This is so not me.  

I am taking three days off work.  In a row.  That's what I'm talkin' about.  A mini vacay...

We're not going anywhere or doing anything.  That's what I like about it.  Aside from these blogs and this morning's church service, Ray and I aren't doing any church work for three days in a row.  Count 'em... Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  

Normally we work every day of the week.  Not all day, mind you.  We babysit on Mondays and Tuesdays for two of our amazing grandchildren.  But when they leave, we usually pick up our laptops and start working not stopping until bedtime.  

It's tiring.

Ray and I know better.  We have attended  a pastor's sabbatical where we took an entire week at a resort which doesn't have television or WI FI hookup.  It was great.  I think we slept the first two full days.  But it was three years ago.

In 2010 we went to Yellowstone Nat'l Park.  I thought it was a wonderful break.  A nice getaway.  We left on a Sunday after church and were back the following Saturday so we didn't have to miss a service.  

Every year at Christmas we take our entire family away for a three-day, two-night break at a fun hotel with a waterpark.  

But that's it.  We work every other day of the year.  

Not only does it wear us out, it completely goes against God's rules for us. The NIV Bible gives hundreds of verses using "rest" as in "I should have some."  The Ten Commandments tell us to take an entire day.  Pastor's training courses try to convince us we're most effective when we take a day off. 

But we ignore that and keep working ourselves silly.  I can tell we have gone too long and too far without a break.  Ray told me he needs to take a month off of work and just revive.  Refresh himself in the Lord.  He's drained.  

We don't need to just rest, we need to be refreshed by God.  He can take us to a place of quiet refreshing.  It's all found in Psalm 23.  And other places.  Taking us to a place of quiet.  Rest.  Refreshing.  Giving our soul a much-needed break from the hurry-scurry of this life and bringing us to a place of deep contentment and rest.  In Him.  

The Psalm further goes on to say He will make sure our enemies know it's God setting us up... caring for us.... keeping us safe.   Watching over us.
 
How about you?  Do you need to take a break not only from the busyness of life, but to rest in God?  Do you run yourself dry spiritually speaking?  

Take a break.  Learn to rest in God's presence through the reading of His Word and listening to praise music.   

Let His Spirit speak to yours.  

I'm giving it some time on this three-day weekend.   Resting in Him.  Reading.  Sleeping.   

Ready to go again on Tuesday.  

The only type of television I really enjoy is the kind where I am going to learn something.  The History Channel, TLC (some shows), Biography, the cooking channels...sometimes.   I don't like reality TV.  

This morning i was watching Biography and the featured person was John Travolta.  Just a few moments into the show they began discussing Scientology.  Just as I was reaching for the remote I heard something interesting.  Johnny T (as Ray and I call him) stated Scientology is for people who want to be better, alleviate stress and understand their minds. It was to bring inner peace and understand how they are made.  It isn't for everyone.

It isn't for everyone?  Why?  The rest of the world isn't smart enough, apparently.

If you don't understand how the mind works and how touching heals, you won't get Dianetics, the main idea of Scientology.  Well, that's too bad for you.  You cannot be calm and peaceful, or even healed unless you're very smart.  You cannot get in touch with the inner, powerful self... unless you are very smart.

That alone should be reason enough to not explore the religion of understanding yourself... Scientology.

Here's where God's word differs.  

God made his Word simple so everyone could understand.  Many of His commands are one easy word.   Come, Listen, Obey, Love, Honor, Repent, Pray

No special degrees or extraordinary wisdom necessary.

So simple a child can understand it.   The Bible even tells us faith in God is simple SO a child can understand it.  You know how kids understand something, don't you?  In the most basic form.  

Mark 10:15The Message (MSG)
 13-16The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

God wants everyone to be able to find their way to heaven through His Son, Jesus Christ.    He doesn't want just the brightest and the best.  He wants everyone.  The hurting, the wounded, the lonely.  

Where my hover mobile?    I distinctly remember a show back in the day called "The 21st Century."  It was a news show in a "60 Minutes" format displaying all of the things we were supposed to be using/doing by now.  Wearing silver suits.  Flying in hover mobiles.  

I'm not seeing it.  Maybe I just don't know where to look.

Perhaps the biggest advancement, if we can call it that, is the chipping of humans.  You know, the RFID chips people are talking about implanting in the hands of people.    

I don't know when these were first conceived.  I looked online and the only early reference I can find to it is it was actually used and tested on people in 1998.  Wow.  How long before that did they conceive the idea?  Who came up with the idea all of our information could fit in a little chip we carry around with us?

At this writing, it is being used world-wide.  Some universities are using them as trials.   The "advantage" is that medical information may be more widely accessible by using chips.  Because of a future GPS feature of the chips  fugitives and missing persons may be tracked.   But if fugitives and missing persons may be tracked, wouldn't we all have to have these chips?  We have no idea who will be missing next, now do we?

Microchips push the "panic button" in Christians because computer chips operate on a binary number system, not words.  Therefore, we would all have a number.  I could go on and on here, the study of eschatology is a passion of mine.   


Let it suffice to say, that although we are to keep an eye on what's happening in the world and learning to recognize the signs of Jesus' soon return, we are never to be fearful.  The  Bible tells us we will be kept safe as in the days of Noah.  (Matthew 24:37-38)   Noah, you might remember, walked into the ark God prepared for him just as it started to rain.  

I know Facebook is all abuzz today because of the article on the microchips.  It has been posted and reposted all morning long.   God has not been surprised by this.  He is not unaware.

Fear not...  those words are written in the bible 365 times... One for every day of the year.  

Now... about that hover mobile.  

Ray and I are watching the History Channel.  I have no idea why.  The remote must be lost.

I kid, I kid.  Actually, I like watching the channel most of the time.  I enjoy stories on the American Revolution, the Civil War, history pertaining to the Middle East, and on the lost civilizations... especially the ones which were world powers at one time.  But this show is on aliens.  I think the reason we stuck with this show is because the teaser at the beginning stated evidence would all come from the Bible.  So we watched.

After watching it Ray and I just looked at each other.  I said something to the effect of "and they think it takes faith to believe the Bible?"   The accounts of Enoch, Elijah, and the book of Ezekiel are the "Biblical basis" for their  Ummm...   Hmmmm...  Errrr.... findings.   

Apparently when they used the Bible as reference, they just looked at the pictures.

There's no point in rambling on about the errors of the professors on television.  They have made themselves believe they are so smart they can state anything and people will drink the koolaid.  

But really... you can get crop circles out of Ezekiel?  Or aliens because Enoch was and he was not?  My Bible says Enoch walked with God.  And God took him.  Well, it's a little verse.  They may have missed it.  The "proof" they gave was bubbles over the heads of people.  They said it meant alien astronauts.    I think it meant Renaissance paintings showing people with halos.  

In any case...

Why would it be people can so easily take in all of that.... junk... and find believing the Bible so difficult?  Is it easier to think aliens from another universe came over to make circles in the corn than to believe in God, the maker and Creator of all things?

Is it easier to believe aliens... er, excuse me "ancient astronauts" visited Abraham than to believe they were angels?   I'm quoting  the show here. 

I guess it shows the enemy of our souls has done his work well.  He simply had to convince people he doesn't exist and get us to think we know everything.  And God isn't something we know and believe by osmosis.  

The enemy of our soul doesn't have to get us to believe in him.  He simply has to get us to doubt the truth.  And believe the lie.

No matter outrageous the lie may be.

Way back when... about the mid 1990's... we got our first home computer.  The screen was maybe seven inches wide but the computer was this big ole' box sitting on our desk in the kitchen.  It had a squealing dial up connection.  

I could boot the computer, go fold a load of laundry, come back and see if it was ready to go.  If not, I could go start dinner.   By the time dinner was going, the computer would be ready to go.  Usually.

An email or two could be sent while dinner cooked.  If I wanted to go to a website, say to check a recipe, I could type in the address, go get a cup of coffee, and then the website would be available.  

That was then.  This is now.

I get frustrated if I cannot access a website in .09 seconds.   If it takes longer than that, I run a scan to see if I picked up a virus somewhere. 

Does that sound like you, too?   Do you stop the microwave early because two minutes is just too long to wait for vegetables to reheat?    That bag of popcorn needs three and one-half minutes.  Who has that kind of time?

We live in a day of lightning quick speed.  We want things and we want them now.  

Imagine way back about 2,000 years ago.  Speed meant using a donkey instead of walking.   Time took its... well, time.   

When Jesus used the word "soon" for something, the concept may have meant years to some.  Months, perhaps.  Days?  Well that would be fast.   

Revelation 3:11 is Jesus talking to the church and He says "i am coming soon.  Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  Him who overcomes i will make a pillar in the temple of my God."

I doubt the disciples thought 2,000 was "soon."  Neither do I.  You don't either, I'm guessing.    

But I'm going to say the reason our "soon" and God's "soon" aren't the same thing is because God is more patient.  He wants to give everyone time to come to Him.  

Maybe it's because He is waiting for the church to do what the church is supposed to do.  (Make disciples or followers of Jesus.)  

In any case, "soon" is "sooner" today than it was 2,000 years ago.  I'm just wondering if we're any more ready today than we were last year.  Or even last week.

It's something to ponder.   

I have to run.  Things to do.  I'll be back soon.  

I smile to myself whenever I post on Facebook, our website or send an email asking people to help with a particular event and the response I get is "I'm pretty busy.  All I will have time to do is pray."  

Good!  That's the one thing we probably need more than any other in the long "to do" list for any event.

A few days ago a friend told me she was so stressed about a certain situation in her life that she actually had to pray to ask God to take over and help find a resolution to her dilemma.  

Why is it we turn to God through prayer when there seems to be no other avenue for resolving our issues?   Why is it we think if we can only pray about something and are unable to help in any other way we have somehow let people down?  Why would we "actually have to pray" instead of desiring to pray to have our needs met?

The words "prayer," "pray" and "prayers" occur in the New King James Bible a total of 286 times.  It would seem something mentioned that often would be pretty important to God.

So what is it?  Why is prayer that it's so important to God, but looked upon as a last resort by those of us left on earth?

Perhaps it's we don't really understand God wants us to talk to Him.  That's what prayer is... talking with God.  Telling Him our innermost thoughts.  Praising Him for His goodness.  Thanking Him for everything.  And asking for the things we need.  

We know we need things, but we don't feel it's necessary to go to God and ask.  We hope he will read our minds or our Facebook posts and realize we need Him to do something on our behalf.  But to actually go to Him and pray?   It's unheard of... for some.  For others it's our lifeblood.  The thing that sustains us through difficult times.  


Let's go a step further.  

Praying is our time of intimacy with God.  The times He is able to speak to our minds and our hearts (if we give Him some time to do so.)  He longs to speak to us, to tell us things He knows about us and His plan for us.  

When we go to God in prayer and approach His throne boldly like the bible says we ought, amazing things happen.  

People are healed.  Comfort is given.  Hope is secured.  

Why do we put it off?  What is it about a relationship with God that keeps us from spending time on a daily basis with Him?  Who doesn't long for time in His presence?  Seeking Him to really KNOW Him.  Praying brings all of those things.  And so much more.   Prayer spoken in faith can move mountains.  ("...He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you..." - Matthew 17: 20)


If you are asked to help with a situation or pray for a need, rest assured, prayer is enough.  We have plenty of mountains waiting to be moved.  

There's a saying "Everything will be alright in the end.  If it's not alright, this isn't the end."

I think that's funny, and it probably wasn't based on God's Word.  But let's say it was.  

How many times have we been in the middle of a trial or problem that just had us completely wrapped up in worry or doubt?  I'm going to go out on a limb and say "a lot of times."  Am I close?

The saying at the top of this blurb states "everything will be alright in the end...."   I can actually find a bible verse to back that up.  

Jeremiah 29:11  11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

That's sounds like everything will be alright in the end to me.  

God's ways aren't ours and for some, that's the problem.  We want to see things done the way we want them done, when we want them done and, of course, how we want them done.  We have a preconceived idea of how our problems should be worked out so when it doesn't happen that way, we sometimes become frustrated.  We fret.  We worry.  We get upset.  After all, things aren't moving in the desired path.  Therefore, we deduce things aren't happening at all.  

Ahhh.... therein lies our problem.  We want to tell God how to work things out on our behalf.  I don't know about you, but I have tried to work things out on my own, not really waiting around for God to handle problems for me.  

How can I put this so it's very easy to understand....?????   Well, I'll just throw it out there... I stink at it.   

I usually end up making the problem either bigger or worse.  God is still able to work things out for my good and His glory, but because I had to "help" it took a little longer than if I had just left it alone.

It's a little bit like the plumber who has a sign on his truck "$100 an hour... $150 an hour if your husband helps me."  

I get it.  God has a plan.  He's been working on that plan long before I ever came to know about said plan.  And His plan is a good one.

He promises everything is going to be alright.  

I'm not exactly sure why it is I have felt the need to speak on the people whose plates are just too full; however, I know it's something I shouldn't let drop... not yet.

One of the many, many lies we get caught up in is that we need to carry a large load as though God couldn't possibly get His work done on earth unless we help.  We cannot let up for one moment or we're letting God down.

We heap our "plates" up to the maximum load and then we add another layer... kinda like that guy at the buffet.  Rather than taking two well-portioned plates, he makes one plate carry enough to feed a small country. 

One thing which stands out about the guy with the heaping plate is it is kind of a mess.  It's difficult to see what's what.  The salad, the main dish and the sides... all mixed together in a mish-mosh of food.  Everything about the plate has lost its individual flavor.  Everything tastes pretty much the same.  It's difficult to enjoy any of the food on the plate because it has all run together.

Life is like that.

We fill our days with things and add item upon item until pretty soon we are unable to enjoy any of it.  The tasks God has given us to add flavor to our days, no... to our lives have become one jumbled mess of things piled sky-high.  We don't enjoy each item, each task separately.  We don't see anything clearly because everything has run together.  We don't enjoy anything one task or event at a time because it has become lost among all of our other tasks.

Often times we overfill our plates because we believe it's what others expect of us.  We ignore what God is whispering to our hearts to do for Him.  We know busy people are...  well, what are they besides busy?

Clearly, there are times in life which become very busy.  The student studying for finals, the new mom, the new job.  These things may make our plate temporarily full.  But it doesn't need to stay that way.

Could it be God has not given us each the things to do we believe are from Him?  Perhaps we should prayerfully consider each new endeavor or opportunity before we assume it is something God has laid before us.
“… The living God, Who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” ------ I Timothy 6:17 If God gives us all things to enjoy, why would He also gives us so much to do we could not possibly enjoy the tasks before us?Here's the answer... ready?  He wouldn't.We tend to put things on our plate... hob nob, helter skelter, making a mess out of things.  Before you take on the next task, or the next "opportunity," make sure it's God leading you to do so.  Hint:  if it upsets you to have one more thing to do, you have no desire to do it, and you dread the prospect, it's probably not God.  Look at your "plate" and ask God what he wants you to keep.  Discard the rest.  And ask God what you would have you do.  Do just that.   Then dare to do the unheard of... enjoy what He gives you.  No matter what anyone else says. 

I have had a busy, busy week.  It absolutely flew by.  This past week I was at the last of five conferences helping me to be a better leader.  A better communicator.  

Well, I don't know how much of it took.  I still write in choppy sentences.

However, I did find out something about myself during this uber-busy week.  I always seem to make a lot of plans.  I seldom have the time to complete them.  This blog is something which fell in the cracks during the past week.  I can see the website readership has really dropped, too.  We usually have about 600 hits a day.  This week we had a lot on Monday, and only 100 the rest of the week.  Oops.

So, here I am, back at it.  The "it" being writing rambling thoughts which don't always make a lot of sense to anyone but me.  And yet I'm here once again.

Today I am sitting in my rocking chair in my living room and I am gazing at a picture hanging on the wall.  It's a print by Gary Olson named 'His Eye is on the Sparrow."  The print shows Jesus standing on a tiled walkway wearing a robe, His prayer mantle over one shoulder and He is holding out his right hand to a small sparrow sitting on a branch.  His eye is on the sparrow.  

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Matt. 10:27-31). 

Jesus knew what a hectic, busy week I was going to have.  Even though I thought I might actually succumb to the pressures of listening to nine sermons and three lectures plus many other equally fun activities during the week, I did not give in.  I lived to tell the tale.   I didn't have time to blog, but I accomplished quite a bit nonetheless.  

God didn't let me fall this week.  He kept me going.  He helped me keep my head on straight so I could finish all that was before me.  He kept my mind from melting into a blur of profound sermons, lectures and a communications session. 

 He saw my plate.  He knew how full it was.  And He kept me on course.  Straight and narrow.  He even gave me ample time to rest.  His eyes are on the sparrow.  He pays attention to the smallest details to show us every part of life is important to Him.  

He knows how many hairs I have on my head even though the number changes daily.  And He even knows what color they really should be... deep down.  

His eyes are on the sparrow.  How much more is His eye on me?