Pass The Red Napkins, Please!

Every day it seems, there is a story of a Nativity scene that has been forbidden to be put up or a school that has declared they are having “Winter Solstice” instead of Christmas. I heard of a school that was only allowed to have white napkins because the traditional green and red might indicate a leaning toward our Christian holiday. A “war on Christmas” declares one broadcaster and I tend to believe it, as stores forbid cashier to say anything but “Happy Holidays”. Our times are frustrating if not downright dismal.

As I thought of this today, I thought of Cherry Shride a dear lady in our church. I always loved to hear her Wednesday testimony because it always ended with “these are great times to serve the Lord”. I wonder if she were alive today if she would still share that sentiment. I think she would!

My friend Cherry didn’t say “this is easy times to serve the Lord”, she said “these are great times to serve the Lord“. I didn’t understand completely what this meant back when this pillar of our church said these words, but I know now that as back then it is a great time to serve the Lord.

As I am revisiting the Book of Esther I found a verse that describes this thought to a tee. Esther, through a series of events that some might call “coincidences”, rose from a commoner to the position of Queen of Persia. We learn in scripture, that her position and influence saved the Israeli people from certain annihilation. If you have never read Esther, you are in for a book that reads like a novel a Cinderella story, if you will, but with the hand of God glaringly obvious though His name is not mentioned! In chapter 4, Mordecai, her older cousin who raised her, appeals to her on behalf of himself and fellow Jews, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”. The “such a time as this” was the time in which Esther, lived. What a great time to serve the Lord? Easy? No! Queen Esther would have risk her own life in order to serve the Lord but even in this dire situation, she did indeed serve the Lord and saved the whole nation of Israelites from certain death.

In these times of uncertainty and seemingly a time when there is a war not only on Christmas but against Christians, we are to have the courage of Esther. We are to stand and declare “these are great times to serve the Lord”, and tell everyone we meet that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the one who died on the cross to save us from our sins. And gladly proclaim MERRY CHRISTMAS!
And please pass the red napkins!

Hang On To Your Jewelry!

Jesse: (enters breathless) Hey, Elizabeth! Where is your nice gold earrings?

Elizabeth: In the special box they came in, remember, you got them for my birthday! Why?

Jesse: Well, you know how we have been waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain, and....well....we have decided we need something to worship so we are making a "Golden calf" to worship. So I need your earrings to throw into the melting pot.

Elizabeth: Now, just what kind of crazy is that? Because the people are tired of waiting for God they are going to fashion their own image to worship? NONSENSE!

Jesse: That's about it I guess!

Elizabeth: well, you just leave my part of the cow here and I will be looking in the mirror at my own image with my earrings on.

Can you imagine this scene? In the bible that is exactly what happen! Well,......maybe not exactly but it could have. Moses went up the mountain to talk to God and while he was there the people decided to make there own God. So they talked Aaron into building a golden calf to worship.

Whew! I'm glad those days are past.....no more image building right? But then I shouldn't have a problem with that anyway after all I am a bible lovin', Holy Ghost believing‘, bible carryin’, born again Christian. I spent my time teaching Sunday school, children's church and even worked in the nursery on many occasion. Oh, and I attend any bible study I can find and...and....and!

Do I ever get up in the morning and not feel like studying God's word? Why....why no I already told you I LOVE studying the word? Me, discouraged? No, not me.... just read the above description of myself! Do I ever get mad, get grumpy or get even? Okay, maybe but….after all I write a "blog" that is supposed to be uplifting and encouraging, I have to protect my IMAGE you know! What would the readers think if they saw my weaknesses?

Did I just drop a gold earring into the melting pot?

Lord, help me to stop building my own image of myself for others to see. May I only be who You made me to be, nothing more but nothing less. May my weaknesses only make Your strength shine with a shine that will never tarnish.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

　

Are The Candles Burning?

Well done,

good and faithful servant; you were faithful……. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

—Matthew 25:21, emphasis added

I remember leaving the house and giving instructions to my teenage daughters, to get the house cleaned up. I will say that many times they did just that, even lighting candles, making a nice meal or making brownies so that my arrival home would be met with not only a clean house but also wonderful fragrances that delighted this weary mom. At those times, I hope I expressed my gratitude and heartfelt thanks for their efforts. At other times with the same instructions, they would goof off until the time I drove into the driveway. I could almost hear the scurrying as they realized that I was home and there would be no time for brownies or candle lighting. Usually the vacuum would be humming as if they were just finishing up but with further investigation I would find that in reality they had just began. At those times I hope I wasn’t too hard on them because I know that I am guilty of the same thing. Waiting! Waiting and putting off what I know I should do.

Though it is one thing to procrastinate on cleaning house it is entirely another thing to procrastinate on spiritual matters. “One of these days, when I have more time I will go to church” some might say. “When I get more time I will get to know God better, I might even read the bible.” was the reply of another. I heard one young person say “When I get old I will be saved and follow Jesus”. Waiting!

As to when He will return, Jesus himself said that no one knows the exact date not even Jesus himself, only God the Father. The bible says we are to be and stay ready for his return.

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father’ ” (Matthew 24:36).

Even though, I don’t believe in any certain date set by man, I do believe that Jesus will return and I pray that I will have been faithful to what he asked me to do.

Today I read this story about a plane crash on Thanksgiving Day 1996. It seems this plane was hijacked and the hijackers demanded the plane, critically low in fuel, turn eastward. Pleading from the pilot to refuel was to no avail. Before crashing into the Indian Ocean the pilot announced, “Listen guys, we’re all dead people. There is no argument now.” At hearing this, one faithful follower of Christ, a preacher, named Andy got busy. He didn’t WAIT! Here is the account according to Andy’s wife who survived the crash:

“As soon as the captain told us we were going to crash I heard the distinct snap of my husband’s seat belt. He was up and out of his chair. Going down the aisle row by row he earnestly shared the gospel of Christ with any who would listen. Before the sickening screech of twisting metal and the 110 mph crash of our plane into the water, Andy had signaled me that 20 passengers had trusted in Jesus for their salvation. Andy never made it back to the safety of his seat belt. But he

took twenty souls with him to paradise.”

May the Lord find me busy when he returns, not on some man made schedule but on the Father’s own schedule. May I have the candles lit and all things in order when He returns and may the fragrance of my obedience delight the Savior!

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Suited Up From Head To Toe!

 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:13-18

For the last several days I have gotten up and donned my paint clothes, they have so much paint on them they practically stand by themselves. I have an old long sleeved shirt that protects my upper body and arms, old pants that covers my legs, my old shoes that covers my feet but I usually neglect to cover my head which gets me into trouble sometimes.  Many times I mistakenly put my head in places it does not need to be.

As I look at the scripture in Ephesians 6 about God’s armor, I think of myself dressing to protect myself against the spattering of paint, but instead of clothing I put God’s armor in place. I begin with the belt of truth buckled around my waist. Truth would come from scripture and I have that one taken care of since I love to read the bible. I love the truths that the bible tells us is actually God breathed. When I am into the scriptures I feel God talking to me. Phew! Okay one piece in place!

Now the breastplate of righteousness. Okay, I had a hard time with this one because “righteous” sounds well….so…..righteous. But when I looked up "righteous" in the dictionary, I found it means being right with God. God gives me an okay on that one too because the bibles says if we confess our sin (for we have all sinned) and ask Jesus to come into our lives we are right with Him.  So I am righteous not by anything I could do on my own but because of what Jesus has done for me.

Now moving on to my feet, verse 15 says I should be fitted with readiness that comes with the gospel of peace. Readiness for what? Readiness to spread the good news and the peace that knowing God brings! I am there! I want everyone to know the same Jesus that I know!

The shield of faith is so important because our faith is what protects us from the devils attempts to throw us off course. Faith is knowing what I cannot see with my eyes right now.

Next comes the helmet of salvation. This is what protects our minds from the works of the devil. Just like, when I am painting without something to cover my head I get into the wet paint, I can also find my head in the wrong places like I did a few nights ago. I came across a program that interested me on The History channel, good place, right? The program started out rather funny, sighting history or more like trivia about characters that we would find in our history books but it soon became what I decided was a bit “off colored”. Knowing this I continued to watch since the history part of it was very entertaining. I soon found it very “off colored” but hoping those parts were isolated, I continued to watch. It wasn’t long until it became downright “filthy” and I had, had enough and I finally switched channels but not before my mind was polluted with the filth. We need to filter what goes into our minds because as the bible says “as a man thinks, so is he”. Do we listen to too much gossip or negative talk? Too much news if not balanced with God’s Good News may cause us to be off balanced. Pure thoughts are what God expects as we put on the helmet of Salvation to protect our thinking.

Verse 18 says we are then ready to pray in the power of the spirit for anything and everything that we need and for the spiritual needs of others. What a blessing that is ours, that God in His wisdom did not leave us defenseless but prescribed a formula to keep us safe from the devils plans for our lives.

Now where is that old paint hat?

　

Dem Dry Bones!

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones

Dem bones, dem bones dem dry bones

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones

Oh, hear the word of the Lord!

Do you remember that familiar chorus?  I remember singing that song in grade school many times.  As I looked up and went over the lyrics they were comical in away.  Starting out with the feet bones connected to the leg bones and going all the way up the body to the head bone.  Have you ever been a "bone head"?

This little song was derived from the bible, Ezekiel 37:1-14.  In this account, God takes old Zeke to a grave yard of sorts in a valley. There he saw bones lying all around.  The bible says they were dry bones!  God told Ezekiel he was to preach to these bones with the words He would give him.  The Lord then tells him that breath must enter them, His breath of life must enter dem dry bones.  

Have you ever felt you were like those dry bones, like every bit of life had been sucked out of you by the circumstances of your life?  Likewise, have you ever looked around only to see the dry bones of others without hope?  I have found myself in both places, haven't you?

The story goes, in Ezekiel, that old Zeke did as the Lord commanded and preached to those old bones.  Suddenly there was some rattling going on and dem bones got some tendons, flesh and skin but they needed one more thing....they needed the breath of the Lord.  I'll have to tell you, that's when I got excited and knew what I needed!  I prayed: Lord breathe on these dry bones of mine and give me the tendons of wisdom, the flesh of your word and cover it all with the skin of who I am and help me to tell others through this blog about the hope that is found only in You!  Amen

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. (Ezekiel 37:5 NIV)

Oh, hear the word of the Lord!

Bargain Basement or Bridal Suite?

I met Larry Nihiser when I was seventeen years old and for me it was love at first sight. He was a tall blond young man with beautiful head of hair that would rival any teen idol at that time. He drove a beautiful yellow 1964 Chevy Super Sport and I fell madly in love….with Larry not the car. He proposed, when I was twenty one (almost a spinster). I decided that since we wanted a small wedding and I didn’t want him to change his mind, I could pull it together pretty quickly. The wedding date was November 7, 1969 which was two weeks from that date. As you can imagine, I started out immediately to find a wedding dress that was within my rather meager budget. I remember going to a local department store and as I entered the massive old doors I went directly to the information desk located in the center of the big entryway of this upscale store. I promptly asked the lady at the desk where I could find wedding dresses. She directed me down stairs to the basement where I found a rack of wedding dresses, surprisingly in my price range. I picked out a simple short dress (mini) overlaid with the lace, long sleeves and a short veil, on sale at the big price of $50. Pleased with my choice I went to the register and took my prize home to hang for the two weeks before my wedding while took care of other details of my wedding day.

As I told this story to a friend of mine, she said she bought her dress at the same store and in the same time frame, but she purchased hers from the “Bridal Suite” a luxurious department found on another floor. Up until this time I was pleased with my choices but at hearing this I realized that I would have liked the pampering given to the prospective brides and their families. I would have greatly enjoyed and benefited from the advice of a trained bridal consultant but I was directed and settled for the bargain basement. I don’t know if my budget could have survived in that setting and maybe I would have chosen the same dress but I felt cheated because I didn’t pursue the better.

Sometimes I feel like I also settle for the bargain basement in my spiritual life, when there is a “bridal suite” just waiting for me if only I would pursue it. I can stay in the basement or I can pursue all that God has for me. How much peace do I forfeit because I do not trust? How many opportunities do I miss because I don’t listen and obey the voice of the Lord? What do I not receive because I do not ask or pursue? Many scriptures compare us, the church, to the Bride of Christ. My prayer is that He will find me in the “Bridal Suite” and not in the “Bargain Basement”.

As it turned out, I was happy with my simple dress and my simple wedding was just what I had planned. It’s been forty three years now since I married my best friend and I have only a remnant of that old dress. The short dress from the bargain basement has been around. I wore it once when ladies from our church modeled their wedding dresses and I was the only “mini” there giving us all a laugh at the style of that day. My daughters used it when they wanted to be a beautiful bride on Halloween or when they just wanted to dress up “fancy”. It was definitely a bargain!

...but now I see!

As I get up most morning before the sun, I have found myself going from one place to another to find a place that I can see the print I am trying to read. Lately my bible study time has been a strain as I squint and try to read the blurry print. I move it close to me and then back again. I find myself holding it under the lamp to get more light and then going to find a brighter lamp that will shed the needed light. I have complained about the lighting in my house and even decided I need bigger light bulbs. If I could only get my hands on the old fashion kind and get about 1000 watt-er I know I could see better. As I found myself in the light bulb aisle at Sam’s club, I told Larry of my difficulties and stopped to buy a bulb with higher wattage. As delicately as he knew how he told me I was getting older and I probably needed new glasses for reading. What a man! Actually he said “Jeanie, that just comes with old age”!

Sometimes I try to envision scenes from the bible, and how I would feel being there and seeing such things. Today I read about how Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain with him. Think of that alone! As they were on the mountain Jesus was transfigured and his face shone as the sun and Moses and Elijah was with him. By then I think these disciples were thinking of getting their eyes checked as soon as possible. Now imagine with me what that was like to these Jewish disciples. All their lives they had heard and read about these two giants of the heritage and now with their own eyes they were seeing them. I think they might have been tempted not to believe their eyes. But as they rubbed their eyes to get a better view a cloud surrounded them and a voice was heard “This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” At this the men dropped face first to the ground, trembling in fear. The scripture says Jesus then touched them and told them to get up and not be afraid. When they looked up all they saw was Jesus. Can you imagine how their hearts were racing because of what their ears had heard and their eyes had seen? I can still see them trembling at what had just taken place but Matthew 17:8 says something very important. When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Is this not a message to us this day when we look at this world of ours? Is not this Savior we call Jesus enough for us even in these times of uncertainty? We will find when we “only” see Jesus, He is all we need to see!

I thank God for my eyesight even as it is dimming but mostly I praise Him because once I was blind but now I see!

　

God Don't Make Junk

 

 

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ... Ephesians 2:10

Today for my devotion time, instead of a formal study, I read devotionals that come to my email box every morning. As happens many times, there was a reoccurring theme in the devotions that I read. The theme was that God made you and me and He likes what He made.

At the beginning of Creation, we’re told “God saw all he had made, and it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).

While reading, I was reminded of something I did back in the seventies that I probably couldn’t do these days in our public schools. I presented a story to the kids in my daughter’s class entitled “You Were Created by God and God Don’t Make Junk” As I told the students about how special they were to God I wanted them to always remember that no matter how they think they look, no matter how smart or dumb they think they are or how rich or poor they are God loves them and created them to be just who they are. And I added “God don’t make no junk”! (Sorry you English teachers out there)

As I would hope that some thirty-something adult from that class would remember that lesson, many times that truth escapes me as I bemoan who I am, what I have done in life and how perfection has not been mine. The devil would have me to believe that God in his wisdom decided to create a "mistake". That on the day He thought of creating me He decided to make “JUNK”!

As I harshly critique myself, I am reminded that the bible says we are God’s workmanship, actually created in Christ Jesus. Just as I should not walk up to an artist and belittle his work, neither should I so mercilessly criticize God’s creation……me! Who am I, the Clay, to tell the Potter how I should look or act. The Potter has a purpose for each of our lives, just the way He created us and….Praise His name, God don’t make no junk!

 

Let us start this November out by being thankful for who God made us to be!