Author: admin

“…Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me?  Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”  “Caesar’s,” they replied.  “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”  His reply amazed them, and they went away.

Matthew 22:15-22

After hearing this verse on the radio, I had to dig into it a little because something about it stirred my mind.  This is the first in a series of three questions posed to Jesus by the Pharisees and Herodians, and Sadducees.  We know that the Pharisees had lost their minds about Jesus and these questions were meant to trap him.  Jesus’ and His message of salvation was growing in popularity, and they were at a loss to stop Him.  We know eventually that they could see the writing on the wall and this man Jesus simply had to go.  Eventually, the plan was hatched for His death and, of course and as usual, things did not go as they had expected.  Isn’t that always the case with evil?  God can turn into good what is meant for evil.

These plotters thought they had a fail-safe question.  “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar?”  On it’s face, it sounds  like a legit question, however, the catch to the question wasn’t necessarily the question itself but the askers.  On one hand the Pharisees would say to pay Caesar would be against God, and on the other hand the Herodians would say to pay God would be against Caesar.  Seems like quite a dilemma. But Jesus…

What caused a stir in me in these verses?  The coin.  The coin was a denarius which was payment for about a day’s work. Jesus says, “show me the coin.”  I visualize Him taking the coin, rubbing his fingers over the raised stamp of Caesar’s face, turning it over and examining it back to front, front to back, looking on it in a contemplative way as He is pausing for effect, the silence deafening.  I can almost see the askers leaning in on tiptoe, breathless with anticipation and with joy in their hearts because they think they have finally outmaneuvered Him.  Then Jesus responds to their question with a question “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”  They answer and Jesus looks up at them and drops the mic.  The scriptures tell us they were amazed, silenced, and they went away.

Jesus asked them specifically, whose face is stamped, who’s image, who’s marking, who’s inscription, who’s title, is on the coin?  My mind went to my heart.  As a follower of Christ, my life bears God’s image.  Lord and Savior is stamped, marked, inscripted, impressed on my heart.  Just like the coin belongs to Caesar, our hearts belong to God.  Not just a portion, or a piece, or a little, but the whole thing.  We can’t have half a stamp, part of a mark, or a partial title on our hearts.

God says to me “show me the coin.” I visualize Him taking my heart, rubbing his fingers over the raised stamp of His face, turning it over and examining it back to front, front to back, looking on it in a contemplative way as He is pausing for effect, the silence deafening. He says give to Me what is Mine.

Maybe we need to examine our own hearts the same way God does, contemplate the inscription, roll them around a little, look at them front and back and ask…Do I give to God what is God’s?

Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my soul, I live for you alone.

Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake, Have your way in me.

The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

1 Samuel 3:10

It’s funny how sometimes the teachings of the Bible that are most familiar to us are the ones we see missed lessons in when we start peeling. I’m sure you’re familiar with the story of God calling to Samuel with a message for Eli. I happened upon this verse the other day and noticed something I either hadn’t noticed before or had forgotten. But it made me stop. You take another look at that verse. Is there something that makes you go hmmmm?

In this verse, Samuel was sleeping in the tabernacle following the instructions of God given to Moses. It was his job to tend the lampstands in the Tabernacle, God’s home on earth. The lampstands were located in front of the inner curtain that shielded the Ark of the Covenant. It was Samuel’s job this night to keep the lights burning. God had told Moses that the lampstands must never go out. They must be continually tended in the presence of the Lord. So, it makes perfect sense that Samuel would be close to them in order to obey the Lord’s command.

What made me grab my highlighter were the words “came,” “stood there” and “called.” The Lord called Samuel by name three times and three times Samuel responded to the wrong voice. But do you see what happened next? The Lord called Samuel a fourth time, but He didn’t just call His name, He “came,” He “stood there,” and He “called.” Just think about that.

God called and called and called to His people. They did not respond.

Jesus “came,” “stood there” and “called” again. Still, they did not respond.

So, Jesus “came,” “stood there” and “called” again. They did not respond.

…he has been raised from the dead, and he is going ahead of you… You will see him there…

Matthew 27:7

Still today, Jesus “comes,” He “stands there,” and He “calls.” Have we answered the call? He “comes” and He “stands there” waiting. Four words describing the God of the Universe, spoken thousands of years ago, that could change your eternity.

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling for you and for me
See on the portals He’s waiting and watching
Watching for you and for me

Come home, come home
Ye who are weary come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling, “O sinner come home”

O for the wonderful love He has promised
Promised for you and for me
Though we have sinned He has mercy and pardon
Pardon for you and for me

Come home, come home
Ye who are weary come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling, “O sinner come home”

Come home, come home (come home)
Ye who are weary come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling, “O sinner come home”

I love sheep.  I know, random topic.  But I heard on the radio the other day about how absolutely dependent sheep are on their shepherd.  The shepherd protects them from predators, the shepherd provides shelter, the shepherd provides a place for grazing and water to hydrate, and the shepherd styles that wooly coiffe. 

As I investigated the story I heard on the radio, I read about a certain sheep, his Baarack, found in the Australian bushland.  This poor thing was wild and had never been sheered.  All you could see was this little nose sticking out and toothpick legs propping him up.  His wool was so matted, and so heavy.  He had been roaming wild for years alone.  This is amazing in itself as all sheep need a shepherd.  The article from Slate about Baarack says that when he was found he was brought into the fold, a sheep sanctuary (a people church?):

Not long after Baarack came here, we realized he was in big trouble.  He was so close to passing away.  His wool was such a heavy burden on him.  He couldn’t see.  And he was exhausted from years of struggling to find food and water.

Oh my goodness, do you see the parallel?  Do you feel the parallel?  Trouble.  Passing. Heavy burden.  Blind.  Exhausted.  Struggling.  Starved.

So, Baarack, the merino wool maker got a new-do, something that he hadn’t had in 5-7 years.  Now folks, I don’t know about you, but I can’t go longer than four weeks without my Trudi, I can’t imagine 5-7 years.  Baarack’s barber removed 77 pounds of wool from him!  That’s a lot of weight for those stick legs.  This “trim” was not like a trim we get sitting in the beautician’s chair.  How many of us have had to have our heart rate monitored like Baarack during a haircut to make sure we don’t have a heart attack from the shock of removing all our wool, from “having this burden taken off him.”?

Oh, my goodness, do you see the parallel?  Do you feel the parallel?  Heart check.  Burden lifted.

I love what the shepherd said: 

He had spent so much time walking with all that wool, he’d grown used to it.  When he stood up without it, he struggled to walk without it.  I thought he was going to collapse.  But as he took more steps, it was like, ‘Oh, oh, I feel better now.’  Imagine carrying half your weight on your back for years.  That’s what he had been doing.

Oh, my goodness, do you see the parallel?  Do you feel the parallel?  Carrying a weight.

Is there something we’ve been carrying around for 5-7 years, possibly longer, possibly a lifetime, something that is such a burden, that is weighing us down making it hard for us to exist, much less walk?  Is there something we need to let our Shepherd shear in our lives?  Is there a burden that needs to be combed through, curried out, cut away?  Are you tired of walking around with your hair just a mess? Are you tired of carrying a load much heavier than you were intended to, a load much too heavy to bear?

When Baarack’s shepherd was asked how he survived, she said it was really hard to tell:

Sheep can’t breathe with all that warmth on their back.  It’s really difficult for them to see and find food.  Sheep are herd animals – and he didn’t have any of his kind around him – which is really stressful for him.  He had to make do with the company of wild animals.  There’s not much grass in the forest, ad there’s barely any way.  He’d just been finding puddles to drink water.  He’s been a very resourceful boy.

Although this poor thing had been “very resourceful,” he was close to death.  He couldn’t make it on his own, without a shepherd.  The shepherd said that Baarack should have been terrified of them, but he wasn’t.  He went right to them.  She said that she believed he “knew we were here to ease his suffering.”

Oh, my goodness, do you see the parallel?  Do you feel the parallel? 

Maybe the reason I love sheep so much is that I am just like them.  I have got to have a Shepherd.  Not any shepherd, but The Shepherd, we all need One.  I like sheep am utterly dependent on my Shepherd for all things.  To protect me from predators, to provide shelter, to provide a place for grazing and water to hydrate, and to style my wooly coiffe.  The Lord is my Shepherd. He claims us!

You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.”  Ezekiel 34:31

Baarack is doing well and has all his needs provided for.  By the way, the name “Baarack” means “blessed.”

Oh, my goodness, do you see the parallel?  Do you feel the parallel? 

Whisper a prayer in the morning
Whisper a prayer at noon
Whisper a prayer in the evening
To keep your heart in tune

God answers prayer in the morning
God answers prayer at noon
God answers prayer in the evening
So keep your heart in tune

Jesus may come in the morning
Jesus may come at noon
Jesus may come in the evening
So keep your heart in tune

Author Unknown

I’ve been on this prayer study kick (there could  be worse things, I’m sure). But, maybe that’s why I woke up with this song in my head this morning. I’ve not sung it in years.  I remembered the first two verses, but didn’t know there was a third.  It’s pretty important too.  We would do well to keep all three verses in our heads and let them flow to our hearts.  It’s interesting that when you look up the history of the song it’s source, or it’s publication reference is “revival.”  On the surface, that’s not what I would have thought.  But, O how it can refresh.  Singing and meditating on it can absolutely bring revival.

Whoever wrote it knew their Bible and knew their Jesus well.  Look how the scriptures speak.

1 King 19:12, Psalm 55:16-17, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Proverbs 4:23

Jeremiah 33:3, Matthew 7:7-8, John 15:7, 1 John 3:22

Matthew 24:36, Matthew 24:42, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Matthew 24:44

One of Satan’s greatest tools is noise, loudness.  Noise can drown out every other sound, unless we’re attentive to Him.  The world clamors for our attention, we must be fully focused on Him.  When we’re awake to Him, His whispers and ours can be clearly heard. The whispers keep our hearts in tune.

I’m reading this book, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, by Glenn Clark, published in 1937.  It was in a box of books our mom had, I’m not sure where she got it.  In the front is stamped “Springfield Lutheran Church, Pleasant Valley, Penna.”

I just love this book.  It is old.  The pages are super thick, super yellow and the edges rigid as if hand cut.  It is hand tied and the needlework is visible at each turn.  The cover is green cloth, you know that really thin linen-like stuff they used to cover books with.  This book just makes you want to touch it, to hold it, and sometimes I just do.  One would think with the age of the book, nearly 85 years, that the book would be brittle, pages chipping, maybe even a little fragile, but it’s not.  This book and its message were made to last.  The books of new with their precisely cut, glued pages and glossy cardboard covers aren’t made to last and sometimes neither is their message.

And that is why I have written this book, to help you be that man for your home, your community, your neighborhood.  Glenn Clark

In this wonderful book written specifically for men, the spiritual leaders of their homes, I’ve learned enduring lessons about the hind.

The red deer is Europe’s largest deer.  Although the red deer is one of the Scottish Highlands most iconic sights, they originally hail from the Turkey-Persia area and are actually the only deer species to inhabit all of Africa.  The male red deer is called the hart and the female red deer is called the hind. 

The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.  Habakkuk 3:19

So what makes the hind creature so spectacular?  The hart is also a magnificent creature, but there’s something special about the gal – and it’s her feet.  The hind is known to be the most surefooted animal.  Why is that?  Because of the way her feet work together.  When climbing craggy, rugged mountainous areas, the hind’s back feet land exactly where her front feet have just left.  As she moves through, her front feet test the dangerous terrain and when she finds safe footing, her back feet then land right in that spot.  Her front feet and her back feet line up in perfect correlation in order for her to traverse the terrain and reach the mountaintop safely.  It’s precision tracking.

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. Luke 10:27

In order to reach the heights of life, we too must have precision tracking.  Our feet must perfectly correlate.  Our hearts and our minds must line up.  There’s a reason it is called the Greatest Commandment.  When our hearts and our minds are in perfect alignment, nothing is impossible.

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:22-23

Our hearts and our minds must completely align with Him in order to scale the mountains of this world.  All four feet (heart, soul, strength, mind) must be coordinated to safely climb the mountain.  In the mountainous regions where the hinds travel, those back feet not landing perfectly in the front feet footsteps, even by a fraction of an inch, can be deadly.  One misstep by our back feet can cause the mountain to crumble starting an avalanche of boulders and we find ourselves laying at the bottom with rocks piled on.  But, each step taken toward the top of the mountain, feet-in-feet, opens a more spectacular view than the last step.  Ascending the mountain Jesus’s way – without doubt in our heart and believing with our minds  — opens up the most panoramic vistas ever imagined! True vision can only be found when we convert our feet to hind’s feet.  It is a life long process.  Sometimes we do misstep.  Sometimes we are off by a fraction of an inch and we suffer devastating consequences.  But as we work at having hind’s feet, aligning our back feet to our front feet, our hearts with our minds, the Lord will encourage us along the way and we will safely reach new heights which open to glimpses of Heaven.  Praise the Lord of the Mountain!

Lent begins today in the Catholic and some Protestant denominations and in nondenominational churches such as ours. For many years I practiced Lent, but to be honest, I wasn’t really sure of its origination or its meaning. Anyone else out there like me, celebrating or observing something we aren’t exactly sure of what it means? I had this concept in my head that Lent was a period of time before Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again, for deep meditation on just that.

After doing a little research, it seems I was close in my thinking. Here’s what I found:

“meant to be a time of repentance”

“Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.”

“Lent, in the Christian church, a period of penitential preparation for Easter.

“Lent is a period of fasting, moderation, and self-denial traditionally observed…”

“Lent is the six week period leading up to Easter.”

“It’s one of the most important times of the year for Christians around the world.”

“Lent is a forty-day penitential season spent in preparation for the highest holy days of our Christian faith,”

As you can see, these are all fairly close in explanation and this is just the first page of Google. You can look for more. But, my very favorite explanation of Lent is…

“A time of renewal.”

I love that. Although Lent is not mentioned in the Bible, and you may not be part of a congregation that observes Lent, it nevertheless may be a good time to revisit those New Year’s resolutions that may have waned just a few months in. Bible reading. Prayer. Service. Fellowship. Christ.

Spring is right around the corner, and why do we anticipate Spring so? It is a visible rebirth, revival, and renewal. But it can also be a spiritual rebirth, revival, and renewal. Hallelujah!

The seasons move quickly, and it seems we only recently celebrated Jesus’s birth and now we are preparing to observe His death and resurrection. It could be that it’s time to renew those last season commitments. Getting into The Word more consistently. Praying more consistently. Fellowshipping with believers more consistently. Experiencing God more consistently. Living for Christ more consistently. Proclaiming Christ more consistently.

However you choose to observe the period of Lent, or not, I urge you to choose Christ. He came to save us, that’s what his name means, the Lord saves. He came to do something that we absolutely cannot do for ourselves. If anyone says different, that’s not Truth. He came to save us from everlasting death, for everlasting life. Only Jesus can do that. He died for me. He died for you. He arose for me. He arose for you. He paid the penalty for my sin. Yours too. His sole purpose for coming was my salvation. His sole purpose for coming was for your salvation. That certainly warrants some serious thought between now and Easter Sunday.

And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

If you want renewal, restoration, rebirth, revival or if you’ve never responded to His call to “come,” now’s the time. If you’re tired of trying to do it on your own, if you’re weary, strung out, beat down, exhausted and worn out by trying to go it alone, now’s the time. The old us can be gone, and can be replaced with a new righteous us, made holy by Jesus.

I think that’s what this period of Lent really is. A time to thank Jesus for His sacrifice, His death on that cross and to ask Him to take control of our completely out of control lives that are completely out of control because we’ve tried to do it on our own, and we just can’t. When we admit that and “come,” that’s when renewal, rebirth, restoration, revival begins, that’s when the blood is applied to our hearts. Thank you Jesus!

While lunch walking earlier this week, my eye caught these trees.  Obviously, you say, you snapped a shot.  It didn’t register with me at first.  In fact, I’d continued my zip walking about 10 feet when the hmmm part of my brain kicked in and I backtracked.

I’m sure folks driving by thought I was daft standing there in the middle of the sidewalk just staring at these trees for several minutes.  I stood there trying to figure out exactly what it was about these trees that fascinated me so.  Have you ever looked at something and thought what is it about this?  Something stirs in your brain but not something you can instantly put your finger on?  That’s how I felt.  What was it about these trees that roused my thoughts?  Then it came to me.

It is Winter, but the leaves of these trees clung to these trees.  I don’t know what kind of trees they are, but my first thought was some kind of oak.  Don’t quote me on that because I don’t know my leaves when they’re lush and green let alone when they’re dried out brown and shriveled.  But one thing I do know is that when Fall approaches, leaves dry up and release off the trees, isn’t that why the season is named?  Anyone with even a few trees knows the hours they rake and the bags they stack.  And since we’re in Winter season, in my mind, I thought there should be no leaves on those trees, green or brown.  That was the answer to my hmmm. 

The leaves on these trees were dead, they were dried out, brittle and shriveled up yet, they clung to the source of their life.  The leaves on these trees were dry, barren, dehydrated, yet they wouldn’t let go.

It reminded me of a couple of folks in the Bible who may at times struggled to produce fruit, physically or spiritually, yet they clung to the promises of God, their source of Life, our source of Life.  Their circumstances may not have been pretty, lush and green and glowing.  Nor easy, the winds of doubt may have constantly swirled trying to detach them from their source of Life.   Over the years, their faith may have dried out a little and they may have been in need of hydration.  Over the years their faith may have become brittle, and they were in need of encouragement. 

Yet when you look at Hannah, Abraham and Sarah, Paul, and so many others in the Bible who were physically, emotionally and spiritually barren, desperately needing rehydration, crying out to God, waiting on the Lord, sometimes through many many seasons of life, you see that despite their barrenness of whatever kind, they clung to their source of Life.

There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim.  Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah.  Peninnah had children, while Hannah did not.

***

I’m not drunk!  But I am very sad, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord.  Please don’t think I’m a wicked woman!  For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.

  1 Samuel 1:1-2, 15-16

Hannah clung to Life.

Sarah is ninety; how could she have a baby?  Genesis 17:19

Then the Lord did exactly what he promised.  Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to Abraham in his old age.  Genesis 21:1-2

Abraham and Sara clung to Life.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.

In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,  in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.  2 Corinthians 11:24-28

Paul clung to Life.

The Bible, our source of the Word, is replete with examples of all those faithful ones before us who at times felt dry, shriveled, unfruitful, thirsty, brittle, and on and on, yet they clung to Life.  They didn’t let go.  What amazing encouragement is in His Word.

Whatever you are walking through this day, whether it be the lush green leaves gently blowing in the breeze or the dry brown leaves battered by the gales, cling to Life, grab the hem and hold tight. He will respond, refresh, renew, and rehydrate.

…Paul and several other prisoners…

…Putting out to see from there, we encountered headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course…

…We had several days of rough sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus…But the wind was against us…We struggled along the coast with great difficulty…The weather was becoming dangerous for long voyages by then because it was late in the fall…

…When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it…But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (a “noreaster,” they called it) caught the ship and blew it out to sea.  They couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale…

…We sailed behind a small island named Cauda, where with great difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat that was being towed behind us.  Then we banded the ship with ropes to strengthen the hull.  The sailors were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor and were thus driven before the wind…

…The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard.  The following day they even threw out the ship’s equipment and anything else they could lay their hands on.   The terrible storm raged unabated for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone…

…Finally, Paul called the crew together…But take courage!…For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul…’  So take courage!  For I believe God.  It will be just as he said…

…on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were driven across the Sea of Adria…

…As the darkness gave way to the early morning light, Paul begged everyone to eat…Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it…Then everyone was encouraged, and all 276 of us began eating…

…they saw a bay with a beach and wondered if they could get between the rocks and get the ship safely to shore…they headed for shore…But the ship hit a shoal and ran aground.  The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break  apart…everyone escaped safely ashore!  Acts 27

Wow!  Sounds like Luke and Paul weathered quite the storm.  They weathered a physical storm, but it’s not too much different than the storms of our days, is it?  The storm they weathered was two weeks long.  The storms we weather sometimes feels like 14 days, 14 months, 14 years, or longer, don’t they?

Anyone else out there feeling a little shipwrecked?  Tired of answering the phone?  Tired of the rough sailing of life?  Feeling battered against the rocks?  Pulled under by another wave?  Broken apart?  Are we tossed about?  Have we lost precious cargo?  Do we feel blown off course and like we’re not going to land in calm waters ever again?  Have we lost sight of the sun and we can only see the darkness?  Are we crying out like the sailors…No more death!  No more  illness!  No more brokenness!  No more hurt!  No more pain!  No more!!  No more!!  No more!!

Paul’s words in the midst of his shipwreck give us hope.  He said:  Take courage! Translated, it actually means be of good cheer!  What in the world?  Paul doesn’t say it once, but thrice in this passage.  Be of good cheer!  Again, what in the world?  In the midst of my shipwreck happening I’m to be cheerful?  The Greek word for cheer actually means positive passion – be of good cheer, in good spirits.  Hmmm.

In the middle, in the literal depths of the storm, how in the world could Paul be of good cheer, in good spirits?  Why in the world, in this horrible, treacherous storm, in a boat that was carrying Paul as a prisoner to Italy could he say don’t be afraid?

For I believe God.  It will be just as he said.

No matter what Paul was going through, as difficult as the storms were, he believed God.  He believed that God was a God of promises and if God said it, it would be just as He said.  That’s faith.  It’s easy to have faith when there are calm waters, right? But it’s a bit more difficult to have unwavering, committed faith in the middle of a noreaster.  But if we look at what God has promised us it’s much easier to embrace our faith. What has God promised us?  He has promised us love, forgiveness, rest, encouragement, eternal life, complete freedom, compassion, care, protection, healing, that He will walk beside us, that he will send us a helper — the Holy Spirit. 

Life is difficult, there are no two-ways about that.  We can’t escape difficulties on this earth.  However, God has given us all the tools we need to keep the ship upright during the storms.  One of the things the crew on the ship headed to Italy did was to pull the lifeboat inside — think about that metaphorically, it’s exceedingly clear. Another thing the crew did was band the ship with ropes to strengthen the hull.  It means what it says, wrapping the ship in ropes to hold it together.  Think about that for a minute.  In the depths of a raging 14 day storm, somehow, they got under the boat with a rope, and just kept wrapping it around until the boat was bundled, held together, and completely secure.

Do we pull in our Lifeboat when the seas get rocky? What holds our hulls together during the storm?  Do we wrap ourselves with His Word?  Do we lean into His promises?    Do we lean into His people for encouragement and to encourage?  We can’t escape the storms but we can go to The One who will help us land on the island. 

It will be just as He said.  We must believe that.

I may have mentioned previously that  I had a neck problem for years, had, because it’s healed!  I had somewhat constant  pain in my neck (and quite often I was/am the pain in the neck) that interrupted and limited my life and sometimes made me slightly grumpy.  It had something to do with the bones, muscles and nerves in my neck and shoulder (duh) that were not working properly because they were weak or not in the right place or not communicating properly with my brain.  I had various treatments to no avail.  The final healing treatment was with a massage therapist who worked on manipulating my neck, getting my neck and shoulder nerves to calm and release the pain.  It simply was miraculous.  I say that to this day – the Lord healed my neck through this woman.

One of the parts of those treatments was how she wanted me to start my day.  When I woke up each morning I was to lay in bed for a few minutes gently stretching my shoulders, my neck, my back and my arms.  She mentioned that if I stretched out and loosened those muscles and nerves before getting out of bed it would set the tone for how my neck felt for the day.  If I stretched out first I would be more flexible, if I jumped out of bed without first flexing, my muscles and nerves would be rigid.  Either path I chose could dictate how my neck would feel for the day.

It was quite a struggle for me to do, because I’m a go-go-goer, my eyes pop open, my feet hit the floor, I’m dressed and downstairs, half a cup of coffee gone before my alarm stops beeping, but I tried it.  And I could see a huge difference.   Taking 60 whole seconds (whew) before getting out of bed actually set the tone for my entire day.  This started me thinking, oh boy, if this is good for my body, how could I apply this to other parts of my life?  Would it work for my mind?

Do we open our eyes each morning with the gottas or the get tos?  You know it’s all about perspective.  Is our first thought ugh! look what I’ve got to deal with today? Do we automatically make a mental list of the gottas before our feet hit the floor?  You know, start the list, map out the day, plan the course, rehearse the challenges before we’re even upright?  Our world says go-go-go, it moves at such a fast pace that the moment we open our peepers (as our Aunt Vernie used to say) the race has begun and our brains automatically jump to the gottas.  It’s maddening to feel exhausted from the day before we even get out of bed, isn’t it?  Then a lightbulb went off – I need to apply the stretch and flex to my mind that I apply to my body.  Billions of dollars are spent each year taking care of our bodies, shouldn’t we also do the same with our minds — which is free!

So, when my peepers open, before my feet hit the floor, I set the tone for my day.  You may have another way, but might I suggest that the only way to really take care of our minds is to turn them over to the One who created them? How?  By praising Him with our minds before we get out of bed.  Not praying the gimmes, not asking Him for a thing, but simply by bringing our praise to Him, acknowledging Him for who He is.  All.  It sets the tone for the day.  It may change our gottas in the day to get tos.  It will change our attitudes, our mindsets.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  Romans 12:1-2

God has made it perfectly clear that He wants obedience from our hearts.  He has also made it perfectly clear that we cannot do this alone.  We set the tones for our day.  We can either let Him transform us or we can continue to try to transform ourselves, which is simply not possible.  But, if we offer ourselves to Him each morning, along with our sacrifice of praise, He will transform us and transform our days.  Unlike the health care industry, this transformation costs us nothing but 60 seconds.  Try it.

Be near me Lord, I cannot live without thee.

I dare not try to take one step alone.

I cannot bear the loads of life unaided.

I need they strength to lean myself upon.

******

I will enter His gate with thanksgiving in my heart.

I will enter His courts with praise.

I will say this is the day that the Lord has made.

I will rejoice cause He has made me glad.

*****

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,

The King of Creation.

O my soul praise Him

for He is my health and salvation.

All ye who hear,

Now to His presence draw near.

Join Him in glad adoration.

*****

This is the day.  This is the day

That the Lord has made.

We will rejoice, we will rejoice

and be glad in it.

*****

In the morning when I rise.

In the morning when I rise.

In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus.

You can have all of this world, give me Jesus.

For some reason, this Blog posted in 2021 has come to my mind so many times this week. When He sends reminders, we are to take note. Glory to God in the Highest!

A thorn is a sharp thing, which pricks, pierces, irritates, lacerates, festers, and causes endless pain and inconvenience.  Yet it is almost a secret thing, not very apparent to anyone but the sufferer.

Charles H. Spurgeon

Oh my goodness, isn’t that like the truest thing ever?  Walk through the woods and you will know exactly what Spurgeon’s talking about.   When you emerge from the walk, you have these little tiny thorns that have worked their way through your gloves that give you a world of worry.  They are almost imperceptible, almost unnoticeable to the eye, but annoying and worrisome to the skin.  I can completely relate.  Not from a walk in the woods, but from a skirt I wore to work the other day.  Where’s she going with this, you ask? 

I have this blue skirt that I really like, but it has a little problem.  You’re already thinking TMI, aren’t you?  Hang in there, I’ll try to delicately explain.  At the top of the zipper in the back, there’s an eyehook and I’m here to tell you it is not a small, normal sized eyehook, it is a big honking thing, or at least that’s what it feels like.  By the time I got to work Friday, my back at the eyehook, was killing me.  That thing was digging into my back!  Especially when I sat down, which I do almost all day, that little tiny thing was gouging my skin.  I was pitying Paul.  Well, I thought to myself, I’m simply not going to be able to make it through the day with that thing poking me.  It not only hurt, but it was such a major distraction.  Well, I couldn’t rightly go home from work just because of an eyehook, so I did the next best thing.  I looked for something to cover it to make it more comfortable and don’t you know it, there was like nothing I could find that would work.  I was like, really?!?!?  I need some relief here.  So I started digging around in my file drawers and found the perfect thing!  A sock.  Yep, I keep a pair of those white footie socks in my sneakers at work.  I folded that thing over the top of my skirt at the eyehook and I had instant relief, it was perfect!  And Spurgeon was right, no one could see it because my sweater covered it.  So, my day got off to a bumpy start, but now I was in business.  The thorn in my side, back, was gone!  The Apostle Paul could really have used a sock for his thorn, whatever it might have been. 

Suffice it to say it was a crazy day at work, aren’t most days for everyone at work (regardless of where your work might be)?  Anyway, towards the end of the day we got into a little bit of a pickle.  A filing had to be done and the filer’s car was in the shop and had to be picked up by 5:00.  So, at 4:45 pm two others of us dashed to get her car while she was taking care of the filing.  The pickup didn’t go as smoothly as planned – it wasn’t one of those give me the keys I’m outahere kind of things.  I’m standing in the car shop as they try to run through the filer’s credit card on a new credit card machine – someone came in to help, while I stand there petting the cat, yes, a cat.  There’s the credit card machine helper, a mechanic or two and the really sweet lady in this room with me and then it happened!!  I look over at one of the young mechanics and then I look at the floor and what do I see?  My sock!  No kidding, my sock had fallen out of my skirt and was laying on the floor.  Who knows how long it had been there.  I casually walk over pick up my sock and say hmmm…someone lost a sock.  He looks at me with absolutely no expression.  I smile and stuff it in my purse.  It took everything I had not to completely lose my composure and fall on the floor hysterically laughing with my sock.  Needless to say the thorn was back in my flesh!

It got even more interesting because my credit card was the one that worked in their credit card machine for some reason.  So, obviously I couldn’t wait to get out of there, I’m laughing uncontrollably as I go out the door about my sock.  It just keeps getting better – the filer called, I had left my credit card at the mechanic’s and they were closing and I was to pick up my credit card at Lambchops, the bar next door.  I turn around, still laughing.  I go to Lambchops, they buzz me in, and lo and behold the bartender was the credit card machine helper!  The story just keeps going, but doesn’t involve my sock, so I’ll stop.  By the way, that eyehook was still digging into my back, now that my sock was in my purse.

I know, it’s a very long story, I’m sorry.  I try constantly to look for lessons from the Lord, and Friday happened to have a ton, but the one that stayed with me from morning to evening, was the thorn in my flesh.

That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses.  If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message,  even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

2 Corinthians 12:5-7

All day long I thought of Paul.  Of course, my thorn was nothing like Paul’s thorn, I’m not comparing them, we don’t even know what his thorn was.  I’m feeling certain that it wasn’t a silly eyehook thorn.  But he does tell us how to handle those thorns of life, those tiny little thorns that no one else can see that distract and wound us.   

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 

2 Corinthians 12:8

Paul persistently presented his thorn to the Lord.  He prayed about it.  Spurgeon said “Anything is a blessing that makes us pray.” If we do not know Jesus, thorns will never be a blessing.   So even though our thorn may be pricking, festering and causing us endless pain, if it drives us to our knees, it is a blessing. 

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

What Satan means for evil, the Lord uses for good.  Paul’s weakness caused by the thorn brought glory to God.  Our thorns may be very different but they should produce the same fruits as Paul’s.  We are made strong when we are weak through the power of Jesus Christ.  Don’t forget that when you feel the poke.