Friday, June 10, 2011

Eating My Words

Sometimes when we say something we end up having to eat our words. It isn't a pleasant thing having to do but that is what happens at times.


When things are bothering us if we would just praise the Lord and keep praising Him the things bothering us wouldn't seem so bothersome.

I have had several things bothering me this week and IF I would have just started praising God I know they would not have grown out of proportion but did I do this, NO, I didn't. Needless to say these things have become an obstacle for me and it is harder to start praising the Lord. But that is what I need to do and I will do it. Oh, these things are not near as big and bad as I had thought. Why did I not go to the Lord and praise Him? I am not really sure but I didn't so who is the one that has paid for not doing it? No one else but ME!

Philippians 4:8; "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, thing on these things". I as a believer should place my mind on these things which are true, pure, holy, and righteous. This is a condition for experiencing the peace of God and be kept from anxiety.

Philippians 4:9; "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you". This is telling me the things I have learned I should put in practice. By doing what I should be doing will give me the peace of God. This peace is a peace beyond understanding for me but I know when I do what I have learned that peace comes to me. I want this kind of peace all of the time.

If I am thinking on all the things that are good, that is from God how can I keep from praising Him? When I am thinking on these things and giving the Lord the praises He so deserves I will not have time to think about how bad I may think things are. God will never put more on us than what we can withstand. He knows exactly where that point is, we may think we can't withstand as much but God knows whether we can or not.

I Corinthians 10:13; "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it". I can bear every temptation and escape if I am sincere and desire it and if depend on the faithfulness and power of the Lord. When I have things bothering me if I would just listen to God and if I praise Him I will not be bothered by these things, He will give me strength to overcome and I will desire to think on all things that are just, pure, lovely, and good. I don't have to dwell on these things that bother me which I have done, why didn't I rely on God and give Him praise and I wouldn't have had time to dwell on them? Okay, I am eating my words and will try to remember all of this the next time I start dwelling on things that I shouldn't. After all God is faithful, isn't it better to lean on Him and call on Him when I need help? I give Him all the praise due Him and give Him thanks.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

From Bliss to Tragedy and Back Again!

Today's post is from my daughter, Debi, of Nuggets From God.  This event is a miracle that took place in her life in 2008.  I pray God touches you through her story!


It was another amazing Memorial Day Weekend Getaway (May 23-26, 2008). For the past ten years or so, the love of my life and I would journey south from Kansas City (KS) on our Goldwing to celebrate the beginning of summer. Friday was amazing – a glorious ride, a stop at the famed Lambert’s CafĂ© in Ozark, MO and then on to Eureka Springs, AR. Saturday also went off without a hitch – another amazing day. After overnight showers, the sun came out and it was not too hot – it was just wonderful. We spent the day riding down to Rodgers, AR. It was a nice ride. We saw the famous wooden bridge in Beaver, AR. It was quite a site, too! It was temporarily closed down due to flooding. As Sunday arrived, we got up, went for breakfast and discussed the ride for that day. We wanted to visit Hot Springs, AR but weren’t sure if we were up to tackling the distance this time around. We talked about going over to Mountain View, AR, a favorite ride of ours. Finally, I told Jim, “Let’s just do it. Who cares if it’s late when we get back to the motel?”


So off we went. We gassed up and headed towards Jasper where we would catch AR Highway 7 south to Hot Springs. While we love the switchbacks that many Arkansas roads offer, Highway 7 offers more of a sweeping curve. It was a gorgeous ride all the way to Hot Springs. When we arrived in Hot Springs, we drove down Bathhouse Road, turned around and headed back north. It was a beautiful ride. We spent our time jamming to our worship CD’s and enjoying the beauty that God gave us. Although most of the curves are rated at 45 mph, we were only going about 38 mph. It was about an hour north of Hot Springs when "it" happened (on Sunday, the 25th).

There was a small, almost unseen dip in the middle of a beautiful sweeping curve. We hit that dip – no big deal – Jim corrected and we were fine…until our little cargo trailer hit the dip. When that happened, it threw us back to the left and we headed for the opposite shoulder. Jim yelled for me to “Hold on!” I did and the next thing I remember is slamming onto the rocks and sliding and slamming and sliding. I had been catapulted off the bike. They say you never remember the point of impact...well, I beg to differ...I remember every boulder and rock that I hit! Jim, somehow, miraculously rode her down. When he looked back to where I was laying, it wasn’t pretty…he was certain that I had been killed! However, through the powers of God, I was alive.

No one actually saw the accident happen but there were good Samaritans on the scene within seconds. The first person on the scene was a doctor from Texas (that had to be by the grace of God). The next person was an insurance agent (another sign that God was in control). He knew all the things needed from that point of view. There were also many others who stopped to help make phone calls, etc. Emergency personnel were contacted, as were family members.

Fast forward to the emergency room in Dardanelle, Arkansas…no broken bones, no concussion, only massive abrasions. Praise the Lord. Swollen and bruised, I’ll be sore, but I will fully recover. The emergency room doctor asked if I had been wearing a helmet. We replied that we had not been. He told me that it was probably a good thing this time. You see, besides the abrasions and swelling, I had a crack at the C3 vertebrae in my neck. The doctor told us that had I been wearing my helmet, I would likely be dead or paralyzed. He said that the weight and girth of the helmet would have caused the neck to be completely broken! To this day, my kids don’t believe that the doctor actually said that, but as I live and breathe…it is the truth! I tried to get Jim to take pictures of me because I knew I would have an amazing testimony once it was all over (I think this is the ONLY time I have ever welcomed pictures of me!). He refused. He was so distraught over this entire thing...he thought he had killed me!

One of those all important ‘calls’ made on the side of the road was to my parents. I found out later that Daddy had an odd feeling about us going this particular year (2008) but he never told us. As soon as the phone rang that fateful day, he knew. He told Mama…I’m on my way…call me when you know where I need to go! It took a long time for him to get to the hospital…he was coming from Bonner Springs, KS to Dardanelle, AR. The hospital staff wanted me to spend the night…I told them I couldn’t…I wasn’t having my dad travel all that way to just have to stay in a motel or something. I told them to drug me up and I’d be fine till I got home. So…they gave me some pain medication. Daddy finally got there along with my brother, Ken. Ken had been praying almost all of the way down to Dardanelle. They loaded me up and then we went to pick up our beautiful Belle! Now the question was, “How did our beloved Belle (our 2004 white Gold Wing) fair?” Cosmetically, she doesn’t appear to be too bad. Internally is another story. One of the big boulders on the side of the road went through the engine, she lost all her oil and the underside is pretty beat up. We think she can be repaired, but after much investigation, alas, she is too far gone!

Once home, the local doctors were talking plastic surgery on my head and my upper right arm. But my God is bigger than that. I did not have plastic surgery. To this day, all that remains as a reminder of the accident is a SMALL amount of scarring on my forehead and the front of my right shoulder.

It all seems like a dream. Riding our motorcycle any time the weather permits is the one thing that we absolutely love. It was hard for a few weeks…we couldn’t just run to the garage for an evening ride. We waited for the insurance company to do its thing and then we got our new-to-us ride…a 2006 white Gold Wing! It is our 5th Goldwing in our 33 years of marriage and it is the first time we have had a previously owned bike, but she is low mileage and she is ours! We will doll her up with chrome and we will love her as much as we did Belle. We call her NellieBelle in homage to her predecessor. Jim isn’t too fond of the ‘Nellie’ part but, after all, the bike is mine…I just let him drive . She gives us joy and peace as we ride.
The words “It’ll never happen to us” are no longer a part of our vocabulary. It was a freak accident, one that was unavoidable. Things happen FAST – that’s why we should always be prepared. We thank God daily that we have come through this event wiser and more appreciative of His gifts. There is no greater joy than to straddle a 'wing' and see God’s creation in a whole different way.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Who Wants The Best For You

The other night as I was reading my Bible I thought to myself, God is always telling us in His Word about things, some are warnings and some are the way we should live. God tells us things He wants us to know, some through music, sometimes through other people talking to us, there are different ways He conveys things to us. Yet Satan doesn't tell us anything. He just wants to put ideas in our mind; he doesn't tell us what can and will happen if we do these things. He doesn't care if it hurts us or someone else, just do it is all that he wants.

Genesis 3:1; "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die": Here Satan is lying to Eve telling her that God did not really mean what he had said. Satan was denying the judgment of death for sin and apostasy.

God wants all people to have eternal life, a home in heaven. He tells us this in John 3:16; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

God wants the very best for every one of us while Satan doesn't. By reading the above Scripture we know He wants the very best for us, He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ that we might have the very best.

Does Satan tell us what he wants for us or will give us? No, but the Word of God tells us what Satan wants for us. Matthew 13:42; "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth". This is where Satan will be and this is where the unrepentant will be also, the ones that don't believe in Jesus Christ. Hell is just the opposite of heaven. Hell is a place of darkness, hate, crying, and fighting. Heaven is a place of shinning light, love, laughter, and communion.

It was through the cross and resurrection of Jesus that Satan was defeated. Satan's final defeat will be when he is cast forever into the lake of fire. Right now Satan is still active in the world as the ruler or god of this world. This is why we have to be careful not to let him lie or defeat us. I Peter 5:8; "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour": He doesn't care how he gets you just as long as he does.

God wants us to know all truth while Satan lies to us. Would you rather know someone that tells you the truth all the time or one that lies to you? I want the one that tells me the truth and wants the very best for me. That One is Jesus Christ.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!




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Tomorrow my beautiful and wonderful daughter, Debi Baker from Nuggets From God will be the guest writer on Who Is God. You don't want to miss this post as she will be talking about a miracle. It will be an awesome article.
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An update on my sister, Barb. I have asked for the Lord to have His will and I meant it from the bottom of my heart. She passed Monday night; there will always be a place in my heart for her that no one will ever be able to take and I will miss her very much but God wanted her to go home. I thank and praise the Lord for her being in my life, she is someone special. She is now home with the Lord where there is no pain or sadness. To all of you praying for her I want to say a great BIG thank you. We have appreciated each and every one of them. Blessings to each of you and we send you our love.

Monday, June 6, 2011

The Cracked Pot

I have talked before in posts about the Seed being planted and being watered, I received a story quite sometime ago so thought I would post it so you could read it.


The Seed is God's Word and the watering of the Seed is someone telling people about the Word and bringing them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes the one sowing the seed is also the one watering the seed. These gifts were given by God and were to be intended to manifest their mission.

I Corinthians 3:7; "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase". Neither he who plants nor he who waters it is anything but only God who makes things grow. The one sowing and the one watering have one purpose and each will be rewarded according to his labor.

The Cracked Pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.'

The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?'

'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.'

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.

Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.'

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

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It is God's work in us that will help us to live a more perfect life although we will never be perfect; with each improvement in our lives we learn to be better Christians. As we grow in the Lord we are being watered. We become more Christ like, isn't that what all of us want? I know I want to be more like Jesus with each day I live; it is Him that I want to be like.

Hope you have enjoyed the story. May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!