Thankful for that moment...

This morning as I sat out on the balcony, Jackson by my feet, God surrounding me and talking with me I began a litany of things that I am thankful for and my mind was drown to a moment in time, the most important moment of my life.

It was on this same balcony so many years ago, I remember the moment like I’m in it now.  It was summer, in the evening, the sun was setting.  I was sitting in that old wicker rocking chair, originally white yet had faded and cracked with the years, now replaced with a different chair, more padding, still as welcoming.  I was wearing a short outfit, a mild green and white…I was reading.

All my life I have believed in the Trinity, God the Father, Son and Spirit, but that night it all changed.  Reading a book, Power for Living, sent to me by my sister Audrey, I came to the place of the salvation prayer.  Like a light bulb lighting up, a konk on the head or to wax poetically an epiphany…I knew He existed, I knew He is truth, I needed to accept Him.  That night talking with Him, opening myself up to Him, accepting Him, I was made new.

I believe it was Alan Redpath that said we need to remember that conversion is a moment; growth is the journey of the rest of our days.  My new journey had begun.  Realizing over the years that it’s not religion I was missing, it was not often that I didn’t attend church.  What I needed was to know Him, not just know of Him, I needed to be friends with the one who is my friend.   Over the years He and I have laughed, cried, fought, lost touch, come back together, my day is not complete without time with God.  Nothing in this life cannot be replaced except for Him, He is comparable to nothing. 

We all dream of those amazing moments in life and we think of weddings, graduations, births…think of new birth, your new birth.  Charles Stanley* puts it so well:

“A life that wins is possible only for those who are rightly related to God.  You can’t depend on your own goodness to get to heaven, because we’ve all sinned and fallen short of His Glory.  But if you’ll rely on Jesus, who paid the penalty for your sins with His death on the cross, you’ll become righteous in God’s eyes and will be guaranteed a place in heaven.  You can use your owns words or the following prayer:

Lord Jesus, I believe you are truly the son of God.  I confess that I have sinned against You in thought and word and deed.  Please forgive all my wrongdoing, and let me live in relationship with You as my Savior and recognize that the work you accomplished once and for all on the cross was done on my behalf.  Thank you for saving me to live a life that is pleasing to you.  Amen.”

Life still gets, well, like life, ups and downs, yet I'm never alone in them.  I am so thankful for that moment in my life, praying you soon have yours. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

*In Touch Ministries, “All Things Are New” to help you take the next steps in a relationship with Jesus Christ,

 800-789-1473

Praise you Lord God for Your good Pastors.

I get emails daily from Insight for Today and this one fit my recent weeks, thought I'd pass it along to you all.  http://www.insight.org/

 

For Growing toward Maturity
by Charles R. Swindoll

Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless---that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here's what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you're worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he's asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.

---1 Peter 3:8-12 MSG

Father, thank You for the reminder of character qualities that are such a vital part of our Christian lives. Though we bear very few of the marks of maturity Peter wrote about in the passage above, we always need to be stirred up by way of reminder. How often we have come before You, asking for help in these areas! You have heard our pleas on many occasions. Truth be told, You will hear them again. We yearn to be like Your Son, Jesus, the One who modeled each of these marks of maturity to perfection, though fully man. We long to grow in spiritual maturity . . . but the uphill journey takes so long. We confess that it often feels unending.

Thank You for the promise that Your Holy Spirit will be with us each step of the way. We desperately need His empowerment to keep us going and growing . . . until we become like Jesus . . . fully conformed to His image.

We ask, Father, that You give us hope beyond our immaturity. Help us in our unbelief. Guard us from discouragement. As we look back over the checklist You gave to Peter---and realize how far we have to go---remind us also how far we've come, by Your grace. Remind us that You will complete the good work You began in us . . . until the day of Christ Jesus.

Through His matchless name we pray. Amen.

 

See also John 14:16-17; Galatians 5:16; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 5:8; 2 Peter 1:13.

 

Oh Lord, help me to be a blessing.

The Simple things . . .

The simple things thrill me…

1.       Waking rested

2.       Jackson settled on his chair just people and bird watching

3.       This balcony to sit on and enjoy a cool September morning

4.       Fresh grapes

5.       Hot coffee

6.       The sun rising

7.       The silence of a neighborhood still asleep

8.       Sophie the Yorkie downstairs and her sweet little prance

9.       The jade plants growing

10.   Caring and kindness

11.   A clean apartment

12.   2 more pound off…getting closer J

13.   A simpler haircut

14.   Lotion

15.   Bubble baths

16.   Candles

17.   Revelations

18.   The shade trees

19.   A painting

20.   Soothing harp cd

21.   Did I mention it’s COOL outside – I know I did but it needs repeating

22.   Another summer almost done

23.   Good books

24.   Silly things that make us smile suddenly

25.   Trader Joe’s Orange mineral water

26.   Trader Joe’s anything (I think THAT is the happiest place on earth!)

27.   Last Friday, for dinner, I had French fries…just French fries.   

28.   This final year of the 40s

29.   Plans of Italy

30.   God’s plans of me, His words, “I know what I’m doing.”

31.   Great Bible teachers, messages, pastors…

32.   Brandt and Sherri (Air1) for an afternoon chuckle or two or three or….

33.   Today

34.   Things that make me realize I’m not as young as I think I am

35.   Things that make me realize I’m not as old as I think I am

36.   Apple fritters

37.   Sitting here, typing a list of things simple pleasures

38.   Clean fresh water

39.   Electricity

40.   Breathing

41.   Walking

42.   Leaning back in the chair, eyes closed, mind off

43.   Emails from Andy, Ag, Aud…Tena…

44.   Phone calls at just the right time

45.   Cinnamon toast

46.   Tarragon

47.   Fresh sheets

48.   Soft towels

49.   Broken in jeans

50.   Bare feet…

 

Go ahead, make your own list, it’s refreshing J

I have a white sink...

One of those, I think cast iron, covered in the white that shows every bit of grime and that scuffs easily by the setting of a pot or pan, it can even stain with rust if a wet steel pan sits a tad too long in one spot.  I’m not a fan of the white sink.  The neat freak in me just thinks it’s always dirty.

Where I work, we have a stainless steel sink, oh man, what a great invention!!  I do the dishes (a shared task of the staff) and I wipe it down and I think, lovely!  Simply lovely!

But it’s really no different from my sink.  It just looks different, but on the inside, in the nooks and crannies there is that grime, that stain, although unseen, it’s there.

I never thought I’d say this but these sinks are kind of like people.  Oh, I wish I could say I was always clean like that white sink freshly Comet cleaned…not the look clean like the stainless steel.  I wish we could all get real honest and acknowledge that at times there’s some stuff stuck in the nooks and crannies.

The past couple weeks have been strange, immensely blessed I am, yet it’s been a period of time where it just seemed to always be something….ever had that happen to you?  You know that “one of those days” things that seems to last for weeks!?  I say that with a strange smile of exhaustion, I don’t want anyone to think my life has been tough beyond comprehension in the past weeks, truth be told, if these are the worst things that happen, it’s not a bad life!!  But I’m sure we’ve all been there, frustrated, exasperated, confused…sitting there with that “What just happened look?” on your face.

One issue is not resolved yet one is, life stuff…stuff that no matter where we go we’ll most likely have to deal with.  Because we’re all that sink.  Oh we get pretty, sometimes pretty and clean to the very core of us but then someone puts a big ol’ pot on us or we put the big ol’ pot on our self and I think in most cases it’s a bit of both, outside forces and inside reactions.  That makes for a messy sink.

 
In my home, almost always, you’ll find a canister of the tried and true, Comet.  Nothing cleans that white sink like Comet.  I sprinkle it on; add a little water and scrub, scrub hard, it’s not fun, I never think, “Yay, it’s time to Comet the sink!”  But it’s got to be done, the sinks got to get cleaned.  And so I scrub.

In my home, always you’ll find a Bible, tried and true, Jesus Christ.  Nothing cleans this ol’ soul like Jesus, I soak Him in, He scrubs, sometime hard, but it’s got to be done, the soul has got to get cleaned.  I sat with Him this morning and watched the sunrise and I sit here now so thankful that the Son rose.  So grateful for his constant cleansing as I confess and turn and start again.

Second Chances* -

You called my name, reached out your hand, restored my life and I was redeemed the moment you entered my life; so it’s with everything I have, I reach out for your hand the hope for change the second chance I’ve gained.  On you I throw my life…

So I wait upon you now with my hands released to you where a little faith’s enough to see mountains lift and move and I wait upon you know dedicated to your will, to this love that will remain, this love that never fails.

How could greater love than this ever possibly exist?

 

*Tim Hughes

The latest musings, a sequal of sorts....

I reiterate, I love the LORD!

I wake this morning and settle into the quiet (pre 6:03am) and the frustration in me is causing an unfocused mind, yep, I woke that way...which is just what the devil wants, but I just had to have a word from God, I just had to...I'm gonna go crazy if I don't hear from Him! I pray, I begin flipping the pages of my Bible, I settle on a few verses but still "LORD I need to hear from you!"

"Open your devotional for today," I hear His sweet voice say.

On the page, the title for the day: "Blessing Our Enemies." Luke 6:27-28 Jesus said "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

The author of the devotional is Dr. Charles Stanley, in his writing there are phrases I've underlined "respond with unimaginable grace and dignity", "...love our adversaries and treat them well", this next one got me misty..."God has a redemptive plan in mind for his (this 'enemy') life, and we have an opportunity to help show him the way to the LORD. A bitter or angry response on our part will serve only to feed our adversary's desire to cause harm." "Instead of begging the Father to defeat our enemy, we can ask Him for the opportunity to express genuine Christlike love in the face of opposition. That's the kind of prayer He delights to answer. And when we are priviledge to meet the need of someone who despises us, we might just see and amazing change in his life." (http://www.intouch.org/Magazine/DailyDevotion.aspx)

Sometimes people look at me oddly when I talk of the time I have in the mornings, I'd venture to guess that even some of you, wonder why it means so much, what difference could it make...is the problem now miraculously fixed, no. Yet, I think now I know what Jesus did with the stuff...the stuff within...He let it go. I think I will too.

Life isn't always pleasant and sometimes the ugly in me rears it's head, but today, no, not today.

Blessings to you all,

Linda

Did Jesus ever have someone that irritated Him, just to irritate Him?

 

And what did He do with them…how did He handle it within?

Those of you who know me well know that I love my quiet time each morning, that going off alone and being alone with the Father, Son and Spirit, this time of day is by far my favorite, by far the most important, by far my most cherished thing of all my life. Take away anything else…but not that. A gorgeous setting here in the desert, safe and sound in the haven the Lord has blessed me with, the peace and serenity of hours of it being just me and Him!

Of late this haven has had an irritant…a radio. A neighbor has placed out on their patio a radio, set to come on every morning at 6:03am and it plays for 2 hours. For 2-3 months now I’ve smiled and ignored the problem, for real, I just let it slide, but somehow, for some reason this past 7-10 days it’s just flat out irritating me. Like nails on a chalk board, like an itch where you just can’t reach, like a bad rash I just want it to stop!!

I tried to think of a person that was an irritant to Jesus and how He handled the irritation within. Judas? I mean Jesus knew Judas was the one that would betray Him, that would irritate me. What about the Pharisees? They were always just trying to prove Jesus wrong, they wanted Him dead, again, irritating. Now I know, from what the Bible tells us, how Jesus talked with them. But, and I’m seriously asking here, what did he do with the emotions that come up from those irritants? You know, the internal stuff that lingers…did he have that negative stuff and what did He do with it?

I'm losing my patience and I don’t know what to do with these emotions. Do I love these people? Yes. There are aspects of them and I even like…yet when they push and push just to get a reaction and you try hard to not react, it eventually comes up and out in some ugly way. I fear the ugly approaching…so I ask you all…what did Jesus do? I keep thinking I’ve got to let it just slide right off my back, like water from a duck’s back … someone help me be a duck J without being a doormat. Keep your answers positive, I'm not looking for revenge, I'm looking for peace.

I read this wonderful devotional “31 Days of Praise” and day 20 is about such people…it’s a great devotional and with every paragraph written by Ruth Myers she backs it up with Scriptures. I came to day 20 and thought YAY! He’s going tell me what to do about them! I love Him so…all the Scriptures - they weren’t about them, they were about me. He’s doing a work in me. He’s reminding me to count it all joy. That in life, there are struggles. He’s molding it all together for good.

I still want the radio to stop, but I guess, for now; I’ll go back inside at 6:03am and let Him work on me, finish up what He started, all the while enjoying that haven and view.

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Hope

I read an article on Hope this morning in In Touch Magazine* and this particular part touched on my week past and the task of the day: "so go ahead and praise the Lord today for these promises - ample mercies for every woe. Woe is never wasted because of what it produces. It confirms that hope in God...is a gift and a grace.

"ample mercies for every woe", my woe, the car troubles (over heating), my mercies: Aida and Tena so graciously driving me to and from work the past three days, an understanding boss, the fact that at very last minute Goodyear LaQuinta is able to take it in today, that the Lord got me and the car safely there this morning first thing and the surprise offer for them to give me a ride back home as it's going to be there all day, Manny the driver who finds it wild that I've lived in this apartment for 18+ years.......this home, this car, a day to rest in His presence.  Oh and today begins a week off for me...

The last sentence of the article "That's more than good. It's divine."

 

My ROCK is my hope; have a blessed day everyone.

* http://www.intouch.org/magazine/content.aspx?topic=What_is_Hope
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Happy Father's Day

Tomorrow is Father's day and I'm one of those that doesn't really remember her Daddy.  Daddy passed away when I was 6 so my memories of him are, well, one.  One vivid memory that in a way I cherish.

As I remember it, and siblings if you're reading this and you don't remember it, indulge me.  Daddy worked with the coal mines, a driver I believe.  After work he'd sit on this greenish bench, storage thing that I think one of my brother's made in "shop".  He would read the paper and drink a beer.  Occasionally he'd share a sip with me...

My one vivid memory of him is one time, as he sat on the bench, newspaper raised to read it, I stood on the other side of the paper just waiting for him.  He lowers the paper and says "Go get your cup."  I run into the 'pantry' Mom hands me a thermal cup, one of those that you get with a 'fillup' at the local gas station.  I run back and he gives me a splash and we share a beer.

This occasion and memory of it makes me smile.

Happy Father's day to all you Dad's who make your little girls smile...still.

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A warm spring day, a baseball game sounds good....

I don't have cable but thanks to a little gadget on wifi I can watch 'the free game of the day' on MLB.com . . . Kansas vs. Boston.

As I begin to watch what is the first game at Boston since the bombings on Monday the opening ceremonies take me by surprise.  I just wasn't expecting it, I thought I had just clicked a button to watch a game.  But that click lead me to tears, that click lead me to pondering, to musings of this Christian woman.

Please remember, I have not gone to school to study the Bible, I study it on my own, I am not a theologian, I am a Christian woman merely musing along....some people have most likely this past week asked "Why does God let these things happen?".  As I watch the opening ceremonies I ponder...

I see the man who was having lunch, heard an explosion and ran to help.

I see a man injured by that explosion and through the help of doctors and nurses just 5 days later was able to be at the game, walk out onto the field on his own steam.

I see a team Hoyt who participated in their 30th Boston marathon this year they got one mile to the finish this year before the first explosion, they will be back in 2014.

Add in the countless first responders, police officers, politicians, lay people, citizens and runners just wanting to help and actually helping...and I muse.

Does it have to happen to move us into action? To take us outside of ourselves and into the world to love and care?  Does God allow it to happen (that "permissive will" we all step into from time to time) so we do what we're here for? 

And again I ask a question I've asked before.  Why do some blame God yet not thank Him? 

Thank Him for the man that heard the explosion and helped, for the doctors and nurses and hospitals that are still working to save, for the 73 year old man who still runs with his son, pushing him in a wheelchair, for the police, the FBI, the Mayors and Governors and President and lay people and citizens and runners and for the prayers of many from a distance?

I'm not a theologian.  I read and study the Bible, I love His words to us and I hope, I hope that before the time comes, I spring into action and do what I'm here for .... Pastor Rick Warren wrote it best.  "It's not about you" [me]."

For the heroes of Boston, Texas, and all around the world, in all things, I thank You God.

*

*logo found online at http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/thebuzz/2013/04/how_to_get_the.html

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Spring has sprung . . .

The other morning I had trouble waking up and as I sat in my quiet time God helped me realize to move would be best.  So out came the yoga mat and to workout we went, the yoga session ends with "and when you're ready, slowly open yours eyes".  Thank you God.

Have blessed day.

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God

I love knowing that it is You, God, who controls everything....the God of Angel Armies is always by my side.

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