Salt of the earth

Establishments often serve pretzels or salty peanuts or some other kind of salty snack foods with drinks while customers wait for their main course to arrive. This generally has the effect of making the customer thirsty.

Salty snacks are often available in bowls on a table or at a bar. They are free, but they are given with the motive of getting the persons to drink faster and to spend more.

Jesus talked about how we are to be the salt of the earth.

“You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his flavor, with which shall it be salted? It is thereafter good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”  Matthew 5:13

Living by God’s grace, we have faith to believe that Christ is our all-sufficiency. We receive acceptance from God and we actively love others because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Being the salt of the earth will cause those we meet to become thirsty for the Water of Life; Jesus Christ.

God Bless!

God is Here

There was a time not long ago, when I was little aware of the Lord except when I stopped to take the time to pray. Even then, I prayed as though the Lord was up there somewhere.

David wrote a beautiful psalm proclaiming how the Lord lovingly watches over us, like a Shepherd. He leads us, guides us, sees that we are cared for and if we stray, He seeks to return us to His care. Oh how He loves us!

David knew that the Lord was right there with Him. David knew that even if he had to go through the valley of the shadow of death, he would not fear evil, because the Lord was with him.

In John 14:20, we are told:

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

Oh Lord, each day, help us to be sensitive to your abiding presence. Help us to walk with you and to talk with you during the day and to treasure our precious relationship with you.

Help us to remember that you are right here with us, even now.

God Bless!

What Have I to Fear?

Deuteronomy 33:27 “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

This song has been in my head and on my heart the past few days.  It was one of my favorite hymns when I was a little girl.  I sang it with joy as a little girl, but I didn’t understand it then… the way I understand it today.  What beautiful words.

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
What have I to dread?
What have I to fear?
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
I have blessed peace
With my Lord so dear
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms is a hymn published in 1887 with music by Anthony J. Showalter and lyrics by Showalter and Elisha Hoffman.

Kicking Away The Props

It’s easy to say “I trust the Lord,” when we feel in control of our life. It’s much harder to live trusting the Lord when all the props are kicked out from under us.

What do I mean by props? Well, props are different for each of us. In our case, props were steady jobs, steady income, a home, reliable cars, possessions, etc. Anything we counted on and felt secure in were props. Props can make us spiritually weak if we depend on them instead of the Lord.

It’s easy to say that we trust the Lord when things are predictable. It’s easy to say that we would continue to trust the Lord if we lost our job or found ourselves homeless or in a new situation we didn’t expect…but saying and believing is different from experiencing and knowing.

Over the past couple of years, the Lord began to kick the props out from under us one by one and this has the affect of strengthening our faith.  It teaches us to trust Him in our day to day situations.

It isn’t an easy process.  At first the flesh screamed in protest. It hated losing control. It protested the lack of regular income. It complained when our plans didn’t turn out as we had expected. Most of all, it didn’t like the not knowing…

Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

What should we do when we find ourselves led into a wilderness situation and we do not know what to expect the next day? We should trust in the Lord and read His word and apply what He teaches us.

When we do not know from where we will find the rent, or how we will buy basic things. We can ask our Father …He knows and often has the provision on the way.

No-one knows what tomorrow holds.  As children of God, we can rest in the knowledge that our Father sees what is ahead.  If we trust in Him, He will lead us and provide for us, each step of the way.

Psalm 23 says “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

God Bless!

Strength in Weakness

The narrow way.

Consider the words of the apostle Paul: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Corinthians 1:26−29)

The Lord is my strength. He gives me His peace, His righteousness, His love. If He didn’t give me these by His grace, through merit I would not be able to earn any of them; the very best my flesh can offer by way of exchange is no more than filthy rags.

I depend on the Lord for everything. When I am tired, I ask Him for His endurance. When I am stressed, I ask Him for His peace. When I help others, I ask Him to be there to show them His love. When I feel unwell, I ask Him for His healing. When we have needs, we ask Him to provide.

Each morning, I ask Him to make me aware that He is with me; to help me think of Him throughout the day. The Holy Spirit lives within me. The train of His garment fills the Temple.

I have been bought with His precious blood. I belong to Him. All that I possess is His. All that is good comes from Him and my ability to see that good also comes from Him.

If I am able to do anything, it is the Lord who gives me ability. My life is not my own. This world is not my home. My journey isn’t always easy—there are many storms—but He is with me always.

He leads the way and I determine to follow Him on the narrow path, otherwise I would take the broad path, heading in the wrong direction. I lean on Him and trust in Him no matter the circumstances. He makes me not to fear because I know He is with me.

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Armor of God

crazyantstudio.com

Did you know that Jesus is our armor… our protection? The battle has already been won.

We are to put on the armor and then STAND – Every piece is of Jesus. Our weapon is the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God).

Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, (Jesus is the TRUTH)

and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (Jesus is our righteousness)

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (Jesus is the Prince of Peace)

in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith (Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith)with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

and take the helmet of salvation, (Jesus is our salvation).

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Jesus is the Word of God).

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

Ephesians 6:14-18

Jesus Still Calms the Storms

Mark Chapter 4:35-41

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Jesus told the disciples that they were going to the other side and went to sleep.  Yet when the storm came, the disciples became upset and worried and even went as far as waking Jesus and suggesting that He might let them drown!

Jesus immediately got up and calmed the storm.

How sad He must have felt at their lack of trust and unbelief.  He had told them they were going to the other side, yet they allowed their fear in the circumstances to contradict what He had told them.  If only they had taken Him at His word!  If only they had rested with Him!

Now when I encounter one of life’s storms, I say to the Lord: “I know YOU are in the boat with me.”   Knowing the Lord is with me through my difficulties allows me to rest instead of falling into the trap of fear, panic and disbelief.  As I discussed in a previous blog, worrying is contrary to the Lord’s command.

The Lord knows our needs and He loves us.   Learning to completely and unreservedly trust Him, no matter how bad things look around us, may not be easy at first, but it’s wonderful once we are convinced.  Once we have learned to trust His promises, we can rest in Him, knowing He is there in the boat with us, without fail.  Our God who calmed the storm for the disciples will calm our hearts when we encounter any storm in this life.  He is always in the boat with us.

God Bless!

Helping the Poor

In the Old Testament, the scribes and the Pharisees had an obligation to protect and care for the poor in their land, but the Scripture tells us that they instead devoured widow’s houses. They took advantage of the poor — opposing what God had instructed. They had forgotten the first commandment, which is not the love of self, but the love of God!

In the New Testament, Jesus shows us through the story of the Widow’s Mite how God sees our hearts and our offerings .  The widow was poor. She had no obligation to make a financial offering, yet she chose to give one because she wanted to worship the Lord, and the Lord commended her.

The contrast between her heart and the hearts of the spiritual leaders of her time is clear. She chose to obey God beyond her circumstances simply because He is God. She fully trusted that He would provide for all her needs. She must have witnessed the corruption of the leaders, yet she did not use their poor behavior as an excuse to hang on to what little she had. She trusted God; HE was her security and she gave thanks.

So, as with gleaning, when God has met our needs, we should not strive for more out of a desire to accumulate (a second barn) or out of greed (you cannot serve God and mammon), or out of fear for tomorrow, for “the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not (be in) want.” If we love the Lord, then we should trust and obey Him and be sure of helping those in need.

God is love. Love is a verb. Comfort, feed, clothe and uplift anyone in need.

Matthew 25:40: And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

We are not under the Law because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, but we should still provide for those doing the Lord’s work — Paul commended the Philippians because they shared with Him.

We are also  instructed by Jesus to help the poor, the orphans, the widowed, the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner/stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner. When Jesus tells us to do something, it is a commandment. 😉

We should look for opportunity. If we look around, we’ll find need. Then like the widow, we can give from the heart, with thankfulness to the Lord for His many blessings.

God Bless and Happy New Year!

Worrywart!

On average, a person living 80 years will spend 26 years sleeping. Men will spend 45 days getting ready. If you’re a woman, you’ll spend 136 days getting ready.  On average, a person will spend 115 days laughing (some people rarely laugh), 6 months waiting in line, 20 weeks being put on hold on the telephone and 38.003 hours eating.

Many things we do are necessary, but worrying all the time is not one of them. Worrying over things we cannot do anything about is a time-waster because it does not accomplish anything positive. Constant worrying damages our health, causes stress and disrupts our sleep. Lack of sleep causes weight gain and a weaker immune system. Worrying can cause hours of unhappiness and raise anxiety levels.  A person who worries about everything is less enjoyable to be around. Worrying can become a bad habit and can lead to anxiety and depression. We can literally become a worrywart or a misery addict. Are you worried yet? 🙂

I spent years worrying about all kinds of things.  I was probably one of the biggest worriers I know.  I wasn’t happy with this bad habit and I’m sure It didn’t make me a joy to live with under the same roof.  I can say ‘Thank you Lord” that I am not anything like I once was, (I still have my moments ) but it has meant going through this wilderness experience for those changes to take place deep in my heart. Unfortunately, I don’t believe there is a shortcut to break the habit of worrying.  It takes weighing and considering the information.  Taking your thoughts captive and determining to not go down the negative thinking path.

There is a difference between worrying and seeing the need to overcome a problem.  Having a need to overcome a problem isn’t the same as worrying about the problem.  Worrying is a state of anxiety.  It’s not an active state of mind.  It’s a passive state of mind.  Overcoming a problem is active and that’s normal and healthy.

Usually, worrying is about what ifs, worst case scenarios and pessimistic predictions. What ifs are not the same as what is. Imagined worst case scenarios and pessimistic predictions are usually far worse than the actual outcome.

Why do we imagine the most horrible things? If the worst did come, not only would we have to face it…but we would have tortured ourselves hours or days before the worst came! What if the worst didn’t happen at all? Well, then we spent a lot of time anxious and fearful for absolutely nothing.  Sometimes we have problems that we are unable to overcome by thinking it through.  There are difficulties in life where a solution isn’t readily available. Yet, we do not have to face the problem alone or make ourselves sick with anxiety.  The Lord offers a better way.

Let’s look at what Jesus commands us regarding worrying.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than clothes. Consider the ravens; they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? (Luke 12:22-26)

We are told to cast all our anxiety on God because he cares for us. 1 Peter 5:7

We are warned that “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” Proverbs 12:25

God expects us to think through situations and to handle them responsibly.  God doesn’t want us to be miserable, anxious and stressed out over possibilities. He wants us to lean on Him. He wants us to live in the here and now and He wants us to be aware of His constant presence.  We are to cast our cares on our Father and ask Him to help us. He wants to help us. He loves us.

God Bless!

I Didn’t Sign Up For This!

     Have you ever wondered why things are not going great in your life? I must confess that although I had ‘heard’ that in this life it rains on the just and the unjust, in my heart I expected life to be easier being a child of God. When the promised trials and tribulations came, I felt deep down inside a real abandonment.

So many of us have picked up the idea somewhere along the way that once you become a Christian, everything in life will improve. Well, that’s true…but just not in the ways you may have expected!
My definition of an ‘improved life’ was a life free of stress, health problems, and financial strains and so on.

We hear so many teachings of health and prosperity awaiting believers. If people turn to God to get ‘things’ sorted in their life, they are just as likely to turn away from God when ‘things’ don’t go the way they wanted; when the promised trials and tribulations of life come along.

God certainly can bless His children with financial gain. He certainly can heal them completely. In the scriptures we see many examples of both; however, God also knows our heart and the number of hairs on our head. He knows what we can handle. He knows what will help us and what will cause us to move away from Him.

He is our Father and He wants what is best for us to grow up spiritually. What God wants to give us is a ‘relationship’ with Him. Not a religious lifestyle, but a real day-to-day relationship.

     In some ways, I had behaved like a child. I wanted life to be a certain way and when I didn’t get my way, I got upset. I can’t tell you how many times I literally griped at God! . I still marvel at his patience! He could have struck me down with a bolt of lightning! Sometimes I half expected him to!

There have also been times in my past when I have pulled away from God because I didn’t get my expected answer to prayer; I wrongly believed that He wasn’t there for me or didn’t care about my needs. So, I reasoned, if God didn’t want to help me, I’d do things my way. Some people pull away because they get angry at God.

There are instances in the Bible where the Jewish people wanted ‘results’ from their prayer and when God didn’t respond the way they wanted Him to, they resorted to idol worship instead. When they were unfaithful to God (playing the harlot with false gods), God removed His hand of protection from them. It wasn’t because He didn’t love them, but a Father who loves His children must also love them enough to discipline them when they go astray.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37)

Can you hear the sorrow in our Lord’s words? Can you imagine the heartache in His heart for His children? He knew that they would continue to suffer because they would not humble themselves and return to Him. They were hard-heads with hard hearts.

Children do not generally like or appreciate discipline. Who wants to stand in the corner when they could be playing instead? Who wants to clean their messy room when they could be out riding their bike? Who wants punishment? Discipline does not make a parent popular with a child! Yet, a good parent has to put their foot down for the sake of the child.

     When things went bad for the Jewish people and they were in trouble with their enemies, God told them to turn to their idols and pray to them for the protection they were seeking. He was showing them their folly. His sarcasm was an indication of the hurt He felt at their betrayal of Him. Yet all the time, He loved them and longed to receive them back.

He is still like that today! He is still the loving Father who is waiting for His Children to return home. He doesn’t want us to return home so He can punish us or lecture us, but so He can love and bless us.

The most precious blessings in life cannot be purchased. They aren’t available in a half-price sale. Joy in the things of this world cannot be retained, because it is human nature to want more; something new and improved.

Happiness does not come from the things here on earth because they are unstable. You can have a good job but be made redundant. You can have a new car or house, but they become an old car or an old house. You can have good looks, but you cannot stop aging. You can make sensible investments but still lose all in a bad market.

What about religion then? Self-sufficient righteousness is also in vain. You can do all the works to be religious, but even that will not satisfy. If you do not know the Lord, knowing about Him will not satisfy your heart. Rituals do not replace knowing Him.

Pleasures do not satisfy long-term either. Even sin is pleasurable for a time, but then comes the consequences of sin, the guilt and the regrets.

The most precious blessings come from a relationship with God. He is faithful and constant. His love for us isn’t dependent on the economy, a job, material wealth, or anything the world has to offer.

I once believed that the verse, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” meant that if I was really good…that would please God and then He would give me the things I wanted or desired. What I am happy to discover is that the verse really means that the more a person knows God, the more they will love Him and the more He will change the desires in their heart to match the desires He has for them!

His desires for us are infinitely better than any desires we could want for ourselves.

God Bless!