Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Year's Eve

Wow tomorrow starts a new year. And a new decade. Amazing how time flies.

As I sit and ponder tonight I wonder what things the Lord has in store for me this next year. Will there be joy? I hope so. Will there be trials? I imagine there will.

One of those will be losing my mother-in-law from the way things are going. She is 94 and has been dealing with severe dementia for a few years. Last year she developed a cancerous growth under her tongue. It has grown pretty quickly and is now affecting her eating. She says it feels like something is caught in her throat and has pretty much stopped eating and just drinks now. Over 6 months ago the doctors gave her three months but since her heart is very strong she is hanging on to life. Thankfully she is not complaining of pain, though they keep her on pain meds just in case. For many years she and I didn't have a very good relationship, but the last couple of years she lived on her own, I saw her 2-3 times a week, checking on if she took her meds, if she needed something. The meds they put her on at the beginning signs of dementia changed her personality and she and I got to know each other in a way we were never able to before. We bonded. And I will miss her. I miss her now as the dementia has progressed enough that she is no longer that person again. It is hard to lose a loved one to death, and it is very hard to watch a loved one deal with dementia and cancer. Either one is hard enough but when they deal with both at the same time, well it adds another dimension.

Sorry I didn't mean this to turn in this direction it just did as I let my mind wander which is what I usually do when I blog.

Hopefully at the end of this next year I will have happy thoughts and can wander down memory lane about those.

Till next year, happy new year!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Ephesians 5:11

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

To me this says we chose to have fellowship or not with unfruitful works. We shouldn't even speak of them. It isn't surprising that it says not to even speak of them. Cause what we say, hear, etc can settle into our heart. And there would begin the fellowship.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Is sin sin?

I read something this morning that got me thinking. It is about the sin of homosexuality. But in the same chapter it talks about a woman being raped and cut into pieces.

Sometimes we focus on one thing and forget or pass over quickly the other. I agree homosexuality is rampant, but so is lying, fornication, adultery and murder. And here I guess is my real point in all of this. God sees sin as sin. All of sin is an abomination to God. He doesn't look at one sin as any worse or better then another. But sometimes we as christians like to think that the "little" sins we struggle with are not as bad as the sin of murder or homosexuality. When in reality, those "little" sins, if not repented and brought under the blood of Jesus, will keep us out of the presence of God just as much as the person who is quilty of unrepented homosexuality or murder.

The chapter I am speaking of is Judges 19. It says that the man gave her to be abused and killed. I personally think that God did not look favorably on the men who gave the girl to be abused either. It says she was his concubine. In another verse it says his father-in-law who was her father. That tells me that she was his wife. God has called our husbands both today and back then to protect us. How did this man protect his wife? I am not saying he should have gone out to the men instead, don't get me wrong. But might there have been a different way? That all of them could have been safe? Hadn't God worked mighty miracles of salvation in the past? What about Lot? God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of the same type of sin. Did these men and women even pray? It doesn't say that, and maybe they did. But it does say what these men decided to do. To save themselves at the cost of the wife and it says that the other man offered his daughter. I just can't imagine my husband offering me or one of our daughters like that. They would have had to kill him first. So while this chapter is about homosexuality, it is about alot more sin then just that. And yes they could have had alot more things happen if they hadn't given over the girl, but maybe, just maybe God would have intervened and the story would have ended differently. In the end, her husband cut her body up and sent it to the 12 coasts. I can't imagine God was happy about that either. Just my ramblings this morning on a chapter that is difficult to read.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Ephesians 5:10

Ephesians 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

My bible has a note here to look at Romans 12:2.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

Want to know what the perfect will of God is for your life? This tells you what to do. Transform your mind by washing it in the word. Remember garbage in, garbage out. You can't expect to overcome the sin in your life if you aren't willing to work at it. If you don't care what you hear or see, then you will think as the world thinks and act as the world acts.

Are you tired of conforming? Then do something about it. Only you can make that decision, and only you can stick to it and do something about it.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Ephesians 9

Ephesians 5:9 For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;

The word of God tells us that if we are children of God's, born again by accepting Christ as our Savior, then we should show forth fruit of the Spirit.

Galations 5:22 says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith,
:23 meekness, temperance, against such is no law.

Are you saved by faith in Christ? Are you showing forth His fruit?