Thankful For Thorns

I received an email from my mother in law this morning called simply, "Thorns."  It was a forwarded email, there was no author, no signature and it is not one I have seen before.  It has a lot of meaning, but have the Kleenex close by.  I'm posting it for whoever.... Read the words carefully...

THORNS


Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss.



Troubles had multiplied.



Her husband's company "threatened" to transfer his job to a new location. Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's friend suggested that Sandra's grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered. "For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended me? For an airbag that saved my life, but took my child's?"



"Good afternoon, can I help you?"



Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk. "I . . . I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.



"For Thanksgiving? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories, " she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"



"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."



Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."



Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer...



"Hi, Barbara, let me get your order." She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly s nipped: there were no flowers.



"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk.. Sandra watched - was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.



"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said, as she gently tapped her chest.



Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with . . . uh . . . she left with no flowers!"



"That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery. That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel."



"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.



"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and I never questioned Him why those good things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, 'Why? Why me?!' It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."



Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about what her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."



Just then someone else walked in the shop.



"Hey, Phil!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man.



"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.



"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"



"Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced," Phil replied. "After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem, the Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems.. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us."



As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"



"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life" Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too . . fresh."



"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love....Don't resent the thorns."



Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.



"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."



"Thank you. What do I owe you?"



"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart...The first year's arrangement is always on me."



The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."



It read: "My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."



Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.



God Bless all of you. Be thankful for all that the Lord does for you.



"Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to God."



We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and Duct tape.



God did it with nails.

Things I know For Sure

There are some things I know for certain and they are the following:

I know that the Bible is God's Word and it doesn't contradict itself and all of it is important, not just what we choose to believe and follow.

I know that Jesus was the Word made man, and that it is a living word.

I know that Jesus died for my sins and rose again and that He sits at the right hand of God.

I know that God answers our prayers in His time, not ours, and by His will not ours. 

I know that God never leaves our side.  So if you are a child of God and doing things you shouldn't do, God is there with you watching, and you should feel guilty and convicted of your sins. 

I also know that God forgives us, even when we are a Child of God and do things we shouldn't, but you need to get on your knees and ask for that forgiveness. 

I know that God puts people in our path at the right time and when we need them the most. 

I know that without a doubt, God brought my husband, Norman and I together, otherwise we would never have met. 

I know that God has a plan for us.

I know that God will take care of us, no matter what.

I know that God loves me more than I will ever be able to understand. 

I know that that my place in heaven is secure and that one day I will see everyone that I love, and that has died, again. 

I know that He sees what is in my heart, and He knows what I need and want. 

I know that if He comes back for me tomorrow, that I am ready.  Are you?

John 3:16 (King James Version)


16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Psalms 51:1-19 One of my readings from this week

I don't remember if it was Saturday that I read this or Monday morning.  But for some reason this one struck deep in my heart.  The sermon on Sunday by Bro. Robert seemed to go along with it.  Bro. Robert talked about the joy we have the day we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and how some of us have lost that.  We should all have a burning in our hearts, if we are children of God.   This is the Amplified Bible Translation.  May it Bless You and May you seek God's wisdom and guidance in your life.  Love, L
1HAVE MERCY upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions.


2Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin!

3For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me.

4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment.(A)

5Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].(B)

6Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow.

8Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.

10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

11Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted and return to You.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness and death, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness (Your rightness and Your justice).

15O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

16For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering.(C)

17My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

18Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

19Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, justice, and right, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then bullocks will be offered upon Your altar.


Cross Reference
A.Psalm 51:4 : Rom 3:4


B.Psalm 51:5 : John 3:6; Rom 5:12; Eph 2:3

C.Psalm 51:16 : I Sam 15:22

Is God First?

As I sat this morning reading my bible and praying and talking with God, this question came into my mind, "Am I putting God first in all of my life?"  As I prayed I asked for guidance and wisdom and the strength to live each day, one day at a time.  I do that every time I pray because I am human, and  I worry about things that I shouldn't.  We as Christians should have faith in God to take care of us, and trust Him to take care of our needs, and not worry or rely solely on ourselves to handle our problems.  We are instruct to give our burdens to Jesus, to live them at the cross and to follow Him.  I try to do that every day, and it is hard.  We want to fix things ourselves and honestly we as humans are not capable. 

We forget that God is always with us, during the bad and during the good.  So why is it we only pray the hardest when things are bad?  Because when things are good we think we are doing that and therefore we don't think we need Jesus. 

That is incorrect of course.  We need Jesus all the time and when things are going right, that means He is there handling things, because let's face it, when we try to take care of things on our own, we mess them up and most of the time cause more issues.  When things are right we should be thanking Him above all else and praising Him for what He is doing.  It is from the wisdom and knowledge that Jesus gives us that we do what is right.  Is is an easy life to trust fully in Jesus?  To have faith that He will answer our needs?  No it is not easy and when we do start to rely solely on Him, Satan is going to make our lives harder and throw obstacles upon obstacles in our way. 

Don't give up.  For He that is within us is more powerful than he that is in the World.  I read that verse in the bible this morning, but don't ask me where.  I read about six chapters this morning and I realized a lot when I was reading.  What might you ask?

1) I am not good at reading my bible daily.  Actually I suck at it.  So as of today, that is a new priority.
2) I do pray almost every day, but lately have been lax.  So as of today, that too is a priority.
3) Do I put God first?  Well I try to most of the time.  But what I realized today, is that I have been praying for Him to help me to use my writing to make an income, but I am not doing my part.  So as of today, until I get my website to where I want it to be, and my writing income where I want it to be, no more playing on Face book. 
4) I know the two great commandments, but do I obey them all the time.  I guess the honest answer to that would be no.  Although I am going through recovery for a lot of things, alcohol being the least of those, I still have issues.  I do hold grudges, and I have been judgemental and those are things I struggle with constantly.
So as of today, I am going to try to be totally honest with myself and I am going to strive to be a better Christian and obey the two great commandments.  Will I succeed?  Only time will tell and as I grow in my walk with Jesus, I hope to succeed without stumbling.  However, I do know that when I do stumble, I can go to God, and He will pick me up, wipe the dirt from my knees and love me anyway.  He will never forsake me or leave me.

I hope that some how in my blog post that I reach the hearts of other Christians, and maybe those that are lost.  Christians struggle every day to live for Christ.  It is not an easy walk, and no one ever said it was going to be.  May all who read this be truly blessed by God, Seek Him in your life, and place Him before anything and everyone else.  My Jesus is first!  My husband comes second!.  Love, L.

Chrisitan Movies

My husband and I don't have cable television but we do belong to Netflix and we rent from block buster express.  We were quite surprised this last week when one of the movies we rented turned out to be one that was made by Sherwood Church in California.  The name of the movie is "To Save A Life"  or "Save a Life".  It is about young boy that is a senior in high school and how his starting to go to church transforms his life. 

The movie does contain some cursing which when we found out it was produced by church shocked us just a little.  Nothing outrageous but some.  It centers mainly on the youth at this church and the background and problems of the students and how the young boy takes a stand as a christian to make a difference. 

I wish we all had the strength and courage to do this.... but alas, we let the world dictate who we send our religious emails to, our religious view in blogs to, and who we share our testimony of faith with or so it seems. 

Writing is a gift I was given by God and I have been writing for years and I just keep honing my skills.  My writing dream is to be a published writer.  I would love to write for a Christian website and to get a book with a Christian base published.  I want to reach others and bring them closer to Jesus. 

If you have seen other movies like Fireproof, Left Behind, Apocalypse, and this one to Save a life, share them in your comments.  I love watching these types of movies and sharing my views on Christianity.

Be Blessed!  Have a God Filled Day!  Love, L

Trust and Faith in God

I am not sure I can put this in terms that make sense to anyone other than me.  Sometimes I think God uses my dreams to send me messages (okay stop laughing).  When I dream I hear worship and praise songs in my dreams, I don't see people or hear people most of the time.  This happens more than not lately.  However, I still fight my demons in some of my dreams.

I've been trying to trust God more and rely strictly on Him for our needs, my needs and I try to build my faith in Him by reading His word, studying His word and praying daily if not more than once a day.  I know that God is working in our life and I know that He will provide what we need, when we needed, but is that the end?  Does God grant us or provide us with some of our dreams?  I've been listening to some CD's that talks about having faith in God and that your dreams or life goals will come to pass.  One of the scriptures that is quoted is Habakkuk 2:2-4 (Amplified Bible)

2And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by.


3For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day.

4Look at the proud; his soul is not straight or right within him, but the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall [a]live by his faith and in his faithfulness.

So I took this to heart and wrote down 19 things that I want to see happen in my lifetime.  I have even put dates down.  One of the things I wrote down, did not come to pass and that is okay, because I am pretty sure that God will send me where I need to be.

In my dream last night it was almost like one of those secret agent movies.  I don't remember the worship/praise song that was running through my head, but it was quite plain in the dream that God was telling me to Trust Him and have unwavering Faith and that although I was being tested, things would come to pass.    In the dream, it was someone who was suppose to be me and may have been, and another agent.  The control person looked at me and said, "Push the blue button."  The button would set off a bomb and blow up the building.  The other half of my team was in the building.  It was a test of Faith.  I stood there but for a second, because the controller (God) said push the button.  I pushed the button, the building exploded and the rest of my team emerged unhurt. 

Okay I know you are rolling on the floor laughing but it was so real in the dream.  Was God talking to me?  Is He about to ask me to step out in Faith?  I don't know.  The question is can I do it.  I think so. 

So I know this post is kind of weird and no I don't need to be committed.  However, I wonder if and how God talks to other people.  I know He does or otherwise we wouldn't do the things we do.  Right? 

I hope you all don't think I'm crazy and if you do, so be it.  I know that God is leading me and my faith grows stronger everyday.  Recovery is teaching me to Trust and I am trying to Trust with all my heart.  God is there for me when no one else is....  remember that in your life as well.  Love, L.

Gossip

I have a question for everyone out there, and that is when is gossip not gossip?  The only time you can know what you are hearing is true, is when you hear it directly from the person themselves.  If you hear it from anyone else, technically it is gossip.  The only exception I know is if it is within your own family and you are hearing it from someone very close to the person that said it.  Even then I'm not sure it is not gossip. 

Gossip is something that none of us should ever take part in.  The person it is about or the people it is about are the ones that truly get hurt.  If someone starts to tell you something about someone and it is just here say, walk away, or say "Stop.  I don't want to hear it."  It's like walking up to a group and they are telling off color jokes, if you take part, you are sinning.  As Christians we need to take a more aggressive approach to people that spread gossip, dirty jokes or things they are not sure about, yet they are repeating it. 

If it is one of our brothers or sisters in Christ, we need to tell them that they are not acting right.  We should not spread stories or start rumors or repeat rumors.  We do more damage than you can ever imagine.  If you hear something about someone, as the person that has just stated it where they heard it from or walk away or go to the person it is about.  Sometimes it is just a misconstrued story or statement or maybe a remark that was made.  Gossip can do enough damage to a person that they may walk away from the church or something they truly enjoy. 

Another thing is this, if we are told something by someone we trust, and you are uncomfortable, ask them where they heard it or ask them if you can verify it with the person who made the statement.  It maybe that someone has been hurt by something you said or maybe they are trying to get back at you for something you did.  You may not even realize that you have hurt, or offended someone.  It is always better to go directly to the source of the remarks, statement or stories, then taking it at face value. 

We should be able to trust our sisters and brother in Christ and our friends and families, but there maybe those occasions when someone is mad at you or upset with you and may want revenge.  If that is the case, ask them to forgive you and you forgive them.  Your life will be much better in the long run.  Letting something that has been said continue to aggravate you or bother you, just festers and makes the situation even worse. 

God is full of grace, mercy, forgiveness and love and so should we.  We are to walk in the ways of the Lord, and try to be holy and Christ like.  Spreading gossip, unverified truths or stories is not walking in the way of the Lord.  Remember that they next time someone starts to share something with you.  May you be Blessed by the Grace of God.  To build your faith, you must be in the Word daily... constantly, without rest.  Love, L.