March 2020:  The information is coming at us every day about how to slow or prevent the spread of the virus that is causing a world-wide pandemic.  Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds; do it often.  Sanitize hard surfaces and touch points frequently.  Do not gather in groups; maintain social distance of 6 feet or more.  Stay at home to avoid public places.  We are at war with an enemy too small to be seen.  No one knows where this attacker may be hiding.  Who might be carrying this virus, allowing it to multiply and expand its impacts, place to place, person to person?  Our global situation is quite a significant reminder of how vulnerable we are as physical beings. 

When we put all our trust in science, nature, medicine and the civilizations we have built, our foundations can be shaken in times like these.  Our weekly routines and habits give us a sense of stability and comfort, but now those things our lives revolve around have become uncertain.  If most of our days are spent well connected within our social circles, what happens when we are told to keep our distance?  Do we feel lost and lonely?  We don’t have to feel this way.  God gave us a powerful spirit which lives inside each of us; with that spirit, we are never alone.  God gave us a piece of Himself so that we can always have Him close by no matter where we are or what we are going through.  Do you have that spiritual connection with God that remains strong when everything is falling apart around you?  Does your faith and trust in God outshine your fear and worry in dark times?  God wants to be invited into our lives whether things are going well or going bad. He wants to be spiritually close to us no matter what.  God has taught that the spiritual overrides and outlasts the physical.  Believe this to be true at a time when a nearly invisible threat is wreaking havoc on our world.  Keeping spiritually close will allow us to persevere and give us hope.    

The best way to “power up” our spirit is through prayer.  Prayer is the process that opens the door to a close spiritual relationship with God.  Talk to God often and listen for His voice.  The time spent in prayer results in God’s consul, comfort, strength, peace, power, inspiration, hope, love, rest, courage and more.  God is listening to our prayers and He doesn’t stand back watching and waiting when the situation calls for action.  God is an active force working on your behalf.  Prayer is an important and effective weapon for any battle.  It strengthens us to face the challenges of the day.  As you pray, trust that God will provide you with what you need to get through the tough times.  God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).  

If you are struggling with worries and anxiety, and it is hard to find the words to pray, now is a great time to tune into Christian music.  There are songs and lyrics for every mood and every problem.  Today I heard Jason Gray’s song “Remind Me You’re Here”.  The lyrics ask some tough questions of God…

”Are you cruel if You planned it, Or weak if You allowed it to be?”  

Then says “I won’t ask You for the reasons

‘Cause a reason can’t wipe away tears,

No, I don’t need all the answers

Just be here beside me

Father, remind me that You’re here.“

I also listened to Love & the Outcome’s song…”Even today, You got this, I know that I know that I know that You got this.”  With all that our world is going through, God’s got this.  He can bring good things out of bad.  Stay spiritually close and trust God to see you and yours through these unprecedented times.

God Bless!

Take Care & Be Safe!

The pregnancy starts, life has been conceived with up to nine months of nurturing the precious little one as it grows in the womb.  God has breathed life into His uniquely special creation.  There is excitement and anticipation mixed with anxiety, aches and pains.  The time of birth approaches, the end of being pregnant.  This is the awaited moment, to see and hold the infant child.  The end is just the beginning.

School days, classes, studying and exams, getting an education is hard work.  It will take years to complete and along the way there are decisions to be made.  Time is needed to determine where strengths lie, to figure out the direction to take to chart the future.  God has bestowed gifts to everyone, it is important to discover these gifts and to ensure they are put into use.  The work pays off, finally graduation day is reached.  The end is just the beginning.

An awkward introduction, a chance meeting, or a long-time friendship becomes something more.  A relationship gets serious.  God plays the role as the match maker, aligning lives to intersect.  Two individuals begin to form a bond of love.  Goals and dreams are formed.  Maybe the two are on track for marriage and a life lived together.  The planning, the rings, the clothes, food and flowers and more details occupy their minds.  The wedding day arrives and ends with a legal document to say it is official, the couple is in this together.  They made it to the alter to tie the knot.  The end is just the beginning.

The day of death comes by surprise or slowly but surely, as the physical body can no longer hang on.  Breathing becomes shallow and ineffective.  The heartbeat grows weak.  The light in the person’s eyes and the strength in their voice begins to fade or are lost.  Those that are close to one another feel their hearts breaking as they will be pulled apart.  It hurts to lose our loved ones.  Will their souls live on without their bodies?  God has told us that He has conquered death, and we will live eternally with Him in mansions built in Heaven.  He has prepared a place for us where there is no suffering and pain.  We can be certain that God keeps His promises.  On Earth, we must say “goodbye” as loved ones pass on.  They will be welcomed into God’s Kingdom with open arms by Jesus and by those who have gone ahead.  The end is just the beginning.

Trust that it is not over, even when it seems over.  God knows the end from the beginning.  God is with us from start to finish and on into the next thing.  Like a circle, there is not a point where we stop.  He has plans for us and whenever we reach an ending, we can know that God will provide a new beginning.  Stay close to God through it all and be amazed at what His love does, to infinity and beyond.  The end is just the beginning.

There are benefits to being a grateful person, it is good for our souls. Being thankful helps us get through tough times and tends to bring to mind thoughts of empathy for others. Christians may have heard that God wants us to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and to count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds (James 1:2).  In Islam, believers should be thankful throughout the day. For Taoists, gratitude will automatically move you toward positive power, with some commenting that they can feel grateful for the influence trouble had on them, but not thankful for the pain they suffered. There is a Buddhist prayer “May I be given the appropriate difficulties so that my heart can truly open with compassion.” When the troubles come, can we find a reason to be thankful and find the good when things are going so bad?  Let’s challenge ourselves to do it:  fight fear with trust, battle despair with hope, conquer weakness with strength, crush doubt with faith, repel hate with kindness, replace anger with peace, honoring God with praise in our struggles.  Never stop praying and always find a reason to be thankful.

Thank you God for my sadness, feeling down is not where you want me to stay, so recognizing this encourages me to seek joy.

Thank you for the problems I have to face at work, at least I am being paid to deal with them and find solutions and make improvements, and you so often provide ideas to help.

Thank you for the times when I feel lonely so that I may find comfort in knowing that you, God, are always there and will never leave my side.

Thank you for the housework and laundry that never goes away, if I had no home, clothes or possessions, my “to-do” list would be different but by no means better.

Thank you for my losses and heartaches. If I hadn’t loved so much, it wouldn’t hurt this bad.

Thank you for my health troubles, these physical ailments remind me to listen and to take care of my body, where your Holy Spirit resides throughout my life.

Thank you for transportation challenges, because I need a ride, friends and family have been there for me to get me where I need to go, or perhaps some days you use car trouble as a way to protect me.

Thank you for disagreements, confusion, only with differences of opinions and times of questioning can we have an open mind for what is new and the desire to learn and understand.

Thank you for my weariness and fatigue, this is a signal that I need to find ways to rest and rejuvenate.  By letting go and letting you carry my burdens, you will renew my strength.

Thank you for the pressure and stress that comes my way, this discomfort may be your way of pushing me onto the path that you, God, want me to follow.  This test may be critical for my spiritual growth.

Thank you for putting us into situations that seem impossible, only then will we be able to experience the miracles that you have stored up for me and my loved ones.  When our hope is all but lost, divine authority can prevail and we can trust that nothing is impossible for you God.

God, thank you for my troubles.  You are in control.  You are good.  You are able to bring me through.

When I Pray…

Let my prayers be full of praise to our great God who holds our lives in His tender loving hands.  When I pray, let my heart be ever-thankful for the blessings, beauty and bounty that God has created.  In my mind, let God remind me to see the positive side of any situation.  Let no seeds of negativity or hate planted by the devil take root.  Dwell on the best, those ideas sowed by God for our benefit.

When I pray, let my words express my love for God and others.  May my conversations with God be laced with amazement and faith that the ruler of the universe is always there for me 24/7.  That’s incredible!

When I pray, I should try not to run through a list of needs for myself or even for others.  Let me ask what I should give much more often than telling God what I want.  Let me praise more than I plead.  Let me give compliments much more often than airing complaints.  Instead of ticking off names and problems, let my prayers demonstrate the trust I have in the Lord.  He knows our needs better than we do and His plans are for our good.  Praying for His will to be done shows that we are dependent on His Love and that we are standing on His promises. 

Let my prayers speak of my appreciation for the strength we are given to overcome our challenges, for the hope that God gives for our future.  Let me recognize and see the miracles that take place all around.  God puts people in our lives to fulfill His purpose, for this, let me be grateful.  May I follow the example that Jesus taught by showing compassion and reflecting His good in my interactions with those around me. 

Let my prayer time involve listening for God’s voice and understanding the actions He asks me to take.  Let me freely surrender my control to God.  When I pray, may my words be with appreciation and honor for the love, joy, mercy, peace and forgiveness that God has generously poured onto me.  Let me be forever filled with awe for the powerful, wondrous ways of God.

Hallelujah & Amen!!!

We all have seeds planted in us.  There may be dreams, gifts, even sorrows and hurts that are sowed in our souls that hold the potential for growth.  Many of the seeds may lie dormant.  Most seeds have a hard time growing unless they receive the attention, water, sunshine and nourishment they need to germinate.  The seed may be trapped in a hard shell which resists the initial steps in a long process.  Is it worth it even to try?  Getting to the point of blossoming will take a lot of time, often years pass where nothing beautiful is showing.  At times, the growth that has started may look barren and dead like a dried branch.  Yet, sticking with it, the next season may bring an improvement.  The roots may need time to develop.  Are you growing on the inside, establishing a strong foundation for how you will reach the heights that are in your future? 

There will always be obstacles in the way.  Years of progress and expansion may be followed by pruning and being cut short.  Don’t give up.  The end result is something spectacular.  God has place these special seeds in you.  He will give all the nourishment needed to get to your time of blossoming.  There will be challenges which have a purpose to make you strong.  Your blossoming will not be “one and done”.  Your growth and blooming will be a repeat performance.  The difference and meaning God puts into you to let you bloom can propagate as you plant seeds into others.  The world may be fighting you and doesn’t mind seeing you whither.  That cannot be an excuse.  God will be there to provide what you need in all seasons.  He can remove the weeds that may try to choke you out.  God and all the Heavens are rooting for you and are thrilled to see you blossom abundantly.  Give them an awesome show!!!  

Think about it!  Think about anything.  We’ll need our brains to do it—our incredible mobile supercomputers that never sleep and control all the physical and mental processes of our bodies.  Scientists say that our brains, like our muscles, need to be used often to stay strong and function well.   Some talk about neural plasticity.  This is the property of our brain that allows it to create new neural networks which help us to process our emotions, to think in certain ways, and to understand and learn new things; it is how our brains work.  Children have the most brain flexibility.  Isn’t it amazing how little kids soak up information to learn about their world and build their language and communication capabilities?  It’s a good thing that most people go to school when they are young, our older brains may struggle to take in all the new ideas at a rapid-fire pace.  As our brains age, it becomes more and more important to keep exercising our neurons.  For example, doing math problems and mental calculations, make us better at doing math problems and mental calculations.  Practice makes perfect!  At any age, what we focus our thoughts on has a big impact on the quality and direction of our lives. 

What are you fixing your brain on?  Do you have a goal that you are working to achieve?  Is your mind doing its part to give you the discipline to make the daily choices and take the actions to reach that milestone?  If you are working on a change, like losing weight or breaking an addiction, is your brain helping or hindering your progress?  Does your brain focus on your physical desires and temptations?  Or are you able to create new patterns of thinking which bring new and improved behaviors?  You have to get your “head in the game” if you want the best chance of winning.  Sports professionals are told to envision themselves performing at top form.  This helps prepare them for success during the actual competition. 

Reading, listening, repeating words, songs and facts allows the brain to memorize and be able to recall them later.  Our brains love to dwell and to get stuck on a circular loop.  Repetition is essential for strengthening neural connections.  These may be good brain networks to build.  Sometimes your mind might get in a rut thinking about all the things you must do or latching on to worry or anxiety.  What can you do to stop the cycle of negative thoughts?  Many can find help and hope in mindfulness and meditation.  That’s wonderful when relief can be found to your mental anguish by achieving control over the thoughts entering your brain.  But it can be very difficult to clear thoughts from your mind and quiet your brain.  Feelings of guilt, anger, loneliness, sadness, distress and other ideas fight hard for your attention.  So rather than empty your brain, why not fill it?  Fix your thoughts on God instead.  Ask Him to replace old patterns of thinking with something new.  What consumes your mind, will control your life.  Fix your brain on praise, gratefulness, joy and love. 

Let’s pray for one another that we can fix our brains on God and be filled with His perfect peace.

In the last few decades, it seems a lot of people have come ‘out of the closet’. Maybe it would be better to say the closet was replaced by a community.  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) individuals now come together to support one another and seek acceptance.  Celebrities, siblings and children are being open about who they are choosing to love as their significant other and what gender they identify themselves with. 

       In the past, people struggled more with determining whether “coming out” was the right action for them.  Some lived a hidden life to avoid the judgments from others. Will the reaction be one of rejection or acceptance?  They have already felt isolation and have been affected by harsh opinions from society.  Homosexuals have been called abnormal, disgusting, sexually deviant, and immoral.  They may be considered sinful by religious organizations, criminals by intolerant governments, disliked by those who do not even know them, and sadly even becoming the target of deadly hate crimes.   They wonder how their parents, brothers, sisters, friends, classmates and co-workers will act when their true, self-identity is revealed.   Some loving family members may even consider it a “phase”; the person is just confused and will come around eventually.  A mother may believe that once her son finds the right girl, he’ll become “straight”, as if it were a decision he made and that he could make another choice any time he felt like it.  Overall, with all the trouble and risk associated being non-heterosexual, why would someone voluntarily elect to be so ostracized?  Is this simply attention seeking behavior?  Perhaps for some.  If the person cannot bear the thought of letting their parents or community know their real selves, life can become a game of ‘cover-ups’, with fear that the truth will be disclosed.  One thing is certain, everyone has an opinion on homosexuality and more often than not, the emotional response is strong, even extreme.  How many families have been broken apart by it?  How many children have been disowned?

      Many years ago I met a man that was gay, a friend of a friend.  I had heard him talking before seeing his appearance.  His voice was that of an older woman.  With that quick introduction, I believed that homosexuality must be based on biology and hormones.  The balance of biochemistry had shifted him from having the masculine characteristics that would be expected, and, instead, clearly feminine elements were being expressed.  He didn’t make a choice about this; he was made that way.  Just as every one of us is a unique combination of chemistry and biology beautifully brought to life, this was just one more element of the diversity of natural human development.  God made each of us special, without mistakes.

      Christian and Muslim believers may contend that “homosexual behavior is sinful”.  These people may not intend to disrespect anyone, but they firmly hold on to what they feel the Bible or the Qu ‘ran teaches on the subject.  Their level of acceptance may go so far as saying that judgment for how we each of us acts is to be left in the hands of God or Allah, but they may continue to think of gays and lesbians as sinners.  Christians may cite sections in the Bible as the basis for the conclusions they draw.  On that, my thought is, “No, I don’t think that is what the Bible says.” 

      One section of the Bible often quoted relative to homosexuality is I Corinthians, Chapter 6 verse 9&10, New Living Translation). 

9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God?  Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality.

10 Or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

The judgement on homosexuality is equal to the judgement on greedy people and drunks or those that cheat people.  There were people acting terribly in the Church of Corinth; there was fighting, arguments and jealousies.  Some of the people were saying that they can do anything they want and still be considered followers of Christ (I Corinthians 6:12, New Living Translation).  But this section talks about how not everything is good for you and gives a warning about not becoming a slave to your behaviors.  Taking parts of the Bible and magnifying them without giving consideration to the context in which they were written can lead to misinterpretation. If I look only at the first verse of I Corinthians Chapter 7, it says “It is good for a man not to touch a woman” or “It is good to abstain from sexual relations” depending on the translation (King James Version & New Living Translation).  In verse 7 of the same chapter of the letter Paul is sending to the new Christians in Corinth, he wishes that all men were like himself, able to resist sexual desires.  But he knows most cannot have that much control over their passions, so he basically tells people to get married so you are not tempted into immoral actions.  In the verse right after the one condemning certain types of people to be excluded from God’s Kingdom, it talks about how Jesus died for sinners (I Corinthians 6:11) and then in the last verse of the chapter, a summary is provided.

 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God

20 For ye are bought with a price:  therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

       I had always heard that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because homosexuality was rampant in those cities.  But reading Genesis 18:20 (King James Version), the Lord said “their sin is very grievous.”  He didn’t specify, but God and the angels looked long and hard to find at least ten righteous people so that the City of Sodom could be spared.  In Genesis 19:5, men come looking for the angels that had arrived to save Lot’s family and the men at the door want to rape the visitors.  Lot was even willing to turn over his two virgin daughters to the evil men outside his door in exchange for the protection of the angelic men within his home.  How horrible? 

      The real answer about the sin of Sodom popped out at me when reading Ezekiel Chapter 16, 49-52 (NLT), spoken to Jerusalem.   

49 Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.

50 She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.

51 Even Samaria did not commit half your sins.  You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did.  They seem righteous compared to you.

 52 Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.

So, some of the biggest things that the Sodomites did wrong was not caring for the poor and being lazy.  In the KJV it said the people of Sodom were “haughty”.  I had to look that one up.  Haughty means arrogant and disdainful and treating people with scorn.  This doesn’t say anything about sexual orientation.  Societies who judge others as unworthy of God’s love instead of extending it, are falling into the trap that the people of Sodom were in.  In Ezekiel Chapter 18, there are many encouraging words from the Lord regarding sins of the soul, contrasted with doing what is right and lawful, and the life and death consequences of each of our actions.  It talks about how we are each responsible for our own thoughts and whether we choose to be righteous or wicked.  This section lifts up God’s way of dealing with us as just.  We will each be judged according to our ways.

      There is sure a whole lot said on the internet on the subject of homosexuality.  I am sure you could find opinions and convictions that line up with a full spectrum of feelings on the topic.  What I’m sharing here are my own individual thoughts.  I can find many speaking out in a similar fashion and many others who would contradict me.  I found thoughtful words from Janet Edmonds in “The Bible Doesn’t Say That Homosexuality is a Sin”.  I found heartfelt words from Matthew Vines.  There are people that say you cannot change the interpretation of the word of God just to fit the current changes in culture.  But you have to admit that the hateful and abusive culture of the world needs changing, thousands of years ago and today.  Things are pretty messed up.  Knowing that God gets personal with us as individuals, He wants to work on the hearts of each of us, in whatever unique situation we find ourselves in. He wants us to be humble and have a teachable spirit.  He wants us not to judge others “lest we be judged.”  He wants each of us to know that we are loved by Him.  God knows what is best for us and wants us to figure that out through a relationship with Him.   

      I feel for young people still in school and trying to figure out who they will be when they grow up.  If feeling attracted to the same sex is part of their emotional tapestry, or if they feel a conflict in the body they were born with, how much more difficult those years must be for them?  Kids can be so mean to each other.  Adults can be just as mean.  Churches and other religious organizations are making policies regarding human sexuality and it is disappointing when it seems the decisions are based on creating laws that exclude people and don’t make allowance for acceptance and love for one another.  Sometimes the rules become impersonal and take away the rights of individual communities to listen for God’s guidance for themselves. Should people attracted to same-sex partners really be lumped together with ‘abusers’ and ‘thieves’, and other evil people who won’t have a share in the blessings of God’s kingdom?  Is being a member of the LGBT community really a sin?

      What is sin?  God has tried over and over again to help us easily recognize it.  He gave Moses the Ten Commandments to share with his people.   Ten rules to live by.  That doesn’t seem so hard but for hundreds of years, people struggled with that covenant.  So Jesus comes.  He distills the commandments down to the essentials:  love God with all your heart and treat others the way you want to be treated.  Wow, it sounds so easy!  Are we able to do it?  When a man loves God and loves another man in a committed relationship, is he disobeying what Jesus said?  If he lies and tells people he is not a homosexual when in his heart he knows the truth, wouldn’t he then be breaking one of God’s Commandments? Let’s say he never held an evil thought toward others and trusted and listened to God throughout his life.  Is this man going to Hell?  When God looks into a woman’s heart and sees that she holds great love for Him and also observes the love she has for another woman, does God condemn her?  I say, “No, if the love in her heart is what is guiding her actions, then God is pleased with her.” 

      What if we looked at this from the perspective that individuals are placed specifically into our lives as part of a test of our ability to follow God’s desires?  Are we all able to love God and each other unconditionally?  Or is our ability to follow the example of Jesus’ love only in full force when our circumstances make it easy?   Are we only able to fully love those who we feel live the right way?  Life on Earth is filled with challenges, individual situations that drive our actions and beliefs.  The difficulties each of us face are as diverse as the people in the world itself.  If you or part of your family is impacted by homosexuality, don’t let the feelings it causes turn you away from God or let it interfere with relationships grounded in love.  Ask God how to respond and follow through on the messages He writes in your heart.  Through all things, let your thoughts and actions please God.  In God and by God, every single one of us is wonderfully made, equally lovable, equally special.  We all have a job to do in God’s Kingdom; we need to love and respect one another.  It is also important that we hold love and respect for ourselves, to develop the uniqueness that makes us into the person God intended us to be. 

      We’ll have many people cross our paths in our life’s journey.  There are people that sin by committing harmful, evil acts which cause emotional hurts, pain and suffering or physical death.  The Bible teaches that God will deal with the wicked.  If good people start doing evil, they must be put to death, while wicked people who start to do right can save themselves from punishment.  God says we are to give up our evil ways and think pure thoughts (Ezekiel 18:26-28).  We are able to find peace when we surrender ourselves into God’s hands and when we produce the fruits of the spirit, against which there is no law (Galatians 5:23).  For each person that is in our lives, we get to decide how we will treat them.  We may be asked to support them, pray for them, help them, care for them, no matter our differences.  We are not the ones to judge, we cannot see the state of someone’s heart.  God expects nothing less from us than for us to love one another just as Jesus has taught, the way He loves us.