The first days of fall and ~ in this lovely corner of God's Country, Wyoming ~ He was ready! Hopefully, I've been able to share a photo of my new walking path and bridge in all its Glory.
If Spring is God's announcement of the Resurection (which it surely is), then we have entered the season when God reminds us of our Fall from Grace. I'm so thankful to be in a special ministry preparing to share my "fall" with another trustworthy sister this week.
The homework in this women's ministry requires me to take a 'fearful and searching' inventory of my life; those I have wronged, those who have wronged me. It's another perfectly timed opportunity to free myself from the fetters of unforgiveness . . . in some cases many many seasons overdue.
With heartfelt thanks to God, I've had opportunities right from Salvation Year One to surrender to this process; beginning with the most apparent and appalling of my "mortal" sins {as my Catholic childhood would have labeled them}. These were my dire regrets. My most secret shames. My most raw and racking wounds.
My brilliant college freshman son informs me that the science of the lovely change in autumn leaves is actually due to a subtle change in the bearing of sunlight. Those glorious golds and rich russets are ~ in a sense 'always present'; but are concealed until this subtle, seasonal slackening of light affects the leaves' chemistry, in turn 'revealing' their new color.
What a clever demonstration by Elohim ~ God of Creation ~ of the healing process in me that is the mingling of God's sometimes indirect but penetrating light into my darkest places.
You are in powerful company . . . Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, and Sir Isaac Newton all endured devastating depression throughout their lives. So did Tammy Lynn Baker, wife of Jim Baker, well-known television evangelist.
I happened to tune in one day when Tammy Lynn shared frankly with a television audience about her deep, dark, debilitating battles with depression. Tammy literally spent years of her married life in bed, sleeping her pain away. Her husband, God Bless Him, prayed for and cared for her while they both hoped for a miracle.
Tammy said her 'miracle' came one day when she was asked to visit and elderly woman who had lost a loved one and was suffering much as Tammy often did. Tammy went, of course; and discovered that very day that as she prayed for and talked to this suffering Sister, she grasped how much more her Sister had endured than she. Tammy also later realized that during and after the time she had spent 'one-anothering' this lonely, grieving woman her own symptoms of depression were completely relieved.
The Holy Spirit, Tammy says, convinced her that day that the ultimate 'cure' for depression is ministry. . . to look for and to go to someone whose situation may be even more heartbreaking than your own. "To present your body a living sacrifice."
Because I, too, am prone to isolate in my grief, failure, or frustration, I eventually MAKE MY SELF take Tammy Baker's 'Sure Cure' for Depression. Engaging my mind and my energy outward and into the life of another leaves no room for the enemy of my soul to drown me in doubt or pierce me with self-pity.
Once again, I realize that Almighty God's command ~ so annoying to obey and so tempting to avoid ~ is a blessing of love, peace and JOY in disguise.
I liked your "family rules". It got me to thinking about what my own family rules would be if God granted me a "do over" with my kids. These would be just for the parents, though . . .
Thou shalt break~fast each day with your Father. {Earthly father shall also attend!}
Thou shalt not report for parental duty before Rule #1.
Thou shalt listen twice as much as you speak. {Thy reminder is on thy head, should you forget . . .}
Thou shalt encourage much Godly silliness, playfulness, and laughter daily; for He is the author of healthy humor.
Thou shalt be and therefore model involved Christian neighbor, friend, and citizen.
Thou shalt explore and examine thy Father's Cosmic Diversity ~ It is His God revealing, joy renewing, breath taking gift to humanity.
Thou shalt put forth great effort to make this day a gift, a memory, a holi-day.
Thou shalt show thy son's and daughter's friends value in My Way, My Truth, and My Life through yours.
Thou shalt choose to love and forgive; no matter the hardship.
Thou shalt gather together at day's end to review My blessings and to be concerned for the lives of others.
God willing, my Grandchildren may yet come to know these "do over" rules.
Before you become fully convinced that you can walk out your salvation without the support of a church family, I hope you'll be open to considering these thoughts from the heart of God . . .
Romans 8 v 31 says, "If God is for us, then who can stand against us?" It does not read, "If God is for ME . . ."
James 1 vs 2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you (together?) face trials of many kinds,3 because you (together?) know that the testing of your faith (together?) produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you (together?) may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Am I the only one who suspects that maturing in your relationship with Jesus is largely done together? Or perhaps it could even be spelled 'to~gather' . . . Jesus urged his disciples before he left, "Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together . . . even more so in the end times."
If you are like me, you may have at first missed the "togathering" that certainly seems to be quite intentional in the Word of God. The very name of Je s us is very easily an acronym for fellowship. Je (Jehova) s (saves and saves and saves) us . . .
I sincerely and fervently pray that these words are a helpful encouragement to you as you continue to consider the value of a church family and fellowship.
Do not return her gifts! That will be perceived by your coworker as spiteful. Regift them to someone outside the office if you don't feel comfortable keeping them; but let that issue go so that the animosity between you begin to cool.
Here are some assumptions I think you should challenge, dear Sister. Ask yourself and then your boss, "Do I really need to do someone else's work that is not done at the end of the day?" Not knowing how your boss allows you to identify 'your' work vs a colleague's work, I think this should be the first thing that gets defined unemotionally. In my job, this is identified 100% through log-in data and automated reporting.
One way or the other, if your colleague(s) are stealing from their employer by being off-task or doing personal business on employer time, they will eventually be found out. If you've been given supervisory responsibility for a colleague's performance, you probably should bring the issue to their attention by stating the company policy and that you are in fact documenting for their performance review . . . both compliance and refusal to comply. {Documentation of performance should always reflect both praise and room for improvement.}Then let your boss know in a quick memo that you have shared the company policy with all employees you are expected to evaluate.
I'm puzzled that your boss did not address or at least define for you and your co-workers the policy for cell phones, ipads, tablets, and e-readers at work. At my workplace, cell phones are forbidden; but my very likable Christian Sister who is training me uses hers with impunity. She also takes a lot of frequent personal time; but she comes in early and stays late and she doesn't always take an hour for lunch. She is also the company's most productive worker and has set productivity records that benefit everyone when commission checks are calculated. Her work patterns do affect my training productivity; but if that becomes an issue for the boss, I will share forthrightly with him how things could be moving along more efficiently. Meanwhile, I have developed other projects I can do independently when she is not available; and this keeps me from feeling frustrated.
Finally, Sister Antalie, I think you might benefit from something my precious Christian sister/mentor said to me when I found myself highly resenting the treatment and behavior of another Christian sister. She said to both of us, "The more mature Christian bears the greatest accountability." This revelation has never failed to move me out of my self-righteous bent and into a heart attitude that will allow the Holy Spirit to build the Ministry of Reconciliation.
It's not easy to tell, either, whether your colleagues are believers or unbelievers. If they are the former, perhaps they are immature believers or "baby Christians" who need the example of a more mature believer to motivate them . . . or at the very least just to set the bar high for ethical standards at work. I will be praying that if you pursue The Ministry God has given us all ~ The Ministry of Reconciliation ~ with your colleagues, the Holy Spirit will help you sort out who owns what responsibility at work and which battles He really wants to help you fight. ~ God's Peace ~
When you tithe and end up unemployed and broke . . .
Posted : 10 May, 2012 12:51 PM
Dear Broke Tither ~
I pray you'll benefit from my own recent "Crisis of Faith" regarding tithing and blessings. This one sent me to the edge of panic . . . a familiar place in my walk but one which continues to give me vertigo nevertheless. This was as close to walking away from the promises of God as I ever hope to be again.
God rescued me . . . and I hope he does you as well, through obedience. I kept tithing anyway, and I went to every prayer meeting in town during the National Day of Prayer week. God blessed me through a divine appointment at one of those meetings, introducing me to a passionate young man of God named Kyle. After this prayer meeting, God gave Kyle the patience to listen to me VENT about how God had NOT in fact "opened up the flood gates of heaven and poured out a blessing I could not contain" and I could prove that with a bank balance of zero and a car payment I had to defer and another bill I had to pay late and with no new employment in sight and now I would have to go ask my church for my tithe money back!
After this flood gate of hell, Kyle just smiled at me and said, "Knowing God, He prob'ly means something spiritual. He never sees blessings the same way I do . . ." and then Kyle had the nerve to keep smiling and pray with me for wisdom, suggesting that, "Hey if God is preparing you for a ministry in an impoverished country, you won't need your car. . . ."
Well, I did know where to find some wisdom, so I started studying to show myself approved regarding my understanding of the scriptures I was standing on for financial provision. And they did, in fact, hinge upon my understanding of the word "blessing".
The Holy Spirit specifically suggested a review of the beatitudes and asked me to substitute "cash" for the word blessing in those passages. I was at myself before I finished the second one. And I was also thrilled, as He flooded my imagination with possibilities for salvation for my children and with possibilities for healings, and with possibilities for salvation for my brothers, and with possibilities for relationship reconciliations and with possibilities for discipleship through new ministries in my church . . .
For any one of those blessings, I would gladly live out of my car. And yes ... even sell my car.
If you are a faithful tither and are doing everything you can to work or to seek work to provide for yourself, go, dear Brother, to your church family and ask for the help you need. Use every community outreach ministry you can find when you need them. Please know that I urge this with full gut wrenching realization of how much humility and embarrassment this will take.
In this Experience called Life, I have experienced a new level of Humility through Surrender; new Strength through weakness. More significantly, I am full of Hope that I have perhaps prevented you and others from approaching the brink of despair over the pressure God allows us to feel regarding his provision . . . even when we tithe.
The first day of Spring is my Born-again Birthday. How lovely is that, I ask you!?
It seems I have been on a second honeymoon for most of the month of March; and I confess our Wyoming weather was SO WONDERFUL last month that I had not one tickle or itch to spend time in front of a monitor. Hopefully, this was true for you as well, dear sisters and brothers; and you aren't too annoyed at my rather extended leave of absence.
When you have wandered (like me) empty, angry, and fearful in the desert 40 years before you let God interrupt your Damascus Road Disastrus, your spiritual birthday becomes far and away more significant than that old physical one. So celebrating this merciful event just as the first bud and blade turn blessedly green is my first gift from heaven each year.
The greatest joy of Spring is how it so sweetly, so superbly, so equisitely reveals the final, victorious scene in The Hope of Our Salvation. From parks and pastures of dull, dreary, seemingly dead soil spring the first miraculous promises of flowers, fruits, and fragrances. My faith in an invisible, gentle, piercing Power to ever renew ME grows newer, stronger roots each an every first day of Spring.
As I gaze out an open Bible fellowship window, I'm reminded of that old Mac Davis muse to "Stop and Smell the Roses." And in the next moment, on a whisper-soft Spring breeze, I hear from the Holy Spirit of our Risen Lord,
Praise Him for your roses, thank him for your thorns.
Posted : 26 Feb, 2012 02:17 PM
As I, too, struggle to be the 'face of Jesus' to each man, woman, and child God weave into each new day, my heart goes out to you, Sister, in true empathy for the heartbreaking frustration you are experiencing with this difficult person. My difficult one is a child of four.
I know. How pitiful that a child of four can so completely defeat a full grown woman of God on a daily basis. My progress in this new relationship took a huge leap forward in my heart, however, when God tersely pointed out last week that four year old 'Freddie' is a gift from God, who gives only good gifts to His children. In a flash, it dawned on me that no one in my life makes me examine my true emotional state, my patience, my unconditional regard, my pride, faster than defiant, furious four year old Freddie.
It is my heart's desire -- in moments of joyful worship where my strength is renewed -- to be the Face of Jesus to Freddie. It is my greatest struggle, amid the chaos of civilizing fifteen other four year olds, to fan that desire into to action fifty times a day. On a good day, I get to five. Then my human supply of mercy usually runs out; and I end up being the stern Face of the Referee, meting our Justice one full blown, rage filled time out after another. Ironically, I'm actually wise enough to know that voluntary time out only works with kids who fear authority or wish to appease the Referee. Freddie, of course, is not one of them.
Such is a marriage or a courtship in turmoil. I can only plead with you, as I believe the Holy Spirit pleads with me . . . Whatever else you choose, do not be the one who turns your back on a relationship God has brought into your life. Gods first and primary purpose for woman was to be the 'helpmeet' for man.
Translated from the original Hebrew, this would in English mean that God's first and primary purpose for women is to be a face to face' for men. To be the Face of God for her mate. To be the Face of God to children.
Even if you must separate physically from someone harmful, preserve an opportunity for reconciliation tomorrow by choosing, through the power of God's Holy Spirit, a heart attitude of mercy today. It is the greatest act of gratitude daughters can do for Abba Father, who once turned His Holy back on His own Perfect Son so that we may have His Mercies new every day.
Let it Dawn on you too . . . A Date with Creator God
Posted : 6 Feb, 2012 07:18 PM
Because I'm single, it's very easy to make impromptu dates with my Heavenly Fiancee and His Father. Recently, they invited me to share a sunrise . . . which revealed to me wonderful new things about the character of my Creator God.
I was driving in peaceful silence a slumbering Akita pup to a Rescue in Colorado. I crossed over the Wyoming line just before a Saturday morning began to dawn.
Abba Father was in no hurry to get our new day underway. It dawned gently . . . (sigh) in soft muted colors and comforting curved lines. I was made acutely aware that God was effortlessly and joyfully painting, as a work of art, the entire horizon fresh and unique for this day . . . just as He pleased.
Light was first allowed only in one portion of the horizon . . . arresting, riveting, drawing the eye. Then, my Creator God p l a y e d with overlays of lovely pastels against sillouettes of stark trees and rooftops. Creator God took absolute delight in leisurely playing with Light.
THEN -- knowing what man named the celestial body that warms and illuminates himself, THE S U N is ANNOUNCED. Boldly. Dramatically.
And finally, THE SUN is ABLAZE WITH such POWER that I cannot behold it with my own eyes. I could only behold the glory of this New Day He offered to share. with me.
Enjoy the revelations in His Word that come to you through this loving, stunning event.
Thank you for this timely post, as it reminds me so fondly of my Christian Sister Mary Ann from Wyoming.
Mary Ann was a mature Christian wife and mother who lived fully and joyfully before the Lord as a prayer warrior. She was a faithful encourager of her local church family and of the larger faith coommunity of Sheridan.
Mary Ann went Home so suddently that in some ways, even though we are still putting one foot in front of the other, we are all just struck dumb.
In Mary Anne's Honor, I would like to add THIS timely thought for the New Year as well . . .
I don't know where I heard it or read it this week, but this simple thought so captured my heart that I felt it was worth passing on to you for your own contemplation.
Life is a Journey Into Love
Just let that soak into your soul for a few minutes and see where the Holy Spirit takes you . . .
He took me -- just like a Father -- to 1 Corinthians 13, which I'm paraphrasing here from a child's version of the Bible
Love is so PATIENT. Love is very KIND. Love is COURTEOUS, GENTLE, CONTENT. Love is unselfish, MERCIFUL; slow to be offended, FORGIVING. Love is LOYA Lto others, always believing and expecting the best. Of the three things that will remain forever -- faith, hope and love -- the greatest is Love.
If there is truth in this simple thought -- that Life is a Journey into Love -- then MY life is my journey With God INTO Patience and Gentleness and Kindness. Life is my Journey INTO Mercy and Forgiveness. Life is my Journey INTO the lives of others who may be on a drastsically different dead end journey {just as I once was}.
Love is my journey INTO loyalty. Love is my journey INTO an automatic attitude that others, with God's Mercy and Power, can and will be redeemed.
So strongly did God feel about how we approach our Life Journey that He inspired John to write (15:7-15) "Live within my Love. I demand that you LOVE ( others as much as I love you. And I laid down my life for yours. . . .
From those whose life was never the same again because Mary Ann laid down hers, a rousing blast from the Shofar!
at myself before I finished the second one. And I was also thrilled, as He flooded my imagination with possibilities for salvation for my children and with possibilities for healings, and with possibilities for salvation for my brothers, and with possibilities for relationship reconciliations and with possibilities for discipleship through new ministries in my church . . .