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.

“Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “ Lord, I am coming.””

Psalms 27:7-8 NLT

“Come and talk with me”.  “Lord, I am coming”.  I love visiting and talking with my friends.  It always blesses me to do so.  As I was reading my meditations this morning I came across Ps 27:7-8 and I realize the Lord also wants us to come and spend time with Him. What I do is close my eyes and imagine Jesus and I sitting across from each other at a table.  Of course in my anxious spirit I start by asking him to answer all my prayers – “Be merciful and answer me”!  But I hear in my heart “come and talk with me”.  Talking goes both ways…..I need to listen also.  What I heard this morning was “I heard you, trust me”.

Ps 23:1 the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want….

Every time I read that part of psalms I stop at the word ‘want’ and remember how the word want in that scripture saved a friend of mine’s life.  He was going through a divorce and was devastated over the thought being separated from his two little girls.  He decided to take his life as his pain and depression was so overwhelming.  However, as his thoughts were going in that direction, he noticed his Bible laying on a table, picked it up and it fell open to Psalms 23.  “I shall not want” lighted up like neon lights in his spirit.  As he related me his story, he said those words meant to him that he would not be separated from his girls.  True to the word ‘want’ in Psalms, my friend trusted what he heard, he did not take his life, and his little girls spent more time with him than their mother.  I lost track of him when I moved to Florida but my prayer was that maybe the Lord would restore his marriage and the family be united.  “Little words mean a lot especially when the Lord shines his light on them”.

Just a thought by coppi

But his death, (Bourdain) coming just days after the suicide of the beloved designer Kate Spade, is at least as noteworthy for another reason: how powerfully it speaks to the discrepancy between what we see of people on the outside and what they’re experiencing on the inside; between their public faces and their private realities; between their visible swagger and invisible pain. Parts unknown: That was true of Bourdain. That was true of Spade. That’s true of every one of us. (Excerpt taken from Apple news – June 9, 2018)

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers”.  Excerpt from:Hamlin, Rick, “pray for Me”

Where are you; full of fear, anxiety, depression, or hopelessness today? Know that the path to faith in those areas is paved with fresh revelation of God’s faithfulness. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” Your God will always be faithful to you. You can trust him with any problem you are going through. He longs to work in your favor.  (First 15 Greg Denison June 11, 2018)

I understand fear, anxiety, and when you think you are not enough.  Through my years  of adolescence and school years I could not speak and if I did I stuttered but yet I put on this “happy face” that all was okay when inside I wanted to run away and cry.  It took me years of praying, going to different programs geared for helping people face their fears.  “A Way Out” was one.  Learning to put my trust in God for help and guidance.  It was a journey but our God is faithful; He will help you.

Just a thought by coppi

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”  John Milton

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” – Mark Twain

Gratitude and anger.  Two words – one will brighten your life and one will eventually destroy it.  I am fully aware that it is hard to be grateful when everything around you seems to be crushing, but I also know if you can muster enough energy to fine one thing that you are grateful for and dwell on it, you will experience a twinkle of light.  Anger on the other hand eats away at any joy you have.  It is like acid to your body and will eventually destroy you.  I remember years ago when I was taking a course in ‘A Way Out”, my counselor put boxing gloves on me and made me punch a pillow.  She said to me “coppi, you do have anger but you don’t know how to express it”.  Truly, anger to me was fear.  I was frightened of anger – mine and others so I squelched it.  I did feel silly standing there with boxing gloves on looking at a pillow to start expressing built-up anger on it, but with my counselor’s continuing coaxing, I finally beat it to sunder.  She said some anger is good and needs to be expressed.  Jesus express anger over the money changers in the temple (John 2:13-16).  There is also anger that hurts people. Kills people.  We have a lot of that in our world today.  The anger I am speaking of is the anger we have tucked way down inside our ‘temple’ because we are afraid to express ourselves because of fear.  I still deal with it, but being aware of what it does to my soul, I will journalize my feelings and ask Jesus to help me sort through it in a healthy way.  I have not purchased any boxing gloves – journalizing is the way for me.

“On the same day, when evening had come, He [Jesus] said to them, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.’ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!’” (Mark 4:35-41)

what got my attention was the words “Who could this be”!

The disciples saw the many miracles Jesus did and yet when he stopped the wind from sinking their ship, they questioned the miracle performed right before their eyes. “Who is this that even the wind and sea obey him”.  In my many years of walking on this earth, I too have seen the miraculous happen, but I too questioned some of them.  Why?  I guess I thought this could not happen in our world today – could it?  Yes, it could because the scripture says in “Both Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 declare that God is the same always and never ever changes. He is always good, always loving, always all-powerful. No matter how this world changes around us, we can trust that God is consistent. “He is the same yesterday, today, and Forever!”  However, the fact is we have to believe.  If we doubt His existence or what is written in the Word, we are left with only what the world of unbelief feed us.  It’s a choice, I made many years ago when the God of my childhood entered my heart and I choose to follow Him.  All I can offer is that I know I made the right choice as the many times I needed Him, He was by my side.  He never left me, He carried me through the storms of my life and brought me through them to the other side.

Just a thought by coppi

Just a thought by coppi

“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:18

My father died when I was very young.  I don’t remember anything about him.  My older sister, Ruth, will often tell me about him since she wants me to remember something about his character and love for his children.  Her words are nice, and I appreciate her effort in trying to relate to me something of my father to remember, but it doesn’t resonate in my heart of hearts.  They are only words.  I think all my life I searched for a father’s love.  Many times over I would read about God’s love for me and that He would be a father to me.  They were words to me for years, but only lately have they become to mean that He, God, will be and is my father and that He loves me.  I think I wrote about it before but it’s worth repeating – I was sitting on my bed praying when a very soft feeling of wind moved across the bed and I heard within my being “would I give you a stone if you asked for bread”.  If you read the entire chapter it will be talking about your earthly father not giving his children a stone if they asked for something.  These soft words I heard have brought tears to my eyes many times as they have given me the love of a father that I have searched for all my life.  God is faithful and he does hear the cry of our hearts.

Just a thought by coppi – written in 1920

“It’s one of those things people say. ‘You can’t move on until you let go of the past.’ Letting go is the easy part, it’s the moving on that’s painful. So sometimes we fight it, trying to keep things the same. Things can’t stay the same though. At some point you just have to let it go. Move on. Because no matter how painful it is, it’s the only way we grow.” — Meredith Grey

“We’re going to get older whether we like it or not, so the only question is whether we get on with our lives, or desperately cling to the past.” – Ted Mosby

Getting old.  I guess I relate old to going to a nursing home, which does happen when families can no longer give care to their love ones.  But whenever I visit a nursing home, l leave depressed.  I presume the depression relates to my own being “I don’t want to be there”.  My husband’s mother will be 100 this year.  She is doing well, and is blessed with 24/7 care, but there are many others that do not have that blessing.  In Dallas, I used to visit nursing homes to try and bring cheer to ones there.  It was so depressing and sad to see many who had no one – they were just there waiting to die.  Lonely and crying.  I am a Texan, and one of the ways we referred to it was “putting them out to pasture”.  Saying all of the above, I guess i have a hang up up with age!  I am one that does not broadcast my age, even though many of my friends are interested in how old I am.  All I can say is that I have lived a long, healthy life.  I have had many valleys in my life, but I have also been blessed with mountain top blessings.  My deceased husband used to say to me “Coppi, age is a number, but if you are healthy, have a good attitude, and are happy – you are young”.  When we are born, we start the process of aging.  It’s going to happen whether we like it are not so we might as well jump on the train and enjoy each wonderful moment of this beautiful creation we are blessed to live in.  We are going to get older whether we like it or not….accept it Coppi even if it goes against your “liking”.  

Just a thought by coppi 

What thlipsis (pressure , literally or figuratively):–afflicted(-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble) are you bearing today? In the hard places of life, let us pray with St. Augustine:

“God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage.

“Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of community with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life.

Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:16-21 NLT – You must pay close attention to what they (prophets) wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.”

When I open the Bible to read, my prayer is Jesus’, if it’s only one word or phase in this chapter, please shine a light of understanding on it.  I don’t want to read words, I want  Christ the Morning Star to shine in my heart and give me wisdom and knowledge of what he is saying to me so that in the dark places of my life, your words will guide me until the day dawns and together, you Lord and I, have walked through the thlipsis of the hard place in my life.

Just a thought by coppi

“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. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:2 NLT

“Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth. ”John 1:51

“That by the angels of God ascending and descending, is to be understood, that a perpetual intercourse should now be opened between heaven and earth, through the medium of Christ, who was God manifested in the flesh.”

Jacob’s  ladder is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis(chapter 28).

“Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and Jacob said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭28:17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven.  The very gateway to heaven.”and “The Son of man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”  Reading both these quotes from scriptures –  one from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament, I became excited over both scriptures speaking about the ladder to-heaven.  I have seen different artist’s paintings depicting Jesus as the ladder to heaven and always was intrigued by them.  And when I read John 1:50 I immediately related the scripture to Jacobs ladder in Genesis 20 and the reality of the scriptures became alive in my heart of hearts.  God leaves nothing unsaid in scriptures.  What the prophet Isaiah prophetically proclaimed in the Old Testament (Isaiah 53) regarding Jesus is probably the most famous example claimed by Christians to be a messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus. It speaks of one known as the “suffering servant,” who suffers because of the sins of others. Jesus is said to fulfill this prophecy through his death on the cross.  He, Jesus, is our ladder to heaven and Jacob saw that ladder years before that prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus.  In my simple and humble belief that excites me.