SelahV Today by hariette petersen

ONE GOOD WORD...

LEADS TO ANOTHER.

Well; sometimes.  Then sometimes when you offer a good word, another shoots it down.  It's as if life is filled with nothing but the negative--what is wrong with everything.  It's not that they mean to be grumpy or cynical; they've just soured on life.  What do you do with a person like this?  The Bible gives a hint:

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad."  Proverbs 12:25

When anxiety invades the heart with worry, frustration or aggravation, where is the room for joy, hope and expectation?  It cowers in the corners.  When a person cradles irritation and harbors resentment, he finds it nearly impossible to say anything positive or encouraging to others.  Most people see in this verse, that "an encouraging word" is for another's heart...not for the encourager.  I see it the other way.  It's a mixed blessing.  The person who encourages, speaks well of others, and looks for the positive, cannot help but have the same returned to himself.  I believe that is God-delivered.  "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Given or received--encouragement fills a heart with gladness which floods the face with cheer.  And that cheer is contagious.  What a wonderful reward for encouraging another, wouldn't you say?

Is something bothering you today?  Do you see the world as a lost cause?  The position you are in, your company or ministry losing more ground than gaining it?  Look for something positive you can offer in place of the negative aspect.  Take one step toward eliminating someone's stress.  Lend a hand to another and build them up.  Take a few minutes and sit down and pray for them that they will see a solution, or an idea to implement.

O, El Elyon, our Most High God.  Fill our hearts with joy and shield them from the desire to be weighted with the cares of this world.  Keep our minds stayed on Thee.  Keep us ever mindful that You are in control--that You will move where we cannot.  Fill our hearts with hope--Yours, O God.  SelahV

[copyrighted, selahV today, hariette petersen, 2009]

IS FAMILY HARMONY POSSIBLE?

Think about the most ideal family you know.  What are the characteristics you see in their actions that lead you to that conclusion?  Do they live in harmony?  Is everyone nice to one another?  Loving, kind, generous, and patient?  Do you find yourself longing for a husband as attentive as the other lady's?  A wife as humble and sweet-spirited as your friend's?  Children as obedient as another family?

I grew up in, what "experts" call, a dysfunctional home.  Mother abandoned my two elder brothers, myself, and Daddy, when I was just 3 years old.  Daddy married my step-mother when I was 5 and a half.  She brought two boys into the marriage from two previous marriages of her own.  Life was a hodge-podge.  It was hardly "ideal".  I often looked at some friends I had that had the "perfect" family.  I determined in my mind that I would have "their" kind of family when I grew up.  I believed it was possible to live without the heartache, turmoil, divisiveness, arguments, favoritism and jealousy that I grew up with.  *Ironically, the family I believed represented the most "ideal" in attaining this possibility was Pastor James Weaver's at the First Baptist Church in Triangle, Virginia.  I would sit in the back of the church, Sunday after Sunday, and watch them.  Their mother was so attentive to them, and they were always dressed so perfectly.  After church, I'd watch them skip happily across the street and enter the little brick parsonage and imagine how wonderful their lives must be.

These idealistic musings played a role in the difficulties I had in the earlier portion of my marriage.  According to FAMILIES OF THE BIBLE: How They Coped With Today's Problems), the "ideal" we imagine can be quite troublesome.

"The ideal home in which everything is harmonious and always pleasant is an exercise in deceit.  No two people can agree on everything.  When people live in close proximity--as they do in a family--strong feelings emerge.  Some means is needed to deal with them." p. 24.

The "deceit" I think I exercised with this "ideal" view of homelife was that all is always as perfect as the picture I had in my mind--all the time.  I left no wiggle-room in my mind for differences in taste, in dreams, in goals, in the traditions of extended families.  Nor did I take into account that I would not always like everything my husband did, or enjoy every aspect of homemaking.  I did not take into account that I could get tired, be pressured, and be sick.  I didn't allow for the fact that I, myself, could be disagreeable, rude, angry and apathetic at times.  The bliss of the "ideal" met with the brutal honesty of reality.  And as a young wife and mother, I was unprepared to "deal" with it. 

It took many years for me to come to terms with this--and the history of a dysfunctional childhood peppered with imperfections.  Even after I understood the role Scripture played in guiding me and my husband and children, I had a tough time admitting it was not always going to be blissful.  After all, I was not perfect, nor could I ever be.  I was a work in progress--and so was every single person within my immediate and extended family.

How about you?  Do you struggle with perfecting your family and making everyone fit into that perfection?  Do you know someone finding it difficult to accept the "ideal" is just that--an ideal?  If so, they might benefit from the book I've listed below.  selahV

[FAMILIES OF THE BIBLE:  How They Coped With Today's Problems, by Howard Hovde and Louis Moore, Hannibal Books]

* "Ironically" because I later became a minister's wife. 

A BOOK RECOMMENDATION by SelahV

FAMILIES OF THE BIBLE:  How They Coped With Today's Problems. by Howard Hovde and Louis Moore, published by Hannibal Books.

When I first thought of reading this, I thought it was probably another one of those books on Bible characters and families that simply gave you a Biblical account (which anyone can read in a Bible), and left you to consider the "moral of the story" for yourself. 

This is not that kind of book. 

Nor is it an attempt to translate and interpret specific passages, or fill one's mind with irrelevant facts.  It is written simply and gives simple situations with complex problems we face today.  There was not one single chapter in which I did not see myself, or someone I know, at one time or another in life.  Alongside Biblical accounts are illustrations of modern-day situations.  So many circumstances we deal with today were once dealt with by others.

These circumstances are reflected upon and help place the reader smack dab in the middle of Biblical individuals' turmoil and struggle.  Change, change and more change.  Moving.  Loss.  Grief.  Marriage.  Immediate and extended family influence.  Results of emotional, spiritual and physical upheavals.  Tests of faith.  Consequences.  It helps us imagine what they might have faced when they made the choices they made and how much family effects decisions and patterns.  The authors write in Chapter Four:

"We do know that much behavior is created, encouraged, and supported by a particular family system.  When change does occur, the whole system is affected.  But when change occurs, the system will do all it can to nullify the change and bring the family back to its original posture."

Then they offer in Chapter Five: 

"...One way to break the cycle of negative history is to learn everything possible about one's family (the family origin) and decide what you want to retain and what you choose to discard."

Authors Howard Hovde and Louis Moore do not claim this to be a work of "precise, historical scholarship".  However, I see the evaluations and observations they make from biblical families and relationships as extremely helpful for today's families and individuals--especially those who cannot understand how to fit their square peg into a round hole of extended family interactions.  It's seems it is a battle of wills at most all stages in life.  It's not easy to do, to be sure.  And that speaks more to the purpose of this book.  To me, it is examining where we have come from, so we can understand where we are and where we can go to live more productively and in greater harmony with others. 

If you want a way to connect dots with today's culture and biblical times, this is a great read.  If you want a book to give a young couple who is contemplating engagement or marriage, this is a good one to include.  If you know someone who is experiencing difficulties in marriage or family relationships, you'll find a bevy of insight in this little 119-page paperback.  If you wonder why you relate to others in life the way you do, then this may shed some light on the way you act and react to folks.

Suggested uses for this book include:  1) a study book for small group, or the basis for a Bible study.  2) assigned chapter reading for Christian mental-health professional dealing with family counseling.  3) a launch pad for Mom and Dad to use with older children in discussing family situations.   The authors make this ideal because of their inclusion of a section at the end of each chapter: "Questions to Consider".  I see it fitting in perfectly for a Discipleship class on Sunday evenings, or a Ladies book-study, or Single Adults study. 

I like it and will recommend it to our Minister of Education, my favorite counselor at the Christian Family Counseling Center, and several of my friends.  I may even do what the authors suggest and pass it around among my friends.

A few words of caution, though: Should you decide it is a book you'd like for a small group or discipleship class, I strongly recommend a mature spiritual leader as a facilitator.  This book could provoke some deep emotional thoughts and hit some areas of discord within couples, families or individuals within a group.  We are all at various stages of Christian growth and some flaws we may see in ourselves or others may need to be weighed carefully in public discussions.  selahV   

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WHAT AM I PASSING ON?

When my daughter first got married, I sat down and wrote out a slew of recipes so she would know how to make my spaghetti sauce, beef stew, stuffed porkchops and various other dishes.  Through the years, when my daughter was cooking, she'd call and ask how long to cook something, if a certain dish could be frozen, etcetera.  My daughter rarely calls me anymore about cooking.  She's learned how, and is one of the best cooks I know.  Now she makes her sauce, stew, and chops.

As her mother, I often wonder how many of my habits I've passed on to my daughter.  Some of the areas I consider weaknesses in myself, I've watched her develop into strengths.  She is an organizer, administrator, take charge kinda person.  I'm a spur of the moment, creative, let things flow kind of person.  She confronts; I encourage.  She expects; I accept.  Is this a direct result of her methodically and determinedly seeking to be different, or do we simply have gifts that lead us to react differently in the same set of circumstances?  How much is innate and how much is learned behavior?

I'm reading an interesting book, FAMILIES OF THE BIBLE: How They Coped with Today's Problems.  The very first chapter touches on families "repeating patterns" and passing along traits to their children through behavior they learn by simply growing up in the household.  Co-authors, Howard Hovde and Louis Moore write:

"Many couples duplicate patterns their parents establish....The family in which we were reared left deeper impressions on us than we probably realize--how we feel about ourselves, how we view the world, how we relate to our spouses, what we think of money, how we feel about others."

This comes as no surprise to me.  I have fought off many of the patterns I carried into my life from my parents.  I also developed patterns of my own which I tried to keep my children from adopting.  Nevertheless, there are some things that cling like stick-tights and it may take years to break the habits or destroy patterns our children pick up.  My daughter took into her marriage some facts:  her father helped her mother with many household chores.  She married a man whose mother did all the housekeeping and cooking.  These were patterns from their families that challenged their marriage.  They had to work through them.  I like what the authors said about that: 

"From 16 to 25 years of observing and experiencing how to relate doesn't automatically stop at the altar.  The system that has developed in the home is strong; the momentum to continue it is powerful."  

How about you?  What areas of your family life do you see your children adopting?  What habits of yours do you hope they will adopt?  What patterns have you passed on?

In the next few posts I plan to offer a sampling of what Hovde and Moore have served to us in their book.  There are "Families Of The Bible" which speak to the problems we have today.  There are still things we can learn from these families--their mistakes, their patterns, their actions.  Perhaps we wil learn something new about "How They Coped with Today's Problems".  Ya think?  selahV  

OFFEND ME NOT

"Where there is no offense, there is no effect."  Adrian Rogers

"I came not to this world to bring peace, but a sword."  Jesus.

Basically, Dr. Rogers and Jesus are saying that the Gospel message is gonna divide folks and leave some along the wide road as others head down the narrow way.   Accordingly, to expect that Christian preachers proclaiming the Word will not offend, is ludicrous.  The Holy Spirit will quicken (bring to life) that which is dead in sin.

Ever had your leg go to sleep?  Hands get so cold they were numb?  When circulation returns to your leg, and warmth returns to your hands, there is pain.  When the Gospel penetrates the darkness within us, the Light exposes the depravity of our souls, and we are stricken with heartache and moved to repentance.

Yet, all too often we hear...do not preach this, or teach that, or say this, or say that.  It will offend someone.  I don't think the Lord was too worried about who he was offending when He destroyed Sodom and turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt.  Nor was Jesus too concerned with offending the Pharisees when He cleansed the temple and told them they'd made it into a den of thieves. 

May we all grasp in our hearts the enormity of the need to share the Gospel with boldness, clarity and love.  selahV   

GOTTA HAND IT TO OBAMA

He sure can talk.

He says he wants to set up a team of health "experts" and "doctors" who can eliminate "the waste" in healthcare.  Uh...folks...I think I am his "waste".  Me.  A senior citizen who can drain the system because I am bound to need more and more healthcare as I age.  Of course, part of the way he can control my "waste" is to eliminate the unnecessary tests because his "experts" will tell me what I need and don't need.  Folks, I hate to be a wet blanket, but those "experts" can't determine anything from Washington about ME in Lawton, Oklahoma.

When I go to the doctor and tell them what is wrong with me, the best thing they can do is "guess" what test I need..."guess" what my problem is...and "guess" what medication to give me.  Why?  Because I am an individual who has individual needs based on MY problems...my history...my allergies, etc.  For the most part, it is always a guessing game.  My cardiologist with all his fancy machines and tests, echo-cardiogram, chemically induced stress test, and BP checks...determined that I "most likely" (an 85% probability), had a blockage in the front part of my heart.  It took a test to rule it out.  The test was the heart-catherization.  Yeah, it's expensive.  But the only other option was to forget about it and take the chance I'd drop dead of a heart attack.

My husband's cardiologist (one of the best in Oklahoma), determined by a few tests and his best "guess" that his symptoms was most likely a pinched nerve.  Several tests later, and an open-heart surgery to repair 5 blockages, proved to this notable expert that his best "guess" was wrong.  Dead wrong.

So with Obama's bill, all my health records will now go to Washington to get a protocol of care determined by Washington's federal board.  Based on a model of many folks.  Ain't that just ducky?     

According to Obama, healthcare is all about "waste".  Could some of the "waste" be those babies, children, and adults who will put an added drain on the healthcare system because of their chronic-diseases, disabilities, and castastrophic illnesses?  I wonder.  Based on data accumulated, the probability of a person with a specific cancer has only X-amount of chance to survive even with the best of treatments.  So, what do you think this federal board will decide is the most appropriate care for them? 

He says we need "affordable" healthcare.  Whose definition of "affordable" are we using, anyway?

Obama's bill is gonna take care of all of us out here.  "I wanna cover everybody," he says.

Let's get real.  He doesn't want to cover anyone.  He wants all of "us" to cover everybody.  He wants YOU to cover ME.  He will ensure that happens, too.  He proposes with his bill to mandate that we get healthcare.  Kinda like car insurance.  If you don't get insurance you don't get to drive your car.  I wonder, does that mean if I don't purchase insurance, he will take it from my husband's social security check, or, that I don't get to live? 

He says Americans need to "give up things that don't make them healthier."  Uh..let's see.  What are things that aren't making us healthier?  According to President Obama, it is "Testing".  Hmmmmn.  So what makes us healthier?  Our diet.  Obama says one of the things that panel of experts will be in charge of doing is, "making sure our diet is what it ought to be."  Now that's a grand mandate.  Has that man been to the grocery lately?  Does he have any idea how much it costs to eat the "diet" we need to eat?  The highest priced things on the grocery shelves are fresh vegetables, chicken and fish.  I know.  I went shopping tonight to get my hubby some fruit to take in his lunch sack.

Obama pooh-poohs those folks, like me, who don't like his healthcare plan.  Folks say "Even though I don't like this devil, I like this devil better than the devil I don't know."

He said a mouthful, there.  Thing is...I don't like any devils.  They say, "the devil is in the details".  How true it is of this healthcare bill.  How very true.  selahV   

HAVE YOU SEEN FAITH IN ACTION LATELY?

You may have missed this story.  If you're tired of reading negative stories about youth, watching train-wrecks in blogville, and hearing bad news on television.  This story can lift your spirits. 

Senior youth reburbish an elementary school as one of their mission projects for the community. 

Take your mouse for a walk over [HERE] and see what some youth count important in Lawton, Oklahoma.  selahV

LIFE IS SUCH A BLESSING

I've been too busy enjoying life to have time to write about it much on this blog.  Sorry friends.  But I had my precious granddaughters for the weekend and when they are here, the world stops.  I may get in a comment or two, but basically, they are THE priority.  Snuggles, pillow-talk, motocross races, Sunday School and church, playing with puppies, water-park, and non-stop cartoons.  The only news on television we are concerned about is the weather report.

We'd planned to go to the water-park today and it stormed last night and this a.m.  It has been so hot in Oklahoma you could bake a potato in the sun.  But the first time my son's girls came over in a month, it storms on the day we plan fun-in-the-sun.  No problem though.  The Lord spread forth His hand and opened the doorways to a sun-drenched afternoon.  So we went and Haylee Jae and Kinsey joined us with my daughter.  When Kinsey's naptime came, my daughter went home and the four of us stayed and played mermaid in the wave-pool.  I sat on the edge and let them swirl around like Ariel and dance for me.  I was assigned role of "mother mermaid".  (Imagination is wonderful.)  Brooklyn, who's eleven (going on sixteen), helped me with her sister, Abby, and cousin Haylee throughout the day.  My back prohibits quick movement and rotation so it was great to have a real live mermaid along to help me with the younger girls in the "lazy river".

We went to see Haylee's puppies and sat in the shed for over an hour just cuddling and loving on the puppies.  We all named them.  There are five puppies.  And they now have twenty names.  Ha.  It was a blast.  God is so good.  So very good.

I took Brooklyn and Abby home tonight (Bob was extremely tired from working today...I could tell...I'm his wife, after all.)  It takes only 45 minutes to drive to Texas.  It was dark when I left to come back.  And I was about three quarters of the way home when Brooklyn called worried about me.  She wanted to make sure I had made it through all of the road construction and found my way back to the interstate.  Amazing child.  We talked some on the phone and I assured her I was fine...that Jesus was with me and would get me safely home.  That made her feel much better.  When I got into the drive I texted her that I was home and loved her.  She texted back, "K."  I'm sure she'll sleep better now.

Little things God gives me in life are my greatest joys.  And spending time with grandchildren is the ultimate blessing.  We talk about Him.  We share with one another how great He is.  We pray together and thank Him for each other, for life, for food, for family and puppies.  What could be greater than that?  selahV

DON'T QUOTE ME...

...BECAUSE I'M PARAPHRASING HOW I UNDERSTOOD WHAT I HEARD.

I was watching Laura Ingraham tonite who was sitting in for Bill O'Reilly (yeah, I watch The Factor sometimes).  Tonite it was particularly interesting because Laura had a guest on and they were talking about the health-care bill and something in it about old folks like me.  If this passes (which in some form or another, it will, eventually), they want a mandatory meeting for old folks with a government representative.  I didn't catch at what point an old person gets their first visit.  But the purpose of the visit was the thing that had warning bells and whistles going off in my brain.

It appears that this government rep will come and discuss with old people (like Social Security recipients, I suppose), the rationale behind their health and the care they are receiving to see if they are making the best choices.  And they may need to evaluate the fact that they don't have much time left, and they'd had a good life and so....   "Ding, ding, ding!"  soooo...they should consider putting themselves under Hospice care rather than spending money on healthcare.  I suppose the government rep will have this handy dandy little list of things that helps determine the quality of life an old person has.

Laura was pretty upset.  She said she didn't want some rep coming in and interviewing her 83 year-old dad and telling him he needed to just accept he'd had a good life.  The gal she was interviewing had a rather condescending expression (in my biased opinion) as she told Laura that it was up to her father and not her what he did.  Ah..."Ding...Ding...Ding".  I see.  So the rep will talk to the old folks and their family members won't have any say-so in the matter.  Ah...the good old national healthcare system.  Won't it be wonderful?  We'll just bump off advise the Social Security recipients.  We'll explain how they'd be better off and so would their families and all the young people in America, if they'd just step aside and go on to Gloryland as the better choice for all concerned.  And I suppose if the old person doesn't agree, the health-care system can just cut off their dialysis treatment and blood pressure medicines and chemo.  I'm just guessing though....don't quote me.

Hey, that would take care of the Social Security going bankrupt, now wouldn't it?  If all of we baby-boomers (especially those of us who are struggling financially), were to step aside for the good of the younger generation? (Surely we can see how much better that would be for our grandchildren's benefit).  Then Social Security could be solvent again.  And no one would have to pay for our healthcare, either.  Hmmmmn. 

I'm getting cynical in my old age, folks.  Downright cynical.  selahV   

SQUIRRELS IN THE ATTIC AND NUTS IN THE GOVERNMENT

So I'm standing in my shower and it sounds like someone has broken into my house and is coming down the hall.  My mind raced.  Did I lock the front door?  Should I have locked the bathroom door?  I thought of the movie Psycho. 

Squirrels.  And by the sound of their racket, there must be four or five of them playing tag in my attic.  Right now they are bounding off the sides of the house above my head as I sit here typing.  I live in the city.  Can't shoot those buggers.  Yeah...there's a way to get them out of the attic.  But I'm not capable.  So...I listen to their antics and suffer the consquences of their frollicking madness.  Much like I must listen to the nuts in our government today.

What can I do about the 700,000 dollars that the Social Security Department spent on a fancy vacation--uh, hmmmmn--meeting regarding the demise of the Social Security System?  What voice do I have in the passage of all these bills that legislators are forcing through Congress which have pushed our national deficit beyond one trillion (that's 1,000,000,000,000) near-worthless dollars?  What good does it do me to know the answer to fixing the games politicians are playing with American lives in the rooftops of Washington, D.C.?  What difference does it make that the lying, cheating, thieving, adulterous, conniving, manipulating, dishonest, politicians care more about getting re-elected than hearing and following the voice of constituents?

Apparently not much.  Not much at all.  selahV

  

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

Does it really matter what Americans think?  Will it make any difference if the majority of folks oppose a policy?  a bill?  a presidential nominee?  Aren't we now locked into a process with a controlling party that has carte blanc?  Who cares what we think?  It didn't matter with the TARP bill that passed.  Americans were against that.  Our voices were loud and clear on the issue of bailing out these Wall Street madmen.  So what difference does it make what I think?  This is just ONE example in a sea of everyday discussions folks have on issues and views.

Ever been in a conversation with someone and discover the person wasn't the least bit interested in what you say? Either they want to state their own opinion on the subject or they don't care at all about the conversation? In fact, they ignore your input midsentence and move on to another subject. Indeed, you have no doubt your thoughts were better kept stuffed in your brain. It's happened to me.

Sometimes it hurts my feelings. I am so surprised by the rebuff that I don't have any idea what to say, nor how to confront the situation. So I remain silent. I push all my previous thoughts inside the clamshell of a brain I have and snap the shell shut. Other times I may listen to what the other says and simply chalk up my thoughts as unimportant. (In other words, my thoughts weren't needed--nor wanted). Occasionally you have a person who appears to be listening, yet who gives not one iota of input, nor acknowledges a single syllable you utter. If you have an ounce of discernment in your noggin, you know they are not interested or are simply bored stiffless. Many times what you say is challenged--but not on its merit--it is just so one can counter with an opposing position or use your words as a jumping off point to start a conversation of their own with surrounding participants.

It really is a rare thing indeed to have someone actually want to converse with you, to discuss a topic, an issue, an idea, a view. It's rare because most folks have their own opinions that will not change. The views they hold are hard-formed views which carry them past your thoughts...your desire to dialogue and share in conversational relationships. When you find someone like that who really carries on a conversation with you...who stimulates your thought processes...and enjoys discussing things with you, you better grab them and hang on to them.

I'm one of those folks who treasure real conversationalists.  I love the person who likes to dialogue face-to-face, or via email and letters, or even blog comments.  However, having the gift of discernment, God often shows me the futility in a conversation or the impasse ahead in one, so I've learned to stay clear of many.  I've been hooked by some conversation streams at times, especially if I have some strong views on the subject matter.  But when conversations turn to argumentative debate, I usually tear the hook out of my mouth and let others bait and hook.  I "go silent" in a room of voices.  I retreat rather than beat the same drum that appears to be someone's gnat in their face.  To me, it is just not worth the time nor the energy--time is too precious and energy too vital.  

How about you?  Ever feel ignored?  Unimportant?  Voiceless?  Insignificant in the scheme of things?  selahV 

WHO OWNS YOU?

For years in the ministry, my husband and I lived in a parsonage.  We never felt at liberty to do anything to that home because it didn't belong to us.  It belonged to the church.  I never painted it and always left the neutral colors.  I didn't carpet it, nor did I go to any extreme with it.  I'm a very eclectic person and love to decorate, but I always had to do that with accessories.  But I always felt so limited as to what I could do to keep up with changing styles...or how to express myself in someone else's home.  When we were finally able to buy our first home, I was thrilled.  Finally.  I was able to express myself exactly as I wanted to.  No one had a say-so but me and my husband (and I had carte blanc from him).  Nothing I do is extreme, mind you.  I don't paint my walls black or florescent orange.  But I could change the curtains and window shades and paint natural woodwork and cabinetry if I wanted.  The freedom I had in the ownership didn't negate my responsibility to glorify God with the ownership of my home.  I still used it for hospitality and parties for church members.  I still used it for youth meetings and fellowships.  It was a blessing from God and I treated it as a part of glorifying Him in it.

Do you ever think about yourself?  Your body?  Who owns you?

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:20

We are bought with a price....the blood of Jesus, and are therefore owned by God.  What are we doing today with our bodies that glorify God?  What do we do that defiles our bodies and desecrates God's ownership of them?  What do you feed your spirit so that your spirit glorifies God?  The "church" is the body of Christ.  What part of the body has God given you?  We are God's accessories to the body of Christ.  God owns us and the body.  It's His to do with as He wants. 

Do you ever wonder if the state you are in, your circumstance and your situation, is simply a place God has brought you to so you can glorify Him?  To glorify His church?

Do you think the achievements you've made...the success you've attained, the status you enjoy, is yours to own--or Christ's to use as He sees best for the kingdom of God and His glory?  Do you see your body as the "temple of God" to be cared for, sustained, and used as you desire or as God desires?  Do you feed your body and your spirit with God's glory in mind?  Do you speak and act with God's glory in mind?  Do you protect your "temple" or abuse it?  What thieves do you allow to break in and rob your temple of its purpose?  What do you think about?  What do you feed your spirit?  What do you dwell upon?  What do you request of the Father?  What do you submit to His workmanship?

What glory do you seek when you use your body and your spirit which are God's and bought with a price far greater than you could ever repay?  Do you sense the responsibility to use your body, your words, your mind, your spirit to the Master's glory?  Or do you see the grace He has so bestowed upon you by His mercy as liberty to do as you find pleasureable to your own eyes, your own desires?  selahV

ONLY GOD KNOWS WHY...

...people must speculate.  They don't have answers so their minds run rampant with what may or may not be, what could or could not have occurred.  People take a kernel of truth, plant gardens with conviction, and harvest suspicion, doubt and discord.  Some folks roast those ears of discord as a daily diet and wonder why they have spiritual indigestion.   

“How great are Your doings, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep. A man in his rude and uncultivated state knows not, neither does a [self-confident] fool understand this: That though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to be destroyed forever. But You, Lord, are on high forever.” Psalm 92:5-8.

People may hurt us, offend us, ridicule us and attack us. Folks may gossip about us, point fingers of accusation toward us and do all unspeakable evil against us. They may ignore us, abuse us or distrust us. But it doesn’t matter. God is on high. He is above all the earth. He weighs the hearts of His own. He cares for His children and wants only the best for us.

Even when we think life has dealt us raw deals, and people are doing the same. It doesn’t matter. God is in control. He knows each hair on our heads. He knows our going out, and our coming in. He knows our lying down and our getting up. He is ever-present and always available. And even though He is on high, He came to earth to let us know how very much He loves us and that He has us on His mind each and every day. selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007, 2009]

WILL YOU BE INVESTIGATED SOON?

I recently read an article about folks who review books, recommend products, link to websites that they think are worth visiting and then get freebies (i.e. coupons, fees, rewards, or merchandise).  Looks like they could be investigated by the FTC real soon if they are getting perks for their recommendations.  Does this make you feel safer?  More confident?

Maybe this is part of the new job creations our new administration is promising.  With the millions of bloggers out there in cyberspace, the FTC will be mighty busy playing blog-police, doncha think?  Seems to me they'll have to have a bunch of folks to do that.  Of course, the blog-patrol probably won't take into consideration the little lady who is staying home and raising her own children and making her grocery money this way.  Wonder what they plan to do with these evil entrepreneurs?  Put them in jail with Bernie Madoff? (Speaking of...if the SEC couldn't even stop Madoff with all the watchdogs that INFORMED them about his thievery--while he was doing it--how in the world can we expect the FTC to benefit us with their new rules?)

By the way, I don't get a dime from the purchase of anything I recommend--let alone a coupon or merchandise.  Oh that I could.

At the risk of being investigated by the FTC and for the record, I do recommend one book: THE HOLY BIBLE.  The promises within that book fill me with confidence in the Lord who provides for all my needs.  The retirement plan The Author offers all those who trust in His Son for eternal life is second to none of any the world can ever produce.  Do ya think the government will figure out a way to tax that, too?  selahV 

EVER FEEL LIKE A ROLEY-POLEY?

The other day my webhost asked one of those Barbara-Walters' questions:  If you could be any animal in the world, what would it be and why?   I couldn't think of a single animal I'd want to be other than maybe a gazelle.  And only because they can run so fast and move so quickly.  That's the "old" portion of me fantasizing new cartilage and tendons that react on command.

I do, however, know what kind of insect I'd like to be.  They are rather ugly little creatures.  Gray ovals of multiple teeney legs that scoot along the surface of cool places.  They can often be found hiding beneath an old log, or under a rock.  Lately I feel I could enjoy being a roley-poley.  I could curl up into a little ball until some sweet child comes along and puts me in the center of her friendly warm palm.  Then I'd unfurl and crawl all over her hand and enjoy the giggles and happiness she has in her heart.  I could revel in the fact of just being "me" and being loved for exactly who I am.

That is similar to how I feel about the days of discouragement and the moments of disillusionment I have with people who have little to no regard for another person's feelings.  I see folks treat each other with less kindness than they do their cocker spaniels, and I naturally recoil at the sight.  I'm so glad that the Lord comes along and picks me up and puts me in the palm of His hand and lets me revel in the joy He gives--the mercy and forgiveness.  His steadfast love gives me heart for the dregs of life.  And in Him only do I trust to unfurl and relax.  selahV

THERE'S SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR SUBSTITUTIONS

So Monday Haylee Jae asked if we could make cupcakes.  I said sure.  I opened the mix, and she dumped it in the bowl.  I measured out the water and oil in the cup and she poured it into the powdered mix.  Alas, I went to the fridge to get the eggs.  Opps.  Should have checked before I started the cake.  No eggs.  Uh oh.  What does a Grama do in the middle of a perfectly wonderful cooking lesson when there are no eggs to add to the mixture?  I remembered reading somewhere that we could substitute mayonaise for eggs.  One cup mayo equals 3 eggs.  Haylee wasn't convinced, especially when I put that blob of white stuff in her chocolate mix.  But she wanted the cupcakes and I hated to waste all those ingredients.  So we tried it.  The batter still tasted good, so we spooned the mixture into the paper liners and put them in the oven.  Twenty minutes later the cupcakes looked exactly like any cupcake I'd ever made.  Until... 

...I tried to take one out of the tin.  Even with their protective liners, the cakes crumbled and fell apart.  I learned a great cooking lesson.  Mayo ain't got nothing on eggs.   I can't even begin to apply icing to these fake cakes.  Now...they still taste good.  But they simply don't hold up--or together.

This brought to mind the folks in life who try to substitute personal viewpoint for biblical principles.  Intelligence for wisdom.  Good works for faith.  Temporal pleasure for eternal joy.  They may appear to work well for a season.  They may taste good.  They may satisfy the sensual appetite.  But all these things combined do not have the body necessary to hold life together.  In the final analysis, if there's something to be said about subtitutions, it's that nothing works like the Real Thing.  selahV     

IS IT POSSIBLE?

As a child I lived with constant criticism.  I mean daily.  "Stupid.  Lazy.  Useless.  Good-for-nothing."

  These barbs echoed in my mind when I slept.  I didn't like being me as a child.  The seeds sown in my life grew into thoughts of inferiority and unloveliness.  If not for the sovereign protection of my Lord, I probably would still be wallowing in self-loathing.  But God sent folks into my life (mostly through church, and Christian school-teachers) who planted seeds of affirmation that contradicted the criticisms.

I think about that each time I see a child in the hallways or in a pew at church.  I think about that when I watch them walk down the street in front of my house, or down an aisle at Wal-Mart.  I think about that when I have a waitress I could disparage or a clerk I could chastize.  I even think about that when I get ready to hang up on a telemarketer.  Has anyone said anything kind to them today?  Will I?  Will you?

When I was a youth leader, I use to give my youth 10 kernels of popcorn.  I told them they could throw them away when they saw someone do something kind and told that person they saw it.  I told them to make every effort to watch for times when goodness was visible.  When we had a youth event, they were to give the kernel to the other person each time they wanted to encourage them for something.  No words were necessary.  They just handed each other kernels of corn.  It was really wonderful to watch them encouraging each other and looking for the positive in one another.

Today I think about we bloggers.  I wonder if we all took the time to consider ten positive things about a blog-host before we commented on their blog (or a fellow commenter in the stream), how our comment would appear in the stream.  What would the tone be like?  I wonder if we mentioned a few of those positive things to them in the stream if that would help us communicate better when we had differences?  Is it possible to dwell on that which is pure?  Is it possible to "do unto others as we would have them do to us"?  Or do we think so little of ourselves that we invite barbs rather than blessings?  selahV 

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2009]

PROTECTED FROM GOD'S GLORY, LEST....

Can you imagine standing on a mountain top and seeing God in all His glory?  Can you comprehend such a moment?  A moment where you actually hear God's voice?  Witness a transfiguration?!

I've had some glorious moments in the Lord.  Truly glorious.  I've been a part of revivals in two little country churches where over a dozen people were saved and the tongues of men and women were loosed in public confession of sin and repentance and reconciliation for hours.  Glorious!  Only the Spirit of the Living God could have produced such all-encompassing joy.  I want to see that again.

"Then Moses said, 'I pray You, show me Your glory." Exodus 32:27.

And God did.  Moses couldn't look on God's face or he would have died. 

"Then the Lord said, 'Behold there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.  Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." Exodus 32:21-23 [Emphasis mine]

Can you imagine?  God puts Moses in the cleft of the rock and covers him with His hand.  Physically.  Held in place by God.  Shielded from His perfect glory.  And Moses got to look at God's back.  What a marvelous, amazing thing to experience.  Yet, God's glory is so beyond anything we could possibly understand or experience in our human form, that God cannot let us see all of it.  He must protect us from His glory.  If we were to see it, we'd surely die.

I have never seen God, but I've seen His manifested glory in His creation.  I've felt His love when my son died and knew His presence in a way I cannot begin to explain.  I know I was in the cleft of His Rock and covered with His hand.  And I will never, ever forget the peace God gave me in that moment.  My soul looks forward to the day I will see Christ face to face.  Can you imagine?  Show us Your glory, Lord, as we can each absorb it, as we can comprehend it.  Show us Your glory.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, June 2008, reprinted 2009]