Where Are YOU Looking?

Before we bought out last refrigerator, we were in Sears one day checking out what selections they had to offer.  As my husband and I walked through the appliance section of the store, I noticed a little girl running from one refrigerator to another.  She was probably only three or four years old and cute as a button.  At each fridge she would grab the handle, give it a hard tug, open the door and peer in, then slam the door and go to the next fridge in line and do the same thing.  After she did this a few times I heard the little girl’s mother ask her why she was doing that.  The child looked at her mommy so seriously and said, “I’m hungry! I’m looking for something to eat!”  I could not help but laugh!  I’m sure she must have been used to going to a well-stocked refrigerator in her home to get snacks and just assumed that ALL fridges had food in them. 

As grownups, we would never try to find a snack in the refrigerators on the show room floor in Sears!  We know better.  But I wonder how many times we look for soul nourishment in places where none exists?  The world tells us that we will be satisfied (full) if we get the right education, the best job, the perfect mate, the most money, the desired body weight/image, etc.  All of those things can be good.  All of those things can add to our lives. But none of those things, in and of themselves, can nourish our souls.  That can only come from a relationship with Jesus Christ.   John 6:35 says this:  “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

There are multitudes of hungry people in the world. Contrary to the opinions of some, spiritual hunger is more important to be fed than physical hunger.  Jesus said in Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” But until we are ‘’alive’’ in Christ though salvation through faith we cannot receive spiritual food.  After salvation spending time with Jesus through Bible study and prayer then gives nourishment to our new life in Him.

Spiritual hunger is just as real as physical hunger and just as important to be fed. But we mustn’t focus only on spiritual hunger when someone is physically hungry also!  It is our duty as Christians to help the poor and the hungry.  Jesus said that when we do this for “the least of these’’, (Matthew 25:37-40) it’s just like we are doing it for Him.

Let’s just make sure that we are looking for healthy and wholesome foods….both physical and spiritual…in the right places!  Not in empty refrigerators or empty promises of this world!

May God bless you!

Marilyn 

My Three Mothers and Their Influence in My Life

Please join me today as I share some sweet memories of three of the most special ladies ever in my life over at Women Walking With Jesus.

Click HERE to read my post called 'My Three Mothers".

Hope you had a Happy Mother's Day yesterday either as a mother, or with/remembering your mother, or both.

May God bless you!

Marilyn

Arrogance, Plain and Simple!

Please join me today over at Lisa Shaw's blog for my article in Women Walking with Jesus.

Here's an excerpt:

Mondays are not usually good days for me.  Sometimes I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck! Today was no different. I was hoping to take it easy after fixing our usual “Monday lunch”….beans, rice and cornbread. Then I remembered that the dog needed to be fed. Clothes needed to be washed and dried. And I didn’t need to forget…again… to read my Bible either! I planned to eat an early lunch with my husband and then be ready to walk out the door at twelve sharp so I could carry a friend to her yearly visit to the eye doctor at one o’clock. Whew!

At twelve noon I walked out the door.  Right on time. When we arrived at the doctor’s office, I went in to make sure everything was on schedule before leaving to run some errands of my own.  As I sat in a padded, blue chair in the waiting room, I saw a young couple with a beautiful black haired little girl come in.  She looked to be in first or second grade and sounded very intelligent. I overheard her say to her mother, “Are you sure this is a children’s clinic, too?  It looks like it is just an adult clinic.”   I smiled because she sounded so grown up and serious. In a few minutes my friend was signed in and I left to do my errands.

After an hour’s shopping, I was ready to go back and see if my friend was done.  I went in the waiting room but she was not there. After looking through stacks of magazines, I found one I thought I would enjoy and sat down to read.  I did not have time to open the magazine before the daddy of the little black haired girl that I previously mentioned opened the door, walked in and promptly plopped himself down in the chair right beside me!  

(Click HERE to finish reading and see what happened!)

Thanks for joining me here today!

May God bless you my friends!

Marilyn

Please God, HELP ME!!!

One of my favorite things to do in my "old age" is to rummage through flea markets and thrift stores with my husband.  Several weeks ago while doing just this, I began to look at each book in the section marked "Christian books".  I always do this and sometimes find wonderful books at a great price.  That day I came across a pretty pink hardback Prayer Journal.  It was obvious from the cover that it was marketed for young girls.  With my young granddaughter in mind, I started leafing through the journal. On the left page there would be a little devotional.  The right page would begin a suggested prayer thought concerning the devotion on the previous page and then there were several blank lines so that your own individual prayer could be written in the journal. It was very nice and looked like it had never been used.  But then as I continued to glance through the journal I found that one….and only one….page had been written on.

I didn't buy the journal since it had been used but that one and only entry touched my heart.  I took out my phone and took a picture of it.  Not having the journal in hand, I can't remember what the devotional was about but the suggested prayer started like this  -- "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm so mixed up. Some people tell me one thing, and others tell me just the opposite.  I want to do the right thing. I sure need your help. Here is what I'm trying to figure out:" On the blank lines following that, a young girl had written her prayer in bold print with some misspellings so I want to think she was most likely between the ages of eight and ten years.  Here is exactly what she said and how she wrote it:

"Sometimes I don't know wheather to play with Lyida or Lauren. And sometimes I don't know to belive in me or my friends, please,God HELP ME!!!"

My heart just melted as I read this melancholy prayer written by some unknown (to me) little girl.   More than once I have thought about her and said a prayer for her.  I even wondered if perhaps I was the only other person who had read this journal entry besides the child who had penned it.  But I know that I am not!  I know that God saw it and even now continues to see it.  I truly believe that He did help this child who cried out to Him in her time of need.

How many times have I …even as an adult…felt the same way this little girl did? Not really knowing who to believe or who to turn to and crying out, "Please, God HELP ME!!!"  And so many times God puts His arms around me and whispers to my soul, "Believe ME!  Turn to ME!"  That's always the right answer! And He's always ready to help us when we call on Him.

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  Hebrews 4:16  (KJV)

May God bless you!

Marilyn

Why Does It Amaze Me?

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Matthew 7:7

I had the most fascinating answer to prayer last night that I could hardly wait to share today! A few days ago I had put on my status that I was looking for a copy of a little booklet that I had made years ago while teaching a Bible study on Esther.  It was compiled of quotes from many of my friends…including some of you reading this!…telling what they felt is the toughest thing about being a woman. I'm planning to teach Esther again soon and wanted to make more copies of the booklet.  Normally I keep things like that in some kind of a file…either saved onto a CD or in a folder in a filing cabinet. No one replied that they still had a copy.  I had looked high and low for three straight days--and I mean that literally!  I looked in storage under the bed, from the top of my bookcase to the bottom, and checked every CD that was labeled with any kind of Sunday school material.  Nothing!

So yesterday I just gave up and said to God, "OK. I can not find it! If you want me to have this booklet You'll have to just drop it in my lap!" And then I stopped looking.

Last night just before bedtime I checked my email. Almost every day I have to delete spam emails that ''say'' they are comments on one of my blogposts (I have to approve all comments before they will post) but in reality they are usually just disguised advertisements.  I can usually tell at a glance if it's spam or a real person just posting anonymously by the title of the blogpost listed. If it's a recent post, then it might be legitimate. If it's the title of some post years ago, then almost always it's spam.  The one last night had a post title that I almost didn't recognize. It said "Our Red Book". And then I caught my breath!  That's what the name of the little booklet I had been searching for all this week was named and I had forgotten that after all these years! Could it be, could it possibly be, that I had written a blogpost that included exactly what I needed?

The email was entirely in some kind of language that doesn't use our print…probably Chinese. Of course I could not read a word of it. So I knew without a doubt it was spam. Heavenly spam ''dropped into my lap'' from heaven!  I clicked on the link to Our Red Book and sure enough, there it was!  All printed out in black and white. God made it so easy for me! Now all I have to do is copy and paste instead of having to re-type all of it. I began thanking and praising the Lord for answering my prayer and for spoiling me like He does. I know I went to sleep last night smiling! And I'm still smiling today!

God bless you,

Marilyn

He's Crazy About Her!

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of having all our children and grandchildren over for a meal around our huge old oak pedestal table.  After we'd all had our fill of the food, my husband, daughter, and myself were still sitting at the table while our five-year-old grandson finished up his dinner.  Suddenly he had the cutest look on his face!  He covered his mouth while he grinned and hunched up his little shoulders.  When we asked what had happened he replied that he had a secret and would tell us when he finished eating.

In a few minutes he cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered, "Are you ready for the secret?" Oh yeah!  We sure were!  I was very curious.  He smiled the biggest smile and then said, "Uncle David kissed Aunt Amber on the lips!!" (that's our youngest son and his wife)  Just for effect all us grown-ups gasped and said, "Really?"  It made our grandson feel so important to be able to tell us this secret of his!

Overhearing that conversation, our eight-year-old granddaughter piped up and said, "Awwww….that's because he's crazy about her!"  Everyone had a good laugh over that!  I knew where she got that saying because ever since the grandkids were really small, my husband has always told them that he's "crazy about Granmama!"

Later after everyone had left and I was thinking back through the events of the day, I thought about how God is absolutely crazy about each one of His children! Sometimes I feel lonely and far away from God.  Not because He's gone anywhere but because I have become cold and indifferent to Him. It made me absolutely smile from ear to ear thinking about how crazy God is about me even though I sure don't deserve it !!  And He's crazy about you! And it's no secret either!  He tells us over and over in His book of love letters to us. 

Ephesians 2:3-5  "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"

So don't forget…..He's crazy about you!

Marilyn

Blowing of the Wind

What does the title "Blowing of the Wind" bring to your mind?  Flying kites? Chasing leaves? Or hunkering down while a tornado or hurricane passes over?  Please join me over at Lisa Shaw's blog called  Women Walking with Jesus and see what I wrote about the winds in our lives today.

May God bless you!

Marilyn