Desperately Seeking______?

Deuteronomy 15:11

For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, "You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land".

     As I look out my sliding glass door to my patio, I see trees and humming birds, among other birds flying from tree to tree.  I see cars passing by in the parking lot of my apartment complex, and I see the lot behind us and the traffic on the street on the other side of the lot.  I see people walking to and from their cars and apartments.  Then, slightly north, I see a dumpster, that we take out our trash to almost daily.  It just sits there in the sunlight of the day, and in the moonlight of the night, waiting on us to fill it up.  There is a peculiarity about it when it is topped with the trash, just before dawn, and after dusk, though sometimes in between.  The peculiarity is that desperate people come along and climb into the bin and rummage through it for their "treasures".  Most are from the streets, with no job, and nowhere to lay their heads at night.  They look for plastic or cans and paper to gather to collect money just to eat, or maybe to obtain other substances, or maybe food itself, whatever the case.  These are desperate people looking...looking for something...desperately seeking.

     Desperate people doing desperate things.  Seeking something...or...seeking Someone.  The poor will always be.  Poor because they have no means, or poor spiritually, though it could be both.  We look out our windows and see them searching, and we do nothing, as we sit comfortably in our chairs.  Giving to the poor doesn't always mean giving them money.  Maybe it's a bite to eat, a place to lay their head, or maybe it's food for their soul...the gospel.  Are they sick?  Are they in prison?  Go and help them.  Many people are afraid to go up to a homeless person.  Though there may be some that are harder to approach than others, we can pray for them, or give them a smile.  Everyone needs Jesus.  

     Digging through the trash to find something of value is like us digging for something we yearn for in our hearts.  We seek out things that we think might make us happy and yet they don't.  Nothing we rummage through makes a difference until we find Jesus.  We just need to find the right place to find our treasures.  The poor need that more than ever, because they are mostly forgotten by their family and by society.  They are outcasts.  But you want to know the truth?  So were we.  And, Jesus was basically and outcast in society's eyes.  He did not have a home of His own, and most people ignored Him.  We need to love our neighbor's as ourselves.  Our neighbors are not just those who have a house across the street.  Our neighbors may not even have a house.  Don't ignore those who seem so different than yourselves, just because they aren't as fortunate as you.  Help those in need and God will reward you.

The next time you see a homeless person walking down the street, if nothing else, just say hello.  It may just make a difference.

Sabrina

     



     

     

Funny Thought For Today

I am going to attempt to look at the Christian life in a funny way these next few days.  With everything going on in this world, it is difficult to do, but sometimes we just have to laugh or we'll cry.  And I say attempt to be funny because my humor is a little odd and offbeat at times so bear with me.

Just a thought:

     In Genesis 1:26-31, God created man and woman.  Before that he created everything else, and it was good.  Then God created man, and man was alone, which God said that it was not good than man should be alone, so God took a rib from man and created woman.  Man now was complete.  So we go to Genesis 1:31, after God had made everything...including women, then instead of saying "it was good", He said, "God saw all that he made, and it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning---the sixth day".

     God definitely does not make mistakes, but He knew after creating Adam, that Adam needed a woman's help.  It was only good until He made Eve.  Then because woman came along everything was very good.  Doesn't that tell you that Adam probably wouldn't have tended the garden properly, or fed the animals at the right time without Eve giving him a "honey-do" list.  And when they fell and started wearing clothes, we all know most men don't do well with laundry.  I said most, not all.  And when the children started to come?  God knew men wouldn't handle childbirth very well at all.  So after God man man---and woman, it was all very good.

*Disclaimer:  This was all in good fun.  It may or may not be true, but like I said, I am attempting humor.  And men, no offense intended, it's just for a laugh at life's blunders, after all Adam did let his wife eat the fruit he knew was wrong to eat.  God did know ahead of time.

Be blessed today, and men, don't hate me.

Sabrina

  

Character in Our Christian Life: Guileless and Holy

Guileless and Holy are the last two characteristics I will cover in this series of our character.  We must remember not only to tell others about Christ, but live it in the character of Christ.

10. Guileless: "I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.  I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, Lord, proclaiming aloud Your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds". Psalm 26:5-7.

     To be guileless is to be innocent.  We are not to associate with those who do evil.  We are to be innocent before the Lord.  We live in this world, and we do associate with those who are lost, in the sense that we share the gospel with them, but we are not to be like the wicked.  In the workplace, we associate with Christians and non-Christians alike.  We are to be their "light" to shine Jesus upon them.  We are to set examples instead of going about doing what they do in order to "fit in".  We are not suppose to fit in with the world.  Be an example of the innocence of Jesus in your daily walk with Him.  Live a life that is exemplary to God.

11.  Holy:  "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession".  Deuteronomy 7:6

     We are to be holy and blameless before the Lord.  Yes we are sinners.  Yes we mess up, but we as humans are not holy and blameless as God is.  We have Christ's atonement only to make us holy and blameless.  What our part is; to live as Christ lived, serving and giving, helping and forgiving others, including those who are our enemies.  Most important of all, love one another as Christ loves us.  Live Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law".  Without the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives, we cannot be holy.  It only comes from God.  Be holy as Christ is holy.

I may continue my humor blogs next, just for a little break from the realities of life.  Be blessed this week, and bless someone else.

Blessings

Sabrina

Never Say Never to God

I left California in 1983.  I grew up there for 21 years.  I never liked it there, living in the desert area of California, in a small town where nothing ever happened except the occasional tipping over cows or in my case, mooing at them and they just stare back at me in curiosity, wondering if I was insane.  Oh sure, as teenagers, we would cruise the main streets on the weekends and hang out at a local shopping center, and yes there would be an occasional drag race.  But to me, I enjoyed bigger and better places.  I dreamed of living in big cities with tons of stuff to eh' keep me in trouble.  I wanted to travel the world and see everything and people of different cultures.  

My first step was a Bible College in Phoenix, Arizona.  A great chance at a "big" city.  Back in 1983, Phoenix was less than a million people, but to me, it was big.  I tried college, and my best class was sleeping in.  Colleges should never allow a 7 a.m. class, especially in a Bible College.  It's a sin to get up that early!  Didn't quite make the college scene and dropped out in 1984.  Got married in 1985 and thought this was going to be great.  Later we had our first son, and Lo' and behold we moved back to California, but to a bigger city near L.A.  Exciting, right?  The problem with a big city is traffic.  That soon got old.

We eventually moved to Montana and had our second and last son.  Montana was fabulous, but troubles entailed.  What could go wrong in Montana?  Well, things happen.  We moved again to the capitol of Montana because my husband went to a trade college.  He graduated and got a good job, but then we decided to move back where his family was, in Illinois.  Exciting, right?  It started out all wrong, but the church I finally settled into there, I loved.  More trouble ensued and there seemed to be no way out.  I loved living in different states, but despised moving.  And guess what?  We ended up in a small town in Southern Illinois.  No more big cities.  Frankly, after Phoenix and L.A. and traffic, I wanted a small town to raise my kids in.  Ironic?

I never knew where God wanted me to be, and I was never happy in a sense.  I had my demons to deal with in spite of everything else.  Life never agreed with me.  God kept prodding me, and I kept ignoring Him.  I came to a place where I found my faith was no faith at all and hit bottom.  I found my new faith and was ready to go where God wanted me to go, as long as it wasn't my hometown.  Two years later, I felt God prodding me to go...and guess where?  Yes!  My hometown in California, with my mom.  Yes, God has a sense of humor in getting our attention to minister to others, when we don't listen.  There are still struggles, but not hopeless struggles as before.  There is hope in our struggle when we walk in faith.  And always remember to never say never to God.  God will look at you and say, "Oh yeah?  We'll see about that".

More on the humor side of the Christian walk to come.  Thank you for reading.

Sabrina