Knowing I am created for a purpose

It makes all the difference in my life to know I am created by God for a purpose. He chose me to be His child...to live my life at this time in history. I know what ever His plans are for my future, they are perfect...because He is loving, and He is good.

Tarnished

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

      I borrowed my mother’s silver tea set when I was considering being a hostess at my church’s Tea last spring. I decided to use something else instead, so I put the tea set up in the top of a closet and forgot about it. When I took it out a few days ago, it was not the shiny tea set I put away. It was dark and ugly. During the seven months it sat in the top of the closet, it tarnished to a dark blackish-grey color.

(the cream and sugar bowls)

      It was my job to clean this silver when I was a kid but it had been several years since I’d cleaned any silver. I found an old container of silver cleaner in the back of my china cabinet drawer, but when I opened the jar, it looked like an old dried out bar of soap, all cracked and hard.

      The sad looking tea set sat on the kitchen counter for several days waiting for me to buy some new cleaner and brighten it up. When I finally got around to it, and began to rub the pieces with the sponge and cleaner, I remembered why I liked that job as a kid. The transformation was so obvious - from dark and ugly to bright and sparkling. The tarnish just wiped away with a little cleaner and water.

      It reminded me of myself. How there were times in my life when I was covered with something worse than tarnish - sin. It happened when I neglected keeping myself free from bad choices, or neglected my walk with God for any length of time. Those times I let my heart feel dark and ugly, but as I turned back to Him, He brought His forgiveness (like the cleaner) and washed it all away. When He did, the transformation was obvious.

      After I cleaned the silver set, I wrapped it in plastic wrap to keep it from the air. It’s a simple thing to do, and it will prevent the ugly tarnish from coming back.

      It’s also pretty simple to keep myself free from being covered with the ugliness of sin. I can’t wrap myself in plastic, but I can keep myself covered with God’s Word and daily prayer. When I make a mistake He will quickly wipe it away with His forgiveness when I turn to Him and ask. He'll restore me to the bright and sparkling person He created me to be - free from sin and tarnish.

The U-Tube video can be viewed here
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnGmueSuFYE&feature=player_embedded#!

It's time for our Women of the Word Bible study to start again at my church! It's always so exciting to get back into the swing of things after the holidays...especially group Bible study. We're doing the "Pursuing More of Jesus" study by Anne Graham Lotz, and it's wonderful. Who doesn't want more of Jesus? When I was researching her studies I came across this U-tube video which I thought was really good. So here it is for you to watch. Enjoy!

I'm always asking the question, "What time is it?" This video has an interesting answer to that question.

It all goes back in the box.



  Christmas is over...

      So much time and energy went into plans and preparations for a day that went by so quickly I can hardly believe it's over. Now it all goes back in the box. Well, there's a lot more than one box, but you know what I mean...Christmas is packed away and taken to a shelf in the garage or closed away in the attic to rest quietly for eleven months, until it can come out again.

      Twinkling stars and tinsel, glitter bulbs and silver bells, are tucked away with their tinkle and shine hidden by tissue paper and cardboard. Gingerbread boys, snowmen, and angels, keep each other company in the dark, as dry dead trees are taken down and drug to burn piles where they receive their honorable burial ceremonies, leaving trails of needles to follow back to the houses. In my case, the artificial tree was taken apart and shoved into a huge box, taped up and hoisted into the attic.

      As I put my last box away and the house is set back to "ordinary," it seems quieter than usual, and a little sad. I'm not sure which is heavier, the boxes or this feeling inside me. It's that let-down feeling you get when you've been excited and anxiously planning a special event or celebration...and then it's over...just like that! It came, it went, and took the cookies and chocolates  with it.

      Life has temporarily lost its sparkle and sweetness, the house mourns the loss of its luster, and I weigh five pounds more than I did in November (thanks to the cookies and chocolates). I'm tempted to pull down the shades and go to bed in the middle of the day, to tuck myself away in the dark room the same way I tucked away the wrappings of Christmas. But if I did, I know it wouldn't be long before I would be awakened by the knowledge that the true meaning of Christmas can never be packed away in a box.

      The light of the knowledge of the glory of God which was revealed in the face of His Son, Jesus Christ, can never be hidden in the dark. Those words He spoke - "I am the light of the world" would illuminate the room and wake me up. I'm sure He would remind me that the sparkle and glitter I boxed up with the decorations can't hold a candle to the light shining brightly from His Spirit within me, and that the best celebration is the one that takes place every day of my life, as I take hold of the gift He sent on that very first Christmas morning...His Son - the Prince of Peace. Christ's birth is a celebration without end, and accepting His gift is just the beginning of life forever with Him.

      The memory of that promise seems to brighten the house, causes the sun to shine warmer on the frosted roof, and makes my heavy heart lighter. I can imagine the heavenly anthems ringing around the throne of the King of Kings; His voice calling to me - "Let the dancing begin!" as I'm reminded that life with Him is the celebration. It's never packed up or stored away; it is a life lived outside the box.

A different celebration, a long time ago...

      On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, when the celebration was coming to an end, and the lights were being taken down, Jesus said these words - 
"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  (John 8:12)