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Comfy?

April 4, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

We all have our comforts. I love soft things and warm things. Curling up in a fleece throw with a cuppa warms my body…and my soul. And right now, we could all use some comfort.

But, the cup of hot tea or coffee soon disappears or grows cold. The throw needs washing. Neither is lasting.

Paul talks of another comfort. God is comfort. He never promised His children would be comfortable, but that He would provide comfort. Jesus warned his disciples (and us) that in this world there would be trouble. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33  And wow. Is there ever trouble in the world!

Jesus tells us that even in the midst of trouble we can have peace. We can take heart. He’s got this. He not only knows what is happening but He knows what tomorrow will bring and is already preparing our hearts for it if we let Him. We can find comfort in that fact.

Paul agrees, but he doesn’t stop there. He tells the Corinthian Church, and us, to take that comfort and go comfort others. In this time of isolation, you’d think this modern “me society” would retreat even further into the world of “I”. But more and more we hear stories of people stepping out to help others, to be considerate and keep a safe distance from others, and to wear protective gear. To check on elderly neighbors, and to thank those who have essential jobs and risk exposure.  We are discovering creative ways to connect without touching. People are rediscovering that we need each other, and more than that, we need God.

Each day, as we become more and more isolated, let us not forget to receive comfort from God and then pass it on to others. Perhaps they will pass it on to another person and that person will feel encouraged to do the same. Soon, instead of anxiety and fear, there will be a blanket of peace cloaking our neighborhoods. A warmed cup of camaraderie to ooze the souls in our cities.

A comforting thought, isn’t it?

 

 

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Don’t Go It Alone

March 17, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

courtesy Alexiscorvus | Dreamstime.com –

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

Many of you have heard the adage that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. But right now, what’s going in isn’t false. It is very, very real. So I am offering another anacronym:

Facing Evil Alone Repeatedly

As we choose to hole up and isolate ourselves from other people in order to thwart the spread of COVID19, let us not retreat into our own fears. Yes, it might seem nice at first to have time to read, watch TV, or do hobbies. But retreating into yourself is fodder for trouble. There is an old saying that states the devil divides.

 

But God unites.

Even if we cannot attend church, we can still call each other, text each other, email each other, or Skype or Facetime with each other. Frequently check on your friends, families, and the elderly.  Today we have amazing technology that allows us to communicate. Let us use it to pray and fellowship together.

Do not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

Just because we cannot touch each other doesn’t mean we can’t stay in touch.

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Strong Tower

March 3, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10

courtesy of ENR news report-

courtesy of ENR news report

All of Dallas, Texas, and the millions in the surrounding Metroplex towns and cities, have watched it for over two weeks. It was to be imploded. But when the dust cleared, the core shaft still stood, though it looked a tad bit like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The engineers scratched their corporate heads. Time for the old fashioned wrecking ball. 56 hundred tons of metal, the weight of your average Soccer Mom’s SUV, dangling from a crane and banging over and over against the sides of this building.

One day, two days, three days…after another week, the structure still stood, though it now resembled a stack of Swiss cheese and crackers. People have been taking bets. When will it tumble? It is the most heard conversation at the watercooler. It is as if some invisible force keeps it from crumbling.

An older Contemporary Christian song by Kutless talks of God as being our strong tower and a fortress when we are weak. I see this tower as a symbol of our faith in the One Source that is our inner strength.

It makes me think of those Christians in hostile countries who are being so horrendously persecuted. Yet they will not renounce Jesus as Lord. Nothing will topple their tower of faith. Not torture, the burning of their possessions, the kidnapping, and the selling of their children in Muslim sex trades, or even death threats.

As I sit in my comfy apartment with central air and heat, clicking away on my keyboard and listening to my local Christian station, 88.3 The Journey, streaming from my Google nest, I feel a tad guilty. Is my faith that strong? If under attack, would I stand tall for Jesus? I’d like to positively respond in a split-second, “Of course!” But if put to the test…?

I recall the speech by one of the missionaries who minister to these persecuted and endangered underworld Christians. He told us not to feel guilty. God puts each of us where He can use us and gives us the wherewithal to do His will. These faithful brothers and sisters can stand strong, bolstered by the invisible force of our faithful prayers.

That stubborn rubble of metal and concrete that keeps showing up on the local news’ tweets reminds me that with Christ inside me, I can lean on His strength and still stand tall no matter what in life rams and batters at my sides.

The “Leaning Tower of Dallas” may have tumbled by the time this is published. But in a way, I hope it hasn’t. Maybe they will give up trying to get it to fall and erect a fence around it as an example of resilience. Doubtful. The developers will eventually win this battle.

But, for me, it will always be a reminder of the faith that is mine if I, in my weakness, keep my Savior and Redeemer as the core of my faith. May I never crumble no matter what in life whacks into me. Instead, may I cling to the invisible Force who clung to a cross in order to be my strength (Philippians 4:13).

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A Tad Different?

February 27, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

I poured out a cheesy snack into a bowl. You know? The kind that turn your fingers and tongue orange?

What amazed me was how differently they were shaped. Yet, if one took an individual piece and held it in their hand, anyone else, at least in the U.S., would immediately know what it was. They may even snatch it and pop it in their mouths.

All unique and distinct. However, each came from the same bag, the identical batch of dough. From the same recipe, the same processing plant.

As we start into the Lenten season when we traditionally reexamine our faith-walk, the passage from Ecclesiastes is read in our church service. “Remember, o’ man, that you are dust and to dust, you shall return” (3:20).  Are we truly so very different, or much the same?

Image by Elias Sch. from Pixabay A recent TV program stated that 98.5% of our DNA profiles are identical. Astounding, right?

It is that tiny 1.5% that makes up the things we tend to notice as far as looks, personalities, and propensity for diseases. That itsy-bitsy percentage determines our hair color, skin color, eye color, metabolism, capacity to absorb math, and ability to be creative in the arts…or not. And scientists are learning more and more about the things that 1.5% can actually determine.

Why is it we concentrate on all the minute things that make us different? God made us the same and loves us the same. He died for each and every one of us, though many do not realize that fact. They don’t understand the bag they come from, the bowl they belong in.

Maybe if we, who have God’s love flickering inside of us, would concentrate on seeing the similarities, then we could help those who do not know Jesus see the difference He can make in their lives.

As I crunch down on those equally delicious, individually shaped, cheesy squiggles…I wonder.

 

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Spice It Up

February 12, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

I only have to cook for one – me. So more often than not, I really don’t cook. I add ingredients to spice up the flavor of store-bought things like frozen vegetables, eggs, pimento cheese, milk, etc. I put a few drops of extract in my water or coffee. And when I do follow a recipe, I tend to add a bit of this and a tad of that on my own. I keep a turnstile of spices and extracts near the stove so I can easily spin it to decide what to sprinkle, dribble or shake to make it taste fresher and more original. Maybe a bit unexpected.

God spices up my life. In fact, without my faith, I think it would be pretty bland. If I didn’t believe He had a purpose for my life, I might be more tempted to pull the covers up over my eyes and stay in bed. But like the aroma of coffee and bacon whiffing from a kitchen in the morning, He entices me.

Six years ago I started this blog, Where Did You Find God Today? When I did, I felt it was an act of obedience, but I still challenged God. I said, “Okay. If you want me to do this, you need to be really obvious about showing me the ways you are in my life so I can tell others and encourage them.”

He has been faithful to do so. Sometimes He’s enhanced my life with sugar, sometimes salt, a few times with hot sauce (I can barely swallow it down). There have been times life has tasted bitter and it made me shudder. But He always comes through and makes my day unexpected, fresh, and original.

For me, I am thankful my life gets spiced up a bit now and then. It makes me realize the Master Creator is at work.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

I wonder what He is cooking up next.

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Rooted

February 4, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:16-18

Today in Bible study, my priest referred to unbelievers as cut flowers. They look like they are alive, but they have been cut off from the roots, so they can no longer grow. They are, in essence, dead and soon will show it. Christ brings life, but those cut off from God by sin will die, just as Adam and Eve did.

My mind wandered to the ivy cuttings I’ve had immersed in a vase of water in my windowsill for months. That water has kept them alive. I noticed a few days ago they were finally producing roots.

Jesus said He is the Living Water (John 7:38). Because of original sin, we have all been cut off from the root of Life, i.e. God.  In order to grow, we must produce new roots, and the best way to do that is to immerse ourselves in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the water who provides the Truth and the Life.

So all those “cut flowers” out there need exposure to the love of Christ. We need to help them see they want to be saturated with the Living Water through baptism in the Holy Spirit so they, too, can begin to grow roots and thrive.

I realized that, like my ivy, I need to have more patience with those believers who are not yet leading fruitful lives. We all grow at our own pace, and I need to do what I can to help make sure they stay doused in the Living Water. I, too, need to grow, so I also must stay in the Living Water…daily immersed in His Word, His Truth, and His love. We all do.

Don’t ever let the devil yank you out! But if he does, my friend, trust me. There will be people praying you back into the Living Water where you can grow again. If you ever asked Jesus into your heart, you are rooted in Christ.

 

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Conveyer Belt Life

January 23, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

Automatic car washes freak me out, especially the ones that make me steer onto a conveyer belt, put the car in neutral, and take my hands off the wheel. In other words, I must agree to lose total control. That is what makes me shiver. I like to be in control.

But washing my car by myself is less than effective. I’m very short and getting on in years. Stooping, stretching, bending? Ouch. I need assistance in getting the car clean. So I agree to enter this surreal world of metal, rubber, soap, and water.

Then it gets worse. Soon a rainbow of foam covers the windshield, leaving me blind to what is happening. I have no bearings. I know there is a car on the belt in front of me and one behind me (usually a minivan or SUV and I drive a subcompact). As we jerk along the belt, I pray we are all moving in sync and none of our cars get shoved into the other. I simply do not trust the mechanics of these automated things.

Finally, at long last, the foam slides down the windshield. For a split-second, I see the license plate ahead of me. Then, swoosh. The rubber tentacles roll down to envelop the car. Peering desperately through the flops of rubber, I, at last, see the “rainwater” rinse sprays. Ah- ha. There is still an arm’s length between me and the rear bumper of the one in front. The drying torrents gear up. The water droplets separate and dance on the glass. I can see the exit and, thankfully, the car ahead has made it through.

Right now, that is how my life feels. I know God has a plan, I just can’t see it. And that is where the trust factor comes in. I keep moving along at a snail’s pace, feeling out of control, in neutral. I guess I am moving toward the plan because I sense things are happening around me even if I cannot see them at the moment. But I still fight the urge to take the wheel, slam on the brakes, or put my “car” in drive and move things along at my preferred pace. Yes, to do so would not end well in my life any more than it would in the car wash. I know that. Even so…

Faith sometimes means stepping onto the conveyer belt and shoving our lives into neutral. After all, the results will be great in the end, and we admit we need assistance in getting the task done well, which is why we’ve agreed to hop on in the first place.

Maybe the next time I get my car washed I will grimace less and trust more. Same with my life.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this… Psalm 37:5

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Number Crunching

January 14, 2020 by Julie B Cosgrove

He blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish. Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow…Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord. Psalm 107:38,39,43

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

It’s that time of year again. Taxes. Ugh.

But on a positive note, it encourages me to look at my financial life over the past year. Where and how much I spent on what. How much did I save? Did my freelance writing business grow or make a profit? More importantly, what can I do differently this year to have a better outcome?

Now that we are in a new year, we can take a tally of our spiritual lives as well.

In my spiritual tallying, I found that the verses I’ve quoted of Pslam 107 hold a deep truth. Now, please understand. I am not advocating the prosperity gospel that states God blesses those who are “good” and put the disobedient in the poor house like a celestial Santa Claus with a naughty and nice list. Yes, we, as good stewards, should be responsible for how we handle what God provides. But we also must realize we live in a broken, unfair world where sometimes the bad seems to win out despite our best efforts.

Despite what happens, in prosperity or calamity, there are two things that occur:

First, a lesson is learned.

Secondly, God is still there and He loves His kids.

As I crunch the spiritual numbers, I find I need to be a bit humbler. I also need to be a bit more grateful. Most of all, I need to recall the number of times I realized God was right there beside me. One time, I had a dead car battery. I prayed instead of panicking. I found out my auto insurance offered free roadside assistance, and that after getting the car jumpstarted, there was a discount store a few minutes away from where I had broken down. When I arrived, I had hardly any wait time. And when I returned home and opened my mail, I found three unexpected checks inside which totaled up to almost the same amount I’d just spent on getting a new battery installed. Thank you, Lord.

Benjamin Franklin said, “There are only two things certain in life: death and taxes.” I suggest he was incorrect, as intelligent as he was.

The only two sure things in life are that, no matter what, God is there and He cares enough to teach us valuable life lessons. When you crunch the numbers, that about sums things up.

 

 

 

 

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Christmas Blessings

December 21, 2019 by Julie B Cosgrove

All walks of life, ages and races honored the babe in the manager.  Angels, shepherds, wise men bowed to Him. How many others in Bethlehem went about their lives and never took notice? 

This year, take ample time out to remember what this season is all about – it’s not about our gift-giving but the Gift that has been given to us.

 

 

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

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Rain Down

December 12, 2019 by Julie B Cosgrove

He shall come down like rain upon the mown field, like showers that water the earth.  Psalm 72:6

Dad would always rush to mow the grass when he heard a rainstorm was headed our way. He said that the newly-cut grass would better absorb the water. It would grow more lush and thick. The mowing scattered the bugs that like to gnaw on the blades of grass, too. (It’s also easier to clean the lawnmower blades, but that’s not the point.) So he prepared the lawn for the blessing on the horizon.

I recall opening my bedroom window and smelling the freshly cut grass mixed with the rain in the air as it began dampening the soil. Now if Glade could capture that aroma in an air freshening spray…

So, when we read Psalm 72 in church, that verse made me smile as warmth spread over my heart. The psalmist also knew that aroma. He understood the importance of rain on a freshly mowed field.

I think God mows us down a bit in order to prepare us for the blessings on the horizon, too. He trims us so we can better receive His mercy and grace. We become more aware of His presence as He cuts a bit into our lives. And it scatters the negativity gnawing at our hearts. We grow better in His ways when we are trimmed back and are then more apt to soak in His blessings when they pour down upon us.

So during the next dry spell in your life,  when you are not sure where God is in it all, listen for the sound of the heavenly lawnmower getting ready to prepare you for the blessings to follow. We all need a good trim now and then.  Can you smell the sweetness of His mercy?

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