Have you ever been trying to concentrate on a task while someone is standing in front of you yelling? And whether they are yelling at you or someone else, it can break your concentration and cause a mistake. This was happening to my daughter a few years ago and my advice to her was to close her eyes and ignore everything and everyone except what she was supposed to be doing. Easier said than done, but that’s all I had for her at the time…lol. But isn’t that what Satan does to us? He gets in front of us and tries to make us take our eyes off of Jesus. And we make it so easy for him to do it. He uses the news, the Internet, people, our finances, even our own family and friends. We get so wound up trying to control the world that we forget that God isn’t on the other side of our problems. He’s inside of us. We allow Satan to put things between us and God, but as long as we have the Holy Spirit inside of us to guide us, Satan has no power, because all we have to do is close our eyes and know that God is with us and He will never leave us.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,“Never will I leave you;never will I forsake you.”

So a little while back I noticed that I was having trouble seeing the computer screen at work. I chalked it up to a new system with smaller fonts & every day eye strain because it was worse when I was tired. I even bought reading glasses but they didn’t seem to help much. So when I quit work, it actually got better & I packed away those silly reading glasses that I obviously didn’t need. Then…a few months later, I noticed that the words in our church hymnals were getting smaller & harder to see. So low & behold, when we moved, I unpacked a box & there were those silly old reading glasses that I obviously didn’t need. But if I didn’t need them, why didn’t I just throw them away? Hmmm…maybe there’s a reason I kept them. So I put them on. And holy cow! I could see!!! I could see & didn’t even know that I couldn’t before. That’s what it was like when I accepted Jesus! Suddenly I could see and yet I had walked around blind as a bat for years & didn’t have a clue! My point is…if you have packed Jesus away because you think you don’t need Him, unpack Him and everything will become clear!

When you’re moving, you take down all your pictures and shelves. And when you’ve taken everything off the walls, you can see every nail hole. So you set about filling them in so that the new owners don’t have to see them. But no matter how hard you try, when the light hits that spot just right, you can still see the hole. You move your furniture & discover the massive amount of dust and cobwebs that have accumulated so you sweep, mop, & vacuum so that everything is clean. We do all this to remove all the ugliness. How often do we try to do this in our lives too? While…with the help of Christ…we can clean up our lives & behavior, remove parts that clutter up and collect dust, no matter how hard we work, there are still scars. Scars that no matter how hard we try to cover them, will always be visible to others. But even covered in scars, we should be thankful that we have them. Because by the scars endured by Jesus, we are healed. And with no healing we would have no scars. We would have open wounds.

After a few cloudy days, I’m ready for some sunshine. After a few more I feel like the sun is never going to shine again & I’m sick & tired of mud. It makes a mess of my floors. It’s a pain to put on mud boots every time I have to walk across the yard. It gets to the point that every step takes so much effort because my boots stick in the mud & I have to get unstuck before I can move forward. It’s pretty easy to lose your footing and next thing you know, you’ve fallen & are covered in mud. But even through all of this, and even though you haven’t seen the sunshine in days, you know that the sun is up there. It’s just blocked from your view. Sometimes we let things get between us and God and it blocks Him from our view. It’s not that He’s not there. It’s just that we’ve let the storm clouds of life get between us & Him. And then the next thing you know we have allowed so much sin into our life that we’re bogging down in it until we don’t think we can move forward. But even when it’s the darkest and we’ve lost all traction and fallen to our knees in the sin we’ve allowed into our life, all we have to do is ask the Son to shine into our lives and He will.

I remember one day when I was packing up our old house to move. While some rooms were overflowing with boxes, others just got emptier. I began to notice that the more stuff that I removed from a room, the easier it was to hear even the smallest noise. I had a small solar operated flower in my kitchen window. When the sun was shining, it moved back and forth. This little flower had been in my window for at least 2 years and until that day I never knew that it made any noise. We are very much like a house. When we are filled up with things from the world it is sometimes hard to hear that still small voice guiding us. But when we start removing the unnecessary things and instead fill that space with the Holy Spirit then it gets easier and easier to hear what God wants us to hear.

My oldest child has the strangest habit of wrapping herself up in her sheet like a mummy when she goes to bed. It drives me crazy because I just know she’s gonna suffocate or strangle herself some day. So I can’t sleep until I make sure she’s asleep & unwrap her head every night. Because while she appears to be sleeping, it’s hard to tell if she’s breathing. It sounds awful but there’s a fairly fine line between sleep and death. Our relationship with God is very similar. So many people say they are Christians but when it comes to being an active Christian, it seems they are sound asleep. My biggest fear is that when Christ returns, He won’t find sleeping Christians but rather dead ones. Because if you want the Holy Spirit of God alive in you, you have to be alive in Him. Wake up & be revived!!!

Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. Holy cow!!! How are we mere humans supposed to do that?!? Especially when Satan is right there providing every blunt rude remark or reaction that we desire & calls it ‘speaking our mind’. He’s telling us to enjoy others misery and calls it karma. All this & what he’s basically saying is, “Trust me. Don’t trust God.” Because he knows that God will handle it at the perfect time and in the perfect way. He knows that by obeying God and holding our tongue and guarding our actions, we have disarmed him & his control on us. So back to my question. How are we supposed to do that? We simply let go & let God.

I’ve seen many people hurt by careless words in my life. Sometimes the words weren’t meant to intentionally hurt but sometimes they are. Sometimes they are words of judgement. Sometimes they are proudly stated because an inability to control the tongue is confused with boldness and speaking ones mind. And I have suffered from many of these same afflictions. But then I think about Jesus. And all the times that He had every right to be angry. And all the times He could’ve lined someone out with a good tongue lashing because the fact is He was ALWAYS right. But He didn’t. He always chose His words carefully. Controlling His tongue at all times. And never using His words as a weapon. Because where our tongue goes, our body follows. Just as a horse that is bridled goes in the direction that you pull the bit.
Proverbs 17:27-28 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,and discerning if they hold their tongues.

We found a snake under our equipment shed a few years ago. We hadn’t been able to mow because of all the rain & had never really organized & de-cluttered out there since we moved. We also had an abundance of field mice that liked to eat any spilled horse or chicken feed so it was like an all you can eat buffet for snakes. It took a snake to kick us into action. My hubby cleaned & organized under the shed, I mowed as soon as it was dry enough too, and we got some cats that were happy to keep the field mice to a minimum.

Snakes only show up when there is adequate food and plenty of places to hide. Sin is much the same. When we quit feeding the desires that lead to sin…when we clean out all the clutter in our lives so that God’s light can shine into all the places we like to keep hidden, sin will not be as apt to slither in. And when and if it still manages to find a way in, cut its head off. Because there are no good sins. Plus! If you keep the clutter out & the yard mowed, it’s a lot harder to forget how green your own grass is.

I’ve been thinking about a woman I know. By the time she was around 12 or 13 she was sentenced to death. Not for any horrific crime. She was guilty of many offenses but nothing serious. She actually considered herself to be a pretty good person overall. Problem was, it was all of her own doing. She actually CHOSE the death penalty. She was approached many, many times and given the option of having her entire record wiped clean and start fresh. Each time she simply ignored the request. You would think there was some sort of catch for her to turn down the offer each time but there wasn’t. As the years rocked on & she inched closer to the point that her sentence would be carried out, she was once again approached and offered freedom and to have her entire past record wiped clean. This time she accepted. She asked the One offering, what it was she had to do for such a gift. Especially since she had made so many mistakes, forgiveness was completely undeserved and she had so foolishly turned it down so many times. He simply said, “Just follow Me.” I was that woman and I chose Jesus over death. I don’t know how many times Jesus would have offered to expunge my record and release me from the prison that I had put myself in…nobody knows. All I know is that I’m so thankful I accepted His gift before my sentence could be carried out. We are all headed to the exact same fate…sentenced to death for the same crime of unbelief….until we choose to follow Him.

We’ve been working on our property for 6 ½ years. We may never get it exactly like we want it, but we keep working which means we may always have brush piles to burn. We went out last night and the wood was damp so we put some feed sacks on it and lit it. It finally caught and burned. But even if the sacks didn’t work, I’m pretty sure Todd would’ve thrown a little diesel on it. My point is, we didn’t let a little moisture stop us from accomplishing what we went out to do. So why do we let Satan stop us when we’re trying to bring glory to God? I remember a time when, if the sun didn’t come up just right on Sunday, we would just stay home from church. If I didn’t want to keep a promise, I’d just pull out the quickest excuse…aka lie…that I could think of. Thankfully God kept adding fuel and we finally caught fire.

Why do we donate blood? I’m pretty sure that most people that give, do so because they hope that their gift of blood will save someone’s life. We give less than 30 minutes of our time to give a small amount of our blood, retrieved by a tiny needle, in completely sanitary conditions, in an air conditioned area, and then we are usually given a snack. Any questions that are asked that could be the least little bit embarrassing are asked in a room where nobody else can hear. So basically we aren’t even inconvenienced for the most part. Jesus on the other hand, was beaten, made to carry His own cross, stripped naked, and rather than a tiny needle, they used nails. And He didn’t just give a little bag of blood. He gave all of His blood to save anyone who is willing to accept Him. And because His blood is guaranteed to save anyone who chooses to receive it, He is the one true universal donor.

Awhile back, on separate occasions, I spoke with 2 ladies about gardening. One lady told me that you can’t get anything to grow in Arkansas & that she has never had anything but bad luck with gardening since she moved here. The other lady told me that we are blessed to live here because you can grow anything here. The lady that had such skepticism about gardening, has the same attitude about everything else in life. And while she will tell you that she’s a Christian, her actions tell a different story. The other lady has devoted most of her life to living for God & to helping others. You never have to wonder if she’s a Christian because her actions tell you. And while I have seen both ladies bring in bountiful harvests, I have only seen one give the glory to God. Maybe if everyone would give God the glory, then it wouldn’t matter how many veggies we grow….maybe we would appreciate that God allowed us to have enough.

It’s all about your line. Some may argue but I believe every parent has a “line” that their children know not to cross. However….some peoples lines are much further away than others. While some may view a particular behavior as acceptable, others would be mortified should their child behave in such a way. God gives us a line. And His line NEVER moves. It is in the same place no matter where we are. Inside of His line we are protected by His mercy and grace. Outside of it we are not. His line makes a complete circle around Him. Inside that circle, we have eternal life. Outside, an eternity of torture. But it’s our choice. Choose the circle of life.

We planted some trees a few weeks ago and they are thriving. Several of them already have fruit on them. But a couple of days ago, after a lot of rain and wind, I noticed one of them had blown over. We stood it back up & it’s still doing well. It just simply hadn’t had enough time to take root. Withstanding the wind is one of the reasons that a good root system is so important. Another is so that in times of drought, the roots can reach way down into underground water supplies and survive. Todd & I have been on a type of journey for the last few months. We have felt like God is calling us to draw closer to Him. It’s as if we feel the need to become more deeply rooted in Christ. Life is always going to have storms and even droughts. But the deeper that you are rooted in Christ, the stronger you will be.