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.

Phil 4:6-7:  do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer & petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And, the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts & minds in Christ Jesus.

In my readings this morning, I came across a quote that “rang my bell” & I could not quit thinking about it….”worry is temporary atheism”….funny how a simple quote could result in an overwhelming flood of conviction.

I have a grateful list & bring them to Jesus in my morning prayers.  Now I am adding another list titled “my worry list”.   I penned my worries, listed them one by one ( big worry list) then I got out of bed & got on my knees & gave them to Jesus.  I also, named & said them out loud.  But, I asked Him to deposit peace & joy in the empty space that my worry left behind.

“Jesus, thank you for the truth of your word and for the reward that comes when I live out those truths”.

“I hope the morning sun continues to remind you: you are worthy of new beginnings. It is okay to not know everything and know that you are still being guided right where you need to be.” – Morgan Harper Nichols

Everyone deserves the chance to be known for who they are, not who they appear to be. That’s the way God views people. (Janet Denison)

To be fully known for who we are and still be loved is the essence of acceptance of yourself.  But it is a risk.  You have to be vulnerable, and that is not easy to do.  The funny thing is, you have to take yourself everywhere you run.  That’s what my mother used to tell me when I wanted to run from pain.  Insecurity was a dark cloud that was/is a problem for me.  I built a wall around me that no one could penetrate – not even myself.  It wasn’t until I took a course titled ‘A way Out’, years ago, that I began knocking bricks off my wall.  I was in a class with many prominent people and I wondered why are they here, but when they took off their masks and let us see their hurts, insecurities, etc, they were just like me – ‘hurting’.  Being vulnerable, I am sure wasn’t easy for them, but being accepted, warts and all; they/me made a giant step into new beginnings.  It did for me.

“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.

Isaiah 42:16

“And 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.”

I will lead you in paths you do not know

And in paths that you have not known

I will guide you

I will turn the darkness before you into light

The rough places into level ground

Because these are the things I do and I will not forsake you.

I enjoy personalizing scriptures – it makes them more meaningful to me.  Also, it helps me in my memorization of scriptures.  Lots of times during the night I awaken and cannot go back to sleep; I will start quoting the scriptures I have committed to memory.  Before I am finished with them I go to sleep.  I like this scripture because of the way it ends “Because these are the things I do and I will not forsake you”.  

“These are the things I do for you Coppi”

“I will not forsake you Coppi”.

“I choose to trust what I don’t understand to the God who does.”

Truly, I have had to say the above quote many times in my life because I do not understand the many goings-on in  my surroundings.  My mother used to say to us when we would ask about something we did not understand and why a good God would allow that to happen – “God is weaving a pattern, and you will understand it in the great by and by”.  As I watch the news and see all the tragedies that I do not grasp and probably will not in this lifetime, I remember what my mother said and the scripture in Isaiah 29:16 – “How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”? (NLT).  So to sum it up, i guess I will know and understand when my life is over and I stand before our creator and view the entire pattern he has woven.  Until then I choose to trust what I don’t understand to the God who does.

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

Just a thought by coppi  

I was reading in my meditation this morning about the two people on the road to Emmaus – a quote from what I read,”the two were troubled.” They had an internal conflict—-an emotional struggle over a disappointing experience—-and they were discussing it.

It was in the middle of their sorrow and confusion that Jesus approached them as they walked.  Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.  How wonderful!  The risen Christ joined them on their journey.  He wants to join us as well.  Life is a journey and Christ wants to be our constant companion as we walk our dusty trails.”  (In His Presence – Dennis Fisher)

I recall years ago while living in Dallas, Texas I was asked by a well known organization to give a talk on a painting I had done on “The Road to Emmaus”.   I agreed. A lady in attendance bought the painting. She wasn’t a young lady and wanted to gift Oral Roberts University with a gift before she died.  She liked my painting and the meaning it represented so she purchased the painting.  Oral Roberts University sent someone to my home to approve the gift, which they did, and took it.

I love the story of “On the road to Emmaus” and I related to the two men who were walking the dusty road – confused, distraught, and sad.  “The disciples had expected Jesus to manifestly and unmistakably defeat their oppressors and fulfil their dreams: “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (v.21). But the exact opposite appears to have happened. Not unlike the disciples, we also place our hopes on certain things and expect things to turn out in a certain way. But in life, things don’t always happen the way we want, hope, pray, or expect. The road to Emmaus is littered with shattered hopes and broken dreams.” (Kethoser Kevichusa – RZIM article)

However, these two men were blessed by Jesus – when they invited the anonymous walker and listener to come and break bread with them their eyes were opened and they realized it was Jesus, their Messiah who was walking along the dusty road with them.  Jesus walks with us.  We might not recognize Him but know He is there walking and listening to you.  Stop and invite him into your heart and you too will recognize Him and feel His love for you.  And, He wants to be our companion as we walk our dusty trails.

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.

Just a thought by coppi

“Now, every time I witness a strong person, I want to know: What dark did you conquer in your story? Mountains do not rise without earthquakes.” – Katherine MacKenett

“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” – Henry W. Longfellow

“Life throws daunting challenges our way that makes us feel trapped.  For such desperate times, hope is the only remedy.  We need genuine, meaningful hope.  Hope that holds real promise and substance.  Erik Erickson, a 20th century Danish-American psychologist, said “Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive.  If life is to be sustained, hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, thrust impaired.”

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”

Paul compares the anchor of the ship which holds it firm to ride out the storms,instead of being tossed about, like wise hope gives strength to ride out the hardships of life, and keep one spiritually, mentally and emotionally staple,Therefore Christians must strive hard to keep hope alive, because this hope cannot be seen. (Hebrews 6:19 (NASB)

All I have to say is in my own life when the storms swirled around me, I held tight to hope even when my confidence was wounded and my trust impaired.  I wanted life; and without hope life would be without substance and promise.  Life would be dead.

When death is near, when life is unfair, and our hearts break within us, God is not any less on the throne. Where darkness consumes, where it serves to discourage, where it threatens hope and life, the promises of God and the certainty of light will not be mastered. For in Christ is life and that life is the light of humankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.  (Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.)

“He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

John 1:2-5 NLT

I looked up the definition of darkness and found synonyms of darkness – they are as follows:

“The forces of darkness”

synonyms:’

evil, wickedness, sin, iniquity, immorality; devilry, the Devil, 

dark, blackness, gloom, dimness, murkiness, shadow.

I now understand fully why I do not like darkness because just reading the synonyms of the word gives me the ‘shakes’.  I enjoy lights on in my home, I enjoy the bright sunshine, and I enjoy everything that brings light into my soul such as encouraging words, laughter, hugs, love, a smile are only a few.  When I read the Bible and a word or passage lights up brightly, I hold it closely to my being and thank Jesus for this light.  And, I love the passage in John 1:5 – “The light shines in darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”.