Inspirations

Growing up, one thing my parent would often say is, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”  Way back then, I thought it was a funny saying.   Now as I cross the half-century mark, I realize that it is waaaay truer than I would like to thing or admit.  There have been times in my life, that I have felt the need to give a word of encouragement to a friend, give something to a ministry, or perhaps talk to a friend about God.  But…. I didn’t act right away to the spirits leading, I put it off.  I told myself that I could do it tomorrow.  Do you know what the problem with that philosophy is?  Yepp, tomorrow never gets here.  I had put it off indefinitely.   I watched the opportunity to do a good deed slip right through my hand like sand just because I put it off waiting for a better time.  It was stretching me a bit, and I was uncomfortable.  I am convinced that  the one word that Satan love...

  “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   Ok, I have a confession!  I am addicted to craft and Do it yourself projects.  I love a first-rate “Do It Yourself project.”  I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when I look at a finished project and say, “I did this.”  My problem is that I don’t have just ONE project going, no I have at least 10 in various stages of completion.  Most I do manage to finish but not all of them.  Occasionally, there have been some projects that, for whatever reason, never did get finished.  I've ended up putting the project in the closet because  of the clutter.  I intend on working on it but, for whatever reason, it seems to get derailed.  I end up with a project sitting for years because I do not have the heart to give up, but I also do not have the ambition to finish the task.   As I look at th...

When my children were younger, they all loved to be carried.  They would come up and lift their chubby little arms up just begging you to hold them.   My heart would melt, and I would end up carrying them even though I knew they could should walk.  Sometimes, it was when they had been walking, and were exhausted.  They just couldn’t walk anymore.  I loved knowing that my children wanted me to hold them.  So we would pick them up and snuggle them in our arms, even though we knew we were going to be worn-out from lifting them because we loved them.  To me, it was such a simple, yet beautiful demonstration of their love and trust. It was comforting to them to know that mommy or daddy was holding them.  They felt safe.  I  imagine that our heavenly father, whose love for us makes any other love look like rags, must feel the same way.  He’s waiting longing for those times when we run into his arms saying, “Daddy, carry me.”...

If I said, “We don’t live in a perfect world.”  Almost everyone reading this blog would say, “no!”  Some of you would say, “What was your first clue, Sherlock?”  Others would say, “Now tell me something I don’t know.”  In fact, it would be hard to find anyone  on the planet who thinks this world is perfect unless the word “mess” is added after the word “perfect”.    One only needs to take a quick look around to realize that this world is broken.  In fact, the Bible says that “For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event.  So, here’s my question.   IF everyone agrees that this world is far from perfect, WHY do so many of us chase perfection trying to attain, to lay hold, of it?  We look for the “perfect spouse.”   We move from job to job hoping to find the perfect job.   We transfer from one college to an...

As I was reading The story of “The Prodigal Son”  in Matthew.   I have read it many times, and you probably have too.  As I was reading, God focused my attention not on the prodigal, but the father.   When the son demanded his inheritance, the father could have said, “I am not giving you your inheritance right now.” Or “You’re not responsible enough to handle it yet” …. but he didn’t.  The father gave him the estate possibly knowing what the outcome would be.  Why would he let him have his way?  I believe it is because God will NEVER force us to love him.  The son’s, there were two, had the same choice that we have.  We can choose to love God or not.  When the son left his father’s house, the one thing we don’t see is the father “chasing after his son.  The father let the son go.  The father NEVER once bails him out. Did he not love the Son?  Of course he did!  The son went out and made a zillion bad life choice...

What is worse than being hated, rejected, and falsely accused?  How about being forgotten, the victim of broken promises.  When Joseph was home, his brother’s hated him.  Joseph was probably smart enough to realize that fact.  When Potiphar's wife accused Joseph, he was probably under no delusion that she truly cared about him.  However, when Joseph was stuck in that terrible, horrendous prison, there were two men  who were under Joseph’s care.   The men were probably friends.  Friends can forget about us, strangers can not.  He might have been happy if his brother’s had forgotten him.  He would have been content if Mrs. Potiphar had forgotten about him.  But….  very little hurts more that being forgotten by a friend. They were sad  and when Joseph asks, “Why are you so down?”  They told him about their dreams.  He told them what their dreams meant.  In three days, one prisoner would be kille...

I am still thinking about Jacob’s son, Joseph.   Once Joseph arrived in Egypt,  he was sold as a slave you would think everything turned around, and life was good, right?  Wrong!  He was a good worker.  In fact, he was so good and trustworthy that Potiphar put him in charge of his house.  Things were indeed looking up for Joseph until Mrs. Potifar noticed Joseph.  By noticed, I mean she made sexual advances because Joseph was “hot”.   Joseph had a choice.    He could give in to the advances of Potiphar’s wife. After all, Joseph was stuck in a foreign country against his will.  What would it hurt if he slept with Mrs. Potifar?  Potiphar would be getting what he deserved.  Right? The other option was to follow his conscience and God and refuse to comply with her demands, even though, the lady would be mad.  Don't think for a moment that he chose the easy road.  No, he chose to ignore her a...