Inverted Blessings

A funny thing happened the other day concerning my Email Bible Study.  I read The Verse of the Day and sent off my thoughts to the other ladies in this study.  A little while later, one lady sent me a smile face and said she must've been confused because she read a different Verse of the Day but appreciated the thoughts that I had sent her way.  Then, a short while later, another lady wrote with a giggling emoji and graciously pointed out my human error.  I went searching for my Verse List, and sure enough, I had read the wrong Verse of the Day.

Or did I?

The ladies who sent me smiling faces and myself all concluded that the Lord directed me to the verse that HE wanted me to read for the day and share that with them.

I realized that out of habit, I can conform myself to a List of pre-made verses and assume that this is what the Lord wanted me to read for this day.  The Lord showed me otherwise.

When this happens, I call them 'Inverted Blessings.'  You see, I was supposed to read Psalm 136:1-3; instead, I read Psalm 139:1-3.

And it was just what I needed.

"O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways."  

I needed to be reminded that I have an intimate Saviour.  He knows the real me and loves me anyway.  God showed me two of His attributes in this verse: He knows all things, and His presence is everywhere.  He is Omniscient and Omnipresent.  He searches me with careful scrutiny, like a miner would search for gold.  Very meticulously and in the hidden recesses of my heart.  My Lord truly knows ME.

He knows everything I do and when I will do it.  He knows what I think.  He directs my steps and He know all my motives and intents.

My Saviour personally knows me, and I personally know my Saviour.

Do you?

If not, you can.

Simply turn from your sin and turn to Jesus.

This verse allowed me to ask myself a question:  Do I realize, at all times, that God knows my thoughts, motives and intents?

I don't think so, because if I did, I would behave more pleasing to Him.  

I would sin less, be less selfish, and would not demand my own way.

            

Human Error...

    Or Inverted Blessing...?

        I will take the blessing...

            But that's just me!

Little is Much (When God is in it)

Most of us are walking away from a Thanksgiving table that is still loaded with food, and if so, we have much to be thankful for.

It wasn't like that 42 years ago when my husband and I first got married.  We dined on simple meals with no extra's, no special treats or desserts and sometimes surviving on nothing more than Top Ramen or peanut butter sandwiches.  

"And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would."

John 6:11

I read this verse the other day and the first thing that the Lord brought to mind was the hymn, "Little is much when God is in it."

I love this account.  A mom packs her son's lunch for the day and off he goes to hear Jesus.  He didn't have much, but he gave all he had to Jesus!

Isn't it something how Jesus meets all needs when we are willing to give all we have?

Can you imagine the little boy running home and telling his mom that he just shared his lunch with five thousand people and there were leftovers!?

How could that be?  

Because Jesus prayed over that meager meal.

Jesus thanked God for what He had-and it was enough.

You see, ingratitude leaves you wanting-

Thankfulness reveals the plenty.

Then, Jesus gave to others first.  

Have you ever had someone stop by your house right before you were about to sit down and eat your meal, and then decided to invite them to stay?  Did you wonder if you were going to have enough?  Funny how when you share what you have, there is always plenty, and it always seems you like you have extra.

Jesus prayed over His food.

Friend, do you pray over your food?  How about when you are in a restaurant, perhaps driving thru a drive thru?

When we are thankful, there is always enough...

    Not only enough for ourselves, but...

        enough for others.

            But that's just me!

Future Thanks

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 100:4,5

The Bible is full of verses reminding us to be thankful:

Be thankful 'in' all things-1 Thessalonians 5:18

Be thankful 'for' all things- Ephesians 5:20

And just to be thankful!

The Bible reminds us Who to thank, (the LORD) and His Word tells us why. (For He is good, worthy)

We thank the Lord for what He has done for us in the past, we thank Him for what He is doing in our present...

but do we thank Him for what He will do in the future?

The Prophet Isaiah did.

Isaiah 12 consists of 6 verses.  All praise to God for future blessing.

Vs 1 tells us, 'And in that day.'

Vs 4 tells us, 'And in that day.'

Isaiah is praising God for what He will do, in the future.  There was a great day coming and Isaiah was already praising and thanking God for it.

How could Isaiah praise God for something God hadn't done yet?  Because of God's past blessings, promises that were already fulfilled.

God always does what He promises to do.

God has a future for you too, are you thanking Him for it?

We can thank God for our past...

    We can thank God for the present...

        We can thank God for the future...

            But that's just me!

"Discouraged not by difficulties without, or the anguish of ages within, the heart listens to a secret voice that whispers: "Be not dismayed; in the future lies the promised land.""

    Helen Keller

Imposters

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14

Imposter: One that assumes false identity or title for the purpose of deception.

There is a baking show on TV that will have a food imposter challenge.  It's when the baker has to create a dish that looks like a specific food item using different ingredients.  For example, if you wanted to create a taco imposter, you would make a crepe for the taco shell, brownies for the hamburger and shredded, dyed coconut for the shredded lettuce.  It will confuse your mind.  Something that looks like a taco, will not taste like the taco you were expecting.

Recently I had an imposter exposed to me.  I have a tube of lotion placed on my nightstand so that each night I can moisturize my skin before going to bed.  A few nights ago, I noticed that the tube of lotion was almost empty, so I decided to write down the name of this item on my grocery list so that I would be sure to pick it up the next time I was at the store.  As I diligently read the front of this tube to make sure I had the name of this product correctly, I realized that this was not a lotion at all-it was a body wash!

Yes, Dear Reader, what looked like lotion, smelled like lotion and felt like lotion really wasn't a lotion at all.  I had been lathering my skin with soap and not lotion!

I can still hear my sister laughing when I confessed my Faux Pas!

The bible also warns us about imposters.  Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 7:15, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

Satan will use anyone and any means to deceive us.  He is the destroyer and the accuser of the brethren.

There are imposters who already know who their true selves are, and there are imposters who have been deceived; they think they know the truth and yet they do not.

So how we do we protect ourselves from being deceived from imposters?

-Ye shall know them by their fruits- Matthew 7:16

-The Spirit will bear witness with our Spirit- Romans 8:16

-Put on your armor- Ephesians 6:10-18

My skin survived the lotion imposter...

    But to survive imposters wearing skin, you must look on the heart...

        But that's just me!

"Busy Bee" or "Be?"

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.  And she had a sister called, Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his words.  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Luke 10:38-42

My husband often refers to me as a 'busy bee' because it seems like I am constantly working on something around the house.  There is always a chore to be done, an errand to be run, or baking to keep the freezer full.  Then there are times when the chores are done, the errands are run and the freezer is full, that I still diligently search for things to do.  I confess, I have a hard time sitting still.  There has to be something that needs to be done!

Then I read about Martha and Mary.  I seem to relate more to Martha, but my Spirit wants me to relate more to Mary.  Martha had good intentions; she didn't shy away from hard work.  But there comes a time when enough is enough, the work is complete, and it's time to settle down at the Saviour's feet to hear what He has to say.

In eternity, when it comes down to the tiniest detail of dusted knick-knacks, versus spending time in God's Word or praying for a friend, the dust will no longer matter. 

At some point there must be a balance between the 'doing' and just 'being' still.

It's when we are at our quietest...

    We hear our Lord more clearly...

        But that's just me!

"Be still, and know that I am God:" Psalm 46:10a

Consequences

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Galatians 6:7

My husband and I entered our local pharmacy the other day to get our flu shots.  While we were waiting our turn, I walked around and looked at all of the lovely gifts.  Some of my favorite things to look at, are the wooden signs you can either place on a shelf or hang on a wall that always seem to have a bible verse on it, or perhaps a witty food-for-thought, skillfully written in beautiful calligraphy.  There were two such signs that immediately caught my eye.  They were clever in the secular sort of way, but they brought bible verses immediately to my mind.  

The first sign said, 'Dear Santa, I can explain.'  Oh sure.  When first read, it brought a chuckle, but then I thought of verses in the bible where someone blamed someone else for their sin.  (there are too many to count; the first thought was Adam blaming Eve in the garden) Or how about those who made an excuse not to attend the great supper in Luke 14:15-24?  Or the disciple who made the excuse not to follow Jesus because he had to "first bury my father" in Matthew 8:21

My friend, there will be a day when we all stand before God, and we will have no excuse.  

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."  Hebrews 9:27

The second sign said, 'Everything is fun and games until Santa reads the Naughty List.'

There is no 'Naughty List,' but there IS The Book of Life.  "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."  Revelation 20:15

It breaks my heart to see family and friends living for today, the temporal, and not laying up eternal treasures in heaven.

There is no Santa we can justify our actions away to, and there is no Santa who knows if we have been bad or good.  

But there is a Holy God we will one day stand before, and our excuses will die on our lips before they can ever be spoken.

And He will open The Book of Life to see if our name is written inside.

Is your name written in the Book of Life?

    It can be...

        Turn from your sin, to Christ.  Today.

            But that's just me!

Distorted Image

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Jeremiah 17:9

You've heard it said that "a picture paints a thousand words?"  In my case, the picture was pounds which led me to our local Health and Wellness Center to renew my gym membership.  I recently viewed a photo that was taken of me not so long ago, and I had to ask myself, "Do I really look like this?"  It certainly isn't something I see in the mirror as I dress myself every day, but pictures don't lie.  So, again, I had to ask myself, "How did this happen and I not notice?"

The answer:  Distorted Image.

Then I asked myself, "If I can be blind to my physical appearance, can this happen to my Spiritual image?"  Yes, it can.

I immediately thought of two examples in the bible, and I am sure there are more, but for now we will just look at these two men.

The first man you see in Luke 18:9-14.  There were two men who went to the temple to pray, a Pharisee and a publican.  This is how the Pharisee saw himself:  "I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess."  This man had a distorted image of not only himself, but he had a distorted image of who he was before a Holy God.

The second man you see, is Samson, in Judges 16:20b "And he (Samson) awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself.  And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him."

Samson had a distorted image of not only his own condition, but he had a distorted image of where his strength came from.

When I look at myself every day in the mirror, I become familiar with my physical condition.  I didn't think I looked too bad.  It took a photo to show my appearance from a different perspective.

When we go through the mechanics of our daily devotions and prayer as if we are just checking off a box on our to-do-list, we become familiar with our Spirituality.  We become deceived to the true condition of our hearts and our relationship with the Lord.

But when we really take the time to open God's Word and allow His perspective to examine our thoughts and intents of our hearts, we can change our distorted image into His image.

Romans 8:29 says, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, (Caps. mine) that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."

That's what it is all about.  Living in such a manner, every day, to be more and more like the image of our Lord.

Familiarity caused images to be distorted. Have I distorted the image of my Saviour?  God help me to see Truth in your word so that others won't have a distorted image of You.

If we distort the image of our Lord incorrectly...

    The world will never know our Saviour...

        But that's just me!

Would I know you Now?

Wayne Watson

Would I know You now if You walked into the room,

If You stilled the crowd, if Your light dispelled the gloom,

If I saw Your wounds, touched Your thorn pierced brow,

I wonder if I'd know You now.

Would I know You now, if You walked into this place,

Would I cause You shame, would my games be Your disgrace?

Or would I worship You, fall down upon my face?

I wonder if I'd know You now?

Or, have the images I've painted,

So distorted Who You are,

that even if the world was looking, 

They could not see You, the real You,

Have I changed the true reflection,

To fulfill my own design, 

making You what I want,

Not showing You forth divine.

Would I miss You now, if You left and closed the door,

Would my flesh cry out, "I don't need You anymore!"

Or, would I follow You, seek to be restored?

I wonder, I wonder will I ever learn?

I wonder, would I know You now?