He Is Not Here: For He Is Risen!

I'm getting a late start but am participating in "Tuesday's Treasures" over at Mari Larkin's blog today! It's a place for "Ganmamas" to come on Tuesdays to brag on their grandbabies! As I have spent the biggest part of the day with mine I'm ready to share!

Today was the perfect temperature for playing outside in the bright and beautiful sunshine! Granddaddy tried to fly a kite for them but the wind just would not cooperate! Ganmamma....that's me!....made bubbles with a bubble wand from Walmart for them to chase around the back yard. Granddaddy pulled them in the red wagon. Then they decided that the sand was THE thing for today!

Last week our little granddaughter asked us: "Where is God?" A little surprised at her question I replied, "He's in Heaven and here with us and everywhere! Why do you ask?" "Well," she said, "we sing a song at church that says, 'He is not here....He's alive!" It hit me immediately that she had been singing an Easter song without knowing the meaning. I explained to her that after Jesus had died and been buried some of his friends went to visit His grave and that when they got there an angel told them He had risen from the dead. "He is not here: for He is risen!" Matthew 28: 6 I was so glad she asked her Ganmamma that question so she could know that He is indeed here with us! :)

Happy Easter week to everyone!

Marilyn

My Father's House

There's a For Sale sign in the yard of my father's house now. Makes me sad somehow to know that it's empty and that it may belong to strangers before long. Daddy and Mama bought that house when I was six years old and that was "home" to me until I married when I was almost twenty. So many memories there. Many good. Many sad. A few bad. Could not resist the impulse to stop by for a few minutes today with my camera and take a few more pictures just for old time's sake.

I sat for a little bit on the front porch and thought of all the times I came and sat there as a child. I watched as a brand new church building was built not far from us in what had been a cow pasture. I watched as a new subdivision was built and streets were paved. As a teenager I would sometimes sit on the front porch on summer evenings with my friends from next door. We would talk and laugh and tell secrets until our mothers called us in for bedtime.

I walked through the carport and looked at the plaques hanging by the side door. One said ,"Welcome". And it was telling the truth! Everyone was always welcome at this house! The other said, "Leave a note." There's no telling how many notes have been left there over the years! When Daddy came home from somewhere, that's the first thing he did before going in the door....check to see if someone had come by and left a note while he was gone!

As I continued my pilgrimage around the house I saw a "Yellow Bell" bush all bloomed out. Signs of new life. AlthoughDaddy's house is technically not anybody's dwelling place right now, life does go on. Spring proves that every year!

Then I got to talking to the Lord and telling Him how thankful I was that my Mama, Daddy , and stepmom are all in heaven with Him. How the old empty house made me sad but that I was so happy that they had a better place to go! I thought of the verses in John 14 where Jesus says that he is preparing a place for every Christian in heaven. "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14: 2-3)

I enjoyed the times I spent growing up in and then later visiting in my earthly father's house. I miss him being there. But I know that I will so much more enjoy the eternity that I will spend with him and all my other saved family members in my (heavenly) Father's House one day. You can live there too! There's only one requirement: you have to be a member of God's family. The way to do that is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and become a child of God. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3: 16)

I hope to see you there!

Marilyn
**************************

this post will also be running on Wednesday at http://kjvblogs.blogspot.com/

Hot or Lukewarm. Which Do You Prefer?

The first thing that I want when I get out of bed most mornings is a cup of hot coffee! One morning several weeks ago I fixed my coffee for breakfast as I usually do. When the coffee was made I got a cup from the cabinet, put my creamer in it and poured in the hot coffee. Not! I poured in the LUKEWARM coffee! Ewww! I absolutely hate lukewarm coffee! I realized that my coffee pot had bit the dust ,so to speak, and would have to be replaced.

If you love coffee you will understand that I immediately started thinking about buying a new coffee maker! Then I remembered that we had some "Bonus Points" on our credit card that I needed to redeem before a certain time limit. I got online and looked at the prize catalog and found a very nice 12-cup DeLonghi coffee maker that I decided to order. Wouldn't you know that they were temporarily out of stock and had to back order it?? But guess what the mail carrier delivered right to my door a couple of hours ago? You guessed it! My new coffee maker.

I followed the directions and put two carafe's of water through the brew cycle before making my first batch of coffee. I decided to make it a celebration and make some of my favorite...Millstone's Caramel Truffle. Ahhhh. It smelled SO good brewing! The new coffee maker even has a cup warmer on top of it. I'm now enjoying my first cup of HOT coffee I've had (here at home) in over a month! HOT...as it should be and not lukewarm! Delicious!

I'm reminded of the Scripture in Revelation 3: 16 that says "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." The ladies in our Tuesday morning Bible study group have been discussing how we want to be unafraid to stand up and be counted for God in these perilous days we live in. I think what we mean is that we want to be "on fire" for the Lord! We want to be fiery hot and not lukewarm or cold Christians.

I've been sipping on this cup of coffee ever since I started writing this and it's still plenty warm. So, I'm satisfied with the new coffee maker. Is God satisfied with the temperature of my spiritual life though? I hope so!

Marilyn

They Got What They Wanted, But They Lost What They Had

Do you ever think much about what it must have been like in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve? Roses without thorns. No weeds growing anywhere. Lions and tigers that could be petted like your kitten. No awful stinging red wasps. No pain in their joints when they woke up in the mornings. No gray hair or wrinkles. Beautiful, lush vegetation growing in perfect landscaping. Just absolute perfectness twenty-four hours a day! My but they must have loved living there!

Only ONE restriction did God put on them: Genesis 2: 16-17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." God had already said earlier in chapter 2 verse 9 that every tree that was in the garden was either "pleasant to the sight" or "good for food". It was literally paradise on earth!

But ...God gave them a choice of whether they would choose His way or their own way. He wanted to have His creation love Him of their own free will and not just be little robots He could wind up and play with. We all know what is recorded in Genesis 3....Satan in the form of a serpent tempted Eve, Eve tempted Adam and they both chose to listen to Satan instead of God. Then verse 7 says: "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked:" They immediately felt the change. Immediately they knew they had done wrong. They had gotten to taste of that one fruit God had forbidden them to eat....but now they could no longer stay in the perfect garden and even look at the beautiful things anymore. They got what they wanted, but they lost what they had! Now they would have to deal with thorns, thistles, pain, sickness, and even death. "So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Genesis 3: 24 Never would they see the Garden of Eden again.

Do you think we learned our lesson from reading about Adam and Eve? No! We are just like them. God shows us the best He has for us. He shows us what is bad for us. Then He leaves the choice to us. He still doesn't want little robots.....He desires real live flesh and blood children who choose to love Him and live for Him. But we are still prone to listen to the lies of Satan and choose the things that are bad for us. Lord, help us to listen to You and Your Truth!

There are so many "forbidden fruits" that Satan still holds out to us today! With most of them we face the possibility of losing the good things we already have if we give in to temptations. Many a person has lost his/her family because they were unfaithful to their spouse. Some have lost their homes or businesses because they wanted to see what all the excitement was about gambling and it just went too far. The person who wanted someone dead so badly that they just killed them now sits in a jail cell for the rest of their life. Re-hab centers are full of people who wanted to just "try" alcohol or drugs and found that they were one of the ones who became an addict. Yes, they got what they wanted....but they lost what they had! I could go on and on. We just have to be on guard. We have to get as close to God as we possibly can so that our everyday choices will not become regrets!

May God help us all to make right choices today!

Marilyn

(This post is also running today @ http://kjvblogs.blogspot.com/2010/03/wednesday-in-word-they-got-what-they.html )

Sense About Scents

I love to smell certain scents....roses blooming, fresh bread baking, coffee perking, leaves burning...I could go on and on. But I don't like to smell certain perfumes...even expensive ones...in excess!

There have been so many times that I have been in a crowded place somewhere and inevitably someone....man or woman....would be nearby drenched in scent and I would have a headache before the event even started. Or have you ever gone to pick up another lady to go shopping or wherever and when she got in the car you knew you were in trouble because you would have to endure the scent she loved so much that she used much more than necessary? Ahhhhhwwwww! Almost gives me a headache to think about it!

When I was a teenager my favorite perfume was called "Tigress". It came in a little bottle with a tiger-striped top. I'm sure that tells my age! I don't know if they even still make this perfume or not. I loved the smell. But a little dab would do me. After a while though it started giving me headaches so I pretty much gave up wearing perfume of any sort.

I wish that people who are able and love to wear scents would just use some sense about it! Use just enough to smell pretty but not enough to make people sick!

That's the way I want to be in my Christian life, too. I want to have the aroma of Jesus in my life. Remember Mary in Mark 14: 3..."having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on His (Jesus) head." When she broke the alabaster box of perfume, I'm sure the whole room smelled of it. Maybe it was over-powering even! But that was because she had given the best she had to Jesus. You can't over-power Jesus with your scent of love and praise!

Sometimes though when we go out into the world, we have to use sense about our spiritual scent! We need to have enough of the scent of Jesus on us that the world would desire Him. I actually don't think we can have too much of the real scent of Jesus on us. The trouble comes when we have a cheap imitation of His scent.

There's a trap that even the best of Christians can fall into. Sometimes we can become proud. Maybe we have put aside some worldly things. Maybe we have sacrificed many things to be of service to God. We have to be careful then to not get puffed up and proud....and critical of others! In times like this it's so easy to boast of what "we've" done for God and at the same time point out to others what "they're" doing wrong! We fall into Satan's snares and instead of being a fragrance that attracts people to God we are surrounded by a fog of strong scent of "me,me,me" that makes people sick! We must beware that God doesn't have to say to us what he said to Peter in Matthew 16: 23..."Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." He was saying..."You don't smell like God anymore....you smell like the world!"

Oh, Lord....let me have some sense about the scents that others smell when they're around me! Please let it be only You that they smell and not the offensive stink of the world! Amen!

Marilyn

"Top 100 for 2009 at Internet Cafe Devotions"

Wanted to share a very unexpected blessing with you today! Totally blown away to find an email in my inbox this morning telling me my blog is in the "Top 100 for 2009" at Internet Cafe Devotions! Awesome.

Check out their website at http://internetcafedevotions.com/features/top-100-2009/ . You'll find my blog listed under the "My Cup of Tea Blog" catagory. To God be the glory!

Please pray that God will continue to use my blog as an avenue of lifting Him up! I so much want to do that!

There were eight of my special blogger friends that were also named in the Top 100 this year. I hope that you will go and visit their blogs also for I know you will get a blessing there. I always do!

1. Joy from "Pondering in His Presence"

2. Lisa from "Sharing Life With Lisa"

3. Alene from "Positively Alene"

4. Yolanda from "Higher Grounds"

5. Nicki from "Three Girly Girlz"

6. Leah from "The Point"

7. Melanie from "Big Mama"

8. Lysa from "Lysa TerKeurst"

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting with me today! It's always good to have company! :)

Marilyn

Leftovers From the Leftovers!

Leftovers. Some people love them. Some people won't touch them! I'm of the former frame of mind. My thinking is, if it's already cooked, and it hasn't been in the fridge over three days, then I don't have to start from scratch for dinner! :)

Today as I started thinking about what to fix for lunch I took a look in the fridge to see what we already had. Several covered dishes let me know that today would be a good day to finish off the leftovers. Hmmm. Leftovers from a fish supper last night. Hushpuppies. French fries. The wheels started turning in my head. I had found a bag of cooked yellow squash in the freezer a few days ago labeled, "2-cups squash. For squash dressing" and had been thinking about fixing that soon. A light came on in my mind. What if I used the leftover hushpuppies and used them instead of cornbread in the Squash Dressing recipe? Sounded good to me so I got the squash out and defrosted it in the microwave while the oven was pre-heating.

As I was putting the ingredients together for the dressing I noticed the handful of french fries (large, home-cut slices) from last night. Hmmm. How would it be to chop them up really small and include them in the casserole? Looking good! I got it all mixed together and in the oven and the smell....oh, the smell that started filling the kitchen! Ummmmm!

Wondering what we could have to go with the squash dish I looked in the fridge again. Creamed potatoes, deer steak and gravy from day before yesterday. Oh yeah! I put the potatoes in a shallow dish and poured the steak and gravy over the top of them. Then put it in the oven with the dressing so it could get nice and hot.

One more look in the fridge should finish my dinner plans.....and the leftovers! Yes! Enough nice crisp lettuce already cut up for a salad for me and hubby. Just needed to peel a couple of tomatoes and chop them. Add the rest of left over English peas. Toss. Everything looking good! Smellin' good, too!

Dinner turned out great. But you know.....now I have leftovers from the leftovers!! ha ha We could not eat all the squash dressing but I bet we'll finish it off for supper.

Talking about leftovers reminded me of the story of Jesus taking the little boy's fish and bread and feeding the five thousand in John 6: 9-13. The people had been listening to Jesus teaching and preaching and were hungry. The disciples wanted to send them back into the villages for food. But Jesus said, "No, give them something to eat." The disciples looked around, saw a little boy with a sack lunch...which conceivably might have been left over from an earlier meal...and said to Jesus, "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?" Indeed....what WERE they among thousands of hungry men, women and children? Not much but the disciples were leaving out one very important factor in the equation. Jesus was there! He took the little boys lunch, blessed it, broke it and had the disciples pass it out. Then when the people were FILLED (v.12) Jesus said, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." What he was saying was, "Boys, go gather up the leftovers! We don't want to waste food!"

Verse 13 shows what can happen when Jesus is in the picture. They gathered up twelve baskets full of leftovers. Should I repeat that? Twelve BASKETS FULL of leftovers! What a miracle. There were most likely many people saved that day after seeing that miracle.

Have you ever felt like you were like leftovers? That you had somehow lost some of your usefulness? That maybe you were going to be rejected or unwanted? I have. But with Jesus in the picture in our lives, we don't have to feel that way! He can take our little feeble talents, treasures, temperaments, thoughts, or testimonies and transform them into something huge! He can make our "leftovers" very much desirable and usable for His glory.

Bring your five loaves and two fishes to Him today and let Him do miraculous things in your life!

Leftovers! Ummmmm. Yummy!

Marilyn