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

“Tell the story of the mountain you have climbed. Your words could become a page in someone else’s survival guide.” – Morgan Harper Nichols

Rabbi Abraham Heschel was right: “The course of life is unpredictable; no one can write his autobiography in advance.”

I am big in journalizing feelings because it helps me to release pain, sorrow, grief, etc from my soul.  I am a believer in Jesus so my journalizing is usually a letter to him.  But, just putting words on paper and reading them will help you too.  I love to read testimonies because they tell of what’s going on in others life and how they managed to make it through them.  Guidepost magazine was a big help to me in my life.  Dr. Norman Vincent Peale started this little magazine years ago because, I believe, he knew it would help others if they read real stories of the mountains people climbed and survived.  I started writing ‘Just a Thought by Coppi’ years ago, sending them to different folks and the list has grown in the years since I started writing them.  Last year a dear friend knew a source to help me get them published in book form. I have sixty printed at a time – I am on my third time of having books printed.  My prayer was to help you people know the mountains I climbed and how I survived.  I believe we live in a fallen world and the devil (and as Billy Graham has stated “the devil is not a creature in a little red suit with a pitchfork) will do all he can to lure you into his kingdom of unbelief.  There will be happenings that cause us heartache, but there is a bright side too – Jesus Christ.  He will help you through them if you surrender and turn it over to him.  He might take you in directions you do not want to go, but in the end, from my own life experiences, they were the best.

Creator God, open my eyes to the wonder You’re writing into every day.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word… all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

—Leo Buscaglia

My diseased husband, who was a surgeon, often told me that when a person is in a coma they understand what is being said, and they respond to a touch.  When I read the quote by Leo Buscaglia, I remembered what he said , and how  powerful a small jester as a touch, smile, or a kind word can make a difference in someone’s life.   I will reiterate that I enrolled in a class when I lived in Dallas, Tx called “IN A WAY OUT”, many in that class – from lawyers to janitors were there because of suppressed feelings and pain.  We never know what is inside a person, because we can cover and dress pain in a variety of ways, but it’s there crying out “I hurt “.   I covered my pain in the way I put myself together.  Clothes – wild looking outfits.  When I played golf, my hats were not golf hats, but beautiful bonnets with lots of flowers on them.  I had someone tell me that a person asked who I was – he responded “that’s ~~~~~, she is very religious and stands behind her belief.   I did. I had Bible studies in our home,  and many of my cohorts attended.  I taught drawing to a couple young people;  one is now married to a minister, and now they have a church in Atlanta.  The sad thing is she had no belief, and the name Jesus was foreign to her.  Memories of years gone by, some beautiful- others had thorns of pain strewn throughout them.  As my friend Joyce told me when she wanted to tell her hubby about her previous life, he said “I don’t need to hear about your past – that’s who made you, and that’s who I love”.  Life is a basket filled with all sorts and various parts of our life.  For myself, all I can say is, “If Jesus Christ was not at the stern where would this ship be”.  

“Do not be afraid, have no fear,” is the voice we most need to hear. This voice was heard by Zechariah when Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, appeared to him in the temple and told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son; this voice was heard by Mary when the same angel entered her house in Nazareth and announced that she would conceive, bear a child, and name him Jesus; this voice was also heard by the women who came to the tomb and saw that the stone was rolled away. “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, do not be afraid.” The voice uttering these words sounds all through history as the voice of God’s messengers, be they angels or saints. It is the voice that announces a whole new way of being, a being in the house of love, the house of the Lord. . . . The house of love is not simply a place in the afterlife, a place in heaven beyond this world. Jesus offers us this house right in the midst of our anxious world”.  Henri Nouwen 

I read this today, and it spoke to my heart.  Through the centuries of time, darkness, and fear would peep its ugly head into the lives of saints and people of all ages.  “Do not Fear” and “Do not be be Afraid” are the words we/they needed to hear.  And the beautiful part of Henry Nouwen’s  message is we can have that love and peace now  –   it’s not simply a place in the afterlife, we have it now, right here in this anxious world.  Do not be afraid, Do not be afraid, Do not be afraid-the message from his messengers, sent from God, to you in time of need.  

just a thought by coppiHear

Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah“

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭61‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We are not King David running from his enemies and King Saul – but what are the enemies we are running from?  Mine are the enemies that block abundant life from me. Dwelling on my past is an enemy….worrying about things that might never happen….envy . …Insecurity. …Indecisiveness. …Intolerance. …Fear of Failure. …Impatience….etc.  Jesus said in John 10:10 …”The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.“

My prayer is Psalm 61:1-4….”I will trust in the shelter of Your wings”…..”Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Just a thought by coppi

Place your trust in him that he will always be with you through thick and thin.  “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”Isaiah 41:10

Just a thought by coppi

Napoleon Bonaparte is quoted as having said, “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.” 

Enough said.    

 ”And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.“

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

DEVINE love is PERFECT love and that is the love that casts out fear.  Not my love.  When St. John says that fear is driven out by perfect love, he points to a love that comes from God.  The perfect love about which St. John speaks, embraces and transcends all feelings, emotions, and passions. I gleaned this from reading a message of meditation from Henry Nouwen.

“Perfect love cast out all fear”.  I have read this scripture many times in my life, and have always been mentally defeated when I read “perfect love casts out all fear”.  I thought I had to be the one who had to overcome and be victorious. I knew that was an impossible task for me.  What I need to do is focus on God’s love for me, and ground myself in this His love. and not my own love which is swayed by my emotions.  I guess an analogy, for me, is when I pray for someone or something, I need to leave that burden of prayer in the hands of Jesus, and let that perfect-devine love take over. “Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there” – even the “Perfect love that casts out fear”.  For me, I need to focus on Jesus, who is the epitome of LOVE.

Just a thought by coppi

“There is no failure in God’s will, and no success outside of God’s will.”

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.

I was having a conversation with a very successful doctor, who had decided to give up his practice to serve as a medical missionary in the mission field.  Our conversation ended up regarding the ones that went to serve in the mission field, and were totally miserable there. He said to me if God puts you in the mission world, you will be perfectly content, but if you put yourself there, you will be the most miserable you will ever be.  I think this issue applies to life. If 

I put myself in a situation where I don’t belong – I am miserable. Choices.  For myself, I try to remember to seek the Lord’s leading in where to go, but, of course, since my humanity gets in the way, I often miss the mark and then I am miserable.

Just a thought by coppi

And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, Yahweh [the LORD], in your presence. – Exodus 33:19

“what you think about God will shape your destiny in life”.

“Who is this “God” we love, hate, worship, blaspheme, trust, fear, believe in, doubt, cuss in the name of, bow to, make jokes about, and most of the time just ignore? 

I would argue that how you answer this question will define you.”  (John Mark Comer -“God has a name”.

In my opinion, a lot of the above statement rings true.  I grew up in a very legalistic religion–God was always chasing me with a big stick.  He was a very angry God.  Everything fun was labeled “sin”.  So my quest in life was to find the love of God and to know this God of love.  A pendulum can often swing too much in the wrong direction and growing up, I believe my pendulum got stuck way far to the left.  I came to be the ambassador of the world and wore myself out trying to be a good employee for God.  One time I was reading and meditating on what my purpose was to do and deep within I heard, ” I want you to love me with all your heart and love the people I put in your life” – “I can to do that Lord, because I genuinely love people – that’s easy”.  Gee, I felt a weight lifted from me and I was able to give up my ambassadorship title and take on the label of servanthood.  I like that title better.

Lord, thank You for being my place of refuge. When I feel exposed, weary, or overwhelmed, draw me close and remind me that I am always safe beneath Your wings“

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word… all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

—Leo Buscaglia

I have been accused of being a snob and other derogatory remarks, but the truth is I am (better now) a very shy person.  When a person does not think they are worthy, they tend to hide their self from others.  As I have said before, I took a course in “A Way Out”.  It was beneficial to me, and I realized I was not the only person with this issue.  There were people in that class, who were hindered by my same issues.  The class was a mixture of both sides of the spectrum – educated, not educated, wealthy and poor.  This class taught me that kind words, and a touch were often a catalyst to my soul.  Yes, I do believe that love reaches through all channels- a touch, kind words, and can/will turn a life around.