"Howard, this fridge isn't cooling very well," I said as I got out our breakfast preparations.
"Well, turn it up!" was his reply.
Then I looked at the dial and found it was only set about halfway. I quickly turned it to the coldest setting. I know the shelves get too full, what with our many leftovers preventing proper air circulation, but I had nearly emptied it recently.
This got me thinking about the spiritual lives of believers. Often we get lukewarm, and our relationship with the Lord needs to be turned up to a higher level! Jesus said he would rather we be cold or hot. I hate lukewarm milk, and would spew it out of my mouth, just like Jesus said in Revelation 3:16, "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth."
Sometimes we get filled up with leftovers. Leftover grievances. Someone hurt our feelings, maybe years ago, and deep down, we have never gotten over it. Someone did us wrong, or someone else got the promotion or award that should have been ours. Leftovers stink after awhile! They get all moldy and dangerous. It's best to forgive and throw out those old hurts and disappointments.
Our granddaughter attends a week-night church program for teens. Every week for months she was the most attentive, knew all the memorization scriptures, was well-liked by all, and when it came time for the award at the end of the school year, all the kids assured her it would be hers. And she expected, it, too, but it went to the most unruly, uncooperative student in the class: the superintendent's son. She cried, but I think she has put it behind her now.
A couple of days ago, I noticed a pot of flowers I have hanging on my porch. Unfortunately, all the pretty blooms were facing outside, so I turned the basket of flowers around so I could enjoy the blossoms. The next time I looked, all the flowers were turned backwards on their stems facing the sun!
Not that they were hot or cold, but their DNA was to face the sun! To be hot with the joy of His presence, we must face the Son!
Today while we were in town I noticed a temperature reading on a lit-up sign that said 78 degrees. "Well, it will sure be hotter than that this afternoon," I remarked, "It's supposed to get to 102." When I got out of the car, it felt that hot already. The gauge was wrong! Sometimes we have to check our spiritual gauge. Are we negligent in church attendance? Slack in supporting the work of God? Not keeping a close relationship with Him? Face the Son! Where the temperature is just right!
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Seeing is Believing?
Browsing Youtube the other day, I came across an old movie I love, "Sarah, Plain and Tall." Oh, good! I thought, and couldn't wait to click on it. Rats! It was a video with a huge, oval, white spot in the middle of the screen! I wanted to see it so bad that I continued to watch anyway, putting up with the blurry, faded picture, which was only clear around the edges.
Since I knew the story so well, I followed along okay, catching a little of it over several days. I finally finished all three series of the videos. Then another showing of the movie came on. This time perfectly clear and in vibrant color! And to think if I'd scrolled further, I could have watched it comfortably all along!
How many times have we stopped short of something or of some goal that we wanted to achieve only to settle for whatever popped up in our path? We often give up too soon, then in retrospect we realize that if we had only held on a little longer, success would be ours. This may be true of education, relationships, or even pursuing in prayer!
Later, I thought of the scripture that says, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known," I Corinthians 13:12. Of course, it is speaking of our limited understanding and knowledge here, but in Heaven we will have clear vision and recognition, as we will be recognized as well!
Here things are not always what they seem. Not long ago I bought a purse that I really liked. I had carried it to church on Sunday, after which I had visiting family over for a big Sunday dinner. As we all chatted later, I noticed my new handbag lying on a bench in the living room where I had obviously dropped it coming in, in my hurry to serve the meal.
I picked it up and showed it to my grown granddaughter, pointing out features that it had, and closing a zipper pocket I had left open. I went on and on, getting no response, when finally she laughed and said, "Mimi, that is my purse!" I gasped and laughed at my mistake, and went to the bedroom to get my almost identical purse! The joke was on me, as I was zipping and fooling around with her pocketbook!
The other night I got ready for bed after taking my allergy pill and setting a bottle of water on the night stand for when I would get thirsty. In the middle of the night, I got up in the dark, heard something hit the floor and almost simultaneously felt a spurt of cold water under my feet. I had knocked off and stepped on the plastic water bottle! Seeing through a glass darkly? Up there, everything will be crystal clear!
Since I knew the story so well, I followed along okay, catching a little of it over several days. I finally finished all three series of the videos. Then another showing of the movie came on. This time perfectly clear and in vibrant color! And to think if I'd scrolled further, I could have watched it comfortably all along!
How many times have we stopped short of something or of some goal that we wanted to achieve only to settle for whatever popped up in our path? We often give up too soon, then in retrospect we realize that if we had only held on a little longer, success would be ours. This may be true of education, relationships, or even pursuing in prayer!
Later, I thought of the scripture that says, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known," I Corinthians 13:12. Of course, it is speaking of our limited understanding and knowledge here, but in Heaven we will have clear vision and recognition, as we will be recognized as well!
Here things are not always what they seem. Not long ago I bought a purse that I really liked. I had carried it to church on Sunday, after which I had visiting family over for a big Sunday dinner. As we all chatted later, I noticed my new handbag lying on a bench in the living room where I had obviously dropped it coming in, in my hurry to serve the meal.
I picked it up and showed it to my grown granddaughter, pointing out features that it had, and closing a zipper pocket I had left open. I went on and on, getting no response, when finally she laughed and said, "Mimi, that is my purse!" I gasped and laughed at my mistake, and went to the bedroom to get my almost identical purse! The joke was on me, as I was zipping and fooling around with her pocketbook!
The other night I got ready for bed after taking my allergy pill and setting a bottle of water on the night stand for when I would get thirsty. In the middle of the night, I got up in the dark, heard something hit the floor and almost simultaneously felt a spurt of cold water under my feet. I had knocked off and stepped on the plastic water bottle! Seeing through a glass darkly? Up there, everything will be crystal clear!
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Chicken!
"They won't go outside!" I exclaimed to my husband. He had recently transferred some nearly grown chickens from their protective cage to wider spaces, which included a safe, fenced area outside. Howard came into the shed and began to nudge one through the opening to the outdoors. The chicken immediately ran back inside to the gloom and semi-darkness of the hen house. It had been almost a week, and the good-sized birds refused to budge!
Of course, I knew their trepidation was partly because of the roosters, which had been known to initially pick on a newcomer until they got used to its presence. But the young flock was missing so much! Fresh air, sunshine, discoveries in the grass--even the table tidbits I tossed in almost daily! It reminded me of how kids used to yell, "Chicken!" to a pal who refused to take a dare or do some weird feat.
Sometimes I think Christians are held back from some goal or accomplishment in work for the Lord because we are too "chicken!" We don't want our comfort zone to become uncomfortable! We wouldn't have the stories of the mighty heroes of the Bible if they had stayed in their comfort zones.
David stepped forth to kill Goliath. "Then David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied."!
The disciples risked and even lost their lives to spread the gospel. In Judges 4:21 a woman named Jael drove a tent peg through an enemy's head and delivered Israel from the Canaanites. A teen-ager named Mary suffered scorn and gossip to carry the Savior of the world in her womb.
We are not usually called to such mighty endeavors. But it's easy to let the smallest obstacle stand in our way...too busy, don't feel up to it, uninterested, inconvenient--when we are asked or invited to do something for the Lord. Or if it is something that involves a risk, we may be too "Chicken!"
Of course, I knew their trepidation was partly because of the roosters, which had been known to initially pick on a newcomer until they got used to its presence. But the young flock was missing so much! Fresh air, sunshine, discoveries in the grass--even the table tidbits I tossed in almost daily! It reminded me of how kids used to yell, "Chicken!" to a pal who refused to take a dare or do some weird feat.
Sometimes I think Christians are held back from some goal or accomplishment in work for the Lord because we are too "chicken!" We don't want our comfort zone to become uncomfortable! We wouldn't have the stories of the mighty heroes of the Bible if they had stayed in their comfort zones.
David stepped forth to kill Goliath. "Then David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied."!
The disciples risked and even lost their lives to spread the gospel. In Judges 4:21 a woman named Jael drove a tent peg through an enemy's head and delivered Israel from the Canaanites. A teen-ager named Mary suffered scorn and gossip to carry the Savior of the world in her womb.
We are not usually called to such mighty endeavors. But it's easy to let the smallest obstacle stand in our way...too busy, don't feel up to it, uninterested, inconvenient--when we are asked or invited to do something for the Lord. Or if it is something that involves a risk, we may be too "Chicken!"
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