Cast It Off

 

Casting all your care upon Him;
for He careth for you.
I Peter 5:7

One of the interesting things to observe in our mountains is the fishing that goes on. There are those primarily men who are very serious about their fishing. The are outfitted from head to food in their fishing attire that includes their waders. The gear they carry looks to be some of the best that can be purchased. Some just stand on the bank and throw their lines half-way in to our river. Some stand in the middle of the river and cast their lines with great bravado either up or downstream. They have become experts at casting their lines right where they want the lure to land in the water.

One year in our small church, the Vacation Bible School leaders decided to include the junior high kids in VBS that year. It was one of the best Bible Schools I can remember being a part of. We did much more in the way of Bible memory that summer. I'll never forget learning that verse from I Peter 5:7 but must admit that I didn't fully understand it. One leader said that it meant we were to give our problems to Jesus. Her assistant added that the word casting was stronger than just giving over our problems to Jesus. It was more like tossing them to Him.

As of late, I've come across some folks who are facing some very difficult situations, the kind of situations we want to jump in and take care of on our own. One person I know is facing some real financial difficulties. A parent is struggling with a child's serious health issues. There are about three ladies I know who also have some health issues they are facing. Some parents I know are trying to deal with a wayward teenager. A friend of mine has recently gone through a broken engagement. Those of you who read this could add to this list many times over.

Whatever problems I face, I'm not going to go down to our river with a fishing rod. Whatever casting I do is going to have to be within me...person to person with Jesus. So how do I suggest we do this:

C - Commit your burden to the Lord. As a child of God, He wants His children to feel such an intimacy with Him that we can turn any problem or care over to him, much like children go to their parents with problems. God has the power to do what we cannot.

A - Ask in prayer for His help. We will often turn to everyone but Him when we are facing problems. Philippians 4:6,7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and mindsthrough Christ Jesus.”

S - Search the Scriptures. We may not feel like getting into a deep Bible study when going through difficulties but we should have some emergency Scriptures in our arsenal of Bible verses both in the way of favorite chapters (often Psalms) or verses we have memorized. There is both physical and spiritual strength in the word of God.

T - Trust God. He really does care for us even more than we could ever care for our own children. Proverbs 3:5 admonishes us to: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” It's in the tough times we want to implement our own wisdom and know-how. We are to be as wise as possible in whatever decisions we have to make but trusting God with everything we are is the key.

In our society today, there has come to be a rather new term...”caregiver.” We read about them or even may know someone who falls into this kind of responsibility. If the day comes that I need a caregiver, it will be devastating for me. When I need a caregiver, it will mean that there is very little I can do for myself as I will be too ill or disabled to even do some of the least of things for myself. What a blessing caregivers are. Their job is not easy and entails a heavy responsibility and we are grateful for everyone of them be they parents, special nurses, etc. We're in a day when we know we need them. In it all though, I hope we can’t lose sight of our very best Caregiver. We don't have to have cancer, a broken leg, old age or incapacitated in come way. He is on duty 24/7 and extends care to us whether we are in danger, ill or healthy as can be. He's the best and we can't forget that.

We will have seasons of rest in our lives and it's during those times we can come along side of those who are going through some tough times of care. They need our spiritual support and love as we encourage them to take everything to THE One and only Who has the answer to every problem or care. When we feel that no one understands...no one cares...we must cling to the fact that Jesus, our personal Caregiver cares deeply about us and any problem or concern that comes our way.

Dear Jesus...I am thinking right now of some folks are dear to me who are going through some tough stuff right now. I wish I could spare them some way from what they are going through but I know that You are the only One who can reach deeply into their circumstances and fill them with Your peace and assurance. May they sense Your presence right now like never before. I love you....In Your Precious Name....Amen

It's Not An Amusement Park

 

Enter His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise:

be thankful unto Him, and

bless His name.

Psalm 100:4

Last Sunday, I was reminded of one of my favorite teachers of all time...Mrs. Lilley, who taught in my junior high school. One class she taught was a combination of penmanship and orthography. First day in her class, I pretty much knew what would be involved when it came to penmanship, but knew nothing about orthography. At first I didn't like that part of the class, but it came to be one of the most valuable classes I had in all of my educational experience including college. In orthography we basically learned how to dissect a word that contained two or more syllables putting the meaning of those parts of the word together to define the word. It is a “skill” I continue to use to this day.

For an example of how this skill benefits me today, I was recently reminded in one of my pastors sermons, of the word “amuse.” For some reason, I quickly scanned that word and it's two parts in my mind. It immediately struck a spiritual chord with me. That “a” at the beginning of “amuse” means “no,not.” The second part of the word, “muse” means to “think or meditate.” So “a-muse” means in essence to not think or meditate. When amused or being amused, you and I are removed from serious thinking or meditating..a diversion so to speak from the serious, to being amused or entertained.

Have you noticed in recent years the trend of many of our churches across America to go the amusement route. Churches are giving up on having choirs...now they have what my husband refers to as a “chorus lines.” Many are going to the music of the world...same melody line and beat with Christian words applied and not even that many words. Many Sunday schools are going to group teaching or should I say entertaining their children and youth. Folks don't seem to have a deep interest in good Bible preaching. Many church attenders want to attend and leave with not much of a change in their lives.

What's the point? We must be very careful in today's spiritual climate to avoid spiritual amusement as much as possible. That doesn't mean we don't smile, laugh or have a good time at church. It does mean having a good perspective on what is appropriate for the local church. I wonder sometimes what the early church fathers in Jerusalem would think if they could come back and visit some of our churches. What would Paul think of a rock 'n roll atmosphere in some services? I think they would all be shocked and sickened.

I have looked at some churches' bulletins to see what activities are offered to mostly “amuse” their members. I found some really amazing activities. Some such activities are: Garden Club, Book Club, exercise classes of various types, Sewing Circles, and yes, there are some Bible study groups. Many Bible study groups are taught through videos which can easily become entertainment in nature. I see children in church playing computer games and have even seen adults doing it as well. Often you and I hear phones ring during a service. We have someone in our church who has a phone alarm that goes off at about five minutes before the end of our Sunday morning service. Can't figure that one out unless it's meant to be a hint to the pastor that his time is about up.

Believe it or not, I'm not mad at anyone. I do think we've gotten so far away from what the church is meant to be. It's primarily to win the lost to Christ and then grow those babes in Christ to some maturity. It's also for the purpose of teaching and growing Christians to even greater spiritual maturity. It's to serve others who are in need and needs can certainly vary in our day as well as in those early days of the church.

Is Jesus not enough for us anymore or is this entertainment and electronic age keeping us from what He would desire that we be. Sometimes even our minds can be pre-occupied with circumstances that can keep us from times of worship in our church services. I often find myself guilty of having the straying thoughts and not on the things that are important at that time.

As is usual, Scripture gives us some answers and we see that in Psalm 100. We can even train our children regarding some of these things and hope that they will also learn by our example. From verse four we are told (no suggestion) to:

• Enter His gates with thanksgiving
• Enter with praise
• Be thanking to Him
• Bless His name

If we approach a church service with those attitudes, I wonder how much more our lives would be enriched for good and for God. He so deserves our undivided attention even if we need to work hard at removing unnecessary distractions. In it all, may our supreme desire be to please our Heavenly Father in all things, loving Him like we've never loved Him before and giving Him our undivided attention. He deserves no less of us, especially when in our church services.

Dear Father, forgive me for being so inattentive at times when in Your house where I should worship You instead of having a wandering mind. I love You but want to love You even more.  Help me to take advantage of every opportunity in my church and elsewhere to worship you. In Jesus' precious name....Amen.

So Blessed!

O love the Lord, all ye his saints:

for the Lord preserveth the faithful,

and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Be of good courage, and He shall

strengthen your heart, all ye that

hope in the Lord.

Psalm 31:23,24

Recently, a young, dear relative of mine put something very special on FB that featured two groups of people. Both groups live far away from our country but we share with them, I trust, a love for the most precious book in the world...the Bible.

The first group featured was of the Kimyal tribe in Indonesia. Those people were shown in a brief film, gathered at an air field awaiting the landing of a plane. Most of the tribe had already been saved and regularly receive great preaching. Many were in their tribal attire and the rest dressed like most folks would dress much like we might see in our country except much more decently. They were singing, crying, rejoicing, clapping in anticipation of the small plane's arrival. When the plane landed, everything was very orderly. Tribal leaders walked slowly to the plane where a pilot handed them a huge package. It was the arrival of God's word in their own language. Many had memorized verses and chapters of it already, but now, people in the tribe could have their own copy of the New Testament. The whole tribe was there, happy and rejoicing out in the open with no threats or pressure brought about by anyone including whatever government was involved. It's interesting that the older members of the tribe wanted the Bibles to go first to the younger members of the tribe. It was hoped they would begin building a firm foundation in their lives and families based on the Word of God.

The second short film was totally different from the Kimyal tribe. It featured a secret gathering of Christians in China. The room was filled with young adult Christians. Some folks came into the room with two huge suitcases. When opened, there were Bibles in their language. With great reverence, each person approached the suitcases and picked up a Bible. Many wept...many stood kissing their Bibles. Some just closely held their new Bibles to their bodies. China is full of secret churches. One shown was in a cave. One church has a service daily at 4:00 AM for a couple of hours. A visiting pastor preached one day for four hours. Another day, a pastor preached from 8:30 AM-7:00 PM with preferably no breaks. Most attendees stand the entire time. They so love the Lord, each other, the privilege of worship, and God's Word that they will worship by the hour despite what could happen to them if the government found them in their secret places. In one area of China, it is estimated that there are 3,000 secret house churches and that is done at great risk. We need to be praying for those dear saints of God for His protection over them as they worship together.

As I finished watching these brief films, I looked across the room at the two bookcases in my living room. One holds mostly Bibles while the other has Christian books and materials. They are all at my finger tips. I am so spoiled and take so much for granted, and by the way, so do you, my reader friend.

I am a member of a small church and , we have just started our spring ladies Bible study session. I always hope for at least seven ladies. I can't imagine what it would be if I were to sneak into China where I could teach ladies there from God's Word. No telling how many would come even at great risk to their lives not because I would be speaking but because they just want to hear the Word presented anytime they can. In most churches in America, church attendance is slipping. Churches that entertain will usually run a large group of people who go for the entertainment. Baptists have always joked about how if it rains on a Sunday morning, the attendance will be low because “Baptists don't like being sprinkled.” I wonder what happens if it's raining in China when the word goes out that there will be church on a given day. I doubt that they give a good care about rain, storms or muddy shoes.

I wonder too what is done with all of the new Bibles I saw being passed out in both places that were featured. I wonder if they sit on a shelf somewhere, untouched for several days without being read. I seriously doubt that such happens.

In many places such as the the second location mentioned, they practice their faith at great risk...their church attendance must be a secret. Should any word get out about those Chinese Christians receiving Bibles, they could not only have those Bibles confiscated but could perhaps lose their livelihoods or even their lives. They worship and pray at great peril. Even a very good friend could betray those Chinese Christians. These folks find ways to witness to people. They are fearless. When we witness for Christ, the most we face is embarrassment or perhaps the loss of friends which really are small prices to pay.

God needs us, in our day to stand for Him with no shame. It's not just the unsaved that need the Gospel but we too need the feeding of the Word of God. We need to be an influence for God in our nation even among those who claim the name of Christ. We need to look anew at our Bibles...how often we read them...how often we apply to our lives those things we do read. We also need to consider the privilege of worship. Perhaps we need to get back to the basics before we lose some freedoms we too often take for granted.

Lord Jesus...Thank You for the Bible I have at arms reach right now. I thank You for the privilege of regular worship with my Christian family. You have blessed me in abundance and I can't begin to relate to those across the oceans to would love to own a Bible or who would love times of worship without fear. Thank You, Lord Jesus.....Amen

The Well of Our Lives

Eat thou not the bread of him that

hath an evil eye, neither desire thou

his dainty meats:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so

is he....

Proverbs 23:6-7A

Our pastor recently made a comment during a sermon that really got my attention. In fact, I even put it in this weeks church bulletin. I'm just hoping people will catch onto the thought of the comment. He said:

“Whatever is in the well,

will come up in the bucket.”

                                                                  M. Kelley

I was immediately reminded of the verse from Proverbs I have put at the top of this article. There's a lot of pretense in Christian circles today. When a well-known Christian goes astray, folks always wonder what happened to cause that person to “fall.” It's really not hard to figure out. It didn't just happen...it wasn't a moment of slippage...it was what was in the well, the deepest part of one's heart that came up in the bucket...that came to full light.

I dearly love iced tea and have since junior high school. But never in my life even to this day have I had iced tea like that iced tea that was made from country well water. My Uncle Bob and Aunt Dora's farm was a favorite place for us to visit. While adults visited, my sister Kay and I would run over the low hills, play near a very small trickle of a stream and tromp through a nearby wooded area. When I got older, I got to go and spend long weekends with them. I loved playing in the hay loft of the barn, of trying to milk a cow, collecting eggs from the hen house...but the thing I really loved was drawing water out of their well. Aunt Dora had a hand pump at her kitchen sink but the water used for cooking and drinking was pulled from the well by a very long rope attached to a bucket.

I learned how to remove the wooden raft-like cover that secured the well. There were enough bricks around it so that no one could miss where the well was, but the cover was to keep anything out of the well that shouldn't be there. I recall forgetting one time to put the top over the well and Uncle Bob was pretty upset with me. He said, “If a bunch of bugs gets into the well, then you will end up with “buggy water” when you pull the bucket up.” I recall being young enough to not understand the concept but I certainly do now.

What kind of bugs or other varmints are we allowing into the depths of our lives? I don't care how often we attend church, Bible studies, read Bibles, give generously when the offering plate passes us, hold a church office or sing every hymn in the hymnbook by heart, that may be only surfacy stuff. When we leave that protective lid off of our inner being, it's amazing the junk that can get in and taint what God intends to be pure.

I know a Christian lady who is very active in her church. She does so many really good things for people, is very thoughtful of the needs in the lives of others. She is generous almost to a fault and on good days, is a lot of fun. If the bucket is pulled from the depths of her life on any given day, one could find anger, self-centerdness and even evil. It's a very sad thing to behold. Along the days of her life, she has left the cover off that God intended to protect her inner self. May I say that any of us can fall into the same situation. We live in a day where Satan is in attack mode like never before. No where is Satan more active than in our minds. He loves when all we think about are bad things and those things can run the gamut. Our thought lives can keep us upset at people and situations all the time if we dwell there. Satan smiles when we allow our minds to entertain constant flows of evil thoughts, especially about people. Satan wants to taint the well-springs of living water that Jesus has provided for our lives.

I love the incident in Scripture where Jesus meets and speaks with the Samaritan woman in John 4. In verse 14, a precious promise is given by Jesus:

But whosoever drinketh of the water

that I shall give him shall never thirst;

but the water that I shall give him

shall be in him a well of water

springing up into everlasting life.

I love the picture that verse presents. Look at what He gives us...a well of pure water...that springs up...into everlasting life. Why wouldn't I want to keep that well protected from the things of Satan and the world? Why would I want to let bitterness, anger, ill will and a host of other things seep into that well? God will forgive those things and will empower us to overcome those things. We can do anything through Him. Left to ourselves though and at the most inopportune times, that bucket will draw from the well inside of us and what comes up, may not only keep us poisoned but will spill over into the lives of others.

Just remember: “Whatever is in the well, will come up in the bucket.”

Lord Jesus, only You and I know my heart condition. I don't want anything there that will displease You. I want my life to be pure in motive and action. Convict me when I need it and help me to be all for You I can be. I love You....Amen

Hide and Seek

When thou saidst, Seek ye My

face; my heart said unto Thee,

Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

Psalm 27:8

It was an exciting day for me when at the age of 9, our family moved from one house to another. The house we moved to was right behind the grade school I attended. Our move was only about three blocks, but any kind of move seems to put a family into a whole new world.

The wonderful thing about our new location was that school's playground and it was a huge one. It had every kind of play equipment you could think of. There was a regulation softball field and a full basketball court. There was also a smaller softball field for younger kids. I loved some of the very large bushes that landscaped the school grounds because they were big enough to climb under and build a playhouse underneath the bush. We got by with that until “Shorty”, our maintenance man would discover us and chase us out of the bushes with our dolls, doll clothes and blankets. “Shorty” lived in the basement of the school so he was usually alert to anything going on. All I had to do was cross the street to go to school or to play anywhere on the school grounds after school.

Evenings were the best times to play there. I think every adult has a picture of those evenings after supper when it wasn't dark yet and we could play outside until a parent called us home. It was during those times though that we chose to play our “hiding” games. Sometimes we played Kick the Can. Other times, we played One-Two-Three Release but most of the time we played good ole fashioned Hide and Seek. Think of having a more than half of a block to hide on. Most often though we decided on boundary lines as to how far we could go to hide.

I remember one night when it was getting pretty close to dark. A new girl came to play with us and we were going to play Hide and Seek. She didn't have to be “it” the first time. All she had to do was hide and hide she did. In fact, we all had checked in at THE tree and soon went home because parents were calling. No one even thought about that girl that she hadn't checked in at the tree...we just forgot about the new girl. Her mom came looking for her daughter. A couple of us went to help her look. In those days we didn't think about kidnapping or bad things like that. We looked and found her under one of my favorite bushes. (Where was “Shorty” when we needed him.) She hadn't understood the game. She thought someone would come looking for her so she just stayed put until someone showed up. She was cold and looking a little on the frightened side but was fine. I don't think she ever showed up again to play that game with us.

Do you ever feel like that little girl spiritually speaking? There have been times in my life when I have felt hidden away. I may have felt hidden under piles of problems and concerns. I might be hiding out of choice when feeling very alone, when I really don't want to be bothered by people. Illness might keep me cowering under a “big bush” of my own imaginings. I might even feel like the new kid on the block who doesn't quite understand some unfamiliar rules of life where God has planted me. Bottom line, I just might feel a loneliness that comes from feeling shut out by others and may at times ask the question, “Where is God?”

I have news for us...we are called to be seekers. No matter the games of life we become involved in, we are always to have our antenna's up seeking fellowship and leading from our father.

“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.” Is. 55:6

Every now and then, our “Faith Button” might get a little out of whack so Hebrews 11:6 encourages us to keep seeking and believing:

“But without faith it is impossible too please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

The comforting thing is that God, our shepherd is always seeking us. He won't leave us under a bush or under a load of circumstances we can't bear alone. Under the worst of circumstances, He is always seeking us out. I love Ezekiel 34:11:

“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.”

If you want a real blessing, some Scripture to cuddle up with, read that 34^th chapter of Ezekiel, verses 11-16 if you need a refresher course regarding that Great Shepherd in our lives who will always seek us out.

The key, however, is for us to not play games with God. We can't hide from Him anyway even though at times we feel like we have done it successfully. He seeks us to draw near...are we seekers though with a strong desire for His care, wisdom and fellowship. He shouldn't have to come looking for us but we certainly should be ever seeing Him out.

Dear Father...don't give up on me. Keep seeking for me when I stray or try to hide from You. Please beat every bush seeking me out and empower me to be ever seeking a consistent relationship with You. I love you...Amen