Month: October 2023 (Page 1 of 4)

   My thoughts went to the clutter we may have in our lives and how it just seems to keep growing and branching out and one day we realize we can’t see clearly. Our vision is blocked, and we are missing the good things the Lord puts before us because we are blinded by worldly things. Our clutter can be possessions that seem to grow in importance, or pursuits that get to be more important than Him, or overextending ourselves with no time left for Him. Something doesn’t feel right for we are missing most importantly our close relationship with Him. When we come to the realization and let go of whatever is blocking our vision, we begin to see again what was there all along, only we missed out.

  It is good for all of us to ask ourselves what hinders our walk with the Lord. What seems to creep up as more important? I love to read many of Al’s books, and I find that when I have been drifting from that closeness with the Lord, that if I go to the Word or read about the Saints or books by authors who have a passion for the Lord, my sight returns. Everything seems right and in order again and I experience joy Why didn’t I realize it sooner?

Happy weekend! Hope you take time to relax and get refreshed. Today I plan to clean and also do food prep and try out a new recipe. Al is happy to be my food critic and willing to try new things!  

  At the close of our Bible Study on Thursday, a friend shared something that happened to her last Sunday in church, and I was left with the feeling that God was directing the whole scenario. It was just after the pastor had finished the sermon that my friend began feeling weak and faint, and quickly sat down in the pew. The next thing she knew she was lying down and someone was holding her hand and another man examining her and taking her vital signs. It wasn’t long before an ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital where it was discovered that the infection she had been treating with an antibiotic, was still active in her body. She was given a hearty dose of another antibiotic and later sent home to recover. She was so grateful for the ones who had shown care to her and wished to thank them. After asking a few questions she discovered that the one who was taking her vital signs was indeed a retired doctor who just happened to be at the early service. Then there was the EMT who was seated across the aisle from her who rushed to help and held her hand and recorded her vital signs; it was his first-time visiting the church. Plus, there was a retired nurse sitting right behind her ready to help. The pastor told her that when she had heard a commotion she looked back and saw so many people praying for my friend. All were used of the Lord to care for her and willing to step up to the plate and help. My friend said she was never nervous or afraid as she felt so much love.

We never know when the Lord will put His hand on us and tell us He has work for us to do in the situation at hand. We can tell him we are not qualified to do whatever is needed, but He would not ask us if He wasn’t going to enable us. We might also protest that we have a schedule to keep and if we were to stop and help, we will miss out on an appointment. But since our time is in His hands, again He wouldn’t have prompted us in the first place.

It is quite exciting when we put our lives in the Lord’s hands and are willing to do whatever He tells us, Let us all respond to the Holy Spirit and follow His lead by stepping up to the plate, Like it says in Gal 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Happy weekend to you! I am making egg dishes and chicken soup and then Al and I will be going to Costco to get the birthday cake as it is party day here!   

  Sometimes my glasses are smudged, and I hold them up to the light to see where they need cleaning. Once they are cleaned, I see clearly and wonder why I waited so long. Of course, we all get smudges throughout our day when we fail to forgive someone or when we miss seeing who they really are. We become judgmental and soon we have a heart that is cold and hardened and without love.
  However, when we come to know how loved we are, we become spiritually aware, and we see things that we were spiritually blind to previously. Instead of focusing on the negative in others, we may see the failings of our own lives, wrong attitudes, and sin patterns that we need to deal with. Perhaps we suddenly become aware that there are idols in our lives as we spend our time and money and focus on some temporal things that we thought would give us significance. We may see areas where we have compromised and not been faithful to the Lord.

  Then one day, we sense the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and we see more clearly what things need to go and that the Lord is more important than any of them. I wonder if that is how the Psalmist felt when he wrote in Psalm 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? You’re all I want! No one on earth means as much to me as you. Lord, so many times I fail; I fall into disgrace. But when I trust in you, I have a strong and glorious presence protecting and anointing me. Forever you’re all I need!”

  Today I read from Matt. 15:8-9 (Message) when Jesus responded to the Pharisees and Scribes by saying, “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they’re worshiping me, but they don’t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy.” We can just imagine how upset this made the Pharisees and Scribes who loved the applause of men and Jesus blew their cover. But are we also like them sometimes?

  Maybe we begrudgingly do something outwardly good but inwardly complaining and not doing it from a caring heart. God sees our heart and is more concerned with why we are doing things than what we do. I read today of how Jesus always responded by how His Father was directing Him. It wasn’t always convenient and there were many times He must have been so tired from people pressing in on Him and all wanting healing or their questions answered. After He got the news of his cousin John being decapitated, I’m sure He must have wanted to be alone as He grieved. He tried by slipping away by boat alone but someone saw Him, and word got out and the crowd walked around the lake to where He was. He didn’t hide from them but had pity and compassion and healed many all day long. Not only that but He fed the crowd before they went home. Jesus did it all to please His Father and His motive was love.

  Now we might ask ourselves how we would respond? I might have told the crowd to just give me some time and space to grieve since someone I loved died. But when we do what we feel the Holy Spirit is directing us to do, He will give us the energy and strength to do all that is needed; and I’m quite sure our hearts will expand with joy.

I was reading from Psalm 124 today and it is a song that was sung by the Jewish people on their way to Jerusalem for a festival. I can only imagine how many problems that they may have had in their life but notice a few words of what they sing. “If God hadn’t been for us when everyone went against us, we would have been swallowed alive by their volent anger…We would have lost our lives in the wild, raging water. Oh, Blessed be God! He didn’t go off and leave us…God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth.”