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In a Sermon about wallowing with pigs

March 11, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

Have you ever been “wowed” by a sermon? Yesterday in church, I was.

The Scripture for the day was such a familiar one- the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Somewhere in Heaven, volumes must be stored up on this parable. One of my favorite oldie but goldie Contemporary Christian songs is “When God Ran” by Benny Hester and sung by Phillips, Craig & Dean.

 

 

 

But, my priest, Chris Culpepper at Christ the Redeemer Anglican,  decided to concentrate on the least talked about person in the parable. Not the son, not the father, not the elder brother- but the man the prodigal son turned to after he’d squandered all his money.  “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country , who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” ( vs. 15-16)

 

That citizen , our wise pastor said, is the father of lies.  The citizen of a country not our own as the children of God, i.e. the world. The world is in famine for love, acceptance and truth, yet it seeks it elsewhere than in its Creator. Instead of humbling ourselves to our Heavenly Father, we think we have done too much to ever return to Him.  So we turn to another- a substitute father.  He gets us to do things we thought we’d never do and convinces us that is the way things are because of what we’ve done.

Pigs were taboo to the Hebrews. This son had sunk as low as he could. And here is the key- no one gave him anything.  Not food, not shelter, and certainly not forgiveness.

My priest challenged us, and I pass it on to you. What is it that you have yet to come to God about? Is the father of lies whispering that you are too sinful? Is your pride keeping you from feasting on God’s mercy? Are you  instead starving for His grace, but afraid to receive it?

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.     (I John 2:1-2)

Stop wallowing in the mud of your past with the pigs. Don’t listen to the whisperings of the father of lies. Listen to Jesus and come home.

 

 

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Grungy Dime

March 8, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

During a meeting,  I detected a coin on the floor. At first I thought it might be a penny. Someone probably dropped it then decided it wasn’t worth the effort to retrieve it. The coin was so grungy and dark, even when I held it up to the light, I couldn’t discern its denomination.

800px-One_dime_1976_revisedCuriosity, or latent OCD, got the better of me. I shoved it in my pocket. After I got home, I rubbed the coin with a squeeze of toothpaste. I saw bits of Eisenhower’s face. I rubbed some more. I saw the year it was minted and the inscribed words “Liberty”. I flipped it over and rubbed the other side until the images of the torch, olive branch and oak branch surfaced. No more mystery. I held a shiny dime from 1976, minted in Denver. Not a penny.

It reminded me of the woman who searched for her lost coin in Luke’s Gospel. While nine remained on the table, she hunted and hunted for the tenth one.

[Jesus said] “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10

 

What does the lost coin symbolize?  A lost soul in need of a Savior? Most definitely.

But I can see where it can also be that deep hidden sin lurking out of sight. The grungy one we’d prefer not to deal with yet. We say, “Lord, let’s tackle the easy ones first. The nine  lying open on the table. This one’s being swept under the rug for now, okay? Don’t search for it.”

Human wisdom tell us to let sleeping dogs lie. There are some issues better left alone. But godly wisdom disagrees with that philosophy. Sin begins to cling to us like dirt. We become camouflaged in the ways of the world. It’s hard to determine our purpose or worth.

I have learned I can’t hide things from God for very long. Like the tenacious woman searching for the lost coin, God will search out the sin in our lives. He will exhaust every means to bring into the open what we’ve been trying to hide from Him, and perhaps from ourselves. Knowing all, He encourages us to confess the sin, wipe it clean and then shine forth His glory in our lives.

 

 

 

taken from What Can She Tell Us– a Bible study of the unnamed women in the New Testament.

 

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In an attempt to promote other Christian authors?

March 5, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

Peggy Sue Wells at The NEXT BIG THING http://peggysuewells.com/2013/02/24/what-is-the-next-best-thing/ asked me to participate in this, so here goes: – oh- and you should check out her books!!!

What is your working title of your book (or story)?  FOCUSEDFocused-1-1
Where did the idea come from for the book? I READ A STAT THAT SAYS 80% OF DIVORCES (AFTER FIVE OR MORE YEARS OF MARRIAGE) OCCUR WITHIN TWO YEARS OF THE DEATH OF A PARENT OR THE NEST EMPTYING. I WANTED TO WRITE A FICTION SHOWING A COUPLE WHO GOES THROUGH (FROM BOTH PERSPECTIVES) THIS  CHANGE AND, OVER A PERIOD OF A FEW SOUL SEARCHING MONTHS, DECIDES TO STAY MARRIED – AND I WANTED TO  MAKE THE STRUGGLE  HEART-FELT, AT TIMES HUMOROUS, REAL LIFE, AND FAITH BASED.
What genre does your book fall under? CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S FICTION
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? UNKNOWN ONES- SO THAY CAN GET A SHOT AT GETTING NOTICED, JUST LIKE ME
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? HOW WILL CHRISTINA FOCUS AFTER HER PARENTS HAVE PASSED, HER SON HAS FLOWN THE NEST, AND HER HUSBAND, JEFF, SEEMS TO NEVER BE AROUND  ANYMORE-EVEN WHEN HE IS IN HIS FAVORITE RECLINER?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? IT IS INDY PUBBED THRU AMAZON
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? SIX MONTHS
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  GOOD QUESTION. IT IS IN THE SAME VEIN AS JAN CARON’S FATHER TIM BOOKS, EVEN THOUGH THE CHARACTER IS NOT A PASTOR. BUT LIKE MANY SMALL CONGREGATIONS WHO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE, THE CHURCH FOLK DO GET INVOLVED-THAT’S PART OF THE HUMOR.
Who or what inspired you to write this book? SEE THE FIRST QUESTION
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? THE OVERALL MESSAGE IS WE CAN FIND GOD IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR EMPTY NESTS OR EMPTY HEARTS. WE ALL GO THROUGH CHANGE- LIFE IS CHANGE. BUT GOD CAN PURPOSE THAT AND HELP US THORUGH IT. DON’T GIVE UP.

So, now I invite five other Christian authors  who have blogs to step forward and do this as well.

Gail Morris- www.GodGirlGail.com

Robi Ley – http://www.rwley.com/

Joy Brooks – http://www.prayerforfreedom.com/

Leann Harris – http://leannharris.blogspot.com/

DiAn Gates http://dianegates.wordpress.com/

Also Lynn Hobbs, Janice Olson, Leana Nelson Dooley

Mention me and my blog as your inviter and spread the word! Here are the instructions:

1. You write a blog answering the ten questions and post it on your week,
March 3, and include links to the blogs of the five writers you invite. You
also credit me as your inviter and include a link to the blog I post.
https://wheredidyoufindgodtoday.com/2013/03/05/in-an-attempt-…istian-
2. The five writers you invite answer the questions; each one puts that
blog up the week after yours goes up, and each one credits you as the
inviter and includes a link to your blog.

3. They, in turn, tag five other writers, and the cycle continues.

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The Sun on The Cross

March 3, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

This is an amazing sunset captured by a legally blind photographer in England named Steve Rebus. It is where he found God that day- and often- at the end of his camera lens. To God be the glory.

 

see more fabulous photos and prayers on his blog: iChristian 

 

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven. Matthew 5:16

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Tale of Two Kitties

February 27, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

I have two cats, as different as night and day.

The black cat is fairly independent. The vet believes he was on his own for almost a year before we took him in, fed him regularly and gave him his toy mice and favorite blanket. He still has a tendency to fend for himself. He is a loner, who only meows when it is more than a half hour after his mealtime, and even then it is a simple syllable mew.  Only occasionally does he hop up and feel the need to snuggle and be close. Most of the time he is content to just be in the same vicinity and purrs happily if you happen to come by and pat his head.

The striped gray one – he is the eldest and the most needy. For all twelve years of this kitty’s life so far, as my son claims, we have had to “re-adopt him” every morning, and then at least six more times during the day. He has to be within an arms reach of me when I am home. He is always in my face demanding that he be my only attention. Yet, he is also snuggly and sweet.

Which of these cats describes you when it comes to your relationship with God? Do you treat Him as a distant provider and only occasionally go to Him 0r are you always tugging on His robe like an incessant toddler, whining for His attention?

Most of us are somewhere in between the two extremes.  Just as most of us are a bit like Martha and a bit like Mary.  In our walk on this earth, may we all come to be balanced in our trust that He will meet our needs and yet willing to rush into His arms and lean on His strength and wisdom.

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In the shadows

February 24, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

Our church uses a power point display on the walls. We also have a processional, which means we sing as the ministers and helpers in the service come up the aisle. Kids from the congregation carry a wooden cross and liquid wax torches, symbolizing Jesus as the Light of the World.

When the torch bearers pass by the projectors, the light-beam catches the torches. They cast a shadow across the lower corner of the illuminated screen on the wall. But, what is so cool is that the warmth emitting from the torches can suddenly be seen as wispy shadows, almost translucent,  billowing up over the words to the hymn.

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptizer, told his infant boy this:

 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
  for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
  in the forgiveness of their sins,
 because of the tender mercy of our God,
  whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
  to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
(Luke 1:76-79 ESV)

dreamstimefree_91584We are supposed to reflect Jesus as we walk this earth. We carry His torch. If Christ shines His light in our path, will other people, who sit in darkness, see the wispy shadow of the Holy Spirit emitting from our souls like a Godly warmth? Or will they only see the shadow of death because of  our unconfessed sins and worldly week-day ways?

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In a phrase…or two, wait – three

February 22, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

Two sleepless nights. The worry monster sat on the edge of my pillow. It crops up every now and then since I’ve become widowed and lost the safety net of my husband’s income. Each time when it looks like I am running out of money, something, a definite God-thing happens.

Yet, I still go through the ritual toss and turn as each worry floats to the surface of my thoughts like a Magic Eight Ball phrase on the floating triangle.  I haven’t been able to find a job, the freelance work is drying up, the books need to sell more, I should be speaking more, I got denied a lower rate of insurance because I have occasional muscle pains? Really??    . . .  yah-di-yah, yah.

Last night, even my cats snuggled close and purred comfort–or maybe it was because it got below freezing and the cold air was seeping through their pet door in the window near my bed.

Anyway, this morning my daily devo hit my mailbox. Often when I write for this site, people tell me my words were exactly what they needed to hear. Today, I was on the receiving end of Becky’s words. She wrote that God’s grace is what gives us the courage to stay the course and we should embrace the challenges we have and ask God to give us endurance while His plan is being revealed.

(Here is a link to the whole thing – it’s a good read: http://powertochange.com/blogposts/2013/02/22/receive-his-grace/)

Then, a new blogger buddy, Steve  with iChristian,  who sends a thought for each day to my email popped up with this:  “Sadness, disappointment, and despair have to flee in the presence of hope.”

Next, the daily psalm verse that pops up on my cell phone read- Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,  for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.   Psalm 42:5

I had to laugh. You see, God always seems to speak to me in threes.  I get it.

Hope = Having Optimistic, Positive Endurance.

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On A Bird Feeder

February 18, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

Fort Worth gets winds- gusty winds that whine through my windowsills like a stubborn child in a tantrum. Incessant.  It seems to last forever.  Actually this time, it has been going on for three days.

Before the latest winds hit, I put up a little bird feeder on the tree outside my patio. It was on sale and so was the seed. Within 24 hours I heard the cheeps and saw two finches perched on it, announcing to their feathered kin and friends that they had found free chow. Then a few sparrows, and my favorite, the timid turtle doves appeared.

dreamstimefree_97858While writing at my computer, I noticed the little feeder tilting in the wind. On it clung a determined purple finch, timing its pecks to the gusts. It’s little feet curled tightly around the pole. Wings flapped to maintain balance. But, no matter what, that tiny bird was staying on that feeder so it could have the seeds. As the feeder tilted, some of the seeds fell to the ground, greeted by opportunistic doves below.

I smiled – that’s me on that feeder.

If you picture at the feeder as God’s blessings and the winds as life, can you see the analogy?

Life can get a bit gusty and wobbly at times. We cannot control the winds of change. But we can redirect our sails. That is what a magnet on my fridge that my late mother gave me states.

God gives us abundant blessings. We, though, have to choose to ingest them into our life. When our world turns gusty and we feel tossed about a bit, we can still cling to those blessings.  That takes determination and tenacity. But God continues to provide – that feeder of blessings will never empty all the way.

And here is the best part. When others see us clinging on, a bit of those blessings may spill their way as well. People gather around a person who perseveres. They watch and ask, “How do they do that?”  Our tenacity and can-do attitude attracts others. Just remember to tell them whose feeder you are on and why. You never know where those seeds of blessing will fall.

And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.   (Matthew 13:3-8 ESV)

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In a Box of Chocolates

February 15, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

????????????????????????????????????????Raise your hands if you  gave up chocolate for Lent on Wednesday, then realized the next day, yesterday, was Valentine’s. Are your really going to tuck away that red heart shaped box filled with mouthwatering choices?  Can you withstand the temptation? Are you going to claim Sunday as a “king’s x” day and gobble down a few of them after church? Or will you chew now and confess later?

How easy is it to make resolutions and vow to make a change. How easy is it to be tempted at a drop of the hat to not keep that vow, or to find wiggle room in the rules to, well, have our chocolate in life and eat it, too. But what are we risking in return?

We all have good intentions when it comes to our Christian walk. We want to change, be more Christ-like, and bend to God’s will. Adam and Eve knew that push-me pull-you feeling. So did Paul.

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. (Romans 7:15)

Human nature. We can’t  do it on our own, can we? Paul goes on –

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (vs 18, 20)

But Christ shows us a higher road, a better way that He has not only paved, but traversed.  We only will  succeed when we let God’s will control our thoughts and actions.

…because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

That’s a vow God makes to us, and He, though tempted while on earth, never gave in.

It’s not about what’s inside that heart shaped box of chocolates–it is about what’s inside the heart itself.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

 

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Bible vs Cell Phone

February 13, 2013 by Julie B Cosgrove

This is Ash Wednesday- the beginning of Lent. Lent was the time the early Christians spent in study, reflection and penitent contemplation before being baptized on Easter. Today, it is often a time of taking on new things to replace old negative habits.

I heard a woman speak at a conference recently about how modern day life can eat into our spirituality. She handed out the following questions.

What if . . .

We treated our Bible like our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day looking for messages – and then responded back?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we treated it as if we’d be lost without it, afraid to be out of touch?

What if we gave it to kids as a gift?

What is we used it when we traveled, and In Case of Emergency (ICE)?

My pride balloon inflated because I have a daily Bible verse on my favorites’ screen and the whole Bible as an app on my cell phone.  But, when she asked if I looked at it as often as my text messages and email, it popped. With each question I saw the pieces float down in humility. How about you?

Unlike our cell phones, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected – Jesus already paid the bill.

Unlike our cell phones, we don’t have to worry about it being stolen.

Plus, with Christ, there are no  dropped calls. You always have 4 bars- at least.

Can you hear Him now?

 

 

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