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.

               

Lions

Welcome to Unseen today.  The new year has brought good things for us and I hope it has for you.  It has also brought a very busy time.  Busy times can be hard if they continue for long. We may neglect our own well-being to take care of business. Read on for lessons about this.

 

Lions

 

Your adversary, the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Pet 5:8

 

    Lions are powerful and majestic, the king of the jungle.  They can eat up to 50 pounds of meat in a single day.  They can take down prey that is faster than they are or bigger than they are. Have you ever watched one of the nature channel shows about lions? The wildebeests or antelope are running across the savannah and the camera pans to the edge of the herd, where a lions stalks almost lazily.  Have you ever noticed how lions hunt? They don't choose prey from the middle of the pack. Instead, they isolate one creature on the fringes of the pack.  Those who are sick, weak, or aging are in the most danger. The lion will separate its prey, and then pounce once it is able.

    What about our lives? We are part of the Body of Christ, and we are encouraged to remain in fellowship. This is important because once we are separated from the body and its security and accountability, we are easy prey for they enemy. He does not fight fair.  The believer who wants to keep his relationship with God to himself may be in danger. The Christian who says he can commune with God on the lake just as well as in church may be in danger. It is easy to skip worship and to make excuses, but I have found that if I miss once, it is that much easier to miss the next time. In Hebrews we are told, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some, but encourage each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

    Two things are necessary.  We need to stay in fellowship ourselves and we need to help others who are on the fringes.  We are in a body for a reason.  If we stand together, and rely on the Lord, we will defeat the enemy.

Emmanuel

Welcome back to unseen.  Hope the new year is going well.  I am seeing God's restoration at work inmy home, family and work.  If you are there too, great. If not, I have definitely been in the holding pattern and understand how hard it is to wait on God. Hopefully today's post will offer some hope.

Emmanuel

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matt 1:23

Several years ago my younger child and I had an outing together.  Abilene has a monthly event called Art Walk. The stores and art galleries downtown open n the evening and there is often live music. And free stuff. We saw a jaguar car, had hot chocolate, made an art project and listened to the live music. We had a great time. He didn’t care that we spent a grand total of two dollars. When we got home I  got out my book and sat on the couch. He crawled up on the couch with me, and ten put his head on my lap on top of my book. He looked up at me with his gorgeous blue eyes and said, “I need some attention.” I told him he had just had an hour and a half of my undivided attention. He answered, “Well, I need a lot.”  You better believe he got it.

                Sometimes being together is all you need. God has done a lot of restoration in my marriage in the last few months.   A friend was watching us together the other day, and said, “You two sure are happy together even after 20 years. “It is good to love someone and be able to share good times and hard times. We have each lost a dear friend in the last 2 months and sometimes just being there is all you can do to help.  My children have a good friend who has been in the hospital after a serious car accident.  They had their first experience with Dallas Fort Worth traffic when they went to the hospital to see him. They said he was not able to respond but they could tell he knew they were there.  As great as it is to be together with family and friends, there is something even more important.

                When the angel came to Joseph, he was told that she would have a son and was to call his name Emmanuel, which means god with us. (Matt 1:23)  He reminded Joseph that this was told by the prophets hundreds of years before. We are coming out of the Christmas season and this sounds routine, but think about it.  The king of kings is here with you and me.  He invites us to come boldly into His presence and find mercy and grace in our time of need. (Heb 4:16) Anytime we need, we can go to him, like Heath came to me and say, “I need some attention.” He is never too busy to love and hear me and finds ways to show me if I can be open to them.  For instance, this morning I was out walking the dog and came on a huge group of Monarch butterflies.  That in itself is cool enough, but it is December!  What a gift and an evidence of His presence and power. Sometimes, like he did with Elijah after the incident at Mount Carmel, he shows his presence in a still, small voice rather than in the power of the fire or the earthquake. (1 Kings 19:12) However you sense God’s presence, allow him to wrap you in it and know that it is His joy and desire to be with us here.  Remember, too, that when the time comes for him to restore all things, we will be with Him for eternity and need no more reminders. (Rev 21:3-4)