By Jill Friedman
When someone does something for you out of their heart and you say, "thanks," they often say, "Don't mention it." They did it with love and it didn't hurt them at all because they cared or had it to spare.
There are other times when a person can bring up a matter over and over and nag because of their own dissatisfaction. You wish they would stop "mentioning it." It's kind of the reverse of the above. They expected you to meet their need and because you didn't they keep reminding you over and over in the hopes that you will yet do it, or because they can't get it off their mind.
My mother like this motto, "If more husbands were self-starters, their wives wouldn't have to be a crank." It's also true that some never stop focusing on others' imperfections but can't or won't fix their own.
Some time back my brother told me that God was really dealing with him about studying to be quiet. He is now a really good listener - to the point that you sometimes feel you're having a one-sided conversation. So many things are better left unspoken. Like the carpenter's motto, "Measure twice and saw once." - the same can be said for speaking.
The Bible says when you do good deeds, do them in secret and your Father will reward you openly. The Bible also says don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing when it comes to good deeds. If we can just go on each day for Jesus - doing our own work to the best of our ability - we will be happier than if we try to stand on yesterday's laurels or moan over its errors.
We can't keep the Old Testament tit for tat, eye for an eye philosophy. Jesus said, If they want your coat, give them your coat also. Somehow we've got to come to the point where we don't fear personal loss. If we accept this society's rigorous agenda and suck in more and more for ourselves, we will never be satisfied.
Twice now, my husband and I have lost nearly everything; once in a partnership breakup, and once in a fire. We have also had our daughter spared after being hit by a van while she was walking to school. At first, it is shocking. Then these near total losses make you realize what is really important and what you really can live without. In spite of all the house stuff we lost, (which was almost everything,) life goes on. But when faced with possibly losing our daughter, the pressure was almost unbearable.
I guess what I'm trying to say is - don't hold on dearly to things that don't count. Letting go of fear and self-seeking goals can give more freedom. Not holding bitterness or resentment; forgetting the bad things that others have done, and that have happened to you will set you free. The Bible says all things work to the good for those that love God and are the called according to His purpose.
Don't speak too much or too soon. Listen. hear. Don't repeat bad news; not over and over in your mind - or - to others. Let it go. Don't mention it. If you think you've done good, let that go too. Keep on doing good and don't dwell on your goodness. Remember, only God is good. Let your love be real, not seeking a reward. Don't mention it!
Editor's Note: Sis. Jill has been a member of New Life Apostolic Church since the mid-1970's. After 34 years of marriage and continued faithfulness to God, she saw her Jewish husband repenting, being baptized in Jesus' Name,and filled with the Holy Ghost, just like the Bible says! She continues faithful, playing her saxophone, teaching little children, singing in the choirs, and blessing us all every so often with the song, "You Must Be Born Again."
Showing posts with label Moving Up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving Up. Show all posts
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Milestones / Graduation
By Marjorie Kinnee
A milestone's not a mill stone,
It's not a cumbersome thing;
It simply means we stop awhile
And see life's on a wing.
Milestones show how far we've come,
How far we've yet to go;
Provide a sense of where we've been
And set our hearts aglow.
The road ahead is yet unknown
Its joys and sorrows hidden;
Going back is not a choice,
To higher ground we're bidden.
For some it's graduation
From lesser, tamer shoals,
And launching out into the deep;
Uncharted, higher goals.
In life, there's many milestones,
from the cradle to the grave;
We're ever hoping, learning,
absorbing what others gave.
And when this life is over,
And our race on earth is run;
May we hear our Father saying,
"Welcome home, My child, Well done!"
Editor's Note: Three high school graduations, and graduations from kindergarten, elementary, and middle school, as well as promotions and home-goings to glory mark this year's month of June. While millstones only tie us down and hinder us from moving on into future victories - milestones help us reminisce and make new pledges for continued growth and progress. The future is full of promise for the child of God!
On Eagle's Wings...
By Rufus M. Parker
Text: Job 39:27-30 - "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she."
The eagle is a unique bird. Everything we read about him seems to portray what a child of God should be. Some have even called us Eagle Christians. From my reading about the eagle, his eyesight is very keen. His strength and agility exceed all other fowl. His ability to soar above danger is unmatchable. He proves his abilities to his mate before they birth offspring. He mates for life. And when he becomes ill, he places himself in the sun. These are just a few of the things I've read about the eagle.
It seems that this bird understands life to its fullest. The Lord asked Job, "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?" She makes her home on something high and solid. The rock. High means that she places it away from danger. A rock is something firm and unmovable.
If we would study and build our lives according to the ways of the eagle, we too would protect our families and ourselves from danger, and not be easily moved. Life is so much easier when we follow God's ways.
Editor's Note: Bro. Rufus Parker, former UPCI Missionary to Okinawa, now pastors Calvary Apostolic Church (UPC) in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. He has authored several books, including "Reflections of the Man in the Mirror" and publishes a daily devotional called "Morning Manna." http://morningmanna-parker.blogspot.com
Text: Job 39:27-30 - "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she."
The eagle is a unique bird. Everything we read about him seems to portray what a child of God should be. Some have even called us Eagle Christians. From my reading about the eagle, his eyesight is very keen. His strength and agility exceed all other fowl. His ability to soar above danger is unmatchable. He proves his abilities to his mate before they birth offspring. He mates for life. And when he becomes ill, he places himself in the sun. These are just a few of the things I've read about the eagle.
It seems that this bird understands life to its fullest. The Lord asked Job, "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?" She makes her home on something high and solid. The rock. High means that she places it away from danger. A rock is something firm and unmovable.
If we would study and build our lives according to the ways of the eagle, we too would protect our families and ourselves from danger, and not be easily moved. Life is so much easier when we follow God's ways.
Editor's Note: Bro. Rufus Parker, former UPCI Missionary to Okinawa, now pastors Calvary Apostolic Church (UPC) in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. He has authored several books, including "Reflections of the Man in the Mirror" and publishes a daily devotional called "Morning Manna." http://morningmanna-parker.blogspot.com
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Wallbuilders
(A Closer Look at Nehemiah)
Wallbuilders are amazing people. These are they who see what needs to be done and give of themselves; time, energy, finances, influence, and support toward completing what's necessary. They rarely have to be asked, they volunteer - from their own heart, their own burden, just because it needs to be done. The man, Nehemiah, was not only a wallbuilder himself, he inspired others to join and give willingly of themselves as well.
We first Nehemiah him in Shushan, when his brother, Hanani, came reporting the conditions in the city of Jerusalem and of the remnant that was living there. Under a heavy burden, Nehemiah began fasting, praying, and repenting for his people. He asked God to grant him mercy from King Artaxerxes, whom he served as cupbearer. One day, while waiting on the king, Nehemiah's face so displayed his inner turmoil, that the king noticed the change. After explaining himself, the result was royal permission to journey to Jerusalem and letters to aid him in rebuilding its walls.
After revealing the favor God had given him with the king, the Jerusalem Jews responded, " 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for this good work." Despite the scorn of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the work began.
Chapter three describes forty-two sections, which made a complete circuit - beginning at the sheep gate and continuing all the way around until it reached the sheep gate again. Each segment was assigned to a specific family or group, (even some daughters were involved!) with periodic comments about the quality of work performed. They worked under tremendous pressure, because Sanballat and his crew were "very wroth" - determined to fight and cause trouble. But Nehemiah put half of his own servants to work on the walls and the other half to stand guard with weapons ready. In addition, those who were working on the wall segments, carried tools in one hand and weapons in the other. Work continued from sunrise until the stars came out - and the workers stayed in Jerusalem to be close at hand. They even slept in their clothes, only taking them off to wash. You see, "the people had a mind to work!"
Not only did Nehemiah use his own servants in the tasks of building and defending, he also fed, at his own table, 150 Jews and rulers, over and above those who'd come from among the heathen to help. Seeing that the bondage was heavy upon the people, he asked for no outside help with the costs of feeding the crowd.
All the while, Sanballat and his cronies were trying every means and suggestion possible to discourage and hinder the work, even to the point where he threatened Nehemiah's life. The walls were up but that gates not yet installed, when a false prophet suggested that Nehemiah take refuge in the temple, he refused, saying, "Should such a man as I flee? And who is there, that being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in." (Nehemiah 6:11) [Note: Those taken into captivity and pressed into the service of royalty, were usually made eunuchs. Though through no fault of their own, this mutilization prohibited them from entering into the temple grounds and destroyed their covenant identity. See also 6:13; II Kings 20:18; Isaiah 56:3-5.]
In 52 short days, the wall was finished, the gates installed, and Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were put to shame because the whole project had God's favor and blessing. In the resulting celebration, thousands of people rejoiced and stood to hear the priest, Ezra, "read in the book of the law, and gave the sense, causing them to understand the reading. ...for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:5-12)
The rest of the story deals with the courage and zeal with which Ezra and Nehemiah cleansed the temple, reinstituted the priesthood, and exhorted and taught the people; praising the faithful, and rebuking, reproving, correcting those who broke faith.
It seems to me that wallbuilders have the Gift of help. They're a unique breed, with the ability to see beyond what's required to get by, and envision what could be. Would that the Body of Christ would be infused with wallbuilders in our time!
Wallbuilders are amazing people. These are they who see what needs to be done and give of themselves; time, energy, finances, influence, and support toward completing what's necessary. They rarely have to be asked, they volunteer - from their own heart, their own burden, just because it needs to be done. The man, Nehemiah, was not only a wallbuilder himself, he inspired others to join and give willingly of themselves as well.
We first Nehemiah him in Shushan, when his brother, Hanani, came reporting the conditions in the city of Jerusalem and of the remnant that was living there. Under a heavy burden, Nehemiah began fasting, praying, and repenting for his people. He asked God to grant him mercy from King Artaxerxes, whom he served as cupbearer. One day, while waiting on the king, Nehemiah's face so displayed his inner turmoil, that the king noticed the change. After explaining himself, the result was royal permission to journey to Jerusalem and letters to aid him in rebuilding its walls.
After revealing the favor God had given him with the king, the Jerusalem Jews responded, " 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for this good work." Despite the scorn of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the work began.
Chapter three describes forty-two sections, which made a complete circuit - beginning at the sheep gate and continuing all the way around until it reached the sheep gate again. Each segment was assigned to a specific family or group, (even some daughters were involved!) with periodic comments about the quality of work performed. They worked under tremendous pressure, because Sanballat and his crew were "very wroth" - determined to fight and cause trouble. But Nehemiah put half of his own servants to work on the walls and the other half to stand guard with weapons ready. In addition, those who were working on the wall segments, carried tools in one hand and weapons in the other. Work continued from sunrise until the stars came out - and the workers stayed in Jerusalem to be close at hand. They even slept in their clothes, only taking them off to wash. You see, "the people had a mind to work!"
Not only did Nehemiah use his own servants in the tasks of building and defending, he also fed, at his own table, 150 Jews and rulers, over and above those who'd come from among the heathen to help. Seeing that the bondage was heavy upon the people, he asked for no outside help with the costs of feeding the crowd.
All the while, Sanballat and his cronies were trying every means and suggestion possible to discourage and hinder the work, even to the point where he threatened Nehemiah's life. The walls were up but that gates not yet installed, when a false prophet suggested that Nehemiah take refuge in the temple, he refused, saying, "Should such a man as I flee? And who is there, that being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in." (Nehemiah 6:11) [Note: Those taken into captivity and pressed into the service of royalty, were usually made eunuchs. Though through no fault of their own, this mutilization prohibited them from entering into the temple grounds and destroyed their covenant identity. See also 6:13; II Kings 20:18; Isaiah 56:3-5.]
In 52 short days, the wall was finished, the gates installed, and Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were put to shame because the whole project had God's favor and blessing. In the resulting celebration, thousands of people rejoiced and stood to hear the priest, Ezra, "read in the book of the law, and gave the sense, causing them to understand the reading. ...for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:5-12)
The rest of the story deals with the courage and zeal with which Ezra and Nehemiah cleansed the temple, reinstituted the priesthood, and exhorted and taught the people; praising the faithful, and rebuking, reproving, correcting those who broke faith.
It seems to me that wallbuilders have the Gift of help. They're a unique breed, with the ability to see beyond what's required to get by, and envision what could be. Would that the Body of Christ would be infused with wallbuilders in our time!
Monday, October 31, 2011
So You Would Know...
By Marjorie Kinnee
As our choir sang Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir's, "So You Would Know", the words filled my mind... "Didn't I put food on your table? showed up when the bills were due? When the pain was wracking your body, didn't I send healing down to you?"
As our choir sang Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir's, "So You Would Know", the words filled my mind... "Didn't I put food on your table? showed up when the bills were due? When the pain was wracking your body, didn't I send healing down to you?"
Breaking into my consciousness was the realization that we humans are bogged down with here and now. We are bound by what we can feel with our hands, see with our eyes, and hear with our ears. We think in terms of the tangible; houses, cars, loved ones, physical, and material things. And thus we flounder in fetters fashioned by our own frailties.
It seemed to me those first lines aptly picture the restrictions we place on the God of the universe. We limit His approach, His ability to speak to us on any higher level because we are so chained to the earthy.
We're not alone in this. Matthew tells us of a return visit Jesus made to His hometown, Nazareth. Speaking in their synagogue, He astonished them with His teaching. Their response was, "Where is all this coming from? We know His mother, His brothers and His sisters. They live right here with us, so how is it that He's like this?" His Nazarene neighbors were offended in Him. (See Matthew 13:53-57.) The sad conclusion is... "And He did not many might works there because of their unbelief." (Matthew 13:58)
Limiting God on any level amounts to unbelief and such limitations end up tying His hands! We restrict Him to touching us through earth-bound things because we're too dim of eye-sight, too dull of hearing, and too locked in the tangible to perceive the intangible realities He offers so freely. We place the greatest weight on what we see and feel. But in reality, the realm of the Spirit is far more weighty. It's our perception that's awry. The last lines of the chorus introduce the perception He longs for in and from us. "When you were lost in sin and sorrow," (this can only be perceived in one's spirit,) "I died to set you free..." (His response and solution to our spiritual predicament,) So you would know..." (perceive/understand)
He wants so much more than just restricted access. Everything He desires, His very purpose and plan for us is wrapped up in us realizing there is so much more than just the here and now. At the foot of the cross we begin to glimpse the glorious intent He had, (and has,) for us. He wants us to move up and out of the dirt and dust - to a higher plain. The cross not only reveals His overwhelming love for us, it also is the launch point to a whole new spiritual world of eternal light and life.
Oh yes, "bars of bone" as another songwriter put it, "hold my soul." But there is coming a day, and it's not far away, when those bars will vanish and what was truly important will fill our view for ever and ever. What a pity, what a waste, to fritter away His overtures, His wooing. Even now His Spirit draws us, "Come up hither, My beloved. Forsake earthly things." Can you hear His voice...? "So you would know... So you would know how much... So you would know just how much I love you!"
MJKinnee
MJKinnee
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