Simply Faith

Is He The One?

2022-04-03T13:59:00.001-05:00

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts..."

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

When you read about Jesus' life from the very beginning the question was always, Really, he's the one? or How could he be the one? Look where he came from. Look at his family. "Can anything good come from that?" Over and over and over again, from his conception to today, the question has always been there. For those of us who believe, it is possible. But I am reminded of the father who said to Jesus, "I believe. Help my unbelief."

Long before Jesus was born, the prophets were telling of the one that would come to save God's chosen people. For hundreds of years the stories were told of he that would come and rescue them from their oppression, from their own foolishness, from everything bad that surrounded and was within them. Everyone knew he would come riding in on a stallion with his armies of men to beat and kill and take what they believed to have been stolen from them, their rights, their humanity, their comfort, their luxuries. One day God would send that person, that guy, to save them and they would never have to worry again. God would provide.

And so they waited. Through all of the prophets. Through all of the kings. Through all of the rabbis and priests and Pharisees and Sadducees. And they asked over and over again, “Is HE the one?” Each one a new hope, new dreams, new plans, but each one dashed into disappointment and yet another lost moment.

Until this person named Jesus. He wasn’t the first to be named that, nor was he the last. He wasn’t even the first one from Nazareth. The rumors began from the very moment of his conception. Elizabeth saw it and felt it, remember? Her unborn baby leapt in her womb. You know she had to tell Zechariah. Did she tell others? Wouldn’t you? If you had seen the miraculous things they had seen and been a part of, wouldn’t you share what you knew to be true?

The religious leaders he spoke with when he was twelve, the ones he sat with, the ones he stayed with when his parents couldn’t find him on their journey home after the Passover celebration. Surely someone or several someones told others about the amazing things this child shared. He told them, "Where else would I be but in my father's house?"

Or those at the wedding celebration where Mary asked and Jesus turned the water into wine. Those that witnessed that miracle shared with others; you know they did. That’s what we humans do. That’s what this particular medium, this online storytelling, is all about. “I know something that you don’t know so I will share it with all of you.” It’s our very nature.

The followers who were with him every day thought they knew it. “He’s the one! Come with us and see!” And the numbers grew and grew wherever he was. “He’s the one! The time will come when he will shed this mask of servitude and poverty and show us all that he’s the one. Just wait!”

Jesus said the time was near so preparations were being made. It’s easy now to look back and see that they all missed his message, “It won’t be like you think. God doesn’t see things the way that you all see things. That’s what I’ve been trying to teach you. Listen! It won’t be what you think.”

But no one understood. When he washed their feet and dined with the sinners. When he healed those whom others wanted to stone they whispered among themselves. When he ‘misinterpreted’ what was clearly written in the Book of Moses. Wait, was he the one? He clearly wasn’t acting the way they had believed for all time the savior would act.

And then the week arrived. This would be it! Now he would finally show himself to be who they believed him to be! After all, he said the "The time is at hand." Hallelujah! And still he told them, “It won’t be as you think.”

So when he was arrested, they couldn’t believe in him as the savior. God’s savior, God’s appointed king, wouldn’t allow himself to be arrested, beaten, and hung on a cross! He must be an imposter! He doesn’t fit what we think a savior should be so he’s not the one. Forget that we followed him for years, that we saw with our own eyes the miracles he performed. It was all magic! We knew it all the time! He’s a fake! I told you so!

Even his closest friends and followers gave up. It wasn’t true. He wasn’t the one. He didn’t do what we thought he would do so he’s not the one. He was a great friend, a wonderful teacher, but he just wasn’t the one.

And I would suggest more than two thousand years later, we are still waiting for that guy, the one. You know, the one who will ride in on his stallion, leading his great army to save us. We watch the news. We listen to our politicians. We believe that the great leader, the Savior, will come riding in one day soon and finally rescue us from this great mess we have created, never really understanding that he was here and we ignored all of his pleas, all of his teachings, all of his love.

He was here. He was the one. And we missed it.

We look to entertainers. We look to politicians. We look to presidents. We look to anyone who will tell us what we want to hear and make us believe we can count on them to show us the way. He was here. But he didn’t say and do the things we thought he would.

And we still ask, “Is he the one?” I would suggest that there will still be some of us who won't recognize him when he does (the Bible tells us so). I would suggest that as much as some folks claim they read their Bible, and I don't doubt it, that like those folks who walked and talked with him, there will be some who won't recognize him because he still won't look and act like they think he should look and act.

And the question will be, "Is He the one?"

“I don’t think the way you think.

  The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
  God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
  so the way I work surpasses the way you work,

and the way I think is beyond the way you think..."

Isaiah 55:8-9 MSG

Reflections…

2021-11-16T08:55:00.001-06:00

Reflections…

1. The return of light or sound waves from a surface.

2. An image produced by or as if by a mirror

3. Something that brings blame or disgrace

4. Careful thought

Each definition comes back to something emitted and something coming back from it.

We have had some beautiful sunrises and sunsets here the last few days. It is my favorite time each day but I’ve come to realize that it isn’t the sun, itself, that I enjoy as much as the reflections the sun creates with the rest of the sky – the clouds and the jet streams, the birds and mother nature. Too many clouds don’t allow the light to shine through, but a few scattered clouds and that little bit of sun on the horizon and you have something uniquely beautiful. I can lean out on my rail and see the peak of the sun but, by itself, it isn’t all that impressive. It’s what it does along with the rest of the sky that makes it beautiful.

From my living room I cannot actually see the sun in the east or west but I can sit in my living room and enjoy the reflections across the sky from either direction. Years ago I taught a science lesson about all of the reasons the light becomes so colorful. The kids were so impressed by how we were able to split the colors from the light so reflecting on that memory fills me with warm feels as I reminisce about the students and their excitement.

But as I sit here this morning soaking in the reflections from the sky bouncing from one cloud to another, I am amazed at how that little bit of light in the east is able to spread across the entire length of the sky. As it bounces off the clouds it becomes more colorful and spreads further still and I think about how like people that is.

We all know those people that are just a joy to be around and wherever you meet them they are the light. It is impossible to be radiant all of the time, but these people always help you to feel better just by being near them. It feels good. It feels hope-filled.

Then there are those folks we know that we go out of our way to avoid because, instead of light, they reflect mostly darkness. It feels bad. It feels discouraging. It feels cold to be near them. Spending a little time with them makes you feel like you need air to breathe again. There is only despair and discouragement. They may be very nice people but it just doesn’t feel good to be with them. It seems, in these virus-filled, politically-filled times, that there are more and more of these folks. It’s understandable.

So I ask myself…what am I reflecting this morning and the rest of this day? Do I reflect the light with all of its colors dancing across the sky or do I reflect the darkness and gloom?

It’s worth reflecting on.

I Just Gotta Ask ... WHY?

2019-04-24T11:17:00.003-05:00

I have a question. Not surprising, I know, coming from me. My son says that the new license tag on my car ending in Y4S is absolutely appropriate for me (I didn’t choose it, it just happened). You see, I have to know why. If you can explain to me the ‘why’ of something, then I can wrap my head around it and assimilate it into my being. If not, then I am lost. I’m sorry, I just am.

Just like algebra. My younger brother used to help me with it and I remember asking him why? “Why do you do it? How do you know you’re supposed to do it?” When his answer was simply, “You just do,” I was lost. I never ever really understood it. There is no ‘why.’

I have spent the better part of my life looking for the ‘why.’ 'Why' does that child behave like that? 'Why' does that agency or organization do it that way? I always liked the quote from Bobby Kennedy, “Some men see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.” But I think it comes back to understanding ‘why’ they are as they are. Then you can make changes. Because I am always ready for the ‘why not?’

Now, this idea of examining the ‘why’ tends to freak some folks out. Like my brother with my math. He would get so frustrated with me, “It just is,” he would tell me. Don’t look! Don’t ask! Just accept! It is what it is! That’s why he’s the accountant and I’m the teacher, I guess. Numbers are finite. I like the infinite.

So, here’s my question. In this day of sides and tribalism and, honestly, hatefulness towards those who think differently from us, ‘why’ is it that we’re fixated on other people to give us the answers?

Jesus spent thirty-three years walking this earth, three in ministry and teaching, and I don’t remember one time that he said anything other than, "Look at me. I am the way." Today, everyone is so intent on their side being right and the other being wrong, but what if we’re ALL wrong?

Don’t we have our eyes in the wrong place? ‘Why’ do we think a stacked Supreme Court (either way) is going to make our world better? ‘Why’ do we think Congress being one-sided will fix everything? 'Why' do we need a president from our party, not theirs? ‘Why’ are you just plain wrong, and I am right?

Tell me where Jesus said this was how we were to handle life.

I don’t remember anywhere that Jesus said believers should go to those people in charge to find solutions. In fact, what I do remember is him saying, when asked, to "give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s." It seems to me there is separation there.

I don’t find in scripture anywhere that Jesus said, “ Here's the plan: Let’s get more Jews involved in the government and then we’ll have the power.” Or “If we can only get a majority of those who think like us, then…”

Didn’t he say we are to be in the world, but not of the world? Didn’t he say his ways were beyond our ways? And yet, aren’t we trying to make his ways fit our ways? Isn’t this the very same lesson the Jewish people kept getting wrong throughout the Bible?

Didn’t he say it was really simple…"Love each other and, more than that, love God?" How does that fit what we’re doing?

How many times did the church kids ask me as we studied the bible stories, “And they just did it again! Why didn’t they learn? They mess up. God punishes them. God forgives them. Start over. 'Why' didn’t they learn?”

You know, that’s a very good question. We have a really good history book that lays it out for us, over and over again, how division and hatred and animosity and vengefulness tore apart the chosen ones time and time again.

'Why' didn't they learn? That's a very good question.

MY ONE WORD

2018-12-27T09:26:00.000-06:00

For the past couple of years now I lead a study in which we chose a word to guide the coming days, the next year. My very first word is still posted on my refrigerator and speaks to me as I work as a reminder that it is not necessary for me to have absolute control. Now, this is an idea that does not come easily to me first, by my very nature and second, as I'm discovering, by my life experiences. My first word was BE. Simple, right? Just BE...to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted. Let me tell you, it's far easier sounding than doing! And what I also discovered was that God was about to give me all kinds of lessons in practicing that simple little two-letter word.

I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid.

John 14:27

Message: Stop being the busy little bee and just be.

So the second year I was better prepared to choose a word that would, perhaps, be a little easier. Oh, such foolhardiness! POSITIVE...meaning find the positive, be the positive. As prepared as I thought I was, I had no idea what God would lay out for me over the course of this year and being POSITIVE, finding the POSITIVE was not always easy. In fact, a lot of days I didn't find it. I would start each morning with scripture and quotes and prayer to lead me and I would end each night with the same but I have to admit, in looking back over the past 361 days, I fear I failed more than I succeeded...oops! Darn it! See how difficult it is?

While the first year held all nature of challenges to BE, POSITIVE went beyond anything I could have imagined. Major illness, loss of a job, moving to a new community in a new state, leaving such dear loved ones...

It has been a challenge to be sure and I have not been very successful, especially in these last few days of the year.

Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth.

Say only what helps, each word a gift.

Ephesians 4:29

Your challenge is not your challenge.

Now it is time to choose a new word and I have to admit that I'm more than a little gun-shy. My goodness, the simple little word that is chosen carries so much power! Who knew?

I have been a teacher in one capacity or another for over forty years. I know words and I know how powerful they can be to build or destroy, but I never understood the power of a single word and the impact it can have in shaping who we are. Choosing one word changes our focus from so many things that are demanding our attention every moment of every day to one thing. And that one thing, that one word, begins to change you from the inside out.

As I read through my journal that I, quite honestly, had set aside over the past several months I find that perhaps I have learned more than I realized. If nothing else, I caught myself as I was heading down that less than POSITIVE road. While my goal was to do my best to totally eliminate the negativity in my head and mouth, maybe I've taken some steps to at least recognize, if not apologize, for the fear that came through. That's really what it was...fear. Anger over other's actions or inactions. You know, anger is really just a cover for some other emotion. So mine is ... Fear... of not being in control (see that little two-letter word again)? Fear for someone else. Fear of someone else. Fear that ... Oh my goodness! Do you see how easy it is to forget?

BE. POSITIVE. And the next word is...

I really don't know. I have started my list and I'll begin to work through the words to eventually choose one. God has brought me through some challenges as I've chosen these words that I couldn't have imagined and He will see me through the next. I have learned to BE, mostly. I have learned to look for and find the POSITIVE, sometimes. But most of all I have learned that whatever word I choose, the Lord will lead me through it. It might be a bumpy ride full of surprises but here's what came to me this morning,

"God does not call us to a safe faith. He does not promise that we will have a clear view of all that lies ahead. He does not promise us simplicity. Instead, He invites us to embrace a vibrant faith that trusts Him. A faith that is alive and energized, in spite of the unsteady unknowns. His arms are not too short to save and His ears are not dull to hear. He is powerful, capable, compassionate, merciful, holy, just, and faithful." (from Girlfriends in God, Help for a Heart That Worries, by Gwen Smith).

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor is his ear to dull to hear.”

Isaiah 59:1

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3

Hmm...maybe I should add that word to my list.

Everyday Hope

2018-12-04T10:41:00.002-06:00

Every day can be like Christmas in its love and its peace if our hearts open up and make room for love. The holy child is waiting to be born in every instant, not just once a year. Marianne Williamson

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. Psalm 51:15 AMP

So, here we are in this first week of the season of Advent.

My life took a turn six weeks ago that, while not totally unexpected, surprised me none-the-less. The church that I have worked for over the past seven and a half years, struggling with giving, eliminated my position.

Boom! Just like that I was out of a job.

It was time. I had said years ago when I took the position, that five to seven years would be about right. If we hadn’t made a difference in that time, it was not possible and it would be time to “shake the dust off my feet and move on.”

It has been a tumultuous year…retirement (sorta, kinda) of an old staff member, new staff member totally ill-equipped for the position, church literally torn up as new roof and re-working of the sanctuary took place, old staff person back – temporarily, new equipment in place and working, new staff member in place, son is very ill, budget problems at the church…manufactured budget problems, but budget problems none-the-less. Gotta have a secretary. Gotta have a custodian. Can’t change the minister until the Bishop and Cabinet make the switch.

Program director can go.

Really. I was OK with it. Not ok with the way they did it, but ok that it happened. It was time.

These were the same issues they were dealing with when I walked in all those years ago. Same people causing it. Obviously, not much learned here.

As the pastor said to me one day, “Where is Christ in all of this? Do they not know him? There is someone waiting in every corner to attack.” And he was right. He was discouraged. I was disheartened. We had worked so hard. He likened himself to the Apostle Paul. I have tended to think of myself as Elijah. Not that we are that holy, please don’t misunderstand, but that they just never seemed to catch a break. They worked and worked to help others know Christ and they ended up in prison again and again. They had to run away and hide so as not to be killed by the queen. All because they knew the Lord and they wanted others to know him too.

But you can’t make people learn. I know this. Years of teaching has taught me this lesson.

So, I have lost my job and, more than that, I have lost my church.

God continues to provide and next week I will start a new job in a new place. While it will still be a few weeks before we will be able to physically move there, the work will begin and I am looking forward to going back to my early childhood days in a new state and city. New challenges. New friends.

And I look forward to being able to attend the church of my choice, rather than having to be at work. I look forward to NOT being responsible for the details that get overlooked by the volunteers so that it all flows seamlessly. I look forward to worshiping God and relaxing in his sanctuary.

It did not go unnoticed by me that this past Sunday was the first Sunday in Advent. And, while I have not attended church outside of my living room, I have worshiped God right here in my own sanctuary, the place he has given me to lay down my head for the past six years. Andy Stanley has been leading me through The Bible for Grownups. If you haven’t seen this study, I would encourage you to do so. It’s not about the Bible stories that we’ve all heard since we were children. It’s about how the Bible came to be The Bible. I’ve taught a big part of what he teaches here, but he puts it together so much better than I ever could.

And it made me think. The first Sunday of Advent. The Sunday of HOPE. That’s a good thought for this Sunday in my life. I think I’ve spent the last year or more trying desperately to hang on to hope…for my church, for my son, for my future.

And then I had lunch with one of my young friends. He, too, is struggling with this decision…how does the behavior of some of these people fit with what we have taught him (church people are still people – completely fallible and every one of us struggling to get through the day looking at least a very little bit like Christ).

So when I read this quote by Marianne Williamson, someone I have followed for over thirty-five years, that little flame in my heart flickered and I asked the question, “Why do we wait for this one month out of the year?”

Christmas is about love and peace. Wars have stopped for just this one day to remember. People spend four weeks in parties and concerts and caroling and baking and shopping and …

Why is this?

Jesus didn’t come so we would celebrate his birthday once a year; so we can have big parties and celebrations. He wasn’t opposed to parties and celebrations but if we make these things the pathway to Christ, then we’ve really missed the purpose of his coming.

For over four hundred years people had been crying for the Messiah. They wanted to be saved. They envisioned the leader riding in on his stallion, bringing his vast army to very publicly defeat everything bad in their lives. “PLEASE save us,” they cried. And they waited. Few had hope. Most had determined, like me – I’m afraid, that this was it. This was all there might ever be.

And then a baby was born.

Not at all like they had assumed it would happen and because it didn’t happen the way they thought it would, many wouldn’t believe it.

But it did. And if we make it all about that night, we have missed his message. Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. If we know him, not of him, but really know him, we are filled with these things. Even when we begin to wonder if perhaps we’ve been wrong about all of it, when we know him that little flame is still there and he reaches down into our very being and reminds us.

“I know,” he says. “I’ve been where you are. I know how tired you are, how discouraged you are, how painful this has been. I know and I’m here.”

Instead of filling every moment of this season with all the ‘stuff’ we normally do, what if we were to take this time and be still with Him? How would our season of Advent and our remembrance of the birth of our Savior be different, if we hadn’t worn ourselves out doing all the things we all do?

I have HOPE that each one of us will find that time and place to be still with him and when we do, then we’ll praise him every day, we’ll celebrate him every day, we’ll honor him every instant of every day. And then…

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. Psalm 51:15 AMP

My Heart Is His

2018-11-12T10:48:00.000-06:00

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18

I haven't written for a while, here or anywhere else. Lots of reasons but mostly I couldn't put my thoughts together. I needed a little time to 'be still' and allow GOD to work in his time.

Have you ever noticed that it's always the last thing we do...when we've done all we can do, then we pray, then we leave it at the cross? Why is that? After all, if we truly know Christ, then the first thing we should do is go there, right?

It's just backwards from the way we human beings think, and isn't that exactly what my one of my favorite scriptures says, "My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts," or, as the New Living Translation says, "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8.

So, why is it that we try to fix it first and then take it to the LORD?

I was reading an article the other day listing six signs that you're under spiritual attack. Huh, interesting; I wonder what those might be. Satan isn't something I talk about a lot. I recognize his presence in the world and I have taught the kids that that presence is the force that produces the ugliness in the world, but I don't spend a lot of time there. I prefer to focus my energy on the good, on GOD.

So I was reading this article and as I went down the list, it became apparent to me that of the six attacks I was facing all but one of them. As my pastor said to me not too long ago, "It feels like they're coming from every corner," and he was right. It certainly felt that way.

Here's what has come to me as I've processed the last few weeks...

It's not our fight.

This fight is in the spiritual realm and there is NOTHING we can do to win it. In fact, it's already been won.This particular battle may be over and it might appear that 'the good guys' have lost, but the war is the LORD'S and he doesn't lose.

He may decide that this particular battle is over, it's not worth the fight on this front right now, but the war is HIS. He knows our deepest thoughts. He knows our hearts. He knows what we need and when we need it.

I said to someone not so long ago, "I'm so tired. I need a break from this, at least for a while. Wouldn't it be nice to have an 8:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday job with the flexibility to set my own schedule? Something that didn't take everything I have? A place that I can rest for a while. Something with some benefits and, maybe even, advancement. A place where I can get my life back. Not that I minded giving everything I have to this place, but I have found that my well is dry. In trying to serve the LORD with everything I have, I am depleted."

"But I'll serve as long as you want me to, Lord!"

My new job will, probably, begin soon. It is back in childcare, where I spent so much time in my early days in Nebraska. It will be 8:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday. I will set my own schedule working from home two days a week and out visiting childcare homes three days. I will have better benefits than I have had since I was in the public school system. It is something that I can advance in, across the country.

Do you see that?

I keep thinking of Elijah as he ran from Jezebel..."Just kill me now," he said. "I am done." And GOD took him to the wilderness and then to shelter where he was fed, cared for and given an assistant.

I am certainly no Elijah, please don't misunderstand! I would never make that comparison, but isn't that what the Bible is about...finding those stories in which we can find ourselves?

And then know that GOD was with them and if he can be with them, then he'll be with me too...as long as my heart is his.

I cannot tell you more about what my immediate (or long-term) future holds and, to be honest, if I start thinking about all of the answers yet to come...where will we live, can we make ends meet in the city...how will this affect my son...

I become overwhelmed.

But you all know me. I look for the lessons. What is the lesson in this?

God is still good (and always will be).

I can trust him to do what is best.

I am wonderfully loved.

Whatever is in store for us, GOD will be there.

I want to thank you for all the love and support you have given over the past days, months, and years. You have served as the hands and hearts of God and we have felt it.

Thank you!

And thank you, Most Dear Heavenly Father!

Does Truth Exist Anymore?

2017-01-16T10:38:00.000-06:00

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

I was just reading my last post, from just before the election of our newest president, and I admit I had to chuckle. I meant what I said at the time, but I've had a little more time to watch and observe over the past couple of months, and, I have to tell you, I am greatly concerned. I'm talking about two things here: first, the man who is so openly and freely cutting and slashing anyone and everyone who dares to disagree with him about anything; and second, and perhaps more importantly, this country that is so divided.

Let's start with the man. I had hoped, during the campaign, that a lot of what he was doing was to win votes and assure himself the presidency. We have seen in the aftermath, that this is just the man. I don't expect any human being to be perfect in every way nor do I expect him (or her) to always rise to the occasion and be 'presidential,' but I do expect my president, the president of the United States of America, to be a grown-up, to handle things in a mature and responsible way. I don't expect that I will always agree with what this person does, but I do expect them to behave in a way commensurate with the office. The campaign is over and the work needs to begin. This president, our president, is not CEO of a corporation, he is the President. How can I expect the children and youth that I work with to behave responsibly with the leader of the free world is setting the precise example I'm trying to teach them not to be? You can watch him on video, you can read his tweets, you can read interviews that he has done. His very words and actions are out there to be consumed.

And here's where we get to the second concern. I just don't understand how those of us consuming this information can be so divided. How can two people, good friends and family, sit and watch exactly the same thing and come away with such alternate universe interpretations of what we've just watched? I know these people. I know their hearts and they are some of the kindest, most loving people I've ever known and when they don't see what I just know I saw, I begin to question my own sanity. I watched our president-elect mock and belittle a handicapped person, not once but three different times. It wasn't a video that came later. It was live at his events. I watched. I heard. I wanted to find something in this man that I could support. And instead I watched him, on live television, mocking a handicapped reporter who had written something this man didn't like.

I watched and heard him on that bus talking about the way he treats women. This behavior wasn't terribly surprising to me given that the man has been married three times and I've heard him in the past, not reported, I've heard him with his own mouth, talk about the way he ranks women. While I don't agree with it or condone it, as a private citizen I guess he has the right to behave that way, just as I have the right to oppose that behavior, but as President of the United States, we would hope that this person would have better moral fiber than what we have heard and witnessed. And yet, again, my friends who would never behave in this manner or condone such behavior, supported this man and still do as our president.

I just can't wrap my head around this dichotomy. How can people so loving, kind and generous to everyone they meet, be so eager to overlook or just plain not see what this man blatantly is in every fiber of his being? Those pictures just don't fit together in my head. As troubled as I am about this man being our president, and believe me I have grave concerns about his emotional and mental health, I am more troubled by this lack of understanding between my friends and myself. I ask myself how it is possible that they don't see what I see? How can they not hear what I hear? And, how did I not see this division between us before now?

I always knew that we disagreed on politics. While I am not as far left as some of my friends, I'm fairly far to the left in equal proportion to my friends on the right. And they are my friends, my chosen family. I sit and listen to them discuss their concerns about the government and the economy and I always assumed that our differences were mostly political, but now I am wondering what I missed. Because when I listen to them now, they are espousing 'information' and 'truths' that have long-ago been dispelled. There is evidence to the contrary, many times over but they can't or won't let go of those beliefs that they heard and agreed with on some show or read in some book that has to be more correct than nine other sources telling them something different. They don't even question. They know. They are correct and, poor me, 'she just doesn't understand.'

How in the world did we get here? Is there just so much 'information' available in our world today that we no longer know how to disseminate it? How do you sift through all of the newsfeeds and the blogs and the books and the magazine articles and the television shows and... How? Well, we find those celebrities - news or otherwise - that we trust. They have to know better than us, right? It's what they do for a living so they have to know. AND, they agree with me so they must be right.

Walter Cronkite is gone. Huntley and Brinkley are gone. Most of us trusted them. They reported the news - period. There were no personal views or ideologies given. Just the news and if you wanted more information then you looked at the news magazines or the newspapers. If you wanted someone's opinion you read the op-ed page, but you understood that it was just that - someone's opinion, hopefully based on facts, but it was their opinion. Understood.

It seems that now we just look for someone who's opinion matches our own and then whatever we agree on must be the truth. So I wanted to know what the definition of truth was today.

Truth: 1)that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality; 2) a fact or belief that is accepted as true.

Did you know that this definition has changed over the years? It's true (pun intended). The definition of truth from the 1898 Merriam-Webster dictionary says this:

Truth -

1) ...exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be...

2) True state of facts or things.

3) Conformity of words to thought, which is called moral truth.

4) Veracity; purity from falsehood.

5) Correct opinion.

6) Fidelity, Constancy.

7) Honesty, Virtue.

8) Exactness, Conformity to Rule.

9) Real fact of just principle.

10) Sincerity.

11) Jesus Christ is called the truth, John 14.

Now, I guess I need you to help me. I don't understand how 'truth' can change. It seems to me that if you look at the first two definitions, the modern ones, we have taken the second one moreso than the first. Instead of looking at 'that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality', we have decided that 'a fact' or, more importantly, 'a belief, is accepted as true.'

I understand that two of us can watch the same accident and come away with two very different stories of the event. Our life experiences have left us to interpret those events in our own, unique way. But somewhere in the midst of those varying accounts, is the truth, the actual event.

When that kid stole that car that morning in Kansas City and ran from police through an intersection and t-boned the car my son and his father were in, there were lots of witnesses, with lots of versions of the story, but there was one truth to the event. There was the lady whose apartment this young man entered in an attempt to hide from the police. Her version of the story was not the same as the lady whose car had been hit by the car my son and his dad were in. Different stories, but one truth.

When did it become accepted practice to only accept MY version as the truth? "I am right. You are wrong. Always. In every circumstance. Period. Just you wait. I'll find someone who will agree with me and we'll show you truth." When did that happen?

The Father in heaven must be so saddened, yet again, at our failure. Jesus Christ is THE Truth and I know that looking for answers here in this world is probably a futile effort and yet, I am human, and I want to know how this happened? What did I miss? What happened to Veracity, Correct Opinion, Fidelity, Honesty, Virtue, Exactness, and Real Fact of Just Principle? There can be none if your 'real facts,' your 'exactness,' and your 'just principle' cannot find common ground with mine.

I used to always believe that there was nothing our country couldn't survive. We were a godly people. We were a just people. We were a people founded on the love of God and love of the independence to practice our beliefs in our own way. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit would lead us if we would only submit to their authority. We would always be invincible because we allowed God to show us the way.

But your God has become different from my God. Your God is judgmental and vindictive. My God is loving and kind. My God says, "Let him without sin cast the first stone." Your God says, 'An eye for an eye.' If that is what we all believe and practice, how will we not all end up blind? Or are we blind already and I just didn't recognize it?

When Pilate asked Jesus, "But you are a king then?" Jesus responded, "Yes, I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth are my followers." Pilate then asks, "What is truth?"

Matthew Henry's Commentary says this: Christ gave an account of the nature of his kingdom. Its nature is not worldly; it is a kingdom within men, set up in their hearts and consciences; its riches spiritual, its power spiritual, and its glory within. Its supports are not worldly; its weapons are spiritual; its needed not, nor used, force to maintain and advance it, nor opposed any kingdom but that of sin and Satan. Its object and design are not worldly. When Christ said, I am the Truth, he said, in effect, I am a King. He conquers by the convincing evidence of truth; he rules by the commanding power of truth. The subjects of this kingdom are those that are of the truth. Pilate put a good question, he said, What is truth? When we search the Scriptures, and attend the ministry of the word, it must be with this inquiry, What is truth? and with this prayer, Lead me in thy truth; into all truth. But many put this question, who have not patience to preserve in their search after truth; or not humility enough to receive it.

I think I find the most peace in this statement. We are all of us, we human beings, looking for TRUTH in the world. We are so very busy looking and doing, that we have forgotten to be. We're trying to fix it. We're trying to convince others. We're fighting for our beliefs instead of allowing the King to fight for us, allowing us to rest in his Truth, the only Truth. We 'have not patience to preserve in our search after truth; or not humility enough to receive it.' Truth is freely given to those who are willing to just be in it. It is not of this world. Thank God!

Enough!

2016-11-03T10:36:00.003-05:00

There’s an election coming up in a few days. Whew! Aren’t you glad I reminded you?

I have to admit that I’ve had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that either one of these people is going to be our president. I’d like to ask for a do-over, but since that is not possible (and who wants two more years of this) I’ve been trying to assimilate the fact into my head that I will need to support whichever one wins, because here’s the thing…I want the President to be successful in his/her efforts to be a good leader of our country. If they aren’t, the country isn’t. The reality is people are already deciding how they’re going to fight the winner (for four years) before they’ve even won and I am certain that the one thing I don’t want is four more years of fights.

Enough, already!

How about this? How about all of us proclaiming to be ‘good’ Christians, just ask God to do whatever and with whomever He chooses and TRUST that He will handle it. We don’t have to scream or holler or threaten or pout or worry or hide in our rooms for four years.

How about we show the world what Christians really are? And have FAITH in our God. Could we all just please do this?

This is from Bible Gateway's Encouragement for the Day...

How to Hug a Porcupine and Squeeze a Skunk (not saying which candidate is which)
KAREN EHMAN

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

I once worked as a substitute teacher. While that evokes images of chewing gum stuck to chairs and strategically placed “Kick me!” signs, this was not my experience. Sure, many of the kids were squirrely, but I never had an ounce of trouble with any of them.

Until one day.

That was the day the principal told me, “In third hour you will have a student named John Smith. Just send him down to the office before class starts. He’s known as Big Bad John, and he’s never successfully made it through even one hour with a sub. He will disrupt the class, bully others and try to make you look stupid. I want to spare you any confrontation.”

I knew exactly which student he meant and really wanted a chance to reach this troublemaker. So I petitioned the principal: “May I attempt to keep him in class and then send him to the office if he causes trouble? I’d love to try, if you don’t mind.”

“Be my guest,” he laughingly replied. “I’ll expect him shortly after class begins.”

Just before third period, a towering, husky student appeared in the doorway. He had on ripped jeans — before they were fashionable — and a soiled light blue T-shirt. I could tell from the way the students stayed back that his odor was as unpleasant as his appearance and personality. I shot up a quick prayer and greeted him.

With a smug look on his unwashed face, he boldly declared, “I suppose you’ve heard ’bout me. I’ll bet the principal told you to send me right to the office ’cause ain’t none of you subs able to handle me.”

“Nope,” I replied, just as quickly and confidently. “I heard you were going to be in my class, and I also heard you are a great kid. Do you mind helping me pass out these papers?”

Big Bad John wasn’t sure what to do. Some he threw on the floor. Another he used to play a game of keep-away with a girl in class. I followed behind him, corrected whatever he did, picking up the papers or gently taking one from his hand to give to a student. I thanked him when he was through, making no comment on his behavior.

Next, we watched a movie, and John began to act like his nickname. He was disruptive — not just talking but also taunting other students.

I walked over to his chair, squatted down, looked him in the eye and firmly but gently said, “Hey, look, John. I know that you have a reputation of never being able to make it through an hour with a substitute teacher. But I say today we show the principal a thing or two. I know you can cooperate. I know you are a good kid deep down inside. I’d love for that good kid to come out today and for us to be friends. Are you willing to give it a try, just this once?”

His countenance softened. For the last 15 minutes of class, John actually watched the movie without incident. After class, the school’s office staff buzzed with the news that this school bully had made it through an entire hour with a sub. After that, whenever I had John in class, he behaved well. In fact, when he saw me out at a basketball game or the grocery store, he smiled, waved and hollered, “Hi, lady.”

It’s easy to love those who are lovable. It’s a breeze to be kind to people you like. But to truly be patient and gentle toward someone who acts unloving or unbecoming is an altogether special assignment — one Jesus not only taught, but modeled.

He spent much of his time on earth with the not-so-popular people. He touched the leper. He granted dignity to the prostitute. He welcomed children and the tax collectors and those whom society rejected. Jesus modeled upside-down living and loving. And He urges us to do the same.

Let’s make it our aim not to just love the easy-to-love, but to hug the “porcupines” and squeeze the “skunks” in our lives, reaching those whose behavior and demeanor usually pushes people away rather than draws them in close.

Father, give me eyes to see through others’ tough exteriors to their hearts — hearts that so desperately need a loving touch from You through me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
John 15:17, “This is my command: Love each other.” (NIV)

Romans 12:9a, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.” (NLT)

I had a John, only his name was David. He was in my last fourth grade class. I’m trying hard to love either or both of these candidates and let me tell you it is not easy! But I know what God calls me to do and that is to love them and support whichever one wins. I don’t have to agree with them always and I can peacefully and thoughtfully support the issues I believe in, but the Bible tells me I am to support them…Romans 13:1; Acts 5:29; 1Peter 2:13-17; Titus 3:1; 1Timothy 2:1-3; Daniel 2:20-21.

Because it also says in the Bible… If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. Mark 3:24 It wasn’t the founding fathers who said it first…

Jesus did!

The Secret to Contentment

2016-07-21T10:33:00.002-05:00

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Philippians 4:12 (NIV)

We plan and dream. We imagine a life called us. And on the wings of our hopes we see "happily ever after" just over the horizon. The days come and go and dreams give birth to other dreams until our very happiness is put on a shelf, just out of reach. We wait for the day when our children are a little older or our husband's work schedule changes.

But waiting for the right circumstances to make us happy brings a tension all its own. Very often we mistake this tension as a sign that we are lacking something, but it is actually a tension born out of wanting what we do not have. Contentment, after all, is an inside job, and no amount of rearranging our lives will bring it to us. We must find it within ourselves.

The secret to contentment comes from understanding that where we are now is exactly where God wants us to be. He has a purpose for our lives, and He offers a peace that is separate from our circumstances. When we open our hearts to this, love comes rushing in the way the tide fills even the tiniest holes in the sand and blessings are scattered around like seashells.

Lord, help me grow in the holy habit of contentment by seeking Your presence and purpose for my life. Amen.

From 3-Minute Devotions for Women

by Barbour Books, 2013

Being American Isn't Easy

2016-07-08T11:42:00.000-05:00

"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.

Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free..."

"We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family, and American values and character, and you wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism. You tell them she's to blame for their lot in life..." (The American President, 1995).

I love this speech from the movie, The American President, because the words are so real, especially today in this United States. You can replace the name, 'Bob Rumson,' with whichever political candidate you might choose, but the message is still the same. Our president doesn't have a girlfriend, but his skin color is black. Insert that and you have the same message...

Or insert the message that those from a religion we don't know about or understand...

Or that ... well, you fill in the blank with anything you don't like or agree with.

There will always be someone 'different' from us on which to place the blame.

But here's what I know to be true, placing blame and scaring people doesn't solve the problems. It might win you an election, but the problems remain and, worse still, these actions create new and bigger problems.

For the first time in my adult life I am really afraid for my country, even more so than on September 11, 2001, because this time the threat is us. We are at a cross-roads where we must choose new leadership for our country. I have to agree that, given my choices, I would rather choose D - none of the above (not the first time this has happened), but as a citizen of the United States I owe it to my country to vote for the one I believe to be the best choice.

And here is how I will choose...

Which one will lead most closely to my Christian belief system?

That system is not based in anger, finger-pointing, division, and hatred. That system, my system, is based in love and grace. These are the things Christ came to earth to teach us.

We have just celebrated the anniversary of the birth of our great country. I've just re-watched all the videos and movies about how this country came to be and I LOVE them! This creation, as all creations, was HARD! There was disagreement after disagreement after disagreement, but there were enough clear heads that kept them focused on the end game, the prize, that, against all odds, it worked.

Our first president, George Washington, intended to retire from office after his first term, but was encouraged to continue because he saw the young country leaning towards political parties and division. He hoped that four more years of his leadership would calm the waters and establish the idea of one for all and all for one. Alas, after four more years, the tides were cast and political parties were already in place.

The purpose of those political parties? To further my beliefs over your beliefs, what I think is right over what you think is right. In other words...POWER and CONTROL.

Here's what Mr. Washington said, "...There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume..." (published in David C. Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796, under the title "The Address of General Washington To The People of The United States on his declining of the Presidency of the United States")

Mr. President, you were right. We are being consumed! We can point fingers and say that 'they' don't belong to the right party or the right religion or the right country or the right skin color, but as long as we keep pointing our fingers at 'them' our problems cannot be solved. Where are those leaders of so long ago who set aside personal wants and needs to fight for and create these United States of America? Where is the spirit of compromise and providing for the common good?

We know of only two times that Christ ever showed anger towards anyone. In both cases his anger was caused by ungodly attitudes and actions by those around him. These were the religious leaders, the men who knew 'the rules' better than most of the others and yet, Christ corrected them on several occasions telling them that God wasn't about the man-made rules. God was LOVE.

Look at who Christ spent his time with. He ate with those no one else would eat with. He spent his days and nights with the sinners and the sick and the hated. He was scorned and killed because his love and peace frightened and angered the general population. They liked the divisions, them and us. 'We are right and they are wrong!'

How, after all these years, can we miss the message of both of these men and so many more? God continues to send us these men and women of light and we all agree that their message is sound.

And then we continue to follow the loudest voices shouting just the opposite message.

I fear that one day all too soon God in heaven will be fed up with we human beings and decide that it is time to finish it. And all these 'Christian' folks who have shouted the loudest and condemned so many others will find that they have missed the opportunity presented to them.

We live in a great nation, founded in liberty and freedom and tremendous responsibility. God put us all here in this time, in this place, to do great things. We will live up to the challenges He has placed before us?

Will we rise to the challenge and become what He always intended us to be?

The choice is ours to make. I pray it will be 'the right one!'

I Think I'm Confused...

2015-11-16T13:25:00.000-06:00

I know that in the aftermath of Friday's attacks in Paris, all of us - everyone - is scared and when we are scared we say and do things we might not ordinarily do. This I know and understand.

And when you think about the rest of the story (Paris was not the only terrorist activity last week), it is extremely frightening!

But when I see hateful things posted by someone I know who claims to be a follower of Christ, I am concerned. I don't recall anywhere in the Bible where Jesus tells us this is the solution to anything. I've been reading from the prophets in my morning devotionals and I find it kind of alarming that so much of what the Israelites got wrong all those years ago, we seem to still get wrong. It's as if we have missed the message of Christ altogether.

Christ tried to make it really simple for us, given that we have failed so very many times. He said, "Do two things...just two. And if you do these two things, everything else will fall into place. Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all of your mind. AND love your neighbor as you love yourself. And your neighbor is anyone."

You know, Ekeziel tried to warn the people of God of some of the same things we're facing today, but mostly it came down to this...do you have faith and trust in God, the father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Jesus, to take care of us? Can you say, unequivocally, that your faith in God is strong enough to deal with what needs to be taken care of, OR do you think you are stronger and wiser than God and YOU have the answers, or your political party has the answers to 'fix' all these issues.

This war is not a new war. It's the war that has been waged since the Garden of Eden. It is evil versus good (God). Time and again you can read about it in the Bible and time and again you can learn about those who trusted and those who didn't and the repercussions of each.

The geographic nature of our country has made it possible to remain isolated from some of this evil until relatively recently. Our world has become smaller. Not in geographic size, but technology has made it smaller in our ability to talk, to reach across oceans and land masses to join together, for good and for bad.

We can become like those that we presume to be better than and threaten and shoot and bomb and terrorize and, believe me, I'm not opposed to eradicating these people from the face of the earth, but we must understand that, unless we allow Christ, our Lord and Savior, to lead the way as Commander in Chief, we are destined to the same fate as all who have gone before us. We cannot use the name of the Lord and then go about our business without him.

I heard our president say this morning, as he addressed the press during the G20 Summit, that there is a strategy, one that our partners around the world have agreed to, for the most part, and have allowed the United States to carry mostly as our own load. As of last night, France has agreed to shoulder more of that load and, hopefully, in the coming days and weeks, other countries will extend their help further as well.

But make no mistake, we can drop all of the bombs and shoot as many of these terrorists as we want, we can spend hours and hours on social media complaining about our leadership and posting all kinds of hate-filled messages, but until we make Christ the leader of this campaign against evil - and I mean each one of us in our homes, in our prayers, in our churches, and in our communities - we cannot win this battle. Instead of trying to divide ourselves into them (anyone we don't like or understand) and us (all who think like I do), we need to be embracing each other and joining together in the name of God. Instead of running down our President and his efforts, we should be lifting him up in prayer so that God moves him in the direction that God would have him go. Instead of dividing into your political party and mine, we should be finding ways to join together in prayer and praise of the one true God who has all the answers.

I don't have the answer for these issues...but I don't have to have the answers. My part is really quite simple... Put my faith in God... and, if enough of us do just that, then He will handle the rest. Will you be part of the Light? Or will you be part of the dark?

After all, if you've read the whole book, The Bible, you know how it ends. If you haven't, I'll not spoil it for you.

I Don't Know the Secret to Success

2015-07-21T10:01:00.000-05:00

But the key to failure is to try to please everyone.

The story is told of a painter who desired to produce one work which would please the entire world. She drew a picture which required her utmost skill and took it to the public marketplace. She posted directions at the bottom of the piece for spectators to mark with a brush each portion of the picture that didn't meet their approval. The spectators came and, in general, applauded the work. But each, eager to make a personal critique, marked a small portion of the picture. By evening, the painter was mortified to fine the entire picture had became a blot.

The next day the painter returned with a copy of the first picture. This time she asked the spectators to mark the portions of the work they admired. The spectators again complied. When the artist returned several hours later, she found every stroke that had been panned the day before had received praise by this day's critics.

The artist concluded, "I now believe the best way to please one-half of the world is not to mind what the other says."

People will always have an opinion about what we say or do. That is why we live our lives according to the words of the Bible--God's opinion. Then we will not fret over the opinions of others.

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other."

Matthew 6:24

What Life is About

2015-07-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

Life isn't about keeping score. It's not about how many friends you have. Or how many people call you. Or how accepted or unaccepted you are. Not about if you have plans this weekend. Or if you're alone. It isn't about who you're dating, who you used to date, how many people you've dated, or if you haven't been with anyone at all. It isn't about who you have kissed. It's not about sex. It isn't about who your family is or how much money they have. Or what kind of car you drive. Or where you're sent to school.

It's not about how beautiful or ugly you are. Or what clothes you wear, what shoes you have on, or what kind of music you listen to. It's not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, brown, or green. Or if your skin is too light or too dark.

It's not about what grades you get, how smart you are, how smart everyone else thinks you are, or how smart standardized tests say you are. Or if this teacher likes you, or if this guy/girl likes you. Or what clubs you're in, or how good you are at "your" sport. It's not about representing your whole being on a piece of paper and seeing who will "accept the written you."

But life is about who you love and who you hurt. It's about who you make happy or unhappy purposefully. It's about keeping or betraying trust. It's about friendship, used as sanctity, or as a weapon. It's about what you say and mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening. About starting rumors and contributing to petty gossip. It's about what judgments you pass and why. And who your judgments are spread to.

It's about who you've ignored with full control and intention. It's about jealousy, fear, pain, ignorance, and revenge. It's about carrying inner hate and love, letting it grow and spreading it.

But most of all, it's about using your life to touch or poison other people's hearts in such a way that could never have occurred alone. Only you choose the way these hearts are affected and those choices are what life is all about. Author Unknown

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely…

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.

But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Make a new friend, remember an old friend, BE a friend!

Make it a GREAT day!

Joseph's Letter Home - A Christmas Story

2014-12-23T14:27:00.002-06:00

Dear Mom,

We're still in Bethlehem--Mary and I and little Jesus.

There were lots of things I couldn't talk to you about last summer. You wouldn't have believed me then, but maybe I can tell you now. I hope you can understand.

You know, Mom, I've always loved Mary. You and dad used to tease me about her when she was still a girl. She and her brothers used to play on our street. Our families got together for supper. But the hardest day of my life came scarcely a year ago when I was twenty and she only fifteen. You remember that day, don't you?

The trouble started after we were betrothed and signed the marriage agreement at our engagement. That same spring Mary had left abruptly to visit her old cousin Elizabeth in Judea. She was gone three whole months. After she got back, people started wondering out loud if she were pregnant.
It was cloudy the day when I finally confronted her with the gossip. "Mary," I asked at last, "are you going to have a baby?"

Her clear brown eyes met mine. She nodded.

I didn't know what to say. "Who?" I finally stammered.

Mom, Mary and I had never acted improperly--even after we were betrothed.

Mary looked down. "Joseph," she said. "There's no way I can explain. You couldn't understand. But I want you to know I've never cared for anyone but you." She got up, gently took my hands in hers, kissed each of them as if it were the last time she would ever do that again, and then turned towards home. She must have been dying inside. I know I was.

The rest of the day I stumbled through my chores. It's a wonder I didn't hurt myself in the woodshop. At first I was angry and pounded out my frustrations on the doorframe I was making. My thoughts whirled so fast I could hardly keep my mind on my work. At last I decided just to end the marriage contract with a quiet divorce. I loved her too much to make a public scene.

I couldn't talk to you. Or anyone, for that matter. I went to bed early and tried to sleep. Her words came to me over and over. "I've never cared for anyone but you.... I've never cared for anyone but you...." How I wished I could believe her!

I don't know when I finally fell asleep. Mom, I had a dream from God. An angel of the Lord came to me. His words pulsated through my mind so intensely I can remember them as if it were yesterday.
"Joseph, son of David," he thundered, "do not fear to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."

I couldn't believe my ears, Mom. This was the answer! The angel continued, "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
The angel gripped my shoulders with his huge hands. For a long moment his gaze pierced deep within me. Just as he turned to go, I think I saw a smile on his shining face.

I sat bolt upright in bed. No sleep after that! I tossed about for a while, going over the words in my mind. Then I got up and dressed quietly so I wouldn't wake you.

I must have walked for miles beneath the moonless sky. Stars pricked the blackness like a thousand tiny pinpoints. A warm breeze blew on my face.

I sang to the Lord, Mom. Yes, me, singing, if you can imagine that. I couldn't contain my joy. I told Him that I would take Mary and care for her. I told Him I would watch over her--and the child--no matter what anyone said.

I got back just as the sun kissed the hilltops. I don't know if you still recall morning, Mom. I can see it in my mind's eye as if it were yesterday. You were feeding the chickens, surprised to see me out. Remember?

"Sit down," I said to you. "I've got to tell you something." I took your arm and helped you find a seat on the big rock out back. "Mom," I said, "I'm going to bring Mary home as my wife. Can you help make a place for her things?"

You were silent a long time. "You do know what they're saying, don't you, son?" you said at last, your eyes glistening.

"Yes, Mom, I know."

Your voice started to rise. "If your father were still alive, he'd have some words, I'll tell you. Going about like that before you are married. Disgracing the family and all. You... you and Mary ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

You'd never have believed me if I'd tried to explain, so I didn't. Unless the angel had spoken to you, you'd have laughed me to scorn.

"Mom, this is the right thing to do," I said.

And then I started talking to you as if I were the head of the house. "When she comes I don't want one word to her about it," I sputtered. "She's your daughter-in-law, you'll respect her. She'll need your help if she's to bear the neighbors' wagging tongues!"

I'm sorry, Mom. You didn't deserve that. You started to get up in a huff.

"Mom," I murmured, "I need you." You took my hand and got to your feet, but the fire was gone from your eyes.

"You can count on me, Joseph," you told me with a long hug. And you meant it. I never heard another word. No bride could hope for a better mother-in-law than you those next few months.

Mom, after I left you I went up the road to Mary's house and knocked. Her mother glared at me as she opened the door. Loudly, harshly she called into the house, "It's Joseph!" almost spitting out my name as she said it.

My little Mary came out cringing, as if she expected me give her the back of my hand, I suppose. Her eyes were red and puffy. I can just imagine what her parents had said.

We walked a few steps from the house. She looked so young and afraid. "Pack your things, Mary," I told her gently. "I'm taking you home to be my wife."

"Joseph!" She hugged me as tight as she could. Mom, I didn't realize she was so strong.
I told her what I'd been planning. "We'll go to Rabbi Ben- Ezer's house this week and have him perform the ceremony."

I know it was awfully sudden, Mom, but I figured the sooner we got married the better it would be for her, and me, and the baby.

"Mary, even if our friends don't come, at least you and I can pledge our love before God." I paused. "I think my Mom will be there. And maybe your friend Rebecca would come if her dad will let her. How about your parents?"

I could feel Mary's tiny frame shuddering as she sobbed quietly.

"Mary," I said. I could feel myself speaking more boldly. "No matter what anyone says about you, I'm proud you're going to be my wife. I'm going to take good care of you. I've promised God that."
She looked up.

I lowered my voice. "I had a dream last night, Mary. I saw an angel. I know."

The anguish which had gripped her face vanished. She was radiant as we turned away from the house and began to walk up the hill together.

Just then her mother ran out into the yard. "Wait," she called. She must have been listening from behind the door. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"I'll get your father," she called, almost giddy with emotion. "We," she cried as she gathered up her skirts. "We," she shouted as she began to run to find her husband. "We ... are going to have a wedding!"

That's how it was, Mom. Thanks for being there for us. I'll write again soon.

Love, Joseph

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Home Life, December 1989

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:18-21

How Do You Spell Christmas?

2014-12-15T11:05:00.000-06:00

Рождество-Russian,

キリスト降誕祭, クリスマス, ノエル, 聖誕祭, 降誕祭-Japanese,

Gledelig Jul-Norwegian,

キリスト降誕祭, クリスマス, ノエル,

聖誕祭, 降誕祭-Chinese,

"ubha nath thalak Vewa!"-Sri Lankan,

X-mas,

Christmas

I had a conversation on Saturday that I'd like to share with you. I was in a meeting at my church. We were planning for the future - visioning. I was recording the notes from our small groups on large poster paper so we could all see. One of our groups had developed a lot of good ideas and they were coming fast and furious, so as I was writing I abbreviated the word Christmas with X-mas, intending to go back when we finished and write out the word. Before I could do it, one of the folks around the table (a person who would very much enjoy my error) pointed out the abbreviation and requested that it be corrected. 'It really bothered him.'

I have been watching the facebook posts over the past few weeks about the disagreement over Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays and I must admit I have to ask, what's the big deal? Now I know, when I write this, that most assuredly I will get the most responses I have ever gotten trying to reform my thinking and clarify the difference. No doubt, I am not as smart as others who seem to 'get it.'

But here is my point. When I wrote X-mas, I was writing Christmas. In no way was I "X-ing out Christ." What a foolish thing to say! So I got to thinking about these arbitrary symbols that we use to communicate. As you can see above, there are vast and asunder symbols to represent the word Christ and Christmas. And then I got to thinking about God and what He would think about all of this fallderall and fiddledeedee.

As I was looking for some history about this issue this is what I found: It a common misconception that the use of the term "Xmas" instead of "Christmas" spelled out was started by those who hate Christianity and who want Christ to be removed from society. Actually, the term "Χmas" has religious origins. It is not some kind of X-ing out of Christ. In fact, the Χ is not a Roman X at all, but the Greek letter chi -- Χ (Lowercase : χ) -- which looks something like the Latin X. Chi (χ) and rho (ρ) are the two letters in ancient Greek that begin the name Christos [Christ]. The chi-rho (☧) was used on the standards of Constantine's Roman army when he defeated Maxentius and brought Christianity into the Roman Empire as its official religion in the early fourth century. It is frequently used in the orphrey of traditional vestments.

So, "Χmas" is actually a more ancient form, in a way, recalling to our minds the origins of our Faith, in which Greek, as well, as Latin, is paramount in Tradition.

Here is my conclusion (and, again, I'm certain there will be those that will assuredly correct me)...
God could care less about our symbols of communication or how we spell a word, even His word. What He cares about is our heart. You see, I'm not worried that God is angry with me for X-mas. He knows my heart and He knows that I love Him and put Him first in my life. My relationship with God is a good one. He knows that I would NEVER X him out. He doesn't care whether we say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. What He cares about is that we are loving each other and serving each other and worshipping Him. You can use the words Merry Christmas every time, but if your heart is not God's, He will and does know. Instead of spending all this time on this debate, wouldn't it be better to spend it in service to someone this holiday season and, yes, I said holiday season. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and ALL of the holidays...serving, giving, loving, worshipping. Isn't this a better use of our time and energy?

This whole debate seems so foolish to me. You know, beyond the Ten Commandments there are 613 rules in the Bible about how to love and serve our God and live our lives. Jesus was not born to do away with the rules, he said so, but He was born to teach us two things about the rules: Love the Lord, your God, with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength AND to Love your neighbor as you love yourself. If you do these two things, then all the other rules will fall in line. Jesus pointed out that we get so caught up in the rules that we forget the relationships. That's what His message was all about. That's what He did. LOVE - loving Him and loving each other. I am pretty certain He doesn't care how we spell it. He's more concerned about how we do it.

So I'll not apologize for my 'mistake.' God knows my shorthand and my heart. I don't have to worry about all of the others who worry so much!

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 10:27

On Santa's Team

2014-12-12T09:54:00.001-06:00

My grandma taught me everything about Christmas. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," jeered my sister. "Even dummies know that!"

My grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me.

"No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second cinnamon bun.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.

"Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobbie Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough; but all we kids knew that Bobbie Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat.

I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobbie Decker a coat. I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. I didn't see a price tag, but ten dollars ought to buy anything. I put the coat and my ten-dollar bill on the counter and pushed them toward the lady behind it.

She looked at the coat, the money, and me. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" she asked kindly. "Yes," I replied shyly. "It's ... for Bobbie. He's in my class, and he doesn't have a coat." The nice lady smiled at me. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and write, "To Bobbie, From Santa Claus" on it ... Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.

Then she drove me over to Bobbie Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.

Suddenly, Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell twice and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie. He looked down, looked around, picked up his present, took it inside and closed the door.

Forty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my grandma in Bobbie Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: Ridiculous!

Santa was alive and well ... AND WE WERE ON HIS TEAM!

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Deuteronomy 15:10

Tell Them

2013-06-10T08:21:00.002-05:00

I have lost three friends over the past week...two to cancer. One friend died surrounded by his church family, his family and his friends. He said he could literally feel the love from everyone. The other friend died with her family near but refused to let anyone else come close. She died angry and not sure that God, while she believed He exists, cared for her. She hadn't 'earned' His love.

This is not a new story to me. I've read it many times. I think it's appropriate for today.

Some 14 years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our opening session in the theology of faith.

That was the day I first saw Tommy. He was combing his hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders. My quick judgment wrote him off as strange – very strange.

Tommy turned out to be my biggest challenge. He constantly objected to or smirked at the possibility of an unconditionally loving God. When he turned in his final exam at the end of the course, he asked in a slightly cynical tone, “Do you think I’ll ever find God?” “No,” I said emphatically. “Oh,” he responded. “I thought that was the product you were pushing.”

I let him get five steps from the door and then called out. “I don’t think you’ll ever find Him, but I am certain He will find you.” Tommy shrugged and left. I felt slightly disappointed that he had missed my clever line.

Later I heard that Tommy had graduated, and I was grateful for that. Then came a sad report: Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to me. When he walked into my office, his body was badly wasted, and his long hair had fallen out because of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice, for the first time, was firm.

“Tommy! I’ve thought about you so often. I heard you were very sick,” I blurted out.

“Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer. It’s a matter of weeks.”

“Can you talk about it?”

“Sure. What would you like to know?”

“What’s it like to be only 24 and know that you’re dying?”

“It could be worse,” he told me, “like being 50 and thinking that drinking booze, seducing women and making money are the real ‘biggies’ in life.”

Then he told me why he had come.

“It was something you said to me on the last day of class. I asked if you thought I would ever find God, and you said no, which surprised me. Then you said, ‘But He will find you.’ I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time. But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, I got serious about locating God.

And when the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging against the bronze doors of heaven. But nothing happened. Well, one day I woke up, and instead of my desperate attempts to get some kind of message, I just quit. I decided I didn’t really care about God, an afterlife, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more important. I thought about you and something else you had said: ‘The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you loved them.’ So I began with the hardest one: my dad.”

Tommy’s father had been reading the newspaper when his son approached him.

“Dad, I would like to talk with you.”

“Well, talk.”

“I mean, it’s really important.”

The newspaper came down three slow inches.

“What is it?”

“Dad, I love you. I just wanted you to know that.”

Tommy smiled at me as he recounted the moment. “The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I couldn’t remember him doing before. He cried and he hugged me. And we talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning.

“It was easier with my mother and little brother,” Tommy continued. “They cried with me, and we hugged one another, and shared the things we had been keeping secret for so long. Here I was, in the shadow of death, and I was just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to.
“Then one day I turned around and God was there. He didn’t come to me when I pleaded with Him. Apparently He does things in His own way and at His own hour. The important thing is that you were right. He found me even after I stopped looking for Him.”

“Tommy,” I added, “could I ask you a favor? Would you come to my theology-of-faith course and tell my students what you told me?”

Though we scheduled a date, he never made it. Of course, his life was not really ended by his death, only changed. He made the great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more beautiful than the eye of humanity has ever seen or the mind ever imagined.

Before he died, we talked one last time. “I’m not going to make it to your class,” he said. “I know, Tommy.”

“Will you tell them for me? Will you . . . tell the whole world for me?”

“I will, Tommy. I’ll tell them.”

Author Unknown

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:1-2

Your Angel, Your Blessing

2013-06-03T08:54:00.001-05:00

A thousand little angels

Dancing on a pin—

One slips away to your house;

Won’t you let him in?

He has a message for you;

He will ring it in your ear.

If you’re ready there’ll be blessings

For all that you hold dear.

If you don’t receive your angel,

He will go back to his dance;

And you many never ever know

That on you he took a chance.

That blessing of success

Or special bud of love

May never come back to you

From the angels’ treasure-trove.

So smile on every visitor;

Examine every thought.

Some may come from angels;

Some of them may not;

But by the grace of God

A thoughtful man can see

If a thought came as a blessing

Given absolutely free.

Edwina Williams

He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. Deuteronomy 7:13

Only By Grace

2013-05-23T08:34:00.003-05:00

A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates. St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.”

“Okay,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.”

“That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!”

“Three points?” he says. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.”

“Terrific!” says St. Peter, “that’s certainly worth a point.”

“One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.”

“Fantasic, that’s good for two more points,” he says.

“TWO POINTS!!” the man cries, “At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!”
“Come on in!”

-Unknown

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

2013-05-20T08:51:00.000-05:00

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead, the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bedroom the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied…. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good nights’ rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel “How could you have let this happen!?

The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” she accused. ”The second family had so little, but was willing to share everything and you let their cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.”When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave her the cow instead. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way you think they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not know it until some time later. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:16

Isn't It Funny?

2013-05-17T09:19:00.000-05:00

Funny how a $20.00 bill looks so big when you take it to church,

but so small when you take it to the mall.

Funny how big an hour serving God looks and how small 60 minutes are when spent
watching television, playing sports, sleeping or taking a lunch break.

Funny how long a couple of hours spent at church are

but how short they are when watching a good movie.

Funny how we get thrilled when a football game goes into overtime, but we complain
when a sermon is longer than the regular time.

Funny how laborious it is to read a chapter in the Bible

and how easy it is to read 200-300 pages of a best selling novel.

Funny how we believe what newspapers say,
but question what the Bible says.

Funny how people scramble to get a front seat at a concert,

but scramble to get a back seat at the church service.

Funny how we cannot fit a gospel meeting into our schedule with our yearly planner but
we can schedule for other events at a moment’s notice.

Funny how we look forward to that big date on Friday night,

but complain about getting up for church on Sunday morning.

Funny how we are rarely late to work, but
always late to church.

Funny how we call God our Father and Jesus our brother,

but find it hard to introduce them to our family.

Funny how small our sins seem, but how big
their sins are.

Funny how we demand justice for others, but
expect mercy from God.

Funny how much difficulty some have learning the gospel well enough to tell others, but
how simple it is to understand and explain the latest gossip about someone else.

Funny how we can’t think of anything to say when we pray,

but don’t have any difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend.

Funny how we are so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are lost, but
are hesitant to take God’s direction for our lives.

Funny how so many church goers sing “Standing on the
promises” but all they do is sit on the premises.

Funny how people want God to answer their prayers, but refuse to listen to His counsel.

Funny how we sing about heaven, but live only for today.

Funny how people think they are going to
Heaven but don’t think there is a Hell.

Funny how it is okay to blame God for evil and suffering in the world, but it is not
necessary to thank Him for what is good and pleasant.

Funny how when something goes wrong, we cry, “Lord, why me?”

but when something goes right, we think, “Hey, it must be me!”

Or wait…maybe all this isn’t so “funny” after all.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken
spirit drieth the bones."
Proverbs 17:22

I Will Move the Rock

2013-05-13T09:18:00.000-05:00

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man’s mind such as: “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it.”

Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure, these thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. “Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort, and that will be good enough.”

And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?”

To this the Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewed and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done.

“I, my friend, will now move the rock.”

At times when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what he wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in him…

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but it is still God who moves the mountains.
God, You call us to obedience everyday. Sometimes, I want to see beyond obedience. I want to know why, how and when. Yet, it is usually long after the obedience that I begin to realize what Your plan was back then. So help me just be obedient for today. I am learning, Lord that by being obedient today, I am stronger for tomorrow. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!

by Cindy Lu

And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”

Mark 9:23

Beauty Tips

2013-05-01T07:51:00.000-05:00

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anybody.

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years -only grows!

written by Sam Levenson

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” … And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 2:18, 22-24

Two Boxes

2013-04-24T08:43:00.003-05:00

I have in my hands two boxes
which God gave me to hold.
He said, “Put all your sorrows in the black
and all your joys in the gold."

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes
both my joys and sorrows I store
but though the gold became heavier each day
the black was as light as before.

With curiosity I opened the black
I wanted to find out why
and I saw in the base of the box a hole
which my sorrows had fallen out by.

I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud,
"I wonder where my sorrows could be?"
He smiled a gentle smile at me,
"My child they’re all here with me."

I asked, “God, why give me the boxes,
why the gold and black with the hole?”
“My child the gold is for you to count your blessings,
the black is for you to let go.”

- Contributed by LMMyers

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 20:7

A Fisherman Story

2013-03-18T09:56:00.000-05:00

A fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.

About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out the reason why the fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family.
"You aren't going to catch many fish that way." Said the businessman to the fisherman.
"You should be working rather than lying on the beach!"

The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, "And what will my reward be?"
"Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!" The businessman answered.
"And then what will my reward be?" Asked the fisherman, still smiling.
The businessman replied, "You will make money and you'll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!"
"And then what will my reward be?" Asked the fisherman again.
The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman's questions.
"You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!" He said.
"And then what will my reward be?" Repeated the fisherman.
The businessman was becoming angry.
"Don't you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world and let all your employees catch fish for you!"
Once again the fisherman asked, "And then what will my reward be?"
The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, "Don't you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won't have a care in the world!"

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "And what do you think I'm doing right now?"

And walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And they immediately left the nets, and followed Him. And going on from there He saw two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

Matthew 4:18-22