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.

Matthew 7:15-16

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?”

Luke 6:43-45

For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

This morning I became intrigued by scriptures on grapes.  There are so very many in the old and New Testaments.  The reason I was delving in these scriptures is because yesterday as I stood in line in the grocery store to get a receipt for my transaction, I was behind a man who needed more money than one purchase would allow.  If you buy one thing then you are allowed to get cash back of $100.00.  He wanted more cash.  In his hand he had a bag of grapes he was going to purchase   But since he could only get $100.00 for one transaction and he needed more money, the clerk allowed him to buy one grape at a time.  I could not believe my eyes when I saw the clerk weigh one grape and then give him money for the purchase of the grape.  I seem to always choose a line where a customer has trouble making a transaction but never one that was buying one grape at a time so he can get money! I do not know how much money he wanted to accumulate, but as I stood, waited, and watched, he bought many one “grapes” until I decided to move to another cashier.

“A little leaven leavens the whole lump is a metaphor the apostle Paul uses to compare the effects of false teaching in the church to the results of yeast in bread dough (Galatians 5:9). Just as a small amount of yeast will make a whole loaf of bread rise, a little bit of legalistic teaching will quickly spread, infiltrating the hearts and minds of individual believers until the entire church is contaminated.” 

Good and evil – dark and light are in our world. Galatians 5:19-21:  When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these”.   As I have said before,  a little leaven allowed in your life is like buying one grape at a time.  It will probably bring much happiness at first, but what will be the end results.  “Grapes are not gather from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles”.  Are they?

Just a thought by coppi

My father Billy Graham once said, “A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian.” He also called prayer “the Christian’s greatest weapon.” I couldn’t agree more. The most important thing we can do is come to God and ask Him for help and direction. He’s the only hope for this world, and that’s why I pray in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ on this National Day of Prayer. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  (Franklin Graham)

I re-read this today and once again it spoke to my heart. I have repeated this often:  “ I believe when we get to heaven, we will be sorry we did pray more” – I know I will.  My prayers are sometimes written by me on a piece of paper. It’s my greatest weapon against my up-and-down emotions.  I pour out my requests on that piece of paper, and then I tear it up and throw it in the trash and say “it’s yours now Jesus; I trust you to handle”.  I cannot tell you how many times those prayers have been answered – a great/good many of times.  I am so very greatful for the weapon of prayer. 

Just a thought by coppi

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Mt 5:4)

When I read the above scripture this morning, I seem to always relate it to death as I have heard this scripture quoted many times at funeral’s.  This morning, I looked at it differently.  When I am fighting health issues, I am mourning the loss of good health & mourning an attitude I took for granted.  Health is a precious gift, & it is only when one loses that gift, do they realize how precious it is.  Years ago, I worked for Gulf Oil Company & I will always remember this one man who would come into my office & sit & talk to me. He was very wealthy & had all the money to buy anything but he could not buy his health.  Doctors could not help his condition.  He would say to me, “I would give all I have to have my health as without it, i really have nothing”.  When all is going well in life, it’s hard to relate to issues that we are not experiencing, it’s only when we are walking through them that we mourn for the loss.  “Mourning an attitude I took for granted” – Jesus, help me to always be grateful for good health as without it, I will truly not be able to enjoy all this beautiful creation, you created.

Just a thought by coppi

Paul asks the question in Romans 8:31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” 

The question isn’t simply, “Who can be against you?” You could answer that one. 

Who is against you? Disease, inflation, corruption, and exhaustion. Calamities-confront us and fears imprison. Were Paul’s question, “Who can be against us?” we could list our foes much easier than we could fight them. “From MaxLucado The Lucado Inspirational Reader

For every crucifixion, a resurrection is waiting to follow – perhaps not immediately but the possibility is there.  Quote from John Ashcroft book ‘Lessons from a Father to his Son’.

I use to have a hard time with the “IF God is for me” because I wasn’t so sure at times He was, but the next verse reads “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” Romans 8:32.  I have now replaced the IF with “SINCE God is for me” – I like that better.  I had a dear friend at Adams Golf tell me “Coppi, you have made lemonade out of some of the lemons that were thrown your way in life” and my immediate thought was “Since God is for me, I was able to face the fears, calamities, and foes and not let myself bog down underneath them”.  Not easy, but SINCE He is for me, calamities, sickness, hardship, inflation, etc can be released to Him.  For every crises there is a resurrection.  It might not be immediate but it is possible.  I think of how horrible the crucifixion was for our Lord and what He endured for us, but then I remember the glory of His resurrection and what all He accomplished for us….”Grace glorious grace, at the cross you called it finished, Grace wonderful grace at the cross all my sin is covered”….crucifixion but then came the resurrection!  That is the way I handle the lemons thrown my way in life because I know a resurrection will come!

Just a thought by coppi – written 2022

Romans 2:29…….and true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a changed of heart  produced by the spirit & a person with a a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from man.

As I read this scripture written by Paul, who used to be Saul.  A devout Jew who was out to destroy the people of the way…followers of Jesus.  But it was not until he met this Jesus on the road to Damascus whom he was out to destroy did he have a heart change produced by the Spirit so much so that the rest of his days, he spent spreading the good news of the Kingdom.  When I try to make changes in my life by natural means, it is nothing but hard work with no results….it is not until I come to Jesus & say “I can’t but you can – I turn it over to you.” Relinquishment is what I think it’s called.

Just a thought by coppi- written in 2022

“For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘”Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”

– Ephesians 5:14

“Before we can experience this fullness of life available to us, we must allow him to open our eyes. We must allow him into the darkest places of our past, thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. We must allow his light to illuminate our darkest of sins in order that those which cause us the most shame might be healed and broken off of our lives.  (Greg Denison Nov 5, 2018)

“Love as an action is more powerful than words, and love in the face of evil gives others hope. It demonstrates humanity. It reaffirms why we’re all here.”  (Ari Mahler, a Jew, and who was the nurse who treated Robert Bowers when he was brought into Allegheny General Hospital after he went on a rampage on a Jewish Synagogue killing eleven Jews.  Mr. Mahler decided to illuminate light and love in lieu of darkness).

He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭2-5‬ NLT)

When one is indoctrinated with hate or when there is so much darkness in their past, if not dealt with, will be expressed in someway.  If stuffed feelings are not expressed in a healthy way and brought before the light for healing, they are going to come out with ‘ugly’.  I know, because I stuffed feelings of hurt and pain, and the way I dealt with my feelings was to cover up the pain with buying lots of things, doing  too much – running running.  I thought I had to excel in everything or I was a failure.  I often used the comment “if I run real fast I will not hurt” as I rushed around.  But I still had me tucked inside of a very busy body.  I am a Christian, so my salvation was prayer.  I was honest before Him; the light that takes away darkness, and He lead me step by step out of darkness to His great light.  He is that light that shines in darkness and cannot be extinguished.  I am so grateful.

John 3:16. Humans can reproduce only human life but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

When Jesus said to Nicodemus you must be born again to see the Kingdom of God- Nicodemus replied “how can that be, an old person entering the mother’s womb – impossible”.  “Nicodemus when you don’t believe when I tell you about earthly things, how can you believe when I speak of heavenly things”. ” Faith & belief are from the Spirit.  Sin is unbelief in me.  The human nature is “I must see before I believe” -that is not faith.”  “Do you understand Nicodemus”?  Yes, I believe Nicodemus did understand because he was a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee but he was seeking truth so much so he came at night.  And, to find the fountain of life – seek, ask & You will find – “Open my eyes Lord that I might see”.

Just a thought by coppi

I wrote the following note to my niece when she lost her mother, and my beloved sister:

“To love a person is to see all of their magic, and to remind them of it when they have forgotten.“. Unknown

I see a lot of magic in you – your thoughtfulness, your love, your beauty, your work habits, your love to care for your grandmother, your love for your family, and I could go on and on.  You remind me so much of your mother, Beverly.  She too was a caring and loving daughter and mother.

Ruth, my beautiful sister, I believe, will be leaving us for her journey to meet our Savior and love ones; I write this note to you to remind you that you were the best grand daughter I have ever witness to the care of someone they love.  You went beyond and above caring, loving, and wanting the best for her.  Yes, you will be criticized because people like to find fault with others to make them feel better.  Ignore it.  Know in your heart 💖 you did everything possible to make her last years comfortable.  I salute you and admire you…..I see the magic in you.

Just a thought by coppi

“Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.”

‭‭Judges‬ ‭6:19

The main point of the Parable of the Yeast is that just as a small amount of yeast mixed into flour causes the dough to rise gradually and unnoticed until a fluffy mound is formed, is the way the Spirit of God works within us. He slowly seeps into every level of our being, growing and spreading without being noticed, until we are changed at our core into children of God.

God’s Word may seem like a small dose that we feed souls, but don’t underestimate the power of His Word. His message works itself into our hearts gradually and silently but has great power and strength to change us completely.

Humans are impatient. We want change and we want it now! As we walk through our Christian journey, the most important aspect is not how quickly we’re moving, but that we’re moving in the right direction. We should always be seeking a deeper relationship with God, discerning His will for our lives and following as best we can. Continual small and imperceptible steps will get us where we need to be. Tiny steps, like a few specks of yeast, can lead to great things.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump is a metaphor the apostle Paul uses to compare the effects of false teaching in the church to the results of yeast in bread dough (Galatians 5:9). Just as a small amount of yeast will make a whole loaf of bread rise, a little bit of legalistic teaching will quickly spread, infiltrating the hearts and minds of individual believers until the entire church is contaminated.

I can relate to legalistic teaching, because I grew up under it.  The only way I can explain why our minister was so excessively strict in matters of rules and laws and why he was so condemning of the world we lived in is that he had never experienced grace.   He was a grace-killer. I have read that if someone spouts out dos and  don’ts is they have the sin they are condemning you for in their own  heart.    Jimmy  Swaggart, televangelist, had that problem.  It took me years to be set free from some of the teaching in my young life, but my quest in life was to fine truth;  I found it by reading the Bible and attending churches that swung the pendulum in the middle – not only one way.  Galatians 5:13-26 is filled with right and wrong ways to live.  Anyway, I am not God and I will let God direct the lives of others.  As a friend of my said when she was dealing with a problem “Life is too short….I need to accept people for who they are”.  Very wise statement.   

Just a thought by coppi

“Open my eyes that I may see” – 11Kings 6 —

The servant of Elisha, the man of God, has always been one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament.  Elisha, the man of God, would always inform the King of Israel when the Arameans were planning to mobilize their troops there.  King Aram was very upset.  He thought there was an traitor among his troops and demanded which was the informer.  When he was told and learned it was Elisha, the man of God, He sent his troops to kill Elisha.  Now this is the part I love—-11 Kings 6:15:  when the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning & went outside, there were troops, horses & chariots everywhere.  “Oh, sir what will we do now” the young man cried to Elisha.  “Don’t be afraid”.  Elisha prayed, “O, Lord open his eyes & let him see”.  The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, & when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses & chariots of fire!…..

The servant got a new perspective when his eyes were opened.  He went from panic to “bring it on” once he saw God had their backs, he was no longer fearful.  My prayer is “Jesus let me see every situation through your eyes – that I walk in faith, not fear”.  That I can face every obstacle with a “bring it on” attitude because I know, because I know you have my back”.  Thank you.