Soft Ground for Pulling Out Weeds

Larry and I pulled weeds today and there was a huge difference in the ease of the removal depending upon whether the ground was wet or dry. HUGE difference!

Of course, I got to thinking, if God wants to pull any weeds of sin out of my life, what would make my "soil" wet and therefore more easy to remove them? I'm randomly thinking of:
1. basic desire to know and follow God
2. thirst for God
3. passion for God
4. fear of God
5. foundation of obedience in the past
6. recognizing the pain and consequences that sin brings
7. trusting that God is good and loves me
8. believing He wants only my best
9. knowing my heart is bent on selfishness; I'm not "basically good" as the secular world wants to believe
10. rehearsing God's work in the past when removal of sin was oh, so good. No longer a struggle or burdened by guilt.

Well, those are some initial ideas. What works for you?

Reasons to Not Be Afraid or Worried

We all love Isaiah 43:2: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you." NASB

That verse encourages us to not be afraid or worried. But as I studied the complete chapter of Isaiah 43 today, I saw some wonderful reasons from verse 1 for us having confidence in the promise of verse 2.

Verse 1 tells us, "But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!"

I found there 5 reasons in that verse to not be afraid:
1. God created me and you. He created me with a purpose and nothing will prevent His plan from happening.

2. God formed me and you. He knows us intimately. He formed us exactly the way He wanted us for His specific purposes.

3. He redeemed me and you. Jesus died a horrible death to draw us into relationship with God. The cost shows God's value upon us.

4. He calls me and you by name. We are important to Him. He is not overwhelmed by the mass of humanity. I can't tell different ants apart but He knows each of us as different.

5. We are His! How well do you take care of that which you value? Well, He takes care of what He values! We belong to Him.

But there's an even more important reason for us not to be afraid: All those 5 things are in place because they show God's glory (His goodness, love and correct values). And they glorify Him--they bring glory to Him as people see His goodness and greatness in His workings in our lives. When we are not afraid though bad things happen to us, people notice and are impressed that He deserves such trust.

One Small Step for Mankind...

Some time ago a friend forwarded to me a series of photos that showed where plastic shopping bags can end up. Like hundreds of miles out to sea, wrapped around sea animals and bird's necks, etc. Maybe you've seen this. And I think they said that these plastic bags last for a hundred years or some such amazing fact.

I really was appalled. Of course, the point was, use fewer plastic shopping bags! So at first, I asked for paper bags for my groceries. And then I remembered all the cloth bags I have from the various retreats I've been at. So I have been taking those to the store and they gladly use them. And actually, they are much stronger and easier to use.

If you don't have enough of those cloth bags, consider saving the plastic bags from the store and take them to re-use them. Or invest in cloth bags. I know where I shop, they have for sale cloth bags for (I think) $2.00 each. You could add one to your purchases every once in a while to build up your collection if you don't want to put out lots to begin with.

When I thought of telling you about buying a cloth bag every once in a while, I had to smile. When Larry and I were first married 38 years ago, I bought one silk flower each week to build up into a bouquet because I couldn't afford (or didn't want to spend) the money to buy them all at once. After all, back then, if I paid close to $10 for my week's worth of food, I thought I'd gone food crazy! That's a little bit of our past that is more than you wanted, but it's fun to hear, I hope.

Well, I'm not really much of a ecologist, but I'm proud of using cloth bags instead of plastic bags. Won't you join me? Our small steps combined will prevent that bird from having a plastic bag around its throat.

Gratitude for Our Military

I'll never forget speaking with a woman at a conference and when she told me her husband was in the military, I said, "Thank you so much for serving our country." She began to cry and whispered, "My husband is in a high position in the military and has served for over twenty years, but no one has ever thanked me for his service in all those years." She couldn't stop crying.

I've never forgotten that. I was shocked that she'd never been thanked and actually indicated, no one had ever thanked him! I will try to thank anyone who I come into contact with, who is in our military or I find out their husband, wife, or child is serving. So I was in tears as I watched this video, which offers a convenient way to thank our military when you see them in public. Please copy and paste into your browser. I can't seem to make a link out of it. Sorry about that.
http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/shortmovie.php

Who Is Your Favorite Bible Character?

I was reading an article about a Christian and she was asked the question, "Who is your favorite biblical person?" Of course, I had to answer for myself in my mind, and I was surprised with who I thought of first: Hannah. For some reason, she stood out in that moment. Here was in First Samuel a woman who was persecuted by her husband's other wife, she was misunderstood by her husband ("Don't want a baby, I'm enough," was his attitude), and she was denied what she desired--a child. Plus, being barren in those days was a personal and social stigma. There was something wrong with you if you didn't bear children.

So she goes to the temple and prays like crazy. Then Eli the priest assures her that God has heard her prayer and will answer. Then I Samuel 1:18: "She said, 'May your servant find favor in your eyes.' Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast."

I love that! Hannah took the promise and acted upon it. That took me back to my previous post of acting upon my position in Christ. And even this morning as I hesitated going into Audrey's room to help her get ready because at breakfast she was very angry, I thought, "No, I have courage in Christ. And it doesn't matter what she thinks of me. God's opinion of me is more important than hers and He says I did nothing wrong."

So I went in courageously and helped her.

Have you focused lately on your position in Christ? Here's some facts about you. You are:
holy
blameless
predestined
adopted
have grace
loved
redeemed
forgiven
chosen
marked by a seal with the Holy Spirit
have hope
have riches of an inheritance
chosen and prepared as God's workmanship for good works
strong
reconciled to God
without blemish
free from accusation
perfect in Christ (as He sees you)

Which of those is most important/meaningful to you?