Deposits Only

    
We have all come to a point in life were we have reached the bottom of our own resources, whether in finances, the end of a career path, emotional distress, physical and spiritual sickness, or any number of curses that befall mankind. Sometime we are standing, lying down, huddled in a corner, or even or our knees when the realization hit us that we are in desperate need of assistance: we are at the end of ourselves and have nothing left to give, our strength has been depleted, we are running on empty and our senses tell us that we are in danger. Many people share this unpleasant experience. For some the duration  lasts only a matter of minutes and for others days, years, or even decades. This dark place in our lives is not where we desire to spend our time or energy, but we are helpless to move forward on our own, hopelessly locked in a nightmare of despair. Now just imagine waking up one morning filled with dread, unable to face the events of the day. On autopilot, you have your coffee, get dressed and, as you are heading for the door, the doorbell rings. You say to yourself  "What now! If it is another problem, I'll just die. I cannot take another thing."  You open the door and a person is standing there with a certified letter in his hand.  He ask you your name, confirms your identity and hands you an envelope. You accept the letter and close the door as fear overtakes you. Your hands start to shake and your stomach churns. You look at the letter and debate within your self whether or not you should open the letter now or put it aside for later. After all, it probably only contains more bad news. Several minutes pass and you gather your courage and open the letter that is now in your hand. As you read, the tears pool in your eyes and you begin to cry. You are overwhelmed, your knees are weak and you sink to the floor. Dazed and bewildered you continue to read. The letter is not what you expected,  relief  floods your soul. Open-mouthed you read it again and then clutch the letter close to you chest. You cannot believe someone is aware of your situation and they actually cares about you and loves you. Help has arrived, a deposit has just been made into your life. The news contained in this letter will change the events of your life. Someone has empathized with your pain and has given of himself a gift that meets your immediate needs. Your resources and strength has been restored, there is now a new hope for tomorrow. The little things that you do each day can either be a deposit or debit. Your actions and small acts of kindness can change the day of people around you. Being a positive light to those around you, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, could be a life changer or saver for others. Now, your deposits into others are not the only important thing that changes the balance of a person's days. God made the greatest deposit into the checking account of your life through his son, Jesus Christ. His plan to save your soul has already been added to the account of your life. All that needs to be done is for you to cash the check. Once you accept his plan and gift, your whole life will change. You carry around this golden ticket, a bill that can be used anywhere,anytime,and anyplace. Through the use and telling of the name of the Lord Jesus, lives can be restored and days renewed. So start today ask God to show you today someone who is in need of a little kindness, seek out a way in which  you can deposit hope, strength, or aid into someone else life. You never know it could be just what they need to continue their journey in life.

^" Heal the sick, raise the dead to life, heal people who have leprosy,^[a] and force out demons. You received without paying, now give without being paid." (CVE)

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 Dedicated to my good friend Sue B.  

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"THE MONK"

The encounter happen most unexpectedly, I was just following my normal routine of walking in the morning along this wooded trail I frequent regularly. I had walked about two miles alone, praying and singing unto the Lord. I was having a glorious time, my spirit within me was joyous, lifted from the cares of this world. I had walked to the point of where I normally turn around. Ahead of me I saw the tunnel that was created by a section of highway that the trail passed under. I stopped and contemplated whether or not I should turn around or continue walking a little further.  Frankly, the tunnel always creeps me out because it is cold and dark. As I stood there my spirit said "just go to the end of the tunnel". I started walking, I was looking ahead, I noticed the sunlight streaming up through the darkness, what a contrast.  Cold, dark, warmth and light. And then I noticed him. The man in the frock. He was silhouetted by the light. I was startled, I stopped. I questioned what I was seeing. Was he real? or was it just a figment of my over active imagination. In that moment a small still voice spoke to me and said "stand aside and see". So I gathered up my courage and I started walking towards the figure at the mouth of the tunnel. As I approached him I began to hear the music wafting on the air. A sweet and beautiful sound, amplified and carried by the structure of the tunnel. I could feel my excitement building, I stood in front of him, he dropped his flute and I spoke first.  I asked a straight forward question. " What God do you serve?" See in my mind this was a very important question. I had just been praising the Great I AM" and I really wasn't sure if this guy was physical or not, and he was dressed like a monk. He looked at me and spoke with out hesitation "Jesus Christ". Now I  knew where we stood, there are many types of monks from many different religions serving many different gods. He explained why he was dressed the way he was and how he had come to this spot to worship God through music by playing his hand crafted Native American flute. As our conversation unfolded in an exchange of information. I learn about this fellow believer and how he was walking out his faith. How he was living his belief statement to the fullest level of commitment. He spoke of three disciplines; prayer, fasting, and service. We shared stories and life strategies surrounding our individual needs and faith walk. I began to see that this was an appointed meeting by God's design. As our conversation quieted, and our focus was redirected back to worship. The reason for our creation.  Two individuals, previously unknown to the other, drawn together through the blood of Jesus Christ, worshiping God on this intersecting point in time. He started to play his flute and I started to sing. A melodious sound, caught on the breeze, floating out and up to God.  The praise flowed through us, awareness of time and surroundings vanished. A new song was born, presented to the Lord on the alters of our hearts.  I walked away that day, blessed beyond measure.  I challenge you to stand aside and see what great things God has for you today.

Matthew 18:20

King James Version (KJV)

²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Choose Life Not Death

  It is very freeing to be able to trust in God so completely that worry and fear are not constant companions in our hearts. It is a freedom that comes from walking with God on a daily basis, continually being in his presence through his word and through prayer. There is a rest that is given to us when the Holy Spirit is allowed  to transform our thoughts and our hearts to reflect the image of Jesus Christ. We can experience relief from the stress and cares of this world by abiding in the presence of God. We can  live a life that is full of the blessing and promises of God. When the Holy Spirit of God is given the permission to flow freely in our lives he creates within us a new spirit full of hope and promise. A spirit that is alive to the things of God and is dead to the stress and cares of this world. 

          While reading the Bible one day I came across this scripture and the words just leaped off the page and caught my attention. I would live to share this with you.

          "Deuteronomy 30:15  "Now I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster." When I read this I said to myself  "Wow!" God is giving me a choice.  I can choose to have life and prosperity or death and disaster.  It seemed like a no-brain-er to me. I was very quick to respond in saying that I choose life and prosperity. But, I continued to read in  Deuteronomy 30:16-18 KJV where it said, "For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to occupy.  But if your heart turns away and refuses to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy."
  So wait a minute, "life and prosperity" are conditional. Let's take a look at this a little closer. Simply put, God expects us to do something. What is it that he is expecting for us to do? God is expecting us to choose life, to choose him.  To choose to love God.  You see when we truly love God it becomes easier for us to obey God. There is a flow of the spirit of God that brings us abundant life and life eternal.
          Let me explain. First God love us. He flows to us, he calls to us to come into his presence, he prompts us to invite him into our hearts. When we respond to God's call we in turn,  have invited his spirit to become active in our lives. The activation of Holy Spirit in our lives make us aware of God's goodness. We become aware of who God truly is, we experience his character, we experience his love.  We then can see ourselves as sinners, separated from God and in the need of a savior. Through God's love we can accept his plan of salvation he has for us. We can see his son Jesus Christ and accept the gift of the cross. This put us in a place where God's love can flows in us. We are in a "right relationship" with God. As we respond to the Holy Spirit within us, God's love to flow through us, back to God and out to others. We become transmitters of God 's goodness which when is expressed as obedience and  service to the Lord. When we allow the spirit of God flows through us he transforms us into the image of Christ and our actions reflect the actions of Christ. We become like Christ. With our minds and hearts transformed into the image of Christ we are then able to keep God's commands, decrees, and regulations. We can walk in his ways, we can live a life that is prosperous. A life where God's blessing are present and continually flowing.

 So, what choice do you make, death and disaster or life and prosperity?

Oh that men would praise God!

 

Thank you Father God! Your mercy to me is never failing. Your love is never changing. You care for me at all times. You supply all my needs. You grant me my hearts desires. You give good gifts. You are my protector and  my guide. You carry me through this life's journey. You bring the light of you love to my darkest places, you illuminate my way. You have set the stars in the sky for your glory and my enjoyment. You are the calm eye, when I am experiencing a hurricane. You oh Lord, dry my eyes and you lift me head. Glory to your name! You are Holy, Holy, Holy! you alone are worthy. You are creator God. You are the Lord the hears me when I call. You speak life into my soul. You are my hope.  You Lord are my all in all.  My father, teacher, my husband, my friend. Thank you for being my constant companion.  You alone comfort my soul.  You Lord Jesus are my redeemer, you have restore soul back to fellowship. Your love reaches across generations. Thank you that you shed your holy blood for me. You Lord Jesus alone are worthy. You have set me a captive free. You alone have purchases my liberty. Your strips have healed me. You have broken  the chains of my bondage. You give me hope for the future.  Thank you have exchanged my sorrow for joy.  You have restored my happy heart. Oh that I should praise you! You have given me an eternity with you. Thank You Holy Spirit for you are moving and are alive within my heart. Thank you that your presence is in my home. Thank you for reviving and restoring our lands, for healing our nations. Thank you that you have poured out your Spirit on us.Thank you for your many blessings. Thank you for enabling me to continue in the walk of faith. Thank you Holy Spirit for the power to overcome the tricks of the adversary. Thank You for the shield of faith. I bless you Lord God of Heaven and Earth, I praise your name.  Oh, That men would praise me...


Psalm 107:8 "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" KJV

Life's Notebook

 "Life is like a notebook. It may feel permanent if it is written in ink, but the reality is you can always rip out the page and start again".



 

    This little saying came to me one day when I was trying to write an anecdote, since I was in the middle of a different thought I hastily wrote it down in the top of an another notebook thinking I would return to it at a later time.  I then did what I often do, I basically forgot all about the phrase and the notebook I had written it in. Well as life would have it, seven months later, I walked into the kitchen and there was the notebook opened lying  the counter my eyes where drawn to the top of this hand written document because the hand writing I noticed was mine. I began to read. You see my youngest daughter had picked up the notebook and had been using it as her own. Underneath my writing she had written an account of a days events and it when something like this.  I am retelling this tale with the consent from my daughter. She begins her tale by waking up early at 8:30am one Saturday morning in July. Those of us with teenagers know that this in and of it's self is a feat worthy of praise. As routine would have it my husband and I were away from home and while we were gone my youngest daughter stumbled downstairs into the kitchen and as she would tell it. The kitchen a mess. So she took it upon herself to clean it from top to bottom, loading the dishwasher, scrubbing counters, sweeping and mopping the floors, she even took out the trash. Now having completed all this work she returned to her bedroom to rest. Now she had just settled in on the bed and her father returned home and noticed her abed and  like any conscientious parent he commented on how late in the day it was and that she should think about getting up.  She immediately internalized this comment and thought to herself. "See what happens when you do something helpful.....no one ever notices."  But being the great kid she is she rose from her bed and started to clean her room. Now if you have ever been in her room you would know that is a Herculean task. Once done, she climbed back into her bed.  Now as fate would have it a few minutes later her father walked back by her door and peeked in.   Now what he see is his teenage daughter still in bed. He assumed that she had not moved from her place of rest.  Here is the lesson " people see and expect what they have experienced in the past".   He still did not notice she had made an effort, cleaned the kitchen and her room. So, my husband spoke to her in a harsher tone saying, "What you are seriously still in bed? Get up now and do something!"  This time my daughter responded like an unappreciated teenager and stormed down to the kitchen muttering under her breath with the notebook in her hand. Leaning on the counter she turned to the page and read,  "Life is like a notebook. It may feel permanent if it is written in ink, but the reality is you can always rip out the page and start again"..  She read it again, finding a pen she began to write about the emotions, she expressed her feeling and through writing processed the events of the day. She choose to start again.
    Sometimes life is unfair. It may seem to us that we are continually grabbing short end of the stick. That our good deeds and good intentions go unnoticed. That others don't see who we really are, the "true me". We interpret the actions and words of others as being harsh and often critical. We feel unappreciated, unloved. We seek acknowledgement, we seek validation. 
    This is a small sample of what Jesus felt. Think about it.  Jesus the son of the Most High God left his home in heaven to live with us. He being of royal birth was born in a manger. He lived a life of giving, teaching, sharing, healing, feeding, cleansing, of showing us the love God. He gave us his best all that he had and his best was rejected by us. He loved us with a limitless love, he willing died a sinners death, our death, yet he was sinless. He gave us his life freely, so that we could live again. Yes, Jesus Christ bore our sorrows, our sins and our shame.  He did all of this and so much more. He purchased our salvation and liberty at cross he ripped out the page of sin from our lives. So we can start again.....Life is like a notebook.....How does your new page begin? " I am loved.....".

Galatians 2:20-"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

THE DOUGHNUT SHOP

   The other day I found myself sitting alone in a local doughnut shop drinking my coffee.  It was a mid -February morning and the weather was unseasonably warm.  People were sitting outside on the benches enjoying the respite from winter.  I chose to sit inside. I sat close to the window so that I could enjoy the bright sunshine that was streaming through it. The position I chose afforded me the opportunity to view the entire lobby of the shop.  As I was sitting there I noticed a young mother and her small child, walk into the shop.  The child was a girl, about three years old, cute as a button, with bright sparkling eyes and curly dark hair. I watched her mother gently ushered her to the counter to order.  The girl could hardly hold in her excitement, as her mother asked her what type of doughnut she wanted. I could see her small hands reaching up to the counter, trying to leverage herself so the she could see across it to view the doughnuts on the self and make her selection.  Her mother, ever attentive noticed her child struggling, she reached down and lifted the child off the floor until the child could see.  Ever patiently she asked her daughter again what type of sweet pastry she desired, and with  feet dangling the child answered,  "I want that one."  "The brown one?" the mother questioned. With excitement overflowing from the small child she replied. "No, no- that one!" Small fingers pointing. The mother looking at where the tiny fingers were pointing, and replied in a gentle voice. "The pink one?" The little girl's head began bobbing up and down as she answered with a bubbly explosion of words. "Yes Mommy, that one, that one!," she exclaimed. The mother looked at her daughter with mild inquiry,"Are you sure? It's usually the brown one you want. Well, O.K., then that's the we'll get."  She placed the child on her feet, and proceeded to complete their order and pay for it.  The two of them then walked to a bar stool and table, sat down and enjoyed each other company and their mutual treats.    
 I thought to myself ,what a display of love.  To others this mother daughter interaction might seem like a normal everyday occurrence, but in my minds eye I saw a living example of God's great love and concern for me, and for you.  Let's examine this a little closer Point one:  the mother and daughter are spending time with other. Quality time, sharing an experience, enjoying each other company, interacting with each other in a positive fashion. God wants to spend quality time in our presence.  He delights in us when we seek to and find pleasure in his presence. God is eager and willing to share all of life's experiences with us. God wants to parent us, to partner with us, to intimately interact with us personally.  God is concerned with our success. He want us to be productive in the life he has planned for us. A Life full of many gifts great and small. God has given us a constant companion, one who knows us and understands our needs.  He has given us His Holy Spirit.  Point Two: the young mother wanted to do something that would bring pleasure to her young child. She choose  give a small pastry, a gift, to display her love to someone she cared for.  To do something for her daughter that her young daughter could not for herself. The Bible tells us that The God of Heaven has given us the ultimate gift and continues to constantly give us gifts. God loved us so much that he gave us his one and only son Jesus Christ, and the promise of eternal life.  And Jesus, God's son, loved us so much that he gave us a gift we could not give ourselves, a way to escape judgement from our sins. He gave us his life.     
     Just take a moment to reflect on the this past week.  Name the gifts God has given you.  This should make you smile.  God wants to see you smile.  He delights in you! 


John 3:16-For God so love the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.  .

SHINE

 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://inphotos.org/files/2009/06/Burning-Embers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://inphotos.org/2009/06/19/burning-embers/&h=494&w=704

       I had just finished getting dressed one morning, and I decided to spruce up my attire with a couple of pieces of jewelery. I reached for my jewelery box that was resting on the dresser and my hand gently opened the small drawer as my eyes searched for the perfect pieces. I immediately spotted a dazzling set that I had recently purchased on a shopping trip to the local mall with my daughters and one of their friends. I picked up the bracelet and began to examine it. How beautiful, I thought. The deep garnet stones gleamed with  warm light, a quiet spark just waiting to ignite. They were encased in a blackened, antique-finished metal, sculpting the edges like fine lace on every stone. As I stood there, the seconds of time ticked by and I thought to myself, These are too nice to wear today.
       My hand started to return them to the small drawer when I heard "Waiting to illuminate." My mind wandered to a comforting scene. In my imagination, I saw an old store fireplace. The kind you would see in the main room of a small cottage, where the hearth is made of mute, multicolored field stones with a hand-made braided rug placed neatly on the floor in front of it. The iron poker, shovel, and ash pan were neatly arranged along the outside wall of the fireplace. Smoldering cinders linger where a once blazing flame cools on the hearth. A figure kneels, and with efficient, skillful movements, and begins to remove the excess ash. He is careful and his eyes are watchful. Never rushing as he places the ash in the pail one shovel at a time. He leaves the remaining hot coals in the center of the once fiery hearth. He prepares it to receive its new fuel. Cautiously he chooses his first piece of wood - a split log - and places it in the center of the coals. He then finds smaller kindling and places them in designated areas surrounding the log. With patience he watches and waits. Soon his eyes are drawn to a column of smoke as it slowly raises and winds its way up the chimney. He works with confidence knowing that once the wood ignites it will provide comfort and illuminate the darkness. The fire blazes and burns with great intensity.
       I returned to my senses, positioned the bracelet on my wrist, and fastened the clasp. I then reached for the matching earrings, I put them on and looked at my bejeweled reflexion in the mirror. I once again noticed the light shining in the jewels. Perfect. As I turned away, I thought we, the people of God, are like those jewels and embers casting only a reflection of the true brilliance that is locked inside. The Holy Spirit of God, our caretaker tends our souls. When we allow Him to clean out the ash and debris from our hearts and minds  he is then able and willing to replace that which what was spent and useless with a something that bring comfort and light. We must grant God the access to replenish our smoldering spirits, to stoke us and prod us so we can shine into the darkness. 

Matthew 5:16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.