Choose Kindness Instead of Paybacks

Posted on May 20, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else”—1 Thessalonians 5:15(NIV).

In a hurry at the speedy checkout lane, I was becoming impatient when a problem arose with the person checking out just ahead of me. She had swiped her credit card several times but it wouldn’t work. The cashier wasn’t having any luck getting it to work either so she called for help.

As I listened to the conversation, I learned the card she was using to pay for her two items was part of a government assistance program. Since it was several days before the end of the month, it dawned on me that the customer didn’t realize she had used up her monthly allotment. She was going to put the items back when I felt a God nudge.

Reaching into my wallet, I pulled out cash and paid for the two items. The customer protested but I replied, “Please allow me to pay.”

Now, here’s where the story reveals the story behind the story. The woman was buying ice cream bars. In the past, my attitude would have been, “Well, she’s on government assistance and she shouldn’t be using the funds to buy ice cream.”

Bear with me here. Notice, I said in the past. Yes, I was very judgmental before Jesus got ahold of me and I still struggle sometimes, but He’s not through with me yet. Second, I had first encountered this woman almost five years earlier when she came to our church’s front door ministry, seeking help with groceries and some of her past due bills. While we try to assist as many as possible, that particular day, we were out of funds to help with bills. However, we did supply her with food. I recalled her reaction when she learned we were out of funds. It wasn’t pleasant. I realized that her response had affected my attitude toward her, especially when she started attending our church.

That day, as I stood in the checkout line, waiting impatiently for my turn, God showed me that it didn’t matter what this woman was buying. I had an opportunity to be kind, and, you know what, I think I enjoyed it more than she probably enjoyed eating that ice cream.

Scottish author and theologian, Ian Maclaren said, “Let us be kind to one another, for most of us are fighting a hard battle.” I know I was battling my impatience as I waited my turn to check out that day.

In a sermon titled, “What is Man?” Christian theologian John Wesley said, “You were born for nothing else. You live for nothing else. Your life is continued to you upon earth, for no other purpose than this, that you may know, love and serve God on earth, and enjoy Him to all eternity.”

When we serve others, we are serving our Heavenly Father.  Be on the lookout for whom God wants you to serve today.

 What do you think? Do you seek to serve others? Leave a comment below.

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What I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Posted on May 13, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“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”—Deuteronomy 6:7 (NIV).

 No one ever told me that being a mother could be heartbreaking. Neither did anyone ever tell me that it could also be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. My own mother, who passed away almost nine years ago, certainly didn’t tell me, but then, she raised two daughters. I raised two sons. Therein is the difference, at least from my perspective.

Before I became a mother at age 23, I read the books on parenting. You know the ones that tell you, “Do this, but don’t do that.” Fewer volumes of advice were available in 1977 when my first son was born. When the second son came along almost four years later, who had time to read a book? The wisdom I had learned in the trenches before his birth, however, did not prepare me for the differences in the two. When I talk about my sons, I always tell others that if my second-born had been my first-born, he would have been an only child. God certainly has a sense of humor. So does my second son.

Recently, I spoke to approximately 50 graduating seniors at a mother-daughter tea. To prepare for the event, I asked other mothers what advice they would give to the young women who were beginning a new chapter in their lives. I don’t have room to include all of their sage advice but have distilled their words into the following, which is appropriate for both genders:

  • Never let society define the most important things in life, such as values, integrity, truth, success, and your own self-worth. Those things are far too important to be determined by popular opinion.
  • There is nobody else in the world like you, so be who God uniquely created you to be. Don’t try to pattern yourself after somebody else.
  • Always put your relationship with Christ first. As long as you focus on that, everything else will fall into place.
  • “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7:12). This should be a guiding principle for all aspects of your life—personal, home and career.

While I never received this specific advice as a teenager, I learned some real-life lessons from my mother. She taught me how to be a survivor and the value of hard work. She taught me that doing well in school and getting a college education would ensure a better future. She taught me to treat others with respect, no matter who they were. She taught me the basics, like cooking, cleaning and ironing. I can’t say, however, that I like to do any of these practical things today.

While my mother was a model of good behavior and proper decorum during my impressionable years, my spiritual growth has come through reading scripture, Bible study and personal experience. Today, I celebrate the foundation I had in her teachings.

 

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Do You Believe This?

Posted on April 7, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”—John 11:25-26 (NIV).

“It’s a big pat on the back for our understanding of the universe.” These words came last week from a physicist, commenting on the news from the European Space Agency’s discovery of the split-second that occurred after the Big Bang. Believing our universe burst in the blink of a second from subatomic size to its now visible expanse, the think tank was celebrating what they believe as evidence of how the world began.

“What a wonderful triumph of the mathematical approach to describing nature,” said another physicist, who was not a part of this new research. “It’s an amazing story of discovery.”

Another amazing story begins with these words: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The first words found in the Bible begin with a story I find easier to believe than a tiny subatomic particle exploding and creating the entire universe and everything in it. I readily admit that math has never been my strong point. I believe it takes more faith to believe in the Big Bang than it does in God.

According to a May 2011 Gallup poll, more than 9 in 10 Americans still say “yes” when asked the basic question “Do you believe in God?”

Christian author, Robert A. Laidlaw, said, “God exists whether or not men may choose to believe in Him. The reason why many people do not believe in God is not so much that it is intellectually impossible to believe in God, but because belief in God forces that thoughtful person to face the fact that he is accountable to such a God.”

As Laidlaw contemplated the perplexity of God, he said, “I have an innate conviction that God exists. No matter how my intellect had tried, in the past, to produce reasons proving He was not, or how much I had wanted to believe that there was no God, that ‘still, small voice’ came to me again and again, just as it comes to you, in the quiet of life’s more sober moments. Yes, I knew that at least for me there was a God.

“True, there are some men who don’t believe in God. But to me the problems of unbelief in God are greater than the problems of belief. To believe that unaided dead matter produced mind, that mind produced conscience, and that the chaos of chance produced the cosmos of order as we see it in nature, seems to call not for faith but for credulity.”

George Gallup, the American statistician, said, “I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone—the chance that all its functions would just happen is a statistical monstrosity.”

Would you want to base your eternal future on a “statistical monstrosity?” Maybe that’s why David said in Psalm 14:1, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

Need a speaker for your event? Contact the author at carolaround@yahoo.com.

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Are You One of Them?

Posted on March 31, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering”—Romans 8:1-2 (NIV).

Hypocrites. Sinners. They warm the church pews each Sunday. They’re not perfect, just forgiven. I’m one of them. I’m not where I want to be, but by God’s grace, I’m not where I used to be.

According to the “World English Dictionary,” the word hypocrite has its origins from the Old French “ipocrite,” via Late Latin, from Greek “hupokrites,” or one who plays a part, a person who pretends to be what he is not. Yes, there are hypocrites in the church, people who play a role, who pretend to know Christ.

Before I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior, my identity was linked to the expectations of others. In the past, if someone had asked me, “Who are you?” I would have defined myself by my career. I might have also replied that I was someone’s daughter or the mother of two sons. My identity was wrapped up in the roles I played, the positions I held and the awards I received. I was in my late 40s before I found freedom to be who God created me to be in Him.

Since rededicating my life to the Lord, in 2001, I have strived to live a life of intention, a purposeful life of discovering who I am in Christ. To accomplish this, one must do as Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Today, as in Jesus’ day, people still have a hard time grasping this eternal truth. We all have sinned and fall short of everything God intends us to be. None of us is perfect but “by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14).

We’re not there yet. However, in spite of our imperfections, we strive to be faithful.

Jesus was faithful to death. Remember Good Friday?  A gruesome death. A perfect sacrifice. “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.”

When the Unknown Soldier was buried in Arlington, he was given the Congressional Medal of Honor and other decorations. However, when our Savior was laid to rest, he knew no pomp and ceremony. His only honor came from His Father who caused the earth to shake, the midday sun to become shrouded in darkness and who opened graves to let the dead walk.  A Roman centurion said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

However, it didn’t end with His death. Easter Sunday is coming. Have you accepted His perfect plan?

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Bringing a Stranger Home

Posted on March 26, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have with those in need, for such sacrifices are very pleasing to God.”  Hebrews 13:16(NLT)

She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 27, 1910. You know her as Mother Teresa. Of Albanian descent, Mother Teresa knew at the age of 12 that she was called by God. She took her initial vows as a nun in 1931. After teaching in Calcutta at St. Mary’s High School for 17 years, she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school.

The poverty and suffering she witnessed outside the convent walls had made such a deep impression on her that she devoted the rest of her life to working among the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Her love for the Lord and helping his people grew into an order called “The Missionaries of Charity” in 1950. Their primary task? To love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after.

Although we may feel unequipped to live and work in the slums like Mother Teresa, God has called us to love and care for others in our own way and in our own families. Mother Teresa said it better: “Like Jesus we belong to the world living not for ourselves but for others. The joy of the Lord is our strength.”

Dubbed the “Saint of the Gutters,” Mother Teresa ministered to all whose path she crossed. Even in the gutters of Calcutta, she brought kindness and hope to dying people living in destitution scarcely imaginable to the western mind. In America, many are oblivious to the poverty in our own backyard—and it’s not just from a lack of basic necessities.

As Mother Teresa said, “There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives—the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.”

A friend and I were recently discussing our backgrounds over lunch. She is a small-town minister’s daughter. Recalling her childhood, she told me that she never knew how many strangers would end up at their dinner table—especially on holidays.

Even with five children seated around the table, my friend’s father did not hesitate to bring home another hungry person. Like Mother Teresa, he was in the “people business.” Being in the “people business” is the only way to a heart of joy. When we serve others, we are serving our Lord.

Although Mother Teresa saw her efforts to help the poor as just a drop in the ocean, we can all be a part of that ocean. We don’t have to travel to the streets of Calcutta to make a difference. Like Mother Teresa, we can reach out to others in kindness and in love. In the slums of many people’s hearts, people are crying out.

Do you hear their cries? Reach out. Bring a stranger home to Jesus.

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Have You Accepted Deliverance?

Posted on March 24, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus,who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”—2 Timothy 1: 9-10 (NIV).

Listening as a church member shared her story of loss, I was filled with compassion and a hope that comes from knowing Jesus. Mary, who gave birth to two children, has lost both of them.  Her daughter and her son were born premature. Her daughter, however, only survived eight weeks. Her son was 32-years-old when undetected heart problems claimed his life.

While many parents, including myself, can only imagine the pain of losing a child, Mary has experienced the loss of two, her only children. Although a day doesn’t pass without her recalling the wonderful times she shared with her son, she is using his death to reach out to others who have also lost a child.

Mary misses her children, but she knows the purpose to which God has called her. To share her story and help bring healing to others, including her only grandson, who will never know his father, Mary’s mission in life was born out of tragedy. Mary, however, also sees it as an opportunity to share Christ with others. She shares how her adult son received Christ as well as new joy and purpose in life. She shares photos of her grandson and talks about his mother, who has done a wonderful job of raising him, she adds.

Another Mary lost a child, a grown son, a man who came to deliver us from sin. His Holy birth, His simple life, His ministry, His Crucifixion, were all part of God’s plan. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

On Palm Sunday, as Jesus fulfilled the prophecy revealed in Zechariah 9:9, He came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. “See, your king comes to you,righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Jesus didn’t ride into town on a mighty steed. Instead, the Savior of the world arrived on a lowly donkey, an unbroken colt. Riding a donkey into Jerusalem during the Passover period might have appeared insignificant to those who were waving palm branches that day.

I like this John 12:13 translation, found in the “Complete Jewish Bible.” “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Deliver us! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai, the King of Isra’el!’”

“Deliver us?” They were looking for a King, a flesh and blood man to sit on the throne of Israel. Instead, God sent our Redeemer so that we might be delivered from sin.

Have you accepted His deliverance?

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We’re All God’s People

Posted on March 17, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.Practice hospitality. … be willing to associate with people of low position” Romans 12:13,16 (NIV).

 A recent morning devotion brought conviction as I read the words written by a Pennsylvania prisoner. Written from the viewpoint of a convicted felon, his words reminded me we are all God’s people.

In an orange jump suit, shackled and handcuffed, and accompanied by two armed guards, the prisoner was sitting in a cardiologist’s waiting room because he had recently experienced a heart attack. His appearance, he said, “didn’t exactly help me to fit in.”

Feeling shunned, he was surprised when an elderly woman entered the room, smiled at him and said, “God bless. I hope you’re doing well.” He responded, “I’m fine.”

As his anxious feelings were replaced with calm, the prisoner added a “Thank you.”

Returning to the prison later, he reflected on the fact that one person had looked beyond the outward signs of who many thought he was—a second-class citizen—and saw a person, one of God’s people, even though he was estranged from the human family.

Why did this particular devotion make me uncomfortable? Because I have hesitated to reach out to others in the past when faced with a similar situation. I have been guilty of avoiding those who made me feel ill at ease, even ducking around a grocery aisle to keep from running into them. My excuse? I’m too busy to visit today.

What if Jesus had not practiced what He preached? Would His witness to the world have been as powerful? However, it was Jesus’ heart that led Him to rub elbows with the misfits of society—the crippled, the poor, the adulterers, the lepers, the tax collectors. They were outcasts.

Jesus faced ridicule for His choices. “But the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law found fault. ‘This man always welcomes outcasts, and takes meals with them!’ they complained (Luke 15:2).

Several ministries at our church reach out to the lost and to those less fortunate. Through our Good Sam ministry, providing groceries, financial aid and prayer, we are able to show kindness and consideration for others. We are able to help those whom many consider society’s outcasts.

Another ministry that reaches out to those in need is our Thursday night Bridge Service, an informal gathering, offering a free meal, a short sermon and fellowship through song and prayer. While visiting with a friend who frequently delivers the message at this service, he admitted his struggles to deliver a sermon that would affect lives. Finally, he said, he felt led to preach on love. Using John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,” my friend focused on God’s love for each of us, even those who are not accepted in society.

As Christians, we need to show hospitality to all of God’s children. Regardless of skin color, background or present circumstances, He died on the cross for you and for me.

 Need a speaker for your event? Contact the author at carolaround@yahoo.com.

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When Jesus Claims Your Heart

Posted on February 25, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” Galatians 2:20(NIV).

While having lunch at a Chinese restaurant recently, I cracked open my fortune cookie and read the following: “The greatest gift is love.”

Immediately, 1 Corinthians 13 came to mind. Aptly called the “love” chapter because it gives us a beautiful description of what Godly love is like, the passage is part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.

In this well-known chapter, Paul addresses the Corinthians, some of whom were seeking spiritual gifts to gain superior status. He reminds the church at Corinth that no matter which gift we have, if we are lacking in love, then in God’s sight we are nothing. Paul adds that without love, the gift is tarnished and ineffectual in God’s eyes.

Although she could not see or hear, Helen Keller learned about God from her teacher, Anne Sullivan. How do you tell someone about the Creator when they have never seen His creation? Taking Helen’s hand, Anne placed it on her own throat and repeated the word, “God,” until Helen understood. When she did, Helen said, “I always knew He was there, but I didn’t know His name!”

Later, Helen began corresponding with Reverend Phillips Brooks. In one of her letters, Helen wrote to the Rev. Brooks, saying, “I have always known about God, even before I had any words. Even before I could call God anything, I knew He was there. I didn’t know what it was.”

Helen had no name for God, because she did not have a name for anything or anyone. However, in her darkness and isolation, she knew she was not alone. Someone was with her. She felt God’s love. When Helen received the gift of language and heard about God, she said she already knew.

Thrilled by Helen’s letter, Rev. Brooks said, “This was the God I knew, the God who would come to a lonely child, a frustrated and lonely little girl, and find a way to speak love to her without a word.”

While research varies, some say that in an average day, we speak enough words to fill a book of 50-60 pages. If that’s true, then in an average year, our words could fill at least 100 books of 200 pages each. Is it a good thing to say so much?

In Luke 6:45, Jesus says, “What you say flows from what is in your heart.” What comes out of our mouths is what is in our hearts.

Before Jesus claimed my heart, I was not an effective witness for His glory. Words have the power to hurt or heal, and often, my words did not bring healing. However, “the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Have you allowed Jesus to claim your heart?

If Jesus has claimed your heart, would you please share your message with others, including me?

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Enter Your Password Please

Posted on February 18, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well” 1 John 5:1 (NIV).

My frustration level was high recently when I tried to pay an online bill. I knew I was typing in the correct log-in information, including the password, because I had purchased an Internet Password Logbook several months ago to corral all of my sensitive data in one place. Designed like an old-fashioned address book with tabs, the black book is perfect for keeping track of the websites I use that require a user name and password to access accounts.

I write my passwords in pencil because I change them frequently to protect myself from hackers who like to get their hands on people’s secrets. Keeping my passwords handy makes things easier, even as life has become more complicated and overwhelming at times. As I was trying to log-on to this particular account, I checked and rechecked my password to determine if I had it right. I did. Finally, I had to seek help at the site through chatting online with an agent.

Multiple log-on tries and 20 minutes later, I was able to access my account and pay my bill, but only after I had earned several more grey hairs. I’ll have to schedule another hair color appointment soon anyway.

In our high-tech society, life has certainly become more complicated. I could pay my bills the old-fashioned way with an envelope and a postage stamp. However, the irony strikes me because even though technology can make our lives more complex, it does simplify some things—like bill paying. I don’t have to worry about purchasing stamps very often, nor do I have to make a trip across town to the post office, where I have to stand in line as long as 20 minutes sometimes. I do have to admit, however, that standing in line at the post office has taught me patience.

Even less complicated is our communication with God. We only have to remember one password, Jesus, and it never changes. Through Jesus, we can have a personal intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Isn’t it nice to know that when we are hurting, frustrated, lost, angry or overwhelmed, we have a God of mercy who understands our every need. We must remember, as followers of Christ, just how vital it is to maintain our relationship with Him. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Growing in intimacy with God requires us to be intentional, spending time with Him because it’s the most important conversation of our day. He cares. He listens. He responds.

Do you give God the first part part of your day? Just like giving the first fruits of your money to Him, why not give Him the first fruits of your day?

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Your Love Letter to God

Posted on February 11, 2013 by 4Seasons2013

“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” Matthew 22:37 (NIV).

 Can you recall the last time you received a handwritten personal letter in your mailbox? I can’t.

Over lunch recently, a friend and I were discussing the lost art of letter writing. My friend commented on a box of letters written by her mother over the years. While the letters were not filled with anything important, they were a chronicle of what was going on in her parents’ lives at the time. “My mother wrote things that were not earth-shattering but a sharing of their lives,” she says. “When I go back and reread them occasionally, the words bring back such wonderful memories.”

Like me, my friend misses going to the mailbox to retrieve something besides a bill or junk mail, and maybe an occasional card. While some might complain about the price of a postage stamp, I think the cost is minimal compared to the thrill of someone taking the time to pen their thoughts on paper, place it an envelope and drop it in the mail. Although first class letters recently increased by a penny to 46 cents, I still think it’s a bargain.

In an age of cell phones, text messaging and e-mails, the longtime practice of writing letters to family and friends is becoming a thing of the past. Then, along came Twitter and those who tweet learned to express themselves in 140 characters—not words—or less.

Before the age of social media, people wrote genuine letters to their loved ones. Think of the history contained on the inked pages that document someone’s life. What of the letters written home to loved ones from the battlefields of war? I am sure the recipients treasured them, especially if their soldier never returned home.

When teaching high school, I would often receive a note, letter or card from one of my students or a fellow teacher. Although I have been retired from education since 2005, I still have those handwritten missives in a yellow file folder.

Deuteronomy 6:5-6 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heartand with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.”

Do you really love God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength? If you do, do you spend quality time with Him each day? When we love someone, we seek to spend time with that person as much as possible.

I begin each day reading the Bible and writing a love letter to God in my prayer journal. Since I started journaling 11 years ago, my intimacy with the Lord has grown. I now address Him in my journal as “Dear Abba Father.”

I challenge you to put God first in your life. Spend time with Him each morning. Write a personal love letter to your Heavenly Father. He loves to hear from His children.

Do you spend time with Your Heavenly Father each morning? Have you tried prayer journaling? If so, please feel free to share your experiences with me in the comment section below.
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