Craigslist and me. Matt. 5:14-16

Lately, I have been relying on Craigslist for so many things: selling, buying, giving away free stuff; it's just the best tool that has come around in a long time! I couldn't help but notice under the discussion groups one night that there is an ATHEIST discussion group on Craigslist. Now, I do not recommend visiting this site, the profanity and ugliness of the entries is not "whatsoever things are pure", HOWEVER, compelled to reach out to a few of the writers, I entered the "room" to bring light. I was amazed at the responses. They called me names, terrible names at first and commanded that I leave their hallowed grounds, but their ridicule and profanity did not scare me off, nor offend me.

Choosing to teach school to city kids for years has taught me to look past the profanity, crazy hair and clothes and see into the eyes and the hearts of very hurting and lonely souls. These MASKS they wear are used for protection; to hide behind. It reminds me of some of God's creatures I see at the zoo. They have these crazy spines and colors given to them to scare off predators. It's kind of funny when you think that humans do the same things to ward or scare others off.

Old time preachers used to (and some still do) enter into bars to preach to those nursing their hurting and broken lives with alcohol. Some preachers were kicked and punched and thrown out of these establishments. I'm sure all received verbal abuse, but they were reaching for lost souls. This "virtual bar room" was pretty rough, but worth reading the disgusting entries in search of a soul willing to listen.
There WAS someone willing to listen! And discovering that his mother attends some type of Christian church regularly, did not surprise me. She was, most likely, praying for him that very moment. Because his experience with "church" left a bad taste in his mouth, he deduced that there must not be God. He had encountered religion, but not God.
God forbid that we offer people religion and not introduce them to the Almighty, powerful, wonderful, incredible, mysterious, loving, personal, all-knowing Savior. Remember, there is just one tiny little letter in between the words atheist and theist. Look past those masks into hearts and BE LIGHT in this dark world and help me pray for this soon to be "theist". Matt. 5:14-16: "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Surgery without a knife? Yes! Hebrews 4:12

Yes, I just did surgery on someone and I did not use a knife. The surgery involved the repair of a sister in the Lord that had incurred a terrible injury. The injury happened when one strong spirited Christian ran into her (also strong spirited Christian). It was an ugly accident and it almost cost the life of my sister-friend. Unbelievable things happen when we ask God for help, for grace and for truth to be manifest. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." So, see, the Word is the scalpel, or knife, and it is quick, so quick that it hardly even brings much pain as it works. It repairs injuries in a hurry. Next time you are trying to repair an injury between two parties or between yourself and another, use the Word and use it in love. Jesus is the Word, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." and John 1:14 continues to show us more...."And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." Don't run from conflicts, get the Word-scalpel and the surgery will be a success. To God be the Glory!

In His Footsteps Ps. 37:23

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way."
Last winter, my husband Jeff took me for a snowmobile ride on a lake. Riding and driving on the frozen lake to me is preferable since it is generally flat and more dependable than riding alongside the roads where an unexpected dip can happen at any time. Some people LOVE to get scared and love to be surprised but after being raised with four older brothers who liked to hear me scream, sudden scary things are not my cup of tea. Well, along we went until the sled came to a choking stop. The engine died, and we were stranded. It was a pretty funny experience actually and laughing about our predicament made it more bearable. But, we had to walk back in the deep snow to the cabin on the other side of the lake; which was rather challenging. Jeff trudged along ahead of me and I tried my best to walk right in his footsteps. It was so much less effort to step where he had already stepped. When trying to make my own path, I quickly grew tired and fell far behind. It didn't take long for me to see what the Lord wanted to show me. The Bible is filled with passages that mention the term "path". In Bible days people walked wherever they had to go! We can easily misunderstand the meaning in our society where we drive on paved roads with directional signs everywhere. Ps. 1:1 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.." Jesus knew that if we would simply follow in HIS footsteps, and listen to his directions, we would not be led astray and we would get where He wanted us to go. Lead on Lord Jesus! I will follow.

A "PLACE" TO WORSHIP : FREEDOM OF WORSHIP EXODUS 8

Pharaoh could not understand why the Hebrews insisted on worshiping "three days" (Exodus 8:27) away from the Egyptians. The Hebrews had been slaves for many generations and one of their dreams was to be able to worship and sacrifice to God without reserve. True worship is very personal, and often loathed by those that are not Christians. Our God desires to be personally involved in our lives and we all communicate to the Lord directly. At times we express tremendous joy and exuberance, other times we weep in God's presence. When in the presence of God we are free to react without being mocked and ridiculed if we have freedom of worship. Often in worship time, we express tremendous emotions that we normally withhold in public. Worshiping God is between ourselves and God alone. However, when we observe the worship of other believers we are greatly encouraged and often find ourselves joining in.
I recall as a relatively shy young girl the very night I broke through my self-consciousness and began to allow myself to worship freely. I had fought it for a long time, but I realized that I was only hurting myself and aligning myself with those that were not willing to let go and let God "have his way" as the old preachers used to say. I wanted the Lord to know I loved him more than I loved myself. The freedom it brought was wonderful; I was never the same after that service.
Back to the Hebrew slaves dream-when Pharaoh FINALLY let them go, they were so anxious to get away from slavery. And they longed to "have church" without reserve. We Americans generally are able to worship freely, but many places in our world people are not permitted to freely worship. I remember hearing of a foreign country where the persecuted underground church had to meet in a gymnasium where a raucous game was being played on one side of the gym, so that the players could drown out the worshipers on the other side of the gym. Just to be able to praise God without being heard and subsequently arrested!
Next time we are in our place of worship let us praise God even more freely, for the blessed freedom to express our praise to our wonderful Lord.

EVER ASK GOD, "WHY?" EXODUS 5

Ever asked God, "why?", I sure have. When we confront our enemy, things may get way worse before we see any victory at all. The devil has enslaved many of our loved ones, we want them freed. So we confront the forces of evil in Jesus' name. We pray, we fast, we cry out to God for his divine intervention. We claim victory though we see none on the horizon. Sound familiar? We are believers! That's what we do. But instead of freedom for our loved ones, we hear reports of more problems and attacks in their lives. Moses and Aaron approached the king of Egypt, "Let my people go". They wanted freedom to worship their God. Instead, they were beaten and required to make bricks and gather their own straw to make them! Things grew more and more grievous.

Moses felt so responsible for the further mistreatment of his people, we find him asking God, "Why?". He doubted; he feared for his people. It's actually comforting to relate with Bible characters like this, we always hear of these incredible heroes of faith, but when we see how human they were and how God used them in spite of their weaknesses, it gives us much hope.

But God answered Moses' cries. And when we ask God for guidance and courage, He will answer us! Moses simply had to be reminded of what God had done in the past! If we just stop and speak aloud the great victories and miracles we have seen in the past, our feeble hearts will be strengthened very quickly. I love anointed testimony services! They're the real thing; the body of Christ at work giving strength to each member. Even little children are so blessed when they hear the saints giving God praise for everyday things.

We know that eventually the children of Israel were freed, but Moses did not know what was to happen. All he had was hope and a word from the Lord. But that is all we really need! We need a renewal of hope and fresh Word. Preaching is so valuable, I think I'd shrivel up and die without preaching.

We cannot give up! We must continue to hold onto our promises. God is the one who will bring the victory. Be courageous and bold. We must not be intimidated by the enemy. Our victory may be right around the corner.

BETTER VACATIONS AND RETREATS

While on our recent trip, a dear friend of our family told me that her Mom never seemed to be at peace while visiting her. This was troubling to my friend since she rarely got to see her Mom. She was always nervous about how things were back home. She was tense and ill at ease while on vacation. I related to this woman. I am guilty of this behavior. I remember while vacationing some years ago, calling home for my phone messages. I listened to a message from one of the new Christians in our church. She was very distraught over something. It ruined the rest of my much needed vacation. I prayed and fretted over her condition and it really robbed my joy and peace. I still remember how heavy-hearted I felt for the rest of our trip.

Getting away occasionally from the daily "grind" is vital. Jesus, our great example got away regularly. Even though he was Emmanuel (God with us) he could only take so much. Matthew 14:23 "After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone." I am so glad it is OK to get away. Christians are often taught that it is up to us to keep people from losing out with God. I have learned that we need to put people in God's hands and TRUST. We will always care for others because we are Christ-like, it just comes naturally with followers of Jesus. But to occasionally lay it all down is the right thing to do.

There is a term called co-dependency which as a rookie I picture as two people trying to use one life vest to float. One cannot take off the life vest for fear of the other person drowning. So you are stuck wearing the life vest for your own survival and for the other's survival as well. It gets pretty sickening when the shore seems to never appear. We forget that we can swim on our own but we are so conditioned into helping others that we float along miserably tethered by this burden. God wants us to trust him. On this last trip I seriously tried to not worry and it worked! It was a much better vacation.