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.

Written years ago, but still a memory tucked in my heart.   Coppi

“We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace.” — Oswald Chambers

There are times in my life that I like to return to – remember and write about. This is one of those times:  I was born in San Antonio, Tx, but grew up in Fredericksburg, Tx.  I spent most of my life after graduation in Dallas, Tx.  I have mentioned before in my thoughts that I volunteered at the V.A. Hospital as an undercover person working for the chaplain, The lady that worked in our locker room at the Club I belonged to knew I was a volunteer at the V.A.  One day when I was there to play golf and was putting on my golf shoes, she came to me and told me one of our member’s husband was in the V. A. Hospital and would I pay him a visit when I was there.  I said sure I would.  The next time I was there, I looked up where his room was and went to see him.  His son was standing by his bedside.  I went to Al’s bedside and started a conversation with him. (I had played golf with Al and his wife at the Country Club).  Our conversation eventually turned to Jesus and His grace, love, and salvation plan.  I prayed with him and bid he and his son goodbye.  Years later, I was having a problem with my toe and went to a podiatrist not knowing it was Al’s son, to have him check it.  When I enter his office, his first words were “Coppi I want to thank you for talking to my father at the V.A.  I was the son in the room when you were there.  “I wanted to have this conversation with my father, but did not know how to begin.”  My father died not too long after your visit”.  You know, life is a journey and if we are connected to our Shepherd, Jesus, He will lead us to a pasture that one of his sheep is needing His love, grace, and help.  In Luke 15:1-7  – “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent”.

We serve a Shepherd, Jesus, who has great love for his sheep, us, – He will carry us through the tsunami’s of our life; we will know we are being carried by “The Foot Prints in the Sand”……there will be only one foot print in the sand, because we will be carried on His shoulder’s.  I speak from my own life – I know I was being carried; His love ad  grace carried me. 

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

1 Peter 5:8

“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”

—Rabindranath Tagore 

My life is a wonder of “I don’t understand miracles”; I truly want to sit and cry because I do not know how to feel about them.  The valleys were enormous, but the mountain tops leveled the enormity endured by them.

I got up this morning feeling tired from dealing with dreams of my past life. I have given my life to be a follower of Jesus; I have confessed every thing I know of my past that I think was displeasing to Him , and I know from reading the Bible if we confesses our sins to Him, we are forgiven.  Yet the tormentor,“satan”, enjoys putting doubts in your mind.  Ephesian’s 6:10 gives instructions on putting on the armor of  God to withstand satan’s arrows of attack.  In God’s word we can always find solutions to fight anything Satan throws at us.  ““In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Satan’s darkness cannot and will not overtake Jesus’ lightness – that’s a promise of our Lord.  We can stand on it, and for me, “that settles it”.

In The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning says, “My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” May you come to the awareness of how deeply you are loved by your God today. May you allow God to love what you have deemed unlovable in your own life. And may Zephaniah 3:17 be a foundation on which you experience the overwhelming joy that comes from God’s inexplicable love for you.

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”Zephaniah 3:17

“Every choice you make is a step toward or away from the person you want to become. No single choice will get you where you want to go. Only repeated steps over time in the same direction will move you forward.” — Shane Parrish

Zephaniah 3:17. Is a passage I have committed to memory.  

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.

Heavenly Father, thank You for walking with me through the year that’s ending and the one that’s beginning. Help me release what I cannot change, trust You with what’s ahead, and step into tomorrow with faith.

JUST A THOUGHT BY COPPI

Don’t cry over the past, it’s gone. Don’t stress about the future, it hasn’t arrived. Live in the present and make it beautiful.

Beautifully said 

“Being consumed by what people think of you is the fastest way to forget what God thinks of you.” – Craig Groesche

Of course I like people to enjoy me and to be accepted by them, but the fallacy is when I am consumed by if they do or if they don’t.  I remember what a dear friend of mine told me – “Coppi let your expectations come from God, not man, and you will not be disappointed”.  The world is full of snow flakes (mankind) with different personalities: “Personality: refers to the enduring characteristics and behavior that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns.” Acceptance of people and their way of life is unconditional love – the other is trying to mold yourself into their life by not being who you are and being a people pleaser.  I think I was a little of both – a friend told me once and I quote him “what difference will it make forty years from now”.  Twenty some years ago, I wore myself out trying to be the ambassador of the world; it wasn’t until I gave that position over to God that my life was not filled with so much angst. Yes, today I still desire to be loved; however, my biggest quest is to please God and let his guidance direct my life, and I believe if I do that God will take care of all my desires.  Ps 37: 4 – delight yourself in God and He will give you the desires of your heart”.

In Isaiah 42:16 God says, “I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” God has not left us to wander in darkness. He never leaves us or forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:6). 

What are the darkness in your life.  God will turn them before you into light. 

Just a thought by coppi

Howard Rutledge came to appreciate his time as a POW in Vietnam. He wrote, “After twenty-eight days of torture, I could remember I had children but not how many. I prayed for strength. During long periods of enforced reflection, it became so much easier to separate the important from the trivial. My hunger for spiritual food soon outdid my hunger for steak. It took prison to show me how empty life is without God.

I read the above this morning and wondered why sometimes it takes hardship to realize life without God is empty.  In Hebrews chapter 11, I read about the faith of so many of the apostles, prophets and people of faith and how they stood strong when they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And why would they endure such suffering,  I presume like Howard Rutledge, they had found that life without God would be empty so in faith they believed that God would do what he promised….and, he did with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.

Just a thought by coppi

God loves you simply because he loves you. You don’t have to work for his affection. You don’t have to set yourself straight before God can pour out his love over you. The father in the prodigal son story ran out to meet his son before anything had ever been set right. He didn’t know his son was there to apologize. He didn’t care. He simply wanted to love his child. Your heavenly Father feels the same way about you. He longs to love you right where you are, as you are. He longs to fill you with love to overflowing. H9e longs for us to experience this love and oneness just as Jesus did when he walked the earth.

As you enter into guided prayer, open up your heart and allow God’s grace to settle in. Allow him to free you from works-based religion and guide you to a lifestyle of relationship. God is not an angry taskmaster who shows affection only when you succeed. He is a loving Father who will always love you no matter what. Take time to receive the depth of his love for you today. Allow his love to heal you, transform you, free you, and lead you to the abundant life he has always longed to give.