R.I.P.

Labor Day has got me out of whack; I all most missed Woo Hoo Wednesday.  I found the joke below at http://www.jokesclean.com

Clean Joke - R.I.P.

When I was a young minister, a funeral director asked me to hold a grave side service for a homeless man with no family or friends. The funeral was to be at a cemetery way out in the country. This was a new cemetery and this man was the first to be laid to rest there.

I was not familiar with the area and became lost. Being a typical man, of course, I did not ask for directions. I finally found the cemetery about an hour late. The back hoe was there and the crew was eating their lunch. The hearse was nowhere to be seen.

I apologized to the workers for being late. As I looked into the open grave, I saw the vault lid already in place. I told the workers I would not keep them long, but that this was the proper thing to do. The workers, still eating their lunch, gathered around the opening.
I was young and enthusiastic and poured out my heart and soul as I preached. The workers joined in with, "Praise the Lord," "Amen," and "Glory!" I got so into the service that I preached and preached and preached, from Genesis to The Revelation.

When the service was over, I said a prayer and walked to my car. As I opened the door, I heard one of the workers say, "I never saw anything like that before and I've been putting in septic systems for twenty years."

Enjoy the rest of your week.
Trena

Friends

The imaginary friends I had as a kid dropped me because their friends
thought I didn't exist. --Aaron Machado

Luke 5:18-20

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”   (It’s a good thing these friends didn’t drop him!)

Take time to count your friends today and make sure your best friend is Jesus. 

Trena

Enjoy "Life is Good" by Stellar Kart. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIs6qsoPf2o&feature=related

What Happened Next

Friday evening I was sitting on the front porch in my rocking chair talking to my nieces.  Since they are teenagers I asked what everyone was going to be doing.  In seconds I had all kinds of answers; school dance, skating, and friends.   Sounded like a typical weekend for teens. 

Later they emerged with a fresh set of clothes on, their hair fixed and newly applied makeup.  Again, they came and sat on the porch with me, after some time had passed everyone was still sitting on the porch talking.  Concerned one was going to miss the dance I ask what time does the dance start.  The girls, “Oh we’re not going to the dance, we're going to dinner with our dad.”    

You know what happened next- they went to dinner and spent time with their dad.  I know…it's not real exciting, the earth didn’t shake, and nothing fell from the sky.   But that’s just it.   Life isn’t always exciting, traumatic or dramatic.  (Regardless of what the reality shows reflect on TV.) 

Sometimes we simply need to change our plans and spend time with our heavenly Dad. 

(Don't forget to come back for WooHoo Wednesday)

Woo Hoo Wednesday

According to Merriam-Webster the word encourage means to fill with courage or strength of purpose.  To encourage also suggest the raising of one’s confidence especially by an external agency, me.   

Actually I added the “me.”   Each week I will have an encouraging scripture, song or story.  

Enjoy today's song by Tim Hughes: Happy Day.  I hope it's like a sticky note on your brain and you can't not sing it the rest of the day.  Oh Happy Day, Happy Day, You washed my sin away!  Oh Happy Day, Happy Day, I'll never be the same! Forever I am changed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOiIW8nrw5g

Boy that puts a smile on my face:) 

Trena Zickefoose

Tuesday Night Psalms 136

Psalms 136 is one of my favorite chapters in Psalms.  It begins by simply reminding us who we are to give praise to and why, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good..." Each verse there after adds strength and victory, "God of gods...Lord of lords." If that is not enough, verse 4-9 reminds us that God is the one "who alone does great wonders."  He created and separated the heavens, earth, day and night.  (alone, meaning without any help from us!)  The Psalms continues with miracles, protection and guidance through the Exodus.   And during the ups and downs of the people, His love endures forever. (Did you catch the "forever" part; we are within that time frame.)

My Tuesday night house church group personalized this Psalms.  With their permission I added it below.  I also added a link to biblegateway.com for Psalms 136.  Compare the two, I think you will find it very touching.  I encourage everyone to do this exercise for themselves.   (Oh, ages in our group vary from 18 to 56.  There is something for every age.)  Remember verse 1-9 have not been altered.

Please enjoy, Tuesday Night Psalms 136.   

Tuesday Night house church Psalm 136

 ¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
            His love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods.
            His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
            His love endures forever.

 ⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
            His love endures forever.
⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens,
            His love endures forever.
⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,
            His love endures forever.
⁷ who made the great lights—
            His love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to govern the day,
            His love endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night;
            His love endures forever.
¹⁰ to him who struck down the drugs, cigarettes and sins of the flesh
            His love endures forever.
¹¹ and brought me out from among old friends with bad habits and sinful lives.
            His love endures forever.
¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm he pulled me from depression, suicide and out of the pits of hell.
            His love endures forever.
¹³ to him who delivered us from wandering and wondering
            His love endures forever.
¹⁴ and brought us to a place of fellowship and community,
            His love endures forever.
¹⁵ and delivered us to peace, contentment and growth;
            His love endures forever.
¹⁶ to him who led us to renew our relationship;
            His love endures forever.
¹⁷ to him who died on the cross,
            His love endures forever.
¹⁸ to him who saved a lot of people—
            His love endures forever.
¹⁹ and he saved my life
            His love endures forever.
²⁰ and I am a child of God—
            His love endures forever.
²¹ and gave me a gateway to heaven,
            His love endures forever.
²² God has prepared a street of gold for me.
            His love endures forever.
 ²³ He carried me when I could walk no more
            His love endures forever.
²⁴ and he saved me from the grasp of Satan.
            His love endures forever.
²⁵ He breathes life into all of us
            His love endures forever.
 ²⁶ Bow on your knees and give thanks to God Almighty.
            His love endures forever.

Trust God! Trust God? (Troy wrote this) I think Troy is pretty awesome. I think I will keep him:)

Trust God!  Trust God?

I have a great friend that weighs about 55 pounds and is solely dependent on me.  His name is Justin Time.  Yes pun intended.  He was to be euthanized the day before we got him but my daughter convinced the employees at the pound that she could find him a home immediately.  Hence the name, “just in time”.

Justin depends on me for his food and water, his shelter, and even for companionship.  When we are both in the house, he wants to be right at my feet.  Well, he would rather be in my lap but he is just too big.

If things are busy in the house and he can’t find a good spot for a likely chance of getting petted, he some times will lay on the landing of the stairs where he has a chance of seeing the traffic going up and coming down, as well as having a view of the front yard if the blinds are open.

It occurred to me this morning, as I was making my way down the stairs with my hands full, that dog really trusts me!  When he is on the landing, he will let me step right over him and not even flinch.  Now it is not just that he is too lazy to move.  His senses are very keen and he shows us every day that he has skills and desire to not be pushed around or let anyone hurt him.

Then why doesn’t he move when this clumsy 222 pound human steps within inches of him on both sides?  He trusts me.  What does that mean?  You may find the definition of trust; “confidence in and reliance on good qualities, especially fairness, truth, honor, or ability”.  Justin has confidence in, me that I have the good qualities……..and abilities to protect him.  Wow, maybe that is what makes a dog a dog.  Since I have done good things to and for this creature, he believes that I love him and will continue to do so.

Has any bad thing ever happened to Justin? Yes, he was ill, nearly to death, twice and has even had to be operated on for cancer.  He has been attacked by a neighbor dog three times his size and had to be sewn up.  (That dog was never seen again in the area, your guess is as good as mine) have the bad things he experienced caused him to be bitter to me?  Absolutely not!

Are we as smart as a dog?  Think about it.  God left heaven to come to earth as a man and trade his life to save ours.  A lot better than what we did for Justin.  Why do we have trust issues with God?  Do we believe He wants good things for us and knows what is best for us?  We would answer yes, but we are not ready to fully trust Him with our hearts, our families, and our possessions.  Ok, so we believe God wants good things for us.  Maybe we just don’t think He has the ability to provide.  I think I know how we would answer that question if it was asked by itself.  Of course God has the power to do anything.  Right?

It seems if you put these qualities together, we have no reason to not trust 100% in God’s Word for us.  The sad truth is, when I look around, or within, we constantly hold back on the promises.

God has the desire:

Matthew 7:9-11 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

God has the power:

Ephesians 3:20  “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,….”

Let’s get in line with God’s will.  Let’s quit worrying so much about what we are supposed to do and start doing what God puts on our hearts with the opportunities in front of us.

In theory...

A few years ago I worked for a utility company.  One of my responsibilities was to disconnect utilities for non pay.  Fortunately I did not have to go to the houses, but I had to provide a list of the names, addresses and outstanding balances to the servicemen.  The servicemen would have to go to the house, knock on the door and explain why they were there.  More often than not I would get a phone call from whomever was at home (usually, they were not happy to see us)  This could involve several tones of conversations from the client: aggravated to mad or furious to obscene.  Regardless of the tone; at that particular time-in that particular place there were two options…collect or disconnect.    As you can imagine many of the conversations were memorable.

One particular day I sent the serviceman to collect at a young couple’s house.  The wife was at home; she immediately called and she was irate!  I began the standard review: amount owed, last payment made and due dates.  She was sure I had made a mistake because her bill was paid with a check.  I asked if she could call her bank to see if the check had been processed.  Rather irritated with me and in a stern voice she replied, “I do not need to call the bank because the check is still in my checkbook!”  She continued to tell me that in theory her bill is paid because she has written the check to the utility company.  At which I simply reply, “The reality is –you will have no utilities if you do not give the serviceman your check.” 

When you are paying your bills, there is no theory.  Either the bills are paid or they are not.  With Jesus there is no theory.  Either you have accepted Him or you have not.  It is not enough to say that you know who He is, just like it was not enough for her to have written the check. 

With her it was easy to make her theory a reality.  It is also easy to make the theory of Jesus a reality.  Accept Jesus as your personal savior.  He has made a deposit for you with His life.  Your account will never run low, be overdrawn or be disconnected.