Today is a Gift

August 24, 2010 RefreshHer3 Comments

One night last week my husband and I attended a meeting for pastors and their wives. During the preaching, one of the men in attendance began to look sickly. Those seated near him became alarmed and tried to quietly aid his wife while the preaching continued. Then the man that was preaching could see that the problem was getting worse, and he asked my husband to assist. The ailing preacher was laid out in the floor. It appeared very serious.

Everything stopped while he was cared for. He wasn’t responding and had turned a dreadful shade of white. The preaching had stopped as several were caring for the sick man, and we had special prayer for the patient, then small groups gathered on their knees to pray. Some cried openly, fearful that he wouldn’t make it. The EMS was called. Because our location was so remote it took quite a while for them to get to us.

Thank the Lord, after about ten minutes, the sick man began to come around, then he spoke! Relief washed over all of us! He recognized those around him and remembered where he was. By the time the ambulance arrived he was seated in a chair sipping water. They checked him over and all appeared to be fine. He was urged to see his doctor the next day. The preaching service then resumed at his insistence. The irony was that the message was about Elijah’s passing from earth to heaven. Here before us had been an illustration of how quickly life can be snatched away.

We all know that unless the Lord comes first, we will die. Psalm 89:48 says, What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? I had to ask myself, “if that would have been me laid out on the floor, what regrets would I have?” How would we spend today differently if we knew this was our last? What phone call would we make? To whom would we witness? How much more time would we spend in prayer? In Bible study? What changes would we make in how we planned to spend our day?

Watching someone fail physically as I did is not something any of us would want to see, but I’m thankful for the reminder that, “Today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the present.”

What will you do with the gift that lies before you?

With love,

Christian Life

Sufficient Grace

August 19, 2010January 9, 2015 RefreshHer3 Comments

Startled. That was the look in his eyes.

My husband and I hadn’t been married long before I lovingly made him an apple pie, cut a slice of it and put it in front of him. Then I got the look – the startled one. He looked at the pie, then at me in disbelief. Then he said, “Hon, from now on please cut me a slice bigger than an 1/8!” Clearly this was not sufficient for his appetite. I grew up in a family of small eaters and 1/8 was always enough for us. I learned my lesson and have increased his portion size!

Last night at prayer meeting we read II Corinthians 12:9 – And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It was explained that the word sufficient means enough. God’s grace will always be enough for every trial we’re going through. It will be portioned out for each person, for each need, and it will not fall short of being sufficient. It won’t be 1/8 of his grace when we need “the whole pie!” We will never have to look at the Lord in prayer and be startled that He only gave us a small amount.

It is enough. Always. For every need.

How have you experienced His grace?

Because of His sufficient grace,

P.S. Thank you to those of you who participated yesterday! I’ve learned from you and am taking note of the books mentioned, as well as your comments.

Christian Life

The Picture of a Man Out of Fellowship With God

August 13, 2010January 9, 2015 RefreshHer3 Comments

I love the descriptions that are painted for us in the Scriptures. We are often given little details that really give us a mental picture of the person in that passage, or of the situation as it unfolds. Yesterday I read I Samuel 22 and was enamoured by the clear portrait of a man who was out of fellowship with God; the man was Saul.

In this chapter Saul learns that David has slipped out of his fingers once again and had even been aided by the priest, Ahimelech. Saul is so angered by this that he pulls his men together. He is standing underneath a tree giving his men a lecture all the while the Scripture says, “having his spear in his hand.” I wonder if he was showing the sharpness of the blade while he spoke his angry words to them. Was he threatening them with this gesture? My speculation is that he was.

I won’t take the time to describe the whole story, you can read it here. But what I saw as I read the passage was what a person acts like or looks like when he’s out of fellowship with God. I’m not sure if Saul was truly a believer, but even if he was, the first sign of a man out of fellowship with the Lord is that he:

imitates an unbeliever

becomes self-sufficient vs. 6

judges incorrectly and jumps to conclusions vs. 7, 8

is selfish vs. 8b

will try to persuade others to join their ungodly ways vs 8c

will have close companions that are also ungodly vs. 9, 10

will be arrogant vs. 11

will not listen to the truth or be reasonable vs 14, 15

will make poor/ungodly decisions Vs. 16

will despise godly people and will do anything to avoid them. Vs. 17

A person doesn’t have to have all those characteristics in their life (as Saul did) to be out of fellowship with God. They may have only 2 or 3 of the ten listed. We need to look at our own hearts carefully and see of any if these are a part of our lives at this time. If so, we can repent (I John 1:9) and be restored before we begin to look like this description. If someone read this list, would they think of me? Of you? Or would they find us in this list…

Love

Peace

Long suffering

Gentleness

Goodness

Faith

Meekness

Temperance

Oh, may it be so!

Have a great weekend and I’ll look for you in church!

Christian Life

Five Things You Need To Know

August 11, 2010March 30, 2021 RefreshHerLeave a comment

One night while in Kentucky, I saw the 10:00 news. They have a segment entitled, “Five things you should know before you go to bed tonight.” The stories were ridiculous. One “thing” they shared was about a woman attacking a McDonald’s worker at the drive through window (she got out of her car!) because she couldn’t get chicken McNuggets at that time of the morning! Another story was about a man who thought he had cancer, then come to find out he had a pea plant growing in his lung! Let me tell you, I slept so much better knowing those important facts!

Though the stories were definitely nothing I needed to know, I did like the title of that segment. It made me think about five things everyone really needs to know before they go to bed. What would those five things be? Here’s my list:

God loves you and sent His Son to die for you so you could have fellowship with Him and a home in heaven!
This world has nothing to offer you that is lasting or fulfilling. Satan is a liar and will try to make you believe otherwise, but only Jesus can satisfy your soul.
The Word of God is absolute Truth and has the power to change your life if you’ll read it and live it.
There is nothing too hard for God. He is all-powerful and able to do more than we could ask or think. You need to surrender to Him all that’s burdening your heart.
Jesus is coming soon and you need to be ready. Trust Him as your Savior if you haven’t done that. Live for Him, tell others about Him, and look for Him in the eastern skies!

Now, you can go to bed and sleep! 🙂

With my love,

Christian Life

Protection from No-see-ums!

August 6, 2010January 9, 2015 RefreshHer1 Comment

Pests! They are so annoying. How dare they ruin a summer day! Bees, wasps, and flies would all be under the category of pests, but have you heard of the No-see-ums? They are tiny insects that you cannot see. Not only do you not see them, but you can’t even feel the bite at the time. It’s the next day that you find welts that itch like crazy. My poor dad has fought a battle with them the last couple of summers. He’s done all he can to ward them off, including wearing rubber bands around his pant legs and sleeves, and wearing bug spray. Still, he will invariably come in only to discover a new bite. He’s under attack every time he steps out the door! I told him that those bugs sound an alarm when they see him coming out the door…”Hey, everyone, here comes supper!”

There are times that he’ll make a quick dash out the door to do a little job without taking any of his protective measures. The results are an even greater number of bites that show themselves later in the form of huge red welts. No fun!

How many of you would say that right now you, too, feel under attack? Oh, maybe not by No-see-ums bugs, but by another enemy that we cannot see who is as a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8 We would be foolish not to be very aware that he is there, waiting to pounce.

We must spray on the repellent – the Word of God – to be armed and ready. We must always be on the alert, taking precautionary measures – walking in fellowship with the Lord, reading His Word daily and being in much prayer. It’s on the days we think we can make a quick dash out, and fail to do those very things, that we are attacked even greater.

This whole illustration came to my mind yesterday while my dad was talking to me on the phone about those pesty No-see-ums. I have a couple Christian friends for whom I am very burdened right now. They are doing things they would never have considered a month or two ago. They didn’t see their own guard being let down, but it was, and WHAM! The greatest deceiver attacked them. How my heart is hurting for them, but I know that “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” I John 4:4 Victory can be theirs, but there may be a scar, because we pay when we choose to sin.

No-see-ums are reminders to you and me. We must protect ourselves at all times and be on the lookout for the attack that our enemy, the devil, is sure to make. Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. I Cor. 10:12

Spray on some bug spray before you go outside, but even more importantly, take the measures necessary to fight off Satan’s attacks! You might not see him, but he’s looking for you. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Cor. 15:57

Under His feathers,