Swimming or Stinging

May 17, 2016May 17, 2016 RefreshHer2 Comments

Forgive me this week if I make several analogies about oceanlike things and places. It’s just that the ocean is full of great lessons about our God. He made it and He uses it, as in all His creation, to teach us spiritual truths. Romans 1:20 With no further ado, let’s stroll along the oceanfront!

Every day as we walked on the beach during vacation, there was a danger lurking. You really have to keep your eyes on the path before you, lest you step on one of the MANY jellyfish that have washed up on the seashore. Spite the fact that they may be dead, they still have the ability to sting and cause real pain!

One day while we were out strolling, my husband had his eyes on the ocean. I looked up just in time to see him about to step right on one of the washed-up sea creatures. I called his name and he did a sidestep number that would make Fred Astaire take a back seat! Yes, I laughed at him! But my point is, the danger of the washed-up jelly fish is so great, that it makes you do crazy (and funny) things just to avoid them!

I looked at those jelly fish every single day. Poor guys! They could have been out in the ocean doing what jelly fish do – but they got caught up in a wave and were now rendered pretty useless, except for hurting unsuspecting passersby.

It reminded me of church members and Christians. We have the opportunity to be a part of something glorious – the Church! But if we’re not careful, we can get caught up in waves that will toss us out where, instead of being useful, we only hurt the cause of Christ instead. What are some of those dangerous “waves” we might get caught up in?

Putting our eyes on people. People will let us down; we must keep our eyes on Christ!
Being resentful of the Truth. God loves you enough to confront your sin. Confess it and get right rather than thinking it’s a person who’s against you. If you’re being disobedient, God’s Holy Spirit will convict you. God uses pastors and teachers to guide us to the truth. Don’t be stubborn, but tender-hearted.
Getting burned out. Don’t try to do everything or serve in every ministry. Give yourself time for a breather. If you teach Sunday school, take time to be in the church service so you can be fed. If you’re going to help in the nursery, make it Wednesday night.
Listening to gossip. Satan is out to destroy the ministry of the Church. Remove yourself from people or groups who tear down the Church or its leaders.
Getting discouraged or hurt. Life is full of hard situations, and sometimes it can be people or happenings at church that are most painful. Be mature in the Word and apply God’s comfort. Forgive. Move on.

Remember that in any of these situations, the tendency is to strike out – just like the jellyfish – and hurt others. We want tell what’s happened to us, how we’ve been hurt or mistreated. Instead of swimming along in the deep waters of God’s love, we’re dried up and hurting those that will stop long enough to step our direction. The sad truth is that we’re also hurting the testimony of the Church and hindering lost people from trusting Christ.

Let’s learn a lesson from that dried up jellyfish and determine not to let that happen to us. Let’s keep swimming, and keep fulfilling God’s will through the vehicle of the Church! Swimming is lots better than stinging!

Lovingly,

Christian Life

Making Spiritual Connections

April 19, 2016April 17, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

A friend just told you how the Lord provided for her financial needs. A man at church shared a testimony of how God healed him of cancer. You hear of a friend whose childbirth was miraculous. You see the softening in the heart of someone who needs to be saved. Then a trial hits your life and you wonder where the Lord is.

Ever been there? I know twelve men who have. The disciples. Just after they had seen Jesus provide food for 5,000+ people with 5 loaves and 2 fish, they were on a storm-tossed sea . Jesus walked out to them on the water and they were scared even more of who this might be! Then Jesus revealed Himself to them and calms the sea and the disciples are amazed, “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.” In other words, they didn’t make the connection from what they had witnessed earlier to their own situation! If Jesus could do a miracle with the loaves and fish, He could calm the sea. Make the connection, disciples!

Jesus healed the cancer, provided the finances, brought the baby in a miraculous delivery, and drew the lost person’s heart toward the Gospel…and maybe He allowed you to see all that so you would trust Him to intervene in your situation, too! He wants us to “make the connection” between what we witness and what’s going on in our own lives! The connection can also be the Truths He shows us in His Word. Our God is the same today as He was then!

Stop and consider what you saw God do just this past weekend. Now, what does that do for your heart when you look at your life and what you’re dealing with? Make the connection and trust Him!

Lovingly,

Christian Life · Uncategorized

Monuments

April 14, 2016April 14, 2016 RefreshHer5 Comments

This is a reposting of a topic that is very dear to my heart – journaling. I talk to so many women who do not keep a record of what they are learning or what God is doing. I repost this today to encourage you to consider otherwise. 😀

If there is anything I have a surplus of, it is journals. I have always loved to write my thoughts down and I have a sundry places in which I do just that. It began when I was in elementary school. I had a tiny diary with a lock and key. I wrote about things that happened at school, holidays at home and special events in history like when Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon in 1969 and the election of Richard Nixon to the White House.

In high school my writing took a little twist as I also included some creative writing in the form of poetry into my book of thoughts. How interesting it is to read of the events of my life as a teenager (and all the drama that entails!). I can clearly see how the Lord was directing my steps as I graduated from high school then sought His will for the future. If I hadn’t written all that was happening at that time I’m sure my fifty year-old mind would surely have forgotten the details of the God’s provision for my going to Bob Jones. As I went to college I journaled the anxiety of classes, homesickness and again seeking God’s will for the future.

Do you remember when Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River? When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight’” (Joshua 4:1-3). Those twelve stones were to be the monument that reminded the people of the way God brought them across the river and delivered them. My journals are my monument, if you will, of God’s faithfulness to me. They remind me of what God has done. That stoney monument was also to be the “story-starter” for the Israelites’ children when they asked what the meaning of the stones was. My journals help me to tell my girls the details of how the Lord brought my husband into my life and how they too can wait on the Lord to do the same for them. I’m reminded of God’s provision in a material way, of the way He’s answered prayers over and over again.

There are many positives of keeping a journal, but the best is the preservation of the memories of God’s work in your life. If you’re not writing these things down, you probably won’t remember in the years to come and there will be no way to then pass on that memory to the generation behind you.

May I suggest:

Make bullets and write a phrase or two about the Scripture you’ve read.
Write what God said to you in that passage and how you can apply it.
Write down praises
Write down your prayer requests and write when they are answered

It doesn’t have to be lengthy or creative, just record events. Its memories will be monumental!

With love,

Christian Life · Prayer · Uncategorized

It’s Done!

April 6, 2016April 5, 2016 RefreshHer6 Comments

This has been a year in coming and I still can’t believe my eyes when I look out the back windows of my house. Are you ready for the backyard patio reveal?

Before:

backyard

After:

Of course this will be a work in progress as we add landscape to it a little at a time, but to see the beautiful hard-scape finished is enough to make me shout and cry, and I’ve done both!

In June the area between the smaller circles will be connected with a low brick wall. I’ll plant rose shrubs there. The grass between the circles will remain. Perhaps a birdbath or the like will go on the grass. Shrubbery will be added along the sides of the large circle, flowers will be border the edges. Can you see it? I can! Slowly and in time it will come.

Here are a couple more pics:

patio 3

The smaller circles will be for a cafe’ table on one side and a bench on the other. We want to have plenty of seating options for our guests.

patio 2

This patio was dreamed about as a way to really be able to utilize, for God’s glory, the huge backyard we have. This really invites you out there! It’s our desire to use this as a meeting place for people. I have a fun plan for the early fall, but I’ll not share that quite yet. =)

I hope I never forget all that the Lord has taught me as I’ve waited for the completion of this project! Let me write a few of those here for my remembrance and your encouragement:

God is always at work – even when we cannot see the evidence with our eyes.
God can take ugly situations and make them beautiful in His way and His time.
His timing is always perfect.
His provision is always complete and beyond what I could ever do.
I can trust God to do the work needed in my life and others’ lives.
Sanctification happens one step at a time – just like my backyard project.

So,

Trust Him dear Mom.

Trust Him single gal.

Trust Him wife.

For all the needs in your life, the Architect of your life is at work.

With praise to my God,

Christian Life · waiting

Progress

March 31, 2016March 31, 2016 RefreshHer4 Comments

Look friends! Look what is happening in the hole in my backyard!!! It might not look a whole lot different than when I posted about it here, but the point is that progress is being made!! I can see it! I can even hear it as the compressor goes over the sand and gravel. Oh, what a wonderful sight to my waiting eyes!

This project has taken far longer than I’d anticipated. It’s caused disappointment, frustration and even despair! At times I even believed it was impossible. I have gazed out my window so often and pictured what that finished patio was going to look like. I could see people sitting around the fire pit, laughing, talking enjoying the warmth of the fire while piling toasted marshmallows onto golden crackers. I could imagine it – but I couldn’t really see it, because it wasn’t a reality.

But now I see progress! Something is moving out there! There is tangible evidence that change is being made, and I can’t contain my excitement!

Can we make the connection with the trial that you’re facing right now or with the prayer request that seems impossible? Or the person that shows no interest whatsoever in coming to faith in Christ? At times all you see is an “ugly hole in your backyard!” Nothing is happening or changing! Let me encourage you to keep peering out the window with eyes of faith! There will be a Day when you will say, “But Now I see progress…”