Box

 

Sometimes I want to trade the box I am living in for someone else box.  It's those time I usually lose, not my salvation,  but I lose my attitude toward what ever is causes me to want to trade.  I become focus on me, me, me.   

I think you get the picture of where I am. It's been a couple of bad days because of my health which causes my box to stink of  self pity.   My box will probably get a little more shabby as I age, but it's the box God given me. 

One things that remains the same and brings me comfort, calms my worries, helps me deal with, "whatever"  my box, is the fact of being a child of God.

 Everything else may change but not who I am in Christ.  I may act like a brat at times but I am still His, bought and paid for by His precious blood shed on the cross.  He knows my box, He is in my box all the time with me, never leaves me.  

Just a look into others box and the heartaches it contains is enough to bring me out of my self pity box.  

I am not hiding out in  fear for my life and my family life.  

I am not on a respirator that is breathing for me. 

I am not crying with grief because someone I love has died.

I am not having to begging for food to feed my family. 

I am not living in a make shift tent. 

etc. 

If you are a child of God, you don't lose your status if you have a bad week. - Timothy Keller

I think I will play in my own box, how about you?

Trisha Yearwood - I’ll Carry You Home (Official Music Video)

Finding comfort while it seems like the whole world has went crazy can be found in scripture, a walk in nature, a good uplifting book, especially the Bible and also in music.

The below song has been my go to for comfort. I probably listen to it everyday. It's not a Christian song but there is an eternal aspect to the words. Knowing for sure when I die I will be going to my eternal home brings me comfort. The news depresses all of us, the middle east issues, Covid, mask, riots, random killings, evilness is everywhere and only seems to be getting worst. Even watching the weather reports now is depressing. All of this sends me to music a lot for comfort.

God is still in control of what seems like an uncontrollable world. There will come a day for me and everyone when we leave this messy world. Knowing where I am going and WHO has the power to take me to my eternal home gives me courage to face today and my tomorrows. What do you fall back on when you are discouraged and know you cannot fix whatever you are going through?

Can you see the end to our messy world? What does your eternal future hold? Does your peace come from this world or your future in heaven someday? Where do you get your courage from to deal with all that is around you that you cannot fix? Where do you get your comfort from? Do you have a song in your heart that comes to mind when you are discouraged that brings peace?

First World Suffering

 

This past Sunday I heard a message from a missionary to China that gave me a fresh look at suffering.   Got me to thinking about how we suffer in our first world country in comparison to how those who live in China, or Iran.   

Recently the gas to our place had to be shut off for a few days.  We still had electricity and water which made living without a cook stove easier.  There were times when we lived in Papua New Guinea we went without electricity for days and there was never a warning WHEN it would go off.  There was one small generator to be passed around for the 8 houses on the support center.  Each house would use it for a couple hours to run our fridges so not to lose our meat.  Eventually we were able to purchase a relay switch so when town power went off our big generator would kick on. 

If you are thinking, wow, Betty I bet you handled losing your cook stove for a few days easy.  Sorry, I wish I could say I did not complain or grumble.  I let the, woe is me  attitude over take me a little too much.  Still being sanctified. 

Comparison is not a good thing to do but after hearing this missionary stories of the believers in China I was convicted at my take on suffering.  Doing without a gas store for a few days is not suffering, a hardship yes, but suffering? 

 I read this somewhere and it struck  a cord in my heart.  In a first world country most people don't feel helpless with the conditions they live in.  Across the board that is probably true.  In a first world country we have the Red Cross,  Global Fund for Women, In This Tent, Action Against Hunger, Samaritan Purse, WHO, Lutheran Service of America, Heart to Heart, Go Fund Me, The Innocence Project, Hope for Women, Operation USA, American Civil Rights and that is just a few of the organization there is to turn to for help.  In China and some of the other countries the list is very short to turn to for help.  On top of all those I named is the countless churches in the USA.  Countless restaurant give out food to the needy, there are food banks all over America you can tap into for food.  I do think you get the point. Nobody kicked our door down for reading the bible or having a home church in the US. 

The modern definition of “first world” is used to classify countries that are highly industrialized and with advanced economies. First-world countries include the United States, Canada, Japan, and Western European countries.. 

=But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. I Peter 5:10

I like the last part of what the above verse says suffering will do, settle me.  Knowing what to expect helps settle a person even before suffering comes. I have met people who are settled with the lot God has given them.  They are a comfort to be around and their quiet ways comfort me and give me courage to accept suffering.  To not waste it. 

I wasted the  time grumbling about my lack of cooking gas recently and trust me it was not a settled astrosphere in our house.  How about you, have you wasted any of your suffering lately?

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Thought I would take a chance on this series on HBO.  Of course the language is horrible at times but the stories of the people who go to this therapist are not horrible. In fact I am finding as I listen I can easily see myself in certain mindsets.  It's a revealing listen as the therapist works to draw out from each one the pain in their life.  

Back a couple years ago I went to a pain therapist who was able to help me sort out some of the emotions from my childhood that still cause pain in the present.  That emotional pain showed itself in my body in the form of  fibromyalgia and chronic insomnia. 

I know I will never be free from the memories of my growing up years but they do not own me.  I use them often in working with others who have suffered emotional abuse.  But, sitting in the therapist office weekly knowing I could say anything and it was a safe place was just the start of getting freedom.  

If you had ask me when I was from 20's to 50's I would have told you I did not need therapist.   Really it was after I became a Christian and read a lot that I realize how my mental health was.  Yet it hard to talk about any mental problems in Christian circles. To take an anti depressant, or anti anxiety meds is a big no no in some circles.  Thankful for the Christian doctors I have had that understood the importance of mental along with our physical issues. 

• And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you]. Romans 12:2 AMP
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• We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.” 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 MSG

I am also thankful that God cares about my mental condition.  He speaks to the battle that rages for our mental health. To deny it is to allow room for the enemy of our soul to destroy us.  

Take care of yourselves mentally.  Need to talk, find a therapist, if not possible then find a lay person who will listen well and help you work through the issues.  Be brave and admit you might need help to gain freedom from some things.  God loves you completely, body, soul and spirit,  and He wants us to commit it all to Him.  

Below is a great article on mental health.  

https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health

Rocks

 Our son children  brought the  smooth rocks on the right to me from a trip they took to the ocean a few years ago.   They knew I had kind of have a thing of using rocks to decorate the yard with.  I brought them  with me to Northern Minnesota when we moved.   The rough rocks I pick up  the other day as hubby and  took a short walk on a wooded trail near where we live.  

I decided to display them on a small table that I see all the time to remind me where God has brought me from.  

When I started my walk with the Lord at 35 year of age, I was rough around the edges. As my pastor would tell me, I was a diamond in the rough.  That worldly rough wisdom I had learned from the world God would use to show me what didn't work in life.  From the minute I became a believer He begin to knock those rough edges and dirty place off me.  

As I walked with Him on a daily bases and especially through some tough trials He begin to smooth the edges off me and clean me up.  The Bible calls this the process of sanctifications and He does this for every believer.

I see me now in those smooth rock my grandchildren gave me.  The ocean  change the look of rocks,  as they  wash over and over  and  changed their appearance to be more pleasant to look at.  They are certainly are easier to handle then those rough dirty jagged edge ones on the left.  

 Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ in our conduct and character. The objective of this pursuit of moral integrity is to be holy as God is holy (1 Pet. 1:15, 16). 

In his recent book, How Does Sanctification Work?, David Powlison gives us five factors towards our sanctification:

1. God. “It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13)
2. Truth. The truth of God’s word taught, sung, preached, studied, and read is one of the surest means by which the Spirit brings about change in our lives
3. Wise people. God mediates our change “through the gifts and graces of brothers and sisters in Christ.”
4. Suffering and struggle. Though we don’t relish it, suffering and struggles work towards our growth in Christlikeness. Difficulties prompt us to rely on God. Writes Powlison: “People change because something is hard, not because it goes well . . . Struggles force us to need God.”
5. You change. Scripture calls us to actively believe, obey, trust, seek, love, confess, praise, and take refuge. We are not passive. The mystery of faith is that we are 100% responsible, yet 100% dependent on outside help.

How these factors play out in each of our lives may look drastically different. The Spirit is at work, applying the objective work of Christ, yet that work touches us all differently. While journeying towards the same goal, each believer will have a distinct path which they will tread.

__________________________________________________________

I heard this said, some grow like turtles, getting run over a lot.  Others grow like a rabbit, off to fast start but stops to eat a lot.  Either way the goal is to be like Jesus in the process.  

Which one are you, a turtle or rabbit?  

 





How does a person prepare for loss? How does a person maintain hope when at death’s door? How does a person have confidence in his faith when he wakes up to the worst possible situation? The incredible journey in this true story, as told by author Dave Wall, will take you to the brink of what every person will someday face: the death of a loved one. You will laugh and cry while finding answers to some of life’s toughest questions.

DNR - Do Not Resuscitate, is told in a deeply personal way. It will take you through the dramatic story of Dave’s wife’s double brain aneurysm that struck the morning of August 6, 2020. You will see an amazing puzzle come together one piece at a time. The story points directly to the fact Dave and his family were prepared by God Himself for this tragedy. You will see hope when no hope is visible. You will see confident faith overcoming daily hurdles that never seem to end. And you will learn how to live a win-win life no matter the circumstances.

( I had the honor of writing the forward for Dave Wall book because we are personal friends with he and his wife, Cindy. Together we served in Papua New Guinea with Ethnos360 formally New Tribes Mission for several years. You will not be able to put the book down as Dave writes about the trial that came into their life. It will challenge and encourage your faith all at the same time and cause you to tear up. And, it will make you ask yourself, what if that happened to me or one of my loved ones? What or Who would I be holding onto for strength, wisdom and comfort? You will not be sorry you bought this one and I pretty sure you will be telling others about it.) You will find this on Amazon.com, Kindle or paper back.







Minute

 
I was at the hospital the other day to have a test  that required the doctors to put me under so I would be comfortable through the test.  The test only took  20 minutes at the most...BUT...due to the meds used to put me out,  it Felt like I was only out for ONE  minute!   One minute I was breathing in pure oxygen, the next I was waking up in the test room with nurses checking me over to make sure I was ok.  It was a very strange feeling, literally I lost those 20 some minutes during the procedure.     I remember thinking that was an easy test, no bad side affects.   

I kind of hope that is how death is.  No matter the minutes it takes after I take my last earthly breathe till I awake in eternity, hope it only feels like a minutes, no, a second.  Hope that space of time from earthly living to heavenly living is short and painless. 

That one minutes feeling has got me stuck thinking about time here on earth.  The Bible is clear Psalm 90:1-10 that God and man view it differently which makes a huge difference how we conduct our lives.  Man has no power over death, but God can, has, and will overcome time and death by the power of the resurrection.  To God, these thousands of years pass swiftly, "like yesterday...like a watch in the night. "

Man's view of time is the days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for  it is soon cut off, and we fly away , Psalm 89:47-48.  

As of today, I have lived: (give or take a few minutes and seconds)

894 months

21,210 days

65, 3040 hours

39,182,400 minutes

  At 74 I am praying I will live maybe 10-15 years more.  Spiritually I am ready to go home to cross that gap between life here on earth and life in heaven.  Humanely, I would like to stay around a few more years.  Actually,  I am content to leave time up to God, He has a purpose for me here on earth or I would not be here.  It gives me comfort that, "my time to go" is in God's hands just as the start of me was in His hands.  

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Roman 8:38-39

Hugs

Everyday God wants to hug us, more important He wants us to know it's Him hugging us.  Below is a few ways He does that.

1. Through nature.

2. Through friends, family, Godly mentors. 

3. Events around us. 

4. Events of our lives. 

5. Through the Word.  

Our recent women's Bible Study through Hebrews was a huge hug as we were reminded who God is, who man is and what sin is and Jesus part in everything.   We felt it in every verse that told us about the New Covenant being better then the old one.  Hebrews 1:3 Jesus work is finished, completed, done, He made purification for sins.  Jesus's single sacrifice is final. There's no need for more, Hebrews 10:17.   And, this is the key to Hebrews and our walk of faith, why would you even want to go back and put yourself back underneath the old covenant, its not the best.   

For me, the longer I walk with Him, the more I trust Him, the more it's all Him and none of me, I feel like I am living in a ongoing hug from God Himself.  I think it blesses His heart when we are obedient to trust Him through deep trials and His hugs get tighter.  Ephesians 1:3.  

I am sure you have experienced this. You meet up with family or friends and you go beyond just saying hello, its so good to see you, you grab them and give them a big hug.  They hug back and you hug a little tighter and a little longer back.  It feel so good,  doesn't it?  You think, wow they really care for me, I can tell by that hug.  That my friend is what Hebrews is about, a longer, tighter hug from God Himself, reminding us, Jesus paid it all, I can rest in that no matter what is going on around me.  I can trust that shed blood of Jesus to give me freedom to enter into the Holy of Holy in heaven with my prayers and God the Father will hear them. 

Need a hug today, get in the Word. Sprinkled all over the pages are countless times He reminds us how much He loves us.  

A Self Ditch?

 

Some people loves themselves just a little too much.  {Then, there are the ones who talk non stop about themselves and never ask you how you are doing).    Scripture  warn us about self-love. Our focus should not be on ourselves. We must trade self-centered love for agape love. Loving yourself in the wrong way shows selfishness and arrogance which God hates. It leads to self-criticism and the sin of boasting. Take your eyes off of yourself and look at the interests of other people}.

Some struggle to  love themselves and are always putting themselves down.   { Here are four benefits of self-love: When you genuinely love yourself, you create a mindset of acceptance. You become willing to accept your life stages and situations, and take responsibility for your actions. You also recognize where the love, happiness, passion, and authenticity come from. Take your eyes off yourself and look to the one who cares for you the most}.

Loving ourselves too much or loving our selves not enough are both a product of being in a self ditch.   Either one of these two ditches is a  discouraging place to be and it usually shows in our life.   

Most of the time I fall into the not loving myself enough ditch.  It  makes me want to give up and  hard to live with.  I lose my patience and become frustrated over the littlest things.  I become self absorbed, easily offended, and stop caring about others.  

One of reasons I fall into either of these  ditches is my need for validation which we all need because God created us to need it.  He also told us where to go for it too.   

How long I stay in either ditch is totally up to me.  But when I come to the end of myself, I can climb out and head toward Calvary mountain.  As I journey on Calvary's road I know there are road signs to give me direction where to go for validation.  Below is just a few:

Jeremiah 29:11 He has given you unique gifts, talents, and strengths. – Romans 12:6 This is validation. God really does love you and is crazy about you. You really are the apple of His eye. Psalm 17:8

God’s love and acceptance is the key to value and significance. The journey of believing brings freedom and renewed energy. How does God validate you? He made you in his image and delights in you. – Genesis 1:27 ; Zephaniah 3:17 He stubbornly loves you even when you are unlovable. – John 3:16 God is for you not against you. – Romans 8:31

I have no doubt that I will fall into the ditch again, life will bring discouragement, someone will hurt my feeling again, and I will fail again at trying to like Jesus.   BUT.....................

He will never fail at being Himself. So He will love me yesterday, today and tomorrow even if I am in a ditch. He will remind me through the power of the Holy Spirit of His Word and that will give me strength to believe He is enough.  

So, how are you doing today, feeling validated, or stuck in a ditch?  Never fear, God would never leave His creation without a way out of the ditch. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the way.  Blessings. 

 

Crumpled Piece of Paper

 

This quote can be taken several different ways, according to who you have put  your trust in.  

Ask yourself, have you ever broken a person trust in you?  Not proud of this confession but I have crumbled my own paper by not being trust worthy.  My mouth which is connected to my heart has gossiped, told lies, and made excuses which if known would make people not trust me.  

• For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Matthew 15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man. Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. Mark 7:21

The first ones that come to mind when I read these scriptures is, politicians.  They make tons of promise to do this or that to make life better for you. Sad to say, those who will or can keep those promises are few. They all have a few crumples. 

It's easy to see others as crumpled piece of paper but we never think we are as bad as those who break the trust we have put in them.  Yet the scriptures are for everyone, yes even me.  I am that piece of crumpled piece of paper. 

The first step to forgiveness for ourselves and to others  is seeing ourselves as a crumpled piece of paper.  Oh, we may not have committed murder or adultery except in our minds.  Isn't it just like God to lump all the sins together. , He does not divide them into bad sins and not so bad sins.   

The battle starts in the mind and it's a daily battle.  To have victory in this battle you must go to ground zero.  John MacArthur talks about this in his book, Dealing with Sins of the Mind.  He says, once we know where to focus your assault, you can defeat your enemy with an overwhelming, Bible powered barrage.  

We all start out as a crumpled piece of paper but just don't know it till a certain age.  No one teach a child how to lie when they are caught doing something Mommy told them not to.  Those sweet darling little people are only acting out of their own crumpled piece of paper.  They are not born perfect, only Christ was born perfect and still is. He was, is and never will be crumpled. 

 Romans 3:23-24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 

Who can you fully trust in this world, only Jesus Christ, for only He is worthy first of all.  I did not die for your sin and neither did you die for my sins.  Only Jesus who was not born a crumpled piece of paper did.  

If this post brings questions to your mind, or confuses you, please write to me, either in the comment below or by email, bettydraper1947@gmail.com.  

One last thing, God loves you with a love that is beyond any human love.  It's unconditional and He proved it by sending His Son to die for your  crumpled piece of paper.