  I am a person that has always read my body.  When something happens I think about what I have done or eaten and I am able to know why something has happened.  I had learned a few years before I was 17 that egg was bad for me.

Growing up, we did not use a lot of eggs but now and then we would have some or have something that had them in it.  I never knew why my tummy never felt the best until later on.  Having your tummy not feel the best is nothing but later on, my body started to react in a worse way.

Having egg started to affect my eyes.  The discomfort was so bad I could wear two pairs of sunglasses, cover all the windows in my room with blankets and there was still enough light in the room to cause discomfort.  And on top of it all, I could go blind.  This was no tiny matter.

I have learned to stay away from eggs and refined sugar and it keeps me from having this problem.  Despite my efforts, I have had this issue multiple times through the years and I praise the Lord each day for His ways that have kept me from going blind.

It is amazing how hard it can be to stay clear of these things.  I can have refined sugar two or three times before anything would happen but with egg, almost immediate.

So the other day when I was at a potluck meal and I realized after the fact that I had eaten egg I became very anxious.  A few minutes later my stomach started to hurt.  Someone suggested taking some charcoal, which I did.  When I got home I also did two things to help my digestion.  One, I took some enzymes and secondly apply some essential oils, which will help with digestion, over my tummy.

The last but definitely not least was to pray.  It wasn’t like I had chosen on purpose to eat what I knew my body could not handle.  I am so grateful to the Lord that He has led me to so many things that have been beneficial to me in combating this issue.  And I praise His name that in spite of me making this unknown mistake I was spared the consequences.  This is something that does not always happen.

There is one thing that has been a miracle in my life, which has helped build my immune system to the point that my body can handle more and I am so grateful.  And the Lord has also given knowledge on things that can help me if I do have trouble.

This made me think of our spiritual lives.  There is something that is deadly to us.  It is sin.  Sin will cause death.  There are two different types of sin, willful and unknown.  Are the consequences the same?  Yes and no.  We may be doing something that could be harming our body but we don’t know it, like the egg.  But the reaction to it will be the same if willfully done or not.  But the difference is willful disobedience will keep us out of heaven.  If we are doing something we are unaware is a sin it will not keep us out of heaven.

I am so grateful for God.  He doesn’t want us to do anything that will separate us from Him but He doesn’t share with us every aspect of the Christian walk all at one time.  What He does do is show us things little by little.  And as we realize that what we have been doing is sin and we repent we are forgiven.  Now if we do it again knowingly it now changes from unknown to willful disobedience.  Thank the Lord that even when we disobey willfully we can repent and God will forgive.

The consequences for unknown sin and willful disobedience can be the same.  But the most important is our destination, heaven.  Willful disobedience will keep us out of heaven but if there is something we are unaware of it will not keep us out of heaven.

The best thing we can do is work on building our spiritual immune system.  We need to be spending time in God’s Word and in prayer.  We need to stay away from anything that will destroy our spiritual immune system.  God will lead us and we can trust Him.  I am so grateful for His love.

Dear Father,

I want to have a strong spiritual immune system.  Continue to prompt my heart to spend more time in Your Word meditating day and night upon it.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Confess any wrongs today and commit to drawing closer to the One that can lead you in the way everlasting.  With each day your spiritual immune system will get stronger and stronger.

Love you all.

What things have you found to be most helpful in building your spiritual immune system?

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“Which ‘Bird’ Are You Feeding?”

Do you enjoy time in nature?  How do you feel when you are able to spend time in nature?  There are so many things that we can learn from nature.  If we really take the time we can “read” and learn so many spiritual lessons.  I believe God has given us nature as a second book He can communicate with us through.  Just like we should spend time in God’s Word, we should also spend time in nature “reading” it as well.

A friend was sharing with me just recently about a bird’s nest she had been watching.  The little eggs and the mother were so cute.  She was not sure what kind of bird it was but she enjoyed watching.  As the number of eggs increased she noticed that one egg was bigger than all the rest.  That was interesting to her but she could not understand why.  Finally, the day came when the eggs hatched.  She noticed that one of the birds was way larger than the others.  The little birds disappeared and all that remained was the big bird.  She talked with a friend and that is when she learned something that she did not know.  The big egg and big bird were a cowbird.  If she would have only realized she could have gotten rid of the large egg and all would have been well.

Cowbirds are not a very pleasant bird.  What they do is they lay their egg in another bird’s nest.  The mother doesn’t realize the danger.  She proceeds to protect and keep her eggs warm.  When the birds hatch the cowbird baby takes over and ends up destroying the other babies.  The cowbird is so much bigger it ends up taking all the food that comes.  He has the big wide-open mouth and the little tiny birds can’t even get past his body to get food to survive.  The mother ends up feeding this cowbird baby only.  It is a very difficult job for her because the baby is so much bigger than her own babies would have been.  She has to work very hard to supply the need.

It makes me think about our lives as a Christian.  We learn about God and we begin to lay our “eggs”, prayer, Bible reading, scripture memorization, listening to and doing what God tells us, etc.  But somewhere along the way the “Cowbird”, devil, comes along and places something into our lives.  He may draw us with what we are eating, watching, listening to, reading, who we spend our time with, etc.

We don’t seem to pay attention to the things that we have gotten caught up in.  We are just “sitting” on the “eggs” keeping them warm so that they will hatch.  We try to foster all the different things in our lives.  A lot of times we even know better but we want to ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit because we are really enjoying ourselves.  We argue with ourselves saying, “I am still spending time with God, praying, memorizing scripture, etc.  I am okay.

What we don’t notice is that the “big egg”, bad choices, is taking up more of the “nest”, our lives, than the other “small eggs”, the good choices.

Eventually what happens is the “eggs hatch” and the “big bird”, wrong choices, is so strong that it shoves out the “little birds”, good choices, out of our lives.  The things that draw us closer to the Lord start to diminish while the things the devil has tempted us with and we have given into, take over.

Whatever “bird” we feed the most grows.  If we feed the lust of our flesh it will grow larger and larger.  If we feed on the things of God our spiritual lives will grow.  It is our choice.  We have more power than we think or want to admit.  We have the power of choice.  God cannot make us choose.  Once we choose He can give us the power to overcome.

Dear Father,

Forgive us for being blind to the “large birds” in our lives that are crushing out the “little birds”.  We find ourselves many times if we are willing to admit, feeding those things that are displeasing to You.  Continue to prompt our hearts to focus on the things of righteousness and to take our focus off the things of this world.  Thank You for Your patience with us.  Thank You that as we choose Your ways, You give us the power to accomplish Your ways.  Thank You for Your promises that we can claim through the hard times.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Which “bird” are you feeding?  Give it some serious thought.  Recommit your life to God today.

Love you all.

Do you have a story from nature?  What spiritual application did the Lord show you?  Share it with us.

 

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“I Can’t Believe It, I Blew It Again!”

Have you ever felt frustrated because you blew it again?  I believe, on the most part, we are probably hardest on ourselves.  Maybe you have an area in your life that you are trying to over come.  Or maybe you are learning something new and you get so frustrated because you keep not getting it.

I have recently taken on a job I have never done before.  I work at a print shop and they are training me in to run their Digital department.  You wouldn’t think it is any big deal but I have found there are a lot of details that you have to make sure are in place.  If you just miss one detail it can be a misprint and you have to start it all over again.

The other day, because I missed one detail, I set to print 200 books instead of 100.  Fortunately I ran out of paper so I ended up printing 50 over rather than 100.  My boss is so gracious.  Of course he talks to me about where I went wrong and to make sure that I pay attention to all the little details but he was very kind.

For me though, it was agony.  I couldn’t quit thinking about what I had done.  This is not my first mistake, just my biggest.  I keep thinking he needs to just let me go but apparently he sees potential in me.

I remember when he hired me what he said, “I would rather hire a good person, one with integrity, fast, and conscientious, with no knowledge and train them.  Those that I can hire with knowledge are not always good game players.  I want people who are good people who can work together with others, making a good team.”

Basically what I got out of the things that he said was that education can tend to make a person stuck in their own ways and it is hard to change them into what you are wanting for your own business.  They can be in a mindset and it is hard to get them out of it.

We had a production meeting after my bigger mistake.  I wondered how it would go.  He let me know that he appreciated my work and that he was very pleased with what I am doing, being that I have come in with no knowledge.  It blew my mind, because I was thinking I might fire me if I was him.

As I was pondering this it made me think of Jesus.  If you have grown up as a Christian it is like you have received an education in Christianity.  You think you know because you have been a “Christian” all your life.  The reality is that God has a harder time using those of us who are more “educated”.  We tend to be set in our ways and God has a hard time changing us.  Oh, He has the power to change us but we get in the way.

The question is does He really have our heart or are we just going through the motions of Christianity?  How does God deal with our mistakes?  If we have pre-knowledge we are held more accountable for our mistakes.  Does God deal with us differently?  I do believe so.  If we have knowledge of the truth and we go against that knowledge that is willful disobedience.  So the big question is, “Who has the heart?”  And can God still forgive us?

Then I think of those that are “uneducated”.  They didn’t grow up knowing anything of Christianity.  So when they hear the gospel message they are amazed.  When they accept the truth they are moldable.  They are like an innocent child.  They take it all in willingly without any preconceived ideas.  God is able to work with them easier because they don’t have any pre-knowledge that hinders them.  We need to become “as little children” Matthew 18:3.

How does God look at their mistakes?  “And the times of this ignorance God winked at;…. Acts 17:30.  When a person is new at the truth and learning God looks at their mistakes differently.  But as they grow and learn they become more responsible.  It is still about “Who has the heart?”  It just seems that those with less education and knowledge have a more willing heart to learn.

What I am grateful for is no matter what category we may fall in God is forgiving, long-suffering and gracious.  Are we willing to accept what He offers us?

  1. He offers forgiveness. He wants to forgive us every time we make a mistake.  Gratefully if we ask He always forgives and He is kind and gracious.
  2. He offers strength. If we come to Him each day asking for His guidance, protection, and strength for the day He will provide it.  We need to accept His strength because we are not strong enough without it.
  3. Become as little children. We need to be teachable like a little child.  Little children ask a lot of questions because they are eager to learn.  We should be like little children always eager to learn.  And accept what God tells us just like a little child accepts our answers to their questions without hesitation.  The most wonderful part is God does not get annoyed with us as we do with our little ones.  He is there to teach us all the things we need to learn.
  4. Be humble.Too many times when we have done wrong we want to make excuses.  When we see we have done wrong we need to humble ourselves.  If we accept that we have done wrong we can learn from it.

Dear Father,

Please forgive us for taking Your kindness, mercy and graciousness for granite.  Thank You for Your love.  Thank You for Your continued patience.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember no matter how many mistakes you have made God is always forgiving.  Go to Him today and He will forgive and give you the strength you need to make it through.

Love you all.

Have you ever felt like you blew it again and there was no hope?  How did God see you through?

 

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“Get Into The Light!”

It seems with the busy life of today it is really hard to get outside and spend time in the sun.  If you have a garden or need to do some yard work you might find the time.  But to just lay out in the sun, forget it, we don’t have time.  What we don’t realize is the benefit of the sun.

I have been writing about the “BALANCED” life.  Today I am going to focus on “L” for Light.  When I am talking about light I am talking about the natural light of the sun.  It is the best kind of light that we can have.

So the question is, “How important is it to get out into the sunlight?”

  • Increases vitamin D levels.  That being said it is really hard for us to get the amount of vitamin D that we need just getting into the sun.  I definitely recommend that you ask you doctor to test you levels.  Most people need supplementation.
  • It increases our ability to handle stress.  Along with the vitamin D that helps with stress, sunlight helps as well.  Being in the sun can help you relax.
  • Depression can be eliminated. Now it does depend on what kind of depression you are talking about.  If you are so depressed that you are having trouble functioning get professional help.  The sunlight can still be wonderful but you need professional help along with it.  For those of us that may have days where we just are feeling a little down get out in the sun.

It seems that it is getting harder and harder to even get out in the sunshine.  Most of us go from home to work and the only sun we get is through the window of our car. It may make you sweat but it doesn’t benefit you unless it has direct contact.

We all have a day or two off each week and we need to make sure to get out in the sun on those days.  This still will not be enough to give you the vitamin D that you need but it will still be beneficial.  And be careful not to get a sunburn.

Here are some tips:

  • Write it into your schedule. Things that are scheduled get done.  So set aside a little time each day and get out into the sunshine.  You will find it to be very uplifting.
  • Don’t wear sunscreen. Your probably are thinking, “What? Your crazy!!”  You do need to wear sunscreen when you are out for long periods of time.  But if you have sunscreen on you will not get the benefits that you need from the sun.  Just spend about 5 to 10 minutes without it, and then put some on.  I would highly recommend something more natural than what you get at the grocery store.  You can contact me for some ideas on some sunscreen.
  • Make sure to attend to burns. If you do make the mistake of spending too much time in the sun without proper protection make sure to do something soothing for the skin.  One thing I really like to do is take some good healthy none scented lotion and add some lavender essential oil drops rub it carefully on.  It is so soothing.
  • Take a vitamin D supplement. The truth is we cannot get enough vitamin D in the sun.  Make sure to get your levels checked by your doctor and then supplement if you need to.

I am so grateful for the sun.  It was given to us for a reason.  Of course we need to be BALANCED in all things.  Just because it is a good thing does not mean more is better.

Dear Father,

Thank You for the sun that you gave us.  You have made everything we need to have a good healthy life.  Just like we can’t do without the sun we need Your Son to give us spiritual health as He shines on us.  Thank You for Your love for us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Get out in the sunshine starting today.

What benefits have you received when you spend time in the sun?

 

 

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“Well, That’s Just A Small Things!”

Have you ever felt that God does not answer your prayers?  You keep praying and praying about a particular thing but nothing happens.  At least we think nothing happens.

What I have found is that God is working every day in my life but I fail to see it a lot of times.  What we do is take for granite all the good that comes our way.  We don’t realize the good things are blessings from God.  We tend to look for big things rather than seeing all things.  If the blessing isn’t big we think of the blessing as just what life brings us.

On the other hand a lot of times we look at the bad things that come our way and whether it is a big thing or a little thing we tend to blow it out of proportion and the majority into the “big” category.  The devil brings the bad to try to discourage us.  God allows them to try to teach us to trust Him.  We are really such a stubborn people.

The other thing we don’t really want to think about is that some of the bad that comes into our lives we have actually brought upon ourselves.  We think that we can make any choice in life and God will make things turn out good, even though, we brought it on ourselves.  God does help us through our foolish mistakes but He doesn’t always remove the consequences.

I want to share what might seem like a little miracle that God did for our family.  This was something that I shared on Facebook a while back but it bares repeating.  Our family has gone through some really hard financial struggles.

“I debated whether or not to share this but I can’t help myself when it comes to sharing what God does. We have run into some hard times so we have been going to the food bank. My son, Caleb, was planning to make bean soup. He asked me if I thought I could get some greens after I went to the food bank, being one of the ingredients. I told him I would see what I could do. He proceeded to put the rest of the ingredients together. And as the Lord always works, when I got to the food bank looked at what was there they had just what we needed. I was able to get three big bags. There wasn’t much more food than that for what we eat but the Lord wasn’t done. I was just ready to walk up and check out when a whole bunch of other fresh things came in, lettuce, tangerines, and fresh-cut mango. I even had a lady come up and say can you use this orange juice. They were small containers. I said how many is allowed. She said just take this whole case. There were 24. They even had some vegan sour cream that Jeffrey had request for his birthday meal to go with burrito casserole, that we are celebrating this Friday. Some may call it chance but I call it God.”

Dear Father,

Help us to see You at work in our lives.  Prompt our minds each day with the blessings.  We can be such a negative people.  Help us to look at life through Your eyes.

Thank You for Your love and for all the things that You do for us each day.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I would challenge you to get a blessing journal and start writing down the blessings that come your way each day.

Love you all.

What blessings has God done for you?  Please share in the comments.  It is the sharing the blessings with others that will help us grow as well as encourage others.

 

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“Should I Show Respect To Trump?”

It seems that our world is in such a mess.  If we look back to what this world was like 50, 60, or 70 years ago things seem way different.  We can see that the change has come gradually.  So gradual that a lot of us haven’t even noticed, until suddenly we woke up one day and said, “What happened?”  Nothing as big as this happens overnight.  The devil knows that if he would have brought things on suddenly none of us would have accepted or been deceived by it.

It is one thing to recognize that there is evil in this world but it is another to dwell upon it.  I believe that the unfallen Angels of God did not even really recognize the evilness of sin until Christ was hanging upon the cross.  At that point they could see the real evilness of the devil. We cannot really recognize the evilness of sin unless we focus our attention on Christ and Him crucified.

It was my sin and your sin that put Him there.  It is our sin’s that crucify Him afresh every time we choose to do things that are displeasing in His sight. (See Hebrews 6:6)

Does God really care about how I take care of this temple that He wants to dwell in?  Absolutely!  He cannot dwell in a polluted place.  So what do I need to do so that my temple is not polluted?  “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  1Corinthians 10:31.  There are many aspects that can be addressed here but I am going to just focus on “whatsoever ye do”.  I just want to be clear that all is important.

I want to talk about the spirit of the law.  The letter of the law is important to obey.  Some may think that the letter of the law is easier to keep.  “What it says in black in white I will do.”  But the reality is keeping the letter of the law means nothing without the spirit of the law.

If I choose to obey the command, “Thou shalt not kill.” But show hate and anger toward ANYONE, it is the same as killing.  It is hard for our brain to comprehend and wrap our brains around.  But if we study the life of Christ and focus to be more like Him we will treat all people with the same respect.

Christ loves all people and we are supposed to do the same.  It does not matter what they do or say to us we need to love them.  We cannot do this without the power of Christ love.  But we have to surrender self to God and allow Him to love through us.  We cannot do it on our own.

The political bashing from Christians astounds me.  How should we talk about or treat those people who are doing and saying things we don’t agree with?

I think of David when Saul was chasing him.  Saul was trying to kill him but David refused to raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed.  I cannot recall a verse where he even spoke badly about him.

I think of Daniel.  He served in 3 different kingdoms.  He was taken captive by one kingdom, then that kingdom was invaded and taken over by another kingdom and so on.  How could he serve in a high position in each one of those kingdoms?  I believe one reason was that God was with him.  But I also believe it was because, it did not matter which power was in place, he treated them as the Lord’s anointed.

God is the one that allows those into office that He would have and He takes down others.  Ultimately He has the last word.  So the reality is God has placed Trump there.  What I think about him does not even come into the equation.  But how I treat him or talk about him does.

Remember all people were created by God and are loved by Him.

There is another aspect that I want to point out in Daniel.  The reason Daniel was in captivity was because Israel had not been following God, as they should have been.  Daniel was a very godly man.  We don’t read anything that would indicate that he did anything evil in the sight of God.  Yet, when he prayed about the sins of his people, he includes himself.  “Dear Lord, We have sinned.”  It is easy to point out the sins of our churches but the reality is we should be crying and sighing for the abominations we see in Christianity and we should include ourselves in those prayers.  We have all sinned.  I believe this to be true for our country as well.  We should be praying for the sins of our country and include ourselves in it as well.

We can get so caught up in being right and pointing fingers that we don’t love a Jesus loves.  The only way we can love as He loved is to allow Him to love through us.  But we have to surrender ourselves.  If we cannot learn to speak well of and to love these people now, when things happen that affect our lives in a negative way we will not love and speak well of them.

We need to pray for our leaders.  Whether they be political or church leaders.

A true Christian will be known by their love.

Dear Father,

We need Your love.  It is so easy to point fingers but in reality we are not any different from those we may be pointing fingers at.  We are all sinners in need of You.  Help us to focus on surrendering our lives to You.  Prompt us to pray for those that are leaders.  You have loved us with an everlasting love; help us to do the same.  We cannot do this without You.  Fill us with Your love and compassion.  As we see the leaders, whether leaders of the country, church or even our bosses, help us to see You hanging on the cross for them.  Thank You for the love and compassion that you show each one of us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Let’s surrender all to God and have compassion for those around us.  Remember God has the final say.

Love you all.

I know what I have shared here does not seem politically correct.  What are your thoughts?  Please share respectfully.

 

 

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“You Can’t Trust Your Vision!!”

Have you ever looked at an example and everything seems so right so you followed it?  Your eyes, senses and every fiber of your being made it seem right but you discover after a time that it was totally wrong.

I am working at a print shop.  I run the digital copy.  You have to set everything up on the computer that speaks to the digital machine and thus you make your product.  It sounds easy but there are a lot of things you have to make sure you do right or it could turn out wrong.

One of the most important things is to read the jacket.  Every job comes with what we call a jacket.  Inside the jacket can be artwork or a sample of what the job is.  But the most important information is on the outside of the jacket.  It gives specific information.  For example, what kind of paper to use, what size the paper should be, whether your printing black and white or color, or whether it is printed on one side of the paper or two sides, just to name a few.

The other day I got the jacket and scanned over it.  I seen it was a spiral bound book.  In the jacket was a sample so I pulled it out and look at it.  I thought, “Great this is going to be an easy one because the pages are just one-sided.”  I was in a rush to get gone because I had an appointment to go to.  So I set it all up and started printing.

After it was done printing I had a question so I went to the guy that has been training me in and he looked at what I had failed to pay close attention to, the front of the jacket.  The sample was a one-sided print but the instructions on the jacket was a two-sided print.  I missed comparing the sample to the instructions.

I went to my boss about the mistake.  Here I had printed several pages and it was wrong.  When He looked at the jacket and the sample.  He even had some confusion on what it needed to be.  The jacket instructions seemed a little confusing.  But after looking things over thoroughly and talking to the one that had put the job together I figured it out.

This reminds me of our Christian walk. We have an instruction book, the Bible.  We need to be thoroughly studying the “jacket” (Word of God).  We cannot go by what we see or hear.

In this world today there can be so many things that we can get caught up in.  It can sound amazing and look amazing but is it really a true “sample” of truth.

There can be so many false things that are out there for us to get caught up in.  Some of those things may be perfectly harmless in and of themselves.  But is it keeping us from focusing on the things we really should be, the true directions for life (God’s Word).

It says in Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christ, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”  We are in a time where we need to keep our focus on the study of the Word of God.  So that we can be so grounded in the true information that we will not be thrown off by what we see or hear.

I don’t think we begin to realize how closely Satan can make things look so real and right that it is very deceiving.  We cannot go by our senses.  We have to go by the truth of God’s Word only.

I could have totally done the job correctly if I had just gone by the instructions written rather than looking at the sample.  I would have been way farther ahead.  If I had been thoroughly studied in the truth of the jacket I would not have been thrown off by the false of the sample.

In the same way if we stay focused on the truth of the Word of God we will not be thrown off by the counterfeits that come our way.  But if we are spending our time focusing on the world and it’s counterfeits we are going to be unknowingly swept in to untruth, which can lead to final disaster.  The devil doesn’t care what rabbit trail he gets us going down, just as long as we are not focused on what we should be.

I was grateful that my boss was so understanding.  When we come to God and admit our mistakes, asking forgiveness He is so understanding as well.

Just like I needed to look at all the aspects of the jacket to know the truth, here a little there a little.  The same is true of the Bible.  We can’t make our decision based on one verse.  We need to study it carefully, here a little and there a little.

I also could not have figured out the jacket unless I had gone to the one who had put it together.  We are not going to understand what we study in the Bible unless we go to God asking for guidance.  Then the Holy Spirit will come and enlighten our eyes.  And those things that have seemed confusing will become clear.

Dear Father,

Help us to realize how important it is to stay focused on Your Word.  Help us to realize the sensational things that we can get caught up in can lead us in a direction to take us off the focus we should have.  Thank You for Your love and Your patience with us.  Continue to guide us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep in the Word, it is the safest place to be.

Love you all.

Have you experienced a “rabbit trail” in your life at times?  What happened to help you get back on track?  What do you do to try to stay on track?