Precious You and Me

Something precious. Some little thing set high on a shelf at grandma’s house. Maybe it shined. Maybe it sparkled. And at some special moment in time, she took it down and let you hold it. You focused… in awe and reverence; taking special care not to mar it in any way (or God-forbid, drop it!). Then she’d gently put it back, probably reminiscing some wonderful story behind this special “trinket”. Yes, we all know a little something about awe and reverence. Respect. Honor.

The Bible says our bodies are God’s dwelling place. Do we really “get that”? We picture God far up in heaven, all-seeing, all-knowing – able to reach us to empower us, even way up from His throne on high. We have head knowledge that He is with us – close. But the Holy Spirit within us, Jesus in my heart to stay? Hard to relate the awe and the hush we might experience stepping into a magnificient cathedral… with  - everything about me is holy ground. Holy hands, holy lips, holy feet… holy smiles, holy tears. Set apart for God. With holy comings and goings. Having a holy God-honoring countenance all the day long. Awe and reverence for the physical presence – we are an instrument of His peace. Set apart indeed. So be gentle. Handle with care. Me ? Yes, me. And your fellow believers in Christ. Don’t say anything to yourself or to each other that you wouldn’t say to Christ.  Don’t do anything to your self or to each other that you wouldn’t do to Christ. Because we are the Body – the body of Christ. Let’s be patient. Let’s be gentle and kind – with ourselves and others. Love your neighbor as yourself. Turn your thoughts toward awe, honor, respect, reverence. Your body (and your fellow believer’s body) is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have received from God (1 Corin. 6:19) If you believe the word to be God-breathed, then believe. It’s true of you. Its true of the Christian brother and sister around you. The world can be cold and cruel sometimes. Let us not join it’s rank when the power of God’s love is within us. Today, let’s live honoring and respecting and in reverent awe. For the glory of God. You are precious is His sight. And so are they.

Chutes and Ladders

My bible reading today reminds me again of the Holy Spirit power within me (us). There are other spirits out there, vying for our attention. But this Spirit, this Holy Spirit – I should be paying more attention to; I should be nurturing that relationship. Too often, I put myself first and my mere natural instincts. It’s sometimes hard to tell which spirit I have inside me. I need to start caring about that. And be more concerned about what spirit people see emanating from me. Can I learn to keep being determined to do the godly thing, express godly character instead of natural human reactions? Because I so, so, sooo want Christ to be known. Can I somehow make that a determined priority – to want Christ to be known? To be known because of the way I’m living my days out.

My first thoughts are, “I won’t be able to do it perfectly nor keep it up all the time. I will probably fail 20 minutes from now and I will forget about it 1,000 times today.” But, if I write it down where I can see it throughout the day, I might remember to do it a few times and maybe tomorrow a few more times and that will be more times that the goodness of the Lord will be seen and experienced than if I’d given up before I even started.

This spiritual journey that we’re on isn’t a game of chutes and ladders. You don’t slide back down with every failed attempt of moving forward. Every time you try to bless others in the character of Jesus, you are moving forward in making Him and His nature known.

So don’t you give up thinking godly goodness and kindness in abundance is unattainable. You are capable of reflecting His love over and over again. Because of that Holy Spirit that is within you.

Me...worry?

I can sometimes be a pretty darn good worrier. Whether it’s family or friends or upcoming events, I can spend hours mentally organizing, planning, deciding, list upon list in triplicate… with every possible scenario played out in my mind over and over – adding more to the “to-do” list. I tell myself I just want to make sure everyone is comfortable, happy, enjoying the good life. Yes, I can be quite the worrier. And quite weary as well.

Sound familiar? Do you sometimes wonder and worry on and on? Does it keep you up all hours of the night? Taking on all the responsibility for a successful outcome upon yourself alone - when God is right there. Let me remind you of a little something…

God is real. Jesus is alive. And the Holy Spirit resides within you. God has already thought out every detail (even the ones you didn’t see coming) –

“All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.”

-         Ps. 139: 16

 When my son went to Iraq, his life was out of my reach; much of it out of my control. But God was here… and there… seemingly everywhere. The details of those days, I couldn’t control; the details I could not even imagine – were all handled by God Himself. He had our backs. He is all-seeing in a good, comforting “thank-God” way. He is all-knowing too. He never leaves you alone. Not ever. It doesn’t all depend on you. It doesn’t all fall on your shoulders. You have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Pr. 18:24)

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” It’s a promise. In blood red ink. (Matt. 11:28)

 

 

 

Common Ground, Common Peace

“Help me, Lord, to understand this day and every day, that everyone is at a different point in their spiritual walk. But we all have the one same God -  with varying levels of understanding of Him. And they are all just glimpses with no one seeing fully the whole You.”

Seek peace and pursue it. First for our own countenance and then for what we can do to bring that peace to others’ countenance. We don’t need to throw our weight around. We all have different moments when we have a handle on peace and when we don’t; greater patience and understanding is what is needed. For there are times when others don’t know what you know – that’s why they’re responding the way that they do. And times when you don’t know what they know – that’s why they’re responding the way they do. You may think and feel you are in the right, but with more information it’s possible your thoughts would be changed. How often have we found ourselves in that exact scenario? We’re arguing with someone, trying to impress upon them how right we are and how wrong they are… and then all of a sudden they say something – and your breath takes little hitch. “Oh… I didn’t know….” Yeah. You know what I’m talking about. You quickly, quietly back down. So ask God to send up a little flare the next time you become determined to set somebody else straight. Start asking more questions. Gather a little more information and understanding. And be the one to find that common ground that leads to peace.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. – Romans 14:19 (NIV)

Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. (RSV)

 

What the world needs now....

I have a phobia about calling people on the phone. I’ve been told I am silly and good grief crazy and asked why would I have such a strange fear. I guess I don’t want to bother people or interrupt what they’re doing, even though my reasons for calling are quite valid. But the truth is, when you’re calling – you need something. Whether it’s information, or a request for a service, or just the comfort of hearing their voice. I need something.

Now before you get on your high horse and tell me to “just call!”, ask yourself: how often do you hold back from reaching out in need, because you don’t want to interrupt someone’s life. Ever need a ride some where? And I’m not talking about riding along with someone because it’s convenient, economical and you’re both going to the same place. I’m talking – you can’t drive and need to get somewhere. Have you ever been sick and yet turned down a friend’s offer to provide a meal? “Oh, it’s nothing. We’ll be fine. Don’t bother yourself. You have plenty on your plate already.” Can you imagine yourself accepting a bag of groceries or a box of gently used clothes? Why is sharing so uncomfortable when you’re on the receiving end?

Shouldn’t we all be giving and receiving? What would happen to our relationships if we could live in the ebb and flow of extending that kind of love to one another… some times giving… other times receiving – as rhythmic and as constant as breathing .. and without keeping score. We live. We love. We nurture. We provide. We share. Taking care of one another. In step. In tune. In harmony with one another. So that no one is left behind – in need.

Is this what the world is coming to?

 

Nap time Over... dreamin' a new dream

It’s been a few weeks, I know… let me explain.

For a long time I had this dream of becoming an artist and designing greeting cards and encouraging people to send notes to others. I didn’t want to make a bunch of money off of it – just break even – and get some lovin’ going on between us all. But working outside the home, and fearing failure, kept me from pursuing such a thing. But a year ago, I was afforded the opportunity to quit working outside the home. And I thought, well, here’s my chance to go after that vision. So I designed some cards, and started a blog to encourage people, and invested in a program to sell cards online. Encouragement or bust!

Well, after more than a year now, it has been determined that I am not able to bring in enough money for pay for the online program for selling cards. In fact, not that many cards were sold at all. I saw it coming. And I prayed. This past May I pursued an option of making ecards available. I met with a college student who had all the capabilities of making it happen. So we set out on the journey. To make a long story short, with work and college and other commitments, he wasn’t able to complete the project…

Then my computer started acting up – slowing down with every stroke of a button. Shutting itself down, etc.

God, have I been barking up the wrong tree? Have I been dreaming the wrong dream? Discouragement for sure. So, a few weeks ago I just let the whole dream go… trusting God to show a new way. I stopped. I rested. I waited.

And shortly after that, one by one, comments started coming my way about how much this one and that one like my blog. How the messages hit home, how encouraging they are…boom, boom, boom.

End of story? I will recommit to writing the blog. I will go where He leads me. I will move forward as I trust and believe in His mysterious ways.

Do you need to do the same?