Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Be Careful How You Walk

It was March, 2005. The day I took a wrong step. One wrong step. As a result of that one wrong step, I fell. The result of that fall was a dislocated foot and a shattered ankle. And life has never been the same.

Multiple ankle surgeries. Hours of physical torture. I mean therapy! Ankle fusion. An ankle that now has the ability to forecast the weather!

Life changed for me on that day.

I now walk differently. I understand pain differently. I wear different kinds of shoes than I did previously.  I'm different as a result of that one wrong step.  

March 29, 2005, started out wonderfully well, and it ended so differently. All because of one wrong step.

One wrong step can make a huge difference to us physically. But it can also make a huge difference in other ways as well. Emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually.

Our wrong steps are not always literal, physical steps that lead to landing in a heap on the ground with broken bones.

Sometimes our wrong steps are bad choices. Wrong thinking. Poor decisions. Sometimes our wrong steps are based on self-centeredness or short-sightedness. Sometimes our wrong steps are a result of not giving God His rightful place in our lives.

Perhaps it's these kinds of "wrong steps" that the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote these words in his letter to the church at Ephesus:

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."  (Ephesians 5:15 NASB)

Think about that today. And be careful how you walk.

Friday, March 8, 2024

What Are You Doing

When I first began this blog, I posted regularly. Almost daily. I haven’t posted anything at all in several weeks, and my “regular posting” seems to be a thing of the past. Since cancer entered our world, all our routines have been tossed, and the only routine is that there isn’t one! I often find myself walking in circles through the house asking myself the question, “Susan, what are you doing?”. 

That question seems a good place to get back to this blog. So I ask you the same question I often ask myself. What are you doing?

If you watch the TV show Wheel of Fortune, you will recognize that question as one of the puzzle categories. Usually the answer is something like reading a book or sitting on the beach or watching a movie.

Today let's consider that question in a little different light.

It's Friday. Sunday's coming. What are you doing to get ready?

I'm not talking about being sure you have turned your clock forward one hour for Daylight Saving Time.  (And really, what time does it actually save??)  I'm not talking about deciding what you're going to wear to church. Or deciding where you'll go for lunch after church.

I'm talking about this: What are you doing to get ready for worship? What are you doing to prepare to meet with God? What are you doing to prepare your heart for Bible study? What are you doing to get ready?

Or are you planning to just show up and see what happens?

"I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD!'" (Psalm 122:1 ESV)

Monday, February 12, 2024

With All My Heart

 


I heard there was a big football game yesterday. People yelling and screaming to express their love for their favorite team. In just a couple of days, people will be expressing their love for a favorite person. In both cases, a lot of money was and will be spent just to prove the point.

My earliest Valentine memories are of red construction paper hearts and white paper doilies and heart-shaped candies with messages like "Be Mine". Back in elementary school (way back in the 1950s!) we made our valentine "mailboxes" out of construction paper, or by decorating brown paper bags with construction paper hearts.

As I grew older, Valentine's Day came to be less about construction paper and more about flowers and chocolates that came in heart-shaped boxes.

Fast-forward to 1971, when I was a college student and was invited by a friend to attend a Valentine party at her church. There I met a young man who had just been discharged from his military service and had returned home. A little more than a year later, on a warm summer evening, I married that young man! We drove away from the church that evening singing along with Karen Carpenter......"We've only just begun....". For the more than fifty years we have been married, that has remained "our song".

But today, I have another song ringing in my heart. While all the world is thinking about hearts and flowers and chocolates and love, my thoughts have turned to what love is really all about. To that greatest expression of love. To the Savior who gave His life that I might have life eternal. Today, this is the song I'm singing......

With all my heart
I want to love you, Lord,
And live my life
Each day to know you more.
All that is in me
Is yours completely.
I'll serve you only
With all my heart.
(--Babbie Mason)



As we celebrate Valentine's Day this week, it is certainly true that I love my husband.......my sweetheart for all these years......and I'm so grateful for that party invitation all those years ago. He really is my Knight in Shining Armor, my very own Prince Charming!

But even more than that, I am so very grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved me, not because I was worthy of His love, but even though I am not. Who loved me enough to die for me! That's the best Valentine ever!

"We love because He first loved us."  (1 John 4:19 NASB)



Listen to “With All My Heart” here: https://youtu.be/Ah7DKbtLpL4

Friday, February 2, 2024

Anticipation

It’s a beautiful afternoon here in the Upstate! Which makes this a day for anticipation. Anticipating the return of warmer weather. Anticipating even more sunshine. Anticipating Spring! 


As we look around our world, we often feel the weight of gloom. Politics, cancer, viruses, the threat of war, discontent, unemployment, inflation….the list could be quite lengthy. All these things could weigh heavily on us and lead to gloom and despair.

But just like gloomy weather, these things can also be cause for anticipation. Anticipation of a better day coming. Because a better day is ahead. 

“This world is passing away…..” (1 John 2:17).

This world, with its stress and gloom, is not all there is. For those who belong to Christ, there is a far better day coming. Let’s focus our attention there. Let’s anticipate!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

Friday, January 5, 2024

And Know

Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher of days gone by, said,  "Nearly all the ills of life spring from this simple source: that we are not able to sit still in a room."


God said, "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

When we read that verse, we tend to focus on the first phrase. Be still. And of course, that's an important part of the verse.

Be still. Or, as the NASB renders the verse, cease striving. The Amplified Bible puts it this way: Let be and be still.

But let's not forget the rest of the verse. Just being still, as important as that is, is not enough.  

Be still, and know that I am God.

Don't forget the "and know" part of the verse.

Again, let's look to the Amplified Bible for clarification. Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God.

Be still. That's important. Cease striving. Stop worrying. Be aware.

And know. Not just give mental assent to. Recognize and understand in the very core of your being.  Know. Know that you know that you know.  

Recognize and understand who God is.  

Certainly He is a loving God. He is also a just God. A righteous God. A providing God.  He is a Sovereign God.  

Be still and know that I am God.  

Whatever the circumstances of your life. Whatever decisions you are facing. Whatever emotional upheaval may encompass you today. Whatever. In every circumstance of life. In the big things and in the little things. Know this. He is God.

There is nothing facing you or me today that He can't handle. Because He is God.

Think about that today. Ponder that. Live in light of that. Be still. And know.

"Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations.  I will be exalted among the earth!"  (Psalm 46:10 ESV)

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Something to Think About

 I have been using the same devotional book - My Utmost for His Highest - for as long as I can remember. And each year I have learned from it and been blessed by it. Each year it speaks to me at a different point.

But there is one point that gets me every time. Every January 3 I have to pause and consider this point. And more so with each passing year.

Chambers had this to say: “If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet - getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God - it is questionable whether we have ever stood in his presence.”

Our culture has become increasingly informal, even sloppy, in the way we dress and the way we conduct ourselves. That informality has spilled over into the church. I’m not suggesting we go back to the stiff formality of the Puritans or the Victorians. But I am suggesting that our extreme informality may have gone too far. 

Read the Chambers quote again. Then stop to consider who God is. Reflect on His character and His attributes. His holiness. His majesty. His omnipotence. 

Are we honoring God with our “excessive informality”?

Something to think about.

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

A Prayer for the New Year

  



I hope your new year is off to a good start. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve, at least until the fireworks started! We celebrated New Year's Day with a traditional meal of greens, peas, ham, and cornbread, then spent the day relaxing. So far, this new year is good!

Last year began in much the same way, and it was a good year. At least, it was until cancer entered our world. Once my husband was diagnosed with cancer in August, life got a little crazy!

There had been no symptoms, so the diagnosis came as a complete surprise. We had no idea. But God did.  

I have no idea where this new year will take us. But God does. And just as He has guided us every step of this journey, He will continue to do so. 

As one year has ended and another has begun, I want to thank you for stopping by. And I want to offer my very best wishes for a Happy New Year, a year of joy and peace and our Father's bountiful blessings! As we begin this new year, this is my prayer for each of us:


Another year is dawning! Dear Father, let it be,
In working or in waiting, Another year with Thee;
Another year of leaning Upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of mercies,Of faithfulness and grace;
Another year of gladness In the shining of Thy face;
Another year of progress, Another year of praise;
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of service, Of witness for Thy love;
Another year of training For holier work above.
Another year is dawning! Dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in heaven, Another year for Thee.
 -Frances R. Havergal