Renovation for Dedication

At a particular job I had, for the first 30 minutes of every day I needed to sit with “the boss” and see what “his plans and directives were” as it related to the goals of the department.  He needed to set the agenda of my focus for my day.

SOMETIMES WE CAN BE SO BUSY FOR GOD, THAT WE HAVE NO TIME TO BE WITH HIM. 

For effective living, HE must be our priority…. above our plans.   I find much of any stress I experience is because I’m not on the “same page” with God” on my daily planner. 

I’m learning that He’s far more interested in who I’M BECOMING INSIDE…. than what I’ll ever DO for Him.    When this garment of humility encases our attitude, we’ll be far more concerned about what He thinks about us than what others think of us.

When we dress for our day with Him, He chooses the circumstances where He’ll fit this garment of grace – humility — to us through what He allows in our lives.

Scripture verifies that this quality is “developed” …. we weren’t born with it.    Babies want:  what they want, when they want it, and how’s it’s to be presented.   Bottle or breast-fed wee ones seem to be the CEOs of their parents’ lives for a while, aren’t they!

Humility doesn’t have a “natural fit” to our bodies.   So, we need to go to the gym for some spiritual calisthenics — some spiritual disciplines to arrange and re-arrange a proper fitting of this garment.  

After spending a considerable amount of time looking at the subject of humility, I thought of re-naming it: “Renovation for Dedication.”   Because God is asking a few radical things in Romans 12:1-2 “Give your bodies, all of you to God, wholly and unreservedly.

Stop living here on earth like you’re going to retire here forever, adapting to all the customs and behavior of those who don’t belong to Me. Let Me TRANSFORM, or RENEW you into a new person by a 180-degree change of the way you think and live your life.”

The word “transform or renew” is like an OVERHAULING procedure by our loving Dad.   It means “remodeling” or “renovating”.    Ever done that to a house?  Sometimes God’s remodelling/renovation of his kids seems like everything is in disarray.

He asks us to:  

• Humble ourselves and get real about who you are and your constant dependence upon Me.   That affects our wanting to “control & handle everything in our life ourselves — thank you very much!”
• Tidy up your hands & hearts (cleansing of our lifestyle choices)
• Washing with tears now and then does wonders
• Clear away things the devil could use to entice you):   that’s a careful watch of our mental diet (what we view on TV, movies, books, videos), our choice of thought-life and close friendships, because we tend to become like those, we spend the most time with
• He asks us to move close and stay close to Him.   He can cuddle us much easier if we’re snuggling up close.

Ever try to cuddle a defiant, willful 2-year-old that says, “I do it myself?”

Only when the attitude of “I can’t, but I trust You” helps us off the exercise bike of wonder woman or super man.”    Once we’ve stopped pedaling and get in the back seat, we’re ready to “come along with Him, allowing Him to call the shots.”

Isn’t that what it means to let God be God…making Him the Lord, Master and CEO of our lives!

Then our Father-Designer-Coach rescues us from ourselves and brings us into the whirlpool of refreshment, strengthening, reviving and renewing our spirits.  He loves to pore on His favor, mercy, love and surprises to us to bring refreshment to a heart that’s bowed before His sovereignty — His control and plans.

 “The Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought.”  Isa 58:11

I hold the year in My Hands – in trust for you.   But I shall guide you one day at a time.  Leave the rest with Me.”  God Calling devotional calendar for January 1.

When you’re making curtains or a dress, sometimes the room you’re working in can be a bit dangerous with your sewing tools of pins, needles and scissors. Being fitted for this inner garment requires a seriousness when we’re following the pattern.

Josiah fleshed this out by being in “God’s Word”, but more importantly “God’s Word got into Josiah.”   There were some drastic changes when Joe realized he and his countrymen were not walking or living God’s pattern.  

God used his current circumstances to teach him the seriousness of the pattern he was following.  His life and those under his influence made a 180-degree attitude and behavior change, to align themselves with God’s Word.

Blessings follow a humble and yielded life.

As we dress each day, humility is one piece of apparel we benefit from being clothed in.   It’s such a tender and beautiful garment.  Yet as we gaze around our relationships, I find it’s one that you don’t see a lot.  In the display cases of a Christian life, it’s never on sale, but at a premium price.    The cost is “letting go of self.”  

Humility is a difficult thing to explore or explain.  The one thing about it…if you’re proud you possess it, you don’t.

It’s not having an exaggerated opinion of his or her own importance; but to rate his or her ability with sober judgment.

He’s not saying don’t think of yourself.  But when we do, just be careful and accurate in our thinking.

Humility is seeing in the other person an importance greater than you see in yourself.

True humility is seeing ourselves as we really are … only from God’s perspective, not the neighbor down the street, and acting accordingly. 

People today practice false humility when they talk negatively about themselves so that others will think they are spiritual.  

FALSE humility is self-centered.  True humility is God-centered. It’s not saying or doing things to build up your own image…. but God’s!!!

I think humility is described best by what it’s not.

It’s not proud or haughty, self-assertive or overly aggressive.   It’s not showy or having an excessive elevated attitude of your own importance in an overbearing manner.

At one time or another in our lives, we’ve all been around an over-bearing person.  These people usually are musically minded — because they’re singing their own praises.

And one who sings their own praises — usually does so without much accompaniment.

If we were walking downtown in a large city and saw a display window of what humility is, these are some of the qualities I think we’d observe on the model:

• A teachable spirit or manner
• Valuing others above yourself …. along with
• Appreciating God’s work/ministry in others …. with no jealousy of how God is using that person

Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument was the most difficult to play. He thought for a moment and then replied, “The second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm – that’s a problem.    And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.”

This attitude of humility is always willing to “learn” from others all through our life.  We’re always in school, aren’t we!  Sometimes in class, other times on the playground and then God’s refreshment and strength in the cafeteria.

Humility also means:   not having a “competitive spirit” in us.  And when it does raise its ugly head to get rid of it.  We’re to LIVE to be a complement to another.

We may compete “with fun” in games, but it’s a killer in a lifestyle. True humility is realizing who you are in Christ and all He’s done for you, and then compelled by that knowledge, to express to everyone you come across how SPECIAL THEY ARE.

The photo below so beautifully illustrates the adoring love and care of this precious Mother over her “newborn” child.  Her daughter’s entry into the world no doubt brought tremendous joy and anticipation as to the “potential” that would unfold in this lovely child.   This little one was “fashioned by her Creator,” for purposes to love and honor him.  

When my friend showed me this photo of her being cuddled and adored by her mom, I can’t imagine the joy and pleasure God had in designing this little girl.

How unique, valuable and loved she was as He created her; and her life has been and continues to be a “delight to Him,” and many others.  

 “For You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;” Psalm 139: 13

Oh, that my life would beam with joy and enthusiasm in reaching out to the people He sends along my path of life, so that they may sense their “specialness to my Lord.”

There was a new believer I would get together with, and we were going through some verses on why she was created and how “precious and valuable” she was to God.     I shared how God had crowned her with His Son’s righteousness, forgave her for everything, she was now complete in Him.  She didn’t have to work hard to earn God’s love and favor as she already had it.

She began understanding that concept when she blurted out that it reminded her of when her Daddy called her “his princess.”  When her Daddy referred to her as his princess, she melted with joy because she felt so special and she wanted to live up to that name. 

When we realize our value and standing before Him, it should make us put our shoulders back, stand tall and appreciative, and be so overwhelmed with our own uniqueness and value to Him – we’ll be compelled by His love to express to OTHERS how special, unique and valued THEY ARE to Him.

Humility is realizing His love personally, but compelled to live that out before and on behalf of others.  It’s never a self-centered attitude.

Humility isn’t walking around diminishing our worth, and verbally camping on our inability to do much for our Lord, and how unworthy we are.   No, we’re not worthy, but our focus needs to be on Him and His accomplishment at the cross, and all He made possible for us to be. 

Gravelling in the dirt doesn’t bring our Designer honor because it’s a total disregard for His creative design of us.

We were all created in His image.  Each person in this world, because of the Lord Jesus Christ is “unique” and “special.”   Millions don’t know that…including many Christians.

That’s why Christ died for the whole world.  People long to hear that in our attitudes and behavior to them.  That involves us to be focused and living an intentional lifestyle of acceptance of people, and praying for them right ‘where they are.’

Humility will change us so we’ll look accurately at God, at others and at ourselves.  Our abilities, influence and talents are gifts from Him — to be employed as “gifts to others.”   We’ve been gifted for each other to bring Him glory.

It’s an intentional life of: “How can I serve you and benefit your life so you see and feel, in living reality, that you are so special and valued by God.

Humility is one of the most powerful of influences because it’s being “emptied of us” and “filled up with Him.”  

We’re invited to come to Christ as a child, weak, fragile, dependent people…not concerned with status or ladder climbing.   God isn’t into that.  

He’s looking for simple, ordinary people to do an extraordinary work in and through.

God’s gifts aren’t like where your mom might place them; you know, up high in a secure cookie jar.     They’re like Grandma’s supply, low and available in nice bite size pieces.  It does require bending low that we rise to the heights of a humbled heart and a winsome and contagious life of loving and serving others into the Kingdom.

“The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.”  Phillips Brooks   

Lord, I’m Yours and whatever the cost may Your will be done in my life.   I’m not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment or my own glory.  I’m not here to indulge my desires, to increase my possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I’m somebody important, or to promote myself.  I’m not here even to be relevant or successful by human standards.  I’m here to please You.

I offer myself to You, for You are worthy.  All that I am or hope to be, I owe to You.  I’m Yours by creation, and every day I receive from Your life and breath and all things.  And I’m Yours because You bought me and the price You paid was the precious blood of Christ.  

You alone, the Triune God, are worthy to be my Lord and Master.  I yield to You, my gracious and glorious heavenly Father; to the Lord Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me; to the Holy Spirit and His gracious influence and empowering.”  

All that I am and all that I have I give to You.  I give You my body and each of its members, my entire inner being:  my mind, my emotional life, my will, my loved ones, my marriage or hopes for marriage, my possessions, my past, my present, my future…I give you, my heart.   I’m here to love You, to obey You, to glorify You.  O my Beloved, may I be a joy to You.  “31 Days of Praise” by: Ruth Myers

P.S. I must apologize for “my error” in posting “Maturity” again; as it was posted in July. On the topic of “humility,” I thought it was appropriate to confess my mistake! Thanks for your understanding!

A Partner in Leadership

Acts 18:1-4, 18-28

Teamwork is a wonderful thing.  Priscilla and her husband Aquila were both in business together, tent-making or leather working.  They both had training in that field of cutting and sewing woven cloth of goats’ hair into tents.  

They were a very effective couple due to a number of reasons.  They knew how to make the most of their lives together as a married couple.   If you’re in business of any kind and working alongside others, a rich component is working in ways to capitalize on one another’s strengths.   Priscilla and Aquila must have worked well together…being a compliment to each other.  In fact in Scripture, you never hear of them mentioned separately, but as a team.

This couple had met Paul in Corinth when Paul was on his second missionary journey.  They moved around like Paul.   Their business of tent-making always provided them a “home on wheels” so-to-speak so that their home travelled with them.   When Paul arrived in Corinth, being in the same business, he probably asked around if there were others who shared his livelihood of tent-making.  He was self-supporting as he ministered to others.   By finding others with the same occupation, he may find they had a position open for Paul.  He did, in fact, work with Priscilla and her husband Aquila in their business.

We’re told they opened their home to Paul.  No doubt this couple became close friends and co-workers.   Paul developed a close friendship, and camaraderie with this couple.  Paul would teach them and encourage them about Jesus Christ and how to live that out where they lived.   Paul really discipled this couple as well as worked with them in their business.  What an influence he must have been to them.

Priscilla and her husband experienced a “united ministry” to both Paul and other believers.  They lived to be a compliment to one another and their efforts were multiplied as they co-labored as a team. 

To roadside rest on the friendship of these three people, they understood their trade and could identify with Paul in his relocation adventures as well.  They knew how to “pick up their tents” so-to-speak and move on to other areas.   Perhaps their business ventures were growing and they wanted to set up another branch of their work later in Ephesus.

Paul invited this couple to travel with him to Ephesus.  They served Paul well as supportive friends, co-laborers in ministry,  and enthusiastic for the work.  Travelling with Paul, they were available to encourage and provide much-needed physical, spiritual and practical support for their friend.  

Paul had poured time and energy into discipling this couple concerning Jesus Christ…..His death, burial and resurrection.  He came along side Priscilla and Aquilla for a season to teach them and encourage them in their faith walk.  Now this couple was using their home, wherever they lived,  for ministry, not only to Paul, but others.  

What a influence they had on Apollos and his spiritual journey.  He was an intelligent and eloquent man who had heard about Jesus through John the Baptist.  He only had heard and understood part of the story of Jesus.   God was now bringing Apollos up-to-date on the message and ministry of the Lord Jesus, His life, crucifixion and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.   Priscilla and Aquilla had the privilege of “tutoring Apollos in the truth.”

We all need that, don’t we.  Many of us can look over our past and smile with joy at the people who “invested in our life and walk of faith.”   

Our lives aren’t to be lived like the Dead Sea….just taking in information.  But we’re to be like springs of living water, giving out to others what’s been invested in us.  Time and energy are two strong components for this. 

Our lives are to be lived “intentionally,” and with “purpose.”   God wants our lives to be broken bread and poured out wine…..nourishing others in their faith and the truth of Scriptures.  This is purposeful living and Prisilla and Aquilla exemplified this in their ministry together. 

It wasn’t just their teaching, but their example of how they lived that spoke into the life of Apollos and many others who were in their home.   Paul has spent time with this couple and his investment paid many dividends for the Kingdom and its progress in other lives. 

Our life can get busy, can’t it!  This modern culture’s priority is for success and accomplishment.  Success in the world’s eyes often is not success in God’s eyes.  

Many in the world, including some in the Christian community, don’t necessarily share the priorities God holds dear.  Life is busy and it takes time and effort to invest in others.   Paul and this couple modelled a meaningful and purposeful life…..INVESTMENT IN OTHERS.

God yearns that we keep our spiritual eyes open to the opportunities He will bring along our every-day life; opportunities to share our faith, meet a practical need, extend hospitality to another hurting soul, listen to their hurts and hearts.  

People don’t care how much we know…..they only know how much we care!

I loved the fact that this couple was a team.  We can team up with others in reaching our world for Christ.  What focus and encouragement and support they were to each other;  and then extending and multiplying themselves in the lives of others.   No one person knows it all or can do it all.  

Each of us are like threads that are to be woven together to display a lovely canvas of Christ to our world.   Each one’s strengths complimented the other’s weaknesses.  Their lives were “gifts” to Paul and everyone they came around. 

Is your life…is my life a “gift to others?”

Compass thought:   What do people think of Jesus Christ…..after they spend time with you and with me??  After they hear you talk, work and watch how you live …. What do they think of Him after being with you.   

Our lives have INFLUENCE.  

Every time we reach out to help, or speak we influence others on how to live for Christ.  We can be a positive influence or a negative one.  God yearns that our lives are “contagious” and “winsome” and “salty”; drawing others to see what God is like and then desire a relationship with Him for themselves.  Our lives will leave a lasting impression!

May the flavor of our lives be the drawing agent God uses to draw others to Himself.  Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

WHAT IMPRESSION ARE YOU AND I LEAVING ABOUT OUR WONDERFUL SAVIOR ??

Women in Conflict

Philippians 3:20 – 4:9; 2:1-8

Unity is a beautiful thing!  Webster’s dictionary helped my focus on this topic of unity.  Oneness, harmony, continuity of purpose, agreement were just some of the descriptions of unity. 

Conflict is an inevitable issue in life, isn’t it?  It’s no wonder that we have courses on “conflict resolution.”   It’s not a new issue in our human race. 

After Adam and Eve partook of a fruitful tree they were instructed not to partake of, this ingredient of resolving conflict entered their relationship and it’s been going strong ever since. 

These two women (whose names we’re not certain of how to pronounce) were leaders in the church.   Leaders, in any setting, give or display a sense of guidance.  They’re to serve others in their particular area of giftedness.  In these roles we expect to see behavior that would serve to “model” Christ-like character qualities.

Paul has now written to the church leaders, and pleading with the two women to work it out, deal with the issues, find common ground and merge into fellowship and forgiveness.    Why was their conflict so critical?   From all appearance it was just between the two of them.   Why was it necessary for Paul to get involved and even have it appear in a letter?

Paul loved this congregation.  Paul loved and enjoyed working side by side with these two women in the cause of the gospel.   We’re not told what these two women’s beef was between them, but suffice it to say, it was causing a wide-spread tension.

We could allow our minds to go wild on this one, guessing what they had conflict about.  I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think it was necessarily a “big thing.”   There was an “ungodly ingredient” in the midst of all this conflict.   We can assume that whatever it was, each one was fully convinced that “she” was right.   Perhaps it was even a “personality clash.”

There have been a few meetings that I’ve attended that erupted in heated words.  Inside I wanted to scream and cry at the same time.   In the middle of one particular situation, I wondered to myself, what would happen if someone who wasn’t a Christian walked through the door and just listened to the dialogue.  To be honest, I was ashamed, embarrassed and even, at times, shaking with nervousness at the attitudes that were “on display” in this so-called Christian business meeting. 

Whatever stirred up these two women, it was building in proportion and influencing the unity of the church.  We can almost hear Paul pleading with them.  Paul had worked side-by-side with these two in the outreach of the gospel.   Both women were involved in the tension build up.

Even as I think about this situation, I’m uncomfortable.  Paul was urging these two women to “get it together” in their Christian character because a lot was at stake.   How they were handling themselves brought a tenseness to the entire church.  Paul was telling them to bring their “attitudes into harmony.”  Their attitudes were coloring the entire congregation, and it wasn’t a pretty color.

Paul speaks about their attitudes being formed “in the Lord.”  Perhaps this gives credence to the term we use now and then to “agree to disagree.”   If they would work at bringing their differences together, and yielding to each other, for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of their testimony, harmony could be established.

Conflict is contagious and it can infect everyone.  Their rift seemed to be so strong that their effectiveness as leaders was rapidly eroding.

Perhaps they each had ideas about how to accomplish a goal or ministry.  That can happen, can’t it?   Leadership has goals, good ones, but there can be a variety of ways to reach a goal.  No one can pinpoint the problem, but can you sense that each of them may have had the idea that “it’s my way or the highway.”

In the flesh, I can almost hear Paul saying privately to them, “Get over it.”   Better yet, get over yourselves.  There’s a family involved here and these two were “determined, to say the least,” to have their own way in the matter.

This introduces a lovely quality for our consideration and application.  Think of others better than yourself and look out for another’s “best interest.”  Wow!   If we took on this attitude in everyday relationships, strife would almost cease to exist.

This would fit nicely in any relationship, marriage, family, business or friendship wouldn’t it.  Can you and I imagine what that would look like?

To get personal for a minute, we have a Canadian couple who visits us each year.  We love having them around.  They stay for one or two weeks, and we hate it when they leave.  Here’s how things go when we’re all around each other, and it’s precious to be a part of.

Each of us looks out for the other three to see how we can help and make life easier, or help out in whatever they’re doing at the moment.  After a meal, all four want to beat a path to the sink to do dishes.   I can’t start a meal without my friend saying, how can I help….and she means it.   When this couple is around, everything is almost effortless because of the “prevailing attitude” of love & care for one another.

How does this look if we were to put shoes on this one, in our relationships here and now?

Consideration comes to my mind on this one.  Just being considerate of the other person, and how you and I might “fit in” so-to-speak.  It’s bringing our personal aspirations, however lofty and God-honoring they may be, keep them in check and have a Godly perspective. 

One question we might ask ourselves is, how can I help another to grow and develop.  Adjust and yield are another two qualities.  We’re not to push our agenda to the extent we don’t consider the benefit of others.

We might have strong passions for an idea or ministry, but when we feel strongly that our passion for something is important, we need, for the sake of unity to lay it down before God and allow Him to “establish what is best and carry out His plan.”

I’ve discovered, as you may have encountered as well, that when others know we love them and are on the same team, we can accomplish much more than just having our own plans established.  It’s more important that others are shown consideration, for that builds fences towards wonderful relationships.

There’s a joy deep within when we know we’ve carried out God’s plans, in God’s way.  The greatest approval is His, and it accomplishes so much more.  As we share our concerns about issues with Him first, we can watch Him work it out……in us and in others.

Jesus modelled this in wonderful fashion.  He yielded His life, His rights, and His equality with God.  He laid them all aside to accomplish the Father’s plan.  This is humility in its highest form.  And to think He did all that for you and me is beyond comprehension.

What a weaving of truth concerning the conflict between these two women.  Paul didn’t say “Get over it and go on.”   At least he didn’t frame his urging in those words; but he wanted them to do just that.   We all model behavior patterns don’t we; displaying how to do it right and how to do it wrong.    I hope these two women eventually got it right.

Facing Death & Grief – John 11 1-44                             

“In this passage we will see how Jesus related to Mary and Martha in their grief, experienced their sorrow as well as his own, comforted them and demonstrated His power over death, to the glory of God.” 

For any of us who have gone through the loss of a husband, parent or close friend, looking at this story may bring a fresh sense of your loss and even tears.   In this life we will all face losses of various kinds.

These two realities in life are hard and emotional.  A glance at their lives and how they were affected brings us a closer look at Jesus.  We know He is God’s Son, we know He was fully God and fully human.   But this episode at a tomb brought to light how “fully human” Jesus was, and to me, was a precious look at a transparent Savior. 

We understand from the Scriptures of His many visits and interactions with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.   They were “friends…close friends.”   Jesus spent many a time with them in their home.  He knew all about each of them.  These three had seen and experienced Jesus’ power over many areas of other peoples’ lives.

We know about “busy Martha and “contemplative Mary” and now we learn of Lazarus, their brother who had died.  

Apparently Lazarus had been sick and wasn’t getting better.  No doubt Jesus knew about his sickness.    In that He had been travelling with His disciples, they must have wondered why He didn’t rush back to this family of friends who He was so close with.   After all, Lazarus was sick….and Jesus knew that, but He still didn’t pursue the journey back to their home.

There’s a hidden gem here…let’s pause before moving along through these passages.  Scripture indicates Jesus waited another two days after hearing of his friend’s death.  

To pause for some thought here, Jesus was always on “mission with His Father.”  He was travelling according to the Father’s will and the Father’s time table of events.  He was never “late” according to the Father’s will and purpose.  

His ministry and interaction with others was a continual planned agenda by God the Father.   Even when He turned the water into wine, at a wedding feast, per the inquiry of his own mother, he waited until the “appropriate moment.”

This tells us so much about His life and effectiveness because He worked in unison with the Father, even at this critical moment in the lives of His friends.

This brings me to what I enjoy referring to as a “compass thought.”   A thought that changes our attitude about something or a direction that needs a turn-around in our minds.

Compass thought:   Oh to want our calendar of plans, desires and activities to correspond alongside with His plans and His timetable.

Jesus never worked contrary to God’s agenda of mission.  For His disciples (and for us too) it would be so human to wonder why He didn’t rush away to Lazarus’ side.  His delay had a specific purpose.

Haven’t most of us who were waiting on the Lord for some response, wondered the same as these men and Mary and Martha too, while we’re at it.  We can be tempted to think He doesn’t care or that He’s not answering in the manner in which we’re expecting. 

Two important ingredients here:  TIMING & PURPOSE

His ways and timing are beyond what we can understand sometimes.  But in this instance, He wanted to display the power and glory of God, and only God knew how best to bring this to pass….and it was to wait!   Wait until it seems humanly too late.  He waited some days after Lazarus was dead before He left for Bethany.

If Jesus had been there while Lazarus was alive, He may have just healed him right then and there and not let him die.  But in this case, again, following the agenda of His Father, that wouldn’t have given Him the opportunity to show these two women and His disciples and others who were grieving, that He had the power over death.

The events and their timing was going to glorify God.  It was an opportunity for them to believe in Jesus and His power over death, their greatest enemy. 

Doesn’t that sculpt a truth in us that our situations, problems and challenges, when given to Him, give us the same opportunity….to see Him at work in our individual lives?   We can talk about our faith….but it’s in the challenges that bring our faith to the surface.   Truth is believed in our “heads” and circumstances where Jesus is working brings our faith into “reality….the reality of our day-to-day living.”   It becomes alive when we see in our own lives…living and active.

There’s nothing more thrilling and contagious when we see Him live out His purposes in our lives.  All of this brings a continued building of “intimacy with Jesus.”  When we believe and experience Him in our lives, we can’t keep quiet about it.  This builds and nourishes faith into others.

Compass thought:  Don’t we want to live our lives, not as a thermometer, registering all that’s going on around us; but rather as thermostats….elevating the climate of faith and trust.

Back to the scene at Bethany.  Lazarus had been in the tomb four days.  Martha was waiting for Jesus to show up, and when He did, she had questions.   We can almost hear her, with folded hands and taping of the foot, “why didn’t you come sooner?   You could have saved his life.  Maybe even now, you could do something as she knew God would grant His request.  

Jesus shares with her that He will rise again.  She believed that, but she figured that would only happen when all believers would rise.  Then Jesus reminds her of who He is…the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in Him, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.  They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish.  “Do you believe this, Martha?”  

She believed that her brother would rise from the dead, but she didn’t expect it to happen right then.  But because of His delay in arrival, she and her sister and others were about to see for themselves that very hour that their belief in Him is a

“Done deal….because of who He is.”

We can identify somewhat with how she must have felt.  Yes, in her head, she believed it, but soon she would see it right before her eyes….in her life experience.  But nonetheless, He wanted to comfort her hurting heart with words about Who He was and the Scripture.

After this encounter with Jesus, she runs to the house where Mary was, with other mourners, and tells her Jesus has come.   They run to the tomb and Mary bows reverently before Him with the same comment.  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”    

As they came to the tomb Mary began weeping along with many others.  When Jesus saw this He was “deeply moved in His spirit and troubled.

The fact that Jesus knew what was going to happen in a few minutes, that He would be calling Lazarus back to life, never diminished the fact that He agonized and cried with Mary, Martha and others who were there.  

Here is a beautifully touching moment where we see God’s humanity coming to light for all to see.   He was agonizing and hurting and crying “with them.”   He saw and felt their pain and He expressed, out loud, His grief and compassion with them.

When I was with my dear Mother when she died, it felt as though my heart just collapsed in grief.  Even though she went to be with the Lord (after praying for her for 38 years to receive Christ…she responded to him 3 months before this time); I was left here still loving, grieving and agonizing over her loss.  

I don’t know when or how you’ve hurt, but I love the fact that Jesus knows and feels each amount of our pain and loss.  Our grief indicates how much we loved someone.   Here we see Jesus grieving with the sisters and friends…demonstrating in a real, tangible way, that He loves and cares for us.  He aches that we ache over loss.

For Him to respond this way brings alive His love, compassion and care of us in our grieving.   To even imagine His grief and tears with us should flood our hearts with gratitude.  He knows and cares about our every tear….even tears we hold inside, that no one sees, He knows.

One of my favorite songs is called “He Knows My Name”.   Some of the lyrics are:

He knows my name. 

He knows my every thought. 

He sees each tear that falls;

And hears me when I call. 

One aspect that I never grasped before was that Jesus comforted Martha and Mary individually, and differently in each case.   He knew the heart and pain of them both and was tenderly bringing truth and comfort in unique ways to each heart.

This is how He tenderly works in lives, uniquely and individually.  How compassionate and personable He was with these sisters, and with each of us.

What a tender, compassionate and caring Savior we have!

When we hurt, He hurts.   He cares…. after everyone goes home from a memorial service.  He continually holds and heals our heart.

Shoe-Leather Living:   I felt compelled to share an idea here.  It’s an “outreach ministry” of a very “tender nature.”   When one of our close friends or loved one experiences a loss of their loved one, at first they are surrounded by supportive friends.   But after the service and a few weeks go by, people seem to just go on with their lives.  

From experience, this is when they need another supportive and caring person.    A person like this can be “Jesus…with skin on” to your hurting friend.  No words…just our presence and calls or cards.

Might I suggest that we call them several times a week to check in with them, asking how they’re doing.  Commit to taking them out for a dinner one night, or even take them out for coffee or a lunch or dinner on a regular basis to help them sort through their feelings with a “listening ear.”   

It will give them something and someone to look forward to being with.   If they aren’t up to company, just a call might do.

Allowing them to share over and over and over their feelings, fears, thoughts and grief.   Sharing with another gives “expression to inner grief” and brings much healing.

Both sisters knew He was their life and resurrection, but not everyone present believed.   Here’s just part of the glory of God … People believing.

Verse 45 indicates that “Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.”  

                       

A Business Woman Turns To Christ

Acts 16: 6-15

Over and over in Scripture we read about “open heart surgery.”  This surgery is God’s Spirit working in the hearts and lives of people, bringing them to a point where they see, for themselves, their need of a Savior. 

In the case of Lydia or any other person who turns “to Christ,” they are brought to the place of faith because of the supernatural work of God in their heart.

There are “other hearts” involved, though, in how God brings one person into the life of another to make a difference, and influence them towards putting their faith in Christ.  We call it ministry when God opens and closes doors of opportunity for His people to share Christ with others.  We often refer to our opportunities as “an open door.”  

In these verses in Acts, we see both doors illustrated.   Some are open and others are closed.  This is also called “guidance.”

Let’s put some shoe leather on these doors.  Don’t you and I usually feel that when a door of opportunity opens, we’re usually keen on walking through it, and watch what God does in response to this new opportunity.   We sense through this “open door of opportunity” that God has lead us in a particular matter.

But what about when He “closes a door?”   That’s guidance too!  It’s similar to any of our requests in prayer.  If He says “yes” to our request, we feel He’s answered our prayer.  Yet, the truth is, Scripture also teaches that His “no’s” or “waits” are answers too.

Here in the text we’re looking at, Paul and his companions were travelling in one direction, throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching” in the province of Asia.  As they continued in their travel plans, again they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit “wouldn’t let them.”  So, they went somewhere else, Troas. 

As humans, they could have felt discouraged with the “preventative plans” the Lord was orchestrating on their trips.  But Paul realized, like we’re all to realize that God holds the plan, executes the plan and His timing and guidance are the best.

There are some wonderful principles to learn from the alteration of Paul’s travel plans:

*        God’s plans are carried out toward the heart of a “prepared person or persons.” 

*        God’s guidance comes to us individually and personally.

*        God’s guidance prompts people inwardly, through others, or through circumstances, to prevent them from going in one direction and to head

         out on another

Isn’t it wonderful when we see God’s plan unfold!  But many times we have to look back, to understand our present situation and how we got there.  

As we seek God’s will in matters, it is important to know what God wants us to do and where He wants us to go; but it is equally important to know what God does “not want us to do” and “where He does not want us to go.”

No doubt Paul was wondering what geographical direction to take in spreading this Good News.

I remember one time being at home and having the “sudden urge” to go for a walk.  Now I don’t get those urges often, but I remember dropping whatever I was involved in at home, and began my walk.   I checked our mail at the box on the corner, which was a half block away.   As I was checking the box, I sensed someone standing nearby.  This nicely dressed older man was just standing there, looking around, as if to understand where he was.   

Now I am not in the habit of introducing myself to men standing on street corners, but all of a sudden I was in conversation with this nice gentleman.   It wasn’t long before I realized he was struggling with finding his way around.   As time and experience with him marched on, I came to understand he was dealing with dementia.  

I told him I was taking a short walk down to the little park two blocks away and asked if he’d like to walk with me.  I indicated that I would bring him back home within twenty minutes.   He agreed and off we went.

This sweet elderly man was a “divine appointment” orchestrated by God through the prompting within me to just “take a walk.”   

This reminds me that God’s guidance isn’t something mystical, but very practical.  He knows our mind and heart and sees our steps as well.  So our Creator knows just how to orchestrate us to the “right places and people” where God can use each of us to reflect God’s love or share His truths.

We sat on a park bench to rest a few minutes (which I seldom do), and within minutes I learned of his move to this city to be with his son.  His wife was living with his daughter on the east coast and not expected to live very much longer. 

He was parked in this city, across from the condo where we were living and just happened to be out on a walk and stopped at the moment I showed up at the mailbox.   NO COINCIDENCE….but a DIVINE APPOINTMENT.  

The delight of this encounter was when I was able to share about Jesus Christ as we sat together on the park bench.   And yes, he gave his life to Christ that afternoon.  We became friends and walked the streets of San Diego, California together.

Back to Paul and his travelling companions.  One Sabbath they went outside the city gate to the river.  Seems as if they were searching for a quiet place to pray.   Instead of a quiet place they found a group of women.

Goodness, can’t we relate to this situation.  We go somewhere to do one thing, and find that we’re engaged doing something quite different.

Paul and his men never allowed gender or cultural boundaries to keep them from preaching about Jesus.  Paul opened his dialogue with the women and in verse l4 the “open heart surgery” prevailed.  “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.”

This encounter is so encouraging because many times we can share with another and there appears to be no response.  We’re not the ones who open peoples’ hearts, that’s God’s job.  Our assignment is to pray and be open to the opportunities God presents in our normal everyday living. 

Our task and privilege is to share the good news of the gospel.   Oh that our sensitivity to God’s Spirit would increase so that we’ll know when to speak, what to say and better yet, when to be silent.  It takes “time” for people to process truth. 

This unexpected encounter at the river opened up an entire region of the world to the gospel.  We never know that our tiny daily encounters can open up new relationships, and new opportunities God will use to bring people into a relationship with Himself. 

Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth and so she probably would have been a wealthy and well known woman in the city of Thyatira.  Women in Jesus’ times were not given the same kind of respect and status in society as in our day.   There were often referred to as second class citizens.  They were allowed to have very minimum education and their role was limited to performing the chores in their homes and take care of children.   

Lydia was a smart business woman.  This reveals that she not only had an education and skill, but she also possessed strength and determination to work in a male- dominated society. 

She was influenced in a wonderful way by Paul and learned from him.   She had a teachable spirit.  And the beauty of this setting by the water shore, was that God had opened her heart to the gospel. 

She would become very influential to leading others to Christ, and play a prominent role in the early Christian church and ministry.

Her giftedness in business and financial decisions, along with her contacts in the community would be used greatly in the church.   Her personal touches of hospitality was so refreshing.   She made her home available to others.  This is hospitality at its finest.

Hospitality goes a long way in influencing others to the love of God.  It’s not the size of our homes, but the size of our hearts that make the difference.  

We often hear the term entertaining guests as being hospitable….but it isn’t.   Entertainment focuses on the host or hostess.  Hospitality focuses on your “guests….making them feel at home in your home.”   Most of the word contained in hospitality is “hospital.”   It’s caring for the needs at hand….not impressing others.  

Where in the world did we learn that our homes need to be in perfect order, free of dust and clutter……we need to “unlearn” that concept. 

People who notice my dust or spotted windows need to be in a hospitality refresher course, taught by Miss Lydia.   When I’m in someone’s home and I happen to notice a laundry basket out or dishes in the sink, I realize that “life is happening” in this home.  This is reality living and I embrace it and hope I’m invited back.  

The contribution of her heart and home cradled many a guest’s heart…meeting peoples’ needs in practical ways.   Our homes can be a “haven of rest” for many a heart, bringing refreshment physically, spiritually and emotionally.  

People need to be needed in this lonely world.   We weren’t designed to go this life alone.   Let’s be alert and invite people into our little worlds and listen to them, love them and enjoy them….as unto the Lord.

Through prayer and obedience God sends a prepared person to a prepared people.  This is evangelism. 

May our lives long to live “intentionally,” looking for people to love in practical ways.

The other day my husband and I were reminiscing about funny things that happened when we were younger.  So, sit back and relax as I invite you into my parents’ kitchen in Columbus, Ohio.

My husband and I lived in Canada at the time, but several times a year I would fly back to visit my folks in Ohio.   It was an average morning and we were just enjoying sitting at their kitchen table with each other.

For some reason, my dad went outside, probably to take out some trash or have a tour of his tomato garden.  He was gone longer than expected.

My mom and I just continued chatting when all of a sudden, my dad came bursting through the front door with an “incredible announcement.”

Come out and look!   You won’t believe what I just saw.  My dad was quite a jokester, but I agreed to join his invitational adventure.

As I proceeded from the kitchen into the living room and heading towards the front door, I asked him, “What did you see that was so incredible?”

He kept repeating, “it’s amazing.”   There’s a skating elephant in that big semi-truck parked across the street.   By now, I thought my dad was losing it.  He was creative and all, but I thought he must be taking this story far beyond the facts.

Yes, I see the huge semi-truck but couldn’t connect an elephant to this huge carrier parked just across the street from their home.  Their home was very close to the interstate entrance, so access to a service station was a fairly easy maneuver for trucks wishing to refuel.

By now I had stepped off the front porch and glanced to the right to get a more detailed look at the printing on the side of the gigantic semi-trailer.  Yes, I saw the huge semi-truck, but couldn’t make a connection.

My dad was acting like a six-year-old little boy at this juncture.  He crossed the street to get a closer focus on the sign.   Ordinarily a person wouldn’t even need a pair of glasses to see the huge words colorfully displayed on the truck.

TARRA – THE SKATING ELEPHANT

We both just stood there star-crazed and in total unbelief.  A few minutes elapsed, and then the driver appeared with a huge bucket of water.   He may have been thirsty himself, but this bucket was beyond large….it was HUGE.

My dad couldn’t get the words out of his mouth fast enough, “Is there really an elephant in your semi?”   Yep, that’s right sir.

We both looked at each other in disbelief and immediately surveyed the “sign….” which portrayed her “talent” and skill.   My dad asked, “Can the elephant really skate?   His reply was in the affirmative.

By now we both must have looked like two six-year-olds that just got a free ice cream cone from the ice cream guy who used to ride a bike with a freezer in the front.  Do you remember that from your childhood?  If not, it was before your time. 

But in the Summer, a guy would ride throughout the neighborhood with a small portable freezer at the front of this bicycle, selling various forms of popsicles or ice cream bars.  The song “Music Box Dancer” would play over and over and over attracting every young child in their neighbourhood.

Well, back to the elephant story.  The driver told us just a little about this huge elephant and how she was trained to skate.  She’s actually known around the world, and this semi-truck was delivering her to her next “theatrical” event.

It has been many years since this took place, and I think we only saw part of her legs standing in the “air conditioned” carrier accommodating this priceless princess elephant.

By now, my mother was fixed on the porch absorbing all this from a distance.   As we walked away from the truck, we just shook our heads in unbelief.

We shared our “eye witness account” with my mom; and she could tell by our expressive animation and the sign on the semi-truck that it was all for real.

Here’s a clip from the internet about this famous elephant:

Tarra, the world’s only roller-skating elephant.  Soon after moving to Ojai, California, Tarra became the world’s only roller-skating elephant.  Her celebrity took her around the world, always with her owner Carol, and her family in tow. 

Tarra is a wild-caught Burmese elephant.  She was three months old when an exotic animal broker sold her to an animal collector in California, who put her on public display at his tire store.

Cara and Tarra met in 1974 when Tarra was not even a year old and Carol was a 20-year-old college student studying exotic animal training and management at Moorpark College in southern California.

Carol immediately became Tarra’s volunteer caregiver and, eventually, her legal guardian.”

Coming back to reality, as I thought about this true-life event, I got to thinking about the “impossibility” that my dad was telling me about.

It became clear as I pondered this scenario, how many times have I read in the Bible about how God is a God of the impossible?  How many times have I doubted his character of goodness, holiness, love, mercy, forgiveness, power and majesty?

Let me bring you to the incredible verse in Luke 1:37

“For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Luke 1:37

and

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26

This event brought me back to the Scriptural truth about the God I serve.  I doubted my dad’s announcement regarding this “impossible scene” in front of their home.   It was possible and it was true.  Now I need to transfer this trust to my heavenly Father – that He has plans for my life and yours that would dwarf ours, if we would just believe Him.

There is no task, no situation, no problem, no challenge that is impossible for our God to address.  He is the God of what, in human terms, is impossible, but….not for Him, and not by Him.

I love the phrase that Dr. Tony Evans often shares in his sermons on the broadcast called:  The Urban Alternative (which you can google and listen to on your cell phone).  His phrase is this:

FAITH IS ACTING LIKE GOD IS TELLING THE TRUTH!

Photos of Tarra….in action!

Enjoy!

Persevering in Prayer – Matthew 15:21-28

My thesaurus and dictionary are real tools for me.  This topic of persevering moved me to look at some definitions.  To persevere is to pursue, continue, endure, resolute, determination, remain.   In other words, don’t give up after a few encounters in prayer.   Prayer is a lot of things, but often we don’t attach the word “work” to it.  Our minds can be preoccupied, wander, and if we’re real honest, at night we can fall asleep in the middle of it.

Here’s another woman who isn’t named, but her faith is honored before a group of men who felt Jesus needn’t give her the time of day.  After all she was a woman and a Gentile.   So she definitely wasn’t one of the crowd. 

These were Jesus’ disciples for goodness sake, and you’d have thought that some of His attitudes and behavior would be rubbing off by now.   But in this scenario, they found this woman a real live bother to them.

She obviously had known they were all in town and went after Jesus to try and get a moment with him.  After all, her daughter was suffering terribly from demon-possession.  This is her precious bone-of-her-bone and flesh-of-her-flesh.  Her love was passionate for her daughter and no doubt stressed about her condition.

With all this effort to try and get a moment with the Savior, she finally cuts through the disciples and their discouraging comments and blurts out her request, only to receive no verbal response from Jesus.

Have you and I been there?  You bet we have.  We read His word, seek Him, pour out our hearts to Him, and yet sometimes we’re met with silence.   We’ve talked to the Lord about our concerns and then can feel they never got above the ceiling of the room we were in.  Or, we’ve been praying about an issue for months or years, and nothing has “seemingly” changed.

I’ve learned in my journey that God is working all the time, but much of His work is what I’d call underground and timely.  Sometimes the change that takes place is the change “in us.”  

Perhaps like you, I’ve found that Jesus wasn’t always a quick responder with words.  He thought before He spoke.   Sometimes “the lack of words” can serve a very real purpose as well as speak volumes too.  Whenever He did speak, it had purpose to it.

There seemed to be some kind of pause in the scene, because the disciples moved in to urge Him to send her away.    And after all, she was a Gentile woman whom the Jews weren’t to be speaking to anyway.

Wonderfully funny how God breaks through all the social and cultural barriers.  This would be another encounter in the disciples’ “school of learning” and for us too.

The first recorded words out of His lips to this woman seemed to indicate;  “Aren’t you aware that according to custom a Jew isn’t even to speak to a Gentile?”

This mother-in-anguish pushes past all that cultural information.  I thought it odd that she never addresses the cultural facts Jesus puts before her.   She by-passes all of that incidental and kneels down before Him.   She gets personal and worshipful. 

She’s now demonstrating in the tone of her words and her physical position that she realizes who He is, the Lord, and is bowing in reverence.   Can’t we almost hear the tone of voice she uses in her soft, but urgent cry, “Lord, help me!”  

This woman, for goodness sake, knows she’s a woman and she could care less that she stands out in this crowd.   Her daughter’s need is critical and this “Mama ain’t happy” and is in dire stress about it.   If you’re a mother with a sick child, you know your antennas are out and up and no sleep is coming to your eyes until help is on the way.

She called Him Lord.  She knew who He was and believed He and only He was her source of help in her daughter’s severe condition.  This mama was bothering them with her persistent begging.  Odd, don’t you think that these were the men who were “learning about Jesus’ mission” and “learning to be like Him.”    They certainly failed in this object lesson.

Let’s learn from them.  Jesus is kind and full of compassion.   They lacked both, along with insensitivity.  After all she must have been repeating herself and at least some of her need as she tagged along the guys.  

They had people to see, places to go.   These men were involved in the “school of spiritual training” and they couldn’t be bothered with the “practical needs of life, could they.”  After all, this was God in the flesh and there were important things to teach His men.

They met with resistance on her part.  She had become now an inconvenience to them.  Have you and I been there at all?   Odd how it seems to happen, we’re busy, preoccupied with important things and our little one, or a neighbor or friend comes over or calls with a need or hurt.  

Our thoughts can go crazy on this one:  this isn’t a convenient time.   Needs seldom occur between the hours of 8am to 5pm, when it’s more convenient to help.  I think God is about to teach his guys about the day-to-day “divine appointments” that are before us and we’re unable to see them because they’re either so practical we miss them, or we’re so preoccupied to see them with our earthly vision.

I was at the optometrist’s office getting my first pair of glasses when I noticed a sweet little sign on the wall.  It was a picture of a little boy with a BIG pair of glasses.  The caption read…. “Dear God, I can see you much better with my new glasses.”   This has always stuck with me.

Don’t you wonder sometimes that Jesus may seem silent at first, so we’ll quiet down and lean in closer to listen?  Another thought toward this idea is that in His quietness, He’s adjusting the “lens of our heart” so we see the opportunities “in those interruptions”….better yet, “divine appointments” in our days.

Let’s go back to the silence again because I feel it has great significance.  The men were probably quite vocal about this “female interruption,” and Jesus may have waited until they were quiet…to continue his interaction with the woman.  We’re not told for sure.

Now, back to the scene.   She’s now down on her knees, reverently addressing Him as Lord, please help me.   She’s not demanding, but agonizingly pleading.

After the silence, Jesus reminds her of His mission to the Israelites first. 

Can we hear him quietly saying, “You know, I’ve really come to the Jews first, as their Messiah.  Then they were to take the message of salvation to the rest of the world.  

Doesn’t it look like He is testing her faith and all the while wanting to use this “opportunity” to show His guys that their faith and her faith always draws out His heart for all people who are earnestly seeking Him as their Messiah.   His mission was to all people, not just the Jews.  And here was going to be a real live illustration.

I didn’t see it at first, his comment is like a “brick wall,” and I think He was testing her to see how she’d handle this information.   He was just being truthful about His mission. 

She hurdles this wall beautifully and persistently……”Lord, please help me.”   She recognized He was ‘her Messiah’ and source of help in this demon-possession of her daughter.

He used a term “dog” indicating what the Jews’ attitude was toward Gentiles.  They were considered like dogs to receive God’s blessing.   He was contrasting what Jews thought about Gentiles receiving God’s blessings.

Another hurdle to leap over for this persistent Mom!   It was as if she was saying, “Lord, I know they refer to us Gentiles as dogs, but I’m not here to debate that.  I’m willing to be called a dog, as long as you’ll respond to me, my Master.”

Here was the diamond in the story.   She reverenced Jesus as “her Lord and Messiah,” whether a female Gentile or not…she wanted His help, His blessing, His care for her daughter.   She knew who He was and wasn’t going to leave Him alone until He attended to her.

Here was “faith in action”….persistent faith.  God saw this mom’s heart of great faith and honored her faith.  Her daughter was healed that very hour.  God responded according to His will and purpose in her life and the life of her daughter. 

Let’s not ask and expect that God will do what we ask, when we ask and the manner in which we think His response should come.   He has plans and ways that are higher and serve greater purposes; so let’s allow Him to work His will and plan in:  His way – His time – His method and for His glory and purposes. 

Our need is to be persistent until we may hear His no or in our seeking, He may change our requests.

We need to rest and trust in His wisdom in how, when and how He responds will always be for our good, and His glory.

It is fair to say, that most of my days are “very ordinary”, and I can assume that that is true for most of us as we journey through our daily lives living with it’s routines and responsibilities. It would be rare, very rare indeed if we were to receive a phone call from the local newspaper or TV channel to inform us that they would like to interview us about some dramatic highlight that had occurred within the walls of our home that day that they had heard about. We just live out our “very ordinary” days in sequence, don’t we?

My mind and heart often gravitate toward a truth that I very much appreciate which is that, “God who works in the ordinary, will at times make the ordinary to become the “extraordinary” to fulfill His purpose in our life as well as in the lives of others”.

The neighborhood we currently live in has a transcendent beauty with an ever-changing panorama to accompany the seasons. When we purchased the home, which had been sorely neglected for several years, it was in desperate need of a complete overhaul both inside and out. And so, we began the work.

I tackled most of the landscape work outside, and as a result of that, I have gotten to know most of the people who live around us. Almost every inch of the yard needed to be tackled, and I often pondered, “Why Lord”? But as time went along, as I dug, chopped, weeded, mowed, people would stop amidst my moans and groans to view the progress and to see how I was doing. I came to realize that as neighbors walked their dogs, or came by as they were out for a daily jog, my visibility and availability became a purposeful plan that the Lord laid before me to be a cheerful witness for Him.

As time unfolded, late one afternoon, the doorbell rang, and it was one of those neighbors who would periodically stop by to talk as I worked. There she stood, both arms full, clutching a dish of lasagna she had just prepared and brought to me for dinner. What a delightful surprise.

Delightful on two counts. One I didn’t have to prepare it, and two, lasagna is one of my favorites. If you know anything about lasagna, you know this, the smell of garlic effuses from the dish. Mumm! What an aroma when you’re hungry.

Of course, I invited her inside for a little chat and she followed me into the kitchen where I placed her thoughtful delivery on the counter top for our dinner that night. This was a woman that whenever I had visited with, conversation was never difficult. She is one of those persons who knows both how to listen, and how to keep conversation interesting and alive.

It wasn’t long however before she said she needed to get back to her home so that she could finish preparing dinner for her family. So off she sauntered to the front door, and parting with a big hug, off she went.

So, what is it that is so special about all of this? Yes, the dinner she brought to us was both thoughtful and kind, but there was something else that occurred as a result of her visit that left a lasting impression. What was it?

When I came inside and closed the door after I bid her farewell, there was a distinct and fragrant aroma in our house. The smell of the garlic in the lasagna? No! Rather, it was the lingering scent of the cologne she was wearing. A beautiful aromatic perfume permeating the air. It wasn’t just at the entrance way, but in the living room, and all the way through to the kitchen remaining in the atmosphere for more than an hour.

As I was pondering that, the Lord brought to my mind, the Scripture:

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 “For we are to God, the fragrance of Christ.”

The presence of my neighbor lingered long after she had gone from our house – because it was what she had “adorned herself” with earlier in the day that was still oozing from the pores of her body, and left its imprint in our home.

Yes, Lord, I see!  That’s what our Savior longs for our life as we interact and rub shoulders in the lives of others.  Wherever we are, whatever we do, we are to bring the “fragrance of the love of Christ.”

I laugh when I think of consuming garlic.  You never need to announce to another that you’ve eaten garlic, because it just emits from your pores.   So, in a Spiritual sense, we don’t need to announce to others that we’ve had our “quiet time” or that we read the Bible that day hoping they see the evidence of Christ in our lives.  We don’t need to announce how many Bible studies we’ve been involved in, or how much we’re “doing for our Lord.”

Through the presence and residence of the Holy Spirit within every believer, there should be an “aroma of the character of Christ” radiating from our life.   There ought to be something about us that attracts people to the character of Jesus Christ within us.

It calls for “contagious Christian living!” 

Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

We don’t give another person a cold or the flu by just “talking about it;” we must “have the cold or flu” within us in order to infect and affect someone else.  In other words, we must be CONTAGIOUS ourselves.

In reality, if we say we are followers of Jesus Christ, there should be something about Him that exudes from the pores of our lives!   So that when others spend time with us, they’ll be affected in some tiny way by the love of God.

God can take how we live and treat others and make an impression upon the life, heart and soul of another.  That makes the ordinary extraordinary.

A WONDERFUL LIFE GOAL FOR EACH OF US…………………………….

       After people spend time with us, what do they think of Jesus?

I know I’ve shared this goal in other stories, but it bears repeating.  What do people think after:  listening to us talk about others, working alongside us, seeing how we respond to criticism or negative circumstances, observing our work ethic, and evaluating our integrity and authenticity.  We are always making an impression!   What is it?  What fragrance of Christ and His character and love do we leave?

This spiritual aroma, which results from our encounter with Christ, blesses the heart of God.   The Father loves to see the life of His Son being “expressed” in and through our daily living.

May the Lord help each of us to leave a lasting and loving fragrance of Jesus Christ, so that our lips and lifestyle permeates into every relationship, for His glory.

A Forgiven Heart – Luke 7:36-50

“I experience a sense of hopelessness when I am intensely aware of my depravity.  Even despair.  Darkness threatens to overcome me.  I also know what it is to be forgiven by God and others.  To experience the freedom of being released from my sin.  To feel the exhilaration that comes from being loved completely and accepted for who I am.”

Quote from opening paragraph of this chapter, Women of the New Testament,” Pg. 21 (Phyllis J. Le Peau)

The sinful woman isn’t named!  What a gracious way of the Savior saying, “You’re forgiven, and I’ve got you covered…by my blood shed for you at the cross.”  With God’s forgiveness, there’s no need to rehearse the past.   And aren’t we all thankful for that.

At first I never thought about it, but you know we can all fill in the blanks with “our names” can’t we.   Regardless of what we’ve done, thought, said or imagined, apart from Jesus Christ, we are that sinful woman.  This goes for men too if you happen to be a man and picking up this writing.  Aren’t we all grateful for the forgiveness we have in our Savior? 

Forgiveness….there’s nothing greater than hearing those words, whether it’s from Scripture reminding us that we’re forgiven, or from a friend or family member sharing with us that we are forgiven.  It cleanses the air in which we live with others…..freeing ourselves to be real and transparent.

It’s absolutely incredible that a Holy God would take our place at the cross and die for what we should die for, just so we could be brought into a relationship of closeness that our Creator wanted for us all along.

When I even consider the sins I’ve been forgiven for, it brings perspective on the sins of others.   As the saying goes, those who live in glass houses should never throw stones. 

This event took place at a “dinner party” if you will, at the home of Simon, a Pharisee.  He was considered to be respectable, upstanding, and knowledgeable and perhaps felt honored that Jesus would attend this get-together with like-minded people.

The dinner party was in full operation when a “sinful woman,” who was not invited to the gathering, appeared on the scene.  She wasn’t obnoxious or trying to call attention to herself.  Actually her appearance was not even evident, at first.   She was on a “mission of appreciation” to the Lord.  

Sometimes in our culture, we’ll bring a little gift to give our host or hostess who’s invited us to their home.   This woman showed up with not only a heart of love, but with an expensive gift of perfume.  Her intention wasn’t to wear the fragrance, but instead was pouring it out in worship and adoration to Jesus, the One who had previously forgiven her.

The social custom on the day was to wash the feet of your guests with water, anoint their head with oil and offer them a kiss of greeting.  Sandals and dusty ground would bring about dirty feet, and so it was a kind gesture to your guests to have their feet cleansed a bit when they appeared at your home.  Mr. Upstanding-Pharisee Simon neglected all three. 

In Jesus’ day it was customary to recline while eating.  Dinner guests would lie on couches with their heads near the table, propping themselves up on one elbow and stretching their feet out behind them.   I personally think that’s a little uncomfortable, but they were certainly use to it. 

This (formerly) immoral woman appeared at the gathering rather unnoticed at first.  Because of their positioning at the table, they may have been occupied in conversation without notice of her entry.  But perhaps her tears and the fragrance of the perfume were now filling the atmosphere.

I don’t know about you, but if that had been my background, I wouldn’t have chosen the all-male dinner party to make a public appearance.  It was an invitation for humiliation to say the least.

She appeared at the feet of Jesus and cared for him in such a worshipful way; the very thing Simon should have had attended to. 

Her reputation followed her to this gathering though.  She was disrespected, considered as a low-life woman and to be shunned and avoided.  According to others, her life didn’t gain approval of the crowds.  No doubt her presence caused a stir to say the least.  

Simon, at this point was definitely doubting any credentials of Jesus’ being a profit, after all, if He was, He would have known the “shady and immoral background” of this woman. 

We need to be a little careful in pointing our index finger in a “shame on you” fashion toward Simon.   Can’t each of us be just like him at a moment’s notice?  You know, camping on the sins and shortcomings of others, without taking the slightest notice of log of sins in our own lives.

Jesus doesn’t convey to Simon that he can read his thoughts, He just begins to tell a story about two people in financial debt to a money lender.  One owed a lot of money and the other, not as much, and how both their debts had been cancelled due to the kindness of the lender.   

Wouldn’t we just love for the bank who holds our house mortgage to swing into this kind of action toward us!

This was quiz time for Mr. Simon.  Which debtor felt the greatest appreciation to the lender?   Simon got it right….the one who owed the most.   Hearing Simon’s “right answer,” Jesus leaps into current social dilemma pointing out that this woman honored Him in all the right ways:  washing his feet, anointing his head with oil and kissing his feet.

Simon should have been embarrassed at his lack of attention to this social courtesy.  For this woman to “show up” where she wasn’t invited, and then to extend the loving hospitality of greeting that Simon should have extended to Jesus…this was incredible.

If I was this woman, with her background, this gathering would be the last place I’d make a social appearance.   But her “self-invited” presence had nothing to do with the focus on her.  The focus of her presence was Jesus.   She was so over-whelmed with gratefulness to Him for His forgiveness and cleansing of her life.  The slate of her sinful past was washed clean!   The tears were tears of joyful worship, appreciation and devotion to Him for his extravagant love shown to her.

Simon’s viewpoint saw nothing in this woman but disgust.  The “lens of his heart” was full of condemnation towards her.   She was a sinner…no bones about that.   But what the lens of his heart “didn’t see” was “his own sin.”   He considered himself a tidied -up Pharisee, a respectable and upstanding citizen, thank you very much.  

He was unable to see the obvious…that he was a sinner too in need of forgiveness.   The forgiveness his dinner guest was willing to extend to him, if he was willing.

This “newly forgiven woman’s repentance” turned her world upside down.  Jesus, even though He knew her condition of sin, couldn’t wait for her to turn to Him.   He had compassion on her because Jesus knew what sin did to her.  He knows what it does to us too.  It keeps us far from God and afraid to approach Him.    

We can rejoice because he knows each of us….and our capacity for sin.  His heart and arms were open to her and to us, as we come to a merciful Lord and Savior.   I love it that He doesn’t ask us to “clean up our act first,” but come “as we are,” regardless of the dirtiness of our lives, and He’ll work in us to bring change. 

The truth is that Jesus is more willing to receive us….than sometimes we are to come to Him.  Is that incredible or what!   Oh to be more like Him….accepting people “as they are, not as we’d wish them to be.”

Jesus, in his poignant way, tells another one of his stories-to-make-a-point to the guests, with emphasis on Simon about “indebtedness.” This woman’s extravagant demonstration of love was because she recognized the severity of her sin.   Simon was actually blind to his real condition.

The point of this story is that to the extent we’ve been forgiven and “realization of it,” that is the extent to which we’ll love Him and yearn to be devoted to Him.

So, I guess that it’s okay to once in a7while have a glance at our past to appreciate the extent of His forgiveness for us personally, and then move forward to greater love for our Savior.

Poor Simon…he was so self-righteous in his attitude, he never saw his need.

I’m learning from this scenario that it’s best if I never compare myself with anyone but Jesus.   For if I do, I may be tempted to think I’m not as bad as another. 

The problem with that, is that Jesus died not only for what I have done, but my “potential for sin as well.” 

 What a wonderful Savior we have!

Consider the following when seen through the eyes of a toddler:

1.       If I like it, it’s mine
2.       If it’s in my hand, it’s mine
3.       If I can take it from you, it’s mine
4.       If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine
5.       If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way
6.       If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine
7.       If it looks just like mine, it’s mine
8.       If I saw it first, it’s mine
9.      If you are playing with something and you put it down, it’s    

automatically mine

1. If it’s broken, it’s yours

A child will always add a half to their age, because they want to be older.  An adult, however, will be QUIET about their age.  If they DO announce the number, it’s their current one with no “halves” mentioned.

We’re never too old to grow up – to become “mature!”

Webster defines maturity:  grown up, experienced, prepared, developed, cultivated, ripened … kind of sounds like a tomato that’s been on the vine awhile, doesn’t it?

In the broadest sense, it’s a fruitfulness that God Himself longs to develop in His children.  It’s a process of caring, pruning and lovingly working in all of the circumstances of our lives.  The good, bad, ugly, and the unexpected … what’s been fair and unfair. 

Our walk of life on earth with the One who died for us, prepares us for life with Him eternally.  We need to choose this option.  God is not only preparing a place for us, but He’s preparing us for that place.

God invites all people to a relationship with Jesus.  But it’s an invitation with an RSVP.  A relationship with Jesus Christ begins a process of turning away from a selfish, childish life and turning to His leadership and a new life.

A baby grows physically by taking in nutrients.  This begins with milk, progressing to pureed or “baby food.”  But this is only meant for a short time.  Soon, teeth appear for more than a cute smile, but for chewing real food.  Our new life with Christ follows a similar process spiritually. 

As adults, we are blessed with a tremendous array of foods!  There’s pasta, produce, chocolate, meat, fish, chocolate.  Then there’s one food that I find difficult to get down because I think it resembles a huddle of trees in the forest – broccoli!

Like many of you, I enjoy and take great delight in some foods, but others are rather “hard to swallow.”  In spite our dislikes, we plan and prepare nutritious things to eat for our families so they’ll grow strong healthy bodies and grow up.

Because I hate broccoli, I have had to make some attitude changes.  I “choose to eat it” because it’s good for me.”  Though I’m happy to share some with you too!  Mom’s favorite line at the table: “Eat up, it’s GOOD FOR YOU!”  (Even if it’s broccoli?!!).  Of course, I’d rather have chocolate, but too much chocolate isn’t good for me.  Sometimes I’d like to begin with dessert, but that’s not the best choice either.

I’ve been addressing some childish attitudes – beliefs or mindsets that produce unhappiness.  Life isn’t always fair and unfulfilled expectations can be hard to swallow.  Life isn’t as carefree as we’d like, and there are seasons when we’re sad.  Life has some real pits to it.

Ever been in a situation where you have really been hurting, and you look around and see others hurting too?  It doesn’t take away your pain, but you know you’re not the only one that’s feeling that way.

God shows us all through his “saints on display in the Bible” that they weren’t walking alone.  He was IN their experiences and WITH THEM.  He uses their life-stories to touch and encourage us.

In 2004 I was a student in the “Character 101 class.”  It began with my mom’s cancer diagnosis.  A few months later, my dad had a stroke that paralyzed half of his body and much of his mouth and jaw.  For two weeks I was with him 10 hours a day attending to him and icing his mouth every 30 minutes.

Three days before he died, my mom was told her cancer had returned and she needed surgery.  I attended to them both on and off in separate locations.  I planned his funeral and handled most all of their affairs by myself.

I can’t begin to tell you how powerfully personal God’s presence and peace settled me and comforted me.  He brought strangers into my life that reached out to me in my pain.

My Heavenly Daddy reminded me, “I’m here.  I know.  I understand.”  In those moments we have something that an unbeliever doesn’t have.  We have Some One who can cuddle and hold us deep within, when our emotional seams unravel.

Have you noticed that life happens — while we’re making other plans?

When things don’t go our way, our hearts can get cool toward God.  We fail to see Him at work in our lives … in the little things.  In reality, if God seems distant, it is not Him who has moved away … we have.

It is no accident that our difficulties, disappointments, tragedies and pain can bring our hearts back to Him.   Our pride and self-sufficiency rob us of seeing God in our circumstances.  Our hearts deceive us into thinking “I can do this ALL BY MYSELF!”  That has a CHILDISH RING to it!

When life does not follow our plan, we seek those who have walked through this before, and want to hear their loving counsel as they tell of God’s provision of unimaginable peace and inner strength.

While still here on earth, God often needs to activate a few “ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENTS.”  Our lives are HIS GIFT TO US … but how we live them is OUR GIFT to HIM.

Each day we’re writing the chapters and verses.  Most of us will never have a book written about us, but people are reading us just the same.  Our lives speak volumes; and since God is the author, we need to be active participants in the story, which speaks of His encouragement and draws attention to HIS love, care, faithfulness and wonderful provision amidst it all.

God wants to write His story through each of our lives.  If we give Him complete “editorial control,” He’ll write an epic.

When a collection of CIRCUMSTANCES comes our way; and it’s not packaged as we would choose, we wonder: “God, are you aware of this?  Has this taken you by surprise?”  This is when our Character 101 class is in session.

This is when our “talk” about trusting the Lord begins to become our “walk.”  If our beliefs are socks simply to keep our feet warm, we need to put on shoes and get going!  Because WHAT WE DO … DETERMINES WHAT WE BELIEVE, no matter what we say with our lips. 

MATURE BELIEFS are based on our relationship to God – through His Word and His character.  These beliefs are not based on how we feel, what we have seen or read on social media or what others do to us.

Years ago, someone’s behavior and words “swept me off my emotional feet.”  My thoughts and feelings went into overdrive, and my response ranged from devastated, shocked, overwhelmed, saddened … and more.  Thankfully God had been at work in me long before this took place, to get me ready.  It wasn’t done by a stranger, but a friend.

Remember the pop quizzes we had in school.  In this Character 101 Class – this was mine, and had one simple question: “How are you going to handle this?”

At first, I bawled like a child … and that was okay with my Daddy!  But after the tears, I had a GROWN-UP DECISION TO MAKE.   How would God want me to handle this!

My response needed to indicate my complete dependency on God, because I also knew that this was given to me for His CONSTRUCTIVE PURPOSES in my life and character?  Of course, this person was responsible to God for their behavior, but then, so was I.

I’m learning through my years of walking with Jesus that He is far more concerned with MY CHARACTER … THAN MY COMFORT.

The evil one longs to take all the unfairness, stresses and pain and use it for DESTRUCTIVE purposes in our lives.  And he provokes us to think: “God doesn’t care and this incident has slipped past Him.”

But our loving God allows and uses all the unfairness, disappointments and pain we encounter in a CONSTRUCTIVE way … as we allow Him.  What the Devil doesn’t seem to get is that we belong to and serve a LOVING Father.

As His kids, the MATURE perspective we need to maintain is that our loving Father can and will use all the disappointments, stresses, and heartache like a Divine Potter.  Thus, we are Squeezed, Shaped, Turned, and Molded into something useful.   When this process is complete, we realize a more wonderful CLOSENESS of INTIMACY with Him.

Though Satan tries to discourage us through our own thoughts or those of others – into thinking that God has abandoned us.  Here is where we need to keep real close to Him.  Our relationship with God, perhaps still developing, should remind us that nothing can touch us – not even separate us from God’s love and purpose for each one of us.

In the Bible, David knew that God’s work is perfect because of his personal relationship with Him.  David knew that God does no wrong, and that He’s faithful (regardless of what we’re going through).

Our disappointments or unmet expectations are way markers on our journey to maturity with Jesus.

In our Christian life, we eventually all encounter the decision: “Am I going to let God be God?”  I look back and smile that whenever I encountered problem and difficulties, I simply resorted to take control of the situation, and tried to push God out of the driver’s seat of my life.

Since God is concerned with character, we are given open-book tests.  Our responses to how we handle THE OPPORTUNITIES TO DO WRONG, determine whether we advance … or repeat that lesson.

Thus, when a situation stirs us to lash back, get even, or murmur: “you’re going to pay for this.”  If instead we respond like Jesus, WE KNOW WE’RE GROWING … and ready for harder challenges.

The trials and pressures we face may make us feel like a rubber band for a while.  But our Daddy is in “sovereign control – fully in charge” of the TRIAL, but also its TEMPERATURE and DURATION.

While studying and reflecting on “character,” and allowing the various life experiences to “marinate in my mind;” there’s a personal story I hadn’t planned to share, but which parallels the Biblical story of Hannah’s sorrow and her joy!

This is part of my story.  The name has been changed and the ending is different, but the same wonderful God who works all things together for His good plan and purpose is still involved.

I remember when I first realized that Jesus is God … with skin on, and how responding to Him makes you a chosen person, and given a PURPOSE as found in Jeremiah 29:11.

“I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to PROSPER you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

God’s purpose is to demonstrate, or put on display, something very special in and through EACH OF US.

God never lumps us all together, but speaks to us individually.  We are not just a crowd, but individuals – dearly loved by Him.  The truly strange thing is that His love is NOT conditional.  It does not depend on our performance, accomplishments, title, or address.  You are loved – just for “being you.”

This photo spoke tenderly to me.  It’s a photo of a lovely friend just a few days after she was born.  There were two ways this touched my heart.  

This young mother exudes gladness and joy as she embraces her newborn daughter with all her hopes and anticipation of how her life would unfold.  She had no idea of the plans God had for this child.   But God did!  And oh, the joy God had when He designed each of us and caused you and I to enter this world as He gave us our first breath.

This little baby is now a beautiful woman who has become a doctor.  God has used this woman in many wonderful ways in the country of Afghanistan. 

God is also using her as she communicates her “experiential journey” in her walk with God through her writings to encourage others.  In this photo she appears like most other newborn babies, but here’s where it leans in so beautifully in the arena of “maturity.”  

God’s longing is that as we mature in our walk of faith, we begin to take on the features and characteristics of our Savior.  God’s goal is that we “resemble Jesus” in our everyday lives, so others are drawn to Him.

I know this “baby” as an adult, and it’s ever-so-clear when I see her and then look at this photo, I see the “strong resemblance of her mother in her.”  That’s “exactly what God is looking for in each of His children is the resemblance of Christ in our lives.”

A compass goal for my life is this: “After people spend time with me, (working, speaking, living my life) what do they think of Jesus Christ?”

So, you see, this photo is a vivid reminder that God is working in every crevice of my life and yours, working as a Divine Potter, shaping us into the likeness of the character of His Son.   Each of our lives “influence others” toward Jesus, or away from Him.

We understand from that verse in Jeremiah 29:11 that God says: “I love you because I designed you and gave you your first breath and each breath thereafter.”

In my story, the Lord gave my husband and me a gift much more valuable than a few biological children.  Instead, He has given us more children than we ever thought possible.

For years, I wondered if God truly loved me, because we had not been blessed with a child.  The Bible tells us that children are a gift from the Lord … others have these gifts!  Why don’t we?

From God’s perspective, my experience is somewhat like what happened to Hannah.  God needed me to have a change in attitude. 

Since we are created as individuals, God has an individual plan for each of us.  It can never be compared to someone else.  Just as Hannah looked at Peninnah’s life, I looked at others with a child.

God kindly, gently and consistently began to “operate on my eyes.”  I though my WOMB was the problem.  The GREAT PHYSICIAN knew better, because He had other plans.

Our life and home are filled with guests who come and stay with us throughout the year.  One day after yet another group of guests had left … I finally began to see … something.  It was as if the BANDAGES FELL OFF … and I began to see things from HIS PERSPECTIVE on why we did not have children.

God quietly spoke to my heart:

          “You love having people in your home, don’t you?  Had you

          ever thought that each person that comes into your life or

          your door is a CHILD, sent by ME for you to love?”

So … how do we get God’s perspective on our situations?  Of course, God is committed to providing that for us, but we need to ALLOW HIM to do that … without taking control!  This is a learned discipline and takes time.

My expectations were continually frustrated since God did not provide what I wanted in the packaging I had anticipated.  For years I didn’t RECOGNIZE His gifts due to my pre-conceived definition.  I wanted one that weighed 6 lbs. 8 oz.

Once I began to really see His gifts, my life has NEVER been the same.  Now I SEE that EVERYONE IS A CHILD.  We’re just different heights and sizes. 

In the Bible, God said “yes” to Hannah’s prayer for a child, and after she weaned him, she gave her child back to God, and she was filled with joy.

In my situation, God had said “no,” but continues to bring people to me, whom I nurture and give -back to Him … and I am filled with joy.

God has opened my eyes to see the inner child in all of us.  He has given me a task of caring for and loving these taller ones He brings into my life.  Of course, I am only a means of transferring His love to other.

How can we tell others He’s wonderful and good and can be trusted if we’ve not EXPERIENCED HIM FIRST HAND?  Our commitment to give control of our life to God, requires a “letting go.”  Once He is “holding the ropes” of our lives, we realize that He is in charge, AND we are NO LONGER IN CONTROL.

Gradually, through circumstances and personal experience, we begin to mature – becoming contagious and convincing to others of the power of God – for we know Him personally.  Yes, there may even be joy in our tears, we realize that He is WONDERFUL!

Studying and learning about Him is great, but our real growth begins when He begins to stretch our character by gently pushing us out of our cushy and feathered “comfort zones.”  It is then we begin to EXPERIENCE GOD HIMSELF AND WHO HE IS AND LONGS TO BE in our “daily living.”

We have seen photos of a huge eagle’s nest high in the tree or in the crag of a cliff.  Most of these nests are out of reach, and few of us have seen the construction. 

The nest begins with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks and other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project.  Soon the nest is lined with a thick padding of fur and feathers, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs and soon the chicks.

However, as the eaglets mature and reach flying age, they become comfortable and enjoy their free meals, which makes them reluctant to leave.

That’s when the mother eagle begins “stirring up the nest.”  With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface.  As their environment becomes more uncomfortable, the eaglets get restless in their discomfort.

Not long after, through some serious prompting and urging the now growing eagles are encouraged to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to behave like the eagles they are meant to be.

When giving control of our lives to God, we also need to understand that His parenting skills are perfect.  As we learn to trust God, we understand that in those situations where we, like the eaglets, are

uncomfortable, it is because we are reaching the end of one level of our maturity.  It is at these stages God is actually EXPRESSING HIS LOVE TO US.

Yet, we need to ensure our “compass attitude” holds us close to Him since He is so aware of the “temperature” of each of our hearts’ emotion.

There is no verse that promises a trouble-free life.  God does want us to know that our every “hurt and pain” concerns Him.  He invites us to cast all of our cares and pains on Him,

                                    BECAUSE

                                          HE

                                                CARES

                                                        FOR

                                                              US.