Are You Hot or Cold?

After being married to the love of her life for 57 years, my mother had now been alone for 16 years. Like most women of that era, she had depended on my daddy for whatever needed to be taken care of around the home she had now lived in for sixty years.   So, it was very difficult for her to have to depend on someone else even at 93.

"I really hate to bother John", my mother would say," but it's pretty cold in the house this morning."

I thought about that today; the first day of fall. Mother would call and in an apologetic way, ask if John could come and turn on her furnace. Of course, he would; he always did.  As is typical of these early fall days, by afternoon, the heat would return and once again John would make his way to Mother's home and turn on the air.

"I turned on the fan," she would say, "but it still seems awfully stifling in here."

And, so it would go, day after day, for the next six weeks or so when finally the weather would settle down and her furnace could be turned on until spring.

I'm sure many of you, like me, go to bed at night , pulling the covers up around your neck. Then, in the middle of the night, you find yourself throwing those covers off because you are too warm.  It's difficult to get just the right temperature at just the right time and make it last.

So, it is with our houses of worship. Being inspired by God, John the Apostle wrote this to the Church in Laodicea:

"I know what you have done, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were either cold or hot! but since you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I intend to spit you out of my mouth!" Revelations 3:16 Phillips Translation

Our churches are made up of people who are either hot or cold.  They are either on fire for the Lord or they are cold as a wedge. God is not pleased with a body of believers like that.  And, just as He is not pleased with the body of believers who are hot for a time and then cold, He is not pleased with us as individuals when we exhibit this same kind of behavior.

It's really easy to allow ourselves to gradually become cold. We "throw off the cover" so to speak and then, before we know what has happened, we are cold.  We immerse ourselves in church attendance; diligently read our bibles daily; pray through our days and feel the closeness of God. Then, for whatever reason, we find other things to do on Sundays and we skip church.  With each Sunday it becomes easier to neglect coming together with other believers in God's house.  The busyness of each day occupies us so we put other things above our quite times with God in prayer and bible study.  And, like the church at Laodicea, God is not pleased with us.

How is your walk with the Lord?  Are you one of the Laodiceans or are you in tune with what God has called you to do for Him?

Think about it............

Words Are Like Arrows

As I thought about my posting yesterday, I remembered how easy it is to say things in anger.  As children, we have all yelled at our playmates in anger because something didn't go our way.  As adults, it's very easy to become angered when we have to stand in line for a period of time.  Or if we are cut off in traffic or hearing something that someone has said about us or our children.  How do we react?

Parents, be aware that your words shape a child's future.  Spouses, be aware that the things you say to your marriage partner can cause strife within the marriage that otherwise would never had been there. Always remember words are like arrows......you can't take them back.

I heard Dr. Ben Carson say something the other day that stuck with me. He was asked if he was always as calm as he appeared to people and if so, how did he manage to be that way. 

"Well," said Dr. Carson, "I do get upset with people sometimes. When I do, I just look at that person and say to myself  'At one time, you were such a cute, little baby'."  Wouldn't that be a good thing for all of us to do?

 ^"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." James 1:19-20 NIV

Conflicts

"I'm never speaking to you again!  And, I'm not ever playing with you again AND you better not come into my yard or I'll throw these rocks at you!"

The arguments of little children can be so hateful. Yet, by the next day, the conflict is usually forgotten and the children are happily playing together once more.

"You are NOT to come into my room ever again. I hate you!  I wish you weren't my brother (or sister) !" And, the door slams in the face of the sibling.

Sometimes arguments and differences are not as easily solved within families. Sometimes, they are never solved.  My husband tells of a married couple who had an argument and  although they continued to live together, they never spoke to each other again. Oh, she fixed his meals and washed his clothes and he brought home the pay check but, according to their children, they never spoke. As the man lay on his death bed, one of the daughters went to her mother and begged her to apologize to her husband. The mother refused telling the daughter "We have lived this long without speakin' and I ain't changin' that now!" And, the old man passed into eternity never hearing "I'm sorry" or being allowed to tell his wife he was sorry.  And, sometimes, because of an argument between family members, the conflict continues until one of them passes away and the family is never able to unite completely again.

Sometimes disagreements happen at work.  A co-worker gossips about another and the hateful exchange begins.  Soon, the whole workplace is taking sides and work is forgotten in exchange for a bitter conflict between two people. Business suffers because of the time spent arguing and eventually some may loose their jobs because of this.

Sometimes churches have conflicts within their walls. In the house of God where there should be peace and love  there is backbiting and hate and arguing. Members quit speaking to each other. Instead, they conspire as to how they can get their way or how they can hurt others.  There was a church conflict years ago about the color of the new roof that was to be installed.  I understand that to this day, one side of the roof is one color; the other side, another.  Satan loves conflict.  He loves conflict within the home or the workplace but especially within a church. If Satan can cause enough conflict with a church that it splits, he has won another battle. Many lost souls who might have been won to the Lord will not be just because of a conflict caused by a few people who didn't see eye to eye over something usually very small.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the arguments and conflicts adults have could be forgotten so easily as that of small children?

 

" How wonderful, how beautiful,
    when brothers and sisters get along!
It’s like costly anointing oil
    flowing down head and beard,
Flowing down Aaron’s beard,
    flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.
It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon
    flowing down the slopes of Zion.
Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing,
    ordains eternal life." Psalm 133 The Message

Silly Little Cricket

Do you ever get upset because of little things? Oh, it's easy and understandable when we get frustrated with the mistakes we make and those other people make. We are frustrated when we burn the biscuits , we're late for work or someone backs into our vehicle leaving a big ding. But, what about little things?

Last night after we went to bed and lights were out, I heard a distinct noise...... an i...rritating noise. Oh, it wasn't a big thing; matter of fact, it was a very small thing. It was a cricket chirping his song from the next room. It was a noise that wouldn't have bothered me had I not been trying to sleep. However, in the stillness of the night, the chirping of that cricket might as well have been a bullhorn. A search with the flashlight only caused a silencing for a time so back to bed I went, now wide awake from my fruitless search. And, as soon as my head hit the pillow, the little fellow in the next room began singing his lullaby again to me. I finally dozed off... still irritated.

I have said when I get to Heaven I want to question God about His thinking when He created the snakes, mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers. Last night, I wanted to ask Him about his choice in creating crickets. But, according to His word, all creatures are important. They were important enough that they were created even before mankind. So, perhaps rather than get upset when one of God's creatures sings out a happy tune, we need to thank God that He gave us the ability to hear that tune even if it is in the dark of night.

God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”
And there it was:
wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
God saw that it was good.
God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
Genesis 1:24-28 The Message

You know, if God said it was good.......it was good. I need to remember that.

"Smoldering Disobedience"

"Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Many of us as children have prayed that prayer. We prayed it because our parents had recited it with us at bedtime so it became somewhat of a ritual. We did it because it pleased our parents; because we were told to or because a Sunday School teacher had taught us how to... pray the prayer. Even though we were too young to know about salvation, we did believe there was a God who would answer our prayers. Did God hear our prayer? I believe He did. We were innocent enough at that time that our prayers weren't hindered.

Do you wonder why there are times your prayers are unanswered? Have you ever thought that perhaps God doesn't answer our prayers for a reason? Oh, He hears them alright but too many times when we pray our hearts aren't right and that hinders our prayers.

"For I cried to him for help with praises ready on my tongue. He would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins. But, he listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it!" Psalm 66:17-19

Everyday I see prayer requests on Facebook. Many of those requests are from friends and I promise to pray for them. And, I do pray.........often, I pray many times. Then, I wonder if God heard my prayer for this person. I would hate to think that God heard my prayer, but because of unforgiveness in my heart toward other people, He didn't answer my prayer.

"and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us." Matthew 6:12 TLB

I like the story that John Lavender tells in his book "Why Prayers are Unanswered". The story is about Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.

When Peale was a boy, he found a big, black cigar, slipped into an alley, and lit up. It didn't taste good, but it made him feel very grown up....until he saw his father coming. Quickly, he put the cigar behind his back and tried to be casual. Desperate to divert his father's attention, Norman pointed to a billboard advertising the circus. " Can I go, Dad? Please, can I go when it comes to town?" His father's reply taught Norman a lesson he never forgot. "Son", he answered quietly, but firmly, "never make a petition while at the same time trying to hide smoldering disobedience."

Is there a smoldering disobedience in your heart that would hinder the answer from God? There are too many people in need of our prayers today to allow sin and unforgiveness to hinder our much needed prayers.