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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.

Posted in Devotional, Life Experiences | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Go Deeper

September 21, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

Author Erin Taylor Young smiled and said, “It was against it’s nature to go deep. But that was the only way out.”

At the American Fiction Christian Writers Conference, September 17-19,  Erin told us an analogy to not being afraid to go deeper in your faith. She noticed a moth mothcaught between the window pane and the screen in her home. It’s predicament wretched her gut. But she also saw a lesson, one that helped to form her website theme.

It kept trying to fly up to get out. That is it’s nature.  However, it forgot it got in through the dent in the bottom of the screen’s frame as it flew towards her bedroom light.

Now, to get out, the moth had to go against everything it had learned.  It had to go deep into the dark corner of the window and walk at an angle through some cobwebs to reach that dent again.  Against it’s instinctual tendency and through a bit of danger. It could get caught up in the sticky web remnants. It could crash.

For several minutes the moth kept flying towards the top of the window, only to whack into the top sash each time. Over and over it tried. It’s little wings flapped as hard as they could. Same path, same result. Over and over and over.

Erin asked us if God is calling us to go deep. Are we flitting around trying to reach His  light by still following our own instincts, or will we hear His call to fly down and discover the one way out into His will? It may be dangerous, and a test of faith. It may get a bit tough, and the devil may put up obstacles. But, if we stay true to God”s course and follow His will, we will experience freedom, peace and the reward when we trust and obey.

Is God calling you deeper? Are you willing to say, “yes” and follow His path, even though it seems convoluted and not the normal way of doing things? It maybe keeping your cool when you want to yell back. Perhaps it is turning the other cheek. Maybe forgiving someone who has deeply hurt you. Or taking on a ministry in which you feel totally inadequate. Facing a tough circumstance like a death of a family member, a divorce or the big C diagnosis. Your instinct may be to escape the easy way. Let your human nature guide you. Rely on your own know-how, experience and strengthen.

Or, you can give in and follow God’s promptings, even if they seem contrary to everything else.

By the way, the moth finally caught on. It slipped through the dent in the screen frame and went on its way. No longer trapped.

Will you follow the moth?

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Irritating

September 11, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

What irritates you?

IMAG0312I have always had s sensitivity to certain metals. Only surgical steel can go into my pierced ears. But one pair I bought, which I later discovered was not surgical steel, are my favorite. Yet, if I wear them for more than a few hours, the “holes” become angry and infected. I have tried coating the wires with clear nail polish, dousing the posts in antibiotic salves, soaking them in rubbing alcohol…but the plain fact is my ears do not tolerate whatever alloy is in that metal. The result will be the same each and every time. So I stare at them and ponder, “Is it worth it?”

Sad to say, sometimes I suck in my defiant breath and shove them into my earlobes anyway. Then, I complain about the consequences for the next few days.

Sound familiar? No, I am not talking about earrings anymore. I am referring to those little “sins” we try to get by with. Those whispered temptations. The “no one will know if you do” nudges.

These irritate our souls just as the alloy embedded in the posts aggravates my sensitive ears. You might say these indiscretions rub us the wrong way – and that is what God intends. As Christians, sin is supposed to be an irritant to us.

Yet, how often to we pretend we are not sensitive to it because we want to have it, we give in and do it, or we sneak around and try it. We can coat the sin with anything we like, but the truth of the matter is it will still infect us. And only Our Lord can heal us.

Better to chuck it in the trash and walk away.

Easier said than done. I still have the earrings in my jewelry box.

 

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Even crooked and bent

August 31, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

A wonderful lady has recently begun to worship at my church.  You can see the Holy Spirit in her face. She always smiles, is eager to greet people, and is pleasant and insightful in conversations.

Yesterday, I sat a few rows behind her. During a praise song, she lifted her hand high. I noticed how crippled, crooked and misshapen with the arthritis her arthritic handsfingers were. And yet, she raised her hand high, unabashed, in worship to her Lord and Savior.  The image pierced my heart.

We are all arthritic to some degree, are we not? It may not be in our bones, but in our spirits. Life has made us misshapen. We may feel we are no longer in God’s image. We are bent, out of whack and feel deformed by the pressure of our experiences and attitudes. At times, we might want to hide from the world rather than reveal our true selves. We may long to be made right again, and feel bitterness because it isn’t happening.

May we all take a lesson from this worshiping woman.  She is not angry over her affliction and crying out, “Why me, Lord?” Her attitude isn’t one of shame and frustration.  She takes what she has, what she is, and what she has become, and offers it up anyway– all the while praising her Lord.

And I believe God smiles. I know He doesn’t only see twisted, swollen-jointed fingers. God peers down upon His child who  basks in His love and is grateful He came into her life. While one transformation has happened to her hands, a better one has occurred, and continues to manifest inside her. Her pathways are being made straight even if time and age has bent her hands.

Being honored to witness this  beautiful event has transformed me, and I dare say straightened me out a bit, as well.

Lord, let me lift myself to you as I am, with all my faults, my failures, my doubts, my fears. You accept me as I am, but graciously mold me to become what Your will desires. I cannot change many of the outside things in my life, but I can be transformed inside by Your merciful grace  For that, I can lift my hands and praise You Jesus my Savoir. Thank you for showing me a truth about You through this lovely lady You brought into my midst. To Your Honor and Glory, Amen.

Posted in Christian, Life Experiences | 5 Comments »

If You’ve Liked the Blog Posts…

August 28, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

Perhaps you will enjoy the book…

The Present. of God s presence Cover pdf-page-001

Available now in paperback only.  $10.00                      Just click on the book  to order.

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Reflected

August 17, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

IMAG0296Every morning I curl up on my couch with my coffee and my Bible. (Only way to start the day…I make sure the cats are chomping their kibbles so they leave me alone.) Today, the sun’s angle shone onto my son’s photo on the book shelf catty-cornered to my line of vision. I noticed the crystal cross I had sitting on the shelf near it reflected upon him. Ah!

I love my family. I am sure you do as well. But families are very human. That means we can rub against each other’s nerves at times. We have histories together and we know each other’s faults, mistakes and stumbles. That can color our view of them.

On the other end of the scale, our loyalty and love can obscure who they really are. We develop a tendency to overlook actions or tolerate attitudes we wouldn’t in friends or coworkers because they are, well, family. “Oh, that’s just Uncle Joe.” “My sister can be like that, but you don’t know her as l I do.”  “My little nephew can do no wrong. Sweet and smart as a whip.”

How much clearer when we see them through the cross. When we see them reflected through God’s vision, we can not only see them as His child, as sinners like us in need of a Savior. We glimpse the potential God envisions and strives to mold our loved ones be.  We become more tolerant  and more realistic in how they appear in our minds. Hurts dissolve. Jealousies no longer cloud the issues.

We are also no longer blinded by love and can truly lead the family member to come to know our Lord, who also sees us for who we are. By seeing them through Christ, we can love them in a healthy, productive way and help them to seek forgiveness, change their lives and grow in His will for their lives.

We just have to see them reflected through the cross more often and ask the Son to shine through onto our relationship.

Posted in Life Experiences | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments »

In a Name…Amen

August 10, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

I love word games, you probably realized that by now. While playing Scrabble, I noticed I had several choices when it came to playing my tiles M-E-N-A

Two jumped out at me – NAME and AMEN. Why? Because one puts the “N” at the beginning while the other word has it at the end.

God showed me a lesson.  It is up to us how we choose to arrange the letters. It all depends on where we place our values.

name-clipart-name-sign-md       If we put ourselves first, our name is important.

Shove our needs to the back behind those of others and God’s will for our lives and we have the word Amen.Amen

What is your “N”? Is it notoriety, making a name for yourself, or do you think of yourself as nothing?  Perhaps the “n” is a negative attitude, or the feeling you will never amount to anything.  Maybe it is neverneverland– a pipe dream. It could even be being noble. nice, or natural.  Whatever it is, the emphasis is still on you, not God.

Think what would happen if you flipped that “N” and thought less about it and more about your blessings, your purpose, and your Savior?

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. MaAtthew 6:33

Posted in Christian, Devotional | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

In What I Already Had

August 5, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

DSCF8872Why is it that we seek after what we do not have?

Human nature tells us the grass is greener across the fence. I had been coveting one pasture for quite sometime. Lush, shady, secure. Prime real estate. If I ended up there, people would respect me, and maybe be a bit envious. The idea lured me. I even put my foot on the lower rung, ready to hoist myself over by my own strength.

I had a chance six months ago to chat with an acquisition editor employed by one of the most renown publishing houses. She dangled the carrot and I chased after it.  I’ve always been a mystery buff and several people had tickled my ear to try writing one. I presented my idea and she told me it seemed to have all the elements and submit it. I couldn’t wait for the conference to be over so I could dash back to my keyboard. I brainstormed three synopses and wrote the first three chapters of the first novel as a tickler to show her my style. She responded by email that she looked forward to reviewing it…

For days on end I’d check my in box. Nothing. A week went by, a month, three months. I emailed her again in case it had hit her spam file. Nothing. I kept writing and when I finished the first draft I sent her another correspondence. Yep, nary a response. My ego deflated like a whistling balloon.  I felt unworthy, questioned my writing ability and almost gave up.

God yanked me off that fence so fast I landed on my rear end. And it hurt.

But God knew what lay on the other side of the fence was not in my best interest.

I learned it meant sticking with the publisher I had. The one who treats me well, appreciates my writing, always responds quickly to every email I send, and is willing to promote me. DUH- why look elsewhere?

Even though mystery was not a genre they’d ever published, I  felt a strong urge to query the editor in chief. I gulped and hit “send.” Within two hours she replied very positively. In another five days, I had a contract in hand FOR ALL THREE novels!

The Hebrews whined they had no meat in the wilderness when they had flocks of animals with them. God provided. Even when they continued to whine. David couldn’t help watching the wife of his troop commander bathe, even though he had a loving wife, and his desires lead him to leap where he didn’t belong. Greener looking grass lures us every time.

If you find yourself focused on climbing the fence to get to that softer, verdant, shadier landscape you may be ignoring the wildflowers right underneath your feet. Sure, goals are important, but so is God’s timing and His purpose. His blessings are all around you. Seek those, thank Him for what He has provided, and trust that He will tell you when it is time to explore a new field of opportunity.

Posted in Life Experiences | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Two Letters, Two Ways

July 28, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

Hi, my name is Julie and I am a word-aholic.  I play Scrabble with the computer, and have at least fifteen Words with Friends (WWF) games going at once. On my smart phone are four word games to keep me occupied while I am waiting for my friends to send me their word entries. This morning as i sipped my coffee, after my prayer and devotional time of course, I had a few minutes to play a few of the WWF puzzles. Starting a rematch this is what popped up in my tile selection:

IMAG0287

Yes, I didn’t use the blank. (A strategic move on my part, heh, heh.)  But I realized, another word could be spelled with the very same letters simply by flipping the letter “i” and the letter “T”. UNTIES can become UNITES.

IMAG0288

 

 

It brought to mind Jesus’ words to Peter when he told him his name would now be Cephas, the Rock on which He’d build his Church.

…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:19b

That has been passed on to all Christians in the Great Commission. We have two choices with the times, talents and treasures God had provided us. We can use them to untie ourselves from others, i.e separate us from them. We can strive for the bigger house, better car, more toys, and more expensive vacays. We can also use our God-given talents to shine the light of pride on whatever we do, thus distinguishing us from the crowd. We untie (loose) the ropes that binds us to others so we cab be set apart.

Or, we can use our God-given abilities to unite (bind) ourselves to others. Through loving God, and serving Him as an expression of that love, we act as a binding force to draw others into the fold. Bound together in His goodness and mercy, we are strengthened, supported, and  secured. That’s the servitude attitude Jesus displayed while on earth.

God gives us the letters to play. It up to us to determine how we use the “I” (me) and the “T”(them).

 

Posted in Biblical, Devotional, Life Experiences | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Clearly

July 21, 2015 by Julie B Cosgrove

glass_of_water_350I saw a picture of a glass of water. Pure, thirst quenching, clear.  Water is something we need to survive. We can’t go very long without it. Our bodies have water running through them. No wonder Jesus said He is the Living Water.

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10

 

God’s blessings overflow, providing us what we need to make it through the day. But, like a glass of water, sometimes we can see right through them, and so we don’t really “see.” Or what we see is distorted by the container- us.

Other times we want to add something to the water to make it taste better. Sugar, lemons, mint, cucumbers, even those small packets of energy boosters of flavorings. We brew coffee through it, or steep tea in it. We add seltzer and make it bubbly.

But your doctor will tell you there is nothing better for you than a plain, pure glass of water. The same is true with God’s blessings. Receive them, drink them down and quench your soul.

Have I made you thirsty? I pray God makes you thirst for more of Him today. Drink in His blessings. Clearly, they will be there if you look.

 

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