What Would You Give?

The doctor asks me what he can do for me. I respond, asking, "do you have a magic wand?" 
Of course he doesn't, and I don't believe in magic anyway. However, do you ever wish for something so easy? Most everything in this life that is worth having is bought with effort, with our toil and tears. 
We know this, but sometimes it is nice to dream.

On the other hand we can also be thankful we don't have to pay for some of the things we've earned. Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;"
 
 No matter how good a person is, or has been they can never earn, or become good enough; we'll never be perfect. I've known some very good people, but those who are the best amongst us will be the first to tell us they are flawed human beings.

 Romans 3:24 "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"

"The only one who was perfect they crucified." My mother would share that bit of wisdom when someone would expect perfection fromher. She was right, of course. Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, a sacrifice for us. The sinless for the sinful.

Romans 3:25 "whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God;" 

Only if we take advantage of the offer that was proferred in our place will it take affect. Even the demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The demons know, but it won't do them any good. We have a chance at everlasting life--now.

Romans 3:26 "for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus."

What would you give to own the greatest treasure of all time?
That's why Jesus is the Savior, and hallelujah, what a Savior! 

Birds--lessons we can learn from them

The sun was touching the tops of the trees with golden fingers of light. There were varied species of birds flocking to the feeder this particular morning . At the end of May of this year we will have lived at this address for twelve years. For the first years we were treated by the appearance of an occasional Cardinal. Then we began to see the elusive bird every year. This year we have been graced to have at least four Cardinal couples.

Saucy Blue Jays are pushy and domineering. Although the feathers are pretty, during the cold snowy weather it's the red Cardinal males that stand out and their quiet russet colored females. The dark Juncos, with dark charcoal back and creamy white underfeathers are a stark contrast to the cold white snow. A solitary Flickenger makes his appearance--we only see one at the feeder at a time, so I believe there is only one. There are several species of finch including the Iowa state bird, the Goldfinch. This time of year they are a muted color, not the bright gold of summer. These are some of the more notable birds as well as the black capped Chickadees, a  Nuthatch, and a red bellied woodpecker.

What I found strange, and at first I was a bit disgruntled, was how the birds at the feeder--especially the Jays, would throw bird feed over their backs as they ate. When I saw this I felt like swatting them. I noticed however, that the small birds would pick up the seeds off the ground. It looked to work well since all the birds could not get on the feeder at the same time. The large birds were perched on the tray, and the small ones cleaned up off of the ground.

I enjoy watching this part of creation on a cold winter's day. The birds on the ground pop around like popcorn in a hot pan as they clean up. All of the different species come and perch in the bare-limbed crab apple tree, beside the feeder. They look like they could be posing for a picture.

What a beautiful world God created for us. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

 "Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?  And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
                                                                                                   Matthew 6:26, 27, 28, 29

If Tomorrow Comes

 And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
  Ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
  Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron.
 Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
                                                                          Micah 3:1- 4

"Sing as if no one is listening; dance as if no one is watching."

There is all sorts of advice out there. Live as if today is your last day—and yes sing and dance as if there is no one else in the world. Have you ever wondered-- what does that advice really mean? If you aren't a believer in a hereafter, for example, an atheist, or an agnostic, it should mean something different than if you are a Christian.

If today were your last day of existence and tomorrow you were gone--poof--like a vapor. Then the phrase 'grab all the gusto you can, you only go around once' would apply. There would be no right/wrong answers because this is it. There would be no afterlife, and certainly no judgement for good or evil done in this life.

If you have a Christian belief, however, your perspective would be different. No matter how long or short a Christian's life is, there should be the knowledge of good and evil, and as it states in Hebrews 9:27 "And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;". As it is there will be justice for things done in this life.

Christians need to live honest honorable lives that point to God and His Son Jesus Christ. Christians need to live as if tomorrow will come, because it will always come. There will always be a hereafter, either here on this earth, or in the next world to come. 

Hebrews 10:26 "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, 27)  but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries."

So, the question isn't "If Tomorrow Comes", but "When Tomorrow Comes". Live today as if tomorrow will come. Live as if you will find yourself responsible to know good and evil, to know right from wrong, and to know justice.  Hallelujah what a Savior!

In Your Darkest Night

4.) And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; 
    Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 
5.) The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; 
    The deep was round about me; The weeds were wrapped about my head. 
6.) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed upon me for ever: 
    Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God. 
7.) When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; 
    And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple.                      Jonah 2:4-7


 There are times that try our souls. We feel as if  we are a rope stretched too far. The cooked pasta slung onto the wall. No matter the physical time of day, we are in the darkest of nights; the darkest of times. As we navigate through an ocean of air, it's as if life has sucker punched us and left gasping for air.

Holiday times are the worst times to lose a loved one. They are the worst times to lose our fortunes, our health, they are the worst times to lose things we love, or our necessities-- yet Satan takes no holiday. He uses anything and all things to bring us to our knees.

Knowing that we are emotional creatures, he takes all oportunities to tear human beings down. It works too. How many times do horrendous things happen, things that tear at a person's heart and a person's very fiber. We cry out in pain and despair, Why? Or why me? And most always God is attatched to the question. Why did God allow this to happen? Why did God do this to me?

Very seldom does anyone ever attach Satan to the deed. Death and calamities happen to all of us. Some people have them in greater numbers and more difficult burdens. In those times it is a necessity that people step up and support the bereaved.

Things we see on this side of the mountain:

• we see the stark difference between dark and light
• we see and feel pain and suffering
• we see, on the other side, the beauty of actions of compassion
• we see friends and neighbors, some who have passed along this same road, reaching out in ways maybe just small ways--words of encouragment, cards, food, just being available without words to help bear our burdens
• the deeper the sorrow and need, we see the greater the contrast and greater the meaning of small things; a touch, a smile, a word, a listening ear --all mean so much

These difficulties either draw us into a closer walk with our creator, God, or away from Him. It either tends to harden the heart like a brick, or melt the heart like butter. We choose. A brick will grow heavy and burdensome. If a person grows toward God, open to His love and teaching with a melted heart, it will be lighter and more bearable.

In Genesis 50:20  Joseph is approached by his brothers after the death of their father, Jacob. They fear that Joseph, now that their father has died, will retaliate for when they maliciously sold him into slavery. They make up a story to convince him not to treat them ill because of the sins of their youth. Joseph quiets their fears and tells them: "And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good...".

You see, Satan torments us here. He means it for evil, yet God can (and will) turn it around for us.  We need to but trust Him.

 Romans 12:15  "Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep."

Valley of Jehoshophat

Joel 3:9  "Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. 10)  Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong."

In lieu of recent happenings with the shootings, in terrorism, and such, with people joining some of these organizations a person is flabbergasted. How and why, I wonder would anyone choose to join such an organization? The second thought that flummoxes me is why, when you consider how repressive this religion is toward women, are women joining this group?

Christianity has lifted women out of the second class section and given them importance in our modern society, but...
One fact that is foundational in the support of a Supreme Being (Jehovah God) is that humans are worshipful creatures. In every culture throughout history, it is a fact that humans have worshiped some sort of a god, be it an idol, or the true deity. Fast forward to our day and age where people are told there is no God, we just evolved.

~In our hearts we still have a need for worship that will not be denied.

Our hearts and our souls know better. However, even Christians—men and women—live like there is no God, and we won't be held accountable to His standards. We live as if what God himself tells us doesn't matter. We live as if it's all about us. That we are what matters.

So, it comes as an oxymoron that some women from both Muslim, and non-Muslim cultures join such groups looking for something that challenges them to be different from our westernized society. I have read for quite a few years now of Elders from the church trying to warn our society of the way we are raising our girls. We raise them to be everything a man can be, but a woman wasn't created for that. And in their heart, women know that.

 Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.

 Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision.

Joel 3:12, 13, 14

A High Calling

During a discussion many years ago a fellow student wife related how after she and her husband's recent conversion to Christianity, friends and family had questioned her about her husband's 'calling' in accordance with their new faith in the Lord. They had not been Christians long when her husband decided to head for Tennessee and a new endeavor—a school of preaching. In her family's experience a person had to recieve a call from God, and they were very interested in how that call had come about for him.

Over the years I pondered the question:   ACalling from God? Who, What, When and Where? Maybe even Why?

• Who? All people are called.

  "And Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35)  but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him." Acts 10:34

21) "But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22)  even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; 23)  for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 24)  being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:21-24)
                           
 *We are all called since all have sinned, all need a saviour, and all can be saved.

• What is the calling?

  "And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me."
(Matthew 10:38 ASV)

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
(Matthew 16:24 ASV)

"And he called unto him the multitude with his disciples, and said unto them, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
(Mark 8:34 ASV)

"And he said unto all, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
(Luke 9:23 ASV)
*To put to death ourselves (cross) and walk in the way of Jesus (follow Him).              

•  When is the calling?

   (for he saith, At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, And in a day of salvation did I succor thee: behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation): (2Corinthians 6:2)
*Now, right now, today.

• Where does the calling take place? 

"The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:" (Acts 17:30)
 *All men (people/mankind), everywhere, repent (now).

Because:

  "inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Act 17:31) Jesus was resurrected from the dead after becoming a propitiation for our sins, that when we obey Jesus we will find a life worth living --while here on this earth, and later, eternal life with him.
*"He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."            (Matthew 10:39 ASV)                    

 "but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living:"1Peter 1:15

*When the Bible speaks of Christianity as a 'high calling', that is what it is. God has called us out of worldly ways, to be holy, and godly.


*A person doesn't have to come from living in a pig stye to appreciate living in a comfortable, nice home.

When People Don't

Ecclesiastes 10:7 "I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking like servants upon the earth."

Many things happen in this world, some make sense; some things don't. Of late I read an article about two people who had been married twenty years that were going their separate ways. It was poignant. It  gave the distinct impression that one of the people in the separation wasn't happy about it. Resigned would be the word I'd use.

Change: The More Things Change The More They Stay the Same~

The one writing the farewell began by stating: I know I'm not easy to live with...
Well, well in all truth and honesty--who is? I'm asserting that each one of us has faults, defects, frailties--you get the idea. Since no one is perfect, no one is 'easy to live with'. Granted, some are easier to live with than others, but there is more often than not, a period of adjustment.

The impression I got, was one person of the duo was resigned to becoming single, and the other person had things they wanted to do i.e. "I'm happy for you that you'll be going back to further your education". What? You mean that to go back to college requires you to leave your mate of twenty years behind? We understand how callous that is when men begin families then leave them behind for something and someone new. That's shallow and callous.

Do we ever outgrow the people we love? Should we ever outgrow the people we love?

 I have a feeling that in the case of the original couple the 'she' of the pair at least thought she wanted something different. Maybe it was the 'change of life' syndrome. Both men and women have those 'changes', by the way. In the case of this 'she', it sounded like a syndrome of the grass is greener somewhere else. The answer in that case is, the grass is always greener where you water it.

There were three comments. The one summed it up in a short comment--Quitters, you couldn't have tried a little harder? Of course we don't know all the circumstances, but after twenty years where was the disconnect--and couldn't they have looked for it? But it takes two in a relationship. If one half isn't interested it doesn't work.

We all grow and change. I've been a lot of places, seen a lot of things in my life, but I will always be me. The people I love will always be in my heart. I don't intend to trade them in for something more green. I loved my grandparents and my in-laws. We tried to do for them as much as we could. As my husband and I grew older our house often was the spot for the Thanksgiving meals, and Christmas meals, and birthdays. Wherever we went we took them along.With each of their passing a part of my life went with them. I've wrapped it up in a neat little place in my heart.

But I wish I had known several things when I was in my younger years that I've discovered with aging.

• I've discovered, there are things I can't do. And I won't ask someone else to do it. One of the side notes is--it isn't I wouldn't let someone do it for me, or at least help, but if people don't care enough to be in my life to find out what I need, I'm not going to ask them.
• I've discovered that the family I thought was the greatest family on earth--isn't.
• I've discovered that all of us, as we go through life never do the things we want. Sure, we try to do the right things, but trying isn't accomplishing, and life is not easy. Modern life is horrible on families--even the greatest family on earth. 
• I've discovered to be kind. Many people would do better--see last discovery. I've apologized profusely for not getting enough done, even though the Good Lord knows I really wanted to, because I love, and have loved my family so much. 
• I've discovered that, just as the ex-pro football player said, there is no amount of fame in your younger life that makes up for being forgotten when you're older.

 2Corinthians 1:3  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4)  who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
                              Hallelujah, what a Savior.