The Sheep Do Not Lead the Shepherd

I would like to tell you a story.
Once upon a time there was a flock of sheep.  They were a pretty good bunch of sheep as sheep go.  One day they found themselves in need of a new shepherd.  Lo and behold a new shepherd was quickly found and they all settled in and the flock started to grow.
Now don't get me wrong.  There were things that the shepherd did that the flock was not too happy about.  There were plenty of things that he did right but some of the sheep still complained.
Sometimes they would complain, "Our last shepherd ALWAYS let us eat out in the fields over the small mountains in the valley" he really had not done that.  Or they would say "Our last shepherd ALWAYS let us sleep in and get up and moving at our own pace.  He never got us up and moving when we didn't want too," that was not true either.  And sometimes it was, "I don't like the way this Shepherd plays his harp.  Our old shepherd played his a lot different."  That was true.  He did play different songs but that was because he did not know any new songs.
But honestly most of the sheep were starting to come around.  Except for a few of them.  They were never happy.  And as it sometimes happens, a new sheep showed up and joined the flock.
He thought he was baaaaad and he was not afraid to let all the rest of the sheep know it.  He listened to the complaints of the few sheep that were complaining the loudest and decided that he should be in charge of the sheep.  So he got these few sheep that were still complaining or at least the ones complaining the loudest about the shepherd and decided that something had to be done. 
These few decided that they would make the rules and the shepherd would have to comply with what they said.
They called a meeting with the shepherd and laid out their demands.
The shepherd could no longer get them up if they did not want to get up. 
He could no longer play his harp the way he was playing it.  He would have to learn the songs that the old shepherd had played and play only those songs. 
And if they wanted to eat in the fields over the small mountains then he had to let them.
The shepherd was beside himself.  He looked at the sheep and told them, "First off, I don't know where you got the idea that you would not have to get up and get moving when I said you had to but you will.  Secondly, I like the songs that I play and if you don't then you need to learn how to, they are good songs and I am trying to teach you a new thing.  Thirdly, there is not always food over the small mountains and even if there was you would be more open to dangers that I am trying to protect you from."
"We want a new leader," the new sheep baaaad. 
"Well you are not getting one," the shepherd told them.
"We want to be in charge," baaaad another sheep.
"That is not going to happen either.  Why are you acting like this," he asked them?
They looked to the new sheep for guidance.  He started to back away from them as they pointed to him. 
"I was only doing what they asked," he bleated.
As he turned to run all of a sudden his fur fell off and everyone saw that he had not been a sheep at all but a wolf in sheep's clothing.
The shepherd looked at the remaining sheep and told them, "Do you not know that I was put in charge of you to lead you and guide you into all good things.  I have your best interest at heart.  I always have and I always will.  The sheep do not lead the shepherd." 
Most of the sheep were happy with the shepherd, except for the few that had been the loudest at the beginning and so it was decided that they would have to be sheared and put in their place.  They were not happy with this decision so they ran away.
The shepherd did not have time to go after them before the wolf that had been hiding just on the other side of the small mountains got a hold of them and devoured them.
Sometimes you will find in a church that the flock aren't always happy with the new shepherd that is set over them.  But God is the one that sets things in order. 
Don't get me wrong.  Sometimes the shepherd is not a good shepherd.  He might be the wolf in sheep's clothing.  But if you have a shepherd that has been put in charge of a congregation and he is preaching and teaching the word of God, and it has been ordained that he be there, then the congregation had better get behind him and let him lead them the way God wants him to.
If you don't like how this particular shepherd leads then go to another church.  There are plenty of them out there. 
I would venture to say that there are quite a few people out there that are never going to be happy with any shepherd that they come under.  If that is the case, then maybe it isn't the shepherd that is the problem maybe it is the sheep.  But none the less, the sheep do not lead the shepherd!

How Bad Do You Need A Fur Coat

The other day I heard a story on Greg Laurie's program.  It went something like this.
One day a man was out hunting.  He had taken his BIG gun with him because he was hunting for a bear.  You see he had always wanted to shoot a bear and today he was going to do just that.
While he was out hunting for a bear to shoot as luck would have it he came upon a bear eating berries.  It was a big bear. 
Just as he took aim and was about to pull the trigger the bear stood up to its full height and said to the man, "Wait!  Stop!  Why do you want to shoot me for?  What have I ever done to you?"
Quite startled at a talking bear the man lowered his gun and answered the bear.  "You haven't done anything."
"Then why do you want to shoot me," the bear asked?
"Well, you see, I have always wanted a fur coat made of bear fur and you would make a great fur coat."
"Oh.  I see," said the bear.  "Well I have always wanted a full stomach.  Do you think maybe we could go sit somewhere and talk it over?  Maybe come to some kind of compromise?"
The man thought for a moment and agreed to go with the bear and see if they could come up with an agreement where both would be able to get what they wanted.
They headed into the forest together.
After a short while the bear came out by himself.
He had gotten what he wanted and the man had gotten what he wanted.
The bear now had a full stomach and the man now had a fur coat.
Compromise!
What have you compromised lately?  What have you been willing to give up of your self to get your fur coat?
We all at times have thought that we could just compromise a little of ourselves to blend in with the world.  To taste a little of what it has to offer.  We think we can straddle the fence and walk with one foot in the world and one foot in heaven.  It doesn't work that way.  And really it is a picket fence and you will truly fall.
There is no such thing as a little sin.  You are either a christian.  Someone who loves God with their whole heart, sold out to what He wants for you or you are not.
We can look back in the Bible and find plenty of people that got their fur coat.
Lot's wife comes to mind.  How about Sampson?  They compromised. 
Lot's wife compromised safety for her hearts desires, stature.  Sampson compromised the call on his life for sex, vanity.
Both got their fur coats.
Mark 8:36 sums it up pretty good.  "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul."
What are you giving up for the sake of a fur coat?  Do not be deceived.  Satan is a liar and a trickster.  Satan would like nothing more than for you to allow just a "little" sin into your life because he knows how a little sin can turn into a big sin and swallow you up. 
Just like he deceived Eve, "Come on one little bite and you will be just like God."
Talking snakes.  Talking bears.  Whatever it takes to get you to take your eyes off of the Lord.  He tempts us with things that are appealing.  He never takes us to the dump and says, "See, all this could be yours if only..."  We would never give up our salvation for "garbage", yet we do every day.
Porn.  Fame.  Money.  Prestige.  Our job.  A boyfriend, girlfriend.  A spouse.
We give up what is precious.  We compromise. 
We wrap ourselves in the pleasure that the world has to offer.  Hebrews 11 tells us that sin has it's pleasure for a season. 
It comes down to choices.  Jesus is coming soon.  He is coming for a church that is washed in the blood of the Lamb.  Spotless.  Clothed in garments of praise.  Clean and righteous.  Robes of white.  He is not coming for a bride covered in a fur coat.  Even if it was ear muffs, hand muffs or even fur lined boots.  Sin...hear me now...SIN separates us from God.  No compromise!!!
Joshua told us, "Choose you this day whom you will serve."  I am telling you today keep on choosing.
Keep your heart, your mind and your soul set on things above and quit listening to talking bears.  No one needs a fur coat that badly.

Thankfulness

Seems like lately I have been having a sense of wonder of who Jesus is and all that He has done for me in my life,  I like to tell people to count their blessings instead of the bad things that have and will go on in their lives.  The good always outweighs the bad.  When I do this my heart feels like it will explode with all the love and gratitude I have for my Lord and Savior.
I began my new job about six weeks ago, I leave my house around 6 am every morning.  As I leave, I step out on my front porch, lock up my house and turn to see the last of the night sky still dotted with the most splediforous display of Gods handiwork.  I dare not move for as long as I can and so I stand there and stare up in the sky and thank the Lord for His handiwork.  I thank Him for the fact that His word says He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  I imagine Adam and then Eve as they walked in the Garden in the cool of the evening or as they lay their heads down at night or in the early wee hours of the morning before the sun would ever grace the sky, that they would look up and see the same wonderment that I am seeing now.  Genesis 1:16 tells me that He made the Sun and the Moon and the Stars.  They have been there since He spoke them into being, since He set them in place.
My heart swells within me in the mornings as the reality sets in, that every day, every new morning that I walk out the door, that He is there to greet me.  He never changes.  The only thing that changes is the scenery, so to speak.
Have you ever seen the movie Groundhogs Day?  Every morning the main character gets up and it is the same setting.  Nothing ever changes but him.  It all stays the same until he learns whatever it is he is supposed to learn about himself.
In the same way God is like that.  We get up every day and God has not changed.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  His love never changes.  The things that we have to do in our lives that day does change, but it doesn't change God.  No matter what we are facing that day, He will remain the constant in our lives,  The one we can rely on.  The one that has the power to change us.
I am so grateful for that love, that mercy, that mercy that endures forever.  That mercy that is new every morning.  That mercy that engulfs me as I walk out the door and it feels as if the Holy Spirit has walked out the door with me and wraps His arms around me in the cool of the morning and whispers in my ear, "Look up my child!  Look up to the heavens from where your help comes from.  Worship Him, lift Him up, sing His praises.  His mercies are new for you every morning.  His love is steadfast for you.  He loves you.  Your Heavenly Father knows what you have need of today, rest in His care.  His mercies are new for you every morning."  I truly feel those words wash over me every morning lately as I walk out into a world of unknown, unforeseen things.
I do look up and I stand there in amazement.  Tears choke me as I stand there and praise my Lord on the front steps of my home.  I dare not move out from under the cloak of darkness because it triggers the porch light to come on and I don't want to spoil the moment.  It is like an intimate moment with me and God.  He is letting me know that He has it under control.  I give Him praise and thanks and pour out a heart of thanksgiving to Him. 
The Word of God tells us to "Give thanks, praise, a song of worship, to the Lord for He is good.  His love, His mercy, His grace, endures, lasts, stands the test of time, forever, it will never end, it can not be stopped, it will always be." 
I don't know about you, but the fact that He loved me enough to send His only Son to die on a cruel cross and suffer for me so that I could have everlasting life and live with this one who did all of this, and that His mercies are new and tender to me EVERY morning, even on those days when I really mess it up, and that He loves me through it all, that is more than enough to be thankful, grateful, have a song of praise in my heart and a melody of joy on my lips.
Psalm 107 tells us "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever."
So those of you who know this wonderful God, who set the stars in place in the beginning, the same stars that still hang above your head all through the night and into the early mornig, this God who has never changed, this God who's mercies are poured out onto you daily, give thanks.

Don't Fall into the Pig Pen

Long time ago in the little old town of Odessa in West Texas is where we went to church.  Highway Temple Assembly of God.  We went to church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening (yes, believe it or  not they had church on Sunday nights at our church, as a matter of fact, some still do) and on Wednesday evening.  And sometimes we even went during the week if they were having a a revival.
Well this is how my story goes.
One Sunday evening we were on our way to church.  As it was my mothers habit of cramming as many people into our little four door car as possible, because heaven knows seven kids and herself just didn't do the trick, she would stop and pick up other people that needed a ride to church.
We happened to live in what city folk would call "the country".  It was only called "the country" because you could have and raise farm animals and grow crops and there were absolutely NO paved roads.  Apparently pavement hurts the horses feet and the rattle snakes don't like it.  I don't know why they didn't pave them, they just didn't.
Well like I said, we lived in the country and my mother picked up any body who said they needed a ride to church.  We had been picking up these two sisters on Sunday evenings and that is what we were going to do this particular night.  My mother had called them and told them to be ready when we got there so we wouldn't be late.
We pulled up in front of their house and for some reason only one of them was standing there.  My mother asked her if her sister would be ready soon and she informed us that her sister would not be going.
You see, it was her sisters night to slop the pigs and even though she was all dressed up and ready to go it was still her night to slop the pigs.  She had gotten too close to the pig pen and when she went to toss the slop into the pen she slipped and fell in.  She had been a muddy mess.  From her head to her toes.  She was not going to have time to take a bath and get herself cleaned up in time to go so she was staying home.  She had to miss church because she fell in the pig pen.
Oh my friend, how many times have we fell into the pig pen?  How many times have we played with fire and have gotten burned?
God cleans us up and we go right back out and step back into the same old garbage that we have been wallering around in.  We have forgotten to guard what is so precious. 
We are so happy when we get set free from the sin that so entangles us.  The joy is so exuberant in our lives we can hardly contain it.  We are so in love with Jesus and it seems that nothing would ever change that. 
But soon we start justifying the little sidesteps that lead us off of the path that God has set before us.  We start getting our eyes on things that we shouldn't.  We start dabbling in things that we should be staying away from and yet we think we can get justhisclose to it, and whammo, we fall into the pig pen.  We don't guard our hearts.
When I was in driving school the one thing the teacher told me that I still remember was "keep your eyes on the road."  He explained that if you start looking to the side of the road, whichever way, to the left or the right, and keep looking that way, then the car would start going in that direction and could cause an accident.  He said to always keep my eyes in front of me but to watch what was going on around in case someone should try and run into me. 
That is just like our walk with the Lord.  We start walking with Him and something catches our eye and we start veering towards it.  Pretty soon we have lost our way and we have gotten too close to the thing that would take us away from that love and we fall into the pig pen.
The Prodigal son didn't think that he would ever stoop so low as to end up in the pig pen.  But that is just where he ended up.  He gave up all that he had, love, family, status because he wanted what he wanted.  He didn't appreciate what he had and ended up falling into the pig pen.
It is so easy any more for any of us to do that.  With the Internet at our hands and so easily available we don't even have to leave our houses any more to fall into the pig pen of this world.  Men used to have to go to the "seedy" side of town and go into some dark place and no one would even know they were there unless they saw them go in.  Now they can just turn on their computer and it is at their fingertips.  We can listen to filthy songs that degrade life and God.  We can read books that would easily tear down the soul.  And we justify it because "who is it gonna hurt."
So many times we think it is all innocent.  Men think "well it isn't porn if it is her Victoria's Secret magazine."  But Jesus said even if you look at a woman as to lust after her then you have committed adultery.  We read our horoscopes thinking we will get insight into our lives, but God said he hates ALL forms of witchcraft.  We encourage our little ones to act out by saying "do it for so and so, it is too cute" and then we wonder why they rebel against the discipline when it isn't cute any more.
Trust me, I know these things to be true in my own life.  We justify it by saying, "it was just this one time" "nobody got hurt" "nobody saw me".    But I am here to tell you someone did get hurt.
Hebrews 10 tells us that when we deliberately sin after we have been washed clean and been sanctified that we insult the Spirit of grace.  It says we are treating the Blood that Jesus spilled as an unholy thing and we are trampling Him under our feet. 
Woe be it to us if we do these things for Hebrews also says, how severely do you think someone deserves to be punished for doing this to the Son of God.  It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.
So my friend, I beg of you, guard your heart, guard your mind, your mouth, eyes and ears.  Oh be careful little hands what you do.  Oh be careful little mouth what you say.  Oh be careful little ears what you hear.  Oh be careful little feet where you go.  You can't unsay a word after it has been spoken.  You can't un-see something that you have seen.  You can't un-hear something that you have heard.  You can't undo what your hands have you do.  You can't un-go where your feet take you.  And you can't un-think a thought that comes and takes up dwelling space.
So guard this thing, this salvation, this pearl of great price.  Don't fall into the pig pen.
My friend there is coming a time that we may fall into the pig pen one too many times and just like the girl in my story there won't be time to get clean.  Jesus will return and you will not have time to get your robes spotless, clean.  You just won't make it. 
Yes, I believe in grace, but I also know that the Word of God says that sin separates us from God.  I do not want to take that chance and miss the opportunity to spend eternity with the one who set me free and cleansed me from all unrighteousness.
The only way I know how to do that is to stay as far away from pig pens as possible. 
Jesus is coming soon my friend, I beg of you, don't fall into the pig pen.

You'll Ruin Your Dinner

How many of you can remember back to when you were younger and it was almost time for dinner.  You would be famished.  Mom, or Dad in some cases, was preparing your meal.  It smelled so good you thought you would pass out if it didn't get ready soon. 
You would come into the kitchen and start rummaging through the cupboards for something, anything to eat.  At last you spotted it.  There on the back of the second shelf from the top, behind the green beans and two cans of creamed corn, was the bag of Oreos.  You climb up on the cabinet while your mom isn't looking and you are just about to reach it when your mom says, without ever turning around, "Do not eat any of those cookies.  It will ruin your dinner."
"But I am starving," you cry, grabbing your middle to show how wasted away you are.  And the battle is on.  You are told that dinner will be ready in half an hour and you explain that if you don't eat something soon you won't be alive in half an hour.  Back and forth you go until your mom just wants you out of the kitchen so you grab the cookies and run with her yelling behind you, "Don't fill up on those cookies.  You'll ruin your dinner."
And so it goes.  You told your children the same thing and now they are telling their children the same thing.  Yet just like you they grab the cookies, candy, a piece of bread or even a piece of fruit and devour it before you can stop them.  And ultimately when it is actually dinner time, the table is set and the food is finally on the table, what is it that is always said?  "I'm not very hungry now.  I just ate that (you fill in the blank.)
Your mom wants to kill you, just like you wanted to kill your kids and they want to kill theirs.  You spent a good deal of time preparing that food.  You had warned them not to fill up on the junk food because it would have the dire consequences that are now unfolding. 
They are no longer hungry for the good food that you have set before them, they satisfied their hunger with whatever they could get their hands on.  It was of no care to them that the food they had eaten had no caloric virtue in it whatsoever.  No health benefits.  It had satisfied their hunger but not their actual need for good, healthy food.
How many of you have went on a diet before?  How many of you like myself have decided that rather than plan good nutritious food you would buy either pre-planned foods or frozen dinners that had just the amount of calories that you were allowed for that particular meal.  The amount of food that was in there would not satisfy a two year old, much less the appetite of a grown person.
You could have just as easily done some homework and realized that you could make better tasting more nutritionally sound food and get full eating it rather than buying and eating the cardboard tasting frozen dinners.  But for conveniences sake you chose not to do that and you continue to eat the garbage that is put in front of you.  You settle for second best.  Oh you might see results after a while but they are not lasing results.  Because sooner or later you get tired of eating the cardboard food and start eating everything in sight and nutrition be hanged.  Now you want everything and nothing satisfies.
I have been on plenty of diets before and the one thing that I have found to be so true is that the more I get used to eating healthy foods the more my body craves it.  The more water I drink, the more I desire only water to drink.  Nothing else satisfies or quenches the thirst.  But then after a while you go out to eat with a friend or someone and you order a cheeseburger.  You had forgotten how good they taste.  How that cheese oozing off of the side of the burger and the pickles and tomatoes popping out just from under the bun looked.  You take that first bite and you are hooked.  You ruined your dinner.  You have tasted something that will substitute for the good healthy food that you have been getting used to and then you start to crave it.  Before you know it the pounds start to creep back on.  You realize you ruined your dinner.
So now I ask you, how is your spiritual appetite?  What are you feeding yourself lately?
So many times we feed our spiritual self in the same manner that we feed our physical bodies.  God has a feast prepared for us and we fill up on the junk the world has to offer.  When we finally do open the Word of God we only read it for a few minutes and then we put it down.  We have spent our appetite on other things.  Things that cannot satisfy.  Things the world has to offer.  Things that take our time and very little effort. 
By the end of the day we are so full of the things of the world that we barely have time to come and feast at the Lords table if at all. 
He calls to us just like He did the disciples, "Come and dine."  He says "Look and see all the wonderful things I have set before you.  I have a bowl full of peace that you can eat out of.  A platter of joy.  There is a helping of healing for you if you want it.  I was even going to give you some mercy and grace for dessert.  Aw...and to drink, a large glass of refreshing water, once you have tasted it you will never thirst again."
"Oh Lord," you tell Him, "I ate on my way home.  Maybe another time."  One of your friends had offered you a dose of "Let's go out and celebrate how awesome you are," and you had eaten it up.  Someone earlier that day had given you a book about Spirits and Angels and you had practically devoured most of it on your break.  You couldn't wait to find out more about what it said about Angels.  You had always wanted to know more about them and now someone has written a book on it.  You were just getting a dose of a TV show on how to find your inner self in 6 easy steps.  If you try hard enough you might be able to succeed in about a year or two, but only if you stick to it. 
Your spirit man was full.  No room for even an appetizer.  Not even the crumbs that fall from the Masters table for you.
But even after you fill yourself with these other things it leaves you unsatisfied. It is a substitute for the good things that you should be filling yourself with.
We have ruined our dinner.  We have allowed the world to fill us up instead of hungering after the Word of God and the things that He has to offer.
In Mathew Jesus told us what we are to yearn for, to desire.  He said "Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, they will be filled."
We are becoming weaker and sicker.  We are not able to withstand the things that are coming against us.  We are not strong enough to stand against the attacks of Satan. 
We think if we take a batch of vitamins that it is a good substitute for the good things that we should be filling up on.
Just like we think if we go to church on Sunday morning that we have gotten all we need from the Lord.  That that is all He has to offer us.  It is our dose of vitamins in place of feasting at His table.
When my daughter was about a year and a half old she was not a good eater.  We would make her meals and tell her it was time to eat and she would say "But I ate yesterday."  It was a hard thing to convince her that she had to eat every day.  But we are perfectly satisfied to only get fed once a week on a Sunday morning, if we even make it to that meal.  But we are to feast on His word daily.  We are to spend time with Him daily.  We are to hunger and thirst after righteousness.  But because we continue to eat out of the garbage can of the world we have truly ruined our dinner.

You Need a Piece of Gum

A few years ago I was at work one day when a woman that I work with, who shall remain nameless, a very nice woman that I respected a lot, came to my office.  As she and I were talking I realized she needed a mint or a piece of gum.  I did not want to hurt her feelings and since I didn't have any mints I offered her a piece of gum.  She said "No thanks" and kept on talking.  I REALLY wanted her to take this piece of gum.  For not only was she talking to me she would be talking to other people and I did not want her to be embarrassed by her offense.  So, once again I offered her gum.  Once again she declined my offer. 
I didn't know how to break it to her that I wasn't trying to just be nice and offer her a piece of gum for the gums sake it was a piece of gum for her sake.  Finally I asked her, "If my breath smelled bad would you tell me?"  She assured me that she would.  I picked up the piece of gum and offered it to her once more.  This time she took it.
We kind of laughed about it. I told her I had not wanted to offend her by offering her a piece of gum but I knew that she would not want to be talking to any one if she knew her breath was that bad.  She was my friend so I felt compelled to warn her.  She was very appreciative of my gesture and we made a pact that from that time on, if either of us offered each other a piece of gum then we would know and go do something about it or at the very least take the piece of gum.  It worked out for the both of us.
She was my friend and I loved her enough to tell her "You need a piece of gum."
There was another gentleman that I worked with that always needed a piece of gum.  I offered on more than one occasion to give him one.  He never took me up on my offer.  I still offered it.
How many times in our lives have we had the opportunity to offer gum to someone who really needed it. We could clearly smell the need as soon as they opened their mouth around us.
A lot of times in my life I have had the opportunity to share my faith with others.  Sometimes it falls on receptive ears other times it does not.  Most times it does not.
We live in a world of hurting people that clearly have a need of a Saviour.  I try as much as I can to tell them and share with them, to offer them a peace that passes all understanding kind of salvation.  So many times it gets rejected because they don't see that they have a need for it.  They have a life that is falling apart or is need of something bigger than they are but they don't want it because it either doesn't fit what they think they need or they just plainly don't believe they have a need. 
They sometimes want to know why I persistently share with them.  Try to put my "religious beliefs" on them.  They don't want it.  They reject it.  They turn away from it.  Yet I persist.
The question is why?  Why do such a thing when they are clearly put off by what I have to say and share with them.  Why?  Because I love them.
It isn't easy.  Most of the time it is hard.  You don't want to offend any one but yet you know it is the right thing to do.  You have to warn them.  You have to try and make them see.  It is because of love I do these things.  I can't help myself.
Love does strange things to people.  It causes you to say things and warn people, even when they don't want to be warned.  It causes you to cry out to God for your family and your friends and even your enemies.
True love is not offensive.  True love tells you the truth, even when you don't want to hear it.  True love offers life to all it can and all that will have it.  But most don't want it. 
They want me to stop, but I can't.  You see, Jesus commanded me to love as He loved.  And because I try to do that I can't help myself but to warn you, to tell you, to share with you all that the Lord has done for me and what He means to me.
I know because of my faith in Him I may alienate a lot of people, but just know, I am praying for you.  I will always be willing to stand in the gap for you and tell you of a Saviours love.  A love so magnificent that it hung on a cross for everyone.  A love that could not be destroyed by death but arose the victor and that lives forever and forever.  A love that knows no limits but will not always be offered.  For I also believe that there will come a time of reckoning when all will stand before Him and be held accountable for our lives.  There will be heavens reward or hell to pay.
And that is why I offer to you all that I know and can give.  Even to those that I meet on the street sometimes, not just the ones that I know and love. 
So who do you love enough, even though it it is embarrassing, or may cost you a friend or family member, to tell the truth to?  To offer them love.  To tell them "You need a piece of gum."
Tell as many as you can.  Yes there is a cost to pay, but if you don't tell them, who will? 
There are plenty of people out there who would be more than happy to offer them something.  But it isn't because they love them, it is because they want them to be in as much misery as they are.
So again I ask you, have you told anyone lately "You need a piece of gum."

A Face in the Crowd

Have you ever went somewhere where there a ton of people?  I mean so many people that you couldn't stir a stick?
I have not been in that many crowds.  I never really went to concerts where there were throngs of people all pushed up against each other but I do have an imagination so I can fully see and realize what that would be like. 
Thousands of people crowded in one area to see an event that probably a lot of people had wanted to go to.  Some may have had tickets and due to unforeseen circumstances either couldn't make it or they simply changed their minds and didn't go.  How about those that wanted to go so badly but never made preparation to go and it simply came and went and afterwards they were like all bummed out because they had totally missed it.  Even worse are the ones that had no clue there was going to be an event.  The event of the century and found out about it later and were totally angry and upset that they had missed it.  There are even those that wanted to go but waited til the last minute to try and get in, but it was too late.  The doors were shut and there was no way anyone else could get in.  They were left on the outside angry at themselves for not getting there earlier while there was still time.
But then there were the ones that got in.  They were so psyched up about it.  They were all dressed alike.  They had all gotten a T-shirt in the lobby and had put it on before the event started.  There faces are shining with excitement as the event unfolds. 
There is someone with a camera who is taking pictures of the crowds.  He is looking out over the multitude and with a camera that takes like a thousand shots a minute he scans the crowds.  He doesn't see anyone that he recognizes.  He is just taking photos for the event.  Making memories for later on.  He has never seen so many people in one place before.  Someone walks up beside him and wants to know what these people in the crowd are so excited about.  He tells the stranger, don't you know, it is the event of the century.  This event will never take place again in their lifetime.  They were the lucky ones.  So they look at all the faces in the crowd.  But still they don't see a single soul that they recognize.  So they take a mental picture of each face.  It is an amazing thing.
One day there was a man named John.  He was a prisoner.  He was taken to an island.  It was called Patmos.  He was left there to die.  But God had plans for this man.  This was going to be a life changing event for him.
While John was on this island God started revealing Himself to him.  John was shown things that literally blew his mind.  He could not fathom what he was seeing.  He could not understand it.  Yet he wrote it down.  He had never seen some of the things that God was showing him so with limited knowledge he proceeded to try and explain the things he saw.  I am sure he thought no one would ever believe this even if they saw it themselves but yet he wrote it all down. 
It became real to him.  Alive to him.  And with every stroke of the pen he told what God was telling him and showing him.
One of the things was so amazing to him.
He was standing in an area where there was a multitude of people standing around.  They were crowded together.  A throng of people.  They were there for the Main Event of their lifetimes.  This event would never take place again.  They were standing shoulder to shoulder.  Their faces shown with radiance and they were all dressed alike.  They had been preparing for this Main Event for a long time.  Some had waited years and years for it.  They were wearing spotless robes of white.  They had all changed their garments before they were allowed in. 
He scanned the crowds.  He could see the countenance on each face as they worshipped the Main Event.  They were excited.  They could not contain themselves.
And yet sadly, there were those that had not made it inside.  Some had wanted to go, even thought they were ready to go, but when the time came they just weren't prepared.  They had not made enough preparation in advance.  Some had been ready but it seemed to take too long so they got busy doing other things and forgot.  They had filled their lives with smaller events hoping to fill that need, thinking that would be enough, but it never was.  Even worse, there were some that were standing on the outside banging on the doors, crying "Why didn't you tell us?"  Begging to be let in, but it is too late.   The doors have all been shut and there will be no one else let in.
As John looks out across the crowd he sees faces of people that he had never seen before.  Some he had heard of. 
There was that woman that Jesus had visited at the well.  She was there.  There was that little old money maker Zacchaeus.  He was there.  He was standing mighty tall there in that crowd.  And over in the Amen corner was the old woman that had been healed of the issue of blood and Bartmaeus, Jesus had healed him of his blindness.  Oh wait, standing over a little ways, it was the thief on the cross.  He was there and was wearing the same thing everyone else was.  So many he recognized.  So many he didn't.
Oh how I wonder about that day.  When he looked out across that multitude in that day did he see me?  Was I a face in the crowd that day?  Were you? 
If you could look out over that multitude of people would you see yourself? 
I wonder if when I get to heaven if in passing and John walks by me will he say, "Hey, I recognize you.  You were in the throng that day.  That multitude of people that were there surrounding the throne of the Lamb singing praises to the One true God,"  Will we "hi five" each other and smile with a knowing?
Oh dear Lord I want to be counted among those that were in the vision you gave John that day.  Let me be a face in the crowd.  The crowd of ones that are there to worship and glorify the Main Event.

Praying for Rain

Have you ever heard anyone say "I love the rain" or "I love it when it rains?"  I have.  I have even said it myself.  And truthfully what I mean is I love it when it rains a gentle rain.  A soft warm summer rain that you can go outside and dance in. 
But have you ever really noticed that the times that it rains like that, especially here in sunny Arizona, is far and few between.  We cherish the rain storms when we get to experience them like that.
Mostly though that is not how it rains.
Usually if it rains the storm clouds rise.  They turn gray then black.  The wind starts to pick up.  The leaves on the trees start to shake and shimmer.  Gently at first and then furiously as the storm picks up.  Debris and dirt start flying.  Things start to topple over.  There is a chill in the air.  A storm is coming.
We know we need the rain.  Without it nothing would grow.  Nothing!!! 
The plants need it.  The animals need it.  People need it.  It is a vicious cycle. 
When these storms come, sometimes they are more destructive than at other times.  But always there is a change of some sort.
We recently had a major storm hit the east coast of our awesome country.  People have been devastated by it.  This storm changed things.  No ones lives there will ever be the same.  Anyone who comes through storms like this are never the same again.  They are changed forever.  Some of them will rebuild right where they stood and some will move to a safer place.  Some will never rebuild they will just move away.  They will never want to be in a place where such utter destruction can touch them again. 
When I was a little girl in West Texas we were having a drought.  I was brought up in a Bible believing, faith walking, Spirit driven church.  We were taught at a young age that if you prayed and in faith believed that you could ask God and it would be done.  It was my cousin Marva who was four or five, my sister Tena who was four and myself, I was five.  Every day we would have prayer meeting either on the front porch or the back porch in the afternoon.  We were prayer warriors.  One day after one of our prayer meetings we went out to our old tree that was in the front yard and we were swinging.  We had dirt for a yard.  Typical for West Texas.  But we also had a little flower bed up by our front door.  The flowers were drooping and dying.  We weren't allowed to water them because like I said we were in a drought.  Well short story long, we got to talking about how sad it was that our beautiful flowers were wilting and dying.  It made three little girls very sad.  I do not remember which one of us came up with the bright idea so since I am telling the story I am going to say it was me, so I decided the best thing that we should do for the situation was to pray for it to rain.  Now I must tell you that the skies were already dark, we were already in store for a storm, but being that we were only four and five years old and had not come to realize the signs of the weather, we had no way of knowing that.  So three little girls took hands and we started praying.  We prayed and prayed and in faith we believed that God would send the rain.  Now imagine our surprise as the first raindrops started falling to the ground.  We were not shocked that it was raining.  We knew that God answered prayers.  We were so excited as the torrent of rain started pouring out of the heavens that we could not contain ourselves.  We had a testimony.  We ran as fast as our little legs could carry us and went straight inside and told everyone that God had answered our prayers.  We were believers.  It rained and it rained and it rained and before long it hailed and it hailed and it hailed.  The beautiful flowers that we knew were going to thrive because of our prayers were beat to death by the hailstorm.  Now you might have thought that the rain turning into a hailstorm would have given our faith a soaking but you would be wrong.  Actually it had the opposite affect.  Because we knew that it had rained because of our praying we just decided that we had prayed too hard.  Next time we prayed we were going to be more precise with our words. 
Now I have told that story throughout my lifetime and I can always see us girls standing barefoot out in the West Texas dirt holding hands and believing for a miracle of rain.  Today, the reason I am writing this little story out I realize that as much as we say "We love the rain" I wonder do we really?
Have you ever really noticed the destruction that rain does?  It stings you if you are out in it.  It washes away the topsoil, the debris off of the ground.  With the rain comes the wind that blows trees over, blows things around.  Nothing is ever the same.  Rain changes things.
Just like in our lives rain changes things.
So many times we tell the Lord, "send down your rain."  Are we really sure that we want that?  Are you spiritually ready for rain in your life? 
You see rain never comes that there isn't a storm.  It might be a summer rain, but even then the clouds are never as bright as on a normal day.  But the storms of life that bring change, the ones that we can all relate to are the ones that we mostly get in our lives.
You know, most of us don't want to go through the storms in life.  It is never fun, we want the rain but we don't want the storm.  I am going to tell you something, you can't have one without the other.
You see it is through the storms of life, when everything seems the darkest, when we feel that God has forsaken us, that is when the rains come.  That is when the growth comes.  That is when we learn how to lean on God.  That is when we learn how to listen for His still small voice.  He said He would never leave us nor forsake us.   He is the peace giver.  He calms the storm in our hearts even though the storms may be raging around us. 
The winds of the storm are there to blow things out of our lives that God wants us to get rid of.  He is the God that changes us.  He sends the rains, the storms, to grow us into the Christian men and women that He wants us to be.  He breaks things out of our lives and tries to bend us to His will and then He pours out rain on us to grow us spiritually.
And sometimes, but sadly not always, we learn from the storms and the rain and we do grow.  But most of the time,  we either go back and build in the same place that God just tried to move us from.  We start to dig around in the debris that He shook loose from us and we pick it back up and start building on it.  Sometimes we move far far away from the place, we go and build some place else in the hopes that where we are going we will never have to face storms like that in our lives ever again.  We abandon everything, we lose hope.  But then there are the few of us that dare say "Lord, if this is where you are moving me this is where I am going to be planted.  When you see fit to move me again, or allow another storm in my life, then I will be still and know that You and You alone are God.  I will listen for Your still small voice."
So, I ask you, are you ready to ask God to pour out His rain in your life?  Yes it is refreshing.  There is nothing like rain to refresh you, change you, wash you or move you.  But are you ready for it? 

The Still of the Evening

I am not sure which I appreciate more. 

Right now I am sitting outside. There is a bit of a nip in the air. A few stars are peaking out of cotton clouded night sky. It just rained, sprinkled really, so the air smells divine. 

There is a stillness that takes over in the evening. A hush if you will. A feeling as if all is well. You can hear the crickets and an occasional dog barking. A car every now and then as someone finally makes home the journeys end for the day. In the distance you can hear even more cars frantically trying to make it somewhere. But here in my neighborhood all is well. On the surface anyways. 

No one really knows what goes on behind closed doors. Family dynamics are an enigma to everyone. But no matter what it is still family. Good or bad. 

All I do know is that I am at that time in my life when I appreciate the early evening quiet. The peace that never seems to stop. It does get a bit lonely. Jimmy goes to bed so early for work and I sit by myself a lot. I am not complaining. It is our family dynamics so to speak. 

But here is the part where I started. When the kids were all home and the house was filled with endless everything, laughter, talking, bickering, fighting and then more laughter, you know alive, I looked forward to that part of the evening when all the children were snug in their beds and a stillness would fall over the house. 

There was a knowing that they were safe and secure. I thanked God that He had kept us through one more day. There was peace. Then we would do it all again the next day.

As any one of my kids or anyone who really knows me will tell you I do not like the quiet for too long. I cannot sleep without the TV on. I mean I can but it is not my comfort zone to do so. I don't know why it just is. 

What I do know though is the times when the TV is off and the stillness permeates my soul there is a refreshing that takes place and I always always think of the verse that tells me "Be still and know that I am God."  I can't do much else in moments like tonight. I have to acknowledge that He is the Peace giver, the Lover of my soul. The serenity that knowing that can not hardly be expressed. 

But now to my question. Which one do I appreciate more?  The stillness of now because I have made it to the point in my life where the stillness penetrates my very soul or the stillness of a house after the hecticness of life has been banished and weary bones fall into rest?  I think I have an appreciation for both. For they both had what I needed it for at that particular time in my life. 

I miss my babies. I miss knowing all is well with them when so many times I know it isn't. I guess that is why God gives us more stillness in this time of our lives so that we can spend more time praying for them and being reminded that God is God. 

Dear Lord, I pray that you would watch over my children and their spouses and all my grandbabies. Keep them safe and let them know You and feel Your presence in the still of the evening and all through the night. Amen!!

It took a miracle

Oh how majestic is a starlit night.
Have you ever just went outside in the evening, when the sun has gone to bed and the moon has come out for it's night watch and turned off all the lights around you?  Or have you driven away from the city where it is only you and the sky with no interference of anything irreverent?  Or maybe early in the morning before the dawn awakens and the sun hasn't pushed the moon out of the sky?  If you have have you noticed how bright the sky looks as each star sparkles and twinkles in the heavens above?
This evening as I was leaving my daughters house to come home I stepped outside and the silence of the evening was so peaceful that I paused for a moment and looked up and as I did I saw the night sky freckled with twinkling lights.
Oh the He, the One that planned the heavens and the earth, the I Am, and not just the I Am but the Great I Am, He is the one that set the stars in their place.  When I look up and see the stars when there is nothing to obstruct their grandeur, it takes my breath away.
I am not much of an outdoorsy kind of person, but I will tell you that I love going outside and realizing His creation.
I wonder?  Did He set each one in their place?  Each little dot of fire that lives and has lived for so long in the skies, did He hang each one ever so carefully, or did He just speak them into being, or did He take a handful of fireballs and fling them into space with a hand so mighty that only God could do such a thing,  and they landed ever so precisely where they still stand tonight?  Oh how I wonder these things.
I find it amazing that there are people out there who would choose to believe that there was some kind of big bang explosion of some sort and that matter of all sorts formed into so many spectacular things.  Some rocks, some trees, some fish, birds, flowers.  And not all one kind either, but a plethora of species of these very things.  And that somehow during the process of all this a great ball of fire formed the center of our universe and so many planets started circling this awesome star and low and behold they all started circling it in the same direction.  To me it is a most outrageous thing that they would have the audacity to mock my faith and my belief system in that my God, the one that I love, the one that I believe in, created these things.  That the one I call Maker of the Universe actually spoke everything into being.  As if my faith in my God as creator is a far more less believable concept than the fact that something blew up and poof here we are. 
I will take my faith over poof any day.
Years ago when our kids were small, for Christmas money was really tight.  We barely had enough money to buy the kids a handful of Christmas gifts, we sure didn't have money to buy each other anything, which we rarely did anyways, but it just seems more of a big deal when you don't have the money to do so.  Well this one year on Christmas Eve we were leaving my parents house after seeing my sisters and their families who had come out to visit and Christmas was going to be pretty awesome for them.  My sisters had shown me a couple of things that their husbands had gotten them for Christmas and I was very happy for them.  So as we were driving home the kids were quiet in the backseat of the car and it was a still of the night kind of thing when across this most beautiful star laden sky a shooting star slowly moved through the night.  Jimmy saw it first and grabbed my hand and pointed it out.  We watched it together as it slowly disappeared into forever.  It was breathtaking.  After a while he told me he was sorry he couldn't give me presents like my sisters had received, which is really funny like I said since we never really gave each other anything for Christmas hardly ever anyways, but I just smiled and told him that he had given me the best Christmas present ever, better than anything my sisters had got from their husbands that night, he had given me a shooting star.  It was one of the best presents that I have ever gotten from him.
One of my favorite songs is "How Great Thou Art."  My heart swells with love and joy and excitement every time I look around at His creation.  My insides strain against my skin as if they are trying to reach God and just pour out my love for Him in praise and adoration.  How great thou art my very soul cries out. 
The word of God says that if I (we) do not praise Him then the very rocks will cry out.  I was created to worship Him, to love Him, to honor Him.  With every breath I have, with every cry and every beat of my heart I pour out my love to Him.  For not only is He the maker of the universe, the planets, the stars, the whole earth, He is my creator.
In Jeremiah 1:5 He tells me He knew me before He formed me in my mothers womb.  In Psalm 139, probably one of my most favorite passages in the bible, His word tells me how much He intricately knows me. 
One of my other favorite songs is "It took a miracle."  If He took such great care in placing each star in it's place, to hang the world in space and we call these miracles, how much more does He care for me and you that He gave His only Son for us.  That He would send Him to hang on a tree so that all who would believe, have faith, could and would be saved.  That my friend is a miracle, a miracle of love and grace.
So next time you find your self looking at this most majestic universe, at the stars twinkling in the sky above you and your spirit starts to soar and you can't form enough words together to say how awestruck you are at God's handiwork, I tell you now that the real miracle is the love and grace that He offers to you everyday.
Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made.  I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed.  Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to thee, How great thou art, How great thou art.  Then sings my soul my Saviour God to thee, How great thou art, How great thou art.

Turquoise Sky

Early in the mornings as I travel to work, I start out and it is very dark.  Too early even for the sun.  Morning begins to break as the dawn takes hold of the day.  I travel east and I get to see the day begin. 
Colors that only live in Gods coloring box.  Hues of red and silver lined clouds of gold begin to shine in a turquoise sky.  Not a brilliant blue but turquise.  I often wonder is it the same color in the other states or is it because I see it over the wonderful state of Arizona.  I wonder if the desert, before it had all these cars, buildings, people, had seen such brilliant colors.  Surely it has, even more so.  For now, even though it takes my breath away, I am looking at it through smog and smoke of a country that has outgrown it's purity.
I know that one of these days my Lord is going to return to take those of us who are watching and waiting to heaven where we will live and reign for a thousand years.  But, the word of God tells me that this earth, this terra firma, that my feet now walk on, is going to pass away and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
I want to believe that the new earth will be the way it was meant to be "In the beginning."  I want to believe that the early morning skies that wake me up in the mornings with all it's splendor, that is only matched by the mimicking evening sunsets, will be even more brilliant, more fantabulous, more breathtaking than it has ever been.
I am an imaginitive kind of person.  I like to think of God ever morning grabbing a hand full of colors like drops of paint so spectacular and walking across heaven and sprinkling them through his hands, like a farmers wife feeding the chickens, shaking colors that dissolve into the day, becoming invisible until the evening.  Or maybe He just walks waving His hand ever so carefully like a painter painting His masterpiece of the day and the colors just flow from His fingertips and He paints the world with His love. 
My eyes look to the skies in the morning, waiting in anticipation for the beauty to explode as morning awakens.  I see it and all I can ever do is say "Thank you Lord for this day.  For surely this is the day that You have made.  I will rejoice and be glad."
If God cares enough about me and those that are like me, to paint the mornings for us, then how much more does He care for you?  His word says He sees the little sparrow when it falls, that He knows how many hairs you have on your head.  If He knows these things, if they are important to Him, and He knows that the sight of a spectacular morning makes me smile, then how can you not know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He loves you and wants all good things for you?
I am so thankful that He loves me so much.  And not just for the beautiful mornings that He provides but that He gave His only Son so that I could have eternal life.
So I thank you Lord for your Son and the blood that He shed and for turquoise skies as they remind me that your mercies are new every morning.

Happy Anniversary

Now many of you that know me know that my actual anniversary is not in October, it is in March.  But, what many of you who know me may or may not know is that tomorrow, October 25th, is the 35th Anniversary of my first date with my husband.
35 years ago I went on my first date with my now best friend, my lover, the man who makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.  On my first date with the man who makes me think, makes me angry, makes me happy.  I went on my first date with the father of my children, the Grandude of my sweet grand babie's, the man who loves me enough to put up with me even when I can't put up with myself.
I told him after that first date that I couldn't go out with him again, not because I didn't want to, but I was dating two other guys at the time and was engaged to one of them and I was never good at juggling.  He walked me to the front door and kissed me long and hard and said, "You are giving up the best thing that ever happened to you."  And with that he walked away.
I went in the house, sat on the couch, and I thought, "I can't feel my lips."  No really, I argued with myself to not run after him because there was something in what he said that rang true in my ears.  I knew he probably was the best thing that would ever happen to me but I couldn't bring myself to stop him because my heart and hand belonged to someone else.
I had promised my brother and sister that I would take them to the fair that year but I was trying to chicken out of it because I didn't want to drive in the traffic to get there.  My mother told me, "Why don't you call that nice Jimmy Glen?  I bet he would take you."  I told my mother I was not going to call someone that I had went on one date with and had told that I couldn't ever go on a date with them again to take me and my brother and sister to the fair.  She kept insisting so I caved.
A few days later I wrote a letter to the man I was engaged to and broke up with him.  (He lived in Texas and we both had an agreement that we could date other people)(Didn't work out too well for him, that arrangement.)  And I sent a letter to the other guy who was going to college in California.(He had to have seen it coming)(He hadn't wanted me to date Jimmy in the first place.)
And five months later Jimmy Glen and I were married.  It was a decision that I have not regretted.  So thank you Lola for stopping me on a Sunday evening after church to "introduce me to this nice young man."
And thank you Jimmy Glen for loving me all these years.  If I haven't told you lately, please know that I love you, more today than ever before.  To the moon and back.  Happy Anniversary!

Be a blessing

Today one of my most wonderful, and deserving sisters received a blessing.  She has been wanting a particular perfume.  It is a little pricey so she was not going to buy it for herself.  She is a selfless soul and is always pouring herself into someone so it was a pure blessing today when someone (my nephews wife, not her son) gifted her with this perfume.
When I heard of it I really like crying for her.  It did my heart good that someone would bless my sister like that.  Angelica was a blessing to her.  Thank you Angelica for your willingness to do what we should all be doing.
I would like to take a moment and give a thank you to my mother, for without her example I would probably not know what it is like to be a blessing to people.  She lived blessing by example.  My mother, although not perfect, was one of the most Goldy women I have ever met.  She knows what it means to live the words out "What Would Jesus Do?"  Honestly I have to say this right now, I really hate that saying.  Most people only use it to beat you up with anyways and if you are a Christian you should really not even have to ask the question.
But my mom always lived that saying by example.  It was the "right thing to do" she would say.
My mom worked at a bus station, at night, at one time in our lives and I remember waking up early to find a strange man sleeping on our couch.  My mother had brought a perfectly strange young man to our home because he had no place to go and his connecting bus didn't leave until later that day.  Then she fed him breakfast and took him back to the bus station.  That was my mom.
My mom and I were going somewhere and as we were driving down the street she spotted an elderly woman trying to carry bags of groceries.  So my mom turned the car around came up alongside the woman and offered to carry her and her groceries home.  The woman gladly took us up on our offer.  Now that was nice enough but my mother never stops at nice enough, no.  After we loaded the woman's groceries into the back of the car and I moved to the backseat, we drove her to her home, then we helped take her groceries inside and put them away.
She was always doing things like that.  She led by example.  I do not believe I heard her say, now should I do these things, or "What would Jesus do?"  As a christian woman she already knew the answer.  She showed kindness to strangers and in so doing was a blessing.
I love the fact that I got to see love in action.  Because you see, to me being kind to people, even those that do not deserve it, blessing them, saying kind things to them, complimenting them, is love in action.  Love is a verb. 
I love little things that you do in life can be a blessing.  Blessings don't always have to be big.  When my kids were teenagers we were blessed to meet a single mom who was struggling financially.  Trying to make it on her own and needing a bit of a hand.  We watched her little girl for as small of a price that we could possibly do and I always made sure to invite her for dinner and send the leftovers home with her just so she could take them for her lunch the next day.  We tried to bless her in every way that we could.  She started going to church with us and she is a wonderful christian woman walking with God and being a blessing herself these days.  She just became a grandma for the first time. 
Blessings don't have to be big.  Some blessings are giving someone a sandwich when they forgot their lunch.  Or taking teenagers to an old folks home (I don't know if that is the politically correct term) and letting them sing to them.  It could be volunteering in a classroom.  It could be taking dinner over to a family that just lost a family member or has someone in the hospital. 
Blessings come in many different forms.
In Acts 10:38 we are told that "Everywhere Jesus went He was doing good."  He was the great example.  He was and is the ultimate blessing.
So who are you blessing today?  Pour yourself into someone, whether you think they deserve it or not.  You will truly get more out of blessing someone than they will get from your blessing.  Let God's love pour through you.  Do not grow weary in well doing.  Bless someone as if you are doing it unto the Lord. 
And as I finish, I pray that the Lord would "Bless your socks off!" 
Be a blessing!!!

Everybody needs heroes!

Everybody needs a hero.  Some of us have one maybe two.  Some may even have more than that.
We look up to people.  Set them on a pedestal.  Some are deserving of the accolades, most are probably not.
But what actually makes a hero?
We have real heroes and fictional heroes.  We have sports figures that are fallible and fictional heroes like Superman that honestly has only one nemesis.
But what have they done that is so heroic?
Throw a ball?  Run a race?  Swim a lap?  That is heroic?
Throw a bus?  Run down the Riddler?  Fly to the moon?  That is heroic?
I guess it depends on your standards.
I don't generally have heroes like that as a rule. 
I do have people that I admire and think they have made accomplishments in their lives that are far more than I could do.  But I do not believe most people have done any thing so heroic or outstanding that I would fawn all over them, unless they pass the test.
I do believe there are people that have done heroic things.  They have been through battles and continue to push forward in their lives.
I do have a test that someone must pass before they reach hero status in my eyes.
I think of Joni Erickson Tada.  She is a real hero.  She has been in a wheelchair as a paraplegic since she was a teenager.  I am sure she had moments that she wanted to just give up but she didn't.  She pushed herself and continued to push herself.  But I would venture to say she did not do it on her own strength.  She is woman of integrity. A woman that loves God and works tirelessly to further the kingdom of God.  She does these things in spite of her hindrance here on earth.  I have never met her but I do know that some day I will be able to walk up to her and let her know how she inspired me and she will be able to walk over to someone that she admired and do the same.  She is my hero.
I will be able to walk over to Corrie Ten Boom, the hollocaust survivor.  That through the loss of her family and friends in the most horrible of ways was able to minister to those she was imprisoned with.  She and her sister were able to be missionaries in the darkest of all places.  God was their hiding place.  She alone was able to escape the grip of death at that place.  Only to go on and tell everyone that she could about the love of God.  A woman that I can't wait to meet.  She is my hero.  She passes the test.  I can't wait to meet up with her and hug her and tell her how she inspired me.  How her example of forgiveness encouraged me to be able to do the same.  What a hero.
I can't wait to meet Abraham Lincoln.  Wow!  I mean, really, he stood his ground in a time when no one stood with him.  He knew the right thing to do and he did it.  He paid with his life because of decisions that he made.  That is a hero.
How about Job.  Oh my goodness.  I want to meet him.  Talk to him and ask him what made him so sure?  So determined to serve God even with everyone all around him telling him to do the opposite.  Yet he didn't cave to their taunts and the fears that they tried to imprison him with.  He knew that he knew that he knew.  A real hero.  I can't wait to thank him for the example.
How about those three Hebrew children.  They as well as Abraham had unwavering faith.  They kept their eyes on the prize. 
Abraham followed God even though he had no idea where he would end up.  He trusted God to have children at a very old age.  Now that is a hero.  Those three boys were taken, taken I tell you, from their home and made to be slaves in a foreign land.  And even with the threat of death looming over them they were NOT going to bow to a king of this earth.  They knew who their King was and would not waiver from His kingdom authority.  God brought them through.  Hereos.
David facing Goliath, facing Saul, facing his own faults, yet he persevered.  Can't wait to meet that man. 
How about Stephen?  Even as they were stoning him he continued to look to the heavens where his help comes from.  The forgiveness that he displayed to those that would take his life.  He died a martyr just as many after him have.  What a hero.
There have been so many that have done heroic things.  And it wasn't throwing a ball or leaping over tall buildings.  It wasn't writing the worlds greatest novel or discovering a cure for the hiccups.  It wasn't acting in the most movies or tv programs or even creating the wheel.  While these things are admirable and sometimes challenging it does not make one a hero.
To be a hero it costs something of you and it pours into those who would have need of encouragement or be in need. 
Who is your hero?  It could be a special teacher that sacrificed his or her time to make sure you "got it."  It could be a doctor that stood on his feet for hours to operate on you or a loved one to give you just one more day with them.  It could be your mom or your dad.  The sacrifices they made just so you could have the things they didn't have growing up.  Maybe dad worked two jobs so mom could stay home and raise the children.  Maybe they worked different shifts so that they knew that they themselves were the ones pouring into your lives. 
Are your heroes passing the test?  Are you?  Who are you being a hero to?  Who are you encouraging, pouring yourself into? 
Be a hero.  Find a hero.  Just make sure they pass the test though. 
Remember, everybody needs heroes!

Anticipation!

How many of you remember what it was like as a child when Christmas was soon to be over and you were already dreaming what next years Christmas was going to be like?
The presents, time spent with family and friends.  Going to church and watching Christmas programs, some good, some not so good. 
But the experience left you anticipating next years Christmas.  You could hardly wait.  And months and weeks and especially the days before Christmas your eyes would light up and your heart would thump in your chest and you thought you would die if Christmas didn't come any sooner.
Anticipation!  It was something worth waiting for.
Your birthday was another day that couldn't come soon enough.  You were going to be made to feel like the most special person for at least a day.  No one else could share that with you, unless you were a twin or any kind of multiple birth child.  But when that big day approached you were giddy.  You told EVERONE "My birthday is coming up" or "Did you know my birthday is tomorrow".  You would smile and beam just knowing that one day out of the year was special just to you.
Anticipation!  It was something worth waiting for.
Ladies.  How many of you remember waiting for that first kiss?  That first "I love you"?  That day when you were going to walk down the aisle into the arms of the man that said you were the one he had waited for all of his life?  That first time they laid your child in your arms and you never knew that your heart could ever be so full?  You had dreamed about these moments all of your life.  Hopefully most of you have experienced those moments.  Your eyes would light up as you told your girlfriends or a sister or your mom, "I hope he tells me he loves me soon,"  because you were dying to tell him.  The thrill you got in the pit of your stomach when he held you in his arms for the first time and kissed you full on the mouth and you thought you would faint from it.  The planning that had went into your wedding and you hadn't even met him yet and yet there he was waiting for you and you wanted to run to him.  When you would rub your stomach and call the little being growing inside you "My baby" as you decorated a room not knowing what it would be.  A boy or a girl?  Who would it look like?  Who would it act like?  Then the pain and thinking to yourself "What was I thinking?  This hurts.  I changed my mind."  But then they laid him or her in your arms and the tears began to flow.  This new little being was the most beautiful child that was ever born in the history of all children being born. 
Anticipation!  It was something worth waiting for.
Today I heard a story of an elderly woman.  As she was leaving church one day, she was tired and weary and her body was aching with age.  Her legs had been wobbling and hurting and she had been having a hard time walking recently.  As she stopped to talk to the Pastor she endearingly asked him, "Do you know where I can get a new set of legs?"  Without missing a beat he told her he absolutely did, heaven, but she would have to wait a while to get them.  She smiled and went on her way.  "It's worth the wait," she said.
Anticipation!
Heaven.  It is something worth waiting for.  I heard said the other day for those of us who know the Lord and are looking forward to living with Him in heaven some day that we always talk about heaven as if it is the "After life" but that in all actuality we should really be referring to this life that we are living now as the "Before life".
We have heard of heaven.  What ever we have heard or can imagine can hardly begin to touch what we believe it to be.  To me the most wonderful thing about heaven is the fact that my Saviour is there.  The lover of my soul.  The one who gave His all for me on the cross when He didn't have to.  I will get to see His blessed face and I will get to thank Him and praise Him and love Him more than I could possibly imagine.  Heaven is real. 
Here on earth we have hope of what heaven is.  We say in passing "It is just a little taste of heaven."  And really, that is all that it is, a taste.  Did you ever walk into the kitchen while Thanksgiving Dinner was almost done and you kept asking "How much longer?"  The answer was almost always "Soon."  You wanted a little taste and sometimes you were given one.  Your mouth would be drooling and the tiny bit of turkey that was handed to you made you only want more.
Anticipation!  It was something worth waiting for.
That is what heaven is like.  We have that blessed hope.
Titus 2:13-14 tells us "While we wait for the blessed hope - the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good!"
Anticipation!  It is worth waiting for!!

Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?

Well, I don't know about all of you but I just finished watching the Presidential Debate. 
Most of you know that our country is in turmoil.  We have right wingers, left wingers, middle of the roaders and at your throaters.  A country without true leadership. 
We can all look around and see the pitfalls and pratfalls as our leaders and want to be leaders slip and fall.  They have an agenda.  They each want to be in charge.
As a conservative christian woman I know who I would like to have as the leader of our country.  You are free to disagree with me all you want.  Reason being is because we live in America. 
We do not have to all agree with each other.  What saddens me is the fact that the people that would give you the information to make an informed decision are all a little lopsided. 
But I want you to know that I pray for my country.  I pray for my wanna be leaders.  I pray that the Lord would once again move on America and in Americans hearts.
If I continue to keep my mind on the things that are going on around me it would seem futile to even get out of bed in the morning.  But this one thing I do know my hope is not in or of this world. 
You see as a christian I know that this war raging in the world is just a physical thing that is going on in the spiritual world.  But because of Psalm 121, specifically verse 2, "I know my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."  I do not have to be afraid.
The word of God says in Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
I believe there is a coralation between what we are seeing in the world today and what is being done in the spiritual world.
We are going through it and those of you who don't see that are either blinded to it or have no concern over it.  You may not agree that it is a spiritual war but I do. 
But I also believe that we have a hope.  A blessed hope.  Just as Elisha in the past was surrounded and his servant just knew things were bleak, Elisha asked God to open his eyes so that he would be able to see.  God opened his eyes.  Elisha told him in 2 Kings 6:16 "Those who are with us are more than those against them."  I pray that your eyes would be open. 
We have a hope.  But we get our eyes and our minds set on what we can see in the physical.  We look around at what is going on in this world and realize that we have no standing.  Especially as a person of faith. 
Our faith, our standards, our belief system and our values are all under attack.  They are being torn down.  They will be ripped from us if we do not start getting on our knees and praying.  We need to have our eyes open to what God can do for us. 
We have a choice.  We can continue to dwell on the things of the earth and let fear grip our hearts or we can get our minds set on things above.
In Colossians 3:2, His word tells us, "Set your mind on things above."  In Philipians 4:8 we are told to keep our minds on "Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report.  If there be any virtue, any praise, think on these things."
We have choices.  We have to decide what we are going to engage our thoughts on.  To guard our thoughts.
We do this in faith because we have this promise, this hope in Romans 8:28-31, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethern.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called: and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can stand against us?"
Can you stand on that promise.  I am the called of God.  I am being justified.  I am keeping my eyes on Him.  I am going to believe that the things that I see going on around me that the God I serve has everything in control.  I am going to turn to the Word of God.  I am going to fill my heart and mind with the promises that jump off of every page. 
Look to Psalm 91.  Because He loves us, He is our refuge, our strong and mighty tower.  He gives His angels charge over us.  I am standing on that.  I am fixing my mind on that. 
That is what I am thinking about.  Not that I am not concerned with what is going on.  Not that I am not saddened by the state that the country and the world for that matter is in.  But I am not setting my mind on it.  I am setting my mind on things above.  That is what I am thinking about.
What about you?

I'm With Him

As many of you know I have been looking for a job for over a year.  I was laid off from my previous job back in August of 2011.  I loved my job.  I loved the people that I was working for and with.  I really, really loved to get up every morning and go to work.  If it wasn't for the fact that I had a family I would probably be a workaholic.
As much as I loved my job, I do love my family more.  Every day though I would look for a job in some form or another.  But, because I was laid off, I got to spend time with my husband.  More than I have in the entire time that we have been married.  I also got to spend time with my kids and grandkids more than I ever have.  It was fabulous.  But that doesn't pay the bills.  So, like I said, every day I looked for a job.
I did not just want any job.  I could work just about anywhere.  I love working and I love people, so it really wouldn't matter much where I had gotten a job, unless it went against my morals, but I would not have applied to those places anyways.  But when I said I didn't want just any old job what I meant was I did not want to be in a job where God didn't want me.
So every time I sent out a resume to any place I always prayed over it.  "God if this is where you want me to be then let them call me as soon as possible and offer me a job. If it is not where you want me to be then I don't want it."  Now let me tell you, that was a hard prayer because some of these places paid very well.  I would have loved to have made that kind of money, but not at the expense of my relationship with God. 
I did have several interviews.  So many of them seemed to go very well.  I expected to get a call from each and every one of them with a job offer because of how positive they had been.  But alas and alak I never got the call.
A friend of mine, Jackie, whom I had worked with before at my previous job, had told me about one place, but it didn't pan out.  So on Tuesday night when she texted me and let me know her sister was moving out of state and was looking for her replacement, I was hopeful but not too skeptical. 
Wednesday morning I called her office but she wasn't in yet.  I had a temp agency that I had already made an appointment with so I had to leave to make the appointment.  I'd had a phone interview with her and seemed rather optimistic about the possibilities.  I knew for sure I would get there and leave with a job.  I was told after I filled out all of the paperwork that they would submit it to the place that had an opening and see if they would like to try me out.  It was a temp to hire.  I left with no job.
When I got into the car I called Jackies sister one more time.  Tada!!!  She answered.  She said to come on over.  The owners were in and maybe they could interview me right away.  I went.
I am now employed. 
That morning as I left my house to go to these places, I prayed, "Father God, You know I need a job.  (as if He didn't know, so I reminded Him).  If either one of these places are where You want me to be let them offer me a job right away and then I will know."
I left the temp agency without a job and I had been there over an hour.  I had not been at the other place for more than 15 minutes when I was pretty much told I had the job. 
They said if Vickie, Jackies sister, felt comfortable with me, then they knew I would be able to do the job.  Vickie said that Jackie had really talked me up and that she felt very comfortable with me. 
I have knowledge of a lot of job requirements.  I turned in a fabulouse resume.  But they didn't look at it.  Vickie had vouched for me because Jackie had told her about me and she trusted Jackie.
I realized it wasn't what you know most of the time but who you know.
Yesterday I heard a minister on the radio talk about that very thing and it sunk in. 
Some day, soon I hope, we will all stand before God.  It could be because of death or the rapture.  Whatever the reason, when we stand there hoping to get into heaven, I know that I will have filled a lot of requirements.  I read my bible.  I pray.  But more importantly I know the person in charge of the gatekeeper.  When he looks at the book I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my name will be in it.  I will be able to look into heaven and see my Lord and Saviour.  I will be able to tell St. Peter with a smile on my lips and a bubble of joy in my heart and point to the one who paid it all and proudly say "I'm with Him."
So, who do you know?

Autumn Task

Autumn Task
by Darla Kinion
September 30, 2012

The Autumn Task
of picking fallen leaves
of golden hues from burgundy trees
That pile so high
playing in the wind
Dancing, if you will,
they cannot stand still
With swirls and twirls
of laughter and delight
making their flight
to the turning ground
To be swept in heaps,
piled high the leaves
of golden hues from burgundy trees
Oh my, how grand,
this autumn task at hand.

                                                                                                     Picture by:  Rici Zaremba
                                                                                                       

Wake Up Call!!!!

Christians of America, Jewish Americans, and any one else who says they love this country, I beg of you, I implore of you, VOTE!!!
Vote this man, this imposter of a president, out of office.  Vote this man who would convince many that he should be the one that represents us.  He does not represent America, at least not the America that I know.  Not the America that is born on the shoulders of men that fought for freedoms.  Freedoms that he would gladly take away in a heartbeat.  And like the Pied Piper many are following him.  Listening to his foolish talk.  Listening to him as he apologizes for America.  I do not need an apology.
We are a great nation.  A proud nation.  We need to stand up and be strong once again.  We need to stand and be counted.  Counted worthy of our heritage. 
We need to stand true to the ally that we have in Israel.  Our only true ally in the middle east.
We should never count the loss of our people, human beings, that are murdered and martyred in the name of islam as "bumps in the road."  Are we fools that we think that a film would turn a country on it's heels like that?  It was not a film, it was a deep hatred for America and Americans.
What is the matter with him?  You would wonder why a man would look at these slain men, these men that were standing for you and me, and consider them as "bumps in the road."  But then you look at his policies and realize as a supporter of abortion he has no respect for life at all. 
You look at a man who is as transparent as mud and wonder why instead of vetting people into office he appoints them as Czars, making them even more powerful over Congress.  Why, if he doesn't like the law or if he does not think that it is going his way he just makes it a mandate and no one gets a voice?
Christian, Jew, and anyone else that falls under the catagory of one who loves this country and wants to see it strong again, VOTE!!!!  It is not anyone elses responsibility.  It is yours.
Little by little this man is taking away your freedoms, he is tearing America down, one statute, one apology, at a time.  If re-elected he will destroy this America as we know it.
There are those of you who do not believe me.  Those of you who do not think the changes he is trying to maneuver will affect you, you have another thing coming, that is unless you like being a muslim and their way of life or if you like sharia law. 
Women, if you value your freedoms, then you had better take a good hard look at this wolf in sheeps clothing.  For surely he has no respect for our country nor for the people for whom he serves, and that especially includes you.  I pity his wife and daughters for they will not be exempt from his sharia way of life.  I think he even has himself fooled into thinking that they will be.  But he is only a fool who fools himself.
I think he believes that he can control other countries by apologizing for America and making us cowtow and bow down to these other countries who so strongly hate us.  I guess he was too busy doing the Letterman show to see the news of Our Flag and his face being burned and stepped all over.  I believe they were shouting "Death to Obama and Death to America."  No exclusion there.
I cannot tell you who will be voted into office.  If God deems that Oblama be re-elected then that is what will happen, but I do know that as Christians we are to do everything that we can to keep that from happening.  By praying, by voting, by lifting our voices and speaking out against the atrocities that have been unleashed on us.  Just like in Sodom and Gomorrah, can we not find enough Godly men and women that will stand and do the right thing to keep the hounds of hell at bay?
God has a plan.  I don't know what it is.  I only know that I am not going to vote for Oblama.  If God sees fit to keep him in office I know I will have done my part.  After that I pray that God will give me strength and wisdom and courage to go through whatever hell will be unleashed.
I am sure the Children of Israel were not happy with the leadership of Pharoah while they were in Israel, but our God brought them through.  I am sure that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo were not happy with the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar they were thrown into, but God brought them through the flames.  I am sure that Peter and especially James and the early church were not happy with the leadership of Harod Agrippa and others that were put in charge over them, but the church survived and thrived.   I don't know what it is going to take to make America wake up and realize that we, as well as everyone around the world, are in need of a savior.  But I do know that I serve a BIG God and that He is faithful and just and He will keep His hand on His people.
But like I said, if God sees fit to allow this thing to come to pass then so be it.  My only hope and prayer is to be read up and prayed up so that I can stand and fight the good fight.  Maybe, like Esther, we are here for such a time as this.  To pray and be a covering over America and Israel.  But just so you know, I will not go down without a fight.  I will not be lazy and let someone else do what I should be doing.  I WILL VOTE!!!