Star-fish

     For work I traveled up north in the state of Arizona. While there, they had a huge snow fall and the temperature dropped to 20 degrees. It was so beautiful, yet so unusual since just down the road in Phoenix it was 70 degrees. It reminds me a bit of heaven and hell. Heaven supposedly a beautiful place full of the radiance of Christ and hell below full of heat and darkness. Now I'm not saying Phoenix is hell, although on some 115 degree summer days it may feel like it. But more importantly, that the distance between heaven and hell is so short.      The reason I say short is that today some people were shot suddenly by an angry man at their jobs. I don't know these people and I pray for the dead and injured and their families as they are in mourning and pain today. This morning on their way to work, these people had no idea that their days would end in this manner. Did they choose Christ as their Savior and Lord before the incident this morning? ...

     Tomorrow I will be in the office for the first full day in weeks. I began planning a "to do" list so I can make the most of my time. My planning shows my priorities. I plan for things that are important to me, things I don't want to mess up.      How about you? What do you plan so it goes well? Another thing I realized was I don't plan my time away with God. I let other things interfere with my Bible study and prayer time. He honors those that honor Him. I am going to work on planning my priorities around God, rather than the other way around.      You can sign up for a Bible reading plan at:  http://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/?version=NIV  May God bless your time with Him in the Word. Amen. James 4:17  Therefore,   to one who knows   the   right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin .

     Because we get very little rain in Arizona, most people enjoy the refreshing rain, hovering clouds, and expanding puddles. When we moved here from Oregon, where rain occurs more often than sunshine, we laughed when raindrops on windshields and puddles in parking lots made the evening news! The news this morning included the song, "Singing in the Rain," along with video clips of fog and wet weather. Unfortunately, there were also traffic accidents brought on by the slick roads and people unfamiliar with driving on rain and oil soaked roads.      We have intentional choices to make each day rain or shine. We can sing in the rain or cry about the our hair getting wet. We can celebrate the sunshine or complain about the heat. Regardless of the weather, our current economical situation as a nation, or the way our boss treats us at work, we are still ultimately in charge of our choice of emotions. No person or thing chooses our emotions for us by their acti...

      Why do I have such an aversion to waiting? I am even impatient waiting on God. He is all knowing and omnipotent, yet I tap my toe and check my watch to see what is holding Him up. Forgive me Lord for showing so little respect for You and Your ability to handle me and my concerns. May You be my timekeeper and may I glorify you while I'm waiting. Amen. Psalm 27:14  Wait   for the   Lord ;      be strong  and take heart      and wait for the  Lord.

     We sat down to watch the news tonight and horrible graphic television advertisements came on showing terrible violence toward women. It made me queasy. It was 6:39PM, just when many families have the televisions on while eating dinner. What must these types of violent, visual images do to the tender hearts, minds, and souls of our children?      Habakkuk, the prophet had similar concerns in Old Testament times, see Habakkuk 1:2-4 below. I look forward to the day of the Lord, when evil will be dispelled and God's justice will reign .(Rev. 19:2) How long,  O  Lord,  must I call for help,      but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!”      but you do not save?   Why do you make me look at injustice?      Why do you tolerate  wrong? Destruction and violence  are before me;      there is strife,  and conflict abounds.   The...

     It appears to me as a society, we have decided there's a completion to win, The Whiner's Award. Lest I point fingers, I have found myself in the running for this award on many occasions. We tell everyone what's wrong in our lives, how sick we are, how overworked we are, how horrible the food was at restaurants, and such, but rarely make nearly as much commotion over how often we are healthy, how glad we are to have a job, and how delicious most of our meals have been.      Even as Christians, we generally lack an "attitude of gratitude." Yet the apostle Paul, while imprisoned in Rome, pens the following in Philippians 4:4-9,  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!   5  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.   6  Do not be anxious about anything,  but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.   7  And the peace of God,  which ...

      Our new women's Bible study on Sunday nights is called, He Speaks to Me , by Priscilla Shirer. It's about how we prepare ourselves to hear from God. In this first week, Priscilla brought up three areas that really spoke to me: The Calmed Soul, The Quieted Soul, and The Rested Soul.      She notes, "Calming your soul into a state of dependence on God also required discipline...We naturally rely heavily on ourselves to secure our destiny...direct yourself to the nourishment of the Lord when your soul cries out for its old dependencies. If you remain faithful to Him, sooner or later you will find nothing else will satisfy."      Regarding the Quieted Soul, Ms. Shirer writes, "Weaning requires a season of discomfort...When we begin to wean ourselves of dependence on other things, we may feel uneasy, fretful, and uncomfortable. But without the crutch of dependence on ourselves or others, it becomes easier to turn to God for comfort and spi...

     This morning, with high hopes of completing a few of several reports that are due, I plopped down on my office chair. By 5:00pm, emails had been answered, phone calls made and received, research  performed, but no reports were finished. Where had my day gone?      Tomorrow, I planned to finish my women's Bible study lessons and work on organizing paperwork for our taxes. But it looks like I'll be working on my unfinished reports. It was timely, after all this lamenting on so much to do, that my reading today in Joanie Yoder's book, God Alone , pages 158-159 was entitled, "You Can't Do It All." Here's an excerpt from what she wrote:       How did He (Jesus) do it all? His priorities determined His use of time. He withdrew regularly to get time alone with His Father for rest and prayer. He was with His Father when His disciples intruded to say, "Everyone is looking for you" (Mark 1:37). But Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else--...

     Today I was blessed to do my job and have a person I was mentoring get so excited about the new information I was sharing. He saw the applications and was relieved for answers to his current situations. My guess is there are people in your lives as well that could use your assurance, guidance, or direction. It's a free gift and yet we often "hoard" our knowledge and, often as we get older, figure younger people don't want to hear our advice.      The "free gift" of salvation through Jesus Christ is also something I'm sure someone in your life is waiting to hear about. Don't hoard your knowledge, think you are not important to others due to your age, or assume younger people don't want godly advice. You may be surprised, you may be the only one in their lives listening, caring, and sharing with them. May God bless your efforts and sow seeds of salvation into the lives of your hearers. Amen. Romans 6:23   For the wages of sin is death, but ...

      I start the day with wonderful intentions of eating right and exercising. I end the day shoveling deep fried fish fillets and onion rings into my face with extra sauce on the side! It seems like it would be easy to monitor what does and does not go into my mouth, but alas it is not.      One would think I could simply shut my trap and not consume fat and sugar laden morsels. Nope, somewhere in between self-control and out of control, I lose my way each day. Lord, help me to eat foods that are healthy for my body and exercise to increase my muscle mass and decrease my stress. I can't do either without You. Amen Romans 7: 15   I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

     Sunday Sabbath, the day of rest and worship. After sleeping much of Saturday away, I'm feeling rested and ready to worship. I praise God that He is One that wants us to rest in Him and fellowship with Him. My outlook and well being are closely tied to how closely I've relied on the Lord for the week.        My fatigue and mental exhaustion comes when I'm busy doing the work that I see as important rather than doing the work the Lord has set out for me to do. He knows my strengths and weaknesses much better than I know my own. I pray this week I trust Him to do His work through me verses in spite of me! Exodus 20: 8  “Remember the Sabbath  day by keeping it holy.   9  Six days you shall labor and do all your work,   10  but the seventh day is a sabbath  to the  Lord  your God."

      I'm tired! I haven't been this tired in as long as I can remember. So, it was ironic when I read today's, Our Daily Bread , about our need to get sleep. I'm going to include the link here  http://odb.org  since the author said it better than I could about the importance of sleep, as a gift from God, for physical repair of our bodies.      For me emotionally, if I don't have enough sleep, I'm fragile and tears are only seconds away from pouring over my eyelids and down my cheeks. I love the quote enclosed in the ODB article, "If we do not come apart and rest awhile, we may just plain come apart." (Havner) Mark 6:31  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,   he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

      We just received an email that one small dog got killed and another was injured by coyotes that live in our development. The email warned people to keep an eye on their dogs and make sure to make noise and carry sticks or rocks to scare off the coyotes if they come near. The other day in our yard, I thought I saw coyote scat, but figured with a block wall around our yard, our dog was protected. Apparently, the owners of the dogs that were killed and injured also had a block wall.      So often, we think we are safe from Satan's attacks too, because we are nice people, with Christian friends, and go to church weekly. But Satan, like a coyote, is an opportunist. He wants us to feel safe behind our block walls, so we won't spend time in the Bible and "put on the full armor of God." False security can be what keeps us from seeking the One who is our ultimate Defender and Protector. Ephesians 6: 10  Finally, be strong in the Lord  and in his m...

     Our house is filled with family and I'm loving it! But since I'm so used to my regular routine, I've been misplacing things the last few days. So yesterday, after turning the house upside down looking for my battery charger for my camera I said, "Okay Lord, I've looked everywhere, please show me where my charger is." Sure enough, it wasn't a minute or two later, I found it in a place where normally I would have never looked for it.      I forget that the Lord is bigger than all our problems, especially our small ones. Sometimes I feel like I need to "handle" the small stuff and only give God the big worries and concerns. But the small stuff, if not dealt with correctly, can become big! God tells us to pray about everything, at all times. I just need to remember that "everything" means "every thing!"      Thank you Lord for being with me in all my trials, no matter how small they may seem to me. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 5...

     Today we took the grandkids to the Children's Museum. It was a three story building full of children who were banging, throwing, running, and any other sort of childlike enthusiasm you could imagine. After about three hours of this "fun" it was time to get on the road home. One of the grandkids lamented, after finding out we were leaving, "We just barely got here!" I, on the other hand, was ready to flee to the parking lot from all the noise, chaos, and mayhem.     My sister-in-law and I were talking about how the noise gets to us and we mused how when we were younger noise and activity was stimulating. We discussed older people we knew who just didn't want to do anything anymore. They didn't want to go out to dinner, a show, or even a park. I told her I wondered if that would be me one day. She noted that she thought it was just part of another stage in life.      Although I agree that when we were younger we could deal with more high ener...

     We have family visiting and a few of them are runners. They were searching the internet for a good path to run during their stay. Paul tells us in Acts 20:24 that there is a more important race for us to focus on, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

     Today as I read Acts 19:21-41, I was reminded how much people like to stir up trouble, especially if things are not going their way. A silversmith named Demetrius, was making a great deal of money creating and selling silver idols for the temple of the goddess Artemis. So he says the following in Acts 19:25-27: Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 28 An you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.      Later in Acts 19:32, the people have gathered and seized Paul's traveling companions to do them harm and the ...

     As a society, we are enamored with the idea of power, but God reminds us in the Bible who ultimately is in power...Him. My reading today in 2 Chronicles is a great reminder that we only have power, of any kind, because He has allowed us to have it. If we forget, where our power comes from, and turn from God, we will end up with a power outage!      In 2 Chronicles 25:2, it is noted about King Amaziah of Judah, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly." This phrase struck me as how many times do I go through the motions for God, but I'm only responding halfheartedly. As a result, King Amaziah turned from God and brought back gods from the people of Seir. He was later killed in a conspiracy.      His son, Uzziah, then took over as king in 2 Chronicles 26:5, "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success." And he became rich and powerful. In his pride, the king decided to go into the temple of God and b...