Karen's Crossing~~~~~~Set to Seek

In 2 Chronicles 20:3 it talks about how Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord. As a result, all of Judah came together to ask help of the Lord and seek Him.

Today as I got the news that 2014 wasn't over with yet I felt a fear of what I was facing as Jehoshaphat must have felt in his situation. My year started with my medication not working, my cancer spread in my pelvis area to where I needed radiation treatment. I lost my appetite due to the treatment and lost forty pounds in an unhealthy rapid rate. A spot was found on my brain, a blood clot in my lung followed by a metastasis of my cancer to my liver.

Late in the fall finally came the arrival of the good news that my chemo medicine was finally working. Tumor markers were going down and my spirit going up. However, as much as I had hoped that 2014 had come to an end this day on the 2nd of December it hadn't. More bad news had arrived just in time to make the honorary mention list of bad news for the year.

The news was the fact that the anemia I was fighting was not chemotherapy induced. My own body out of something better to do decided to kill off its own red blood cells. Further tests are needed to be ordered and suddenly I find myself back to where I first began in a hide and seek game of trying to find the answers and match them with solutions. I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid.

However, just like Jehoshaphat no matter how scared I might feel I need to do what he did and set myself to seek the Lord. I pray that as I do that, those around me will do the same as they ask God for help and seek Him regarding my health and their own personal need for strength.

If you think about it we have no problem setting our watch to a certain time or setting the sprinkler system to go off at a designated moment or set our minds on the new car we want. With practice it should be no problem for us to set our minds and hearts on seeking God.

At times we may encounter difficulties in some things such as the setting up of our computer or the new VCR but with great determination we continue until we figure out a way to get it done.

Well it should be equally not a problem but a priority to set ourselves to seek God. To storm proof our lives thru prayer and seeking God. Whether its easy for us to do or difficult we need to have that determination in us to see that we continue on until we have accomplished our goal of seeking God.

Too often we think its Him who is in charge of the seeking but we're wrong. We are the ones who need to seek Him out. We do so by looking past our circumstances and keeping our eyes on Him. It is by seeking God today that we are able to walk into tomorrow un-encumbered, walking in strength.

As I was told when I first got cancer whatever you do "Don't google it" it will scare you with too much information. It was a lesson the person who said it had learned the hard way and she wanted to pass it on down to me. As I spoke with my daughter for the final time at the closing of my day her words to me echoed that same lesson of "whatever you do mom, don't google it. Get some rest."

Instead of feeding my fear she wanted me to look passed what was right in front of me long enough to set myself on seeking God instead. A far better way to begin my night and a grander entrance to my new day soon to follow.

Truly it is a better way for all of us, to set ourselves on seeking God and when we do He will never cease to amaze us at what we will find in Christ.

Set on seek. That's my next move! How about you?


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Seek and Find~~~In Udder Words

1Chronicles 16:10-11 Glory to His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face forevermore.

This scripture in Chronicles was a part of a Psalm David wrote for the people to use to thank God. He used it to encourage the people to not only be thankful but to seek God and to remember to tell others about all of God's wondrous deeds.

Oddly enough as it may sound we often need someone to remind us of these things. Especially things such as being thankful, seeking God and telling others about His wondrous deeds. Too easily we get so wrapped up in the every day hustle and bustle of life that we forget to do some things that are vital for our spiritual well-being.

We are often to busy seeking other things such as a career, love, personal gain, fame and fortune and praise from others that we forget to seek God. Often it's not that we forget but we think we don't need to or don't have the time. We are more apt to seek out where our cellphone is for hours or days than seek God.

We play what seems to be a game of hide and seek with God. We are the ones who hide from Him and expect Him to be the one who seeks us out. We treat it as a game that only happens once and then there is no further need for seeking.

Wrong! We are the ones who need to be doing the seeking. God hasn't hidden himself from us as we do Him but we still need to be seeking Him on a regular basis. We need to seek Him daily looking for Him wherever we go in all that we do.

Seeking His will, His companionship, guidance, love, discipline, and strength. Things we need to be thankful for as God supplies our every needs. It's all a part of the wondrous things God has done for us that we need to be telling others about.

It's vital to remember we cannot find unless we seek. We can't tell others what we fail to look for and appreciate ourselves. It's time to seek God's face forevermore and His strength and stop playing hide and go seek. Instead it's seek and find.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added into you.
Matthew 6:33

Seek and you shall find...Matthew 7:7,8

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Praise The Lord for Elastic

**what I wrote 10 years ago about this contraption

 

Praise the Lord for Elastic

 

Preparation for the county fair was being made. Over in one area of the room a girl quietly worked on her dress that needed to be fixed. Suddenly without warning she could be heard shouting "Praise the Lord for elastic!" as her dress was finally repaired. The simplest little thing such as elastic once installed could do wonders for the world of sewing. Little do people realize just what a wonder it is in the spiritual world as well.

 

Often in life's struggles we find ourselves on the verge of breaking. Once during a struggle I was having I found myself on that verge of breaking, something that was soon turned into what I called that "urge to break." I was tired, I had no strength, I wanted to crack or break and get it all over with. That was my solution to facing my problem, "break and get it over with." Unfortunately the Lord had different plans and ideas than I did, he wasn't going to let me break. It seemed like every time I turned around, every time I was close to that breaking point he would slip in what I soon started to call "elastic" and bounce me right back together where I belonged. Whether it be a unexpected phone call from a friend that I hadn't heard from in years, or a letter in the mail, or a sermon on Sunday that seemed like the minister prepared solely for me.

 

It was interesting how the Lord had my attention; my thoughts were on Him how he wouldn't let me break. To remind myself of what the Lord was doing in my life I glued a piece of elastic between two clothespins, which I carried with me wherever I went. Whenever times got rough and I had that urge to want to break I would take out my clothespins and bend the two of them down. Over and over again as I watched them snapped back in place due to the elastic it indeed reminded me of what God was doing for me. Little did I know at the time, but that clothespin contraption was helping me to focus on the Lord not on my situation.

 

At first it made me kind of angry at God that He wouldn't let me break so I could "get it over with." However, now that that particular struggle has passed I'm glad that He kept me in place. That He had better faith in me than I did in myself. What a comfort to know that that piece of elastic is still there, still full of plenty of stretch to get me thru the next trial in my life. I saw my friend's names that helped me thru my struggle on that piece of elastic, God's name was on it. Time and time again I thought about how I would like to have my name on someone's piece of elastic, to be that thing in their lives that snaps them back in to place so they won't break.

 

Kind of like a teacher running her nails across the chalk board making such a horrible sound that all attention was on her in fear of her doing it again, the Lord had gotten my attention. I began to look up scriptures that showed me that He was there and how it was not meant for me to crack. In Psalms 34:18 it says, "the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." How interesting, that's why He was always so quick to respo0nd at those breaking point moments in my life. He was right there all along ready to slip in that piece of elastic where ever needed. Yes, He proved over and over again that He was close to the brokenhearted and because of this He is able to save someone like myself who was indeed crushed in spirit. When we are brokenhearted we need someone close, someone standing watch over us 24 hours a day, who is better qualified than God himself.

 

In Psalms 37:23,24 it says, "If the Lord delights in a man's way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord uphold him with His hand." I'm sure the Lord doesn't always delight in the way we are going, the paths, and the messes we find ourselves in. However He does delight in our truly seeking Him, seeing our hearts going the right way. For it's not our circumstances around us that have to be on track but our hearts within us. When our hearts are the way they need to be the Lord will make our steps firm.

 

God doesn't say He will straighten out our steps, or make it so there isn't so many steps, or fix it so all stepping is done on level ground. He says He will make them firm so although we often stumble in life there is no way we will fall thanks to the Lord. Like an infant holding on to his parents hands, although his steps aren't always firm ones, as long as he holds on to mom or dad's hands he will not fall. The Lord has got us by the hand to see us thru the areas that are dark and rocky in our lives. How foolish would it be to let go of the hand that keeps us upright, that keeps us from falling, that keeps us from getting off the path we need to stay on.

 

Both these verses kind of lead towards the verse found in Psalm 125:1 where it says, "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever."  Here we have the Lord coming to the rescue of the brokenhearted, close by those who are crushed in spirit. What does He do there, He makes their steps much firmer and He holds them by the hand so that they won't fall. The results? We become like a mountain that can't be shaken but (and this part I truly love) endures forever.

 

We are too precious to the Lord, He doesn't want to see us break. Protecting His treasure, His valuables, He finds ways to sneak in that bit of elastic in our lives that we need to keep us from falling, or being shaken. Allowing us to endure forever. Where is "forever" spent? With Christ if properly followed the one who cared enough to get our attention. Slipping in the wonder of elastic or as some have put it the beauty of love. No different than the valuables in our lives that wouldn't want to break, as God's valuables (and we all are) He doesn't want to see us break either.

 

Praise the Lord for elastic, Hallelujah for such a love!

Thank you God for making me, "your valuable."

 

 

© 2003 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

2012 revise for God is my help book

 

Job Description

“We are women, and my plea is Let me be a woman, holy through and through, asking for nothing but what God wants to give me, receiving with both hands and with all my heart whatever that is.” ~~ Elisabeth Elliot

Sometimes at work when things get hectic I feel like hanging a sign on my back that says, “Leave me alone and let me code.” My plea to people is that they would just leave me out of the day’s politics and let me do my job.

That is the cry of Elisabeth in this quote when she said, “We are women, and her plea is for people to let her be a woman.” End of story. No, it’s just the beginning of the story. The story of figuring out what it means to be a woman. There are so many different definitions and visions that the picture often gets blurred.

At work we have what we call a “job description.” Well, we are supposed to have one. They have been written and re-written, forgotten and remembered time and time again. When properly done they describe what my job is. In the Bible there are two prominent areas where job descriptions for women are posted, one in Proverbs 31 and the other in Titus 2.

You can read them, re-write them, forget about them, remember them over and over again but they remain the same as the day they were written. They don’t need to be updated every century or 10 years to go along with an ever changing culture.

Indeed when you go to read those scriptures you often feel overwhelmed and this sign flashes before you in your mind that says, “Need not apply.” You think, “Wow I could never fill that position. Especially the part in Proverbs 31 that says ‘she opens her mouth with wisdom’ ” For someone who has never had any coding experience they need not apply for a coding job but we don’t need “experience” to apply for the godly woman position. What is required is the willingness to strive for the goals the Lord has mapped out for us.

Some qualities will come easy, some come with tears, some come with years and years of practice but if we continue working on it eventually we will get where we need to be. I may never speak with wisdom as other women of God do but that’s okay it’s still something to strive for. With God as our coach, our boss, our teacher, our mentor we can’t miss.

How many times have we stopped to remember our piano teacher, our football coach, our shop leader, our sewing instructor, and anyone else who worked hard at teaching us what we needed to learn? Be honest, at the time of learning you probably grumbled about having to practice, you couldn’t see the point in doing some of the things they required of you. After all who cares if the button hole didn’t line up exactly with the button we just sowed on.

Why do we treat God any different? He is there to teach us what we need to learn but we need to be willing to be a student. We have our moments of grumbling about the things He asks us to do but it doesn’t change the fact that we need to do it. Down the road we should look back with frequency at the things He taught us and the things we learned in the hands of His guidance.

Eventually when we stay with God we will reach that goal of being holy through and through asking for nothing but what God wants to give us. Truly welcoming all He has to offer with both hands and all our heart.  The world will try to stop us from receiving these blessings but we need to be willing to stop it even if it takes hanging a sign on our back saying, “Leave me alone and let me be a godly woman.” Amen? Amen!!!

Our host today is Nina at Mama’s Little Treasures, hurry on over there and join in. Share and care what God has to tell us as women of God.

Barefoot and Praising

“If I can’t find God in the ordinary places of life, either I’m not looking hard enough or he’s not nearly as approachable as I need him to be. This is a paradox too. God appears in all the ordinary places, burning bushes, naked Barbies, plumbing disasters. But when he does, those places become holy. Moses had to take his shoes off.” ~from an interview with Marcus Goodyear, Barbies at Communion

Oh dear, the list of paradox things we could come up with about God is a mile long. No, it’s as long as we make it. Why is that people like to find the “paradox’ or irony things, inconsistencies, or absurdities about God rather than the truth? Perhaps they are afraid of the truth or deny it even exists. Truths like the one Marcus Goodyear pointed out that, “God appears in all the ordinary places, burning bushes, naked Barbies, plumbing disasters, you name it He’s there.


Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord. Did I mention Praise the Lord! It is a wonderful, comforting, strengthening feeling to know God’s everywhere. Everywhere we are willing to look for Him and recognize Him when we see Him.


I love looking for God wherever I go, He can be seen in absolutely everything. One day as I was going to church I passed a park where a group of 15-17 year old boys were practicing fly fishing. As I watched the adults go from boy to boy showing them how to cast I thought about Jesus. ‘Oh I can write something about this,’ I thought. Yes, it would make a perfect picture for a story about becoming fishers of men. Half tempted to stop for a quick photo shop I kept on going to church in hopes of them still being there when I got out. They weren’t.

God was there and I wasn’t even looking. If I would have been quick on my thinking I should have taken off my shoes in the car because of where I was, was holy ground. Being the driver of the car that might have been a little awkward but maybe we need to do that more often. Do it as recognition of recognizing God when we see Him.


As God is everywhere we should be walking around barefoot constantly because there is no ground that isn’t holy knowing that God’s presence is everywhere. Instead of the cliché women hate about being barefoot and pregnant, we should be barefoot and praising. Praising God for the fact that He is everywhere. Praising Him for His presence. Praising Him for being near.


We must never doubt the fact that God is present in our current situations, He not just up in the snow cap mountains, the rolling waves of the ocean, or the chirping birds sitting in the trees. He’s present in our troubles, He’s with us in our marriages, He travels with us in our journeys, and everywhere else


At times we can’t see Him but it doesn’t mean He’s not there. Situations can cloud even the best of vision but it doesn’t mean God is gone. As the clouds cover the mountains near my home I can always rest assure when they gone the mountains will still be there. The same is with the Lord, when life has our vision distorted or blocked we need to stand by our faith that God is still there, He is present, Praise the Lord.


Where we are is Holy ground because where we are is where God is also. Barefoot and Praising is a place we all can and should be.




Our host today is Cynthia at Great Brain Ideas. Run over there and watch the presence of God arrive ahead of you as others talk about seeing God wherever they are.


**See God in the pencils? Yes, not having Jesus in your life is like an unsharpened pencil, THERE IS NO POINT. See Him in the sunset in Central Oregon? Who else could paint such beauty, He even makes a cloudy day look pretty, showing a bright side to darkened clouds.

Staying Put

“ When you have no helpers, see your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God. When you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord. ” ~ Charles Spurgeon


On my kids blogspot http://www.karenskidskorner.blogspot.com/ I write devotionals using pictures. I call them my “picture DEES,” DEES standing for devotionals. I look for things I can use to write something about God for my grandkids. Over the years it’s been fun watching them catch on to the fun of finding things we can use for our “picture DEES.” They have gotten to the point where they can pick out a picture and what needs to be said about it regarding God.


What we use to do together soon became something they could do on their own. Something they would get all excited about when they came to my house on the weekend about a picture DEE idea they came up with during the week. After telling me their idea I would come up with a picture to put it to even if we had to “act out” a picture to use.


Indeed in the long run it has taught them to see God wherever they go, to look for Him in all they see. Charles Spurgeon in his quote today is trying to get us to do the same, to see God wherever we go and look for Him in all we see.


It doesn’t matter what we are looking at, how much we have we can see God in everything if that is what we are looking for. We see Him in our plenty as well as our poverty. God is there and our focus needs to be on Him. The circumstances, atmosphere, conditions or anything else doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that we have stayed our hearts only on the Lord.


As I have tried to train my grandkids to see God everywhere we need to do the same because you know what? God is everywhere. We would like to think He’s not there watching us steal from the store, or drive under the influence of alcohol, or gossip at work, or tell the lie we just told but He’s there and it would do us good to remember that. God is not just there when we need Him, He is there always. Praise the Lord.


Our job is the get our hearts to see that and stay there forever. To be that stubborn person who refuses leave. One who says, “God’s with me and I’m with God and I’m staying put!”




Our host today is Jennifer on her blog, Scraps & Snippets. As much as I would like you to stay put on my blogspot you need to go visit Jennifer and everyone else and see what they have to share.

Beauty for every season

 People are often seasonal. One person likes the spring, another the summer, the next prefers the fall, and then there are always the winter folks. In every season no matter which one we prefer we can find beauty. My brother one day at our parents house, he's the one on the front deck there, said the popular tree next to the house has never looked so good. To him in the fall when the tree turns yellow that is when its has its true beauty.

No matter what season we are in we need to look for the beauty of that season. In our lives there are seasons as well. Times when things are blooming and going well. Times when things are at its best. Times when things aren't so well and everything seems to be fall apart like the leaves off the tress. Times of cold dark wintry days when there doesn't seem to be any hope for spring.

We need to look past the season and see God in each one. Look for the beauty hidden in each and focus on that. Even if the only beauty to be found is the fact that we have God at our sides walking us through these moments. We can't be like those who the minute one of their less favorite seasons comes close they start complaining. Over the years many seasons have come and gone and they will continue that way, how we live our lives thru these seasons makes a difference.

Best thing to do is to take a look, take a peak, and find God wherever your're at and allow him to walk you through each season of your life.

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

God the Answer

I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice? ~ C.S. Lewis ~


It’s amazing sometimes how we struggle to find all the answers to life. We go every where trying to figure it out. We search in places we have no business going. We try drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, sports, work, eating and anything else that will give us the answers. It’s like searching for those pairs of glasses we lost that were on top of our heads all along.


We do that with God. We look right passed the answer figuring there must be something more. After all believing and trusting in God is too simple, there has to be more. We overlook the true solution in search for what we think the answer may be. Truth be-known we’ve already came up with the answer in our minds and we keep looking until we find something close to it.


Lately in the news you hear a lot about different things going on. Millions of dollars wasted on a studying showing if you go to church you will end up fat. People get fat because of their eating habits not because they attend church once a week. Darwin thought he found the answers to things and look how far off he got. Later he came to the correct conclusion that there is a God who created us but everyone stuck like glue to his first answer. Why? Because it was the solution they wanted to hear for the answer they were seeking.


Many of our Bible Buddies like Eve went searching for answers in all the wrong areas. Her solution was a piece of fruit when she had the true answer all along, God. The tower of Babel incident that they thought was a great solution but wound up not being the answer at all.


Just because we find an answer doesn’t make it the right answers when the test of life gets handed in and graded. We may have thought we had the solutions to come up with the correct answers but they wind up being wrong.


In the end it comes down between our solutions or God the answer, which do we want to choose. The one will get us where we need to be, the other will only send us off searching for more solutions to find the right answer.


If you think about it the quicker the answers, the shorter the quizzes so why not go straight to the answer to them all, God. We don’t need to change a one answer quiz into a multiple choice test by the choices we make. There is no such thing as “all the right answers.” God is the right answer, no other answer will do. Choose the answer first, God and the questions in life will come.

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

The Choice is Ours

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way” ~C.S. Lewis~

Years ago in a training class I attended to show us how people can think differently the instructor had an interesting project for us to perform. After sending around a picture for all to look at she asked those who saw that picture as “whatever it was she named” line up on the right side of the room. To those who saw the picture as “the second thing she named” line up on the left.

Just like magic that room was split practically in half. Moses couldn’t have parted the Red Sea any better. It was amazing to me to see how people do think differently yet at the same time think as others as well. There’s no doubt about it there are two kinds of people and in the spiritual world it’s no different.


There are those who say “Thy will be done” and others who because of their “I don’t care attitude” wind up hearing from God who says, “Ok then, have it your way.” Ouch! Ouch if you really think about it. I think some of the spookiest words in the Bible are the ones out of Romans 1. Several times it talks about how God gave them over and He gave them up. Whether we want to admit it we could be a part of the “them’s.” The people who don’t care what God’s will is, who don’t care what He thinks, who think they are smart enough to make their own decisions.


The fact is eventually God is going to say, “Okay have it your way” as He gives us up and over to our bad habits, our snotty attitudes, our “it’s all about me thinking.” That should scare us. Looking back at my life and my “less mature” moments the last thing I would have wanted was to be frozen in time right where I was. I have a long ways to go but at least I’m not where I was.


That is what is so wonderful about the Lord; He will never give up on us as long as we are moving forward in Him. As long as we are seeking His will. It’s those who could care less what He thinks and make no efforts to seek Him that He will eventually say, “Have it your way.” It’s a way that doesn’t have a pretty ending that leads us away from God instead of closer.


It’s not uncommon to struggle with trying to figure out what the will of God is, I know I did. “Should I do this? Do you want me to do that?” The list can appear to be endless with questions we find ourselves asking as we sort out what God’s will for us is. As tough as it may be to sort through it all, our main job is to say, “Thy Will be done, not my will be done.” Our task is to look for the areas in our lives we find God is blessing and follow His lead.


Believe it or not we get to choose which kind of person we want to be, the one who seeks God’s gain or the one who is after their own advancements. It takes a great deal of faith but that’s what it’s all about, trusting in the Lord.


Faith is living in advance what we one day will understand in reverse.

© 2010 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing