Month: January 2017

Christian Life

Close To God

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Sea of Galilee 2.jpg

There is really no feeling like walking in the places where Jesus walked during His life and ministry on this earth.  While I was in Israel this month, I sought to let my mind go back to the times when Jesus walked the same paths I was walking.  As in the picture above, I touched the water he walked on, and imagined His sandaled feet passing over the road where I was stepping.  There’s nothing mystical or magical about it – I think the word would be sobering.  

It sobered me to think that He came.  He left heaven for a life that would be mocked, disbelieved, and misunderstood.

He came to heal, raise to life, provide bread miraculously, to touch, to care, and to love so much that He would be crucified for my sin.

That is a sobering thought that made me love Him even more.

As I walked through the Garden of Gethsemene and saw the Olive trees, I imagined Him praying for the cup He was about to drink while His disciples slept.  As I looked at Golgotha, I envisioned Him dying on the cross.  When I entered the Garden before the tomb, I saw Mary looking for her Lord and I heard Him call her name.

Does it take a miraculous meeting in the Garden to be close to God?  Does it take a trip to Israel to experience the blessing of His nearness? Of course not! Even when I am home in the states, He calls my name as I open His Word, just as He called Mary’s name in the garden.  He speaks to me.  He cares for me.  He provides for me.  He lives for me.

That is a sobering thought that should make us realize that He is near to us every single day as we walk in His Word, as we pray, as we think on Him and invite Him into every situation we face. This very same Jesus lives to change each of our lives!

Acts 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Even if you never travel to Israel, He longs to be close to you, Friend.  Open His Word.  Talk to Him.  He is right there with you.  You don’t need an experience, all you need is a relationship with Him.

(Go here and click on “you can have a relationship with God.”)

This same Jesus wants to walk and talk with you today.  Are you listening?

When do you feel closest to God?

Lovingly,

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Traveling

(L)Oven Monday – Enjoying Food in Israel

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Hello Friends and Happy Monday!  I returned this past Friday from a two-week trip to Israel!  This was our second time to visit and tour this beloved land, and it was incredible!  I feel like a little more light of understanding was able to peek into my mind and heart, giving  me an even greater love for my God and His Word!

Since I was away, I haven’t had anything going on in my oven, but I thought I’d share a little of my food diary from our trip to the Middle East.  The food there is good, just different.  The places where we stayed tended to have the same kind of foods available, with a few exceptions.  Let me give you a visual of what we ate:

Israel Breakfast.jpg

There was always a buffet for breakfast and supper at the places we stayed.  Believe it or not, you will always see a salad bar at breakfast time.  They have lots of wonderful cheeses, spreads, olives, and greens, vegetables and other salads made up.

That wasn’t exactly my style for the first meal of the day, so I usually had some type of egg.  Most places offered  an egg station where they would make you a fried egg, scrambled egg, or omelet.  It was important to get protein for the long days of hiking and traversing, so I usually always had an egg of some sort.  Often there were egg casseroles, as well.

There is no bacon, but there is fish, and I learned that pickled Herring is really good, plus it’s another source of protein!  It’s surprisingly good with breakfast!

The produce there is amazingly fresh and delicious!  Their avocados were huge and delicious, and made a great accompaniment to the eggs! I had an orange almost every day- they were so flavorful!

Coffee was a “Cappuccino,” unsweetened, but made from a real cappuccino machine, it had frothy milk and caffeine. I just added artificial sweetener and it was perfect!

Lunchtime didn’t offer a great deal of variety.  We usually heard that there were two choices – Falafel and Schnitzel.  Here they are:

lunch-in-israel

In case you’re not familiar with falafel, it is made up of pureed chick peas and herbs and deep fried.  It’s usually served in a pita bread and accompanied by lettuce, salad and sweet peppers.  Sometimes there is a Tahini Sauce to add, which is made from Tahini paste (Middle Eastern sesame paste), lemon juice, olive oil and a few spices.

The other choice is Schnitzel (bottom right picture), which can be made from chicken, pork or veal.  It is pounded thinly and fried and served the same as the falafel.

One day we were offered a “Quesadilla” – a large “tortilla” spread with goat cheese and herbs and olive oil and grilled (Top right picture).  It was good and a nice change.  We found out that the herbs that are spread on each of the lunch choices really didn’t settle well, so we opted out of lunch most days, eating the snacks we had taken with us.

The other choice that was on a menu board was a “cheese stick.”  It wasn’t really flavorful, but the cappuccino that accompanied it made up for its lack of taste!

Now for supper in Israel:

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There was always an incredible choice of salad options.  I loved the olives, cucumbers and peppers added into my lettuce.  Also, the olive oil and vinegar option for dressing was a light way to enjoy the salad.

Bread and hummus were present always, as well as a variety of hot dishes with meat or fish.  Rice, Couscous and potatoes were sides offered.  Then the desserts were many and delicious.  Thankfully, they were small portions, so you could try a few different ones without feeling too guilty!

So, we definitely didn’t starve, but at the same time, do you know how good a Longhorn steak and baked potato tasted the night we returned??!!!!  My taste buds love the American cuisine!  I look forward to stirring up some things in my kitchen and warming up my oven for some of our favorite dishes this next week!

Have you traveled outside of the US?  What foods did you love?

Happy to be home!

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children · eternal · evangelism · salvation

Family Friday – A Mom’s Greatest Privilege

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bible-a

January is a busy birthday month for our family. Our son-in-law celebrated his a couple weeks ago. My husband’s is on the 22nd.  Today we celebrate my mom’s 80th!!   What a blessing she is with her love for the Lord, her family and her home.She has been a blessing to all that know her, and I am thankful to call her my mom!   Happy Birthday, Mom!

Our oldest daughter, Whitney celebrated a special birthday last week – it was her 28th spiritual birthday. When she was three and a half she trusted Christ as her Savior. You may be thinking, “Three and a half? How could a child that young understand how to be saved?” I don’t know how the Lord works in a sinner’s heart, but I know that He does.

From the moment she was born, we told her of God’s love, of Jesus dying on the cross, that sin was what we say or do that doesn’t please God, etc. One evening after she’d been listening to a Patch the Pirate tape about a little boy trusting Christ as his Savior, she told me she wanted to do that too. I wasn’t sure how much she understood, but after talking with her, I knew she wouldn’t be satisfied until she prayed. Her prayer was simple and sincere, trusting as a child can.

As she grew up I didn’t want to keep reminding her of her decision at that early age. If there was ever a doubt in her heart, I wanted her to feel free to make it sure. However, she never doubted what God did for her on that day!

Our responsibility and privilege as moms is to keep telling our children about the Lord, His love and Christ’s sacrifice for them in terms they can understand. We do it as Deuteronomy 6:4-7 admonishes us – while we sit, when we rise, when we lie down, when we get up. This means all through the day in the activities you find yourself doing, make it a natural part of your conversation to talk about the Lord.

Ask the Lord to help you make spiritual applications using the snow, bath bubbles, gardening – whatever you’re doing. It will be a natural conversation, not something that is forced, and when your child understands and is ready to receive Christ, it will probably be at one of those very informal times. When both of my girls trusted Christ, we were at home, doing things we do each day. The Lord may touch your child’s heart when they are at church, but your home can also be the sanctuary in which they are saved.

One year Whitney wrote me on her spiritual birthday and said,

“Thank you for introducing me to Jesus.”

I read that and wept, as I also do at this moment. Is there any privilege any greater than that? She and her sister are two treasures that by God’s grace I get to take to heaven with me! How sweet eternity will be!

To all you young moms – just keep telling the story. Tell it. Sing it. Share it. You may have another birthday at your house as a result!

How old were you when you got saved?

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Christian Life

The Comfort of His Presence

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Image result for sitting at a red light

Imagine going to town this morning. You pull up to the red light and turn to see that the car in the lane next to you is someone that’s close to you – your husband, parent, pastor, or friend. You nod and wave, acknowledging their presence. The light turns green and you go on. When you arrive at the library to return your books, you open the car door and there’s that same person that was at the green light. They smile and watch as you go into the building. “I didn’t know we were going the same direction today,” you might think. You jump back in your car and head to the salon for your hair appointment. When you walk in, there sits that person again, reading a magazine. You laugh, perhaps, shake your head and walk into the room where your stylist is waiting for your arrival. Imagine that everywhere you went today that same person showed up. They didn’t threaten or frighten you, but you are very aware of their presence.

 What kind of difference would there be in your day today if you saw Jesus’ face in each of those scenarios? Think of it – at every turn, you see Christ. In the line in the grocery store, His gaze is on you. As you speak to your family, His ear is leaning your direction, listening. He is in the family room as you surf the Internet. He hears your conversations with your fellow employees. Would there be a difference in how you’d spend your day, in the things you would talk about, in how bold you would be to witness? I know it would for me, that’s why I often pray that the Lord would make me more aware of His presence in my life today, because He is there every single moment. Consider these verses:

Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
Psalm 125:2 – As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
Proverbs 5:21 – For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
Proverbs 5:21 – For the Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

Should this be a frightening thought for us? No, the more we come to know God, the more we understand Who He is and that He is there to be our Comforter, Guide and Friend.
Look beside you, and be comforted that He is with you there today and every day.
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Life

Usefulness While Aging

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I don’t believe I have ever met anyone who is excited at the thought of aging. Take this woman, for instance – an interviewer said to her:

“I see your birthday is May 5, Ms. Beale. May I ask what year?” Ms. Beale replied: “Every year.”

We don’t want others to know how old we are; lest they think we’re old. There really is no option however, and we all have to determine not if we will age, but how we will do it! It’s really up to us how we live our years as seniors. Denying the truth won’t change the situation, but a biblical perspective will be the best help we could give ourselves.

This week our Sunday school class studied Psalm 90-92. There are some wonderful helps in this passage to guide our aging process. Consider Psalm 90 verses 9b, 10 and 12. “We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” We spend our years as a tale that is told – in other words we are preaching our funeral while we are living. You will be remembered by how you are living your life each day. The average years of a person’s life are seventy, but we can by His grace live to eighty or beyond, but we need to remember that we are living for the Judgment Seat of Christ where our works will be tried. We need to be living so that we will hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

I read that there are Seven Ages of Man:
6 weeks–all systems go
6 years–all systems “No!”
16 years–all systems know
26 years–all systems glow
36 years–all systems owe
56 years–all systems status quo
76 years–all systems slow

How then does an aging person continue to live so that their life counts for eternal purposes? They don’t have the stamina and strength that they had when they were younger. What can a senior citizen do for the Lord at this time in their life when “all systems are slow?” Here are a few suggestions:

  • Become a prayer warrior for a younger person. Ask the Lord to burden your heart for someone for whom you could pray. Go to that person and ask them how you can pray for them that week, then pray! Go back to them and ask them how that situation is coming, reminding them of your prayers. Continue to pray for their needs each week. 
  • Take a younger person under your wing as a mentor. Perhaps there is a younger person that would love to learn a skill you can do – knitting, sewing, baking, quilting, etc. While you’re with them, encourage them in the Scriptures and their walk with God.
  • Be a prayer warrior for your pastor and other leaders in your church. If you are familiar with other pastors, pray for their needs as well. Write them a note to tell them you’re praying for them. Satan is seeking to destroy them and their ministry; what a blessing you could be to them!
  • If you are able to bake, make something – cookies, a pie, homemade bread (you could just bake a frozen loaf) to a family that has moved into your neighborhood and is unchurched, a young family in your church that’s had a new baby or a new family that’s visited your church.
  • Give out tracts. When you go out to eat, give one to the waitress. Hand one to the clerk at the store where you shop. Put one on the bread you give to your new neighbor.
  • Be a verbal witness. Be praying for someone that the Lord would give you the chance to share the Gospel with. If you can’t get out, ask Him to bring someone to you!
  • Write a card or email of encouragement each week to someone for whom the Lord burdens your heart. It might be a missionary your church supports, your pastor, or a church member going through a trial.

These are just a few suggestions to get you thinking. I believe if we really desire to be used of the Lord we will be like Psalm 92:14 says, “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” I love this verse. A person that serves the Lord with a right heart won’t just have leaves, they will bear fruit! No matter how old we are, we can be useful to God -even if your “systems are slow!”

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