SSSVEDA Day 24 Death has Lost its Sting

One thing that has definitely changed for me since I have become a new believer, is my view on death.

I always envied my mom’s view on death. She really wasn’t afraid of it. When one of her last close friend died I was afraid of how mom would react. But she kind of envied her friend. Muriel was with my dad and Fred, Muriel’s husband. She joked they’d be playing cards together (the foursome played cards every Friday for decades).

As the Bible said Death had lost its sting for my mom and for most of the believers I know. It’s living that’s hard.

It also changes how you view the death of a loved one who is a believer, And how the death of a loved one who is a non-believer is such a worry. You really want to know you’ll see them on the other side.

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SSSVEDA Day 23-A 30 Day Challenge

God has given us one body so we should be ‘good stewards’ of it. Yet I know I for one haven’t taken care of my body like I should have. And it’s now that I’m in my 60s that it is catching up with me.

The strange/sad thing is, if I commit to doing something in other parts of my life, I can do it. Yet when it comes to something like exercise I’ve never been able to stick with it. I don’t enjoy it. That ‘second wind’ their always talking about…I’ve yet to experience it.

All that being said I know I have to commit to taking care of myself. Hence the challenge. I’m challenging you (and myself) to commit to some small (or not so small) steps for the next 30 days, the entire month of May actually. Whatever it is you are wanting to improve in your life, be it changing your body like me, or changing a relationship. or changing your weight, or building a relationship with God, or learning more about Bible…whatever it is, use May as your kick off point for the change. Then do it!

For me the thing that makes this different is the fact that I am looking at it from God’s perspective. He gave me this miracle of a body, that with the right amount of food and exercise, can heal itself and be in top performance shape. I’ve not been taking care of this gift. So now I am looking at it from the point of stewardship.  I need to be a good steward of my body.

I challenge you. What aspect of your life isn’t working?  What’s one (or more) things you could do, that if done consistently could make a change?  Well then promise yourself you’ll do it. Promise us you’ll do it. You only have one life here on earth so make the most of it!!

SSSVEDA Day 22-God’s not through with you yet!

I took the message today from today’s sermon at church (II go to One Chapel in Kyle Texas).

Basically the take-away for me, was that as long as you’re still breathing God isn’t through with you yet. If you are in the middle of turmoil, be it financial problems, relationship issues, health issues or any number of things, don’t forget that God is there with you. You hasn’t forgotten about you no matter how it seems.

Have faith and know that ‘everything works for God’s good’.

SSSVEDA Day 21-Faith and the Eye Doctor

Back in the 80s I wore glasses or contacts, depending on the day. But it was a hassle. My glasses were thick and I was always having to push them up, or I’d break the wire rims. And my eyes were getting too dry for me to wear my contacts every day. It was a real pain. The thing is, without corrective lenses of some kind, I couldn’t see worth a hoot. I put the glasses on and I was good to go…take them off and I was as blind as a bat. (That’s a simile by the way if you watched yesterdays video.)

I heard of a relatively new procedure called radial keratotomy. The eye doctor, using a scalpel (yikes) cut a series of slits around the iris. Once healed if all went well, you had 20/20 vision. Now if one of my daughters told me they were going to have the procedure done I would have tried to talk them out of it. A scalpel at the eye??? That could go all kind of wrong. But I had faith in the doctor (or I was all kinds of naive) and had the procedure done anyway. All went well and within a few weeks of the surgery I had 20/20 vision.

I compare this to my faith. Wearing the glasses or contacts corrected my vision, as long as I was wearing them, but the minute i took them off, nothing had really changed and I couldn’t see again. That’s what it was like in my search for ‘something’. I was unsettled in my life. I knew something was missing but couldn’t figure out what. I resorted to all kinds of self help/new age workshops. I went to physics, mediums, astrologers, angel readers, tarot card readers, even a woman in her 80s that told me I came from another planet to help ‘seed’ this planet, (I told you I tried everything). Nothing provided more than a momentary solution if that.

Then I put my faith in someone who had a more permanent solution. I had the radial keratotomy and I could see. The doctor changed something in me so the fix was permanent. It was like my new found faith. Something in me was changed. I found my True North, something I can bounce everything against/or filter things through.

With that comes a sense of peace that I haven’t had before…a sense of coming home.

SSSVEDA Day 20-Churches are not created equal

I sound like a broken record but I can’t stress enough that ALL Christians, all ‘would be’ Christians, or anyone open to considering Christianity, or Agnostics, or Atheists (I figure they should read what it is they are against) should read the Bible at least once.

It was an eye opening experience for me and a few other people I spoke to that read it after years of going to church. They THOUGHT they knew what was in the Bible but learned they didn’t, or that some stories weren’t what they thought they were. That was definitely my case.

I went to Unity church back in the nineties. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the people and since the pastor talked about the Bible I really thought I was in good shape. A couple of my siblings were concerned when they heard I was going to a Unity church and i couldn’t figure out why. “The teachings came from the Bible.” was my argument.

I knew the time (it might have changed as i haven’t been back in 15+ years) that they didn’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God. He was an example. I also thought they said that the stories in the Bible were metaphors, rather than real stories. Again I could be remembering wrong. Anyway I was okay with this. And even though I thought Jesus was the Son of God, I was okay that others didn’t believe that. The whole concept was that there were many ways to heaven and if you didn’t believe something, or were uncomfortable with something they were teaching, just throw that out and accept the rest. As strange as it sounds I thought that was okay. I liked the idea that everyone was going to heaven. (I still like the idea…)

However after reading the Bible, even in my first read, it is very evident that there aren’t multiple ways to heaven and the ONLY way to heaven was through accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior.

The thing that’s sad is that there are a lot of people out there in various churches or listening to various speakers on the internet, that are listening to the wrong message but don’t know it. I ask everyone to do their research when going to a church, or listening to a teacher, as it relates to your faith. Read the Bible (at least one time…maybe just the New Testament) and make your own decision. God gave us the book and protected it (and thousands of copies of it) so that we would know Him and know the truth.

Read it…it was eye opening for me.

SSSVEDA Day 19 A Tale of 2 Kids-50 years apart

Recently a memory of something that happened to me over a half a century ago, happened to my friend’s grandson…We both learned something at church that we wanted to share with our friends.

I’m not sure the moral of the story. Just want it to be food for thought for all parents and grandparents with little kids. They do listen more than you think they do. What would you say to them in a similar situation?

SSSVEDA Day 18 Stop treating God like an Aladdin’s Lamp

In today’s world of Positive Thinking, ‘The Secret’ and the Prosperity Gospel, people seem to be confusing God with Aladdin. I have to wonder if God is looking ‘down’ on us and shaking his head in wonderment at our …what is it…Stupidity? Arrogance? We’ve got to stop treating him like he’s an Aladdin’s Lamp, pulling him out when we’re in trouble and then letting him sit on the shelf when things are going well.

As I got ready this morning to go to a networking meeting I realized that I had committed my life to this group for the better part of 10 years. Short of my career and family I had never committed to anything for that length of time. It stopped me short. I need to make sure I give God that kind of commitment.

To often we (myself included) can get busy for God. Or we can become so successful we forget that he is the source of the success. Or we are not happy with how quickly he responds to our requests, (I mean I’ve been a Christian for xxx time, how come God is doing what I ask like he says he will…)

My point today everyone should take a moment and look at where you put God on your priority list. It takes time to build a relationship with anyone, God included. Are you giving him the time he deserves? We’re talking your eternity here folks…