Blessings By Day

8:53:17 PM PDT

Rolling around in Ol' Betsy today with two girls and Rob, we began to sing some of our favorites. We started with "I Love You, Lord" and went down the line . . ."What a Mighty God We Serve" . . ."The Sacrifice of Praise" . . . we sang for some 30 minutes.  Then I began to share with the girls about the great pleasure God must feel while we are praising Him.  He doesn't hear the catch in our voices sometimes or the times we are off-key.  He hears the love we have for Him in each note.  I imagine that He inclines His head toward us and smiles ever so gently.  His children are singing.

Parents do that, you know.  When we hear our children sing or play, we tune in.  A smile creeps across our face and we hear sweet melody.  For a moment we stop what we are doing to listen to those sweet voices.  You know you've done it if you are a parent.  I can see our Father doing it as well.  He longs for us to praise Him, to communicate with Him. 

So many of the Psalms a dedicated to the praise of the Lord.  You can step into the Psalms at nearly any place and find King David singing His praises.  He even says the everything that has breath should praise the Lord.

Psa 150:6 Let every thing that has breath praise the LORD.

With every breath we breathe in, we need to breathe in His presence and every breathe out should be in praise for His lovingkindness.

It isn't always easy to remember to do that.  We get caught up in the business of the day, our likes and dislikes, the bit of anger we have at a loved one or co-worker and we forget Who is really in control.  Our peace and joy fly out the window.  When that happens, it's an easy matter to just take a breath.  Breathe in God and breathe out praise.

You can be back on track in an instant.  Your Father is waiting.  He loves to hear from His kids.

Be blessed in Him,

 

Penny

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1:08:03 PM PDT

Have you ever been offended?  What happens to you?  When I am hurt or offended, my first thought is to get even.  I want to fight back against the injustice done to me.  I think about what I will say, then what they will say and how I will justify myself.  My last thought is how the Lord would handle it.  I'm human and letting go of resentment is not my strong suit.

Did you know however, that we already have an advocate in Jesus Christ?  If we remain silent, he will fight the battle for us. There are so many verses in the Bible about forgiveness and going to your neighbor to clear the slate.  We do our part and He does his.

An offense is the devil's snare for us.  He may even start out small, with those little, niggling things that bother us about a person.  Then he steps it up and we are in his trap.  We no longer look to Jesus, but to revenge for the thing that has happened.  We know we are right.  We can prove it.  A ball of bitterness forms inside us and all that we have learned about Jesus and His forgiveness is put to the back burner. 

If we have a good foundation in Christ, revenge will be difficult for us.  The Holy Spirit will speak to our heart, convicting us. We will begin to pray.  I usually pray for patience, then for forgiveness for my hardness of heart toward that person. I read again in Matthew Chapter 18 where Jesus reminds us not to live with unforgiveness in our hearts.

Why is it so important to forgive?  How can we move forward if we do not? Offense is a stumbling block to us (see what the Lord says about this in Isaiah 8:14) we fall over it and lose contact with He who judges justly. 

There was a time in my life when I had such hatred for a person that it nearly consumed me.  This person had hurt my child. I knew forgiveness was the answer, but I didn't have it in me to let go.  I would have done anything to change my feelings.  I wanted to hurt the person physically and mentally.  I had dreams about how I would accomplish it.  I had friends tell me to pray for this person.  I said I couldn't.  For seven years I suffered with that offense.  My offender was sleeping at night! 

Then the Lord brought a person to me who had been offended in much the same way.  Our conversation was personal, to say the least, but she had found forgiveness in her heart. I asked her HOW she could forgive such a thing?  She said it was easy - she wasn't guilty.  Oh, how simple that was! I fell to my knees and cried.

I went back to the altar of my Lord and asked forgiveness for my hardness of heart. Then I began to pray for the person who had offended, being willing to go to them when the opportunity arose, to clear my side of the street. 

The Bible tells us if we have aught against our brother, we need to leave our offering at the altar and go to our brother first, then come back and offer to God.  For 7 years, my love offerings to God were given with all the heart I had to give, but I had held back the best part of me because of offense.

Satan wants us to stumble and fall.  He goes right for our pride and ego. I heard in a preaching once that the word for offense or stumbling block in the greek was - skandalon (sp?) - it means the piece of bait that a trapper hangs in the cage to trap his prey. Can you see that?  Rotting meat ( a scandal?) hanging in the trap, drawing us near so that we will stumble in and fall prey to his wiles. 

To stay out of the trap, we must be aware that it's constantly set for us.  The Lord doesn't have such a trap - He has forgiveness waiting for us at every turn.  Even when we fall into the trap, He will forgive us and throw that sin as far as the deepest part of the ocean when we ask. 

So here's my question:  Has someone offended you?  Are you holding a grudge?  Do you want to be free?  Do it now!  Get willing to let go of the bait.  Bitterness never tastes very good anyway.  Pray first for willingness and then LET GO.

You give your very best to God when you are free of encumberments.  If someone has truly wronged you, then they will still have to answer to your Father, who will be more just than you or I could ever be. In the meantime you can be free to worship as the Lord wants.

Psa 100:1 A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Psa 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Psa 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Psa 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psa 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

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11:30:18 PM PDT

This is the first e-mail that my daughter Andrea has ever written and sent.  I'm so proud to be her mom.

 

  HI  MOM  I'M  GLAD  I'M   HERE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATE  AND  I'M  ALSO  GLAD   THAT JESUS IS  LIVING  IN  ME  AND  I  JUST  ASK  HIM  TO  LIKE  HELP  ME  IN  MY  LIVE  AND  I  JUST  LOVE  THE  LORD  HE  IS  SO  GOOD TO ME  HE  HAS  MADE  IN  HEVEN  I'M  GONA  SEE SOME  WONDERFUL  THINGS  HE  HAS  DONE  FOR  ME  AND  I KNOW  THAT  HE  LOVE'S  ME  TO  AND  HEI'LL   NEVER  FORGET  ME  AND  WHEN  I  GO  TO  HEVEN  HE  IS  GONA  BELIVE  IN  ME.

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5:46:53 PM PDT

                                                     

My friend Val has a link in her journal with information about offering housing to the victims of Katrina.  I went to the link and looked it over, checking out how to do it.  We live in California and we have only a tiny 2-bedroom home, or you can bet I would be putting our name on the list.  I want to help my brethren in need. 

All over the Bible, the Lord tells us to look out for the widows and orphans.  At this time, the people in the south are just those persons.  They need what we have to offer, whether it be money or housing. Some of us have neither and we offer our heartfelt prayers.

I know from experience that it's not an easy task to take someone into your home for an undesignated period of time.  There are times when you do it that you wish you hadn't.  But there are other times when we reach out and offer our home and when it's all over we have such a feeling of satisfaction and we feel closer to the Lord as well.

How uncomfortable are you willing to get?  Is your home big enough to accept a stranger?  Is it easier for you NOT to do it?  I know it is.  But fear and faith can't live in the same home.  We as Christians need to set the tone for the rest of the world.  If what I read is true, you certainly have the option of not accepting an applicant if your "God sense" tells you not to - and you can withdraw your offer at any time.

Please, pray about this.  Open your home to someone if you possibly can. 

The LORD is the strength of my life . . . The LORD is . . . my strength, in whom I will trust. (Psa_27:1 and Psa_18:2)

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

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10:10:45 AM PDT

As we get ready this morning to go fellowship with the saints, I just want to say a quick prayer for those in the path of Hurricane Katrina:

Precious Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus and ask your protection for the poeple in the path of Katrina.  Lord, keep them safe as they leave their homes and possessions and put guardian angels around that area.  We pray that the damage done will be minimal and there will be no lives lost.  Hold your children in the palm of your hand, Lord.  We thank you for your love and compassion for us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen

It's impossible for me to understand the devastation that can be caused by natural disasters, but even in the midst of this, the Lord can bring good from evil.  In the days ahead, we must look for God's blessings and pray for the people affected.  In this way, our light will shine.  A praying nation can bring nothing but good.  Let's all join cyber-hands and pray. 

 

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11:38:47 AM PDT

I suppose that one of the hardest thing for us as Christians to do is to live by example.  It is easy to quote scripture, write it out for a friend or loved one and sit smugly by while they see the error of their ways.  We are Living Epistles.  We might just possibly be the only Bible a person will ever read.  Are we setting a Bible example?

How often do we hear someone say, "Excuse my French, but . . ."?  Why the need for excuse in the first place?  Is it that we can't or don't want to give that up?  Are we screaming or belittling another person with one side of our mouth and saying "God Bless You" out of the other?  We are Christ's ambassadors here on earth.

Why is it so hard to live by example?  I think part of it is the free will our Father gave us when He created us.  He wants us to be more like Him, but He won't force us.  The truth is, that if we want others to come to Christ (I certainly do), we need to show them why the Christian life is better.  We can't be stealing or lying or cheating or swearing or any of those things.  We have to give back the extra money when they give us too much change at the store.  We also have to tell them when they didn't charge us enough.  Of course we can also tell them when they have overcharged - but we don't have to show anger for it.

I got angry at a customer yesterday.  She was verbally abusive and I was in a hurry to get to my doctor's appointment.  I tried my best to explain things to her, but she was using my words to try to trap me.  There's no reason I shouldn't be upset.  It was my reaction to her that was wrong.  I let the devil have the victory.  She wasn't going to change who she was for me.  I needed to stay who I was for her.  All she remembers now is the angry woman at the storage locker.  How better for the Lord if she had remembered a kindness.

I'm not putting myself down.  Although I am a bit disappointed in me, I can live with my mistake.  I will apologize to her if I see her again.  I'll use the seemingly bad to my advantage and seek to do better next time. 

There are may places in the Bible where it says that we cannot serve two masters.  We cannot hang on to the old way of life and serve God.  We need to be willing to let go of our way of doing things and do it His way.  there's no second-guessing God.  He's the creator.  We aren't going to hide any tiny sin from Him.  He knows before we do it.  He's just waiting to see if we can resist. 

I used to keep books in my house that I read when I was younger.  Some of them were demonic in nature thrillers or spiritually wierd stuff. I also hung on to some stuff about witches.  The Bible tells us to get that stuff out of our homes (tents) and not to consort with the devil.  I thought it was harmless.  These things were a spiritual stumbling block for me.  The devil's bait to get me to turn my back on God.  As well, I couldn't very well teach about God while I was holding my old life in my hands. 

This is what I mean by living by example.  For myself, I can't have a picture of Freddy Kruger (sp) on my wall and tell my neighbor that I love Jesus and want him to do the same.  It's a bad example. I need to be willing to let it all go.  So here's what I'm saying:

Be willing.  Be ready in season and out to be a Christian.  Use everything you have to share the gospel.  Don't be afraid.  Clean your house and your mind.  Get the cobwebs and the junk out.  Let your light shine. 

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Blessings,

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12:49:32 PM PDT

I got this in an e-mail today.  I wish I could take credit for it.

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner.

In their rush, with tickets and brief-cases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of baskets of apples.  Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.

All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.  He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping, and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more.  As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"

She nodded through her tears.  He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister....." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"

Do people mistake you for Jesus?

That's our destiny, is it not?  To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would.  Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall.

He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Let's start living like we are worth the price He paid.

Start today!

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8:04:45 AM PDT

The Lord welcomes you every day.  He wants you to come into His rest and fill your heart with him.  In Ezekial 36:26-27, he makes the promise above.  He promises to soften your heart and fill you.  What better promise can we have?

On our trip up north, Robert and I ran into family members and friends who had hardened hearts toward God.  His niece, who needs a kidney transplant, says she's not ready yet.  Others took our love of the Lord as a joke.

Do you know someone who is like this?  Have you yourself been waiting "until the right time"?  The right time is now.  What can you say to your friend or family member?  Are you afraid of offending them?  Don't be.  How can they be offended if you help them find their way to heaven?  We will all rejoice there.

The question for my niece is this:  do you know where you will go if the Lord comes back today?  If you die today, do you have assurance of salvation?  Good won't get you into the Kingdom of God.  You can't earn it by being nice to people, donating hour upon hour to the poor, leading a sober, drug-free life and offering the best to your children.  You have to do just ONE thing to get into heaven.  Invite Jesus Christ into your heart, believe that He is the Son of God and died for your sins, rising again to give you eternal life.  I want to see you in heaven. I want us to spend eternity together with the Lord.  It breaks my heart when you say you're not ready yet.  When will you be ready?  The day after?  It doesn't work that way.  Let the Lord soften your heart.  I love you.  Come home to Him.  He will guide you and change your life.  You need Him, and He's waiting for you just as He waited for me. 

Please, don't wait until it's too late. 

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10:10:38 AM PDT  

Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

The first marriage is recorded in scripture here. The Lord God Himself performed the ceremony when he gave Eve to Adam. “ . . .bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh . . .” he says. That says something very important about marriage. It's not just a joining of a man and woman for tax reasons or to combine salaries so they can buy a home or have good benefits. It's the knitting together of two souls. When I love him and commit to him, I make that promise to become so close to him that I don't know where he ends and I begin.

It also means that I am going to submit to him as the spiritual head of my household:

Eph 5:22 Wives,submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.

Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

You can also find this command in Col 3:18 The husband answers to the Lord for the spiritual fitness of his household and the wife answers to her husband as the Lord's representative. This has always been particularly hard for me because I had a hard time defining the difference between being submitted and being suppressed. I felt they were the same and independent woman that I am, I was not going to be suppressed by any man. I had to read the Bible and the dictionary to tell, finally what the difference was. I have no trouble submitting to God, therefore submission to the man that God has placed in my life should be easy. Most of the time it is. However, I am still human. Now look at the cammand for the husband:

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Wow! I have to submit. He has to love and cherish me and care for me as Christ loves and cares for the church (all of us who love Him). That's a tall order, yet the Bible asks it of a man without question. How can we not submit to our husbands when they live out this commandment? When we talk about one another as husbands and wives, we need to remember that if we praise, we praise our own flesh and when we criticize, we criticize our own flesh. We need to let the words that come out of our mouths be kind and gentle, for most us us would not willingly hurt our own bodies and minds. When we curse, we are cursing ourselves. Let us all do as James suggests:

Jam 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Edify your spouse today and always. The love of the Lord will shine through as a bright light in your firmament.

Be blessed today,

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1:07:54 PM PDT

What are we saying when we say God Bless to someone?  Are we asking God to bless them in a special way or are we saying it because it's easy and polite?  Lets look at what the Bible says about blessing.

In the verses below, God is blessing Abraham for his obedience.

Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Gen 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Isaac wanted his brother's blessing and stole it from his dying father.  He later paid the price of agony in his heart for working against the Lord.

Gen 27:30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end oflessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting

Then we get to Job, who had seven sons and 3 daughters.  He offered burnt offerings for their sins and asked God's blessing and forgiveness upon his children.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job 1:2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Job 1:3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Job 1:4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

There are so many instances in the Bible where God offers his blessing and His people ask for blessing.  It all seems so serious.  It is serious.  When we say "God Bless You" we are asking God to rain His blessing down upon the person or persons we are speaking to.  His blessing is the most wonderful thing we could have in our lives. 

Rom 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Why would we bless those who persecute us?  They need that blessing more than we do.  How much hurt is in their lives that they must do something to hurt others?  Wouldn't the blessing of the Lord make their lives better?  Maybe they still aren't going to be our friends, but we have offered the best for them - a blessing from the Almighty.  We can't know when or where that offered blessing may change a life. 

 

 

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