tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76737663504661254752024-03-19T05:31:55.017-04:00Le MuserThoughts about life, God, family, and the intricacies of the universe.The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-7830367235306715452023-09-15T11:15:00.000-04:002023-09-15T11:15:52.841-04:00Choir Schedule<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; display: inline !important;">Here is the choir’s schedule for the remainder of 2023</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; display: inline !important;"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; display: inline !important;"><img src="https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1DfsfOBfOfUt64xmbqSvaRkypdlU7vTXG" alt="https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1DfsfOBfOfUt64xmbqSvaRkypdlU7vTXG" style="max-height: 80%; max-width: 80%; height: auto; width: auto;"><br></span></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-66986181842443397262019-12-30T09:47:00.001-05:002019-12-30T09:47:13.936-05:002020 Clarity<span style="caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Having 20/20 vision does not necessarily mean you have perfect vision. 20/20 vision only indicates the sharpness or clarity of vision at a distance. Other important vision skills, including peripheral awareness or side vision, eye coordination, depth perception, focusing ability and color vision, contribute to your overall visual ability. (From </span><a href="https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/visual-acuity">https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/visual-acuity</a>)<div><br></div><div><br></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-37415115001815703562017-06-01T08:02:00.004-04:002017-06-03T08:14:10.069-04:00When What's New Isn't Shiny<div>Numbers 16:30 (KJV)</div>
<div>But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.</div>
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<div>"If the Lord make a new thing..."</div>
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<div>My entire life "newness of life" seemed the most marvelous and magical occurrence. I grew up in a church-community, so "newness" meant the drug addict was cured! It meant the sinner was saved! It meant the destitute had family! </div>
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<div>As an adult I am STILL stumped by how downright awful, "newness of life," can be.</div>
<div>When newness comes it is unsettling. All that was comfortable and known vanishes. It's akin to physical therapy for the body... What used to come naturally requires deliberate effort to parts of the body maimed. And many times, like Jacob, we never walk
the same again. </div>
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<div>A couple of years ago, about this time, my neck locked. That was only my third visit in my life to a chiropractor. I never have problems with my back, or neck. But it was a difficult time, and I obviously didn't roll with the stress of it well.
The chiropractor was a man in his mid-thirties, and I felt so sorry for him. Every time he would touch me I would start crying! It had NOTHING to do with the pain. I was just nervous & my emotions were especially tender. Touch triggered emotions,
not pain. He, of course, didn't know what was going on in my head. He would take my face and head in his grip, I'd tear up, and he'd drop his hands to his side with a sigh! <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I was so embarrassed. I kept trying to breathe deeply and calm down</span>. I
finally took his hands in mine & told him, "You have GOT to ignore my tears. They mean NOTHING. You are not hurting me in any way. Just go for it!" But, he was too affected by my tears to help. I can't remember what he sent me home with, but he
didn't adjust me. He couldn't. </div>
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<div>I pray that in all of my LOATHING of change and newness, God doesn't respond to me like that chiropractor. I NEED every adjustment my Jesus sees fit to give me. I NEED every loss. I NEED each new lesson. Newness isn't always pleasant. Sometimes we've
chosen wrongly what seemed delightful, and we have to give it up. We have to let him swallow it up & bury it. Going on without what we held so dear is not easy. Learning to find new pleasures (for me) is not enjoyable. Learning to live in
new territory without the old "security blanket" is not jolly, or magical.</div>
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<div>For some of us we have to learn to live without relationships that should have been dependable. For others we have to learn to live with new health conditions. For others we have to learn to break bad habits and start new ones. The list could go on, &
on. It <i>does</i> go on, & on. And your newness is on the list. But we can rise to the occasion and do this! </div>
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<div>My personal prayer today...</div>
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<div>"Please, Lord, do not withhold newness of life from me because I cry, because I fear, because I express concern. My earnest plea is that you utterly do exactly what you want in, & through my wisp of a life. Spare not for my crying, Father."</div>
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</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com76tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-73069954416076644132017-05-13T09:10:00.009-04:002017-05-13T11:43:51.607-04:00Take Your Child To "Work Day"<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the church community we call the day the congregation gathers to spruce up the interior and exterior of the grounds, "Work Day." Some congregations do this more often than others, but it's a <i>needed</i> effort, even when a congregation can pay a maintenance staff to work throughout the year. Going to Work Day the last time does not aleviate your needed hands, and mind, and help this time. Your own house needs constant "this time" help. So does God's House! </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It’s Work Day at my church, but I’m in Missouri for a wedding. Habits HURT when they are broken, and it is our habit to be at Work Day! I say "our," because I’m thinking about when I would take 2 and 3 year old Morgan and Madison to Work Day.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Parents with small children, I KNOW it’s stressful, and even feels like you don’t get much accomplished, but I promise the couple of hours you put in FAR OUTLIVE the time you and your children were on site. It does far more than the "partial jobs" you might contribute because you’ve had to leave it to wrangle a wondering child. When you do this stage properly (by building Kingdom-first habits) you get to BASK in my present stage of being the mom of young adults who habitually weigh all their decisions by God's scales! I am living out such goodness right now in my 18 and 20 year old children! </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Do you know WHY our (carnal) world/society came up with, "take your child to work day?" It is because even they know how longterm-productive such a "non-productive" day is! If they have that much insight, shouldn’t WE? </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I must add the impressions we leave on our teen offspring when we take them to a non-kingdom event though the church has something scheduled. It says to them, "You can pick-and-choose your faithfulness." Perhaps your family needs a family-away day. If your teens know you're ALWAYS at EVERY church event, and they see and hear your lament at being forced to choose another event, I think that's fine. But it should be so rare it doesn't happen more than once a year. It's not as if the church calls all-hands-on-deck for a Work Day <i>every </i>week. I would suggest spending the first hour of the family day contributing at the Work Day, before heading out to enjoy family time. It instills in very impressionable teens: kingdom-first (kingdom-first, of course means, God-first.) I often hear great men and women of God say about their upbringing (if they were raised in a church community) "My parents were at the church every time the doors were open!" They do not merely mean "when the doors were open for a worship service." They mean their parents modeled for them how to WORK for God, give their talent and time to God. This has been the example I have tried to follow because I want Morgan and Madison to be THAT in the Kingdom of God. "That" doesn't just happen. It's cultivated by parenting on and with a purpose. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today, with my adult children who are still fluttering about my nest, we will have a conversation after the wedding here in </span>
<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Missouri</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">, about how our contribution at Work Day was missed. We will talk about how much we would have benefitted, and how the Work Day would have benefitted by our three sets of hands and feet. We are out of state, but God's House's to do list is not out of mind.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Every. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Single. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why? Because habits HURT when they are broken, and these kinds of habits will be a safeguard in our babies' lives as they go through the many stages and trials life brings.</span>
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</p>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-32505543002035798782017-03-02T11:40:00.002-05:002017-03-02T13:29:11.250-05:00Why Old Songs Are Important<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emotions are important in our worship experience. God Himself is very emotional, we find in scripture that he felt (feels) & expressed jealousy, anger, compassion, joy, even what we'd describe as romance! It's incorrect to describe "all that emotion" we express in a worship service as "just" emotion. There's nothing minimal, or wrong about expressed emotion. Emotions are the gateway to honesty. A person may stand stoic, without expression, and lose everything and everyone they love. Whereas, if they succumb to the emotional intensity in their soul, out explodes tones of voice, facial expressions, sometimes even tears, all of these giving the hearer the opportunity to see the honesty of the soul. Relationships are often saved because someone took their guard down and through emotional expression the reality of matters could be seen. Through emotional expression, the hearer knows how happy, or angry, or broken the speaker is. <br /></span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If a person comes to a worship service determined not to be emotional, they typically find church boring. (They also, typically, are callusing and hardening their heart). But if they'll allow themselves to feel and express their emotions toward God, those people will greatly benefit from attending church. Open emotions signify open honesty. A person may be very guarded in their daily lives, but all guards should come down before our Creator. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Music is emotional. Sounds can be emotional triggers. When personalized ringtones first came into existence I spent a bundle having a ringtone for each person close to me. Even still several people have their own text-tone, & ringtone. But, as I transferred phones or carriers I would sometimes lose a tone. If I am, today, in a public place, and someone else's phone happens to use a former ringtone for someone I may not be as close to anymore, then my heart skips! If someone calls or texts that I haven't heard from in a while, the ringtone alone causes my heart to race! If I hear music from my teen years that is connected to slumber parties, or concerts I attended with friends, my adrenaline races and my soul longs for those people I enjoyed that music with. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Songs within the church trigger the same emotional responses. When we sing a hymn, people aged in their fifties and older are quick to their feet, arms in the air, tears staining their cheeks. Their typical response about styles and genres of songs is that God is more "in" the hymns than in modern music. The hymn was at one point "modern music." But as with all fads, they've been shelved and have made way for new modern music. As a music director, I positively delight in scheduling music for different generations and watching the "popcorn" jump up response across the auditorium. Just as the fifty and older crowd respond emotionally to the hymnal, the thirty to forty year olds have their trigger songs as well. They now call them, "the old songs," but I taught them the songs when they were considered modern music, pop songs played on the christian radio station. The responders were sixteen to twenty years old when I taught the songs. Now that we've moved on to even newer music, when they hear <i>their</i> "old songs," that they haven't heard in five to ten years, their emotions are triggered just as the older generations is triggered by the hymns. Then we sing a worship song currently playing on the radio and those aged thirteen to thirty-five respond the most greatly. During this kind of music the older ones in the congregation respond out of self-discipline and unity, but not because they feel any attachment to the song itself.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As a music director I feel it's important to sing songs from every generation so that each age group has opportunity to worship emotionally. I mentioned before that worship can be done out of a discipline, and for the sake of unity. If we only worshiped when we felt emotional, that'd be very spiritually immature. It is cleansing for us to worship emotionally. God created our brains to respond to music. God is not at all put-off by our emotional expression in worship. When we feel emotional in God's presence and allow ourselves to express it, God takes advantage of our guard being down and can do a beautiful work of healing in our souls.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As a music director I urge every generation present at a worship service to worship and praise regardless of the era or genre, worship simply because God is worthy. Physically engage during a worship service. Also, for the sake of unity, physically engage by clapping, singing, raising your hands, standing, kneeling, etc. Powerful things occur, not because of what kind of music is playing, but due to unity!</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I urge music directors to have a steady stream of music for all generations in attendance. In my church we do a hymn every Sunday morning. Every Sunday night we do songs for as many generations as we have time for. And every Wednesday our music is typically geared toward those thirty and younger. I encourage music directors to kindly nod knowingly and smile the next time an elder tells you that there's something "more special" about the ancient songs than the modern ones. Let them enjoy and brag on their first-love without you needing to defend the new musical-love affairs being made by the new generation. And, don't forget, when you're an old music director, keep modern music coming, even if you feel it's immature, or simple.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Remember that every generation deserves to have a bridge extended to their soul through the power of music in a worship service. </span>
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</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-48281507570932782032017-02-15T09:37:00.002-05:002017-03-06T10:11:39.522-05:00Borders of A Country From My Perspective<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">When I was in South Korea I experienced something very poignant to what I'm experiencing as an American citizen; I met a ninety-plus year old man and his wife. I was honored to meet them as I felt great awe that I was talking to humans who'd survived both WW2, and the Korean War. They'd also endured the Japanese colonization. </span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If I were meeting he and his wife on the street I would have been honored to merely meet their persons. But it was a HUGE DEAL to me, double the honor, that I was in <i>their</i> home!</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">I had brought them dinner. It was literally my ticket in the door, which I gladly paid as I was greatly desirous to meet them. But this gave me no rights in <i>his</i> home. His fifty year old daughter instructed me where to sit, but he had me move to a different seat. (It wasn't clear why.) He</span>
<span
style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">corrected his adult-daughter from hav</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">i</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">n</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">g me address him by his easier to pronounce first</span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">name, to the more proper (but very difficult to pronounce) family name. I held no rights over the dinner that I had brought into the house. He thoroughly enjoyed it, and I sat passively until he signaled permission for us to partake. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">The truth is, I completely enjoyed myself. I didn't mind one inconvenience I experienced there. (Only "inconvenient" in that it was different than my habitual culture.) I cleaned the table after eating and washed the dishes. I was in awe of his survival and experiences. I was honored to be in his home, I quickly acquiesced to whatever I was told, and further still, I looked for ways to serve.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">But, it did take me a bit off-guard when this man who was lord and high-king of his apartment-castle expressed his lordship over the borders of MY country! How could this man who so firmly believes in the borders and walls of <i>his</i> home not "get" the borders and walls of a country? How could this man who'd endured the terrorism of the Japanese invading their borders and way of life not "get" that the United States of America must protect its own borders and way of life? He certainly "gets it" when he thinks about Japan & North Korea.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">I'm going to guess that he didn't put two and two together because he's inundated with left-wing news media who is blind in one eye and can't see out of the other. I'm betting he only gets information from sources who has no more wisdom than to believe that open borders is "kindness," when in fact, we're welcoming wolves in refugees clothing. I do NOT believe all refugees are wolves. But I do believe that in the same way I'm going to be careful about who I let in my house (the place where I protect and comfort my children) our goverenmemt should be just as diligent about protecting our American way of life. Let those who need help come labor with us. Let those who will (as I did in his house) sit where we say, speak as we say, and respect the rules of "this house," these great Untied States, come on in!</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">The wall and the vetting is resonable. I appreciate those who are speaking on behalf of refugees and immigrants. But wisdom says, "Lets have a conversation before I let you in my house." The Bible tells us to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. We are in danger of annihilation if we're <i>only</i> harmless as doves. I'll leave the topic of arms to someone with more guts than I. But I'm not afraid to say that we should be wise as serpents in our goodwill efforts to welcome and host strangers. The Bible also</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">tells us that we <i>should </i>host strangers, for they may be angels! I believe "angels" is both a symbolic word, and a reality. But, regardless, we need to know if they are with us, or against us before we give them equal reign in our "home." For the safety of our children, for the security of our way of life, for the peace of our nation, we must know!</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">The southern border wall is a no-brainer to me. The wall is the equivalent of a <i>visible</i> home. It's an honor to enter someone's home. Those who want that honor should approach the front door, not sneak into the back window.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Let the church minister to the needs of pilgrims and strangers, and let the government protect.</span>
</p>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-29956153700329010742017-01-03T08:47:00.005-05:002017-01-03T11:00:12.377-05:00Fresh StartIt's January. The month when Walmart puts storage bins, and other organizational tools in the section that is packed with plastic eggs at Easter, romaric frills at Valentine's, and gift sets at Christmas. The reason the industry highlights what is
typically boring, uncelebrated items is because during January, households all over the country have a well-intentioned woman <i>resolved</i> to start the new year with an organized home. Closets get purged. Kitchens get de-cluttered. Creative
under-bed storage commences. All because it's the first month of a new year.
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<div>During this first month of the year we also <i>resolve</i> to get fit, and to read more, and to be wiser with our finances. January brings our dreams to the surface for consideration. But, some people are, quite frankly, sick of it. They've attempted
the newness every January for so often, only to be at a total loss in a mere thirty days. The lack of accomplishment in these few areas overshadows everything else, and they end up feeling like losers. Then they do the worst possible thing
that can be done; they give up the process altogether.</div>
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<div>We should never give up, no matter how often we fail. Failure is not the end, it's the beginning! Failure is not the finish line, it's the starting line! Failure is not failure. Quitting is failure. There is absolutely <i>nothing</i> "wrong"
with failing.</div>
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<div>Our feelings about this is locked into our mindset. We don't recognize that every start makes us better at the skill than the time before. It takes multiple strikes across a flint to start a flame. Every strike creates friction and molecular changes that
are necessary to get to the point of a flame. It's not a failed flint that doesn't produce a flame as every strike is necessary for the outcome. We need every start the "failure" gifts us to get us to fruition.</div>
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<div>Exodus holds an inspiring story of how multiple fresh starts bring us to fruition. Every time Moses went to pharaoh he left with our definition of "failure." But every "failure" was in fact another strike of the flint. And these flint strikes
didn't happen over the course of ten days, which is how I always pictured it in Sunday school. Moses was not operating in a simple plague-a-day. I've googled how long the plagues took, and as of now I've not found a guesstimate. But I did a little
investigating the possible endurance of just one plague; that of dead fish. </div>
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One google search told me about a place that had a "fish kill" situation which took at least three weeks to clean up. (<a href="http://www.co.chisago.mn.us/DocumentCenter/View/5904">http://www.co.chisago.mn.us/DocumentCenter/View/5904</a>) I have
to point out that these dead fish <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">in the related link didn't remain in the water until they stank, as it occurred in Exodus. Disposal of fish is standardized according to the simple search I did. I doubt Egypt had such a system. Even if they did, three weeks can feel like an eternity when rotting fish is your daily existence. Also, it's unclear how long God waited between plagues to tell Moses to go back to Pharoah.</span>
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<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My point is that striking the flint to get to the point of fruition doesn't happen overnight, even when God is ordaining every step in detail. </span>
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<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, chill out about your "failure." Because IT ISN'T FAILURE. It's a step forward. It's progress.</span>
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<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Then, they (finally) reach their goal; Pharoah released them to leave. And in so doing God basically told them that it didn't matter what calendar the rest of the world used, they were to call a do-over right then, in the middle of the year! For us in our Gregorian calendar, it'd be like getting to April and saying, "I declare this day to be JANUARY!"</span>
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<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My friends, set your goals. Fail at your goals. And then start your goals again. Rinse and repeat. Because this behavior gets you to fruition. </span>
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<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Then when you get to your goal you need to do something important. You'll need to declare all the work and labor to get there as the past. And you'll need to declare a new start. Because there will be more greatness to excel to! There will be loftier goals to achieve! </span>
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<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Never, never, never give up! </span>
</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-14719200349484746232016-12-26T10:05:00.007-05:002017-05-02T15:04:23.603-04:00Vision Statements & Life VersesHaving a vision statement is extremely important for any corporation. A vision statement is akin to a dart board; it gives you a place to aim for. Regardless of your mood, your health, or your financial status, a vision statement keeps
you on course. When your energy is low you still take strides toward your goal, even if merely lethargic strides. When you're wired and at high-octane energy, you can channel that energy into staying on course, rather than shooting off in a
million directions. (I'm looking at YOU, Denée.)
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<div>A vision statement is concise. My church's is one of my favorites, "To model the Book of Acts church." With this dart board, we sit in staff meetings making sure our creative juices are channeled into accomplishing this goal. If we feel like the
church needs a party, we say, "Good! But how will this party hit our goal of modeling the Book of Acts church?" The answer is to take the party out of our beautiful, air-conditioned dining room or gym, and party in a community
that needs to know what salvation is, what joy looks like, and where they can find it for themselves! So, we have block parties! If we're having a dinner fund raiser, we give free meals to all attending guests that day so they can have the opportunity
to get to know fellowship, and learn of Christ through our love for each other. When we live by a vision statement, we can accomplish so much more than living by the seat-of-our-pants.</div>
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<div>I have a personal vision statement, "Live in the reality of hope, faith, & love."</div>
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<div>I have found that when life feels overwhelming, if I channel my energies into this behavior of trusting God, <i>everything</i> (and I do mean everything) works out for my good! It doesn't mean I get everything I want, but it does mean that when
I feel incredibly sad and despondent I behave as if everything were PERFECT. Because, in fact, IT IS PERFECT! His plan for me is perfect. He has good intentions for me. No matter what I feel, or what I see, <i>His</i> plan for me is perfect!
So I live in the reality (not the emotion) of hope, faith, & love. This vision statement makes me behave on a reality which requires that I hope when I'd rather give in to the call of the darkness to crawl in a hole and shrivel up. This
vision statement calls me to walk by FAITH, not by sight. And lastly, this vision statement requires that I pinpoint love in my life. It requires me to ensure that I'm giving it. And that even though it may not be coming from sources I'd prefer,
I <i>am </i>a recipient of love. My personal vision statement makes all the difference in the world for me. <i></i>
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<div>Another habit of mine is that of having personal Life Verses. Obviously, the Bible is for every human on earth. But over time I've collected verses that I incorporate into my daily life. Also, over time I've retired some passages even as I adopted new
ones. Every morning at 9:00am, my phone alerts me that it's time to read my life verses. Sometimes I read them silently, sometimes I read them aloud to myself, and other times I have Siri read them to me. Whatever the format, I ingest the verses
each and every day. I like the privacy of the verses, so I will not share them in this blog (except one) but I will tell you about them.</div>
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<div>One passage is a series of blessings.</div>
<div>One is a cry to God to hear and protect me.</div>
<div>Another is one of rejoicing and praise.</div>
<div>But the Big Daddy of them all is Ezekiel 17:22-24.</div>
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<div>Ezekiel17 was the first Life Verse I adopted. Or rather, it adopted me. It consumed me. I'd never had a scripture overtake me as that one did. It described me perfectly; a cut down tree. And it described in detail what I wanted fulfilled in my life.
I wanted to grow again. I wanted to be fruitful. I wanted to be strong enough to house "birds of every sort."</div>
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<div>Now, four years later, I can tell you that this has literally (slowly & gradually) been exactly what God has done in me! It's been miraculous, to say the least. Not only is the verse prophecy for me, but it's also a reminder that I can't allow myself
to get haughty of the things He has done in me. For He <i>is</i> the God who makes "the green tree whither," just as He can "make the short tree grow tall." I know that my present state of growth and health is directly related to these scriptures
administering health into my life. </div>
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<div>As you prepare your goals for accomplishment in 2017, I encourage you to begin to create your life's vision statement. But don't stop there; keep your eyes pealed for "your personal" life verses. All of this will take time, especially your search
for life verses. And like me, you'll likely retire some from your regime even as you discover new ones. </div>
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<div>The Word of God is life and strength even to our physical selves. Embrace it, love it, and make a habit of SPEAKING it into your atmosphere every day. </div>
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<div><i>Special thanks to Angel Craig & Morgan Richardson for editing this piece. </i>
</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-45106569105901141062016-10-28T09:33:00.011-04:002018-05-31T14:26:40.131-04:00How to Wait<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Isaiah 40:31</b></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b></b>But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I admit that I always (always, always, always) interpreted this verse to mean that "wait" meant to behave as a restaurant staffer, "waiting tables." Therefore, my strength would be renewed by being busy. While I'm unopposed to making oneself useful during our waiting periods, that is NOT what this verse means. </span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This verse is requiring something of far more effort than the usual service of ministry. This verse is directing us to do more than just keep busy about our lives while a situation unfolds. For in actuality, "wait," means, "TO HOPE."</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It doesn't matter if you spend every waking moment in ministerial duties, and then dream of ministry after you go to sleep. How much you work does not renew your strength. In fact, it can often deplete you so thoroughly you haven't the energy or ability to actually <i>do</i> what the Word is instructing; HOPE.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I've experienced giving so much of my energy and virtue in ministry that I lay in bed at night HOPELESS. Besides a lack of discipline on my part, the enemy's mental attack in these moments of physical exhaustion is severe. Those in ministry (even ministry outside the church, in volunteer situations, occupations of service) know there is overwhelming joy in serving. We could even call it a "high," akin to a drug hit. It feels empowering to serve. When we are in a season of pain or sorrow, serving is often the ONLY relief we get. So, of course we would like to interpret this verse to mean that when we "wait" on the Lord (aka: minister or serve) we renew our strength, but in fact the thrill we experience is a high, a mere hit-in-the-moment. Perhaps even designed by God to be a sort of "pain pill."</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, waiting on the Lord is more like a Gym experience, rather than a drug experience. A person can pop a pill and feel empowered even though they're a weakling. A gym experience often leaves one's muscles a little shaky due</span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> t</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">o</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> the duress endured in the training process. The Gym-guy may feel more exhausted and depleted, but he's actually building strength. He'll be better off, not only the next time he's in the gym, but the mind thinks more clearly</span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">after a gym experience, the digestion works better, healing is released into other areas of the body not even in the targeted muscles after a work out. Likewise, hope's gym-experience is unpleasant in the moment, but the results are benefits beyond the intended or targeted area.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While the guy hyped on a drug feels powerful, he is actually depleting what little strength he has while feeling like the Incredible Hulk.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We do not work in our fields of ministry in efforts to win brownie-points with God, as if working more and harder in ministry is a get-out-of-jail-free card. We work in our ministries because it's our gifting and calling, and because it's our offering of sacrifice. Being in various fields of service is our gift to others. It's a beautiful benefit that the tasks also happen to inspire and motivate us to keep breathing one more day. While "waiting on the Lord" may involve being busy about our Father's work, it is not what this verse is asking for. </span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When we reach a desert or valley circumstance of life, where the joy is gone, the confusion is abundant, the pain is severe, the last thing we have by nature is hope. As children, hope comes very easily and naturally to us. But through life's busyness, and hard knocks, our hope wanes. </span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Perhaps a good comparison to how hope works in us is Melatonin. Our brains easily and abundantly produce melatonin in our youth, but as we age it isn't naturally reproduced and we need to take a supplement to help us sleep. This is of course also true of skin tightness, muscle tone, eyesight, hearing, and so forth. Somehow in the course of our lives hope reproduces on its own less and less. And when we hit a tragedy where we lose so much, we do not naturally get over it as we once did. In our youthful vibrancy it was easier to get up and get to seeking the next good thing. But this ability depletes and we get sick and tired of losing a good thing we were settled with, a good thing we enjoyed ownership of. When it's taken from us we can't see WHY we'd want to go seek yet another good thing, because, of course, there's a risk that it too will be taken!</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Not only does Hope seem non-existent, the very idea of hoping for something feels very painful. We can't tell what to hope for, or why to hope for it.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And yet, "waiting (hoping) upon the Lord" is what renews our strength, causes us to mount up on wings as eagles; Hope.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hope makes it possible for us to run without getting weary. Hope, not busyness, causes us to walk, even through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. This is God's long term plan and purpose for our Gym seasons; to strengthen us.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Psalm 27:14 hammers like a marching drumbeat in my chest, "</span>Wait (HOPE, EXPECT) I say, on the LORD!"</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's not an easy request. </span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tears are shed when you hope. </span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Instead of a high you can feel shaky and vulnerable. </span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But Hope is a powerful muscle to build. For Hope powers Faith. Faith makes ANYTHING possible.</span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, while you offer your sacrifice of ministry, while you endure hardness like a soldier, while you pay your bills, and are faithful to the routines; HOPE in the Lord. </span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Here are some "booster shots" of scripture to encourage you to HOPE:</b></span>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b><i>(Don't forget to translate the word "wait" as "hope," because that is what it means!)</i></b></span>
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Genesis 49:18 (KJV) 18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.</div>
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Psalm 25:3 (KJV) 3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.</div>
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Psalm 25:5 (KJV) 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.</div>
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Psalm 25:21 (KJV) 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.</div>
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Psalm 37:9 (KJV) 9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.</div>
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Psalm 37:34 (KJV) 34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.</div>
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Psalm 39:7 (KJV) 7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.</div>
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Psalm 40:1 (KJV) 1 [[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.]] I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.</div>
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Psalm 52:9 (KJV) 9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.</div>
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Psalm 130:5 (KJV) 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.</div>
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Proverbs 20:22 (KJV) 22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.</div>
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The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-84257360948401180012016-09-26T10:26:00.006-04:002016-09-26T10:56:51.843-04:00Soul Winning Beyond Acts 2:38<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">"If someone asks about your hope, be ready to explain it in a gentle and respectful way."</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">1 Peter 3:15-16</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">[abridged]</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">In my youth I had hope without realizing it as it was part of the personality tool kit I was born with. This beautiful hope was further strengthened by my safe upbringing. People were attracted to my hope and lust for life, but when they'd ask me about it I didn't know how to answer them. I had no explanation for my radiant life outside of telling them about the power of the Holy Ghost. While that's the complete bottom-line answer, it wasn't necessarily the most enticing of answers.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"><br /></span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">In my adult years I experienced the natural knocks and bangs of life. In the process of being shifted around, and knocked about I lost that all-purpose, perfect little tool called, "hope." I found myself utterly hopeless. I saw no reason to raise my kids when I could point to several other people in their lives that I felt could do a better job than I could. I saw no reason to work in my calling of worship leading because singers are a dime-a-dozen. I saw no reason to write because I'm an uneducated wannabe. I saw no reason to fellowship with friends because either I would end up dragging them down with my life-reality, or I was too weak to help them carry their burdens. I was truly hopeless. I asked God many times a day (for many years) to take my life. Proverbs 13:12 talks about how a lack of hope makes the heart sick. Boy, he wasn't kidding. Out of the heart come the issues (the flow) of life. A sick heart infected with hopelessness affects the whole body.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">But, "when the desire cometh," Proverbs goes on to read, "it is a tree of life." Whereas its true that obtaining what we hope for is a really great feeling, DESIRE itself is a tree of life! I've experienced the difference in receiving what I wanted, and desiring something. While receiving is a win indeed, the thrill of that newness fades and I'm back to needing another "fix." But DESIRE wakes me up every day with anticipation. If my mood is down, or if I'm ill, or if I'm weighed down with present reality-of-life, DESIRE makes me get dressed, go for a run, breathe deep and chill, read a book to pass the time. DESIRE for certain things (not exclusively material possessions, sometimes it's a desire for situations, relationships, accomplishments) is a tree with roots of stability. </span>
<span
style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hope deferred makes the heart so sick, in turn the whole of life is sick. But </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">DESIRE is a tree that produces fruit. A special fruit called, "LIFE!"</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I started looking for my hope tool because it was becoming obvious that God was ignoring my plea for The Next Life. He was definitely hearing me pray, clearly. Because he was </span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">answering all of the other prayers I'd pray. He was just stubbornly refusing to answer "that" prayer. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">After some books (and prayer asking God to help me want to live) I began some deliberate outward behaviors in efforts to trigger inward desires. I called these exercises my "happy habits." Every hour (my phone alerts were set) I'd stand from my seating (usually at a desk) and I'd stretch, or do some push-ups (uh-hem. I closed my office door as I didn't want to intimidate my fellow workers with my great might.) I'd smile-for-no-reason (Yes. I just smiled into empty space) And I would speak aloud something I was thankful for. It took about a year, but I started to feel a difference.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">It's been about two and a half years now, but I definitely have hope! I must be honest with you, sometimes the desire hurts. Wanting what seems impossible aches to my bones. But, I'm aware that these aches are growing pains, whereas my old ache was due to hope being deferred. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">But here's the really cool part about my present state of hope; I'm a better witness for Christ now. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">NOW when people are attracted to me I am ready to give them a more thorough answer. I'm able to guide them to the source of my tree of life; Christ. </span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">Christ's love for me enables me to trust that goodness is in store for me. </span>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When I'm in a blue mood it doesn't feel like the end of the world because I know He's going to</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> work things out for my good. </span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">H</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">e has my best interests at heart. He has plans for me that have a beautiful outcome.</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; -webkit-font-kerning: none;">Soul winners need more than that perfect and beautiful Acts 2:38 experience. Souls winner need to exhibit HOPE in our hopeless world. </span>
</p>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-68256542084561539012016-09-21T09:27:00.005-04:002016-09-22T09:04:15.084-04:00Get Back UpI remember when knockdowns and setbacks were a mere annoyance, as simple to remedy as a pesky bug buzzing around. It was laughable to think that getting back up would be hard! Getting back up required no forethought, no energy, no emotion. I just popped
right back up as if I were still a kid on the trampoline in my backyard, propelled to soar to tree limbs with such little energy.
<div>Not so now.</div>
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<div>I'm not sure if it's physical age, or the depth of devastation, or why it's different now. But it is different now. </div>
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<div>Every.</div>
<div>Single.</div>
<div>Day.</div>
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<div>Each day I plan how to live victoriously in that day. Each day I PURPOSEFULLY live happily. Each day I have to get back up.</div>
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<div>When this new method of living was my reality I was so angry at God for not taking me out of this earth to Heaven. If "to live is Christ, to die is GAIN," then what kind of cruelty kept me here? Give me my "gain," for goodness sake! Every plane takeoff
where I was on board I'd send texts of love, forgiveness, and mercy before we had to power down our phones. THAT'S how confident I was that God was going to answer my prayer and take me to The Other Side. In the old days I prayed safety and protection
over the plane and flight, but I stopped doing that since it seemed like a quick and easy way for God to answer my prayer. I didn't talk about this line of thinking to anybody because I wasn't trying to be dramatic and get attention. The last thing
I wanted was for anyone to pay attention to me. I wanted to be left alone to die. But neither God nor man were in sync with me on this one.</div>
<div>
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<div>"To live is Christ."</div>
<div>I've always seen this activity of living-is-Christ as being very jubilant, therefore very fluid, natural, and easy. But that was from my perspective of youth and fairy tales. What about Christ's life was easy? From his first year of life the
government was hunting him down to kill him. While travel is sometimes fun when you're headed to Disney World, a road trip in the dead of night because you're being hunted down certainly turns up the volume on the phrase, "Are we there yet?"</div>
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<div>Living-is-Christ puts us in a position to participate in the miraculous, to have power over death, hell, and the grave, and to be surrounded by followers. And as long as these people and situations are helping us accomplish our goals these moments
are ecstatic. But let us not forget that Christ was run out of town, was continually in one argument or another with the religious, was rarely with his family, was a 24/7 teacher. Not to mention the final hours of his life; the excruciating crucifixion. </div>
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<div>Dying is gain because it puts us across the finish line. Dying with a clean conscience toward God is gain because we've run a good race and we've finished our course. But LIVING is necessary to accomplish the victory of death. </div>
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<div>There is no victory in hiding in a hole waiting for death. The will of God is that we get out of the hole and LIVE as Christ did. It is the will of God that we have HOPE. It is the will of God that we experience JOY. It is the will of God that we produce
all of the fruit of the Spirit. We are cheating God if we do not get back up and strive to fulfill His will of pursuing these things. </div>
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<div>Why does he ask this of us? So that we are a testimony of His strength and involvement in our lives. If after our devastation we live in a hole we are telling the world around us that God is a liar. Holed-up behavior is exhibiting that God is nowhere
to be found, that there is no hope, no joy, nothing to rise again for. </div>
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<div>Christ got back up after his devastation. He got back up because there was more to do. You need to get back up yourself because there is more to do! To die will NOT be "gain" if you do not do the will of God and LIVE AGAIN. </div>
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<div>I personally have chosen four verses that I read EVERY morning. I have alerts set up on my phone to smile EVERY hour. I have a life vision that pops up on my phone EVERY morning; To live in the reality of Faith, Hope, & Love.</div>
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<div>My feelings tell me every day that life is not worth living. My logic shows me every day that I should not expect my hopes to come to pass. My present shows me every day that after all these years I STILL have not obtained the desires of my heart. </div>
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<div>BUT GOD'S WORD TELLS ME TO NOT BE DICTATED BY THESE THINGS.</div>
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<div>I'm suppose to walk by faith, not by sight.</div>
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<div>That's why I fight each and every day to get back up again. I smile because the REALITY of life is not what I feel, or see, or think. The REALITY is what I can't see: Faith, Hope, and Love. Christ is not my Fairy Godmother, giving me my whims. He sees
the end from the beginning and He's going to give me the desires of my heart based on all He knows of what's to unfold. His top priority as my Father is to protect and defend me. If I'm allowing him to protect me from my desires that will hurt me,
everything will work out for my good! If I live every day angry at Him for "making" me live... well, how sad and unproductive is THAT!</div>
<div>
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<div>Whatever has knocked you for a loop, has left you flat on your back... I'm truly sorry you've gone through those things. But, get back up. It may feel like "fake it 'till you make it," but in fact it's "FAITH it 'till you make it."</div>
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<div>
<div>Proverbs 24:16 (KJV)</div>
<div>For a just [man] falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.</div>
</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-60212907892204987512016-08-20T08:33:00.001-04:002016-08-20T09:44:19.466-04:00Those Pesky Little FoxesI have experienced the legitimate, bonefide excuses for sadness... Death, handicapped child, betrayal, broken relationship, emergency surgery, and beyond. But, right in this moment I admit I feel <i>terrible</i> for being weak dealing with <i>tiny</i> matters.<div><br><div>I'm not homeless. In fact, I'm writing this from my favorite rocking chair on my porch in the most picturesque part of Florida. I've been the queen of this house for over twenty years. Meanwhile, I have dear friends, acquaintances, and strangers in Louisiana who are utterly (suddenly) homeless due to last week's flooding. </div><div><br></div><div>I live in a town of less than three thousand, and though we have race issues to work out, we don't have anything like the pain and destruction happening in Milwaukee, or some of the bigger cities experiencing such hate and hostility.</div></div><div><br></div><div>I am healthy and strong, full of vitality. I'm able to take care of myself, my kids, and my possessions. Unlike some of my friends who are dealing with incredible pain and weaknesses due to life-threatening illnesses. </div><div><br></div><div>So, right at this moment I do not have a leviathan of trouble smashing my life. Right now, I'm dealing with a bunch of little foxes.</div><div><br></div><div>We read about the danger of "little foxes" in Solomon's Song, chapter two, verse fifteen. It is clear the speaker is speaking symbolically, saying, "Let us catch the little foxes that spoil the vine."</div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The "little foxes" are emblems of that</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> which would damage their love relationship. The idea is that their relationship is like a fruitful vineyard and the</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">little foxes</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> will damage the vineyard unless they are stopped and caught.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Life is full of little foxes. They could be named Bills, or Political Opinions, or Growing ToDo List, or Kids Drum Lesson, or I'm Not Pretty, or [Insert Yours Here]. These little foxes can come upon your life that <i>is</i> fruitful, productive, contributing to your community. They buzz about like mosquitos distracting you from the confidence of knowing you are indeed fruitful. These <i>little</i> foxes begin to devour your harvest. Little foxes are not to be tolerated. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">There is a cure and elimination for little foxes; "Us."</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><i>"Let US catch the foxes..."</i></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">You need a partner to catch the little foxes. The foxes are not willing recipients to the idea that they can't have the fruit of your life. They are fast, quick-tempered, and can be quite painful! But they're NOT to be tolerated. If you're married, perhaps your spouse will help you round up, and cast out the little foxes from your vineyard. Married or not, sometimes a spouse doesn't see the need to prioritize ridding one's life of little foxes. Perhaps they're too frazzled with their <i>own</i> foxes to be a help to you. (Though I believe some spiritual counsel would help each spouse see how to help each other in this task. Que sera sera.) It's good to know the church has prayer partners and counsellors to help you catch the little foxes. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Catching the little foxes sometimes means literally casting out unnecessary tasks from your ToDo list. If you've overpacked your list you're shooting your success in the foot. If your appearance is causing you distress then you're focusing too much on superficial matters and you need to move your focus to production and creativity. (Don't forget, not even the models look like what you're seeing online, or in magazines. We literally CAN'T compete with photoshop. Period.) Whatever things are causing you anxiety, you need to reevaluate their priority. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I remember being incredibly stressed to the point that it shook my self-confidence and creative abilities over my laundry. I felt like such a loser, even though I was writing for thousands, singing to thousands, fulfilling life-goals in spades. Because I had laundry on my couch I felt a total unproductive, lazy loser! Then it dawned on me that my eleven and thirteen year old kids could do <i>their own</i> laundry! I also took it off my list that the clothes had to be folded. (I know. I just sent a thousand Personality A's to the floor with that concept.) But reprioritizimg laundry, and making the task doable made a HUGE difference in the production of my life's vine. I caught that fox and expelled him from my vineyard! </span></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Never forget, that whether or not you have a spouse who will help you catch the little foxes, or whether friends can or can't help you does not lessen your ability to partner with someone to eliminate the little foxes; Jesus is a ready (and most powerful) help in your efforts to eliminate the little foxes. </span></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Do not think your little fox problem is too insignificant for His Majesty. He delights in being asked to help you eliminate the little foxes.</span></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">You can do this! </span></font></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-86257860389844456542016-08-09T11:26:00.001-04:002016-08-10T12:26:12.566-04:00Remembering Where To Cast<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think I might have the world's worst memory. I can't even remember the lyrics to my own songs that I've written! Of course, being in a congregation that posts the words overhead to better help the congregation engage in singing hasn't helped reinforce memorization. When I need to remember something about music I contact my friends Angel Craig and Lisa Plappert. When I need to remember something about my childhood, I contact Shawn Hughes. When I need to remember something about church business, past, present, or future, I contact Donald Currie. These people have impeccable memories! Thank goodness I have them in my life, or I'd be sunk! </span><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is at least one area of failed remembrance that I've found most humans match me in, we forget where to cast our cares. We instinctually cast our burdens on the one we sense is closest to us. While that <i>should</i> be God, just as the posted lyrics have weakened my memorization ability, humans that we've been blessed with sometimes cause us to not allow Christ to be as near as he's suppose to be. These humans meant to be a blessing in life, be they a spouse, or roommate, a friend, or family, end up a source of pain simply because we're trying to use them in ways they weren't meant to be used. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In general, women tend to deal more with anxieties than men. It's not that women have more to carry than a man, it's that women are more likely to multitask, giving them the ability to fester in their worries while juggling typical, daily stressors. Men tend to do ONE thing at a time, therefore they worry, but when they have to be at work, they are more inclined to shelve their worry until they're free to think about it again. This isn't healthy for any of us, male or female. While we may become more and more skilled at shelving an anxiety, the anxiety is still there, unresolved, just <i>waiting.</i></span></div><div><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></i></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Women tend to want the help of other humans to fix their anxiety. Men tend to want to fix the matter themselves. Yet again, either way is not the purest solution. I can't reveal the reasoning of frustration in men's behavior, but as a woman I can easily say that women stack more anxiety on themselves when they encounter the consistent inability of friends and family to listen or fix. Women get angry (or depressed, or resentful, or any other number of negative reactions) when someone listens but doesn't fix their problem. Men compound the issue by deciding to avoid even listening because they know they won't be allowed to fix it in the end. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spouses stew in resentment. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Friends ignore each other. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Peers become critical from their determined distances. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All along the fix doesn't have flesh and blood. The cure can't be seen by the naked eye. The relief we crave comes from turning our attention away from flawed humanity and fixing our eyes on Jesus. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jesus said for us to cast our anxieties on Him.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If we see prayer as an unemotional religious ritual, then of course we won't remember to cast our cares on him. If prayer is a duty rather than a fellowship, then we have put a hole in our boat before setting sail and will experience the panic of drowning in the weight of life.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We may reach out to a fellow passenger in our storms of life, but we can't become filled with bitterness when they themselves can't help us. After all, they are merely passengers in the storm as well! But the Master of the winds and waves lives above the sickening storm. He alone can rescue us. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We must be thankful for and gain health from the friends around us, but we must prioritize the fellowship of Christ. His ear is the only perfect listener, & His hand is the only perfect fixer.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Remember where to cast your cares. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Cast your worries and anxieties on Christ. He's a miracle worker! </span></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-30781458134691692112016-07-16T09:32:00.001-04:002016-07-16T15:22:23.991-04:00Not In THIS HouseSince the dawn of house building and socialization there has been a child come home from their friend's house and attempt something they'd seen there, but had never experienced at their home. When their parent corrects their behavior the child laments, "That's what they do at my friend's house!" And the parents always reply, "Well, that's not how we do things in THIS house."<div><br></div><div>Happens</div><div>In</div><div>Every</div><div>Single</div><div>Household.</div><div><br></div><div>My dad has a heightened sense of smell. When we came home from anybody's house, he would welcome us home, then add, "Go change. You don't smell like us."</div><div><br></div><div>He wasn't declaring that we smelled <i>bad</i>. We just didn't smell "like us."</div><div><br></div><div>There is a reason for this insistence of compliance to house rules. Some parents do not fully comprehend why, they simply have an instinct to preserve and protect the behaviors and rituals of THIS house. But the reasons for this instinct are very important to the health & wellbeing of the family.</div><div><br></div><div>Firstly, there are moral codes and laws that each head of household has the right to expect and uphold. "Within the refuge and sanctity of THIS house we follow faith, we don't kill, steal, lie, abuse, gossip, allow racism..." The list goes on.</div><div><br></div><div>Beyond moral codes, there are preferences that each household requires differently than others. Things like cleanliness, organization, scents, nutritional adherence...</div><div><br></div><div>Then outside the home there are further expectations, such as presentation of appearance, gaming as a family, vacations, defending each other, cheering each other...</div><div><br></div><div>Every parent faces the test of their child attempting to blur the lines of what is acceptable in their home. The wise parent keeps those lines in neon-clarity. They do so because there is an ambiance of peace and joy to protect. The rest of the world is chaotic in their lack of law and discipline. The world-at-large will lie on you, betray you, mock you. From the child's experiences in elementary school to the parents' experiences in the workplace, the world causes us to be ever in our guard.</div><div><br></div><div>But our HOME is our refuge. We're suppose to walk through the door of our house and be able to let our guard down. From what the eye sees, to what the nose smells, to what the ears hear... There should be an ambiance wherein our soul finds rest.</div><div><br></div><div>When anyone in that household begins to threaten the flow of peace within that space, <i>everything</i> of life becomes imbalanced. When parents fight in the home it affects the child's abilities in school, even though that building is far removed from the house. When a child sneaks, or lies in the home it affects the parents' in their workplace. It is a constant effort, and a worthy effort, to keep the ambiance of "THIS house" at peak performance. </div><div><br></div><div>With that established, let me give you a further insight; the congregation you were born-again into is your spiritual family, and it too has its own needs, <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">unique </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">from every other congregation around you.</span></div><div><br></div><div>I've seen parents ignorant of this fact reap great upset in their homes. They've not put two-and-two together that because of the seeds-of-upset they sowed within the "house" of their church, they are reaping upset within their home.</div><div><br></div><div>The ambiance of your congregation is what it is because the overseer and protector of that flock has established what is best for that particular body of believers. Adherence to those codes gets the family to specific goals. Attempting to live outside those codes hinders the ability to reach those goals, it causes division in the family. That pastor is forced to rise in defense of the vision God has ordained and say, "Not in THIS house."</div><div><br></div><div>Grown adults act like fourteen year olds sneaking about on the very edge of disobedience without blatantly disobeying. It's immaturity and ludicrous. In their role as parent they KNOW their child is headed toward dangerous territory in that kind of behavior, but in their role as a church member they don't see themselves as behaving JUST AS DANGEROUSLY. God help the people who require the pastor to RAGE in the pulpit in order for them to get in sync with the church-family. No pastor wants to do so, just as no loving parent wants to. As the scripture commands, we should be making our Pastor's job enjoyable! For us to cause him grief is unprofitable for US. </div><div><br></div><div>It's further frustrating when a church member looks at other congregations and feels cheated that there are differences. This is nothing short of a child coming home saying, "THEY get to..." </div><div><br></div><div>So what.</div><div>That's not what we do in THIS house.</div><div><br></div><div>Child of God (my spiritual sibling) let us be ever diligent to keep THIS house in peak performance by having the same rule, and minding the same things. Let's be mature enough to understand that <i>their</i> house has different goals and visions because God ordained they go about their business <i>their</i> way. Just like the differing household rules doesn't make one family better or worse than the other, differing church codes do not make one congregation better than the other. It simply means each "household" is <i>different</i>. </div><div><br></div><div>I'll give one last comparison in my quest for the wisdom and insight to accomplish unity.</div><div><br></div><div>When my baby sister was a teenager she attempted to run away from home. In God's mercy all of the well-laid plans were foiled. But we experienced the <i>worst</i> of helplessness; the one we loved so passionately, had every right to have and keep in our lives was in the power of another. </div><div><br></div><div>There's not a parent that I am acquainted with who excuses kidnapping or running away. Even among divorced parents, they fight tooth-and-toenail, loss-of-limb to retain the right to share life and love with their child. It is the height of heartbreak to lose a child to another human. Merely sitting here typing about this loss causes my heart to race and my hands to tremble. </div><div><br></div><div>As a Pastor's child I can tell you that this is what a pastor and his family endures <i>every</i> time someone leaves the congregation. There is no sleep, no laughter, no peace... Of course, because we're dealing with adults in spiritual matters it cannot be handled as a physical parent handles a physical kidnapping or runaway. It's painful to the core. </div><div><br></div><div>But the heartache of the pastor (and indeed the spiritual siblings) is no less poignant than if your child were kidnapped or ran away.</div><div><br></div><div>We must stay in sync and in love with the family God puts us in. If any sibling needs to change homes, it must be done in the right spirit, with the purest of motives, in sync and agreement with the pastor. Just as a wise parent knows if/when a child in the home needs to move on, the Shepherd does too. As a Pastor's child I've witnessed many exoduses. It's blatant which of my spiritual siblings "ran away," and which ones moved honorably. It's obvious which left with the arm-twisting of the prodigal, and which left as Jesus sent his disciples out. Don't be like a foster child, hopping from family to family. People can't develop a thriving root system in that way. </div><div><br></div><div>In THIS house there are rules, and they are for the health and well-being of THIS family fulfilling THESE goals. </div><div><br></div><div>Don't forget, whatsoever a man soweth THAT shall he also reap.</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-41838735226443914812016-07-14T08:40:00.001-04:002016-07-14T11:04:12.371-04:00Pick Your Grove<div>We do not get to choose our DNA. Our parents are who they are whether we like their life, or not. Even those who have been adopted; those kids didn't choose adoptive parents anymore than they chose their birth parents. We can't choose our cousins. We can't choose our siblings. We can't choose our aunts or uncles. We can attempt to sculpt our bodies, but we can't choose our body shape. We can't choose our skin pigment. We can choose our behavior and attitude, but we can't choose our personality. We can't choose our height. In these we are stuck, stuck, stuck.</div><div><br></div><div>There are so many things about the person in our skin that we have absolutely no control over. But there is something we have control over; which grove we live in. </div><div><br></div><div>Natural trees have no choice where they're planted. They are utterly dependent on the farmer to know what ground and air is best suited for their successful growth and reproduction. But <i>spiritual</i> trees are almost exclusively <i>their own farmer.</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>We are spiritual trees. We decide where we are planted. God only plants us with our permission. Even in His Supreme status, in this He chooses the role of assistant. He turns all power of choice over to us. I've seen many, many tree plantings in my time of living for God. I've seen when people realize for the first time that God is loving and generous, and has our best interests at heart. In relief they joyfully surrender all to Him, and in doing so they give him permission to plant them wherever He sees best. But over time I've seen some gradually stop seeking His sky for His rain of growth. In their stagnant state (brought about by their detachment from Him) they become dissatisfied with where He planted them, and they start looking for another habitat, hoping to respark their growth. </div><div><br></div><div>I've seen other trees be given marching orders. God himself says to move from the place He personally planted them. God sends trees on an Abrahamic journey, a walk of faith into new territory. Lest we think this is some magical key to happiness, let me warn you with this insight; I've never seen a tree in this situation be glad about this move. When trees are transplanting from church to church, ministry to ministry, job to job, happy and psyched about the transitions, that is a carnal move, not a God-ordained move. Trees to whom The Spirit is being called to move generally have the wisdom to loath the prospect. They're like Christ, both led and <i>driven</i> into the new place.</div><div><br></div><div>Whether we transplant because God pushed us, or because we're carnally seeking greener pastures, when we replant ourselves we replant with other trees. We try to seek out our kind. But in our uprooting we can't be sure what we're getting ourselves into. I've never seen a tree eat another tree's fruit. So, while an orange tree may find a grove of orange trees and determine, "We're all orange trees! This is the perfect place for me!" You don't know if those oranges are good or bad fruit, sweet and nutritious, or bitter and poisonous.</div><div><br></div><div>How can you tell a Good Fruit tree from a Bad Fruit tree when you're not partaking of the fruit? </div><div><br></div><div>Answer: You can tell by who the tree attracts.</div><div><br></div><div>If you find yourself in a position to need to choose a grove, choose a grove that attracts the pure in heart. The pure in heart will not settle for bitter fruit. They bring their children to good fruit. They offer their spouses good fruit. They present to their friends good fruit. And these people WORK to access the good fruit. They may have to pay a price to enter the grove. They may have to ask the grove keeper's permission to pick the fruit. They may have to travel far to be a recipient of the good fruit. Those who want the best know there's a price to pay to have it. And you'll know a Good Fruit tree by the caretaker. How involved is God in the daily care of that grove? Good Fruit trees relentlessly ask The Master to prune, fertilize, water, and weed. The more involved the tree asks The Master to be, the sweeter the fruit will be. </div><div><br></div><div>On the other side of the spectrum is bad fruit. These groves are left unattended. While there may be an owner of the grove, it's not worth the investment of hiring workers to keep the area weed free. It's not worth the cost of pesticides to keep the place pest free. Besides, these Bad Fruit trees reject all intervention anyway. It's on the backside of nowhere, out of sight, out of mind. Therefore nobody has to pay to access that fruit. Bitter Fruit groves attract the derelict, the thief, the irresponsible. Bad Fruit trees attract lazy people who are unwilling to pay for Good Fruit, therefore they must take Bad Fruit. Also, as mentioned before, Bad Fruit trees have very little aptitude to surrender to The Master, if at all. They refuse pruning, they do not seek care, they don't want anyone caring about the weeds surrounding and the bugs invading. Their "Keep Out" signs are posted for the eyes of The Master.</div><div><br></div><div>Don't be deceived into having pity on these Bad Fruit trees. They KNOW they're producing bitter fruit, and they refuse to put themselves in any situation to change that outcome. There is a way to alter one's fruit production from bitter to sweet. It's by a process called grafting. Only The Master can do the grafting. A Bitter Fruit tree must surrender to God who will uproot and replant the tree in the best environment for the tree. Then he grafts a part of himself into the tree. If that tree will remain, it will begin to produce the sweetest of fruit. But if that tree is arrogant and prideful, they will not surrender to this process. They remain a Bad Fruit tree and your folly to help is more prideful than helpful. These, "I can help" attempts are truly all about "Me, Myself, and I." </div><div><br></div><div>"I'm the one with insight to help."</div><div>"I'm more loving than others."</div><div>"I'm going to prove my power."</div><div><br></div><div>I point this out because I've seen trees in transit see a grove of bitter trees and feel an undeserved pity. I've seen well-intentioned (howbeit uncounseled) trees believe the Bitter Fruit tree "need" their presence and sympathy. They plant themselves among the Bad Fruit trees, then are forced to endure what The Master never intended them to endure. They reap the hazards of being with trees visited only by thieves who rape and pillage their branches with no thought of care or another season's reproduction. </div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, Good Fruit trees are enjoying the joy and laughter of those whom they are generously supplying with Good Fruit. Aware that The Master is purposefully cultivating the ability to reproduce more Good Fruit again the next season. </div><div><br></div><div>You get to choose which grove you plant yourself in. </div><div><br></div><div>Surround yourself with good-tree folks to keep from eating bitter fruit behavior.</div><div><br></div><div>“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.”</div><div>Luke 6:43 NIV</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-13021457106127581792016-07-09T18:18:00.001-04:002016-07-09T18:55:23.005-04:00Bystander's PromiseEach day I try to hand-write a scripture of promise and hope for my life. I find the fluid cursive is soothing, and the precision of copy helps me internalize the verse better. It's a practice I've come to love. I choose the verses through prayer and current situation. Typically I'll have a single word that rolls over and over in my mind after prayer. I'll use a concordance to look up verses with that word. I'll read the various verses, and when I hit "it," I just know it. It's like a gear that clicks into place. <div><br></div><div>Yesterday's word was, "confirm."</div><div>This was the Word of hope and promise:</div><div><div>Psalm 68:9 (KJV)</div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Today's word was a phrase, "see me." As KJV would have it, "seest me."</span></div><div>Genesis 16:13 (KJV)</div><div>And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?</div><div><br></div><div>It fit my situation perfectly. And I'm sure many others. </div><div><br></div><div>Hagar was a slave. And while she may have had life better than most slaves, being in such a wealthy household, she was nevertheless <i>still</i> merely a slave. She had no rights, no options, no hope of marriage, at least not without her master arranging a marriage. And such a marriage would more firmly ensconce her into her life as a bond woman. She worked hard. She was respected for her work insomuch that she wasn't relegated to behind the scenes hard labor, but she was the mistress's servant. She had to smell good, look good, present herself well. All while carrying out a wide range of duties. As private servant to her mistress, she was likely a manger among the other slaves, in top rank to better serve Sarah. </div><div><br></div><div>Hagar was just a bystander to Abram's and Sarai's turmoil. They desperately wanted a son, and outside of possibly overhearing their conversations while she cleared their table, or handing her mistress a tissue as she sorrowed over her childless plight, Hagar had nothing to do with this matter. She may have felt compassion. She may have leant an ear. But even if she could do something about it, it wasn't her place to be involved in the situation. </div><div><br></div><div>But then... She was! </div><div><br></div><div>It wasn't her fault that Sarai lost hope. It wasn't of her decision that Abram allowed his wife to concoct an unholy plan. While the decision wasn't hers due to her slave status, it did typically work out to bring improvement to the surrogate-slave's lifestyle. So, perhaps she grasped at the hope for a better future extended to her. </div><div><br></div><div>But then it all went horribly wrong.</div><div><br></div><div>People that she'd trusted turned on her. Sarai physically BEAT her! Abram offered no shield. Pregnant Hagar ran away in efforts to try to get away from the nightmare the situation had turned into. </div><div><br></div><div>Why was this happening to her? She was merely an unwilling bystander. She was a slave without ability to own so much as a tent. She had no family. She had no rights. She didn't even have a god. </div><div><br></div><div>And yet, God visited this woman with a promise that He would protect her. He promised her the same promise he'd given Abram, that she'd have MANY children. He gave her hope and a future. The catch was that she needed to go back and wait it all out. </div><div><br></div><div>I have been the surprised recipient of someone's bad mood. I've felt the rejection of someone's need to be alone. I have heard the snickers of callous jokes. And while none of these encounters are as traumatic as Hagar's forced pregnancy, they have left me feeling alone and hopeless. </div><div><br></div><div>But, just as with Hagar, though I was merely a bystander who felt someone else's backlash, and though I had no rights or ability to help myself, God met me there. God promised me, "I see your pain. I happen to be a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief." And the God of glory ministered to me. My God promises me that the current pain is not the end of the road. He assures me that despite the present confusion there is a bright future ahead. But I have to chill out and wait it out. </div><div><br></div><div>And this goes for you to. You may be a bystander who gets the bad end of their bad day. And it can leave you feeling utterly alone. But you're not alone. God is just a prayer away. He will minister to you, rejuvenate you, and put you back on your path to purpose. </div><div><br></div><div>He is a God that sees you. Just don't do anything rash. Wait it out and watch God bless you in the end. </div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-31140193016051194222016-06-27T08:48:00.001-04:002016-06-27T13:30:28.929-04:00The Owner's ManualOne of my greatest weaknesses is the kitchen. I'm not meaning I have a weakness to resisting foods of the kitchen. I mean I commit consistent folly in the preparation of foods in the kitchen. I have four recipes that are edible. One of those four is scrambled eggs.<div><br></div><div>The end.</div><div>That's the end of my kitchen abilities. </div><div><br></div><div>Once I made lasagna from scratch. I did purchase the pasta, but the tomato sauce was purely concocted in my own kitchen. I was so excited and proud of this dish. I lovingly layered the cheeses & sauces, and with a flush of pride and a domestic-diva flourish I offered it to my family. And guests. (An unplanned addition to dinner.) Everyone served themselves via my informal hostessing style. As I cut into my own square of the dish, nestled in the middle of my plate, it seemed something was wrong. It took me a second of chewing to realize what it was.</div><div><br></div><div>THERE WAS NO PASTA IN THE DISH! </div><div>Not a single layer of lasagna between the layers of tomato sauce and cheese. I had boiled the pasta, strained it, then left it sitting in the strainer on the counter. I brought the bowl of now congealed pasta to the table and we all self-served weird blobs of sticky dough on top of our sauce/cheese squares. </div><div><br></div><div>I've never made the dish again. </div><div><br></div><div>Whether we do things right and in order determines the definition of the thing. My dish did not turn out to be "lasagna." It was edible, tasty even, but it was not lasagna.</div><div><br></div><div>Our lives require that we properly build them, or else we find ourselves alive, but not <i>living</i>. Everybody dies, but not everyone lives. To truly <i>live</i> we must follow the guidebook. I dislike when parents say that babies do not come with an instruction manual. Yes, they do. It's called The Holy Bible.</div><div><br></div><div>We have ruined society by arrogantly believing we can build a successful life without referring to The Owner's Manual, which is the Word of God. God created humanity in His own image. The creator of a thing is the best person to have a conversation with about that thing. The creator knows every detail intimately. If you have questions, the creator has answers. As an Apple user I was bummed when Steve Jobs was no longer at the helm. It's not that I knew him personally and would therefore mourn his death. But I knew his passion for his creation kept the quality of my daily-used product (the one I read scripture from, write blogs on, make todo lists in, stay connected with friends and family by) at tip-top, well-running order. Comparisons can be equally made with the Keurig, America's new convenience machine. Truly, any creation you enjoy, the creator of that thing could tell you how to keep it humming like new. </div><div><br></div><div>God is the creator of humanity. His ways are higher than our ways <i>because</i> He's the creator. He's not on a power trip. It's just a fact. Therefore, for our lives to be joyful, and abundant, and peaceful, healthy, and whole, we must follow the instructions of The Owner's Manual called, The Holy Bible.</div><div><br></div><div>Jesus gave us a story of two houses, one built on the rock, the other built on the sand. He told about a great storm that came and rained down on both houses. The house built on the sand, the one without a foundation, was destroyed. While the house built on a firm foundation stood the test. Jesus told us that this is how our lives are. We have a choice as to where we each build our lives, on The Rock, Christ Jesus. Or on the shifting sands of present culture. We each choose where we're going to build our lives. </div><div><br></div><div>We must prioritize building our lives <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">on God's Word</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">, from the foundation, to the eaves. Every nail, every column, every detail of decor, each and every decision must mirror the Word of God.</span></div><div><br></div><div>Keep the Bible ever at the ready in your life. Even when you're not specifically looking for direction, read it every day. It's a living book and it will quietly hitch a ride in your mind until you <i>do</i> need it. And at that time it will pipe up and say, "Here's how you should handle this..." </div><div><br></div><div><div><i>Psalm 119:105 (KJV)</i></div><div><i>Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.</i></div></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><div><i>Matthew 7:24 (KJV)</i></div><div><i>Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:</i></div></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><div><i>Matthew 13:23 (KJV)</i></div><div><i>But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth [it]; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.</i></div></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-83997009244737002052016-06-25T12:58:00.001-04:002016-06-25T16:22:42.387-04:00Sacrifice: A Goal-Setters NightmareI love to set goals. I am a born procrastinator and slacker. If there's not a deadline attached to a goal, I'll never get it done. Even <i>with</i> a deadline I'm one of those who could wait until five minutes to the deadline to get it done. And with the adrenaline rush of deadline comes a burst of creativity that doesn't disappoint. But I hate this character flaw. <div><br></div><div>Consequently, I've fallen head over heels in love with goal setting. Obviously, goals with a date. I am prayerful about my goal setting. It's not that I hear a reverberating voice from God telling me which goals to set. But I'm prayerful as I set goals. And so far, I've never had God tell me not to set a goal. All of the goals I set have to do with self-improvement, family unity and growth, and ministry. I've accomplished some things in my life that I'm very thankful to have been a part of due to my goal setting.</div><div><br></div><div>I've written and published an illustrated children's book. I've recorded many albums. I've written many songs. I've directed many church events that have greatly impacted people's lives. All of this because of my goal setting habit. </div><div><br></div><div>But I've experienced, for the second time, God asking me to sacrifice a goal. These have been excruciatingly difficult. While I won't divulge my current sacrifice offering, I will tell you that the first He asked for was "my" Hadassah girls' conference. Hadassah was my pride and joy. I loved it so much. I fought Him over it. And after I killed the goals (past and present) on the altar of surrender I mourned their loss, just as one mourns the death of a loved one. I've struggled more with bitterness over the sacrifice of a goal than I ever have over the betrayal and rejection of a friend.</div><div><br></div><div>Those of us who are goal-setters understand the attachment to a goal that is formed. To accomplish a goal it is investigated and studied. The goal turns out to be full of unexpected mystery and intrigue. The goal must be woo'd like a lover. It is hoped for, prayed over, and chased. Sleep is lost in the pursuit. Tears are shed. Joy is felt. A relationship is formed with a goal. </div><div><br></div><div>If the deadline draws near and the marriage of plan to accomplishment is not made, the idea isn't chucked. We simply set a new date and keep going. You no more give up on a goal than you'd give up on a prodigal child, or a lifelong friendship.</div><div><br></div><div>You just don't.</div><div><br></div><div>That God would ask me to sacrifice a goal was earth shattering and life halting. </div><div><br></div><div>I admit that <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">each of the goals God has asked for </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I've carried to the altar with a picture of Abraham and Issac in the back of my mind. I've laid my goals on the altar fully expecting a ram's bleat from the thicket to halt the proceedings. And when the angel of the Lord didn't stop my hand from plunging the dagger of death, I felt I had died as well.</span></div><div><br></div><div>The deaths of these goals altered huge chunks of my day. Hours that used to be spent on reaching these goals were suddenly vast spaces of empty time. The people I used to communicate with to reach the goals were suddenly no more in my text-feed. The thoughts that used to consume my downtime were suddenly useless thoughts. Indeed, they became painful thoughts. I had created a self-identity from the processes of these goals, and that identity was as deceased as the goals. </div><div><br></div><div>This "death of self" is the point and the win, actually. For I can't walk in newness of life if I don't die to self. New birth is essential to bigger and better things. Our initial salvation new-birth experience isn't the only time death-to-birth is required. In fact, we're suppose to take up our cross daily. Paul said and exemplified, "I die daily." We die <i>so we can be reborn!</i></div><div><br></div><div>I understand that just because we're pursuing goals doesn't mean we're not dying daily. In fact, in order to pursue goals we deny our flesh and kill our affections and lusts every day. But God sees when we've grown accustomed to the rigors of a certain discipline, and we are no longer affectively sacrificing to the death of self. We sometimes become accustomed to the hardships, and can not only survive, but build a tolerance. That does us no good. </div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, I don't want self-identity. </div><div>I want to be crucified so that Christ is alive in me. (Galatians 2:20)</div><div>I want a Christ-identity.</div><div>When people try to put their finger on what is different about me from the public at large, I want them to recognize Christ, not me. (Acts 4:13)</div><div><br></div><div>My goals have put me in positions to minister to a lot of people in one setting. I know God is not opposed to my goal setting. But I have learned that He may ask that I lay the prize, pick-of-the-litter goal on an altar of sacrifice and let it go. </div><div><br></div><div>I hope and pray I have the faith and trust to do so every time. </div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-57154307498275873212016-06-01T15:22:00.001-04:002016-06-01T15:22:21.293-04:00You Got Dis; PatienceI<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> used to think that I had no patience because I felt so anxious while waiting for the conclusion of a matter. From prayers, to dinner, patience </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">doesn't mean you feel good while you wait. It means you wait even though you <i>really</i> <u>do not</u> feel good.</span><br><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The King James Version word for, "patience," is, "longsuffering." It's a more apt description of the process. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Because we see people that we admire enduring difficult things with poise, we think that since we don't <i>feel</i> how that person <i>looks</i> that we don't have patience. But patience <i>isn't </i>indicated by how a person feels. Patience is simply put, not giving up.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">When a person runs a marathon, it's possible that they need to walk a bit during that 26 mile run. They may limp a bit. They may crawl a bit. And for the rest of their life they can legitimately say that they "ran" that marathon. Why is that accepted in the running community when they literally did not run the full measure? Because they didn't quit! In the same way, you are exhibiting patience IF YOU DONT QUIT! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Whatever you're enduring, whatever is causing you pain and <i><u>suffering</u></i> for a <i><u>long</u></i> time (ahem, "longsuffering") that suffering is not an indication that you "don't have patience." The pain means you're STILL IN THE RACE! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">STOP saying, "I have NO patience." Words are creation. In reality you simply are anxious, not impatient.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We can learn the discipline of biting our tongue in our anxiousness. Similar to ancient days, before anesthesia, they might give a hurting soldier a piece of leather and tell them to, "bite down on it," as the medical staff inflicted a needed pain to give the soldier an extension of life. When we feel that anxiousness and desperation we need to also, bite down on it; our tongue, that is. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Scripture gives us instructions to help keep us in the race, enduring to the end.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Cast down imaginations.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Truly, this is our worst enemy. Satan doesn't need to do hardly any tempting because we conjur ourselves into failure. Our imaginations so rarely create hopeful scenarios. Our imaginations quickly leave us in a heap of failure. And crazily enough, these mythological ideas release <i>real </i>chemicals in our brains which continue into <i>real</i> depressive states! </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">STOP IT! </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Bring (Force) every thought into the obedience of Christ. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Christ is our way maker. God is the miracle worker who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask, or <i>THINK.</i> (Think: imagination.) He's NOT however, a genie. He's a Father who sees how the present difficulty is teaching us how to handle yet another situation later, which will require more strength than the current trial. Today's trial is merely building your stamina to handle the future's success.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Cast your care on Him.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Another word for, "care" is, "anxiety." We must find places to pray. We must duck into rooms to release the pent up anxiety. We must allow tears to come while at His feet. We must allow ourselves to moan in prayer. The scripture says that when we do this the spirit is asking God for what our soul needs, because our brain doesn't realize what we need. Praying in the Spirit does WONDERS for every aspect of our trials. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Keep your eyes on the prize.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Christ was patient on the cross because he had his eye on the prize. He endured the cross. He despised the pain. But he was able to reach his success because he had a prize in mind. The relief and release is going to be a wonderful experience! Jesus has reward for his children who are longsuffering.</span></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-24440752042885517132016-05-25T09:55:00.001-04:002016-05-27T08:50:08.245-04:006. Rising Above, Vacation Devotion<div><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Genesis 8:1-5</b></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Genesis 8:4 (KJV)</span></div><div><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.</i></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Life is tough. It's a challenge to get through the valleys and climb up the mountains. There are those who have chosen to live in the valleys, but the valleys represent death and depression. They're not meant to make habitable, they're meant to travel through.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After the flood had killed every living thing on the earth, can you imagine how horrific it must have been on Noah's descendants to travel? As they descended down Mount Ararat, not only did they endure the stress of relocation, but they would have come across more carcasses than would have been acceptable to ones psyche.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This is truly one of our lessons as we travel through our valleys. Not only are we enduring our own pain, but we are thrust into the valley where all we see is the pain of others. Being in the valley greatly magnifies sorrow. It magnifies death. While attempting to obey God's command to spread across the earth and multiply, we find ourselves thick in the mire of death, pain and suffering. Not just our own, but everyone's around us in the valley as well. And yet, we have a mandate, to get to the next mountaintop. God walks with us through the valley, but he gets very liberal with rewards once we make it to the mountain top.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">These valleys, where every other traveler is also experiencing the death of something, are hopeless places.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WE MUST GET TO THE NEXT MOUNTAIN.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Great things happen at the tops of mountains! There is no success like making it to the top of a mountain. I've read books and watched documentaries of mountain climbers. Some of them are missing appendages due to a climb. Some have witnessed death on a climb. Their experiences are so horrific, besides being wary of heights, I'd be too scared of duplicating their losses to want to climb. But, not these! They are so obsessed with the glories of reaching the mountain tops that their bad experiences are in no way a deterrent. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While you'll never find me purposefully climbing anything in the natural, but a rock wall. In the spirit I too will climb life's mountains, no matter the cost. I will because I MUST get through and out of those Valleys of the Shadow of Death. I must get out of the valley because God demands I reproduce more gifts, more ministries, more joys, more testimonies. I'm a MAJOR comfort-creature. I can't stand for anything to change. I'd rather curl up and die in the valley than journey to the next mountain. But, I am built for climbing. I'm lazy about it, but I'm good at it. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I've been in many valleys in my travels to new mountains. I've discovered that many of my fellow travelers are stuck in the valleys because they can't climb. They're as ignorant of the spiritual climb as I am of the natural climb.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Due to my rock wall climbing I've had lessons on climbing. But I'm so forgetful, I have to have a new lesson <i>every</i> time! My daughter, who forgets nothing, has to stand by during my lesson. She literally mouths the words along with my instructor. She's even filled in holes the instructor missed!</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know I need a partner.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know my partner asks, "Belay?"</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know that when I'm ready I say, "Belay on."</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But I don't remember what "belay" even means. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And from climb to climb I can't remember how to tie the rope around my harness.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">[true story]</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the spirit there are those who haven't been able to wrap their minds around Hope, as I have. Hope is NECESSARY to climbing out of the valley. I "get" faith and praise as easily as my daughter "gets" the climbing instructor's info. Not everybody grasps faith and praise as easily as other journeyers.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But God will not leave those in the valley just because they don't "get" the traditional climbing methods. There's another way to the top of the mountain. It's no more pleasant than the climbing method. It's sometimes a longer route, therefore patience is a necessity. It's no less frightening. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's a flood. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don't assume God intends to drown you just because your life is experiencing a flood that is destroying all you know and love. The water is pelting you from above, the ground that once held your home is being broken up. The land where you once harvested life-giving fruit is now spewing uncontrolled fountains of water.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fear not. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The ark has been prepared for your safety. Stay in the church. Stay with the captain. Storms are NOT the time for jumping ship. Even, as in Paul's storm, when the ship itself broke apart, he stayed with a BROKEN ship.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The key to surviving this flood is to STAY WITH THE SHIP. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">God may send a raging flood to lift you to the mountaintops, rather than a traditional climb.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV)</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.</i></span></div></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-90904658703702538442016-05-20T16:45:00.001-04:002016-05-27T08:48:40.083-04:002. Spiritual Carnality, Vacation Devotion<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Genesis 6:</b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Genesis 6:22 (KJV)</i></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.</i></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have friends who are both ministers in their church, and work a public job. It surprises me when they see their public work as less important than their ministry. I see BOTH vocations as ministry. I see the public job as God paying them to work in His harvest field. The duties of the church must be done as well. But that is a very closed-off role. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The passion and drive to be full time in ministry is a noble one. It may even be of God, in order to keep us in <i>both</i> fields. If we didn't have the drive for ministry we'd surely give in to the exhaustion at the end of a workday. And it's likely that the blessings and favor of God would not be on our public job if we weren't giving so much to our ministerial job. Regardless, we <i>do</i> have that higher calling of ministry, so tired or not, we do our church "job" after our public one.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Our first leanings to "knowing" we're hearing God's voice is if the instruction is "spiritual." I mean, if the instruction is something like, "Pray," or "Fast," or even gifts of prophecy. But we should not discount that God has always worked through "carnal" means as well.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">God gave Noah detailed instructions about a boat. A BOAT! What in the world is "spiritual" about a boat?! God didn't give him prayer guidelines. God didn't tell him how or why to fast. God didn't tell him to convince others to join him in salvation. He just told him how to do a very physical, natural thing.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I feel certain that he did, in fact, pray and preach. (The New Testament calls him a "preacher of righteousness.) But what God told him to do was a very flesh and blood, wood and tar thing. He was not alone, Paul and other New Testament ministers had bi-vocational ministries as well.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don't quit your day job. God is using the bi-vocational minister more and more. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don't think that college is "not ministry." Don't assume that being a hostess in a restaurant, or a construction worker, or a lawyer, or whatever your non-ministry job may be, is "non-ministry." There is likely more ministry happening there than in the church.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There are some who will take on the church full-time. Their efforts to make sure their hands are "dirty" from working in the harvest is HUGE. When working full-time in the church, it's easy to spend <i>weeks</i> without bumping into a single person who needs Christ. (Or who realizes they need Christ.) Granted, having music, and the spoken Word polished and ready for saint and sinner in a church service is paramount. Being available to go pray when the sick call for an elder is integral. The mechanics of church administration is a full-time job. But full-time church work is not all it's cracked up to be.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Do not underestimate the importance of where God has you in bi-vocational ministry.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's a very spiritual carnality.</span></div><div><br></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-6146188134348258152016-05-20T16:15:00.001-04:002016-05-27T08:49:24.274-04:004. Amazing Grace, Vacation Devotion<div><b>Genesis 6:1-9</b></div><div>Genesis 6:7-8 (KJV) </div><div><i>7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.</i></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><i>8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.</i></span></div><div><br></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif">I used to picture this differently. I used to imagine a very large metropolis, like New York, or Miami. Some technologically advanced city FULL of people who care nothing for attempting to please God. In their selfishness they build a party-city where sexuality has no sacredness, addictions are abliged, and murder is as common as breathing. Then, in the midst of this corruption stands this one beautifully holy man with his morally upright family. And that could be a correct supposition. </font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif">But, at this point in my life I have seen much and experienced much. Particularly in the realm of grace. Particularly of being in great need of it. </font></div><div><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><div>When "the perfect people" were aghast at Christ's associations with sinners, Jesus said, "T<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">he whole need not a physician." Christ came to fix broken people. Christ came to give hope to hopeless people. The religious people didn't feel broken, sick, or hopeless. The religious people felt very proud of their righteousness. They loved their rules and laws of religion to the point of infatuation and obsession. Their obsession blinded them to the needs around them. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Christ refused to waste his time with those "who need not a physician." </span></div><div><br></div><div>God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Not only did he avoid the pompously righteous in the New Testament, but we find this same behavior in the Old Testament as well. We hardly have any insight or direction from the official priests of the Old Testament. Instead God sought those outsiders, young or old, who felt an outcast. Through these prophets and judges God spoke to the people. </div><div><br></div><div>God does not NEED to extend grace to a perfect person. They are perfectly at peace with their state of righteousness.</div><div><br></div><div>When the Bible tells us that "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord," that is not suppose to convey, "God found a perfect person on the earth." Rather, t<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">hat is to tell us...</span></div><div>Noah was in great NEED of grace.</div><div><br></div><div>This word "found" in the Hebrew means both "to find," and "to be found." </div><div><br></div><div>If Noah and his family were "perfect," there'd be no need for grace. </div><div><br></div><div>The Lord didn't call Noah "righteous" until AFTER he followed the instructions and built the ark, in Genesis 8:1.</div><div><br></div><div>Noah's family was no more "role model" than any other family on the earth. Which is why they didn't behave in a pristine manner after their Ark Experience. They had no prior teaching about drunkeness. They didn't have a pastor to show them the ways of God. </div><div><br></div><div>God never has, and he never will, use vessels for their perfection. He looks for people who accept their imperfections. Then, as an extension of much needed grace, he assigns a task. That we have been called to a ministry on this earth is NOT a sign that we've "made it." But rather proof that we need help. God uses our assigned task to save us.</div><div><br></div><div>Let us not become haughty or arrogant in our roles of ministry. Lest we end up this generation's sadducees and Pharisees. God extends grace to us so that we can extend his grace to those who NEED a physician; me & you. </div></div><div><br></div><div>The day we no longer need Christ as our physician, is the day amazing grace is squelched toward us. </div><div><br></div><div>Do what God has called you to do IN SPITE of your shortcomings and failures. God is not surprised by our weaknesses. </div><div><br></div><div>His grace is sufficient.</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-6952091554782522342016-05-18T08:56:00.001-04:002016-05-27T08:49:00.524-04:003. Make Peace With the Journey, Vacation Devotion<div><b>Genesis 8:1-4</b></div>Genesis 8:3 (KJV)<div><i>And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.</i></div><div><br></div><div>I have one word for the Ark experience: BORING! </div><div><br></div><div>They didn't have smartphones. They didn't have Netflix. They didn't even have books or newspapers! My imagination tells me that the women on board may have brought a loom to continue making cloth. But in reality, it's likely they had nothing to do on The Good Ship, except feed animals and shovel poop.</div><div><br></div><div>On the other hand, NOT boring. Because that's a lot of compost to make. </div><div><br></div><div>Life on the Ark was a test of sanity, for sure. The first few hours in there may have been nothing but frightening. A supernatural experience brought the animals into the ark. God himself shut them all into the Ark. And while it was safe, it was anything but peaceful.</div><div><br></div><div>If this family were not particularly "animal people" before (<i>you know, those fams that have a farm in their backyard. & sometimes one in the house too!</i>) they couldn't have felt very safe about the elephant or lion. Or giraffe. Or, if they were me, the dog. (I'm a scardy-cat.) Besides the caution they'd have about their newfound pets, they'd never heard raindrops before.</div><div><br></div><div>Even the tiniest first drops of rain would have seemed like the end of the world. THEN, once the earth had broken up causing the "fountains of the deep" to add to the flood coming from the sky, that would have been a terrible noise! Then, the first time that huge Ark was lifted off the ground by the water would have included the wood groaning and creaking in a horrific way. This family had never needed sea-legs before. Suddenly, they were a family of the waves. </div><div><br></div><div>In life we are sometimes forced to become a family of the waves. Life will at various times begin to rain down change upon us. We will have brand new experiences that are frightening. From new jobs, to new schools, new friends, and new Ministry. God, in His position as Alpha and Omega, able to know the end from the beginning, sees we need newness of life. Getting us to that new life may not be easy. But he's put us in a place of safety to wait out the storm. </div><div><br></div><div>As with Noah, even the place of safety can feel scary. But trust it.</div><div><br></div><div>As with Noah, the place of safety can be LOTS of work to maintain. Do the work.</div><div><br></div><div>In this time period of change for your family, don't waste all your time on our present day's entertainment. It will distract you from what God is trying to teach you. Play games together, work on a project together, do outreach together. </div><div><br></div><div>Will you bicker? Probably. </div><div>Will you get irritated with each other? Likely.</div><div>But, the storms require that you learn how to do this new thing <i>together</i>.</div><div><br></div><div>Once the scary part is over, like Noah, you'll have the maintenance part of keeping your ambiance clean and livable. Noah's family floated in peace (or perhaps a better description is, "floated in boredom") for seven months before the Ark hit something, and with a thud (again, probably frightening) the Ark stopped moving. </div><div><br></div><div>Changes bring us to new things that are WONDERFUL to life. But getting to the new good requires change. Change can be very uncomfortable, no matter what age we are. </div><div><br></div><div>Accept life's changes and become a student of peace. You'll get impatient as you float along with nothing, but work, to do. But once you learn to be peaceful, you'll feel better about patience. </div><div><br></div><div>God will never leave you during your journey to change, He will help you find peace, and He will protect you.</div><div><br></div><div>Access Him and His love often.</div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-23496393669988626762016-05-17T15:14:00.001-04:002016-05-17T15:42:30.306-04:001. Take the Cruise, Vacation Devotion<div><b>Genesis 7:1-24</b></div><div>Genesis 7:23 (KJV)</div><div><i>And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark.</i></div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Noah's Ark is more than a story about a man saving his family and animals from a flood. The story is symbolic of ourselves and how to protect ourselves. Life sends storms such as the pain of rejection, the loss of possessions, failures and upsets. These storms can drown us in sorrow if we don't protect ourselves by the "Ark" God has provided.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The same way Noah is the caretaker, responsible for the wellbeing of the Ark and all its inhabitants, God has ordained that the pastors in our congregations are as Noah; caretakers of the people and the church. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Our pastor's provide our souls with nourishment from the Bible, which is the Bread of Life. The teaching of God's Word is soul-meat, strengthening us. Our pastors have committed to make the Ark of the church a safe place. In order to do that, they will have rules to enforce. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For instance, some animals cannot eat what other animals can eat. Noah had to make sure some animals stayed out of other animals' pens. Noah had to insist that stalls be cleaned up and maintained. It was inconvenient and frustrating for both animals AND Noah at times. But Noah was responsible to uphold the standards even if it was difficult. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Our pastors are no different. Sometimes their responsibility is frustrating and irritating. It's downright inconvenient. But he's been ordained as the overseer of the Ark. It is our job to be thankful for the safety he's trying to provide and to get in sync. </span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Our church is our Ark where we find shelter and protection from the storms of life. The people who didn't get their lives in order as God had asked didn't merely "miss the boat." They DIED when the flood came! Any animal that didn't heed the call was killed by the flood. Being on the Ark saved their life. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Being in the church saves us when the storms of life come. We cannot afford to miss the boat. Life is ravaging! Between people, finances, personal glitches in our DNA that cause addictions that can kill us, the floods of life will come. We will find ourselves (and those we love) destroyed outside of the Ark of the church. God provided us a Noah-pastor, and an Ark-church.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In our current culture, many people take vacations on cruise ships. As a vacationer you pay one flat fee and everything you need to have a nice time is included; protection and safety, food and drink, entertainment, games, lodging and shelter. I've been on a cruise even in a storm and it's never made me sick, or in any way been a bad experience. But, if I do not GET ON THE SHIP none of these things are available to me. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Bible let's us know that our safety and well-being is God's priority. That doesn't mean that he is a fairytale genie, granting all of our wishes. It means that our NEEDS are guaranteed. God <i>desires</i> to protect us, shelter us, give us joy, and whatever else we need. But if we don't get on His boat, in His Ark, we do not have these good things available to us. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">God called the people and animals into the Ark for their safety and provision. And He also calls ALL humanity to get in the Ark of the church. God is not racist. God does not save some people, but not others. He has extended a call to anyone willing to listen.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We must heed God's call and get in the Ark of the church, then STAY in the Ark of the church. When the storms come and when the floods of life rise, we will be protected and provided for if we're in the Ark of the church.</span></div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673766350466125475.post-22246689568946322932016-05-17T09:00:00.001-04:002016-05-27T09:34:23.862-04:005. Raven or Dove, Vacation Devotion<div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Genesis 8:7-12</b></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Genesis 8:7-8 (KJV)</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.</i></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><i>8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;</i></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As I read and discussed this passage with my kids, even in our ignorance of birds we were surprised Noah sent out a raven. Doves are not pigeons, but they're homebodies. If Noah wanted a true meter of the outside situation, why send a raven? </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We truly are utterly ignorant of most animal behavior. I imagine Noah might have been even more ignorant than us. After all, he didn't have the benefit of Google. Just because he was the guy willing to build the ark doesn't mean he was "into" animals. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have cousins who seem to have been born with instinct and wisdom for God's creatures, great and small. I am grossed out by them, scared of them, annoyed by them. I like wild birds that I don't have to be near or take care of. I've had dogs through the years, but I travel too much to properly take care of them, and dogs need a LOT of care. My best pets have been cats. They're smart, born litter-trained, and aren't needy.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I would totally be sending "whatever flew" out that window to gauge if the flood had receded. </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div>But I've done some light reading on Ravens, and I can see which bird we should seek to behave as in our efforts to please God.</div></div><div><br></div><div>Ravens are quite smart, talented birds. They're incredibly social, and are aware of the moods around them. They have many "songs" which they've been known to use to lighten the mood of others in the treetops. They like to play with other birds. They are the rock stars of the bird community. </div><div><br></div><div>It turns out that Ravens are just too cool to come into the hand of Noah. Ravens are too all-that to be in the Ark.</div><div><br></div><div>I've watched people be Ravens in the church. They were thankful for the knowledge of where to find salvation, but they refuse to submit themselves to their Noah-Pastor, and they refuse to come into the company of the Ark-church. Instead they alight as near as they can without commitment. </div><div><br></div><div>Ravens are of no value at all. The people who need their beautiful songs are the ones who've endured the flood IN THE ARK. The animals who need their portable party are the ones who've been penned up in trials IN THE ARK. They need a word of hope that the waters are receding. They need a joyful song leader. </div><div><br></div><div>But, oh, no. Ravens are too selfish to understand how they could be helpful. </div><div><br></div><div>The dove didn't merely return to the Ark. She returned to Noah's hand. And she repeated this task until the matter was resolved. </div><div><br></div><div>I'm going to confess to you that I am a Raven-personality. I don't like closed-in places, I literally AM a song leader, I am keenly aware all of the time of the moods around me, and I am driven to lift heavy moods with a party. So, I <i>know</i> the inner struggle of behaving as a dove when my instinct is to be a Raven. It's not easy, but I'll tell you how I've done it...</div><div><br></div><div>I pray everyday and ask God to make me a new creature. I repent everyday. I give God my will and I crucify my carnal nature. </div><div><br></div><div>It turns out that God has needed me to be as <i>both </i>a dove and a raven. Because I'm willing to come into the hand (be submitted to) my pastor, and willing to be brought into the unity of the Ark-church, I'm a contributing help to the moods <i>inside</i> the church, and out. </div><div><br></div><div>The raven stubbornly perched on the exterior of the Ark not only didn't help anyone inside the ark, but he wasn't a part of the "well done thou good and faithful servant" party either. He wasn't a part of the promise on the mountain. He wasn't a part of the celebratory hugs after crossing the finish line.</div><div><br></div><div>Don't be a raven at your church; you will not go in, neither will you let others in. Don't be a raven haughtily sitting aloft on the <i>outside. </i>Come into the responsibility of your pastor. Come into unity with the church. </div><div><br></div><div>If this isn't your instinct, ask God to make you a new creature. </div>The Muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11326458855890775782noreply@blogger.com0