Signs

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” – 2 Timothy 3:1-5

So, the other day I was thinking, “I need to do my blog today. What would you have me to write about, God?” And let me tell you the thing that happened to me…twice!

I am driving along a divided road and my side is going down to 1 lane. Quite some distance before we reach the merging point, there are signs. Several signs. Signs with pictures telling drivers that the lane will end. Signs with words that say “Right lane ending. Merge left.” And you know what happens to me, twice – while I’m following the instructions and driving in the left lane, someone speeds up beside me and cuts me off just as their side of the road runs out. Needless to say, loud words were expressed in my vehicle. And one driver, after I honked at his lack of judgment, had the gall to demonstrate his ability to hold up one finger at a time! I said a little prayer for that driver – He or she needs Jesus!

Well, this demonstration of society’s inability to read road signs, in picture or print, reminded me that there are signs all around us and people still deny the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. I do not understand it. I do not like it. It makes me incredibly sad.

When I read these verses in 2 Timothy, Paul shows me that we are truly living in the last days. I feel like he had the unfortunate opportunity to take a quick peek at our days. These adjectives are horrific and terribly accurate for our day today.

I have read the end of the Book. I know we win in the end. But things will not get better before they get worse. They will only continue to go downhill.

Man, do I sound like a Debbie-downer or what?

Here is some good news – “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” – Luke 21:27, 28

One day, one very sweet day, my Jesus is coming back for me…and for you. How amazing is that?! Now that gets me excited!

But until that glorious day, we have to pay attention to signs. We have to let other people know those signs are there. We have to prepare our hearts for what lies ahead – eternity.

Just keep moving

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58

For those of you who may not know, I work with the aging population. These people have seen life. They have experienced joy unspeakable, and they have experienced the deepest and darkest of sorrows. They have lines of laughter on their face and lines of sorrow and concern. They have the graying head of one, who if given the opportunity, has great wisdom to impart. Unfortunately, some of my mature adults don’t have the recall to impart that wisdom to others.

But today, I want to tell you about one sweet lady who has made a mark on my life in the short 2 weeks that I have known her.

I started seeing her because she wants to have the energy to dance at her grandson’s wedding. Can you possibly imagine a greater reason for strength and endurance? As we are working, we often begin talking. Now this darling lady is well on the other side of 75 and still dresses to the nines each and every day. She is none too happy that her balance issues have made her choice in shoes “ugly”. Yet, this lady greets me every single time with a smile. Despite her medical problems and issues, she finds joy in her daily life.

And better yet, she is passionate for Christ. She is known in her building as the lady always blasting her religious radio station. You can’t say that those around her haven’t heard the Gospel!

But the other day, she was telling me about her burden to witness to one of the “young fellows” in the building. There is one man who is significantly younger than the rest of the building…his hair is still naturally dark, I’m just saying… My dear patient has had a burden to witness to this man. It started with the simple act of giving him a postcard with Bible verses on it. This has led to him attending a Bible study. This man, who has professed to not believe in God, is hearing the Word, voluntarily, just because this sweet little lady followed the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In this verse today, we are challenged in 3 ways.

1) be steadfast – immovable – firmly fixed or constant – This means, don’t be wishy, washy. Stand for something and stand in it all the time. Stand for the principles of Christ and don’t waver. Don’t let “no” keep you from listening to God. 2) unmovable – that cannot be moved or shaken – Remember, when God really wants to make a point, He says things over and over in different ways – hint, hint, that’s what is going on here. 3) always abounding in the work of the Lord – I want to focus on one word in particular here – ALWAYS – perpetually, throughout all time. That means, in my book, that you don’t get to stop working for the Lord. Oh, you may retire and/or quit working to earn a living, but that doesn’t mean that God is finished with you. He EXPECTS you to continue working for Him until He calls you home.

Too often, I fear, we just stop working. We need a vacation. We need a holiday away from our normal. We need some time off. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for taking time off and relaxing or going on a vacation away from my everyday normal. But does that mean we should stop spending time with Him, stop reaching out to others, stop going to Him in prayer? The answer is a resounding “no!”. I know that I am guilty of this. I take the weekend as my time away from work and may not be a faithful to my Bible study and prayer time as I should. I find too many other things to do. No excuse. Sin is sin. Put my name on the list.

But you know what? I can change that. I can chose to do things differently. I can chose to keep going.

As my little lady and I were standing and batting a balloon while she had wrist weights on the other day, we listened and sang to some old hymns I had playing on my phone. It was a beautiful moment being able to combine my passion for the aging population with my love for God. Those moments are precious to me. I’m grateful that God brings people into my life that remind me to love Him and never stop.

Talents/gifts

Greetings, friends.

It has been a hot minute since we last spoke. Sorry about that. No excuses.

I was at church on Sunday when one of the dear ladies that follow this blog asked me if she had missed an email notification of a post. She thought that maybe they had been going to the spam folder. Unfortunately, I had to tell her that no, they had not gone to spam. They had not been happening.

I could write you a sonnet with excuse after excuse on why I have been silent for so long. The short answer is sin. That pesky little human disease we all suffer from.

Lately, it seems that God has been poking at that sin through devotions I listen to while driving and through the sermons I hear on Sunday morning. One verse has been haunting me –

James 4:17 – “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

You know, we have all been given talents and/or gifts. God expects us to use them daily and diligently and to not do so is sin. Knowing this begs the question – what talents/gifts have you put on the back burner lately?

God has been so very good to me and blessed me until I’m drinking from the saucer because my cup has overflowed. Why is it that I take the very gifts that He has given to me and hide them away?

Romans 12:1 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Reasonable service – It is the least that we can do. When I read this verse, I am reminded that hiding away that which God has given me the ability to do is like taking away from Him the least that I can give. He doesn’t need me to do something for Him in order for His plan to unfold. But by me using what He has given me, it makes my life richer through blessings and it makes the lives of those in whom this blog touches richer. It’s a win-win!

So bear with me and keep me in check. I appreciate those loving reminders to get back on track!

Proverbs 27:9 – “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: So doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.”

Use your words

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:5,6

It’s always good when the Holy Spirit brings something across your line of sight that makes you stop, take a look at yourself, and see changes that need to be made.

I came across these verses in my study this morning. My focus, lately, has been on wisdom. And as I have moved through these verses, I am reminded of what wisdom looks like and acts like. Here, I see an aspect of wisdom that makes me stop and think about my every day words.

Have you ever asked God to give you the words that you need to say to each and every person that you meet on that day? Oh, I’ve heard a multitude of sermons on it, but I can honestly say that I rarely put it into practice. I know – it’s shameful. This is something that we, as followers of Christ, should be doing on a daily basis. But if I am honest, I am often too caught up in my own selfish wants and desires to bother praying that I would be what someone else might need that day.

One of the characteristics of wisdom is knowing what to say to people at just the right time. It’s having an awareness of what another person might need at that moment. It may be simply listening for that “still small voice” to urge the words out of your mouth. Or it might be the ability to be sensitive to their body language and expressions that show you that they need a word of encouragement. Or it could easily be that you need to smile more to those people you meet on the street or in the grocery aisle.

You never know what the wisdom of kindness can do in the life of someone you don’t know.

And this is not wasted or useless time spent. No. Paul says that by speaking or showing kindness to others is a way of “redeeming the time”. For me, that means you are giving them an opportunity to talk and ask questions. You are providing an opportunity for you to share the love of God with them. Maybe they need salvation and you taking the time to ask them about their day leads you down that path. Maybe they are planning to go home and hurt themselves or someone they live with and your smile or your demonstration of concern stops them from going down that path. Maybe their day just stinks and they are blaming God for it. Your concern, your smile, your willingness to make time for them makes them see that there is something else causing the problem.

When I read these verses this morning, I was reminded that my words and actions hold great power and great responsibility. It’s not just my world and everyone else is living in it. No, it’s God’s world and it is my responsibility to live out His love and do my very best to fulfill His will each and every day with each and every person I come into contact with.

Building a house

“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” Proverbs 24:3,4

My husband and I are building a house right now. It seems like we have been building it for years and years. I don’t know if you have ever been through this situation, but it can be very stressful and aggravating. Last February or March (it has been so long that I can’t remember), we bought a piece of property with a builder in mind to build the home. Then all things went crazy and prices went through the roof, so to speak. We decided to hold off for a bit and see if prices came down. Then in October, we picked out everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, for our home in 3 days. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was a whirlwind of time. My husband and I had done research, prepared pictures and made endless lists on the things that we wanted to make this house uniquely ours. Skip ahead a few heartaches and we have today, April 21, and we still aren’t there yet. We have an end date in sight – the end of June. Y’all, when I say this has been the most challenging thing I have faced in a while, I am not lying.

But you know what, God has brought us through. He has heard many, many prayers and petitions for resolution. He has heard many, many prayers for safety for the ones working. He has heard many, many prayers to help the ones working to stay on task and get it done efficiently and properly.

Let me take some time to reflect on what He has taught me through this process so far – 1) be patient. Oh. My. Goodness do I detest learning this lesson over and over and over again! I want things to move faster. I want things to be done last week. God says, “Take a chill. All in good time. My ways aren’t your ways. Settle down.” 2) acceptance – Sometimes people are just frustrating and you have to find a way to work in that situation. Oh bless him, the guy that designed our cabinets was tough. He has been doing his job for a really, really long time and it is probably time to enjoy the grandkids, maybe even the great grandkids. 3) forgiveness – People are going to fail you and disappoint you and you just have to forgive them and move on whether they ask for it or not. Lord, give me strength, the number of times I have had to do that in this project. 4) appreciation – I am blessed beyond measure. My cup has been filled up, pressed down and is running over. Sometimes I go over to the site by myself and just walk around and say “Thank you Lord.”

Now, what in the world does this blabbering about have to do with Proverbs 24:3,4. I am filling my rooms with treasures. It’s not treasures from a store or the internet that will grace my house. But rather, lessons of character and virtue that will make my home truly one to be treasured. I have been blessed to walk this crazy path with my husband and my Jesus. Jesus is teaching me patience, acceptance, forgiveness and appreciation that will ooze out into other parts of my life. It won’t just be my physical home that is made better by these lessons, but my spiritual house will benefit as well.

I’m not just building a home on a piece of dirt. No, friend, I am building a home for eternity that will last long after this earthly home is gone. And I want its rooms to be filled with anything and everything that honors and glorifies God.

Saddle up!

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” – James 1:22-25 

Saddle up, friends. It’s going to be another bumpy ride today.

I’ve been doing a new study lately. I have taken on the word fasting. Boy, oh boy, is that word filled up! When I get through the study and digest it, so to speak, I’ll let you know what God has laid on my heart. But for now, these verses came across my line of sight.

It’s a standard group of verses, right? We have all probably heard sermon upon sermon centered around these verses. But have you ever stopped to consider what they truly mean? In doing so, I became convicted. I mean, “oh my, what am I doing” kind of convicted.

We all have mirrors in our home, right? I know I spend a considerable amount of time on any given day looking to see if what I am seeing lines up with what I have in my mind for myself to look like. My hair is one that gives me a lot of grief. Anyone who knows me knows that I can be a bit of a Medusa sometimes and other times, I am so put together… it is astounding. But mostly – Medusa. I can leave my bathroom mirror with one hairstyle and by the time I reach the end of the stairs, I have a whole new look. It’s truly a talent. Same goes with makeup. Me and eyeliner don’t always get along.

But enough of that. The point is I spend a considerable amount of time working on what I want the world to see about me. I have to remember that I can’t rub my eyes when I have makeup on. I have to remember that I can’t twirl my hair when I have spent so much time straightening it. I have to remember.

I have to apply what I know.

And when I rub my eye after putting on makeup, there are raccoon consequences. And sometimes, you just gotta go with the raccoon because sometimes you just have to accept the consequences of forgetting.

So, I know that you did not start reading the blog for makeup tutorials and tricks of the trade. No. You want spiritual food.

Okay, here it is – you are responsible to remember and apply what you know.

Profound, right? Yes and no.

This is not earth shattering news. You know this if you look hard enough at yourself. The thing is, do you apply it? Do you really take all that you have learned in Bible study, in reading the Word on your own, in going through those daily devotions, in praying – do you apply that stuff?

If you have heard it, if you have studied it, if you have ingested it in any way, shape or form – you are responsible to make it so in your life. You see, If Jesus said it and you know that Jesus said it, you are expected to do it. Romans 12:1 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Yep, you read that right – “reasonable service”. It is the rational or logical thing to do.

Reasonable or rational or logical can be a tough concept to grasp sometimes. This world is anything but reasonable, rational or logical. Yet, Paul reminds the church in Rome that because God does not give us what we deserve, we should be willing and ready to be a living sacrifice. That means, when we read, when we study, when we learn, we need to apply. It’s the logical thing to do.

My mind goes to Mr. Spock from Star Trek when I read the word “logical”. He was one that based everything and every decision on logic. Most people didn’t agree with his logic which caused lots of problems. Don’t we see that in the world today? Most people don’t agree with the logic of a follower of Christ. It goes against the grain. It rubs the wrong way. Things can get dicey when we strictly adhere to the “logic” of Truth.

To sum this all up, we have a “reasonable” responsibility to remember and apply what we have learned from God’s Word. It is not always going to be easy. It is not always going to be popular. It is not always going to go the way we want it to go. However, it is what is expected. God expects His children to want to be more and more like Him. We can’t do that if we forget what we have learned.

That’s why Luke reminds us in Luke 9:23 – “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” This is a daily thing that we have to do. Truly, you could even say this is a moment by moment thing that we have to do. We have to chose to follow God each and every day and each and every moment.

Don’t forget what you saw in the mirror this morning….

In the way

Haggai 1:2-5 – “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?’Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.”

This was our message on Sunday night. And my, oh my, did it hit home.

Let me set this situation up here. The children of Israel had been released from captivity to come home and rebuild the Temple. They had remade the Alter, but that is as far as they had gotten. They had been too focused on building their homes and all the other stuff that comes along with a home in that time that they had neglected to build the Temple. And in walks Haggai. Being used by God, he reminds the people of what they had neglected – Him. And it was time to check themselves.

I don’t know about you, but I am abundantly blessed. I have a warm, safe home to live in. I have a family that dearly loves me regardless of the mood I am in. I have a good job that pays well and allows me flexibility in my schedule. I have food in my fridge and the ability to cook it whenever and however I want. I have a car that looks good and drives well. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! I am blessed.

But how often do I allow these blessings to get in the way of doing what God wants me to do? Too often, I tell you, too often. I have been thinking about writing this blog for 3 days now and every time I decide I am going to do it, one of my blessings steps in and needs attention.

Oh, I can’t do it this morning because I have to get laundry done and the lunches ready. Then I have to come home and get the floors swept and the sheets changed before I head off to work.

Oh, I can’t do it this morning because I have to go here and do that before I head off to work. Otherwise, I will have no time to do it.

Sound familiar? It is so very easy to get caught up in our blessings that we neglect to do what God has laid on our hearts to do. Hey, I get it. These things needed to be done for one reason or another. But how much more important is it to be obedient to the God of Heaven who sent His One and Only Son to die on the cross for my sins so that I could have the opportunity to have a home with Him in Heaven? Yep, that’s been in my head for 3 whole days!

God has given us so much. He loves us so much that He wants to give us good things and to love us with His love that passes all understanding. But He also expects us to follow Him and do His will. We can’t neglect His work to tend to our blessings. You notice that I said “neglect”. I think this is a purposeful decision that we make to be disobedient. I know in my own life that too often it is because I’m not listening that I don’t do what He is telling me to do. But I rarely neglect my blessings.

So today, I want to encourage you to appreciate your blessings but not to the point of neglecting God’s work that He has just for you. Blessings are sweet but they are so much more sweet when we experience them after a hard day’s work in the Lord.

Letting God…

‭‭James‬ ‭1:1-8‬ ‭KJV – “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

I know, I know. So many verses. But as we were reading this the other day in worship service, all I could see were the “let”s. And I have been thinking about what it means to “let” since then.

I looked up the meaning of the word in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary (gotta love that website!). It said this – “Followed by the third person, it implies permission or a command addressed to an inferior.” It can also mean “to permit or allow”. Either way, each definition points to basically the same thing – permission to do something.

We are in revival this week at my church. We have been encouraged and challenged so much in the last two days, that I have not wanted to stop listening. I wanted to “let” the preacher go on preaching until he ran out of words!

We are being challenged to be salty. (That’s a whole other blog post.) But the question I want to pose today is this – Are we letting God do what He needs to do to make us into the person He wants us to be? Are we letting God challenge us enough to grow His kingdom? Are we letting God show us our sin in our life? Are we letting God lead us away from the things and situations that impair our growth?

You see, here is the deal – we can pray all day long for God to change us and mold us into who He wants us to be, but sometimes, we are the thing standing in the way of that change. We aren’t willing to “let” God do what He wants to do. I know I have this problem in my own life. Right now I have a book on my countertop that I say that I want to read. But if I’m honest, I’m afraid to read it because I’m afraid of the changes God might convict me to make in my life. I’m afraid to “LET” God change me. There, I said it. I have been asking God to show me my sin and my life and right here, right now, He just did. I’m afraid to “LET” God.

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to tell you. This is a burden and an issue that I have just acknowledged and now is the time to step forward. I don’t know what God is going to do with me now, but I am grateful that God has been on me to write this blog post. I’m glad He never backs down. Happy Wednesday.

Chocolate cake

‭‭James‬ ‭4:13-17‬ ‭KJV‬‬ – “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
It is a problem that we all are guilty of participating in at some time or another – choosing not to do what is right when we know better. Yes, I know, it is also known as sin – intentional sin, at that. 

Let me set up the situation.

Let’s say that you know that you have a few pounds you need to lose. It is not drastic, you just know that if you lost them (and never found them again) that you would feel better physically and emotionally. But you are at an event and they are serving chocolate cake – your all time favorite dessert. You know that you should not eat that cake. You know that it will show up on the scale tomorrow morning. You know that it is too late at night and eating that cake will result in a restless night of sleep. You know all these things. You have rationalized it over and over again in your mind. Yet…you still eat it. You really, really, really want that chocolate cake. You know the consequences and yet you do it anyway. Sin has caught you with a fork!

I tell you this to say intentional sin is tough. We can push unintentional sin under the blanket of a forgiveness prayer. But when it comes to the sins we commit knowingly, well, that requires more effort to get rid of. Yes, I know, I’m stepping on your toes, but guess what, mine are paining too!

The problem is that it is these sins that are keeping us from a closer walk with Christ. These sins will build a wall between you and Him that if left unchecked will cause serious problems down the road. That is why it is so incredibly vital that we keep that wall destroyed. It’s like letting weeds grow in a garden. If you don’t stay on top of them and get rid of them when they pop up, before you know it, the garden is overtaken with weeds and you have to spend an enormous amount of time locating what it is that you planted one day, way back when. 

So my challenge to you, and to me, is to keep those intentional sins in check. Or better yet, when you hear that still, small voice saying “don’t do it…don’t do it”, then…don’t do it. God wants you listen to Him. He wants to guide you on the path of righteousness but He won’t make you make the right decision. He wants you to do that on your own. Gotta love free will. 

But it can be done. You can say “no” to that chocolate cake. You can walk away knowing that tonight there will be no consequences because you made the right choice! 

Contemplations

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:6‬ ‭KJV‬‬ – “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”
It is a simple idea – seek the Lord. If it is so simple, why do we make it so hard? 

God has told us that He is near us.  ‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3:57‬ ‭KJV‬‬ -“Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.” Why do we feel He is so difficult to find? It seems that all we have to do is “call upon” Him. Why is that so hard?

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:5‬ ‭KJV‬‬ – “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  Jesus promised to never leave us…nor forsake us (that means to leave us by the wayside).

So, why do we neglect to seek the Lord? 

Pride. 

We like to look into a mirror to see what we look like. There are people that spend what seems like hours in front of a mirror trying to achieve just the right look. And then, once they walk away, it seems as though they completely forget what they look like because each time they see a mirror, they are gazing in it once again. 

What if we did that with the Word of God? What if we spent, what seemed like, hours in it allowing Him to make us into who He wants us to be and then every time we had the opportunity we looked in it again to determine how we needed to tweek things to make ourself even better for Him?

Sounds crazy, right? Or maybe ideal? 

You know, I get up almost every morning and read my Bible. But do I let it change me? Do I take it’s words to heart? Do I consistently go back to it to allow it to continually change me? Sadly, the answer is no, not always. 

Jesus is waiting for me to come looking for Him. He wants to be found. He wants to have a special relationship with me. He wants to talk to me, share with me and be my absolute, very best friend. 

So why do I make it so hard for Him?

I don’t know that I have an answer today. I just wanted to throw that out there. The day is drawing near when Jesus won’t be so easily found. Oh, He will still be there but it won’t be so easy. Now is the time to build that relationship. Now is the time to seek Him out. Now is the time to call upon Him. Tomorrow may be too late.