Caring for Each Other
Oct 16, 2014
I hurt my thumb a few days ago. I kind of remember what I did. I think I was washing off the kitchen counter and there was a stubborn dried on food spot that didn't come off with a normal pass over with the washcloth. No, it was the kind that took a little bigger tool. So instead of reaching for my deluxe plastic tool I use for the hard jobs.........(I get this tool free from the salad dressing manufacturer. There is one with every jar, They are free and work great. Oh yeah, most people call it the lid.)
Anyway, instead of using my man made tool I used what God gave me......my thumbnail, Sometimes I get by with that. But not always and this time I didn't, it sliced right in under my thumbnail. OUCH!
But within the next day or two it really started to hurt, and it still does, It is hot swollen and throbbing. I'm starting to wonder if it will ever be better, So far it shows no sign of improvement. I have really been shielding it. I bumped it a few times and I nearly went through the roof. My family has been hearing me moan and complain about my sore thumb.
But I have been thinking..........
My entire body has been involved with this thing. The other four fingers often wrap themselves around my poor thumb. Sometimes he goes into my mouth for comfort. Other times my left hand will reach over and hold him for awhile.
I think this is what God had in mind for the church in 1 Corinthians 12:25-26
That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
I don't hear any of my fingers talking among themselves about my thumbs' problem, No one has approached my thumb with comments like, "What is your problem anyway,?" or "You must be bitter." There has only been compassion, concern and love and an anxious desire for my thumb to heal.
I'm sure hoping my thumb won't have to become a real life example of what happens in the church when a member isn't shown love, care and Christian compassion.......I really still need my thumb.
Today is Oct 20, four days later. My thumb is much better. I had been anointing it with a salve that was made with Comphry, Plantain, and Tea Tree oil. It didn't help at all that I could tell. My husband told me that I would have to go to a Dr. I really did not want to spend $100.00 on my thumb. So with that thought combined with the fact that it was really bothering me, painful swollen, pretty much useless, I did a Google search on Drawing Salve, because I thought there must be something in there that prevented it from healing.
On Google I found a recipe that was very similar to what I was already using except there was Charcoal in it. So, I thought, Great! I will just add some Charcoal to the salve I am already using.So that's what I did. At first it was very soothing. I coated the whole thumb down to the first knuckle and swathed it with gauze and tape. Within 30 minutes it began throbbing and hurting. This lasted all night until around 2:30am when I took Tylenol for some relief. By morning I could see a huge difference in the swelling and pain. I kept it covered with ointment and gauze for 24 hours and it is almost normal now.
Recipe for Drawing Salve
- 3 Tablespoons of comfrey, calendula and plantain infused olive oil (see instructions below)
- 4 Tablespoons of coconut oil
- 2 Tablespoons Beeswax
- 1 teaspoon Vitamin E oil
- 2 tablespoons Activated Charcoal Powder
- 20 drops (or more) Lavender Essential Oil
Instructions
To make infused oil the fast way,1 cup herbs fresh or dried, to 10-12 oz.olive oil. just take your cut herbs and throw them into a small pan with olive oil. Turn your oven on the coolest setting. Mine reads 170 degrees. Leave your herb/oil mixture in the oven for 4-5 hours or up to a full day, until your herbs are crisp (if you are using fresh). For dried herbs I would at least do the 4-5 hours and then just check the color of the oil. It should be a nice green color. Some herbalists recommend 8 hours.
To Make Your Salve
Strain all the herb out of the oil and discard the herbs. Add the other ingredients and melt over very low heat until your beeswax is all melted and pour into a container. Vitamin E oil works as a preservative.
If you have time to do the Cold Method then here is how you do it:
Take 1 cup herbs, 10-12 oz. of Olive Oil and a quart jar. The oil should cover the herb by 1 inch inside the jar. Put a lid on it and set it in a warm place preferably in direct sunlight. Leave set for 2 weeks, shaking it at least twice a day. After 2 weeks strain out the herb and make your salve as stated above.
I have been thinking about my thumb, I think I must have gotten a bacteria in there and that is why it needed some help to heal. I don't spiritualize everything I just like allagories that teach a lesson.
Bacteria could be like a sin creeping into our lives. The Charcoal could be a picture of the Blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin.
We all have a sin problem but Jesus paid the price for all our sin. We receive forgiveness and righteousness as a free gift for the perfect sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross where he died for all our sin. The price for sin has been paid for everyone on the face of the earth. We receive this gift by seeing our need to be saved from our sins. By crying out to Jesus for deliverance and believing that he is truly the Son of God who died to pay for our sin and rose again from the dead to give us life and righteousness.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Prov 28:13
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10
The God of all Comfort
(Dealing with Pain)
Sept 29, 2014
Physical pain has a purpose. When we hurt ourselves, the pain makes
us aware, so we can stop and heal. You touch a hot stove, the pain you
immediately feel alerts you to pull your hand away. Were it not for the
pain you would suffer horrible burns.
Emotional pain has a purpose too. Pain makes us pull away and look for
help. God is always close by waiting to heal and give us comfort. So
emotional pain draws us close to God and causes our faith in him to
grow.
There are different levels of pain. Sometimes pain is just a
humiliation we need to get beyond. Sometimes there is the pain of a loss
of a friend or loved one. This pain seems to heal slowly over time and
may never totally disappear, but does become easier as time goes by.
There is also a devastating pain of aloneness. When there is no one
to care or understand. Made more difficult if you are in a circle of
people who should care and be there and they are not. Rejection causes a
huge pain that people fail to understand, until its their turn.
We are all made of human flesh and when we are in a painful situation
we feel blinding pain and our first reaction is to lash out and inflict
pain back, or at least to run to our friends and find some emotional
relief from there.
Instead of doing this we really need to run to God. He is the God of
all comfort. I have found his presence gentle. He listens and lets me
rant and rave and cry. But then he fills me with his presence and in his
presence there is forgiveness. There is the right attitude just waiting
to be accepted by me.
Here is where I find my turning point. Am I willing to let go of my
pain, my anger, my sorrow and allow myself to be filled instead with his
love, his forgiving attitude, his charity toward the other person?
If I don't make that decision right there, immediately, then in his
love and mercy he doesn't stop, but gently keeps the pressure there. The
quiet reminder of what is right, the withholding of absolute perfect
peace until I open my heart to him and agree to let go of the
feelings.Then the very instant I agree, the very minute I open my hands
and release, he instantly comes in and fills me with the beautiful
warmth of grace, joy, love and the ability to forgive and love that
person. Oh Joy, Joy!
I am so far from perfect. I see that clearly. On my own I would hold
grudges and be a very bitter person. But in his presence there is
fullness of joy, learning to agree with Jesus helps me to be a totally
different person.
God has tremendous patience with us. He
doesn't expect perfection from us. Just a willing heart to listen to
him as he guides us through one step at a time. I have found that I
receive his absolute blessing and peace when I respond to his gentle
sweet spirit guiding me into all truth. Recently I realized that God
only asks us to go one step at a time with him. We may still have things
to deal with that he knows he will still be taking care of in the
future but he only asks us to take one small step at a time and when we
walk in the light as he shows us, we are in his perfect will at the time
even though he knows there are still things in there that he is going
to ask us to deal with.( This has really happened to me.)
Another thing I learned just recently is that I do not change people. I
learn to accept them and to love them as they are. Often it's our
expectations that cause us to be hurt by other people. Because they just
don't come through for us. I need to release them to be who they are,
just as I want them to release me to be who I am. Maybe I never will
have the relationship that I want to have with them on this side of
eternity, but I can look forward to that great day when we will all be
changed for we shall see him,(Jesus) as he is and we shall be like HIM!
Just one more thought. When we get hurt we want to draw away from the ones who hurt us. All of us do, it is a very predictable normal reaction. But let's try to see it just a little differently. Chances are that person did not intentionally hurt us. They have a different vantage point. They just don't see the picture from where we are standing. Let's also understand that the same God that is dealing with us is also dealing with them and if we think we aren't seeing any results of his working on them, well, then we remember how he is gentle, kind and loving with us and will also be so with them.
Jesus said in John 13:35
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Col 3:13
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.( I love this! we can have the bond of perfectness!)
And one more before I stop here: 1Pe 4:8
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
It helps me to realize that we are all zeros. No one is in the Right. We all need the grace of God and he deals with each one of us accordingly. God bless you all in your journey. This was written from the thoughts and experiences of mine.
Stinkin' Secrets Sept 17,2014
I've been having trouble with mice in my house.Recently we noticed when we laid in bed that there was that unmistakable smell of a dead mouse. It didn't get better. Finally it was strong enough I knew I had to do something about it.
So I tore the bed apart. I thought it must have died under there. I sniffed my way through Wal-mart bags full of quilt magazines my Mom passed on to me, my wedding shoes and a box with a doll in it that I am saving for Merry.To no avail. It was maddening! I kept getting waves of this nasty aroma, but couldn't find the vile creature.
Finally I gave up. Blah! It can't be under the bed! So I put everything back and got my little, not so little, boys to help me get the box spring and mattress back on.
As I sank on my bed with my aching back, my nose picked up that horrible, offending aroma once more. I groaned. I cannot live, sleep with this. Adrenalin kicked in and I ignored my aching back. It must be under the night stand. With grim determination I began to empty off the top so I could move it. First the book stand and then as I grabbed the lamp to remove it, I saw that offending creature and I couldn't help but shriek just a little.
The stupid little critter had crawled inside my lamp through the hole where the cord ran in and couldn't get back out.There he was, his nose, face and incredibly long whiskers sticking out of the hole and Man, did he stink!
I thought about that mouse a lot the next day. Isn't he just like secret sin? Those things that just creep in and we initially think no one will ever know. The truth is, God begins to work in our hearts and asks us to forsake those secrets that no one knows about. But then we have to choose, will we get rid of them when they are small or keep them until they are stinky, obvious and disgusting, and smell of death?
On the flip side, I couldn't help but think how wonderful the good secrets are! God tells us about them too, and promises a reward for them. The good things that are done in secret that no one knows about. The praying in secret and helping others with financial aid or in many other ways as well. God calls it doing alms. Our Father who sees in secret will reward us openly. Mat 6:4&6
Aren't we strange creatures? The things God tells us to keep secret we want to brag about.
The things we want to keep quiet about, God tells us to confess and forsake. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Things Seem Impossible
Armed guerrillas took Tim and Bunny Cain hostage in Colombia, and forced
them to call their base for medical help. Missionaries Steve and Paul
flew into the guerrillas'' trap. See how God provided miraculous
protection and freedom for the four hostages in this story of fear,
despair, and ultimately faith in God's ability to do the impossible.
|
Blessed be the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten me again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for me,
5 Who am kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein I greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, I am in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of my faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, I love; in whom, though now I see him not, yet believing, I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
http://www.ntmbookstore.com/when-things-seem-impossible-dvd-p/dvdwhe.htm
GET IT HERE!
This is NOT an affiliate link. Just sharing because I love it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 |
||
|
The Pharisees, Sadducees and Bereans. Are these groups extinct?
Most of us can spot a Pharisee. Most of us could probably conjure an image in our mind immediately of what a modern day Pharisee looks like. I guess I won't ask for a contest! But the thought came to me one day. What about the Sadducees? Are they still around as well? I decided to do some research and I was amazed at what I found. Although the Sadducees were destroyed in 70AD in the destruction of Jeruselem, I do believe their doctrine still exists as well as the Pharisee's. But in my search I also found another group. One that probably all of us prefer and would love to be a part of. The Bereans!
The Pharisees were middle class businessmen. So they had contact with the common people. Surprisingly enough the common people in that day preferred them over the Sadducees. Nowadays Pharisees have a bad reputation. Mostly because Jesus exposed them as hypocrites. They believed in the tradition of the Elders and obedience to the law. They cared more about the external appearance than about what was in the heart.
They kept the law religiously and looked down on other Jews as "sinners". Jesus had a LOT to say to the Pharisees. He berated them for believing that keeping their hands clean was important for godly living, when the real corruption came from inside their heart.
The Sadducees are more obscure in scripture and not referenced to quite as much as the Pharisees. They were the rich and elite and tried very hard to get along with the Romans. They were not bothered a lot with Jesus until it appeared like he could jeopardize their peace with the Romans. When that became a concern they joined the Pharisees in their opposition of Jesus.
The Sadducees believed only in the written word. The books of Moses.The only trusted the original
law. According to Jesus they did not know the scriptures. They did not believe in the resurrection because they thought Moses did not mention it. Jesus set them straight when he said," You do err, not knowing the scriptures neither the power of God." Then he went on to tell them why. God told Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living." In essence he was saying had you studied the scriptures you could have figured this out for yourselves.
They believed in taking scripture literally rather than rightly dividing it.
The Bereans were converts from the city of Berea, who had responded to the ministry of Paul and Silas. They willingly and eagerly received the word of God. They examined the scripture daily to see whether the things they heard were true. As a result they grew strong in faith.
Pharisee: One who lives by the law, looks good on the outside and is critical of others.
Sadducee: One who claims to live only by the word of God yet does not dig in and study to rightly divide God's word and seek to know and believe it entirely.
Berean: One who hears the word of God and receives it gladly and eagerly studies it to prove whether what he hears is true
What Happens When You Ask your Son to Show You his IPhone
My friend Julie has a new IPhone. I was curious how she liked it because IPhones and IPods seem so tiny to me. Especially since I hit 40 and my eyesight is crazy now. She told me she would let me try it out next time we get together. I have long wanted a Kindle but was waiting for the right time and price.I had a few goals I wanted to reach before I purchased one.
That eveniong I sat on the couch to relax after supper. My son was sitting there too on his IPhone and it occurred to me that I could just see how his worked. So I asked him to show me. He said, " Sure Mom, what you want to see?" I settled for Ebay and randomly asked him to search for a Kindle saying as he typed the words in that I would never buy one from Ebay but rather from Amazon because sometimes you can get an even better deal there on a new one. He handed me the phone and I clicked on the first Kindle that caught my eye.
" Hey, I said, here's one that ends in 1 minute." " What?" he said, "Shall I bid on it?" "Well, I responded, you better see if it works, sometimes the broken ones go for that cheap." So he flips through the info and says, "No, this one is fine she just likes paper books better, and she has 100% feedback. The bid was at $40.00. He enters a bid for $50.00 and I watch the seconds tick away, amused, still thinking we would be outbid, But the countdown continued with no contesting bids and within seconds I was the owner of a long desired Kindle Fire that I had no intention of buying 5 minutes before when I had innocently asked him if he would show me his phone.
Faith Like a Mustard Seed
I was thinking about a story to portray faith, I ended up writing The Tale of Two Sisters
But my thoughts first went to the Mustard Seed and so I did some research. I was so excited with what I found!
I always thought the Mustard seed was the spice in my cupboard I made pickles with, but as I looked at the images of Mustard plants that Google brought up it puzzled me. Those plants looked no taller than knee high! Jesus said a grain of Mustard seed grows into a big tree that the birds build nests in.
So I Googled Mustard tree and whoa! I was shocked! There really is a Mustard Tree! It grows in dry arid places like The Middle East and it is huge! It grows as wide as it is tall. As high as 20 feet.No wonder the birds love it!
When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, Jesus told them if they have faith like a grain of Mustard Seed they could tell a tree to uproot itself and plant itself in the sea and it would obey them.
That's quite an object lesson! So it takes only a little faith in a great God!
He then goes on to tell them to remember that they are unprofitable servants that are only doing their duty to God. Let's not forget who's who here. It's our tiny faith in our Great God who will do all he promises!
But my thoughts first went to the Mustard Seed and so I did some research. I was so excited with what I found!
I always thought the Mustard seed was the spice in my cupboard I made pickles with, but as I looked at the images of Mustard plants that Google brought up it puzzled me. Those plants looked no taller than knee high! Jesus said a grain of Mustard seed grows into a big tree that the birds build nests in.
So I Googled Mustard tree and whoa! I was shocked! There really is a Mustard Tree! It grows in dry arid places like The Middle East and it is huge! It grows as wide as it is tall. As high as 20 feet.No wonder the birds love it!
 |
| The Mustard Tree |
 | ||
| The Mustard Seed compared to the flower. One website I read said the seed is very small like a salt crystal. |
When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, Jesus told them if they have faith like a grain of Mustard Seed they could tell a tree to uproot itself and plant itself in the sea and it would obey them.
That's quite an object lesson! So it takes only a little faith in a great God!
He then goes on to tell them to remember that they are unprofitable servants that are only doing their duty to God. Let's not forget who's who here. It's our tiny faith in our Great God who will do all he promises!
No comments:
Post a Comment