Bountiful Life

Be encouraged when people attack you for your faith or beliefs as a Christian, which typically tend to go against societal trends. Whenever someone attacks me based on my Biblical values and accuse me of believing in “archaic thoughts” or praying to an “invisible Mickey Mouse in the sky,” for example, then I am always encouraged that these same people who attack me for my faith WILL one day bow their knee and confess that Jesus is Lord.  The only difference is that I choose to do so now and enjoy the benefits of a relationship with the Lord that these people do not have.

Philippians 2:10-11 states that, “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.” Wow. I can only imagine what that amazing scene will look like some day! I find such peace and comfort in knowing that, every time someone bashes the Bible or me for believing it as the inerrant word of God and that I hold every word in it as absolute truth that does not change to go along with societal changes, one day they too will know the truth and confess it kneeling right next to me. How I imagine the faces of those who once said hateful things about 1) God (or that he does not even exist) and/or 2) about his people being “intolerant” to sin (we do love the sinner but hate the sin and do not condone it) with their mouths gaping open as they finally see the truth for the first time.

I don’t know about you, but I am so thankful to have this precious relationship with the Lord! He has gotten me through so many messes, scrapes and deep valleys that I have lost count. The Holy Spirit has brought me immense comfort in some of my darkest times when I could see no hope at the time to keep going strong. The Holy Spirit has also spoken words of great encouragement at exactly the right time when I was going through things that nobody else knew about. He has guided me to make wise decisions when my initial instinct would have been to do something different, and the end result came out better than I ever could have imagined! Jesus has saved me and redeemed me from all my sins and is a better friend than even my best friend. God protects me, provides for my needs in jaw-dropping, unexpected ways far better than I ever could have imagined and in miraculous ways. He is also my healer and continues to heal this broken body in miraculous ways that I like to refer to as “blowing my socks off.” The Lord does things big and does them right!

I honestly have no earthly idea how people can make it through life in these very difficult times without a relationship with the Lord. Many people come up with excuses such as “I just don’t believe that stuff is for me,” or “Christians are hypocrites/intolerant.” I don’t know about you, but there is absolutely no excuse I could ever use not to believe in God. I have absolutely no doubts when it comes to the truth declared in the Scriptures, not even a shred. Somebody could try to convince me every day for an entire year all the reasons they believe God is not real and that the Bible is merely a historical fantasy, but I would still firmly believe otherwise. I have seen far too much evidence, both out there (miracles, creation, lives changed 180 degrees) and in my life (protection, healing, guidance, wisdom, unexplainable peace, supernatural strength, joy in the midst of pain, provision, etc.)

God has left us an incredible amount of proof that He exists and that He is who He says He is (for example, Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”) The problem is, many people are too busy trying to disprove God or make excuses as to why they don’t believe instead of seeing what has clearly been put right in front of them. I would think that it would take more faith not to believe than it would be to believe.

In any event, if you have doubts, ask God to make himself known to you in an unmistakable way and to open your eyes to the truth. I have heard many accounts where people called out in desperation to God that “if you exist, show me you are real” and something unmistakably miraculous happened. God changed their lives in an instant and nothing is ever the same again (in a great way!) I have never heard anyone say they regretted their decision to surrender their life to God and start living for him. I have heard many, many times however, that “it was the best decision I ever made!! Why didn’t I do this much sooner?”

I would not trade anything in this world with the precious relationship I have found with the Lord! Everything else on the earth will pass away, but my soul will live on for eternity. We all have the same decision to make…where will I spend eternity?

Not only are we “adopted” into God’s family when we trust in His Son Jesus Christ as our savior and commit our lives to him, we have an eternity in heaven to look forward to! On this earth, we are given strength to live for today, new mercies every morning, peace that passes ALL understanding and inexplicable deep down joy plus so much more! Life will not be perfect or easy by any means, but we will have all we need to live a good life, even in this sinful, broken world no MATTER what we face in life, because he promises to walk with us through it and give us all we need to live victoriously! J

Unnoticed Blessings

Human nature tends not to notice when everything is going smoothly, but throw a monkey wrench into something and we can become unglued very quickly! Our patience is out the window and complaining crawls in the same window and takes us over if we are not careful.

For example, when we are young, healthy and active, we don’t even notice the amazing anatomy that God created us to have….bones, muscles and joints that were created to move perfectly together to enable us to do everything from the smallest of things, such as picking a flower, to the grand things, like mountain climbing. When middle age sets in, however, or if you suddenly become unhealthy or develop a health condition (an autoimmune disease, for example), then every muscle, joint and/or bone is suddenly screaming out for attention and you can no longer ignore what has been ignored your entire life.

When I developed an autoimmune disease three years ago, I never imagined I had so many muscles, bones and joints in my body! I remembered learning the names of each one of them when I took anatomy back in college, but only when they started giving me trouble by causing a lot of pain did I really notice every single one of them! Did I just grow them overnight? Of course not! I just noticed them for the first time because they started giving me trouble. Because they all worked perfectly fine for 40 years of my life, I took all of those things for granted before now.

I now realize what an amazing blessing our incredible anatomy is and how God perfectly fashioned our bodies to work together in harmony to do just the simplest of tasks. I once read that it takes more muscles to frown than to smile. I thought that strange, because I never even realized it took more than two muscles to do either before! We just don’t think about things like that until we are forced to.

Looking back, I wished I had thanked God much more often for being in perfect health for many years with no pain issues whatsoever! I woke up each and every day, enjoying the whole day with no pain, unless I had a headache or got hurt. When you start waking up each and every day in pain, then it takes only a very short while to realize how blessed you were before pain became a part of every day. It becomes hard to plan things because you don’t know how you will feel from day to day. If you are in good health and go about your day pain-free every day, please thank God for that and remember those in prayer who do have pain issues!

Even though I sometimes do not notice all God has done for me, how many times have I been frustrated with my children for not noticing all I do for them? The dishes stay washed, the laundry done, floors clean, groceries bought and breakfast, lunch and dinner made. The electricity stays on (because I pay the bill), the car remains in the garage (because I keep up on the maintenance and paid it off) and the IRS isn’t banging on my door (because I pay my taxes). Ah, to be a child again.

For example, my oldest son had complained for months that his back was hurting him every day. We had x-rays done on him and found out he had scoliosis and his feet are very flat, which certainly did not help. He was given exercises to do and inserts for his shoes, but he still complained of pain. So, being the good mom I am, I thought I would invest in one of those expensive memory foam mattresses for him. Ever since then, I never heard another word. It kind of felt like he quickly took that mattress for granted. I know he appreciated it, but a simple thank you or words of gratitude for no more backaches every day would have been a nice gesture on his part. To a small degree, I think I could begin to understand how Jesus must have felt when only one out of the ten lepers came back and thanked him for healing their leprosy!

However, I have at times behaved the same way with God, who is my Father. One example is by taking my health for granted all those years, rarely thanking him for the fact I could walk, talk, see, hear, smell, do what I wanted to with no pain and enjoy the life he has given me because everything worked together in my body without even a thought. (By the way, thank you Lord for all those years of near perfect health!) I used to feel just like the Energizer bunny. Kept going and going and going, all day long.

I must say, however, that ever since becoming a single mom over ten years ago, my thankfulness meter has gone up exponentially! I thank God DAILY for even the little things in my life! Every difficult mountain I climb over, every valley I fight my way through, every dinner I sit down to, every new friend I make, every bill that gets paid off and every new need that is taken care of makes this heart very, very grateful to God, for without His help, strength, provision, guidance, peace and protection (and so much more) I would not have made it this far!

I know what it is like to have to start over with nothing (not even family around) and this makes me even more appreciative to God for all I have now and all I have overcome too. I will never again take things for granted, even the little things. I have found since I stopped taking the little things for granted, I am much happier too. I hope and pray that you too, learn the joy that comes when you find enjoyment and thankfulness in everything, even the little things. J

Need A Miracle?

Many miracles were performed throughout the Bible, and the God who performed those miracles is the same now as he was then. He still performs miracles in massive quantities today. However, some people do not believe miracles happen anymore or never believed they have ever happened, but write them off as luck or chance. I have seen and heard about enough miracles first, second and third-hand that I could not deny their existence even if I tried. Someone once told me that those who do not believe in miracles all of the sudden do believe when they really need one.

My first personal miracle is the fact that I am where I am today, even after having grown up in a home with a very physical and emotionally abusive mother with mental illness and a very emotionally and verbally abusive father. I have lost count of the number of times that people have told me, “I have no idea how you turned out to be such a good person having gone through all of that,” and, “How can you still smile so much after all you have been through?” Even family members shake their heads in amazement and fully believe, as do I, that how my life has turned out is a miracle. Even the fact that I am alive and my life was not cut prematurely by the hand of my mother or by my own doing as a teenager is a miracle.

I can only give God all the glory for that fact that I am still a whole, peaceful, joyful person making something out of my life and I am able to function normally in life without the help of medications or counselors, etc. These things can be helpful for many people and they are not bad things, but just the fact that I have not had to utilize one of these to function is a miracle. I am very grateful for what God has done in my life and how he miraculously healed me despite the very damaging start I had in life. It takes far more than luck or chance for something this miraculous to happen…it takes the hand of a caring, purposeful and powerful God. Not that this road has ever made my life easy (I have wanted to give up at times and I still struggle to ever believe I am truly loved or loveable), but nonetheless, I am here—happy, healthy and whole.

Fast forward to five years ago, when my son turned 13. He had had a case of strep throat, and his doctor cleared him after his antibiotics were done on a Friday and in that very same weekend, he woke up very early in the morning and had a bad seizure and then was unresponsive afterwards for quite some time. He was hospitalized for three days afterwards and went through many tests and scans during that time to find out the problem, which ended up being a rare, potentially serious complication of strep throat. He had some brain swelling and his kidneys were also very large on the scan, much larger than for a normal 13-year-old (this ended up being a previous kidney condition we did not know he had until then).

The neurologist came in and informed me that he should not ever have another seizure, which was very relieving, but the condition he had was serious in some cases. He gave me several pages to read about it and as a mother, the words “…long-term brain dysfunction, kidney shutdown or death” as possible complications of what he had was, to say the least, unnerving.  He comforted me by the fact, however, that he strongly believed that my son had the reversible kind, which would over time “work itself out” and he would fully recover but it would take some time.

His blood pressure kept sky-rocketing the entire three days in the hospital, even after being given blood pressure medication. I was still afraid he would have another seizure while there because the nurse had told me his blood pressure was so high that it was that of an old person getting ready to have a stroke or heart attack. The nephrologist (kidney specialist) who came in and saw him was also concerned that one of his kidneys was as big as it was and said it looked like he had kidney disease that could cause his kidneys to shut down. After I was relieved about the brain part of the seizure being under control and knowing that it was most likely a temporary condition, I was hit with the news that his kidneys were not doing well at all according to his blood work and scan.  

It took him far longer to recover than the doctors expected and he had to be on blood pressure medication for four months afterwards, have regular blood pressure checks done to keep it level and be on a low-sodium diet. It was a very scary, uncertain time for us with many follow-ups with the kidney specialist and his pediatrician. They were going to have to do a kidney biopsy because after several months his kidney levels still did not even out.

However, every step of the way I could see God touching his body, and that kidney biopsy never had to be done after all. It took far, far longer for the healing but I firmly believe that God’s hand was on my son through that whole process. I was told that his immune system was now compromised and to expect him to get sick a lot more often. However, since that time five years ago, my son has been sick far, far LESS than he ever was before all of that happened!

As he was in the middle of that seizure, I cried out to the Lord, “Lord JESUS, PLEASE DON’T LET HIM DIE LIKE THIS!!” It literally looked like he was at death’s doorstep as blood was coming from his mouth and the seizure lasted for what seemed like forever. The Lord heard my prayer that morning and kept his hand on my son through every step.

Most recently, my step-mom was thrown off of her horse. She is an avid horse rider and this was the same horse she has had for years, which never gave her any kind of problems. My dad was outside when she was thrown off and also witnessed the horse stomping and kicking her. She was lying on the ground, not moving. As he ran up to her, she was bleeding pretty badly from the head. She is a very small but strong lady, and her horse is quite a big horse. After a few minutes, she was able to say that it felt like her ribs were broken.

After the hospital did an MRI and other tests on her, they found absolutely NO BROKEN OR CRACKED BONES and NO organ damage whatsoever!! She was very banged up and bruised with a gash on her head but other than that, there was no major damage! How can one possibly explain that, except as a miracle from God himself!?

I have heard accounts of people being shot in the head point blank and surviving without any lasting brain damage. Again, how can this be explained, except as a miracle? Miracles happen every day that leave non-believers scratching their heads. All I know is that I am the product of a miracle (and could tell you many physical miracles God has done for me also) and that I have witnessed many others.

Where do you need a miracle? Nothing is too small, too big, too complicated or too far gone for God to intervene and perform a miracle for you too! Ask him and then believe him for your miracle, for “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

"Sinner!"

Besides his disciples, who were the type of people Jesus spent time with and energy on during his ministry? Was it church deacons, pastors and saints? Pharisees? Only the ones whom society deemed “good enough?” NO! If you want to know the answer, all you have to do is think of those who most people, even some people within the church, would tend to avoid.

What did Jesus say when questioned by the church leaders of that day? They were always trying to question why Jesus would bother with the “least of these.” One beautiful story that comes to mind is in Luke 7, where Jesus was anointed with oil by a “sinful woman.” I imagine she was one that most “good” people stayed away from, in fear of “tarnishing their reputation.” I also imagine she was overlooked and ignored by the people who should have been ministering to her soul so that she would come to the only one who could forgive and restore her soul. But, by some miracle, she came to Jesus when he was eating at a Pharisee’s house, knowing he was there. She brought an expensive jar of perfume and as she stood at his feet, she was weeping…and wiping the tears off of his feet with her hair. Not only that, she poured the expensive perfume on his feet in an act of humility and love for him. She knew she had done wrong; she did not need other people telling her how sinful she was or treating her like an outcast. What she really needed was love…and Jesus, the forgiver of sins, to acknowledge and forgive her.

He turned to the Pharisees in the room who were put off by his response of love and acceptance of this “sinful woman” and said, “You did not give me any water for my feet…you did not put oil on my head, or give me a kiss…but she has done what is right.” Because she did what was right and came humbly before him, a broken sinner who knew how much she needed him and his forgiveness, Jesus said in front of all in the room, “I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven- for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (vs. 44-47). Did Jesus condone her sinful lifestyle? Not by any means. Did he say, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it?” No. He saw her broken, contrite heart and said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

That is a beautiful picture of the way we need to love others; those who are living in sin, the broken, the unlovely, the neglected, forgotten, the homely and the homeless. What if Jesus had turned to her as soon as she came in to the room and said “Woman, you are a sinner. Leave immediately,” or he snubbed her or neglected her by “yucking it up” with his buddies with whom he was eating? It would have been a very different outcome for her. She may have been too hurt or angry to ever come back to him again if treated that way. Is that how we are “caring” for those who need him most? Or, how about even those who sit in the church pew next to us…the tired, weary single mom, the old unkempt person, or God forbid, the one who shows up in a leather vest and biker boots with tattoos all over their body. These are some of “the least of these” whom Jesus talks about in the Bible. The ones we MUST love and minister to; the ones who need him most.

Jesus spent time with and showed love and kindness to tax collectors, prostitutes, the crippled, the adulterer, and could it be *GASP* even the drunkards, etc. He knew who needed him most. He said it was not the well who needed him, but the sick. Would we ever even dream of going somewhere like the streets of Las Vegas or on Beale Street or Bourbon Street to reach out to the very ones Jesus would reach out to if he were living among us today? Is our compassion ONLY for our buddies, those in our families or our children’s friends? If so, priorities and focus needs to change if we are going to lead others to the cross so that they too can receive the wonderful gift of salvation that we have enjoyed. Eternity is a long time for someone to live in the wrong place when just a few simple acts of kindness, or in some cases even just kind acknowledgement of their existence, could change their eternal destiny.

We never know what battles someone else is facing, especially when they appear happy on the outside. We have to make a choice as to whether we are going to, as Jesus did, love and minister to “the least of these” or if we are going to ignore them and hope they go away? Don’t get me wrong, the church is full of people who do an amazing job of loving those who are often overlooked, the homeless, the unlovely, the rough-around-the-edges motorcycle guy with tattoos or those who are struggling physically. But I also think that far too many in our congregations could do so much better.

There have been several times where I, as a single mom, have felt left out, unnoticed, unrecognized (for my abilities that I really want to use) and unwanted in my church, no matter how loving and kind I have been. Some of the people who should know better often snub me. Not sure if it my single mom status that repels them or if it’s something else. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my church (and the other churches through the years I have been part of at one time or another--I moved a lot when I was married.) However, I have been driven away from churches too because of the way I (a strong, faithful believer) have been treated by some people in the church.

When my focus gets more on them than the one I am there to worship and adore, then I have to re-adjust my focus and get it back on the one (and only one) that I am truly at church for, the Lord. He will never treat me that way. It is more important I go out of love for the Lord and in obedience to Him and spend that all-important time in corporate worship as well as learning more tools that I can use to help me in my walk with the Lord in a very difficult world.

Who are we to think we are better or too popular to reach out to the “undesirables” that often get overlooked (even some within our church walls)? Is there a sense of security some people have because they have it “all figured out” and are already comfy and cozy living for Christ that they somehow feel they are “too good” or “off the hook” when it comes to others (the lowly)? Or do they not want to look “uncool” by not being with the “cool people” around them? There is NEVER an excuse for that, no matter if you are the pastor of a large congregation or if you are the janitor.

Every one of us needs to have the humility and love for Jesus that this sinful woman had who came to Him, because really, we are all in the same exact boat. We are ALL sinners who fall short of the glory of God who need him in our lives to forgive us and heal the brokenness in our lives. We all sin, though differently, and should not judge someone whose sin is seen as “worse” than ours. However, that does not mean we condone or go along with (or take part in) their sin either.

Our ultimate goal should be to love people to the cross, not pretend they don’t exist or push them away by only loving the good looking, popular, happy, well to do person within our comfortable, cozy church walls. Jesus calls us to *gasp*, converse with and love the “wrong people.” If it is good enough for him to do, then we too can do it. We all need the Savior, no matter who we are, what we have been through or what our status is here on earth. I am so glad that Jesus does not say, “Clean yourself up first and when you are good enough, I will forgive you and receive you.” So why should we say that while we are enjoying a peace, joy-filled, forgiven life that everyone needs, even the “least of these?” We need to lead them to the Savior; He will take care of the rest (the “cleaning up” part).

By the way, we all need cleaning up, don’t we?