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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

WOYWW: See Miracles Happen!

I am busy at work with some canvases
for an annual Art Fair,
Art in the Park.
If only I am not so sleepy at night!!!

 "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod." Mark 8:15
What is it about yeast that we have to be careful of it? Almost every time it is mentioned in the New Testament, 13 times by some accounts, it refers to corrupt doctrine or practice. Like the mustard seed it is small, but when you mix it with dough, the dough rises.
Jesus is warning His disciples that in their ministry, there is danger that slow, secret sin can seep in unobtrusively and slowly, secretly grow. The yeast is the little evil that can slowly, secretly grow in the dough, the people of God, until it corrupts and affects everything.

 In our life, we have to be careful of this. Evil creeps in, even into our homes, through the TV, the internet, books, magazines, etc. How much more in our schools and offices? On the day before Ash Wednesday, it is a good thing to examine our attitudes, our way of thinking, the way we relate to others, our habits, what influences us, and see what areas we can open up to God. Usually it is what we need to hide that needs exposure to God's light. Is there an area in our life that we want to keep secret, hidden, that we are not proud of?
God wants to free us from the darkness of sin to bring us out into His wonderful, cleansing light! Let's take advantage of the grace-filled journey with God that is Lent!
 ""When you fast, don't make it obvious." Mt. 6:16
I don't know anyone who likes to fast. Every Lent I try to get out of it by doing variations of fasting. But fasting can bring breakthroughs or miracles and I'm in the mood for one right now. (I'm always in the mood for a miracle, aren't you?!!)
We watched the musical, "Into the Heights" last night. In the musical, there were several story lines where people desired a lot of things. One wanted to go back to the country where she was born. Another dreamed of escaping from the barrio to an apartment in the West Village. A father wanted to provide for a daughter's education. A couple was frustrated because they could not be together because of a father's disapproval.

All of us want something more of, or less of, or perhaps there's something we just can't break free of. And if it's been something we've wanted for years, perhaps it's time to consider that there are some things we can't get without God's power. In Mark 9:29, Jesus tells the disciples that a boy could not be freed from an evil spirit unless by prayer and fasting.
This Lent, let's think of something we want to change in our life, and let God do His work. Let us allow God to surprise us! If we fast and pray, we can see miracles happen!



Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 
peek at desks and projects!
 
I find a lot of inspiration
visiting my friends here:
Blessings!
Patsy

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Monday, February 16, 2015

My Brother's Keeper

 "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." 1 Cor. 11:1 (Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians)
It's hard for me, as a woman to even think of following the example of Saint Paul. I can't see myself in his shoes. He was a tireless traveler, and I just dread packing. He encountered numerous hardships and was imprisoned about 4 times for a total of 5-6 years! He was a resolute man, patient beyond measure, courageous, and I don't think he regretted his decision to follow Christ even once!
But I do like looking to other saints to imitate, to learn from them, to see how they ran the race victoriously. I love Saint Therese of Lisieux for the simple, hidden life she led. She wrote, "What matters in life," she wrote, "is not great deeds, but great love." Like Mother Teresa, she did ordinary things with great love. Even when she was sick in bed, she was able to serve God by interceding. She saw herself as a beautiful flower in God's garden. Then there's Brother Lawrence who said, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer." For those of us who are constantly busy with the things of this world, he is an example of a man who could constantly practice the presence of God, whatever task he was doing, whether it be cleaning the floor or washing dishes in the monastery.

 Then there's one of my favorite stories of Mother Teresa. While on the way to a grand party, she stopped to talk to a beggar. When she was fetched, because she tarried too long, she asked, "Can't you see I am talking to Christ?" She saw the faces of the poor, when most of us just pass them by. Yes, we need constant reminders, and saints with their frames like us, can show us it is impossible to imitate Christ!

 "Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9
None of us has perfect families. Just the fact that we belong to it makes it imperfect already!! Although we love each other, try to be kind and generous, something will happen to bring out some thorns. Usually it's not even intentional.
In the story of Cain and Abel, the conflict starts with both of them offering God the fruits of their labor. While God favors the offering of Abel which consists of several choice lambs from the best of his flock, God is not so pleased with what Cain gives him. Reading from the original Hebrew shows that Cain offered the last remnants of his harvest. Leftovers. In Malachi 1:6-14, God is not pleased when we do not offer to Him our best. It is the same as when we give a worthless gift to the President or to an important guest. It is as if we give them an insult instead of a compliment!
But even after Cain insults God, God still teaches Him by saying that Cain should learn to respond in a right way to His teachings because "...if you don't, watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you!" Sin has a way of escalating. From envy, anger, then hatred, then before Cain knows it, he is the first murderer!!!

 After Cain murders Abel in his rage, God asks him where Abel is. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain answers defiantly. In Ezekiel 33:7-9, God makes it clear that we are responsible for our brothers and sisters. We are stewards of our relationships. And that is why God constantly reaches out to us. He takes it upon Himself to reconcile us to Himself.
Thank you Lord for Your loving kindness to us! Thank you for Your perseverance and faithfulness to us! Thank you for Your forgiveness!

 "How many loaves do you have?" Mark 8:5
In the 6th chapter of Mark, Jesus feeds the 5,000 and He tells His disciples to feed them. Of course they were flabbergasted and said, "With what? It would take a small fortune to buy food for this huge a crowd!!!" We would say the same, don't you think? Here in chapter 8, there are less people, 4000. The disciples ask the same thing, but with less incredulity. "How are we supposed to find enough food for them here in the wilderness?"
"How many loaves of bread do YOU have?" Jesus asked.

I like these passages about the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, because it shows that miracles start with what we have in our hand. What we have available. I always remember when our little group giving the Good News in QC Jail was asked by the prison admin to prepare 200 gift bags for the inmates for Christmas. I was just as incredulous as the disciples! How would we do that? But that Christmas we were able to prepare 300 bags! And what a wonderful sight to behold the inmates' faces as they opened their bags to find a pair of shorts, food, shampoo, laundry soap, etc. They told us it was like they received 2 bags! It was more than they expected! And we have been able to do this for 5 years now. I know many of my friends who just give what is in their hand. And God is able to use that and multiply it!
How many loaves do YOU have? Put it in God's hand and see miracles!

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Friday, February 13, 2015

Paint Party Friday: An Arm and a Leg!

 "This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." Genesis 2:23
After saying that everything was good in the first chapter of Genesis, God says it is NOT good for the man He created, to be alone. "I will make a helper suitable for him" (Gen. 2:18,20) A study of the Hebrew words for suitable helper yields the meaning "an equal and perfect counterpart". Eve is by no means inferior in standing to Adam.
There is a joke that God told Adam He would provide a partner for him, perfect in every way. Adam then asked what would it take for him to have this perfect partner. God answered, "An arm and a leg." "OK", Adam asked next, "What can I get for a rib?" And the rest is history!!!

 Most of the time, relationships are far from perfect because we are not perfect. And marriage between an imperfect man and an imperfect woman is one of the most "efficient" ways God uses to "perfect" us. Couples are like sandpaper to each other. Sounds painful, but if we are committed to God and to each other, if we do not give up, and forgive time and again, we will eventually get our rough edges smooth!

 "The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise!" Genesis 3:6
Poor Eve! She just wanted to be wise! The serpent in the Garden of Eden was very wise, cunning and shrewd, and all he wanted was for Adam and Eve to disobey God and to follow him instead. First, he plants seeds of doubt about the goodness of God, and Eve suddenly agrees with him. "God says we must not eat of the fruit of good and evil, or EVEN TOUCH IT!" God never said anything about not touching the fruit! How harsh God seems. She can't even touch this beautiful fruit, and now all Eve can think of is touching, taking and tasting this forbidden fruit.
When God made the world, and put man in it, apparently there was a clear distinction between good and evil. There was absolute good and absolute evil. Separate, defined, with a very clear division. The word knowledge is da'at in Hebrew, which can also mean union. Da'at was also used in the Bible to describe the union of Adam and Eve. So we can say that the tree may also be named the Tree of the Union of Good and Evil.

I can see why God did not want man to eat of this tree. Just see what is happening in the world today. So much ambiguity. Moral issues are cloudy. There is so much argument even among Christians about right and wrong. We are so enamored of what "looks fresh, delicious and will make us wise"! The world thinks nothing of killing babies now. We are more concerned about killing of animals. We are just getting farther and farther away from the true wisdom we claim to seek, farther and farther from the source of that wisdom. And that is why, just like Adam and Eve, more and more people are hiding from God, in shame, in frustration, in anger, in rebellion, in confusion.
If only we turn back to God who is all good, and all forgiving. We will find the wisdom, love and peace we all need and want.

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

WOYWW: So Much Blessing!

 Here is my table, just as I left it last night.
I am preparing for Art in the Park,
an annual art fair.

And here is my planner. 
I used to have small, utilitarian planners
with no drawings, just boring writing.
Then my brother Robert gifted me with this planner
and I decided to prettify it!
See my other pages here!

 "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, except of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and of blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Gen. 2:16-17, Amplified Bible
I don't think we can imagine the beauty, the lushness, the fragrance of the trees and plants in the Garden of Eden. According to the boundaries in the Bible, the Garden was probably just a few hundred square miles in what is now war-torn Iraq. It was full of good food for the first man and woman. But God always from the beginning has given us free will, the choice to obey or not to obey. And like many of us today, Adam and Eve chose to eat of the fruit of the one tree forbidden!

 I think of our lives today. So much blessing surrounds us. Food on our table, a roof over our heads. People we love and who love us. There is so much favor available to us if we choose to obey God. But many of us choose to disobey. To choose the one thing forbidden. And that is why there is so much death all around. Death of marriages, of relationships, abortion, war, pollution, corruption, etc.
But just as God clothed Adam and Eve (Gen.3:21), He still gives us another chance. We can be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus if we accept this precious gift from God's hand.

 "God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy." Genesis 2:3

It is important to note that God blessed the 7th day, and declared it holy, sanctified, hallowed. When something is holy, it is set apart, dedicated or consecrated to God. We are NOT the ones to make it holy by our actions. We are supposed to KEEP it holy.

Eric Liddell, a Scottish athlete, immortalized in the film "Chariots of Fire", was determined to keep Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, holy. At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, he refused to run in his best event, the mens 100 meters, because the heat was held on a Sunday. So he chose to compete in the 400 meters even if after practicing for this for several months prior to the Olympics, his time was not good enough. 

Before he ran the 400 meters, an American Team masseuse ran up to him to give him a piece of paper with a bible verse- "Those who honor me, I will honor." 1 Samuel 2:23. Eric Liddell won the 400 meters, and broke the world record.

Indeed, if we keep the 7th day holy, by refraining from work, going to church and worshiping Him with others as Isaiah 16:23 and Lev. 23:3 proposes, and helping others, God will see that we honor Him and put Him first. And His promise to us if we do this? He will honor us! 


Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 
peek at desks and projects!
 
I find a lot of inspiration
visiting my friends here:



Blessings!
Patsy



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