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.

“Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him.” —C. S. LewisI i got out of my car the other day to pick up meds from the pharmacy I frequent.  There in front of the pharmacy is usually a homeless person lying beside the outside wall of the pharmacy.  The church I attend makes homeless bags to be given to these lost souls.  Today he was asleep so I laid the homeless bag beside him. In the bag is a bottle of water, several nourishment bars to eat, and a note with instructions on how to find a homeless shelter to spend the night.  The why this individual chose to give up on life, I do not know.  Did he substitute drugs to help him with his addiction or was drugs a way of facing whatever he was going through in life.  Anyway, he was a lost soul, lying on hard concrete, with nothing but harshness surrounding him.  My small bag of survival will help for awhile , but maybe the note giving him instructions to a place of hope will turn his eyes upward to Him, the shining star of love, Jesus.Just a thought by coppi

“Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him.” —C. S. Lewis i got out of my car the other day to pick up meds from the pharmacy I frequent.  There in front of the pharmacy is usually a homeless person lying beside the outside wall of the pharmacy.  The church I attend makes homeless bags to be given to these lost souls.  Today he was asleep so I laid the homeless bag beside him. In the bag is a bottle of water, several nourishment bars to eat, and a note with instructions on how to find a homeless shelter to spend the night.  The why this individual chose to give up on life, I do not know.  Did he substitute drugs to help him with his addiction or was drugs a way of facing whatever he was going through in life.  Anyway, he was a lost soul, lying on hard concrete, with nothing but harshness surrounding him.  My small bag of survival will help for awhile , but maybe the note giving him instructions to a place of hope will turn his eyes upward to Him, the shining star of love, Jesus.

Just a thought by coppi

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23-24

“The deep fear behind every loss is that we have been abandoned by the God who should have saved us. The transforming moment in Christian conversion comes when we realize that even God has left us. We then discover it was not God, but our image of God that abandoned us…. Only then is change possible.” (Margaret Manning Shull is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Bellingham, Washington.)

 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

I returned to the cancer center for the results of my blood work, and was seated in a row of patients waiting for results of their blood work.  I had planned to wait as usual, but was called immediately.  I was so shocked to hear my name called, I jumped up so fast I lost my balanced and nearly fell into a patient’s lap sitting next to me.  I apologized, and she responded with “cancer is enough”.   You really don’t see a lot of smiles and happy people there.  However, her response made me laugh, because I could visualize me falling into her lap, and maybe just maybe bringing laughter to a string of unhappy faces.   My results on my blood work was positive – still in remission, however as I passed the row of patients still waiting I prayed would they have the same blessing – “you are in remission “.   May it be so Lord Jesus. 

ght by coppi

“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.”

(Psalms 27:13 NLT)

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven. (Mt 6:9-10 NIV)

“In the land of the living” and “on earth as it is in heaven” –  I will see the Lord’s goodness in the here and now.  How can I see His goodness when I am covered up with problems, etc. King David must have utter those words as he was fighting for his life when King Saul, in his jealous behavior, was chasing him to kill him, but King David stood on God’s promises that he would see God’s goodness, and in Ps 16:7-8 He utter “Keep me safe, O God for I have come to you for refuge.  I said to the Lord, you are my master!  Every good thing I have comes from you.” (Ps 16:1-2 NLT). Yes, David did see God’s goodness and protective hand in his life, and his words are written in the Bible so we too can learn and glean from the experiences of David as well as all the Prophets and Saints in the Bible.  God is for us.  We are conquerors through him.  He is our refuge and hope and wants us to experience his goodness on earth as well as in heaven.  Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver…(Ps 22:8).

In a sermon, Charles Spurgeon observed, “The sacred promises, though in themselves most sure and precious, are of no avail for the comfort and sustenance of the soul unless you grasp them by faith, plead them in prayer, expect them by hope, and receive them with gratitude.”

Our Father God, we come before You today to ask for Your protection over our families. Let no trouble fall on them today. Keep them away from accidents. O Lord, allow no evil to influence their hearts.

My brother Bodo Carl Wisian, was the second in line of ten children born to Bodo and Ada Wisian. We called him Peaches.  Why?  He was born with reddish color of hair with dots of freckles across his nose.  I guess my mother and father thought he looked like a peach.  Peaches was a wonderful, kind, dear soul and brother.  When he reached the age of being drafted in the USA army during World War 11, he was snatched from our lives to serve in a horrible war.  My mother’s prayers rung through our home day in and day out for God to protect Peaches and all the young men fighting for our country.  There were times she did not hear from him for days that turned into months.  My mother kept her faith that he would return;  He did!Peaches did not stay at home very long because he  went to work in New York as a race-horse manager for a farm to maintain its facilities and grounds and care for horses. They are responsible for cleaning stalls, ordering supplies, feeding the horses and assisting with their medical treatments when needed.  He worked himself up to be a trainer in the world of racing.  During this time, he earned enough money to be able to have electricity wired into our home for the first time. He bought my mother an electric store, electric refrigerator, and whatever else she needed to make her and our lives better.  He would come home every year to see us and bless our lives with goodies.  My best memory of him was sitting with my mother and between them was a large basket full of pecans; they were-shelling, talking and enjoy their time together.  Peaches, as with most of my family siblings, are gone to be with Jesus and our mother; but he left beautiful memories for me that I treasure in my heart.  I love you Peaches for ever and ever. 🍊🍊🍊

Stretcher friends…

Mark 2:4 – They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.  Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus…….when Jesus saw their faith….after a confrontation with the scribes, He said to the man “arise & take up thy bed & walk…..he did and was healed!

Whenever I visit my friend in Vero Beach, we have a time of gathering on their back porch.  One time we were privilege to have her uncle visiting, who is a Methodist minister, speak on different topics of interest, I would jot down any that pulled my heart strings.  One in particular really jolted my being….”stretcher friends”.  He said they were your friends who stood by you no matter what debris the winds of life blew in.  They prayed, encouraged, listened & extended a helping hand.  He said if you have five or less, you are mightily blessed.  Yes, I do.  These friends have been with me through many storms & also rejoiced with me in the brightness of the sun.  I would label them “the hands, feet, ears, mouth, etc of Jesus” – God is a spirit & the body of Christ is his way of spreading his unconditional love. 

But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. Genesis 40:14 (NIV)

“Locked away in prison, Joseph had every right to lose hope and become bitter. Instead, he lived with integrity. Eventually, a dream given to Pharaoh reminded the royal cupbearer of how Joseph had helped him. The Lord proved Himself faithful to Joseph even after men had failed.”

Keep your eyes on Jesus – not man, and you will never be disappointed. I had to learn years ago this when I became so enmeshed into a renowned Minister and Bible teacher.  The reason was she opened my eyes and heart to the Word of God.  But she was human, as I, with “clay feet”.  I was so disappointed when I realized her humanity – I wanted to cry.  “As the scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disappointed.”  That means Jesus not man.

I will always appreciate what I learned under her tutelage, but I now understand the dictum my mother used to say “eat the meat, and spit out bones”. It was a hard lesson to learn, but a very good one. 

Just a thought by coppi

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven……

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

I read the above statement over many times, and asked myself “Are there really ?”  Yesterday I was sitting in a row of seats at the Cancer Center-waiting for blood work results. I have Multiple Myeloma of the bone.  All the seats were taken by patients, except one next to me, waiting to see their doctor regarding their disease.  In walked a young lady dressed in a yellow outfit that sparkled with life, I thought.  She sat next to me, and as usual a conversation starts with “What kind of cancer do you have”.  She looked at me with sorrowful eyes and said “I have never been sick until I was diagnosed with cancer last year.  Cancer of the uterus.  I have had seven operations thus far, and I am here to see my doctor to find out if I need another.  She crossed herself with the sign of the cross, and said “I might not have to”.  I thought “Yes, a flower she has not seen yet”.  I was called for my blood-work results.  I got up from my seat, and took her hand, asked her name, and said you will be in my prayers.  She is on my prayer list.  Yes, I have missed seeing flowers.  I guess I was so focused on my concerns, I never thought to look for the unseen brightness glowing under all of them, a flower unseen.  

I get shots in my eyes to counteract the disease of macular degeneration.  Let me say I dread these shots, because I had one shot and the eye was not totally deadened, and I felt the needle in my eye.  It hurt for several days. Now when I go back to get a shot, they make very sure my eye is soaked with deadening solution so I will not have that happen again.   Anyway, as I was leavening, I noticed in the lobby a mother with her special needs child.   She was trying very hard to grasp what he was saying.  She patiently soaked him in love and understanding.  I watched as they communicated with hand jesters, smiles and eye contact.   I know God is love, but I don’t understand the whys and happenings in life.   My mother would say “Coppi, God is weaving a pattern, and you will understand when your life is complete, and you are home with Jesus”.   I need to trust my mother’s wisdom as she depended and trusted Him when she raised ten children by herself and managed to see them do well in life.   That was her prayer for us.  When a pattern is woven, its beauty is not seen until completion.  When Jesus completes His pattern for each of us, all the knots and rips in our walk will not be noticeable.  As my dear friend, who now resides in heaven, would tell his wife when she wanted him to know all the rips and knots in her previous life – “I do not need to hear them, they are what made you who you are now, and that is who I love”.  Jesus loves us.  We are wounded warriors traveling through life.  “When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.”–Henri Nouven 

Wounded healer.  I have contacted many on my walk.  I thank the Lord for each and every one of them.