[NOTE: I have no idea why this says Tuesday July 1st. This is Wednesday July 2. Or it was when I got up this morning. Hummm! Interesting.]
Charles Stanley tells the story of visiting a potter's studio. He said, "I decided to take a cue from the prophet Jeremiah, who visited a potter's studio at the Lord's request (Jer 18:1-6). So I stopped by an art institute to observe a class ... my sole purpose was to better understand the biblical metaphor of God as the Potter and people as the clay." Here's what he learned when He walked into a room full of whirring pottery wheels.
He learned that the Potter has complete power over the clay. He can do with it what He chooses. We humans do have limited free-will, but God's will is greater than all the clay in the world. So even if we try to resist His sculpting hands, He continues to work toward His purpose for us. The Master Craftsman has set out to achieve a particular design He has in His mind. He already has a plan to make it take the shape he desires. Press in the fingers a little and then let them go back out and you've started shaping the graceful slopes of the vessel's sides. There is little resistance, merely a slight hesitation and as you slide your fingers up, with equal pressure on both sides, you create the shape of this beautiful vase that will be used for the tasks you have planned for it.
The potter works the clay with care and patience. Since God knows that spiritual maturity can't be rushed, He forms our Christlike character slowly ... one experience at a time. That means He must also have perseverance, as human clay sometimes shifts off center and becomes misshapen. Just as clay can be fashioned only with it sits precisely on the middle of the wheel, Christians must be in the center of God's will to grow spiritually strong. The Potter maneuvers the drifting believer back into position and begins remolding it. Sometimes it is necessary for the Potter to punch down a nearly-formed vessel to make it just the way He wants it. So sometimes God allows us to be "punched down" by struggles and trials but He immediately begins reforming another vessel with a firm, but tender touch, not forcing the clay to go one certain way but instead merely coaxing it into the right shape. He never discards His vessels, He just skillfully reforms them into the vessels He desires and He works tirelessly to perfect them, bringing them into perfect shape.
Our God is a personal Potter. His creations reflect His personality and character. And His Holy Spirit is poured into each human vessel so He can be an intimate part of our lives. The result of the ceaseless, gentle touch is a work of true beauty ... perfectly formed into a saint wholly committed to Him, existing in Christ's likeness for ever and ever.
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A little drift smoke worked its way back in yesterday afternoon and it's still visible in the air today but it's nothing like what we had last week, thank God! I guess we run the risk of having the smoke come back any time the wind blows just right until the fires have been put out. Thankfully the second dry system to move through the area didn't set off any new fires for firefighters to battle. I feel so guilty when we have lightning fires because I love storms so much that I'm always hoping for some thunder and lightning and that makes me feel responsible in an unpleasant way.
I have no plans for today except to run a few errands. I need to pick up a couple things for dinner tonight, go by the bank, and mail a few things off at the Post Office. I've been searching for a good magazine and, strangely, I got an offer for a free issue on a magazine I'd never heard of [tell me the Lord isn't interested in even the smallest matters in my life!] called "Discipleship Journal." It looks exactly like what I've been looking for. The only problem is that it's a little expensive and it comes out bimonthly instead of monthly. But if it's as filled with all the articles it seems to be filled with, it may take me two months to work my way through each issue. But that still works out to roughly $4 per issue which seems pretty steep to me. But I went ahead and filled out the card for a trial issue just to check it out. If it's what I'm looking for, which I have the strong sense that it is, it will be a blessing. It's worth checking it out anyway.
I love my quiet times in the mornings. They are exactly what I've been wishing and hoping for for years and years. I don't know why I couldn't get the routine down to do them until recently but I'm just grateful that it's working now. There's no better way to start out my day than in the company of the Lord. To feel His loving presence within me swelling to a full measure is hard to explain. But it's the reality I'm having with my morning devotionals. I took up a challenge last night. There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs and there are 31 days in the month of July and I have decided to read one chapter a night when I do my other devotionals. Just an added little something. Sort of spice things up a bit. When I read the Bible I tend to skip Proverbs because... well, I don't know why exactly. I just usually skip them like I do the book of Numbers. I did read Job the last time through and that's another one that I tend to skip. And yet a couple of my favorite quotes come from the book of Job. Go figure!
It's been awhile since I've read the NT and that's probably something I need to concentrate on doing. I'll work on a reading plan for that. I started a reading plan at the start of this year but I ended up not doing it. It was one of those plans where you read a chapter here and then a couple paragraphs there, etc. But that was just reading it for the sake of reading it and that's not why I read my Bible. I read my Bible for content and there's no better way to do that than to just sit down and open at the marker and read for 30 minutes to an hour every day. Otherwise it gets so chopped up that it's impossible to remember how things read and what was the main thought for that chapter, etc. I've found it best to read it book by book and chapter by chapter.
I did my Wiersby study in Romans yesterday and will do another chapter tomorrow. Wiersby is very good. It's just that I have to concentrate so hard to follow his train of thought. I do a chapter every Tuesday and Thursday. When I complete this study I'm going to do some of my studies by Max Lucado. I think I have 6 or 7 of them. I wanted to buy some new studies but we ran across that box of books in the garage and all the Lucado books were in it and it was like, Whoa, I've got plenty of studies. I also have a study that I started and never finished because the author exhausted me. She had me looking up so many verses that I just got tired. I mean, it was nothing for her to reference 50 - 60 verses to look up. It took me 3 hours to do the last study I completed. I don't think she meant for it to be studied chapter by chapter. You know, just study until you get tired and then come back to where you left off the last time. But if you do that you lose the continuity of the material. Or at least I do.
I have a Deacons meeting tomorrow night. I can't believe it's been a month already since our last meeting. Where does the time go?!! I love being a deacon but I do get tired of the meetings. I wish there were a way to do it without meetings. Wouldn't that be great?!! No meetings! I need to come up with a devotional for tomorrow night too. Ugh!
I have had the hardest time this past week thinking of things to write about in my blog. I mean, how hard can it be? For me, it's pretty darn hard lately. So anyway, rather than just fill this blank space with words I'm going to opt out and promise to try and do better next time.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Molded by the Master
If you have ever watched a potter work, you know the thrill of seeing a lovely vessel take shape from a lump of formless clay. God's object lesson for the prophet Jeremiah at 18:1-6 was that the nation of Israel ... as well as every person from the beginning of time ... was to be shaped by His hands. We are all nothing but lumps of human clay waiting for the Master Potter's firm but careful touch.
The potter already has a specific design of a vessel in mind when he places the lump of wet clay on the wheel. The same holds true for us, God has already determined how He plans to work in our lives and what part we are to play in the work of His kingdom (Eph 2:10). He shapes us with His skillful, steady hands and cuts us with various instruments and tools at His disposal to form our character as He begins to make us into the image of His precious Son, Jesus Christ. He shapes us all differently to carry out the unique service He has planned for each one of us. But regardless of our individual features, we all bear the unmistakable imprint of our Potter. We are all uniquely shaped into the image of Christ Jesus, His Son.
Too often we look toward the talents and abilities of those around us and wish to be more like someone else. But we have been perfectly designed and uniquely created for the specific purposes God has for us to fulfill and He makes no mistakes in His pottery work. If we are spending our time wishing to be like someone else, we are wasting our time.
We are to use our God-given talents and attributes in God's specific plan. He created us to fill individualized roles in life and if we refuse to use the spiritual and human gifts He has given us, we waste His effort and we waste our opportunity to serve Him in the way He desires.
The Master Potter is pleased with us, His vessels, and with the way He has designed us and the abilities He has worked into us. We need to honor the Potter as vessels should and we must submit to the pressure of His hands on us as He forms us into the objects He desires, to fulfill the purposes He had in mind beforehand for us to do.
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Praise God, the smoke is gone!!! How wonderful it was to stop and look out the glass sliding doors this morning and actually see Hogback Mountain! This is wonderful. I had forgotten just how clearly we usually see this mountain. My understanding is that the fires are still burning so that must mean that the winds have shifted directions. Michael and I sat out on the deck for quite some time this morning, just enjoying the clean air and beautiful scenery over mugs of hot coffee. Then I came in and grabbed my books and went out on the deck alone to have my morning quiet time. Every day it feels like it's a more special day. It was really nice today without the smoke. I tried something a little different and I think I enjoyed it that way. It seems like lately I have struggled with reading retention. I just can't seem to remember what I'm reading if it's a short paragraph or something. I mean, when I get in and read a chapter of a book, I retain what I read as the plot progresses. But when it's something short like a devotional, I can't read it and then tell myself what I read. (I hope this isn't the beginning of a very serious problem but is just that I can't concentrate for one reason or another.) So it was hard to remember how to pray at the conclusion of each devotional. So this morning I opened in prayer and then continued that prayer as I read the material thought-by-thought . It seemed to work much better that way and I think I got more out of my quiet time. So I will continue to do that as the days go by. Now I'm going to reread the entire month's worth of Andrew Murray's devotions just to seat everything into my mind and heart.
I'm having a hard time focusing on the sermon on Sundays too. For one thing, I think Dan is talking faster and it's hard for me to keep up with him. For the last two Sundays I've had to struggle to remember what the sermon was about. This frightens me to no end, especially with the retention loss in my reading. Am I coming down with dementia of some kind? That's pretty frightening to even think about but I am getting much less out of my reading than I used to. I used to be able to read and turn around and tell you what I just read. I can't do that anymore. And that terrifies me!
I brought a couple magazines home with me yesterday to see if I might like to subscribe. (See how much my world depends on reading?) But after looking them over I have decided not to subscribe to either of them. Maybe I'll go back to Christianity Today. I used to subscribe to that years ago but then it started to seem like all the articles were written from a purely theological perspective, not that there's anything wrong with that. I was just hoping for a little more of real life thrown into the articles. I should check it out. It could be totally different now. Magazines do change. I'm just in the market for a monthly that isn't as shallow as Guideposts. Guideposts reads a lot like it is written by nonChristians who write the story and then sprinkle in a little religion to make it marketable in the Evangelical circles and then submit them to be considered for publication. They don't really read like they were written from the Christian perspective. Or at least that's my take on things. Seems like years ago I used to get a lot more "enlightenment" from Guideposts. Now they're just a bunch of short stories with God sprinkled in here and there to make them acceptable. And I didn't care for their Angels magazine either. Oh well, I will keep searching. I want a magazine that will help me live the Christian life. Maybe I'm hoping for too much. But I'm hoping for a magazine that will have articles about how to live my life as Christ would have me to do. Scripture spelled out. That sort of thing.
Our small group is due to start back up next week and I've suggested that we put it off to September first because we're all so busy in the summer time. Either that or at least take off July. We'll have to see how that flies. I can't help wondering if it isn't just laziness on my part because when we start up again we're going to be watching some VHS tapes I bought years ago on the book of Matthew. They are so good. But because they're my tapes I guess, I have to come up with some issues to discuss or questions to debate with the group. We're a very vocal group. I learned that when I facilitated over 2nd Peter. Some groups are so quiet. Not ours. We are very vocal. You ask a question of this group and it generates a lot of discussion, which is so great! They really are a great group to facilitate. There's nothing worse than a group that won't answer questions or give opinions.
Stacy and Dan, my missionary friends in Liberia, have taken a woman into their home. They have no idea who she is but she's deathly skinny and is very sick. A group of children were taunting the woman who was I guess living on the streets. Her clothes were good for nothing but burning so they gave her clothing to put on after her bath. She washed and braided the woman's hair and then took her to the German clinic for help. They gave her an IV and a bunch of medicine but she's struggling to keep the pills down. She keeps vomiting them back up. So please pray for this woman. I think her name is Mamie. And pray that Dan and Stacy haven't taken someone in who will expose them to some dangerous disease. Liberia (and the world for that matter) is filled with Mamies and what are we to do? We are to love them as Jesus loves them. And sometimes that means getting our hands a little dirty. All I know is that Dan and Stacy did what had to be done. Someone had to care for this poor woman. She is not only sick on the inside. She has horrendous sores and ulcers all over her legs and arms. Stacy is treating them with Aloe Vera because that's all she has. I know from personal experience that Aloe can do wondrous things but whether it will help in this situation I have no idea. Lord I just ask you to bless Dan and Stacy for taking this poor wretched woman into their home and nursing her back to health. That is the ministry they have been called to do. What is the good of preaching salvation if we just let the people die? I'm very proud of them for taking this woman in!
Well, I'm going to cut this short today. I spent a little more time out on the deck this morning and it's almost mid afternoon now so I need to get busy doing things. It seems like the only thing I've accomplished so far today is this blog. Well, I did have my quiet time and the bed is made but that's not much considering what time it is. Hopefully I'll have more to write about the next time I blog. I guess I'll have to go back to setting my alarm to have more time in my day. Without my alarm we sleep until 9:30 or 10:00 and the morning's half gone before I've even done my devotionals. I wish I'd just wake up on my own about 7:00-7:30. But I don't. I sleep for a couple more hours at the least.
The potter already has a specific design of a vessel in mind when he places the lump of wet clay on the wheel. The same holds true for us, God has already determined how He plans to work in our lives and what part we are to play in the work of His kingdom (Eph 2:10). He shapes us with His skillful, steady hands and cuts us with various instruments and tools at His disposal to form our character as He begins to make us into the image of His precious Son, Jesus Christ. He shapes us all differently to carry out the unique service He has planned for each one of us. But regardless of our individual features, we all bear the unmistakable imprint of our Potter. We are all uniquely shaped into the image of Christ Jesus, His Son.
Too often we look toward the talents and abilities of those around us and wish to be more like someone else. But we have been perfectly designed and uniquely created for the specific purposes God has for us to fulfill and He makes no mistakes in His pottery work. If we are spending our time wishing to be like someone else, we are wasting our time.
We are to use our God-given talents and attributes in God's specific plan. He created us to fill individualized roles in life and if we refuse to use the spiritual and human gifts He has given us, we waste His effort and we waste our opportunity to serve Him in the way He desires.
The Master Potter is pleased with us, His vessels, and with the way He has designed us and the abilities He has worked into us. We need to honor the Potter as vessels should and we must submit to the pressure of His hands on us as He forms us into the objects He desires, to fulfill the purposes He had in mind beforehand for us to do.
********
Praise God, the smoke is gone!!! How wonderful it was to stop and look out the glass sliding doors this morning and actually see Hogback Mountain! This is wonderful. I had forgotten just how clearly we usually see this mountain. My understanding is that the fires are still burning so that must mean that the winds have shifted directions. Michael and I sat out on the deck for quite some time this morning, just enjoying the clean air and beautiful scenery over mugs of hot coffee. Then I came in and grabbed my books and went out on the deck alone to have my morning quiet time. Every day it feels like it's a more special day. It was really nice today without the smoke. I tried something a little different and I think I enjoyed it that way. It seems like lately I have struggled with reading retention. I just can't seem to remember what I'm reading if it's a short paragraph or something. I mean, when I get in and read a chapter of a book, I retain what I read as the plot progresses. But when it's something short like a devotional, I can't read it and then tell myself what I read. (I hope this isn't the beginning of a very serious problem but is just that I can't concentrate for one reason or another.) So it was hard to remember how to pray at the conclusion of each devotional. So this morning I opened in prayer and then continued that prayer as I read the material thought-by-thought . It seemed to work much better that way and I think I got more out of my quiet time. So I will continue to do that as the days go by. Now I'm going to reread the entire month's worth of Andrew Murray's devotions just to seat everything into my mind and heart.
I'm having a hard time focusing on the sermon on Sundays too. For one thing, I think Dan is talking faster and it's hard for me to keep up with him. For the last two Sundays I've had to struggle to remember what the sermon was about. This frightens me to no end, especially with the retention loss in my reading. Am I coming down with dementia of some kind? That's pretty frightening to even think about but I am getting much less out of my reading than I used to. I used to be able to read and turn around and tell you what I just read. I can't do that anymore. And that terrifies me!
I brought a couple magazines home with me yesterday to see if I might like to subscribe. (See how much my world depends on reading?) But after looking them over I have decided not to subscribe to either of them. Maybe I'll go back to Christianity Today. I used to subscribe to that years ago but then it started to seem like all the articles were written from a purely theological perspective, not that there's anything wrong with that. I was just hoping for a little more of real life thrown into the articles. I should check it out. It could be totally different now. Magazines do change. I'm just in the market for a monthly that isn't as shallow as Guideposts. Guideposts reads a lot like it is written by nonChristians who write the story and then sprinkle in a little religion to make it marketable in the Evangelical circles and then submit them to be considered for publication. They don't really read like they were written from the Christian perspective. Or at least that's my take on things. Seems like years ago I used to get a lot more "enlightenment" from Guideposts. Now they're just a bunch of short stories with God sprinkled in here and there to make them acceptable. And I didn't care for their Angels magazine either. Oh well, I will keep searching. I want a magazine that will help me live the Christian life. Maybe I'm hoping for too much. But I'm hoping for a magazine that will have articles about how to live my life as Christ would have me to do. Scripture spelled out. That sort of thing.
Our small group is due to start back up next week and I've suggested that we put it off to September first because we're all so busy in the summer time. Either that or at least take off July. We'll have to see how that flies. I can't help wondering if it isn't just laziness on my part because when we start up again we're going to be watching some VHS tapes I bought years ago on the book of Matthew. They are so good. But because they're my tapes I guess, I have to come up with some issues to discuss or questions to debate with the group. We're a very vocal group. I learned that when I facilitated over 2nd Peter. Some groups are so quiet. Not ours. We are very vocal. You ask a question of this group and it generates a lot of discussion, which is so great! They really are a great group to facilitate. There's nothing worse than a group that won't answer questions or give opinions.
Stacy and Dan, my missionary friends in Liberia, have taken a woman into their home. They have no idea who she is but she's deathly skinny and is very sick. A group of children were taunting the woman who was I guess living on the streets. Her clothes were good for nothing but burning so they gave her clothing to put on after her bath. She washed and braided the woman's hair and then took her to the German clinic for help. They gave her an IV and a bunch of medicine but she's struggling to keep the pills down. She keeps vomiting them back up. So please pray for this woman. I think her name is Mamie. And pray that Dan and Stacy haven't taken someone in who will expose them to some dangerous disease. Liberia (and the world for that matter) is filled with Mamies and what are we to do? We are to love them as Jesus loves them. And sometimes that means getting our hands a little dirty. All I know is that Dan and Stacy did what had to be done. Someone had to care for this poor woman. She is not only sick on the inside. She has horrendous sores and ulcers all over her legs and arms. Stacy is treating them with Aloe Vera because that's all she has. I know from personal experience that Aloe can do wondrous things but whether it will help in this situation I have no idea. Lord I just ask you to bless Dan and Stacy for taking this poor wretched woman into their home and nursing her back to health. That is the ministry they have been called to do. What is the good of preaching salvation if we just let the people die? I'm very proud of them for taking this woman in!
Well, I'm going to cut this short today. I spent a little more time out on the deck this morning and it's almost mid afternoon now so I need to get busy doing things. It seems like the only thing I've accomplished so far today is this blog. Well, I did have my quiet time and the bed is made but that's not much considering what time it is. Hopefully I'll have more to write about the next time I blog. I guess I'll have to go back to setting my alarm to have more time in my day. Without my alarm we sleep until 9:30 or 10:00 and the morning's half gone before I've even done my devotionals. I wish I'd just wake up on my own about 7:00-7:30. But I don't. I sleep for a couple more hours at the least.
Friday, June 27, 2008
God's Great Power
Charles Stanley tells the story: "I was signing books one day when a young man came forward and told me a story as I autographed his copy. 'I put a gun to my chest and was going to kill myself,' he began. 'For some reason, I turned on the television, and there you were, talking about suicide [isn't it amazing the way the Lord works?]. After listening for a while, I knew that the Lord was talking to me, so I laid the gun down and gave my life to Jesus Christ.' "
He hears similar stories all the time ... someone in despair turns on the TV or radio and hears a sermon that speaks directly to his or her need. He doesn't believe for one second that he is responsible. It is the Lord, who is all-powerful, interceding in people's lives. Sometimes He does this by leading them to turn on a program which can help. What's more only a God who can control all things could change a lost and scared young man into a willing and excited servant ... and that's exactly the kind of person who stood before Dr. Stanley that day at the book signing.
The world talks about accidents, luck, and good fortune, but all these terms imply that we are victims of circumstance. The fact is that God is sovereign and the entire world is under His control. Anything that affects us ... blessing or trial ... comes to us because God has allowed it. When we encounter evil, we often wonder why the Lord doesn't put an end to it, because we know that He can. How many times have we caught ourselves thinking, if I were God I would ..." But God does have a purpose and a plan and history has proven that He will produce good from even the worst of human tragedy and that we can be utterly relieved that we are not God!
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We are still suffering from all the smoke here in northern California. Every night we go to bed hoping that the morning will bring fresh, clean air to breathe. And every morning we are greeted by the same old dense smoke once again. Every day we hope for clear skies and now for the better part of a week we've been blanketed with a layer of thick smoke choking out our every breath. They said on the news last night that another dry storm is due to roll through the area again this weekend. That's all we need: more lightning fires! I guess eventually there won't be anything left to burn. I don't think the smoke would seem so bad if it were from a local fire. This is drift smoke from fires that are 100 miles or more from here.
We didn't go to the family bar-be-que last night because of all the smoke. Michael's ex-smoker lungs don't need to be outside and I have asthma and neither of us has any business being outside in all that smoke. We don't go outside any more than we have to. My chest is tight and "raw" feeling as it is and poor Michael is coughing his head off and dealing with nosebleeds every time he blows his nose. I will go out later to pick up some hot dog buns for dinner and I'll swing by and get the mail as long as I'm out but we'll stay inside most of the day. I did take my Bible and devotionals out onto the deck to sit and have my quiet time with the Lord this morning. And I slept late this morning which made it later in the day and the smoke had shifted back up into the air (if I go out early enough I can catch the smoke "lying down") so I really had no business being out there but I so enjoy doing my morning devotionals outside. It just makes them kind of special. So I put up with the smoke this morning. I think it's sure different having Michael's lungs be worse than my asthmatic lungs. For years it was me unable to breathe and being in and out of the hospital all the time (15 times in one 12-month period) and now my lungs are better than Michael's. Of course he smoked heavily for 50 years or more until he quit 10 years ago. I'm so glad I was able to quit. Finally with the Lord's help I got off the cigarettes 18 months ago July 1st. That was just part of the revamping and remaking of my spiritual life. The Lord has been making changes in me since then and I'm almost like a new person. Praise God!! He's got me doing all kinds of things. Things that I have tried for years to do with great struggle and now these past 18 months they are all happening with ease. I guess for years and years I kept trying to do things in my own strength. And it wasn't until I just left everything up to the Lord that the changes started happening. The Lord wasn't going to allow me to take credit for anything and I certainly can't. Oh, I believe it still takes effort on my part to continue to do these disciplines but I realize that even my strength is coming from the Lord. I don't quite know how to explain this I just know that even in my own effort it is God's effort behind me that keeps me faithful. If the Lord has the power to sustain the universe by merely speaking commands; I'm sure He can support my personal strength and desires. So although I know I play a part in all this, it's still His strength holding me faithful to these good habits or disciplines I've been working on.
I need to go over to my son's house and check their dogs. (He and my daughter-in-law have gone away for a few days with the Jet Ski.) He has remained friends with a childhood neighbor and they get together quite often and do things. They'll be gone for a few days and I will take care of the animals until they get back. It's the least I can do to try and repay all that they do for us. I am sitting here typing this on a computer that he put together for me. Every so often he'll come over and update our computers and anytime we have a problem he'll come take care of it. He's a very good son. Of course, I might be a wee bit prejudiced in my thinking here. Nah!!
I think I'm going to make this a short blog today and get on over to make sure the dogs are okay. This has got to be one of my worst blogs. I just can't think of anything to write about. Maybe I'll think of something and can come back in on edit and write some more. We'll see.
[Okay, now I am on edit.] When I go over to Ken's house to feed the dogs this evening I need to remember to take our pruning shears because there's a short branch at the far end of Lady's running leash that catches the loop in the leash and she can't go anywhere. She was stuck out there yesterday when I went over. She couldn't reach her water bowl and she was out in the sun. I forgot to take the shears when I went over this morning so I will take care of that tonight. Michael is napping right now but when he wakes up I'll ask him to get the shears for me so I can take them tonight.
When I got back from checking the dogs I was surprised to walk in the house and find the cooler running. We haven't been running it until in the evenings because of all the smoke. We thought about turning on the A/C yesterday but that's such a waste of energy. Anyway I guess Michael decided he could take the smoke over the heat. It's 101 outside right now. I'm certainly not going to complain that the cooler is on but I think he'll regret doing that during the night when he can't breathe and has to get up and sit in his chair in order to sleep. Yesterday the heat in the house just about did me in so I'm very grateful for the cooler today.
The bruises on my toes and foot are now the same color as my nail polish (except for the light green they are turning right around the edges). Slowly but surely the bruising is going away and most of the swelling is gone now too. But I didn't put my ACE bandage back on before I left to do my errands and I really felt the difference by the time I got home. It was just too much walking on a very sore foot. So tonight before I go back over I will remember to put it around my ankle and foot and maybe it won't hurt as bad when I get back home. Ran into three friends from church while I was out this morning and I don't feel too bad because Lynn said she didn't go to the family bar-be-que because of the smoke either, so we weren't the only ones who decided not to go. I would have enjoyed going though. This is a very small town and I'm surprised that I don't run into people I know more often than I do especially when everyone has to go to the Post Office at some time during the day. No, I take that back. Our town has some postal routes for delivery. This is the only place where we've had mail delivery in 20+ years so I forget that not everyone has to go to the Post Office. There are a lot of people from church who bank where I do and so quite often I will run into someone there.
I wish I had something up-building to write about but today my mind is just bare, nothing there. I forgot all about fasting today so I will aim for tomorrow. I have the hardest time remembering not to eat when I get up on Fridays. But this is something I need to do. I made the commitment. Now I just have to live up to it. Truthfully I suspect that it is Satan sneaking himself into my life. He knows I want to fast on Fridays and he encourages me to eat and ruin the fast. I say this because I don't normally eat in the mornings. But just for the past 3-5 weeks (since I've been trying to fast) I get up and stick something into my mouth every Friday morning. I also keep forgetting to pray for our nation every day at 6:00 as I had told myself I would do. The problem is I never know when it's 6:00!! I'm not a clock watcher. Put that with my bad memory and I'm bad. This could be a powerful thing for me. To know that there are tens of thousands (could even be many more) of people praying for this nation all at the same time. That's pretty heady you have to admit. This country is facing possible destruction because of the race for President this year. We are approaching a time of ruin. If Obama gets in (especially if he chooses Clinton as his vice presidential candidate) I think horrible things are going to happen. It just makes me want to cry. I love my country and I love what it stands for and strives to do in this world. And that's what I need to be praying about come 6:00 every night! Obama refuses to wear the lapel flag pin that candidates wear all the time. I don't mean he forgets, he used to wear it and then took it off and now refuses to wear it. When the national anthem is played he doesn't put his hand over his heart like everyone else does. He used to attend a church that is V-E-R-Y critical of whites and this nation. Radical is a good word for it. He's for abortion (and gay marriages too I think). He has absolutely no diplomatic experience whatsoever. It's funny, months ago I was reading a book and to tell how unlikely it would be for someone to have been raised up to a particularly high position, that author said it would be like a "junior senator running for and winning the presidency of the United States." I mean that was the most unlikely event that could ever happen to this author, something that in his mind was the least likely thing to occur and look where we're at. We have a junior senator running for the presidency of the United States of America and it's looking more and more like he just may win it! The only other time I felt this nervous about an election was when John Kerry was running. I'm not very politically minded but I feel strongly against Obama. I'm not all that happy with McCain but he's a lot better than someone who refuses to put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played. What kind of president is he going to make??? And what kind of Commander-in-Chief?
I guess I better go and get my animals all fed since it is 30 mins past time and Mario is getting very impatient with me. Here comes Mulder. Guess he's ready too. Anytime from 3:30 on, these beasts all know it's time to eat and they begin to "swarm" (think Jerry Seinfeld). Looks like I ended up adding more on edit but it's been more of just nothing. I probably shouldn't have blogged today unless I had something to blog about. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better from now on.
He hears similar stories all the time ... someone in despair turns on the TV or radio and hears a sermon that speaks directly to his or her need. He doesn't believe for one second that he is responsible. It is the Lord, who is all-powerful, interceding in people's lives. Sometimes He does this by leading them to turn on a program which can help. What's more only a God who can control all things could change a lost and scared young man into a willing and excited servant ... and that's exactly the kind of person who stood before Dr. Stanley that day at the book signing.
The world talks about accidents, luck, and good fortune, but all these terms imply that we are victims of circumstance. The fact is that God is sovereign and the entire world is under His control. Anything that affects us ... blessing or trial ... comes to us because God has allowed it. When we encounter evil, we often wonder why the Lord doesn't put an end to it, because we know that He can. How many times have we caught ourselves thinking, if I were God I would ..." But God does have a purpose and a plan and history has proven that He will produce good from even the worst of human tragedy and that we can be utterly relieved that we are not God!
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We are still suffering from all the smoke here in northern California. Every night we go to bed hoping that the morning will bring fresh, clean air to breathe. And every morning we are greeted by the same old dense smoke once again. Every day we hope for clear skies and now for the better part of a week we've been blanketed with a layer of thick smoke choking out our every breath. They said on the news last night that another dry storm is due to roll through the area again this weekend. That's all we need: more lightning fires! I guess eventually there won't be anything left to burn. I don't think the smoke would seem so bad if it were from a local fire. This is drift smoke from fires that are 100 miles or more from here.
We didn't go to the family bar-be-que last night because of all the smoke. Michael's ex-smoker lungs don't need to be outside and I have asthma and neither of us has any business being outside in all that smoke. We don't go outside any more than we have to. My chest is tight and "raw" feeling as it is and poor Michael is coughing his head off and dealing with nosebleeds every time he blows his nose. I will go out later to pick up some hot dog buns for dinner and I'll swing by and get the mail as long as I'm out but we'll stay inside most of the day. I did take my Bible and devotionals out onto the deck to sit and have my quiet time with the Lord this morning. And I slept late this morning which made it later in the day and the smoke had shifted back up into the air (if I go out early enough I can catch the smoke "lying down") so I really had no business being out there but I so enjoy doing my morning devotionals outside. It just makes them kind of special. So I put up with the smoke this morning. I think it's sure different having Michael's lungs be worse than my asthmatic lungs. For years it was me unable to breathe and being in and out of the hospital all the time (15 times in one 12-month period) and now my lungs are better than Michael's. Of course he smoked heavily for 50 years or more until he quit 10 years ago. I'm so glad I was able to quit. Finally with the Lord's help I got off the cigarettes 18 months ago July 1st. That was just part of the revamping and remaking of my spiritual life. The Lord has been making changes in me since then and I'm almost like a new person. Praise God!! He's got me doing all kinds of things. Things that I have tried for years to do with great struggle and now these past 18 months they are all happening with ease. I guess for years and years I kept trying to do things in my own strength. And it wasn't until I just left everything up to the Lord that the changes started happening. The Lord wasn't going to allow me to take credit for anything and I certainly can't. Oh, I believe it still takes effort on my part to continue to do these disciplines but I realize that even my strength is coming from the Lord. I don't quite know how to explain this I just know that even in my own effort it is God's effort behind me that keeps me faithful. If the Lord has the power to sustain the universe by merely speaking commands; I'm sure He can support my personal strength and desires. So although I know I play a part in all this, it's still His strength holding me faithful to these good habits or disciplines I've been working on.
I need to go over to my son's house and check their dogs. (He and my daughter-in-law have gone away for a few days with the Jet Ski.) He has remained friends with a childhood neighbor and they get together quite often and do things. They'll be gone for a few days and I will take care of the animals until they get back. It's the least I can do to try and repay all that they do for us. I am sitting here typing this on a computer that he put together for me. Every so often he'll come over and update our computers and anytime we have a problem he'll come take care of it. He's a very good son. Of course, I might be a wee bit prejudiced in my thinking here. Nah!!
I think I'm going to make this a short blog today and get on over to make sure the dogs are okay. This has got to be one of my worst blogs. I just can't think of anything to write about. Maybe I'll think of something and can come back in on edit and write some more. We'll see.
[Okay, now I am on edit.] When I go over to Ken's house to feed the dogs this evening I need to remember to take our pruning shears because there's a short branch at the far end of Lady's running leash that catches the loop in the leash and she can't go anywhere. She was stuck out there yesterday when I went over. She couldn't reach her water bowl and she was out in the sun. I forgot to take the shears when I went over this morning so I will take care of that tonight. Michael is napping right now but when he wakes up I'll ask him to get the shears for me so I can take them tonight.
When I got back from checking the dogs I was surprised to walk in the house and find the cooler running. We haven't been running it until in the evenings because of all the smoke. We thought about turning on the A/C yesterday but that's such a waste of energy. Anyway I guess Michael decided he could take the smoke over the heat. It's 101 outside right now. I'm certainly not going to complain that the cooler is on but I think he'll regret doing that during the night when he can't breathe and has to get up and sit in his chair in order to sleep. Yesterday the heat in the house just about did me in so I'm very grateful for the cooler today.
The bruises on my toes and foot are now the same color as my nail polish (except for the light green they are turning right around the edges). Slowly but surely the bruising is going away and most of the swelling is gone now too. But I didn't put my ACE bandage back on before I left to do my errands and I really felt the difference by the time I got home. It was just too much walking on a very sore foot. So tonight before I go back over I will remember to put it around my ankle and foot and maybe it won't hurt as bad when I get back home. Ran into three friends from church while I was out this morning and I don't feel too bad because Lynn said she didn't go to the family bar-be-que because of the smoke either, so we weren't the only ones who decided not to go. I would have enjoyed going though. This is a very small town and I'm surprised that I don't run into people I know more often than I do especially when everyone has to go to the Post Office at some time during the day. No, I take that back. Our town has some postal routes for delivery. This is the only place where we've had mail delivery in 20+ years so I forget that not everyone has to go to the Post Office. There are a lot of people from church who bank where I do and so quite often I will run into someone there.
I wish I had something up-building to write about but today my mind is just bare, nothing there. I forgot all about fasting today so I will aim for tomorrow. I have the hardest time remembering not to eat when I get up on Fridays. But this is something I need to do. I made the commitment. Now I just have to live up to it. Truthfully I suspect that it is Satan sneaking himself into my life. He knows I want to fast on Fridays and he encourages me to eat and ruin the fast. I say this because I don't normally eat in the mornings. But just for the past 3-5 weeks (since I've been trying to fast) I get up and stick something into my mouth every Friday morning. I also keep forgetting to pray for our nation every day at 6:00 as I had told myself I would do. The problem is I never know when it's 6:00!! I'm not a clock watcher. Put that with my bad memory and I'm bad. This could be a powerful thing for me. To know that there are tens of thousands (could even be many more) of people praying for this nation all at the same time. That's pretty heady you have to admit. This country is facing possible destruction because of the race for President this year. We are approaching a time of ruin. If Obama gets in (especially if he chooses Clinton as his vice presidential candidate) I think horrible things are going to happen. It just makes me want to cry. I love my country and I love what it stands for and strives to do in this world. And that's what I need to be praying about come 6:00 every night! Obama refuses to wear the lapel flag pin that candidates wear all the time. I don't mean he forgets, he used to wear it and then took it off and now refuses to wear it. When the national anthem is played he doesn't put his hand over his heart like everyone else does. He used to attend a church that is V-E-R-Y critical of whites and this nation. Radical is a good word for it. He's for abortion (and gay marriages too I think). He has absolutely no diplomatic experience whatsoever. It's funny, months ago I was reading a book and to tell how unlikely it would be for someone to have been raised up to a particularly high position, that author said it would be like a "junior senator running for and winning the presidency of the United States." I mean that was the most unlikely event that could ever happen to this author, something that in his mind was the least likely thing to occur and look where we're at. We have a junior senator running for the presidency of the United States of America and it's looking more and more like he just may win it! The only other time I felt this nervous about an election was when John Kerry was running. I'm not very politically minded but I feel strongly against Obama. I'm not all that happy with McCain but he's a lot better than someone who refuses to put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played. What kind of president is he going to make??? And what kind of Commander-in-Chief?
I guess I better go and get my animals all fed since it is 30 mins past time and Mario is getting very impatient with me. Here comes Mulder. Guess he's ready too. Anytime from 3:30 on, these beasts all know it's time to eat and they begin to "swarm" (think Jerry Seinfeld). Looks like I ended up adding more on edit but it's been more of just nothing. I probably shouldn't have blogged today unless I had something to blog about. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better from now on.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
God's Greatness
The Psalms are filled with David's heart-wrenching cries to God for help and salvation from one situation or another. His prayers are a beautiful blend of requests, praise, and worship that recalls for us God's greatness, power, and protection. David leaned heavily on the Lord's amazing attributes of wisdom, strength, and compassion that we can rely on to meet our every need.
Psalm 139:7 reads: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?" God is everywhere. There is no where we can go and be without Him. He is not limited by time and place as we are therefore we have never been apart from His awareness for so much as a single moment. Even when we are feeling isolated and friendless, we are not alone because God's presence covers us everywhere in the world, there are no exceptions to this fact.
"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit" (Ps 147:5). God knows everything. When we get on our knees to pray, God is already aware of our needs and feelings that we are about to bring before Him. We won't be making Him aware of anything He doesn't already know, so we can rest in the promise that when we approach God in prayer, He will listen to us. When we ask for guidance, He will provide us clear direction if we are fully submitted to His will.
James 1:17 tells us that "with [God] there is no variation or shifting shadows." God's character is constant. We are able to place confidence in Him because we can trust Him to be faithful, reliable, and merciful in any situation. God's attributes do not change.
When a pray-er remembers an attribute of God that meets his need, he focuses his prayer on God rather than on his requests. By implementing praise into our prayers we'll discover that we are asking for less. worshiping better, and receiving more because our emphasis is in the right place.
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Well the smoke is almost unbearable today. Every day it seems to get worse. I woke up this morning with my eyes nearly gluded shut from the dried tears during the night. We have the entire house shut up tight and we're using the overhead fan and a box fan on the floor in the hallway pointed toward Michael's room where he's busy on his computer. You've got to keep the air moving with this heat, although it really isn't all that bad right now as I write this. And we didn't even hit the 100 degree mark yesterday. It got real close but the high was recorded at 98.1. (I love my high/low thermometers.) So anyway maybe it won't get all that hot today. They are talking on the news that this smoke may linger through the weekend. Cough. Cough. Choke. Wheeze. Sniff, sniff. Hope I can wait that long for it to clear. It's just awful, trust me.
I just read Psalm 8 for my quiet time this morning and it's such a beautiful Psalm: "O LORD, our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise ... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet ... " The words, and the thoughts behind them, are just so beautiful. David really knew how to pray.
We have no plans for the day. I went out yesterday and got the mail, stopped by the church and picked up a check, then swung by the bank so I could cash it. So I got all my errands done yesterday. No reason to go out in the smoke today. The trash pickup was this morning and I'm so grateful that we now have the pick up. We used to fill up our barrels and then go to the dump every other week, but this is so much nicer. I'm so blessed to be able to afford that little luxury. It's just the two of us so we don't accumulate a lot for the week but it is just really nice to have the pickup. We had it when we lived in Walnut Creek but that was 20 years ago. As I said, I feel blessed. Isn't it amazing when we can feel blessed over such little things? Blessed by the trash pickup?
Sometime yesterday I was reading something that referenced Isaiah 63:7-9 and I was blown away by a phrase in the verses. Isaiah wrote: "I will tell of the kindnesses of Jehovah, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all Jehovah has done for us ... yes, the many good thing He has done for the house of Israel, according to His compassion and many kindnesses. He said, 'Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me'; and so He became their Savior. [This is where it gets good, I'll put it in italics for you.] In all their distress He too was distressed ..." Isn't that amazing? Think about it. In our distress, God is distressed too. When we let the trials of the day get to us and we feel all stressed out and just want to scream, the Lord is feeling that distress too. When we are hurt or hurting and the world seems so unfair, the Lord is distressed with us. It's amazing that this huge, magnificent God that rules the galaxies and tells the sun where to go, this incredible God who made the sea and the stars, this almost unbelievable God who is just so big, identifies Himself in our distresses. That just blows me away. Our God is big, and majestic and all-encompassing, and good and holy and He becomes distressed when I am distressed! This great big God cares when things become too much for me! Can you grasp that? I mean this just blew me away yesterday when I looked it up in my Bible and it still blows me away today! It's amazing that when I am distressed, He too is distressed. I think of the song Amazing Love and have a new reverence for it.
I think the smoke has lifted a little bit. Yesterday afternoon it was so thick that you could see it in the air between the front door and my car in the driveway. Of course it's just barely afternoon and the afternoon breezes haven't kicked in yet but I think it may be a little better for us today. We'll see. At least we're not the only ones affected by this smoke. Everyone in northern California is suffering. The smoke (in case I haven't mentioned or you've forgotten) is from the 800+ ( up from the 700 originally counted) lightning fires that were set ablaze a few days ago when a dry system rolled through northern California.
I had my alarm set for 7:30 this morning so I could get up and go back out on the deck with my Bible and devotionals but I woke up 3 minutes before it was supposed to go off so I just shut it off. I'd like to be able to say that I got up but I didn't. I fell back to sleep and slept until 10:00. But I still grabbed my books and went outside for my quiet time. It was smoky (of course) but nice and secluded for my reading. I like to read the Psalms out loud and I feel silly reading out loud here in the living room or back in my bedroom. I wonder what I'll do when winter gets here and I won't be able to go out on the deck because of the rain or the cold. Maybe I'll conquer my weird feelings about reading out loud and can just move it indoors when the need arises. And I guess if worse comes to worse I can always read them silently. But I like to hear the sound of God's Word when I read.
My toes are still purple and I am beginning to think they might be permanently discolored. I had a childhood friend who accidentally shot himself in the face and he always had a big bruise there on the side of his face. He was permanently discolored. As much as I may downplay my ankle injury I think it was much more serious than I wanted to think. Tomorrow will be two weeks and it is still swollen and still discolored. How long does it take for a bruise to go away anyway? Isn't it funny how when we clumsily fall like I did we feel so embarrassed and play down the injuries? Oh it was nothing, I thought I'd just stretch out here on the floor like this for awhile. I do this sort of thing all the time. No need to be concerned. Oh, I hurt my foot a little bit here but it's really nothing. All the while our injury is causing our insides to tie up into knots, the pain is so severe. Why don't we just yell like our injury hurts? Why do we feel the need to pretend? Oh it was really nothing, nothing at all. It was too something and it hurt like the devil!! Actually, I have to say that it wasn't all that bad. I'm just being silly here. I mean, it DID hurt but it wasn't all that much. I'm really surprised that the bruising and swelling was as bad as it was. My entire foot turning purple the way it did. I mean it was the ankle I twisted but the bruise went all the way to the tips of my toes.
Tomorrow we'll have the Thursday evening family bar-be-que at church. I forgot all about going last week and I had really wanted to go because we had Dale Johnson giving an entire concert and I love to hear him sing. I don't know who he is or how we managed to snag him but they played some of his recordings before service the Sunday before and his voice was just incredible. This week I think they're planning on water sports. I'll excuse myself from that activity. Getting hit with a water balloon is not all that much fun to me anymore. When I was a kid, yes, they were fun. We actually got into water fights all the time when we were kids but now that I'm in my senior years it just doesn't hold the same attraction for me. No, I want to go for the fellowship not the sports.
I'm lacking in fellowship. But it's difficult when your beloved isn't as turned on by church activities as you are. So I stay home with him a lot of the time. I wouldn't be much of a wife if I left him home as often as we have activities at the church. I still go, I just don't go as often as I would like to go. Evelyn and Jordan go to everything and I am so envious. Our VBS is running all this week and the kids are having a ball. I meant to bring home some of the fliers last Sunday so I could give it to the neighbors across the street and next door. They both have children. But I forgot to pick up the fliers (didn't remember them until I drove in the driveway at home) and I couldn't remember what the hours were or the age requirements. So I couldn't even just go over and tell them either. I will do my best to remember next year and hopefully my best next year will be better than my best was this year.
Well, I think I'm going to go make myself a sandwich for lunch and get busy getting things done. I didn't get my bed made when I first got out of bed and need to go in and get that done (my house just doesn't feel "put together" without the bed being made) but Michael had a bad night with all the smoke and has gone back in and laid down for a nap so I won't get to that for awhile. I usually try to make it as soon as I get up but I forgot this morning and came out here and got busy. I don't really have any plans for today. I did my Bible study in Romans yesterday and will do another chapter tomorrow but I think for today I'll just spend a couple hours reading some of the magazines that have come in and get caught up. It's so easy to get behind in my reading. Or I may just sit and read Scripture for awhile. I did that on Monday afternoon. I function best if I'm in the Word daily with my Bible studies and devotionals and then to just sit and read Scripture. Being in the Word every single day helps me keep a right attitude about life in general, my life in particular. I think I'll go tend to that sandwich now.
Psalm 139:7 reads: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?" God is everywhere. There is no where we can go and be without Him. He is not limited by time and place as we are therefore we have never been apart from His awareness for so much as a single moment. Even when we are feeling isolated and friendless, we are not alone because God's presence covers us everywhere in the world, there are no exceptions to this fact.
"Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit" (Ps 147:5). God knows everything. When we get on our knees to pray, God is already aware of our needs and feelings that we are about to bring before Him. We won't be making Him aware of anything He doesn't already know, so we can rest in the promise that when we approach God in prayer, He will listen to us. When we ask for guidance, He will provide us clear direction if we are fully submitted to His will.
James 1:17 tells us that "with [God] there is no variation or shifting shadows." God's character is constant. We are able to place confidence in Him because we can trust Him to be faithful, reliable, and merciful in any situation. God's attributes do not change.
When a pray-er remembers an attribute of God that meets his need, he focuses his prayer on God rather than on his requests. By implementing praise into our prayers we'll discover that we are asking for less. worshiping better, and receiving more because our emphasis is in the right place.
********
Well the smoke is almost unbearable today. Every day it seems to get worse. I woke up this morning with my eyes nearly gluded shut from the dried tears during the night. We have the entire house shut up tight and we're using the overhead fan and a box fan on the floor in the hallway pointed toward Michael's room where he's busy on his computer. You've got to keep the air moving with this heat, although it really isn't all that bad right now as I write this. And we didn't even hit the 100 degree mark yesterday. It got real close but the high was recorded at 98.1. (I love my high/low thermometers.) So anyway maybe it won't get all that hot today. They are talking on the news that this smoke may linger through the weekend. Cough. Cough. Choke. Wheeze. Sniff, sniff. Hope I can wait that long for it to clear. It's just awful, trust me.
I just read Psalm 8 for my quiet time this morning and it's such a beautiful Psalm: "O LORD, our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise ... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet ... " The words, and the thoughts behind them, are just so beautiful. David really knew how to pray.
We have no plans for the day. I went out yesterday and got the mail, stopped by the church and picked up a check, then swung by the bank so I could cash it. So I got all my errands done yesterday. No reason to go out in the smoke today. The trash pickup was this morning and I'm so grateful that we now have the pick up. We used to fill up our barrels and then go to the dump every other week, but this is so much nicer. I'm so blessed to be able to afford that little luxury. It's just the two of us so we don't accumulate a lot for the week but it is just really nice to have the pickup. We had it when we lived in Walnut Creek but that was 20 years ago. As I said, I feel blessed. Isn't it amazing when we can feel blessed over such little things? Blessed by the trash pickup?
Sometime yesterday I was reading something that referenced Isaiah 63:7-9 and I was blown away by a phrase in the verses. Isaiah wrote: "I will tell of the kindnesses of Jehovah, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all Jehovah has done for us ... yes, the many good thing He has done for the house of Israel, according to His compassion and many kindnesses. He said, 'Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me'; and so He became their Savior. [This is where it gets good, I'll put it in italics for you.] In all their distress He too was distressed ..." Isn't that amazing? Think about it. In our distress, God is distressed too. When we let the trials of the day get to us and we feel all stressed out and just want to scream, the Lord is feeling that distress too. When we are hurt or hurting and the world seems so unfair, the Lord is distressed with us. It's amazing that this huge, magnificent God that rules the galaxies and tells the sun where to go, this incredible God who made the sea and the stars, this almost unbelievable God who is just so big, identifies Himself in our distresses. That just blows me away. Our God is big, and majestic and all-encompassing, and good and holy and He becomes distressed when I am distressed! This great big God cares when things become too much for me! Can you grasp that? I mean this just blew me away yesterday when I looked it up in my Bible and it still blows me away today! It's amazing that when I am distressed, He too is distressed. I think of the song Amazing Love and have a new reverence for it.
I think the smoke has lifted a little bit. Yesterday afternoon it was so thick that you could see it in the air between the front door and my car in the driveway. Of course it's just barely afternoon and the afternoon breezes haven't kicked in yet but I think it may be a little better for us today. We'll see. At least we're not the only ones affected by this smoke. Everyone in northern California is suffering. The smoke (in case I haven't mentioned or you've forgotten) is from the 800+ ( up from the 700 originally counted) lightning fires that were set ablaze a few days ago when a dry system rolled through northern California.
I had my alarm set for 7:30 this morning so I could get up and go back out on the deck with my Bible and devotionals but I woke up 3 minutes before it was supposed to go off so I just shut it off. I'd like to be able to say that I got up but I didn't. I fell back to sleep and slept until 10:00. But I still grabbed my books and went outside for my quiet time. It was smoky (of course) but nice and secluded for my reading. I like to read the Psalms out loud and I feel silly reading out loud here in the living room or back in my bedroom. I wonder what I'll do when winter gets here and I won't be able to go out on the deck because of the rain or the cold. Maybe I'll conquer my weird feelings about reading out loud and can just move it indoors when the need arises. And I guess if worse comes to worse I can always read them silently. But I like to hear the sound of God's Word when I read.
My toes are still purple and I am beginning to think they might be permanently discolored. I had a childhood friend who accidentally shot himself in the face and he always had a big bruise there on the side of his face. He was permanently discolored. As much as I may downplay my ankle injury I think it was much more serious than I wanted to think. Tomorrow will be two weeks and it is still swollen and still discolored. How long does it take for a bruise to go away anyway? Isn't it funny how when we clumsily fall like I did we feel so embarrassed and play down the injuries? Oh it was nothing, I thought I'd just stretch out here on the floor like this for awhile. I do this sort of thing all the time. No need to be concerned. Oh, I hurt my foot a little bit here but it's really nothing. All the while our injury is causing our insides to tie up into knots, the pain is so severe. Why don't we just yell like our injury hurts? Why do we feel the need to pretend? Oh it was really nothing, nothing at all. It was too something and it hurt like the devil!! Actually, I have to say that it wasn't all that bad. I'm just being silly here. I mean, it DID hurt but it wasn't all that much. I'm really surprised that the bruising and swelling was as bad as it was. My entire foot turning purple the way it did. I mean it was the ankle I twisted but the bruise went all the way to the tips of my toes.
Tomorrow we'll have the Thursday evening family bar-be-que at church. I forgot all about going last week and I had really wanted to go because we had Dale Johnson giving an entire concert and I love to hear him sing. I don't know who he is or how we managed to snag him but they played some of his recordings before service the Sunday before and his voice was just incredible. This week I think they're planning on water sports. I'll excuse myself from that activity. Getting hit with a water balloon is not all that much fun to me anymore. When I was a kid, yes, they were fun. We actually got into water fights all the time when we were kids but now that I'm in my senior years it just doesn't hold the same attraction for me. No, I want to go for the fellowship not the sports.
I'm lacking in fellowship. But it's difficult when your beloved isn't as turned on by church activities as you are. So I stay home with him a lot of the time. I wouldn't be much of a wife if I left him home as often as we have activities at the church. I still go, I just don't go as often as I would like to go. Evelyn and Jordan go to everything and I am so envious. Our VBS is running all this week and the kids are having a ball. I meant to bring home some of the fliers last Sunday so I could give it to the neighbors across the street and next door. They both have children. But I forgot to pick up the fliers (didn't remember them until I drove in the driveway at home) and I couldn't remember what the hours were or the age requirements. So I couldn't even just go over and tell them either. I will do my best to remember next year and hopefully my best next year will be better than my best was this year.
Well, I think I'm going to go make myself a sandwich for lunch and get busy getting things done. I didn't get my bed made when I first got out of bed and need to go in and get that done (my house just doesn't feel "put together" without the bed being made) but Michael had a bad night with all the smoke and has gone back in and laid down for a nap so I won't get to that for awhile. I usually try to make it as soon as I get up but I forgot this morning and came out here and got busy. I don't really have any plans for today. I did my Bible study in Romans yesterday and will do another chapter tomorrow but I think for today I'll just spend a couple hours reading some of the magazines that have come in and get caught up. It's so easy to get behind in my reading. Or I may just sit and read Scripture for awhile. I did that on Monday afternoon. I function best if I'm in the Word daily with my Bible studies and devotionals and then to just sit and read Scripture. Being in the Word every single day helps me keep a right attitude about life in general, my life in particular. I think I'll go tend to that sandwich now.
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Key to Acceptance
Many people, even churchgoers, will be alarmed to discover that efforts at ministry do not in themselves earn us a place in heaven. Some would be shocked to learn that good deeds mean nothing to God unless they are the by-product or the outgrowth of a relationship with Him. The only people who will enter heaven are those who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; no matter how many works or acts of kindness or charity they have performed.
The confusion of church members who often lack faith is caused by their definition of the word believe. They believe in God, Jesus, and heaven which is only right for them to do. But they miss the difference between an intellectual knowledge of Christ as God's son and believing in our hearts and acknowledging with our lips our own personal Savior. With every instance in the Bible of someone truly believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior there is a true change in that person. Listen carefully: It is impossible for one to stay the same after meeting Jesus because they come face-to-face with their most desperate need for Him.
Our most earnest desire for a savior begins with the basic recognition that we have sinned against God and are in need of a Savior. We must also be fully aware that there is no hope for salvation apart from Jesus. "No one comes to the Father but through me." Fully recognizing these two basic facts and understanding what they mean for us, we trust only in His sacrifice for the payment of our sins. He settled the score once and for all when He died at Calvary. Some people use the phrase "ask Jesus to forgive you" or "ask Jesus into your heart" and it really doesn't matter how we describe the event ... if we repent of our sins and make a decision to receive Jesus' free grace and forgiveness, we are saved and we are eternally saved. Don't miss that point: we are saved eternally. Our salvation is secure because it is based on what Jesus has done and not on anything we have done or will ever do.
We have God's promise that he will respond to any humble acknowledgment of Jesus' sacrifice. If anyone desires to be with Him in heaven for eternity, they must ask themselves: Have I been saved? And there is no better time than right now.
********
It's a nice day so far. I actually shut off my alarm and went back to sleep and slept in until almost 9:00 which I didn't want to happen. But I still just got dressed and then took my books out onto the deck for my quiet time. It is so special when I do that. Being in the cool air and the world somewhat quiet just sets a beautiful setting for communing with my Lord. Michael came out when I was about half finished with my devotional so I just set it aside and visited with him for awhile. Then when he went back inside I went back to my devotionals. It would have been easy for me to get feisty and I confess I wanted to complain to him that he's encroaching on my quiet time and to please go back inside. But risking hurting his feelings would have nullified my purpose in spending time alone with my Lord. I seek change. I seek reformation; and if I chase away those with whom I am learning to relate in this life, what is the value in learning further what I need to do to represent Christ in this world? Slowly I am learning to apply the things I'm learning. To be long-suffering, kind, and patient is a definite challenge when my world is altered from the way I have planned for it to go. I can be so hard-headed and selfish at time. That's my inclination. It's hard to reflect Christ in my day-to-day activities but it's important that I do, for that is my mission in life. One of my Psalms for today says, "... But you are a shield around me, O Jehovah; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To Jehovah I cry aloud and he answers me from his holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because Jehovah sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side" (Ps 3:3-6). Jehovah God is the Lord of my life and of my quiet time and He pulls Himself around me and protects me from the world. And I find that an interruption isn't such a big deal. So what if my quiet time was disturbed? The Lord is my shield against any worldly thing disrupting my holy time set aside to spend with Him. I must not fret. The Lord rules my life ... and my quiet time.
It's a beautiful day so far. Lots of drift smoke in the air from all the fires around California. I think this smoke is coming from the fires up in Trinity National Forest. We had some dry lightning come through the area the day before yesterday and the lightning set off over 700 fires. Most of them are small and won't be much of a problem. But some of them are quite substantial. There is one burning near Santa Cruz in the mountains and that is putting up a lot of smoke but I think most of ours is coming from up north. The smoke is thick enough that it smells like smoke, it isn't just the haze in the air. Our third range of mountains we can see out our window is quite muted. Gray instead of green. The wind has just come up within the last few minutes while I've been writing this and it's really blowing in the heavy smoke so that now the third range is almost completely obscured. It's awful out there. It wasn't all that bad earlier when I had my quiet time but this is awful.
[Michael just came back from getting the mail at the Post Office and he says the smoke is giving him a headache. And I can see how it could.]
The air is cool and it feels so good to not have to have the cooler running. That cooler saves my life in the afternoon when the sun heats things up really well (yesterday we hit 105 degrees) but it creates a deep growling sound that drowns out the things I want to hear; like voices. Having a hearing impairment is a definite struggle. That I can hear a fan easier than I can hear a spoken word is frustrating. But I must learn to accept the things I cannot change. I have prayed repeatedly for the return of my hearing so I won't have to rely on hearing aids but God's grace has been sufficient for me.
We grilled burgers for our dinner last night and they were very good. However they were very expensive as it turned out because the heat melted the brand new burner we just installed a week or so ago. Twenty-five dollars, right down the drain. I hate it when things like that happen. A perfectly new burner destroyed in one grilling. Oh well, such is life, I guess. We still have a little George Bush money left for the house so we'll use that money. I can't help but wonder why the Lord allows things like this to happen. He plots the course for my day so why does He allow something like this to happen in my life. That's easy, because it is conforming me into the image of Christ. I must learn to accept that fact, but that is not so easy. One thing I have learned: Suffering has value in this life and the next. I don't pretend to understand it all, how it works and why it works. I just know that suffering has eternal value. And somehow during that suffering we become more transformed into the image of Christ. He is our model. His attitude is what we strive for. And the more conformed into Christ I become, the easier it is for me to suffer loss. We should cherish the things that have value on into the next life and suffering has that kind of eternal value for us. All of us dislike suffering but we can still be joyful that in our suffering we are becoming more and more the people we are meant to be. None of us like suffering. That is normal or maybe that is human. But somehow all this suffering we experience here on earth has value that will be waiting for us when we get to the other side. As we suffer things big or small, real or imagined, all of them go together to create in us the person God wants us to be. I am obviously not talking about a grille burner here. And yet, I am. This isn't the suffering like that of the loss of human life and yet all these little things that we endure do go together to create that person God desires. It's a constant process of transformation. It's rubbing that branch time after time after time that will cause the twig to be bent into the shape or direction we want the bush to grow. It's all the little things that keep pressure on us and change our shape and our attitude. We would be very shallow people if we never faced adversity or pain or disappointment. We would be very different people if we'd never suffered any of these things, big and small. But just knowing that it is a transforming process makes the difficulties easier to take and tolerate. Adversity is difficult, I'll be the first to admit, but it's all for a good cause. Our heavenly Father wants only the best for us and though there are many tears in this life we are building a beautiful person for the next.
The confusion of church members who often lack faith is caused by their definition of the word believe. They believe in God, Jesus, and heaven which is only right for them to do. But they miss the difference between an intellectual knowledge of Christ as God's son and believing in our hearts and acknowledging with our lips our own personal Savior. With every instance in the Bible of someone truly believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior there is a true change in that person. Listen carefully: It is impossible for one to stay the same after meeting Jesus because they come face-to-face with their most desperate need for Him.
Our most earnest desire for a savior begins with the basic recognition that we have sinned against God and are in need of a Savior. We must also be fully aware that there is no hope for salvation apart from Jesus. "No one comes to the Father but through me." Fully recognizing these two basic facts and understanding what they mean for us, we trust only in His sacrifice for the payment of our sins. He settled the score once and for all when He died at Calvary. Some people use the phrase "ask Jesus to forgive you" or "ask Jesus into your heart" and it really doesn't matter how we describe the event ... if we repent of our sins and make a decision to receive Jesus' free grace and forgiveness, we are saved and we are eternally saved. Don't miss that point: we are saved eternally. Our salvation is secure because it is based on what Jesus has done and not on anything we have done or will ever do.
We have God's promise that he will respond to any humble acknowledgment of Jesus' sacrifice. If anyone desires to be with Him in heaven for eternity, they must ask themselves: Have I been saved? And there is no better time than right now.
********
It's a nice day so far. I actually shut off my alarm and went back to sleep and slept in until almost 9:00 which I didn't want to happen. But I still just got dressed and then took my books out onto the deck for my quiet time. It is so special when I do that. Being in the cool air and the world somewhat quiet just sets a beautiful setting for communing with my Lord. Michael came out when I was about half finished with my devotional so I just set it aside and visited with him for awhile. Then when he went back inside I went back to my devotionals. It would have been easy for me to get feisty and I confess I wanted to complain to him that he's encroaching on my quiet time and to please go back inside. But risking hurting his feelings would have nullified my purpose in spending time alone with my Lord. I seek change. I seek reformation; and if I chase away those with whom I am learning to relate in this life, what is the value in learning further what I need to do to represent Christ in this world? Slowly I am learning to apply the things I'm learning. To be long-suffering, kind, and patient is a definite challenge when my world is altered from the way I have planned for it to go. I can be so hard-headed and selfish at time. That's my inclination. It's hard to reflect Christ in my day-to-day activities but it's important that I do, for that is my mission in life. One of my Psalms for today says, "... But you are a shield around me, O Jehovah; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To Jehovah I cry aloud and he answers me from his holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because Jehovah sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side" (Ps 3:3-6). Jehovah God is the Lord of my life and of my quiet time and He pulls Himself around me and protects me from the world. And I find that an interruption isn't such a big deal. So what if my quiet time was disturbed? The Lord is my shield against any worldly thing disrupting my holy time set aside to spend with Him. I must not fret. The Lord rules my life ... and my quiet time.
It's a beautiful day so far. Lots of drift smoke in the air from all the fires around California. I think this smoke is coming from the fires up in Trinity National Forest. We had some dry lightning come through the area the day before yesterday and the lightning set off over 700 fires. Most of them are small and won't be much of a problem. But some of them are quite substantial. There is one burning near Santa Cruz in the mountains and that is putting up a lot of smoke but I think most of ours is coming from up north. The smoke is thick enough that it smells like smoke, it isn't just the haze in the air. Our third range of mountains we can see out our window is quite muted. Gray instead of green. The wind has just come up within the last few minutes while I've been writing this and it's really blowing in the heavy smoke so that now the third range is almost completely obscured. It's awful out there. It wasn't all that bad earlier when I had my quiet time but this is awful.
[Michael just came back from getting the mail at the Post Office and he says the smoke is giving him a headache. And I can see how it could.]
The air is cool and it feels so good to not have to have the cooler running. That cooler saves my life in the afternoon when the sun heats things up really well (yesterday we hit 105 degrees) but it creates a deep growling sound that drowns out the things I want to hear; like voices. Having a hearing impairment is a definite struggle. That I can hear a fan easier than I can hear a spoken word is frustrating. But I must learn to accept the things I cannot change. I have prayed repeatedly for the return of my hearing so I won't have to rely on hearing aids but God's grace has been sufficient for me.
We grilled burgers for our dinner last night and they were very good. However they were very expensive as it turned out because the heat melted the brand new burner we just installed a week or so ago. Twenty-five dollars, right down the drain. I hate it when things like that happen. A perfectly new burner destroyed in one grilling. Oh well, such is life, I guess. We still have a little George Bush money left for the house so we'll use that money. I can't help but wonder why the Lord allows things like this to happen. He plots the course for my day so why does He allow something like this to happen in my life. That's easy, because it is conforming me into the image of Christ. I must learn to accept that fact, but that is not so easy. One thing I have learned: Suffering has value in this life and the next. I don't pretend to understand it all, how it works and why it works. I just know that suffering has eternal value. And somehow during that suffering we become more transformed into the image of Christ. He is our model. His attitude is what we strive for. And the more conformed into Christ I become, the easier it is for me to suffer loss. We should cherish the things that have value on into the next life and suffering has that kind of eternal value for us. All of us dislike suffering but we can still be joyful that in our suffering we are becoming more and more the people we are meant to be. None of us like suffering. That is normal or maybe that is human. But somehow all this suffering we experience here on earth has value that will be waiting for us when we get to the other side. As we suffer things big or small, real or imagined, all of them go together to create in us the person God wants us to be. I am obviously not talking about a grille burner here. And yet, I am. This isn't the suffering like that of the loss of human life and yet all these little things that we endure do go together to create that person God desires. It's a constant process of transformation. It's rubbing that branch time after time after time that will cause the twig to be bent into the shape or direction we want the bush to grow. It's all the little things that keep pressure on us and change our shape and our attitude. We would be very shallow people if we never faced adversity or pain or disappointment. We would be very different people if we'd never suffered any of these things, big and small. But just knowing that it is a transforming process makes the difficulties easier to take and tolerate. Adversity is difficult, I'll be the first to admit, but it's all for a good cause. Our heavenly Father wants only the best for us and though there are many tears in this life we are building a beautiful person for the next.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The Ultimate Rejection
Jesus made it plain that the path to heaven is narrow and difficult. The easier path, we think, is taking the broad road of secular happiness that comes without effort and transversing down those deceiving and enticing side streets to decadence and self-indulgence. But the way to eternal life is marked by submission and self-sacrifice and humility. The true Christian path is riddled with pot holes and narrow shoulders, sharp turns, and relentless inclines.
Jesus warned all of us to walk carefully and not be deceived about our salvation. Confusion can come so quietly that we can be deceived if we are not careful. Those of us who find heaven's road, that narrow and difficult path to salvation, are those who have given our hearts to Jesus and have acknowledged that His sacrificial death at Calvary has paid our sin-debt in full. This is extremely important because in the course of our lives we will meet many people from all walks of life and background who appear to be walking that narrow path though they haven't as of yet actually made a "decision" for Christ. These people appear to be like believers and they may even be feverishly busy with the work of the church but, sadly, they have placed their human performances before their commitment. Even though their activities may be quite commendable ... such as readily volunteering in various ministries and supporting missions, they may even go so far as to uphold some right beliefs, but we need to learn early that actions and thoughts aren't always an accurate reflection of our spirit or our heart.
There are many churchgoers who assume that works are so pleasing to God that heaven is an absolute certainty. But sadly they will be shocked by their ultimate rejection. At the judgment seat of God, Jesus will tell them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23). Lawlessness? How can we be practicing lawlessness with all the good things we do for you? they'll ask. But Jesus will stand firm against such as them. He will not accept anyone who has refused to be forgiven for her or his sins. We are all alike. We are all sinners and as sinners we must all ask to be forgiven. We all far short and are outside God's will and, therefore, we must all confess our sins to God and ask our Redeemer for forgiveness. Absolutely no one is excluded from this requirement.
Under no circumstances do we want to be counted among those who think their good deeds will earn them admission to heaven. There is only one way to get to heaven and that is by receiving Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord (John 14:6). Only then can we be sure that at the end of our earthly walk, we'll step off the narrow road into heaven and into the presence of God, eternally.
********
A Saturday blog. Surprise. Surprise. Well it just seemed to work into my schedule this week. I should have blogged yesterday but I gave in to worried family members and reluctantly went to the local emergency room and had my ankle looked at. The bruising is really crazy on this thing. I'm all bruised around the outside of my ankle then along the outside of my foot next to the ground, and then my toes. They were bright purple when I got to the ER and I had a hard time convincing the doctor that my toes aren't the point of injury. Granted they look just horrible (the color of my toes really clashes with the color of nail polish I have on! LOL) but that's not where I injured my foot. For anyone who doesn't know, I was sitting on the couch with one leg curled up under me and when I went to get up my foot was asleep and I couldn't make the step necessary to keep me from falling and so I took a tumble here in my living room. That was a week ago and every day my bruising has looked more spectacular than it did the day before. So my hubby and son were very concerned and on my son's way home from work he came by here and insisted on taking me to the ER to get it looked at. It took 3 long, agonizing hours and two sets of X-Rays to find out that I was right all along it was just a soft-tissue injury and it's getting better regardless of how bad it looks. But it really does look horrible. So anyway I spent my free time yesterday in the ER instead of blogging.
I had a seminar to attend at church this morning so I set my alarm for 7:30. I slept until it went off (I usually wake up just minutes before it is due to ring) and laid in bed for another 10 minutes before getting up. But I got dressed and took my devotionals outside to the deck and sat outside in the cool morning air and had my quiet time with the Lord. It was extra special this morning. I'm not sure what was so different this morning but it really was special. So I've decided to do the same thing again tomorrow. It was just a wonderful time of relaxation and fellowship with the Lord. I absolutely loved it and I hope to do it every morning from now on. I'm trying to figure out why it was so special this morning. And as silly as it sounds I think it was because I was dressed up and ready to go to my seminar. I'm sure I've mentioned that I'm wearing skirts and dresses these days in light of Deut. 22:5 although I am not being legalistic about it. I just thought I'd see how it goes and I've come to find out that wearing skirts and dresses is so much more comfortable and cooler than pants and shorts. I wear dresses that are all loose fitting with princess waistlines in lightweight materials. Anyway, I had my dress on already and it just felt different coming to the Lord that time in the morning all dressed and ready to go to my seminar. I know it sounds crazy, but it felt different in a special way and that's all I can think of. So I will try to repeat the process tomorrow when I get up to go to church. Hopefully it will prove to be as relaxing and refreshing as this morning was.
Today's seminar was Discovering Membership: 101 in the Christian Life & Service Seminars. It's a series of four seminars given once a month and today's class finished up the classes for me. I've taken all four of them and now I'm wondering what's next. They have all been so informative and useful even when you take them out of order the way I did. Each one can stand alone but they do progress as you go through the four. But today we looked at our salvation, our statements, our core values, our common identity, our affirmations, and our structure. The classes run from 9:00 to 12:00 and the time just flies by. There weren't many people there today probably about ten counting the pastor. Actually, I love it when the sessions are small. I can hear things better.
We've had some high clouds come in this afternoon. It's still hotter than blue blazes but it's nice to have that intensity of the sun's heat deflected a bit. It almost looks like a complete cloud cover moving in. We might have some sprinkles and lightning and thunder. I love summer thunder storms but the fire danger is so high right now that I'd just as well not have the lightning. It's 105.8 degrees outside right now. So you don't want to be out unless you have to be. I parked my car under the tree when I pulled up today. When I left church my car was so hot I burned my hands on the metal door handle. I don't like summer. I like today because I have my house clean and I'm dressed in a dress, the television is off (yea!), the cloud cover has moved in and the lighting in the house is subdued and the cooler is on. Has a whole different feel to things. I love the fact that my house is clean. We're having Leo over for dinner again tonight so I was forced to actually do some deep cleaning like mopping floors, etc. Every time I do this I swear I'm not going to let it get bad again but eventually, almost without noticing, things begin to clutter up and before long it's a major undertaking to get it back to the way I like it.
I will pick up Leo at the church this afternoon at 5:00. He wanted to have tamale pie for dinner. So I need to get in there and break up the lettuce [just thought to put the peach pie in the oven to bake] but I have to fry some bacon for Leo's salad. He likes bacon bits. Michael made the croutons the other day. Michael's making the main dish and I'm contributing all the side dishes including dessert and drinks. Leo just called to remind me. Leo, for those who don't know, is a 55 year old African American who attends my church who is slightly retarded. I guess he's what I would call simple. He can't read but he remembers just about anything. I trust his memory over mine any time. But we've been having him over every couple month for dinner and he just loves it. We've had spaghetti, lasagna and today will be the tamale pie. I'm not sure what he'll want the next time he comes. He's a dear, sweet soul that we love very much. Anyway, I do need to get in there and get the bacon cooked and salad made. I like to have everything done before he gets here and then we can spend our time visiting. He's so cute. Everything has to be just so. He wants to sit and have a pepsi while we visit, then iced tea with his dinner. And he has to have the bacon bits and then there's got to be desert. He's a sweet, sweet man.
So until the next time...
Jesus warned all of us to walk carefully and not be deceived about our salvation. Confusion can come so quietly that we can be deceived if we are not careful. Those of us who find heaven's road, that narrow and difficult path to salvation, are those who have given our hearts to Jesus and have acknowledged that His sacrificial death at Calvary has paid our sin-debt in full. This is extremely important because in the course of our lives we will meet many people from all walks of life and background who appear to be walking that narrow path though they haven't as of yet actually made a "decision" for Christ. These people appear to be like believers and they may even be feverishly busy with the work of the church but, sadly, they have placed their human performances before their commitment. Even though their activities may be quite commendable ... such as readily volunteering in various ministries and supporting missions, they may even go so far as to uphold some right beliefs, but we need to learn early that actions and thoughts aren't always an accurate reflection of our spirit or our heart.
There are many churchgoers who assume that works are so pleasing to God that heaven is an absolute certainty. But sadly they will be shocked by their ultimate rejection. At the judgment seat of God, Jesus will tell them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23). Lawlessness? How can we be practicing lawlessness with all the good things we do for you? they'll ask. But Jesus will stand firm against such as them. He will not accept anyone who has refused to be forgiven for her or his sins. We are all alike. We are all sinners and as sinners we must all ask to be forgiven. We all far short and are outside God's will and, therefore, we must all confess our sins to God and ask our Redeemer for forgiveness. Absolutely no one is excluded from this requirement.
Under no circumstances do we want to be counted among those who think their good deeds will earn them admission to heaven. There is only one way to get to heaven and that is by receiving Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord (John 14:6). Only then can we be sure that at the end of our earthly walk, we'll step off the narrow road into heaven and into the presence of God, eternally.
********
A Saturday blog. Surprise. Surprise. Well it just seemed to work into my schedule this week. I should have blogged yesterday but I gave in to worried family members and reluctantly went to the local emergency room and had my ankle looked at. The bruising is really crazy on this thing. I'm all bruised around the outside of my ankle then along the outside of my foot next to the ground, and then my toes. They were bright purple when I got to the ER and I had a hard time convincing the doctor that my toes aren't the point of injury. Granted they look just horrible (the color of my toes really clashes with the color of nail polish I have on! LOL) but that's not where I injured my foot. For anyone who doesn't know, I was sitting on the couch with one leg curled up under me and when I went to get up my foot was asleep and I couldn't make the step necessary to keep me from falling and so I took a tumble here in my living room. That was a week ago and every day my bruising has looked more spectacular than it did the day before. So my hubby and son were very concerned and on my son's way home from work he came by here and insisted on taking me to the ER to get it looked at. It took 3 long, agonizing hours and two sets of X-Rays to find out that I was right all along it was just a soft-tissue injury and it's getting better regardless of how bad it looks. But it really does look horrible. So anyway I spent my free time yesterday in the ER instead of blogging.
I had a seminar to attend at church this morning so I set my alarm for 7:30. I slept until it went off (I usually wake up just minutes before it is due to ring) and laid in bed for another 10 minutes before getting up. But I got dressed and took my devotionals outside to the deck and sat outside in the cool morning air and had my quiet time with the Lord. It was extra special this morning. I'm not sure what was so different this morning but it really was special. So I've decided to do the same thing again tomorrow. It was just a wonderful time of relaxation and fellowship with the Lord. I absolutely loved it and I hope to do it every morning from now on. I'm trying to figure out why it was so special this morning. And as silly as it sounds I think it was because I was dressed up and ready to go to my seminar. I'm sure I've mentioned that I'm wearing skirts and dresses these days in light of Deut. 22:5 although I am not being legalistic about it. I just thought I'd see how it goes and I've come to find out that wearing skirts and dresses is so much more comfortable and cooler than pants and shorts. I wear dresses that are all loose fitting with princess waistlines in lightweight materials. Anyway, I had my dress on already and it just felt different coming to the Lord that time in the morning all dressed and ready to go to my seminar. I know it sounds crazy, but it felt different in a special way and that's all I can think of. So I will try to repeat the process tomorrow when I get up to go to church. Hopefully it will prove to be as relaxing and refreshing as this morning was.
Today's seminar was Discovering Membership: 101 in the Christian Life & Service Seminars. It's a series of four seminars given once a month and today's class finished up the classes for me. I've taken all four of them and now I'm wondering what's next. They have all been so informative and useful even when you take them out of order the way I did. Each one can stand alone but they do progress as you go through the four. But today we looked at our salvation, our statements, our core values, our common identity, our affirmations, and our structure. The classes run from 9:00 to 12:00 and the time just flies by. There weren't many people there today probably about ten counting the pastor. Actually, I love it when the sessions are small. I can hear things better.
We've had some high clouds come in this afternoon. It's still hotter than blue blazes but it's nice to have that intensity of the sun's heat deflected a bit. It almost looks like a complete cloud cover moving in. We might have some sprinkles and lightning and thunder. I love summer thunder storms but the fire danger is so high right now that I'd just as well not have the lightning. It's 105.8 degrees outside right now. So you don't want to be out unless you have to be. I parked my car under the tree when I pulled up today. When I left church my car was so hot I burned my hands on the metal door handle. I don't like summer. I like today because I have my house clean and I'm dressed in a dress, the television is off (yea!), the cloud cover has moved in and the lighting in the house is subdued and the cooler is on. Has a whole different feel to things. I love the fact that my house is clean. We're having Leo over for dinner again tonight so I was forced to actually do some deep cleaning like mopping floors, etc. Every time I do this I swear I'm not going to let it get bad again but eventually, almost without noticing, things begin to clutter up and before long it's a major undertaking to get it back to the way I like it.
I will pick up Leo at the church this afternoon at 5:00. He wanted to have tamale pie for dinner. So I need to get in there and break up the lettuce [just thought to put the peach pie in the oven to bake] but I have to fry some bacon for Leo's salad. He likes bacon bits. Michael made the croutons the other day. Michael's making the main dish and I'm contributing all the side dishes including dessert and drinks. Leo just called to remind me. Leo, for those who don't know, is a 55 year old African American who attends my church who is slightly retarded. I guess he's what I would call simple. He can't read but he remembers just about anything. I trust his memory over mine any time. But we've been having him over every couple month for dinner and he just loves it. We've had spaghetti, lasagna and today will be the tamale pie. I'm not sure what he'll want the next time he comes. He's a dear, sweet soul that we love very much. Anyway, I do need to get in there and get the bacon cooked and salad made. I like to have everything done before he gets here and then we can spend our time visiting. He's so cute. Everything has to be just so. He wants to sit and have a pepsi while we visit, then iced tea with his dinner. And he has to have the bacon bits and then there's got to be desert. He's a sweet, sweet man.
So until the next time...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
God is Our Keeper
Simply stated, God is sovereign over all, and God is pure goodness. Knowing this, many believers struggle to understand why painful things happen in their lives and in the lives of their friends or family. They can't help but wonder why God wouldn't stop them from experiencing all this pain and heartache.
That question deepens when we read passages in the Bible like Psalm 121:7-8 that says: "The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." Many people have taken this to mean that the Lord will keep bad things from happening to them. But what the words actually say is that He will keep their souls. And that is altogether different.
The Lord in His wisdom allows pain in our lives, emotional, psychological, and physical. And as hard as it is to believe, sometimes He even orchestrates the difficulty from beginning to end. God understands hurt and He hurts with us, but He also looks into the deeper meaning of our situations. Trials are most often meant to strengthen our faith and make us more like Jesus. Hurts give us compassion for others. At times, God may even use trials and difficulties to prevent us from living mundane, meaningless lives or wasting opportunities that are there for the taking. And sometimes, as hard as it may be for us to understand, with His help, we profit immensely more by walking through the hurt, than by avoiding it completely. The thing we must remember is that there is always value in suffering. When our heavenly Father knows it is best, He doesn't keep us from the pain; instead, He enables us to endure the hardship by giving us wisdom and strength. And, often when we get to the other side, we can see ... with great relief and gratitude ... how His gentle and gracious hand guided us through the entire situation. It was a chance for God to deal directly in our lives with issues that, had they not arisen, we would have missed His help or His hand altogether.
But we must never fear because we have such tremendous hope. And our hope isn't the world's type of hope. Our hope is the assured expectation. It's a sure thing; a done deal. And we can rest assured, knowing that God will keep us through our most difficult times. Especially during those times when we experience our worst and feel utterly alone. Read Psalm 124 and ask God to remind you of its truths when you are in the midst of painful situations in your life.
********
My ankle and toes are a nice bright shade of purple today. They've gone through the deep blue, almost black phase. It still pops every time I step on it but it mostly doesn't hurt. It's a little achy this morning but I think that's because Pepper jumped up and landed on my foot right at the injury site. Bright white flash of pain and it has ached since. I went ahead and wrapped it with an elastic bandage and we'll see how that goes for awhile. My toes look so funny all blue and purple especially between my toes. It looks like I stepped in something and it squished up between my toes. Eww! [So you don't have to search back, if you don't know, I severely sprained my ankle last Thursday night. I got up off the couch and my right foot was asleep and I just ended up sprawled all over the floor with my ankle going the wrong direction. Boo!]
I wasn't feeling well yesterday (that's why I didn't blog) but I'm feeling okay now. I had stomach cramps, headache, and a little nausea. I think it may have been a slight kidney infection because my urine was dark brown. I've had that happen before only I don't remember feeling so crummy. Oh well, that's behind me now.
Stacy and Dad got a car!! Yea for them. That's a lot better than walking everywhere they want to go. I don't know if Dan got his motorcycle back yet from the man who stole it. Hopefully he got it back okay without any problems. He could still use it sometimes or he could turn around and sell it now that they have a car. Either way it's still his motorcycle. Steven has been working at the orphanage mostly since he got there. I don't know how they fit 13 people in that tiny house they have. But they are doing it. This will likely be Steven's longest three months or his shortest, one way or the other but I don't think they'll go by normally for him.
We have Leo coming for dinner again Saturday night. I told him I'd pick him up about 5:00 and we'd come back here and sit and visit while he drinks a soft drink. Then we'll have dinner and dessert and then I'll take him back home. Michael picked up some fresh bacon so I can make real bacon bits for Leo's salad. And he bought Peach pie and whipped cream for dessert. We really enjoy doing this for him every once in awhile. It gives him something to plan for his weekend. He lives in a care facility just down the road a little bit. He has an afternoon job at the small grocery store, doing janitorial type things Monday - Friday. And this just gives him an extra something to plan for.
Franci is back to blogging. She had computer problems of some kind and that's why she just suddenly quit blogging. I was so worried. The thing is I knew it could be computer problems but I chose to worry. What does that have to say about me? Am I trusting the Lord in every thing?
I potted more portulaca in my planters to replace all the pansies that died off. It is so pretty the way you can get so many different colors of flowers off the same plant. I don't know how that works but I'm here to say it works. One of them has white, yellow, and red orange blossoms on it. Only one of the new plants is currently blooming. It will take them a week or so for the buds to open up.
It has been hot here the past week and thank God for the cooler. However I have to sit right in front of it to blog so I wear my hubby's hoodie to stay comfortable. But we'd die without the cooler. I'm so glad we put new pads in it this year. It doesn't smell like a fish tank now. Speaking of things not smelling, I bought a new filter for my vacuum cleaner and it smells soooo much better now. It used to smell really gross. Tomorrow I will vacuum the house really well in preparation for Leo and then I'll do it again on Saturday. We have so many animals dropping hair everywhere they go that it takes a lot of vacuuming to get the job done right.
I did make it out to church on Sunday, limping all the way. And I had a meeting Tuesday morning with commission one deacons to go over what needs to be done with the membership roles. But then I had an Executive Board meeting last night and I decided to stay home. I could have gone but I would have had to wash my hair (after lying around on it for 2 days) and change my clothes and I just decided that it would be best if I missed this one. Now I have a case of the guilts and I can't help but wonder what I missed.
I have started my study in Romans and I'm using Warren Wiersby's book Be Right. And I'm enjoying it so far. I will study on Tuesdays and Thursdays if I'm up to it. Like this is Thursday and it's already 2:00 and I haven't done a thing with it. Guess I should wind this up and get busy with it. If I don't keep myself on some kind of schedule I'll end up starting something and not finishing it (something for which I am notorious!). I don't want to start off making excuses for not doing my study.
This hasn't been much of a blog. I don't have a lot to write about because I've been laid up with my ankle for the past week and then had two days of flu-like symptoms so I haven't gone much anywhere or done much of anything. I did go to that meeting on Tuesday even though I wasn't feeling well at the time and when I left there I went to the nursery next door and bought more portulaca, that I mentioned earlier, and went to the post office. But that's the extent of what I've done all week. Anyway, I'm going to go do my study now so I'll probably blog again tomorrow and I'll try to have more to write about. [ON EDIT: I did go into the bedroom where is was quiet and did my study. My lessons take just about an hour.]
That question deepens when we read passages in the Bible like Psalm 121:7-8 that says: "The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." Many people have taken this to mean that the Lord will keep bad things from happening to them. But what the words actually say is that He will keep their souls. And that is altogether different.
The Lord in His wisdom allows pain in our lives, emotional, psychological, and physical. And as hard as it is to believe, sometimes He even orchestrates the difficulty from beginning to end. God understands hurt and He hurts with us, but He also looks into the deeper meaning of our situations. Trials are most often meant to strengthen our faith and make us more like Jesus. Hurts give us compassion for others. At times, God may even use trials and difficulties to prevent us from living mundane, meaningless lives or wasting opportunities that are there for the taking. And sometimes, as hard as it may be for us to understand, with His help, we profit immensely more by walking through the hurt, than by avoiding it completely. The thing we must remember is that there is always value in suffering. When our heavenly Father knows it is best, He doesn't keep us from the pain; instead, He enables us to endure the hardship by giving us wisdom and strength. And, often when we get to the other side, we can see ... with great relief and gratitude ... how His gentle and gracious hand guided us through the entire situation. It was a chance for God to deal directly in our lives with issues that, had they not arisen, we would have missed His help or His hand altogether.
But we must never fear because we have such tremendous hope. And our hope isn't the world's type of hope. Our hope is the assured expectation. It's a sure thing; a done deal. And we can rest assured, knowing that God will keep us through our most difficult times. Especially during those times when we experience our worst and feel utterly alone. Read Psalm 124 and ask God to remind you of its truths when you are in the midst of painful situations in your life.
********
My ankle and toes are a nice bright shade of purple today. They've gone through the deep blue, almost black phase. It still pops every time I step on it but it mostly doesn't hurt. It's a little achy this morning but I think that's because Pepper jumped up and landed on my foot right at the injury site. Bright white flash of pain and it has ached since. I went ahead and wrapped it with an elastic bandage and we'll see how that goes for awhile. My toes look so funny all blue and purple especially between my toes. It looks like I stepped in something and it squished up between my toes. Eww! [So you don't have to search back, if you don't know, I severely sprained my ankle last Thursday night. I got up off the couch and my right foot was asleep and I just ended up sprawled all over the floor with my ankle going the wrong direction. Boo!]
I wasn't feeling well yesterday (that's why I didn't blog) but I'm feeling okay now. I had stomach cramps, headache, and a little nausea. I think it may have been a slight kidney infection because my urine was dark brown. I've had that happen before only I don't remember feeling so crummy. Oh well, that's behind me now.
Stacy and Dad got a car!! Yea for them. That's a lot better than walking everywhere they want to go. I don't know if Dan got his motorcycle back yet from the man who stole it. Hopefully he got it back okay without any problems. He could still use it sometimes or he could turn around and sell it now that they have a car. Either way it's still his motorcycle. Steven has been working at the orphanage mostly since he got there. I don't know how they fit 13 people in that tiny house they have. But they are doing it. This will likely be Steven's longest three months or his shortest, one way or the other but I don't think they'll go by normally for him.
We have Leo coming for dinner again Saturday night. I told him I'd pick him up about 5:00 and we'd come back here and sit and visit while he drinks a soft drink. Then we'll have dinner and dessert and then I'll take him back home. Michael picked up some fresh bacon so I can make real bacon bits for Leo's salad. And he bought Peach pie and whipped cream for dessert. We really enjoy doing this for him every once in awhile. It gives him something to plan for his weekend. He lives in a care facility just down the road a little bit. He has an afternoon job at the small grocery store, doing janitorial type things Monday - Friday. And this just gives him an extra something to plan for.
Franci is back to blogging. She had computer problems of some kind and that's why she just suddenly quit blogging. I was so worried. The thing is I knew it could be computer problems but I chose to worry. What does that have to say about me? Am I trusting the Lord in every thing?
I potted more portulaca in my planters to replace all the pansies that died off. It is so pretty the way you can get so many different colors of flowers off the same plant. I don't know how that works but I'm here to say it works. One of them has white, yellow, and red orange blossoms on it. Only one of the new plants is currently blooming. It will take them a week or so for the buds to open up.
It has been hot here the past week and thank God for the cooler. However I have to sit right in front of it to blog so I wear my hubby's hoodie to stay comfortable. But we'd die without the cooler. I'm so glad we put new pads in it this year. It doesn't smell like a fish tank now. Speaking of things not smelling, I bought a new filter for my vacuum cleaner and it smells soooo much better now. It used to smell really gross. Tomorrow I will vacuum the house really well in preparation for Leo and then I'll do it again on Saturday. We have so many animals dropping hair everywhere they go that it takes a lot of vacuuming to get the job done right.
I did make it out to church on Sunday, limping all the way. And I had a meeting Tuesday morning with commission one deacons to go over what needs to be done with the membership roles. But then I had an Executive Board meeting last night and I decided to stay home. I could have gone but I would have had to wash my hair (after lying around on it for 2 days) and change my clothes and I just decided that it would be best if I missed this one. Now I have a case of the guilts and I can't help but wonder what I missed.
I have started my study in Romans and I'm using Warren Wiersby's book Be Right. And I'm enjoying it so far. I will study on Tuesdays and Thursdays if I'm up to it. Like this is Thursday and it's already 2:00 and I haven't done a thing with it. Guess I should wind this up and get busy with it. If I don't keep myself on some kind of schedule I'll end up starting something and not finishing it (something for which I am notorious!). I don't want to start off making excuses for not doing my study.
This hasn't been much of a blog. I don't have a lot to write about because I've been laid up with my ankle for the past week and then had two days of flu-like symptoms so I haven't gone much anywhere or done much of anything. I did go to that meeting on Tuesday even though I wasn't feeling well at the time and when I left there I went to the nursery next door and bought more portulaca, that I mentioned earlier, and went to the post office. But that's the extent of what I've done all week. Anyway, I'm going to go do my study now so I'll probably blog again tomorrow and I'll try to have more to write about. [ON EDIT: I did go into the bedroom where is was quiet and did my study. My lessons take just about an hour.]
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