Ups and Downs

Ecc 3:1 To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the heaven:
 :2 a time to be born, and a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
:3 a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
:4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
:5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 
:6 a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
:7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
:8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Most of us would agree life has its ups and downs. David was called "a man after God's own heart." Yet his life illustrates how life is filled with seasons of ups and downs.

We do a disservice to ourselves and others. When we act like the Christian life as peaceful and happy all the time. The Bible shows the believers life having ups and downs. 

In what season are you right now?

Whether a time of joy or sadness, each season should motivate us to seek the Lord and trust Him.

Every season needs faith to get us through it.

Is 64:8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand.

I love quilting and knitting. Here are a few of my favorite things.

1. Fabric
For quilting we use a variety of fabrics, usually cotton but for crazy quilting you use different types of fabrics. Knitting uses many different types of yarn. Cotton, wool, acrylic.

That's how it is with Christian women. We come in all different varieties as well. It would be boring to only use one type of fabric or yarn. The body of Christ would be boring if we were all the same. The body of Christ needs different textures, patterns also.

2. Adhesive
In applique some use adhesive for machine applique. There are different thicknesses, one sided, two sided, etc.

What adhesive do you use to hold yourself together? Some good ones are God's love, His strength, fellowship with other Christians, joy, and faith. Some require a generous amount. 

3. Marking tools
Marking tools are very important to quilters. We use them to mark quilting lines, to draw applique shapes. It gives us guides to follow.

As Christians we need guidelines too. We have a "pattern" to follow. The Bible gives us great boundaries to live by. We need to place the right things in our lives in the right spot. Maybe that's marking your morning by prayer and Bible study before starting your day.

When we put our time into quilting or knitting, we are looking forward to the outcome of the project. Our work is important to us and we want to have good results and have our projects come out pretty and nice.

When the Lord works on us that is how He wants us to turn out. Sometimes He uses tools on us too. God has some favorite things He likes to use on us. Sometimes He handles us gently, and sometimes not so gently. But it is always for our good.

God Will Help and Fatherly Advice

2 Kings 19:10 Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: "Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
:11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered?
:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?
:13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hema, and Ivah?"
:14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
:15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: "O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
:16 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
:17 Truly Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands.
:18 And have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands - wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them.
:19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone."

If you're in a situation where you need God's help, reach up your hand to Him in prayer.

1 Kings 2:1 Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying:
:2 "I go the way of all earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man.
:3 And keep the charge of the Lord your God; to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;
:4 that the Lord may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
:5 Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet.
:6 Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.
:7 But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
:8 And see, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.'
:9 Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair to the grave with blood.
:10 So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David.

When we are young most of us don't see the importance of our parent's advice. As we get older we see that a lot of it makes sense.

Let's look at the advice David gave his son when he knew he was dying.

1. Be strong and prove yourself a man. (vs 2)

As a woman, I don't want to be "manly" but I do want to be the best godly woman I can be.

2. Keep the charge of the Lord (vs 3,4)

In these verses David encourages him to strive to do everything he can to keep his life centered on the Lord.

David had ups and downs in his walk with the Lord, so he knew how important a close walk with God was.

3. Show wisdom. (vs 5, 6)

Wisdom is something we should pray for ourselves and our families daily.

4, Show kindness (vs 7)

Kindness is one of the things lacking in a lot of people these days.

5. Discern well (vs 8,9)

Even in our daily lives knowing how to discern in wisdom is so important. Also knowing that sometimes punishment has to be carried out is important as well.

Pressing Forward and Beauty on the Inside

Ex 16:1 And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.
:2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
:3 And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
:5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
:6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, "At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt.
:7 And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we, that you complain against us?"
:8 Also Moses said, "This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord."
:9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, 'Come near before the Lord, for He heard your complaints.'
:10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
:11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
:12 "I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, "At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.

Just like the children of Egypt, sometimes we want to go back to what was. There should not be a reverse in our lives. If we are not careful, we will go back to the old sin we have overcome with the help of the Lord.

We must keep going forward, without the possibility of going in reverse.

In our walk with Jesus we must refuse to go backwards.

Phil 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Despite the many miracles God had performed for the children of Israel, they wanted to go back into slavery in Eqypt. They failed to trust God that He could and would guide them forward to a better life. We are like that also sometimes. Don't go back, press forward.

Pr 31:30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Sometimes we worry so much about how we look on the outside, we forget that it is our inner beauty that matters the most.

Just as we must take care of our outer needs, brush hair, etc, we must work on the inner beauty daily as well.

Here are a few things to help with the inner beauty.

1. Cleanser

We have to cleanse ourselves of all unwanted impurities. We do that through confessing our sins and receiving God's forgiveness.

1 Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2. Moisturizer

Having compassion can be a good moisturizer. When we start seeing others and their needs instead of our own it can really soften us up.

Jude :21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
:22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction.

3. Wrinkle cream.

A meek and quiet spirit will smooth out those wrinkles.

1 Pet 3:4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

4. Foundation

The Word of God is our foundation. If we have that in our hearts, the rest can easily be applied.

Ps 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

5. Eye makeup.

We need to protect our eyes from seeing ungodly things.

1 Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

6. Lipstick

Apply lipstick in the shade of pleasantness daily.

Pr 16:24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

7. Blush

We should radiate God's love through us as our blush.

Rom 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

8. Hand lotion.

Apply generosity and good deeds to keep our hands from becoming dry and brittle.

Pr 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own words praise her in the gates.

9. Foot therapy.

Take your feet only to the places Christ would approve. Otherwise they can get rough and calloused.

1 Thess 5:22 Abstain from every appearance of evil.

God on our side and what type of coffee are you?

God on our side and what type of coffee are you?

1 Sam 14:1 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

:2 And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibean under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men.

:3 Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Johnathan had gone.

:4 Between the passes, by which Jonathan sough to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the other Seneh.

:5 The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.

:6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”

:7 So his armourbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.:

:8 Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them.

:9 If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.

:10 But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us, then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.

:11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they were hidden.”

:12 Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armourbearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to his armourbearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Isreal.”

:13 And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armourbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armourbearer killed them.

:14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.

 When you first start reading this, you think “Oh no! This is not gonna turn out well.” But he had God on his side, and that is all we need.

1 Pet 1:16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

I think everyone agrees on what a bad cup of coffee is like. It can be weak, bitter, stale, cold or soured by something we put in it and it tastes bad.

Just like no one likes a bad tasting cup of coffee, they don’t like bad tasting Christians.

Let’s look at the different kinds.

1.       Weak

Weak Christians don’t have much faith. Sometimes it’s because they don’t know the Word of God enough because they are new Christians. They need to add some grounds. Dig into the Word of God and get grounded on the principles formed in the bible. Study the attributes of God. Lean and figure out what you really believe. Pray a lot. Build up your prayer life. Rely on God’s strength and not your own.

2.       Bitter

I’ve known bitter Christians, and unfortunately there have been times I have felt bitter. But if it isn’t dealt with, it grows and eats up your life. It doesn’t smell nice. There isn’t much you can do to fix a bitter cup of coffee. No matter how much cream or sugar you add it is still bitter. You have to throw it out and start over. Isn’t that like our lives? No matter how many good things we add, if we don’t deal with and get rid of the bitterness, it will hinder our growth. We need to empty ourselves and let the Holy Spirit fill us up.

3.       Stale

Stale means tasteless. Have you lost that first love? It’s easy to do, especially if you have known the Lord a long time. Do you get weary in well doing? We need to freshen up.

4.       Cold

You may go to take a drink and realize your coffee has gotten cold. Have you gotten that way in your desire to serve Christ? There are lots of reasons this happens.

We slow down in praying and reading our bible. We stop going to church.

What do you do to the cold coffee? Most of us go to the pot (unless we have a Keurig) and add a lot hot coffee.  We need to go back to our Source, Christ. Talk to the Lord. Draw closer to Him and He will warm you back up.

5.       Sour

Ever tried something new in your coffee that left a sour taste? It’s the same when we allow wordly or ungodly things into our lives. Spending time with the Lord brings a sweet aroma. We must spend more time in the presence of the Lord. We do this through prayer, bible reading, bible study, devotionals.  Sometimes we take our time with the Lord lightly. When we approach it as being in the presence of the Lord it puts it in perspective.

Burdens and Feeding your soul

Burdens and Feeding your soul

Gal 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

One person can only carry a burden so far on their own.  Find people who believe in you. Encourage and support them, and welcome their support in return. Spend more time with those who sharpen you and make you better, and less time with those who drain your energy, time, and talent. The truth is, friends who speak encouragement into your life are priceless.

Ps 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

:98 You through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me.

:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are all my meditation.

:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts.

:101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.

:102 I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me.

:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

:104 Through Your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.

Have you tasted the goodness of the Lord? Open up your bible today!

A well read bible is the sign of a well fed soul.

Challenges

2 Cor 11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.

:23 Are they ministers of Christ? – I speak as a fool –I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

:24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.

:25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

:26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in peril of my own countrymen,  in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

:27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness –

:28 besides the other things, whaty comes upon me daily; my deep concern for all the churches.

:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

:30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying,

:32 in Damascus the governor,  under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;

:33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands

12:1 It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

:3 And I know such a man – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows –

:4 now he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

:5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myslf I will not boast, except in my infirmities.

:6 For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

:8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

:10 Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Too often, we run from challenges. Yet the people we love to read about in the Bible are impressive because they battled challenges. With the confidence of God’s help, Paul faced challenges head on and conquered them.

If God sends you on stony paths, He will provide you with strong shoes.

PS 34:9 Oh fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.

God Cares For You

Mal 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

When you demonstrate that God’s business means more to you than your own, He will prosper you.  Tithing demonstrates that you’ve conquered self-interest and the fear of lack. It’s a demonstration of faith, and God always rewards faith.

Luke 12:22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

:23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

:24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you that the birds?

:25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

:26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?

:27 Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

:28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

:29 And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.

:30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.

:31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

:32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

:33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.

:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 Jesus was promising to guard, protect, and care for the disciples as they went out into the world. He assured them that because He cared for simple things like birds and lilies, they could be certain that He would take care of His little flock of believers.

We can’t know the future. But we can know this: no matter what comes, we are under the loving, caring, watchful eye of our Great Shepherd, who also happens to be the Son of God.