Category: Christian Life

Christian Life

A Reminder of God’s Care

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It was just a little piece of jewelry, but it meant so much to me. It was a hoop earring with small diamonds, given to me by my husband when I finished the home school education of our youngest daughter. It was sentimental and special to me and I cherished those earrings, and I wore them often. Then last week it happened – I went to take them off, and instead of finding one in each ear, I only found the one in my left ear.

I searched everywhere. The floor, the laundry, the washer and dryer. It was nowhere to be found.

During the time of my searching, I had been listening to a message on my phone about prayer. The preacher was talking about how every part of our lives matters to God. There is no part of my life that is mine and the rest God cares about. No! He is interested and caring about it all. In the midst of my hunt, I stopped to pray and acknowledge the presence and power of my living God in even this small detail of my life. But, still no earring.

I wondered if the Lord was teaching me other lessons – perhaps,that things don’t matter. Then about three days after it was lost, I was doing my morning routines of cleaning the bathroom and when I stooped over to clean the bathtub, I saw something shiny and small…MY EARRING!

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I have no idea how it didn’t go down the drain earlier. I have no idea really how it got in the tub, but I do know that the Lord knew all along where it was, and I am sure He guided me to find it. I stopped then to thank Him and acknowledge His guidance and help in this detail that was important to me.

What a sweet reminder that He cares for every part of my life and yours! This was no coincidence, of that I am sure. I’m so thankful that I have a loving, wise heavenly Father to whom I can take my cares. I didn’t need this situation to know He cares – His Word tells me over and over again, and He proved it on Calvary, but how sweet these reminders are!

It makes me realize all the more that in every detail of my life, I must acknowledge God. How could I just move on as though He doesn’t exist? I need Him for the big things – decisions, provision, wisdom, courage to witness, and the little things – desires, remembering details, help for my daily routine as a homemaker, help with my meal prep; whatever is important to me. Nothing is too big, nor is anything too small that God is not interested.

What is on your heart today? Have you acknowledged the Lord in that area or need? Pray about it, then when He answers, be sure to give Him the credit due His wonderful Name, even for the little things!

With love,

Christian Life

How To Deal with Criticism

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Vacation 2014 137a

We all like to think we have no enemies, that everyone is behind what we represent, how we live and what we do.  But the truth is, none of us will ever please everyone. There will always be someone who will criticize and slander our name.

When was the last time someone spoke evil of you?  Maybe it was to your face, or perhaps that word was behind your back, but got back to you (as gossip and slander always do!).

Apparently David also knew what it was like to be criticized and talked about.  I recently read  Psalm 119:23

 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

I love David’s response!  Rather than thinking about the people who were talking, rather than repeating what the people said, and rather than dwelling on what he’d tell them if he got the chance, he made the choice instead to meditate on the Scriptures!

When I’ve dealt in the past with criticism, I have often done all the highlighted things above.  I rehearse it in my mind, I think about “those people!,” and I make long, speeches in my mind, instead of meditating on Scripture.  My thoughts did not help or comfort me!  But what if I had chosen to dwell on God’s Word?  Oh, the comfort, the counsel and the wisdom it would bring!

Are you dealing today with ugly things that have been said about you?  Don’t think about it!  Instead, follow David’s example and find a  passage of Scripture to meditate on.  Write it on a card and keep it with you all through the day.  Commit it to memory.  Pray it back to the Lord.  Those biblical thoughts will profit you and encourage growth – something that dwelling on the evil will not do!

Refresh yourself with thinking on God’s Word!

Christian Life · friends

Show Yourself Friendly

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Our world teaches us how to be:

Budget-Friendly  Pet-Friendly

Eco-Friendly    Kid-Friendly

But the Bible teaches us to be People-friendly.    In truth, it’s pretty easy to be Budget-friendly (spend wisely),  Pet-friendly (create spaces Fido and Fluffy will love), Eco-friendly (treat the earth well) and Kid-friendly (give children foods they’ll eat).  But sometimes coming up with ways to be just plain ol’ friendly to another human being stumps us!

In a world that drives up the driveway, pushes the garage door open, closes it quickly, and goes inside before anyone sees a real, live person getting out of the car, being friendly can be uncomfortable.  However, if we love the Lord Jesus and desire to be like Him, we won’t avoid people; we’ll look for ways to minister to them.

Proverbs 18:24

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:

Not – Should, might, or maybe, but MUST shew himself friendly.

How could you and I show or prove our friendliness today?

  • Reach out – Make contact.  Smile.  Give a hug.  Send a text.  Make a call.  Send a card.   An unfriendly person will turn and go the other direction to avoid others.
  • Give out – Give of your time – make a visit.  Give of your possessions – provide a need.  An unfriendly person will only see their own needs.  If they do see the needs of someone else, they’ll dismiss the thought of helping.
  • Speak out – Use your words to be a blessing.  Give a greeting at church to the visitor you don’t know.  Stop to chat and get acquainted.  Speak with the stranger in the grocery store.  Don’t be afraid to engage in conversation.  An unfriendly person only speaks to people that makes them feel comfortable.  

Now, you evaluate – are you friendly?  What could you do to change that today?  The Lord will help you!  Philippians 4:13

Don't wait for people to be friendly, show them how. ~Author Unknown

John 13:35 – By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Will others know by watching us that we are Christ’s followers?  Open more than your garage door – open your heart’s door to someone today and show the love of Christ to them!

How has someone recently shown friendliness to you?

With love,

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Christian Life

Eliminate Distractions

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It started with a simple task ~ go downstairs and fix the morning coffee.

I got the Dunkin Donuts coffee into the filter, poured the water inside the coffee maker and pressed the “on” button.  While I waited for the coffee to brew, I unloaded the clean dishes in the  dish drainer and also in the dishwasher.  When I opened the fridge to get out the cream I would need for my cup, I noticed the shelves needed to be wiped down, so I got the dish cloth and took care of the crumbs.  While wiping, I spotted a couple leftover containers that were past their “prime.”  They were dumped and the dishes loaded into the now empty dishwasher.  I also took care of fingerprints, a spot on the floor, streaky counter tops, and Sunday coupons before I finally got back to the coffee that had finished brewing long before I returned to the pot.

As I was pouring the steaming liquid into my cup, I was reminded why I don’t let myself start on that “one little job” first thing in the morning.  For me, one thing leads to another, and another and another and I use my morning energies on physical things instead of spiritual.

Is there anything wrong with emptying wilting lettuce from the Tupperware container?  Of course not, but when those tasks occupy the time that I would spend with the Lord in His Word, then I have to know my limit and stop before I get started.  Hence, on the days when I make the coffee (which is not too often, since my husband takes care of it most times), I need to use my energies to get into the Word while the coffee is brewing.  I can

  • read my Proverb chapter in that amount of time
  • review my memory passage

For me, the momentum of working gets me distracted from doing what is best.  It’s better if I wait until after my Quiet time to do those tasks .

What is it that keeps you from really getting the most out of your time  in God’s Word?  Is it all the “stuff” on your phone?  Do you feel an urgency to check Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blogs or texts first?  Is it a morning news show, a broadcast on the radio that gets your best attention in the morning?  If that takes away time that you need to be drawing up near the heart of God in His Word, then ask the Lord to help you wait; to discipline your time in such a way that He gets the best of your attention and  energies.

All the notifications will be there when you finish hearing from God.

And yes,those fingerprints on the microwave would’ve still been waiting for me yesterday.

Tomorrow I’ll ignore them by sitting with my back to them!

Let’s give our best to that which is most important!

With love,

8E63C63AC0BC189BF1C68B03C74DBB5F