Tuesday, August 30, 2016

SIMPLE LIFE RULES



SIMPLE LIFE RULES

I ran across  An 87-Year-Old’s Economic Survival Guide 

In the article a man shares wisdom from his mother, who was about 10, when her family weathered recessive times.

Her advice is wonderful because she is wise enough not to focus ONLY on the dollars and cents of the matter or the circumstances.

-Lean upon God.

-Get back to the basics. Simplify your life.

-Be humble and willing to work.

-Be rich in love.

-Be a part of a community.

-Help someone else.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

A REASON FOR SILENCE


Sometimes we have a reason for silence and quiet.  We have a cross to bear or a duty to perform, or just living.  This morning I came across something that is so true.  I picked up a book after moving, from a box.  It had been in storage a long time. From the time I was a young Christian this author has been a mentor.  Now I am an older Christian woman myself.  Her wisdom and knowledge of living a Christian life have given me pearls of thought about Christ and our Christian lives over the years.  

From "God's Guidance-A Slow & Certain Light"

The taking up of the cross will mean sooner or later saying no to self.  But it is also a resounding yes.  It means saying yes when everything in us says no.  To decide to do the thing that we (and it will seem everybody else in the world) do not want to do because it is not "natural."  And in our giving of wholehearted assent, we find to our amazement that the impossible becomes possible and the things we were sure were beyond us are now within reach, for God's command is his enabling.  Never has he given an assignment that was not accompanied by the power to accomplish it.

The cross entails sacrifice, too.  There is no getting around this.  Christianity has been criticized and rejected by many as an "unnatural" religion, a life that denies living, a negation and not an affirmation.  Jesus never tried to make it look easy.  The principles he taught cut across the grain of human nature: lose your life in order to find it; be poor in spirit if you want to be happy; mourn if you want to rejoice; take the last place if you want the first.  The corn of wheat must first fall into the ground and die if it is ever to produce anything.
  
What we must not forget is that he traveled this road before us. He himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame:--not because he had a particular liking for self-denial and suffering but "because of the joy he knew would follow his suffering.  Think constantly of him enduring all that sinful men could say against him, and you will not lose your purpose or your courage. 

Here is a poem she learned in college and what she says about it.

A few lines I learned while a student in college have come back to my mind, beckoning me when more immediate rewards were attracting my attention:


I heard him call "Come follow."
That was all.
My gold grew dim, my soul went after him.
Who would not follow
If they heard him call?
 by Elisabeth Elliot

Sometimes when we are called by Christ to do a certain thing, and we know some will not understand, we must follow his bidding.  He has a purpose for the future and the people involved that we cannot see.  We may or may not see the reason to take up such a cross.  What we can do is TRUST HIM, for he has the bigger picture in mind. We are but a piece of that picture, if we humbly hear his Call and Follow.   "Taking up the cross", as Elizabeth said, involves sacrifices that we may never have even thought of.  Thanks be to Jesus Christ our strength comes from him to accomplish these things asked of us.
Nana




Friday, January 29, 2016

RESENTMENT


Today I was reading a book that was suggested to me sometime back.  I have read it before and lined, highlighted, and circled areas that pertained to me.

In my 65 years I have gone through many circumstances that I considered good and bad.  One of the key things that have caused me problems is assumptions and resentment.
Looking at someone else's actions or non-actions I have assumed certain things about them.  I did not wait on the Lord to show me the truth, but listened to others who thought the same as myself.  I believe we call this "self-righteousness." 

Through certain trials in my life the Lord showed me how we all assume things by what we see or hear ourselves or from others.  We then act on those assumptions.  We become resentful of our lives or the people in them.  We can become angry, resentful, etc.

One thing I know is the Lord put these people and circumstances in my life to teach me.  Granted I have created some of these problems myself.  But God is always able to teach me when I am willing to listen TO HIM.  He did not forsake me even in my sin. 

If you read your Bible you will see over and over how sinful we all are and how many in the Bible did the same things as we do.  We can learn from that if we are willing, and do not continually think we have to be the right one.  Maybe we should ask the Lord-show "ME"  if I am wrong.
Below is a quote from the Book I read.

Finding God's Path through your Trials-by Elizabeth George
Page 113-114-quotes from

Resent:  Instead of getting onboard and marching forward into the trial in front of us, we resent the roles others play in our difficulty.  Although God is absolutely sovereign in our lives, we mistakenly think others have contributed to our coming to this particular place of pain and suffering. 
But God has a grand plan for our trials.
Resentment is a growth killer.
It is easier to resent our husbands, our job or his job, our children and the trials having them brings each day, or our singleness than it is to face our trials head-on.  It is easier to feel bitter about our in-laws, our parents, our bosses ( and on and on the list of resentees goes) than to grow up out of this immature practice. 
God is at work in life through people--with all their quirks and irritations, with all their shortcomings and sinful behavior.

Over the years I have come to learn that God's plan is for us to be servants to others, not ourselves.  I hope this helps someone today to go forward and not retreat from their trials.
Nina