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.

Just being with him in the Augustiner Museum is a prayer. I look and look and look, and I know that he sees the depths of my heart; I do not have to be afraid.  Henri Nouwen 

 “Don’t measure the size of the mountain; talk to the One who can move it. Instead of carrying the world on your shoulders, talk to the One who holds the universe on his.” — Max Lucado

“Do you love me?” (John 21:17)

Jesus asked Peter this question three times, and each time when the answer was yes the response was “Feed my sheep.” Talk is cheap. Love is everything. What do you do to show your love? 

“Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

Jesus asked this of the disciples when they were repeating what other people were saying about Jesus’ identity. So much for what other people think. What do you think? That’s what counts.

“So much for what other people think.  What do you think?  That’s what counts.”

This is the question, I/we all have to come to grips with…..”What do you think.”

Elijah Meets God at Horeb

“He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

(I Kings: 19: 11-13)

Silence alludes me.  I try.  I get up early daily.  I have plans to sit in my recliner and be still and allow silence to engulf me.  Maybe I am still for thirty seconds before my accumulated thoughts start drifting in. You have to do this – did you do that, and before long I am doing and not being.  My dear friend, Stan Carter, would get up at 4:00 A.M. daily,  grab a blanket, wrap it around him, head out to their screened-in-porch, close his eyes, and mediate in silence.  Whenever I visited him and his wife, I was so impressed with his consistency and desire to be in God’s presence, I would say to myself – “When I get home I am going to do this”.  Stan would say to me “Coppi, when you start the mornings being in the presence of God, you will be amazed how smoothly the day goes by”.  Stan is in heaven now, and I am still working on being still and silent in God’s presence.  Winston Churchill’s famous saying ““never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in……”.  Is my mantra as I preserve to be with God in silence.

I have done a painting expressing solidarity – a tree all alone on a mountain top reaching out to God in silence.  It’s done in pastels with many colors which are examples of the many ways we are pulled from being alone with God in silence.

“Real freedom is freedom from the opinions of others. Above all, freedom from your opinions about yourself.” — Brennan Manning

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Opinions from others and myself keep me from looking to the mountains from where my help and love come from.  If David, a lowly shepherd boy would have listened to the opinion of King Saul and his army as well as Goliath, he would never have killed the giant, Goliath, but David looked to the God of Israel, and his opinion of himself was “yes, I can”!  – “God, will be with me”!  And, He was.  So, Coppi, rather than being stymied by your own opinions of yourself, and others, replace them with God’s opinion of you.  That is hard for a people pleaser, but it’s one that I am embracing and trusting my Lord to help me with – “I can’t but He can”.

Just a thought by coppi

Just a thought by coppi

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23-24

“The deep fear behind every loss is that we have been abandoned by the God who should have saved us. The transforming moment in Christian conversion comes when we realize that even God has left us. We then discover it was not God, but our image of God that abandoned us…. Only then is change possible.” (Margaret Manning Shull is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Bellingham, Washington.)

Just a thought by coppi

The Bible has a better idea. Rather than seeking total control, relinquish it. You cannot run the world, but you can entrust it to God. (Max Lucado)

I have turned my job of being the ambassador of the world over to God.  Relinquish:  Relinquishing the act of giving up something such as a responsibility, claim, or possession.  Relinquishing something is not an easy task for me.  When i am not letting go and letting God, it is because my wounded self has taken over and wants to try to control people and the outcome of things in order to protect against feelings of helplessness and fear.

7 Steps To Surrender Your Life To God. When you surrender, you feel guided, inspired, and empowered. …

1. Surrender to God through prayer. …
2. Be mindful of your thoughts. …
3. Having faith and trusting completely in God. …
4. Letting go of the need to control. …
5. Spend time in nature. …
6. Journal your journey. …
7. Seek spiritual guidance.

… I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you …Joel 2:25

When I was going through a difficult time in my life, I had a dear friend (she is in heaven now), who would quote above scripture to me. She would also say “God is in the business of restoration- trust and believe Him”.  It’s been a long journey for me, but Jesus has been restoring my soul and has blessed me with his goodness and faithfulness.  And, I have learned I am not the ambassador of the world….He is. 

 

The Bible has a better idea. Rather than seeking total control, relinquish it. You cannot run the world, but you can entrust it to God. (Max Lucado)

I have turned my job of being the ambassador of the world over to God.  Relinquish:  Relinquishing the act of giving up something such as a responsibility, claim, or possession.  Relinquishing something is not an easy task for me.  When i am not letting go and letting God, it is because my wounded self has taken over and wants to try to control people and the outcome of things in order to protect against feelings of helplessness and fear.

7 Steps To Surrender Your Life To God. When you surrender, you feel guided, inspired, and empowered. …

1. Surrender to God through prayer. …
2. Be mindful of your thoughts. …
3. Having faith and trusting completely in God. …
4. Letting go of the need to control. …
5. Spend time in nature. …
6. Journal your journey. …
7. Seek spiritual guidance.

… I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you …Joel 2:25

When I was going through a difficult time in my life, I had a dear friend (she is in heaven now), who would quote above scripture to me. She would also say “God is in the business of restoration- trust and believe Him”.  It’s been a long journey for me, but Jesus has been restoring my soul and has blessed me with his goodness and faithfulness.  And, I have learned I am not the ambassador of the world….He is. 

 Just a thought by coppi

And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. (Matthew 20:29-34) or (Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43)

“What do you want me to do for you” are the words that beamed light into my being when I was reading this passage of the Bible – “We want to see” was their response. 

What do you want Jesus to do for you?  The blind men wanted to see, but what is your need?  I looked up the word need and one of the meanings is : Circumstances in which something is necessary, or that require some course of action; necessity!  That is true; however, there are deeper wounds developed through, just living, which you will harbor in your emotional being that cause pain and hurt and will need healing.  Jesus says in Mt 11:28:  “Come to me, all of you who are ·tired [weary] and have heavy loads [overburdened; (heavy-laden], and I will give you rest. Mt 28:11.  I have through my life accumulated painful hurts, which blinded me from experiencing the life Jesus wanted for me.  “What do you want me to do Jesus asks” – “What do yo want Him to do for you”?  Tell Him, trust Him, have faith, and then give your hurts, pains, and burdens to Him and leave them there.  Leaving them there is a tough order, but a necessary one!

“The information you consume each day is the soil from which your future thoughts grow.” – James Clear

”And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.“

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭ASV‬‬

I am the caregiver of two containers of flowers at our Country Club. I decided these containers (pots) needed some flowers to burst forth with color and brightness for our members to enjoy.  Periodically I have to go checkout them with a shovel and dig into the soil to see if they need water or not.  Just looking at the top of the soil it looks dry – if I don’t till it, I will overwater the plants thus killing them.  Gee, I thought this reminds me of myself. I can dress the outward appearances that it looks perfect to the world, but when the Lord looks past the outside, He says “we need to do some tilling on her in the inside”.   Tilling hurts.  But, just as overwatering plants without tilling the soil, they wilt and die.  I, too, die without the tilling of pain, etc hidden under the outward appearance.  Jesus came to give us abundant life – abundant life comes when I turn my life over to His shovel;  Afterwards, I too just might burst forth with brightness & color. 

Just a thought by coppi

I attended aer interesting service this week.  Friends of ours invited us to go to a mass at the Catholic Church with them.  The priest was from Peru and they said he was really on fire for Jesus, and would have a healing service afterwards. We went, and really enjoyed this charismatic turned-on priest. His message was on the faithfulness of Jesus:  I loved how he entered into praise and worship. He was a talented musician and played a guitar and had the entire congregation clapping and singing worship songs. He danced around the podium with such joy, laughter, and happiness in the Lord he served, Jesus. There was a basket in front of the alter for prayer requests.  I noticed it was full  of requests, mine being one.  After the service was the healing service and an anointing blessing.  I did not want to miss any of this; I took my place in line among the many who lined up for an anointing blessing.  It was a long night, but a joyful one too.  This charismatic priest from Peru really enlightened the souls of all who attended – I am so glad I went. 

Just a  thought by coppi