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

There’s a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Your future matters more than your past

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14 TLB: “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us”.

Isaiah 43:18 -19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!….”

God says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.” This is where God changes the past of all who commit their lives to Him. He forgives our sins and forgets them!

Have you ever regretted something in your past? Gee, I have. My past regrets weighed me down when I dwelled on them. I finally had to seek the Lord and I truthfully said to him “ there are so many things I regret in my past, I am so sorry for them and wish I could go back and have a “redo” of my actions”. I would have hugged more, loved more, have more understanding, laughed more, and the list goes on and on. But I can’t. But as Warren W. Wiersbe says “Most Christians are being crucified on a cross between two thieves: Yesterday’s regret and tomorrow’s worries.” I do not want to crucify myself with regrets – I want to make amends when I can and when I cannot, I will commit the “undo” to God with a contrite and thankful heart to Him for healing. Reading Scripture with the Holy Spirit brings God’s word to life. The Bible isn’t just a book of rules. It’s not just a list of do’s and don’ts. It’s meant to be read with the understanding that its words were inspired by the One who dwells within you. “May your heart be stirred to meditate on God’s word that it might produce peace and joy in your life today.” Greg Denison

I want to look through the windshield and not the rear view mirror. That’s my desire. My regrets are in God’s hand and so is my future.

Just a thought by coppi

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭5:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jeremiah draws a direct connection between faith and peace. He says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV).

Justin Bieber to Simone Biles through InstagramI when she withdrew from Tokyo Olympic’s due to her mental health – “it’s as simple as—“what does it mean to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul. Sometimes our no’s are more powerful than our yes’s. When what you normally love starts to steal your joy it’s important we take a step back to evaluate why.”

It was very difficult for me to say “no” to anything I was asked to do or what I wanted to accomplish.  I can remember at one time, I was taking voice, piano, art. golf, etc lessons.  I was running in every direction trying to be something that people would love me – not for me but what I could do.  “No” was not in my vocabulary.  I thought I had to be the Wonder Woman doing and not being.  It was a hard lesson to learn, because when the bottom was “knocked out” of my world I created, where were the many “yes’s” that I thought was the answer to “love”.  Everything became a vacuum.  Where were these people whom I thought liked me – “nowhere”?  Painful – yes.  However, out of the pain and hurt, I learned to be me and I learned to slow down and smell the roses.  And, my “no’s, and “yes’s” were selective to “what’s the motivation behind them… “evaluate the why”.

Just a thought by coppi – year 2015

The light of God surrounds me; The love of God enfolds me; The power of God protects me; The presence of God watches over me; wherever I am, God is.

“Don’t fear tomorrow, God is already there.”

After spending a year in Oklahoma, I was moving back to Dallas, Tx., full of fear & the unknown.  I presume the young man who was moving me, picked up on my fears; He handed me a card with the above quote on it.  Goodness do I ever realize when one is stressed to the limit, it’s very hard to believe, God is anywhere & that He will meet your every need.  One of the things that helped me when I was in Dallas was I had three friends who met every Monday night to pray & I, at that time, was on the top of their list.  I was there one Monday night & will never forget them praying ….a job that I would love would come my way…..the next morning, another dear friend called me & told me about an job opening at Adams Golf.  I applied & was hired. I worked for Adams Golf ten years until I married a wonderful man from Tampa, Florida.  Yes, there were times of crying, worry, & loneliness but God was there…Ps 58:8 you keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.  You have recorded each one in your book.  Sometimes, life will throw us lemons & I guess it is up to us to make lemons into lemonade ….it is not easy squeezing those lemons BUT Jesus will help us squeeze!

Just a thought by coppi

“Forgiveness means it finally becomes unimportant that you hit back. You’re done. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to have lunch with the person. If you keep hitting back, you stay trapped in the nightmare.” — Anne Lamott

enough said…..

The Bible is not God. It is designed to act as a guide to knowing its Author. It is designed to give us a desire and understanding about this God who is living, active, and near to us.  (Greg Denison 9/21/18)

The future of Israel was in jeopardy. A massive Midianite army numbering 135,000 troops (Judges 8:10) was ready to annihilate the Jewish forces. Gideon mustered 32,000 soldiers, but the Lord led him to dismiss all but three hundred (Judges 7:2-8). God’s purpose was to show the Israelites that their deliverance came from the Lord and not from their hand.  (James Denison 9/21/18)

God is a mighty God.  Do we believe that?  I read where Gideon had only 300 soldiers facing a massive Midianite army numbering 135,000 troops depending & believing God’s word that their deliverance would come from Him and not from their hand.  That took faith and belief.  Do I have that kind of faith?  No I don’t, but I do know that when I look back on my life, I see the hand of God’s leading and directing. I read somewhere that “we should attempt something so big that if God is not in it, it will fail”. Gideon really put that to a test; a big test, but God wanted Gideon, and us. to believe that deliverance comes from Him and not us.  

Fear has always been my Jericho and it was because of fear that the Isralites did not enter the Promise land. When Moses died & Joshua took his place, they had to face their fears are stay in their placid land.  God said to Joshua (1:3) I promise you what I promised Moses: wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you.  I will be with you as I was with Moses – I will not fail you or abandon you. Joshua 1:9:  This is my command – be strong & courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  The words that stood out to me were Joshua 1:14……..Joshua to the people:  “stay with them until the Lord gives them rest, as he has given you rest, & until they, too, possess the land the Lord your God is giving them……(what stood out to me)…Only then may you return & settle here on the east side of the Jordan in the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, assigned you.

The Isralites had to concur the Giants that held them back before they could return to & settle back to the east side.  What is my/your Jericho……Is it rejection, heartache, disease, anger, bitterness, prejudice, insecurity about the future, guilt about the past – your Jericho is any mind-set that keeps you from joy, peace or rest.  We were not made for the wilderness, so we must turn our back on the wilderness because we are made for the promise land.  Myself, I think I will put on my marching shoes & start marching around my Jericho as Joshua & the Isralites did so all the walls that keep me from joy, peace or rest will tumble down.  The Israelites not only concurred the land but found it full of lustrous grapes, etc.   

Now, where did I put my marching shoes….

Mark 4:39 – then He arose & rebuked the wind, & said to the sea, “peace be still”!

“Father, the sea is big & my boat is small, but I feel safe because you are here in the boat with me”.  Daniel Schantz

Do you ever feel your boat is a kayak & you are peddling with all your strength to keep it moving?  Back in my days in Dallas, TX, I used to work with the Chaplain at the V.A. Hospital.  He would send me to different floors where people were in dire need of healing & a message of hope.  It seemed every room was filled with death.  I struggled with being there & what to say until I came to the conclusion I wasn’t there for me but for others.  I crawled out of the kayak & got into the boat with Jesus.  Each room I enter, I would say “you know the need of this person, give me the words to comfort them & give them hope”.  I volunteered there approximately 1 – 2 years sometimes 3 times a week.  I thought I was helping them but truly listening to their life stories, they ministered to me.  When you know your time is near & if Jesus doesn’t heal you, it’s amazing what is important & what isn’t to you……Many lost their fight for life but others made it.  The V.A. Hospital was like a big sea of swirling winds until I saw Jesus move within the hearts of mankind & bring peace to their souls.

Just a thought by coppi

Exodus 32:7-14. Moses & God’s conversation.

“The LORD told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’……(following verses are Moses arguing with God to spare the people)…..V-14:  So the LORD changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people

Debbi, a dear friend of mine, and I were having dinner the other day when she brought up the above passage in the Bible and how Moses argued with God to spare the rebellious children of Israel.    Noticed how God gave the people back to Moses – “YOUR” people whom you brought out of Israel – God was so angry with the rebellious   Israelites he did not want to claim them….but in the end Moses convinced God to spare the children of Israel & the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.  Prayer is so important in our walk with the Lord – committing our Red Sea situations to God in prayer, trusting him, and waiting for him to work.  Grace & truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son who is at the Father’s side has made Him known.  God is a spirit & His worshipers must worship in spirit & truth.  So grace & truth came through Jesus.  We don’t have Moses interceding for us….we have Jesus.  Grace wonderful grace.

Just a thought by coppi

I read the following devotion by Jonathan Cahn & was so blessed by it that I wanted to share with you, my just a thought readers:

The Law Of The Tomb Raiders:  in the first century, Caesar issued a decree: anyone robbing or disturbing any tomb in Nazareth or Judea was to be executed.  What’s strange about that?  Who on earth were less likely to touch a dead body than the Jewish people who had laws against it?  And as for Nazareth, it’s not even mentioned in the rabbinical writings.  So why did Caesar issue a decree there?  Undoubtedly, a report or rumor came to him about Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth, and an empty tomb.  The accusations in Mt 28:13 of tomb theft only prove that the tomb was empty.  But nobody could make it empty except God.  The only One who disturbed the tomb was God.  So the Nazareth Decree is further evidence that the tomb was empty.  So, if you are with God, you have the same power – to disturb tombs.  Disturb the tomb of the old self, the old habit, the old situation.  You have the power to make things come alive that were dead.  Go into that dead situation and make it come alive by the power of God.  Go in there & disturb that tomb.

Apply the power of God to the dead situations in your life today!  Speak the word of God over these areas of your life & trust God to bring restoration.

II Kings 6:17:  And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

” To the servant there was need of a more manifest vision, and for this Elisha prays, and God vouchsafes to grant it, that the servant may become as confident as his master. It is not that the troops may be gathered that Elisha prays, they are there already, but that the servant may have a seeing eye bestowed upon him to discern how well he and his master are protected.”

I read the above scripture years ago and it was one of those “awakening” moments for me!   I was fearful and afraid of the “mountain” I was facing.  How was I to handle this looming situation – anxiety engulfed me.  My prayer turned away from me to the Reality of God.  “Jesus, help me to surrender this problem to you – open my eyes to see and hear you say Coppi, I am already there – trust me”.