10 Days of Thankfulness: Life (6) & Insignificant Days (7)

Life: it's something that we all have in common.  

The lady in the check-out line with her cart of groceries; she's alive.
The man behind the wheel of the police car; he's alive.
The little kids thinking about what they want for Christmas; they're alive.
The doctor scrubbing up before performing open heart surgery; he's alive.
The woman sitting at the window of her apartment, watching the world go by; she's alive.
The little boy riding his bike down the street; he's alive.
The older man playing chess with his friends and remembering the "good 'ole" days; he's alive.
The little girl giddy with the anticipation of being "older" playing tea-party and dress up; she's alive.

We have life.  We're alive.

What is life if not more than a few breaths that we take while we walk the earth.  Life is short.  We're all aware of this grim reality, though some live with this reality in mind and others pretend that it doesn't exist.  Life is a vapor.  Scripture accords that man's days are nothing more than a breath, a vapor that floats on the wind.  There is nothing to it; one moment here and the next gone.

Life is more than breath, or the blood coursing through our veins.  It's more than a job.  It's more than family and friends.  It's more than a dash marking the time we entered the world and when we left.  It's more than a story.  It's more than a memory.  Life, true life, is something to be thankful for!

True life brings hope.  It is full of joy and wonder.  It's rich and blessed.
It's free.

How many times have you woken up in the morning, rubbed the sleep from your eyes, and let out a prodigious yawn, without thinking about where the air you just breathed came from?  Or what about just before you took that difficult test and you sighed with despair; did you think about where that air came from?  Life is as simple as breathing, yet we hesitate to stop and think who is the Giver of Life.  

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place..." (Acts 17:24-26)

Life is a gift from God.  He, being the Creator of the universe, has set into motion life and breath and everything.  He created the earth, set the stars in their place, made the laws of the universe so that it functions in order.  He set the times and the seasons in place.  He causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine.  He raised up the mountains by the word of His power.  Creation sings of the life that God has granted it.

And humans, people made in the image of God, are we thankful for every breath, every moment of life?
It's a gift!

What about when life is normal, like on the weekends when all time is taken up by Statistics homework, baking and cleaning?  What about when the days seem so long, and your hope for the future is waning fast?  What about when life is hard or the days hurt more because you are still breathing?  What about the prospect of living another day alone?

Is not God still here?

Yes, He is.  And He made these days just for you.  They may be hard and painful yet, but that is because He is still shaping and molding you into the image of His Son.  This process is hard.  It hurts.  It's like the Potter working with the clay; squeezing and conditioning it so that He can work with it.  Even these days are gifts from God.

Sometimes, I think, that we don't recognize that even the hard days are from God.  We make excuses for them to explain them away with our varying emotions or the weather.

Look for God's grace on the days that are "normal", "ordinary", or "insignificant".  God has given it to you to live; to love Him and others around you!

Life is a gift from God, yet it's more than just the air that we breathe.
It's found in Jesus Christ: the true Life.
This life is salvation, given to us through the grace of God by faith, to live eternally with God.
This life is the promise that what we have and are now is not the end.

This life is full of reasons to be thankful!   

10 Days of Thankfulness: God the Spirit, my Hope (#3)

When we think of God the Holy Spirit, where does your mind go?  Do you think about forces or ghosts with white sheets or unseen spirits?  It's hard to wrap our thinking around the third person of the Godhead.  Yet, this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the indwelling Holy Spirit.

 *not to be too technical, but this theology is important!*

About twelve years ago, I placed my trust in Jesus Christ.  This salvation through Him was by faith only, and not through anything that I had done.  Believe me!  I tried to be a "good" girl all the time, because I hated the thought of someone not liking me or being displeased with what I did.

At the moment of salvation, though, something changed.  I changed.  I wasn't the same little girl who was trying really hard to be "good".  I was made new.  For those, like me, who have placed their faith in Christ alone for salvation; at that moment they became "new creations in Christ".  As a new child of God, there are so many things that are now true of me because of who I am in Christ.

Redeemed.  Accepted.  Beloved.  

Loved.  

Righteous.  Holy.  

Worthy.  Pure.  Child of God.  Heirs with Christ.  

Blameless.  

Blessed.  Chosen.  Saved.  Forgiven. 

 Objects of Grace and Mercy.   

Sealed.  God's Work.  

Here's why I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit:

1. He teaches me about God the Father and God the Son.  The Holy Spirit is our Helper (John 16) who tells us the things of God.  With our finite minds, we cannot even begin to understand the works and ways of God.  Yet, each day as we are submitted to the Spirit, He fills us with more understanding and opens our minds to the truth of God's Word.

2. God has given each believer spiritual gifts that are manifested through the Spirit for the common good of the Body of Christ.  (1 Cor. 12)  I am thankful for the gifts that God has given me with which to minister to my brothers and sisters in Christ.  

3. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin.  I am thankful for the Holy Spirit inside of me doing the work of sanctification in my life.  He is daily changing me into the image of Christ.  In this, He convicts me of the sinful choices that I make, and provides the strength to live in God's forgiveness to not choose that sin again.  Though this is a very painful process, I know that it will yield a beautiful result that will glorify God!  

4.  The Holy Spirit is the promise that I am a child of God.  As it says in Ephesians 1, He is the guarantee of our inheritance in Christ.  I can have hope that this world is not all that there is to life, and one day, I will stand before the throne of God washed with the blood of the Lamb.  

Thank God for His Spirit's work in your life to conform you into the image of His Son.  

This is what it's all about.   

10 Days of Thankfulness: Christ my Redeemer

She had lived for years with the shame of her choices.  No one noticed her.  No one spoke to her.  Most sneered at her, quickly moving away from her unless they too would be polluted by her sin.  Some laughed.  Some looked with compassion, but they never offered to help.  

She was a sinner.  And she knew it too. 

There was a rumor of freedom.  Could it be true?  She had heard so many stories, wonderful things, and she hoped they could be true of her some day.  She longed to be free from her prison.  Every time her reflection caught her eye, she would cringe at the sight.  Sin was a cage that kept her locked up.  Could she ever be free?  Oh, how she wished to be free from her sin.  Was there not some way to get rid of it?  

As a child, she was told about God.  She knew that He accepted the blood of animals as a covering for sins.  How long must she offer animal blood, she didn't know; and neither did anyone else.  

"We will wait for the Messiah.  He will come and set us free."  

Free.  

She moved deftly through the crowd.  There were always crowds of people around Jesus, but no one noticed her slight frame moving closer to the house.  She walked with purpose, yet cautiously for fear of dropping the precious container in her hands.  She gingerly fingered the bottle.  Inside was a precious, expensive ointment.  She wanted to give it to Jesus.  

Maybe He would forgive her sins too.  

This was the home of Simon, one of the Pharisees.  It was a beautiful home, full of people, good smelling, food, and the Teacher.  He had been invited there to eat.  As she moved inside the house, she began to feel the judgement.  She was surprised that no one stopped her when she came into the main room of the house and stood behind Jesus.  

She began to weep.  Years of guilt and shame poured over her.  The sobs wracked her body.  She knelt down before the Teacher and began to wipe His feet with her hair.  The tears wet His feet; she kissed them and anointed them with the precious ointment.  

She heard behind her, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." said Simon the Pharisee.  

Jesus gently looked at the woman at His feet, and then to Simon.  "Simon, I have something to say to you."

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon looked confused, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt."

Jesus nodded, "You have judge rightly."  

He shifted His gaze to look at the woman kneeling before Him, and said, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.  
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." 

And looking at her, He said, “Your sins are forgiven.”

She looked up into His eyes, and joy flooded her heart.  

Forgiven?  
Her sins, really forgiven?  

This is the promise of redemption.  Christ paid the debt for sin, yet not for mine or hers only-but for the world.  This Jesus is the Messiah.  He is the Son of God.  He came to earth, 100% God and 100% man.  He lived a perfect life to pay the penalty for sin.  Redemption and forgiveness are free for all who believe by faith in Christ.  

Here is something to be thankful for:  He bought us out of the slave-market of sin, never to be sold again!  He is our Redeemer.  He is my Savior.  

~ Adapted from Luke 7:36-50

10 Days of Thankfulness: God my Father

This Thanksgiving season, I am endeavoring to be thankful for more and speak more about the things that really matter.  I'm afraid that many times, the tendency is to make a list about things that we're thankful for like, family, friends, food, jobs, the weather, a warm house, and other things. And these are things to be thankful for!  But have you stopped to think about all the blessings that are found in God our Father?

We see God's hand every moment of the day.  From the minute we hop out of bed in the morning till our sleepy eyes shut at night, God's goodness is everywhere to behold.

Have you stopped to think about God's goodness lately?  

Have you taken a moment to examine all the beautiful changing colors of the season and see 

God's creative hand.  

Have you looked at the moon tonight?  (It's a full moon.)  

Have you wondered at the marvel of music and how it works and why it works?  (I had some music to practice and spent a couple of hours working on singing and playing the piano)  

Have you thought about how God has brought just the right people into your life for just the right time? 

We echo the Psalmist who declares the works of God and gives thanks.

"Come and see what God has done; He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man." Ps. 66:5

"Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You." Ps. 63:4

"Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.  Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death."  Ps. 68:19-20

"For You, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth." Ps. 71:5

"Your way, O God, is holy.  What god is great like our God?  You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your might among the peoples."  Ps. 77:13-14

"For You, O Lord have made me glad by Your work; at the works of Your hands I sing for joy.  How great are Your works, O Lord!  Your thoughts are very deep!"  Ps. 92:4-5

"The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt.  Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.  Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting."  Ps. 93:1-2

"If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.  When I thought, 'My foot slips,' Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.  When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul."  Ps. 94:17-19

Be thankful today for our heavenly Father!  Praise Him for all that He has done in creation, in the Word and through His Son.  Let this kind of thankfulness change your life and thoughts. 

God is good.  God is my Father.  I am thankful.

Really Thankful?

I am so blessed.  We all are, really.  Take a moment to look around you, if even for a minute, and see how many items comprise a portion of your earthly possessions.  Within in arms reach, I have my phone, wallet, coffee recently purchased from Starbucks and computer.  So much stuff to be thankful for if I couldn't think of anything else.  It's funny, actually, to think of being thankful for stuff when I have been given so much more!

I've had writer's block for a couple of weeks and I don't know why (please, don't judge the content of this blog post because of this statement!).  I've wanted to write about all the things that I am thankful for this year.  You know the normal list: family, friends, church family, my job, a warm house and food, etc.  But for some reason, this list wasn't coming out in an organized fashion.  

Why?  I'm thankful for these things...right?  So why not just make a grand ole' list and entitle it "Things Bekah is Thankful For"?  

Here's why.  Whenever I think about making a list of things I'm thankful for, most of the time it starts looking like the one I just composed, including the "normal" everyday things of life and the blessings of family and friends.  Yes, these are all mostly material things (which is not bad!).  But isn't there more?  I didn't want to write of list of "Things Bekah is Thankful For" because the list would be too small and I wouldn't be able to include all the things I should be thankful for.  

We think too small.  When all of these blessings become common-place, we do "thank" God for them, but our thankfulness is more of a "thank-you" in response to something we think we already deserve.  It's like telling the waitress "thank-you" for your food; I mean, she was going to bring it anyway!  

This year, I want to be thankful for the right things.  I want to have a godly perspective which looks at the material things and thanks God for them all.  I want to take each breath and move each step with a heart that is filled with thankfulness.  I want to speak with thankfulness and sing about it.  I'm not just going to write a list about things that I'm thankful for; if I'm truly honest, the list would go on and on. 

 

Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow! 

Praise Him all creatures here below. 

Praise Him above the heavenly hosts. 

Praise Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Amen, may it be so! 

 

It's rolling off my fingertips.

Sometimes it is hard to write down exactly what you are feeling and thinking.
Sometimes I wish that I could just make the words in my head come out onto the page.
Sometimes I think it would be nice if the screen could read my mind.
Sometimes...

Today, I am thankful.
Thankful for salvation in Jesus Christ.
Thankful for His faithfulness in my life.
Thankful that God is working all things in my life to bring about His ultimate glory.
Thankful that life is not about me.
Thankful that life does not change because of my choices.
Thankful that God is completely sovereign.
Thankful that my sin, all of it, is forgiven.
Thankful for time to spend in the Word.
Thankful for the Holy Spirit and His work to make me more like Christ.

And for the "little" things...

Thankful for life.
Thankful for Saturdays.
Thankful for family.
Thankful for friends.
Thankful for warm blankets and a cozy cup of coffee.
Thankful for creative ideas and projects to work on.
Thankful for books to read.
Thankful for sunshine.
Thankful for healthy bodies to run around with.
Thankful for...

Come to the Fountain

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend you money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live..."  Isaiah 55:1-3a

Come, come to the fountain, the fountain of Living Water.  Come to the well that never runs dry, but overflows out of the fullness of the riches of the knowledge and grace of God.  With Him is an everlasting supply of wisdom and strength, which is promised to His children.  He supplies the Spirit--who is God--to guide, comfort, convict, and teach.  He gives grace for every need.  All that we need, He will supply and give abundantly!

Come to the fountain of Living Water!!!

In the Bible, the nation of Israel is a perfect example of a people who had all the resources for life, yet turned to something else to satisfy.  Over and over again there are stories which tell of a rebellious people who sought God only when things looked dour.  They did not come to the fountain of Living Water.  They spent all their resources in things which could never satisfy.

I think too often, we, who are servants of God, seek to minister to others from a source that will run dry.  We serve others because it is the right thing to do, yet are not being filled with the Spirit of God and the Word of God.  We seek the Lord, but are not relying on the strength that He supplies or the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus.  Instead of ministering out of the overflow of the Spirit, we dig into our feeble resources and are soon dry.  We are dry because we are not being filled with Living Water.

As I am in a position of leadership, personally and spiritually, I am coming to realize how much more I need to be seeking the Lord and growing in my relationship with Him.  I cannot effectively minister to others without first allowing the Word to minister to me.

Continue to drink from Christ, the fountain of Living Water!!!

The Gospel is Simple.

There is a story told of an evangelist who was doing tent meetings.  It was the end of the day, and he was at the train station waiting to head home for the night.  The evening was getting late, but as he was about to board the last home-bound train for the night, he heard someone shouting his name.  A man ran up to him, breathless and sweaty.  

"Please, sir, I have been at the meetings each night, but I don't understand what you are saying about Jesus.  Can you please stay and explain this to me?"  

The evangelist was torn, "I'm so sorry, but I am just about to board the train.  You see, this is the last one leaving for the night.  I am heading home because I do not have a place to stay here.  I'm sorry, but I have to go."  

As he started to turn away, the man grabbed his sleeve, "Please, please, I don't understand!  Can't you stay and tell me what it is you are saying?"  

The conductor was calling the last boarding of the train.  The evangelist needed to go home, but here was this man hungry for the gospel.  

"Here, take my Bible," he said, handing him the well-worn leather book, "read Isaiah 53:6.  At the first "all", bow down, humble yourself and enter in.  At the second "all", stand up and go forward because of Christ."  

"But, sir, what do you mean?" the man cautiously questioned.  The look of desperation was painted all over his face, as he reached out to take the gift from the evangelist.  

"Remember, at the first "all" bow down, humble yourself and enter in; at the second "all" stand up and go forward because of Christ!" with that the evangelist rushed off to make the train.  

As the train pulled out of the station, the evangelist saw the man gingerly hold his Bible and begin to weep.   

Some days later, in the same town, the evangelist was once again holding tent meetings.  At the end of one of these revival meetings, he recognized the same man who had met him at the train station was there and wishing to speak with him.  He gladly called him over.  The man had a smile on his face as he handed him back his Bible.  

"Thank you," he said, "before, I didn't understand the gospel, but I was making it too complicated.  You said to read Isaiah 53:6 and at the first "all" to bow down, humble yourself and enter in; at the second "all" stand up and go forward.  Now I know!  The first "all" says that, 'All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way...'  You see, I am a sinner.  There is no way for me to come to God!  We have turned astray.  So, we are to bow down, humble ourselves and enter into the salvation provided by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in payment for my sins.  My salvation is not through my worth, but found only in Jesus.  The second "all" says, '...but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.'  Christ is the only way for me to stand up and go forward.  I stand in the grace of God that was given for me.  I go forward knowing that I am safely in God's hands, no one can pluck me out of His hand.  I am His!"

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful!  It reaches through time to save people for God's own purpose and glory.  It isn't complicated, but it is rich and full of treasures untold!  

At the first "All" bow down, humble yourself and enter it; 

at the second "All" stand up and go forward because of Christ!  

May we keep being amazed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!  

Reflections on my 21st year of Life. Pt. 1

It is 6 days till my birthday!!! 

For some reason, I am more aware of being an adult now that I am turning 22!  The feeling in un-nerving.  But I am excited for what God has in the future.  So, in preparation for the 13th (my birthday), I thought that I would post about some of the fun things that I got to do this past year that I was 21!  It was a good year, God is good!!! 

July 13^th, 2011 

I started out my 21^st year with a birthday at Pinehouse Lake Saskatchewan.  I was with a group of about 20 people who were spending two weeks in a rural Canadian village to spread the Gospel of Christ.  This was my “first” mission trip to go out of the U.S. (even though it is just Canada!)  We were told, in preparation for this trip, to beware of having to high of an expectation.  In a way, we were all surprised by what we found.  It was only by God’s grace alone that we were able to reach out to 100+ kids, teens, and adults.  I was very thankful to be used of God in the lives of those people.

August 17^th, 2011 

I arrived at Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, MO as a transfer student to complete my bachelor’s degree.  My car was Fully Loaded Down with just about everything that I possibly thought I could use at college.  This place was much farther from home (CBI was just 1 ½ hrs. away from home), so I had to be much better at packing/planning for what I was going to need.  Let’s just say that the packing was a challenge, But I got it all in!!!  (It was quite the personal accomplishment!

August 29^th, 2011 

 It was a beautiful day that marked the event that gave me my first broken bone and stitches!!!  No, I don’t even have a cool story to go alone with the slightly bent middle finger on my left hand.  But here’s the story.  It was just after lunch.  Some of the girls and I were hanging out in the dorm lounge on our floor.  We were laughing and having a great time.  Well, one of the things about this old dorm building was that there weren’t screens on the windows, and on the third floor there are many things that hyper minds can conjure up to do from an open window.  It started out very innocently.  We just decided to throw things out of the window, like hats and flip-flops (just stuff that had been left in the lounge).  After depleting our arsenal of things to throw out the window, I decided (as the gallant one!) to run downstairs and retrieve our tossed items.  Once outside, I quickly realized that just hauling it up the stairs wouldn’t be as fun as trying to throw it back through the window.  However, I missed and the flip-flop landed on the landing just outside the 2^nd floor windows.  I wanted to make good impressions, so I knew that I should get the lost flip-flop.  Therefore, all of us girls trooped down to the 2^nd floor lounge to get it.  The problem was that you had to climb out the window onto the ledge to get the shoe.  I was assured that the ledge was quite safe for a person to climb on, but I didn’t get that far.  In my attempted to open a window, I pulled a bar that was in the window (in my hurriedness, I didn’t realize that it was the bar that was holding the 8 ft. window open…).  It happened very fast, but I know that the moment the bar was removed, gravity took its hold and smashed my left hand!  I was so thankful that others were there with me to help me get the window up!  I was determined Not to make a big deal about this, I was going to be fine.  But as a looked at my finger, which had a big cut down to the bone from the lip of the window, I figured that it was probably more serious than I thought.  Long story short, it was bleeding A Lot, I was trying to stay calm while all of the other girls are frantically running all over the dorm looking for band-aids and other first aid materials.  I ended up getting a ride from Security with the dean of women and one of my friends to an Urgent Care.  A couple of hours later, I emerged with 5 stitches and a massive bandage on my hand.  I am very thankful because I never really felt a lot of pain.  I cut and broke my finger, yet the worst amounts of pain were only when they numbed my finger to put the stitches in and when they took the stitches out.  I am very thankful to the Lord for that!!!  Within a couple of days, I had to go to a hand specialist (the doctors were afraid of an infection in the bone, because the cut was on top of the broken bone).  The hand specialist gave me an upgraded cast (No, this was no small, un-noticeable wrap on my finger, but a massive cast that was hard on the outside and wrapped from my forearm to the tips of my fingers, leaving only my thumb exposed! J  It was always funny to have to explain that I hadn’t done anything to my hand/wrist, but I had only broken my finger…) 

• Lessons learned
• Typing one-handed is difficult, but possible; and with practice a person can be almost as efficient as with two hands
•  It is okay and necessary to ask for help.  Others want to show that they care for you, by helping you do things that you can’t do as easily because you only have one  hand.  Yes, it is humbling, but it is good!
• I can now sympathize with people a little better having gone through this experience.
• I am much more comfortable going/talking to doctors.  They are rather intimidating at times, but the main thing is just to Ask Questions…even if they seem inconsequential and stupid.

Massive cast thing
(pardon the bad hair day)

Almost Healed!!! 

My first stitches...

Sweet Scar

A summer adventure...

This is going to be the first of many blog posts about my *new* summer home! Most, if not all, of my adventures will take place in the beautiful city of Billings Montana. I am working with Big Sky Bible Church to start some children's programs, with the goal of spreading the Gospel and bringing new people into the church. Marsha--who is working with me--and I are organizing the various parts of a 5-day club and a Vacation Bible School. Lord-willing, we are going to hold our first club starting this Saturday for the children in our neighborhood! It is a very exciting and daunting task, but God is in control!

This is now my fifth day as a "Montanan" and I am enjoying every minute of it. My place of residence is a split level home on Winchell Lane. I love having a little space of "my own" (it really isn't my own, but it adds a happy ring if I say it...:).

One of my first tasks as a house-dweller was to mow the lawn. Just a word of advice: make sure that you know how to shut off the mower before you start mowing! If this gives a clue, my moment of panic began as I was mowing and the thought popped into my head..."I wonder how I will turn this thing off...?" In order to justify myself, the mower was broken and so you had to pull the spark plugs in order to turn it off. (I wasn't the only one to make the mistake!)