CHANGE

Ahh that dreaded word especially in the “third-third” of life. Change can be exciting when you are looking forward to something you have wanted like a job or a new home. Even then I think we still cringe a little. We ask ourselves, “Will we like this?” Will it be everything we expect it to be?” Are there hidden disadvantages”

As we age change sometimes, becomes more unwelcome and complex. Often times by now we are settled in to a certain home or lifestyle and we like it or at least it is familiar and comfortable. Then that dreaded shadow of “Change” creeps in and we lose it. Or at least I do.

This happened to me recently and you may find this ridiculous or boring but I hope for someone reading this is will strike a cord and be helpful,. I fractured my back last summer in two places. It was painful and debillitating. When my husband and I moved to our house some 20 years ago we purchased 2 twin beds and located them in an upstairs bedroom. Wallah ! A king size bed. Also when one of us gets really sick or injured it also works well because we can bring one of the beds down stairs and put it in the living room. So in my case last year that is what we did.

Well recently it was time for a change. I am better and able to climb the stairs now. So we purchased a nice couch that I can lay down on, should I need to, for the living room. We planned the delivery for a week away to give us time to get one of my sons to help move my bed back upstairs. Now comes the silly part. I was not at all comfortable with this change. I had all kinds of worries and concerns, none of them all that realistic, but I did not want to move my bed back upstairs and get the couch.

Crazy! I know! It is truly a nice couch. My problem was that bugger “CHange.” The word gives me goosebumps. For no good reason. There is nothing more inviting in one’s living room than a sick bed pushed up against the wall. Not so much.

As we go through life we will experience change. It is a given. Some changes will be great as for instance, the birth of that first grandchild, and some will not be. We may have to move to a place we don’t like. We may have to leave a job we love because of health etc. and face the reality that going forward we will not be able to do some of the things that we used to do. I can”t even begin to describe here all the changes life can throw at us good or bad. Maybe you can think of some in your own life. How did you handle a negative change? How did it finally work out?

Most changes do eventually work out. We may even find that what we dreaded and feared was not so bad afterall or we just learn to adjust.

The devil likes to worry us and cause us to fear and expect the worse becaue the devil preys on our lack of faith at times. As believers we often pray as we see ourselves headed for change and look to God for help and comfort. We know that any change that arrives in our life is not a surprise to Him. He is here with us today and He is waiting in the future. He has got this, Also as believers we know that God has our path planned out and that if we are to walk in surrender to Him we may have to go places we don’t care much for or face situations that are unpleaasant. Life can be so uncertain to us but never when we trust it into His care.

And there is one thing we can count on life to never change. That is Him. His promises are as true today as they were yesterday. His guiding through the tough places in life is just as capable as it has always been.

Sometimes I know that I cling to the familiar that is why change is such a problem for me. Over the years we have moved serveral times. The first time we moved we had lived in the same house for almost 20 years. First of all I wasn’t all that delighted with the move and I had to navigate a new to me different house. The familiar was gone. I really struggled. Another move we made was to my dream house and then we moved to what I might have described at the time to my nightmare house. Actually it is not that bad and through all my protestations God has blessed us and led us in ways He could never have accomplished had a stayed put. He had a plan and He made it okay.

So whether the changes that come in my life are difficult or uncomfortable what I have realized is that I can always rely on these familiar things. God’s Word, my prayer life, and my praise life. The sense of His presence is always with me because He promises He will never leave me or forsake me. He is a familiar friend and companion throughout the changes life will most certainly bring. So I will never lose that

About the bed—yes, we moved it–yes, it worked out and the couch is great. And it occupies the place my bed did with a dignity that my bed could never have attained. This is a small thing but I hope it will prepare me for the bigger changes life may have in store for me. I can look back and, knowing my tendency to resist change. trust God and place it in His capable hands, He’s got this!

ONE MILLION DOLLARS

If you received one million dollars would this solve all your problems at this present time?

I know your answer, as mine would be, is YES

For most of us unless you have a critical illness this could be a real problem solver.

No more worries about finances. No more phone calls from creditors to upset your day. Those things you need the most as in a home or car would be yours. You would have the money to fulfill some dreams of yours; such as an amazing vacation or a relaxed retirement. Oh and of course as Christians we would give big time to the church to show God how thankful we are that this blessing came our way.

My next question is the most important one for you and me. Would we still need God?

If the million dollars could solve all the problems you have right now would you still lean on God and depend on Him as your provider. Would you be as fervent in prayer and devotions. Would you walk as close to Him?

It is certainly something to ask ourselves. There is one verse in the Bible that in particular frightens me. in Psalms theer is a review of the lives the children of Israel when they were marching towards the promise land. In the recounting of their failings and their struggling faith. Times when they honored God and did not complain. And times when they complained to their hurt. The verse reads—“He gave them their requests but sent leaness to their souls.”

At times when I have been in need of help from God and I think if only He would answer my prayers in this situation all would be well. But would it? Most of us know that God answers our prayers in three ways—“Yes.” NO.” “Wait.”

Over the years I have learned through financial troubles that they drew me closer to God than if I had all I needed. When I have a need that only God can fill I spend time in His Word and prayer seeking His face.

I have a friend whose husband is not saved. She has agonized over this for years but I have watched as she has spirtiually grown into a mature and active believer.

I think the big problem the children of Israel had was that they didn’t want to wait. Do any of us? But God is not in the business of always fulfilling all are desires. He is aware of our needs and He is faithful I can attest to that. HIs most urgent desire for our lives is our spiritual devolpment. That is His highest priority in our lives. Yes He loves to see us happy and prospering but He also knows that we need to grow as Chrisitans and growth requires some challenges and difficulties to mature us.

So I am careful to not desire too hard to have my prayers answered. God might relent and give me my request but in return I would receive Spiritual poverty. Yes that scares me. Without His daily abiding presence in my life where would I be? I would be lonely indeed, I need Him. I love Him. I desire Him more than anything else life has to offer. I think if you search y our heart you will agree. There is nothing like walking in His light!

BLOOM

We have a beautiful flower of varying hues that has just bloomed in the corner of our backyard. Its beauty is amazing considering that it is just in a hidden corner of our yard. The only people that will see and admire its beauty is my husband and I.

Walking in the deep woods one will often see beautiful flowers peeking out from behind a tree trunk or clustered off the path. Flowers bloom in out of the way places. Why? There is no audience, No applause, No one taking selfies with them. They appear at their appointed time and then fade away. The lingering question is why does it matter if they bloom? Why bother to brighten a woodland path or dot a vacant lot?

The answer, of course, is that God designed them to bloom where ever they happen to grow. They are simply obeying the Master Gardener’s command.

I am like that flower. Not speaking of physical beauty; but simply the beauty that lives in each of God’s creations. Especially the people that He has designed to follow and worship Him. By the way, all people fall under this umbrella. No matter their outward appearance.

Those of us who have trusted Christ as our Savior are, in a sense, His flowers planted in the garden of this world. That doesn’t mean we are all in lovely places. It doesn’t mean we all have great skills or talents. It doesn’t mean we are noticed and praised by others for our beauty. But we do bloom if we let the Savior have His way.

For example. There was a man in the church that I attended years ago. He was small in stature and didn’t have anything about him that would attract you to him. He was what we call today “mentally challenged”. He lived in a nursing home though he was not elderly at the time. He often forgot to bathe before he came to church. I am not even sure how much of the church services he understood. But the wonderful thing about the salvation that God offers is that it is a simple gift given to us when we reach out and accept it. He understood that much I am sure and he loved attending church. He also loved the bus ministry. He would have loved to work in the ministry but he was unable. However there was one thing he could do that the bus ministry sorely needed. He could help to clean the buses.

One day I was driving in my neighborhood and I saw him walking. I knew where he was going. He was going out to the bus barn to help. Now he lived in a nursing home quite some distance from where I discovered him that day and the bus barn was still a good mile away or so. My first thought was that I should give him a ride. But I had my son’s car are I knew this man was not very clean most of the time. So I drove by excusing myself to the fact that I couldn’t take a chance on messing up my son’s car. Yes I admit that was pretty shallow of me. A few blocks away God got a hold of my heart and begin to squeeze. Have you ever had that happen? God does it gently of course but firmly and we know if we refuse to respond we might just miss something important to our spiritual growth. Well how could I drive away on a hot summer day and let this poor dear saint walk all that way to the bus barn? So I turned around and picked him up and took him there.

I said all that to ask this. “Was this man a beautiful flower in God’s garden?”

O I am too. I’m a little smarter and cleaner. I am able to work in ministries at the church but am I anymore beautiful because of that then this man? Yes I was noticed more but was I more important? Of course not. In fact God was looking out for him just by my having been in the right place at the right time. God cherished that flower.

God lets many of His flowers bloom in unseen places. Their beauty is lost amongst life’s busyness and importance. They just simply bloom where they are planted in the body God gave them with the ability he provided. Are they any less beautiful?

Never allow Satan to tell you that you are not beautiful in God’s eyes. Never let him whisper in your ear that you are not good enough. God has a plan for your life and when you put Him first and thank and praise Him He will work out that plan. Perhaps you may be that most beautiful flower in HIs garden of this world even though you go unnoticed by the bustling crowd.

So bloom where you are planted!

DEVASTATION

Almost all of us have been watching the disaster of the condominium in Surfside, Florida with horror. At first we watched in hope that others would be found alive. Now we are reluctantly beginning to acknowledge that that may not happen. Our hearts and prayers go out to all that are affected by this terrible tragedy.

This article is not about this subject completely. We still have no sure information of what actually caused the catatrosphic failure of this building. They may not know the actual reason for days or weeks or even months.

It is just as I listened to engineers describing the possiblilites of what may have happened that i was struck by what one of them revealed. He explained how inside the cement columns there is rebar that holds it up. This rebar is integral to the survival of the column. If it is compromised in any way the whole column becomes a disaster just waiting to happen.

One thing he said stuck out in my mind. He said that if there was a crack in the cement that reached the rebar and rain water entered in to the interior of the column over time the rebar would become rusty and compromised.

Imagine such a small thing that could have brought a whole building down. A small crack perhaps barely noticeble and not in itself anything to worry about allows a corrosive element to enter into it’s center and slowly but surely begins to eat away at the support system the column needs to surviive.

I began to think of our spiritual lives. Isn’t that how sin enters in? It is small as a raindrop. It seems to not matter at all in the beginning. After all what can a small thing like a few raindrops matter to a giant strong column? What can a small sin or indiscretion matter to a Christian?

In the New Testament Jesus warns His followers that just keeping the 10 commandments outwardly is not enough but keeping them inwardly is just important. It’s the heart where the true man dwells. And what that person thinks upon in his or her heart and what he pursues in his thought life inwardly is going to effect his whole outward life.

We see that in the more egreciois sins that people commit such as pedophila, murder, kidnapping etc. Before those people indulged outwardely in that sin they first allowed it to seep into their hearts and minds. For instance the man who begins watching pornography may rationlize its no big deal and he is not harming anyone. But as time goes on it takes over his waking moments until it surfaces in some sexual sin not just of the mind and heart but of the whole body, Hence Jesus warning.

Jesus warns that to look on a woman to lust after her is the same as commiting the sin of adultry. Harsh words it seems but then we realize that adultry begins with those lustful thougths that once entertained begin to corrode away the whole person until they act on it.

I am not writng this today so much as to address those large obvious and reprehensible sins but to address the thing that most of us as beleivers must be aware of and deal with.

There is a Scripture that states its” the little foxes that spoil the vines.” It is the small sin that begins to corrode away at our inner spiritual life and our relationship with God. What am I talking about? Well what comes to your mind? For instance. Have you realized lately that you’ve been more relaxed about what you watch on TV even though in your heart you know that there is something in that show or movie t hat is not glorifying to God or it is down right sinful ?

I have been guilty of this at times. Rating a movie with the rationalization it’s not that bad even though characters took the LORD’s name in vain a few times or maybe there was a suggestion of immoral behavior between two characters. After all they didn’t show the deed so—but did my mind go there any way?

What we watch, what we read, what we allow our mind to dwell on can be like those small drops of water that eventually begin to eat away at our character and integrity. The most harmful thing is that what bothered us as sinful at first becomes more and more acceptable until we t hink it is no big deal and that God will surely overlook this. Sin of any kind is always a big deal to God. Jesus paid a terrible price for our sins. God is holy and just and can’t look upon sin. Most of all God does not want us to fall prey to something that ultimately bring us grief.

Let’s touch on another subject beside TV. Let’s think of co workers. Are we attracted to someone that we know is off limits and we let our mind rest there for a tad too long? Do we get angry often with others and judge them unfairly? Do we allow our minds to surf on immoral things? Watch questionable things on U Tube. Perhaps those things are violent or troubling. The Bible instructs us to think on right and good things.

There are other less obvious ones like unforgiveness. Are we harboring unforgiveness for someone either now or in our past? How about that “little sin” of complaining? Isn’t that alright.. Not so much. God judged the whole nation of Israel for it.

Sin also interrupts that sweet fellowship we all desire with God. It prevents us from hearing His voice. It keeps us on a path of mistakes we can’t fix, We lose His power in our lives which i know we all desire to have.

Please understand I am not nit picking or judging you or anyone except myself. I have been guilty and the devil is always ready to sneak in temptations here and there that I have to be on the look out for.

The Bible says “a little slumber a little folding of the hands–“-“

We have to be vigilant because the devil like a roaring lion goes about seeking to devour us. Each of us has a weakness and that is where he will strike. The world would like to fool us into thinking that we don’t have to worry about little sins but they don’t tell us of the terrible disastorous collapse that will happen causing great grief and disasater.

The wonderful thing about all this –we do not have to be discourgaed. We can confess our sin and He is faithful and just to forgive us not only once but over and over as needed. We can seek His help to over come our weaknesses in this area and He can give us strength and also discernment. Praise God!

So when you view the disaster unfolding in Surfside take a moment and , of course pray for them, but consider how great and awful the fall of it was. Think of all the grief and loss and pause and consider.