The Strangest Times and Places

One of the things I love about living a life taught and guided by the Holy Spirit is that you never know when He is going to teach you something. Sometimes He speaks at the oddest times and in situations where you least expect it. I had one of those moments today in my exercise class.

I was at a body sculpting class (I have lots of body to sculpt away!) and we were about finished and were positioning ourselves face down on the bench to do the last couple of exercises. I was thinking to myself that were people in the class who often don't listen to the helpful comments the instructor makes that causes you to have good form, get the most benefit, and keep yourself safe during the each exercise. I thought to myself that compared to the other people in the class that my form was pretty darn good! Then the thought occurred to me that if I compared myself to the instructor my form was not as stellar. That's when the Holy Spirit did His thing, while He had me face down no less!

He reminded me I often compare my "works", my walk of faith, ect. with other Christians and come away feeling good about myself. He gently reminded me that I should only have Jesus Christ as my role model. Face down is a good place to be in that case. Scripture says my righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight. Humm... I better stop the comparison game.

Unfortunately, I provide the Lord with tons of teachable moments but sometimes they come at the strangest times and places!

Stuff - The Accummulation of.....

For the past 3 days I have been doing an unusual job. I've been helping my mom, my aunt and a cousin pack up and move my 94 year old great aunt. We had to move her from a double room to a single room in an assisted living facility. I was shocked and stunned at the amount of stuff in the room! It has inspired me to want to go through my own stuff and throw away or give away all the things for which I have no use.

As we've been going through all the things this verse kept going through my mind. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth or rust destroys, ans where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:19-21).

Those treasures she has stored up in the top of closets in boxes and drawers were thrown away because of lack of space. And yes, we found the holes the moths had eaten in some of the old sweaters which she had not worn in years. (Side note here - we have had to deal with a infestation of moths this year and trust me I have a new appreciation of the above verse. Those little harmless looking things can do major damage!)

This whole incident has left me feeling very convicted about the amount of "stuff" I've accumulated over the years. There are things that I could give away that someone else could use that are just taking up space (which I don't have). I want my life and my money to count for more than "stuff" when I'm gone. I don't want someone else to have to go through mountains of "stuff" that means nothing to anyone but me.

Hummm... maybe I will get a head start on New Year's resolutions. I am resolved to "de-stuff" my life.

Lights

I have been thinking about lights since last Thursday night when I attended one of my favorite holiday traditions - the Lighting of the Trees. The city of Fairhope, for those who have never been, has lined the downtown streets with Bradford pear trees. Over the years they have gotten quite large. Each year the city electric crews spend several weeks stringing millions of white lights in all the trees. On the Thursday before Thanksgiving they close down the center of town and everybody comes out and waits for the Mayor to flip the switch and turn on the lights. The whole thing lasts about 20 minutes but there are tons of people and everybody joins in the countdown and does the ooh-ahh thing when they appear. It is worth the walk down 2 blocks to see the looks on kids faces when the lights come on. We were standing with our former neighbors and Sam the 4 year old was on his dad's shoulder. He missed it last year so this is the first year he has really been able to really appreciate the moment. The look of wonder on Sam's face was priceless! The lights stay on thru the middle of March. It is my very favorite time of year to walk. Since I live near town I can walk down the streets each night after supper.

All this thinking about lights reminded me of the verse in John 8:12 where Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but, have the light of life." That verse led to these verses in Matthew 5:14 &16, "You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify Your Father in heaven."

What a great reminder for the holiday season. The holidays are usually stressful anyway and add the economic troubles on top of that and the dark gets a little darker. Those of us with the "light of the world," need to make sure we don't hide that light.

Hope you light of the corner of the world where you live this holiday season.

The Palace is the Best Place for a Princess

I heard a great sermon yesterday by Perry Nobles, pastor of New Spring Church, in South Carolina. He is currently doing a series entitled "Beautiful" and it is about and for women. If you have a chance I would encourage you to go on-line and watch or listen to these messages. Toward the end of the message he read a verse and made a statement that I wish every young woman could hear who is single and has the desire to be married one day. Because I had gotten a phone call from my own princess in the middle of the sermon I had missed the first part of the scripture reference he was using. I went back and looked it up and want to share with you what it says.

Psalm 45:9-17
Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir. Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father's house. The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift,* men of wealth will seek your favor. All glorious is the princess within her chamber; her gown is interwoven with gold. In embroidered garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions follow her and are brought to you. They are led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the king. Your sons will take the place of your fathers; you will make them princes throughout the land. I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

Now those are powerful verses!! Each time I re-read them I get excited. There is a whole sermon in those verses! (Humm...that is probably where Perry is headed next!) If young women every where could catch the truth found in these verses we could eliminate lots of broken hearts and shattered dreams. There is so much that could be said about these verses but I shall limit myself to the bolded verses to which he referred.

Keeping in mind that in the verses the daughters of the King, the princesses, are christian young ladies, his comment was very close to this, "The problem with some of the princesses in the room is that too many princesses have left the palace. They've walked out into the alleys and slums, turning over tarps and looking in garbage cans for the man who can win your heart. When, if you are a princess, you can stay right where you are and he will pursue you because princesses are worthy of pursuit and the King is enthralled by your beauty. Get out of the alley, get out of the slums, and wait on the man who will win your heart." Preach it brother!

My final word to all the single young women is found yourself a place or ministry in which to serve in the palace, develop a love relationship with the King who is crazy about you, and when you least expect it a prince will come along and win your heart and you will both "praise Him forever and ever."

For all of us "queen mothers" out there let's commit to praying for our daughters to stay in the palace. Let's pray for their courage and strength when others tempt them to short cut God's plan, take matters into their own hands and leave the palace.

Just for the record, Perry did not continue on with these verses he moved on the the old favorite, the perfect woman, the Proverbs 31 woman! It is a good series and worth the time to listen.

Encouragement

This idea of encouragement has been floating around in my mind and heart for several weeks. God keeps bringing it back up in a variety of ways so I'm going to get it down in writing and hope it will challenge and encourage you as well. There were several things going on at the same time about 6 weeks ago when God started bringing this to my mind. At that time financial storms were nearing land fall, there was a gas crisis in full bloom and people around me had their own personal crisis looming. I remember thinking that even many of the Christians around me were starting to wring their hands. We serve a great God and through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, we are the ones who should point them to the One Who is the answer for the coming storms. People are looking for hope and answers and we need to be a source of encouragement.

One of the first verses that God brought to my attention was Hebrews 10:24. "Let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds." Actually this was one of the major motivations to start this blog. I hope it will be a source of encouragement for those who stop by to read.

I've been reading through 1 Thessalonians lately and in chapter 3, the authors Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, tell the folks in Thessalonica they were encouraged and strengthened when they heard of their faith and love. They were comforted by news of their faith. Amazingly the authors had been enduring much affliction and it was news of the faith of other believers that encouraged them.

Let me encourage you to share your faith with others. When your brothers or sisters are weak or tempted to give up, it is encouraging to hear "faith" stories. Share the stories of what God is doing in your life that remind others He is still at work and has not forgotten his people. 1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

Sunday night I attended a Mark Harris concert and there is a line in one of his new songs that says "Things that are out of our hand are still under His feet." If you don't have a faith story to tell, share that lyric. God is Sovereign and that is good news!

The Best Teacher

The question comes up occasionally, "Who was the best teacher you ever had?" I've been thinking about that lately but with a different twist. During my recent trip in the car by myself I listened to an Audio Book about a professor's last lecture. He made the comment, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." He went on to talk about how experience is the best teacher. I pondered that comment for many miles.

Later in the trip I was listening to my favorite Bible teacher, Jon Courson, and he made the comment that experience is not the best teacher. My ears perked up to hear his explanation. He said experience is a harsh teacher. Exercising faith/trust in God's Word and obedience are the best teachers. He went on to use the analogy of a parent and child. The parent says to a young child, "don't play in the street." He asked if you would rather your child learn by experience or by trusting and obeying what you say. I don't know a parent alive who would choose the lesson taught by experience.

His line of reasoning cast a whole new light on the best teacher debate. I begin to think about times when the Lord had given clear direction and I choose to learn by experience. He was absolutely right, experience was a harsh teacher. I also thought of times when I obeyed what the Lord said and how much peace and joy I felt even when it involved struggle,stretching and challenging my faith.

God always comes back and reteaches me the important concepts. (For all you educators out there, rote learning or drill and kill are not all bad!) This morning as I was staining the last 3 boards on my deck I was once again listening to another sermon by JC and he mentioned that old adage again, "experience is the best teacher." He said maybe so but it doesn't have to be our experience! He said experience was fine if you could afford the tuition. Learning the hard way is expensive! That is why we have all the stories in the Bible about other people's struggles, failures and successes.

God's truth never changes. He told the children of Israel if they would obey His commands they would receive blessing. If they did not,there would be consequences and experience would teach a hard lesson. I don't know about you but I'm praying God would give me the grace and good sense to learn to trust and obey. Doesn't that just make you want to break out in song?! "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey!"

Free to Explore

After months of tossing this idea around in my head I'm finally taking the plunge to start a blog. The idea started over a year ago when I was writing a daily note of encouragement to some fellow co-workers. When school started again and things got hectic I stopped. To be more accurate God stopped giving me those words on a daily basis. As a friend likes to say I guess those were for a "reason and a season." At that time several other people who were not on my email list mentioned they would like to receive them and the idea of blogging actually crossed my mind.

The hardest part of starting the blog was coming up with a title. I thought and thought and then prayed (why didn't I start there first?!). God reminded me of the verse I read the day before my last day of work and the day before I was to retire. Psalm 18:19 - He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me , because He delighted in me. The Message Bible version used the words He brought me out to a wide open field. Whenever I think of the verse I always combine the two versions and say "He set me out in wide open places."

When I consider my retirement that is exactly how I feel - I've been set out in wide open places. I'm no longer confined to the parameters of my old job. I'm free to explore, free to go and do whatever God prompts me to do.

This blog itself is one of my adventures into the wide open places. What is more wide open than the internet? I hope you will enjoy my thoughts as I begin to explore the wide open places. As God teaches me new lessons and I learn new things or meet new people I'll share my thoughts along the way. I hope you'll join me on my journey. Please feel free to leave comments and share your journey as well.