A Spark

I remember as a teenager, sitting around the campfire at summer church camp, singing this song -

"It only takes a spark to get a fire going...

And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.

That's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it.

You want to sing, it's fresh like spring...

You want to pass it on...

Pass it on...Pass it on!"

What would happen if we passed on God's love to those around us in such a way that its sparks grew into uncontrollable flames that set men's hearts on fire for God? What would happen to those around who could feel the warmth of its glow?

Tea Time Tuesday

   This is my very first time joining "Tea Time Tuesday!" I've been visiting the different sites that participate each week but never joined in. Since today is my birthday...and I like trying new things as I get older, I thought it would be nice to celebrate by having a cup of tea with you all.

Pictured is a lovely little tea cup given to me by a dear friend.

      I baked some peanut butter cookies to send with my son who left yesterday to go back on active duty in the National Guard. He also shares the same birthday with me! I always tell him he was the best birthday present God ever gave me. Normally we do something special with eachother (like go out to lunch) but not this year since he is away. So I will eat a peanut butter cookie and think of him. "Happy Birthday Jonathan!"

I've enjoyed having tea with you! Have a blessed day!

This post is linked to Tea Time Tuesday at

 http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/

and

Tea Cup Tuesday at
http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

Three days

      These days in which we live, remind me of the time the disciples waited between Friday and Sunday. Christ died on the cross and was buried. He left behind only promises that they would see Him again. I’m sure it was the longest weekend of their lives. They felt alone, abandoned. They left their hope at the grave, sealed behind a stone. When He died, their futures died with Him. Life was over, so they thought.

Have you ever felt hopeless, abandoned, like life was over?

      What they didn’t know is that this wasn’t the end. In fact, it was just the beginning. On the third day He rose from the dead and gave them the gift of life everlasting. Not a continuation of the same life, but the beginning of a new one. A life now lived in victory – through Him. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead gave them power over sin – they were no longer slaves to it. He set them free!

Are you free?

      It wasn’t long before He left them again, and once more gave promises. They had to wait again – put their trust in Him – believe. Then He sent the Holy Spirit; to be their guide, comforter, and counselor, revealer of truth, keeper and strength. He set them apart for God, and kindled a fire of love and hope within their hearts, a flame that could not be quenched.

Do you need love and hope?

      Our time here, in a way, is like their long weekend of waiting. Christ has left us here with promises – but we are not alone, not abandoned. We have His Holy Spirit waiting with us, keeping us set apart for Him. We have that same fire burning within our hearts, keeping love and hope alive until all the promises of God are fulfilled. And then we will see Him. He is coming again.

Are you looking for Him?

       

      Behold, he is coming with clouds,

and every eye will see Him,

even they who pierced Him.

Rev. 1:7

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,"

says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come,

the Almighty." Rev. 1:8

Trip to Home Depot: To Fix an Attitude

Yes, all of you be submissive to one another,

and be clothed with humility, for

"God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble."

1 Peter 5:5



      I was wearing my pink gloves...they matched my shirt, white shoes and white undershirt that peeked out above the sparkle-studded pink top. For some reason it mattered to me what I was wearing to a hardware store,  but not my husband. He was the one leaving a trail of down feathers behind as he walked through the store wearing his favorite coat - not because it was pretty, but because it was warm (he's practical like that). Behind him, floating in the air like dandelion seeds in the breeze, were tiny feathers catching a ride on the air current caused by the stores overhead heater. The feathers were escaping from small burn holes in his coat, caused by flying embers that landed on it while burning brush piles on our property. It was his favorite coat, he didn't care about the feathers. A kinesthetic person seldom chooses looks over comfort. But I, on the other hand, a visual, have been known to wear itchy, uncomfortable, stiff clothing because I thought it was pretty...go figure.

      Today as I walked with this man through the store, I felt like God was giving me a glimpse of myself the way He sees me (and my husband). A view from the outside looking in. Next to me I saw a man unencumbered by the trivial details of what he looked like as he rummaged through boxes of pipe fittings, to find the right piece for a broken water pipe. And with him was a picky visual wearing pink gloves, who was too annoyed with things of little value, like (his) muddy pants and floating feathers...and what people thought about them. Before I had time to bat another feather away from my face, God let me see what I was really wearing - a covering of something much uglier than my husbands coat - an attitude of vanity and pride.

      In my spirit I knew what mattered most in life wasn't what we wear on the outside, but what we wear in our hearts. Pink gloves on a prideful heart is no better than lipstick on a pig, they both end up wallowing in something ugly and smelly. As a visual person, my prayer is that God will open my eyes to those things in life that really matter and keep my focus on Him...not wholly coats on other people (or my husband).

      He got the pipe fixed, so hopefully we won't get a water bill for a million dollars. I took off the pink gloves and helped him. His coat is hanging on the coat rack as I write this, with feathers peeking out the holes. I have a feeling it's going to be around for a long time. I don't think my husband (or God) is finished with it yet.

It's kinda weird but beautiful!

God's creativity never ceases to amaze me.
He has put color and texture everywhere!

Take a walk with me through the trees...

just down the hill from our house.

 While my husband cut fallen trees and burned brush,

I took pictures of these trees. (I wasn't much help!)

 They were adorned with their own kind of bling.

 Other living things were making homes on their bark.

 Hitching a ride through life.

 Like hair and warts...only not.

I thought they were beautiful!

Is it True?

      I was told recently that young Christian's aren’t interested in old church hymns. Is this true? I did turn 50 this year and that makes me a half century old, but can I really be so old that I have lived to see the end of such a rich heritage in print? Perhaps I have stepped out of modern times and am living in the past; a past that started singing from a hymnal and reluctantly moved onto an overhead screen. A past that held in its hand a book filled with the passion and praise of men and women who knew what it meant to lose every earthly thing and yet find that their hearts still held a song of love and hope for their God. Songs that were born out of sanctified lives. Lives that knew suffering and yet still wrote the words, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.” 

     Like the song that was birthed from the ashes of a slave trader’s life after God saved him and set him free from sin, “Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound!” Songs that poured out of the heart of a blind girl and spilled onto pages for generations to see, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine!”

      I enjoy listening to and singing contemporary Christian music, but have you noticed how it comes and goes? The praise and worship songs we sing in church today will be obsolete in a year or two. Why is that? Our God does not change. He is the same today as He has always been and will always be. I think it is great that we have new expressions of praise and worship in our churches. I just pray that we do not give up substance and depth for fads. I pray that our focus is not on the song making us feel good but that it pleases God. The angels around the throne sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” What shall we sing?

      We live in a society that is not happy for long with anything. We move from one thing to another almost as quickly as changing the channel on TV. We are used to things not lasting. Yet some things do last forever. Things like God’s promises, His character, His Truth, and His love. These are the things songs are made of. Not because it is popular, but because it is true.

      This is why I love the old hymns. Because they have been tried and tested over time. Their words sing out a melody that shouts “Amen” to the word of God. I will sing the new songs with the congregation on Sunday and praise God in the sanctuary as the band lifts up its new tunes, but in my heart I will continue to hold tightly to those songs that stood the test of time and sing out from the past, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” In my own way I will be standing with that wretch that was saved and that blind girl who had the eyes of her heart opened by the love of God, and the echo of their songs will continue through the corridors of time as I join them in singing, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long!”


Martin Luther (1483-1546) A Mighty Fortress is our God
John Newton (1725-1807) Amazing Grace
Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915) Blessed Assurance, To God Be the Glory
Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888) It is Well with My Soul