A Bad Day Gone Good

Saturday April and I went to Jamie’s house to attempt another garage sale. With her living in Battle Creek, we thought we could make a killing. My last garage sale I did very well, and was hoping to do the same this time. Well, it didn’t exactly go as planned. It rained all day, got all my stuff wet, and only brought me another $27.75. I was tempted to complain, but really, why? If I truly believe God is in charge, then it was up to me to find the good in all of it. So, I did.

1. Four families are going to get several bags of clothes. They hold great sentimental value, so now I may “give them to a good home.” They are worth way more than the 25¢ tag I had on them.

2. We had a nice time fellowshipping with Jamie’s family and watching the Jacob and Isaac play in the rain. Jamie even bought us pizza.

3. I got a great deal on two new bikes for Isaac - bikes I could never have afforded on my own.

4. For three days, while I dried out tons of clothes and bag them up, I’ve enjoyed watching the series “Alias” with my family and working on my blog and yearbook in between loads of laundry.

I can leave the financial stuff to God. He can supply our needs and he doesn’t need me to do it. I proved to Him I was “willing to work for food.” Now He will prove to me He is faithful - as He always does, time after time.

So, the day was not wasted. My efforts were not wasted. Besides, it’s about who we are not what we do. We’re just supposed to be faithful and then let God work out the details.

I picture the conversation in heaven going like this:

Angel: We’ve got another garage sale request. What do you want me to do? They’re asking for a clear, sunny day, but the Christian down the road asked for rain for his crops.

God: Give them rain.

Angel: Rain? With all due respect, I think they really need the money and if I send rain, they won’t sell a thing.

God: Give them rain. They’ll have a good day visiting with their friend, several families will benefit from the clothes that don’t sell, and the Isaac will have a lot of fun. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.

Angel: Of course. You know best. But, won’t this discourage them? They really need grocery money.

God: No, I know these folks, they trust me to take care of them. I’ll just supply their needs some other way. They pray and expect answer A, B or C and I usually give them D. They’re used to it. It’s kind of an inside joke between us.

Angel: OooooK, you know best.

God: Yes I do.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Even rain during your garage sale can be a blessing.

I ♥ Abraham Lincoln Wit

“A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me.”

Lincoln Quote Page

God Gives an Answer

Recently a friend told me that there had been a lot of gossip going on about our family, and then proceeded to tell me a dozen things that have been said. Some were about me and some were about my husband and my kids. All of them were false and I actually had to laugh at some of them, they were so ridiculous. I was given the opportunity to set the stories straight, which is a rare opportunity. Today in church I was given the answer as to why some “Christians” gossip about other believers. Here is he answer that God gave me:

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” I John 4:20

The answer? He doesn’t love God. So, the next time you hear someone tearing another person down, quote this verse to them and see what they say.

The intent of gossip is to injure. Hatred is the motivation. It really doesn’t have anything to do with the person who’s being gossiped about. It all has to do with the heart that doesn’t love God.

No Kidding

“Our blessed Lord reveals himself to his people more in the valleys, in the shades, in the deeps, than he does anywhere else. He has a way and an art of showing himself to his children at midnight, making the darkness light by his presence.”  ~ Charles Spurgeon

Son Worship

Picture this: You’ve worked 50 hours this week; you’re stressed to the hilt. You hop on a plane to a deserted beach where you can don beach wear and lay out on the beach for hours without interruption. There’s a cool breeze, only the sound of sea gulls and the ocean. Are you there?

Well, that’s what Sunday school was like today - refreshing. Pastor Adam took us to Psalm 50 written by Asaph, one of the men back in Bible times that were in charge of the worship service. He gives us an excellent listing of what true worship is. Churches today have lost their zeal, a passion for God that they once had. They’ve turned into social clubs that offer their own form of praise and worship contrary to what God tells us in His Word. It’s not enough to just say they’re social clubs and we need to change to gain God’s blessings. We need to know what true worship is. We certainly don’t want to eliminate fellowshipping with God’s people, but that’s not why we go to church, though it makes it very enjoyable to be around and interact with fellow believers.

(vs. 1-4) “The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” Our God calls to His world from morning to night shining on us with His perfect beauty, full of might and majesty. He alone will judge our worship, whether it bring Him glory or fall short of what He has deemed right and good. We need to be in awe of His deity, for He is the ever present, almighty God. True worship springs from our respect and fear of our awesome God.

(vs 5-6) “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.” Those of us who are saved have an obligation to worship our living God for He judges in truth those of us who claim to be of God. Only God can judge our worship to be acceptable.

The first sacrifice, Cain’s offering from the garden, was not accepted because it did not meet God’s requirements of true, pure worship. Our worship will displease God and lose for us His bountiful blessings of God if we do not have the right attitude of reverence in our offering. Gen. 4:3-5 “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”

(vs. 7-15) “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” God won’t ask more than we are able to give; He’s more concerned about our heart condition and thoughts of Him. If we are genuine and desire to worship Him correctly, He’ll accept our worship and bless us through it. We have no right to offer what WE think is acceptable, especially since He outlines in His Word what exactly we must do. Here is the list of what true, pure worship is. Anything less is rejected:

1. Thanksgiving for all He does - longsuffering, goodness, blessings, direction, etc.

2. Faithfulness in our daily living

3. God centeredness in our thoughts and actions

4. Giving God the glory in our thoughts and actions

(vs. 16-19) “But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. ” Here we learn how NOT to be. God contrasts true worship with the actions of wicked who have no desire to worship Him. Here’s the rest of our list of how to worship God we glean from reading the list of the ways of the wicked.

5. Declare God’s statutes - declare who He is and what He requires for salvation

6. Love His Instruction - love obeying Him and listening to His direction

7. Spend your time with others who love Him, be loyal and love truth

(21-23) “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.” We will experience God’s blessing in our churches and personal life if we worship Him according to His direction. This is missing in many churches, and perhaps is the reason many are no longer in existence. Unfortunately ministries have become idols. We lift up the ministry, or our church agendas, above the needs of the people and even God Himself. What are we doing? Isn’t it all about Christ? Only a return to true worship and the acknowledgment of the awesomeness of God will bring our churches back to a place where we are pleasing God. Only then will be experience the blessings of God in our churches and personal life. How does your worship line up?

Email Update on Mark

I thought I’d share an email with all of you who have asked for updates on how Mark is doing after his accident. It is from his mom.

“Mark is doing as well as can be expected. We made the trip straight through from Virginia so it would be easier on him knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep in a motel bed and was more comfortable in the reclined seat in the van. Other than get out to an appointment with physical therapy and at the burn unit yesterday he has only been off the couch to use the bathroom. Today is the first day he hasn’t taken his pain meds every 4 hours. He has actually played a little bit with Mackenzie, and that is a first, so it was good to see that. He has a long road ahead not only with the healing of the burns but with the therapy - he had very little range of motion with the left elbow, almost none with his left wrist and fingers. His burns are more extensive than when it first happened because it takes 24-48 hours for them to completely manifest themselves, and he has also burns on the right side of his face, right arm, and more extensive ones on his left side of his face that go around to the back side of his neck.

God has been good and He continues to prove himself faithful, but it has indeed been a discouraging week as he has found out that he doesn’t have collision coverage which he thought he had on the vehicle, and he still owes on it. We are also running into road blocks everywhere in getting things duplicated the most recent being his license which we are at a stand - still on. It has been countless hours on the phone with frustration after frustration.

He is just glad to be here and trusting each day will prove to be better with less pain. Up until today he has been pretty groggy and hasn’t been doing a lot of talking to anybody, but did take a couple of calls today. Thanks for your prayers and concern for him–it means a lot.”

 

Update on Mark

Thank you for praying for our son-in-law, Mark. He had surgery on Sunday because of the third degree burns, nerve damage, and risk of infection. He’s Michigan right now at his parents’ house to recuperate for a month. He’s having trouble moving his wrist and bending his arm. Please pray that he’ll not develop an infection and that the physical therapy will improve his flexibility. Please ask that God will fill Mark with His grace as he suffers through the pain of a serious burn.

Prayer Request!

Please pray for my son-in-law, Mark, (see article below about how he just finished a six month deployment on the naval ship USS Nassau). On his way home from Virginia he was in a serious car accident. His car caught fire while driving and he was able to pull over and get out just in time. He is badly burned on his left arm from his wrist to his elbow and on his neck and face. He is in the hospital expecting to be discharged today or tomorrow because the hospital is too full to keep him. We are thankful he didn’t have our granddaughter, Mackenzie, with him in the car as was previously planned, for she would not have gotten out in time. Mark recently gave his heart and life to the Lord and hopes to be used of God. We are anxiously waiting to see how God is going to use this in his life.

Suffering

I ran across the Redland Baptist Church web site as I was searching the Internet for sermons on gossip for my posting below.  Check out Pastor Mark Adam’s sermon on suffering here.

Gossip

Sermon by Mark Adams, Redland Baptist Church, 1997

Scripture: James 3:1-12

Washington Irving said, “A sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.“

1. Perhaps the most common way in which the tongue hurts is when it is used for gossip.

GOSSIP is saying negative things about a person when they are not present. It can also involve the telling of a truth that does not need to be told for the purpose of hurting someone. Sometimes gossip involves simply asking questions like, “Is George faithful to his wife?” Sometimes we gossip by saying nothing when we hear things that we know are not true and say nothing to correct them. We also promote gossip by simply listening to it. Remember, there can be no gossip if there are no listening ears. Why is Gossip so destructive? It spreads uncontrollably and warps the truth.

2. The tongue can do damage through slander.

This is defined as saying negative things about someone else in their presence. The word “SLANDER” literally means “ripping of flesh”. When applied to speech it is a put down–intentionally hurting someone with the words you say about them.

3. The tongue can do damage through lies and exaggerations.

A local church body cannot be healthy if lying is a common practice within its membership. Ephesians 4:25 – “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” If your body worked in this deceitful way, it wouldn’t be long before it was no longer functioning. And the same is true of the church. When we don’t put away truthless-ness,  people become afraid to reach out; they don’t know whom to trust.

4. The tongue can do damage through grumbling and complaining.

Even when we try to resist being influenced by such negativism, we find some of it rubbing off. This passing around of the poison of pessimism happens every day, and it steals our joy. (Philippians 2:14-15; Luke 6:45)

This sermon was edited for brevity. You can read the original sermon in its entirety here.