Month: December 2015

Bring What You Have

Posted on by Wendy
From Storm troopers to strays, God invites us all to join the parade towards Heaven.
From Storm troopers to strays, God invites us all to join the parade towards Heaven.

Our local Christmas parade was last weekend. I live in a small town and my little town really turns out for the Christmas Parade. This year, my son was marching in it with his high school band. They were supposed to wear their uniforms and a Santa hat, which I went to Walmart and purchased and then promptly left on the dining room table. Well, he left it on the table.

I sent my son to go to go meet his band mates while I stayed behind and waited for my sweet hubby to bring me the aforementioned hat. I parked a good distance away from the parade line-up, so on my way to give my son his hat, I passed most of the floats.

There was Christmas music playing from all directions and everyone I passed, had a smile on their face. Leave it to a Christmas parade to put everyone in a festive mood. I passed by Boy Scout troops and Brownie troops, baton twirlers and gymnasts. The little ones always make me smile.

Then I passed by a float with an out house on it. That really made me chuckle. Next, I passed by some fully uniformed storm troopers. Then I saw Wonder Woman. I told her that she looked cold. She told me that she was. I also told her she looked fabulous. She thanked me.

Once I finally reached my son, who was very close to the beginning of the route, I went and found a place to stand to watch them all come by. I again marveled at the wildly varied cast of characters. There were churches represented and businesses. There were people on horses, and people walking dogs who needed adopting, and about twenty-five John Deere tractors all decked out in tinsel and bows.

Everyone who came by waved and said, “Merry Christmas!” as they tossed candy into the crowd. The children couldn’t have cared less about who the people were in the parade; they just appreciated the candy they had to give.

It struck me that Christians are much like that wild cast of characters in that parade. We come in different shapes, sizes and colors. We are old and young. We have many different passions and gifts and God wants us to use every one of them to glorify Him and build His kingdom.

It doesn’t matter whether we are twirlers, or cheerleaders, or march in the band, or love to ride horses, or dune buggies, or enjoy fostering stray dogs. God invites us to bring whatever it is that we love, whatever we have, whoever we are to Him and join the parade towards Heaven.

He invites us to put on our walking shoes and smile and wave and invite others to join us. He made us each wonderfully unique and we each have a place in His wild cast of characters. He’s waiting for you.

What are you waiting for?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

God Can Fix This

Posted on by Wendy
God can fix this.
God can fix this.

As I write this, our country is once again reeling from a mass shooting. Sadly, it’s becoming more and more common place and people are frightened. These are without a doubt, frightening times we live in.

The latest massacre occurred in San Bernardino, California. One of the first reports that I saw was that a young woman had texted her father to, “pray for us.”

I thought about that young woman’s text, all through that evening. I thought about the times I have had a friend text me and ask me for prayer and how powerful prayer is. I thought about how desperate and afraid people sometimes are when they finally ask someone to pray for them.

I also thought about how nonchalant people have become about prayer on social media. Some people have become awfully comfortable asking all of their five hundred plus, Facebook Friends, to pray that the cake they are baking doesn’t fall. I also see a lot of my best friend’s, brother’s friend, Sally’s sister, needs prayer type things. I often wonder, is Sally praying? Is her brother praying?

Prayer is serious business. It’s our direct connection to God. I have the utmost respect for the power of prayer.

Imagine my surprise, when I read the headline of the “New York Daily News,” that boldly proclaimed, “God Isn’t Fixing This.” It went on to belittle politicians who had offered prayers for the victims and their families.

Apparently, many people who were trapped inside that building in San Bernardino felt differently. They were praying. One young woman called her sister to tell her she loved her after she was shot in the back. She was crying and praying for her life. She survived.  Furthermore, many of the ones who were rescued, formed a prayer circle and prayed together. There’s a picture of them captured on Twitter.

I’ve always heard there are no atheists in foxholes. Looks like that’s true.

Who knows what kind of intervention resulted from the desperate prayers of those people who were trapped and injured along with the prayers from their families and other Americans who watched the horror unfold?

As far as God not fixing the mess, that America finds itself in regarding gun violence, He’s the only one who can. As a nation, we have largely turned our backs on God. Of the 70% who claim to be Christians, studies show that only 20% attend a weekly worship service. If we aren’t worshiping God, who or what are we worshiping?

When we give God very little thought, when we don’t worship, or pray, or read the Bible or try to be like Christ, how can we be surprised that our country has turned violent?

God is still very much alive and in play. He can certainly intervene, but have we asked God to fix our problems? Our God is not a dictatorial bully. We have to ask. As a nation, are we willing to fix our minds on Him and His plan and not our own?

I don’t think for a minute that He sits up in Heaven with a smite button to punish us for our wrongdoings, but when we insist on living outside His will, the consequences are on us.

I respectfully disagree with the, “Daily News;” prayer is the most powerful weapon we have, but we have to use it wisely and frequently and we really need to use it as a nation.

He’s not done with us. Are we done with Him?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Danger of Insincerity

Posted on by Wendy
Insincerity can permeate our entire lives, if we allow it to.
Insincerity can permeate our entire lives, if we allow it to.

I was recently subbing for a special ed teacher. I’ve subbed for her before and I am familiar with the children she serves. One of them in particular, is a wild card. You truly never know what you are going to get.

He was a wide open picture of defiance, on one of my days there. He refused to do anything I asked him to, which is kind of par for the course and I really didn’t think much of it. However, at the end of the day, I thanked one of the other children I was working with, for working so hard that day. He rewarded me with a hug.

My little wild card, proceeded to tell me that it wasn’t his fault that he had behaved badly. I disagreed with him and he finally admitted that his behavior was his fault and he actually apologized. I thanked him and told him I knew we would have a better day, the next day.

Then our conversation got interesting. He told me that I didn’t have to mean it, but that he would feel better if I apologized to him too. I politely told him, “no.” He persisted, “C’mon, you don’t have to mean it, just say you are sorry.” I explained to him that I had no reason to apologize.

He finally let it drop because the bell rang and it was time for him to go home. I chuckled about our conversation a lot over the next few days. You would have to know this child to get the full effect. But, after a while, it really made me think about sincerity and how often we are insincere with our words and actions towards others and towards God.

How often do we apologize or say or do something, just to keep the peace? Sure, there are certain times when it’s better for all concerned to have a little peace, but how often are we willing to settle for the path of least resistance? How often are we willing to keep quiet or go along with people and plans that we disagree with, simply because it’s easier that way?

I think insincerity can be a soul killer. I think sometimes we allow it to permeate throughout our lives.

It sometimes even turns up in our prayers. We ask God to forgive us for some act that we have every intention of doing again. While grace grants us forgiveness, we are supposed to repent and change our ways, not just use prayer as a revolving door of insincerely asking God to forgive us.

Grace doesn’t work like that.

Perhaps we should all spend a little more time thinking and praying about what we say and do before we do it. Perhaps one of our most fervent prayers should be for God to show us where we are acting insincerely towards others and towards Him.

Maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about when He said, “Blessed be the pure of heart.”

I find that God often speaks to me through children. This time, he used a little wild card. Maybe He is speaking to you too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

He Doesn’t Need Us, But…

Posted on by Wendy
Our reply has eternal repercussions.
Our reply has eternal repercussions.

A couple of Sundays ago, my pastor made the bold statement that God doesn’t need us. I say bold, because in the narcissistic, selfie-stick buying, completely self-absorbed world that we live in, could that possibly be true? Gasp! Is telling people that God doesn’t need them, any way to draw folks to Him?

He’s not a new pastor and he’s very clever with his messages. He got everyone’s attention, which was exactly what he intended. He was actually preaching on a portion of Revelation, a book of the Bible that churches seem to spend little time on these days.

But, he wasn’t talking about all of the end time events depicted in it. He focused on God being the great I Am, the Alpha and Omega. God is, was and will be.

Think about it for a minute. The God who parted the Red Sea for Moses, is the same God that we pray to today. The God brought down the walls of Jericho for Joshua, is our God. The God who sent the Angel Gabriel to tell Mary she would carry His son is the same God today as He was then.

The God who called the universe into existence and created the stars, and mountains, and oceans, is the same God we worship.

And my pastor was right; just as God once said to Job, who was complaining, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell  me if you know so much.” Job 38:4

We have to ask ourselves: Where was I? Where were you?

Oh yeah, we wouldn’t be born for thousands of years. Our God does not need us, but He loves us and He wants us and that’s even better. Think about that. To be loved and cherished, when we are not needed, that’s true love.

Letting that sink in can be difficult for those of us waiting for a catch. There isn’t one. He doesn’t need us, but my pastor reminded us that He will use us if we let Him. We have to agree. Jesus will never invade a closed off human heart.

And the part that really stuck with me was when my pastor said, “when we agree to be used, we get to change the landscape of Heaven.”

The words we use and the way we live our lives as Christ followers help other people decide whether or not, they want to follow Jesus and how they will spend eternity. God gives us the ability to help others get to Heaven.

That’s some powerful trust He gives us. He doesn’t need us, but He wants to use us. It’s humbling and overwhelming at the same time and the repercussions of our reply are eternal.

What is your answer today?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Leaving Nothing to Chance

Posted on by Wendy
We should too.
We should too.

My hubby and I recently taught our middle school Sunday school class a lesson on David and Goliath. They usually know the basics, but it’s really cool to dig into the scripture with them and fill in some blanks. They always light up and sit a little taller when we tell them that David was around their age.

We can also see the wheels in their heads turning when we explain that David was willing to risk his own life, not because the giant had physically attacked the men of Israel, but because he was taunting and terrorizing the,”armies of the living God,” with his words.

Words mean a lot to young teens today. They meant a lot to a young teen back then too. David had so much respect for God that he wasn’t willing to allow a bully to terrorize God’s people.

That got me to thinking about how modern-day Christians are doing with allowing unbelievers to taunt us with words. Do we cower, like the warriors of Israel or do we fight for the respect of our living God? I’m not talking about using violence, of course, but how often do we actually defend our faith?

Do we find it easier to turn our heads or are we willing to demand respect? David demanded and God stood with him.

Another object lesson we covered was the rocks and the slingshot. David wasn’t a classically trained warrior; so he used what he had and what he knew. He picked up five smooth stones. He packed back up. Do we carry some kind of back up when we take on something much bigger than we are?

We have the resources, with prayer, scripture and a praying community of friends. Do we engage all of our resources before we go into a battle of some kind? Isn’t it foolish not to? If God gives us resources, doesn’t He expect us to use them?

We asked the kids to ponder those questions as we passed out smooth stones for them to hold in their hands.

Finally, we pointed out a piece of the story that many miss. David took his shot and knocked Goliath down and out with his sling shot, but he used a sword to finish him off. David left nothing to chance. Goliath would not be coming back to cause any more trouble.

When we take on something big, a Goliath in our lives, anything from addiction, to debt, to past wounds, to insecurities, to unforgiveness of some type, and God helps us to knock it down, do we do what it takes to keep it down? Do we close the door and lock it permanently or do we leave room for the possibility for it to return and taunt us?

David’s story reminds us that when God is with us, we are capable of anything. There is nothing out of our reach, but it also reminds us to be prepared with what we know and what we have learned, and to leave nothing to chance. We are reminded to finish the job.

Maybe you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂