"Broken Body Parts"

Is there any part of your body that is not currently working?  

This is a question I asked someone recently.   See, just looking at each other, we may not consider ailments unless they are open and obvious.    If  I was missing a leg or arm, you would take note; or if my eye was missing, surely you would notice.  But for the most part, our physical bodies won't show the result of other hidden parts that are not doing their job, except when the other parts of the body have to kick in for it. When the rest of the body has to do dual duty to offset the part that is not working properly, it puts a toil on the whole body and now it affects the total body.

For example, if your arm is not working well, your other arm or shoulder, maybe even your chin has to kick in to lift and do various tasks.  Which means that they are no longer covering their responsibilities completely and are subject to getting tired, cramps, or aches and bruising; and this is just to help cover the deficit, this does not include their normal tasks. If this is true in our physical bodies, what do you think happens in the Body of Christ?

"Is there anyone in the Body of Christ who is not working?"  

The bible tells us that we are all parts of the body, each one of us has been given a task and all of us are necessary.  But because we all assemble in one place then leave to go home or to other places, we forget that we are still connected.  

If we looked at our churches today, how many believers who attend each week, are working and serving in their church?  See working on a regular job, or owning your own business is extra!  Those things are purposeful, they allow us to take care of our families, and allow us to feel great at the end of a day when we own our business and work it.  All of that is necessary and in the will of God for our lives.  But think for a moment, do you believe God expects us to build those things and leave His house in ruins? 

As believers we have heard about seeking first the kingdom of God, but we forget part of seeking Him is serving Him, in His house.  Each of us has been given talents, time, and treasure and each of those can be used in the Body of Christ.  If we think we are too busy, we figure we will just lend our treasure, but God needs us to touch one another, to serve, to reach, to teach, to visit, to call and to care.  It is more than your money, it is YOU and all your many talents!   

So if you are part of a local church and you are not involved in some form of ministry service, talk to someone.  Let them know what you are good at and see how it fits in the body and start serving! If your particular skill set does not seem to fit, find a place to work where your heart leans.  Honestly many of us do not think we fit because we think it requires a lifestyle that is perfect.  But God often uses serving sometimes to perfect us.  Kind of like the lepers in the bible looking for healing....  as we 'go' He heals us. As we serve He meets our needs.  As we sow, we reap.  See the issue is not really that the parts of the body are broken, they may just be inactive.  And ask anyone who understands our body and how it functions, inactivity or lack of exercise is a breeding ground to  other ailments.  Our bodies can learn to not participate, to not function properly.  So know that you are needed, wanted and missed when you are not active.  Make it a point for the remainder of this year and beyond, to be a working part of the body of Christ.! 

Out-thinking God! "When He Gives You What You Say."

I know the bible tells us that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts, but sometimes we can think we have arrived at a place with God that we can figure some stuff out on our own.  It may not be intentional, but if we are not careful we can find ourselves almost out-thinking God!  Let me explain...

POST DIVORCE DECISIONS 

After my divorce, I got to thinking.  It was an innocent thought but this is how it went.  I realized that in the circles I frequented there were men who loved God, but I was not really interested in any of them.   Since I have my own relationship with God, I figured that if I was to marry again, I was not really looking for someone to help keep me saved... that was not changing.  I knew that a life with God was good, He is faithful, meets my needs, and cares about me beyond my own understanding.  NO one else can do that, so if I was to marry, I didn't need him to hold a title or any role in a church.  Yes I wanted him saved, but if he was not as 'learned' as I was, it was okay, he can do what he does,  I will do what I do.  It was an innocent thought and I shared this with God - believe it or not.  Mind you I know what the bible says about being unequally yoked, and all that, but  somehow those verses didn't have the same impact that they did in my early years.  It was almost like those directives were really for new believers; or so it seemed. 

So off I went on my new venture to meet people and meet them I did.  I found that there were really nice and successful men who were not as faithful in church as I was, some were caring and honest and even lovable.  On occasion I would see something that was slightly troubling, but I would remind myself that they were not on the same journey that I was, and I should not judge them.  Until the day God  finally interrupted my thoughts and spoke. 

GOD'S LOVING  INTERVENTION 

God reminded me of His goodness when I ran into someone who actually had a role in the church.  He is outside all the things I told God I wanted. He is further along than I am spiritually, and more given to serving God than others I have spoken to.  The conversation brought life to me, it brought about more of an awareness of God's love and mercy, it brought back conviction and joy at the same time! I enjoyed the easy banter about the word of God with someone who actually understood my jokes and scriptural puns I couldn't help saying!  I had almost forgotten  about the JOY OF MY SALVATION, when God reminded me of it through this encounter.  As a result, I saw where I was, how off I had gotten in my thoughts by changing what God has said in His word to fit my reality.  The TRUTH always trumps REALITY, no matter how real something feels or how much we can make it look like the truth.  My lesson going forward ... I will be aware of leaning on God's word and not mine.  

CONCLUSION

The scriptures remind us that our ways are right in our own eyes.  We may not be trying to deceive ourselves, and we may actually think God is in agreement with our thoughts or conclusions.  But the scripture stands sure.... His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.  His ways and His results are MUCH better.

If you have found yourself unknowingly compromising God's truth in your life, look again at what God has said.  It doesn't always make sense, but He says it for a reason that we may not be aware of.  It is better to realize it before it is too late.  Don't wait until you have lost the result He intends for you.   God will give us what we want, or rather allow us to walk in what we think is right.  I am thankful that He will also deal with us whenever we are straying away from His word.  Whether through a friend, a message, gentle nudging from the Holy Spirit, or even circumstances that remind us... "This is not God's best for Me!"   I know now more than ever before that  I want what God has said for me, His ways and His thoughts are always best.  I now have a greater appreciation for the things God has said, and I realize that He really loves me and the boundaries He sets are always for our good!    Thank You Lord for Out-thinking ME! 

BACK ON TRACK!

A TAIL of Two Species! "The Gator v/s Man."

I love animals!  As long as I can remember, we've had pets.  There was a bird called 'Tweety',  'Schatze' the whippet,  two dachshunds called "Sonny and Cher",  a white poodle named 'Shaney', Trojan was our mixed breed, Hassena was the black shepherd and recently for me, Shakkar and Zoe.   We have always taken care of our pets and treat them right and in return they give unconditional love, and attempt to protect us.  I really do love animals, so hopefully the animal lovers will understand the context of this blog.

MR. STUBBS

I recently saw a story about Mr. Stubbs, the alligator who's tail was bitten off by another gator.  Those who rescued him went to work to help him because there was a concern that without his tail, he could drown.  He was also at a disadvantage when it came to gathering food since other gators or prey could move faster, so there was a concern that he could also starve to death. He has survived for a few years under the watchful care of doctors and researchers. The idea was to devise a plan to get Mr Stubbs swimming again.  Through the use of various technology, they made a prosthetic tail for him-and believe it or not, after a few years of working, Mr Stubbs is once again mobile!   I love animals, so I really smiled at this story; then I got to thinking.

Mr Stubbs is an alligator.  I noticed as they put the tail on him, his mouth was still taped shut, why?  Because his natural instinct is to bite, eat and do all the things that holding him close could cause.  I also noted that whether through grant money or personal donations, - without a job or health insurance, Mr Stubbs was given treatment, care and concern.  Then I thought about people.

I know there is so much more to this note here than I have time to write so let's make it simple.   If we can take time, money, concern and care about the well being of an animal that will not contribute to society, cannot contribute to society, an animal that will bite you if you don't tape his mouth.... Why is it so difficult for us to see value in people- who with the right support, they can or possibly will contribute to society?    Most of us just need love, support and a little guidance.  Within the  8 years of care for Mr Stubbs, they taught him to dog paddle to survive, after 2 years of designing the new tail, they now have to 'unteach' him so he can once again learn to swim with his new tail.  Our children could sure use that type of follow up!  

DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU

One reason I know that makes it difficult is because sometime people are simply ungrateful.  We can take what you give, take some more then curse you to your face.  That happens.  There is no guarantee that those you help will not bite the hand that feeds them, your hand.  I understand that many times the fact that people know better and animals don't makes us subject to helping the animal instead of hard headed people.  But somehow we have to still be able to value God's most precious creation, mankind.   

If you are someone who receives help from people, be thankful to God for it.  No one is really required to do anything to help you.  God still gives us a choice even when He is the one prompting us.  Take the help that God allows people to give you and benefit from it.  Don't treat it like a drug that they have to continue to give you, receive the help, learn to trust God and learn to help yourself. 

The waters of this world will always be filled with fighting gators and lost tails, just like our world will always be filled with fighting people and lost souls.  I would rather put my time and attention to people with the hope that they may choose to change, to better themselves and follow God.  That should make our investment worth it. 

Not a Gator Hater!  Happy swimming Mr. Stubbs! 

Two Types of People? Read the Signs!

We have all heard  about the two types of people we encounter in life.  I have seen posts, heard messages and even had conversations about it.  It seems that we all agree we have encountered them:

Two kinds of people, the ones that help you and the ones that hurt you.  

The ones that encourage your purpose and the ones that hate.  

The ones that lead you to your future, the ones that keep you in your past.  

The ones that are meant to stay, the ones that are supposed to leave.

I have heard and agreed with many of those comments, mainly because, like others... I have seen both kinds.  I was listening the other day to another of the analogies that talk about the two types of people, and it dealt with embracing one and releasing the other.  But there are too many people in this world to simply separate us into two categories.  I started thinking about all the people I have encountered over the years, and yes... some fit in there, but others were used by God, not just to hinder or promote me, but for so much more. 

SIGNS OF LIFE

To let you know what I am talking about, let's take a road trip.  Imagine you are driving somewhere, maybe you know where you are going, or maybe you don't.  You have STOP signs, that keep you safe, you have CAUTION lights that make you pay attention, YIELD signs that let you know to wait your turn and even FLASHING RED LIGHTS that tell you something is wrong, use another method.  Even DANGER signs that let you know- don't go down that road!  We often run across signs that let us know there is danger or a dead end, construction is going on, there are bumps in the road or turn around.  All of these signs are needed for the road you travel, without them you may not make it to your destination on time.  We don't complain about the signs, because we know why they are there. 

My thoughts are that people are the same.  I remember many times I  stopped what I was doing to help someone, intervened in a matter that had nothing to do with where I was, or where I was going.  Many thought that it was a distraction to my purpose or that it was a waste of time since it didn't propel me toward my future.  But there are moments that we take away just to help others.  We are often road signs for others and don't know it.  Our message may be that it is going to be okay, or that they are on the right track, or the wrong track.  Some signs are bolder, hard not to be seen and seem almost unnecessary, the same with people.  We may not always like it, we may think they are 'haters'. But if we learn from each other, we just might make it where we are going faster and even better. We will never know what our encounter with others may have helped us avoid.  What accident we missed because we  YIELDED our time to someone else. Some people bring delays and others have shown us to NEVER go down that road again.  If nothing else, we should remember to receive the benefit others bring and discard the drama.  I know many times we think it is just as easy as "Either you are for me,  or against me."  But God never said everyone on earth had to be for you, just Him.  We should give people the opportunity to be received and valued no matter what it looks like they bring.

TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE

With all the people in this world, I have to admit, I still think there are two kinds; however we are not limited to: 

The ones that help you and the ones that hurt you.  

The ones that encourage your purpose and the ones that hate.  

The ones that lead you to your future, the ones that keep you in your past.  

The ones that are meant to stay, the ones that are supposed to leave.

I choose to see more in people than that, I still see two kinds ....The ones you are called to help, and the ones called to help you, and both are a blessing.