MAKE IT WORTH IT

by Barbara Chadwick

“Someday your life will flash before your eyes. Make it worth it.”  This commercial about the Lexus assumes that if you buy their car it will make all your life worthwhile.

Yesterday we spent the day with Mary Thornberry. She is 93 years old. Her frail body is riddled with arthritis but she has a sweet spirit. She told us that her boyfriend, David, told her she needed to be “born again.” She had never heard that before although she had been a member of a church for a long time. They continued dating and when he told her he wanted to marry her he said, “But you need to be born again first.”  She thought about that quite a lot over the course of their courtship and one day God spoke to her heart. She says, “I knew then that what David said was true. I invited Christ to be my Savior and I have never been sorry. It has been the biggest blessing of my life.”

Contrast Mary’s experience with a rich man who said, “I have spent my life climbing the ladder of success only to arrive at the top and discover the ladder was leaning against the wrong building.” You see in the process of rising to the top he lost his wife and his children.

Mary told us that when her daughter, Melody, was in college. She met Wally. They fell in love and Wally told Melody that he wanted to marry her and that she didn’t have to worry about money because he had quite a lot. "We discouraged her from marrying him because we told her that money cannot make anyone happy. First and foremost we said was knowing Jesus as your Savior." Well, it turns out, Mary said, that Wally was a fine Christian and they have had a wonderful life serving the Lord.

When I asked Kenneth if his life flashed before his eyes what he would feel good about. He said, with a twinkle in his eye, “That you were the fire that lit the flash!”  Well that was pretty sweet and made my day. Then he added, "That I heard the call of God and responded." And the truth is that we do thank God for the journey and the opportunities He has given us to minister in His name.  

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

OVERFLOW

by Barbara Chadwick

Matthew 12:34  For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

You are known by what kinds of words come out of your mouth. When someone thinks of you, the picture that comes to their mind is framed by the kinds of words you have used in their presence.

A former pastor would tell about a situation then say, “And it’s only going to get worse.”  He loved people but his words did not encourage. A woman at the ladies’ Bible study cannot seem to talk without being critical. A critical spirit brings death. We have a nephew who often uses curse words. This doesn’t bless anyone. He works with people who use these words all the time. I believe the saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out”

Recently my son, Kerry, said, “It is so important to memorize Bible verses. Then you always have scripture with you.” Psalm 19:14 says,  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Every morning my husband, Kenneth, plays, “More Love to Thee, O Christ”, on his harmonica as part of his devotional. Putting your attention on the Lord first thing in the morning is an effective way to guard your heart, and the more we love Christ the more likely the words that come out of our mouth will be acceptable to Him.

The words of the song, “Wonderful Words of Life” come to mind:

     Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.

     Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life.
     Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.
     Beautiful words, wonderful words,
     Wonderful words of life.   

Words of faith give life. Encouraging words give life. Words offered in love give life.

Lord Jesus help me to offer life, not death and a blessing, not a curse, from what comes out of my mouth.

CONTROLLED BURN

by Barbara Chadwick

 

This week as we turned into the gates of our subdivision there was a sign “Controlled Burn in Progress” 

Since we are one half mile from the Roosevelt National Forest we were concerned especially as the smoke began to fill the air. But we do understand the need for a controlled burn.

The forest gets tangled up with dead trees, bushes and vines and if the forest rangers don’t carefully get rid of this undergrowth then we have an unhealthy forest. When lightning strikes a dead tree we can get an uncontrollable forest fire. Colorado had twelve forest fires in 2012 and they were made worse by this very factor.

Our lives develop bad habits and undergrowth just as the forest does. If we don’t pay attention to the junk that grows and develops our actions can become ugly and uncontrollable. We can destroy people in our path.  Occasionally we need to have a controlled burn in progress!  

Zechariah 13:9 says, I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them.

In Isaiah  48:10-11 we read:  See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Then in Psalm 66:10-12  - For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

“There is no question that trouble and trials are both fiery and painful and there’s no question that they also challenge our relationship with God. If our faith is true and pure that relationship is improved and dross comes to the surface where I can be removed.” Bryan Kimsey,  Ministerial Alliance, April , 2008  (Find his excellent sermon based on the hymn “How Firm A Foundation” at www.fbcdesmoines.org)

When we go through the fire and we call on the name of the Lord our God He will answer.
He will guide us through it and in the process refine us. We will become healthy Christians, not like the unhealthy forests that burn uncontrollably and destroy people in their path.

DIET

by Barbara Chadwick

This time of year lots of people have started a diet. Me too!

You remember the scripture that talks about your body being God's temple? So we do want to keep it in the best condition possible.
     Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple
     and that God's Spirit lives in you?
     ...God's   temple is sacred, and you are that temple. I Corinthians 3:16-17
So I want to share a diet with you.  :-) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

     Recently, I went to my local grocery store to buy a large bag of Purina Dog Chow for my loyal pet Jake, the Wonder Dog. While standing in the checkout line the woman behind me asked if I had a dog. (Did she think I had an elephant?)
     So, because I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I said, "No, I don't have a dog. I'm starting the Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't."
     She had a confused expression .
     Breaking the silence, I said, "Yeah, the last time I ended up in the hospital. I lost 50 punds, but I woke up in the intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms."
     Her jaw dropped.
     I continued, "Essentially, it's the perfect diet. You load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete and the results are good. I think I'll try it again!"
     By now practically everyone in line was enthralled with my story.
     She looked horrified. "Did the dog food poison you?" she asked.
     Matter-of-factly, I said, "No, I stopped to pee on a fire hydrant and a car hit me."
     (Better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of crazy things to say.)
                      by Chuck Lavelle - taken from Colorado Life magazine