LIFE - DIFFERENT TODAY THAN YESTERDAY

The title today sure is true. Just when you think life is good, wham something blindsides you and -- your life is different. Or your life just absolutely sucks and wham, out of nowhere comes just what you need.

Our lives do change. We find people to love. We have children. We work. We retire. Death claims those we love. Our health fails. Or our bodies heal. Each day is different.

But are you ready for a really big change in your life? Was the crippled woman ready?

SCRIPTURE: LUKE 13:10-13

On A Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

LIFE - DIFFERENT TODAY THAN YESTERDAY

I would say this woman’s life changed. Eighteen years, bent and crippled, unable to stand up and then because Jesus saw her, called her forward, put his hands on her and wham - she was different than yesterday.

And she straightened up and praised God. SHE PRAISED GOD!

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:

How would you like your life to change? Can you make this change by yourself?

LET US PRAY: We all have areas of our lives that need to change. You will notice Jesus called the woman forward, but she had to go to Him. Use this as the beginning of your prayer as you go to Him. He can help you.

Jesus, there seems to be so much of my life that I have no control over. Today I pray for my life to change. I pray for faith, trust. For you to call me forward and say, “You are set free from ____________.”        Amen

I SAW GOD

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Have you ever wondered what God looks like?

SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 6:1

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

I SAW GOD

The other day I heard the old joke about the boy in art class and the teacher ask what he was drawing. The boy said, “God.” The teacher said, “No one knows what God looks like.” The boy replied, “They will now.”

Yup, an old joke, but how would you draw God?

I want you to know that, if I actually had the talent to draw anything other than stick people, I could draw God, because I have seen God.

Yes, I did! I saw God -

I saw the eyes of God. They were reflected in the eyes of my husband as he said, “I love you.”

I saw the hands of God. They were wrinkled with age, but they were full of canned goods for the food pantry.

I saw the back of God’s head and his ears. I saw them as a mother bent down to listen as a child tells about her day.

I saw the tears of God. God’s tears were on the cheeks of children as they watched their parent slip peacefully into death.

I saw the love of God. God’s love radiated in the room as parents met their newborn son.

LET US PRAY (Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.)

God, I try to put my features on you. I want you to have my eyes. My smile. My hair. The truth is I do not know what you look like. Someday I will, but for now I will be satisfied in seeing you in the people around me. I pray others see you in me. Amen

1099 FROM GOD

It is beginning to arrive! The dreaded TAX INFORMATION: W-2’s. 1099’s. Receipts for donations. Interest statements. With each piece of paper, I check my records.

Are there any missing? Do the numbers agree? The tension is rising! Will we owe more taxes? Could there be a refund? (Hey, I still believe in miracles!) Am I ready to call the accountant to schedule an appointment?

No, there seems to be something missing? Did I get a 1099 from God? Surely I did enough in 2011 to warrant a 1099. After all a 1099 is for any goods and services over $600 and I know I did more than $600 worth of work for God last year. Could there be a mistake? Better check on this.

Oh, I think I got this backwards. God doesn’t owe me a 1099. I owe God one.

Box 1: Rents - “God, what figure do I enter? After all, I am taking up space on the world you created. Would the IRS believe you do not charge rent?”

Box 2: Royalties - “God, I read your book. What royalties do I owe for reading the Bible?”

Box 3: Other Income - “God, this one is really hard to figure: ‘prizes/awards/winnings when not for services performed’. How do I report the value of a sunset? Or rain needed for the garden? Or the hugs from grandchildren? Or answered prayers? Or - You are a gracious God and have given me so many prizes. What value do I enter in Box 3?”

Box 14: Legal Fees - “God, I have skipped boxes 4 - 13. I am so confused. The IRS will never understand a 1099 to God. They will think I am nuts. They will audit us for sure! But God, I came to Box 14. My heart skipped a beat. ‘Fees paid to an attorney for legal services’ - Fees paid to defend me? God, I do not want to fill in this box.”

SCRIPTURE: JOHN 3:16-17

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

1099 TO GOD

Box 14: Legal Fees - “God, it is hard to fill in this box. Fees paid to defend me: The life of your Son. Thank you.”

EXPECT LITTLE, GET LITTLE

When I paid my last Anthem insurance premium, I figured it to November 1, 2011 because that is when I went on Medicare. That was that. Premium paid and I did not expect to hear from Anthem again.

Well, this week I did hear from Anthem. It seems I had overpaid! Being an honest company, they sent me a refund. Then I looked at the check. Can you guess the amount? Are you ready? This is going to blow your mind! The check was for ------

$ .01

Yes, you are reading that correctly. The check was written for one cent.

Bill and I laughed and laughed. Then I told him I was going to call and ask for interest from November 1, 2011 to January 17, 2012. Of course, we estimated how much it cost them to generate a penny check. Then we laughed again. But why was I surprised? I expected little and got little.

SCRIPTURES: Various scriptures from Matthew --

The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Jesus turned and saw her, “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”

And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Do you expect a lot or a little from God?

PET PEEVES

What just sets you off? Seeing someone leave a grocery cart in the parking lot instead of putting it in the cart return? Or like my new one, people who have to open their phone during a movie just in case they got a text? Starting plays/shows ten minutes late! Those computer generated phone calls that ring once, come up on id as unknown, but you answer anyway and there is no one there!

Oh, this could be a very long list. And, what would be on my pet peeve list might not be on yours. Funny how what annoys one person isn’t a big deal to another but we all have them. Those little things that just make us want to stand up and shout, “I AM WATCHING THE MOVIE. SHUT YOUR PHONE.”

I wonder if God has a list of pet peeves. A list of little things that just tick him off. Don’t know about that, but God does have a list.

SCRIPTURE: Exodus parts of 20:3-17 From The Message

• No other gods; only me.
• No carved gods of any size, shape or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim.
• No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter.
• Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
• Honor your father and mother.
• No murder.
• No adultery.
• No stealing.
• No lies about your neighbor.
• No lusting after your neighbor’s house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey.

Wow, that makes my pet peeve list seem a bit trivial. But, let’s see - No other gods and no carved gods? Okay there. Oh, you wouldn’t consider the TV or the computer a “carved god” would you?

Got the next one! Although I will admit to using swear words occasionally, I would never use the name of God as a curse! But then The Message says, “silly banter.” Do I - do we - use the name of God lightly? I am sure God enjoys it when we joke and when we laugh, but how do we use the name of God?

Now I wish I had not started with this blog idea. It is not going where I wanted it to go. This was to be a light, fluffy, fun -- but maybe it is going where God wants it to go. As a Christian, I should be able to follow ten simple rules. I should be able to do ten items that God put on His list.

But it seems like I have trouble getting past the first three. What am I to do?

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Do you have trouble obeying God’s list of ten?

SCRIPTURE: Mark 12:28-33 from The Message

One of the religion scholars came up and put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”

Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy. And here is the second. ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”

The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate - that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together.”

LET US PRAY (Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.)

Lord God, My God, the One God, I may not be able to live up to your list of Ten Commandments and I do not always want to love my neighbors, but I can make my daily, sometimes my minute by minute, breath by breath, priority to love you with all my passion, With all my prayers. My intelligence. My energy. My Lord God, when I follow this first, greatest commandment, I will slowly learn to follow the others. Amen

I BELIEVE

Today I would like to share with you two things I have written. The first one was written January 2005, after completing Purpose Driven Life. I have this taped in the front of my Bible.

   The purpose of my life is to place God at the center of my being and to see God in all the world around me. To be always thankful and grateful for being created by God to be his child and to know I am important to God.

   With God at the center of my life, I want my character to reflect that I am a believer and that I make Christ based decisions.

   I want the lives of others to be enriched by my actions and words. I want to help family, friends and strangers move closer to God because they can see the light in my life and hear the story from my heart.

   I want to share in fellowship with other believers so we can worship together, using the talents God has given each of us, to encourage each other and celebrate our faith.

The second one I wrote after a Sunday School lesson challenged us to write our own personal statement of faith. This was written April 3, 2011.

I believe Jesus is the Son of God.

I believe Jesus walked on this earth and that he brought the love of God

to all who will accept it.

I believe Jesus can heal souls and bodies.

Although I may have times of doubt or times of disobedience,

I believe the love of Jesus is unending and never fails.

I believe Jesus is my salvation.

I believe Jesus died so my sins could be buried with him.

I believe he arose and is with his Father.

I believe Jesus lived so he could present me to his Father

as a forgiven, cleansed daughter.

What is the purpose of your life? What is your statement of faith?

Have a blessed day!!

Mary

GRANDCHILDREN

SCRIPTURES: (Jesus enjoyed the company of others)

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. John 2:1-2

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Luke 19:3

And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:16

GRANDCHILDREN

This has been the week for grandchildren. Nathan came to spend the day Monday. We watched the Rose Bowl Parade. Actually, I watched the parade and Nathan watched the clock to see when it was going to be over. He was a bit bored.

Tuesday, our daughter and her four boys came for lunch. We met at the Pizza Hut and then enjoyed some time at the house where the boys got out the puzzles.

What is so neat about this picture is that my mother loved to work puzzles. I have a feeling she was looking down at the boys and smiling.

Besides working with puzzles, two of them did crafts and two pestered their mother. They had lemonade and cookies. They went home. Yup! A great day.

Tomorrow our granddaughter is coming. What a way to round out the week.

Yes, I love to spend time with our grandchildren. But what makes me the happiest is that they like to spend time here. With me! They might get bored watching something on TV that Grandma wants to watch and they might make a mess with construction paper and they might eat the last package of cookies and they might call and say, “What are you doing tomorrow? May I come over?”

What a wonderful blessing grandchildren are! They are fun to watch TV with. I smile when I pick up the pieces of paper that they swore they picked up and I will happily buy another package of cookies and I will be thrilled to say, “Of course you may come over!”

Jesus enjoyed spending time with his friends at weddings or spending the night. Jesus enjoyed children. Do you suppose Jesus likes it when we say, “What are you doing Jesus? May I spend some time with you?”

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

What ways do you enjoy spending time with your children/grandchildren/family/friends? What ways do you enjoy spending time with Jesus? How do you think he feels when we ask to spend time with him?

LET US PRAY (Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.)

Hello Jesus, Do you have a minute? It seems like 2012 is already busy, but, if it is okay with you, I would like to sit a minute and talk. Have I told you how much I enjoy watching the sunrise? Have I told you how much I enjoy reading the Bible and finding just the right words I need to encourage me? Or the words I need to comfort me? And thank you for prayer time. Life can be so -- Lord, I don’t know the word I need. Life can be so -- persistent. Prayer time helps me focus. Prayer time helps me quiet myself so I may hear you.

Hello Jesus, Do you have a minute? Amen