Month: August 2022

Motion sickness – ugh!  Anyone else ever experience motion sickness? 

In a car?   On a roller coaster?  Spinning in circles?  Scrolling a computer screen? 

You peak a hill and the car seems to float down over the other side. Airborne.  Your stomach ends up in your throat.  The roller coaster climbs foot by foot, reaches its peak, then swiftly descends the tracks.  Your stomach ends up in your throat.  Your eyes focus on a computer screen.   Spin, spin, spin to the bottom of the page, lines and words fly by.  Your stomach ends up in your throat.  Do you notice the down?

We are up, then down.  We climb to the top, then down.  We start at the top, then down.  The ill feelings or sickness always seem to start in the down?  While porching today I’ve been thinking about how I allow myself to be pulled away from His Presence.  How I allow myself to be pulled down – down to the valley.  Sometimes it’s a slow descent.  Sometimes I’m flying down the road of life and it’s a sudden, seemingly unstoppable descent.  When I am Living in His Presence, I envision God on His Holy Mountain.  When I am on the down, I fail to stay in His Presence and I walk the lonesome valley.    Sometimes I can brake on the down – sometimes my brakes fail me.  I feel sick.

Here’s the thing – if I didn’t experience the up I wouldn’t know there’s a down and if I didn’t experience the down, I wouldn’t yearn for the up.  We are allowed the down so we can see the up.  We are allowed to experience life distant from God to fully appreciate how desperately we need Him for this life.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keepeth thee will not slumber.        Psalm 121:1-3

The Word tells us exactly how to deal with the down.  The valleys.  The  discontent.  The time.  The money.  The relationships.  The job.  The illnesses.  The rush and hurry.  The worry.  The world.  It seems so simple.  Not so much.  The Psalmist tells us to lift our eyes unto the hills where our help comes from.  Where our up comes from. Eyes are made to see.  To reveal.  To experience the Presence.  Lifting our scaleless eyes to Him.  To Him, who is able to do more than we can think or imagine.  To Him, the One who is able to heal us of all our illnesses, our downs, if we simply touch His robe.   Turn your eyes upon the One who does not sleep but draws us back to the ascent – back to the mountain of the Lord – back to His Presence – Jehovah Jireh.

My Worst/Best is messed up.  Her schedule that is.  Instead of wanting to go outside at 5:45 am for our morning stroll, the last couple of days she’s wanted to go out at 5:00 am!  I love to walk in the first hint of morning light, however, at 5:00 am it is pitch black.  Without the light to help us see what we need to avoid in the dark, that’s a dangerous time to walk in our neck of the words especially since I’ve recently smelled a skunk on our path.  P-U!

What I noticed in the pitch black today was the lights.  In the darkness the lights shone.  Some lights super bold, some lights were mellow, some white, some yellow, some were distant, some were welcoming, some were barely perceptible.  Then I took a look at the sky.  Millions and millions of lights shining in the universe.    The light of hope against the backdrop of despair.

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”  John 8:12

What a promise.  Following Jesus takes us out of the darkness and into the light.  The light of eternity.

Just as Jesus is the Light of the World, we believers are called to be the same.

You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.  Matthew 5:14-16

Sometimes our light will be bold and bright, sometimes our lights will be white and pure, sometimes glimmers in the distance, or shining brightly for all to see.  The fact of the matter is that any light in the darkness will shine.  The brighter the light shines though, the less darkness there will be.

Shining sometimes seems a daunting task in our world today.  We shine, we flicker, we fail to fan the flames, we’re snuffed, we’re coals.  Jesus understands that.  But we need to remember that no matter what happened to Jesus, no matter the adversity, the trials, the persecution, the hatred, the physical pain and suffering, the heart pain and suffering, no matter…Darkness can never overcome the Light, the Light always overcomes the darkness.

We must persevere in our shining.  Jesus did no less.

Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.   Daniel 12:3

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine!

All around the neighborhood, I’m gonna let it shine!

All around my place of work, I’m gonna let it shine!

Walking through the grocery store, I’m gonna let it shine!

Won’t let Satan snuff it out, I’m gonna let it shine!

Let it shine!  Let it shine!  Let it shine!

I was flipping through a notebook and was reminded…

Speaking to the Lord is sometimes hard, isn’t it?  Well, it’s not actually hard, we make it hard, maybe.  Oh sure, it’s easy to speak to the Lord when we’re in need, when we want something, kind of like the Wish Doll from the gumball machine, right?  But I don’t think we (specifically I) truly understand the enormity of prayer.  Oh sure I pray, but am I effectively communicating with God?   The enormity of the Lord is indescribable, uncontainable, we cannot take Him lightly.

At the beginning of 2021, yes 2021, I committed to unpackaging a little bit further my relationship with God.  You know, take those steps to remove the bow, open the box, delve inside a little deeper, pick up the gift and put it to use.  I got this notebook and I started writing down questions that came to me as I read.  I wanted to poke myself with questions that would make me think – not just surface work and a bless your heart, but questions that would cause me to grow in Him and that could only be answered by cozying up to Him.  You know, questions that would actually change me  (geez, what a slow process).  So, I started writing down these probing questions and then I started writing down prayers.  The questions and prayers may have been prompted by a verse I read or something I saw.

I’ve never written down prayers before I just always prayed off the cuff.  Sometimes rambling, over wordy (ahem), distracted, empty (admittedly) prayers, other times meaningful, growing, connecting, Spirit among us prayers.  Writing down prayers can be profound.  There’s something about seeing the words on paper that make you look at them differently, they somehow have a different impact.   

I worked on this project until about April 2021 and I could use a reset, so here we are.  From January to April my focus changed, it evolved, ever so slowly, not because of Him, but because of me.  After a time, the Lord brought other things to my mind and I was able to pour those out to Him.  Eventually those prayers evolved into prayers for the ones I love that don’t know Him.  We all know folks who don’t know Jesus.  Scripture and prayer can change the world, but not if we don’t use it.  I pray you are encouraged to dig deeper, write the Word out, write your Prayer out.

January 1, 2021

Do I have a teachable spirit?  Am I eager to be changed?  Do I cling to my old ways forsaking His newness in me?  Do I have an open mind?  Am I willing for my mind to be renewed?

-So many probing questions when just one would take a lifetime to answer.

Thank you Lord for bringing these questions to mind!  Thank you Lord for guiding my journey!  Thank you Lord for your transformative power!  Thank you Lord for having a steady infinite attention span!  Thank you for so completely understanding me – I don’t even understand myself, but I will trust in the plans you have for me.

Thank you Lord for the questions and the answers.  Teach me!  Change me!  Open my Mind! Amen.

 O Lord, you have examined my heart

And know everything about me.

Psalm 139:1

Daddy and I went to eat last week at a popular breakfast spot on north end.  As we’re waiting for our order, I noticed these gumball machines.  Now, what kid doesn’t like gumball machines?  These gumball machines are always filled with kid goodies and always strategically placed right at their eye level.  No matter where you see them, when a child walks by, they’re leaning into them.

One gumball machine specifically caught my eye.  Top right – Wish Dolls.  How enticing.  Who doesn’t want a Wish Doll?  Now I’m not exactly sure what a Wish Doll is, but I would expect it to be exactly what it says, a Wish Doll.  They appear to be some type of spun fabric or yarn figures each a different color, each dressed differently.  As the ad says – Collect Them All.  Now I’m thinking, if it is such a powerful doll, and it can grant my wish, why do I need more than one?  Maybe each doll only has one wish.  I don’t know. I mean who wouldn’t buy seven wishes for $5.25?

Breakfast came and we ate, but I couldn’t stop thinking about these Wish Dolls.  Obvious you say – who takes a snap of gumball machines. Later, as I looked at the picture of the bank of machines, their appeal dawned on me.  If you put in your coin, you get what you want.  Look at all the promises made for just a few coins.  I can get what I want if I give up just a little.

Silver N Gold – look at those treats – bling dollar signs, a bling motorcycle, a bling peace sign, a bling crown, a bling dog bone and something else that I just can’t tell what it is, but it’s bling so who wouldn’t want it?  I’m not sure who could pass this up for .75.  Put your money in and you are shiny, bright, and people will notice – even your dog.

Then we have the Pokemon machine.  Now this is a little better deal.  For .50 you can get trading cards and a Sugar Skull Tattoo with a rose or a cross on its forehead.  What do you say to that gem?

The bottom row has the very best deals of the day.  At .25 you can get Seedlings.  Fruit shaped bubble gum with candy seeds at only 35 calories a fruit!  Milk N’ Cookies Fun-Erasers!  You can erase your mistakes with 0 calories.  Acrylic Rings and just plain ole Bubble Gum.

Harmless, right?  Hmmm.  Deceptive, right?  Hmmm.  Give a little bit of what you have away and you will receive a small something that is well…junk.  The gumballs have lost their flavor before you’ve gotten to the car, the tattoo has only half stuck to your arm, the bling has turned your neck black, the eraser has gummed up and cannot get rid of your life mistakes, and none of your wishes have come true despite having all seven chances.

The world’s concept is you put in your money, you can get what you want.  This is just not true.  You put your money in and you get nothing lasting in return.  It’s deceptive.  The evil one is the master of deceit.  The Apostle Paul cautioned us more than once about being deceived.

I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. Colossians 2:4

As adults we look at those treats and we can see their lack of value (but that doesn’t stop us).  We look at those treats and say we’re not going to waste our money on that (but we do).  We try to encourage our children and teach them that the promises that are made on the front of those gumball machines are either impossible (Wish Dolls) or short-lived (Bubble Gum).  We try to teach our children to ignore the eye-candy.  But, sometimes we adults are easily lured into the promises of the world too, aren’t we?  Sometimes we adults are too easily deceived.   

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. Colossians 2:8

This world we live in is incredibly powerful.  More powerful than we are to resist.  But not more powerful than the Lord to overcome. Hallelujah! If we are connected to the Lord, our choices become easier.  If we are connected to the Lord, we can resist the deception, with His help.  But, if we are not connected to Him, there is absolutely no way we will resist diving in to the world because we were all made to seek something.  For believers we know that that something is the Lord.  For those of the world, they’re still putting their coins in trying to be filled, trying to get the prize, too often being deceived.  The gumball machine says quarters only.  The Lord says why spend your time and money on things that will not save you? Come.

“Is anyone thirsty?

Come and drink—

even if you have no money!

Come, take your choice of wine or milk—

it’s all free!

Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?

Why pay for food that does you no good?

Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.

You will enjoy the finest food.

Isaiah 55:1-3

Don’t fall for the kid goodies, the candy at eye-level. Lift your head.

How did Noah get those animals in the boat?  That’s what I want to know.

They came into the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded.

Genesis 7:9

Two by two they came into the boat, male and female, just as God had commanded.

Then the Lord shut them in.  Genesis 7:15

When I read these verses the other day my first thought was — Why is this stated twice?  My second thought was — How?  My next thought – How long did it take?  I think of my animal loading experiences and can just imagine what Noah and his boys went through to load the boat.  Moses made it sound like the animals just sauntered up the ramp, smiling all the way:  “…they came into the boat…”  It’s not only quite possible, it’s probable that they did.  None of my loading experiences have ever been like that.  Yours?

In running around to horse shows when Livi was younger, we had our share of animal loading.  Some easy, most not.  In the horse world, one of the most dangerous things to do is to load and unload a horse from a trailer.  If an animal does not want to load, you cannot make it load.  You can lead a horse to water but can’t make them drink kind of thing.  We had this horse named Logan.  There were times she walked right up the trailer ramp right into place.  There were other times when two grown men pushing on her butt could not make her walk up that ramp and into the trailer.  When she planted her feet you knew that that 900 pound animal wasn’t going to budge unless she wanted to.  Frustrating.

Then there was the time we were headed home from the Youth Fair and our horse Reese would not get on our trailer.  He would walk to the ramp, look at Livi like I told you I’m not getting on that thing, and then duck right off the edge – dangerous.  Three hours later, no lie, we finally got him to load, on another trailer.  Kind folks dropped our horse at our house and we dropped their horse at their house.  Frustrating.

Then there was the time that we had to load our rooster Edward into a carrier to return him to the breeder.  Remember, no boys allowed.  Trying to wrangle him into that crate without hurting him or hurting us was, well, like herding – a rooster.  Frustrating.

There was also the time years ago I remember trying to get my cat Noel in the car to go to the vet.  That one drew blood – on me, not her.  Frustrating.

Have you ever seen kids at the Youth Fair trying to load a pig?  I think that’s where the term pig-headed came from.  Frustrating.

Think of your animal loading experiences and then think about Noah and the boys.  There were only eight of them in total – four men, four women.  I picture the men handling the animals and the women setting up housekeeping in the ark.   It is estimated that there were 45,000 animals on that boat.  Ponder that.  I started thinking about the how.  How did they round up all those animals?  Did they gather as they went and put them in corrals until the boat was complete?  Did they make a list of animals and then check them off as they entered?  Maybe an Excel spreadsheet?  Yes!  How about a layout so that every animal got into the right stall?  Were the insects put in a jar – with holes of course?  What about the birds – cages perhaps?  Maybe each was tagged and scanned as they entered?  Did you see that rabbit hole coming?

Anywho.  It sounds so simple doesn’t it?  Round up 45,000 animals, get your kids and get on the boat.  This was an incredibly huge feat.  But God, don’t you love those words, was in control.  Noah was a righteous man.  He was an obedient man.  God told Noah to build an ark, and he did.  I feel fairly confident that Noah did not stress over the details like I did with the “How’s”, and it wasn’t even my project.

Do we get bogged down in the details and forget about the Big Picture?  What was the big picture here?

The big picture.  Many years after Adam, God found the world to be so wicked that He was going to destroy it.  There was only one righteous man – Noah.  So, God gave the Earth a do-over.  Wipe it out, start all over.

God told Noah to build a boat – a really big boat.  Picture this, one and a half football fields by one football field and four stories high.  A really big boat.  So, Noah built a really big boat.

Can you just imagine the enormity of this task?  Can you imagine the details that needed to be attended to?  Right down to who loads first. 

But God – love those words – was in the details.  How do we know that?  He gave Noah the boat dimensions, because He knew how big it needed to be.  Noah didn’t know how big it needed to be.  He didn’t know how much it needed to hold.  If Noah had been worried about the “how’s,” he wouldn’t have been able to focus on his God given task of building the boat.  If he’d been hand wringing about how will they load, what order will they go in, how will I feed them, etc., he wouldn’t have been able to boat build.  He would simply have been worrying about things he couldn’t do anything about, he couldn’t control.

God’s words are written to encourage and teach us.  Noah teaches us that if we focus on what God tells us to do – build a boat – He will handle the rest – He will take care of the details – He will control what we can’t.  We have to trust that.

So, what do we focus on?  Do we focus on details, the how’s?  Sometimes, He tells us to.  Do we focus on things we can’t control?  Sometimes, even though we’re not supposed to.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Noah was a righteous man.  God’s plan was to save the earth through Noah.  How?  Build a boat, get the family and animals on it, and get out of there.  God took care of the details.  Noah just had to obey.

So, what’s God’s plan for us?  Build a boat (a relationship with God), get the family and animals (get our houses in order) on it, and get out of there (lead others to Christ – go and tell everyone you meet!).  God will take care of the details.  We just need to do what He tells us.  Be obedient.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:  I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  Whoever believes and will be baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Mark 16:15

It’s so easy to get bogged down in the details.  The details of life, the details of church.  The only detail we truly need to be concerned with is God.  We don’t need to worry about how we’re to get others on the boat, we are to take them to the boat and let God do the loading.

For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns.  May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – those good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.  Philippians 1:10-11