Apple Picking

While in Maryland we went apple picking at an organic farm. The produce they had was amazing! My brother-in-law took this picture of my husband and I as we played around while gathering 140 lbs of apples.

Every time I see this photo I think of Adam and Eve, and I'm glad it isn't an accurate portrayal of that scene. (Genesis 3:7)

Something I found interesting was that each person there had a different favorite apple. There were only 4 varieties available that day, so unfortunately, a few people were out of luck. My favorite were the Empire apples. They were slightly tart and smaller than some of the others: The perfect munching size for me. The one we were eating in the photo was an Ida Red. They were big, juicy, and tart: Perfect for cooking and baking with.

As I looked around, I was blown away by the variety God created for us. Yes, some apples were genetically altered to give different flavors, but God created fruit to be able to do that. He knew we were created to have different tastes and desires, so He made the world around us to offer more than one kind.

I started thinking about the fact that just because someone preferred a different apple didn't mean they were wrong. It meant they were created by God, from the womb, to desire different things. This is the same thing as how we worship. Some people like upbeat praise and worship, others like somber hymns. A loud, solid beat and wild strings my stir one soul while a calm harp and soft woodwinds stirs another.

We were created different: And telling God that others tempos are wrong, is like telling Him He was wrong to create more than one kind of apple.

Would You Rather...

While in Maryland with family, we played a fun game called, "Would You Rather...". It gave you a list of question where you had to choose between two difficult scenarios. Depending on where you were in the game, the goal was to either have others agree or disagree on their answers.

I looked online hoping they had a Bible version to play, but they didn't. Probably too many heated arguments would happen...

However, as I was studying and reading over a section in the life of Moses, a question came to mind:

Would you rather...
See God's full glory pass before you once in your life like Moses (Ex. 33:18-23), or...
Be certain of God's direction, specifically for you, throughout your whole life?


There is no right or wrong answer, but is something fun to ponder. Post a comment and let me know which you would choose and why.

What Kind Of Love?

What kind of love sacrifices glory due for others free will?

What kind of love disciplines for the benefit of one, over and over and over, though they never seem to learn?

What kind of love created so much beauty, variety, and complexity, for those who know so little, to rule over?

What kind of love can completely forgive unadulterated hate?

What kind of love can be just, in every aspect and from every angle at the same time?

What kind of love endures intense suffering and death when it never had to be experienced at all?

What kind of love loves fully when it is not warranted?

What kind of love can be trusted completely?

What kind of love can possibly describe its Creator?

What kind of love do you have?


Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we must also love one another.
1 John 4:10-11

Celebrate!

Have you taken the time lately to celebrate our differences in the Lord? I'm not talking about theology. There are the basics we must all agree upon in order to truly be a Christian. (I might discuss those at a later, and braver, date!) I'm talking about the different talents, spiritual gifts, and personalities that God has hardwired into our lives.

Unfortunately, we usually tend to try and emulate, discount, or judge others unique, God-given quirks instead of just being joyful that they have them. Yesterday, the Lord allowed me a time of reflective perspective. (I like the way that sounds...) He let me see the many personalities and teaching styles of some fellow sisters in Christ from an out of the box vantage point. I loved their honesty, integrity, passion, simplicity, wisdom, humor, and joy. I was truly humbled to worship with them.

What are some of the things you can celebrate in others around you?

Getting Back

The Lord has shown me so much reality lately. One being how much I love my home. Seldom do we realize just how habitual we are until things are completely off kilter and away from home. No matter what you usually do - be it chaos or strictly scheduled - if it is usual for you, home is a base. When that is not available, we tend to get thrown for a loop. I really do love visiting family and other places. However, I have a harder time being committed to reading my Bible and other "time with God" things. I've come to realize how fickle I can be and easily go astray.

The other thing He has been teaching me is a love for all people who are His. I was blessed to be able to worship at a different church last Sunday and meet others throughout the week who are in quite different roles in life, yet love Him. Much of it was just being in a place so different from my home. The greater Washington D.C. area is not quite the same as Bell Buckle, TN. It's a different beast from Nashville even. I love seeing the diversity God has placed here on this earth: And I know I've only scratched the surface! We even met a young woman on the way home in Knoxville who needed ministering to. She was the ribbon on this whole lesson God has been teaching me.

What do you discover about yourself or God when you go on vacation?

According To Thumper...

Sometimes, when we are living on the graces of God solely, and there doesn't seem to be anything to say - I believe it's best to not to try to.

Or, in the words of Thumper.... "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

Or in Biblical terms, "He who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles." Proverbs 21:23

For I Am Persuaded...

Sometimes we just need to hear this again and be reminded of what we know. Read it aloud and let these truths permeate your heart, mind, and soul today.

Romans 8:35-39
Who can separate us from the love of Christ? 
Can affliction or anguish or or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord!


It's difficult comprehend, but we can be separated from everything else, and need to live that way. It's not that we shouldn't care about other things and people: we just need to remember that it all can be taken from us. God's love can't. Much peace comes when we are secure in that knowledge.

The Everyday

What do you do when the everyday seems to get in the way? I've had a great day here, but when it came time to write a blog, I felt I had nothing to say.

I have talked to God a lot today, though. I was thanking Him profusely for helping me to start healing. I've been in pain over the last several days and have not been able to enjoy myself very much. After pleading with the Lord - more than three times - the pain started to subside. Yesterday, every times I was at least comfortable for a half hour, I thanked Him. Today I've been able to thank Him even more, and I hope to soon be able to praise Him all day.

Even though I was praising Him, I felt as though I wasn't learning anything from Him. At first I thought that was a bit of a failing on my part. But we were created to praise and glorify Him. Sometimes in my desire to learn and grow, I forget to take more than a few hours, to worship Him.

I was feeling like my everyday life was getting in my way of learning from God, but He used it to show me that   praising Him needs to be the foundation of my everyday. The learning and growing comes after that.

How are you praising God in your everyday today?

Map Quest And Sin

We are in the Washington D.C. Area right now and it's beautiful! The drive up here was very long though and since we don't make the trip that often, we printed out the directions on Map Quest. Knowing how detailed they are, I put my starting point as Murfreesboro instead of my house, but was still given minute turns from the square.

Looking at the map, I realized that were 16 different “directions”. One was for .2 miles, yet another one was for 349.0 miles, but they both counted as one direction. Isn't that just like sin? No matter how big or small the sin is, it still counts. There are longer periods we have to deal with the consequences on the "bigger" ones, but they count as a sin just same.

We have a holy God who can not have sin in presence: No matter how big or small. And we sin. So, without His grace we could not enter into His presence. Just like every .01 miles counts as a direction, every sin counts as well.

Thank you Lord for Your grace. Thank you that my sins won't travel with me to You.

Praise

Sometimes there is nothing that needs to be said more than praises to God.

Psalms 34:1-10
I will praise the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.
I will boast in the Lord;
The humble will hear and be glad.
Proclaim with me the Lord's greatness;
Let us exalt his name together.


I sought the Lord the Lord, and he answered me
And delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to Him are radiant with joy;
Their faces will never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him from all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps
Around those who fear Him, and rescues them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Fear the Lord, you saints, 
For those who fear Him lack nothing.
Young lions lack food and go hungry,
But those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.


You know what else I like about this psalm? It was written by David after he pretended to be insane to keep from being captured or killed by a foreign king. Perhaps we don't praise the Lord in our insane moments enough.

Alive

We've all heard and read that the Word of God, the Bible, is alive. Have you ever really taken the time to think that through? God is so beyond our understanding, that He is able to make specific, written words live. They don't come alive - they are alive.

Think of it: Words written 3000 years ago, still teach and speak to us in very real personal and corporate ways. That's mind blowing in and of itself. Another amazing thing to ponder is what John 1:1,14 says. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."  


Think of it. Our God is so powerful that He can make His Words becoming living flesh and then place Himself within them to save us. It's not a metaphor - it's real. So, if we love God, we have to love His Word.


How much have you loved and appreciated Him lately?

Soap Box 101

I heard a statistic the other day on a groundbreaking finding which was presented at prestigious conference. This multi-year study revealed that children who were spanked more in childhood tended to have lower IQ's.


Now, before you use your "spankin' spoon" for kindling, I'd like to pose this thought:


PERHAPS THIS IS BECAUSE THEY ALREADY HAD LOWER IQ'S AND DIDN'T GET IT THE FIRST TIME, AND THUS NEEDED TO BE SPANKED MORE.




Let's use our heads and not let people guilt us into a lack of discipline. I'm not saying you have to spank your children - I have many friends who don't. They choose to discipline by other means. But for those of us who do spank in the loving manner, don't let the world stack the stats in order to belittle you.

Proverbs 13:24
The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently.


Hebrews 12:6-7
for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives. Endure it as a discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?


*Please understand - this is NOT talking about beating a child or hitting in anger. These are as different Scripturally as sex within a marriage is to sex outside of it. It's still sex: just a different context.

War

I love Paul in the New Testament. He is just so real to me. I relate with him better than any of the others, because he was passionate yet struggled with how flawed he was constantly. As his relationship with God matured over the years, he saw more and more of his own flaws. Towards the ends of his life he even wrote to Timothy, his spiritual son, that he considered himself to be the worst of all sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)

I say all this to let you know that even though I know what God has called me to do, and I know the standards He desires for my life, I struggle constantly with actually doing them. One thing I have come to respect in preachers, teachers, and mentors is that they all struggle as well. Just because you know the truth, doesn't mean you don't fall for the lie. We are human in every way.

This was brought to my attention once again last night by the Holy Spirit's guidance as I went to bed late after getting sucked into watching an hour and a half of useless, yet funny, videos. I just talked about learning my lesson in this Sunday! Doesn't take long does it?

Here is the passage the Lord brought to my mind. As you read over what Paul wrote, reflect on one or two things that always tend to get you.

Romans 7:15-25
For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. 
So I discover this principle: when I want to do good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God's law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh to the law of sin.


Praise Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord! For He said Himself, "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed," (Luke 4:18)


Just think, as messed up as we are... we are free!

Prayer Time

What is your prayer time like?

I ask because I'm beginning to wonder if we ever feel like we've prayed enough. Yes, there are times where I get tired of praying for the same thing over and over, but even then I wonder if I'm wimping out on persistence. Or, perhaps I'm not in the will of God with that request and if I was praying more I'd know better. How do I figure that out? Yep. By praying about it.

While looking up some Scripture today about prayer, I was humbled and ashamed seeing all the time Jesus took for it. At times it was early in the morning (Mark 1:35), and at other times He was up all night praying (Luke 6:12). I may have times where I spend more specialized time praying, and at other times I can say I lean towards 1 Thessalonians 5:17  when it tells us to "pray without ceasing". Those are the times I relish, for I basically carry on a conversation with God as I go throughout my entire day. Yet, it never seems to be too long before I've found once again that I'm getting in bed and haven't really spoken with the Lord at all that day.

So I'd like to ask you how your prayer life is right now. So-so? Pretty good? Virtually non-existent?

What are you going to do about it?

A Little Rest

The Lord has been popping a specific Scripture into my head for the last several days, but I couldn't figure out why. Even though I've been very busy and on the edge of sick, He kept repeating it to me over and over:

Proverbs 6:10-11
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest, and your poverty will come like a robber, your need like a bandit.

First of all, even though I wanted to complain to Him that I was too busy, I knew there were times that I did just sit there and rest. Now, don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with resting. In fact, I believe that we really need to more often in our modern lives. I'm not, however, talking about cutting corners. I'm talking about cutting out. "Sorry, no. I can't be on that committee."  "No. We really don't have time in our schedule for that sport."  "I'd love to help you out once a week, but I just can't."  Rest from multi-tasking ourselves to death is a good thing.

So what, I wondered, was He talking about? Two different lessons came to me today as I asked Him once again, to please explain:

1. What kind of resting are we doing? 
After that question came to me, I realized that the resting I was doing was certainly not profitable in any way except for slowing my metabolism. I was typically watching a movie, a video, or surfing the web. None of these are wrong in moderation, but there was no benefit I was getting from it either. All  I was doing was losing sleep and quality time with my family. I suddenly realized that I had not read a book or played a game with my kids in two weeks and was more exhausted than ever. I had been robbed of them both and didn't realize it. The problem was that my mindset was wrong in resting.

2. What about resting a little in the spiritual sense?
That made me stop and think a bit. These verses were also speaking about losing quality time with God. Read Proverbs 6:10-11 again and think about what happens when we put off our quiet time with God because we get too busy or want to relax in another way? We come to a point of spiritual poverty and our need becomes very great. This is not to say we are not busy doing God things or even studying His Word. I have discovered over time that I desperately need time each day to just read the Bible and not study it. To have no agenda or specific verses to read, but to just love it. This is something I had rested from lately. Oh, I was studying for three different Bible classes as well as writing everyday, but I had forgot to love it, just because it's there, and I found I was becoming impoverished.

Have some quality time with God today. Ask Him to let you know if poverty or need is sneaking up on you because of resting in the wrong way. Pray that you will have a heart willing to listen and change anything you might need to. Then praise Him for loving you enough to care in reshaping your heart for Him.