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Last year, I did a post with my nephew, Micah, who was concerned that we seemed to be skipping Thanksgiving. He had observed that we were decorating for Christmas and playing Christmas songs before our annual November family feast. This year, I felt as if I wanted to rush Thanksgiving, myself. Being in a new home, I have been eager to decorate. I bought a few new decor items, but I have been excited to see how my old items look against the new backgrounds. I would not let myself do that, but before our guests left, the Christmas wreath was hanging on the front door! Now that we are, in my opinion, within the Christmas season, I am actually thinking ahead to 2022. Crazy, I know! My older son has decided to graduate high school early, and head on to college. The college acceptance letter we had been waiting for arrived, by email, the night before Thanksgiving, so now we must prepare. A part of me is in panic-mode. Another part of me is in disbelief. And another part of me is sitting back awaiting instruction. Instruction from whom, you might wonder. Well, back in April 2020, my son said to me, “Mom, I’m thinking about graduating early, would you let me do that?” My response, with raised eyebrows, “Hmmm, you know...that might be a good idea. Pray about it, and if you and the Lord are in agreement, I will be in agreement, too.” Typically, without the frustrations of a pandemic, my response would have been, no, you don’t need to do that, these next few months of maturity are important, let’s just stick with the natural order of things. Since I told my son to pray about it and if he and the Lord were in agreement, I would be in agreement, I am currently awaiting instruction from the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to make a mess of things. I don’t know what to do, so I am being still. At this point, I really don’t know what to do. I am thinking ahead, but more importantly, I am praying ahead. I don’t know what the tuition will be. I don’t know if he should take his car. I don’t know where he will live, who his roommate will be, whether he will play football, what his major will ultimately be, or if he is mature enough for any of this! I don’t know. Because I don’t know, I must rely on the One who knows! When He speaks, I will listen. When He speaks I will be obedient. His plans are greater than mine. Amen. A few Scripture to close: ~Psalm 46:10 He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." ~Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. ~Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Thank you for reading! Kim
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Ye of little faith. Do you really think I need a tree to provide a shadow? Look, the tree is gone, but there is a shadow. Quit your obsessing and trust in me. In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus and His disciples are in a boat when a storm begins to stir. Jesus is sleeping, but the disciples are being tormented by the wind and rain. In desperation, they wake Him saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Earlier in this chapter, we read about several other miracles Jesus performed. He heals a man with Leprosy. They saw the centurion’s servant healed of paralysis by Jesus merely speaking that he should be healed. We read about Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law of fever. Then when the storm arises, they are afraid. Is this not how we operate today? We know God, we know His love, we know His power. We know He is in control of all Creation, but when there is a situation, we resort to fear. In what ways might you be suffering from less than enough faith? Are you in a financial bind and need His guidance to make ends meet? Are you in a relationship that needs to be mended in a way that only He can? Are you grieving the loss of a loved one and don’t think you will ever feel whole again? Are you praying for the salvation of a loved one, but he/she continues to live a lifestyle that dishonors God? Are you waiting for a prayer to be answered and don’t see any resolution? Have faith. He can and He will. Do your part - be obedient. Faith without works is dead. Do what you are supposed to do. Yes, you must pray, but maybe you also should send a text or an email. Maybe you must submit to an earthly authority. Do your part and He will take care of the rest. There is no problem too big or too small for Him. Have faith. Amen.
Thank you for reading! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Kim If you have a red letter Bible, you can easily distinguish the words of Jesus, I’d say those are some of the most powerful words in the Bible. We read in Matthew 8, some of the miracles Jesus performed. His conversation with the Centurion is below.
In those times a Centurion was the leader of 100 soldiers in the Roman army. Their years of faithful service was what promoted them to this rank. Their servants, however, had no legal rights, they were property. This Centurion, however, had great comparison for his suffering servant and he believed Jesus had the power and authority to heal. He didn’t even believe Jesus’s physical presence was necessary. He said, “if Jesus would, just say the word, and his servant would be healed.” We read in v.10, that Jesus was amazed, and remarked on the Centurion’s great faith.
This amazed me. We read in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” I know I’m not perfect. I know that I am not even close. I know that my actions are much closer to perfection than my internal thoughts and dialogue. But I also know He knows my thoughts and motivations, so I am back to imperfect. To know that Jesus was impressed by the Centurion’s faith is a challenge to me. I wonder what Jesus would say about me! Would He be impressed by any aspect of my faith? This idea challenges me to examine myself, my attitude towards others, my attitude towards my sin. The previous chapters of Matthew contain Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount. He teaches us how to live - not just how to behave, but how to think, the proper attitude we should take, how to pray, and what a repentant heart really is. He knows we will never be perfect, but challenges us to live as He demonstrated. How are you living? What would Jesus say about you? Amen. Thank you for reading. Kim  A few weeks ago I posted on Facebook that I had never noticed how dramatically sunrise changed throughout the seasons until now. I hadn’t noticed it before because I had always slept through it. I wrote about how God made the Earth and tilted it exactly 23.5 degrees on its axis. This combined with its 24-hour daily rotation and 365-day revolution around the sun causes the seasons. Well, that’s the scientific explanation of seasons, but knowing God as I do, He probably had other reasons that this would be so. I speculated that it’s because He knows mankind very well - He knows mankind better than mankind knows mankind! Maybe He decided to give us four seasons to keep us interested in the natural things and away from sin.
Way back in Genesis He said, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Gen. 8:22) I don’t know how many thousands of years it’s been since these words were written, but they are certainly still true. Most people have a favorite time of year, but there are exciting things to do in every season. Our change of address has shown me new interests I never knew I had. I never knew the joy that working in the yard could bring. In the past I planted shrubs that did not flower, but now I shop for flowers that will bloom at different times of the year. I had no idea Camelias bloomed in the winter! I have never desired to decorate for fall. This year I bought some mums and a scarecrow for the front porch and fall wreath to hang in the kitchen. All of these things are new for me! Certainly, this is not my first trip around the sun, but on this 45th trip, I am realizing that I don’t know how many more trips I have! Nor do I know who will continue to take these trips along with me! Rather than watching it all happen and waiting ‘til next year,’ to decorate my porch, I’m doing it right now! The Lord has prompted us all to experience the seasons and we should experience them to the full! I encourage you to allow the orange, red and yellow trees to bring smiles of awe to your face this fall. Celebrate it. Have friends over. This is the season of roasting marshmallows and sipping on vegetable soup. I’ve seen the Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes on store shelves, but to me it’s too soon for that! It’s pumpkin time until the end of November! At that point we can prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Personally, I am not upset about the supply chain interruptions that threaten to keep our store shelves bare. Hopefully it will help us to celebrate the true meaning of the season. Christmas is about giving, but it’s giving and showing love, not expensive presents that will make us slaves to the lender through the following year! Give love and show love like God demonstrated by giving us His one and only Son who takes away the sins of the world. Amen. Thank you for reading! This year, change with the seasons! Kim |
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