Smart Phones Don't Make You A Smart Person

File this one under the “Who’s The Dummy Now?” folder.  Seriously.

This morning as I was quasi-awake but not quite wanting to face reality, a nagging thought, a tiny whisper really, kept echoing in my mind:  go check your bank balance.  Unable to shake it, I gave up those last hopes of much-needed beauty sleep and got up.  I (of course) went to the bathroom, did my business, washed my hands, and sat down to my computer.  Can you imagine my dismay and shock as I saw where nearly $400.00 in bank fees had been charged to my credit card?  Oh my cow!!  That earlier whisper had been right!!

I closely examined my charges, realized what mistake had been done, and sure enough:  it was my fault.  While fighting down the instinct to panic and tempering it with what a valued customer I was, I rationalized to myself and then later to Steve that I thought the bank would surely waive the fees since it was an honest mistake and no harm had been done.  And if they didn’t?  Well, we’d just transfer our funds (what was left of them, anyways)  to another one!

Long story short, my bank did indeed waive my fees.  They admonished me gently that the next time I tried to do something on my own, that perhaps they could better assist me and no penalties would be added to my account.  I humbly took the sweet representative’s advice and assured her that I would do just that.  No more relying on my smart phone with its tiny little words that my feeble eyes can’t always discern.  Oh sure:  I rely on this modern technology to keep me updated on all the latest things and people and news and so on but you know what?  There’s nothing like real, good, true, one-on-one conversation with someone who is on the other end of the line, waiting to assist me, wanting to hear my story, and offering to help get me out of whatever bind I have most recently gotten myself into--or preventing me from blundering in the first place!

Sounds kind of like Jesus, doesn’t it?  How many times do I start my day off reading a devotion by some writer, and then later reading a couple more of them in my email, “liking” the memes posted by my friends that show a verse of the day or some other uplifting quote and/or picture to encourage me that I should be at peace and happy and blissful as I bask in the knowledge that God loves me?  And while there is nothing wrong with these venues, there is no replacement for the Word of God, The Holy Bible.  When I go to It, there I get the personal touch and words of my God, straight from the top, if you will.  I read His commands, His directions, and read of His infinite love and patience through the stories He allowed to be written for my edification.  I can speak to Him directly through prayer and know that my “call” goes through every time, that I don’t have to worry if wi-fi is available, and mostly?  There are no overage charges with God!  My minutes don’t expire.  My data is not capped.  Why, my every thought has already been sifted through His capable hands so I don’t even have to worry about my SD card not having enough space on it nor my phone’s memory running out.  Ha!  I don’t even have to worry about recharging my battery because my Power Source is unlimited in the things He can take care of.

Lesson learned, Stef.  Just as my smart phone can’t make me smarter, neither can half-hearted attempts on my part make me more like Christ.  I have to apply myself to Him, not just to the icing (as my pastor likes to call it).  Although I do love the icing, it’s the cake, the Christ, that makes me full.  

Rejoice with me as I thank God for this blessing and lesson?  Thanks!

Oh dear Lord, how You must shake Your head at these kids of Yours, kids like me who often have to keep repeating the same lessons over and over, while You sit back, not saying “I told you so” but instead giving us the opportunity to finally get it right.

Thank You for the return of the money I nearly lost in my haste to do things on the road with my phone instead of slowing down and making sure all was the way it should have been.  Thank You for the love of my husband who did not rant and rail at me for my carelessness and who--even though I said “There goes my Christmas presents for this year”--continuously shows me patience and forbearance.  He’s so much like You, Lord!  Thank You for his example to me.

Mostly though, God, I want to thank You for mercy.  It’s there when I mess up financially, physically, personally, and spiritually.  Your grace amazes me daily, Father, and I thank You for pouring it out on me.  May I do the same is my prayer today, in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

PS

Thank You for not charging me fees when I mess up, Lord! Thanks to You, my account has been settled and secured. Though it's a debt I could not afford, because of Your sacrifice, it's one that I don't have to repay. As if!

Jeremiah Buys A Field

Well, this definitely wasn’t how I thought my Bible studying would go today!  I figured I would come in here to my Pretty Purple Room, read a bit, and then write an uplifting blog about thankfulness and such since this is the month we celebrate things we are grateful for.  However…

As I continued my study of Jeremiah, the title of the chapter was “Jeremiah Buys A Field.”  He was in prison and the Lord spoke again to him, telling Jeremiah he was to purchase some land outside of Jerusalem where the soldiers were residing in as they overtook that great city.  Sounds kind of odd, huh, to buy land that used to be yours (as a citizen) and now the enemy occupied?  But our boy Jeremiah was nothing if not obedient to the commands of our Lord so he did as he was told, even though the doubts assailed him and he wondered if he was being foolish.

Do you remember yesterday how I unabashedly mentioned that sometimes it was as though the Bible was written just for me and that It spoke to me at often inopportune times (such as this one today when I thought I’d be learning more about Jesus and how to adapt my ways to His)?  Well, gulp, God did it again.  Or at least I think it was God.  Because of the pathway this scripture led me down, I am questioning whether God is involved at all.

Of course He’s involved, Stef!  Duh!  He wrote the book.  Remember?

You see, while my mind knows this, my soul was found in a sudden turmoil as I read in verses 31-32 of chapter 32 that “‘For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; so I will remove it from before My face because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.’”

Suddenly my thoughts went back to the land I was cheated out of and the hurt that it caused--and apparently is still causing--in my heart, in my life, and in what was once my family.  Like God, I was provoked to anger as I read these verses, because of the evil that overtook my siblings when my parents died.  Yes, evil is a harsh word and not one that we like to use when discussing affairs of the dead.  In this case, though, evil is what indeed permeated lives, minds, and spirits, leaving a legacy of hate, mistrust, and lies rather than one of love, hope, and a future.

As I battled this war in my heart, deciding I was not going to let my anger turn into sin, I tried to veer my thoughts into my own version of Devil’s Advocate, reasoning within myself things from the viewpoint of those who wronged me.  Again I admitted to the validity of their belief that what they did was “right.”  But just as when it all occurred until now, I guess my struggle is that I still cannot reconcile the evil with what they did to me and my sister’s kids to the people that they profess to be.  And that is just too sad to further contemplate.  Again.

So, without rehashing all of the angst and gadding about in the past, I instead am choosing to look to the future, to the promise of all wrongs being made right, and to the day when God tells Jesus it’s time for Him to go get His children.  God’s going to tell Him to bring His bride home.  Home.  To a land flowing with milk and honey and where Christ Himself is the Light.  There will be no disputes over who owns/deserves/is entitled to any of it for there we will truly be joint-heirs with Christ.  The division will be over!  The anger gone!  The lies we believed about one another will be confronted, settled, and peace will reign.  If you don’t believe me, believe then God Who said:  “‘...I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’”

I’m ready to be planted!  How ’bout you, friends?  Are you ready to put all of this fluff behind and look forward with great anticipation to our Lord’s return?  Even so, come Lord Jesus is my prayer.  Amen!

Do You Ever Feel As Though The Bible Is Talking Directly To You?

Hello!  According to Facebook, it’s been 13 days since I have last written a blog.  Facebook assures me that my 2435 followers would love to hear from me so, without any further ado, here goes!

What have I been doing these last 13 days, you might wonder?  Hmn.  Good question!  Well, I’ve been enjoying the beautiful October weather our Good Lord has been providing.  I got a new vehicle.  I have been celebrating my 53rd birthday, went shopping for craft items that may or may not ever get used {Sidebar:  I asked my gson the other day as we gazed upon my closet of supplies if he ever thought I’d use them all.  “Maybe if you stop buying more, you could use what you have, and then in a few years, maybe then you could buy some more.”}.  I’ve been doing a lot of pondering, plotting, and planning.  I’ve even done some Bible studying in the Book of Jeremiah that has had me considering--but more about that later.  

So, long story short, I’ve been wandering about.  Imagine then my surprise when today’s reading from Jeremiah 31:22 seemed to jump right out at me.  Can you believe that God would use His Word to speak to me?  I know, right?  Hey, I may have just turned 53 but there are still some things that have the power to blow my tiny little mind!

How long will you gad about,
O you backsliding daughter?

Another verse that jumped right out at me this morning while reading was this one from Jeremiah 30:2 that states:  “Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you.’”  It was as if an affirmation for me to get back to blogging was being spoken to me by God Himself!  Ha!  So it wasn’t just the couple of folks who let me know they’d been missing my writing:  God too was telling me to write.  

So, just to be clear, let’s review for a moment.  I’m to stop gadding about and I am to write in a book.  Does that sound right to you out there?  I think so too!  Now, before you get to reaching for that mouse to delete this (because you think I am going to write that book right now) or move on to your next great adventure, I assure you that I am almost through for this blog. Hang with me one more moment or two?  Thanks!

Sometimes a word will strike a chord with me and keep resonating in my mind.  For the past couple of weeks that word has been “consider.”  Consider means “to think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision.”  Synonyms for consider include:  think about, contemplate, reflect on, examine, review, mull over, ponder, deliberate on, chew over, meditate on, ruminate on, assess, evaluate, appraise, size up (thanks Google for the assist there!).  Another reiteration that I am on to something is the fact that another verse from Jeremiah that I read this morning stated:  In the latter days you will consider it (30:24).

Consider what, you might ask.  Me too!  But then...then instead of asking, I’ve been taking moments--several of them!--and...considering.  I’ve been considering the beauties the Lord has provided.  I’ve been considering the upcoming presidential election.  I’ve been considering my church and the people in her and the pastor who preaches there.  I’ve been considering my family, my purpose, myself.  I’ve been considering so many things and while it may seem to the outside world that I have just been gadding about, the truth of the matter is that I am trying to be more considerate about what I write, consider who is reading these blogs, and mostly?  Mostly I’ve been trying to consider if the words I write are honoring God or promoting my own agenda--which I didn’t really think I even had but (you guessed it!) I’ve been considering that too!

As I close this blog today, I ask you to join me in considering.  Remember the definition I wrote above?  Consider means to think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision.  Friends, sometimes we act too hastily and we just need to take a minute, a breath, a prayer and consider whatever is on our hearts and minds and think carefully before it comes out of our lips (and fingertips, in my situation).  We need to pause, to be still, to contemplate, and to seek the Lord’s guidance in all that we do--even the things that seem harmless and not worth bothering Him over.  Typically, those are the things that come back to bite us, aren’t they?  Mmn hmn.

Let’s pray!

Dear Father, as I consider so much of what is billowing through my head, I can’t help but again ponder on what the psalmist wrote so long ago:  

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

How You took the time for me still is a mystery, Lord, and I shall spend the rest of my life considering the love that You have for mankind.  My prayer today is that I may look at the world through the eyes of Christ.  May I see Your people the way He looks at them.  May I appreciate the beauty You Three created.  May I love in a manner that reflects that not only do I consider the example set before me, that I am a doer of that example and not just one who writes about it.

Thank You for Your love, tender mercies, and the infinite longsuffering You extend to me, Father God.  I love You and yearn to please You.  In the name of Jesus Christ, may I seek You before making my own plans is my sincere desire today.  Amen.