Stuffed,Basted or Infused

As Thanksgiving approaches this week and there is all this talk about being blessed to overflowing, and being thankful for those blessings...my brain goes to....
turkey!
Don't get me wrong...I am truly thankful for ALL my blessings!  But ...
Let's talk turkey!
Stuffed? Basted? Infused?
Which is better?  All of them?
Actually, I am not talking about the ill fated bird that has become the symbol of our national holiday and this has not become a food blog!
I am talking about us and the word of God!

Do we have it stuffed inside...which is fine...but we can't leave it there.
📖 I have hidden your word in my heart    that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

📖  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Are we basted in it...so it covers us completely and frequently?
📖 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, Ephesians 5:26

📖  Evening and morning and at noon
I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice. Psalm 55:17

📖  These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9


Or are we infused with it so it fills every portion of our being?

📖 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4


📖 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  Matthew 12:30


📖  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:18-20

Maybe, it is important to have all 3!  It would make for a delicious roasted turkey to be stuffed, basted AND infused.
And I think it would make for a sweet, God honoring  Christian to have the Word IN, AROUND and THROUGH us!
May your Thanksgiving, your holiday season, each of your days....be stuffed, basted and infused with Christ Jesus and His holy word!

Today Is A Blessing

We celebrated one of our Thanksgivings this past Saturday. 🦃  We went around the table and each said what we were thankful for.  It was very nice; everyone said things that were sweet and wonderful to hear (we should do it at every dinner!)
I had thought of mine that morning during my "knee time" and of course a blog idea followed!

In the past week each of my children, while driving their vehicles, had what could be considered (especially by the Momma!) "close calls". Little things that could have easily been big things.
One had to swerve to avoid getting hit by a car that was leaving a driveway, another hit slush that pulled her into the opposite lane (thankfully with no on coming traffic), and the third, on his way to work, avoided several deer only to hit one shortly after.
I thank God that they were " little" things in light of some of the tragedies that have happened locally in the last several weeks. (There have been several fatal car accidents)
So I praise God for my kid's "almost accidents" knowing that it could have been way more serious. Have you heard people say "when it's your time, it's your time."?
And I guess I have to agree...though I always include "we still need to be smart and prudent with our choices and behavior!"😊

So I was grateful it wasn't their "time" and if you are reading this today I am grateful it hasn't been your's either!
But if our "time" hasn't yet come...why?  Is there a reason?
Well, as for me, I believe, if we wake up and have a whole new day in front of us...it isn't because we get to finish that project or that "to do list" or climb that work place ladder, get our Christmas shopping done, etc etc...though at times our gracious God allows us to do all those things and more....the most important reason we are here TODAY is to love and serve our Lord and Savior...in all those things and in everythings else we do.
He has more for us to do here!  For some that may seem a daunting idea.  But maybe it is not a BIG "take up your banner and lead a cause" sort of thing...and maybe it is. But what I do know is that it is  in how we live each day, in our daily lives, our jobs, our relationships or in the BIG that you might be called to do!

📖  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Colossians 3:23
We are called to "take up His banner.....our cross EVERY DAY" and follow Him.
📖 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?  Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9:23-26


In all that we do, in every way that we behave, act and react; 
(these next verses were directed toward wives, but what if we look past the direct implication to a bigger picture)
📖  Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.       1 Peter 3:1-4

Those around us (especially those closest to us) who do not believe can be won over by our attitudes not our words!   You are here to love God and as we live that out, reflect Christ to others!

📖 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:36-39

With all we are and all we have ….Love like Christ....to the best of our ability Live like Christ

📖Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

We are here, right now, for a reason....

📖 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy

    and to walk humbly  with your God. Micah 6:8

Be humble enough to understand we are here to serve, how ever that looks for each of us! We are here for each other.

And when we are done our service here, how ever many days that may be, we will spend eternity with Christ who is seated at the right hand of His Father!

 📖   my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord    forever. Psalm 23:6

📖“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21

🙏 My prayer is; you count every day a blessing and go and...

  📖  Serve the Lord with gladness!    Come into his presence with singing!  Psalm 100:2

📖 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,...….. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15 

what can I bring

As we prepare for our weekly trek to church each Sunday (or what ever day of the week your church holds service) Or through out the week as you plan for your worship time at church, what thoughts go through your mind??
At our church  right now people ask "whose turn is it to speak this week?", as we are without a pastor right now and several of our deacon/elders rotate a speaking schedule.
Maybe "what are they going to talk about this week?"
Do you wonder what songs will be played and sung?
Do we ever go so far as to wonder who else is going to be there?
All legitimate questions...all asked, at least in my head at one time or another....and that is ok....unless it is taking your thoughts to places they maybe shouldn't go!
Because they affect how we enter our worship.
It is not about who is speaking or what translation is being used as long as it is the Holy Bible inspired by the living God

God breathed

It doesn't matter the song list; old hymns, gospel or contemporary, live, CD, a cappella or no music at all.

Because it isn't about what is there waiting for you....it is  about what YOU BRING with you!
Whether it is your style of music or not, most of the music was written as the author's worship, it may not be our particular genre, but we can honor the writers wish to worship our Savior.

It may not be the translation you prefer BUT it is the Word of God.
You get my point.
those things can distract you from actual worship and your part in it.
WE have our part in the service;

First of all

we have to BE THERE!
we can't "bring to the service" if we don't show up at all!  We can't bring to the rest of the Body if our presence is missing.
📖 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25

📖 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying,  then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,  do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12:4-8

Once you are there BE ENGAGED: mind, body, and soul.

Eyes, ears, mouth and heart!

Look and take notice of those around you, who may need a smile, a hug.  A small job that may need to be done, (garbage emptied, trash on the floor, trash in a pew)

Listen to the words, to the music, the scripture that is read, the message that is shared

Open your mouth, to sing, to pray, to praise and to share as the spirit leads.
Your heart needs to be humbled and open to the movement and prompts of the Holy Spirit

We all respond differently to the Holy Spirit, but we ALL have the ability/opportunity to be moved by it.
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
 and extol him with music and song. Psalm 95:1-2

Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

for he is our God
 and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.  Psalm 95:6-7

I will praise you as long as I live,

    and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:4

So the questions running through your mind while preparing to come to service aren't "I wonder who is speaking today?"  "I wonder what the music will be" "Who is or isn't going to be there?" 

but instead;

"What am I bringing to the service today?"  "What am I bringing to the others today?"

📖 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.  Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:9:18

📖 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:13-16

So what are YOU bringing to church this week?!

The Best Laid Plans...

My plan for Monday morning:
✔walk my 2 miles
✔make a cup of coffee
✔get comfy in my new "cozy" living room and get my blog going....finished and posted....
✔daughter to eye appointment
✔afternoon of cleaning and making soup

AND then the day happened!
🚫
🚫

How often does that happen, we make plans and then it goes slightly sideways....or all the way off track?!
Not even just a day's plans, how about our week? Or our year?...maybe even our life doesn't seem to be how we planned it out?

 “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” is an old Yiddish adage meaning, “Man Plans, and God Laughs.” 

Another old saying ….

''Best laid [plans] of mice and men do often go awry"

(From Robert Burns' poem To a Mouse, 1786. It tells of how he, while ploughing a field, upturned a mouse's nest. The resulting poem is an apology to the mouse:      https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-best-laid-schemes-of-mice-and-men.html)

I got dressed in my workout clothes but didn't get the walk in!  Didn't get the cup of coffee made and didn't (obviously) get the blog published.

But I don't believe the day was ruined  or wasted because MY  plans didn't play out. I believe what happened was what God intended for me instead.  AND I AM OK with that!

📖 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

God's plan for my Monday:

 I had a phone call from my Mom that was more important and I was able to spend some time talking with her.
I DID  drive a daughter to her appointment and took my coffee with me!
but then unexpectedly got to watch some grandbabies for a bit! 🥰
Blog didn't get done, or few other small tasks, but I was able to make a soup and be ready for my Ladies Bible Study group at 6.

What I/we have to believe is that God's plans are the best, and have our best interest at heart. We need to trust when ours seem to go awry….because, sometimes in the chaos of messed up plans God will

show us something far better!

📖 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:8-9

IF God knows far better than we do...can see the WHOLE picture when we can not, wouldn't it be far easier to let Him be a part of our planning!?

📖 In their hearts humans plan their course,

    but the Lord establishes their steps.  Proverbs 16:9

While making our plans....we should make sure God is in OUR plans...and we allow for our plans to be moved if necessary. 

📖 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. Psalm 10:4

IF we think we know better....we are surely setting ourselves up for frustration and missed blessings.

📖 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

📖 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17

If we make our plans with the righteousness of God in our thoughts, no matter which direction they end up going we will have the confidence, faith and peace that we are right in the middle of where God wants us to be.

 And today that was Coffee Time With A Dear Friend and You!

Can I be honest with you?  Most days my plans do not go the way I had planned out in my mind or even written on my list.....but most of the time that is exciting to me...because I know that God may have had other things in mind for me! SO praying your plans don't go the way you want! That God has something extra special for you today and you end up right in the middle of where He wants you to be!