There is nothing new under the sun. No new faults, desires, sins. It all boils down to self, the “I wants”, right now, greed.
Greed, the hardening of the heart to put self before all else is as old as time. “I want”, “I need”, and “me first above all else” is priority. Self leads to all sins because self rules.
People want to be rich, they want success, they want prosperity, they want everything centered around them, they want… want… want. Wants, not needs, is as old as recorded time. Yesterday New York celebrated a “want” for women. High society, highly successful New York, so sophisticated, so highly educated, right? Or, are they just turning back time to archaic and barbaric practices? Did they not just erase centuries of advancement for women?
The Canaanites, circa 1509 BC, practiced a ritual of offering their first born to the fires of Moloch so they would receive riches, prosperity and a successful life. Malkamwas the same for the Ammonites and Melqart for the Tyrian. Placing their first born in a fire, how barbaric people say. How ignorant, how selfish. God thought so.
Leviticus 20:2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death.“
Imagine what He thinks now as New York has just turned back time. Women can now offer their first born to the fires of abortion. Yes, fire, saline abortion is toxic and it burns. Essentially it burns soft tissues, even skin in the womb. The baby is burned even from the inside as the child swallows the solution. Such torture. Unthinkable. Unimaginable. How barbaric. A modern woman would never do such a thing.
New York has done the unthinkable. A woman can choose to torture an infant for convenience, for costs, for unwanted, for wrong gender, for any reason. Be careful though, you still cannot disturb a turtle or eagles nest. Those eggs, fertilized or not, are still protected by state and federal laws.
Welcome to 2019 New York. Your women can sacrifice their first born for convenience, career, riches, gender choice …. success and prosperity. Moloch just changed his name to abortion.
A civilized woman would utilize self control over selfishness. A civilized society would fund adoptions, not abortions.
WOW. Where did the year go? Things are pretty hectic here with work and all the family heading into town. I have so many notes of things I would like to write and I promise this will be the last ‘repost’. (I hope) This one is from December 2010 and I have updated it for the repost. Enjoy.
Faith Hill sings the song “A Baby Changes Everything*”, the story of Jesus’ who came to Earth and changed the world. If you have not seen the video or heard the song, click on the title above.
A year ago I had just returned from Montana. God had perfect timing in our lives. I am in retail and could only get away for a few days. My youngest daughter was due to give birth Christmas Eve. However, as I landed on the 10th she was already in the hospital in labor. I was able to be there for the birth of her first child and our first grandson. I was able to be there for my oldest at the birth of her oldest daughter, our first grandchild. God knew my grandmother’s heart and has allowed me to be at the hospital for my daughters.
I often say that God provides minuscule pictures on earth of the ‘big picture’. Both of my daughters lives have been changed forever by the birth of their children, as mine was with each of their births. Nothing is the same, everything is different. Circumstances, challenges, life … day by day a mother handles what is handed her. What a difference a child makes.
As we come together to celebrate Christmas, let us not forget that a Baby changed everything. Circumstances, challenges, life … day by day each of us handle what is handed to us … either WITH or withOUT the difference the CHILD of God made when He came to earth as a new-born child, to a mother who had no mother to be there for her. What a sacrifice He made in leaving Heaven to come to a stable. What a difference He made.
We often get frazzled by the season’s hustle and bustle, plans, and traveling. Let us not forget that Jesus is the Reason for the Season and YOU may be the only witness that person sees that “A Baby Changes Everything”.
Will He make a difference in your CHRISTmas celebrations this year?
…… I’d hammer in the morning. I’d hammer in the evening … the whole day through” ♪♪♫♪♪ You’re welcome 😀 … the song is stuck in your head now right? The lyrics to the song fit me (and many moms). We try to fix things. Right now my old computer’s on the fritz, the washing machine’s on the fritz; being my daddy’s daughter, I’m working on them. Meanwhile I am on my ‘newer’ computer I passed on to my hubby when his died an untimely death. Couldn’t fix it … but, I tried.
The point is most of us want to fix things. Most women tease about men trying to assemble or fix things without reading the instructions. But, you know, all of us try to fix things without reading the instructions. We have the right tools usually, but we fail to use them properly.
When we try to fix things we can do more damage than good. Sometimes beyond repair. Okay, everyone is thinking of how someone else in the house (maybe a male?) tried to fix something and ruined it right? Focus on yourself. God gave you ‘tools’ to work with. Gifts, talents … strengths that He expects you to allow HIM to use in your life. Unfortunately, many times we pick them up without asking. Sometimes we use the wrong tools. We just steamroll ahead in our own power.
It is one thing to mess up your own things, your own life, but usually that messes up someone else as well. Many times it is one of our children. Sometimes it is a spouse or other loved one. Maybe a friend is affected by the misuse. God put us here and He has a plan that comes with instructions. He gave us all we have, our ‘tools’. Using them in our power without consulting Him makes messes.
There’s nothing wrong with the ‘tools’, it’s the user. Place them in God’s hands and see what He can do. Your children and loved ones are watching. Teach them to lay each ‘tool’ down so God can receive the glory and use it for His perfect will.
What’s your ‘tools’?: Your kids? Your successful job? Those “A’s” on the report card? The game winning ball? Trophies?
When you lay them on the altar and give them back to Him, He may take them away or He may give them back. When He gives them back and you allow Him to use them to His glory, then He will be able to mold and shape you as well as others.
Just think what you’re doing with your ‘tools’ today and what could happen if they were taken out of your hands and put in the Master’s hands.
Psalm 143:10 (HCSB)
“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.”
“I CAN’T FIX IT” … ever feel frustrated with your life … your family … your job? Do you feel helpless to help? I hate that feeling. I like to make things better.
Face it: You Can't Fix It
R. U. A Fixer-upper? Do you try to solve all your own problems? (Fix your children’s lives to make them smooth?) Of course we are to be helpful, doing unto others as we would have them do unto us; loving and caring. But, sometimes you can’t ‘fix it’, and you were not meant to fix people’s lives.
I admit that I have often said to the Lord in my prayer time, “Lord, if you’d let me I could” or “Lord, you know if this happened then …”. I like to fix it. Right now, if I could, I would give my husband his dream job, we would have all the money we need come in to fix our financial woes, I would save our house from the bank … I would fly to my daughter to help take care of my sick granddaughter. Yet, as ‘noble’ as all those plans are, they are not God’s plan.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
What if we truly believed God’s word? What if we fully understood that our soul is safe … that He is taking care of it and that our HOPE and FUTURE are in Him? Yes, sometimes we will not prosper and we will fall in harms way … but, that’s here … on earth. And sometimes we will prosper and have everything going our way here on earth. But God’s plan is that we all find His son and live with Him in prosperity in the future … in Heaven. This life on earth is preparing us for that time.
So many times when we try to ‘fix’ things we break them … we make them worse. God gives discernment to you through His Holy Spirit… if we would only listen.
God does not teach or guide you through doubt. He gives HOPE. HOPE is an action verb. You stand before choices and ask God to guide you. If you have doubts about a choice, you wait. You make choices that He shows you. When you read His word and pray each day, you are in tune with Him and the Holy Spirit. As odd as it sounds, you have peace over even making a hard decision.
Why do we try to repair our broken lives when we not only know the best “fixer-upper”, but He is also the creator of what needs fixing?
Yield Your ALL to Him and He Will Direct Your Path
~ or your dad … or you’re “just like Aunt …’ or maybe you “act like uncle …”
"OMG! You're just like ...."
We all hear it sometime. I worked in a mall while in college. During my lunch break I would go out to eat at the Chic-Fil-A. There were these three ladies that came out every week to eat there. One was 20ish, one was 40ish and one 60ish. They looked, dressed and acted like the same woman in three different decades. The youngest was fast on her way to becoming her mother (and grandmother).
That is not a bad thing, to be like one’s mom or dad … grandmother, etc. My girls like to tease me about becoming ‘grandmother’. Many would love to be 1/2 the person we might be ‘likened’ to by others. On the flip side though is the negative. When we’re young we see things in others and say, “I will never do that.” Yet, the liar begets a liar, the thief a thief, the verbal abuser … the yeller … the drunk … the angry … the impatient … the stubborn ….
Why? Because it is generational and someone has to break the chain. As parents we want to set patterns and behaviors, lifestyles and habits that children need to become. Unfortunately, kids zero in on the negative. It’s the nature of them? It’s satan’s* dirty little tricks in life? It really doesn’t matter, it happens. Look at toddlers that have picked up cuss words … why one bad word when so many good ones are spoken? Or pinching, hitting, etc. The negative sticks out more? Whatever it is we have to focus on teaching them the positive. If a child emulates you, if they become you, hopefully it is all the positive and none of the negative. I know I had negative times I am not proud of that I hope my kids never become. Frustration, anger, hard times … they come out and those moments stick out in memories and outweigh the good sometimes.
So it is two fold … you work on making positive memories and they work on remembering only the positive when they are older. The scriptures says in Philippians 4:8 , “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
We guard their ears, eyes and minds from what the world throws at them through the various mediums, yet our own mouths sometimes does more damage. Ephesians 4: 29 “When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you.” (NCV) You know yourself that in your memory the harsh words spoken stand out more. ALWAYS, go and undo what you say in anger or frustration … when you’re too tired, etc. Don’t let that apology and that ‘rebuilding’ go undone.
Passing on the bad from generation to generation will happen if someone does not make an effort to stop the chain. If you have alcoholics, liars … suicides, etc. Don’t pass it on … stop the cycle. It is not a heritage you want. When children are old enough to know about what was in their family’s history is when they are grounded in why it is wrong. I cannot tell you the number of young people I have counseled that say, “well what can I do, I’m just like … and you know I was always told they did ….”. Your kids do not need to know the details of your past until they are young adults (if ever). We had a youth pastor come through once that told of his wild and sinful days … laughingly … almost with … “yeah it was fun … but, then I had to settled down so I got saved.” This teaches that you can have your fun and repent later. No one has a ‘later’ promised to them.
You have no later … work on what needs changing today. Teach your children the positive part of you they need to become and forget the negative part of your own past that your parents were … forget and forgive. Decide today that you want to be the good part of that person and pass along only the good part of them and the good part of you.
Always go back to the Beatitudes … attitudes to be. Then you are passing on a heritage of being Christ like.
“I’m becoming ….the good part of…”
*satan – I know people capitalize the “S” but, I don’t. I refuse to give him any status of importance. He’s a snake, so satan, devil, etc. are lower case, as he is one.
Lights in the Storm 