WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD: Love with skin on!

While I am out of the country on a missions trip, I am re-posting some older posts. This post was initially posted on December 23, 2009.

Not long ago, I read a story about a little girl who was frightened during a storm. The little girl's mother came in to her room to comfort her but when the mother tried to leave, the little girl objected. The mother said to her, "It's alright honey. God is here with you". But her daughter said, "I know Mommy...but I want someone with skin on."


I am sure that all of you have heard that story as well, but I was thinking that this picture is one of what it is like when we forgive a brother or sister. Forgiving them helps them to see God "with skin on".

In last weeks YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I asked the question, "When you are feeling guilty about something you have done to someone, what do you do?" The top 3 responses were:

1. 88% of those voting in the poll said that they just talk to the person.
2. 5% voted and said that they would "kiss up" to that person by saying nice things.
3. Another 5% polled said that they make amends in some other way.

No doubt, we have all done or said something that we later might feel guilty about. Sometimes this guilt keeps us from maintaining relationships with the ones that we love, and unfortunetly our guilt can even keep us from a fresh, daily walk with our Lord. Really what we are all looking for is "love" with "skin on it".

John said it best: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." (1 John 4:12)

I think what John is saying is that we, as God's children, have the ability to show one another what love is with "skin on". How much skin have you shared today?

This week for WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD, I have shared some thoughts on a study that I was doing on Jacob. When I came to the passage about Jacob wrestling with the angel, I wondered to myself just how many times I, as Gods daughter, wrestle with things such as guilt. Is it the guilt or the love of God that others see in me? I had to stop and ask God to help me show others what all His love covers.

GET MOVING!

While I am out of the country on a missions trip, I am re posting older posts. This post originally posted on December 11, 2009:

Every year we go to the beach. It is one of the highlights of our summer. It never surprises me how the weather can change so quickly. We can be sitting out on the beach chairs, soaking up the sun rays and splashing around in the water as the waves roll in and out and almost as suddenly as the wind blows, the weather can instantly change. The dark clouds start to move in and the wind picks up and before long, the beach assistants are folding up the chairs and locking everything up and moving everyone off of the beach.


A storm is brewing and in order to get back to our condo safely before it hits...we better get moving quickly. It never surprises me that every time this has happened, there is always someone who ignores the signs and stays out there on the beach.

I was thinking about this the other day, and how some of us are living our Christian walk much like those on the beach. The signs of danger and the warning that a storm is near is all around us, but yet we ignore the signs. Maybe we think that the storm isn't going to be that bad, or possibly we aren't sure what we are suppose to do ... so we just don't do anything.

Sometimes it is easier to plan to do something than it is to actually do it. Thinking about your plan of action in the midst of a storm doesn't do us much good when we are still sitting around when the hurricane hits. When God calls us to action, He will be our guiding light in times of danger, but we must not be still in this moment, we must trust Him and just get moving!

PSALM 119:60 "Lord, I hurry and do not delay to keep your commandments."

If there is a storm brewing around you ... have you noticed the warning signs?

Get ready and get moving!

SLIP and SLIDE

While I am out of the country on a missions trip, I am re posting some older posts. This post originally posted on December 14, 2009:

It has been a few years since we have gone to the mountaintop to celebrate Christmas, but the memories of it are as fresh in my mind as the pine needles are on my mantle. When the children were younger, we would pack up and drive to Petite Jean Mountain and stay in a cozy cabin and celebrate Christmas in a unique way.

The steep climb up the road to the cabin was always interesting. Especially if the road was slick with ice. It was always an adventure to go up the road and we always had to make sure we stopped at the market down at the bottom of the hill for fear that once we got up the road that we would not be able to get back down again, because of the iced over road.

The most memorable trip to Petite Jean Mountain was the year that we all ventured out on a long hike around the mountain. The paths become very steep at times and it actually is a dangerous path to take. Caution must be taken when hiking these trails. On this particular trip, our boys were young and my husband decided that he would explain to them the "do's" and the "don'ts" of hiking on a dangerous trail.

Rule #1 ... stay on the path.
Rule #2 ... do not try to take a shortcut through the trees.
Rule #3 ... step carefully, as it ices in places and you will lose your footing.
Rule #4 ... see how steep this mountain is? people have disregarded rule #1, #2 and #3 and have fallen to their death off of the mountain.

Almost as soon as these "rules" came out of my husbands mouth, he slipped on the ice (rule #3) and slid off of the path (rule #1) and slid down the side of the mountain, only to be caught by a tree (rule #2). After we caught our breath and realized he was alright, the boys laughed and laughed at how daddy taught them how to "properly" slide and fall off of the mountain.

Remembering this awesome memory of our Christmas past, caused me to remember what the scripture in Proverbs says about slipping and falling...

"People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall." PROVERBS 10:9

How firm is your footing? As you walk on this path of "life", do you find yourself having a difficult time following the 4 "do" and "don't" rules?

Stay on the path, keep your eye on the prize!

Taking shortcuts will only delay your blessing...put your trust in God and allow Him to take the lead!

Getting off course can cause harm or even death ... stay firm in His Word!

I knew you'd come!

There is a story that goes something like this:

There were 2 brothers who were fighting side by side in France. Both brothers struggled to return to their unit, but only one returned safely. The returning soldier pleaded with his commanding officer to let him return to the front lines to look for his lost brother. Reluctantly, the officer gave permission. Sometime later, the soldier returned with his brother draped around his shoulders. But, just as they crossed the safety of the bunker, his brother gasped his last breath and died. The officer quickly said to the soldier, "See, I let you risk your life for nothing!" But the soldier responded and said, "No. When I found my brother and held him, he said to me...'I knew you'd come!' "

As I finish packing for my missions trip to Ecuador, I cannot help but think about the Ecuadorian people that we will be ministering to. My heart is so full, to share Christ with those that are so hungry for Him and to help build a Youth Campground, the first in the country of Ecuador. I wonder how many Ecuadorians have prayed for someone to come and share Christ with their people?

1 SAMUEL 26:23 "The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness."

The greatest reward for me would be to hear someone say, "I knew you'd come!"

Please pray for me and the missions team as we go minister to the Ecuadorian people. Maybe you can't go on such a missions trip, but if you agree in prayer with me ... you are partnering with me and you are part of the missions team!! We will be there June 5th-19th. We covet your prayers!

THANKFUL THURSDAY ...little things are not insignificant

I haven't worn a wrist watch in a long time. One of the reasons I stopped wearing one was because one day my watch just stopped working. It was one of my favorite watches and it just doesn't seem right to wear another one.

I came across that old watch the other day. I thought maybe just maybe I could try to fix it. I tapped on it. I shook it. I wound it up. But it still did not work. I finally took it into Wal-Mart to have the battery checked. The most amazing thing happened...once that small battery was replaced, that watch started ticking away!

Little things are not always insignificant. Like that watch battery, it was that itsy bitsy piece of metal that was the solution to the problem. Sometimes it is the smallest things that can have the greatest power!

1 JOHN 4:4 "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

How incredibly amazing that when we apply God's strength to the "little" things in our life - how much His power changes everything!

I am so thankful for God's strength that not only carries me thru the big, tragic events in my life but how He sustains me even thru the little stuff. He is always there.



Have a wonderful THANKFUL THURSDAY! Join your grateful heart with ours by linking up over with IRIS!

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD...a feeling of helplessness!

Do you ever feel helpless? Like no matter what you do or don't do, it is never good enough? I have felt this way many times. It is easy to feel helpless when it comes to ourselves but what about others...when other people near and dear to us do things that they shouldn't, an awful feeling of helplessness comes over us.

In last week's YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question, "What area of life do you ever feel helpless?" The top 3 answers were:

1. 26% of those polled said that they feel helpless in their family.
2. Another 26% voted and said that they feel helpless at their job.

3. 26% more votes came in and said that they feel helpless in their friendships.

This poll reveals to me that not only do we struggle with what we should do or shouldn't do, but we struggle with what others do or don't do. Helplessness is simply a state of confusion and frustration.

ROMANS 5:6 "While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

How amazing is it that everything that we have failed at or haven't been able to do, and every minute that has been wasted trying to fix things our way - all of it - can be forgiven and made right by simply placing our life into the hand of the One who first gave it to us!

No matter how hard we try, we can never simply be "good enough" to live with a pure and holy God but God sent His only Son into this world so we might live through Him. (1 John 4:9) It is by His death that the very idea of being unloved and feeling helpless was made invalid. Whenever we feel this way, we must have taken our eyes off of the cross because it was there that His love was proven for us!

This kind of love cannot be earned and certainly it is difficult to even grasp the depth of this kind of love, but this love of God is the kind that allows us to walk freely in the fullness and blessing of His love, without condemnation, without feeling helpless!

True love is found in Christ alone. Once we receive this gift of new life of forgiveness, we can help others instead of feeling helpless!

A PIECE OF MY HEART...Shake it up!

Have you ever opened up a can of soda after it had been shaken? If you have, you have experienced a shower of surprise! All of the carbonated drink inside that small can all of a sudden explodes into a shower of spray, usually exploding on the person holding the can and on those things near by.

Did you know that this is exactly what God wants us to be like? He wants our lives to be so full of love and goodness that it overflows and spills out on everyone around us. Before we can "spill" out on others, we have to make sure our tank is FULL! 

1 JOHN 4:11 "Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

When we wrap our minds and hearts around the fact that God so loved us that He gave His only son, our hearts and minds will begin to fill up with His love. His love is unending and before we know it, love will be oozing and pouring out of us because we will not be able to contain all the love He has for us.

This kind of love cannot come from ourselves. It is impossible to love your enemy without having the love of the Father inside of you. Shaking up His love that is inside will only do one thing - explode and spray those around you.

Go ahead  - shake it up and cover those around you with alittle love!

and this has been a piece of my heart today;