The Body

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If one member suffers, all suffer together, if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

1 Corinthians 12:26 (ESV)

The apostle Paul gives the Corinthian believers a picture of the church that is quite accurate. He compares the church to a body.

In his comparison, he tells us that a body has many members-a physical body has many organs that make up different systems. Likewise, a church is made up of different boards and committees, made up of individual people. The one phenomenon that can happen in the body of the church is people begin working together and friendships are formed. I say “can happen” because the Holy Spirit has to be invited into the hearts of those involved in the working of God’s houses of worship.

In a given few weeks, I personally have grieved for a family who suddenly lost their husband and father, and a second family who lost their father after a stroke and another disease. Also, I have rejoiced over the birth of our pastor’s granddaughter, two daughters and a son to people who call our church their church home.

God created the biological family and in-law families. He also created the spiritual family. We can learn from all three of these families what we need in order to live and guide us through those difficult times we will face in life sometimes just by being there with us.

Yes, I am still around. Break will have to come later. Please bear with me. The Holy Spirit is in control of my life. 

Plans Change

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Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

Yes, I know. I am supposed to be on a blog break, actually a vacation with Hubby. The weather forecasts changed out plan. Since we decided to wait until the weather would be better-(read not raining and not cold.) I have had the theme of these scriptures on my mind.

Instead of departing our home and heading south, I attended a funeral at our church. The departed gentleman was in a car wreck north and east of our city last Saturday. When our pastor began the service, he said, “Gathering here today was not in any of our plans. It wasn’t even on our radar.” These words brought me back to thinking about the plans we make.

As human beings, we are not able to see the future, we only see a small part of our lives. God sees the big picture and knows what lays ahead for us. We have to trust Him for everything. We also need to thank Him for all He has given us, and for all the people He sends into our lives.

Our bags are still packed. We don’t know when we will get to leave for warmer climes. I am learning to wait upon God and listen to what He has to tell me. I try not to get upset when plans don’t go the way I think they should. I believe this is part of obedience.

Spiritual Refreshing at Special Times

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Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:19 (ESV)

The Apostle Peter had healed a beggar. The healed man was ecstatic over what had happened. Those who saw him were amazed.

Peter began to speak to the people about how they had denied God’s son and turned Him over to be crucified and had asked that a murderer be released to them.

Peter, then tells the crowd that all they had to do in order to be forgiven and refreshed is to repent, turn away from their bad acts.

Repentance has a simple definition; “To turn away from.” Before a person can truly repent one has to recognize what he or she did was wrong. A person who is guilty of evil things has to acknowledge that his or her actions were wrong and/or hurtful to others.

The wrong-doer has to search his heart to understand these steps. Also, that person needs to be certain that he or she can honestly say that what they did was wrong. There is no room for ‘lip service’ in this process. True repentance comes from the heart. 

I am taking a break from my computer. I will be back online on April 23. 

Refreshing of Our Spirit

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for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.1 Corinthians 16:18 (ESV)

Paul, toward the end of his first letter to the believers at Corinth, writes thanking them for sending Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus to him. He tells them that these three refreshed his spirit.

What does it mean when someone or something refreshes our spirit? Do we feel better about things? Are we able to view our surroundings with joy and gladness? Does the work go easier?

As God’s child, I sometimes get frustrated when I watch the news broadcasts. Even reading the newspaper can bring me down. However, from time to time, I hear or read something that perks me up.

At times, when I pray about a need or a circumstance that vexes me, I have to ask God to give me His eyes to view that situation.

When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, I find my spirit lifted when I focus on the words: “Give us this day our daily bread,”

We have times when God will use a friend to refresh our spirit. One of my local friends does this just by speaking. I can usually hear the joy bubbling in her voice. We have known each other long enough that I can also sense when something is bothering her.

We truly have times when God uses those down times to minister to us. He refreshes us by His very presence. Even if our circumstance seems bleak and unchanging, He is there with us and that fact refreshes our spirits in ways that nothing else will.

Eastertide Thoughts

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During this Eastertide season, the time between Easter and Pentecost, I am re-using a Lenten study book titled 40 Days to Decrease by Alicia Britt Chole. This marks the third year I have read and studied it. The following entry is the result of thoughts I experienced last year.

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, Matthew 14:22-23 (ESV)

Jesus heard of John’s cruel death. He “withdrew to a solitary place in order to pray, reflect, and grieve. People found Him anyway. He showed his compassion for them. Our Lord preached and healed those who requested it. Then, He sent his disciples on ahead and retreated back to solitude again.

I have heard and read that our modern world chooses not to honor grief. As I observed people when I grew up, I saw people act “back to normal” the next day after a funeral of a family member or someone close to them. The idea of grief being a personal issue escaped my youthful mind and heart.

In old movies set in the 19^th Century, a woman was expected to wear black clothes for one year. This, to me, seemed to be for public show.

In my research on grief, I have discovered experts have divided the grief process into at least five, and as many as ten steps. An interesting fact is these experts cannot tell us how long a person will spend in each step or in what order one experiences them.

As I read about Jesus’ seeking solitude, not once but twice, tears came to my eyes. I know that I have not been allowed to grieve certain losses from my family at the time of the losses. However, eventually, I have gone through the process each time.

Some points about grief:

1.)    Grief is an emotion that has to be dealt with.

2.)    It is personal. No two people grieve in the same way.

3.)    It takes time to get through the process.

4.)    We who believe in Christ are not to grieve as one who has no hope.

    (1 Thessalonians 4:13, ESV)

5.)    Each of us will experience grief each time we lose a friend or a loved one to death.

Teach Us to Number Our Days/A Give-Away

I have been reminded by a fellow blogger that I have not said anything about my book for quite some time. Here is a devotion from Times of Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy

Teach Us to Number Our Days 

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“So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

Psalm 90:12

Moses prayed this as part of a prayer in the book of Psalms. He asked God to instruct him and his people to order their days. We also need to learn to do this. Moses stated the reason for prioritizing their daily activities—so they could learn and become wise people.

In our twenty-first century world, many activities call out to us, usurping our time. Just watching television can cause us to waste time. Our time spent on the computer can also take a chunk of the day. I try to practice moderation in these activities. From time to time, I create a chart—a timetable to help me gain ground in this uphill struggle to manage time.

For Your Thoughts:

1.         List three things you can do this week to help you better manage your time.

2.         How can you manage time to establish better habits?

If you leave a comment about your struggles with time management in the area below, I will enter your name into a drawing for a chance to win a free copy of my book. All I ask in return is that you post a review of it on your blog and on Amazon. This giveaway has to be limited to the United States. It will be open for one week, until Tuesday, April 10th.

We are having a season of rain here in central Indiana. Hubby told me we would have this ‘liquid sunshine’ for a whole week.  We have to remember that April showers bring May flowers.

Thoughts on Prayer (part 1)

Quiet Spirit.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

I picked a book out of a basket in my writing room. The title of the book, “If my people. . .”, a 40-day prayer guide.  I leafed through it and decided to use it in the 40 days of Lent. Later in the day, I realized how I could utilize the passage 2 Chronicles 7:14, as a beginning point of my Lenten observance.

God speaks to Solomon on the occasion of dedicating the Temple. He says some very pointed things.

The LORD speaks of what His people, you and I have to do. We have to pray. He tells us if we pray, not if we share our concerns with our best friend, or talk about someone behind their back. He will respond.

When we pray, we are to humble ourselves. We are to realize that we are sinners and that He is the only perfect being.

As we prepare to pray, we are to seek His face. We are to earnestly make our way into our prayer closets and shut the door and spend quantity time in prayer. We need to spend time with Him to strengthen our relationship with Him. We should attempt to keep our ‘on the run’ prayers to a minimum.

Then, and only then, will God hear our prayers and forgive our sins and heal our land. God’s actions are contingent upon the condition that we spend time in prayer to Him.

These were some of my thoughts on prayer at the beginning of Lent.