A Significant Insignificance

Samaritans Purse, a large Christian based organization that has a global impact, has as one of their ministries Operation Christmas Child, that has a global impact in its own right.

If you read about "over a million shoeboxes distributed world wide", with tens of thousands of participants from all countries you can feel rather insignificant in the cause.

But....there is something different....in the way this is done...it is one on one.

One shoebox is personal, is significant in this huge global ministry. 

You may think you are insignificant,  but the one box YOU pack goes to ONE child. They open it, spend time with it, keep and save things, love every item and in so many cases, God has proven over and over, that children get the box that was meant for them. Items that seem specific to that child when it was packed weeks, months before, by an individual who does not know where the box is going, let alone who is getting it!

📖 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

Each box you pack is an individual endeavor and that exact box is placed into a single child's hands.  

When bringing shoeboxes into our church (we are a collection center for our area), you get a peek at the personal touches people add to their boxes.

Our church makes sure every lid of the 504 boxes we pack has a traced hand print and a sticker with a short poem:

Put your hand on mine, I am praying for you. Will you pray with me? God's love is all around, just take a look and see!

Each lid  of the 504 shoeboxes we pack at our church is touched by one of our children and then will be given to a child.

The other significance of each shoebox is that with each box a child receives "The Greatest Journey " a 12 lesson discipleship program in their own language is given to them and once they complete the program they have a graduation ceremony for the children! 

Personal, significant, eternal.

Impacting the world for Christ one shoebox at a time!

📖 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.  Matthew 18:12-14

🙏 I pray you find significance in the insignificant while in service for Him.❤️

🎞 A Shoebox Prayer

THE Feast

 A comment during Sundays message, which 

was excellent if you want to watch

🔗 Sunday November 5th

When Bill said that scripture, God's word, "is a feast" given to us..my brain immediately went to imagery.

A banquet before us,

📖 You prepare a feast for me

    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

    My cup overflows with blessings.  Psalm 23:6 (NLT)

But we must sit and eat.

📖 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

It is best for our digestion if we chew and eat slowly

📖 Oh, how I love your law!

    I meditate on it all day long.
98 Your commands are always with me
    and make me wiser than my enemies. Psalm 119:97-98

We need to read, and reread and ingest God's word.

.📖 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

Bill mentioned some parts of scripture might seem slow (boring) dry..I thought immediately "it is the lettuce or celery of our feast!" But ALL is part of the banquet. 

There are foods with the nutrients we need to sustain and thrive.

📖 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

If I just ate the lettuce I wouldn't feel very satisfied,  

📖 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:13-14

If I just ate the potatoes I would feel full, but not get  all the nutrition I need.

Eating all that is offered will supply all we need

📖 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

📖  “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Matthew 5:13

There are comfort foods, like potatoes, pasta, sweets

📖 Remember your word to your servant,

    for you have given me hope.
50 My comfort in my suffering is this:
    Your promise preserves my life. Psalm 119:49-50

God's word is like the banquet,  we don't have to consume it in one sitting,  but we need it everyday to sustain, to grow, to lack nothing

📖 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

God's word, in its entirety, is a new and fresh feast every day, if we choose to partake. 

He has something for us...there is simple fare, and delicacies, there is meaty, denser stuff, and there is the bland less tasty portions. There is even things that are hard to swallow, but remember the feast is intended to be consumed in its entirety over time.

📖 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

My prayer🙏

📖 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16❤️

November 1st

November 1st...a Wednesday and my brain is still wandering and searching for what the blog will be this week.

1st of November WOW where did the year go!  only 61 days until 2024!!

And SNOW!  I wasn't sure I was ready for November and December, but I definitely didn't feel ready for snow and cold...low 30 temperatures!  

November; the month we celebrated my sister's birthday...sweet memories from the past.

Our church mission project Operation Christmas Child culminates with a packing party where we pack 504 shoe boxes and a week of collection of area shoeboxes and then all are taken to large Collection Centers and then distributed around the world to children in need, not just of gifts,  but in need of the Gospel. 

It is the month we, in America, set aside a day to give thanks to God for His provision, blessings, and the fact that we live in the country we do.

It begins the celebrations of grandchildren birthdays (one in November, one in December, two in January, one in February and last one in May)

And from November we roll right into the Advent of Christmas.

We span from remembering those who aren't with us, to giving hope, and being grateful to celebrating lives and the future!

November...1st..should be the advent of being thankful.  Instead of one day, it should be a month of thankful!

📖 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

Thankful for my sister, and for all those who have been a part of my life and made an impact but aren't with us anymore.

📖 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers Ephesians 1:16

Thankful that in a huge global world our part in the Operation Christmas Child ministry can have significance and an eternal impact.

📖 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15

That for the last ten months of this year God has been with me and has been moving and blessing.

I have much to be thankful and grateful for.

📖 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
    make music to our God on the harp. Psalm 147:7

🙏Lord God, I pray that each one of us has a month of Thankful, that maybe becomes two, and then just maybe a life of Thankful!  I pray that we are reminded each day of all that You have done and have given because You love us. ❤️

Flame and Mist

Out, out, brief candle.

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. . ."

Shakespeare's Macbeth soliloquy lines 5-8

I know that I have talked before about life and its brevity in light of all of history.

But there have been several lives, their flames having "gone out" recently, that make me feel that all the more.

 

📖 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14

We do not know and are not guaranteed our time here.

Whether it be brief, or long, whether we know it is close or it is sudden;

it comes to all of us.

The only thing I can do is be certain that every day I am given, as a gift, I live for the Gift Giver. 

I try to serve and love in Christ's name. Spread His love in all I do. 

So when my end comes...my candle goes out...I have left impressions of Him every where I went;

Kindness, compassion, understanding, patience, generosity, humility, forgiveness, respect...

📖 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12-13

If we want to leave a big bank account, buildings, plaques, banners behind we are missing the point.

In leaving Christ’s impression we are sometimes able to leave those sorts of material memorials, but they can not be our focus or our point in what we do. 

📖 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6;19-21

I want to be remembered (if I am remembered at all) for how I lived,  not what I left. 

I want these words to be what I hear at the beginning of my forever...

📖 “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

🙏 Lord, I pray that today we all live faithful to You and Your words. That we are a living testimony. Amen❤️

Rearview Mirror

 For those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time have seen that my brain works in mysterious ways!

So I was inspired with a spiritual application while driving my SUV and looking in the review mirror....stay with me...and hopefully it will make sense ( I pray!)

The rearview mirror is used to see dangers or possible problems coming from behind, we use it to direct us backwards,  but that is not the way we primarily use a vehicle. They are to move us forward....that is their purpose.

But we don't use the review mirror to go forward. Our course would not be that straight if we were looking behind while trying to go forward....

Ahhhhh.

How many of us try to do that in our lives, we are so focused on our past, what we left behind, that we can't continue to move forward.

Our past, is important. It has created new awareness, lessons learned. There are those we love that we have had to move forward without.

But forward we have to move...

📖 .....And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1b-3

 remembering the more we keep our thoughts, and hearts in the past the less we can do in the here and now.

 📖 Let your eyes look straight ahead;

    fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
    and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:25-26

We use our rear view to see possible dangers, potential threats. 

We can use our past to help be aware of what may be a problem in the future. 

We must always be alert to what the devil may try 

📖  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:8-9

We have the past, ours and others, to help us learn things to avoid.

The Bible is full of lessons, stories from the past for us to use to help us navigate forward. 

📖 Your word is a lamp for my feet,

    a light on my path. Psalm 118:105

It seems contradictory, "Don't dwell in the past , but use the past to help us move ahead"

When we can not take our focus off the past; mistakes, hurts, losses or tragedies, we've let them rule our hearts, causing anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, deep stifling sorrow, it is then we are staring in the rearview mirror and have ceased moving forward.

God desires us to work and move forward toward Our heavenly end.

📖   being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.    Philippians 1:6

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

Use our rearview to help us, not drag us to the point of stagnation. 

🙏Dear Lord, please help us keep our eyes fixed forward on You, help is to use our rearview as a comfort, a tool, a gage. Continue to be the Light showing us the way forward. Amen.❤️

The Genre of Our Story

On a Sunday not too long ago the scripture read was Jeremiah 29. The speaker was talking about "our story", and the Author.

I started thinking about story genres; drama, comedy,  mystery, thriller, tragedy, fiction, non fiction,  etc etc.

And I thought: "my life story has had just about all of them in my 57 years!" Just imagine the story lines for someone like my great Aunt Marilyn, who just passed away at 101!...don't we all cross over to different genres throughout our lives?!

But then I began to think...our basic core stories are all the same, or can be...

The creation of LIFE 

📖 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.....

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. Genesis 2:7, 22 pm

Our story is an inspirational one

📖 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

It is about repentance, forgiveness and restoration.

📖  if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

It is a love story, where the Hero saves the main character (you!) from death and destruction!

📖 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

We even know the ending!

📖 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4

🙏 Lord, I thank you for being the author of our story!  I pray for each beautiful story and that they all know the Author,  giving Him the authority over their story! Allowing Him to weave the threads of love,  forgiveness, redemption, and salvation throughout their different sub plots. Praying for perseverance to get to the beautiful ending that You have for them,  with grace and thanksgiving.❤️

Obedience vs.

God does not want obedience as much as He wants...humility, love and compassion. 

📖 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,

    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6

It is something that came to mind as I was listening to my historical fiction book. One character's self righteous piety as she scorned another for their sin. As she gave the woman shelter and sustenance; "as any Christian should", she was treating her with harsh words, cold animosity.   To me, in my mind, the attitude erases the "Christian deeds".

Our hearts have to be in line with our actions.

📖let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 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, Hebrews 10:22-24

I did not say God does NOT want obedience....I said NOT as much as He desires the other.

So many of us get caught up in the laws and rules we forget compassion and mercy.

📖 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.  If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”   Matthew 12:3-12

The minute we start keeping score....

"I don't do what she does!" "I do all this right!"  "They don't do what is correct"

...we have lost true humility...we are no longer seeing our brothers or sisters with a humble heart....and I believe God desires that above "following the rules"

📖 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

See if we are truly humble at heart...and humility governs our thoughts and actions then ...then....we would be obedient in His eyes...the kind that He intended all along.

📖You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

   My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.  Psalm 51:16-17

We will be compassionate and merciful and gracious and generous!

🙏Lord I pray that our obedience is directed only by our hearts humbled before our Lord. ❤️