Thought So!

The Time Is Right

"And certain plants shall not grow in Marilyn's garden until she hath the brains and the green thumbs to care for them."

Unfortunately, no verse like this exists in the Bible.  But Gen. 2:5 does say, "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew:  for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon
the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground."

My garden will never look like Eden.  Stuff is going to grow out there whether I cultivate it or not-- weeds, plants from the previous tenant,
blackberry bushes.  At least there is a person (me) who can go out and shove dirt around.  But in God's garden, Adam and Eve weren't yet on the
scene.  Isn't that just like God to plan that certain plants  needing cultivating wouldn't grow until there was a gardener?

If God thought enough of that detail to put it in His Word, can He tend to things in our lives as well?  Could He even overrule... The Daytimer?

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Act Your Age?

What if you don’t even know it?  How old was Eve when she was created?  Same age as Adam, or did he marry an older woman?

Can you imagine still having kids at age… say, 500?  Did she complain about stretch marks and about having to use “Oil of Ol’ Ancient” at the same time?

Ladies, enjoy the age you are right now.  Read Phil.  4:11, 12, and get out there and serve the Lord.  There’s plenty you can do that doesn’t involve rocking in a chair.  Just don’t forget your face cream.

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Slaving Away

What’s your favorite book of the Bible?  I know, I know….everyone always says Leviticus.   I must confess that I usually read it only for devotions (Reading Through the Bible) or if a pastor is preaching from it (please don’t tell anyone).  But I picked up a thought the last time I was there.  Leviticus  22:10 & 11 talk about the priest’s role in sacrificing, and the fact that no one outside of the priest’s family could eat the sacred offering.  Here’s the good part:  “But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.”  That’s us!  If we are saved, then Christ is our High Priest, and we are born into God’s family as we are bought out of the slave market of sin.

Though not a new thought, it is a great reminder of God’s love and care of us (and one that certainly captured my attention).

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Litmus Paper, Anyone?

For me, testing stuff with litmus paper was always a highlight of my science experience—it was easy, gave fast results, and it was easy (did I just mention that?)—just wait for the paper to turn red or blue.

I don’t usually daydream about litmus paper, but a quote I recently read caused me to think:  “Anger is an acid which can do more harm to the vessel in which it stands, than to anything on which it is poured.”   Matthew 15:18  “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” That anger does hurt us, but it does harm others, too.

We probably wouldn’t need to run around with litmus paper hanging out of our mouths to warn people (wouldn’t it be nice if it were that easy?), but it might not hurt to trade in those angry words for some less acidic ones.  And you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to do that.

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Keep Looking…Down

I’m not thrilled with spiders.  My husband and son get the big ones for me (the ones that crunch when you squish them with a tissue). 

I was standing on a large field the other day, and someone told me to look out across the grass toward the east.  There were thousands of tiny webs everywhere (and not a spider in sight!), dewy and untrampled in the early sun.  Facing any other direction or neglecting to look down, I would have missed that gossamer moment.

O.K., so I can appreciate a spider’s workmanship (though I’m still not a big fan).  What about the many other small things that we miss in our daily hurriedness?  Keep your eye out (and watch your back—there may be something just ready to…pounce)!

Zechariah 4:10 “For who hath despised the day of small things?”

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For His Eye is on the…Eagle?

I know eagles, robins, blue jays, cardinals, crows, and sparrows, and could pick them out of a crowd.  After that, I’m sort of fuzzy.  I was watching some sparrows out my kitchen window the other day (in the middle of doing something else, of course—it definitely was not in my day-timer).  There were scads of them on the little hill, and they would peck for worms, then stop and look up, all in this jerky kind of motion (I wanted to offer them a cup of chamomile tea and tell them to chill out a bit—they looked so stressed).

How many of us, upon seeing a sparrow flying overhead, yell to someone near us and say, “Look!  There’s a sparrow flying overhead!”  No, it’s the eagles that get most of the oohs and ahs.  Even though they are both mentioned in the Bible, I like Matthew 10:29, 31: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?  And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father… Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” And, I guess more of us are sparrows than eagles.

Aren’t you glad that the Lord doesn’t just happen to see us out the window, but that He is always watching us?

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Spring Cleaning?

This is always a sad time for me.  It is hard to say goodbye to my little green friends, though I should be used to it by now.  They are so cute and fuzzy in their little containers, and thrive in spite of the cold climate.  But, alas—I must let them go to make room for others.  And so I clean out my fridge…..

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Run, Quick!

I’m not very athletic, and was never very good at sports.  It’s even hard for me to jump to a conclusion without pulling my leg.  My nose runs faster than I do, but I do walk a half- hour every day.   I think that the Lord put 1 Timothy 4:8 in the Bible just for me--  “For bodily exercise profiteth little.”  It doesn’t, however, say “bodily exercise profiteth nothing”— sorry. 

If, as Christians, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (meaning, they are!),   then there are a few temples out there in need of some major reno work.  Maybe you can’t spend hours in the gym.  Maybe all you can do is walk your fingers through the Yellow Pages or run up a food bill.   Whatever you can do to get your heart rate right, get off of your spud sofa and hop to it.  Meet you at the starting line!

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Lysosomes on the Loose?

“…And the evil lysosome became a “suicide sac” as it broke open and began eating away at the tadpole’s tail cells.  The tadpole screamed, “My tail—what’s happening to my tail?  I think I’m turning into a…a frog!”

Sorry—just got a little carried away with my daughter’s science lesson.  Actually, lysosomes aren’t bad, but are custom-designed by God to absorb the tail as the tadpole undergoes a make-over.  God again shows the principle of order and control as He gives the cell just enough destroying power to help the entire organism.  Hence, tadpole to frog in one jump.

Do you ever feel like parts of your life are being destroyed and that you have no control over it? The tadpole had no choice, but, as Christians, we do.  We can choose to allow the Lord to bring order and control in our lives.  He may have to get rid of some stuff—maybe more than a tail.  But, it is so that good can be done in our lives and in the lives of others.  So, keep your eyes on Christ.  Can you imagine being like Him?  That’s what will happen as He gets rid of all the stuff that’s holding us back.  And that’s a whole lot better than becoming a frog.

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I Don’t Do “Fetch”

My daughter (the science one, she wanted me to add) came indoors and disgustedly announced that Pete, our black cocker, wouldn’t fetch the ball.   “I throw the ball and yell ‘fetch,’ but he just stands there with this bored look on his face.  He wants us to give him love, but he doesn’t want to do anything for it.”

Pete loves to be fed, held, fed, petted, fed, and pampered.  He doesn’t like to be told to get off the sofa, go for a walk, go upstairs, go downstairs, or go into my lady’s chamber.  Now, if he thinks of it first, then it’s OK.  But if we happen to mention it, it’s “Hm-hm-hm, I can’t hear you!”

Unfortunately, a scratch under our chin or a pat on the head from the Lord doesn’t cut it for us.  He does take wonderful care of us as His children, but there is the small matter of, ahem—obedience (don’t be upset with me, it’s right there in John 15, for starters) which He requires of us.  Not like, “Oh… all right, if you insist, but I want you to know I’m not going to enjoy it,” but as in delighting greatly (Psalm 112:1).

Here’s a challenge:  look up all the verses on the Lord's commands to us, and on our attitudes and actions towards His commands.   Need your Bible?  Don’t sit there looking at me—go fetch!

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