Thought So!

Genesis 1- Help! Please Make Something Out of This!

"A chaos was the first matter.  'Tis here called the earth...because it did most resemble that which was afterwards called earth, a heavy unwieldy mass.  'Tis also called the deep, both for its vastness, and because the waters which were afterwards separated from the earth were now mixed with it...The Creator could have made His work perfect at first, but by this gradual proceeding He would shew what is ordinarily the method of His providence, and grace." (Wesley, biblecommenter.com)

Maybe your mind has been in chaos.  It swirls and writhes, and refuses to produce anything orderly.  Things needing to be thought through are circling overhead like jets waiting for a clear runway...but which one first?  You'd give up coffee for a year if it meant a clear brain.  (Well, OK... a week then.)

What about your house?  You and your kids are still in pajamas at noon.  Every dish that you possess is dirty and sitting on your counter.  The phone rings while you balance a baby on your hip and attempt to open a bottle of yellow, banana-smelling antibiotics.

And your life?  You're trying to make the 5:00 deadline for your term paper, packing to move, and expecting out-of-town guests on the same weekend.  Events are piling up around you like moving boxes.  Panic and claustrophobia are oozing between them.

Maybe you can't even think about this while you're in the middle of your chaos, but at some point, look back on those familiar verses and remember that God specializes in order.  Starting with our salvation, He pulled us from sin's darkness and evil into His light and holiness.  "For I have appeared unto thee for a purpose...to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." (Acts 16:16-18)  If we allow Him, He will order our minds (Isaiah 26:3), our lives (Psalm 16:11), our paths (Psalm 37:23).  He did it with the cosmos at the beginning of time, and He still shows us that same providence and grace.

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Where Am I?

It does not matter where He places me  

Or how.

That is rather for Him to consider

Than for me.

For the easiest positions,

He must give grace;

And in the most difficult,

His grace is sufficient.

So,

If God places me in great perplexity,

Must He not give me much guidance?

In positions of great difficulty,

Much grace?

In circumstances of great pressure and trial,

Much strength?

As to work,

Mine was never so plentiful,

So responsible,

Or so difficult;

But the weight and strain

Are all gone.

His resources are mine,

For He is mine!

-J. Hudson Taylor

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Why Did the Duck Cross the Road?

The Lord has so many little ways of reminding us of His care.

A friend told me of her experience with a Mommy Mallard and her eight babies.  Mom, needing to get her ducklets to the other side, shepherded them across a busy 4-lane highway, right in front of my friend's car.  Mom then camped out in the left turn lane to wait for her trusting stragglers, leaving the traffic safety logistics to the drivers.  The experience assured my friend that her brakes were indeed in good working order.

How comforting to remember that, when leading us, the Lord does follow a path that is already known to Him.  He is aware of where we are on that path, and doesn't lose sight of us for a moment--whether it be through a shadowy valley, along a calm stream, or across a busy highway.   

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The Sin-monger's Cart

Morning rays tugged the shadows from the sleeping forms in the street.  A wheel creaked...a dog barked.  One of the shapes moved and sat up.  "Hurry--it's the sin-monger!" she cried.  Then, all around her they rose and waited until the creaking was incessant and the cart crept into view. 

"Fresh bitterness!  Fresh anger!" the sin-monger cried, but there was no need.  Pushing and shoving, they grabbed for the dark, shriveled fruit, flinging their coins at the wizened man. Their teeth pierced and tore at the thorny,leathery rinds. Heedless of the rotten stench that enveloped them or the dark, sticky juice that stained their hands and faces,they ate until the cart was empty.  Then, as the sin-monger slunk out of the village, they sat back, satiated, letting the fruit once again take effect...   

We would never insert ourselves into this story. Yet, do we ever feed on the bitterness and anger of unresolved conflicts from the past?  Though forgiveness was offered and even accepted, do we derive comfort or pleasure from chewing on things that can never be changed?   Do we feel elevated above someone else when we reopen old wounds? 

Yes--this does happen, for our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. Who wants to grant or ask for forgiveness or spread the healing balm of kindness when the bitterness gives so much more pleasure?

He has forgiven us for so much, hasn't He?

Eph. 4:29-32

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To the Praise of His Glory

 This certifies that

Marilyn Janke

has been genuinely and securely sealed

and is

under full ownership of

God the Father

Date:  1960            Signed:  The Holy Spirit

*Initial deposit guarantees immediate salvation and future inheritance

Ephesians 1:13

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The God Shelf

Here or here. .

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Aerosal Arsenal

A friend wrote about some wasps that were eavesdropping from their wandos (wasp condos) outside her back door.  Trying to get out without letting them in became tricky and scary.  The problem needed to be dealt with immediately.

She planned her strategy and waited until dark:  gloves, mask, carefully-placed ladder, and bug spray (all she had on hand, but it purported to kill wasps).  Time to strike the enemy--not a wasp in sight!  Donning her disguise (OK, protective gear), she crept up the ladder, aimed the aerosol at one entry, sprayed, and scurried down.  A couple of wasps struggled out, staggered, and were swept away by the breeze.  Emboldened, she again ascended and made quick work of the second wando.  Enemy defeated!

Her account reminded me of Satan's camp set up just outside.  It reminded me, too, of the Lord's defensive strategy--ready and waiting to be used (Eph. 6)--as well as my offensive weapon, His Word, from which I should be daily adding to my heart's arsenal.  It reminded me of my need for immediate action and conscious planning.  Satan can be defeated--day or night!

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"Mush the Bag" Days

Someone gave me a bag of "starter" and a list of instructions for making a special bread.   I had tried this unsuccessfully in the past, but I still visualized myself taking the finished product from the oven, and proudly handing out my own starter bags.  Though off to a sincere start, I managed to misplace the instructions, and found them  a couple of days after I was supposed to add the next ingredients.  So much for that bread.

The thought here, though, is in those specific daily instructions, the most common one being "mush the bag".  A simple, unremarkable, insignificant task, yet skip a day of "mush the bag" and your bread project is toast.

Do you have days full of simple, unremarkable, seemingly insignificant tasks?  Does your prayer tend to "Lord, I'm busy, but this is not really what I had in mind.  Could I do something a little more...noticeable, or something that would really point people to You?"   Maybe your prayer is "Lord, I'm tired of this waiting.  I want to get on with my life."   Can you still be doing the Lord's will while your tasks go unnoticed by others?  Are those days you spend mentally drumming your fingers just as needful?  Of course.  The Lord has carefully numbered each day for you. So read His directions daily, and discover how you can best glorify Him as you "mush the bag".

Psalm 86:12   "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart:  and I will glorify Thy name forever." 

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Net #1- 153!

If the Lord has already numbered the hairs on my head, the days of my life, and the fish in my net, then He's probably already taken care of the bigger stuff that I'm worried about. 

John 21:11

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