GOD IS IN EVERYDAY
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Under Construction

12/23/2012

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Working on a newly-purchased house is both exciting and frustrating.  While it’s fun to make your new home into a reflection of your personality and dreams, it is also challenging as much time and energy must be invested so that the previous
owner’s imprint is removed.
             
While on the outside a house can appear to be a solid and safe structure in which to live, the interior, upon closer inspection, can leave quite a different impression.  Much, too, can be learned about a previous homeowner’s habits, his/her home repair
abilities, and also of their acceptance of a contractor’s level of workmanship.  The hidden potential (or further disgust) of a residence is uncovered each time a major appliance is moved – how can someone live with decades of such accumulated filth? – or else a cobbled-together plumbing or electrical issue is revealed (usually because of a problem that only arises immediately after the sale and/or after move in) that creates sheer amazement in the minds of the new owners as they wonder how the house never burned down either in whole or in part, or kept from being flooded out.

Houses and human beings are quite similar in this respect.  On the surface, we may look as if we are well put together as we go about our daily tasks well-groomed and fashionably dressed.   Yet on the inside, we are sick and feel as if we are dying.  Our negative emotions or hurtful intentions are swept aside and buried underneath the
pleasantries and smiling facades we put on each morning before we face the rest
of the world.  We long for relief; yet are hesitant to open up for fear of rejection.  We know that others would be truly appalled (or scared) if they could read our minds and see what’s really going on inside.  
             
God knows all of the thoughts you have …
      
Psalm 94:11
“The Lords knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.”
             
… and all of the words you will speak.
             
Psalm 139:4
“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”
             
He knows all about you – yes, even those hidden parts - and loves you anyway.
  
Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Bring to Him all of the things that give you pain or shame, all of those things you have been hiding, and God will lovingly dismantle your ‘human’ house and remake you into something new. 
            
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!”

He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


 

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Christmas Treats

12/12/2012

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Can you smell it?  The scent of cinnamon and other spices permeate the air in homes across the globe at this time of year as special treats are made in preparation for the celebration shortly to come.  Many of these tantalizing goodies are only made during the Christmas season and are looked forward to all year long.   For some people, Christmas doesn’t feel like Christmas until the baker in the house rolls up his or her sleeves and takes the carefully shopped for (and guarded) ingredients out of the cupboard and begins the measuring, mixing, and baking process involved in creating these traditional family delicacies.  The luscious aroma of your favorite cookie, roll, pie or cake being baked, as well as the anticipation of that first bite, is enough to make you feel like a kid all over again.

As a youngster, I can remember watching as my mother performed the holiday baking ritual in our household.  I was fascinated by how she could pull
several ingredients out of the cupboard (in what I thought at the time was a
random fashion) and then mix them together in such a seemingly effortless way so
that the end product was a picture-perfect and delicious tasting cookie or other
treat.  It was during one of these baking sessions that my mother taught me a valuable lesson.

I had wandered into the kitchen when I heard the sound of the hand mixer being used as the sound of it was a near-guarantee that something extra special was being prepared.  As I peeked over the edge of the large mixing bowl, my eyes grew wide as
I saw what appeared to be mounds and peaks of delicious whiteness.  My mouth watered as I believed that I was seeing cream cheese frosting!  Yum!

When she turned off the mixer, I asked her if I could taste it. She consented and, before she could change her mind, I immediately scooped up a mound of the fluffy whiteness with my finger and popped it into my mouth fully expecting the sweet, creamy goodness of frosting.  The pleasure I had hoped to enjoy came unexpectedly to an abrupt end as I quickly spit out the mouthful of shortening I had eagerly asked to sample just seconds before.  
 
Mom, in her wisdom, allowed me the freedom to experience the consequence of my request.   She knew that eating vegetable shortening wasn’t something that I would
enjoy, yet she also knew that I needed to discover for myself that what looked good wasn’t and that it was highly likely that I would willingly – forcefully - reject it and would not want to sample it again.  She was right.  I never again tasted something without first asking what it was.   

Psalm 34:8
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”

One of the definitions for the word taste is ‘experience.’   Our Heavenly Father has invited us to experience Him for ourselves so that we can see that He is good. 

What are some of the ways He shows His goodness to us?

He is always with us.  Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never
leave you nor forsake you.”
 

He always hears us when we cry out to Him.  Psalm 34:15
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.”

He offers guidance to us. Isaiah 30:21
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.””

He provides for all our needs.  Philippians 4:19
“God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

He gives healing to us.  Exodus 15:26
“I am the Lord, who heals you.”

And He promises everlasting life to anyone who asks.  John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This Christmas season as you pick and choose which special goodies you will sample, take the time also to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”   When you experience God, you will not be disappointed.  He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How
You Can Find Him
located at the top of this page.)

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Ancient Path

12/10/2012

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As Christmas gets ever closer, we are inundated with sales fliers, marketing emails and television commercials about the latest, greatest and most updated version of myriads of things that are “only on sale for a limited time and just in time for the holidays” as the retail industry strives to end the calendar year well in the black.  Each advertisement shows beautiful, shining pictures of things in such a way that we begin to believe that we cannot live another moment without buying them.   Toys that were played with in our youth (or, dare I say, by our parents and grandparents in their youth) have been re-released with a new updated look to  either the item itself or to its packaging, or both.   The electronic devices – along with their many attachments - are clamored for by children young and old.  And
for the adults, how did we ever live without the latest gizmos and gadgets that have been specifically designed to save us time yet usually only succeed in draining us of our hard-earned cash?   It’s enough to make your head spin.

Being enticed by the ‘latest and greatest’ is not something new.  Nearly from the beginning of mankind’s life on earth, he has been tempted  by Satan to go his own way by some new idea or thing.   (Remember when Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was forbidden? See Genesis 3:6)  And ever since mankind gave into temptation and fell out of right relationship with God, he has searched high and low for more new and improved ways to restore that relationship.

Jeremiah 6:16
“This is what the Lord says:  “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

What is this
ancient way?  It is the oldest, truest way God has given to mankind when He afforded him the choice to obey Him and trust that He would protect and provide for him, or else reject God’s way and go off on his own misguided course.   Sadly, the wrong path was chosen.  To follow God’s right path for living was, and is, the only way to find peace and rest for the soul that we so long for.  
 
So how do we get back onto this ancient path?  
 
John 14:6
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There is no ‘new and improved’way to reach God.  He still requires that we make a willing choice to trust Him in the provision He has made for us.  And that provision to right relationship with Him is through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Which way will you choose?  He’s waiting for you.

 
(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How
You Can Find Him
located at the top of this page.)


 

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Whole-Life Coverage

12/4/2012

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As I bemoaned the sighting of additional gray hairs – how do they sprout up over night? – my hairstylist (who is in her early 20s) smiled at me and said, “Those aren’t gray hairs.  They are wisdom hairs.”

I appreciated this new perspective on the evidence of the aging process and thought back to a time in my girlhood
when I could not wait to be middle-aged so I could be like the older ladies in my circle of influence who appeared, to my young eyes, to have so much wisdom about life things.   Looking  in the mirror while my stylist chirped happily away as she trimmed my hair, I couldn’t help but wonder when I would feel as wise as I thought those women were from my youth.  
 
Our society looks differently at graying men than they do of women.  Men get more ‘distinguished’ looking and are viewed as experienced, hence more trustworthy and valuable, in the workforce.  Women, on the other hand, are viewed as merely old and worn out.  
 
The Bible, however, tells us quite a different story.

Proverbs 16:31a
“Gray hair is a crown of splendor;”

While we think of crowns as used solely for kings, queens and high priests, a crown is also indicative of the presence of honor and an elevated status.   Living to old age is an achievement and something to be celebrated.  

Titus 2:4
“Then they [older women] can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

Women are to pass down the wisdom they have learned through their own life lessons to the younger women.  Doing so sets them (and successive generations) up for greater success in their relationships with their husband, child(ren), and those in their community.    It also helps create a healthier society that is better able to take care of all of its citizens, including the elderly.

God, who knit me together in my mother’s womb with so much care (Psalm 139:13) has also promised to take care of me throughout my old age.

Isaiah 46:4
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

My ‘wisdom’ hairs are now viewed not only as a “crown of splendor,” but also as an encouragement to share my life’s lessons with younger women so that they are equipped for better success.  And most importantly,  these gray hairs, once looked at with such disdain, now act as a promise that the God, who cared for me at conception, will also care for me all the days of my life.  What better assurance of
whole-life coverage could I have than that?

There is no better coverage you could have either.  Why not start today?  The choice is yours.  He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see
How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)


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    Welcome to my site!  My name is Robin. I'm a Christian writer with a heart-desire to share how I have found (and continue to find) God in the everyday.  Thank you for joining me on this adventure!

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