Continuing the Journey

Mark 9:21-24

   "²¹ “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.

   He replied, “Since he was a little boy. ²² The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

 ²³ “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
 ²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”"

It seems like God's really trying to talk to me lately. Have you ever had one of those moments, where it seems like everything is pointing to one thing, but you feel as if you are missing something? I'm having that feeling right now. 2011 has been a year of learning for me so far, learning to be patient, learning to have faith and learning to express myself through this blog. But this weekend, God really started to say something, in fact...He might very well be YELLING something at me!

My best friend and I did a study through our church this weekend, to find our Chazown; or vision. One of the exercises we did was to identify our core values, those things that give you a righteous anger or the things you are very passionate about. One of my core values came up as faith, no surprise there if you've been reading my blog. What was surprising is how much if fit into my vision for things. I've been writing about patience, and other spiritual gifts this year, but faith just always seemed like it was something that was easy for me. This year, I'm starting to discover how closely related faith and patience really are for me. The passage I've posted from Mark has long been a prayer of mine, at least the father's response has been. I DO believe, but help my unbelief!! How often I cry out that very phrase in my prayer time.

So move ahead to Saturday evening when I attended a concert that featured several bands, one of which was Kutlass. Kutlass has a song that, again, felt as if God were trying to talk to me. The words to that course are practically a road map for my journey of faith and patience, the song is What Faith Can Do. To really show how this song is my road map, I've copied the lyrics to my blog:

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes
And make a new beginning

Anyone can feel the ache
You think it's more than you can take
But you're stronger
Stronger than you know

Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason
For someone not to try

Everybody's scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It'll be alright

Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
[That's what faith can do]
When the world says you can't
It'll tell you that you can

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do
That's what faith can do

Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise

Then to top it all off this morning, my Bible reading has the scripture form Mark 9 "²¹ “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. 

   He replied, “Since he was a little boy. ²² The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

 ²³ “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

 ²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”" It seems like God might be trying to say it WILL happen Julie, you WILL see the very things you long for; I'm just teaching you a little bit of faith, faith of a small seed.

I praise God that He not only is teaching me things, but that He loves me enough to remind me that He's teaching me. And just like the boy's father; I'll scream it at the top of my lungs..."I BELIEVE, BUT HELP MY UNBELIEF!!!"

"Religious Talk"

This post is a little different today, it's my thoughts on a situation that I saw unfold on our beloved social networking site, facebook.

Here's the situation in the brief, a local pastor and his family were on vacation when they were hit my a semi head on (so far no one has died, but the family could sure use any prayers sent their way) and therefore made the local news stations. I had received a request to pray for the family earlier in the day, so I was curious as to what the news had to say, (I "follow" this local news on facebook) so I checked out the article. It was tastefully done and basically just gave the facts of the accident, that wasn't the part that got my attention, it was the first comment after the story that got to me. A person said "serves them right for being Christians", now, as most of you reading this, my first reaction was anger and resent. As I kept reading those comments, and the replies to them; I started to get discouraged. This poor soul is hurting, and crying out for love and the "Christians" that were replying to him, were just trying to get him to debate and prove he was wrong. I understand that thinking, because I wanted to do the same thing! But instead of replying at all, I set out to pray for the person. I prayed that God would lead someone into his life that would show him God's love for him; and that he'd stop hurting. I wanted to reach out to him so much, but I was unaware of how to do this. I know that my Lord does miracles every single day; and I'm praying for one in this persons life on a daily basis.

It got me thinking (well that, and a blog I read attached to the youversion.com bible on line) about how a non-Christian views our "language". I know that when I'm reading my bible I get confused, and I grew up in the church, how much more so would it be for someone who's never been apart of that, or read the bible before? I feel that as Christians, we have a responsibility NOT to overload non-believers with fancy words and rules; I feel our job is to show them love. Wasn't this Jesus' role here on earth? To love the sinners? There is a passage in the Bible that talks a little bit about our responsibility towards others, it's Matthew 7:3 "And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?"  When we load up on those words and actions that the "normal" person doesn't understand, sometimes we just push them away instead of bring them to Christ.

So the bottom line for me, is that I'm trying hard not to sound "holier then thou" or overly "smart" in my talking about faith. I want God to shine through me and be a light in the world. And I'm taking steps to pray for this person, instead of bash this person. May the Lord shine through us all, and show others what true love is all about.

Longing

Psalm 38:9  
    "You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh."

As defined my Dictionary.com, longing is: strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant. A persistaent desire or craving, yep...that sounds like me and most of America too!

I don't mean to sound ugly there, but it seems to be true, as Americans, we are always longing for something more, more money, more prestieage, more of the next best thing. Some of us may have some very noble longings as well, longing for a mate, children or to help somone and the like. I know that the strongest desire of my heart right now is to become pregnant, but I then turn around and crave things that I shouldn't;  like sweet or fried foods. My body seems to be waging a war against it's self, pulling me one way and then another.

This morning I came across this verse in my daily reading and it hit me as a comfort. We are told in the new testament that "the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." (Romans 8:26) between these two verses, I'm seeing a pattern, a pattern that says God knows, and when we are at a loss for words, the Holy Spirit will pray about it for us.

I have been there, many a time; when I didn't have the words to express my hurt, my pain or my joy in something;  and I have felt the Holy Spirt take over for me. I would feel a peace settle over me and know that God was hearing what it was that I couldn't find the words to say. This isn't a common thing for me, but it's happend enough that I know it's true. When I read this verse this morning, I felt that same "sigh" of peace flood through me, that feeling of "why should I struggle with this, when God already knows?" But, oh, how I struggle anyway. I lay something at His throne and then trun around when I'm done praying and pick it right back up, carry it with me and go about my life. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's done this, but why have I done it? Why can't I learn to leave my troubles with the Lord? I have no idea. If anyone out there in blogger land has any ideas on this, please let me know!

For now, I'm just thankful that "You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh." So I'll continue to rest in that knowledge that you hear my heartache, and you will listen to my sighs. Thank you Jesus for knowing and listening; it means the world to a girl who just wants to be heard.

Life Verse

Psalm 37:7
  "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act."

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like God is REALLY trying to get your attention? I had one of those moments this morning. I was reading along in my Bible, trying to concentrate on the words and still pray about things at the same time (note to readers, this is cheating both your prayer time AND your study time...not a good idea for me!) when out of no where, Psalm 37:7 hits me.

As I've stated before, I've really been struggling with two things in particular, trying to get pregnant and dealing with my TMJ, which seems to be getting worse as I age. When one is looking to be something (pregnant, married, dating, promoted, however one is looking to change their station) it seems as if everyone around them is getting what they want, but themselves. For the last several years, this has been my outlook with pregnancy, it's everywhere around me, but never me. I have to fight a constant battle not to get depressed about it, and sometimes I win, and sometimes I don't. So that is one of the main reasons that I chose the word patience as my "life word" for this year. I realized that I wasn't being patient and I wasn't waiting on God's timing, and even worse then that, I wasn't letting God be God and work a miracle in my life.

So I chose patience, and then promptly went on with my life exactly as I was before. I thought about it, and prayed about it, once in awhile; but other then that it was business as usual in my life. It's funny how God can use the most mundane things to turn you back towards His path isn't it? One day I'm discussing an idea in scripture with my best friend and then I'm writing a blog on a regular basis. You see, God has a plan for my life this year (and every year) but I think His plan for me is playing out in my blog. I think He's teaching me the true meaning of the word Patience. I feel as if He's trying to tell me something through his word, and today, that word was this "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act." There are two commands there, first Be Still. If you have ever met me, you'll know that being still, isn't impossible for me, but it isn't something I do well. Let me rephrase that, give me a good book and I can be still for hours, but that isn't being still in the presence of the Lord. I'm a talker, and whenever I try to be still in His presence, I last about 30 seconds and then I'm talking to God, not listening. Then God tells me to wait patiently for Him to act. Here again, I am a planner, I like to know what's going to happen WAY in advance of it actually happening, just ask my poor husband how I do "vacations" and he'll tell you, she plans them and I go along.

So how do I do these things? Be still in His presence and wait patiently for Him to act? That is my journey of 2011 folks, to learn better how to do these things. For now, I'll keep praying for that patience that is eluding me and keep reading His word. After all, it seems that doing that brings me a new insight every day! I will also keep blogging, why? Because if I write it down, then I can go back and read my journey through the year, and Even if no one else is reading my blog; I am and it's helping me!

Chosen

John 15:16
   "You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name."

How important those words are, I didn't chose HIM, but HE chose ME! These words are most inspiring to a person who has always suffered from self-esteem issues. I was never the "popular" girl in school, because I had two strikes against me, 1) I didn't like getting in trouble, so I was labeled a "good girl" and 2) I LOVED to wear dresses, so I was made fun of for that as well. So growing up, and once I came to college as well, I never felt like I really fit in, or accepted. A lot of this came from my own mind and not those surrounding me, but it was still there...lurking in my brain.

But to know that Jesus set out with me in mind, He wanted ME to be a part of His family, He sought me out to include me personally; that's mind blowing. That is a whole new ball game to me. Not only does it mean I'm worthy, but also that I'm desired! Not only am I desired, but I have a mission; or purpose, as well!

How often do we allow ourselves to feel unloved, undesired by those around us? I know that, especially in my teen years, I did this often. I let other people's opinions of me form my self worth. Yet, this isn't how God sees us, He sees us as special, as one He will peruse. What wonderful words those are, perused, desired, loved and special.

So the next time you feel bad about yourself, or find yourself thinking you aren't good enough for something, remember that Jesus said "You didn’t choose me. I chose you."  Think about God's words for you instead, loved, desired, perused and chosen, and then simile and know that the Most High has chosen you to be His.

Prayer Song

Today, instead of writing a blog, I wanted to post the words to a song. This particular song is from a CD that I feel could EASILY be a sermon series. The song is Who Am I by Casting Crowns. This song talks about the singers wonderment at the Love of God, and why God would chose them. I have felt that way so many times. Like in the song, I feel like a fading flower; here today and gone tomorrow; but the Lord of all creation loves ME! How do I deserve that? I don't, that's why God sent us Grace. So here are the words to a song that is singing in my heart today.

Who Am I - by Casting Crowns

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

As long as I can remember that Not because of who I am, But because of what You've done. Not because of what I've done. But because of who You are. Then I'll keep His grace in sight.

Lovely Day

John 15:12

  " This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you."

Today is a day when people all over the land celebrate Love. It's Valentine's Day. My husband normally will have a nice dinner to celebrate the day, but that's about as far as it goes in my household. It's not that we dislike the day, it's more that we want to celebrate our love throughout the year, and not limit it to one day. This week at my church we had a young man read/rap a poem that, I believe, he wrote called God's Valentine. It was so moving, and literally gave me goosebumps! It got me thinking about the word Love. Where does "love" come from? God. God is the one who created love, He is the one who perfected love and He is the one who freely gave it away.

I'm pretty sure that the Bible talks about love more then any other thing, or at least it seems that way to my eyes! On this day, Valentines Day, I'd like to look at love as it applies among humans. This verse in John talks about how we are to love one another as Christ has loved us. That's pretty deep, don't you think? I mean, He loved us SO much that He gave His life on a cross so that we could live a forgiven life! The very next verse says  "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13) Can you imagine laying your life down for a friend? I know that in some cases that wouldn't be difficult at all...but in other cases, I'm not so sure I could pull it off. Loving others, even those we are angry at; been mistreated by; feel hatred towards, that's hard to do.


How do you love those whom you don't feel love from? An even HARDER verse to maintain is this one, found in Leviticus 19:18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."  I know that there have been times when I've fallen into this trap, the trap of bearing a grudge against someone, it's not a fun feeling to have to deal with. Not only was it rough to have to deal with my feelings towards the other person, but also I had to deal with decay the feelings were causing inside of my own life. Hurt, and sometimes even worse feelings ruled those days with me. As I've gotten older, this has actually gotten harder for me, but I think that is because I see the pain it causes me and I have to deal with that pain. C.S. Lewis had some thoughts on this as well, he once said
"The rule for us all is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you "love" your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him." The first time I saw this quote, I had to smile and thank God for wise men like Mr. Lewis! I loved it so much, that it's now the "note" on my work email, to which I have gotten many a compliment. It reminds me that I need to act that way as well. That by just acting out the thoughts, we are teaching ourselves to FEEL the thoughts.


I wanted to write this post today, because not everyone has a flesh and blood someone to celebrate Valentines Day with, but we all have someone who loves us very much, who died on a cross to save us from our sins, and who; one day, will come back to claim us all in love. That someone is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Thank you so much, Lord for being my all, everything and most importantly, my Love! I love you! Happy Valentines day!

Questions

Why is it so much easier to trust God when the sun is shinning? Have you ever notice that? The last two weeks here in OKC have been very much winter and while I'm used to have a winter up north, this is something entirely new for my "southern" self to endure. Most of my blogging has been during this time...this "winter" if you will, in my life. I've written about faith, love, disappointments, and many other "issues" with my life during this "winter".

Today was different for me. For the first time in about two weeks, I woke late (for some odd reason, I just haven't been able to sleep in at all lately, even when I had two days off for the blizzard), and felt great about it! When I grabbed my cell phone to check the weather, it said sunny and 42 (this was about 10:30), then I got up to get dressed and looked again (nearly 2 hours later) and it said sunny and 56!! WHAT??? 56?? I did a little happy dance and got in the shower so that I could get ready to face this awesome day...so much of a happy dance that I even shaved my legs...I mean after all, I'll be wearing flip flops today, mine as well wear a dress too, right?

 I marched myself down stairs and across the parking lot to do some laundry and it dawned on me...those things that I was struggling with, JUST YESTERDAY, don't seem so important today. Today, the important thing is to focus on God's love for me, His face smiling on me and the general happiness that I feel. Why is that? why do we, as humans, feel like the world is ending when the sun isn't out?

I don't have any answers for this question, but I think that for once, there don't need to be any answers, just rest, peace and love filtering through my blood, and life today. Thank you Jesus for the sun! :-)

You'll Never walk Alone

Exodus 33:14

   "The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you."

What a phenomenal promise we find here in scripture. Really? the Lord said "I will go with you"? That is the most awesome news I've gotten all day long! Ok, so granted, it's only 8:55, but it's the best news I've heard in probably my whole life, so it counts! Last night, I got some wonderful news, but this news also made my "I'm learning Patience this year" meter drop WAY low. This news had me tears last night.

Let me explain, because I haven't yet in this blog! One of the biggest reasons that I chose my "word for the year" as Patience, is because I'm trying to get pregnant. TRYING being the key word here. As I've mentioned before, my husband and I are getting ready to celebrate our 10th anniversary later this year, and due to some medical issues, we were unable to really even TRY having kids until last October. Being the optimistic person that I am, I had hoped and prayed that I would get pregnant right away. I haven't. Now, for those of you who know me, you will know that I love children and have longed to have some of my own since I was little. Patience plays a big part in that I am trying to have patience to wait on God's timing. I've spent many tears over this, and have probably nearly talked God's ear off in this department as well. Yet, as of today; I am no closer to having a baby then I was 10 years ago.

The news I received last night was that my "little sister" is pregnant with her second child. This news is AWESOME, she and her husband are such wonderful parents and it give my parents a chance to play grandma and grandpa to a local grandchildren (my brother's family lives in Florida, and my parents in Indiana), but it was sad because it made me less patient with myself and God. My poor husband had to deal with my tears, which only served to make him feel guilty that we aren't pregnant yet. Now this morning, after I called my other sister to cry and laugh (my sister is GREAT at making me laugh, and listening to my tears too...Love you sissy!!) last night, I was reading in my Bible and ran across this verse.

God is telling Moses that He will PERSONALLY go with him, that He'll PERSONALLY give Moses rest and that it will all be fine for Moses! I know that I'm not Moses, but I also know that the scriptures aren't JUST for the people who were written about either. This verse this morning said "and the Lord said 'I will personally go with you, Julie, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.'" EVERYTHING will be fine for me. That means, if it's not in His will for my life to have children, then it will STILL be fine, that means, if I am to endure the pain of my TMJ, I will still be fine. That means, no matter what, He will PERSONALLY be there holding my hand, wiping my tears and hugging away my pain.

If you can't tell by the last two days posts, I'm a fan of musicals. The musical Carousal has a song entitled You'll Never Walk Alone, sung by a soon to be father. The words to this song are as follows:

When you walk through a storm
Keep your chin up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At he end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone.

I read these words, and I feel hope. Hope from our Lord, the one who's known me since before I was born. He is singing this song to my soul right now. He's giving me peace, patience, hope and love. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."  My Lord and Savior is giving me things, faith that He will heal me, hope that I'll someday hold a baby of my own and Love. Love needs no other explanation, it's just that powerful. So when we are all down, feeling depressed and sad; just remember what Rodgers and Hammerstein so eloquently wrote for us...that we will Never Walk Alone.

These are a few of my Favorite Things...

1 John 1:7

   "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from allt sin."

This verse has long been my favorite verse in the Bible. While I was contemplating writing this particular blog, about favorite verses, I started to really think about this verse in detail. I asked myself why this was my favorite verse, and do you know what I came up with? I don't know. That surprised me, how does one have a favorite verse in the Bible and not know WHY said verse is their favorite? I believe I was 15 when I "chose" this verse to be my favorite. Our pastor at the time led our youth group in an in depth study of 1 John, and when we went over this verse, something struck me. I was "in love" with the imagery of fellowship (I still am, being the social person that I am!) and maybe that's what struck me, or maybe it was the simple fact that Jesus blood purifies me from all sin...ALL sin. Now I was only 15, so I didn't have a LOT of "horrible" sin's to be forgiven of, and I was already a Christian at that point, so I'd already been forgiven, but for some reason this verse spoke to me. I remember frantically taking notes on that "class" we did, and thinking; even at that time; how awesome it was that I was able to be a part of this class...in fact a friend of mine was unable to come so I was taking notes for two of us. I learned so much, but I remember so little of that class. But I'll always remember 1 John 1:7. As a teenager, I didn't know much about the Bible and what was going on in "religious talk" so I didn't know that a lot of people will use 1 John 1:9, " But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." as a verse that explains the whole gospel to non-believers. I remember going to a Christian college and hearing them repeat 1 John 1:9 over and over, and feeling a little jealous for my special verse. I still don't know why I favor this verse so much, but I know that I treasure it and it has gotten be through some tough times...it's almost as if Jesus and I share a gem, a secret that I have with Him and it's my special verse!

Now this isn't my ONLY favorite verse, when in that same Bible College I came across another verse or two to help me make it though, but one of those verses Esther 4:14, "The fact is, even if you remain silent now, someone else will help and rescue the Jews, but you and your relatives will die. And who knows, you may have gained your royal position for a time like this." The version I was reading in college (I THOUGHT it was NIV) said "and who can say you weren't placed in the palace for such a time as this", and the only reason I mention that is because, at the time, I was feeling lonely, depressed and missing my family 800 miles away. When I saw the verse, I mis-read it and thought it said "and who can say you weren't placed in this PLACE for such a time as this." Place had a lot more meaning to me then palace did! Who can say that God hadn't placed me in that College for a great reason? I wasn't at that school for long, but I met my husband there, and several friends, including my best friend; and I learned a LOT there. I learned a lot about my faith, and where it might take me. So I feel God did place me there...for such a time as that!

I have learned a lot through my Bible, and I see patterns...patterns that point out trends in my life through my "special" verses. Here lately, my special verse has been Psalm 5:8 "Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Tell me clearly what to do, and show me which way to turn." This became a special verse when Michael and I were trying to decide what school to go to, while we finished our degrees, and has stayed that way as I journey through life. It held special meaning to me when I was ready to leave a job and felt like everyone was "against" me, and it holds special meaning today because I want to know CLEARLY which way to turn, before I start my turning. I have gotten ahead of God on several occasions and would prefer to stay within His will from this point on.

I say all of this, because I'm curious, curious about other people's verses and the reasons behind them. I had a dear friend and mentor at a Church we were serving at tell me his favorite verse was the first part of Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God..." He said he this verse was very powerful because it simply said God has been here since the beginning. I had another friend teach her son 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." because it taught him not to fear, but hold tight to God. That being said, what's YOUR favorite verse, and why?

Serving Others

Matthew 25:34-40

   34  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ 

37  “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

40  “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

These are pretty powerful words from Christ in Matthew 25. Especially verse 40, where the King proclaims "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"  This particular chapter goes on to explain that the brothers and sisters who didn't take care of the "least of these" was cast out of the Kings presence. This set of verses is sort of a motto for me, while at least it's the beginning of a dream for me.

I've long felt like the American "church" has been missing our calling, that is; we aren't doing what the Bible has called us to do. James says it this way in James 1:27 "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."  I feel like the orphans and widows of yesteryear are the poor and needy of today. The Church is called to help these, and due to some laws, and other issues we just aren't. The longing of my heart IS to help those who need help. Let me explain a little. In 2008 when the recession stormed it's way across America and people started DESPERATELY needing help, who did they turn to after the government? Mostly they tried Churches; but the churches were grossly unprepared to help in this kind of situation. I have a vision, a vision that would help my fellow neighbor. My vision is something like this: the church you are attending has a "community help center" where people can bring the things they no longer need...things like bikes, baby items, clothes, books or whatever they have left over. When someone needs help in the community with these items, they can come and get them. Now when it comes to other "helps" that people need, services and things like that; the director of the CHC would have done the networking and leg work to know exactly where to send the person for that help they need. This center would truly have to be a community effort, with organizations from all over networking and helping out, city, county and state agencies as well as not for profit type organizations. I know that there would be several legal issues to work with/around in this situation; but the help that it would provide would be enormous. I'm pretty sure smaller communities have things like this, but the cities are lagging in the "helps" area. I don't mean to point any fingers here, because it's MY vision and I'm at a loss to figure out how to make the vision come true. But we, as the Church need to start seeing the needs around us, and getting creative to met them. After all Jesus did say "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!", and who among us would give up the chance to help out the Savior of the World? I know I, for one, would be standing in line just WAITING to get my opportunity to help.

Almond Blossom

Exodus 25:31-39

     ³¹ “Make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. Make the entire lampstand and its decorations of one piece—the base, center stem, lamp cups, buds, and petals. ³² Make it with six branches going out from the center stem, three on each side. ³³ Each of the six branches will have three lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. ³⁴ Craft the center stem of the lampstand with four lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. ³⁵ There will also be an almond bud beneath each pair of branches where the six branches extend from the center stem. ³⁶ The almond buds and branches must all be of one piece with the center stem, and they must be hammered from pure gold. ³⁷ Then make the seven lamps for the lampstand, and set them so they reflect their light forward. ³⁸ The lamp snuffers and trays must also be made of pure gold. ³⁹ You will need seventy-five pounds^[g] of pure gold for the lampstand and its accessories.

Today has nothing to do with the fruits of the Spirit. Today I'm thinking about the beauty of an almond blossom. I was reading in my Bible today in Exodus where God is giving Moses the plans for the Tabernacle. Now normally while I'm reading this portion of the Bible, my eyes start to glaze over and I find myself really just skimming the words. Why do I care so much about the exact size of these things anyway? I know, I know...it shows obedience to God's plan to know that the Israelites created the tabernacle, but I still get a little glazed eyed. Today while I was reading, I was caught by the reference to Almond buds and blossoms. I grew up in an area where Almond trees aren't overly common, so I wondered to myself...what does an Almond blossom look like. I had an idea in my head, and it turns out it was pretty dead on. The blossom of the Almond tree is beautiful, just breath taking but so delicate looking. What picture was God trying to give us/me with the Almond buds and blossoms?

I'm not sure what God's idea behind the flowers on the lampstands was, but I can tell you that I long to see those lampstands now. In my head, I'm seeing the lampstand as Jesus, and the flowers as his love, beautiful, breath taking but delicate seeming. I don't know much about this flower, but from what I understand it blooms sometime in Feburary. I'm gathering mid month, now I don't know about you, but anything that is a "normal" bloomer in the month of Feburary seems pretty hardy to me. They grow (here in the US) in California, which has a much better Feburary then say Main...but Feburary is known to be most US states coldest month of the year. This Feburary especially. Here in Oklahoma, we had a foot of snow last week...A FOOT!!! We don't normally get that kind of weather here, and we are expecting more this week (thankfully MOST of last weeks snow melted away on Saturday) and if those fronts are here, they had to come from somewhere right? From what I can tell most of our weather starts off in the West and works it's way East. So I'm guessing that California is at least a little bit off in thier weather patterns for the month as well, yet I've read on one blog that the Almond trees are starting thier blooms a little early this year. That doesn't sound delicate to me!

God's love for us, a love that is so large that He sent His only Son to die on a Cross for us, is ANYTHING but delicate to me. It's strong, beautiful and yes, breath taking. After all, who am I, that Christ would save me from my sins? The Bible says, in Romans 5:8 "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Think about that, while I was STILL sinning, God sent His Son to die for me, so that I could be saved. That image in my head is so breath taking that I just don't know how to obsorb it. But I know that I'm thankful for it. I know that I will strive in my life to show Him how much I appreciate that. Thank you Jesus for your Almond Blossom love, the beauty and strength of it blow me away! I love you Jesus!

Kindness

Ephesians 1:7-8

     "⁷ He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. ⁸ He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding."

Kindness is a word that gets thrown around a lot today; but what does it mean? I looked at my trusty dictionary.com and the only definition they had listed that did not use the word kindness IN the definition was: friendly feeling; liking. So I thought that I would look for a few synonyms for the word. Here is what I came up with.

—Synonyms
1, 3. benignity, benevolence, humanity, generosity, charity, sympathy, compassion, tenderness. Now these are some words that I can sink my teeth into! Humanity, generosity, compassion and tenderness, all words that describe Jesus' ministries here on Earth.


As Christians we are called to be like Jesus, to be "Christ like", so to add kindness to the list of Fruits of the Spirit makes sense to me. My verse at the top states God was "so full of kindness and grace...", these two words go together well in my book. I was given a word picture for grace once, to sign "grace" you make the sign for the letter "g" over your heart (the sign for "guilt"), and then flip that sign upside down. It was said to me like this, Grace is guilt turned upside down. That has always stuck in my head, God took our guilt and turned it upside down and made it grace. What does that have to do with kindness? Well, I feel God's kindness is what gave us that grace.

Psalm 145:17 says it this way "The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness." Kindness towards us. Kindness that sent His only Son to the Cross to bear our sins for us, kindness that would send us the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and even "speak" for us when we are unable to, kindness that has reached across generations and hit me square in the heart. You know, looking back at my life since I moved out to Oklahoma, I see a lot of God's kindness to me that was hidden in trying times. When we first moved here, I couldn't find a job to save my life, but God had a kindness in store, He had an Applebee's just waiting to open and hire me. As I worked my tail off (literally!) at the Bee's, and knew I needed something that paid better...God sent another gift, in the form of a favorite patron of mine at Applebee's who wanted to recruit me to work for them. And the gifts just keep coming folks! I'm thankful for learning all of the hard lessons that God had for me to learn, but He never once left me alone. His kindness and mercy follows/ed me all the days of my life! I know he has a lot more kindness just waiting to shower down on me, and I pray that when that kindness comes, I'll have left my umbrella at home!