Jewels and Gems Shining for Jesus

Isaiah 45:2:I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.
3: I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

In order for precious jewels to become valuable and useful they must first be cut out, refined, and polished to become useful. Think of diamonds, pearls, rubies and other gemstones. I think of the old testament and the breastpeice that the priests wore. It was covered in the front with four rows of three gems. They were carefully crafted into shape by gifted craftsmen. Each type of stone represented one of the twelve tribes. It is kind of an illustration to us of a church body at it's best. We are made of many people, have many ideas, but how beautiful could it be if we would all learn somehow to join together in harmony together in the same place. How we could shine for Jesus and be that lighthouse on the hill that he has called us to be. I believe in my local church we are making progress in this area.

As I have spent most of my life in the church I have watched the church transform from the overly legalistic training where you went to church every Sunday morning and every Sunday night and every Wednesday night for prayer meeting and you strictly followed lots of rules and regulations. It has now transformed to almost the opposite. Now almost anything is acceptable and we as the members of the church body do our own thing and we are all supposed to be opened-minded and acceptable to any behavior. My dilemma comes when I see my brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering consequences needlessly, because choices they make that are not the best biblical decisions, but some of those same choices I also made and through some discipling that I received from loving mentors who prayed with me and helped me through these difficult times I grew in my faith. I am not sure how I can help my church family members to grow in those areas that I have grown in, because when you reach out to support them, you may be seen as being too legalistic. But I think of those stones on the breastplate and the work that went into preparing them for the garments. The cutting away of the dull unnecessary parts that will not shine. The polishing and the cleaning that goes in to it. The Word of God can cleanse us and also it will refine and renew us.

I think also of Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. This is talking about iron, but it reminds me of when you sharpen metal, the dullness leaves and the shininess of the metal naturally exposes itself. I am left with the question of how can I be a part of making us shine best for Jesus in the church body? How can I proceed to be a part of the desire that Christ has laid on my heart to prepare His church to be the bride that He is coming back to claim as His that we can be that unstained beautiful unwrinkled bride when He returns. I must be careful how I do it. I do not want to offend people, or act like I am holier than others. I have a burden to bring discipleship into the church where we can encourage each other and walk our walk of faith together. Where it is ok to share our weaknesses and grow in our faith.

The Apostle Paul had this same desire and stated it in his words:

Colossi ans2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,
2: that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is Christ Himself,
3:in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I do know that Christ does have the answer for His church today, and in Him only can we find those hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The things that I desperately need to transform my life to fulfill the purpose he has for me. I also think about that picture in the Bible of are lives being like running in a race. We should run as to win the prize. Only one will win first place. I am now 48 years old. If I should live to be 70 the race is more than 2/3rd's finished. If I get back in the race as to even finish it, where does Christ my coach want me to be and what does He want me to do so I can finish the race with excellence by continuing to serve Him where my leader wants me to be.

I will soon be back in the race again. I want to be one of those who crosses the finish line and into the arms of Jesus and he gives me a huge hug and says "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Encouragement, Forgiveness, and Patience Causes God's Kingdom to be Blessed

Colossi ans 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13: bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you.
14: Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16: Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thanksgiving in your hearts to God.
17: whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

I have noticed over the past summer and spring as I reviewed several of my previous blogs, that several of them have been about dealing with struggles and problems I have been going through. When I first started writing on this blog, I was focused on encouraging others and thanking God for the many blessings he has given to our church and how the church was growing and people were loving each other. As I shifted and began turning my eyes and ears towards my struggles, I noticed God slowed down on the blessings and the good things that were happening here. Everything is still OK, it just slowed down. There are many scriptures in the Bible that talk about the importance of giving thanks to God. I have also stopped encouraging others and thanking others. I did not realize this until I spent several hours in prayer last evening and wondered why I am not as joyful as I had been in the beginning when everything was going good. I even got to the point where I began complaining about things not going as smoothly as I would like them to. God teaches us in His word that we need to be thankful in all things He is doing in our lives. Somewhere in the past few months, I gradually turned my eyes away from Jesus and began thinking of negative thoughts about how my life was going. I need to hold those thoughts and make them obedient to the thoughts of Christ.

I am also reminded of the story of the Israelites when they were wandering around in the wilderness, they were ungrateful and wining constantly and they ended up spending their whole lives as strangers dying in the wilderness, because they were not thankful and became disobedient to the direction of God. I am also reminded of the scripture in Romans about how sin grew worse and worse in the people until they didn't even care they were sinning and it all started with just one simple step of disobedience. They did not give thanks to God. It is just like the experience I have had with tithing. It doesn't make sense if you think with a worldly thought that giving your tithe will help you financially if you give 10% of your earnings to God, that you will be taken care of financially, but once you begin to trust Him in that area of your life and become a steward to what He has provided for you, it is amazing in the long run how things miraculously change and you are able to begin seeing your finances improve. It works that way also with praise and thanksgiving offerings that we give to God verses complaining and showing unforgiveness to others. If we would commit and submit to accomplishing things God's way, He will be faithful to fulfill what He has promised.

With this in mind, I will start by turning my eyes back to Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith. I will keep in mind that when I am encouraging others and verbally telling others the things Christ is doing in our church and the lives of others, I will be giving the glory to Him. When I am complaining and doubting and being negative, I am giving the glory to the evil one. He would like nothing better than to destroy the work of Christ and tear down the temple that God has built, with His son Jesus Christ being the cornerstone.

I pray to Jesus that he would renew my heart by making me once again, become more compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and give me lots of patience to others that I may not be in agreement with. Help me to be forgiving to those who I may not agree with. Help me to learn how to love with the love of God as I share with others. I cannot show this love on my own strength. This kind of love for others is produced by the Holy Spirit. I think I have some of this kind of love in me now, but I would like to have the wisdom and knowledge I need to show it more to others. And help me to have a thankful heart for what He is doing. Help me to realize that whatever I do, it is for the cause of Christ. Help me to return to the joy of my first love. I am thankful to you Christ for answering my prayer last night, and I repent of the sin of not being thankful to you, but returning to my free will of doubting and complaining. I look to you for the strength I need to follow your ways and think your thoughts. Help me to do your will.

Psalm 143: A Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance

On Sunday morning, I had the wonderful privilege of teaching the adult senior class. The teaching was on Psalm 143. If you would like to read it that would be good. It was an easy lesson for me to teach, because I have gone through some difficult times in the past few years so I was able to share some testimonies how God worked in my life. Although David was writing about physical people as being his enemies and they were trying to seek to destroy his life, I wasn't having many difficulties that way, but my enemies were other things going on in my life. And praise God that as I turned to him and began trusting Him in the midst of the situation, He was able to deliver me. I have changed my attitude to how I handle difficulties in my life if and when they come now. I realize He is in control, and I need His guidance and leadership.



Here are some highlights that I gleaned out of this Psalm.



Verse 1: David wants to make sure his prayer is heard so he asks God twice to hear his prayer then he asks God to give ear to his supplication. He realizes his unworthiness to go before the Almighty so he asks twice. He wants God to answer him in His righteousness. He knows that you can't gain righteousness by following the law and you can't earn it by your good deeds which to God are filthy rags. 1John has a verse that says we can become righteous when we confess our sins and we become right through the blood of Jesus Christ.



verse 2: He knows that no man is righteous not even one and asks God not to judge him, even though he knows that it is what man deserves



Verses 3-4: These verses talk about the spiritual suffering David was feeling within his soul. An example of this suffering can also be found in the example of Christ Jesus himself as he was with some of His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked God to allow the cup of suffering to pass from Him. But it was for the purpose God had for Him that He should die. That is a lesson we can learn, even if we pray to be relieved of our suffering, sometimes God does not always answer that request. I gave an example of this which was Mary Belle who had to undergo dialysis treatments three times a week, but many of the other people who were at the center were greatly blessed by her ministry of talking, praying, sharing the word and caring for others in the midst of her trial. She turned her suffering into an opportunity to serve her Lord.

verve 5: I remember, I meditate, and I consider your works. I have learned when I go through difficulties now, how God has delivered me in the past and how he has worked in other believers lives. I meditate on His Word and look for guidance and direction and trust in His promises. I consider that He is able to deliver me, but also He is sovereign and I have to trust His will for me. Also when I do these three things, it causes me to shift my attention off of me and have closer fellowship with Him, after all if there is an answer He knows what it is.

Verse 6: I stretch out my hand to you I long for you as a parched land. I don't only want you to deliver me today, but I want to hunger and thirst for your righteousness. I want you always to lead and guide me.

Verse 7: Going into the pit represents darkness.

Verse 8: In the morning represents light is coming and in the light comes hope.

Verse 8-10: Asks for guidance in three ways. First, Teach me in the way I should walk. Everyone has a specific plan and purpose for their life. We are God's workmanship , and He is training us for when that purpose is revealed we will be able to walk in it. Second, Teach me to do your will He has sent us the guidance of His holy spirit to teach us to grow spiritually.
Third lead me. We can be led by prayer through the word, by the Holy Spirit and by letting others mentor us, and we mentoring others. When we pray for guidance, we should not stop at just asking me the way I should go, but follow up with praying teach me to do your will, because our will is usually different than His.

Verses 11-12: Here he finishes his prayer with three requests. Revive me, or strengthen me, renew my health. He wants god to deliver Him out of trouble. He also asks God to deliver him out of the power of his enemies. He says for God's sake , because he will give the glory to God for granting these three petitions. God will be fulfilling some of His promises if he will deliver him this way, therefore he will be freer to be God's servant. But we must also remember that God doesn't always answer in the way we want Him to. Remember also that in our weakness, if we will continue to serve Him, He will be made strong.

Having a Good Visit with my Sister

I have been really busy the last couple of weeks with my sister Wanda visiting. Not much time for writing. I would like to thank the church family for inviting us to your homes for visits and taking us out to eat, and the gifts some gave to Wanda. She was greatly thankful for all the financial gifts of support she had given to her during her visit. We have had a great time together this year. We usually spend a lot of time going hiking, but this year was very cold and wet. She did get several day walks in walking around town while I was at work. She was very grateful for the compliments people gave to her as she had three times she got to talk and share with many in the church body from the young people at Team Kid's club, and Sunday morning and also with the ladies Missionary team Monday night. I am not used to all this activity, so I am getting a little worn out, but enjoying myself just the same. I thank all those who took photos of the past few weeks and posted them on facebook, especially the funny photo of the small dog in a hot dog bun that was announcing the lunch following Sunday mornings service.

Tomorrow we will be meeting with Joanne, Abby, Jonah and Ben and we are heading up to Erie to see the Tom Ridge environmental Center. I invited them on Monday to join us. That night we were watching the news and they were showing a dinosaur display that will be showing during the month of October at the center. They tried to bring them to another museum, but a couple of them were so tall they wouldn't fit where they were originally going to display them. We will also be viewing a documentary film on Mysteries of the Great Lakes on the Big Green Screen which is over 40 feet tall. We may then go check out the Children's museum if we have enough time, or if the weather permits we may go to the Penninsula for a short hike. Joanne was excited to be asked to go with us, because last year the Home School Coop went there on a weekend, but they were not able to get there because of her work schedule. Then Thursday morning we will load Wanda's belongings in her car, and we are going to crash in on the senior luncheon at church and she will leave for her trip to Eastern Pennsylvania to go to a women's retreat with another church that supports her. I can't believe we are almost to the end of her visit already and we didn't get to do half of what we talked about. Thanks again to the church body for pouring out of love towards my sister.

I am looking forward to getting back to a familiar schedule again, so I can write on my blog again more regularly. I will write again next week.

God Still Provides even When There is Lack of Provisions

1 Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab,"As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by the word."
2: The word of the Lord came to him, saying,
3: "Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of Jordan.
4:it shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there."
5: So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of Jordan.
6: The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.
7: It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
Later: He was sent to the home of a widow in Zarephath, and she provided him with water, and made bread for him out of the last of her oil and flour. He promised her if she would give all she had to him to eat, the Lord would continue to provide enough oil and flour to make bread until the drought was over. Every time she would use it up, when she went back and was supplied with more.

This is the story for team kid's this Thursday, and my sister Wanda will be teaching the lesson. I am so thankful that she comes home each year at this time. After the Bible lesson she will be sharing something about her life as a missionary. I am not yet sure what she will share, but I am looking forward to it.

As I was reading the lesson, it reminded me once again that in the Bible there are many places and many experiences where God provided bread, meat and water to those who put their faith and trust in Him, when there was absolutely no other way that the people could be provided for other than through God's miracles, signs and wonders. We have the Israelites getting water out of a rock and manna from heaven and the quails that were sent after they left Egypt. We have this story about Elijah and how the Lord sent him to this brook in the middle of nowhere where he could get water and ravens sending meat and bread. When that provision was gone, the Lord spoke again and instructed him to go to Zarephath, where he used up this widow's only provisions and yet the love of God and the widow's faith caused her to continue receiving a supply of food until the drought was over. We also have the miracle of the fish and bread that were fed to the large crowd gathered at the beach in the New Testament gospels and after all the people ate the crumbs that were collected were more than what was in the basket before they began feeding all those people. There are also many passages about droughts and people going through times of lacking what they needed, and several passages about rain and water refreshing people and causing things to grow properly.

I am also reminded that Christ gives us living waters and also He is the bread of life. I am beginning to trust more in the Word of God as time goes by, because it is the source of my strength, wisdom and it is living and breathing and moving in us to bring us closer to the divine purpose God has for our lives. I can do nothing without Christ. So I praise Him for His word that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same God who worked powerfully in these examples of people in the Bible in miraculous ways is still alive today, and I need to put my trust in Him, because He is the one who created all things and He made them out of nothing. He simply spoke the words of what He wanted to make, and they instantly came into being. His Word is able to accomplish much no wonder it is referred to as bread, meat, and water.

We need those things to survive and He has left it for us, so I need to appreciate His word, and let the Holy Spirit guide and teach me what Christ wants me to learn.

Ask, Seek and Knock and You Will Begin to See Answers.

Matthew 7:7: Ask, and it will be given to you;seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8:For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

I shared a couple of months ago my desire to build a community of believers who have stronger relationships with each other. Before camp meeting started this year , I began praying about this need Christ had placed on my heart. I began thinking about the small group Bible study that several of us at the church were involved in. We had around 15-20 people coming. It was absolutely life changing for those who came as we were able to see our faith in action and many prayers were answered and several of us put our faith into action. Many were able to see the abundant life Jesus has for us and we saw fruit being produced as we encouraged each other to walk daily with Jesus. That is what I was asking Jesus for, how to get that started again. After one of the evening services, I went to the book store at camp with some other friends. I placed my hand on a table while they looked around at other things. As I turned my head around to look at the table their was a book about starting small groups and advice on how to get started. So I asked in prayer and received the first step the book. The next step was to seek for assistance and share my vision with someone else. So I talked to Pastor Cliff about it. He told me that he was thinking about small groups, and was praying about it himself, so we have been meeting a few times recently to share ideas concerning it. In the meantime other believers in the church have been coming to me sharing ideas on how they would like to reach out to groups in the church who they feel need reached out to. Some have shared ministry ideas but our not sure how to fulfill the needs, so I am beginning to write down all these thoughts and ideas that they are telling me. It is kind of neat, because through much prayer and study and listening and support from others ,it is becoming clearer each day, that something is developing. In my past, almost all I got involved in, I tried to do it on my own, without much success, then I would become angry and walk away from it. Christ is showing me now that if I am going to allow Him to be the head of His church, I must rely on many members of His body for this plan to be successful. So I am seeking and finding answers to questions on how to develop a small group ministry and who needs the benefit of belonging in a group where relationship can happen.Pastor shared with me today that he talked to someone from the Greenville Alliance Church who he visited with last week who worked with small groups and he may be able to help us get started with advice on training and assistance in other areas. So that is the third step Knock, and it will be opened unto you.

I am reminded of the example of Joshua and Caleb who were the only two original adults who were permitted to enter the promised land. That was because they concentrated on the large fruit in the land and trusted God that He would take away all the obstacles that separated them from what was promised and what was good. I trust also that this will come about and we will see the promise of fruit being produced in due season if we don't give up. Building stronger relationships with each other will strengthen the bond of peace that Jesus wants for us. I will keep trusting Him to lead and guide those He wants to be involved in leading these groups and he will send those sheep He wants to lead to greener pastures and to quieter waters where they will find rest and they will also find life and that abundantly.

Storing Supplies for the Winter

Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise,
7: which having no chief, officer or ruler,

8:prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest.



I am still enjoying reading on facebook the accounts of people finding joy in canning and freezing their produce and baked goods. Many are also making jams and jellies. I probably will not do it this year. I was amazed though, how many people my age or younger are getting involved in those activities. I kind of miss doing those things. Maybe next year, I will try some canning.

My mother and I used to spend all summer canning and freezing fruits and vegetables. She was one who would not waste anything. People would give her beets and she would can the beets, but she cut off the greens and we would freeze and eat them. They tasted like spinach. We would go for walks around town, and if she saw someone with an apple tree she would stop and ask if we could have the ones that were on the ground to make applesauce. She would share these gifts of food with her older friends during the winter. She would let them come over and pick out what they needed. She passed away in early December of 1994. That year we had the whole backroom filled to capacity with the work we had been doing all summer. We also bought a bigger freezer. We had gone to a place that sold us tons of meat Pork, beef, chickens and other meats at a special price. Some people gave us some venison to freeze. Mom got really sick in the beginning of November that winter, and she knew that she wasn't going to live much longer. She told me not to give away the food we had prepared but that I would need it to last through much of the next summer for myself. She used good wisdom just like the ants in Proverbs. The only jobs I had at the time were odd jobs that I was doing for the elderly. The food lasted until early September of the following year when I got a full-time job working at the Riverside hotel. The night before mom died she told me that she was going home for Christmas. When I got into the car to go home from visiting her, I thought about the last words she spoke to me,"I am going home!" She didn't say she was coming back to her earthly home, but she meant she was going to her heavenly home to spend eternity in heaven with Jesus." During the night her health continued to worsen. Most of my brothers and sisters were with her that day, but I was not able to be with her, later that evening she did enter that heavenly home that she was promised to receive on that day several years before when she accepted the free gift of salvation.
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