FEW WORDS

Once upon a time there was a prince who, through no fault of his own, was cast under a spell by an evil witch. The curse was that the prince could speak only one word each year.  However, he could save up the words so that if he did not speak for a whole year, the following year he was allowed to speak two words.  One day he met a beautiful princess (ruby lips, golden hair, sapphire eyes) and fell madly in love. With the greatest difficulty he decided to refrain from speaking for two whole years so that he could look at her and say, "My darling."  But at the end of the two years he wished to tell her that he loved her. Because of this he waited three more years without speaking (bringing the total number of silent years to five). 

But at the end of these five years he realized that he had to ask her to marry him. So he waited ANOTHER four years without speaking.  Finally as the ninth year of silence ended, his joy knew no bounds. Leading the lovely princess to the most secluded and romantic place in that beautiful royal garden the prince heaped a hundred red roses on her lap, knelt before her, and taking her hand in his, said huskily, "My darling, I love you! Will you marry me?"  The princess tucked a strand of golden hair behind a dainty ear, opened her sapphire eyes in wonder, and parting her ruby lips, said: "Pardon?"

Fortunately we are not limited to one word a year but in God's Word we are advised to use words sparingly. It's nice to know we are not required to say everything we think. 

A pearl to string: I love words.  They are powerful, important, influential, endearing, instructive, inspiring, and tender.  But like a kaleidoscope when the cylinder is spun in the shadows and we see a dark and different design, so, too, words have the  tainted potential to be devastating, defeating, derogatory, discriminating, demeaning, and divisive. Notice proverbs does not instruct that knowledge is silent but rather reveals wisdom in voicing carefully chosen words.  

He who has knowledge spares his words. (Proverbs 17:27a) 

Ok I admit that this didn't work well for the prince in my story but I promise it will work well for you. 

Know you are loved,

                              Lyndi

YOUR WILL

Most of the world knows four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. For the Mac family it has always been just three seasons Football season, Basketball season and Baseball season. 

Wanting our children to be inspired by Christian athletes we hung Walt Huntley's poem, "God's Hall of Fame",  on our wall for more than a decade. Bobby Richardson had autographed it to Coach Wonderful.

God's Hall of Fame
Walt Huntley

Your name may not appear down here
In this world's Hall of Fame.
In fact, you may be so unknown
That no one knows your name;
The headlines here may pass you by,
The neon lights of blue,
But if you love and serve the Lord,
Then I have news for you.
*
This Hall of Fame is only good
As long as time shall be;
But keep in mind, God's Hall of Fame
Is for eternity.
This crowd on earth they soon forget
The heroes of the past.
They cheer like mad until you fail
and that's how long you last.
But in God's Hall of Fame
By just believing on His Son
Inscribed you'll find your name.
*
I tell you, friend, I wouldn't trade
My name, however small,
That's written there beyond the stars
In that Celestial Hall,
For any famous name on earth,
Or glory that it shares;
I'd rather be an unknown here
And have my name up there.

Bobby Richardson played second base for the NY Yankees during the late 50's & early 60's. He was nominated as MVP of the American League nine times. He played in seven All-star Games. He won five Gold Glove Awards. And he was the only man in baseball history to ever win the World Series MVP Award while playing for the losing team.  In the later years of Bobby Richardson's career, he coached the baseball team at Liberty University. The reason such a great player was willing to coach at a Christian university was because Bobby Richardson was himself a committed follower of Jesus Christ and ready with a heart full of God's love to serve others.   

A pearl to string: We are living in perilous times and are witness to the heart of mankind growing  cold. We seem to seek that which will make ourselves famous and rich rather than do for the good of others in every day living. The exception would be in catastrophic events across this world where we see love reaching out a helping hand to our fellow man. It touches my  heart to see God's love in action.  To see the many ministries in churches across this land reach out to help and bless others. Oz Hillman said, "One of the great tragedies of the Christian life is that if we fail to enter into a relationship with God that is born of the Holy Spirit, we are left with a religion, not a relationship".   

People need the Lord

Know that God loves you,

                                    Lyndi

During a speech at a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson was called upon to pray and here is his prayer:  

 "Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen."

Ahh

Ahh, Sunday ... the best day of the week to be “re-righteoused”. I use to wonder how on earth can I go so wrong in one short week. I can go from slightly askew to a great big falling short of the glory of God. Don't you just know not too many of us need a revelation of how sinful we are? I know when I sin ... don't you? I am the classic snapper --- like one of those snippy little dogs. Before you know what happened you are missing a head. I married a classic volcano and together we created four beautiful children. Sweet & proud smile. Ok, so we all need Jesus. The one thing we can all count on when we are acting out of our sin nature is the creepy one (devil) will remind us of our sins. Even friends and loved ones sometimes point out our sins. What you need, instead, is a revelation of how forever righteous you are in God’s eyes, especially when you sin.

It is not what you do that makes you righteous. It is what Christ has done at Calvary. Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s [Adam] disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” It is the obedience of one Man — Christ — and not your obedience, that has made you righteous!

A pearl to string: When you are conscious of this gift of righteousness that is everlasting, you will live as a person saved from death! You'll learn to be guided by the Holy Spirit and not be run over by sin, bad habits, sicknesses, lack or anything that holds you back from a victorious life!

Living under the shadow of His wing
protected and loved,
                            Lyndi

2 Corinthians 5:21 "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him".

Happy Resurrection Sunday

What?

It really helps me understand God's Word when I know what the Scripture verse I am reading is addressing.  To be fully understood it must be kept in context. You've probably had the experience of opening the Bible when you were hurting and searching for help.  Lo and behold a single verse comes right off the page and ministers to your present need by giving you a heart hug.  Awesome isn't it?  That's the Holy Spirit ministering to you.....that's personal.  Early in my walk with the Lord my understanding was not based on knowledge and study of Scripture.  In my youth my understanding was based on my personal experience.  Personal experience is only the part of truth that I am seeing and may not coincide with the big picture.  In fact, experience alone doesn’t make you better it just makes you, well… older (ha!).  I noticed in experiencing those wonderful moments when I just opened the Bible and was ministered to that I confused the true meaning of that particular Scripture verse with the ministering application to the momentary need.  Over the years that led to many places in the Bible that I just didn't understand. Places that seem to contradict Scripture that I did understand. 

Here's an example where God used warning as the means to the end of fulfilling His promise.  It's not a contradiction at all but if you read a single verse without understanding the whole picture you may confuse yourself. 

Promises of Divine Security:
"there will be no loss of life among you..." (Acts 27:22)
"God has granted you all those...with you." (Acts 27:24)
"not a hair will fall from the head of any..." (Acts 27:34) 

Warning of Human Responsibility:
"Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." (Acts 27:31)  

Now, how in the world could God possibly warn of those sailors losing their lives, since He just promised that they wouldn't lose their lives? It's simple...God used the warning of death to keep them in the ship, to preserve them from death. 

A pearl to string: Likewise, God uses the command to repent, as the means to grant repentance. And, He uses the command to believe, as a means to give the gift of faith. And, He uses the invitations to come to Christ, as the means to draw sinners to Christ for salvation and eternal life with the Father.  

Because He loves us all,

                                  Lyndi