Month: March 2017

I Am Rich

Do you realize that if you have indoor plumbing, a home (whether one room or a mansion), more clothes than what you are currently wearing, food, and transportation, you are in the top 15% of the world’s population in wealth? According to an article dated 20 July 2016 at http://www.investopedia.com, and income of $32,400 (that’s $11.60/hour) puts you in the top 1% of the world in wealth. The top ONE Percent. That’s a staggering statistic!

Maybe you don’t feel wealthy because you are struggling financially. (I am, so I can relate.) We are bombarded through television and social media, billboards, signs, and peer pressure to buy more, buy bigger, have the newest… do you wonder why check cashing businesses and pawnshops and “We Buy Gold” businesses are thriving? Bankruptcy and divorce lawyers? Why so many houses are in foreclosure?  We become so focused on that newer, shinier, next thing or person, we build ourselves mountains of depth, creating deep levels of discontent and worry and stress, and these things destroy us. 

I am not immune! 

Keeping up appearances is something I struggle with just like so many people, but I am sure of one thing: I do NOT want to end up like the rich man in Luke 16. Read the whole chapter! 

“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.” – Luke 16:25 NLT

Recognize how blessed you are. Be thankful for what you have, especially family. 

http://bible.com/NLT

Guilt

 “For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” – James 3:16 NLT

As I sit here reading my Bible, I am listening to a woman on the radio talk about meeting her birth mother for the first time, and finding out it was someone she had known through her church all of her life. She described it as being awkward, and feeling obligated to maintain communication even though she didn’t want to. Then she talked about how grateful she was that her birth mother had given her the best parents she could imagine having. It’s possible to be angry and grateful at the same time.

The birth mother did an amazing thing. As the birth mother of a child who was given up, I see this from the other side from the child. It is incredibly difficult, letting your child go, even when you know they are going to a couple who will be excellent parents, able to provide emotionally and financially for the child. 

Watching from the sidelines, it would be easy to let jealousy and selfishness grow. It was something I dealt with. When I made the decision to let her go, I had to promise I would not come back in a year or 10 years and say “Okay, I have it together now, I want my child back.” While I was trying to survive the horrible decisions and situations I was in, I watched my child thrive and be happy. She had a mom and dad who loved God, each other, and her. After a couple of years, they had a baby and she became a sister. They presented a stable, well taken care of family picture. 

Yes, I was jealous. They had, and were, everything I wanted for myself and wasn’t able to achieve. Just as James points out, the jealousy I felt was accompanied by much disorder and evil. My life was ugly…. why should they have what I wanted, when I couldn’t? 

The answer lay in Jesus Christ. 

  “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” – James 3:13‭-‬18 NLT

While I was being earthly and unspiritual, and being attacked on a demonic level, the adoptive parents were putting God first and “reaping a harvest of righteousness.” If they had known how deeply in trouble I was, I know they would have done whatever possible to help me. Instead, I hid in the darkness of my life, lost in denial, until I almost died from the consequences of my sin. Oh, I repented for a time, but the lure of Satan is strong . Where God is a gentleman, the enemy is a liar, crafty, underhanded, cheating and lying to snag us. He wants us away from our Lord, and he wants us to seek revenge against God.

Remember that! God created us with free will. He knew, even while He was fashioning the clay in His hands, that there were many millions and billions of humans whom Satan would deceive into following him, rather than God. Why would He give us free will so that we could throw it back in His face? Why, indeed. The Creator wants us to CHOOSE Him on our own. He will not coerce or force us. When we make the conscious decision to follow Christ, and we look to heaven instead of ourselves for wisdom, He rewards us with peace. Glorious Peace!

  “But the Wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.” – James 3:17 NLT

Words to live by.

(http://bible.com/116/jas.3.13-18.NLT )

Poverty, or Wealth Beyond Words

Poverty or wealth; what a question. Who would willingly choose financial poverty over wealth? I think my parents came close. Being a pastor in small towns in Oklahoma certainly didn’t provide monetary wealth or even a comfortable existence. I remember Mom giving us saltine crackers with grape jelly for a snack because there was no other food in the house, and bologna sandwiches for lunch. I’m sure it concerned her greatly, with several little mouths to feed. I was little enough that life was an adventure. We never went hungry because God, through the congregation, always provided food. (NO welfare!) We wore hand-me-downs, but we were always clean (“Soap is cheap. There’s no excuse to be dirty!”) and we always had something to wear. We lived in old, shabby houses. I loved the old houses, but for my parents, they were something less than pleasant to deal with. I thought they were great fun!

Sharing the Word, and serving the congregation, was a priority for Dad. I can’t imagine having a happier, more loving, childhood. We had struggles, but we went through them as a family. We were wealthy, even though we were poor. It’s like verse 44 in this passage. When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables to the people, this is His reply:

  “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:   ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts   and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it…. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” – Matthew 13:13-17,44 NIV

My parents were like the man who found the hidden treasure. Giving up a lucrative business partnership with his dad and brothers and going out to preach the gospel, I guess that is effectively choosing poverty over financial wealth. In the joy of finding Jesus Christ, the real treasure, they gave up the financial gain of the business and “bought” the mission field of rural Oklahoma. How many of us would willingly walk away from our financial security to follow Christ?  That is the age-old question Jesus asks. 

  “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 10:38‭-‬39 NIV

Financial poverty can be spiritual wealth, if chosen for the right reasons. Sometimes, we are stuck in poverty as consequences of our bad choices in life. There’s no joy in this kind of poverty! I spent a number of years in pretty severe financial poverty, and today I am not financially wealthy, by any kind of financial reckoning, but I am incredibly wealthy in my relationship with Jesus Christ.  I have a tremendous wealth in family and friends, and I am blessed to have a comfortable home and companionship. How about you – are you wealthy, or are you stuck in poverty? 

(All Scriptures are from http://bible.com)

Trust – Not So Much!

​  “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord , the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.” – Isaiah 26:4 NIV

Trust. That’s a tough one for people who have been mislead into trusting deceivers, liars and cheaters. Why would we trust someone like that? Like the ultimate liar and deceiver, Satan, they become skilled at their deceptions, pulling in those who are innocent, or hurting, and those needing someplace – someone – to put their faith. 

The following passage is called “The Cost of Following Jesus.” Without that complete trust that Isaiah talks about, we’ll find it difficult, at best, to follow Christ. 

  “As they were walking along the road, a man said to Him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”   He said to another man, “Follow me.”  But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”   Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”  Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” ” – Luke 9:57‭-‬62 NIV

Parts of me want to protest, and say “No! That’s too harsh.” I can’t even comprehend that level of trust. There are great examples throughout history of this complete trust. Starting with Matthew, who was by all accounts a successful tax collector, and Luke, a physician, to Florence Nightingale or Mother Teresa… they left comfortable lives to follow Christ. The idea of walking away from my family, especially when my dad died, without a goodbye, well, I can’t imagine how much pain it would have caused me.

So does God really expect all the people who accept Jesus as their Savior to just walk away from their homes and jobs and families? 

I don’t believe so, although many do choose that path. Look at the many foreign missionaries who give up their lives here in the U.S. to serve in nations and impoverished areas, full of physical dangers and spiritual warfare. The Holy Spirit speaks to each person to show us our personal mission field. For some, it is becoming a missionary. For others, it may mean pastoring a church, or serving in other roles within the body to provide or maintain a place to worship in. School teachers have a vast mission field. It might be the witness you provide at your job, or to family members. Whether you are a janitor or CEO of a major company, if you claim to be a Christian, your mission field is right there. 

Trust in the LORD. Don’t bow to the world and let it shake you. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will never leave us or forsake us. No matter how badly we have been treated, or mistreated, God is Supreme,  and He Rules…… I’ve read the back of the Book, and I KNOW Who wins!!

(http://bible.com)

Can You Hear Me Now?

  “​My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.  I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” – Job 23:11‭-‬12 NIV

First, let me tell you that this scripture from Job does NOT describe me! No, I’ve been pretty much the opposite of these words for most of my adult life. It isn’t anything I’m proud of, but it is true. To me, there is a distinct dichotomy. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I believe in the Trinity, the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I know that the Bible is the Word of God, spoken through man, as a guidebook for us to live by. I believe in my heart that all of these things are true…..yet for years I lived as if they were all at lie.

There are many people living the same way right now, knowing the Truth yet living the lies of our enemy, Satan. These are people who, like I  did, profess Christianity with their mouths while living lives full of anger and deceitfulness, backstabbing and envy, ambition over family, infidelity, and so on. The lies of the enemy are powerful, blatant, and loud. He drowns out the Words of God with his smoke and mirrors, every time we give him an opening. Satan has mouse bones….. know what those are? A mouse can squeeze through openings that are entirely too small for their body to fit through. Somehow, they are able to manipulate their way through these tiny cracks in order to get what they want. Satan is like that. If we give a tiny opening, and we are not guarding our hearts, he will sneak in for the attack. 

Satan is subtle when he needs to be, and loud and obnoxious when he can get away with it. I know this from my own life, up close and personal. It has also been evident in the lives of people I chose to associate with…. not such good choices.

The only way to escape the hold that the enemy has on us is to immerse ourselves in God’s Holy Word. We have to spend time in prayer, and we have to stop everything long enough to hear what our LORD  has to say. The still, small voice of God can be easily drowned out by the cacophony of life. This is why it is imperative, as Christians, to take a few minutes out of every day to spend them alone with our Lord. I certainly don’t have my best days when I skip my God-time in the mornings. It doesn’t matter when you carve out your time, as long as it is done.

  “For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.” – 1 Thessalonians 2:3‭-‬4 NIV 

FYI- I am NOT claiming to be like Paul, as one approved by God! I am simply and prayerfully writing my thoughts, hoping that perhaps a word will reach someone who needs it. The last sentence is accurate. I am not aiming to please people, but God. 

God is asking us, “Can you hear Me now?” Can you?

(Artistry by God; Photo by Mark Campbell, Carmel CA 03/2017)

http://bible.com/111/job.23.11-12.NIV

New Life

  “He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; He suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading His clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at His rebuke. By His power He churned up the sea; by His wisdom He cut Rahab to pieces. By His breath the skies became fair; His hand pierced the gliding serpent. And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?” – Job 26:7‭-‬14 NIV
New LIFE. That’s what the Creator has breathed into the world, and into to us. As we move into spring, we see the renewing of the earth in the early daffodils and hyacinths and tulips, trees bursting out in blossoms, and babies being born all through creation. Beauty surrounds us when we open our eyes enough to behold it. Jesus chose the time when the earth begins to stir to new life to sacrifice His life so that humanity could have new life. Beautiful, indeed! Are we spending our time of renewal sleeping with the Apostles, or praying with our LORD?

  Then [Jesus] returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” He asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26:40‭-‬41 NIV

Hurting, feelings of depression, believing that we are not worthy are all coming directly from the enemy. Look to Jesus Christ! As C.S. Lewis said “Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look to Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything.” 

(Scriptures from http://bible.com)

Joyful, Patient, Faithful

​  “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” NIV, or as the NLT translates, “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” – Romans 12:12 NIV, NLT

Hope, Patience, and Faithfulness. Not exactly what we want to hear when we are going through trials, and it’s a daily struggle for me to do these things. I like the way the NLT phrases it: “Rejoice in our confident hope…” Hope is what gets us through the hard times, but not just any hope. Without the Hope of Redemption by Jesus Christ, anything else fades away. 

  “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” – Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 NLT

Have you given much thought to this scripture? Jesus asks us to take His yoke – but why would I exchange one burden for another? We talk about a yoke as if it is a commonplace item,but I’m certain there are people who don’t have any idea what it is. 

A yoke can be used on oxen or on people, as illustrated above. It is a tool to allow more weight to be carried, and done properly, we can carry much more with a yoke than in our hands and on our backs. An oxen can pull many times his weight with a yoke. Most of my adult life I spent dragging a tremendous amount of baggage with an ill-fitting yoke, and it weighed me down, exhausted me, and kept me in pain. I’m not talking about physical baggage. This is emotional, physical baggage, and it is what Jesus wants to take away to replace with His yoke. Having that tremendous weight taken away allowed me to breathe, really breathe, for the first time in years. I didn’t understand that all that time, the reason I was in so much pain was because I wouldn’t – couldn’t – let go of the baggage. It was mine, and it was all I had. If I let go of it, what would be left?

There is beauty in letting go! I still hold on to some baggage. It’s a process, a journey. Jesus takes the majority of my burden – as much as I can let go off – and in return, all I have left to carry is His Love, His concern for others, His Light, and His Word to share with others. His burden is LIGHT!! (Yes, it’s a pun, AND it is pure truth!) Let it go, let it go, let it go… whether you are singing Elsa’s song from the movie Frozen, or you are repeating the words from a 12-step group (Let go and let God), what counts is that you are letting go of the baggage and looking to Jesus for His help.

When we let go and let God have our burdens, even the scary, dramatic, drastic ones, then no matter what the enemy throws at us, we can and will overcome because we have God with us; GOD with ME. Amen!

(All scriptures from http://bible.com)

RUNAWAY…

I couldn’t sleep for the concern on my mind tonight.

I spent some time today on the phone and messaging with the family of a young friend (whom I will call Bea – to protect her). Her family knows basically what the problem is and they are beginning to understand addiction, but they can’t fix it and they don’t know how how to act with her. Why do some of us end up acting out with addictive behaviors? It’s because the wiring of our brains got crossed and we don’t know how to fix it. We know that hurt people hurt people, and reacting to hurtful comments with more hurtful comments just keeps the wheel spinning. I suggested unfriending Bea on social media. When a loved one is in their addiction, we only hurt ourselves by trying to see what’s going on. Snooping is a destructive action for everyone involved. If Bea wants or needs her family, she knows how to reach them without relying on social media.

Offering our love and our prayers is the the very best thing we can do for the addict. We talked about money and bank accounts and personal belongings. I believe that by withholding those things, at least any funds, is important to prevent them being used to support the addiction. As for disposing of clothes or personal items, I wouldn’t. At some point, she may be able to return and the presence of those things could be important for her to know she wasn’t unimportant or cast away. 

Accusations, demands, and ultimatums against the addict, more often than not, backfire on us. Think about the definition of the word ultimatum: “a final, uncompromising demand or set of terms issued by a party to a dispute, the rejection of which may lead to a severance of relations or to the use of force; or, a final proposal or statement of conditions.” From my own experience, anytime I have been offered an ultimatum, it goes directly to the severing of that relationship. Addicts, especially, don’t like having demands or accusations or ultimatums. 

I’m so thankful for having parents who never gave up on me. As my mom told me after I wrote my amends letter to her, they never stopped loving me or praying for me – but they didn’t like me. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

Bea’s mom asked what it took for me to stop my addiction. The answer is something of an oxymoron. It took 40 years of ups and downs, being in and out of church (but never really surrendering), and tremendous amounts of spiritual and physical pain. Being told by others, even counselors, didn’t make it real. My saying it didn’t make it real. Admitting it to God first, then to myself, and finally to others…. that’s when the reality of it hit me. I had to acknowledge that I did not have control of my addiction (or my life), and then I had to hand over control to God. How do you hand something over if you don’t have it in the first place??? 

Ah, therein lies the rub! Reality. The catalyst for my behavior was hidden in my subconscious for years. When the buried memories would try to surface, I denied them. I had to accept the truth of what happened to me, and then I had to forgive ME (it really wasn’t my fault!) so that I could forgive the perpetrators. By denying the realities, I lived in a fantasy. I KNEW I was worthless and no good because of what was done to me. That was the enemy, Satan, telling me that and selling me a bunch of garbage. I bought into it when I was young, so my sham of control was just that. In addiction, the enemy is in control. We have to deny him, and give God permission to take it.

Pray, pray, pray, and pray some more. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – Thessalonians 5:16‭-‬18 NIV

My prayers will be for the protection of the whole family. I can visualize God’s angel army standing guard over each of them! When a member of the family is under attack, everyone is vulnerable. When people ask if they can pray or how they can pray, or if you ask someone to pray, give no details. It’s private. It’s not for discussion. Even, it’s none of their business. We have to be willing to PRAY and not gossip. God loves us. We need to love His children.

  “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.” – 2 Thessalonians 1:11 NIV 


(All scriptures: http://bible.com/111/NIV)

HANGRY?

Are you tired? Sick? Angry? Hurt?

  “Think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right & pure. Think about what is lovely & worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.” – Phil 4:8 
It’s amazing what can happen when you just THINK.
You probably want to know what, exactly, is “Hangry.” It’s a word I first heard in a Celebrate Recovery meeting. Hungry, angry, tired. These are the fuses, or triggers, to revert to our addictive behaviors, whether it is drugs, alcohol, sex, abuse, out of control eating,… even shopping. I wonder if Cain was ‘hangry’ when God addressed him here.

  “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” – Genesis 4:6‭-‬7 NIV ‬‬‬

Is this you today? Are you downcast, and at the mercy of the sin crouching at your door? I wonder if Cain’s parents had told him and his brother about the Garden; about how breathtakingly beautiful it had been, and why they couldn’t be there anymore. I wonder if perhaps he was a little bitter and envious that they had lived in the perfect place, and because of their sin, he had to work hard working the land to grow his crops. His brother Abel kept flocks, and as difficult as that can be at times, it feels so rewarding to see your labor grow into beautiful animals. Personally, I enjoy gardening and the harvest that comes from it, but having animals… They click within my soul and bring me a joy and peace, much more than my garden. Could that be why Cain was jealous of his brother?

It isn’t a contest. God loves us the same, whether we plant like Adam and Cain, or we care for our herds like Abel, or we nurture and grow our family like Eve. It seems that so many of us spend our lives looking downcast and searching anything around us that we can treat negatively and disdainful. We feel superior to others because they haven’t dealt with the horrible life we have. We are so unfair and judgmental in our thoughts and our words… But what do we know about that person, really? They could have recently received news of a parent or sibling or child dying. Maybe their spouse had an affair , or left unexpectedly; they could have been fired or had a wreck or lost their home through some disaster. Life continues, even when our world is falling apart. No matter what we are facing, 

  “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You. Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand. My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the Strength of my heart and my Portion FOREVER.” – Psalm 73:21‭-‬23‭, ‬26 NIV 

GOD will never leave us or forsake us – it is us who do the leaving and forsaking, every single time. It’s such a rush, and relief, when we finally get it. Earlier today, a friend contacted me about an underage family member who has left home and is deeply involved in a sexual addiction. Please pray for that family. In Romans 12:12, Paul says:

  “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” – Romans 12:12 NIV

As difficult as that can be, I know it to be true. Without the prayers of my parents and my family, I am convinced that I would not be alive today. We are all different, and we react differently to events in our lives. Especially with girls, physical affection, i.e. hugs – are vital to being healthy. God is the God of second chances, and I am incredibly grateful He never gave up on me!