Encouragement...God's way....

      We live near the coast.  Therefore, we have quite a few various kinds of seashells strewn about our yard for aesthetic effects.  They all have their own beauty and allure.
     Today, I looked down to see the piece of an abalone shell that the puppy had gnawed on.  The sunlight was reflecting off of it just right to bring out all of it's natural visual brilliance.  I was entranced by it's beauty.
     Then a string of thoughts started flooding  through my mind.  How, that unless the abalone shell is exposed to the light, and taken from it's darkened lair from under the sea;  no one will ever see the beauty that is hidden within it.  How that one of  God's most enchanting of seashells is hidden in the most darkest of places.  Held fast, and tight, against the rocks, in a world that half the planet cannot survive in because it breathes air and not water. I had to wonder. Why would the Creator keep such a thing held for only a limited amount of people and creatures to ever see?  Why?

     Then, the thought train switched tracks. Instead of contemplative, the thoughts became active in stance, and assimilated with His Word.  I sensed how that there is a lot of "hidden beauty" in the world that most of us ignore,or are blind to, because we choose not to see it.  We don't bother to take the time to investigate it...turn over rocks, dust off a little dirt, so to speak. We don't shine the Light on these hidden gems, and therefore aren't able to see the beauty that was there the whole time.  Beauty designed by God, that was hidden, protected sometimes from the battering of life's stormy seas. I  was guilty, and I was challenged.
     For me the abalone is one of the prettiest shells on the planet.  It's colors and luminescent glow is unmatched by the hundreds of other shells that line the beach everyday on an afternoon stroll.  Knowing where it came from, and how it lived, and survived; makes it's allure all that much more enticing when finding one.
     I cannot help but know that God was teaching me something today.  That shining His Light even in the dark, speaking His Word directly to and illuminating that special beauty that lies within us all; can free and uncover a hidden treasure that no one ever knew was there.  Can I use this story to challenge you to speak light into the darkness, to bless the beauty within, someone today!
     I am going on a human abalone shell hunt.  I want God to use me as a light that doesn't expose the darkness only as a means of pointing a finger.  But instead, using me as a light that illuminates the beauty that He placed within those hidden by the darkness. Those who really want to come into the Light so that they can be admired, and cherished. Happy hunting!
    

Miraculous Neck healing.. a video testimony...

     I wanted to share this video that I received from a very reputable ministry adjacent to our church.  It's  a woman giving her testimony about her severely damaged neck being miraculously healed.  I would encourage you to take the 11 minutes and hear her story and then glorify God for His grace and love.  The best thing is that He is no respecter of persons, so you can be healed ,too!

That's it, my mind is made up!"......

     " That's it, my mind is made up!"' how often have you heard that phrase?  Or possibly the accompanying phrase, " Oh, they are just set in their ways!".  Probably, too often.  They are used by, and spoken of, those people who will not, or simply refuse to change.  People who have come to accept a certain rigid mindset.  In a cosmos where our thinking filters how we see the world, ourselves, and others; a mindset seems to be a either a potent weapon for change or a handicap which can hobble us from living victoriously.
     There is an old Keith Green song that I just love.  One that casts a somewhat farcical view on such matters.  It is called , " So, you wanna go back to Egypt?".

     In this somewhat mocking composition, he presents the children of Israel as living in delusion.  They are musing about how good they had it while they were living in slavery and bondage.  They seemingly negate the daily goodness of God, while he is walking them through a quick maturing process while in the Wilderness.  It is God's variation of shock and awe. And they were not living up to their fullest potential because they still had the old mindset of a slave.

     In slavery, they had food, shelter, and clothing.  In the desert, they had food ( manna), they had shelter ( a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night), and they had clothing ( that simply never wore out!).  In slavery, they had harsh overseers, taskmasters, and huge work project to accomplish.  In the desert, they had overseers( Moses and Aaron), taskmasters ( self governing tribal leadership), and they had huge work projects to accomplish ( gathering the manna, worshipping God, and getting 1.3 million people across the desert in 40 days).  In Egypt, they had to obey the voice of Pharaoh.  In the Wilderness, they had to obey the voice of God.  In Egypt they had supernatural deliverance.  In the Desert, they had supernatural provision.

     But, between all of these contrasts and comparisons, they had one thing that obviously didn't dramatically change.  It was their mindset.  They still retained the mind of a slave.  In the face of daily signs and wonders, in the end it was their mindsets that sentenced them to having to wander the Wilderness for 40 years.  They could simply not overcome a lifetime of what was, to obtain the reality of what is!  God had changed their environment.  But, they had refused to transform their minds in the light of their new reality.  This is why the Word says that we are to be " transformed by the renewing of your mind". ( Romans 12:2)
     We, like the children of Israel, were born slaves into another kingdom.  But, if you are saved in Jesus you are now in the Kingdom of Heaven. The whole salvation transformation goes way beyond just raising your hand, saying a prayer, regularly attending church, and following some rules and regulations for moral conduct.  Most civic organizations will ask you to do pretty close to  the same thing.  God has called his citizens to be transformed.
     If you really want to get a handle on this scripture, the word in Romans 12:2 translated transformation is the exact same word that is translated as transfiguration in Matthew 17:2.  It is metamorphosis.  Literally, to breakthrough a wall/ barrier and transition.  On the Mount of Transfiguration ( Transformation), Jesus didn't just become a better person.  He was like a butterfly, momentarily transformed.
      The Word encourages us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  This is not Dr. Phil semi-religious psycho-babble, but instead a truth that leads to victory both now, and in the hereafter.  As, Christians, not only do our hearts need to change but so do our minds.  Let's put it this way, as a faithful follower of Christ, our minds cannot think, reason,or believe the same way that they did from the day that we were saved until now.  In, fact, the two should be two very different blobs of grey matter.  If not, we will fall prey to dying off in the desert of life as opposed to inheriting the Promised Land.
     In the face of the daily supernatural care, provision, and guidance of God in the Wilderness, the first generation of freed Hebrew slaves in 400 years, blew it because of a brainfreeze.  They still had a victim mentality.  The hopes, trust, and aspirations of a slave.  It reminds me of the stories that you hear of people who after losing an amazing amount of weight, get toned, and buffed; yet look in the mirror each day to still see a fat person.  Mind sets kill!
     But, we don't have to live that way any  longer, if you choose.  BE TRANSFORMED, by the renewing ( renovation,the rising up in freshness of Heaven, the gaining of God's perspective of your status change) of your mind.  The Promised Land is yours to gain!