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Archive for the ‘Life Experiences’ Category

In Baruch

Posted in Biblical, Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on December 10, 2012| 2 Comments »

Baruch (Bar-OOK) is a lesser known prophet, and legend has it, he was the great prophet Jeremiah’s personal secretary. He lived during the time the Hebrew people were in exile in Babylonia.

That was a pretty dark time. They had been punished by God for not repenting. You might say they were in “time-out”. Like a parent disciplines a stubborn child, God removed them from all the wondrous things He had given them – the Promised Land, the Temple in Jerusalem, an identity as a nation under Him.

Yet, Baruch tells the people this, “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on for ever the beauty of the glory of God. Put on the robe of righteousness from God and on your head the diadem [ornamental crown] of the glory of the Everlasting.” (5:1-2)

It reminded me of when Paul talks about putting on the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6.

That then led to the celestial tap on my brain — what are you putting on, Julie?

closetEvery morning I stand in my closet and decide what I am going to wear. The same is true for my attitude. Will I put on garments of sorrow and affliction, the unresolved hurt feelings, the negative attitude  I have towards someone  ( or myself) . . .or will I take them off the hangers and lay them at the feet of Jesus, stand naked before my Lord, and then let Him place on me His robe of righteousness and crown me with His glory?

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In My Computer

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on December 8, 2012| 1 Comment »

© Robert F. Balazik | Dreamstime.com

© Robert F. Balazik | Dreamstime.com

No – God didn’t take over my keyboard. But a message did appear throughout the day at the bottom right of my screen. It was a warning that would fade in and out and block what I was trying to type, or research, or read.

I went to have a larger, faster and better hard drive installed. Cheaper than a new desktop unit. The tech left in the old hard drive so I could back up my voluminous files onto it. Yes, I have an offsite backup service, but I grew up in the age when computers  filled rooms and often lost data. I know what it is like to spend days reentering data. I am sort of phobic about that.

Trouble is, he didn’t have the cable to connect the two, but told me it would be okay and the part would be in stock within a week.  That is why I have been getting this ghost message that I don’t have enough memory.

So how does that translate into a God moment? God can give us a new ministry, or a task. It is new, exciting and we feel purposeful. Hurray, God is using me.

But if, in our excitement, we forget to connect with Jesus often, He will send us error messages that float into the corners of our souls- “Connect with me- you are running low”.  We need that Holy Spirit cable to boost us through the day and through our task we are doing to His glory. We need that daily, if not hourly, surge of power. And, through His Word in our minds and on our hearts, we need to have our faith stored up sp we can plug into Him during the day.

What message is He sending you today?

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In the Wind

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on December 6, 2012| 1 Comment »

I remember sitting in my room decorated with peace symbol posters, bright pink and green cut out flowers, and Jesus Freak sayings. I sat cross- legged on the bed listening to Peter, Paul and Mary singing the Bob Dylan song “Blowin’ In The Wind” on the record player.

Now, as I sit in my room, which is also my office, clicking away on the keyboard, the wind whistles through the apartment complex windows. Some may think it is annoying, but I find it comforting. I equate it with God’s Spirit. You can’t see it , but you can hear, see and feel the effects of it.

Wind = power.  I’ve been in tornadoes and hurricanes. I’ve lived on the coast where a cooling 15 mph sea breeze is normal.  I’ve been stifled in the summer heat where there is no wind at all, and rejoiced when, finally, the change in weather blew in.

I can say the same for my spiritual life. Sometimes I constantly feel Him in my life like the refreshing sea breeze. Other times He literally blows me over with His grace or with a lesson I need to learn. There are times I don’t feel Him at all.

The soft humming that filters through my apartment windows reminds me that, even if I try to block Him out, He will find a way to seep through into my life. Whatever I am dealing with, well “the answer my friend is blowing in the wind . . .”  I just have to listen.

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In a Touch

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on December 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Touching – today it has new meanings.

I googled images for “touch”- I’d estimate 97% of the results were about electronic devices with “touch screens”.   The new Windows 8 is huge because it has a touch screen activated commands for your desktop and laptop like smartphones have.  Today, we keep “in touch” through cyberspace without ever having any physical contact.  Okay – for families separated by job, the military or other reasons that is a wonderful thing. Skype has its purpose. But, my point is  this: a vast majority of us have more contact with our hand-held devices and computer keyboards during the day that we do with humans. What does that say about us as a society?

I hear teachers say they are not allowed to touch their students for fear of lawsuits. No high fives, no pats on the back, no hugs when they see quivering lips and swimming eyes. One I spoke with said she was so excited when she saw a student at the mall who had moved away, so he was no longer in her class. Finally she could rush up, hug him and show him how important he was as a person- something he rarely heard elsewhere in his world. She explained how many times she wanted to do that in  class to him and others but she’d be fired if she had any physical contact at all. He said he never knew- figured she was just like all the rest of the people he knew outside of his hood – all talk and no action. It turns out that he had dropped out, and that supportive hug made him rethink that decision.

lay handsYesterday in church it was different. We passed the peace, shook hands and hugged. When it came time to send out a missionary to Kenya, people rushed to lay hands on him as we prayed.  Those who could not touch him, touched those who were touching him.

No one rushed back to their seats and squirted on hand sanitizer or wiped their hands on their shirts. No one speed dialed their attorney stating someone had inappropriate contact with them. No one sent him a text message instead.

Jesus came down to earth in the form of a flesh and blood person so He could touch lives.  He physically touched people to begin their healing process.

And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.  Luke 6:19

We are to be Christ’s hands and feet today. He touches others through us. Laying of hands is a way to transmit the love of God. I have been the recipient of people laying hands on me and praying over me. It is very powerful. Any one can lay hands on a friend for healing, comfort, or strength as they pray with them.  While we have physical bodies, we need that physical contact.

True, this blog will reach out and (God willing) “touch” people I will never be able to meet in this life. And I believe the Spirit can flow through the Internet. But as a widow, I need physical contact – the touch of friends in my life. I need that Agape (Christian brotherly love) connection in a pat or a hug. Even if you are surrounded by love and family in your home every day, don’t you need the touch of Christ through others as well?

 

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At a Bazaar

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on December 2, 2012| 1 Comment »

Her eyes glimmered and her lips pressed into a straight line. “You have touched my heart. I have to buy something so something to help.” She swallowed, her eyes panned like a camera over the wares spread on the table. She carefully touched one, then another, as if the were made of the finest spun glass. Then her lips curled into a smile and her eyes danced. “This one. Each time I wear it, I will pray for them all.”

It happened over and over again throughout the day. People would listen to why I was there and who I represented (Christ above all else.) Some talked of missionaries they knew. Many just donated money. Lots more bought some of the items and talked about Christ in their lives. One couple’s two daughters had gone into the field in third world countries.

Others backed away and shook their heads as if the jewelry and purses in front of them represented something so horrid they couldn’t stand it.

imagesCAJ1YR52I am a representative for Women at Risk International (WAR). They are a Christian missionary society who saves women and children from slavery and trafficking in 13 countries. They teach them that, through Christ, they have worth and how to make jewelry and handbags. We sell those here in the USA to support their efforts. We sell their wares and items donated to their cause  at home parties and, for me, at conferences and bazaars as well.  They also have a store online. For more info – go to the Help A Woman tab on this blog site.

Today I found God in many faces of strangers. He linked us in a common purpose His love. He links me with all those women and children who have been abused and have discovered His healing power. He calls me to pray for those yet to be liked, and for their tormentors and those who choose to participate in the tormenting.

Will you link with us as well? Through Christ, the WAR can be won.

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In a disappointing body

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on November 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

courtesy answerfitness.com

Do you love your body? A recent study  published by Glamour Magazine showed the average woman has 13 negative or destructive inner thoughts about her body every day.  I admit, most of my life I have been disgusted with my short, frumpy body that seems to want to hang onto weight as if it was the rarest gold. Even as a child I was “well-rounded”.

Paul told the church in Corinth –“Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory.” (1 Corinthians 15: 42-43, NLT)

I don’t think he meant “disappoint” the way I do, and the way most modern women do. He meant the aches and pains, age setting in and chronic ailments. After all, he admitted he had a thorn in his flesh.

Paul stated the thorn in his flesh was one way God was keeping him humble. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.                        (2 Corinthians 12:7NIV)

My thorn is my own, lifelong negative image. God is calling me, and perhaps you, to turn to Him for the renewal of our thoughts about our bodies. I know I do not have the gumption on my own to lose a bunch of weight. I also know I must call upon the name of Jesus each time a negative inner thought about my appearance surfaces to the forefront of my brain. Otherwise I will turn to the fridge for comfort instead of to Him.

Now that mid-age sag has become a reality and my bones and muscles ache a bit more each day, it seems as if my body is holding me back from doing what I want to do. Of course, sitting at computers all day writing doesn’t help – I know that. So,  another negative thought would loom to the surface as if in a Magic Eight ball- “you need to exercise but you are too weak  and achy to do it.”  This blame the body game is a bad habit.

A dear friend from Canada, who is also a Christian writer, blogged this today: “…we know that these human bodies will be one day glorified and be with God forever.  I have gained a new appreciation for the unique way our bodies are made. We need to respect and take care of them, knowing that we will still have issues and our bodies will one day say ‘enough’.   Because of our faith, we are guaranteed a glorified body in a glorified forever  home.

As my friend likes to remind me, “God is good–all the time.”  He is. He will help us walk through our aches and pains with a promise of new health, new bodies, and a forever future. When we get discouraged with our physical bodies we can be encouraged because we have a promise to cling to.  (To read the whole devo, go to http://powertochange.com/blogposts/2012/11/29/the-skin-i-am-in/)

 

Today, I found God in a devo from a friend, and subsequently when I looked in the mirror and began to see my body in a new way – through the helping strength of its Maker.

Dear Lord, may I concentrate more on not disappointing you as being your hands and feet in this world. Let me dwell less on my disappointing body which only spirals me into a negative image and blocks You from working through me. Help me to take my eyes off myself and focus on You. You will provide the strength I need to get this temple in better shape, but to also accept it is what it is – flawed and aging but still something You can use. Let me thank you for the parts that do still work well and are my assets. Above all, let me truly absorb that I am precious in Your sight, as we all are. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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I was bound to

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on November 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This weekend my great-niece, Rachel, was christened. That means, before the congregation and God, her parents dedicated her to being raised as a Christian.

I became her God parent. God parents, unlike parents and grandparents, do not have to be blood relatives, but rather are related through the blood of the Lamb.  I vowed to help bring up Rachel knowing the love of Christ, to turn to Him and renounce the devil, and to lead a Godly life. I will also pray for her to grow in faith and that one day, when she is a lot older than 110 days,  she will make the leap from knowing about the love of Christ to claiming him as her Savior which dwells in her heart.

Rachel wore a christening gown that had been in the family for generations. But in the ceremony, she was clothed in the faith. Water from the Jordan River was poured over her head and she received an anointing of oils scented from spices as is mentioned in Exodus 30:24. She was sealed as belonging to the body of believers in Christ.

As I watched the water cascade down her head, His love flooded my heart. I saw my family standing there all smiles – my brother and his wife, my sister, my son, my niece who is Rachel’s mother, and my other niece with her husband.  We are bound by more than genetics or matrimonial law.

More of what is common binds us than makes us different.  We live in different cities but are all Texans.  We have different hair and skin tones but all speak English as our native language. We are at different economic levels but all are blessed to have roofs over our heads. Most of all, even though we may belong to different denominations, we are bound as one in the Holy Spirit.

Is that not true for the whole body of Christ? Should we not concentrate on that more than the importance of worship traditions and practices? Should not the fact that we believe in Christ as Savior bind us together more than how we express that belief keep us apart?

I saw God in the smiles of my family as a baby’s head was watered and oiled in an ancient ceremony steeped in tradition and purpose. I thought of all the other babies through the centuries who went through this ceremony as smiling congregations watched and God parents vowed to raise them up in the faith to be part of the family of Christ.

I felt so blessed to be part of a family where so many of its members have made that leap of faith to claim Christ as their Lord. I pray Rachel and her two sisters will make that same decision someday.  No pun intended, but with so many of us bound by faith, little Rachel is bound to catch on.

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Where I didn’t find God

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , on November 24, 2012| 1 Comment »

Black Friday. I drove my friend and my son to their perspective retail jobs so neither of them would have to hunt for a parking space and walk miles from the car to the stores where they worked.  The mass of single-minded humanity astounded me. You’d never know the economy was in a slump! It reminded me of chumming shark. Drop a piece of raw meat in the ocean and watch them scrap for it.

People with “me-first” attitudes were everywhere. They walked out in front of you yakking on cell phones, dragging kids or balancing arms laden with shopping bags. I saw several “almost wrecks” within the few blocks it took me to travel at a snail’s pace.  I rolled down the windows to let the pleasant fall breeze into the car. As I waited in stalled traffic, I prayed for my friend and my son and the harried customers they would have to handle.  I shot up a prayer for me and everyone else to get to their destinations safely and for people to in some way, even if for a split second, remember the reason for the season.

Then, in the midst of all of it I heard the familiar tinkle of the bell and  turned to see a black kettle. An African American woman, all smiles and face glowing, thanked the customers who dropped in bills and change. To everyone who passed, she nodded and said, “God Bless You.”

I take it back. Maybe I did find God yesterday after all.

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In An Attitude

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , on November 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A dear friend of mine, Joy Brooks, writes a blog for Prayer For Freedom. This ferevent pray-er and supporter for anti-human taffficking and slavery has committed her life to this cause.  A daunting task, and when faced with such a huge calling, one prayer can seem like a drop of rain on a raging forest fire. Here is what she says –

Then one day God showed me something. I was looking through the problem of slavery with my own glasses, not with eyes that didn’t need glasses to make it completely clear. I was not able to see the power of God and how Christ can change all hearts and bring healing physically and mentally.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6

Everything shifted; it became easier, the burden was no longer mine. Even when I cried out and prayed for the people that were trapped in terrible forms of slavery, it would end knowing that God is so good. That is what I was missing in my heart – the understanding that even when evil happens God is always good and deserves to be praised regardless of any circumstances.

I love her attitude. It is not so much that we are called to be given the power to change things, but to usher in the Power that can.

If we truly believe that God is good and He has power over evil, then we must let prayer be the catalysts that releases the situation from our control and lays it at the foot of the cross.

There in lies the power, and the glory forever and ever, Amen.

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In a Face

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , on November 20, 2012| 3 Comments »

courtesygirlpowerhour.com

You have seen it, too. People seem to ignore clerks. They chat on cell phones, jabber with the person they are shopping with at the time, or just respond with a grunt and a swipe of their debit card.

If you have ever been a check out clerk or a cashier, you know it is not an easy job.  I have never been one, but I empathize with them. Too often they are treated as nonentities, or they take the brunt of the negative comments and complaints. Why do they wear name badges? Because they are there to serve you and it is a common courtesy to know who is giving you assistance. Is it not an even better courtesy to acknowledge them as humans? They work hard for their living.

I was in the store and the checkout clerk looked glum. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she barely made eye contact.  She looked as if she was trying to hold it together until her break.  God pulled my heart string.  I called her by name and asked if her day was doing okay. A light flickered in her eyes and her face relaxed a bit.  She shrugged and said it had been a rough one but thanks for asking.  I smiled back and made an empathetic comment. As she checked me out, we engaged in light conversation.  I thanked her, told her that I hoped she had a better one for now on, called her once more by name and said I appreciated her help.  A smile broke through, and as I pushed by shopping cart away,  I heard her laugh and talk to the next customer.

It took no more time out of my day to be nice and engage a stressed-out clerk in conversation.  Later that day a friend called while I was in another store – yes, it as running errands time.  The conversation was important, but when I got to the check-out, another tug on my heart happened. I was  ignoring the checkout person as I had seen others do so many times and secretly chided them for doing so. I looked at the clerk and mouthed “I’m sorry” and then told my friend I would call her back in a few minutes. I gave him my full attention, called him by name and apologized for my rudeness. His eyes widened and he smiled. He told me no problem. Everyone did it and he was used to it now. Then he thanked me and helped place the bags into my cart.

I saw God today in the faces of both clerks. I also felt Him give me a stern lesson. Golden rule – do unto others. . .

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