Dragons and Witches and Orcs Oh My!!!

Genesis 6:4  There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

 Genesis 1:21   So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

 

I have heard so much fuss from people who are so down on Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other books/movies in that genre.  I kind of understand the fuss about magic and such, except that I have heard no such fuss about Wizard of Oz, Tales of Narnia and other such movies.  This I do not understand.  If you are going to hate one group, you should hate all things in that group.

One of the arguments I have noticed that some of the fuss is about concerns dragons, giants and sea serpents.  As you will note from the passages above, there are many things in this world that we will never know about but should be smart enough to believe in.  As Gabriel told Mary in Luke 1:37, “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

I am not trying to preach the goodness of the above referenced stories.  I am only saying that when we do not believe something can be possible, we are demeaning the power of God.  He can create anything and cause anything to happen that He chooses.  To say something can be impossible is just not true.

The Harry Potter series gives children someone to want to be like who is on the side of good fighting evil.  The Lord of the Rings series is the same.  In both, the hero(es) makes mistakes, has doubts and eventually wins the fight.  It is much like life here on earth for each of us.  We are fighting this battle every day of our lives.

If you believe some of these things can’t happen, maybe you should have a long conversation with King David.  I am sure he would be more than happy to tell you a story about a giant he met when he was young!!!

 

With A Song In My Heart

Psalm 100:1-2

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!   Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing

 

My husband and I used to sing in a quartet.  We would sing at our church, other churches, special singing services, fund raisers and other such occasions.  It was so much fun.  I really miss being able to do this now.

Sharing our love of God in song is really special.  Most people love music, and songs of praise get them singing and thinking about the words to the songs.  Many people sing a song to the Lord and it brings them closer to Him in their worship.  Many of us have a song in our hearts that carry us through each day.

I have known since I was young that one of the talents God bestowed upon me was words.  If you need a poem, give me a subject and I can write one for you.  Want a short story?  I will be glad to write one for you.  Words come easy to me when written down.  Speaking them is no longer that easy.

Now that I am older, one of the ways I worship God is to sing to Him.  Not out loud, but in my mind and heart.  It gives me so much joy to sing praises to my God and I know that it gives Him joy also.  Sometimes, when I put a conglomeration of words together that really don’t go together, I can feel God smile. 

Once in a while I realize that I am singing out loud.  My husband will tell me, “You have a song in your heart today”.  He always smiles when he says this because he knows that it means I am having a better than average day.  Sometimes it embarrasses me to realize I have said these things out loud without realizing it.

Many people won’t sing in church or at other times because they say they can’t sing.  This is not true.  We can all sing.  God only asks that we are honest and sincere in our praise.  He doesn’t mind if we sing off key…………if we are sincere in our worship, He loves it no matter what it sounds like!!

Too Much Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 1:18

For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

      When I was young I wanted to learn everything there was to know.  I would take my encyclopedias and pour through them trying to read and remember all I could.  Of course, as time passed and I grew older, other things began to fill my life and learning became a burden rather than a blessing. 

     When I was young, there were no computers in homes and the TV was only good for a little bit of world news.  Now everyone has a computer and you can watch the news 24/7.  Many of us think this is a wonderful thing.  Many of us don’t.  Today, we can learn what is happening in every part of the world either on TV, the computer or the newspaper.  Knowledge and learning are all around us.  All we have to do is to watch and listen.

     When Solomon asked for wisdom, he was granted this from God.  He was the smartest man to ever live, past, present or future.  With this knowledge, as stated in the passage above, comes much sorrow.

    As Christians, it is hard to watch people being slaughtered for practically no reason.  It is hard to hear about rapes, murders and torture to so many innocent individuals.  All around us are horrors that we hear about whether we want to or not.  I don’t always think this knowledge is good.  It is a terrible burden to carry.  If we spent every waking moment praying about these things, we would say a prayer for only a small amount of the sorrows in the world.   I reserve judgment on having knowledge of all the terrible things happening in the world.  Sometimes it is overpowering. 

     Knowledge of some things is good.  We all need to know more about the Bible.  We need to take this knowledge and try to make the world a better place, as well as to improve our own lives.  Every time we spread this type of knowledge it is a good thing.

     The world today thinks that if you have a vast amount of knowledge, you don't need God.  Thus, the world ends up in a jumbled mess like the one we have now.  Our mess is not new.  History shows that it has happened over and over again.....we just have not yet learned to study the world's history and learn not to make the same mistakes of our ancestors. 

     Solomon learned this many years ago.  We need to put all these things in God’s Hands and let them go.  Only He can take care of them.  Only He can give us peace.  Only He has true wisdom.

I Am Weak But He Is Strong

2 Corinthians 12:9

My power will rest on you when you are weak

 

When my Crohn’s and/or MS are really acting up, I sometimes have trouble remembering that I am a blessed child of the King.  When I have a terrible day of brain fog, I get so frustrated that praising God is the last thing on my mind.  When times are trying and I want to help someone and can’t, my heart is heavy and I don’t think of the fact that our Lord and Savior is always ready to help and comfort.  When we are having weak moments, our thoughts often do not immediately realize that God is always willing to help us.

Having a chronic disease is hard to deal with.  I am not whining about my conditions…………just trying to tell you how I feel sometimes.  I get really hurt and upset when people I want to be with are doing things I cannot participate in.  I do not wish them to be in my condition.  I just wish me to be in theirs.  Sometimes I forget that I have so many things I can still do, even though there are so many I can’t.  God does not take things away from us without giving us others to take their place.

I have gotten in really low places in my thoughts and have had to shake myself to get out of them.  Sometimes they are not easy to shake.  Many prayers from family and friends have lifted me out of the darkness and put me on a steadier path to peace and contentment.

One of the hardest things I have had to learn is that God will be my strength in all things if I will just let Him.  Trying to make myself strong does not work.  It only brings failure and more frustration.  Only when I ask God to help me with my attitude and gratitude does the day get on a better tract.  Only by letting go of myself and depending on Him will I overcome whatever the day brings.  Only when I truly realize that I am weak but He is strong, does anything good happen in my life. 

Such a simple thing….but often so hard to do!

Holier Than Thou

Rom 3:23:   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

 I once worked for a lady who seemed to be very nice.  She helped me to learn all the things I needed to know to do my job correctly.  She walked me around the park (I was working for the Parks & Conservation Service at the time) and pointed out things I would need to know.  She laughed with me and seemed to like me OK.   Little did I know…………….

The church I had been attending was being made into a historical landmark.  As such, services would no longer be held there for fear of causing more damage to the already fragile structure.  Each of the attendees were told that they would need to find another church to attend and gave us several suggestions for this.

After trying several, I had not found one that I was comfortable with.  I knew that my boss was a full-time church attendee, so I decided to ask her about her church.  This was a major mistake.

Upon asking her about her church, she asked me why I wanted to know.  I told her I was thinking of attending and seeing if I would like it.  She stopped, looked me up and down, and stated that she did not think I would “fit” in with that church.  She offered me several other churches for consideration and went on about her business.  I stayed where I was for fear of busting into tears.  If you could have witnessed this discussion, you would understand just how deeply this wounded me.

As the years went by, I realized how she was and did not even want to attend the church she did.  She was very judgmental of others, selfish and “without sin”.  In her group of friends, they felt totally superior to most people and only interacted with others when necessary.  I guess being at work I fell into the “necessary” column.

This is not true with just a small number of people……it is very common with all of us.  We all have a certain degree of “holier-than-thou” in us.  Most of us do not take it to extreme and try to squash it when it arises.  If we are to be true to our Savior, we will never, ever feel that way towards any other human being.

All of us have sinned.  All of us have fallen short of the glory of God.  It is something we need to remember at all times and in all places.  What we have to do is remember that God is everywhere and knows when we step over that line.  Life is so much sweeter when we don’t!

 

 

God Hug

Ephesians 6:23

 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

All of us have our own special likes.  Many people like flowers, mountains, beaches, waterfalls, etc.  I like all of that also.  But my very favorite thing is trees.

I think God really went out of His way to create something special when He created trees.  There are so many different kinds and each has its own special feature.  They are green and flowering in the summer and show off their many colors in autumn. 

When I go into one of my dark times, I look at the trees and they lift me up and remind me that God is in everything, including me.  They often cheer me with these thoughts and get me back on track.  They lift their arms to pray and make me want to join them.

I will never forget one special time when I was depressed.  I had been like that for several days and was getting angry with myself for not getting myself out of the fog that I was in.  On this particular day, I had ridden with my husband to pick up some medicines from the pharmacy.  My MS was acting up that day and  I was not walking well so I stayed in the car while he went into the store.

As I sat there, I thought about all the things that were bothering me.  For some reason (the Holy Spirit nudging me?!), I looked up and over to my right.  The sight I saw took my breath away.

Right there, in front of me, was the most precious little tree.  It was rather small but had beautifully shaped limbs and was spread out in such a wonderful shape.  But, what was really awesome about it was all the beautiful colored leaves that were covering every place possible on that sweet tree.  It was really showing off!

As I looked at that tree, my spirits began to rise and I started to lift out of that dark place in which I had spent the last few days.  The more I admired the tree, the higher my spirits soared.

I know some will think I am crazy, but I felt God’s Arm around my shoulder and heard Him whisper, “I did that just for you”.  Did I hear it out loud or in my head?  I have no clue.  I just know that I heard it.

Was God’s Arm really around my shoulder?  It felt so real that I put my hand on my shoulder to try and touch it.

Do you believe me? It doesn’t matter.  I know a God Hug when I feel one! 

Feeling Safe

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

 

There is no one alive who does not have a fear of something.  There are fears of heights, storms, darkness, loneliness, snakes, spiders and a very long list of other things.  Behind death, the most common cause of fear is a fear of failure.

When the Lord told those words to Joshua, Joshua was getting ready to take on a big responsibility.  Let’s face it:  most of us would not like to have to follow in the footsteps of a famous and beloved person.  Joshua was going to have to take over Moses’ job.  That was some pretty big shoes to have to step into. 

Joshua had been with this group of Israelites for many years and knew that they had a tendency to rebel against their leader and against God Himself.  Many times on their journey Moses had had to reassure them that God would take care of them and look after them.  The children of Israel had turned against Moses and God on several occasions.

But at this point in time, Moses had just died and the people were mourning and wondering what to do next.  Joshua was going to have to show them that he could carry on where Moses had left off.  It was a daunting task.

Because God had chosen Joshua to fill the vacancy that Moses had left behind, he knew that He would have to reassure Joshua in every way possible.   God told Joshua that he should not fear anything because He would be with him at all times.  It gave Joshua the comfort and strength that he needed to fulfill the job that God had given him.

I have spent the better part of my life in fear of something.  Storms, loneliness, failure and many other fears kept me from enjoying life for so many years.  I am so glad that God gives all of us this promise.  We need not fear anything for He is with us!

“Father God help us to remember that there is no situation that we can find ourselves in that You are not right there with us.  Help us to know this and never be afraid of anything we have to go through.  In Jesus’ name we ask this, amen. “