In Udder Words ~~~~~~~ X Marks the Spot

 Colossians 3:1-3 if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

 

 

It had to of served as some kind of target for the National Guard to use as something to aim for when practicing their drills. No matter what the purpose of the X was it did remind me of my school years when we use to put X’s on things and then say, “X marks the spot.” It was a game we would plan then but as an adult the game changed into something more to me.

 

When life’s storms were at their peak I would use the X to try and stay focused on God. At work whenever things got rough and rocky I would make an X on a piece of paper and would look at that while the politics of the office went on around me. It gave me something to focus on and to not be sucked into the negative magnetic force around me.

 

It was a trick that worked rather well at home and at work or wherever I was because it made me zero in on Jesus and thinking about things above. As the world tried to get me to focus on the negative, the bad things, the politics of the office, the bitterness at home I had a focus. A much better focus than what the world was offering me.

 

This is what the scripture in Colossians is telling us to do, to seek and stay focused. The challenge of this scripture is the fact that at times you wish they would list those “things above” so you could focus on them. In the heat of a moment, in the highlight of a dark time sometimes it can be hard to think, “Ok what are some of the things I can think of that are from above instead of what is going on down here on earth.”

 

First thing that we can think about is Jesus. He is definitely from above and is something worthy of focusing on. To prevent us from focusing on Christ this is where Satan likes to step in to interfere.  The thought of, “If Jesus cares and loves me so much then why is this happening in my life, why doesn’t He stop it. Why? Why? Why?”

 

STOP! You have just gone back to focusing on the things of the earth, the circumstances around you that are happening, the negative, the sad, and the difficult. God has put up an “X” for us to focus on, to get our minds off of the things of the world. That “X” is on His love, Jesus Christ, joy, inner peace, abundant strength, and everlasting guidance, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and life eternal in a place free of pain and suffering.

X marks the spot, but it’s up to us where we are putting that X. We can focus on the things of the world that will only tear us down or we can focus on the things from God that build us up. The one destroys, the other gives life. Which is it going to be? Where are you putting your X?

 

 

 



 

Perfect Peace

True peace comes from embracing what is, not from ceaseless striving to change everything around me to make my life more safe, secure, comfortable.” Dan Meadows in the Mosaic




Recently making a comeback from the 60’s is the famous peace sign. My grandkids love it. For every picture we try to take someone can be seen giving the peace sign to the camera. One day I told them, ‘You know what? You guys have no idea what that even means. What true peace is all about?”


Stunned at grandma’s bluntness they stared at me like lost puppies. “It means no wars, doesn’t it grandma?” one of them quietly spoke up. “Yes and no,” I replied. During the times in which we are not involved in wars, that is called a ‘time of peace.’ But the main thing about peace is the peace we receive from within. Peace that comes from God alone.” I told them. Still looking like they didn’t understand I went on to explain.

Just like those 8, 10, and 11 year olds many people don’t understand what true peace is all about. The peace that is everlasting and untouchable. Peace that stems from embracing what is so we don’t have to think we need to change everything around us that can’t be altered.

Truth be known, probably everyone can pinpoint a time in their life when they couldn’t feel the peace of God. I know I can. Like it or not life can get complicated and Satan uses these moments to blur that vision of finding God’s peace. In my case, one day as I shared my tears with the church secretary she shared with me a scripture. It was a verse someone showed her when she was going through a similar situation that cleared her vision.

The scripture was found in Isaiah 26:3,4 that says, “You (God) will keep in perfect peace him (anyone) whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You (God). Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, THE Lord is the Rock eternal.” Perfect peace! Doesn’t that sound appetizing? At the time I was struggling in my turmoil the idea of perfect peace was the key I was looking for but the last thing I could find.

I couldn’t find it because I wasn’t doing my part. I needed to trust the Lord to deal with my situation that would in turn eventually accomplish the steadfast mind leading to the promise of perfect peace.

Wow, it’s that simple. Trust God and receive a steadfast mind. A mind that is unwavering, unfaltering, committed, persistent, dedicated, and unswerving. I can do that! Wrong! In the midst of our troubles and turmoil’s the last thing our mind feels like is, “unwavering.” Thrust into a tailspin by the world and all that comes with it we easily get caught in the undercurrent and it makes it difficult to get out and establish that steadfast mind.

No matter what the struggle we need to stand by the fact that we can trust the Lord. It’s our job to claim daily His promises to never leave us nor forsake us. Allowing the knowledge that He is with us to dominate the feelings we may feel inside that have us in our wild and crazy and exhausting spin zone.

The truth is found also in Phil 4:4-7 when it says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

We have our part which is pretty minimal when compared to what God does for us when we are willing to do what we need to do. Trust in the Lord. The Lord who is the Rock eternal!

Peace! God’s kind of peace, the perfect kind. Amen? Amen!!!!!

Our host today is Tami over at The Next Step. Run on over there as usual and get to sharing and reading what others have to say about today’s great quote. In the process stay out of the spin zone and stick with God.

Picture compliments of Cody, Anthony, Brooke, Aubrey, and Marissa

No Supposing, Only Choosing

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34

In the process of sending out the twelve disciples for duty Jesus was giving them a little teaching of their own. He talked to them about going out to the lost sheep, going where they were welcomed. He brought up the subject of being sheep amongst wolves, fearing not, a little tid bit about sparrows and hair, confessing and denying then he throws in this phrase. “Do not suppose!”

“Do not suppose!’ That one little phrase seemed to bring the whole conversation to a halt. He told them not to suppose He was there to bring peace on earth because what He really was here for was to bring a sword. He went on to say that He was going to turn mother against daughter, man against father. He was going to make it so a man’s enemies will be in his own household.

Ouch! It almost sounded like a declaration of war instead of a proclamation of peace. He went on to say those who love their father or mother more than God is not worthy of God. Another offense that would make us unworthy of God would be not taking up our cross daily and following Him.

There was no beating around the bush that day as Jesus prepared His disciples to go out amongst the people. Before the message got twisted into something it shouldn’t be Jesus made sure He set the record straight. Even before Jesus came some of the people had the message slightly wrong.

Living within our own fantasies we’d like to think that Jesus came to gather us all into His arms just as we are and we get to stay that way as He sweeps us off in to Heaven. As we go flying through the air with the greatest of ease with no effort on our part we get to arrive in our made up hutch in Heaven with no effort on our part at ALL. “And they lived happily ever after.” La de dah la de dah la de dah.

Wrong. We get to be gathered into His arms just as we are but we have to accept the invitation. Our job is to get properly dressed in the clothes of Christ for our journey. The sword Jesus brought was the sword of truth, the sword of discipline, the sword of right choices, and choosing to live as God wants us to on our way to heaven. Doing what is right will divide homes as some will believe in Jesus and others will not but we can’t let that stop us. There’s a song that is often sung that talks about “Though none go with me still I will follow.” That is the way we need to live our lives with the attitude of though none go with me still I will follow.

We are the ones who get to crawl up into the lap of Jesus and hang on for the ride. It’s a journey that is highly recommended as the destination of Heaven is just over the horizon. It’s not up to us to question the order in which God does things. It’s apparent the sword had to come first but peace is definitely on its way. It shows up in our hearts when we get Jesus properly settled down deep within us with its greatest fulfillment to come when eternity arrives and our permanent address changes to Heaven. We don’t have to “suppose” there is a Heaven and Hell we know there is and thanks to the sword of Jesus we can choose where we want to spend our eternity. It’s done with no supposing only choosing, Praise the Lord.

© 2010 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

It starts with Thankfulness

Peace of Christ guards our heart when we pray with thanksgiving. A thankful heart is a guarded heart. Wayne Cordeiro

Last week for “In Other Words Tuesday” we covered the very same topic, the topic of peace. Two different hosts, miles apart yet connected at the heart with the matching subject matter on peace. As our quotes were chosen not for the sake of a monthly theme, or because we thought the subject needed covered two weeks in a row they came from our individual hearts. Spiritual hearts connected in spirit to Jesus, the true source of our peace.

It was a subject that touched each of as we wrote about the difficult times we often go through that makes it hard not to worry. After all how can we possibly send a child off to war without it interrupting our tranquility? Or watch a daughter struggle with choices she made in her life without shattering our peace? Nor think about where the mortgage is going to come from when jobs are being lost greater than they are found and so much more.

We can all probably testify to the fact that we often are too swift to hand over our peace to Satan. Much quicker than we ought to be and when we do we wonder how are we ever going to get it back? Sitting at my desk over Halloween a co-worker brought in her glowing ghost to decorate with. The gal next to her recognized the ghost as the one she gave to her years ago. “I wish I wouldn’t have given that away. I’ve kicked myself ever since thinking I should have kept that.” Totally unaffected by the regret of the original owner the lady who owned it now proudly displayed it for all to see.

When I think of handing our peace over the Satan I think of that incident in the office with the glowing ghost. Things happen in life and we look around and we find Satan dangling the remains of our peace in front of our face only for us to say, “I wish I wouldn’t have given that away. I could kick myself.”

The best way to guard our hearts with the peace of Christ is to pray with thanksgiving as indeed a thankful heart is a guarded heart. Just look at our Bible Buddy Daniel. In Daniel 6 the king had just signed into law a decree that “whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except King Darius would be cast into the den of lions.” After hearing this was signed into law Daniel went home heading straight to his favorite prayer room. There Daniel “…knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” Daniel 6:10.

Daniel could have cried and complained to God. Got angry about what the goofy King was trying to do but he didn’t. He prayed and gave thanks. Thanks for what, “Healthy lions with big appetites?” No, his thankfulness was probably centered on the fact that he had a God he could count on. He had a God that was trustworthy. He had a God that was watching over his every move, one worthy of dieing for. Daniel truly was a model of what Philippians 4:6 is all about, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, WITH thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (NKJV) No matter what the news we need to go to God in prayers of thanksgiving in order for His peace to be allowed to come even close to our hearts.

1 Thes 5:18 is not a typo in the Bible or a verse that only pertains to people in “lesser” stressful situations than our own. It says, “Thank God in everything (no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks), for this is the will of God for you (who are) in Christ Jesus (the Revealer and Mediator of that will).” (Amplified)

I looked at several different translations of the verse from 1 Thessalonians and they all say “IN” everything. They don’t say we have to be thankful “For” everything. Long before the situation even happened with Daniel he had his heart already guarded with the peace of God because he was in the custom of praying regularly WITH thanksgiving.

As it does no good to let a crook into our house to steal our possessions or drive off with our car then wonder why we didn’t lock up or prepare ahead of time for these situations it doesn’t make sense to allow Satan that same privilege. Long before Satan even comes close to our peace we need to be in the custom of praying to God with thanksgiving, setting up a guard too powerful for even Satan to be able to break, borrow, or steal.

“I wish I wouldn’t have given that away” will get us no where especially as the new owner is unaffected by our regrets of giving our peace away. We serve the same God Daniel did, the same one who was trustworthy to pray to, to be thankful towards, and to lean on and to supply the necessary guard for his heart.

Being truly thankful tells Satan to go take a hike, that no matter what, we are going to be thankful to God simply because of who He is not because of what we are experiencing. It’s an attitude that will need to be installed in our hearts daily to be used not abused. Our actions will let us know which we have chosen to do.

Adopt Daniel’s custom and guard your hearts as you pray daily with thanksgiving to God. Our job is to wait for God, not for the perfect situation to come along to then be thankful! Do it today as tomorrow may be too late to catch the “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Satan’s out there on the prowl. It’s our choice whether we are going to allow him to steal that peace we could have if we would only customize our lives to fit it instead of trying to make it fit our lives. It starts with thankfulness.


© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing