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“I Think I’m Going To Be Sick!”

Sick!

Have you ever had this feeling in the pit of your stomach that you can’t explain?  Maybe as a kid, you realized that because you just made a bad choice your parents have decided to cancel something they had planned for you.  You have this sick feeling in the pit of your stomach realizing that you just missed out on the most amazing thing.  Maybe you’re like me when I got out to my car from a store and realized my daughter wasn’t with me.  She was young, maybe 6 or 7, at the time and it was the scariest feeling.  Talk about a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My daughter

It was around Christmas time.  Our family was in a store in the mall browsing.  We didn’t find what we needed so we headed out to our vehicle.  When we got there we realized our daughter was not with us.  After losing a daughter that we only had with us for 5 weeks, I was in a panic.  I did not want to lose another daughter.  We went into the store and talked to the workers and we all started on a search.  I don’t remember how much time passed but it seemed like forever.  Finally, one of the workers found her hiding in some clothes.

It turns out she had been skipping the squares on the floor and had not turned with us toward the doors.  When she realized she was alone she tried to go out one door and realized it was the wrong one so she came back into the store and hid in the clothes.  It was a very happy reunion.  I remember how frustrated I would get when we would go anywhere after that.  She was so afraid of being left behind she would hang on to my clothing.  It was hard for me to even walk through a store because she stayed so close to me.  I would say she did that for the next couple of years at least.  It was a very frightening experience for her.  I can imagine the sick feeling she must have had in the pit of her stomach.

The worst sick feeling

So what is the worst sick feeling that a person could ever have in the pit of their stomach?  I have given much thought to this more than once.  It makes me cringe to think about it.  We can so often go through life and not really realize the seriousness of it.  But if you really take the time to give it some thought it can be awakening.

When I think about the worst sick feeling that I could possibly think of, I think of not being ready for the greatest event in all history, the event of Jesus soon coming.  For me, the most sickening feeling would be to hear the words, “…I never knew you:…” Matthew 7:23.  That sick feeling of realizing that I am lost.  I imagine my daughter had the most horrible sick feeling in her stomach when she realized she was lost.  Just like I had the sick feeling in my stomach when I realized my daughter was lost, God has even a greater sick feeling.  He loves us so much and when we don’t choose Him and His ways He suffers.  He has so many children that His suffering is indescribable.

Fear

The great news is that we have a forgiving God.  If we have gone astray and gotten lost there is still time to be found.  Now is the time to come to Him asking for forgiveness and He is ever waiting and longing to forgive.

There is only one thing that we need to fear and that is separation and that separation only happens as we choose it.  God doesn’t bring the separation, we do.  Just like my daughter clung to me thereafter, we need to cling to Jesus.  As we cling to Him there is nothing to fear. We need to walk with Him hand in hand.  We cannot let anything come between Him and ourselves otherwise we will get lost.  He will be constantly searching for us but if we don’t want to be found He doesn’t push His way in.  And if we continue not to listen to the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, His voice will get softer and softer until we can’t hear it anymore.

Cling to Jesus

The answer is to cling to Jesus.  We need to stay in full connection to Him.  Here are some ways to stay connected.

  1. I look at prayer as a key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured boundless resources.  We need to be coming to God everyday and speaking to Him as well as listening to His voice.
  2. Be in the word.  We must be in the Word each day.  God’s Word is full of instructions and promises.  As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us we can know which course to pursue.
  3. Memorize verses from God’s Word.  If we have promises memorized from God’s Word, we can bring them to mind when we are having struggles throughout the day or when we are tempted.
  4. Guard the avenues of the soul.  We need to guard our 5 senses.  Making choice that will keep us out of harms way.  We can protect ourselves from temptations by guarding ourselves.  We don’t want put ourselves in a position that will make it harder for us to stay connected.  My daughter was tempted to skip the squares on the floor and she took her eyes off of me and did not see me go in a different direction.  That is exactly what can happen to us if we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there through every circumstance in life.  Continue to prompt our hearts to keep our eyes on You.  And help us to be ready when You come.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Keep your eyes fixed on the One that can lead and guide you through every circumstance.

Love you all.

What illustration can you share today?  I would love to hear it.

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“Citronella Spray? Really?!!”

Citronella!

One thing that has become popular in the summertime is citronella.  They have come up with a variety of ways to use it.  It is something that is supposed to help keep away those little insects that no one really likes around.  Does it work?  Some people say it works wonderfully and others seem to question it.  For me, I don’t really know because I haven’t given it a real try.

Dogs

So what does citronella have to do with dogs?  Some of our dogs have a real habit of barking.  We have tried different things to get the habit stopped.  More recently we heard about getting a citronella collar.  Yes, you heard correctly.  So you get this collar that has this little box on it, every time they bark it sprays citronella.  It doesn’t hurt them in any way but they do not really like the smell.  It seems to work as long as the collar is on.  The unfortunate thing is that when other dogs bark it also goes off.  So the dog wearing the collar may not be barking but he still gets sprayed because his buddy does bark.  Now that does not seem fair.

Christians

When things happen in my life I am always looking for an illustration to pull from the situation. The spraying citronella is no exception.  It makes me think about our walk with the Lord.  We need to be vitally connected with Him.  And when we start to listen, watch, read, look, touch, act, or say anything that is displeasing to God the Holy Spirit “sprays” (speaks) to us to remind us that the thing we are about to do or say is not pleasing to God.  The sad part is, just like the dog, we sometimes ignore the “spraying citronella” (Holy Spirit) and “bark” (do our own thing) anyway.  Now citronella spray is not harmful in any way but when we choose to go against God’s will it is very harmful.  It is the most harmful thing that we can do because if we don’t repent ultimately we lose the most amazing thing, life eternal.

What about when others “bark” (do wrong)?  Do we get “sprayed” (spoken to) by the Holy Spirit or is it only when we “bark” (do wrong)?  There are two factors here.  When others do wrong we may be tempted to do wrong and the Holy Spirit will prompt our hearts that it is a wrong direction to go.  Maybe we aren’t tempted to do the wrong but the Holy Spirit may still “spray” (prick) our hearts just as a reminder.

Thinking about it

The sprayer on the dog does not spray just because the dog thinks about barking, it only happens as he barks or one of his buddies bark.  But I am grateful in the Christian walk the Holy Spirit “sprays” (speaks to) us even when we think about “barking” (doing wrong).   Some people may look at that as an annoyance but I think of it as a freedom.  As I stay connected to God in prayer and the studying of His Word He is not going to keep me in the dark.  He will prompt my heart throughout the day of right and wrong.  I don’t have to sit around and worry that I might do something wrong, He will guide me.  And to me that is freedom.  God is not just sitting up there looking down just waiting for me to do wrong so He can zap me.  He wants to guide me in all His ways.

Dear Father,

Thank You for the Holy Spirit that You have sent to guide me into all truth and to lead me through each day as I stay connected with You.  I pray that I will let nothing get in the way of my connection with You.  Continue to prompt my heart throughout the day.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Stay connected with Christ and listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit each day.

Love you all.

Do you have a spiritual illustration from nature? I would love to hear it.  Write it in the comments below.

 

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“Scan!”

Scan!

This word can mean a lot of different things.  And as each one of you read the title a different picture came to your mind as to what you thought it may mean in the context of my blog.  If getting out in nature and hiking to the top of a mountain is your delight you might think of scanning the hills and valleys as you look around.  Others, who reading is your greatest joy, may think of scanning a page or verse.  And still others who may be medically inclined may think of getting an X-ray or other such scan.  We all have different things that come to mind.

Printing

I work at a print shop and at times we have people send us things and we scan them into the computer so that we can print them off for them.  They don’t have a digital copy they just have a piece of paper that they want to make more copies from.  There are some that are not even the original.  They want us to scan in a copy that is not very good.  One particular school sends us copies of copies and the page that they have copied is not even straight on the page.  Now they do know that the quality is not going to be there but they still want copies.  The machine is not magical.  Whatever you scan in is what you get out.  Coming in digitally gets a better copy.  You might say garbage in garbage out.

I scanned in a 101 page created scrapbook for a schoolteacher who teaches kindergarten.  There are pictures of the kids throughout the year doing different activities.  Cute kids.  The teacher is putting together these little books so that each child can have a memory book of their year in kindergarten.  Such a great idea.  It isn’t easy to get a decent scan when some pictures are dark and some are light, some are blurry and some sharp.

So how do you make a decent scan?  You have to make sure your settings are correct for the scan or some of the kids will look like little demons.  It is my choice how I set the settings but it is up to the machine to do the work.   Once scanned it is amazing what a little touch here and there can improve the quality of the picture.

Christians

It reminds me how the Christian walk is.  We have choices to make on the “settings” that we choose.  The “machine” (Jesus) can only work with the “settings” that we give Him.  He will not force His “settings” on us.  But when we cooperate and set the “settings” for Christ-like quality it is amazing what He can do.  And our scan will come out the other side perfected for heaven.  We will not recognize our perfections because as we draw closer to Christ we can see more and more “settings” that we need to change.  But those around us will benefit from the beauty of Christ work in us toward perfection. The blessing is that as we cooperate with God the “garbage” that may go in will come out beautiful because God is miracle preforming, unlike my digital machine.  We can say garbage in beauty out.

Settings

So the question is what are some “settings” that we need to set?  Because doesn’t God do all the work?  The “Machine” (Jesus) can’t do the work unless He has something to work with.  I believe there are many aspects to the “settings” but I am going to just name three and you can take it from there.

 1.  Spend time in Prayer

The first thing in the morning, spend time in communication with your Creator.  He cannot force us to communicate or to listen.  This is a “setting” that we have to set.  We have to choose to spend time in prayer.  When we come to God then He can communicate with us and can guide us through the day.  But if we have not asked Him to join us He will not intrude.  And the quality of our “picture” (day) will be distorted.  There will not be clearness to our day.

2.  Spend time in God’s Word

We need the “setting” of reading and memorizing God’s Word so that we are fortified for the day’s trials.  Can God give us a good quality day if we don’t implant His Word in our hearts?  What are we going to turn to when we are tempted or a trial comes our way if we haven’t fortified ourselves?  God cannot bring the Scriptures to our mind if we have not included Him in our “settings”.  We have to choose to spend that time because God doesn’t force.  As we choose to spend time with Him our “picture” will not be blurry, there will be more clarity to the “picture” that is being scanned for the day.

3.  Choose whom you will serve.

Throughout the day we will be given opportunity to make choices.  The Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts but if we don’t listen there is no forcing.  We are faced with choices all the time.  Every time we make a choice in cooperation with God’s will He will give us the strength to follow through and what a beautiful picture will be “scanned”.  But when we are faced with a choice and we choose against God’s will He steps back.  He doesn’t interfere with our choices.  But the “scan” of the day doesn’t turn out so good.  Every day each one of us fail in some way but praise the Lord for an advocate and we can come to Him and He freely forgives and gives us a new start.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there for us even though we think we don’t need You.  You don’t interfere with our choices but when we fail You are right there to pick up the pieces as soon as we realize our need and we reach out to You.  Thank You for Your unfailing love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Set your “settings” to include God in your life today.  It makes such a difference.

Love you all.

Do you have a testimony how, as you cooperated with God and set your day with Him, He blessed you?

 

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“Mothers”

Mothers!

There is one thing that we all have in common.  We all have a mother.  But just because everyone has a mother does not mean they have been a good mother.  Now in defense of mothers, none of us, when having a baby, have experience of being a mother.  We all make mistakes and grow as we are mothers.  There are still mothers out of desperation that have given up, abandoned, or even, sad to say, killed their child.  It may be hard for us to comprehend but I think for the most part we can all understand how hard it is to be a mother and we are not perfect.

My Mother

I have the most amazing mom.  Has she been perfect? No.  But her imperfections are covered with the love that she has shown me through the years.  In my teen years, she was my best friend.  I didn’t need to go off and have “fun with friends”, I had fun with my mom.

Growing up she was there when I was sick with Scarlet Fever, Rheumatic Fever, and Iritis.  My Mother treated me and soothed me through it all.  She was there when I was sad or discouraged.  She was just always there.

As an Adult

Even when I grew up and got married she was there.  We lived a little over an hour from each other but we would meet up in a town in the middle and we would shop together.  Neither one of us liked to go grocery shopping or any shopping for that matter, but doing it together brought joy.

Any time that I got Iritis and was not able to function, due to so much pain, my mom would drive to our house and stay, helping out, until I was well.  I would get Iritis like this several times a year.  As I started to have children she would come and stay with me before and after the birth.  I had all 6 of my children at home with a midwife and my mom was a big part of my experience.

Tragedy

Then in 1996 tragedy struck.  Five weeks after giving birth to my third child, my first daughter, she died.  It was the most tragic and devastating experience that I have ever had.  My mom was there as much as she could be and she was strong and a blessing for me.  I was going to quit having children when I got my girl but after losing her I went on to have two more boys and then another girl, which I thank God for those three children every day.  The following year my parents moved onto our property, which I have been so grateful for.  Now that my mom lives closer we have been able to spend more time together.

More Tragedy

In 2008 another tragedy struck.  I became so ill and the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me.  I went for over a year where I could not function.  The fatigue and pain took over my body.  My memory was affected and even to this day, there are memories that I can’t remember.  Now my family shares with me things so that I can try to put it back in my memory bank.  My heart was also affected. During this time my faithful Mom was there for me.  She took care of me and ran my household.  By this time I had 5 children, which I was trying to homeschool.  There were doctors that thought I was dying but they still could not figure out what was wrong with me.

Then I was put in touch with a doctor, who felt, after hearing my symptoms, that I had Lyme disease.  She made an order for me to be tested from a lab that specializes in testing for Lyme disease.  Within a week I heard from my local Health Department, I had Lyme disease.  It has been a long journey and my mother has been there right beside me, guiding, encouraging, and helping.

My life back

As the years passed I did improve.  I don’t think you really ever get over Lyme disease.  There are things that seem to linger and damage that is done.  Whether it is the disease itself or just the after effects who is to say.  But nonetheless, the years passed.  I know it was hard for my mom to see me suffer but she never complained she just was always there to help where she could.  I couldn’t function as I once did.  Although I improved I was still so fatigued that I couldn’t really function, as I should.

Then in 2015, my life changed.  Someone introduced to some products.  These products changed my life.  Believe me, over the years I had tried all kinds of products with little to no success.  So when I was introduced to these new products I was skeptical but I was also looking for hope.  These new products were so supportive of my immune system that after a short period of time things started changing.  I have not experienced Iritis for at least 2 years.  Since iritis can cause you to go blind and the treatment can also cause you to go blind I am more than happy, I am elated.

And as far as the fatigue goes, now I work part-time to full-time, along with running my own business, being involved with two other family-owned business, homeschooling, and running a household.  And my mom, she is still helping me just in a different way.  Now instead of always taking care of a daughter who is sick, she grocery shops for me, does my laundry, and some cleaning, with pay, except for grocery shopping.  I have much to be grateful for.

Dear Father,

Thank You for my Mother.  She is an amazing person who loves unconditionally.  You have given me the greatest mom in the world.  I know she is not perfect but I have seen You work in her life.  Because of her love for You and her willingness to surrender to You she has grown more and more after Your likeness.

Thank You for leading me to products that are supporting my body so that I can live more fully for You.  Thank You for the lessons that You have taught me through this journey called life.  Continue to guide me and help me to grow through the trials without complaint.  You have been so gracious to me and I praise Your name.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Your mom maybe hasn’t been perfect but focus on the good.  We all are imperfect sinners.  Are you going through struggles? God can see you through.  If you want to hear more about what has helped me support my body naturally go to,  Go here.

Love you all!

Share something that is wonderful about your mom below.  I would love to hear it.

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“I Love To Be With Him!”

Be close!

Is there someone you just love to be with?  You think about that person quite often and just can’t wait until the time you can get together with them.  It is someone who you can open up your heart to and you know they will still love you no matter what.  Those kinds of people are the most treasured.

Dogs

I don’t know how many of you have a pet but if you do I am sure you are going to relate to this story.  We have 4 dogs.  They are not all mine but belong to different family members.  There are some of them that even though they belong to others, mom is the favorite.  Cuddles is one of those dogs.  He follows me everywhere, even into the bathroom.  And if I sit down he is right there to jump up and get my attention.  He wants to be petted and loved. He gives so much love and joy as well.  Pets give unconditional love.  He will sit on my lap or if my lap is full he will sit beside me.

To be honest I am not always nice to him.  At times I get tired of him being on my lap or beside me.  I just want to be able to move around freely without him wanting my attention.  I will push him down from my lap or push him away when he wants to get up on my lap.  And sometimes I feel like screaming, “Leave me alone.”

Spiritually

Then the thought came to me.  I should want to be close to Jesus just as Cuddles wants to be close to me.  A longing should be in my heart for my time with Him.  I should love to spend time in His Word as well as prayer.  There should be a desire in my heart to follow Him where so ever He goes and leads me.  Cuddles often looks at me with longing eyes.  I should be looking with longing eyes for the soon coming of Jesus and preparing for that moment.

The greatest thing ever is that Jesus never shoves us away.  He is always there for us.  We can follow Him everywhere and He doesn’t mind.  Even better He longs for us to follow Him.  He wants to be close to us.  Jesus is never too busy.  He never feels like yelling, “Leave me alone.”  Talk about having a lot of people vying for His time.  Yet He loves it and has time for everyone.  What a great God we serve.

Dear Father,

Thank You that You are always there for us.  Thank You for Your Son, Jesus.  You are always there for us during the good times and the bad times.  As we surrender all to You, we can have such peace through the hard times.  Thank You for not shoving us away.  And remind us to be more thankful rather than complaining.  Thank You for Your patience with us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Spend time with Jesus today.  He is with longing heart wanting to spend time with you.

Love you all!

Do you have a spiritual lesson that you have learned through nature or God’s creatures?  I would love to have you share it in the comments below.

 

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“Deadly”

Have you ever really considered how many times you may have been spared from some danger?  Maybe you know of times that you have been spared.  But there are those times also that you know nothing about.  I am looking forward to the time when my guardian angel will share with me all those times I have been kept safe because of his watch care.

Scary

What about the times that we do know about?  Do we praise God as much as we should?  I am praising the Lord today for His protection.

Just before winter, I started to notice a noise in my car as I drove back and forth to work.  I don’t remember how many days I drove it but I finally said to my husband, “The noise sounds scary to me.  I don’t want to drive the car again until we figure out what the noise is.”  At that point, he took it to our friend mechanic.  The noise sounded as if it was coming from one particular tire.  So our friend proceeded to take the tire off and that is when he discovered that the lug nuts were loose on the tire.  It turns out that was the only problem.  Apparently, when my husband changed the wheel bearing he had not gotten the lug nuts as tight as they should have been.  But who knows for sure, it seems rather strange.

Deadly

So this last week I was driving our van because my brother-in-law was here and needed to borrow a car.  I drove our van for two days and on the third day as I started off to work I started hearing a knocking sound.  It seemed strange to have the sound not there one day and then there the next.  I was a little worried on the way to work.  As I was driving it home I had already determined that I would not drive it the next day.  I told my husband that it was one of those scary sounds again and I felt it was too dangerous to drive.

The next day my brother-in-law was going to drop me off at work because he still needed the car.  But at the last minute, he decided to take the van and drive it in the hopes he could figure out what was wrong with it.  He didn’t drive it long when he felt uneasy to keep driving it.

He ended up taking it into the place that we get our tires done to have them check things over.  It turns out that the lug nuts were loose on one of the tires; only this time our tire place had been the one to do the work.  And the condition was way worse.  One of the studs had broken off losing the stud and the lug nut.  Everything was so loose that the rim of the tire was damaged to the point of needing replacement.  The tire place had to replace every stud and lug nut and order a new rim.  The wholes on the rim where the studs come through so you can put on the lug nuts had gotten so big from the wear that they had to replace the rim.

Protection

I marvel at the protection that the Lord gives.  I know there are many times that the Lord protects me and I don’t even know it.  But every once in a while He gives me a little glimpse of what He is doing.  The devil wants to take me out but he has no power over me as long as Jesus is on my side.

Stay connected

We have to stay closely connected to Christ just like the lug nuts need to be tight to the rim.  As we go along in life, just like driving our vehicles, and we don’t have a tight connection there starts to be a separation from Christ.

The separation can be gradual, just like it was with my van.  It wasn’t noticeable to me at first.  Usually, in our lives, the separation from Christ starts with little things and we don’t notice that there is a problem.  But as we continue to ignore it, things start to get worse.  If I would have ignored the awful sound that I was hearing and just kept driving my van I could have had a terrible accident, bad injuries or even death.

It makes me think of our spiritual walk If we choose to keep ignoring the warning signs of separation we will lose that connection altogether and have a terrible accident, receive bad injuries and the possibility of spiritual death.  But the amazing part is as we are choosing to separate ourselves; God is using every means possible to get our attention to draw us back.  We don’t want to ignore the warning signs.  God wants to spare us from destruction.

Dear Father,

Thank you for your protection.  You protect us in so many ways, some of which we don’t see. But I praise Your Name that You are always there beside us.  Forgive us for allowing the things of this world to separate us from you.  Continue to draw our hearts to stay in tight connection with You, allowing nothing between us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today.  This reminds me of the song written by Charles A. Tindley.  This is my prayer for you.

“Nothing Between”

“Nothing between my soul and my Savior,

naught of this world’s delusive dream;

I have renounced all sinful pleasure;

Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.

Refrain

Nothing between my soul and my Savior,

so that his blessed face may be seen;

nothing preventing the least of his favor;

keep the way clear! let nothing between.

2

Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;

habits of life, though harmless they seem,

must not my heart from him ever sever;

he is my all, there’s nothing between.

3

Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,

though the whole world against me convene;

watching with prayer and much self denial,

Triumph at last, With nothing between.”

Love you all

Do you have a story to share how God has protected you?  I would love for you to share.  Share your story below in the comments.  We can praise God together for what He does.

 

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“Make Things Right!! What?!!”

Make things right

It seems that making things right with others can seem like an overwhelming task.  For some it may be easy, I think that is very few.  For some, they may not even know how to begin.  But for others, they are just too afraid to face it head on and do it.  The question is why do we need to make things right anyway.  Well, no one is being forced. Whether you are a Christian or not if you want to live a happy, healthy successful life it definitely makes a difference.  And as a Christian, it is a must if we want to have things right with God.

Make things clear

Before I get too far into this I want to make things clear.  Part of what I will be talking about here is reconciling with those we have done wrong to, as it says in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; (this is usually because we have done them wrong) Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

We may also reconcile with someone who has done us wrong by letting them know we have forgiven them.  But this is really where I want to make things clear.  There are times that we cannot reconcile with someone.  We always need to forgive in our hearts with the help of God but that does not mean that we need to go and reconcile directly with the person.  This is mostly referring to those that have abused us in some way.  We always need to forgive but that does not mean associate.

Anger

Just before Jesus talked about being reconciled He was talking about anger.  A lot of times someone does something we do not like we can tend to start saying things that are not so nice.  We start making belittling remarks whether it is directly to them or about them.  Which really reveals a pride issue within us.  And when pride gets in the way it often leads to anger.

This reminds me of the story about Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible.  The story is found in Daniel 3.  He built an image of gold to represent himself and then he wanted everyone to bow down to it.  There were three Hebrews that refused.  Nebuchadnezzar said he would give them a second chance and they said even if he did they would not bow.  Wow! Then his anger was kindled.  He made the fiery furnace 7 times hotter.  When we want to be right and hold onto our pride it turns to anger when things don’t go how we want.

Building walls

Are you a builder?  You may say no but if you do you are thinking of the wrong builder.  Do you build emotional walls?  The sad thing is that if we build walls it leads to murder.  You may be saying, “I have never killed anyone.”  Well, maybe you have.

When someone does something to us we don’t like if we allow those things to eat away at us we start to build a wall of “protection”, at least so we think.  But what it does is leads to hate and in God’s eyes hate is the same as murder.  “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” 1 John 3:15.  Jesus also stated that we are to love our enemies (See Matthew 5:43-44).  If we are to love everyone, even our enemies, we should not be building a wall.

We cannot accomplish this on our own because our human nature always wants to take over when we are offended but God will help us if we let Him.  Making sure that we are not doing anything that can cause others to build walls against us is another thing we need to do.  We need to reconcile with them when we do them wrong.

Reconciliation

When we are in close connection with God reconciliation is usually prompted by God.  Now whether we listen to the promptings is another story.  He sometimes shows us but we shove the conviction away.  We need to be open to His leading.

What I encourage is self-examination.  Every night before going to bed just lift up a prayer to God about your day and ask Him to show you any area of your life that needs reconciliation and He will show you.  Ask for forgiveness right then and make plans to reconcile with the person as soon as possible.

Cry out to God

There are times that reconciliation can be very difficult to do.  We need to cry out to God for the help and grace to do it.  It makes me think of Jacob in the Bible when God had directed him to go back to his homeland.  He was going to be going back to where his brother was and the last time he had seen him his brother wanted to kill him.  Jacob had done his brother a grave wrong.  You can read the story about his return to Canaan in Genesis starting in chapter 32.  He cried out to God and God answered his prayers.

Just like in the case of Jacob reconciliation may take giving a gift.  Or maybe we do owe something to them as restitution.  God will direct us to what we need to do.  We need to do what it takes for the individual to really know that we are truly sorry because actions speak louder than words.

Pride

In order for us to be reconciled to someone, we need to humble ourselves.  A lot of times pride gets in the way of us doing what we really need to do.  We need to be willing to serve.  That is where Jacob was.  He was willing to be as a servant to his brother.  He referred to himself as servant and Esau, his brother as master.  We can only do this with the love of God flowing in our hearts.  That is why our connection with Christ is so important.

Repentance

We cannot reconcile with anyone without repentance.  And the only way we can have true repentance is to come to the place David did in Psalms 51:4, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”

We need to realize that the greatest offense that we do is to God.  When we do wrong to others we are wronging God because they are His and He loves them.  We, as parents, understand this concept.  If someone does something to us we deal with it but when someone does something to one of our children, wow! We are not happy.  When we wrong others we are wronging Christ so we need to start by repentance with God and then He will help us go to the ones that we have offended and bring reconciliation.

Christ initiated reconciliation

It makes me think of us and our connection with Christ.  We have offended Him with our sins and He initiated reconciliation.  Jesus is the Greatest Reconciler.  “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:19.

Jesus humbled Himself

Here He was the King of the universe yet He humbled Himself and came down to this dark world as a Babe.  When I think of His life here on earth and the humility that He showed throughout His ministry and His death for us, it is amazing.  These are things we need to contemplate.  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” Philippians 2:5-8.  We need to be like Christ.

He tore down walls

Jesus could demand our acceptance of Him but He is a God of love.  True love does not force.  But He does wait and look for opportunities to bring things into our lives to get our attention.  He wants us to see our need for Him and when we do we come willingly and allow Him to work.  Thus He tares down the wall between Himself and us.

He made restitution

He made the most amazing restitution.  Christ made the ultimate restitution.  And if we accept it we have eternal life through Him.  “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” 1 Peter 1:18-19.

He anguished

This reconciliation did not come easy.  There was anguish involved.  Christ had anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.  “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood” Luke 22:44.  I have never anguished over reconciliation like that.  We tend to just let things go and try to forget about it.  But God wants us to be reconciled with Him and others and sometimes it takes real anguish to get to the place to do what God has asked us to do.  But the greatest thing is that He understands and is there to help us and He will go through it with us.

He showed unconditional love and complete forgiveness.

I am so grateful for His unconditional love and the forgiveness that He has shown me.  He has given us the greatest gift and that gift is the Holy Spirit.  He will help and guide us.  If we do not resist His leading we will have greater happiness.

Grateful

I am so grateful for what Christ has done for me.  I want to show the same unconditional love that Christ has for me to others.  This is a  quote I like written by Thomas A Kempis, “How rarely we weigh our neighbor in the same balance in which we weigh ourselves!”  We need to focus on examining ourselves instead of examining others and comparing ourselves with others.  Let’s compare ourselves only to Christ and allow Him to change us into His likeness.

Dear Father,

Thank You for loving us so much to send Your Son so that we can be reconciled to You.  Keep us and guide us as we examine ourselves so that we can be fully reconciled to those around us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give all to Him today allowing Him to reconcile you to Himself.  And make things right with those around you.

Love you all.

Do you have a story about how God worked in your life and helped you in reconciling with someone?  I would love to hear your story.

 

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“It Doesn’t Work In Harmony!!”

Harmony

Harmony is so important.  There are so many things in life that just don’t work well without harmony.  Marriages break up because there is not harmony.  Parents and children go decades without even seeing or talking to each other because there is no harmony.  And this doesn’t just apply to human relationships.  This also applies to mechanical things as well.  If all the parts in our car are not running in harmony we end up in the repair shop.

Paper

Running the digital at a print shop I use a lot of paper.  The thing that I have realized about paper is that it also has to work in harmony.  Let me explain.  There are so many different types of paper.  Paper comes with different types of texture, weight, and coating not to mention different sizes as well.

One of the hardest papers to run is a paper that is not in harmony.  A paper that I consider not in harmony is when one side of the paper is different than the other.  One side has a smooth shiny coating, which is actually call coated.  And the other side is uncoated and it looks dull and much easier to write on.  Because it is different on both sides they work against each other and cause the paper to have more of a tendency to curl.

As this paper is used for what it is intended for, its differences become a problem.  Whether you are using a color press or a digital machine this paper has a hard time passing through “life”.  Because of the curl it does not have harmony, therefore, it causes the paper to jam in the machines.  The machines are meant for paper that works in harmony and stays flat.

As I was experiencing this the other day it made me think of us.  We are really not a whole lot different.  We need to live our lives in harmony with something or things do not go well.  Whether it is living in harmony with our husband/wife, our children, our friends, or even our boss.  Things can get really rough if we cannot learn these skills.

Christians

Then it made me think a little deeper.  What about a Christian?  Is there a difference in our lives if we live in harmony with Christ?  Are there two sides to us?  Do we live one way at home and another way at church or work?  If we are living in harmony both sides of our lives should be the same.  We should be working in harmony otherwise a “curl” gets started and we cannot run smoothly through life.

I want to think of my life as paper.  When we give our lives to Christ we marry Him, we become one with Him.  What we give up is our “uncoated” life to become “coated” with Him.  And as long as we are “coated” with Him our lives flow in harmony.  Any time we try live our lives our own way without cooperating with Him our lives will “jam” every time just like the paper would jam.  When our lives our twisted with sin “jams” are in inevitable.  When we don’t trust God in His ways and try to go our own way there is never harmony.  I want to stay “coated”.

Dear Father,

I want to be in tune with You.  I do not want anything to come between You and I but I want to be “coated” with You so that my life will move with precision and purpose.  My goal is to always  trust You so fully that even through the fiery trials, we, together, can flow through unscathed.  Thank You for always being there for me and for Your patience and for leading me gently on.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Allow God full control of every area of your life today.  It brings harmony into the life, which makes life so much better.

Love you all.

How has God blessed you, as you have trusted Him through difficulties?  I would love to hear your story.

 

 

 

 

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“Commitment?!!”

Commitment

Have you ever made a commitment?  Maybe you have made a commitment to a special someone and now you are married.  Or maybe you made a commitment to exercise more, eat better, pay off your debt, etc.  There can be a lot of things that we may commit to do.

I have had two things that I have done in commitment to the Lord where He has abundantly blessed.

Debt

Due to some circumstances our family has gotten into a lot of credit card debt.  I never had a desire to go work away from our home but the realization that I needed to came to me a couple of years ago that I needed to do something besides just work in our home business.

The Lord opened the doors for a job that is close to home and has just been a great job.  I had been working a few months when I made a commitment to the Lord.  I pay a certain percentage of my check to the Lord and I decided that I would take the same percentage and put toward our debt.  We are already doing the “Debt Snowball” but this would be extra toward it.  This was not long before Christmas that I made this commitment.  A few days later my boss called me in and gave me a raise, and it was not just a few cent raise.  I was praising the Lord.

More blessings

I first started working as a temp but when I was hired to work on a regular basis I was working full-time throughout the summer and then went to part-time so I could home school.  The big project where I was originally hired as a temp has now come back around again and more people have been hired as a temp.

I decided that I would tell my boss that I would work full-time during this temp job.  And I made a commitment to the Lord that I would take that extra money and put it toward our next credit card that we want to payoff with the idea that I would be able to completely pay it off.  I didn’t know for sure if it would be enough money to pay it off but I made the commitment to do what I could.

I went to my boss one morning and let him know that I would work full-time during this big project.  He was very grateful.  At the end of the day when I was ready to go home he wanted to talk to me.  He let me know that he was giving me another raise.  It was twice as much as the last raise that he gave me.  I walked out of there walking on air knowing that I just received another blessing from God.  This is going to make it possible for me to fulfill my commitment to the Lord.

Do blessings always happen?

When we have a prompting from God and we follow through with the prompting I believe there is always a blessing.  I think the real question is, do we recognize it.  I believe there are times we receive blessings that we don’t realize are a direct result that comes from obedience.  We may even take the blessing for granite.  The blessing may not even come right away either.  And when the blessing does come days, weeks, months, or even years later we don’t make the connection.

Trusting

What it really boils down to is trusting God.  I could have made that commitment and never got a raise and I would not have even known the difference.  And God still could have multiplied my money to pay off the credit card without the raise.  Do we really believe we can trust God to do it?  That is the real question.  How much do we trust God?

Excited

When I wake in the morning with the attitude of excitement to see what the Lord is going to do in my life today, life is exciting.  Do I always wake with that attitude, no, but when I do it makes a difference.  We do not praise the Lord enough.  He is working all the time for our good, even if it doesn’t look like it to us.  He knows what we need to get ready for His soon coming.

Dear Father,

Help me to live with the anticipation of what You are going to do in my life.  Thank You for showing me Your love by giving me the abilities You have given me and for the raise you have provided.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Commit all to God today.  Do not be afraid to follow through with your commitments, He will bless you.

Love you all.

What blessing has God give you?  I would love to hear your story.

 

 

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“Is It Wrong To Be Stingy?”

Is it wrong to be stingy?

What a great question.  There are multiple ways that we can be stingy.  It seems when people think of this question they think mostly of money.  But we can be stingy with our time, strength, emotions, or money.  So here is the real question, is there a time to be stingy or should we always be full of generosity?

Stingy

What does stingy really mean anyway?  It means that a person is reluctant to give or spend; not generous.  When I think of stinginess it reminds me of someone who holds on to everything he has without any consideration of others.

It makes me think of Judas in the Bible.  He was a disciple of Jesus but we know that when it came to money he was not generous with others.  He definitely had no problem taking care of himself though.

You might be saying, “But we do have to be careful who we give to because we can be taken advantage of.”  This is true and that is where stewardship comes in.  But we have to make sure that we are not being selfish under the guise of stewardship.

Generosity

So what does being generous mean?  Here are two.  “1. A readiness or liberality in giving.  2.  Freedom from means or smallness of mind or character.”  When I think of generosity I think of someone willing to give of their time, money, and resources.  The most generous person that ever walked this earth was Jesus.  He did not think of Himself and His comforts but He was always thinking of others.

Rewards for Generosity

  1. When we are generous we have a countenance that shines because we are filled with joy.  We cannot out give God.  He will take care of us.  When God prompts our hearts to help someone whether it takes our time, money, emotional or physical strength He will supply us with what we need.  We don’t have to worry.  I would encourage you to read Matthew 6:19:34.  God will take care of you so you don’t have any reason to worry, you can be filled with joy.  As it says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  That is a great promise.
  2. We have a special love for God when we trust Him.  “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.
  3. When we realize that all we have, whether time, money, emotional or physical strength belongs to God, we have a fear (respect) for the Him.  And we are rewarded for that respect.  As it says in Proverbs 22:4, “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life.”
  4. The greatest reward is having treasures in heaven.  “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” Matthew 6:20.
  5. When we are generous another reward is the victory over the “root of all evil.”
  6. Generosity rewards us with escaping from lusts and sorrows.  “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” 1Timothy 6:9, 10.

Rewards for Stinginess

The “rewards” for stinginess are just the opposite of generosity.  And it brings sorry and not happiness.  There are several stories in the Bible that stinginess makes me think about and what the results were.  I think of Judas who held the money-bag.  He eventually betrayed the Son of God to His death and then he committed suicide.

It also makes me think of Ananias and Sapphira who sold their property and promised the money to help the cause of God.  But then they decide to keep back some for themselves and they lied saying they had given all.  They lost their lives (see Acts 5:1-11).  Claiming to be generous but really lying about the facts does not get you anywhere good.  “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon” Luke 16:13.

Does this all mean that it is wrong to earn good money.  No, but we need to make sure that our priorities are straight.  It doesn’t mean we can’t live comfortably but we should not be living extravagantly.  As the Lord blesses we need to properly take care of our families and then help others.  And as we do this he will continue to bless us.  Stinginess does not bring happiness.  I am sure we have all known them, and it may be ourselves, people who are stingy are not happy people.  True generosity brings contentment and happiness.

What about motivation?

We do need to have the right motivation for our generosity.  We should not be doing it for the praise of others.  Our motivation should come from the realization that whatever we have is because God has given it to us.  This makes me think of the rich men who gave generously into the treasury but Jesus said a poor widow gave more than they all with only two mites.  They gave from their abundance and she gave all she had (see Luke 21:1-4).

What can we do to be more generous?

Being more generous starts with knowing that all belongs to God and dedicating all our resources to Him.  We need to practice being frugal with our money.  Setting up a budget is a good thing to do.  We can rely on God to help us know what we need to give and when.  Give of yourself as God directs you.  And as much as possible make it anonymous so that God gets the glory and we can stay humble.  “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which is in secret himself shall reward thee openly” Matthew 6:3, 4.

Dear Father,

We commit our lives to You.  All that we have is Yours.  We want to listen to Your voice and do those things that are pleasing to You.  Give us Your wisdom.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give all to Him today and let Him lead and guide you.

Love you all.

How has the Lord blessed you as you have given to Him?  I would love to hear your story.