Today the world was “possibly” going to end according to Harold Camping. I would be glad if it did. Although I still have a thousand years to live here during the Kingdom reign of Christ , I’d be glad to move on to the next stage, which for all believers in this era includes new, resurrected bodies without the old stain of sin! Even, so, come Lord Jesus.
We also heard again today that the dollar is “tanking”. Again. Whatever “tanking” means. It’s allegedly done this several times already. The U.S. government has made some really bad choices over the last years that have effected the economy and will continue to do so as time goes on. And, we’ll continue to hear both rumors and facts about it.
I agree with what our pastor said a year or more ago - that America has turned their back on God and He has consequently withdrawn their wisdom (remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom), and apparently given them over to strong delusion that they should believe a lie. There are “powers that be” in this country who have been believing some amazing lies and acting upon them for some time now. What the actual end of it all will be is hard to know for sure, but there are plenty of theories flying around and we hear dramatic reports on a regular basis now it sometimes seems.
So….what does that have to do with us as God’s children? Should we be “shaking in our boots”? Should we be living in fear?
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Philippians 1:28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
Does this mean that we shouldn’t possibly do some expedient things in preparation for the future?
Proverbs 6:6-8 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
This is the typical sort of storing that rural people have been doing for thousands of years. Collecting the harvest at the end of the growing season and storing it away by various methods. My mom has been doing this all of my life. Some useful staples are also in order for a “well stocked” pantry (not a massive hoard). But remember the words of our Lord Jesus as well, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:24-34
So, it’s a balance, and a moderating point. Don’t be lazy or a sluggard, but also don’t get so distracted with collecting stuff for the future that you become the servant of mammon instead of the servant of the Lord. Our FATHER will take care of us, and “…he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5
My natural, fleshly tendency has been to panic at the possibility of disaster. (Note that I say the possibility, not the actual occurrence, because often it’s the rumors and allegations that frighten us the most. They are much more common in life than actual disasters in my experience.) Consequently, the fear and trembling that is going on around the financial situation in the U.S. frightens me sometimes.
But, you know what? Today was too pretty of a day here where we live to be spoiled by the threat of what’s coming. Besides, my Lord is already there. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He not only knows what is coming, He is already there because He is the I AM – every aspect of our timeline is “the present” to Him. And, He knows all about it. I don’t.
So….by God’s grace and enabling power, I choose to be thankful instead of threatened. Because of His merciful kindness, I choose to trust instead of tremble. Because of His great love wherewith He hath loved us, I choose to rest instead of running.
Tomorrow, or tonight might be different, but that is my desire. So, instead of giving you a long list of horrors to come and enumerating all the possibilities and telling you what you “ought” to do about it, I thought I’d like to share some blessings that I’ve had recently. This post is going to be pretty long, but hopefully it will bring comfort to someone and help you also count your blessings.
I am Thankful for:
A great-grandmother who loved to read God’s word. (I’ve been working on some old family photos and found this one recently.)
This beautiful new Bible that my friend Beth sent me in Sept. It arrived on a day when we were having high drama due to potential natural disaster (wildfires being caused by dry lightening), reminding me that the Lord can and does send blessings in the midst of difficulties.
A new (**quiet**) computer! (Thank you, my dear husband!) :-)
And, for my husband too! (Yay for being married three years minus one week!)
Beautiful, velvety, purple morning glories that bloomed with very little water. :-)
Watermelons. Who knew that they would thrive in intense heat with less water than most vegetables? Yum! :-)
A gorgeous skim of green on our yard after so very, very long a time! (The drought in Central Texas is not broken, but we were highly blessed with three inches of rain a few weekends ago! Thank you, Lord!!)
The glory of green growing things! In our own yard – today! :-)
Cardinals that remind me of so many other blessings – my Gramma, a dear friend now with the Lord, my husband, our pastor, and more. (My husband took this right in our yard from our dining room window earlier this week. There were actually three males and two females.)
My parents who were celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary today! (This is a picture from their wedding.) We were blessed to be able to take them out to eat, and to even eat outside (a rare blessing in Texas, for those of you who don’t know it). :-) Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take a picture at the restaurant. :-P
Sooo. These are few of my blessings. A very few. How many of your own can you add to this list? :-) Are you feeling better? :-) I hope so. I enjoyed putting this together to share with you. God has been so good. He still is, in fact. :-)
Psalms 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
Do you claim to celebrate Christmas in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ? Silly question, right? The commercialism and the lack of focus on Jesus Christ is something that has been a particular burden on my heart this year. Consequently, it seemed like a good idea to lay out some challenges to my fellow believers to attempt to get those of you who do celebrate to consider what you are doing, and why. Furthermore, it would be good to give up some of the things that are either contrary to sound reasoning (to say nothing of scripture) or excessive either in cost or behavior. Under the present circumstances worldwide, there is great virtue in simplifying your celebrations and making a point of spending less; or spending in a manner that takes Jesus Christ as the example.
Fruit photo by Elisabeth M.
Lastly, you can freeze broth for future use by pouring it in muffin tins and freezing it (don’t use the waxed paper for this). It is important to freeze till they are solid! Once they are frozen solid remove by popping them out of the cups one at a time. Only run them under water (on the bottom of the pan) if necessary, being careful to only do one cup at a time and having your hand there to catch the frozen “cubes”. Place them in the bag and return to the freezer as quickly as possible to avoid them melting and sticking together. 
Proper nutrition is really of vital importance for anything to be healthy, and as with animals, small kids and babies cannot always tell you that they don’t feel right. If proper eating could help the behavior issues of a cat don’t you suppose that it might make a difference in some children as well? This is not to say that they will stop being sinners. They won’t. But, there may be things in their diet that are irritating their bodies and brains in ways that God didn’t intend and thus causing emotional disorder that leads to behavioral problems. It is something to think about.
and hopefully agree! Kids are lot smarter about these things than some parents think. When they find out there is trash and bug killer in the food they may be more angry than you are. Who wants fish genes in their tomato anyway? Make it a family project to improve the diet and find out why. (Be forewarned, though; as one friend of mine found out, the kids may be more diligent at checking ingredients than you are!) 
