...

Monday, February 10, 2014

Be the Salt!!!

Last Friday I was in the hospital
early in the morning
to watch over my mom
and I started painting
on a chair and on my lap.
 Here is a picture of my
workspace changed in the Waterlogue app,
which I now use to document
ordinary moments in my day.

 
This morning I read from Psalm 132:
"Let us enter into His dwelling..."
 When we enter into God's home,
what do we do?
When we are faced with His love,
His majesty, His goodness?

We praise Him!
We worship Him!
We fall on our knees!
It is so amazing that God loves us so much,
that He allows us access into His home,
into His very heart!!!

 "Within my heart I treasure your promise..." 
Psalm 119:11 
When I was pregnant with Josh, 
I was anxious. 
Maybe because I was 38 years old, 
and my first time, and reading too much
about what can go wrong. 
But I distinctly felt God reassure me and say, 
"When you hold your baby in your arms, 
you will know how much I love you." 

 I kept that promise in my heart and claimed it. 
And sure enough, when I 
finally held Josh in my arms, 
I was flooded with gratefulness 
and my heart welled up in praise. 
There are so many promises 
in God's Word we can claim. 
I try to take time each day 
to dwell in God's faithfulness 
and bask in His love. 
No safer place to be!
 
 "You are the salt of the earth. 
But if salt loses it's taste, 
with what can it be seasoned? 
It is no longer good for anything 
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." 
Mt 5:13-16. 
You and me, with all our gifts and talents, 
are salt, flavoring, preservative here on earth. 
Salt is very necessary, even in our bodies. 
It regulates our water content. 
How does salt lose it's flavor? 
LOTS of water! 
Sometimes we lose our effectiveness as Christians 
because of trials, busyness, distractions. 
 We can get tired, give up and think 
what's the use of praying, reading the Bible? 
Nothing changes! 

Then we need to step back and 
let God give us back our vision, 
to see ourselves the way God sees us. 
Without our vision, 
our purpose on earth, as salt,
 we are "not good for anything"‼️ 
What use is a beautiful home, 
high paying job, good grades in school,
 the best bag in the world, if we are not 'salt', 
hope and encouragement, 
 a nurturer of life in a dying world?

If we are able to see ourselves as God sees us,
when we are able to enter into His heart,
we will be more effective.
We will be the "salt" 
God has called us to be!

 Previous Posts


Posted by at 5 comments:

Friday, February 07, 2014

Paint Party Friday: Waywardness!

Happy Paint Party Friday!
Here is what I did this morning-

"The good news is that
God has made provision
for our waywardness.
He has given us
the great gift of repentance."
(from The Word Among Us)

 
I don't know why, but I like the word
"waywardness".
It does not sound so bad!
But the truth of the matter is
that sin is sin,
whether it is serious or not.
Mostly because small sins lead to big sins.
Take David's idleness which led him
to murder the husband of the woman
he lusted after.
Then there's Saul, whose impatience
progressed to rebellion against God! 
It is good to look at our ways honestly
and see if there are little sins
(sometimes we don't even 
consider them as sins!)
like telling white lies, unkindness, 
inconsideration, impatience,
etc., and repent and try to do better.

 "Take nothing for your journey..." 
Jesus told his disciples 
when He sent them off to heal 
and preach repentance (Mark 6:7-13) 
This is something I have a hard time following! 
I am always soooo prepared that I do not pack lightly. 
We are all on a pilgrimage 
and this is our temporary home. 
 We should not burden ourselves 
with many many things, 
not only material possessions. 
 
We should also get rid of any anger, 
anxiety or fear that oppresses us. 
Thomas a Kempis said, 
"By two wings man is lifted 
from the things of this earth: 
simplicity and purity."
One of the ways we can do this 
is repenting of our waywardness!
 So let's lighten our load and enjoy the journey!
 










Linking with

Sometimes I put on my best pajamas and
join these wonderful blog parties!!!
So many WONDERFUL blogfriends to discover!



Thank you for dropping by!

You are appreciated!

Patsy
Posted by at 19 comments:

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

WOYWW: Witnessing Miracles

It's a Wednesday morning again,
and where am I?
Back to overnight duty at the hospital,
watching over my mom.
Here is my work desk.
More a work chair.

I discovered a new app
and I love it!
It makes any picture you take
into a watercolor painting!

It's called Waterlogue and I like using it to
document my day.

Like here is a picture of my mom
with her doctors last night.
Not so heartbreaking when it is
 in watercolor, isn't it?
Thank you for your prayers for my mom!

 This morning I read the short story in the Gospel of Mark
about  when Jesus started to teach in the 
synagogue in his hometown.
The people listening were astonished,
but offended.
"Where did he get his wisdom?
Is he not the carpenter?
Don't we know his family who lives among us?"
they scoffed. Mark 6:1-6

And Jesus was not able to perform miracles there
because of their lack of faith.
How about us?
Do we allow Jesus to work in our lives?
Jesus was a real person.
His existence is more documented 
than the leaders of his time.
There were many who wrote about 
what they witnessed first hand,
and were willing to be martyred
because they believed in what He said.

"Night and day among the tombs...
he was always crying out and bruising himself 
with stones." Mark 5:1-20 
There are many people among us who are hurting.
 They may not mutilate themselves like this pitiable man, 
but people with emotional pain hurt themselves repeatedly 
although you do not see the wounds on their skin. 

Would you know anyone like this? 
Don't pass up the opportunity to be like Jesus 
and help free them from their pain, 
their low self-esteem or their lack of self-respect. 
Often times when we help others, 
we help ourselves as well!

I think it is because
when we help others,
encouraging, loving them,
it is God's love that passes through us!
It is Jesus working in our life.
Who knows, we may witness
miracles?






Posted by at 23 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)