Just a thought by coppi

Just a thought by coppi – written in 2015

A light house does not blow fog horns but it only shines.  

When I read the above I thought of our walk as Christians.  Does our life reflect the light  of Jesus.  St Mark 4:21: and he said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? And not to be set on a candlestick?  A candle beams its flickering light so we may find our way in the dark as does the Lighthouse.  As Christians we should let our light shine & walk in the light of Christ.  We need not blow fog horns but just shine & let the Holy Spirit beam through us.  Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord……i grew up in a very legalistic religion & if we did have a little light, it was totally blown out with dos & don’ts & lots of fear. 1 John 4:7: Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God….10: herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us & sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4 is filled with scriptures of love.  The pendulum swings both ways but should be in balance.  I guess my desire is not to be a fog horn but a flickering light for our Lord.

“Each step you take brings you closer to home.  Before you know it, you’ll enter the City.  You’ll hear your name spoken by those who love you.  And maybe, just maybe—in the back, behind the crowds—the One who would rather die than live without you will remove his pierced hands from his heavenly robe and…applaud.”  Max Lucado 6/1/19

Yes, that’s one of our Lord’s promises that we will see our loved ones again.  Not only my beloved family and friends, but also my dear little pets who loved me and I them.  I believe there will be a lot of rejoicing and love among the redeemed – it will be quite a celebration of joy and delight.  But I also want to see Jesus and His nail print hands applauding and hear his voice say “welcome home”.

I read the following this morning by Henry Nouwen – it spoke to my heart. I wanted to share his words.    

I realize how deeply the death of a parent touches us. We suddenly realize that some of the most intimate ties are broken and that we are called to let our parents move away from us and their place in history.

And still I also believe that absence might lead to the awareness of a new presence. Lately, I have found much comfort in the words of Jesus: “It is for your good that I leave, because unless I leave my Spirit cannot come.” Jesus’ leaving meant that he would become more intimately present to us, that he would unite himself in a new way with us. Because of his death we can say: “Not I live but Christ lives in me.” I have a feeling that this is not just true of Jesus, but in and through Jesus of all people who leave us. In their absence we can develop a new intimacy with them and grow. We even can become more like them and fulfill their mission in life until the day comes that we too have to leave so that our spirit can stay with those we love. In this way mourning can slowly turn into joy, and grief into rebirth.  Henry Nouwen

—that Jesus can do more than redeem. He can make beauty from pain?

Just a thought by coppi

Analogy: football & prayer

Think of prayer as a football game.  The quarterback is receiving the football from the center.  He is now staring at all these giants coming toward him.  He has two wide receivers that have a connection with him.  He can trust them completely & he really needs to as these giants charge him.  Think of prayer that way.  When the mighty rivers of worry, anxiety, fear, etc are attacking you, imagine taking a football of prayer and throwing it to Jesus & leaving in his hands…….He is a Mighty receiver & He can handled all your worries, concerns, etc…..trust your Receiver.

“Gardens are a form of autobiography,” someone said. God as gardener, the intimate vision at creation’s beginning, can be traced throughout the Old Testament, in the psalms, and in the prophets. Jesus, too, concurs: I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Such a reading of the world’s creation and the thought of a gardener tending to me, stirs a response akin to that of the man after God’s own heart:  (Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.)

In Jill’s message this morning referring to God as gardener caught my attention.  Jill also stated, “i can’t say that I have ever heard a sermon about creation as gardening, the creator of the world as Gardener. I had never considered what such an identity of God might mean to me or to the world around me. Yet here is one of the first passages in the Bible where we are introduced to who God is—and God is not a warrior or a judge or even a sovereign, but first, a gardener, a nurturer of all life, protector and planter, a designer, keeper, and pruner concerned with life’s flourishing. 

I grew up on a farm in Fredericksburg, Tx and watched my mother plant a garden yearly.  Firstly, she had to till the soil, turn the soil, dig a trench in the soil, and then plant her seeds.  She cultivated her garden with care.  Watering, trimming, watching that the different kinds of bugs did not destroy what she planted;  she worked diligently making sure her seedlings survived and weathered the storms of nature before maturity.  It was a difficult job but a rewarding one too.  She was able to witness growth, beautiful growth of each seedlings when it fully matured.  Yes, I can relate to God as a  gardener, a nurturer of all life, protector and planter, a designer, keeper, and pruner concerned with life’s flourishing,  because He has been all those things in my life.  He has been my gardener.

What stain are you trying to remove by yourself? Stop trying and let Jesus wash it white as snow

A stain is a discoloration that can be distinguished from the surface it’s on. Stains can be caused by the interaction of two different materials.

My husband, i think, can smell stains. I can put on an outfix that i know i washed and is clean, and he will say do you know you have a stain on your dress . “No way i say“, but sure enough there is a stain. Thank God for stain removers . However, the stains i am referring to are the stains of your heart. I wish i could spray a remover on it, and throw it in the washer, and be free of the pain – not so. I go to the only source i know to remove that kind of pain – Jesus. I have a relationship i have been dealing with for a very long time . I so wish i could remove this stain from my life, but not to be. I have prayed more times than i can express, but it seems to be ingrained in the fabric of my soul. As i read above quote “What stain are you trying to remove by yourself“- it rang a bell in my heart – “Stop trying and let Jesus wash as white as snow“. That’s my answer, but its up to me to stop trying . I pray that i can and will .

Just a thought by coppi

Place your trust in him that he will always be with you through thick and thin.

 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”Isaiah 41:10

Just a thought by coppi

A cosmic game of hide and seek is often how many view the search for God. “Where are you?” is the question that echoes throughout the ages as human beings seek for God in a vast universe often filled with inexplicable mystery- Margaret a Manning Oct 19, 2020
Have you ever wondered where God was when the storms of life blow into your life. I did. And, as I read the scriptures in the Bible I note that the Apostles did too. Not only the Apostles, but the prophets, Kings, and the Israelites. No one is exempt from problems. Why God do you hide your face from me when I am in need? Where are you? How long before you answer my prayer? These are just a few questions thrown toward God. His answers are not always the way we want, but He will answer your prayer. It may seem like forever before you see a glimmer of the answer, but it will come. I went from different training periods in my life before I realized the importance of my answered prayers. Yes, training is difficult, but the end results is the catalyst God is after. He wants you to know Him and His love. He wants a relationship with you.

I sent this before, but it popped up on Facebook as a reminder ~ will share again.    Coppi

Ezekiel 47:12 

“And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

And their leaves for healing…were words that stood out like sentries in the above scriptures.  Why?  Because I have been reading about friends who are like leaves in my life.  They stood by me when everything around me seemed to be falling to pieces.  I remember a time in my life that I was surround with friends – I thought, but when an unexpected storm blew into my life with betrayal from a husband of thirty-two years and attached to it were-lies, etc.  I looked for friends in the many I had and only found a very few.  The few were like leaves of healing.  They shaded my crumbling heart with love and encouragement.  Their leaves never withered but they stood like sentries guarding me against the crippling gossip that was thrown my way.  It took several years before truth availed and all the gossip the carriers enjoyed went to naught as the wind blew it into the sea of nothingness.  True friends are special and I was and am blessed with them.  I call them my leaves – they shade me with love, encouragement, joy, etc. they never wither but stay constant in their love.

Ps147:3 plainly says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” God longs to meet you at the place of your wounds and provide healing 8

Wounds come in all shapes and forms – health, death of loved ones, old hurts from long ago. loss of assets, divorce, abuse, and whatever is hidden deep within you.  The slightest of a thought can bring it forth or it can happen consciously before your eyes with little warning; wounds that change your life.  BUT Jesus! Scripture says “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds”.  I know because I have been there many times in my life and I wondered why my wounds still encapsulate me.  I just know in Ephesians 6:10-18 it says, “… Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”  We live in a fallen world. Ugly happens.  Do I have the answer – nope I do not.  I only look up to Jesus and say “help me”.   He does. 

“Life is not a straight line, it is filled with highs & lows & looking back never moves us forward”.

“Moving forward in faith is about trusting God to make a path in desolate places”.

My friend told me before she married her husband, she started to tell him all the “uglies” that occurred in her past.  He stopped her and said, “all of those things that happened in your past made you who you are today and that is whom I love”.  

Jesus said the same thing about us in 2 Cor 5:17 – therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old has gone, the new is here!

Let’s move forward knowing that we are new creatures in Christ…leaving the past behind & trusting God to make all things new.