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 a thought by coppi

Oftentimes we take feelings of loneliness, rejection, shame, and guilt and believe that they must be truth. Truth isn’t found in our emotions, but rather in the word of God. Our mind is the gateway to our emotions. We feel the way we do because of what we perceive and believe. If we engage in the process of renewing our mind to God’s word, our emotions will get in line with truth. You and God are one. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. May the truth of Scripture guide you into a lifestyle of centering your life around the union already available to you in Christ.  (First 15 Oct 20, 2017)

2 Cor 5:7 – for we live by believing and not by seeing

I oftentimes quote Craig Denison words in First 15 as when anything speaks to my heart, I want to share it with my Just a Thought readers.  I have no idea if his words ‘ring a bell’ in your heart, but if not, they are truth to ones that need to be reminded of the power of the word of God.  Our minds are the battle field of Satan and if he can get us to believe his tormenting thoughts, he will get a foothold on our emotions and cause us much grief.  In Roman’s 12: 2 – “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think”. In Ephesians 6 the scriptures speak of putting on the whole armor of God to protect us from the fiery darts of Satan.  I am aware that many ones don’t believe there is a devil but if you believe the word of God, then there is no getting around him.  He is not a little devil in a red suit with a forked tail but a fallen-prideful angel who wanted to rule the earth and was thrown out of heaven with all the other prideful angels.  He now is running rampart in the fallen world consuming people through their minds if they allow him to.  Quote Billy Graham: There are two great forces, God’s force of good and the devil’s force of evil, and I believe Satan is alive and he is working, and he is working harder than ever, and we have many mysteries that we don’t understand.

Enough said about the devil – our Mighty God is more powerful and defeated him at Calvary! 

Just a thought coppi

Christ-followers contract malaria, bury children, and battle addictions.  And, as a result, we face fears.  It’s not the absence of storms that sets us apart.  It’s whom we discover in the storm— an unstirred Christ.  (Max Lucado 1/2/19)

The wonderful hope of Christianity tells me that I will see my siblings, mother, father & friends who have gone before again. But more, it assures me that the God of Christianity is one who walks with us now in our pain and in our struggle. 

My husband and I in our morning devotions yesterday were discussing the ‘why do believers in God have to suffer so many tragedies if their God is all powerful’. Why?  We have all heard the different reasons in the scriptures; I will quote several, but does it settle the why in your heart? Mt 5:45: “He sends rain on those who are right with God and on those who are not right with God”. ” And this is Satan’s kingdom and his reign to destroy the way people; people who follow and believe in God”. Do I know the answer- no.  I had to come to the fact that, yes, we do live in a fallen world, Satan’s last reign, and our God is not a respecter of people, and He sends rain on the just as well as the unjust.  But He does say I will not leave you alone but will go with you through the valleys of shadows of death.  As Max Lucado said “it’s whom we discover in the storm”.  My dear mother, when I would question the whys of the happenings in my life, would say “God is weaving a pattern, and you will understand it in the great by and by”. The longer I live, the less I know, but  I pray for wisdom.  C. S. Lewis wrote, “I don’t pray to change God. I pray because I have to. I pray because I can’t help myself. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.” To sums my thought up, ugly happens in our world, always has, and I presume will continue until the end of time – nope-I still don’t understand ‘why’, but I do know in whom I believe, Jesus, and I have discovered Him in the storms of my life.

a prayer by Henri Nouwen – one I needed to read today

O Lord, Life passes by swiftly. Events that a few years ago kept me totally preoccupied have now become vague memories; conflicts that a few months ago seemed so crucial in my life now seem futile and hardly worth the energy; inner turmoil that robbed me of my sleep only a few weeks ago has now become a strange emotion of the past; books that filled me with amazement a few days ago now do not seem as important; thoughts that kept my mind captive only a few hours ago have now lost their power and have been replaced by others. . . . Why am I continuously trapped in this sense of urgency and emergency? Why do I not see that you are eternal, that your kingdom lasts forever, and that for you a thousand years are like one day? O Lord, let me enter into your presence and there taste the eternal, timeless, everlasting love with which you invite me to let go of my time-bound anxieties, fears, preoccupations, and worries. . . . Lord, teach me your ways and give me the courage to follow them. Amen.

Just a thought by coppi

Ps32:7:  for you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble – you surround with songs of victory

…..And, He walks with me & He talks with me & He tells me I am His own…..a song I sung as a child in the little country church I attended.  It’s funny, I am now years past that little child tucked inside my heart, but this morning I found myself singing that song.  All the past years…..all the storms of life, He walked with me, talked with me & told me I was His own.  You ask me how I survived….that is how.

American novelist Edith Wharton said, “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” In our relationship with Jesus, He’s the candle. We are the mirror that reflects His light to the world. The deeper the darkness, the brighter we shine.

enough said

Mt 7:12- Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.  This is the essence of all that is taught in the law & the prophets.

Mt 7:1-do not judge others, & you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others.  The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

The standards in the Bible sometimes are difficult to do & my flesh rebels.  Yet again, as I read & re-read the above scriptures, I did note the dos that is required of me, but I also noted they were put there for my good.  If I do to others what I would like them to do for me, that’s for my benefit.  As, if I do not judge others & treat others with disgust, I will will not be judged in the same way.  In the Bible there are standards to live by – some, I will say to myself, I don’t like –  I will throw it out.  But, no, all are there for my benefit – the flesh says I will do it my way; the spirit says yes, Lord, I know your way is right & for my good, I will follow.  Life is full of choices.  Believe me, I have reaped from wrong choices I made; but thank God I have a redeemer, Jesus, who has & will lead me out/through them.  Lord, give me wisdom & knowledge to make the right choices in life.  Thank you for the Bible & it’s directives.

Alfred North Whitehead suggested that great people plant trees they’ll never sit under. When you help someone live and pray in God’s will, you are planting such trees that will bear harvest for eternity.

As most of my Just a Thoughts readers know, I write thoughts about my hardships and triumphs in life so that “maybe just maybe” there is someone out there that can be helped through reading them.  I pray I am planting trees of help that I will never sit under.  My thoughts are now on WordPress blog where I have approximately 1,600 views thus far,  Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, which tells me I have planted trees I will never sit under. Please know, I write from my heart and wish not that a crown be placed on my head; I truly and sincerely want to help people, and if that can be done through being vulnerable about my life that is “dayenu” (a Jewish term)- it would have been enough.

Just a thought by coppi

Prodigal……“a person who leaves home and behaves recklessly, but later makes a repentant return.”

“In the prodigal son in Luke 15, the father greeted him with love.  His older brother with contempt and anger. I ask-who would you prefer to greet you when you returned home after wasting your life away?”

I have read Luke 15 many times and have heard sermon’s on it many times too.  I love the way the prodigal son was forgiven by his father, but I never thought much about the elder brother except he was not pleased with the way his father welcomed back his wayward son.

After reading the quote above about who you would prefer to welcome you back the father or angry brother, Luke 15 echoed something I never had given much thought about.  I certainly would not want the older brother, since I was raised in a legalistic church, I thought God was my angry brother.  I remember a time when I was attending a bible school, Christian Word Ministries, a friend of mind and I were talking about how we certainly wanted to go to heaven, when she said to me “Coppi, you and I, will never relax about getting in the pearly gates until we hear them slammed behind us”!  We both laughed, but to be honest, there was great truth in that statement.  I have come a long way since that time in my life – Why?  I have turned from just listening to different ministers who taught fear in lieu of grace and started reading the Bible myself picking out the many scriptures on grace and love.  I have journalized my true emotions to Jesus and prayed for Him to show His love for me.  It’s amazing how many scriptures there are on grace and love.  In fact, that is the reason Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again so that we may live eternally with him.  He became that prodigal son’s father who ran out to meet his wayward son with love and grace.  He told his servants  “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate.”  That is grace wrapped in forgiveness.  Nope, I do not want the Elder brother to welcome me – I want my father who will enfold me in His love and grace and say “welcome home, Coppi, my wayward child”.

First I want to say to folks that are storing food for what the news media keeps hammering us to do, I am not saying “Don’t”, because our world seems to be pointed that way.  Everyone should do what they feel in their heart to do.  But years ago we were faced with the same news “store food” the world is facing disaster.  Well, food I stored. I lived in a darling townhouse located across from the famous North Park Shopping Mall in Dallas, Tx.  I bought boxes of soybeans, canned food of all kinds that had a life expectancy 25 years, and everything I needed for survival.  Oh yes, I thought water will be needed too.  So I purchased a load of water bottles.  The man who delivered the water wanted to know if this was a restaurant because of all the water he was delivering.  As I said, I lived in a townhouse and room for all of this was lean. I stored water outside in our storage room atop on what I already had in storage. My closets housed all my other survival stuff.  My home looked like an overstuffed hippopotamus.  My cute little condo was decorated with all my wonders I picked up over the years, and now the decorations included soybean boxes etc.   

 Saying all this, I then decided I needed to buy a Coleman propane camping stove so I could prepare my food.  I remember that day vividly- I went to Walmart or one of the stores that carried camping stoves.  I was standing there looking at the different ones when a calm slow breeze came over me and in it I heard “you will not need it”.  I did not buy the camping stove and I also gave all my soybeans, etc to a homeless shelter.  The water was a different story.  I had to pour it in and around yard plants, etc. it took forever. Lol

Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” NIV Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. (I did have an abundance of food. Lol)

“Don’t keep hoarding for yourselves earthly treasures that can be stolen by thieves. Material wealth eventually rusts, decays, and loses its value. Instead, stockpile heavenly treasures for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value.

Again, I will iterate that all should do what they think they should.  My experience happened years ago.  I was young and survival was a factor for me.  Now as the years have passed, I care, but not so much that I will go out and purchase soybeans!  I love “noodles of all kinds” – I will make sure I have plenty around.  

Jesus doesn’t care what you have, it’s the motivation of your heart what interest him.  Greed being a big one. 

Years ago while living in Dallas, Tx, I used to volunteer to work at the VA hospital as an undercover person with the Chaplain there.  My job was to hand out Bibles to veterans and to encourage them by sharing the love of Jesus. I learned so much from them.  When one is looking death in the face, and life here on earth probably is over, it’s amazing how our desires change.  I walked by a room where a young man was on a Stryker circle bed.  His face was pointed to the floor.  In order to talk to him I had to practically sit on the floor. His story was interesting. He was from Arkansas.  He had a very beautiful sister who wanted to leave farm life and move to the bright lights of the city, Dallas.  There she got mixed up with the Mofia and her life was cut short by them.  Word got back to him which caused anger to flow from his very being.  He decided he would go to Dallas and kill the people who killed his sister. He found out where they were staying, and made his plan to go there.  When he reached the door to where they lived, his anger and blood pressure reached a level of danger and he had a stroke, and next thing he knew he was in the VA Hospital.  I would visit him each time I was volunteering at the hospital.  Finally, he said to me “if this Jesus, who is love will heal me”, I will follow him.”  I didn’t see him for awhile and wondered what happened to him.  I was out there, the VA hospital, and saw him leaving.  He was walking using a cane. He waved at me.  His smile told me all was well with him.  I wondered what happened to him.  He was a very handsome and young man,  and had a long life ahead of him.  I saw many ones at the VA hospital and when I volunteered for this job I prayed to Jesus “I will go and carry your love and hope to one’s that needed it, but when I left the hospital, I want to be able to leave all the sorrow I witnessed there and not carry it with me”.   

Life is tough, and the burdens it hands you can be so hard to bear. But you don’t need to carry them alone. Read the promises of God …

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22). God is glad to carry your burdens and give you the daily strength you need.”

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6). It’s not God’s will that you should be crushed down with excessive burdens; let Him free you today.”

And, this is what I did – I prayed for them – and then I left them in the hands of Jesus.  I still do this today when I am asked to pray for people.  I do pray, but I am not the healer – only the prayer warrior casting the request into the Mighty One who has promised He would carry them. 

Just a thought by coppi