Gifted and Talented

Welcome to unseen. I hope it has been a good week. Those of us who live Unseen have a difficult time receiving from other people and from God.  I think this is especially true of those of us who are caretakers.  Read on for insights in accepting God's love and blessings.

Gifted and Talented

And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land Jer. 32:40-41

 

                It was Teresa’s birthday. Her parents went all out. They invited friends and family over. Because it was West Texas, they had a barbecue. They had cake and they had presents.  They had games and they had music. Everyone had a great time. That is, everyone had a great time except Teresa. She was sitting at the table with her head down and tears in her eyes. Her mother went over to ask what in the world was wrong. Was she not happy with the party? Teresa answered that it was a wonderful party, but that she didn’t deserve it.  When her mother asked her what she meant, she said that she did not  make her bed 2 days last week and she was last to school one day the week before and on top of that she had mean thoughts about her brother when he pulled her hair. She knew she was not supposed to do these things and that was why she knew she didn’t deserve the party. Her mother hugged her and explained to her that they did not throw her a party because she was a good girl. They threw her a party because she was their daughter and they loved her.  Then Teresa dried her tears and enjoyed the party for the gift of love that it was.

                Teresa was smart enough to do that. Are we?  God has offered us not only salvation but an abundant life. If we were wise we would be like Teresa and bask in that, doing good because we have received it no so we can earn it. We may refuse the gift of salvation because we don’t deserve it. We may bargain with God to bless us. “If you help me get this job I will read my Bible for an hour every day.”

We may also feel that we deserve the bad things that happen to us.  Abuse victims feel ashamed because they feel they did something to cause the abuse.  A miscarriage might be seen as punishment for not wanting a child at first. If we receive the blessings we might go into a frenzy trying to earn them by keeping the rules and doing enough good. I have been introduced to grace for thirty years and acquainted with it for twenty, and when I get under stress I can go back to this old mindset in a heartbeat if I don’t guard my mind. The reality is that God blesses us because he loves us.  He has even given us talents that we can use for him. We use them because he loves us, though, not so that he will. Do you think Teresa cleaned her room faithfully and helped her parents without complaining after that party? She did it out of love and not guilt or bargaining.

As incredible as it seems, the God of the universe adores you. Look again at the verses in Jeremiah.

 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.

 Zephaniah 3:17 says,  The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. It might be easy to think he gives us salvation and then says that is good enough. In Rom 8:32 he says He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

 I am by no means saying we should not use our gifts and talents for God.  There is no time that I am happier than when I am singing for God or writing. I have to keep in mind that it is in response to God’s love and not as a way to earn it. We are all unique and this may not be your struggle, but I bet it is for someone you love.  Please join God’s love feast for you and encourage others to do the same.

WAIT FOR IT...

Welcome to Unseen today. Waiting is hard and it may be especially hard for people who live Unseen. Read on for a lesson I learned from my four legged teacher.

Wait For It

They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Is 40:31

 

            Well, my little fur ball of a dog did it again. He taught me another lesson. I was cooking supper the other night and he was watching me intently. I knew he would like the hamburger meat so I had set a little aside for him. (Yes, I give my dog people food sometimes.) He looked up at me and wagged his tail. I said, “Wait just a minute. It’s hot.”  He kept watching me hoping I might either hurry up or drop something. He turned on what I call the “puppy eyes”. He fixes his huge brown eyes on you and droops his ears and his head. It is supposed to make you feel sorry for him and it usually does. The meat was still hot, though, so I couldn’t give it to him.  Then he got tired of waiting and went rooting around in the trash. He dug out dried bread crusts and a tiny bit of rind from a ham. He did enjoy the hamburger meat with gusto but he had to wait until it was done.

            It would be easy to say, “What a silly dog. Couldn’t even wait a few minutes for something good.” You’d be right, too. How good are we at waiting, though?  Let’s say you have asked God for something and you haven’t gotten it yet. For a while we wait pretty well, wagging our spiritual tails. Then we start to get impatient, and give God the spiritual equivalent of puppy eyes. We might remind him of how faithful we have been and the things we have given up for him. Maybe if we convince him that we are deserving he will hurry. We might get mad at him for taking so long.   Finally, we get tired of waiting and go rooting around in life’s trash. Let’s look at Abraham. God promised him a son. For a while he waited expectantly, and then not so much. Don’t you think he reminded God of his promise? Then he decided to look in life’s trashcan. “I guess God meant Eliezer my servant would be my heir. I know. I’ll have a son with Sarah’s hand maiden. Maybe that’s what God meant.” All the time God was preparing things for Isaac, and in a way that there would be no question he was the one who had done it.

            I am not going to pretend it is easy. A few weeks ago we bought a car. I was so excited because I had waited so long.  Two weeks later after a funeral, I told a friend to come look at my new car.  He said, “Oh, that’s nice.” I said, “Listen to how good it sounds.” And turned the key. At this point it made terrible clunking and grinding noises and died.  The engine had jumped time and it was one of the cars where that is a terrible occurrence and blows the engine. After several more delays the dealer replaced it with one that is more what I needed in the first place.  Because God knew how life is he left us instructions on waiting on Him. The one we are most familiar with is Isaiah 40:31. They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Psalms 37:7 says, 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!

Boy is that hard to do.  Jeremiah 14:22 reminds us of a time when the people were waiting for rain. He says , Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.

            God knows what we need. He knows how to give it. Trust in the Lord with all of your hearts and lean not on your own understanding. Prov 3:5

 

 

Gotta have her!

Welcome to Unseen today.  If you are like me you may have been questioning your value lately.  If you are beyond that, good for you.  Pray for the rest of us. In the meantime, read on for a lesson on our innate worth.

I gotta have her!

I have a confession. I like to watch Pawn Stars on the history channel. If you haven’t seen it, it is a reality show about a pawn shop. People have brought in everything from canned pearls to Picasso paintings. Sometimes a person brings in something that they want way too much for. Sometimes, though, they will bring in something that is much more valuable than they realize. The camera goes off to the back and is just on the owner, Rick. He says, “This___ is really cool. I gotta have it!”

They start to bargain. He usually asks them where they got it. Many time someone says, “Oh, I just picked it up at a garage sale.” If it is something he wants confirmation on he will bring in an expert. The expert appraises the item, and it is sometimes much more than they were planning to ask.  Then they start singing another song.  Most of the time, he gets the items for a good price. Then he restores them and sells them for even more money.

Have you ever felt like you were something life tossed in a garage sale? The enemy of our souls tells us we are worthless, and then uses the despair to get hold of us. We may use self-destructive habits to numb the pain of feeling worthless, which only adds to the feelings. It is a cycle we can only get out of with Jesus. Picture Jesus going to Satan and saying, “I want that person.”

Satan says, “You don’t want this one. She’s not worth much.”

“You’re wrong about that. I gotta have her.!”

“It will cost you.”

Jesus willingly paid for me, and for you, with his life. Then he turns what was once seen as worthless into the treasure that he knows us to be.

                I Corinthians 6:19-20 says, You are not your own. You were bought with a price therefore glorify God  in your bodies. Isa 43:1 says, “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Verse 4 says, Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Many other verses tell the beautiful fact of God’s love for us. Jesus did not have to go to the cross. He did it willingly. In John 10, he says, “I lay down my life for my sheep. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."

He did this because he looked at you and at me and saw the treasure inside us. Then He said, “I gotta have her!”

You are what you eat

Welcome back to Unseen. This time the delay was not caused by technical difficulties, but by the fact that i got a new job and have been working really hard. healthy lifestyles and good eating are a big thing. Read on to see a spiritual lesson we can learn from this craze.

You are what you eat

 

Four women came to the doctor. Each had different problems, but they were all

related to diet.  The first woman was overweight and had limited strength and energy. The doctor found that she got plenty to eat but did not exercise and did not have enough opportunity to use the calories and nutrients that she got.  The second woman  was extremely, dangerously thin.  She was so weak that she was not functioning.  The doctor found that she often skipped meals and when she ate, she ate tiny amounts of food.  The third woman came in with problems similar to the second woman. She often ate large amounts of food, but then went long periods of time when she ate almost nothing.  The fourth woman was normal size, but still sickly and weak. The doctor found out that she ate, but she was dangerously low on protein and tended to eat microwave meals.  The doctor told each woman what to do to in order to correct their problems. Do you think that they did it?

            Every one of you probably knew exactly what to tell the four women in this story.  But what if we shifted the focus a little?  What are we eating spiritually?  Are we spiritually sluggish and weak because we have not used and exercised what we have learned? Are we skipping service and study times or quiet times, or doing only small amounts when we do come.  Are we going from mountaintop to mountaintop, and experience to experience to get our nourishment? Do we prefer simple pre-packaged study materials and devotional guides?

            If you are like me, you have been guilty of all of these things.  Things that we would never do to our bodies, we commonly do to our spirits without even realizing it. Let’s try diligently to feed on a steady diet or prayer, study and attendance. 

Let’s encourage each other to do the same.  We are all in this race together.

Daughter

Welcome to Unseen today. We just passed Valentine's and my birthday, and I have been missing my parents.  Read on to see a lesson I learned about being a daughter to the King.

Daughter

In Him we have received the spirit of adoption as sons and cry out Abba Father. Rom 8:23

                Work has been bordering on chaos the last few weeks and last night was no exception.  We were going like a house afire trying to get everything done. I glanced at the night stand in one of the resident’s room. She had a beautiful Valentine’s card that read, “To my wonderful daughter.” A wave of sadness hit me. My parents have both passed away and also my sweet “substitute mother”.  Never again will I get a card that says “Daughter.”  I will not get any more hugs from someone who loves me that unconditionally.  My mom was the walking social calendar. She would call and say, "Grandma’s birthday is today. You are going to call her, aren’t you?” She made holidays and birthdays special, not so much because of stuff, but because she made us feel loved and approved.  My dad only remembered our birthdays because mother told him when they were.  After she died, his secretary bought us cards from him.  Just as quickly as the sadness came, another realization followed.  I will have all eternity to be their daughter. Even more important is the fact that God’s word says that I am HIS daughter.

                In Romans, the word tells us that we have received the spirit of adoption as son (and daughters) and cry out Abba Father. (8:23) With every adoption there is a process of approval and an adoption fee.  The approval process is based on Jesus’ merits and not ours.  The adoption fee is his blood. John 1 says that he came to his own and his own received Him not, but to everyone who did receive him he gave the right to become children of God. Along with that adoption we receive the identity and benefits of being His children.  We read later that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17).

                I miss my parents and being their daughter, but I believe in the resurrection and the restoration of all things. In the meantime, I have a heavenly father who tells me that I am his precious daughter.

 

Power

Welcome to Unseen today. Do you feel like you're going through the motions in life? Like you are just marking time? I have often felt that way.  Read on for a way out of the rut.

What is wrong with this picture?

 

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might: Eph 6:10

 

    A woman in my Sunday school class is from Vietnam. She works the night shift at a cookie factory. It is hard work, with hours of standing and tedious work.  One night she got sleepy and her eyes closed.  Her hands were still going through the motions. She heard someone say, “Hey, look. Tran fell asleep.” She jumped and opened her eyes. In her broken English, she said “My eye close but my hands make box real good.”

There is a silly story about a man who went to the hardware store and bought a chainsaw.  It was supposed to cut 10 cords of wood a day.  The first day he went out used the saw he cut 5 cords of wood.  The second day he worked harder and cut 6 cords.  The third day, he got up as early as he could and stayed out till dark and still only cut 8 cords of wood.  The next morning he took the saw back to the hardware store and told the clerk that it was not working.  The clerk said, “well, let’ see what’s wrong.” He cranked it up and turned it on.  The man jumped and said, “What’s that noise?”

Silly, isn’t it?  Think about how often we do this to God, though.  We try to do God’s work without God’s power.  We end up exhausted and ineffective, just going through the motions without any power.

One of the saddest things I heard was that when the tribes were divided and the temple was built, the presence of God moved from the tabernacle to the temple. However, the larger group of Israelites continued to worship at the tabernacle. They kept up the same motions and the same ceremonies, but the power had left. 

God's power is limitless.  Let allow God to work through us with his power. All we have to do is plug in to the source (the Holy Spirit).  Spend time in the word and in the body. Encourage each other. PLUG IN.

 

 

The Price is Paid

Welcome to Unseen today.  Technology can get a bad reputation and television in particular. There are definitely negative influences, but God can use anything to teach us. Read on for a fun lesson I learned from a game show.

The Price is Paid

You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your bodies. 1 Cor. 12:3

I have a guilty pleasure. I love to watch The Price is Right. I like the excitement of people coming up to contestants’ row or up on stage. I like the silly T-shirts people come with, and I like the games. I was talking about this to a friend and these are our favorites.

                Cliff Hanger - You can make a certain number of mistakes but if you make too many, your little man falls off the edge of the mountain.

                Plinko - You win Plinko chips and release them from the top of a slanted board.  They bounce off of pegs and end up in slots at the bottom. The slots have different dollar amounts from 0 to 10,000

                The Check Game - You fill in the amount on the blank check that you think the prize ids worth.

                 Has your spiritual life ever felt like a game show?  Do you feel like you have a certain number of mistakes allowed before God gives up on you and lets you fall off the cliff? Maybe you try to keep all the rules or do good deeds to scramble back down the mountain a few steps. How about Plinko? Even though you know God loves you, do you feel like life tosses you around like a Plinko chip? Maybe you feel secure in your salvation, but when it comes to abundant life you are unsure whether you will end up with lots of blessing or a bit fat nothing.  Maybe you feel more like the check game.  What value do you place on yourself? Who gets to decide how worthy you feel? Is it your job, your spouse, or is it a parent’s voice that said, “You’ll never amount to anything. “             

                There is good news. The game we are playing is The Price is Paid. Jesus paid for our mistakes with his death.  He didn’t fall off the cliff. He willingly went over the edge so we wouldn’t have to. John 10:28 says, “For this reason the father loves me because I lay down my life. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."   He also gives us abundant life (John 10:10). Psalms 23 says that He anoints our head with oil and our cup runs over. When it comes to value, he says that he bought us with a price.  The price was his own blood.  Matt 20:28 says the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

                Yes, life can seem like a game, but we can win here and we can reap the rewards for eternity. Take heart.