September 12, 2021 civilwarrose5

Many Parts in One Body

“For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned. For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have

gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” ~Romans 12: 3c-8 (NABRE)

In school you often hear the term ‘student body’ to refer to the entire group of students. We were all one group, though that group was made up of many different people with different interests and different gifts. Collectively we referred to ourselves as “The <insert school’s mascot here>”. Yet, when you walked into the cafeteria at lunch time you would see many different groups that had formed. Did you sit with the athletes? Maybe you were part of the Popular group. Then there were the farm kids, the goths, the science nerds, the band geeks, and I could go on and on… The point is that even though you all identified as one Body, you were also MANY different parts.

I was thinking about this as I sat through a medical test my husband was undergoing. He had to have a cardiac stress test with an echocardiagram. As the tech placed the wand against my husband’s chest I could see the image of his heart beating on the screen in front of her. I watched the valves open and close with each beat. I could hear the sound of the blood pulsing through those valves as they did their jobs. Maybe it was just me, but not only was I fascinated by the fact that we have the technology to be able to do this, I also marvelled at the fact that SOMEBODY has to invent this machine and this process. I was never good in science because I can’t quite wrap my head around a lot of it. When it comes to calculating the distance between the Earth and the Moon you might as well be speaking a foreign language as you explain it to me because I will understand it just as much.

My husband and I were sitting through this test (well, technically at this time he was laying on his side) because he is going through the process to be evaluated as a living liver donor. Did you know that you can remove over half of your liver and it will regenerate itself in about 6-8 weeks? Due to this they can take a healthy part of a liver and give it to somebody who is in need of one, but not at the point of needing an ENTIRE liver (which can only be procured through donations when somebody has died). First off, whoever discovered this fact was either VERY twisted or a genius. However, I started thinking about how God made us in His image. Then how we are His design. The idea that He created us in such a way that we can donate blood, platelets, antibodies, and even organs to each other is amazing. How many things has God created us to do that we have yet to discover??

This brings me back to Romans 12. Not only are we all humans who can share literal pieces of ourselves with others, but all of the talents and gifts that God has entrusted to us have allowed us to discover these processes, technologies, and procedures. He gave somebody the talent and intelligence to create imaging machines so that we can look inside our bodies to see what’s going on without having to undergo exploratory surgery. Yet he also gave somebody the talent to be able to machine the tools needed to perform the surgery once the problem has been detected. You need a place to perform the surgery, so he gave some people the talent to be able to design structurally sound buildings in which the doctors can work. I could go on and on…

Next time you put yourself down for not being able to do something that another person is good at doing, take stock of what YOU are good at doing. In order to function as a body or a society you need a variety of skills and talents to make everything work smoothly. What part do you play in the functioning of the body? What are your talents and gifts?

September 5, 2021 civilwarrose5

Walk by Faith

“For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven. For in this tent we groan, longing to be further clothed with our heavenly habitation if indeed, when we have taken it off, we shall not be found naked. For while we are in this tent we groan and are weighed down, because we

do not wish to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a first installment. So we are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.” ~2 Corinthians 5: 1-10 (NABRE)

Many people like to go camping. They get excited about going out into the middle of the woods, pitching a tent, and living right next to a happy little creek for a few days. I am not one of those people. I have grown too used to the comforts of my life. I work very hard to keep the bugs out of my house; I am not going to pitch a tent and sleep next to them for a week. Most people, though, know that this experience is just temporary and then they get to return to their home with all of the modern conveniences they can desire.

This experience of going out camping, but being able to return home, is the image that I get in my head when I read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Think about it, God knew us before we were born. Then we spend time down here, but in the end we get to return to Him. Here on earth, we’re just camping. This shelter is just temporary and is not meant to house us for all time. There will be an end to this camping trip and we’ll be able to go home and be with the Lord. That’s really where we want to be. There are many days when we’re sitting in our tent, the rain is pouring down, the ants have crawled all over our food, and you feel like you are wearing the forest floor on your body… and the only thing keeping us going is that this will end and we can go home where we can peel off all of our dirty clothing, take a nice long shower, and curl up in a soft, warm bed.

The only thing is that in the camping scenario we KNOW that we can go home and take a hot shower. In real life, if we don’t be moral and live a Christ-like life, then there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to cross the threshold of our heavenly home. If we aren’t careful we could get done with our camping trip, arrive at the door of our house, and find out that we’ve been evicted. What must we do? Again, we must be moral, love one another, and lead a Christ-like life so that we can gain entry to the house of the Lord. Do we have to be perfect? No. God knows that we aren’t perfect, but that’s why he extends his love and mercy to all of us. Ask and it shall be given. Be truly contrite and humble, ask for forgiveness and He will forgive you.

That’s why we have to walk by faith. There is nothing that will prove to you 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a God and you will be with him after you’re done here on this earth. We can read, pray and believe, but it all boils down to faith. Do you have faith? This doesn’t mean that you don’t have questions. Ask God your questions. Have a conversation with Him. Only then will you be strong enough to truly walk by faith with your head held high no matter what anybody else says. And remember, no matter what, God loves you.

August 29, 2021 civilwarrose5

What’s In Your Heart?

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the

marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds].) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts,’ You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” ~Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (NABRE)

If you’ve read some of my previous blog posts you will realize that there seems to be one theme that I bring up a lot: the power you have over what you put out into the world. Perhaps that’s because it was a common theme with Jesus, too. He taught about love, charity, mercy and so many more ways to love one another. Growing up Jewish he knew that there were laws that the Pharisees held to be more powerful than the Word of God. If they were truly men of God then they would not only recognize that everything Jesus was teaching was filled with God, but also they wouldn’t have been so upset about what Jesus was doing. They really had a problem with this guy. I mean, who did he think he was?? God?? Only THEY could interpret and teach God’s law to others. They obviously weren’t listening very closely to what Jesus was saying.

You may wonder why I chose a picture of a kitten (unfortunately, not mine) to start this post. I think that if Jesus had led the Pharisees into a room full of kittens, they wouldn’t have been so grumpy about the disciples breaking their laws. Have you ever been in a room full of kittens? You can NOT walk out of there without a smile on your face. To have that little ball of fur purring and loving on you is one of the best feelings in the world. As you hold that kitten and it rubs its little face all over yours while it’s purring, your heart just about bursts with love. That’s how you defeat evil. There is no room in a kitten-filled heart for all of the nastiness that Jesus listed in today’s reading. Okay, so let’s say that you’re more of a dog person. I won’t be offended if you swap out a puppy for a kitten in this example. As long as your heart is bursting with love, that’s what I want you to think about.

The Pharisees are a good example of how people can start out with good intentions, and then before you know it they’ve veered off the path and are insisting that you follow them because they are the ones in charge. When Moses brought the 10 Commandments down from Mt Sinai I don’t recall any of them saying that you must wash your hands before eating, or wash anything else that might come into contact with your food before you eat it. From what I can recall from memory, most of it was about LOVE. Love God. Love your neighbor (don’t covet, steal, or murder). Love and honor your parents. There’s a lot of love in those ten laws. Unfortunately, at that time, the people had a hard time keeping just those ten! Then over a period of time the leaders started making up clauses and addendums to the laws that then also included these other behaviors that you couldn’t do. By the time Jesus comes along the Pharisees are more concerned over these imposed human-created laws than the original law of God. No longer is the faith about God, it’s about the constraints that have been imposed upon you.

That’s why Jesus was such a non-conformist. He worked on the Sabbath. He didn’t make his disciples wash their hands before eating. He even dared to heal people with all kinds of problems whenever he felt like it! What a rebel! He was breaking the law and thumbing his nose at the authorities. Except, what they didn’t understand, was that he was actually following the law of the ultimate Authority. The Author of all creation. That’s why it doesn’t matter what you ingest. If you have a clean heart and are spreading the love of God then you can eat with the dirtiest hands and God won’t strike you down. I mean, He really might think, “Geesh, your hands are nasty. A little water and soap wouldn’t hurt!” but he’s not going to condemn and judge you for it. As long as you are living a Jesus-centered and Christ-like life, you will be allowed into heaven with your dirty hands.

August 22, 2021 civilwarrose5

Who Will You Serve?

Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people: “If it is displeasing to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

But the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods. For it was the LORD, our God, who brought us and our ancestors up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He performed those great signs before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among all the peoples through whom we passed. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.” ~Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b (NABRE)

Joshua 24:15 is a verse that we hear a lot all by itself. I’m sure that you’ve heard, or read, it many times before today. Have you ever really stopped to think about it? Why was Joshua making that statement? If you don’t know anything about the book of Joshua you might think that it’s a statement of faith made to somebody who was persecuting him. Or maybe it’s a conversation that he’s having with somebody about the state of somebody else’s household. Instead, we learn that Joshua is actually giving the Israelites the choice. After the passage above, Joshua goes on to warn the Israelites that it’s not going to be easy to serve the God that they are promising to serve. He lets them know that they are going to be judged and if they start worshipping other gods then they are going to be in BIG trouble with the LORD. The Israelites were adamant that they would still worship the Lord. Just like Ace of Base, they too, saw the signs (sorry, I couldn’t help myself…). They personally knew God’s love and mercy because he had brought them and their people up out of slavery and had fed them manna in the desert.

We know that the Israelites were not as good at serving the Lord as they had promised. How do we know that? Because God sent us manna once again, this time in the form of his only begotten son, who was crucified on the cross to pay for our sins. So, in essence, we too have been brought up out of slavery, freed from sin, through the sacrifice of the lamb of God. Some of us have even stood in front of our church families and promised to serve the Lord with our whole heart and soul. Then what happens?

What happens is a lot of us fail. As soon as we leave that church building on Sunday we go back to our daily lives of just trying to survive the day. What gods are you serving on a daily basis? Are you a slave to your job? Do you spend hours playing video games and ignoring everybody else around you? Do you spend hours obsessing over your social media accounts and tracking how many ‘likes’ you received for various posts? Status. Wealth. Influence. Greed. Opinion. All of these are gods that are worshipped by too many people on a daily basis.

Somebody might say that I’m being unfair. They HAVE to work six jobs to make ends meet. Okay, I understand that, but I’m not talking about you if you’re doing it to take care of people you love. However, if you’re doing it because you need the extra money to pay for the mortgage on your vacation home in the Hamptons… I would say that you are worshipping other gods (status, money, appearance, etc). You should be doing all things for God. You should not be doing all things to impress the Godfreys.

I’m not perfect, either. There are times that I find myself being swayed to do something for purely selfish and non-Christ-like reasons. The important thing is that you recognize when you are doing this so that you can stop, ask God for forgiveness and turn back to HIM. Put HIM first. Invite him into more of your day-to-day life and then you will slowly find yourself turning away from the other gods who entice us. In the morning when I’m driving to work is often when I have the best conversations with Jesus. He sits beside me and we just chat about things. Sometimes it’s serious and sometimes it’s a bit light-hearted. The important thing is that he’s there with me. And he’s always there with you, but are you paying attention?

So, who do you serve?

August 15, 2021 civilwarrose5

Not Foolish, But Wise

Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord. And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another [in] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. ~Ephesians 5:15-20 (NABRE)

In the 1990’s it became popular to ask, “What Would Jesus Do?” I didn’t attend church at that time, but even I was aware of this statement being all over the place. This is essentially what Paul is asking us to think about today. What Would Jesus Do? Have you ever found yourself asking this while trying to sort out a situation? Has this phrased popped into your head when you’ve become angry at somebody and wanted to take revenge? Perhaps it should.

Paul tells us to, “Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.” There are so many thoughts running through my mind regarding this statement, but I keep landing back at the conversation I had with a former coworker who was going to be taking over my position when I left the company. She was a bit grumpy because the raise she had been promised had not been processed. From what she said, I understood that she was not going to do anything extra, and especially not anything that involved my job, until she saw the raise. This kind of attitude is a bit shocking to me because no matter what is going on, I always feel that I need to give my best effort and that I will be rewarded for it later. That has really worked out for me and I tried to impart this wisdom to her. She is young and hasn’t had a lot of experience in the “real world”, so she was looking at it from the perspective that this had been promised to her because she had agreed to undertake more responsibility, so if the raise wasn’t there then she wasn’t going to do the extra work.

I feel like this attitude is taking a strong hold in our society today. The reward must come first before the work will get done. The younger generation doesn’t seem to understand that they aren’t being rewarded for walking through their employer’s doors; they are supposed to earn the money they are paid. Can you imagine if we applied that thinking to getting into heaven? “Sorry, Jesus, but unless you guarantee me that I’m going to make it to the pearly gates, I’m not feeding the hungry or clothing the naked. Why should I go through all of that effort and work just to be rejected in the end? It wouldn’t be worth it!”

Maybe there needs to be more of us willing to model this type of behavior for those who have never been taught to think in this way. Sometimes all it takes is one person to act in a positive way and it influences others who are just observing. An insurance company, or a bank or something, had a commercial a few years ago where one person did a good thing like picking up a piece of trash on the sidewalk, another person watched them do this and when she was on the bus she stood up and gave her seat to an elderly person, another person on the bus saw this and he was the one who then did a nice thing for somebody else… etc. If enough of us act as Jesus would act, then it wouldn’t matter how evil the days were because we would all have each other to link arms with and fight against those evils.

I challenge you to go out and live wisely. Live as Jesus wants us to live, loving one another as he loves us. And when you lay your head down on your pillow at night thank him for another succesful day of battling the evils with kindness and love. We can only do it with his help and the guide of the Holy Spirit. The love of God and having him by our side will be our reward.

August 8, 2021 civilwarrose5

When the Going Gets Tough…

Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness, until he came to a solitary broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death: “Enough, LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” He lay down and fell asleep under the solitary broom tree, but suddenly a messenger touched him and said, “Get up and eat!” He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched

him, and said, “Get up and eat or the journey will be too much for you!” He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb. ~1 Kings 19:4-8 (NABRE)

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? We don’t think that we can take any more so we plead for it all to just end. Just put us out of our misery! How often does that happen? I don’t think that it has every happened for me. Usually something comes up to either support me as I continue on, or it gets worse so that we look back and wish we were back at that previous spot. That’s life. Unfortunately for us, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Just like what happened for Elijah, though, the Lord supports us and sends us what we need to continue on our journey.

Elijah was a prophet of God, but did you notice that didn’t keep Elijah from danger? He was running because Jezebel sent him a note that said she was going to kill him. Right before this he had defeated the prophets of Baal by showing the people that the gods of Baal were false gods and the only true God was our Lord, and then he had killed the other prophets. He had done what the Lord told him to do, and this is what happened. So when he makes the request to die the Lord instead sends an angel to urge Elijah to eat. There is more for Elijah to do so he will need strength.

God has a reason for everything. It may not be pleasant, but there is a reason for our suffering. Maybe we are supposed to learn lessons that we can then pass on to other people who are suffering in the same way. Maybe we are to learn how to cure the suffering we are experiencing. Or, maybe, you are just supposed to grow stronger through this experience so that you can get through the next stage of suffering. Either way, there is a reason though we may not know what it is at the time. We may never know what the purpose of our suffering is until we get to see God face-to-face.

The thing to remember is that even through our suffering He is with us and watching over us. He doesn’t enjoy watching us suffer, but it has to be done. He had to watch Jesus suffer and die on the cross. If God was going to protect and keep somebody from suffering it would have definitely been His own son, right? And yet… because Jesus died on the cross we have received new life. Last week I mentioned the bread from heaven… Jesus is our bread of life. He is the bread come down so that we may have new life. God gave the Israelites manna when they were journeying through the desert. He, again, provided bread to Elijah when He knew that Elijah would need the strength.

God is providing you with bread, too, when you need it. Have you been almost at your wit’s end, and then out of no where the one thing you needed to keep going suddenly appears? Or you suddenly find the strength to keep going? Or perhaps a thought pops into your head that makes you go a different way, and you are preserved from further destruction? That is God. He loves you.

Please listen to Dan Schutte’s song You Are Near. It says it all.

August 1, 2021 civilwarrose5

Bread From Heaven

Here in the wilderness the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our kettles of meat and ate our fill of bread! But you have led us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of famine!”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not. I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have your fill of bread, and then you will know that I, the LORD, am your God.”

In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all about the camp, and when the layer of dew evaporated, fine flakes were on the surface of the wilderness, fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.’ ~Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 (NABRE)

The Israelites had been held in slavery for generations. Then God sent Moses to liberate His people. God brought the plagues to Egypt and then they experienced the promise of Passover when their marked homes were passed over as the angel of death carried off all the first born in Egypt. If those events weren’t enough, they experienced the parting of the Red Sea as they were escaping Pharaoh’s army. Finally they were free! Can you imagine how that must have felt to know that you were no longer at the service of somebody else? You were your own person and nobody could tell you what to do.

Except, they were hungry. When they had been slaves they had at least had food. Now that they were free they had nothing. They decided they would rather still be slaves with food than free with empty stomachs. God heard their grumbling and sent manna from heaven. They didn’t know what the fine flakes were or what they were supposed to do with them, but Moses set them straight and told them it was a gift from God.

I don’t quite understand the mindset of the Israelites. They knew God had brought them out of Egypt and they saw what Moses was able to accomplish with God’s influence, so why didn’t they automatically ask God to bless them with sustenance? Later on we’ll see that when Moses leaves them alone for two minutes they act like toddlers and start causing all kinds of problems by beginning to worship the golden calf. How many miracles did God have to do in order to make them turn to Him?

Then I stop and think… how many times do I act like the Israelites? I have been very fortunate to not be a slave, but how many times have I let myself be a slave to something just to have God rescue me? Do I then continue to turn to him or do I run off, yelling “Thanks” over my shoulder, as I go off to prove that I can do it myself? When things are going bad do I turn to him and ask for help? Do I continue on and figure that I will come up with a solution?

God knows us and he knows that we’re going to mess up. And yet he continues to help us. He sent the Israelites bread from heaven, but today in a lot of churches we also receive bread from heaven at our weekly celebrations.

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”
Luke 22:19 (NABRE)

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. It was this “bread” from heaven that allows us to be welcomed back into God’s presence. Did God leave it at that, though? Did he give us Jesus to be our Savior and then leave us to our own vices in the hopes that it will stick? No. We have his Word in the version of the Bible. When we hunger for the Lord, and don’t know where else to turn, we can at least open the Bible and read the Word. All of his promises are there in print for us to read. We don’t have to rely upon guys like Moses to tell us what the Lord wants us to know.

When I’m having a bad day and I feel like I need to hear something from the Lord I can quench that hunger by opening up his Word. It may not be exactly what I thought I wanted to hear, but I always get something out of it. Even if all I get is the sense that He is with me always. Remember, God loves you.

July 28, 2021 civilwarrose5

Weeds Among the Wheat

“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘” ~Matthew 13:24-30 (NABRE)

Can you relate to this parable? Have you ever planted a garden, tending it with care, just to discover that as your delicate vegetable plants are growing they also have buddies growing up right next to them that aren’t supposed to be there? Did you ever get daring and attempt to pull the weed? I’ve had to replant the good plant quite a few times due to my desire to be rid of the weed. Fortunately for me my tomato plants are much easier to replant than a stalk of wheat.

It’s really disheartening to look out at a vast field that was so carefully planted with good seed and see all the weeds growing among them. You did everything that you were supposed to do, but all it took was one errant weed seed to find its way into your field and then the weeds were all over. That must be how God feels when he looks at earth. He so carefully created the earth, the animals and humans. He made us in his own image and then blessed us. We were good seed. Then the snake crept in and spewed evil all over, which turned us into one of the weeds. God couldn’t remove the sin that we had done, so he pulled out the good seed along with the weed and tossed us out of the Garden of Eden.

The thing is that God tries to give us all the Miracle Gro and extra nutrients that he can to help us grow. He wants to harvest us all and welcome us back into his presence when the time comes. However, evil is among us planting its seed and watching us be crowded out by the weeds. What is God to do? The only thing He can… when the time comes the harvesters (angels) will come and take the good seed with them and toss the weeds into the fiery pit.

It’s up to us to make sure that we remain good seeds. We can’t allow the weeds to sap the nutrients from the earth and starve us out. If we hold together and gather with like people, then we can grow even better and overshadow the weeds. We need to stay true to ourselves and not give the weeds a good foot hold. Be the best person that you can be. Don’t lower yourself to the same level as the weeds. You are better than that! Just because the Queen Anne’s Lace looks pretty doesn’t make it any less of a weed. Stay true to yourself and your faith. Love God and love one another. Remember, God loves you.

July 25, 2021 civilwarrose5

He Answers All Our Needs

All your works give you thanks, LORD and your faithful bless you.

They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your mighty works.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you; you give them their food in due season.

You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is just in all his ways, merciful in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. ~Psalm 145:10-11, 15-18 (NABRE)

Have you ever heard the saying that when God closes a door He opens a window? Another variation is that when He closes one door He opens another. Either way, He loves you and is giving you opportunities even when it seems like you were just denied what you wanted (or thought you wanted).

Think about times in your life when you thought you had been denied what you had been praying for with all of your might. Be objective. Did something else come along that was even better or was what you actually needed at that time? Hindsight is 20/20 and when we’re too close to the issue we can’t see the true blessings.

We ask God to answer our prayers, but if it doesn’t turn out like we thought then we get upset. We get upset if it doesn’t seem like He answered our prayers. In fact, Garth Brooks sang about unanswered prayers. This is a good reminder that just because you think you know what you need doesn’t necessarily mean that it is.

But what does any of this have to do with today’s psalm? It has EVERYTHING to do with it. God is merciful in all his works. He satisfies the desire of every living thing. The Lord is near to all who call upon him. When you think that He’s not being merciful, He actually is. When you don’t think that He’s satisfying your every desire, He really is. When a child claims to be hungry and wants a candy bar, but their parent gives them fruit, the child doesn’t think that their parent is trying to satisfy their desire. God knows what is best for us. Let’s face it, almost all of us would choose a Snickers over an apple. Is that what’s best for us? No. Is that what we desire? Yes. If God were to give us a candy bar every time we desired it then we would end up suffering from health issues further down the road. He is not going to indulge us with our every whim. He will give us what we need.

So this week take a moment to thank the Lord for all of the windows he left open for you; for all the apples he placed on the trees within reach; and for all of the moments when he was near to us when we needed him the most. Remember, God loves you and wants you to be happy. Happiness is a state of mind that we choose. Choose to be happy and thank God for it.

July 19, 2021 civilwarrose5

Rest and Recharge

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ~Mark 6:30-34 (NABRE)

At the beginning of this scripture Jesus is trying to teach the apostles a lesson that many of us today need to learn, too. You must make time for yourself to be quiet, rest and recharge. When you are constantly interacting with people, processing lots of information and trying to act on what needs to be done, it really takes a toll on your body. Both physically and mentally. Jesus knew this very well. How often do we read about him going off by himself to pray? Quiet time to re-center, re-group and re-charge is what everybody needs. Even God rested on the seventh day!

How often do you see family, friends or coworkers who are so frazzled and at their wits end because they have so much to do and not enough time to do it in? Between work and home we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. A few years ago I actually suffered from stress hives for almost five months because I wasn’t taking care of myself. Stress is horrible, too. It can cause all sorts of issues including weight gain, weight loss, hair loss, hives, excema, heart attacks, etc. You have to learn to say no and put yourself first. If you break down then you can’t help others.

The only “problem” is that when Jesus disembarked from the boat he saw the vast crowds and had to help them. Their need for what he had to offer was greater than his need for quiet time. Parents know this all too well. How many times do you feel like just plopping on the couch and zoning out in front of the TV, but then little Johnny comes up and needs help with something or just wants you to spend time with them doing some other activity? Do you tell them no, that you need to have Me time? Of course, not. You probably sigh and then get up to go spend time with your child.

That doesn’t mean that you never again take time for yourself. You have to know your limits and know when to say ‘no’. It doesn’t specifically say that Jesus weighed his exaustion level against the need of the crowd and decided that he had a little more to give. If you read further in this chapter of Mark you read about the feeding of the five thousand and then you arrive at Mark 6:46, “And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray.” Jesus helped all of those people and then still found some time to recharge his batteries.

When I start to feel guilty that I’m doing something for myself such as spending time crocheting instead of cleaning the house, I just remind myself of this chapter in Mark. Don’t feel guilty for taking some needed downtime. Don’t feel guilty that you sat and read a good book for an hour instead of dusted the house. Now, if all you’re doing is Me things, you definitely need to re-prioritize. I’m hoping that the pandemic helped a lot of people learn that a lot of what kept them busy was nonsense stuff. I hope they learned how to just sit with themselves in quiet or realize that what they had been doing was just a bunch of noise. Take a lesson from Jesus; do good works and help out your fellow man, but don’t forget to be quiet and talk with God.