Star-fish

     We've had series of senseless killings lately that have made big headlines. The bottom-line for the majority of them are feelings of rejection, discontent, greed, and envy. With all the sadness in this world, it is sometimes difficult to focus on God's goodness. Satan would love for us to feel disgruntled and disillusioned because then our focus would be on ourselves, which in our imperfect bodies and minds, could only lead to self-idolatry. This self-idolatry toys with our minds telling us we are the center of the universe and no one should tread on our well being or be better off than us!      The battle of the mind is a tenuous minefield. If we step too far into the recesses of our own feelings, we can become embedded in a mire of depression and  despair . God tells us in Romans 12: 2, " Do not conform  to the pattern of this world,  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approv...

      Thank you to all of you who have stepped outside your own comfort zone and chosen to work to keep our country free. I heard some individuals on television recently ranting about "This is America, I have the freedom say what I want!" The lives that were lost to keep this country free and the people who have suffered physical and emotional pain and suffering as a result of being in the middle of these conflicts, did not do so lightly. These soldiers and military personnel shouldered our freedom at a price, we have no right to flaunt that freedom as an entitlement.       Jesus asks us to shoulder the cross and that doing so will set us free, at a price. The price of giving up our will, our ways, our desires, our pursuits, our pleasures, and setting them at the foot of the cross. Then we are to pick up the cross that Christ has in mind for us to carry. One much better suited for His purposes and plans for our lives and the lives of those we influenc...

     Since I quit working my dog has taken to following me around the house. She quietly lays down under my feet or sits right next to my chair. In the morning when I get up, she is waiting outside my bedroom door regardless of the hour. Her company makes me smile; I'm pleased with her loyalty.      It makes me wonder, "Is God pleased with my loyalty?" Do I stay close, sit at His feet, and wait for His return? Or am I living a life that focuses on me and my worries, activities, and pleasures without little thought as to whether I'm staying close to God relationally, positionally, and intentionally? Luke 10:3 8-42  As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha  opened her home to him.   39  She had a sister called Mary,  who sat at the Lord’s feet   listening to what he said.   40  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him a...

     Is there a place in the life of a Christian to be right? What about self-righteous? Where do the two meet or cross paths? If I am seeking God's righteousness, can I also be seeking my own righteousness? Here are some scriptures on the matter of righteousness: Luke 18:9-12   To some who were confident of their own righteousness  and looked down on everyone else,  Jesus told this parable : 10  “Two men went up to the temple to pray,  one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.   11  The Pharisee stood by himself  and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.   12  I fast  twice a week and give a tenth  of all I get.’ 13  “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast  and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14  “I tell you that this man, rather than t...

      You have a choice. We all do, at any given moment, we have lots of choices. Some are easy, and some are more difficult. Some cause us to feel joy, others cause us to freeze up with indecision. I found the following dialogue from the book, Cross Roads , by Wm. Paul Young on page 206-207, interesting. The main character is talking with Jesus who has asked him to chose a key, of which he has no idea what it is for or when he'll need to use it.       Tony hesitated, "You want me to choose just one key? What if I choose the wrong one?"      "The one you choose will be the right one, Tony," encouraged Jesus.      "But…" Tony stalled. "Why don't you choose for me? You are divine and all, so you would know better than I do."       Jesus smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes only adding to their brilliance. "This is about participation, Tony, not about puppeteering."      "So, you…...

     Romans 14 was a needed admonition for me this morning. I'm going to include verses 10-13 below and highlight verse 12 for this blog focus. See if these verses speak to you as they did to me today: 10  You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt?  For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.   11  It is written:  “‘As surely as I live,’  says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me;      every tongue will acknowledge God.’” 12  So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 13  Therefore let us stop passing judgment  on one another.      As I reread Romans and thought about the verse I have highlighted in blue, my question to my husband, (who was attempting a nap on the couch) was, "What will that look like to give an account of my life?" We both pondered the idea and how there are so many people and if each give...

     I was struck this morning with an image of peace that had never occurred to me before. When I read in Ephesians 2: 14, "For he himself is our peace… (v. 15-16) His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two [Jew and Gentile], thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility. (v. 17) He came and preached peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit… (v. 20-21) …Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." The term here uses "peace" as not something to achieve, but as someone that is peace, specifically Jesus Christ.      Now for many of you this may seem obvious, but then as I looked up in the Word more about "peace" other scriptures that I'd read numerous times took on a different meaning such as in Ephes...

     Happy Mother's Day Lord! Thank you for providing us with women who love us and care about us. If those women have passed, given us up for a better life, or chosen not to love us, none of that matters either, because you have said you will always love us. Your love does not change and is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.      You are there for us if we are poor, widows, or orphans. You keep us under your wings. Then after all the trials of life have poured over us and broken us or made us stronger, you will still be there to lift us up or draw us near because truly you are our mother since you are our true creator, the One and Only God who sacrificed your Only Son due to our sins so that one day we could be united with you again. In heaven. Throughout eternity. Thank you, I love you, and send this hug out to you Lord today! James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their ...

     Growing up I remember helping my grandmother thread a needle because she couldn't see well enough to do it herself. I tried to understand in my young mind why she couldn't see what was so clear for me. Now that my eyes are older, I can empathize much better with her situation.      I used to get frustrated with my husband who was always searching for his eye glasses. Now, I have to search for my glasses to read the small print on recipes while in the kitchen, thus my empathy for my husband's search is no longer foreign, but all too familiar.      My mother started traveling with a mirror that was several times more magnifying than a regular mirror, by which to apply her make up. When I tried to use it, the magnification was too much of a distraction. Now, I too am using a magnifying mirror to apply my eyeliner as my reflection in a regular mirror seems distant and not detailed enough.      The Bible tells us in I Corint...

      I planted some herb and vegetable seeds recently and have had to keep my eye on them so they don't dry up. My husband is the gardener, I usually make the claim that, "I don't do dirt!" But recently, I received a free pair of gardening gloves in the mail and really wanted fresh herbs for our meals. So my experiment with playing in the dirt began, but not without many reminders from my husband to be diligent with the seeds as they are trying to germinate and take root. He noted that when the plant's roots are new and tender, its especially vulnerable to the elements.      How true is that for us as Christians? If we are not deeply rooted in God's Word, daily prayers, and relationship with Him, then we are vulnerable to the elements that make up life. If we don't get filled with the water of the Word, we begin to stop growing, weaken, and die in our walk with God. We can feel that "death" in our mental outlook, relationships, and willingness ...

     Today as I was reading the scriptures, a picture came to mind. We have an exterminating service because ants and other unwanted critters can make a nuisance of themselves in and around our home. But none-the-less, I'm always fascinated by ants. They appear so determined and clear on their given paths. No matter how many little troughs I dig or sticks I put in their ways, they find another way around these delays to get back on their route to the other side.      We like to eat out on our patio and often feed our dog table scraps, but being the messy eater she is, crumbs get left behind. The picture I had was of an ant picking up one of her many crumbs and starting out on its journey back to its home. And then another thought came to mind, the ant does not stop and ask…where did this morsel come from? who left it behind? is it gluten free? how many calories and fat grams does it contain? what store did it come from? who was the farmer? what type of soi...

     Guilt is something I'm good at, that is I hang on to it, ruminate on it, get depressed over it, and even focus on it so much that I can't focus on anything else. When guilt becomes the center of my thought life, rather than Christ Jesus, it is sin. It occurred to me, as I read the following by Billy Graham from pg. 144 of his book, Hope for Each Day , maybe I "enjoy(ed) the guilty feeling" too: Confession and Cleansing If we confess our sins,  He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. I John 1:9      Corrie ten Boom tells a story of a little girl who broke one of her mother's demitasse cups. The little girl came to her mother sobbing, "Oh, Mama, I'm so sorry I broke your beautiful cup."      The mother replied, "I know you're sorry and I forgive you. Now don't cry any more." The mother then swept up the pieces of the broken cup and placed them in the trash can. But the little girl enjoyed the guilty feeli...

     Recently, after a sudden change in my vocation, I was lying in bed wondering what to do next. The picture I got in my head was the word, "trust" with crosses on both ends. As I thought about about whether I was trusting God for His next steps, the letters "r u" stuck out in my mind. R U trusting God? The answer was clearly, "no," since I was trying to "figure out" what "to do" next. I was "working" to determine what should happen next in my life, rather than "being still" and having "trust in the LORD." Psalm 37: 3-4 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

      A friend and I went to get coffee today and the new establishment had its roots in my hometown in another state. When I told the clerk that I was the owner's son's school vice principal back in the day, she got so excited she invited others over to meet me and gave me a coffee on the house! Although, that was not my intention of sharing that information, it was a nice surprise and a reminder that we are all connected in one way or another in the body of Christ.       Looking back on what I read this morning in, God Calling edited by A. J. Russell, "Your lives are so linked up with those of others, so bound by circumstances that to let your desire have instant fulfillment might in many cases cause another, as earnest prayer, to go unanswered," confirmed my coffee experience. I had wanted to start this same coffee establishment twelve years before. Even contacted the owner, father of my former student, but nothing came of the request.  ...