Monday, June 28, 2010

Straight Rows




It seems mowing day comes too often around here as it does everywhere this time of the year. This morning Larry and I divided our portion like Abraham and Lot, we jumped on our mowers and took off. Grass flew every which way with the two of us mowing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Larry heading for me on his mower. When Larry departs from his designated area I know he wants to tell me something. So here he came giving me hand signals like the guys who direct big planes at the airport. With much effort and hands flying I finally understood what he was trying to convey to me. He was saying, if I would pick something ahead of me and focus on it I would be able to make straight rows. He kept looking back and pointing at the wavy lines of the last row I went down. I shook my head yes to let him know I understood and went on my way. Every time we passed I repeated his hand signals to let him know I was on track, plus it was fun teasing him. Truthfully though, I struggled. I tried to look ahead at one object but I couldn’t help but watch where I was going. After all I had already made a mess of my rows so I had to stay on my crooked course. It wasn’t comfortable looking ahead and not watching where I was going. It was difficult to focus ahead because I was focusing on the mistakes I had already made.


Sometimes we set out with our eyes focused on Jesus but then we remember our sins and look down at the crooked rows of your life. We can’t help but look at things right in front of us because we lack trust to look up. Sometimes we look with regret that cripples us in our new walk. Often, even though we were miserable in our sins, it was comfortable there, and for a season, we found some happiness there. Maybe you are a new Christian that has yet to feel the joy of trusting Jesus. You might need to refocus on him daily, and trust him to guide you.


In Colossians 3:2 we see that we are to “set our minds on things above, not on earthly things”.


I love The Message version of this scripture:

Colossians 3:2

Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to things going on around Christ, that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective.


If you look at this scripture you see that there are things we need to do. We need to “set our minds” and “look up” “be alert”, "See things" from his perspective these are action words. It’s not always easy to do this so we need to ask him to help us. Then we will see that Christ is where the action is, Christ is where we can live a victorious life.


Determined I started a brand new row, I put my eyes on the focal point ahead, I didn’t have to look down to see where I was going because I knew that if I looked forward my rows would be straight. I had to deliberately choose to focus, and not look anywhere else. I had to set my mind! It was well worth my effort as I looked back to see perfectly straight rows. Larry gave me a thumbs up as I successfully finished with my eyes on the focal point.


As we see life from God’s perspective our life will reflect the Christ. At the end of life I want to see Christ waiting with thumbs up to welcome me home and tell me "job well done".

Lord, you are my hope. Lord, I have trusted you since I was young. Psalm 71:5

Monday, June 21, 2010

Are You a Standout Christian?

I snapped this picture a few days ago because I loved how beautifully the lily stood out from the other flowers. When I showed this picture to Larry, he said “there surely has to be a blog to be written about that picture” and he was right.
The first thing I thought of was how we, as Christians, should be set apart from those who do not believe. Just as the lily stood out because it was of another “family” of flowers so we should stand out because we are of the family of God.


There has been many attempts at standing out that maybe wasn’t what God had in mind. I remember as a young Christian, I was taken back by some of these things. Like what you wore for instance. At that time in my life I had teased hair that was a foot tall, short dresses and “the forbidden” face makeup unlike others who wore a bun, long dresses and NO makeup. I truely admired these women for their dedication and wanting to do what the Lord wanted me to do, I asked Him many times if I should change. My heart was pure in asking but I never felt led to be someone other than who I was.


Sometimes people try to stand out by having great knowledge of the Bible which is certainly good but is not all that is required to stand out in a crowd.


Some took pride in their works and their giving, as before, all good but not what God asked us to put on to stand out in a crowd.


I found in my studies that the Bible talked about clothing but not the kind that needs to be washed, ironed or dry cleaned.


Isaiah 11:5 says that righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
(Oh, how the world would notice someone who was righteous and faithful)


For us we are told in Psalm 30:11 that he changes our sorrow into dancing. He takes away our clothes of sadness and clothed me in happiness.
( I think we stand out when the Lord turns our sadness into happiness as we go through trials of all sorts)


Job 29:14 says I put on right living as if it were clothing; I wore fairness like a robe and a turban.
(In a day when nothing seems fair and many live lives that are not right, I bet we stand out in a crowd)


Peter urged us to be clothed in humility (1 Peter 5:5) Being humble seems to be outdated in this age.


Galatians 3:27 says we who are baptized into Christ, clothes themselves with Christ.


The only reference to the clothes of Jesus, was when he was dying on the cross and the soldiers divided up his clothing but when it come to his robe they decided not to tear it and divide it because a seamless garment was very costly. Very much like his robe, his love is seamless and perfect.


Most of us are made up of patches and pieces, we are clothed with sin, failure, and hopelessness but we need to put on Christ and his perfect love. Then we, like my lily can truly stand out in a crowd.

Let us turn heads with our humility. People will gawk at our happiness, our fairness our right living and they will marvel that we are clothed in Christ.


My hair is no longer teased, my clothing is much like anyone my age and I still wear a little make up to hide my wrinkles. The desire of my heart is that when the world looks at me, they look past my outward appearance and see my heart. I pray I stand out because I am clothed with Christ.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Daddy's Tears!

One of the hardest things for parents to do is to watch helplessly as their sweet babies are hurting. I remember how hard it was to take them for their shots. It was especially difficult to hand them over to the nurse or, worse yet, to have to hold them still while the nurse stuck them. For me, the thing that hurt the most was the look on their face, those eyes that said why did you betray me? My daughter and her husband recently took Jenna, my sweet grandaughter, for her baby shots. She was bubbly and smiling and then it happened while her mother held her, the needle that, I'm sure, looked six inches long pierced her beautiful flesh. The tears flowed, the sobs began and her loving parent's hearts were broken for her. They who promised to protect her had let her down, at least in her mind. I remember Missy telling me that Jenna's 6’5” Daddy cried right along with his sweet baby girl. It was right thing to do for her but she did not understand. This loving Father wept for his hurting child.

Martha confronted Jesus that day. Where have you been? If you would have been here you could have saved Lazarus! Martha’s eyes were moist with tears but filled also with the hurt of betrayal. The truth is, Jesus could have saved Lazarus. He had traveled from village to village doing just that but for his dear friend, he had come too late. We like Martha feel betrayed because we do not see the hand of God at work. With our limited understanding, all we see is betrayal.

I have heard many people give theories about vs. 35 in John 11 it stated “Jesus wept“. We speculate; was he hurt for his friends Mary and Martha? Did he hurt for his dear friend Lazarus? It could be either, but I tend to think he wept for all those who feel betrayed as Martha did. He wept for the times he was working things out on our behalf, but to us, all we could see was betrayal.

Have you ever felt betrayed by God? You prayed and prayed for the test to not be positive for cancer…but it was… BETRAYED? You prayed that your job would hold up….but you got laid off anyway…BETRAYED? You prayed that your unjust and cruel boss would leave you alone…but she didn’t…BETRAYED? So many times you had prayed for your son to be healed from a mental disorder but he is still on the streets... BETRAYED? Where was God when he could have prevented the car accident but it happened anyway…BETRAYED? You pray for your child from the moment of birth asking the Lord to bring him into the family of God but he is still out there, as the prodigal, eating with the pigs…BETRAYED?

Jesus was no stranger to betrayal himself. He was betrayed by his disciples, his followers, he looked into the face of Peter who denied him three times and even His Heavenly Father was no where to found. He cried out to God the Father, “Why have you forsaken me?" Jesus wept that day because he knows how much it hurts to feel BETRAYED.

In this life we will sometimes look into our Father’s eyes as Jenna did and see the tears streaming down his own face but not understand why He would let us go through so much pain. We might look to the heaven and say “Why Lord?” Jenna didn’t understand her pain, she didn’t understand why she was BETRAYED but what she did know is that her Daddy took her in his big strong arms and comforted her. He wiped away her tears as he wiped away his own. Jesus wept for you and me and today he is calling us to run back into his strong arms and let him wipe away our tears.

When I feel BETRAYED, I have to remember that the bible says "he is working all thing out for my good and trust His loving Father's heart.

John 11:35 Jesus wept.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Sea of Faces!

It happened again just a few days ago. I was handed a big permanent marker and a little label and asked to put a name tag on. As I went into the meeting the speaker called me by name and welcomed me. As people raised their hands to speak, she called them by their name (written on their tag) of course. A nice touch . I have had times when I wished someone had a name tag on that would give me some clue to who they were. Even with a tag it is hard to be inconspicuous and slyly look to see the name. Shane, my son-in-love, when conducting a teen camp, would challenge himself to remember the names of all the kids at that camp. It might have been hundreds but he managed to do it. Amazing!

I was reminded in scripture of the sea of faces that Jesus looked upon in his ministry here on earth. At one time it is recorded that there were 5000 men not to mention the women and children. I am sure that there was no names scrawled on a name tag for each one but he knew their name. People came to him with their physical problems their mental problems and all problems in general. I can imagine if instead of names their were problems written on their tags. I can see bankruptcy and unemployment written on one, cancer, mental illness or blindness written on another. Would there be people who listed their sins that needed forgiven lying, cheating, adultery, murder, or stealing? As they approached would Jesus have to squint to see the handwritten notes on these tags? Would he have to ask them what brought them there that day?

The bible tells us that as he looked at the masses, he saw individuals, each one of us. He knows how many hairs are on our head, and miraculously he knows the burdens on our hearts. Why would he want to know me, my burdens or my frailty?

It all comes down to compassion and love. The bible says that he had commpassion on the people and ordered them to be fed. Can we fathom that love? Ephesians 3:17-19 gives us a glimpse into that kind of love.

I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be build on love. And I pray that you and all of God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love___ how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19

Because of love, Shane was challenged to know every teen’s name at the camp and it is the wide, long, high and deep love of God that makes him know everything that is our hearts. He knows our every thought, our every deed and our every need. No name tags needed!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Great Treasure

I have always been one to love a treasure hunt. I like those games that you have to look for hidden items within a picture. We even had a game on our computer like that “ San Francisco’s Great Adventure” and I played it by the hours. A friend told me about a new version of treasure hunting called “geochaching” which, if I understand right, you set out in search of a cache using you GPS for directions. Sounds fun to me! One time I remember walking down a railroad track searching for blackberries but the only treasure I found was chiggers. When I was a child, we hunted for morel mushrooms in an old cemetery and we would bring home bags full of the delicacy. As a child,the fun was in the hunting for the treasure. I think that within all of us there is a seeking for a great prize or a treasure. God gives us a hunger for truth and purpose and some search their whole life for it but look in the wrong places.

Psalm 119:162 says “I rejoice in your word like one who finds a great treasure.”

His truth can be found within the pages of the bible. We have several bibles in our house. I have bibles that the kids left here, from their childhood. Inside, there is usually a name of a dear Sunday School teacher that gave the bible to them. Some of them have little tabs on the side to help find the books of the bible. Some of them are written in, I love these, that tell of a struggle and the victory they found there. The bible I use right now is a bible that was given to Nicholas our sweet boy. It was given to him by Nealy and Tim on some occasion and says “read this book often and hold it near to your heart” but for right now my “prodigal” does not hold this book near or dear so I hold it for him. As I pray for him, I write in it things that he will appreciate one day. I will use this precious Bible until there is a time when he will rejoice and see it as a great treasure. A day when the treasure he is looking for will be found within the tattered blue cover of this book.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Worry Sour?



I have several things on my “bucket list”, one of them is to have a horse. I don’t tell everyone this because I know that look that I get when I say it. You know the one that says “ARE YOU CRAZY….. AT YOUR AGE?” I see that look often when I mention something that is mainly done by young people. Because this is something that I have always wanted I have looked up a lot of things on the subject. I have looked at horses for sale and have even sent pictures to the “horse woman”, of our family, my daughter, Mendy.

The other day, as I looked up “horses for sale”, I came across two terms that I wasn’t familiar with and had to look them up. One was “barn sour” and the other was “buddy sour”. I had an idea that it probably wasn’t a good thing when it came to horses. Barn sour is when a horse gets so attached to the barn that he doesn’t want to leave and if given a chance he will bolt back to the barn. Buddy sour is similar except the horse doesn’t want to leave his buddy whether it be another horse or another stable mate. Mendy told me of an incident that would describe this situation. El Roi her horse had to be separated from his “buddy” Ruby Lulu, a miniature donkey for just a short time, Mendy said it was hard to pull El Roi away from his buddy he kept turning back as Ruby cried out for him to come back.

I came up with a new “sour” it is “worry sour” . At times, I worry, lose sleep and much of my joy by worrying. With much prayer and knowledge that worry accomplishes nothing, I will finally lay my worries at the feet of Jesus. The burden that I carried is lighten and I can at last sleep in peace as I hand everything over to Him. Wow, wouldn’t you think I would leave them there? Not always! I see my worries from afar they bid me to come back so I head to them as the horse heads back to the barn. Worries, though not pleasant, become a way of life, sort of like a “buddy” to us. I have said jokingly “that if I didn’t have something to worry about I would find something“. That makes me “worry sour”. The bible talks a lot about worry and anxiety and trusting God during those times. Philippians 4:6 is one of my favorite verses and reminds me to tell God about them and leave them there in “HIS” good hands.

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

I don’t know if my dream of having a horse will ever come true but I do know that just as “barn sour” or “buddy sour” is not good for horses, “worry sour” is not good for us. Again I will leave my worries with the Lord and again he will lead me to green pastures to feast on His word. Again it will tell me to Trust and not worry!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Hand Me That "Thingamajig"!

This is Riley saying her nightly prayers under the stars!


In the same way the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26


Do you ever try to tell God what to do? I, at times, have certainly tried to orchestrate things. I say “God if you could take this step, then this step and make this person do this and that then I think we have the problem solved”! I can imagine God saying “thank you Jeanie, I didn’t think of that”. I do think that at times we need to pray very specific prayers but I don’t really think He needs blow by blow every time we pray. If He can set all of the stars in place, I am sure he can solve my small problems.


There have been times that I have been speechless, plan-less and felt the frustration of not knowing what to pray. I had no suggestions for God only hurt and “groaning”. At times I have opened my hands and said "here it is Lord I don’t even know what to pray". Many times I knew that even if I was guaranteed a yes from God, I didn’t know which way I should pray. That is why I have always loved this scripture in Romans. What inspires me most is one little word “himself”. The scripture says that the spirit himself will intercede on my behalf. Can you imagine the creator of everything taking time to intercede and translate my confusion for me.


As I have been writing today, I have been interrupted several times by Larry my dear husband. He has a project going on in the basement that has needed my help. As he holds “thousands” of pound (to hear him tell it) he has been asking me to get him certain tools. “Over there in the case that holds a thingamajig, there is a do-hicky that I need” or at least that’s what I thought he said. I search for the thing only to bring him the wrong thing, grimacing, he explains again in a more annoyed voice what he needs. With eyes straining to see what he is talking about I try again only to let him down again. Right about now he needs someone to intercede and speak in a language that I can comprehend. Poor guy, he needs someone that knows exactly what he needs and knows where to find it.


Fortunately, the spirit himself, also knows what I need and where to find it. I talk in circles, I ramble, I do not make sense sometimes when I petition God, but I am glad that there is no language barrier when it comes to God. Hallelujah, “the spirit himself intercedes”!


I hear a voice from the basement asking me for channel locks and needle nose something or other so got to go!