Many of us came to the Lord later in life and have much that has been forgiven. Such were many of the followers of Jesus. Of one of them Jesus said, "She loves much because she has been forgiven much."
     It is easy to slip into regrets over past sin, or temptation by those things which previously ensnared us. I read this passage in Ephesians this morning and thought I would share it here.

Ephesians 5:8-20

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)  and find out what pleases the Lord.

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible,  for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:

"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."

Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise,  making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,  always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
NIV

The electrician has been in my office for a while now.  He’s been changing out the ballast on my overhead light so that all four bulbs will work instead of only two – like it has been for all the years I’ve rented this studio.  Problem is - this little old redneck has a serious mouth on him.

Here are some of the tidbits of “wisdom” imitating from this electrician:

Poor people have food given to them by the government that they don’t even want.  They hide it under their beds until they can find someone to sell it to.  And they grow fat while there are people out there who really need the food who can’t get it.

If Mexicans live in America, (Mexico is in North America) they should speak “American.”  (The Spanish language IS as American as English.)  They should not even bother teaching Spanish in school.  And the Mexicans all just come here so they can have a baby and that baby will be a citizen and grow up to get welfare and a free college education while our own children don’t even get that.

The government gives away the best cheese, you can’t get it anywhere but the government.  They don’t give it away anymore though, it’s shipped to China or Africa somewhere.

There should be a law against people having children if they can’t afford them.  Some people would be allowed to have children and others just wouldn’t get any.  But white people don’t have many children, it’s only the Mexicans who have seven or eight.

AND (as if that were not enough) he went on to inform me that if I were to adopt a child in this country that I would be able to force the biological parent to pay child support!  (This is NOT how it works!  Believe me!) 

WHAT THE HELL?!  I get it, life is unfair, the government is run by idiots!  But HOW did he manage to cover racism against Spanish speaking people, horrible misinformation about adoption and all the rest in MY studio to ME?!  (I’m in the process of adopting from Colombia)  I redirected the conversation away from these topics a number of times but he was like a bulldog.  He wouldn’t let go!  He just sat on my floor telling me all this for a while until I got up and started to thank him for his work and how glad I was to have my light fixed, and these tools are yours?  Let me help you get these out of here.  I basically shooed him out.  GOOD GRIEF!  I thought that motor mouth would never leave.  Honestly, do I have a tatoo or something on my body that says "I want to hear all about your racism toward the children I'm adopting?!" 

Too bad HE’ll never read my blog and find out how I really feel about his thoughts.  Gaaahhhh!  I don't believe in Karma (my grandmother-in-law thinks my name is Karma and we don't bother to correct her.)  But if there is such a thing, then I'm getting this because of the offensive comments on my blog about the parenting class teachers - that they ACTUALLY READ!  (Double Gaaaahhhh!)

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PETER WALKS ON WATER

Read: Matthew 14:22–33

            But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"  Matthew 14:30 NKJV

* * *

            Peter was always quick to speak and quick to act; but sometimes he was slow to carry through on his actions. When the disciples realized that the shadowy figure walking on water was Jesus, Peter's first response was, "Lord, if it's you,…tell me to come to you on the water." (14:28 NIV)

           But as quickly as he jumped overboard and began to walk to Jesus, he realized how strong the wind was, and how large the waves, and he lost his courage. The Lord knew beforehand what Peter would do, and immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (14:31)

* * *

            For some of us, it is easy to take on more than we can handle. Then when the difficulties come, we are overwhelmed by the "wind and waves."  But if the Lord is the One calling us to come, as He called Peter to Him on the water, then He is the One who is going to get us back in the boat. Lord, sometimes I deserve to hear the words you said to Peter, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (14:31)

* * *

            Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."  Matthew 14:33 NKJV

Melanie's family

     Many of you fellow bloggers are parents or grandparents of teenagers. It is quite common, when our children reach this age to feel invisible. We are, of course, nessesary to keeping life running smoothly, but with all of life ahead of them and so many activities, a teenager can leave us feeling a bit "out of it."

     Two years ago the Lord gave me some insight to just how important we still are to our children and grandchildren. My then 14 year old grandson Blake was assigned a paper to write about his grandparents. He was to make a list of adjectives describing us (Ron and I) and then develop the essay from that. He had to refer to us by name rather than Nana and Grandpa. My daughter e-mailed me this saying, "I just thought you might want to know what your grandson thinks of you." I thought I would post this to remind us all that we had better finish well! We are being observed!

Grandparents

            Gifted from God, two exceptional grandparents are Ronald and Charlotte Mathis.  Ronald Mathis was born in 1943.  Godly, intelligent and cheery, Ron possesses many wonderful characteristics.  Loving Math, Ronald is an exceptionally brilliant man.  While he is the head of the family, Charlotte Mathis, who is his wife, still has authority over things.  In September 1942, Charlotte began her life.  Because of her loving spirit, she is a wonderful Grandma of ten grandkids.

            Extremely intelligent, Ronald Mathis is a man who loves God.  Having earned a PhD in Physics, he loves to explain things, and also loves to brainstorm unique ideas.  Above all, his love for invention has motivated him to establish a business of his own.  Although owning and running a company can be difficult at times, because of his tenacity he never gives up.   Teaching math is another one of his passtimes, which is a great thing about him.  He loves to weekly teach two, soon to be more, of his grandsons math on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Ron is patient.  Ron is helping his grandsons become intelligent men of God like him.

            Charlotte Mathis loves the Lord, as she strives to become closer and closer to the Lord daily.  Reading her Bible for hours every day, Charlotte loves getting sucked into the beautiful Word of God. Wonderfully caring, Charlotte loves to spend quality time with each of her ten grandchildren.   Because of her love for her children and the Word of God, Charlotte recently finished reading and marking Bibles for each of her children and their spouses.   In her quiet time, she reads for such long periods, however this never halts her praying with the Lord or going to church.  She is a very godly person who loves God and loves going to church.  She will never abandon God.

            Cheerfulness is a great trait of Ron and Charlotte.  Because they continually love the Lord, they are almost always cheerful.  In some cases, they may be a little on the grumpy side, however they will never have a divorce or hate anybody.  Usually when they appear a little grumpy, they are frustrated and just need to figure something out.  Loving and trusting God, they continue to believe and follow Him even in the difficult times, which is to be admired.   Ron and Charlotte will never turn away from their trust in God, because of their love for Him.  They will always love God.  Loving God cheerfully is a wonderful characteristic of Ron and Charlotte.

            Outstandingly, Ron’s important trait is his God given intelligence.  Charlotte has the excellent trait of being Godly; this is the same with Ronald.  Possessing intelligence, Godliness, cheerfulness, and sometimes, but not very often, grumpiness, this wonderful couple has mightily influenced their grandkid’s lives.  These grandparents love to care for their children and grandchildren, as they grow to be children following God. 

Ok, I’m going to complain for a moment, brace yoself. 

Friends of ours had a lovely wedding for their son and his beautiful bride.  And when I saw the mother of the bride, I had to gulp.  I think I hid it pretty well as she was sailing toward me for a hug.  I love her dearly!  She was wearing a lovely floor length navy blue dress with a wide neckline that swept around the shoulders and bodice making a really lovely statement.  Sounds perfect, right?  Well, the dress was marvelous!  She was wearing costume jewelry!  The fake diamond kind!  Yes, can you believe that?  She was decked out in fake diamonds, necklace, earrings and a big sparkly pin on the dress.  It would have been lovely if it was the academy awards and they were real.  But let’s face it, cheesy costume jewelry is a HORROR!  I have about twenty original pearl jewelry sets in my collection (not a fake thing in sight) that she could have borrowed.  It would have all been authentic and perfect for the occasion.  I didn’t think to tell her, and so she turned up wearing that horror.  (And she had to keep adjusting it because it wore funny.)  Since she owns a nice collection of artisan jewelry, it didn’t occur to me that she’d show up in rhinestones.  *shudder* 

Ok, there are three main categories of jewelry.  (Bet you didn’t know that.)  The first category is fine jewelry, which is usually diamonds, gold, platinum, etc...  People buy this stuff for status, and quite honestly, those customers are no fun at all.  Then there is costume jewelry – the cheap knock offs designed to look like something it is not.  (Wal-Mart, Claire’s etc… and those customers are no fun at all either)  And let’s face it – it does not fool anyone!  And finally, there is the “bridge market” which is the stuff in between.  The bridge market focuses more on artistic design and is often much more affordable, though sometimes a good bridge market piece can be more expensive than a fine jewelry piece.  But you are paying for design rather than status symbol stone and metal.  For quite some time I was a bridge market jewelry designer.  And it was fun, the customers were amazing!  And I’ll go back to that when I have the inspiration and the time.  (I got a little burnt out.)

So my observation of the lovely lady’s jewelry horror leads me to an interesting dilemma.  Should I sidle up to her and mention that the next time she has a super fancy event, she should borrow something presentable from me and throw that set in the trash???  Ok, not hardly.  Ok, so short of pouncing on her with pearls in hand…  I like her enough that I’d give her a loaner for an event.  As a matter of fact, I’ve done that before and will do it again with other friends.  It gets some of my more fantastic jewelry out there without me actually having to sell it.  And the pieces that have won me awards are ones I’m just not ready to sell anyway.  So between now and the next wedding in that family (which won't be long from the looks of things) I want to offer her some decent jewelry to borrow.  Is there any way to go about that that it isn’t a slam against what she was wearing?  (Which WAS horrible - but that's not entirely the point) 

I got to work and set up my laptop only to realize that I couldn’t connect to the wireless system.  So I fired up the desktop and it had no troubles connecting.  I went across the hall and fired up the system in the real estate office and down the hall to the insurance guy.  Ok, everyone’s system is online except for my laptop.  The three main floor offices share the same wireless system and it is usually no problem at all.  But this morning I can’t connect my laptop.  And I’m annoyed.  Mightily annoyed!  I don't have an ethernet cable here to trouble shoot and I've tried everything else.  *grump!*

Disclaimer: (This one is a little tough)  I remember how I use to watch the Christian stations often and now it's a rarity because of the content or the lack thereof.  It saddens my heart to hear some of the things that are being said.  What brought on this post was when I heard a Pastor tell people that if they could use their credit cards for their vacations then they could use them for tithes and offerings. Most people are in credit card debt as it is and shouldn't go on vacations unless they have the cash for it.  If there was a call in line I would've dial it.  Why not teach about being a good steward.  With a saddened but hopeful heart I type this post.  (Prayer is the first line of a great offense and defense.  Pray! Pray! Pray!)

This memory came to mind the other night of how in my early years with Christ when some speakers would come to the church or we would go visit other churches and they might have a ‘prophecy’ line and how it was handled. The more money you gave the better your prophecy would be.  The less you gave, well let’s just say that you might get a God Bless You!  We were even asked a couple of times to touch the speakers hands so that some of the ‘anointing’ would rub off on us.  Gullible or trusting?

When it comes to the local church, I believe that the people are trusting because who would want to think that their Pastor would allow a deceiver (con artist) to come in and ‘dupe’ the Church.  I don’t believe that it’s being done intentionally, but my concern is that no one seems to be saying anything about it.

(Of course not everyone is doing this) For example the mega church celebrity preachers of today are constantly preaching about prosperity and rarely talk about sin or salvation anymore.  Everyone wants to be rich. Maybe it’s so wide spread because they are catering to human greed. (For a while, it seemed like more people wanted to be preachers because of the floss and gloss of it.)  Is this preaching to itching ears? Mmmm!  (II Peter 2:2-4 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. 4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.)

I don't believe that most of these ‘big time’ preachers started out this way, so my question is what happened. Is this the spirit of deception that the bible speaks of? Why aren't people speaking out against it? Could it be no one wants to speak out just in case some one comes looking in their backyard?  Is this why the world continually calls us hypocrites?  Or does this scripture come to mind, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” 1 Chronicles 16:22. You hear this more often then not. Yes! Pray. Then what?

I remember years ago that when something was questioned you where either seen as rebellious, disobedient, a demon, back biter, naysayer, etc….or even ostracized.  Regardless of how high one gets on this earth, we will not nor will we ever be God. Correction is needed. The first line of defense is PRAYER. Prayer in advance that our leaders will not to get off track and then if they do to continually pray for them to get back on the strait path, but it should not be allowed to go on. What should be done? I’m not so sure. 

I remember one time questioning some things and was told that I didn't have the authority to do so.  Mmm!

It's constantly being said that our leaders should be held to a higher standard, but I say that we should all maintain this high standard. None of us are without sin, but are we truly doing the best that we can to keep the devil out of our lives or do we use the excuse that we are only human or that God knows that we are going to sin so it’s ok? Maybe we should bring back the armor bearers. 

If leaders only have "Yes" people around them then getting off track will be a greater possibility because no one wants to be seen as a tool for the enemy (when they are not) or possibly being ostracized or lose their position. 

The encouragement for the day is that it's not too late. As long as there is breath there's hope. Pray as though lives are dependant upon it. Because they are.

With Love in Christ,

!