Tomorrow?

The Lord has been putting people around me to say profound things that have really impacted me. Today at the Senior center I worked with two 60 year old volunteers. Working with these ladies is neat to see that they are able to still serve in the capacity that they can, while there are some near their age that come into the senior center that would not be able to do what they do. We are spending a lot of time together and today I found that I was saying many things about the future to them. Seeing seniors in pain makes me think about prevention, not of getting old, becuase that is impossible, but preventing aches, pains, and illnesses that may come with old age. In addition, Hearing them talk about their children and grandchildren makes me think about being a Mom one day. I was so overwhelmed with the fuutre and what is ahead they finally said, "Heather, stop rushing through life. Enjoy where you are! Don't worry about it!" I was reminded that today has enough worries of its own. The lessons on time didn't stop there, a friend talked about the trialsome times that are tough and seem like forever. My friend compared that to the times under the sun rays of summer, the joyous times God blesses us with that we want to last forever, but seem to be quick like the blink of an eye. Why can't it be the opposite? Good times seem long and the trialsome short. The profound part comes when I realized that it is the trialsome times that I should take my time with, because those are the times that I grow the most and blossom for God's glory. Good to also keep in mind that there is also glory in the blessing of good times, which usually do not like to be rushed, but there is even more of a reason not to rush when times are tough. Soak it in, soak it in, soak it in, and glean from it the most that you can!

God Uses the Weak

Thought for Today:

"Christ wins our salvation through losing, achieves power through weakness and service, and comes to wealth through giving all away. Those who receive his salvation are not the strong and accomplished but those who admit they are weak and lost. We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way."
- The Gospel Coalition

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/resources/video/What-does-it-mean-for-God-to-use-the-weak-things-of-the-world

Lets let others see the treasure of the Gospel through our weaknesses, because He is Strong!

2 Corinthians 12:10-- "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 13:9-- "For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for."

Yakety Yak Don't Talk Back

I was listening to a Frances Chan sermon this morning and was challenged to respond in a way that displays Christ when people complain. Today was a hard day, after listening to that sermon I was challenged instantly to apply what I learned from that sermon. Today I was surrounded by complainers, or by people at the Senior Center who were not happy with the way I was working; the way I was putting the lids on the pudding cups, or the way I was putting soup in the bowls. I could have lashed out, I could have made people feel uneducated, awkward, or got bitter at them, but because Christ lives in me and I am to be a light to this world, and my life is to glorify Him; He gave me grace to respond differently. Although this day was hard, I was encouraged to see God with me and working through me throughout the day as some of the complaining frowns transitioned to thankful smiles. Not all of the frowns transitioned to smiles, but those were just reminders to be so thankful and praise God that I am alive in Christ and have joy because of my hope in Him! Those frowns make me want to live for Him even more, because His glory is worth seeing. Only He can open their eyes, but I am willing to all that I can to be a light to them. Getting bitter not worth it. Responding to a person in a belittling way not loving. Both of those responses are self-centered and it is not about me anyways. 29 hours at the Senior Center down and 21 more to go, but with only 21 left… I think I can actually say I’m going to miss it!

Yearning

I am yearning and longing for heaven. Not so much because this world that we live in is fallen and there is sin, I am sure that plays somewhat of a part, but more because God is so good and I have a reverent affection for Him. His grace: freely given and unmerited. His mercy: compassion and forebearance. His Love: benevolent and affectionate concern for our well-being, as His children. Oh, how I long to be with my heavenly Father. His beautiful and perfect love incomprehensible! Looking forward to worshiping our Creator with all of you in heaven, wow... it is going to be so great! I feel like a little kid that can't sleep because they are going to Disneyland in the morning, smiling sky high! Only, it is morning and I am about to head out the door for church... a small glimpse of heaven that is still refreshing.

Rays of the Lamp

A couple of blogs ago I mentioned this:

"Life absent of Christ is like a Mirage; once a person thinks they have found something satisfying outside of Christ, it disappears and they have nothing. Lord, use us to help others that are blind; those who keep going after empty things, see the truth!"

Lord, help me when I too start looking to something outside of you to satisfy me. Unbelievers are blind to what is truely satisfying and you have removed that blindness from my sight, yet I still fail and look to other things. I may not have 20/20 vision, but I pray that your Word would be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. May I be a illumined by the rays of the lamp, your Word. May the truths in your scriptures help me keep my focus and satisfaction in you when the temptations and lies to find it elsewhere is around me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Pray this often and read The Parable of the Lighted Lamp (Luke 11:33-36)!

Other thoughts...
The light of a lamp helps you to read
The lamp, God's Word, helps you to live
Reading in the dark strains the eyes
Life without the lamp, God's Word, is like trying to walk with shoe strings that are tied together.
With shoe strings tied together it is hard to walk without stumbling, it is harder to stay focused on what is ahead.
How precious is God's Word... read it and be refreshed!

Not About Me Not About You

Mark 11:15-18
"And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money charges and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy Him, for they feared Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city."

It is not about me it is about God. It is not about making more of me and wanting attention for myself, it is about making more of God and pointing others to Him and what He did through Christ. As I am reading through the Bible I am seeing more and more the overall picture of how God is trying to redeem people for Himself. Humankind overall got distracted and is overcome by the lusts of our eyes and the pride of life amplifying selfish desire and ambition, while making God less and less. The passage in Mark indicates that the chief priests and the scribes got angry that their spotlight was dimming and instead now turned brightly on Jesus as people became astonished by His teaching. The part of me that smirks, shrugs shoulders, and looks at the ground to appear humble, absorbing the praise, instead of pointing them to Christ is no different than the chief priests and scribes. I am not out to destroy Jesus, but in a way that is what I do when I take that glory that does not belong to me. When I take that glory I become a distraction. It is my desire to give praise to Jesus and boldly give credit to him, but sometimes that glory is affirming, instead of pointing the praise to where it belongs, I absorb it like a sponge in a bucket of water. The chief priests, scribes, and I don’t deserve such praise or glory, only God does. God is redeeming His people and I don’t want to distract people from that truth! May there be less of me and more of you, Lord! What a good reminder!

To the Desert and Back Again

I spent the past few days visiting people in the Coachella Valley; the Desert grounds where I lived and grew up in for the majority of my life. I encountered so much strife while there:

-A high school teenager and college age student who have a dad with cancer that is spreading throughout his body.
-A family who sold almost all their possessions with a willingness to serve God in a foreign country, but after selling everything with only a month left in the states the Lord has led them to stay.
-A young wife with two children is at home by herself because her husband was taken to prison as a suspect of his mother’s death.
-A widow remarried to a godly man who happens to like riding Harleys and she is in the hospital recovering from a motorcycle accident with a shattered ankle.
-After being away from some of my friends there for a while, then to get together and drinking be one of the first things they go on and on about has helped me to realize the obsession people have with alcohol out there, and drugs too.
-Cohabiting couples
-Broken families
-Single mothers
-Custody battles

All of these situations are enough to make people leave and run away. However, there is a part of me that feels like that is where I should be, involved in the lives of these hurting people. But, moving back there would require me to leave a home that is rent free, studying Interior Design, the many like-minded single friends God has blessed me with, and the older wiser mentors God has provided me. There is always keeping in touch, but that is never the same as living with the people. Maybe I will have to leave those things and move back there. Or, maybe this is a further time of preparation where Iron will continue to sharpen Iron, where I will continue to learn about Interior Design to provide a job for me out there, where I can continue to glean wisdom from the wise, so that God will use that to make me more wise, and also be faithful to share truth with those whose life seems comfortable (Some of the hardest people to share truth with). God is in control of my heart and is conforming my heart’s desire with His. Only so much planning can be done, because I am learning that he can change circumstances and my heart’s desire in an instant to refine it to His, which may be different than what I initially thought.

In the mean time, by His strength only, I desire to continue making the most of my time and with the people that are in my life here in Santa Clarita; be faithful and an example to them. Who are those people? The family I Nanny for, the families at the Canyons Aquatic Swim Club, the Senior Center, Antioch Coffeehouse, the women in my Interior Design classes, with my mentors, and with my sweet friendships with people that share the same passions! Not every season will include people with huge tragedies going on in their lives, but what a time to serve and remind myself and others of our need for Christ. When things are easy and comfortable seems to be when it is most dangerous spiritually. Mabe these people that God has placed in my life here in Santa Clarita are experiencing difficult things, and I have yet to learn about them. Come to think of it, life without Christ is pretty hopeless and empty... a tragedy.

Life absent of Christ is like a Mirage; once a person thinks they have found something satisfying outside of Christ, it disappears and they have nothing. Lord, use us to help others that are blind; those who keep going after empty things, see the truth!