Got My Goat

Did someone get your goat last week?  Odd little saying isn’t it - maybe even odd and old.  For all the young whippersnappers reading this – it means someone made you mad. 

 

While researching the origin of this phrase I came across several explanations. The one written about most often I have not witnessed but then I didn't go to horse races at the turn of the 20th century. Please .... I wasn't even around at the turn of the 20th century.

Horses of a high-strung nature were often accompanied by a goat (or a sheep). It was a way of calming a horse down, especially a thoroughbred horse before a race. The legend has it that rivals and crooks deliberately betting against that horse, would steal the goat, resulting in the horse being upset and less able to run a victorious race. The thief would thus have "gotten the horse's goat."  That would make everyone mad when the horse lost the race.   

They may not house race horses with goats these days but after this past election I'd say there were quite a few people who got their goat stolen. Not to fret the good news is anger managements classes are available.  Even better news God's Word addresses the issue of unbridled anger. 

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)   

The verse tells us that we have “this treasure” in earthen vessels. Who is the treasure? Christ! Who are the earthen vessels here? You and I! For patience when facing goat theft thank God the treasure is in the earthen vessels.   

A pearl to string: If you pray for patience and you want God to give it to you right now be aware trials will commence.  If you listen real close you will here God whisper "are you there yet?" after each test.  That taught me to pray for wisdom knowing that patience is the result.  And no tests! Then wisdom taught me to thank God: “Lord Jesus, I thank You that You are my patience.” 

When we rest in and depend on the strengths of our Savior we become the overcomer of the adversity facing us. So don’t get frustrated when you see your “earthiness”. You will always be “earthen” as long as you are in your mortal body, but remember that Christ the treasure is in you when you invite Him into your heart.

 

You are loved,

                 Lyndi

 

Cupped

A story a friend sent along this past week really got me thinking about the things I have whole heartedly pursued along my life road.  Through the years there were changes, growth, lessons to be learned and struggles that would realign my thinking as well as my activity.  Some of those experiences I welcomed and….. some I treated like an ugly bug crawling up my leg.  Freak–out!  Prayed like crazy!  See where your thoughts take you. 

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.  Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - Porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.   

 After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress." 

"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then began eyeing each other.  Now consider this: Life is the coffee and the jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." 

A pearl to string: In Matthew 6 we are encouraged to seek God first and our most important needs will be met.  In Proverbs 1 we are advised to acquire a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair.  In 1 Corinthians 13 we learn that love never fails and it is the greatest of all God made characteristics.  I’ve learned that when my life is contained in the cupped hand of God I don’t spill out all over the floor. Learning to choose the right cup is joy.  

Sipping with Jesus,

              Lyndi 

Sparkle and Shimmer

Ever find yourself mesmerized by the shimmering of the aspen tree leaves? Isn’t it amazing how God shaped their leaves like little hearts, made them a vibrant green on one side and a soft shade of green on the other. As the breeze flutters through, the leaves sparkle and shimmer like no other tree.  Their beauty catches my breath.   

I love gazing at the slender trunks of white and autumn yellow leaves against the back drop of rich dark green pine tree across the face of a mountain. Simply spectacular! It brings joy to my heart.  

Feeling the depth of God’s creation brings precious glimpses of God’s delight over each one of us. Even a gloomy Gus day cannot dim the reality of happiness I have in Jesus’ love nor the joy He has in each one of us.  

We are His treasured jewels, matchless, inimitable, each one of us uniquely defined by God.  When the breeze of God’s Holy Spirit blows on us and through us, we sparkle and shimmer and amazingly reflect God’s joy in us. 

A pearl to string: Try not to dissolve like a human bouillon cube when hot water bubbles around you – Persevere!  God in time gives life to your dreams in a way that surpasses your hope. The Message translation illuminates God’s reality for us in Luke 8:15: “But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there's a harvest”.  Remember the two shaded aspen leaf shaped like a heart sparkles and shimmers even in the rain? When you lean in and trust your creator - you do too! 

Know In His grace we will thrive,

                                                      Lyndi

EROSION

I see erosion of God's Word everywhere.  I see it in people I love, trust and admire.  It's scary to watch.  I'm not talking about evil people... I'm talking about loving people.  People who have a kind heart and care about their fellow man. It's a truth trickle.  Just a little bit of God's Word is discarded and replaced with man's truth. Coach Wonderful calls that cherry picking the Bible - choosing what makes sense to you. The soul can wither with man's compassion for it is only for the season in which he lives.  I know it could happen to me.  I know I could easily be swayed into the world's system of thinking.  So often it seems so right. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.  (Proverbs 13:12)  

I've developed a little test for me. It scares me to think I could fall so easily. If I think something is right and I have not lined it up to the Word of God then I'm wrong!  I need to "Search for the LORD and for HIS strength; continually seek him". (Psalm 105:4) God is my strength: "O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God". (Psalm 59:17) 

If I am reading God's Word everyday then I can live the biblical principles Christ taught:

You have to plant to reap; that is the seedtime harvest principle

You have to serve to lead; that is the Golden Rule.

You have to lose to win; that is God’s game strategy.

You have to give to get; that is God’s investment portfolio.

You have to die to live; that is God’s life insurance policy.

You have to wait to advance; that is God’s proficiency exam.

You have to be last to be first; that is God’s promotion plan.

You have to believe in what you cannot see, in order to see what others cannot believe; that is God’s faith test. (credit: Pastor Dana Gammill, Canton, Ohio)

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9) 

A pearl to string: I've discovered that if I slack off or skip reading God's Word because life gets so busy and full it becomes easier not to study.  When I fail to study I fail to seek.  When I fail to seek I fail to find.  When I fail to find I falter to follow and find myself leading the way which makes me fodder for sin's snares. My only hope in growing in love with Jesus is to be in His Word to walk with Him and talk with Him daily.  It's easy to say you love someone but to actually love them will cost you something.  It cost Jesus his life... that's how much He love you and me.‎

"Busyness in the Kingdom does not make up for neglect of the King."

Don't ever forget how much you are loved

                                                                           Lyndi