Reflections on Patience
August 21, 2010
At this moment I am on the phone with Dell Computers. Now I will say at the beginning I really
love my new computer, but as you may remember I spilled a glass of ice water on the poor thing and it just hasn’t been
right since then. At any rate I am now talking to Scott, who seems to be a very nice young man and I am
of course on hold. Also Scott is the sixth nice young man I have talked to. Odd that
I haven’t had a woman since the start and she was a recording.
Now I have come to one conclusion with this; God is trying to teach me patience.
I believe He has been trying to teach me this lesson for at least nine years now. (You may recall
also that this is the length of time my wonderful son, Bobby has been with me. What a coincidence.)
Now I just know that they can fix this computer and I have no
doubts that eventually it will be brand spanking new, especially since by the end of this event everything in it will have
been replaced except the screen. I do wonder though why they don’t send out a new computer.
I will have to ask Scott that when he comes back. Yes, I am still on hold, but since all my documents,
pictures and music were backed up, I am very calm and collected. I also know that I can remain patient
for about 2 more people then I may get caustic. Yes, I said caustic. I have even had
time to look words up in the dictionary.
Now patience
has never been one of my strong points. We all have our little quirks or traits that we should not have
and I have been blessed with this one. I choose to call it a blessing instead of a curse because I have
to pray about it rather often and any opportunity to talk to God is a good one. Well
I heard somewhere that we are all works in progress. I am not sure I would agree with that for the simple
reason that I don’t seem to be making any, progress that is. However, I am surely not
a finished project because I don’t think God would leave all these things out on purpose
I have of course prayed for patience. I told
God I was ready for it right now, but I am still waiting. Sometimes I think I have finally had this prayer
answered and something, like having to wait in line somewhere, will happen and then I know that I also having to wait at the
same time for my gift of patience. I do not understand. Does He not realize that I need
patience right now? I am of course not serious and I hope I would never give God orders, but don’t
we often do just that. We pray for something important to us of someone we love and then we expect God
to immediately jump to attention and lay it out in front of us like He is a genie in a bottle.
God has a perfect plan in each of our lives. He
has had that plan for each and every one of us before we were born. But being of the flawed human nature
we are, we want it now. Every part of our lives seems to concentrate on doing it faster. From
fast foods to those silly abbreviations in text messaging, we want it always faster. Slow down today.
Look at the blessing God has for you. Linger in some of those places that mean the most to you.
Show your family how much you love them. And wait; wait on God’s perfect plan for your life.
He has certainly spent His fair share of time waiting on you. And as the Bible tells us in Matthew
10:30,31 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore,
ye are of more value than many sparrows. With that much attention paid to us, surely we
can wait patiently for His plan.
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Reflections On Being "Fluffy"
August 14, 2010
My niece, Abby, is six years old and getting ready to enter the first grade. She has always had a really unique
way of looking at things. Her imagination knows no bounds, she always questions what she does not understand and when done
she fits these explanations into the box in her mind that I call story time.
She knows the difference
between real and imaginary. She just likes them both. Now maybe it is this wonderfully accepting attitude or maybe she
just accepts thing exactly the way I think God would want us to, but whatever the reason, she just accepts.
My Sunday school class is the 6th through 8th grade kids. These are the early teen years.
At one time I think this age is where the problems with body images began to be a problem. While it is still a problem
at this age I think it starts at a much earlier age now. I can understand the body image thing because I am not exactly
the model of perfection shown in magazines and movies and TV. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with that
but I have. The reason I have is this.
There are numerous times our being created in God's
image is mentioned in the bible. For instance, in Genesis 5: 1 This is the book of the generations
of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
Ephesians 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and
holiness of the truth.
Now I live in the real world
although Abby does allow me to visit imaginary friend world often. I don't believe that there is a God who looks exactly
like all of us. But I think that our God does not look at us with disgust or loathing because we are not a size 2.
Nor does He shake His head in shame when He looks at us and sees a bad hair day or the many other
things we see or imagine we see in the mirror. If He felt that way, why would he have sent His only son to die for us.
Well that to me says He must think we are okay the way we are physically. And He is ready for us to accept the mentally.
He is ready for us to become more like His son every day. And as you read your Bible remember what is found in
Isaiah 53:2. It says:"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should
desire Him." and Beauty, in God's eyes, comes from within [1 Peter 3:3-4].
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as
your hair and jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and
quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. In other words God looks at the beauty inside not outside.
So the more your light shines for God and the more He receives the Glory from us, the more beautiful we become in His eyes.
So Abby has already begun this lesson and I hope it will remain tight in her
heart. She has a word for those of us who are not size 2 by the way. We are fluffy and that just sounds so warm
and desired that it makes you feel good to be fluffy. Yes, fluffy is a good word in her book whether in the real word
or the imaginary one. I am going to have to go now because I think I am going to visit in imaginary friend world
and come back with even more stories going through my head. But really it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want
to live there. I like living in God's world too much.
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Reflections on Saving the Best for Last
July 18, 2010
My Sunday school class has been studying about witnessing, starting with the “Great Commission” and ending
up today with “The Roman Road”. In our studies we talked about the Great Commission being the
last instructions given by Christ. I have had a very long time habit of, well I guess you could call it,
saving the best for last. It happens when you turn a piece of cake upside down so the icing is the last
thing you eat. And then there is cleaning house and saving the job you like the most for last and getting
the worse one over with first. I am aware that there are people out there who like housework, I am not
one of them. Or reading your email and saving the one from your friend, that you know will be the best and will have you laughing
and crying, to open last.
I
think the Great Commission falls into this saving the best for last. Now witnessing to others is not easy.
First there is the getting up the nerve to jump into the opening that may be very small that is given to you to witness.
I have found that if you pass up the opportunity that is given you it just might not come around again.
I know I can look back on these lost opportunities knowing that it is unlikely that I am going to get that chance again.
Next there is the problem of having the right words to say. I believe we linger too long thinking about
this problem, when God is right there ready to give us those words. That of course is where the Roman Road
comes in. It is laid out neatly for us to follow. If you, like me, have trouble, remembering
bible verses or where they came from you can always carry a copy of these verses in your wallet or some handy place to pull
out when they are needed. It could not be clearer than God makes it in these few verses. In
case you are not familiar with them I will add them on the end.
So you get up the nerve, you know what to say, and when you have a responsive answer what
better feeling could you have than knowing that you have been an assistant in leading someone to Christ. And
that good feeling that you get and that you are sharing with others, that is saving the best for last. So
as daunting as it sounds, as scared as you are, as unsure of yourself as you can possibly be, when you have successfully completed
this instruction from Jesus, nothing else can feel that good. So that is the best. Probably
the only feeling that is better was the one you experienced when you gave your own heart to God. So with
His final instructions He gave us the best for last. You really don’t want to miss out on this icing
on the cake.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God.
"We all have sin in our hearts. We all were born with sin. We were born under the power of sin's control.- Admit that you are a sinner.
Romans 6:23a "...The wages of sin is death..."
Sin has an ending. It results in death. We all face physical
death, which is a result of sin. But a worse death is spiritual death that alienates us from God, and will last for all
eternity. The Bible teaches that there is a place called the Lake of Fire where lost people will be in torment forever.
It is the place where people who are spiritually dead will remain.- Understand
that you deserve death for your sin.
Romans 6:23b
"...But the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Salvation is a free gift from God to you! You can't earn this gift, but you must reach out and receive it.- Ask God to forgive you and save you.
Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!"
When Jesus died on the cross He paid sin's penalty.
He paid the price for all sin, and when He took all the sins of the world on Himself on the cross, He bought us out of slavery
to sin and death! The only condition is that we believe in Him and what He has done for us, understanding that we are
now joined with Him, and that He is our life. He did all this because He loved us and gave Himself for us!- Give your life to God... His love poured out in Jesus on the cross
is your only hope to have forgiveness and change. His love bought you out of being a slave to sin. His love is
what saves you -- not religion, or church membership. God loves you!
Romans 10:13
"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved!" -
Call out to God in
the name of Jesus!
Romans 10:9,10 "...If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your
heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."-
If you know that
God is knocking on your heart's door, ask
Him to come into your heart.
Jesus said,Revelation 3:20a
"Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..." -
Is Jesus knocking on your heart's door? Believe in Him. Ask Him to
come in to your heart by faith, and ask Him
to reveal Himself to you. Open the Bible
to the Gospel of John and read what God says about Jesus, about you, and about being born again. God will help you. He loves you. You need to look for
a local church where God's word is preached. The Bible says
that we are to desireGod's word like a newborn baby desires mother's
milk.Aren't you hungry to know the truth? Water baptism is one of the ways you first show that you have been joined to Jesus. This is an action, and actions will not save you. However, it is an act of
obedience and a symbol of commitment.The symbolism is this:When you go down in the water you show thatYou have been crucified and buried with Him, And when you come
up out of the water you show thatyou have been raised
to walk with Him in newness of life. (See Romans chapter
6) You have been born again. (See John chapter
3) Your body has become God's temple.Your heart is where He lives. Forgiveness is yours in Jesus.And you belong to Him. You were sin's slave.But now... You are a child of GOD!
John 1:12"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children
of God, even to those who believe in His name!"
Something happened
today that reminded me of my teenage years. I can remember my mother telling me on more than one occasion
that she did not understand how I had any friends at school, if I was even half as hateful as I was at home. Now
I remembered this as very angry words were, not only coming to my mind, but rapidly escaping my lips. I
know that once spoken, words can never be taken back. Yes, I know that, but keeping them inside when anger
is boiling over is harder with every incidence of anger.
My son is a teenager. All
of my friends who have had or do have teenagers tell me that he is exactly the same as theirs. A small
part of me believes this but there is also that part that is positive that he is the most aggravating child every to set foot
on earth. I sit back and watch him when other people are around and he is so well behaved.
So nice to people, so complimentary, so polite. He is quick to offer a more than willing hand to
anyone who might need help. So what happens to that beautiful boy when it is just me
and him? Now that is what I started out thinking about as I sat here writing. The
bible verse from Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word
stirs up anger, was floating around in my brain, accompanied by trying not
to count the number of times I had gotten mad enough to verbalize my feelings at the top of my lungs or to put it mildly to
have a harsh word or two.
Pastor James is on a much deserved vacation and Jimmy, our youth pastor, was filling in for him.
He had us turn to Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give
up. I very strongly believe that attempting to raise a child as part of a Christian home and the
accompanying Christian church is “doing good”. I know that he gets good examples from the other
people who go there. So now I need to figuratively get down on my knees and thank God for the people of
that church who set such a good example for him. For the teachers he has and the words from God he learns there.
And I need to beg most humbly for the patience needed, that I definitely have not shown this week, and the chance to
do better. And thank you God also for the memory of my own teenage years and what my poor mother who I
appreciate more every day, put up with from me and the many times she must have grown weary and also used a gentle word when
I was a teenager.