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Leveled

December 1, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

 For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. Baruch 5 :7

ID-10082551This passage in my daily reading hit me in the way a punch in the gut snatches your breath. Scripture talks of making paths straight. What does that mean? I am learning.

Earlier this week as I headed for my apartment complex just south of one of the busiest malls, the traffic mimicked rush hour in Los Angeles. Trying to merge into the mess,  after waiting for several minutes my foot slipped off the brakes and my car edged forward to “kiss” the back bumper of the one in front of me. A very belligerent young woman jumped out and began to confront me.

I hate confrontation. Being raised in a family of perfectionist lawyers, I used to be the first to jump to defend myself. Then I’d stew for days over the injustice of being confronted. No, make that months, sometimes years.

But this time I profusely apologized and suggested we move to the parking lot to exchange information. She agreed, but as soon as I put my car in “P” she started in on me again.  The more angry and cutting she became the quieter and more calm I  became. She refused to tell me her name or give me her info, so I quietly took my phone to the back of her car and snapped a few shots of it, showing proof that no damage had occurred. Then I took some of her to record her ranting movements in case she claimed whiplash. The whole time she  scolded me to put it away and challenged why I  wouldn’t obey her.

I quietly and sweetly replied I did it to record everything for my insurance agent. Finally, I guess because I wouldn’t confront her or escalate the nasty mood she tossed in my face, and because I wouldn’t hop on her roller coaster ride of  anger and bullying,  she finally shut her mouth. She glanced at the cross around my neck, scoffed, and peeled out into the parking lot back into the snail-paced traffic. I bowed my head and prayed for her, my heart hurting that such a young person could already be so soured and skeptical, bitter and unforgiving. I asked God to touch her.

A whisper responded, “I just did, through you.”  I realized how the Holy Spirit had guided me into a peaceful state despite her emotional tirade. In the midst of biting verbal abuse, I remained like the old deodorant slogan- calm, cool and collected. No mountainous surges of  hurt and anger at her stabbing words. No blood pressure rises and plummets at her derogatory name calling. Over the past month I had begun to steadily read, study and pray more in the morning before starting my day. I guess it has altered my perspective.

God worked in me to level my emotions.  I walked safely that day, strong and upright, and gave God the glory.

ID-10056738We are entering what many consider one of the most stressful times of the year. Funny, how it began as a way to celebrate” Peace on Earth and Goodwill Towards Mankind”, isn’t it?  Yet with the holidays come  not only joy and frivolity, but economic worry, the unrealistic expectations of a greeting card time with family, and an onset of blues over the ones who are not here to join us this year.  Couple that with not eating right, over-partying, and dashing around to find the perfect gift for everyone, and it can become a time bomb waiting to explode.

Or not.

I hope you recall my tale when your day threatens to roller coaster. I pray you will take time out to let God level your emotions so you can reflect His loving light this season. Let Him lower your hills and fill your valleys with His mercy and grace so that no matter what, you walk confidently in a quietly in His shadow. May He make your paths straight and envelop you in His peace, despite the chaos swirling around you. And may that leveled attitude draw others to realize you have something they want. That is the perfect gift you can give this year.

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STOP!!

November 22, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

ID-100126659Have you ever been stopped – without warning? A door slams shut, a hand goes up, a tragedy halts your path.  Your breath disappears. Your heart races. You are dazed for a moment as your brain screams, “What just happened?”

I believe, because it has happened to me a few times, that God uses this dramatic interruption to jolt us.  Like being t-boned from the side in an accident, we are trapped, shaken and helpless.Our lower lip quivers and the tears begin to trickle as the built up pressure crashes through the dam of normalcy we’d built. Then, with all our strength drained, we wail in distress, “Why?”

Does God hear? Yes. Does He want us to dig our heads into His shoulder and cling to Him? Absolutely. But, do we?

Not always. Some folks turn to drugs, alcohol, food cravings, reckless adrenaline adventures or sex to try and adjust to what has happened without warning. Maybe you have tried one of these things first. Like digging a deeper hole, right? Eventually you shovel so far around you the ground lets loose and you slide into it. It’s called hitting the bottom. And you stop – because you have nowhere else to go.

Someone once said, when you hit rock bottom you discover Jesus is the rock.  I have learned not to go that far. As soon as I begin to slip I look up, find His nail-scarred hand and take the faith-chance to grab onto it. I stop and let Him “go”, knowing He will never let go of me.  Inevitably when I do hold on, helplessly dangling and dependent on His strength,, the purpose and lessons become a bit clearer.  He carries me through the emotions of bewilderment and hurt, and begins to pull back the darkness as my eyes readjust to the light.

And, having gone through the process, I learn to trust His way instead of trying mine. By the time the light turns green again, I am stronger, wiser and more gracious.

There are many things to be thankful for this year. My books are selling, getting great reviews, and I am excited about the next five contracted, which are in various stages along thethankful-page-001 (2) path to publication. I am grateful when one of my devotionals or articles or blog posts touch a heart.  I am blessed to know so many wonderful folks who support me and love me.

But most of all, I am thankful for a God who cares enough to stand by as I trip and fall, but never moves out of hand-grabbing reach. I am thankful for the times when I have whopped into the stop sign and He has guided me into wisdom by redirecting my attention. And, I am thankful He cared enough to die in order to draw me into life.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:57

 

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When the Light Goes Out

November 17, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

As I climbed the stairs a few cloudy and rainy nights ago, I noticed a difference. A veil of darkness blanketed my apartment complex corridor.  Halfway up the outdoor stairwell, the rungs disappeared into blackness. Ahead I could barely detect the light pole across the street, but its glow cast down to the pavement, offering very little help from my perspective. Needless to say, a chill clutched my chest for a second. What if someone lurked by my shadowed door?

IMAG0371Normally, a sconce hangs outside my entry to greet me. Via an automatic sensor, it flicks on when the skies darken. The same detector operates the ones at each of the four apartments in my unit along a sheltered, outdoor breezeway. I have become dependent upon its illumination when I come home after dark. It provides not only better ability to see the stairs and my door’s keyhole, but adds a sense of security. Tonight, that safeness I’d taken for granted didn’t exist.

The unexpected darkness unhinged me a bit.  I felt for the keyhole and worked my key into it. After several tries,at last it slipped into place. I turned it, heard the click, twisted the door knob, and sighed in relief as I entered my apartment with the table lamp lit to greet me. Safe.

Had I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dimmed glow emitting from street lamp across the street, I probably would have been able to detect the keyhole better and determine nothing evil lurked by my stoop.  But being a woman alone in the dark stairwell, I panicked –just a touch. That only made things worse. Time slowed as my anxiety increased. I became jittery with my fumbling to open the door as my brain hissed, “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”

As a Christian, have I become so used to the light of Christ that I become anxious when faced with darkness? Do I need to “see” evidence of  Christ in order to believe He is always nearby?  Now you may argue a Christian is never totally in the dark. However, there are dark periods in all of our lives simply because we walk the earth.

When difficult times hit me suddenly in life, may I not react the same way spiritually as I physically did in that dark corridor. Instead, let me wait patiently for my faith-eyes to locate my Lord, the One who calms, guides and protects my soul. In blessed assurance, may I stand firm in the knowledge that Christ has already won the battle over the principalities of darkness. I know He is my faith’s automatic sensor, illuminating me with truth when things appear darker than normal.

Unlike the one at my apartment, He will never fail to light my life.

Lord, keep the jitters at bey and thwart the desire to handle things quickly on my own. Even if I can’t see clearly with my eyes, may I always recall what the Psalmist states: You are the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path. (119:105) Amen.

 

 

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Dusting

November 6, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

My niece often exclaims , “My Aunt Julie’s house is always clean.”  Well, it looks that way, but…

Living alone (whereas she has three kids,a husband, a dog and two guinea pigs) I guess it is easier for me to keep things picked up and presentable–you know, just in case the Queen of England drops by for tea.

Seriously, I have always liked things in order and everything in it’s place– in my home and my life. But life on earth is not orderly. It gets messy sometimes and things accumulate in the corners where we often do not look, just as dust settles in the nooks and crannies of our house.  I decided that the one Saturday in a month I was not IMAG0357dashing to a conference or to do a workshop, I’d dust. Yuk. That cloth  on the wand found all sorts of fuzz and dirt.  Achoo.

Our lives can get that way, can’t they? Dirt, no matter how clean we try to lead our lives, can stick. This place called earth is a dirty place and we live in it. After all, Scripture says we are dust and to dust we will return.  But there are times it seems dust returns to us, and stays!

Every once in a while we need to stop and take time out to give our spirits a thorough cleaning. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to be the cloth wand to help us reach into the tiny crevices of our souls will little lies, negative thoughts, jealousies and grumblings have hidden.  It is called confession- the spiritual duster.

Have you dusted around in your soul lately? To the world you and I may look like the perfect, all in order, clean Christian. But deep down, if we stop and take a look, we know there are little specks of dirt cluttering our place that Jesus says He has come to dwell. He is standing at the door and knocking. Better get busy!

 

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Rejoice in the Rest

October 31, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

November 1st we celebrate all the saints, the faithful believers,  who have come before us. On November 2nd, the Day of the Dead, or All Souls’ Day is celebrated. Like other originally religious feasts, it has also taken on secular, macabre meanings.  It has become Halloween, Part Two in some cultures.

For the Christian, All Souls’ Day is all about remembering our loved ones who have passed before us and entered the eternal realm–we pray that is Heaven. If they confessed Jesus as Lord, then it is a day of celebration and rejoicing because they have crossed over into a life without pain, suffering, disease and death. They are in paradise forever.

We, who are not yet there, can rejoice in the rest – the rest of our lives knowing we, too, will one day be in Heaven with them and our Lord. We can also rejoice in the eternal rest our loved ones now bask in, and be thankful their earthly battle, no mater how brief or long, is over.

Not sure where they are now? I asked God that about a relative who I wasn’t sure ever crossed the threshold into accepting Jesus as her Savior before she took her final ???????????????????????????????????????gasp of breath on earth. As if He sat next to me, I heard the Lord whisper, “She saw my light, believed, and fell into my arms.”   In that immeasurable minute between temporal and eternity, I truly know our Lord, who Scriptures states does not want one soul to be lost, will try one last time to convince His creation that he or she is His child. Yes, some will deny Him even then. But seeds of faith, planted decades ago, can suddenly become beanstalks in the rays of His glory.

O ETERNAL Lord God, who holdest all souls in life; Vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to thy whole Church in paradise and on earth, thy light and thy peace; and grant that we, following the good examples of those who have served thee here and are now at rest, may at the last enter with them into thine unending joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   BCP 1928

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Reblog- Seagulls versus Herons

October 28, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

heron

WAITING FOR THE RIGHT PATH
OCT 28 2015, WRITTEN BY MELISSA JANSEN
“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.” (Proverbs 4:11, 12 NIV)

Most wading birds, such as herons or egrets, take very slow cautious steps.They have the utmost patience when they’re looking to hunt: they watch and wait for the right prey, and strike when the time is right.

Seagulls, on the other hand, try every method available when they’re looking for something to eat. And their palates aren’t too discerning, either!

I’ve been meditating on these verses in Proverbs 4 for over a year; through this time, God has been showing me that I need to be more like a heron and less like a seagull.

He’s slowing me down and teaching me to wait upon His plan and direction for ministry. My natural tendency is to want to jump and run into new things instead of allowing God to order my steps according to His pace and directions.

Like the seagull, I am hungry and desire to be fed immediately; however, God is still preparing me. He promises to guide me and make sure I follow His path. His timing and His ways are wise, and He won’t allow me to stumble or sway to the right or the left when I trust Him.

Father, I am so grateful that You direct my steps. I am not always sure of the path I am supposed to be on or the appropriate pace. Help me to slow down, listen to You, meditate on Your wise words, and take the right steps so that I do not fall down in a pit. Thank You for leading me. Amen.

from theLife.com  devotionals

http://thelife.com/dailydevotions/waiting-for-the-right-path

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A Treasure Box

October 20, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

IMAG0345Several years ago, the women of St.Matthias gave me this treasure box with a fall arrangement in it as a thank you for giving a talk. I truly do “treasure” it, and the memories of those lovely ladies I see way too little as they are in another city from me.

As I stared at it on my dressing table, I realized that during the fall season we often decorate with “fallen” things. Dead leaves, spent pine cones and acorns, twigs, dried grass.  We arrange them in vases, weave them to wreaths, and yes, glue them into a treasure box.

 

 I had to ask–what are some of the dead things I am displaying in my life? Or even treasuring like a memento of the battle?

Now I am not much of a gardener, but I do know if you want a plant to keep blooming you pluck the dead blossoms off the branches. My father always told us the reason he had us rake and bag leaves in the fall was because the grass would die underneath if we didn’t. It would not become lush and green in the spring. I know people put their leaves in a compost pile to decompose as fertilizer, transforming what is dead and useless into something to revitalize and feed what begins to grow later.

God brings us through seasons just as He does in nature. Sometimes, the old things need to fall to the ground and be swept away so after a period of void and dormancy ( our learning and readjusting time when we draw closer to God) new things can spring from the ground and grow.We always talk of spring cleaning, but spiritually speaking, perhaps I need to do some fall cleaning.  How about you?

I need to let go of some anger, angst, hurts and thoughts that should die in Christ so, when I go through a wintry period, they won’t thwart the seeds God is planting deep inside me. I should rake these dead things up in a pile for Him to mercifully transform into forgiveness, understanding and tolerance to His benefit, and mine. Sort of a spiritual compost. After all, isn’t our Lord in the business of taking dead things and making them new and purposeful?

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions… (Ephesians 2:4b-5)

Lord, help me to gather up and give to You the things that are now dead so, when the renewal of spring comes, I will be ready for the seeds You have planted and nurtured deep inside to spring forth from Your rich mercy.  Let me not hold onto past hurts and bitter lessons learned, but offer them to You so You may use them for Your glory. Amen.

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in a Video

October 13, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

This video by Merrill Bagwell was made Sept 30,2014. I recently saw it on Facebook.

It beautifully explains how often we miss God trying to get our attention during the day.

The whole purpose of my blog in a nutshell, so I had to share!

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SANDWICH BOARD

October 6, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

Today I read a prayer that asks for God’s grace to precede and follow us.

sandwich baord-page-001I had a visual image of the old way of advertising – the sandwich board. People used to wear them and walk the streets so people saw the message coming and going. People noticed the message, not the bearer of it.
Perhaps if I sandwich God’s grace around me, people will see Him first and last while I will be in the middle–shielded and covered.

Lord make me your visible message that points to You and not myself. Amen.

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Germ Warfare

October 2, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

‘Tis the season for germs- flu, colds, bronchitis…your doctor may prescribe antibiotics. But what about the spiritual germs lurking about, ready to weaken your immune system?

Last week I picked up a virus, most likely among the 500 authors I was in close proximity to for three days at a conference. Bam- within two days of returning home it had invaded my tired, worn-out body to the point that I felt the $30 copay for the visit to the doctor was warranted.

Yep- bronchial pneumonia has settled into my lungs. Steroid inhalers and antibiotics were the key to helping my body defeat these germy invaders.  Warfare was waged. At first, it looked like my lungs were losing. But after a few skirmishes, the meds kicked in, the fever lifted, and my hacking eased. My lungs began to expel the gunk – victory!

In the spiritual realm, we can pick up little germs as well. None of us are immune. They may lie dormant for a bit, but soon we realize we in and of ourselves are too weak to combat their influence. Sin can invade us in so many ways. It is everywhere. You can’t avoid it combating your ears and your eyes, much less your thoughts. Even the Apostle Paul admitted this in his letter to the Romans.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. (7:19)

We need help. Holy help. And the Great Physician is ready to send in the troops. Through a prescription of prayer, Spirit guided thoughts and Scripture, we can defeat those sinful germs and slowly expel them from our souls. God provides His strength in us. War is raged and the treatment is assured because Christ has already won the battle. Proven, tried and true, the prescription works.

However, when it comes to being on a routine of antibiotics, nutritionists will tell you you need to re-plenty your body with the good germs through probiotics. Same with our souls. Don’t let there be a void. Refill with the  good stuff- the Word of God. Cram it in so tight the nasty germs of sin will find it hard to invade. Paul also gave the Romans this advice: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (6:12)

So, take your  soul meds, folks. Stay strong in Christ, absorb His Word, go to Church and pay your copay in the offering plate with thanksgiving that He has the cure. You may get through this germy season unscathed.

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