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!