Let Me Tell You One Thing

  Paul had a mega job convincing the people of his time to embrace Christ and the resurrection. The Athenians seemingly were always looking for something new to tell or hear.   Philosophers were abundant,  practically on the street corners it seems; debaters were common. They accused Paul of being a babbler or picking up scraps of something new and peddling it. There was Epicureanism (tranquility seeking), Stoicism (acceptance of life as inevitable), and Polytheism (the belief of multiple gods).   They accused Paul of propagating a religion of two new gods, i.e. Jesus and the resurrection. It must have been very difficult for him to have to plow through all the ideologies, beliefs, and religions of the day.   He worked diligently, he and the people with him on the mission to tell others about Christ. He suffered prison, beatings, shipwreck, and the stress of leading and mentoring people of the power of Jesus Christ and the resurrection.   God empo...

  Sometimes, when in therapy with an individual with a hole in their heart, I sometimes thought that perhaps that emptiness was there from birth, the hole was so deep.  It seemed that nothing could fill the space.  My client would go layer by layer into their heart until they could dig down in that empty hole and bring up so many painful, destructive wounds.  We would have to deal with them layer by layer.  But in the end, once the hole has been completely dug out, we could begin to fill the hole again with good things. When we love a child, or a spouse that has injured us emotionally,  or there is a wound that comes from a friend,  the hole in our heart becomes deeper.  We begin to layer protection around the heart until there is a cold,  frigid wall around our heart and we refuse to let anyone or anything in.  This can happen without our awareness and over a period of time.  As a result,  it seems there are many of us who see...

  When I was upgrading an old kitchen sink, I looked for a copper sink.  I needed a new sink for an old farmhouse that needed a lot of tender love and care to say the least.  My plan was to upgrade the counters, the sink, and the flooring and to add new cabinets. This I did. Since copper was farmsy and trendy, I looked for copper.  The owner of the granite tile company also offered order only sinks.   This I did.  He suggested that I may want to reconsider getting a copper sink unless I wanted to do a lot of maintenance on the sink.  Did I follow his recommendation?   This I did not do. Since that time, the owners words have rung through my brain many, many times as I labor and polish and buff my farmsy copper sink.  Oh,  it’s beautiful when it is smiling back at me with sparkles, but each time I polish and buff that sink, God speaks to me through that sink.  It is a lesson He teaches to me over and over.  This He does. We are...

  No matter how long you live, life is short.  Whether you die at 20 or 90.   It is true, Psalm 39:11 that we are just a vapor, mainly a puff of smoke, and no matter who we are, if we all got on a scale at one time, we would weigh out lighter than a puff of smoke.   I say that because Psalm 62:9 says that in so many words.  We just can't hang on very long in this life when we are like a blade of grass, one day we are green then next day we are withered. My granddaughter recently said to me, "Nana, why do we think we are going to live forever?"  This is a fourteen year old girl, who has a great deal of insight to be saying that, because most young people think they will never die and life will go on forever.  Even the oldies are in so much denial, they dance around that tree as well. I am saying all of this because, we are actually here for a purpose that we were sent to do on this great planet.  We came with a plan from God (Jeremiah 29:...

  Psalm 44:21 says that God knows the secrets of my heart...and your heart.  He knows the secrets of the heart.   He knows the things we says to no one, even what we think.  This means that he knows ME, my very intentions.   This makes me wonder if He is pleased with me, what is it that I can change to accommodate the plans God has for me? Most of us can put on our best face, smile, and go out into the world as if we have it all together.  We can decide how willing we are to let people see us. My defenses do not work with God, facades are invisible to Him.  How can I hide from the very one who made me. That is like me cooking a pie and not knowing what I put in it.  Job 33:4 says, " The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."  It is sort of ridiculous to even imagine that we can hide ourselves from Him.   This gift of life is something to be treasured.  The question is, how am I using...