I Love Your Shoes!

 I love your shoes!

As a woman I have said this too many times!  I have had it said to me too many times!

Years ago I had surgery on both of my feet. Due to this I have a hard time wearing anything but comfortable shoes.  I can't wear high heels.  Doesn't mean I don't try them on and walk around in them.

My knee screams at me for hours afterwards, but it is so worth it!  Thank God for Motrin!

But as you all know, I am not going to be writing about shoes, at least not physical shoes.

I had an opportunity this morning to be Jesus to someone.

We were on our way to church when we drove by a man sitting off of the side of the road.

I don't know how God talks to you, but this morning I heard Him loud and clear.

"You have to turn around and take him your unopened ice cold bottle of water."

I had planned on drinking this at church.

So, knowing His voice ever so clearly, you know that "my sheep know my voice" thing and all, I said, "Are you talking to me?"

I had to pull into a little store to get something for children's church.  So I asked Him again, "Am I just thinking I am supposed to do this or are you really telling me to do this?"  I already knew the answer before I even asked the question.

My spirit heard, loud and clear, "Really?"

So when I came back outside and got in the car I told Jimmy, my husband, we were going back to give this man, that he had not even seen, the water.  

He looked at me and said, "Did Jesus tell you to do that?" 

Before I could answer, he said, "Why did I even ask?"

Sure enough, he was still sitting there.

We rolled down the window and asked if he would like a bottle of cold water.

As he came to the car to get it, I reached and pulled out a five dollar bill to give to him.

I told him he could probably get something to eat at the Circle K just down the street.

He said he couldn't go right then, he was headed to church.  Then he added he just wished he had a Bible.

Well, of course, being on our way to church ourselves, I just so happened to have a Bible.

I got out of my car and got the Bible out of the backseat and gave it to him.

He was so grateful.

We left and headed on our way to church.

As we were going I prayed for this man.  I didn't know his name.  I didn't need to.  But God did!

He knew his name.

He knew he needed water and food.

He knew he needed a Bible.

He was not forgotten.

He also knew that I would be willing to be a vessel He could use.

I thought as we were driving, "Today, Jesus' feet fit perfectly in my shoes.  I was His hands and feet."

I was Jesus today, if just for a short time.

Today in Children's Church, our lesson was on Super Heroes.

With Mother's Day coming up I spoke about Deborah and how God used her.  He used her obedience.

How she stepped out of her comfort zone and did a mighty thing.

We went on to talk about how you don't have to do a mighty thing to please God.  All He wants is our obedience.

He wants us to do what He asks of us, when He asks.

Obedience!

His Word tells us in 1 Samuel 15:22 "Obedience is better than sacrifice!"

You see, God expects His children to be obedient.

It pleases Him.

Does He love our sacrifice?  Of course!

Does He inhabit our praise?  Clearly He does!

But it doesn't measure up without the obedience first!

He wants our obedience.  He wants us to know His voice!

There is going to come a day when He separates the sheep from the goats.

In Matthew 25 He tells how the King will call out His sheep for what they did.

I was thirsty.  You gave me water.

I was hungry.  You gave me food.

I was naked.  You clothed me.

And the sheep asked, "When did we do these things for you?"

"When you did it to the least of these!"

So today I am asking you, who is wearing your shoes?  You or Jesus?

I never want to do anything for Jesus that draws attention to myself.  But, if I can be an example for others to see what listening to His voice and being obedient to His voice looks like, then I'm okay with that.

How awesome would it be when I stand before the King of Kings and will be able to hear Him say to me, "I love your shoes!"

Entitled Relationship

Booker T. Washington.                          Now I would say a majority of you know that name.  But, if you are like me, you probably don't know much more than that.                          Our Pastor is doing a bible series on the book of John.  During this study we are learning about John the Baptist and the part he played in the foretelling of Jesus in all of the gospels.  Not just the book of John.  He, our pastor, pointed out how the people wanted to declare a title over John the Baptist, as if John the Baptist was not enough.                They said he was a prophet ... John said nope!                                            They said he was Elijah  ... yeah, still not me!                                            Finally they said he must be the Messiah ... definitely not, John declared!                                          Then who are you?  What is your title?                                      "Basically," he said, "I'm just a dude sent here to tell you about Jesus, the real Messiah!  I am just a voice crying out in the wilderness, letting you know what is about to happen.  John the Baptist was not caught up on titles.  He was more about the message and getting the job done.  The people all knew who he was.  He was popular!  He had celebrity status!  The people wanted him to have a title.  He rejected the titles, the popularity, the celebrity status as it were.  He even told them, "Hey, I have to become less important so the one that is coming, the one I am telling you about, can shine.  I must decrease so He can increase.              And that is just what happened.        As you can see, not much has changed over the years.  People are always looking for the next big thing.  After John the Baptist it was Jesus!  Some people got it!  They understood who Jesus was.            He was the Messiah come to save the world!                                            But most who followed Him, just followed Him around much like people today that follow celebrities or people of importance around just to get what they can from Him.  In Jesus, they saw new wine, healings, thousands being fed, the dead being raised!                                He was the new phenom!                    But those that got it, well, they got it!                                                              Now back to Booker T. Washington.  Like I said, I know so very little about this man.  What I know, I am about to share.                                      He was a black man in the 1800's from Alabama.  That says a lot.  He was an educated man.  That was not a very common thing among black men or women in the 1800's.  He went to college and afterwards was offered the opportunity to be the President of a trade school for black men.  He, being the man that he was, had a greater calling for this trade school.  He made it so much more than just a trade school, he turned it into a college, and from there it became a University.  Most of you have probably heard of it.  Tuskegee University!                            The story is told that he even had the opportunity to meet with the President of the United States.  Not as a slave, but as a free man!              One night as he was walking the streets of Alabama, a woman saw him walking along, not thinking anything of it, she called out to him.  "My husband isn't home.  How would you like to make a couple of dollars?  I need someone to cut some firewood for me and bring it inside."    Mr. Washington obliged the woman.  Taking off his jacket, he cut up her wood and brought it inside.  She thanked him and paid him.  As he was leaving, one of her servants saw him and recognized him.                                                "Why is Booker T. Washington in our house, " he asked the woman?     The woman was surprised and embarrassed that she had asked a man of such renown to do such a menial task.                                           She showed up the next day and had a meeting with him and apologized to him for not giving him the honor he deserved.                She had never met him before, she had only heard of him.  They did not have any relationship before that.  She had asked a very menial task of him and he was humble enough to do it.                                      After our pastor told us that story my thoughts immediately went to that is how so many of us treat Jesus.                                                  We have heard about Him.  We know many things about Him.  We know that He answers prayers, that He loves us, that He gave up everything for us, but we just use Him basically like an ATM machine.                                            We ask Him for stuff and expect to receive it.  We put in our ATM card by going to church, we banter His name around people when we think it appropriate to do so.  And then we expect the dividends.            But when it comes down to it, we really don't know Him.  We don't have a relationship with Him.  We are just using Him for status for ourselves or for what we can get!      But just like Booker T. Washington said to the woman after she apologized, that he had no problem doing something for a friend.  Neither does Jesus.                       Jesus answers our prayers.             He loves us unconditionally.          But more than anything, He wants to have a relationship with us.          You see, the lady in the story, once she truly knew who Booker T. Washington was, she went to him and was welcomed in.                          But for those of us who don't truly know who Jesus is, even though we say we know Him, we say, "I went to church on Sunday", "I paid my tithes and offerings", "I supported missions", "I even told people that I know you Jesus!"  He will say to you, "Sorry, I never knew you.  Depart from me."                                  You see, it is just as important that Jesus knows you.                         What kind of relationship do you have with Him?  Head knowledge or heart knowledge?                            I want to have the kind of relationship that when I stand before Him, He says to me "Enter in my good and faithful servant!" 

I Ate Yesterday

 I Ate Yesterday!

Years ago when my daughter was just little, like 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years old or so, she was too cute!            She was a busy little one, sometimes too busy or preoccupied to take time out of her very busy life to even eat.

I would prepare our meals and call her for her to come and eat and her response was almost always something like this, "I ate yesterday."  

I don't know how many times I had to explain to her that she had to eat every day.  That was such a foreign thought to her.  But then again, she was just a baby.  She had no knowledge of nutrition, or the value of eating or being fed on a daily basis, sometimes two or three times a day with a few snacks thrown in for good measure.  Food upon rising and meals all day long with snacks thrown in and even the proverbial midnight snack.  She had not yet learned this dynamic in her little life.

When you are young, that seems to be a mystery.  A good balanced meal doesn't sound near as good as even a snack!  But snacks, which I love, are not fulfilling.  We all need to learn to eat healthier.

She did eventually learn this valuable lesson.

Now, I am sure you are wondering why I am even telling you this.  Well, here's why.  I recently heard a sermon that pricked my memory of this.  You see, the speaker, Miss Jennifer, spoke about how so many of us just come to church on Sundays and get fed our weekly meal and think, "Well, I've eaten this week.  I am good to go!"

We get up from the table, wipe the crumbs onto the floor and walk out the door!

We think we've had sufficient spiritual nutrition for the week.  That thirty or forty-five minute sermon should hold us over for a week.  Hopefully something doesn't prevent us from getting back the following Sunday or we would become famished, anemic.

How many of us are like that?  We think we are perfectly fine in doing that.

Like I said, when my daughter was a "baby" she thought like that.  But she grew up.  She now knows that "I ate yesterday" is not sufficient.  She knows she needs daily sustenance.

New Christians, or baby Christians, as they are called, don't understand the concept of that either. 
When they are brand new babes in Christ they can't seem to get enough spiritual food.  They devour it.  Much like a newborn baby on a bottle.  They can't get enough.  But as they grow a little older, and they realize that having to read and study the Word of God, that spending time in prayer with Him, getting to learn His voice, takes time.  Much like preparing a good nutritious meal.  That it seems easier to have a snack or two during the week and then come to church on Sunday and eat what someone else has prepared.

Maybe they will listen to a sermon on T.V. or turn on some praise and worship music while they are driving in their car, a snack, much like having a candy bar in the middle of the afternoon.  But it doesn't take the place of breakfast, lunch and dinner!

When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they complained about the food situation.  A lot!  So what did God do?  He fed them.

Daily!

Manna!

The interesting thing about that was that yesterday's Manna was not edible the next day.  Many tried to hold on to what they got the day before, even though they were told not to, but it was bad.  It had maggots in it!  It was inedible!

God had something fresh and new for them every single day.

They just had to work for it.  They had to put in the effort.  They had to gather it up and use it fresh that day.  Their daily bread, so to speak!

That is what He wants for you, for me, for all of us, that we would feast daily on His daily bread!  That we would hunger and thirst after righteousness and be fed.

Jesus even told us to pray for it!  "Give us this day our DAILY bread."  He didn't say to pray for yesterdays bread to be sufficient.  He didn't say to pray for bread tomorrow.  He said DAILY bread!

You know when you hear nutritionists talk about illnesses, so many of them will say that a lot of our maladies would be cleared up if we ate healthier and got better nutrition and vitamins.  If we ate better snacks!

If we applied that principle to our spiritual lives, how much healthier of a church do you think we woud have?

Our churches have grown anemic, lethargic, we perish.

The word of God tells us, "My people perish for lack of knowledge!"

Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJV) says, "Your words are food, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts!"

I read a meme not too long ago that said, "Who knew so much of my time as an adult would be spent trying to figure out what I was going to fix for dinner!"

A newlywed I know recently posted how she was already tired of having to decide what to fix for dinner every night.

Sorry!  That's the real world.

But isn't it a lovely thing when you realize that God has already planned out the menu and prepared the meals.  He has invited us to His banqueting table because He loves us!

So my question is, when was that last time you ate?  When was the last time you sat down with Jesus and dined?

Don't you know He calls you to "Come and Dine?"  Just like He called the disciples.  

We used to sing a hymn called "Come and Dine."  The first verse said,

Jesus has a table spread, where the saints of God are fed

He invites His chosen people come and dine.

With His manna he doth feed and supplies our every need

Oh tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time

Come and dine the Master calleth come and dine

You may feast at Jesus table all the time.

He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine, 

To the hungry calleth now come and dine!

When was your last good meal?  Have you eaten today?

Psalm 34 tells us to taste and see the Lord is good!

Matthew tells us, "Blessed is he who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, they shall be filled."

Have you had a good taste today?

Have you been filled?

Are you getting by on yesterdays manna?  Are you trying to make a meal out of leftovers?

Come to the banqueting table!  He has something in store for you.

But be sure to bring a fork, knife and spoon because I can almost guarantee there will be dessert!                                        

We Prayed for Rain

 We Prayed for Rain

It hadn’t rained forever it seemed in our little West Texas town.  Not just ours, but all of West Texas it seemed.
As a child that seemed unforgivable.  If it didn’t rain soon, we could all be dead.  Even though we were small children we knew it to be true.  We could see it in the world around us.
Our world at least seemed to be desolate and dry.  If we’d had grass, it had all withered away.  If there had been any flowers, they were all slowly dying on the vine.  For sure if all this was happening then the food chain would be next to fail.
But momma, momma had something that it seemed no one else had.  She had faith.
You see, momma was not just a momma, she was our first teacher.  She taught us from an early age just who Jesus was.  Who He could be.  Who He wanted us to be.  How we could go to Him in prayer and in faith believe and He would answer those prayers.
But most of all she taught us how much He loved us.  How He loved us so much that He was willing to die on an old rugged cross for us.
Looking back on those early years it amazes me how much she taught us and showed us about Jesus.  Knowing now how she was raised and had lived.
You see, momma wasn’t raised in church.  Not that she hadn’t gone to church but being sent or going on occasion is a far cry from being raised in church.  She said that her mother would send her and her sisters and brother but didn’t go herself as she felt she didn’t have good enough clothes.  With seven kids, money was tight.  What little they had was used on the kids to make sure they had clothes and such.
Momma learned the little bible stories from Sunday School that every child learns.  She tells the story of re-enacting the story of David and Goliath when David swings his slingshot around and around while standing on a chair and fell off it.
Thank God for foundational stories.  But if you are not raised in church then after a while that is all they become, stories.  Much like a fairytale one might hear.  Cinderella, Pinocchio, David and Goliath.
But even though as a child she was sent to church it gets hard to send a teenager to church.  Even if you are raised in church, so many times the teen years become the lost years.  I would know.  I was a teenager once.  And momma, well she was a teenager once herself.  In every sense of the word, she was a teenager!  Wild child might not have been what or who she was, but it came close.
Family life left her looking and longing for love and acceptance.  Many times, I am sure she felt as if she had found it only to have her heart broken and her dreams dashed from disappointed love.  But that didn’t stop her from pressing on.
Momma was beautiful, as a matter of fact, she still is.  I am sure everyone believes their mothers to be beautiful, and I am sure they are.  I know my brothers and sisters all know ours is!
But back in the day, her early years, she was a looker.
Dark hair, a splattering of freckles and a va-va-voom figure.  She was noticeable.  She had, I guess, plenty of boyfriends.  But momma wanted love and marriage and of course the proverbial baby carriage, just like all the other young ladies she hung around with.
So, at a young age, she settled on the one she believed would fulfill all those longings.  She discovered shortly into the marriage that she had been wrong.  It took a little while, but divorce number one was in the books.  But still you press on.  Momma did.  

Husband number two would prove to have a lasting impression.  He didn’t just bring love and marriage but finally that proverbial baby carriage!  A baby girl was the very thing that started her on her search for something more.
Momma knew that she needed more.  There was a void that needed filled.
Marriage to husband number two was not all it was promised to be.  But now she was a mother, not just a wife.  Something inside her led her to realize that she needed to go to church.
Being that she had gone to a Baptist church as a child, that is where she began her search.  She found a little church and with small child in tow, she went.  At least she didn’t send her to church, she took her to church.
Hit and miss, but it was a start.
The marriage didn’t quite last, but at least church did.  It wasn’t a strong pull to God but there was a gentle tug.
It wasn’t long though that husband number three was in the wings.
Was this going to be the one that would last?  Only time would tell.  Only time would tell.
 If momma thought husband number one and husband number two were fraught with difficulty, then she was sorely prepared for what husband number three and this marriage held in store for her.
This man, husband number three, came with baggage of his own.
Funny thing about baggage, you have to unpack it.  It’s not like when you move and get to take your time unpacking.  Sometimes when you bring baggage into a marriage it gets unpacked pretty fast.
This baggage got unpacked fast.
Two young boys came with this package deal.
So now, a young mother of one was supposed to take on the role of new wife to a husband that was a cross country truck driver, and a mother to two little boys who had been tossed this way and that with very little stability in their young lives.  They were wild and were going to challenge momma at every step of the way. 
And challenge her they did.  Not because they were demon children, they just weren’t sure of what was going on in their young lives.  They had been left to their own devices with no one really taking them under their wing so to speak and they weren’t about to let someone they didn’t even know start.
Momma, even though she was one tough bird, found it hard to corral two little boys who would not be tamed.
With their dad gone so much of the time she was not only mother but father as well.
Two little boys and a little girl to raise, mostly on her own, she needed church more than ever before.  So, Sundays she gathered this little brood and headed to church.
Sunday School gave a respite for them all.  Now they were learning the fairytales that she had learned so long ago.  But that was just it.  They were hearing the stories but that was all they were.  They weren’t being taught how to live those stories out.  They weren’t being taught foundational truths.
They went to church hungry and came home hungry.
Nothing changed Monday through Saturday.
Something had to change.  And it did.
The family of five soon became a family of six and not too much later a family of seven.
Two little girls were added to this wild brood with two more a few years later.  I am sure that before they came along, turn around and run had crossed her mind.
But as much of a challenge and irritation that raising two little boys was, the thought of abandoning them was out of the question.  I am sure the thought of killing them had crossed her mind a few times, but with great restraint she did not do that.
Now with more in the mix, it seemed she was in it for the long haul.
She definitely needed church, well she definitely needed God!
Have you ever been hungry for something, but you just weren’t sure what it was?  You eat something thinking “this is it”, but it isn’t.  It leaves you, well, wanting.
And that is what church was doing, leaving her wanting.  She was getting fed breadcrumbs but no meat and potatoes.  She was hungry.  Hungry for something she didn’t even know she wanted.  Longing for something that would satisfy.  Yet she still went to church.
Step in a woman of God that knew just what she was hungry for.

This woman proved over and over again to be a source of strength over and over again through the years.  She had what I call unshakable faith.  She had and would face adversity in her life that no mother should ever have to face, but she met it head on with a faith and determination that is hard to come by if you don't know where you have put that faith.  She was one of my Sunday School teachers and I loved her and all her gentle ways.  Can't wait to see her in heaven and thank her for all she poured into me, but mostly about her pursuit of my mother.  Because of her tenacious love for our mother and knowing what momma needed.  Jesus!

But momma, oh no!  She couldn't eat at that church.  She had only been fed breadcrumbs as a child and that is what she was used to.  Besides all that, she had seen this type of church this lady went to, and it scared her.  She had walked by a church like that one day, not going in, and had seen the crazy going on through the window.  She was sure they were going to fly right out one of those windows.
But this woman of God kept on inviting her and telling her about the more she could have until she finally gave in and went to get a little taste.
And it tasted good!
It didn’t take long before momma was feasting at this banqueting table.
Did things become perfect at home?  No!  They probably got worse.
But once you’ve tasted the goodness of God and your spirit starts getting fed, you start to hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God.
We all went to church.
Sunday morning!
Sunday night!
Wednesday night!
Revival!
We went.
The momma that had struggled so hard to live for God, now lived for and walked with Him.  He was her companion.
Was she perfect?  No!  But she was forgiven and determined and her faith in a living God began to transform her.
It wasn’t magic!  She didn’t have all the answers.  But she now knew the source of the answers.
She had peace!
She now had a blessed hope.
She now knew that no husband or the search thereof was going to fulfill that longing in her soul that she had wanted for so long like the love of Christ that now filled her very being.
She now had a helper, the Holy Spirit, to teach her and guide her.
Now those fairytales that she had been taught were foundations of faith.
Faith like David that could kill a giant.
So now, within just a couple of years of having an encounter with this man they called Jesus, she decided that not only did her children need to know about Him, but all the children in the neighborhood needed to know.
Momma now had Sunday School on Saturday mornings in our house for all the neighborhood kids.
Cookies, Kool-Aid and Christ!
After a while she took it to the park.
Momma was learning and teaching.
We were her prize students.
She would pray with us.  Read the Word to us.  Explain it to us.
But mostly she lived it in front of us. 
She was literally Jesus in front of us.
I know I witnessed on so many occasions her living out the life of Jesus, being His hands and feet to so many in need.
And it wasn’t easy.
For as much as momma had realized her need of a Savior, daddy did not.
Daddy did not embrace this new lifestyle.
If momma wanted too, more power to her.  He was not doing it.
Not that he didn’t go to church, he went, it just didn’t make a change in his way of thinking, acting or really much about him.
As little children we would, as most children do, play what you are being taught.
For instance, as much as you were ready for the school year to be over, for the first week or two of summer we almost always played school.
Well, we were young, four- and five-year-old little girls, my sister and myself and a cousin sandwiched in between that was always over.
So, we played what we knew.  Prayer meeting!
Our house at the time was laid out in such a way that you couldn’t see the front porch when you pulled into the driveway.  It just so happened that three little girls decided that would be the best place to have prayer meeting.  So, we did.  Every day!
Daddy was never too pleased to pull into the driveway and come around to go inside only to find three little girls praying for his salvation.
We weren’t bound by physics.
Sometimes we would move our prayer meetings to the back porch.
Daddy thought he would outmaneuver us only to find us praying for him on the back porch.
It took years and years and many more prayers, but I am glad to say that I have a blessed hope of seeing my daddy in heaven because of those prayers.
Now, I have said a lot to get back to my original story.
A drought in West Texas, one of many.
Three little girls now knew that you could pray.
Momma had taught us that you could pray believing and it shall be done!
So, there we were, playing in our front yard.  Our dirt and dust filled yard with at least one tree.  This tree had a swing.  A rope with a piece of wood for a seat.
We had heard the news about how we needed rain.  We had heard the adults talk.  We needed rain.
We didn’t know the signs at the time, but it was an overcast sky. Darker outside than usual.
But three little girls taking turns on a tree swing felt sadness in their little hearts. 
All of our flowers were practically dead.  The grass, what little that was left in our dusty old yard, had all withered away.
But what could three little girls do about it.  We couldn’t make it rain.
Then one of us got a great idea!  I would like to think it was me, but too many years have come and gone to remember that detail.  We decided pray!
And pray we did!
We prayed for rain!
We prayed hard!
We prayed in faith!  Not the faith of a mustard seed but the whole bush!
It didn’t seem as if we prayed forever, because within just a short time, while we were still praying, we started seeing the fruits of our prayers.
Drops of rain, not sprinkles, but great drops of rain started coming down.
Hitting the dry hard ground so hard that puffs of dirt jumped up.
We ran into the house as fast as our little feet would carry us and excitedly told momma how we had been praying for rain and how it was practically pouring.
And it was!  It rained hard.  Very hard.
Thunder and lightning crashed all around.
We weren’t afraid.  We had prayed for God to open heaven, and He had done just that.
Then it started to rain even harder, so hard in fact, it turned to a hailstorm!
The rest of the flowers that had barely hung on were totally destroyed by the hail that bludgeoned them to their death that day.
Were we distraught?  Discouraged?
No!
Saddened that the flowers were gone, but we proudly took the blame for that.
We knew that it was because we had prayed so hard for rain, for a miracle, and it had happened!
Our faith grew in leaps and bounds that day.
God answers prayers and we knew it!
Now my friend, I am asking you, what kind of drought, mountain, valley, are you facing?
You know sometimes we look at the problem and that is all we can see.
If we had kept our eyes on the dirt, the dying flowers, the news reports, we might not have prayed.
But momma had told us that God answers prayers and we believed her.
The answer was already on its way, but we didn’t see it.  But how much more did our faith grow when we opened our mouths and our hearts and took our eyes off of the problem and looked to heaven for the answer.
Are you keeping your eyes on your problem or are you praying for rain?
Remember the story or Peter when he was in prison and his friends were all praying for him to be released?  God answered the prayer in a mighty way.  Peter was standing outside the home where they were praying and knocking to come in.  When the door was opened, they couldn't even believe the truth in front of them and went back to praying thinking it was a ghost.  They didn’t recognize the answer.  They were praying but not truly believing.
Are you praying for rain?  Are you praying and believing?
We need to start praying and believing!
Our God is bigger!
Our God is greater!
Our God can do all things!
Thank you, momma, for teaching us to pray!
Thank you for praying for us.  For calling our names out to God. 
I remember many a night hearing you lament over us, calling out our names in prayer.
God is truly a prayer answering God.
You have children who truly love the Lord with all their hearts.
Have we all been perfect?  No!
Has it always been a walk in the park?  No!
But because of you, we all know how to pray for rain!

Toxic Beauty

 Toxic Beauty!

Well, it has truly been a while since I was on here to write anything!

I could say it was because I was too busy.  And I guess in a way I was.  Life has a way of getting in the way.  One of the things that got in the way was something that I truly love to do.  Work in my garden.

Now if any of you who are on Facebook that read my little blogs or stories know all about my garden.  I post pictures of it all the time.  I post pictures of my Roses, Hibiscus, my Lantana, Jasmine, Stock my Gardenias.  All of which I have a bounty full.  I love my flowers, my little garden brings me such tranquility.  It is a place that I go and can just get alone with God.  But, of all the flowers in my little garden I have one that I was so happy to get and have.  It is called a Moonflower.

I had heard and watched a few things about the Moonflower and I just had to have one in my garden.  One of the things was that they only bloomed at night.  That to me was a pretty cool little feature.  Another thing was that they were blooms as big as your hand.  The best thing of all though was that they were to have a most enticing aroma.  I wanted one so I could plant it outside my window and open that window and be able to smell that lovely smell.  I also wanted to have Morning Glories.  They bloom in the morning and are supposed to go hand in hand with the Moonflowers.  

I searched and searched for the seeds so I could have this beauty.  Alas and alack, I got my hands on some.

Now, the seeds I got did not look like the seeds I had seen online.  But I thought, maybe they come in different varieties.  The package said Moonflower and the picture looked like a Moonflower.  Walks like a duck - quacks like a duck - it must be a duck right?

As soon as I could I planted the seeds.  I planted a few of them with high hopes.  One!  One little plant started to grow.  The rest were duds.  I babied that plant.  And sure enough it started to grow.  It didn't grow super tall but I had planted it a little late.  I also didn't plant it by my bedroom.  Even though the package and all info said they do great in the sun I had been "sun burned" before by flowers that said the same thing.  So, I planted them where they would get morning sun and afternoon shade.  So I thought that is why they didn't grow so tall.  But they did grow enough to produce these glorious white flowers that were as big  as my hand.  But even though they did produce flowers, the flowers were just, well, bland.  There was no vibrant aroma that filled the space.  They were just pretty.  

So, I thought, well, maybe they are the flowers that really do thrive in the full sun.  They needed a change of scenery.  So they got a new home.  Right in the front yard close to my bedroom.  I really know nothing about gardening so my thought process was if they do good in the afternoon heat maybe that is what they will need to produce that luscious smell I was wanting.

I transplanted it and the last of the leaves fell off and I was left with a stick.  But I do know enough to know that if you keep watering it you might get a miracle.  I was just about to give up and try it over again with some of the seeds that I had left over when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a leaf!  Then another and then another and so on.  It wasn't too long before I had a full sized plant.  Then just as I was about to give up on it ever blooming I noticed a bloom and then another and then another.

Sure enough one or two of them would bloom and again the blooms were as big as my hand.  I took picture after picture and posted them.  I was so proud of how beautiful they were.  But to my sadness they still had no aroma.  It was like beauty with no substance.  Shallow.

They did bloom at night but the flowers would still be open in the morning but they would die off by the afternoon.  I knew that they were toxic to my dogs so I made sure to get them off the plant before they could fall off and my little pups could get them.  But then something strange happened.  Where the bloom had been there was a strange kind of formation growing.  So back to google for more information.  It said the flowers would produce seed pods and if you did not want them growing everywhere then you need to get rid of the seed pod.  Okay, I had a few seed pods on my Moonflower.  I contemplated taking them off but then I thought I would harvest them so that I could let someone else have the pleasure of trying to grow these beauties.

I was sitting there one night and noticed that the plant was leaning to one side.  I wanted it to grow straight so I got a stick and was going straighten it up.  I reached in to set it up and accidentally touched one of those spiky seed pods.  It did not take me long to see it.  Those darn things hurt.

I decided to see what I was going to have to do harvest the seeds.  Google is your friend sometimes.

I am here to tell you that I was shocked when I looked up how to harvest the Moonflower seeds and realized that the seed pods I had in my yard and the seed pods I was looking at on Google were not the same.  Imagine my horror when I realized that what I was growing was, well it was a Moonflower, kinda, sorta.  You see the plant that I was actually growing can be called a Moonflower because, well, it blooms at night and the flower looks almost identical to a true Moonflower.  But the real name of the plant that I was growing is called Datura or Jimson Weed, or Devil's Weed or Devil's Trumpet.  

A true Moonflower is called Ipomoea Alba.  It is not the same thing.

Although the Moonflower can be toxic and make animals sick if they eat the blossoms, the Datura, Devil's Trumpet is completely toxic.  Everything about it.  Even to humans.  It can even be deadly!

It has to go!!!!  I can not afford to have something that deadly in my yard.

After finding this out I got to thinking about it.

Toxic Beauty!

That is what Satan offers.  Toxic Beauty.

He offered it to Eve in the Garden and ever since we have been paying the price for that Toxic Beauty.  That enticing lie.  And he continues to do the same thing still.

He offers lies for truth , but he paints them up and dresses them up in enticing ways so that we don't see the trap until it is too l:ate.  We are easily led astray by the shiny and destructive things in life.  

He tells us that we are only accountable to our own selves.  We don't have to heed the Word of God!  He leads us down a primrose path and we follow.  We would rather hear and see, taste and cling to the toxic beauty that he offers us through the world until it has us entangled in sin and our own destruction.  He uses the Word of God to twist the truth.  

We are told that God is love.  A loving God allows us to be who we want to be.  We can choose our own identity.  Just like the toxic beauty of the Datura, we believe those lies.  

We are told, even by some in the church, people who call themselves Christians, that God just wants us to be happy.  I am sure that I do not find that in my Bible.  That is a twisted truth, a toxic lie.

We are led to believe that it is okay to be and do whatever pleases us, because surely a God that made us would want us to be able to know the joys that this world has to offer.

He has twisted the truth of God's Word so much that he has only left the sparkly shiny stuff and not the substance.

Yes, it is true, that God does love us.  His Word tell us that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die for us while we were yet sinners.  Not while we were saints!  His Word also says that there will be a judgement for ALL of us who do not have our sins covered by the precious blood that was shed for us by the beautiful Rose of Sharon, Jesus himself.  

Jesus is the real thing.  The real deal.  There is no other like Him!

Several places in the Bible we are warned that we should not be deceived.

Ephesians 5:6, Jeremiah 29:8, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:33 and Galatians 6:7.

It warns, it screams at us!

DO NOT BE DECEIVED!

Take the blinders off.  Seek the truth.  And as much as I sought the truth about the Moonflower on Google, you will not find the truth about God and His love for you there.  You will find it in His Word.  The Bible!

The Bible tells us to seek Him while He may be found.

Don't you think it is time to rid yourself of all the toxic beauty in your life and replace it with the truth?  

Time is running out!

May your eyes be opened to see the lies that Satan has been showering you with and the truth will set you free!

Ill Equiped for the Job

 

Ill Equipped for the Job

By Darla Kinion

August 23, 2020

 

How many times have you felt that God was asking you to do something that didn’t fall into your comfort zone?  To either say something to someone, do something for someone?

You know something you would not really ever do.

And your first thought was, “Uh, yeah, no!  I am not going to do that.  I would not even know where to start.”  You probably think that you are the only one that has ever felt that way.  I am here to tell you that you are wrong!

We are studying different books in the Bible.  Today we studied about Esther.

Now, as a little girl I often referred to the book of Esther as the “Beauty Pageant” book.  It was that but that is such a miniscule part of what that book is.

We all know of the girl, Cassie Bernal, at Columbine High School, that when she was asked if she believed in God, she boldly declared “YES” and was shot for her faith.  She was martyred.

The scripture kept coming up as I recall, “For such a time as this.”

For such a time as this.  That phrase is in the Bible a lot.  You ask me where?  Ok, well you got me there.  It isn’t quite worded that way.  Mostly it reads, “And it just so happened.”  We have all read that in there.  Think of all the Bible stories that you read that have that in them.  It translates into “for such a time as this.”

Well that scripture comes up when we read about Esther.  Her Uncle Mordecai tried to persuade her with those words to go to the King and plead for the Jews, her people.  That perhaps she had won the “Beauty Contest”, for such a time as this.

I am sure those words were not comforting.  You see, just because she was in the palace and she was by all rights the Queen, she held no prestige or honorable place.  She was a woman.

She felt ill equipped for the job.

Now you might think, well, in Bible days that would be about right.  No one would have expected her to step up and be courageous.  So, we justify it.

I can pretty much guarantee it, that in this day and age, especially here in the United States, that if you were to say, “Well, she’s a girl, so we don’t expect her to be courageous, or be equipped to get the job done, that any girl would do everything in her power to prove you absolutely wrong.  We attribute her lack of courage as to being a woman.  But God, didn’t see it that way.

But I also want you to realize that Esther was not the only person in the Bible to realize or believe that she was ill equipped for the calling that God had for her.

There were several men in the Bible that had the same identity crisis.

I am just going to pick on a few.

Let’s start with Moses.  Now we all know who Moses was.  He was a Jew that had been raised as an Egyptian.  Adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter.  Two heritages that were against each other.

God placed a call on Moses.  There are a lot of “for such a time as this” moments in this story.

One of the first ones is Miriam, his sister.  For such a time as this she was watching her baby brother in the very river that Pharaoh’s daughter would be bathing.  For such a time as this, he was raised in the Pharaoh’s palace.  He was a learned man with all the niceties that could be bestowed upon him.

But he messed up and had to flee for his life while his people stayed in exile.  But God had a plan.  He always does.  He planned for Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Moses, with all of his learning, felt ill equipped.  He stuttered and felt that God could surely use someone else to do this job.  But God had already planned on Moses.  He was there for such a time as this.

How about Gideon.  You know that God had a plan for Gideon.  He was a prophet.  He was a man of little faith.  Have you ever known someone that could talk the talk but didn’t walk the walk?  That was Gideon.

He just couldn’t understand why God would call his timid little self to lead an army of men that would be able to defeat an even greater army.   But God had placed Gideon at just the right place at just the right time. 

Let’s talk about David.  Yes, the one that would be King.  I am sure that if you have ever read the Psalm’s you would see that there were plenty of times that he felt that he was ill equipped.

But God had a plan.  God had a master plan.

We can look at these few people and see where they are coming from.

Those were pretty big callings on just a handful of people.

But we forget that God doesn’t look at things the way we do.

When we see a woman that would be afraid to go see her husband, the king, who held her very life in his hands, God sees a heroine.  A mighty woman of God that said “If I die, I die.”  And she stepped into her calling!

When we look at a man that stutters and feels inept in his speech.   Afraid to go to Pharaoh and plead for his people to be set free, God sees a mighty leader.  A man that would watch over and guide a multitude of people and take them to the land that was promised them.  He stepped into his calling!

When we look at Gideon, a prophet that would proudly proclaim God to a people but then not trust the very things’ he was telling them to be true, basically a coward, a timid little man.  But God proclaimed him to be a Mighty Man of Valor!  He took down an opposing Army with only 300 men.  He stepped into his calling!

When we look at David, a boy who would be king, and see that he had his downfalls.  He felt like he probably should not be King.  How could he lead a country when the king of that country was constantly trying to kill him?  He felt like he was ill equipped to do the job.  But God had placed him there to become the Godly leader that Israel needed.  When we saw a shepherd boy, God saw a King!  He stepped into his calling!

Each one of these people were born in a place and time unto their calling.  God had a plan for them.  Each of them.  Just like He has for each of us.  He has a call on all of our lives. 

Am I going to say that you might become a heroine like Esther, a leader like Moses, a Warrior like Gideon or even a King like David, who knows, perhaps?

But maybe, just maybe, He is calling you to be a Sunday School teacher, a missionary, a pastor, the person who serves communion, the one that writes letters to the shut-ins, the one that heads up the food bank, the one who takes care of the nursery.  Maybe you are the one that leads song service, sets up a neighborhood watch, the one who finds out which of your friends or neighbors is in need and you find a way to fulfill that need.  Maybe you are going to be called to buy a hamburger for a homeless person, maybe you are called to open your house to have home Bible studies, maybe you are called into politics (much, much prayers for you if that is your calling).

What I am trying to say, you were born for such a time as this!  “This” being whatever it is that God places in your heart and your mind and your life to do.

He never places a calling on you that He will not see you through it.

He has placed a call on all of us! 

Are you going to be willing to step into your calling? 

He will not leave you ill equipped!

Have You Been To Nineveh Lately?

Have you been to Nineveh lately?  Now that is a funny question isn't it?  Especially seeing as Nineveh is not a place anyone can go to anymore.  Or can they?                                                       Our church is currently doing a study on Redemption stories.  Today's lesson was on Jonah.  It was an interesting lesson.  Most of you have either read or heard the story of Jonah.  Probably more than once.  We'd all heard about how Jonah didn't want to go there because their reputation was known.  They were not nice people.  As a matter of fact, they were pretty evil, hence the reason God wanted Jonah to go there.  But Jonah wasn't having it.  He was not only afraid of them, I mean, who wouldn't be?  I know that it would intimidate me.  But he also hated them.  He was a bit prejudiced against them.  They were the Assyrians and they were far from Godly.             In his opinion, if they weren't from Israel, so they did not deserve to hear about God, or from God.  They especially did not deserve to reap the benefits of Gods mercy.  He didn't want to have anything to do with them.  He became defiant!                                                                                  He probably couldn't believe that God would actually ask him to do such a thing as to put himself in danger by going to the city of Nineveh, where they hung the hides of their enemies on the walls, impaled, them on stakes or even buried them alive in their walls.  They were evil like I said.  He probably wondered why God would want one of His prophets to be subjected to this.  He probably thought it over in his head and thought surely this was a death sentence.  God wanted him to die at the hands of people that he despised.                                                                 But he was a prophet of God!  He had always been obedient to the Lord.  He always spoke when and to whomever the Lord God told him to.   Well, as long as they looked like him and spoke like him and were not different in any way.  He was prejudiced!                                                              So, he did what any man of God would do in that situation.  He bought a ticket on a boat in the other direction!                                                                                                                                     Now we all know that God got his attention, you know, the big fish and all, and he finally went to Nineveh!  Just because he went there did not necessarily mean he was happy about it!  He'd had 3 days to stew in the decisions he had made.                                                                           He cried out to God when the realization came to him that he wasn’t actually dead.  He hadn’t drowned but had been rescued. He praised God for saving him out the pits.                            Jonah says after 3 days in the pit of this “Big Fish” that God spoke to the fish and had him vomit, not open his mouth and let him walk out, but vomit him onto dry land.                                    Now, I know there are a lot of fishermen that might read this so you will understand what I am talking about.                                                                                                                              When Jonah came out of that big fish, I am reminded of Martha’s words when she was talking to Jesus about her brother Lazarus at the tomb when she said, “Surely he stinketh!”                           I am sure that Jonah surely stinkethed!                                                                                       Also, let’s get a mental picture here.                                                                                              He had been in the stomach of a big fish for 3 days.  I would imagine that all those stomach acids had done a number on his skin.                                                                                                      So, he stinkethed and he looked like, well, fish vomit.                                                                Then the Lord spoke to Jonah again.                                                                                        Paraphrase:                                                                                                                                 “Now that I have your attention son, I would like you to go to Nineveh!  I want you to tell them this message.  “In forty-days, Nineveh will be overthrown!”                                                           It took him three days to walk from one end of Nineveh to the other.  Some believe that it was 60 miles wide.  The Bible says there were more than 120,000 people there.                                         I am sure like Martha, many of them thought, surely he stinketh, and I am sure they thought he looked awfully strange.                                                                                                                  But God got their attention.  Just like he had gotten Jonah’s.                                                      After delivering the message Jonah went and sat on a hill and waited for the mass destruction,      And he waited and waited and waited.                                                                                          But God had got ahold of their hearts.                                                                                          The king and the people repented and turned from their evil ways and God in His infinite mercy spared the great city of Nineveh and all of its inhabitants!  For God is a God of Justice as well as a God of mercy!                                                                                                                              But Jonah did not see it that way.                                                                                                    He was wanting the Justice side of God to reign down.  Forgetting the mercy that God had just shown him.                                                                                                                                       In the end while Jonah was wanting to know why God had not destroyed them like He said He would, God reminded him that He was a God of love.                                                                Now as we all know, John 3:16 had not been written yet.  That would come along several hundreds of year later, wherein that time Nineveh was destroyed because they had turned away from God.                                                                                                                                       But at this moment, at this point of time, we have the message that was needed.                        For God so loved the World!  Not just Israel.  The Whole World!                                               The message of salvation was not just for Israel.  It was for the whole world.                         Now, if I was Jonah, I would have kept my mouth shut about this ordeal.  I would not want my friends or family or anyone for that matter to know that I had been disobedient to God and that I had become fish vomit before He could get my attention.  I would not want them to know that I had waited on the side of a hill for God to destroy over 120,000 people just because I hated them.                                                                                                                                              But Jonah, well, God must have really got through to him.                                                           He told the story.                                                                                                                            He told how he thought that he could hide from God!  Hide from His very presence.                 But again, I am reminded of a chapter in the Bible.  It is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.                                                                                                                                          Psalm 139 reminds us that there is no place we can go that He doesn’t know it.  No place we can hide.                                                                                                                                              God knew all along where Jonah was.  God had a mission for Jonah.                                         God prepared a way for Jonah to do as He had asked.                                                                Even though it took drastic measures, Jonah finally did what the Lord asked of him and because of it many were saved.                                                                                                                 Now to get back to my original question.                                                                                  Have you been to Nineveh lately?                                                                                                    Is there someone that God is compelling you to tell of God’s undying love for them?  Someone that maybe just rubs you the wrong way?  Someone that you don’t think is deserving of Gods redeeming love and perfect salvation?  Maybe you are thinking, “I don’t want to be a missionary,” or “I just don’t think I would know what to say,” or “ANY OTHER EXCUSE YOU CAN THINK OF!”                                                                                                                     Jonah didn’t know what to say either.  God gave him the words to speak and that was the message!                                                                                                                                      What is it going take for you to realize the world, the whole world, not just the ones in the world that you like or love, not just the ones that you think deserve it, but the Whole World, needs Jesus!                                                                                                                                           Have you been to Nineveh lately?                                                                                                The whole world is our mission field!  Your next door neighbor!  Your hair dresser!  Your doctor!  Your best friend!  Your banker!  Your cashier where you shop!                                      You don’t have to go to Nineveh.  You are already there.                                                            “For God so loved the WHOLE WORLD that He gave His only Son.  That whosoever (in the WHOLE WORLD) believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!”                  There is the message, and here is the command!                                                                        Mark 16:15-16  “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth shall be saved.  He that doesn’t shall be damned.”                                                       God didn’t tell Jonah to make them repent, He just told him to give them the message.              We are not told to make people repent.  We are just to give them the message!                          God will take care of the rest.                                                                                                         He always has and He always will.                                                                                               So, who is up for a trip to Nineveh?