Are You My Sister....Really?

Disclaimer: This post will only prick your heart if you are guilty of its contents!

And with this disclaimer, I will say that at one time I was so guilty until the contents of this post would have went beyond pricking, it would have stabbed! So forgive me if your feelings are hurt or you are provoked to anger, my aim is to cause thought...prayerful thought.

Have you ever walked up on a couple (or a few) of our church sisters engaged in gossip? Or maybe a sister walked up on YOU gossiping? Tale bearing? Being a busybody? That is something we should never do, God abhors it! But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. (1 Peter 4:15) It is so easy to find ourselves engaged in tearing down our sister in Christ. And sometimes we find that all it takes is for one tongue to start wagging and the rest will follow! Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Psalm 34:13

We've all done it, and your are definitely a liar if you say that you've never gossiped or talked about someone. I know I used to do it, and loved it! I am just keeping it real. I couldn't wait until I got together with my natural sisters to pick the bones of my spiritual sisters. I never thought anything anything negative about it, that is, until it happened to me and I then began to realize how very wrong I had been.

 Being married to a minister is no joke! As a minister's wife I was subjected to every little cruel joke, every ugly whisper, every demeaning comment and every stream of gossip that could be spewed forward. What was worse, my children, who had done nothing to warrant such harsh words thrown out about them, received the brunt of the tongue wagers as well.  See. when you talk about your sister, your words don't only hurt her, but those daggers scatter and pierce the hearts of everyone close to her.You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. (Psalm 50:20)

So when you find ugly things to say about your sister in Christ; is she really your sister? See, my Bible, and I am sure yours as well, tells us that we ought to love one another as Christ loves us. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35. Then tell me; what kind of love causes you to talk about your sister? What kind of love causes you to constantly harp on something that she has done? And it probably wasn't even to you! On top of that, she repented and asked for forgiveness...that should have settled the matter. Period! But what we like to do is keep "stuff" going. Sensationalize it! Make more out of than it really is. Hurt someone else so that we can have something to focus on instead of our own miserable, sorry lives. Yes, I said it...miserable and sorry! And I won't take it back. We gossip, we hurt, we backbite, we show no compassion, we love it when we see someone falling. We kick them instead of picking them up. We spread lies and rumors instead of opening our arms to give comfort. And then we have the nerve to call her a sister! Really?

A tongue that can't be contained is evil and evokes tremendous pain....but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:8 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. James 3:6 James warns us on many occasions about the results of the lose tongue. I want to ask you; what pleasure do you get from slandering your sister? What perverse enjoyment do you feel from gossiping? We have all sinned and fallen short as Paul says in Romans 3:23. So where do we have the room to speak evil of someone? Don't you realize that is hate? And you think you are going to enjoy the wonderful joys of heaven with that mouth? I DON'T THINK SO! 

Learn to count the cost before you submit to gossip. If you're gossiping about someone, you'd better believe someone is gossiping about you! What's the purpose? What are the benefits? What do you gain? Is she your sister in Christ...really? If you stand before me and tell me how much you love your Christian family and then take off like a bolt of lightning when you discover I am human; so you can gossip to others about my misfortune - I ask, where is the love?

So are you my sister...really?


 

A Cure For Fear

What are you afraid of? Being alone; flying the friendly skies; getting old; getting sick; death; having no friends; not accomplishing your goals; giving up on your dreams; life's inconsistencies or life itself? Our greatest enemy is fear! Strange as it may seem, we even fear, fear! I've had and still continue to have fears that I am trying to conquer. So writing this post will be easy because I am going to keep it real and personal. I am sure that many of you will be able to identify with my fears as you may have some of the same ones that I do. It is my prayer that I will touch upon something that will cause you to think.

2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirt of power, of love and of self-discipline." This tells me that the Lord gave us the power to overcome fear. Our spirits should not be timid, but so disciplined until we operate in love with all that we do. The Lord is with us in all our trials, we should not be afraid to face them. To fear is to place an unnecessary burden on ourselves when all we need to do is trust in the Lord. "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." Proverbs 29:25.

I understand how hard it is to overcome fear. I truly understand how hard it is to 'let go and let God'. For years I've struggled with the thought of being alone as I grow older. I struggle with the reality that when my youngest daughter finally leaves home, it'll just be me in that big condo...alone. I struggle with the loneliness that engulfs me everyday when I come home from work and sit and eat alone and watch television alone and retreat to my bedroom alone. I struggle with paying bills and cry from seeing a paycheck I works so hard for and take so much ugliness from the world to earn, be absorbed by bills and I then wonder how I am going to make it though the next two weeks until I get paid again. I struggle with the thought of failing health. I struggle with the fact that I have no friends in the city I live in, and sometimes my phone doesn't ring for days except for solicitors. I struggle a lot with trying to find things to do to keep my mind occupied so that I won't be consumed by feat. I struggle with the thoughts of something horrible happening to my children, grandchildren, or other close family members. I struggle with the thought of not fulfilling my goals, or realizing my dreams.  My struggles are ALL fears...so are yours! Fears that at some point have utterly consumed me and taken my focus away from where it should be...above. David knew and encourages us where to put our trust. "When I am afraid I will trust you. In God, whose word I praise. In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4

Endless Love

When it comes to my taste in secular music, I love jazz, soundscapes and “oldies”! Sometimes those oldies get me through a very trying day. You know how you listen to them and it’s like, “yeah, that’s it! That’s how I’m feelin’ right about now…go on with your bad self!”  You know, stuff like that. And oldies love songs…what you say! I can sit back and listen, and listen, and listen…then I cry, and cry, and cry! Wow, this is exhausting! But anyway, you know where I’m going with this…or…may be you don’t.  

So I was at work listening to music online, specifically, Motown oldies. You know about Motown, right? Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Commodores, Billy Preston….singing all of them good old songs. Songs you can actually sing the lyrics to; songs you can understand; songs that mean something…and they are all about love. Yeah, love…that elusive thing that we want, that we say we’ve had. Sometime I wonder about that, like, here I am 59 years old and I really don’t know what love is. I mean that real thing between a man and woman; that thing that makes you smile every day when you think about him; that thing that keeps you feeling 21 when you’re really 41! Oh well, at this age I kinda figure I’ll never experience that type of love, but what I do experience every second of every day is a love that is all-consuming, ever present, and all-sustaining! This love keeps me through the night and wakes me up in the morning. This love is endless!

So that brings me to the title of this post “Endless Love”; a song made famous by Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie. Take a look at the lyrics to this song if you will:

My love, there’s only you in my life

The only thing that’s right

My love, you’re every breath that I take

You’re every step I make

And I, I want to share all my love with you

No one else will do

And your eyes, they tell me how much you care

Oh yes, you’ll always be my endless love

Two hearts that beat as one

Our lives have just begun

Forever, I’ll hold you close in my arms

I can’t resist your charms

And love, I’ll be a fool for you

I’m sure you know I don’t mind

‘Cause you mean the world to me

Oh I know I found in you my endless love

Oh and love I’ll be that fool for you

I’m sure you don’t mind

And yes you’ll be the only one

‘Cause no one can’t deny

This love I have inside

And I’ll give it all to you

My love, my endless love

Wow! Whew! My Goodness! What a love…what a lover! When you hear those lyrics, you can’t do anything but shake your head and go hmm….If only! Okay so maybe I don’t have that physical love, that closeness with a person of the opposite sex, perhaps I’ll never experience such wonderment and I will admit it bothers me and at times it hurts. So when I become consumed with this type of thinking, I have to do something extraordinarily simple…I have to LOOK UP! Yes, look up to that One who is the epitome of love!  He is without question the greatest lover there is, He is the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty, the Highest, the love of my life; He is absolute love! 1 John 4 talks about His incomparable love.

Holding Pattern

This morning a dear friend sent me this email from an unknown author and I wanted to share it with all of you because it simply hit home with me as I am sure it will with some of you. I’ve been praying earnestly to my Father for some things that I have been struggling with for a while and it just seems that He doesn’t hear me and I’ve become frustrated and depressed. Now I know that I am in a holding pattern. If you’ve been praying for something to happen, for a change to take place in your life and it hasn't happened yet, you are probably in a holding pattern as well. Please read on….

Many times God will allow a painful situation or a painful circumstance in our life to "swallow us up." This season in our spiritual growth is a holding pattern. We can't move to the left or the right. All we can do is sit, like Jonah sat in the belly of that great fish, so God can have our undivided attention and speak to us. God put Jonah in a holding pattern because He needed to speak to his heart. Jonah was all alone. There were no friends to call, no colleagues to drop by, no books to read, no food to eat, no interference, and no interruptions. He had plenty of time to sit, think, meditate, and pray.

When we're deep down in the midst of a difficult situation, God can talk to us. When He has our undivided attention, He can show us things about ourselves that we might not otherwise have seen.

A Few of God's Holding Patterns:

1. When you are sick in your physical body and you have prayed but God has not healed you yet, you are in a holding pattern

2. When you are having problems with your children and you have put them on the altar, but God has not delivered them yet, you are in a holding pattern.

3. When you have been praying for the salvation of a loved one and they have not been saved yet, you are in a holding pattern.

4. When you are in a broken relationship and you have given it over to God, but it has not been restored yet, you are in a holding pattern.

5. When the doors slam shut before you can knock on them, you are in a holding pattern.

When we are deep in the belly of a difficult situation, there are no interruptions. God has our undivided attention. All we can do is sit, think, meditate, and pray. We cannot run from God because there are no Mountains that are high enough, valleys low enough, rooms that are dark enough, or places that are hidden enough from Him. We must remember to praise Him while we're waiting and remember three things:

1. The pattern has a purpose.

2. The pattern has a plan.

3. The pattern has a process.

 So stop struggling and start listening, praying and trusting. He'll keep you right where you are until you can clearly hear Him say, "I love you."

Prayer:  Father, forgive my unbelief. I know You Love me and will turn anything around to benefit me. You have planned nothing for me but victories and I am ready to receive them regardless of how difficult the path.  Amen

The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.

 God does answer our prayers, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5:14-15); "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14)

There are some things we must remember though, 1) whatever we ask for, our promotion of the Gospel must be protocol; 2) all glory belongs to our heavenly Father-never forget that; 3) we cannot ask selfishly-it won’t work; and 4) remember that the Lord knows our needs, our wants, our desires-if it is His will, we will receive.

The Lord does hear all of our prayers, never forget that! At times however, His answer is going to be “no”. And that is the hardest thing to hear, the word “no”. But He knows what we need better than we do ourselves will not give us what we ask for because it is not good for us. So be thankful the of the “no’s”… and.keep on asking!