MY HANDS ARE AGING

 

I glanced over my cup of coffee this morning and noticed my hand. A new age spot! Oh boy! I love getting those. Yeah right! However, they are what they are. I cannot stop them nor can I prevent myself from dropping things and spilling salsa on every white or light colored blouse that I own (which now are multicolored blouses by the way). I have more pair of glasses than the dollar tree and still can’t keep up with them. Finally, I broke down last year and bought myself one of those large 7 day pill boxes that I fill up every Saturday morning and keep on the kitchen counter in site, where I will not forget to take them, as soon as I walk into the kitchen in the mornings. Every day, I feel myself decaying a little bit more. Dying is inevitable, but until that day comes when I will cross over into eternity and one day receive my new body, one that will not ever see corruption again, I am faced with what I have and it is up to me to make the best out of it. Not only does my body feel the pains and elements of aging, my mind too suffers. Maybe though, age is kinder to me than I think. If I will not wear my glasses, I can’t see the lines that run north, south, east and west on my face. I am finding that as I am aging, I am tempted more than ever not to care what people think. While some of those can be looked upon as a positive, I know that they offer me no excuse before the Lord in my actions. Though my hands are aging, my eyes are failing, I am exhorted in the scriptures to praise and serve the Lord, all the days of my life.

 

As I was pondering upon age today I was reminded of an elderly group of women with whom I am very close to and very, dear to my heart. They are quite older than I am and I have a world of respect for them. I spend time with these women every week and am very grateful for their godly influence on my life. They are not women of wealth, nor are they famous, they are however an example to me as wise women of faith, in which I regard more than any other thing on earth in a relationship. Most of us are drawn to those in our society that are successful and find some type of value in their opinions. We watch how they live and pay close attention to what they say and do. But too often we place our respect in the wrong things and by doing so we are tempted to value a person’s power and success with a worldly perspective. However, from a Biblical perspective, those characteristics take on a whole different meaning. Instead of wealth, power and success, we are told to honor and respect wisdom and understanding and pursue it through the knowledge of the older ones.

 

Elderly people were respected and accredited more in Biblical communities because of the years of experiences that they had accrued. Their understanding of the times, the seasons, and the forces of nature were crucial to the well-being and sustenance of each generation to come. Sadly, we’ve lost some of that in our world today. Our older people are set aside as being too old-fashioned and out of touch. The younger generation is no longer grouped with the teenagers, but today they are in their 20’s and 30’s and some even into their 40’s. The reason of that is because age does not make a person wise. It is the experience and willingness to set aside pride and be willing to listen and learn through the years that they have lived. However, many today are more into what’s happening now and who’s doing what amongst their peers, instead of listening to the garnered wisdom and collective understanding of our seniors.

 

 In our frantic effort to be relevant, we’ve unwisely ditched the best of our faith for the worst of our wants. If we honestly want to be a strong force and have an impact in our churches, families and communities, then we have to take time to give credence to the collective wisdom and understanding of those who have been faithful for decades before us, instead of constantly deferring to those whose  walk is just beginning. Change just for the sake of change often times leads to chaos and division, and you can end up being influenced in the wrong way. Choices made through wisdom and understanding, give us the power to be influential and have a real impact for Christ. There are many, many of our senior adults today just sitting waiting for someone to acknowledge their worth. Many struggle with guilt because they can no longer do as they once did. They want us to listen to them, ask their opinions, encourage their activity, whatever it may be. Psalm 63:4 says, “I will praise you as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands”. Or we could read it like this, “Even though my hands are aging, I will continue to lift them up in praise to You! For the older saint in the Lord, your hands may not look as they did in your former years, but they are power packed with wisdom and understanding and someone, somewhere needs you to reach out to them and share what you have learned. Never stop praising and serving the Lord sweet friend….no matter what your age is! God has something for you!

Loving on you today,

Bren

LOVING THE LEFT BACK RIGHT

God can redeem even the most sinful life as well as restore the one who has turned away and left the Father’s house only to realize the error of their way as they return home expecting slavery; but is greeted by an elated, gracious and generous father who welcomes them home with favor and open arms. Most of us know Christ's parable in the scriptures of the Prodigal Son. Maybe this is a story that you can relate to in one way or another, for most of us can.  While you might not have given your child an inheritance to be squandered, still, you see them squandering their life in wrong choices and thoughtless behavior. In Luke 15, we find another parent facing that same dilemma. Though I wouldn't have chosen the pain of the prodigal son’s father to be a teacher to me. I can tell you that it has been at times a university of chastisement where I have majored in purging and pruning as God continues to work His character into my life as I learn the greatest of all lessons, to love unconditionally. The most valuable possession a human being can have is their own personal testimony as to what God has done for them. Hurting people are always on the lookout for folks that are willing to bear their souls and join them in their pain as they must walk through it. Sadly, there are family members who have never heard their dad's testimony, or their sister's or their brother's story of how God broke them, forgave them and how they have learned to enjoy the resurrected life they now have in Christ. Nothing moves me more than to hear what God has done for someone else.

The child of God should be testifying constantly in their homes, to their friends as they are visiting and fellowship and to the lady at the counter who needs to hear the story on a personal and intimate level as to what Christ has done for them and what He can do for others. Every Christian's home should be a testimony site. The neighbors should know that that family they live next door to loves the Lord. They should know when, where and how those neighbors were saved and they should see a light that shines continually in them and not hidden for only the Church family to know about and see. How can we parent our prodigal children, wayward neighbors, family and friends in the far country that need the Lord? Those that have left the fold and are wondering and need to be brought back and made right once again. We do it by simply loving people enough to tell them the truth and what God has done for us.

Luke 15:20 tells us this about the prodigal son and his father, "while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." Romans 5:8 tells us that, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us," While God most defiantly expects us to change, He did not wait for us to stop sinning to die for us. That scripture is very clear in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You see, if we would start looking at others that are not where we, nor God wish they would be, and put ourselves in their place, I mean really, really put ourselves in their place, it would change our lives. It’s easy to blurt out to others what we see them doing wrong. But it is so very hard to love them in spite of what they are doing. I remember in Bible college, a dear professor making this statement, “don’t be so quick to judge, for you may be surprised when you enter the gates of heaven who may approach you to welcome you into eternity”. That has resonated with me for years.

God did not call us to save people, He ask his Son to do that but He does ask us to tell people about the good news of salvation that Jesus offers to those who will turn from their sin and receive the gift of eternal life that He offers. Someone may need to hear your story today about what God has done for you. They might be in an arrogant stage of their life and may not be ready just now to accept what you have to say, but they'll never forget it and when the time is right and the Holy Spirit has worked in their heart, they will recall your witness to them and the things that you said will then make sense.  They'll never forget those people that love them and care for them, even at their worst. Sometimes we can get so caught up in reaching the lost that we neglect those that are saved yet are living in a faraway country, spiritually. I heard it said once that those who have left the fold and wondered away can be brought back and made right once again and when they are made right, will have the potential to reach more folks for Christ than any number of preachers from their pulpit.  Why? Because they will exhibit a life change that people can visibly see. Unfortunately, we want to judge them instead of loving them. We want to kick our feet at them and avoid them instead of lifting them up, drawing them to us and encouraging them to come back into the fold. If there has ever been a time where we need an epidemic of Good Samaritans loving on the unlovely and hurting folk, it's now!

Would you pray today sweet friend a prayer of restoration, a prayer of forgiveness, a prayer to desire holiness in your life and ask God to do a righteous cleansing in your heart? Would you be willing to go and love on someone who needs a kind work of hope and not condemnation for where they are. Applaud the little things in their life and encourage them in those areas where they may be faltering. But never, never give up on them!
Loving on you today sweet friends,

Bren

YOU BEST SET SOME BOUNDARIES

As a young parent, we are advised even before the first child is born, “You best set some boundaries” for your children. But in doing so, we forget that we as parents, we need boundaries in our own life as much as our children do. Proverbs 8:29 tells us that God set boundaries and even the oceans and the seas dared not overstep them….and that He marked out the foundations of the earth. Again Job 38 reminds us, that God marked off the dimensions and placed boundaries when He created the earth and set bolts and doors and told the waves where they had to stop and that they were not allowed to go any further. As a matter of fact, the scriptures are full of examples of setting boundaries and the benefits of doing so.

 

Setting boundaries can be very excruciating for the most part, so until the need arises that pushes us to the edge of our tolerance and we find that we have reached our limit, we more than likely will not make the effort to set them. Limits however, are like barbed wire in our lives and boundaries are the split rail fences that will confront us to remind us that we have gone as far as we can, and we can go no further.

 

Life itself offers many pricks from the barbed wire of reaching our limits in a matter as we struggle in trying to get through them often times the wrong way. But setting boundaries for ourselves, allow us the room we need to maneuver through them as we are willing to learn the great lesson of bending between the rails on the fence that we have set for ourselves. At some point we all need to draw a line in the sand, to remind us that we are not allowed to go any further, whether it be in our wants, our anger, our conversations, our unwillingness to compromise with another and cross the line we have set for ourselves. We only render ourselves  powerless in our situations, when we choose not to set boundaries in our lives, by simply saying “no” to those old habits by the words we say and the actions that we take. By not doing so, we rob ourselves of our inner peace and those pricks from the barbed wire cause us to bleed out emotional baggage that dishonor God and causes the light in us to be hid under bushels of bad habits. Bad Habits that could be overcome if we would simply set boundaries for ourselves.

 

Never let others expectations be the plumb line for setting your personal or spiritual boundaries. Unless those expectations are what are required of you from scripture. God’s Word should always be your light in the darkness that you will be required to walk in at times. However, it is possible to walk in the dark; if you have the right light to help you according to John 3:19-21. Any light will allow you to see in the darkness. But only God’s light will lead you through the darkness to get you to the place you need to go. Using God’s measurements will help you to set the boundaries that fit your life and your walk in Christ. Those measurements are found throughout His word. They are found in the form of laws, commands and instructions.  They were never given to us to inhibit us, but rather to define the life for which we were created in His image. They define both, “what is good for us” and how we will benefit from them if we make the effort to live by them; and “what is bad for us”. They serve as warnings to help us see how easy it is to be corrupted by our wrong choices and those things that serve to prevent us from ever being what God created us to be.

 

The God who made us knows best how we can achieve our greatest potential as human beings. He who made us knows exactly what is best for us. According to I John 5:3,  those who love Him, His commands are neither a burden nor a frustration. They becomes a gracious gift from His hand by which He uses to guide us into all truth and real happiness. His will and purpose are for our good!  The boundaries He sets will give us clarity of direction and a sure purpose  according to Psalm 119. It is only when we are not living within the boundaries that we have set for ourselves as God’s plumb line and we disobey, that we are plunged into the mess that is possible for us to be in. Is there any remedy for that, you might say? Can the damage that we incur by stepping beyond God's boundaries be reversed or repaired? You better bet it can sweet friend! God is the Maser at repairing the damage we cause in our own lives. His repair kit involves two things; repentance and regeneration  according to Acts 3:19; John 3:1-7. So today friend, if you have not set boundaries in your life that protect and guide you into knowing God better, then you might want to make that a real topic of prayer and determination for yourself. The sooner we build that fence he quicker we are protected by a heavenly shield!

 

Loving on you today,

Bren