Widow's Lesson

I have been randomly opening my Bible and reading in the morning and lately it seems everything has something to do with end times.  Today my Bible opened to Luke 21 where Jesus talks to the disciples about the future, about his return and about us remaining faithful.  It starts out though with the story about the widow...

¹ And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. ² And He saw a poor widow putting in two small  copper coins. ³ And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; ⁴ for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to  live on."


I wish I could be more like this widow (not the widow part) but that I could truly offer out of my poverty and not my surplus.  What would that really feel like to know that you are giving unto the Lord all that you had to live on.  There are days in my past that I as a single mom had very little resources to use to provide for my 2 sons but during that time I didn't go to church on a regular basis and if I did I never tithed because I thought I had to have every penny in order to live.  After my husband and I married and became a part of a church, he decided that we should tithe and not that I didn't think we should ( I grew with a father that strongly believed in tithing) I was just so afraid of not having enough to pay bills and feed my children.  I had to really trust God and my husband.  God blessed me with contentment and security and after 28 years of marriage, He has proved over and over that if I surrender my money to Him, He will continue to provide what I need! Not only money but everything!


Why do I worry about the future when this women wildly gave all she had? I want to give more...more money to help people like those in Haiti, more time to help people that are all alone, more use of  skills and talents to help the church....more glory to HIM and not to me.

Many or Few Blows?

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.  It will be good for the servants whose master find them watching when he comes."  Luke 12:35-36

"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:40

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.  But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.  From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:47-48

In my Study Bible it reads:
People who are ready for their Lord's return are:

1. not hypocritical, but sincere
2. not fearful, but ready to witness
3. not worried, but trusting
4. not greedy, but generous
5. not lazy, but diligent

May your life be more like Christ's so that when he comes, you will be ready to greet him joyfully.

I am not ready....I have a lot of changes to make so that I will be better prepared for HIS return!

Twenty Twelve - Anticipating the New Year!

WOW! 2012 is here and all the hoopla regarding the end times has hit even the secular news.  Interesting times we live in but for me right at this moment I want to concentrate on what God wants me to be DOING to promote HIS KINGDOM here on earth.  I also realize that I am nothing without HIM and can do nothing without HIM.  He is the vine and I am but one small branch.  Even so, I don't want to be unproductive but fruitful and it is in that context that I want to start the year out with some alone time with the Lord.

I have been blessed with three days of no one at home but little 'ole me and the Lord.  This may have been the first time since I have been married to my hubby of 28 years that I was alone on New Year's Eve. It was a quiet evening and I truly tried to keep the day covered in prayer and meditation but well...the laundry needed done and the Christmas decorations begged to be taken down and put away.  This Christmas was one of the best as all my children and grandchildren were with us but that also makes for cleaning and that's alright...but it can wait until my alone time with God is over. I just have too push it out of my line of vision and keep my head down with my eyes on God's word.

So Saturday was wonderful and Sunday was filled with God's goodness; a  time of musical worship, a great sermon from my pastor, a wedding feast for 2 friends, and a visit to the funeral home to show respects for the mother of a friend.  Then as I settled down in the evening in my new comfortable chair I asked the Lord to reveal to me what I need to change...about me....about my daily activities....about my ministries.  How can I change for the better to serve Him with my best.  (There's so much to change...where will He start?)

This morning He gave me Hebrews 12:1a-3 ( I like to read it as if it is written to me personally so I will write it as such) "...let me throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let me run with perseverance the race marked out for me. Let me fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endures such opposition from sinful men, so that I will not grow weary and lose heart."

Today I will meditate on what is hindering me (it could be good things), what sin is entangling me (sin I don't recognize as sin), and what race I am running that is not mine to race (I have a tendency to do that).  That should take me all day!!  But I have all day and I know that if I ask Him He will deliver. As Hebrews 12:10a-11, "..but God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."  I want peace that comes from His righteousness therefore I am ready to take the discipline.  Hebrews 12:12 says, "Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees."

Well it's time for me to get in my exercise today...my feeble, flabby arms and weak knees need to be strengthened so I can be strong enough to do His biding!  Discipline!  Just not that excited about it though! But praise God that I am able to do so!! I want to be a living interpretation of what I believe!

Luke - Introduction

   Luke, the doctor and Gentile Christian is writing to followers of Jesus, so they would hear the true details about the life of Christ.  One verse to remember is from the 18th chapter, verse 27; "What is impossible with men is possible with God." A theme of the book to consider is that Jesus communicates the love of God through his relationships with people. Luke's emphasis on women and how Jesus included them in his ministry encourages women today to stay focused on Christ and know that you are part of His ministry team. 
   Luke was not an eyewitness but a very good investigator and spoke to those that were with Jesus and witnessed the miracles and signs that he performed.  Luke wrote this orderly account for Theophilus which means "one who loves God".  Well there are many of us, then and now, who loves God, so in essence Luke has written it for you and me. Oh,  it is going to be so interesting! So go ahead and read it on your own and I will highlight the women Luke writes about.
   Read the first chapter and you will discover two women, Elizabeth and Mary, relatives whom the Lord will use to birth sons of importance. An old lady will give birth and a very young woman will give birth.  One son will bear witness to the other.  One son born to die as a ransom for all. One child was conceived by his earthly father and one was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
   There is doubt and belief, little faith and much faith,  prophecy and singing! Read Luke's account as if you know all the characters and have a relationship with them. Feel their pain and sorrows and rejoice with them in their blessings. 
                                                                      

God Used Women in Battle.

Women have always been worthwhile to God and their service fulfilled His purpose.  We sometimes get caught up in the familiar of only men being able to serve the living God as it is played out in the traditional churches.  We must not use that as an excuse to sit back and do nothing but allow the Lord to show us through studying the Bible that He did in fact employ women to be utilized in promoting the kingdom of God here on earth.  First of all He has used a woman to bring forth His word according to His timing and to nurture the Christ in the ways of being fully human.

    In the Old Testament we saw Sarah being used to begin the nation of Israelites and Esther saving the same nation later on.  Deborah was not only a wife but a prophetess and a judge.  She was a warrior leading a group of men to victory in the book of Judges “Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.   She said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman."   [1]  That woman would not be Deborah but another woman, Jael. 

   Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.  Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid." And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. He said to her, "Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, `Is there anyone here?' that you shall say, `No.' " But Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple. [2]

   What about Tamar, Ruth and Naomi?  And Abigail?  God used all of them in a special way.  Take the time to read about them in the Old Testament.  As we look into the New Testament specifically the book written by Luke, we learn He was not a Jew but a Gentile, a doctor and a historian of sorts.   He included more details than any other writer regarding the devotion the women of that day had to Jesus.  Just as their male peers, the women had a purpose and a plan from the Father to further His kingdom.  My goal today is not to downplay the role of the dedicated men or to exalt the role of the devoted women but to show the women of today, that we can look at the lives exemplified in the Bible and know without a doubt that the Lord Almighty does not want us to take a backseat and do nothing.  We are to stand up, be accounted for, prepare for the battle and engage in the war against evil.  The battle does belong to the Lord, and Jesus already has the victory but we must stir up the troops and be ready to be used in anyway the Lord sees fit.  So let us walk together through the book of Luke and open our hearts to the lessons we can learn.

---

[1] Judges 4:4,5,9

[2] Judges 4:17-22

We're getting ready for another Spiritual Spa

Even though we are in our 8th year of pampering women, I still get excited each time I put together the supplies, music and make the schedule.  I am so blessed by the spa TECHS (Telling Everyone Christ Heals) as each one of them has made a commitment to our Lord to reach out to ladies and spend time helping them to relax and rest...at least for the day,  Our desire is to provide a day of rest that will encourage them to spend more time praying and reading the Bible so that they can get to know who their Savior is and know his comforting arms.

Here's a picture from one of the spas....the ladies are listening to the Spiritual Spa CD and spending time alone with God.  That was a wonderful group of ladies and I'm sure the 11 guests that are attending the spa this Saturday will be just a beautiful.

My granddaughter watched  me as I cleaned the skimmer in our swimming pool.  She was delighted that there was a tiny frog frantically trying to get out before the humans came.  Normally I just take the bucket out and toss any critters over the fence.  Last week I found a small, bright green snake curled up into a ball and hiding off to the side ...it scared the living daylights out of me!

                                                                                                                                                                                                          I was going to do the same and give this little frog a chance to jump away but the little princess just had to touch the critter.  She picked him up in her hand and off she went to show her little brother. 

They passed the frog back and forth and finally my grandson wanted to take a closer look.  As you can see from his face he was thinking this small creature was going to do something wild and possibly give him the willies.  They had so much fun touching and holding the baby frog and I totally enjoyed watching them do so. 

Thank you Lord for providing us with wonderful creatures great and small to enjoy!