Tell them of My love

I spent 10 years behind the pulpit and when I would prepare for Sunday morning worship, I would ask God what He wanted me to tell the kids during the children’s sermon. So often I would hear in my heart, “Tell them of My love for them”. The last couple of years it seemed that every time I asked I would get the same thing. “Tell them of My love for them”. I began wondering if it was me telling myself that. I now believe that I was hearing correctly and it was God telling me this, you see, we all need reminded that He loves us.

I now work with Jr. and Sr. High students and something anyone with children is that you can tell them anything and 5 minutes later, they have forgotten what you said. I see this quite a bit in the classroom. Maybe it is why mothers have to repeat themselves over and over.

Our kids are not the only ones who need constant reminding, though. I know that I ask God to ‘remind’ me of things all the time. “Oh, what was her name again, Lord?”or more than once at a store I would remember 1 or 2 items but forget 1 or 2. My husband is also reminding me of appointments and I remind him whose birthday is coming up and them he reminds me a week later to send a card! We all need reminded for so many things. Maybe that is why we tell those we love how much we love them. Each time I talk to my kids on the phone, before we hang up I tell them I love them. They know I love them but if I did not continually tell them, they would eventually begin to wonder, “do I loved them”. It’s something we need and it is so important that our kids never forget we love them. If your spouse doesn’t say “Hey, I love you” we begin to wonder if they are mad. I guess we do have short memories.

God knows this well. He showed His love for the Israelites over and over again. He brought them out of bondage in Egypt. He parted the sea and then closed it up again when Pharaohs army followed them. He feed them and gave them water. Still they forgot and asked if they were brought out of Egypt to die. We forget. So when I kept feeling God telling me to talk to the kids about His love, I heard Him correctly. “Tell them of My love for them.” Our kids who will be responsible for telling the future about His love, we must remind them now so they can go on and remind their youth. And that is just one reason to go to church, to be reminded of Jesus’ love.

“For God loved the world so much, that He gave His only begotten Son that who so ever believes in Him shall everlasting life”        John 3:16

Trusting Him

Do you really trust the Lord or do you hold something’s back for you to worry about yourself? Many of us say that we give our worries to the Lord, but are we truly giving it to God? We cannot give them if we remain tense about them. Our hands hold tight to our fears and will relax when we release them.

One of our biggest worries in the world today is money. Especially with the economy and lack of jobs, we just tend to worry a lot! Can we trust God with our money? Years ago, I would say things like, "He doesn't use money, how can he know about it?" or I would say, "I asked Him to help and He hasn't!" In other words, I would ask Him to take my worries but not release them. I have slowly begun to trust through deliberate actions. Each Sunday, I would ask Him what He wanted me to tithe and if I felt comfortable with the figure I would write the check for that amount. Then one Sunday after a week of some extra expenses and still a couple of weeks to go before payday, I asked what He wanted me to tithe I asked if I should pay about 60% of our normal, and I heard "higher". I then asked about 80%, and I heard "higher." Surprised, I asked about 100%, then 120%, then 150%, all with the same answer, “higher”. I began hearing: "Trust me, you'll be blessed". When I reached 200%, I heard him say, "Yes, you will be blessed." I had no idea how we would be blessed and I knew we did not have the money to donate that much. We had never given that much before, but I decided that He knows what’s in store for us and He knows what is safe and what is not safe, so I wrote the check and put it into the offering plate.

That week ended the Pastor Appreciation week for that year and the church had given us a gift certificate to Applebee’s and some cards in their appreciation, but after the tithing, one of the parishioners unexpectedly stopped the service, went up to the pulpit and asked for me to join my husband and him. We were very surprised at this and were totally dumb-founded by this action. We had no idea what was going on. The parishioner handed my husband a small box saying: We just wanted to show you how much we appreciate you two. My husband said, “That is so nice, but you already gave us a dinner!” The parishioner said, “We know, we just felt we needed to give you a little more.” It was a beautiful trinket box from a Christian store. When we opened the box we found a roll of bills.

Later, after the service, we counted the money and found that we received 150% more than we tithed not 5 minutes earlier.

When we are told we can trust God with everything, sometimes we think that doesn't include money but it surely does.

"After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

 “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

 “From others,” Peter answered.

 “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

                                                                                                               Matthew 17:24-27

I know now that I don’t have to worry about what I tithe because God will always bless our faith. I hope you can too.

Prayer Thought

On August 11, 2009, while driving to work, I was listening to a Christian radio station. The minister on the program was discussing Jesus’ return and talked about the excitement we feel and the prayers we should be asking for His return to be soon. I was suddenly struck with a thought. I know it was God talking to me because it was something I never really considered before. “Don’t pray for My return, pray for more time.”

Jesus wants all of us, not just some, to return with Him to Heaven. By praying for His return, we are saying “Those non-believers deserve what they get” just the same as Jonah did with Nineveh.

“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.” (Jonah 3:10-4:1)

God rebuked Jonah for his prejudice; “But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” (Jonah 4:10-11) as He should have. God has called for us to love each other, not hate as Jonah did the Ninevites who were not Jewish like Jonah and who the bible describes as wicked. (The grass is still green!)

Pray that God gives us more time to love our neighbors enough to bring more to Christ.

Matthew 11:25-28

I would like to extend a challenge out to everyone. This next week, every thought you have, direct it to God. You do not even have to begin with "Heavenly Father," or "Dear God". Just think of Him as you talk in your head think. Ask for his help in what ever you happen to be trying to do. By doing this you will begin to hear, see, and feel the Lord in your presence. And the more you do this, the more you will feel Him and His interaction in your life.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Mat 7:7-8)


When I was a fairly new lay preacher, I got a call from a church member who said her daughter gave birth to triplets and that it was not a real good situation, they were born premature and they were hooked up to all kinds of machines. She said that they were at the Children's Hospital in Kansas City, I did not even think, I just jumped in my car and took off. The drive was a 3 hour ride and half way there I realized I had not gotten the address or even any directions! I did not even know if the hospital was in Kansas City, Kansas or Missouri. I asked God to guide me to the hospital, I am not sure why I did not want to stop and find the address, but I asked Him to show me the way. (it could be that He said 'ask me')
When I got to Kansas City I followed the directions I felt. Take this exit, turn right, turn left, go straight. However, at one point I began to doubt and thought, maybe I ought to stop and get directions, maybe it was me all along tell me to turn and exit and go straight. So I stopped at the next gas station and and went in. When I asked where the Children's Hospital was the attendant pointed in the direction I had been driving and said "Two blocks down, you can't miss it." "Oh, you of little faith." (Mat. 6:30)

Quite often when I question whether it is God telling me something or if I am just fooling myself, I will hear "Trust me". And there is not a single time that I heard those words (they come as thoughts) that when it came out wonderful.

There are also times when something good happens and I thank Him and I hear: "Don't thank me, yet." In those instances something happens that is not real good. It does always turn out right, but I think by Him saying "don't thank me, yet" He is telling me that there is something that is going to happen, but that He will take over if I let Him and then I can thank Him.

Today I wanted to write something because I have been so busy and haven't had the time to log on. I asked Him to let me know what to write and now you have an ear full. Talk to Him, tell Him you burnt the dinner and you are upset. Tell him, your arthritis hurts, you're feeling better, or about the 'A' you got on a test you were sweating about. He wants your companionship, He'll never let you down, and He's the best friend you will ever have.


Blessings

I knew that!

When I was a child, I was told that the stories in the bible were fictional, that they did not really happen, they were allegories to learn from. I was told this by a Sunday school teacher with good intentions.

This was an extremely depressing thought to me and as a child of about 8 or 9 years old, it really crushed me that the stories were learn in the bible might be simply tales with morals. I agonized over this for a bit when one day I was talking to God and decided right there I was not going to believe it. I was going to trust that the bible was the word of God and what He says happened, happened.

Since then, when I see something in the news I get real excited and shout “YES! I knew it!!!”

Is this still more proof of the bible?

Did snakes have legs before the one in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve?
Are these proof of this?
God sentenced the snake to crawl on his belly all the days of his life.



How about this one?

Why are we here?

Isn't it interesting how easy children can do things that we adults have a hard time accepting? I mean, children can talk to God and know that it is God who is talking to them; however, as adults or even tweens and teens, we tend to question. "Is that me, just my thoughts?"

When I was about 8 years old, I asked God the question that has been asked probably since the beginning of time.

“Why are we here?”

I can remember asking that question so many times that I wondered if God was not going to tell me. But the answer was so important to me that I continued to ask. Then one evening, I heard an answer. It came as a thought, but I did not question it. I knew what I heard was definitely from my Lord.

I remember being so shocked at what I heard that I shouted: “That’s IT? Is that all it is? But, that’s so EASY!” I was so excited I wanted to run over to my best friend’s home and tell her, I wanted to tell everyone. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. Then I heard that if I told even one person and that one person believed as much as I did at that time, life as we know it, would change forever. Well, this scared me so bad, that I made myself forget what He said out of fear of slipping up and telling someone. I didn’t want to take any chance that the person I told would believe. Being only 8, I imagined that we would be in a world of total darkness, no feeling, hearing, or sight, and this scared me something terrible.

It took about 40 years and a whole lot of praying and thinking to remember what it was I heard and what I heard was we were here “To learn to love one another.”
“That’s IT? Is that all it is? But, that’s so EASY!” It may be easy to a trusting child who is oblivious to the world around her. It may seem simple to accomplish to a person who believes, but the reality is that people have a hard time with loving those who do not deserve to be loved. But in truth, do any of us deserve to be loved?

In John 15:12 Jesus told us: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

People have a lot of anger, hate, selfishness, stubbornness, and mean spiritedness in them that the idea of loving everyone seems so impossible. But this is Satan telling us, he is the one that whispers in our ears the anger we feel for someone, “he did you wrong” or the selfishness we feel when money is involved or desires pop up. “why can’t you have it all? You deserve it.” We are tempted all around us to lie, cheat, and to be selfish.
In the 1970’s there was a commercial on television for Mounds and Almond Joy candy bars that asked the question “Why is there two pieces?” and they answered with “So I can share.” Today commercials say things like “let go my Eggo” and tell us we need to hide our cookies from others so we can have them all to ourselves. There are commercials that tell us that lying to our kids is acceptable. When is it ever acceptable to lie to our children and then punish them for lying to us?

Matthew 7:12 
¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.


Can you imagine if we did learn to love each other the way God wants us to? Life as we know it truly would change forever. It would become a world that our Lord has wanted for us from the beginning, a Garden of Eden!

What an awesome and orderly GOD!!

An e-mail that was sent to me a while ago:

God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.

For example:

·       The eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;

·       Those of the canary in 14 days;

·       Those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;

·       The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;

·       Those of the mallard in 35 days;

·       The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.

(Please notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!)

The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life.  If you try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure.  Only the One who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.

God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant.  The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction.  No other quadruped is so made.  God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs.  For this reason He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily.

The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first.  A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first.  How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!

God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains.

·       Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind.

·       Each orange has an even number of segments.

·       Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.

·       Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.

·       Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number.

·       The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in all kinds of weather.

All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundredfold - all even numbers.

God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if  he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!

Thus the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the life that is entrusted to His care in such a way that it will carry out His purposes and plans, and will be fragrant with His presence.

Only the God-planned safe life is successful.  Only the life given over to the care of the Lord is fulfilled.

I HOPE YOU FIND THIS AS FASCINATING AS I DID....WOW!!!!

May God Bless You In Ways You Never Even Dreamed Today!

Proof of Crossing the Red Sea.

I was sent this a while ago from a friend and thought I would pass it on. If you like it, you might want to consider visiting thier web page at: http://www.raindrops.org/mainmenu.html

Chariot Wheels found at the bottom of the Red Sea -- See pictures below and the route:

 

You will be surprised to see proof of  Pharaoh's chariot and bones of horses and men found in the Red Sea. Evidence of the crossing of the Red Sea . Pharaoh's drowned army.

Confirmation of the actual Exodus route has come from divers finding coral-encrusted bones and chariot remains in the Gulf of Aqaba. ONE of the most dramatic records of Divine intervention in history is the account of the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt.

The subsequent drowning of the entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea was not an insignificant event, and confirmation of this event is compelling evidence that the Biblical narrative is truly authentic.  Over the years, many divers have searched the Gulf of Suez in vain for artifacts to verify the Biblical account.  But carefully following the Biblical and historical records of the Exodus brings you to Nuweiba, a large beach in the Gulf of Aqaba , as Ron Wyatt discovered in 1978.

Repeated dives in depths ranging from 60 to 200 feet deep (18m to 60m), over a stretch of almost 2.5 km, has shown that the chariot parts are scattered across the sea bed.  Artifacts found include wheels, chariot bodies, as well as human and horse bones.  Divers have located on the Saudi coastline opposite Nuweiba as well.

Since 1987, Ron Wyatt found three four-spoke gilded chariot wheels. Coral does not grow on gold, hence the shape has remained very distinct, although the wood inside the gold veneer has disintegrated making them too fragile to move.

 

The hope for future expeditions is to explore the deeper waters with remote cameras or mini-subs. (ABOVE GILDED CHARIOT WHEEL) - witness to the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea by the Hebrews 3,500 years ago.  Found with a metal detector. Coral-encrusted chariot wheel, filmed off the Saudi coastline, matches chariot wheels found in Tutankhamen's tomb.
 

 

Mineralized bone, one of many found at the crossing site (above center). This one tested by the Department of Osteology at Stockholm University, was found to be a human femur, from the right leg of a 165-170cm tall man. It is essentially 'fossilized, ' i.e., replaced by minerals and coral, hence cannot be dated by radiocarbon methods, although this specimen was obviously from antiquity. Chariot wheel and axle covered with coral and up-ended.  Exodus 14:25 'And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily...' Solomon's memorial pillars.

When Ron Wyatt first visited Nuweiba in 1978, he found a Phoenician style column lying in the water.  Unfortunately the inscriptions had been eroded away, hence the column's importance was not understood until 1984 when a second granite column was found on the Saudi coastline opposite --  identical to the first, except on this one the inscription was still intact!

In Phoenician letters (Archaic Hebrew), it contained the words:  Mizraim (Egypt ); Solomon; Edom ; death; Pharaoh; Moses; and Yahweh, indicating that King Solomon had set up these columns as a memorial  to the miracle of the crossing of the sea.   Saudi Arabia does not admit tourists, and perhaps fearing unauthorized visitors, the Saudi Authorities have since removed this column, and replaced it with a flag marker where it once stood.

How deep is the water? The Gulf of Aqaba is very deep, in places over a mile (1,600m) deep.  Even with the sea dried up, walking across would be difficult due to the steep grade down the sides.  But there is one spot where if the water were removed, it would be an easy descent for people and animals.  This is the  line between Nuweiba and the opposite shore in Saudi Arabia.

Depth-sounding expeditions have revealed a smooth, gentle slope descending from Nuweiba out into the Gulf.  This shows up almost like a pathway on depth-recording equipment, confirming it's Biblical description, '...a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters.'

(Isaiah 43:16)

The Bible writers frequently refer to the miracle of the Red Sea crossing, for it was an event which finds no equal in history.  The Hebrew prophets describe the sea at the crossing site as '...the waters of the great deep...the depths of the sea...' (Isaiah 51:10)

Knowing the exact spot to which the Bible writers were referring, what is the depth there? The distance between Nuweiba and where artifacts have been found on Saudi coast is about 18km (11 miles).
 

Along this line, the deepest point is about 800m (2,600 feet).  No wonder that Inspired writers of the Bible described it as the mighty waters.  And no wonder that not a single Egyptian survived when the water collapsed in upon them.  ( Above right NUWEIBA BEACH- the spot where the crossing began)

Date this page was last edited:  February 12, 2008

Welcome to RainDrops Power, Passion and Inspirational Website

RainDrops Power, Passion and Inspirational Website

Open Our Eyes Lord...

God speaks to us in many ways, at times He will speak to us through others. Other times, He seems to just remain quiet giving us no apparent answer to our requests. But God does answer us, He listens to us and speaks to us every day. He answers questions, requests, and even listens intently to us when we ask for things we can't possibly have.

My daughter, who lived in Arizona at the time, had leased a car. Unfortunately it was something she could not afford and eventually it was repossessed. She called me in tears tellong me how much she prayed that God would not let her car get repossessed. I explained that it was not a fair request for God because she had not paid for the car. How can He possibly permit her to keep a car that she did not pay for? She didn't know, she just knew how hard she prayed and how she had total faith that He would help her.

After talking a while, she  told me that her boyfriends parents had said they were going to send them a couple of bus tickets so they could come and get his car he had stored at his parents home. Evidently, they no longer wanted him to store it there, so they decided he needed to get it. It worked well and while it was an older car, it was totally paid for. "SARAH" I told her. "There is your answer! He did not ignore your prayer, He answered it through "Armando's" parents. Sarah suddenly saw this and was completely shocked. We talked about it for a bit and she told me that God is wonderful, unfortunately, the parents could not get the bus tickets for a month!

I asked if she could get the tickets and she told me they could not afford them. We talked a bit about this and I just could tell her anything. I really did not know what she could do for transportation through the next month until they went to Colorado and got Armando's car.

I empathized with her and she told me how much she trusted in God's omnipresence and His wonderful love for us, but she just didn't know what to do. I told her that maybe something will happen, we just do not know what God has in store. Before we ended the conversation, Sarah told me that her Armando was given the use of the company truck just the day before. "SARAH!"  The restrictions on the truck were few but he (Armando) was going to be permitted to use it for some personal use and Sarah was permitted to ride with him.

God helps us in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes, because He isn't standing in the visibly physical form telling us things, we don't always recognize Him. Mary, who was crying at the empty tomb of Jesus, spoke to Him and still did not recognize Him. She thought He was the gardener. It was not until He called her by name that she saw that it was Jesus!

Sometimes it takes others to call us by name to recognize God in our lives.

Pray everyday for God to open your eyes to Him and pray for Him to reveal Himself so you can recognize His wonderful helps.
God is good, All the time.
Amen

The Grass is Green

On July 2, 2008, I had a chance to go visit my daughter and her family in Japan. She was there for three years while her husband was stationed in Iwakuni. (He is a Marine) I was very excited and was not real sure what I would find but Cindy told me that they lived on base and that it was not somewhat like being in home. I had planned to stay for one month

As I flew into Tokyo, my first glimpse of the country was a very interesting one. I saw the grass and thought “The GRASS is green!” Immediately after that thought, I smiled and told myself “Well, duh, what other color would it be?”

In the airport, I had some time before I had to catch the bus to the Haneda airport that took me to Hiroshima where my daughter was to pick me up. As I sat in the Tokyo airport, I noticed how quiet everything was. There was soft Japanese music in the background and everyone gaily ‘trotted’ their way through the airport, even the elderly! Quite a bit different from the airports here in the states.

On our way to the smaller airport I noticed that again everyone was very quiet! It was not something I expected to see, or rather NOT hear in a city as large as Tokyo. There were signs above the windows, some in English and some in Japanese. Just then an announcement came over the speaker: “Please turn off your cell phones as they can annoy the neighbor.”

When we arrived at the Haneda Airport, I found the bathroom and was surprised to see that the toilet was a ‘keyhole’ shaped porcelain hole in the floor! It is called a ‘squat toilet’. There found smoking rooms in the middle of the airport walk ways. These were completely enclosed glass rooms with tables to stand at. There must have been a vent with a fan because there was no smoke to see and there was a good dozen people smoking.

People were more polite than I had ever seen, when greeting someone, they bow. You take your shoes off at restaurants and put them in cubbies at the front door. Restaurants are quiet and most of the tables had cut outs under the table for your legs. Teens and children were very respectful to others. Some did dress wild, but they are very respectful and polite. There wasn’t very many, if any, trash cans about town, yet there was absolutely no trash anywhere, even in the city! People carry it until they could throw it away.

If they thought they may be getting sick but have to go out, they would wear a surgical mask so they do not expose anyone else. They build up, we build out. Their parking garages are auto elevators with platforms that turn the car to the right position to park or deliver back to the owner. Streets are narrow, even the highways. Malls are stories tall with a store on each floor. Many of these malls had one pay station on the main floor. Many different stores, but pay for all on your way out of the mall. Crime is practically non-existent. My daughter left her purse at a carryout restaurant. I was frantic, she didn’t worry. Three hours later it was still on the floor where she left it, nothing missing.

Everywhere I went, everything I saw, everything I did was completely opposite to what I expected or am used to. Trees were sculpted everywhere except for the parks. Yards were mowed with weed whackers rather than lawn mowers. I could go on and on for hours on the differences. But that is not what I wanted to tell you.

God once showed me that there is no difference between nationalities, cultures, or race. No matter their color or gender, they were all the same. And when I was flying out of Tokyo on my way back home, I noticed the grass again and realized that it was God who told me “The grass is green” when I first arrived.

He was telling me that no matter what the difference is between people, how they dress, act, talk, or live, they are all His children and He loves us all equally, after all…”The grass is STILL green”.

^“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

Decisions, Decisions...

When we give something to someone, we hold our hand out and our hand is open. “It’s a gift, here, take it.” And it is the same when we accept something from someone. “A gift for me? Thank you.”

On the other hand when we want to keep something, we hold it tight in our fist. “You can’t have it, it’s mine!” and we hold it close to our body.

It is also interesting to see that when we are angry at someone, we hold our hands in a fist, holding on to our anger toward that person, holding it close to our body knowing just how difficult it is to even open our fist while the anger persists. But when we love or accept, we hold our hand out, open, to shake hands, give and accept a hug, and to welcome the other in. In praising God, many hold their open palms up to the Lord. Many do not do this for a variety of reasons. I do not hold my palms up to the Lord; however, as I pray with my eyes closed, in my heart and mind, I raise my arms high in praise. For me, it is denominational. I was raised as an Episcopalian in a very formal church.

God’s love is so great for us that He has given us choice. And among those choices we can choose to hold tight to the various situations we encounter, or we can release them to the Lord. We can hold on to our present situation or accept another. Sometimes these choices we make are physical, other times they are mentally. The choice I had in my last post when God told me “Don’t bother, you won’t be here”, was to accept the Lords decision to ‘go home’, to argue for personal gain or to argue for a less selfish reason. I chose to argue for my life because of my children and their faith.

Moses had a choice to accept the gift from God of prosperity, notoriety, and power, or the less selfish reason of saving the lives of the very people who doubted Him (God). "Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people." (Exodus 32:12b) Even Jesus had a choice, to accept the temptations of Satan, or the less selfish way that led Him to the cross. "⁹"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." (Matthew 4:10)
 Jesus opened His arms and hands to give us life.

A choice that we have all encountered at one time or another is the decision to forgive or not.

Back in the 1970’s I was in an abusive relationship for a couple of years and after I was able to get away from this, I heard some years later that he had been killed in a bar fight. It would be another couple of years before my decision would be made.

I was driving home after work one day (a 40 mile ride one way) when I felt my abusers presence sitting in the car with me. No matter how hard I tried, I could not shake the feeling. I saw him (with my mind’s eye) sitting as a beat man, head down, hunched back, hands in his lap. He seemed small and remorseful. I tried everything I could possibly think of to rid myself of this image without success before finally, out of frustration, shouted “WHAT, WHAT do you want!!” my hand wrapping tighter around the steering wheel with a death grip. I felt him look grimly at me as he said “Your forgiveness”. This hit me hard and I stopped the car and began shouting. I yelled and yelled, all the while feeling him accepting all that I gave him. Finally, I stopped and took a breath before saying “Fine, I forgive you.” And he faded away. I have not felt his presents since.

God gave me the choice. I could have chosen to hold tight to my anger, with both fists raised high or I could choose to forgive and release this man from his debt to me. The Lord would prefer me to forgive, of course, but the choice was wholly mine. For many years I held onto the hurt before I was given this choice and I could have chosen to keep my fists closed tight but I chose to let go.

God’s love for us is so great that when we have a choice to make, He will be with us as we make it and He will accept our decision without repercussions on His side, other than the natural consequences of our actions. This is the same as a loving parent will allow their child a choice without repercussions from them, only the natural consequences of their actions. Open hands are open to the love of Christ, tight fists closes us off from that love.

Thank you dear Friend and Father.

Amen

WOW What Luck!

Many times in my life I have heard the words "Wow, what a coincidence!" or "Boy, was that lucky!" and we tend to do things to avoid bad luck and bring good luck. Knock on wood, not walking under ladders, cross your fingers. But is there truly real luck? Of course not. There is no such thing as luck. Unless you want to say God's love IS our luck.

In 1985 I was a divorced mother of two small children. Deb was four and Cindy was two. I was working hard at making a life for us. A friend of mine and I had been working together for a while and this one particular time I was listening to a radio show that would wake people up on their birthday. I thought, "I should do that for my friend, it would be so funny to have someone wake her up like that." (she was never in too good a mood first thing in the morning) Just then I heard in my heart, "Don't bother, you won't be here." I had been wanting to move to California, so I asked "Will I move?"... "No"... "Will my friend move?"...  "No". I asked every scenario I could imagine and the answer continued to be 'No'. Then hesitantly, I asked; "Will I die?"...no answer. I asked again and again no answer. I took that as a very definite YES and I began to argue. I used every argument and probably a few promises I could come up with. I don't remember any of them, probably because they were more selfish arguments that valid Christian love arguments. I argued every day, all day, for 3 days.

Some say that we can not change God's mind, and that may be so, if it is not within His 'will', jf it is okay with Him. But I had one more argument that did just that. I explained that if I died, Deb and Cindy would have to go live with their dad and as much as he claims to be a Christian and faithfully goes to church, he does not truly believe. At that time, my ex  believed that when we die, we go into the ground and that was that, no heaven, no hell, no after life, nothing but nothing. I explained that if my girls were to learn to love Him (God) and grow to be faithful believers, I would have to be here to do that. I ended my argument and for a short moment there was nothing, then a faint voice answered through my thoughts, "Okay, Linda, you will be here." I thanked Him profusely and went on with my life.

About 4 months later, I had completely forgotten the whole experience about dying, and was getting ready to drive my children from Colorado to Illinois to see their dad for Christmas. It was always a little scary to drive cross country in the winter, but I was a good driver having grown up in Ohio with winters full of snow and ice. I learned to drive on an icy road and was taught skid control of which I practiced in play every winter. The trip to Illinois was uneventful, however, the trip home would tell another story.

We were on Interstate 80 on the west end of Nebraska not far from the Wyoming border when I noticed my car felt a little wavy. Not much, in fact it was almost unnoticeable so I just dismissed it thinking I would check my tires when we stopped next. My kids were asleep in the back seat. Down the road a bit, a small 'red', I think, sports car ripped passed me. I was going 55, and thought that he must have been going 80 mph at least. He pulled back into the right hand lane and began to spin. He spun and spun right in front of me until he came to a stop cross wise on the highway directly in my path. I was so scared and in a matter of seconds I thought, (beside praying) if I put on the break, I would spin, if I tried to go around him, I would spin. All I could do was let up on the gas peddle and pray while continuing straight to the man who was slumped over. Suddenly, the man sat straight up and looked in my direction, he began to spin again and this time went right off the side and into a cattle fence before coming to a stop.

I had never been on black ice before and I pray I never will again. I told my brother what had happened including "I can't believe how lucky we were!"

That following summer, I was suddenly struck with the thought that I was suppose to die at that time! I talk to my brother about it to which his simple reply was "well, yeah, I knew that!"

I tell you this because it shows the love that God has for us that he is willing to give us another chance to make good. He is willing to listen when you have an argument, and if it is an argument that is within His will, something that is a valid argument, He is willing to change His mind.

God knows everything and is willing to give us a chance to 'choose' in which direction we will go. I could have choose to accept my fate allowing my children to be raised in a non-Christian home, or argue with God that I was still needed! He gave me that choice and I took the latter.

the bible confirms this for us in the book of Exodus.
Exodus 32:9-14
"And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people? Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."
Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: "Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever." So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people."

God's love is a true love that He gave us choice and gives us opportunity to love others. Moses showed his love for the people by pleading for God not to destroy them, even above the power and riches God offered.

God loves, shouldn't we love for more than to benefit ourselves?

How do we do that...

When I was a child, I wondered why people were on the earth. I asked the, probably number one thought if not asked question. "Why are we here?" I wanted to know so bad that I asked God constantly. Every time I thought about it I was asking. And like the parable that Jesus told about the persistent widow. (Luke 18:1-5) maybe he repeated the words spoken in verse 5 "...lest by her continual coming she weary me." because one night when I asking for understanding, I heard that 'little' voice we so often hear when God talks to us, say "You are here to learn to love each other."
I was shocked! "Is that it?! But that's so easy!!"
God went on "If you tell one person, and that one person believes with all their heart, soul, and mind as you do right now, life as you know it will change forever." He also told me that it is not as easy as I thought.
It is not easy to love those that hurt us. It is not impossible but it is not easy either.
We can start by simply accepting others.

Pass It On (by Kurt Kaiser)

"Go therefore and make disciples..."

You just have to ask.

Have you ever gone to the store and forgot what you went for. You remembered one or two things you needed but just could not remember what one of the items was? Next time ask Jesus to help you remember, ask Him to remind you. You may be amazed!

There was a time years ago when I was a lay preacher. I was new, when I got a call from a parishoner telling me that their daughter had given birth to triplets and it was touch and go for their survival. I asked where they were and was told The Childrens Hospital in Kansas City.

I jumped in the car and drove the distance from the southeast corner of Kansas to the north end before I realized I had no idea where the Childrens Hospital was.
I prayed to God and asked him to show me. I asked Him to guide me and that I would follow. Soon I felt pulled in a variety of directions. Left, right, straight for 3 blocks. I turned each time I felt God leading me and trusted what I felt was from God.

After a bit, I thought that maybe I should stop and ask at a gas station for directions. (I began to wonder if I was not hearing God) So I stopped and asked the attendant for directions. He pointed down the street in the direction I was going and said "Two blocks down the road."

God is never too busy to help us. You just need to ask.

The beautiful Sunflowers

Something occured to me today.
Kansas is in the heart of the bible belt and it is referred to as "The Sunflower State"

Sunflowers are wonderful flowers that have spoken to us for hundreds of years, yet we haven't always heard!
The Sunflower, as it grows, faces the sun, following it warm embrace as it travels across the sky until the dark of night arrives. Once the sun has gone down, you will notice that the sunflowers continue in vain to follow their beloved life giving sun, they search tirelessly looking in all directions. On cloudy days, the same is true. The sunflower desperately searches the skies for the warmth of their sun.
The fascinating thing about these quite often overlooked flower comes at its maturity. Once this faithful flower matures, it looks directly to the East! It knows wihout a doubt where the sun will return.
As Christians we want to follow Jesus, the Son. When times of darkness invade our world as they often do, we may desperately look for our precious Savior to embrace and warm us with His love. When trouble comes and we do not know which way to turn we are taught to not give up but to seek Jesus out for comfort and hopefully, answers. Then, as we mature in our faith, we come to understand that Jesus is with us always, we know He is there, so we no longer need to search for him. As our faith grows into maturity, we learn if we hold on to our faith, when it seems the darkness will never end, we know to whom we need to look and we know where to find Him. The bible tells us that Jesus will return to earth and He will return from the East.

The sunflower has become more beautiful and more precious to me each time I think about them or when I see them. I love their message of faith, the way they teach us to follow the Son, the way they show us from where He will return. Once the Sunflower has matured it looks to the east as we should for the Sons return, never swaying from its calm patience. Never doubting His return. Understanding, that Jesus is "with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20b)

COMPANY CLEANING

When I was growing up and grandma was coming for a visit or when we were expecting my cousins from Colorado mom would tell everyone that it was time to “company clean” and as excited as we were to have our family come stay with us, we hated what it meant to “company clean”.

Company cleaning meant floors would be washed, hard wood floor polished, floor boards, and windowsills scrubbed. If you can relate, you might be able to say it was like getting ready for the ‘the white glove test’. But cleaning the house was not the end; we next had to bath and dress in nice, clean clothes. Mom would also tell us that under no circumstances were we to do anything that would cause us to get dirty OR to get in trouble once the family arrived. Mom was not a clean freak…except when company was coming, she would tell us that it was the best way we can show them just how much we love them. Being ready, and presentable would tell them how much we were looking forward to their arrival.

Being ready for our families visit was always very important for mom and dad, and I have continued the tradition. My kids moaned and groaned just as much as I did when I was their age. But in the end, when grandma and grandpa arrived, it was worth all the preparation because of the love and excitement that came with them.

One day this last summer, I was on my way to work and as I talked with God I felt a special message from Him: “Linda, it’s time to Company Clean.” I knew right away what he was talking about because I had begun to notice the horrible trash strewn around our town and I have seen

so many people these days who are not prepared for Jesus’ return. They aren’t ready and they do not even think about being ready. Many believe He is not coming within their lifetime so they do not have to worry about it. But we don’t know when he will come back to take us home.

I am not trying to say “The end of the world is…is…uh..THURSDAY” but I am saying that it is time to prepare. It is time to clean ourselves, our minds and hearts. It is time to openly love our neighbor and rid our thoughts, words, and actions of sinfulness. Then as we work on becoming the loving neighbors that Jesus has told us to be, we need to clean our communities, care for our lawns, and show pride in this wonderful world we have been given.

God created the world and all that is in it and; “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15) so it is our responsibility to care for our yards, streets, neighborhoods and towns. We do not have to get 50 people together on a “Clean up America” mission, we just need to take the time to bend over and pick up a can or bottle.

According to Matthew Jesus said: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) So the time is now for us to prepare. Not later, not tomorrow, but now. It is time to begin showing our love for Him and the gratitude we have for the beauty he has surrounded us with. As you walk, pick up something that someone thoughtlessly threw out thinking “it will just blow away.” and put it where it belongs, in the trash. Then ask God to rid your life of Satan’s influence and pray for His strength to take hold of you and blessings on the things you do as you build a stronger relationship as you care for his house, our world.

It Is Time to COMPANY CLEAN!

May God bless your efforts and bless you each day.

Linda