Closed Doors

At some point we all struggle with those "closed doors"...things that we pray for that we don't get. I know I do. One of my biggest struggles with the closed door is that of companionship. After being married for 21 years, it was and still is hard to come home to an empty house. And now that my children are all grown and most of them with families of their own, I really miss not having someone to talk to, to just be close to. Especially when my ex-husband went to being an ex to a current, it didn't take him very long and after thirteen years, I am still faced with a closed door. I have a very good friend who is always sending me encouraging emails. I tell him that somehow he just seems to send me an email about a subject that I've been struggling with. So if you're currently struggling with a closed door, remember, that door has been closed by the Lord for a reason...so that he can open up one that is so much better for you. Let us help each other bask in the wisdom of God because he knows us better than we do and he knows far better what we need than we do.

I just came back from a little walk with this very subject on my mind, as I walked I prayed to the Lord to help me not dwell on the closed doors but to be thankful for the ones that are open now and those that he will be opening in the future. Let's pray for each other to stop crying over what we want or think we want and be joyful over what we have knowing "...how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:11) And "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17). I would like to share the lastest email my friend sent to me and hope that you are inspired as I was:

CLOSED DOORS
We need to learn to praise the Lord as much for a closed door as we do an open door. The reason God closes doors is because He has not prepared anything over there for us. If he didn't close the wrong door, we would never find the right door.

God directs our path through the closing and opening of doors. Once a door closes, it forces you to change your course. Another door closes, it forces you to change your course again. Then, finally, you find the open door and you walk right into your blessing.

The Lord directs our paths through the opening and closing of doors, but instead of praising Him for the closed door (which keeps us out of trouble); we get upset because we "judge by appearances."

You have an ever-present help in the time of trouble that is always standing guard. Because he walks ahead of you, He can spot trouble down the road and set up a roadblock or detour accordingly. But through our lack of wisdom, we try to tear down the roadblocks or push aside the detour sign.

With You, I’m Born Again!

There are so many “old school” songs about love that simply move me to great thought, or maybe wishful thinking, depending on your interpretation of this post. Anyway, although I am fully aware of the worldly connotations of these songs, I can examine them from a spiritual aspect to interpret a love that is beyond comprehension; a love so beautiful and lasting until the very awareness of its existence, for some, is inconceivable. One of those songs is, “With You I’m Born Again”, a duet with Billy Preston and Syreeta. For those of you who aren’t old school and don’t know it, here are the words, without the stanza repetitions:

Come bring me your softness
Comfort me through all this madness
Woman [man], don't you know, with you I'm born again

Come give me your sweetness
Now there's you, there is no weakness
Lying safe within your arms, I'm born again

I was half, not whole
In step with none
Reaching through this world
In need of one

Come show me your kindness
In your arms I know I'll find this
Woman [man], don't you know, with you I'm born again
Lying safe with you I'm born again

WOW, what a love! But I am going to step outside of the boundaries of this song being about a male and female relationship and look at it from the lens of a spiritual relationship with the Lord. Contrary to those who say, “I don’t need anybody or anything”, we all need comfort in our lives and the Lord is there to shower us with His softness. He is our comfort, one that will never elude us. “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will never forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” Deuteronomy 31:8. “Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” Matthew 11:28-29. 

The world is in a perpetual state of confusion and Satan’s only goal is to trap us, get us caught up in the madness and keep us from looking up and seeking the peace that only God can provide. “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:7. And the Lord is so very sweet to us! “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” Psalm 34:8. Furthermore, there is no weakness in the Lord for our safety abides in His love because “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” 1 John 4:28. “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” Psalm 4:8.

We are whole in the Lord, we have all that we could ever want…ever need! “[We] have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer [us] who live, but Christ who lives in [us]. And the life [we] now live in the flesh [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave himself for [us]” Galatians 2:20 and “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” 2 Corinthians 5:17. We reach out to the Lord and the world cannot touch us since “[We] can do all things through him who strengthens [us]” Philippians 4:23. [We] can conquer the world because [we] know the nature of what it has to offer; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” Ephesians 6:12 and “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” Romans 12:2.

However, we have a significant role in our transformation. We have to radiate kindness, we have to love; and that means everyone! We cannot pick and choose who we will love based on our perceptions of them, biases, prejudices, whatever! “Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” Colossians 3:14 and “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins” 1 Peter 4:8. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” Ecclesiastes 12:3.

If I Could Start All Over

At some point in all our lives we come to regret something that we’ve done, some decision that we’ve made and wish that we could start all over. But if such a thing were indeed possible, what would we do or what would we have done differently? Would we have chosen a different career path? Would we have actually caught some of the dreams we were chasing? Married our childhood sweetheart…or not married him? Had different children…or not had any children at all? Finished college or maybe not have started going in the first place? I mean, where does the regret stop? When does the, “thank you Lord for making me, me!” arise?

Ponder on this…if you start all over, at what point in your life would you start? What would the new be and what old would you wish away? Consider what makes us so unhappy with where we are at any one given point? Why are we “so” not satisfied with our life decisions? For me, a lot of reasons come to mind…unfulfillment, pressures, worry, envy, lust, selfishness, jealousy and all those others works of the flesh as revealed in Galatians 5:16-21. In reality, we would never wish to start all over if our lives were centered on the fruits of the spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. Although we would not be perfect, we would be working toward a state of perfection, and why would anyone want to change that!

However, we are constantly struggling with sin for we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good Romans 7:14-16. Those struggles cause us to want to start over; have a fresh beginning to get ourselves together. But we will never be totally together because our flesh is constantly warring with our spirit. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want Galatians 5:17. Remember, we don't wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places Ephesians 6:10-12. And when we are in a war, we need to put on the whole armor to ensure defeat of the enemy. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace Ephesians 16:13-15.  

When we fully understand how much God loves us and how many times he will forgive us if we ask him, why would we want to start over again. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life John 3:16. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works Titus 2:14. We realize it’s okay to be human, it’s okay to make mistakes and regret them. God knows and understand our imperfections; he knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows we are all a “hot-mess” which is why we have the Holy Spirit as our guide to lead us to all truths and be an intercessor for our craziness when we need the Lord to forgive us of the messes we get ourselves in when we forget Who we belong to! Romans 8:26-27

When you start wishing that you can start all over (which of course, you never will)…just think about all the “stuff” you went through to get where you are; some good, some bad. But you survived it and that is all good! Start where you are now! Make a conscious effort to study more, love more, and accept where you are in life and thank God that he gives you another day – each day, to get it right!

Faith Aqueduct – Exploring the intersection of a man made system with the wisdom of God

As I pondered on how to get started writing this post, I needed to find out exactly what an aqueduct actually was. I had a vague definition and from my education, I knew “aqua” was a Latin word for water and I supposed duct had to do with its flow, but I did not know exactly what it meant. So a little Google search provided the following information. Now just as a note, I went to the kid site so that my jumbled mind could get a simple but direct understanding.

 As Rome expanded and the empire grew it became hard for the people who lived in the towns to get drinking and washing water. Because raw sewage was draining into the rivers, people who drank river water often got very sick or died. Roman government decided to build long stone channels to carry clean water from nearby hills to the towns. These were called aqueducts and were quite a challenge to build. The engineering had to be just right in order to get the water to run through the channels and get to the city without stagnating in the channel or coming too fast into the city. They had to keep the slope the same all the time, so sometimes the aqueducts had to run on high arches, and other times along the ground in stone channels, or even under the ground in tunnels. (http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/architecture/aqueducts.htm)

Thus, an aqueduct is a channel, and a channel is defined as a frequency transmission, it is a means of communication; course or means of communication or expression. A channel is a mode of expression – taking one thing to another, as with the aqueduct taking clean water to the people of Ancient Rome. Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen Hebrews 11:1. Faith is also a channel; it is a means of expressing how we feel about the providence of God. Our manifestation of faith communicates our trust in God always providing our needs; our confidence that He gives us everything that is good and if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and unbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed James 1:5-6. Faith moves us beyond ourselves to come to trust in God. Faith drives us to action; we become the means (channel) by which others learn of the Lord. We carry (channel) the truth to the sick and dying who constantly drink of the raw sewage of sin! Just as it was a challenge for the Ancient Romans to build the aqueducts, it is a challenge for us to separate ourselves from stagnating in the world. We must keep the slope of our minds the same all of the time, so sometimes we have run to higher ground and take shelter because we are weak, sinful creatures and need to get our stones realigned. Always, we have to keep up our structure’s maintenance having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone Ephesians 2:20. And just as the building of the aqueduct brought longevity to the physical body by temporarily halting sickness and death; the building of our faith brings eternal life to the spiritual body by permanently ending death.

The Coins Under The Cushion

I am a grandmother and I have little and not so little grandchildren. When they all get together at my house, I know what the end results will be when they leave…it’s deep cleaning time! You’d be amazed at the stuff I find under the cushions of my sofa. Well…maybe not if you have little ones around whether your children or your children’s children. Anyway, when I move those sofa cushions, I can go shopping! Coins, coins, coins in every nook and cranny! Okay, so maybe they are mostly pennies and maybe I can’t go shopping…right away. But pennies do add up. 100 equals a dollar, 200 is two dollars…you get the picture. It may take a while, but if you’re persistent in seeking the coins, eventually you’ll find enough to make a monetary difference. So it is with our Christian walk, persistence in seeking the Word pays off in the end!

The word coin has many definitions, i.e., a small piece of metal, usually flat and circular, authorized by a government for use as money; metal money considered as a whole; a flat circular piece or object felt to resemble metal money: a pizza topped with coins of pepperoni, or in architecture - a corner or cornerstone. (onlinedictionary.com) I want to concentrate on the architectural definition cornerstone. A cornerstone is a foundation; just like a single penny is the cornerstone for a dollar, it’s valuable is beyond measure, for without those many, many pennies we would not have those many, many dollars!

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our religious dollar! (Mark 12:10-11) He is the foundation and staying in His word adds up and pays us great dividends in the end. Sometimes when we see those coins under the cushion, we just toss them because they are more of a nuisance than anything else and we just can’t see their value. Didn’t they do the very same thing to our Lord and Savior? (Psalm 118:22) They could not see His value or just didn’t want to be bothered with counting the wealth they possessed by knowing Him! Even after being told of the treasures they would inherit by realizing the Lord was the foundation of untold wealth, the ancient world still tossed him aside.(Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42) Don’t we do the same? We are so concerned with the end results, that we forget the foundation. We don’t want the small things, we want the huge things; we want what the world considers prosperity and forget that a single coin is the catalyst for growth. We don’t want to wait until the dividends begin adding up, we want our portion now!

We toss out the coins under the cushion because they are not bringing in the payments we want right now.  But remember that if you don’t invest, you don’t reap the benefits. It is imperative we start investing those coins we find under the cushion; in Christian “talk”, we need to start saving the Word of God in our hearts to begin our accumulation of spiritual wealth. Only then will we reap the benefits of an eternal existence with our Savior…a dividend that is unmatchable!