Thursday, December 29, 2016

CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all my friends and followers around the world. Always remember that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of all history and His birth is the greatest event ever. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Let's all of us take that message to the world. Together let's save the lost and be a part of hastening His Return!

Love,

Carolyn

Sunday, December 18, 2016

DELIGHT

 
DELIGHT
My best friend Jane wrote this in a recent letter: “The Bible says that for everything there is a season. There have been so many seasons in my life and they have bridged the gamut from absolute disaster to delight beyond my wildest expectations. But in this season, right now, I am beginning to experience the harvester and the sower passing each other. My prayer requests and heart's desires are beginning to run and chase me down. This is so new the baby is still crowning on the way out.”

As it says in Amos 9:13: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt [that is, everything heretofore barren and unfruitful shall overflow with spiritual blessing] [AMP].

This is what God spoke to the Israelites after they’d spent a long time in captivity and struggle. They yearned for deliverance and the blessings they’d once known. I think we all go through times when we yearn for better times, without so many struggles, a purer time of happy days and more delight.

The Message Bible puts it this way: “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now. God’s Decree. Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people: They’ll rebuild their ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land. They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them. God, your God, says so.

That’s exciting and I believe that’s what’s happening now for God’s people around the world. We can expect restoration. “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed” (Joel 2:25-26).

And new things: Isaiah 48: 6-7 says: “From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’”

These new blessings that God and the Lord Jesus have for us are so new we won’t be able to attribute them to anything but the sheer magnitude of God’s love for us. We are going to start getting some prayers answered and new blessings before we even get the requests out of our mouths. I’ve started to see it happen, so I expect it to spread.   

Get your delight list out. I think it’s going to be a long one!

Love, Carolyn
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Sunday, December 11, 2016

HONORING GOD AND EACH OTHER

HONORING GOD AND EACH OTHER
At the Christmas party, I was honored with a special hardhat and a $1000 travel voucher, for ten years of continuous service. I had no idea I was getting it, so the blessing was especially sweet. In the Bible, wise men from the East came to honor Jesus, bringing Him gifts. These men watched and studied the skies and knew from the lineup of the planets and stars, that a great king had been born, a king worthy of honor. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11).

The shepherds honored the baby Jesus in a different way.  They were “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). The angel of the Lord came and told them that they were in the right place at the right time and it was to them that this blessing had come.

How often are we going about our normal routines, endeavoring to do God’s will the best we can, and all of a sudden we meet someone new who really blesses our lives? Or we’re inspired to get in a certain grocery line and end up blessing a total stranger? We end up in the right place at the right time to either be blessed or be a blessing. Hebrews 13:2 even tells us we should “be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

That’s what happened to the shepherds. They were in the hills by Bethlehem and that’s where God wanted them. The angel of God found them and told them the good news. “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2: 9-11).

This event brought “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (v.14). The shepherds went down into the city of Bethlehem to witness this for themselves.

The Bible doesn’t say anything about them honoring Jesus with physical gifts like the wise men did later on, but the shepherds honored Jesus by telling people what the angel told them and what they actually witnessed themselves. That’s how they honored God—by telling other people about the great things God did and was doing even now.

“And when they [the shepherds] had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.  And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them” (vv. 17,18 and 20).

Gift-giving originated with God. Right after God created Adam, He gave him a gift. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2: 8-9).

The idea of honoring God and others came straight from our creator and has happily invaded all cultures of the world.
This Christmas let’s think about honoring each with our gifts and our respect. And most of all, let’s give some special attention to how we can honor God and our Savior, Christ the Lord.

Love, Carolyn

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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

"BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD"

“BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD”
In the story of Christmas, the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she would be having a child by a miracle of the Holy Spirit and this child would be Jesus, the son of God. Mary believed that if people would just stick with what God told them, His Word was always going to come to pass. “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).  She had heard of the miraculous things God did and totally believed that God’s Word was true. She believed that the Red Sea really did open up miraculously to let the Israelites cross over on dry land. She believed the story about the ax head that was lost, but then floated up out of the water, defying the natural laws of gravity (2 Kings 6:5-6). She believed what she heard about the Hebrews just looking at the brass serpent in the wilderness and getting healed of their snake bites (Num. 21:8-9).

So when the angel Gabriel told her that she was the one who would miraculously birth the Messiah, the son of God, the promised seed from the Bible, she believed it: “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).

Peter also was taught to believe the records of the many miracles God did. And he, like Mary, believed beyond what looked impossible by natural laws. Peter literally stepped out of the boat, after hearing and believing just one word from Jesus: “Come” (Matt. 14: 29). Peter saw that Jesus was walking on top of the water, even as the ship was being tossed around by the waves. When Jesus said, “Come,” Peter figured Jesus meant it, so he dared to do it.

We all have verses that mean a lot to our heart. We can probably name a few right now. Those are the very ones the Lord has been trying to speak to us personally all along. If you’ve not done this before, you can take a slightly new approach to those favorite verses. Focus on the verse then be like Mary: Believe the miraculous and say, “Be it unto me according to thy Word.” And let’s be like Peter, walk out and expect it to work.

Love, Carolyn
(painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1898)

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

COUNT TO TEN AND BE MORE CHRIST-LIKE

COUNT TO TEN AND BE MORE CHRIST-LIKE
I was sitting quietly in Starbucks with my laptop, notebook and Bible, totally engaged in studying on dreams, when up out of my peripheral vision a nightmarish face invaded my space. It startled me and I grabbed ahold of my purse on the empty chair next to me and slid it onto the floor by my feet. I had earplugs in so I couldn’t hear what the grizzly-looking man was mumbling. A few moments passed and I heard Jane’s clear voice from the next table over, “We’re working here. We don’t have time to talk.” The man angrily mumbled something about the Bible and in a matter of minutes he got up and left.

Later on, Jane and I talked about it. She told me she was ready to fry the guy with her words the minute she saw him approach me, but she’s been practicing counting to ten before she speaks out of anger. It was amazing. Her quiet, honest words only got one low grumbled complaint before the nightmare man left.

I thought about a lesson I’d heard as a child: “When you get angry, count to ten before you speak.” Jane counts “one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, etc.” I learned it as: “one dimension, two dimension, etc.” I think it works with any three-syllable word, but the point is, it does work.

My tendency is to sit there and boil on the inside until I can hardly stand it and can’t concentrate anymore. Either that, or I fire off some snide remark out loud or under my breath.

Not Jane. She counted to ten and calmly and clearly told the man we didn’t have time for conversation. And it was true. I was studying for an article and she was working on promotions.

There are several verses in the Bible that say God is slow to anger. We are to “be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1).

Nehemiah 9:17 says this: “Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.”

Counting to ten is one way to make sure we don’t fly off the handle in rage, but instead, be more like God, slow to anger. By calming ourselves we give the Spirit a chance to work, instead of being led by emotion.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a hot temper (maybe partly my Sicilian background?), but the truth is that no matter where it came from, only God can really change those built-in character bents. Unlike one who “flies off the handle,” the Lord is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Ps. 103:8).

Psalm 145:8 tells us: “The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.” Anyone who knows the old Jane, knows she can cut to the bone and turn a live person to sand (figuratively) with her words. But her answer to the scary man in the coffee shop was full of compassion. She spoke the words calmly and straight forward. After counting to ten, she had no anger, just truth.

The wisdom of Solomon on slowing down our wrath, is found in Proverbs 15:18: “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.”

And Solomon goes on to say, “Better to be slow to anger than to be a mighty warrior, and one who controls his temper is better than one who captures a city” (Prov. 16:32). These are some very strong words.

Is it worth it to count to ten to calm our anger? Definitely! It is God’s will that we do it, as we can see from these scriptures.

In Colossians 3:1-3, the Apostle Paul admonishes us as Christians: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. [We’ll be there soon.] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For [in reality] ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” He goes on to say in verse 5: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.” Among the things he lists, is anger.  

If you know any other way to be slow to anger, God bless you. For now, since I’ve seen the amazing true results in Jane, I’m going with “one dimension, two dimension, three dimension, four dimension, five dimension, six dimension . . .  See, you’ve already tired of reading, so can our fiery anger also dissipate as fast? With the Lord’s help, I absolutely believe, YES!

A few days ago the same man walked by Jane in the same Starbucks and the demon in him audibly growled at her! But Jane has no fear. I hope to report to you sometime in the future that because of the goodness of God, this same man becomes like the man of the Gadarenes in Mark 5:15: “ And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind.”

One dimension, two dimension . . .

Love, Carolyn

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Thursday, December 1, 2016

BEING SPIRITUALLY PREPARED FOR THE HOLIDAYS

 
BEING SPIRITUALLY PREPARED FOR THE HOLIDAYS
The holidays are upon us and though we would love for everything to be cheery and bright, in reality many of us will face some awkward situations. Here’s five keys to help us:

1. GIVE IT TO JESUS, THE MASTER OF CELEBRATIONS. It’s like Peter had already been to holiday after holiday with the same results. He was pretty sure it would be the same as before. But when he did his best to give it to Jesus, everything changed. In Luke 5 Jesus told Peter to “launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” They hadn’t caught any fish all night and he couldn’t see getting the nets dirty again. Also he knew that if he tried fishing in the day he’d probably get nothing. “Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the [one] net” (Lk 5: 4-5).

Even Peter’s small amount of true trust got results in a wonderful way. “And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes (vs. 6) and he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken” (vs. 9).

Jesus knows how to do celebrations. When he was at the wedding in Cana, they ran out of wine. The party was turning sour and Jesus turned the water into wine and made it sweet again. Who’s to say He wouldn’t do that for us??

2. RETREAT TO GOD AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED TO. Sometimes when we get into tense situations or conversations, the best thing to do is excuse ourselves for a few minutes and go to the restroom or take a short walk: Retreat.

The King James Version of Psalm 91: 9 tells us to make the Most High our habitation. The Hebrew word translated “habitation” means “retreat.” It goes on to say that because we retreat to Him “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (vss. 11-12). Stones represent the natural world.

During the holidays we have so many opportunities to get trapped in conversations that engender strife. We get tripped up on those stones thrown into our paths. But we can be willing and ready to physically take a quick retreat to somewhere else to talk to God and He will send His angels to keep us in the Lord’s way so we don’t crash into the stones, getting offended or offensive.

3. BLESS THOSE AROUND YOU AND ANYONE WHOSE NAME COMES UP IN CONVERSATION. God created every person with something marvelous in mind. So no matter what little we think a person seems to be doing toward that goal, we give them an open door by praying, “God bless them and help them to be able to do Your perfect will for their lives, in Jesus name. Amen.” The holidays are as good a time as any to give people a little more sympathy and empathy. Remember that if you gossip about others, for sure others will be gossiping about you too.

4. GET YOUR BODY BLESSED. Going into situations where we’re uncomfortable because of incidents or feelings from the past, tend to make us vulnerable and weak and susceptible to old soul wounds. These can make us feel badly, think badly and act badly, which can quickly take a toll on our physical bodies as well.

Pray this: “God help my body to do and be as You God intended it to be.” Ephesians 4:16 says, “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint is supplying, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” That’s a good one to pray too.

5. GET YOUR MOUTH BLESSED. One of the biggest tricks Satan pulls with family and friends is to get us to say something we later regret. Proverbs 18: 21 tells us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Once said, it’s out there and nearly irretrievable unless we almost immediately ask forgiveness and even then it’s awkward. The best way to avoid this is to get your mouth blessed. Pray, “Lord, help my mouth to be blessed to only say what You intend.”

To review: 1. GIVE IT TO JESUS, THE MASTER OF CELEBRATIONS, 2. RETREAT TO GOD AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED TO, 3. BLESS THOSE AROUND YOU AND ANYONE WHOSE NAME COMES UP IN CONVERSATION, 4. GET YOUR BODY BLESSED, 5. GET YOUR MOUTH BLESSED. 

These are 5 keys that will really help us this holiday season.  The number 5 in the Bible represents God’s grace. Let His grace give us amazing holiday times.

Love, Carolyn


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