Inspirations from the Funny Farm

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

Who am I? Why am I here? Those questions have been asked by the masses for years. I am not who the world says I am. I am who GOD says I am, and the answers to the questions are found right there in black and white (and sometimes red) in the instruction manual for life: The Holy Bible. You are not the color of your skin. You are not the product of a broken home. You are not the ugliest one or the prettiest one in the room. You are not the expensive clothes nor the rags that you may be wearing. You are oh so much more. Get your Bibles ready, Peeps. We are fixing to go for a ride through the manual!

First and foremost, I am a child of God. John 1:12 confirms this. All who received Him and believed in His name have the right to become children of God. I am God’s kid! He’s my heavenly Daddy! I have an absolutely awesome earthly daddy, and I wouldn’t trade him for anything, but isn’t it grand to know that we are God’s kids. The Creator of the universe, God Almighty, Maker of the heavens and the earth, is my Daddy! If that doesn’t get you excited, you better check your pulse!

Turn to Romans 8:17. This one will blow you away. Because I am God’s kid, I am a fellow heir with Christ! Say what? Yep. It’s right there in Romans 8:17. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” I’m a co-heir with Christ for the entire kingdom of God. So it doesn’t really matter that I don’t have the nicest house or car or clothes or whatever, I’m an heir to the kingdom of God! This place is only my temporary home. Jesus is preparing my heavenly digs right now. It’s pretty cool being the kid of God, huh?

Now, flip over to John 15:15. Jesus tells us here that we are His friends. Peeps, I have some pretty terrific friends, some longer than others and truer than others, but all in all, I have some great friends in my corner. I have friends that I can talk to when I’m up, when I’m down, and anytime in between, and I’m so grateful for the people God has placed in my life. But y’all, we have an even better friend than our bestest friend! We have a friend in Jesus. He is the truest friend we will ever know. He died for us. He suffered for us. He rose again for us. You are never alone in this lonely world, my friend, because there is one friend who never leaves, and He is available 24/7. He is my Friend.

I know that I’m skipping around the manual a bit, but bear with me. There’s so much good stuff in the Book, I’m trying to share a bit of it this morning. Next, I want you to read Ephesians 2:10. This scripture assures us that God doesn’t make junk. We are God’s handiwork. He created us to do good works, and in fact he predestined us to do so. God created me to do what He wants me to do, and therefore, He equipped me with the ability to carry out those tasks. If I follow His lead, I can accomplish anything! Psalm 139:14 reminds us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. How awesome is it that the Creator of the universe thought enough about me to knit me together in my mother’s womb to be the person that He wanted me to be. He designed me specifically for His good works, and though I feel flawed in numerous ways, I know that I’m not junk! I’m God’s handiwork!

I don’t have to walk through this crazy life under my own power. Nope! I have direct access to my heavenly Daddy, and I can go to Him with boldness and confidence. “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12 Think about that for a moment, and I bet you will be in awe. There are a lot of powerful people in this world, and we know who they are, but we don’t really have access to them. There are presidents and governors, prime ministers, and kings throughout the world. We know their power and authority, but we don’t know them. How great is it that we know the Creator of the universe, and we have a direct all access line to Him 24 hours a day 7 days a week? This is reaffirmed in Hebrews 4:16. We can confidently approach the throne of God everyday, all day long.

Finally, I know that I am not condemned by God. Oh, yes, man may condemn us. We may suffer long and hard as we walk through this temporary land, but I have a hope and a future with Christ in my permanent dwelling place. I have been set free from the law of sin and death. I have been promised eternal life. Romans 8:1-2 shares this truth. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” This life we are walking through now can be aggravating and stressful to say the least, but it is not the end of the story. We may feel beaten at the end of each day, but don’t forget that our victory has already been won. We have an eternal home waiting for us with our heavenly Daddy!

I’m going to close now, although I found hundreds more scriptures that tell me who I am in Christ. If you aren’t sure of your identity, I challenge you to read the instruction manual. I bet you will find out who you really are. I know for sure that I am a child of God, and I pray that if you don’t know Him, you go and meet Him today!
KK

Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 5:13-15 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Are you a secret service Christian? I’m not talking about a missionary who is living and working in a country were Christians are persecuted for sharing the word of God and have to share the gospel cautiously. I’m talking about how we serve the Lord right here at home. I listen to the radio while driving, and I recall hearing a preacher use the phrase “secret service Christian,” and it got me to thinking. When I was young in my walk with Christ, I wasn’t nearly as vocal about my faith as I am now. I could give you a list of numerous reasons, or rather excuses, why I didn’t share my faith. I was very shy. I was afraid of controversy. I was secure in knowing where my final destination would be, and I thought that was enough. I had accepted Christ as my Savior, and I didn’t need to share Him. As I grew in my faith, I realized that was not enough. I was being extremely selfish. I had the knowledge of the BEST news in the world, and I was keeping it all to myself. I was being a secret service Christian. I was serving God in a very secret way. I was so secretive, I was keeping things just between Him and I. Boy oh boy, I was really missing out on the big picture. I really wasn’t serving anyone but myself.

God didn’t design us to merely come to Christ. He designed us to glorify Him. He wants a relationship with us and with others. He desires for us to share the gospel with the world. Paul reminds us of this In Romans 10:14. How can one believe if they have never heard, and how will they hear if no one shares the Word? We are commanded to go and make disciples of all nations. We are charged with the duty of sharing Christ with others. We can’t keep Him all to ourselves.

Jesus says that we are the salt and the light. In Biblical times, salt was used as a preservative. They didn’t have refrigerators or freezers. Salt was applied to foods to preserve the foods for future use. Jesus tells that we are to be the salt, but if the salt loses it saltiness, it is no longer good. That sounds strange to us because salt is salt. It doesn’t lose its saltiness. What did Jesus mean that salt could lose its saltiness? Salt wasn’t exactly the same compound that it is now. It wasn’t pure sodium chloride. It was a weakened form. If a rain poured over the salt, it diluted the crystals, and then the salt literally was no longer salty. It was of no use. It lost its preservative value and also its flavor. Salt that doesn’t preserve and is tasteless is of no use. If we’ve lost our saltiness, we are of no use to Christ. Can we say ouch? If we aren’t actively working to preserve others by sharing the gospel and bring in the flavor of Christ to our conversations, we are not being the people that Christ called us to be. We serve Christ by being salty. Are you a salty, showing others how to preserve everlasting life and adding flavor to the lives of those you come in contact with, or have you lost your saltiness?

Jesus also calls us the light of the world. We know that Jesus is the true light, but as Christians and followers of Christ, we are to reflect Christ. Just as the moon reflects the sun, we are to reflect the Son. We should be reflecting Christ in the way that we are living, speaking, and loving on the world around us. Many people will never step a foot into a church building. Many will not openly ask you to tell them about Christ, but we should be reflecting Christ so brightly that everyone can see Him in us. The Holy Spirit resides within each and every Christian. The light within us should be shining so vibrantly that we couldn’t put it out if we wanted to. When we realize that the light of Jesus within us is the only Jesus some people will ever see, we should glow brighter than ever. We serve Christ by being a reflection of Him. Do others see Christ in you? Are you reflecting the Son, or are you getting burned by the sin that surrounds us?

I know it’s hard to share your faith. It’s scary, but Peeps, we need to share our faith like lives depend on it, because quite frankly, they do! We can’t be happy being secret service Christians. We must be full service Christians. Be the salt and the light. Share the Good News. Don’t be selfish and keep Jesus all to yourself. Everybody needs to know Him!

Ecclesiates 5:1-2 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Getting ready for worship can be compared to getting ready for a journey. When we are preparing for a trip, we pack our bags, we set our destination, and we begin the journey. Some of the travelers with you are giggly and happy, some are looking out the window bored to death, one or two may be looking at their phones, and many are looking at their watches and asking “are we there yet?” I thought about all of the things I’ve seen while traveling whether it be a plane trip with a group of strangers or a long road trip with my beloved family, and I can tell you, I’ve witnessed all of the above. Sadly, I can say that I’ve seen the same things during our worship services as well.

Don’t get me wrong, Peeps. I’m talking to myself too. I’m definitely not perfect, and I’ve been guilty of all of the things I listed above while attending worship. The reason I’m sharing this today is because I want to make sure that while I’m on my journey, I’m a little bit better prepared for the destination. For you see, when we attend worship, our destination is to meet God. We should be journeying to meet our Almighty Father, and not simply enduring the worship service.

Sunday mornings are tough. I wrote a chapter called “Sunday mornings ain’t easy round here” for my last book. Trust me, I know. There is so much to do before leaving the house on Sunday mornings from cooking to cleaning to getting children dressed, finding lost shoes, battling the evil forces that are trying to keep us home, and so much more. Sometimes just arriving in the parking lot feels like we’ve accomplished what we have set out to do. But that is not it, Peeps. We can’t just keep arriving, sitting through the worship service, and then leaving unchanged. We go to church to worship our Lord and Savior and spend a little blessed time with Him in His presence with other believers and even some non-believers.

We go to church to worship. How do we get our minds and hearts ready when we already have so much other stuff on our minds taking our focus away from true worship? We have to prepare for the journey. We first have to get ready to meet God. Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes to guard our steps when we go into the house of the Lord. When we enter the physical building or even the spiritual presence of our Lord, we must be reverent and respectful. Remember Moses and the burning bush? He took his sandals off because he was standing on holy ground. He had complete respect and reverence of that place because he was in the presence of God. We also have to pray. We must pray for God to open our hearts to receive His word, and then the important part, we have to really listen to hear what He is telling us. We must humble ourselves before God, and recognize his sovereignty. We need to remember what He did on the cross for each of us. We must remember the great love that our Lord has for us. Next, is the fun part. We get to get our praise on! I love singing praise songs, hearing praise songs, and enjoying praise and worship time with our church family. I can’t be still. I move a bit here and there wiggling with the music. I get so excited singing praises to our Savior. When the praise songs end, true worship should begin. As the pastor leads in scripture reading and preaches the Word, our hearts should be fully prepared to receive the message. Our journey is really beginning now. We journey through the Word of God. We fill our spiritual bellies. We get fed in the Spirit, and oh how we hunger for the food of the Spirit. Finally, we leave that place or worship, refreshed, renewed, and ready to share what we’ve learned with others.

Worship service can either be a boring trip to church and home, or it can be a marvelous journey. We can muddle through, or we can marvel at the wonders as we travel on our great journey to our destination to have an up close and personal meeting with Christ. So what do you say, Peeps? Are you going on a mundane journey of same old same, or are you preparing for awesomeness this week? I’m not planning to just have a nice trip. I’m getting ready for an AWESOME ride!

2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

I Corinthians 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I was looking at some old memories and came across a video of my daughter singing, “Sanctuary”. It is one of the most precious videos that I have of her. I won’t share it here because she would probably not like that, but I think it’s awesome. She was only nine years old and had just finished taking a bath in our big old jacuzzi tub. I was going about my normal busyness of preparing to close the chapter on another day when I heard this sweet little melodious song coming from my bathroom. My daughter has a beautiful singing voice that is a gift she received from God, and not from me. I tend to make a happy racket rather than a joyful noise, but that doesn’t stop me from making noise! However, the reason she doesn’t like this particular video is because she had found her “princess voice” at that time. As a mom, I didn’t care if she couldn’t care a tune in a bucket, if she sang like a princess, or had the most beautiful voice ever heard, I thought
her singing was fantastic! It wasn’t how she was singing, but rather what she was singing that made me so happy. (Side note: she grew into that princess voice, and now she sings like an angel.)

The words to the song “Sanctuary” remind us of who we are to be as Christians. “Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for You. It is you, Lord who came to save the heart and soul of every man. It is you Lord who knows my weakness, who gives me strength, with thine own hand. Lead me on Lord from temptation, purify me from within. Fill my heart with You Holy Spirit. Take away all my sin. Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.”

What does it mean to be a living sanctuary for God? On Sunday mornings, we get all gussied up and go to church to sing songs of praise, and we worship our heavenly Father. I get excited about going to church, and I hope that you do too. I love the praise and worship music. I can’t help but wiggle around a bit while singing. Praising God excites me. I may sit on the back pew at church, but I am not one of the “frozen chosen”. The praise and worship music gets us geared up for the Word of God, and helps us to prepare our hearts and our minds to receive the Word. I listen intently while the pastor preaches, and I take notes in my Bible and on the bulletin. Sunday morning service is a great time for refueling the heart of a Christian as we prepare to take on another week, but that’s not it. That’s not being a living sanctuary. That’s part of it, but that’s not the whole enchilada.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:19-20 to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When he gave us these words, he didn’t say for us to sing hymns and songs only on Sunday mornings. He didn’t say make music in your heart only when you gather together in the church building. He didn’t say give thanks to God the Father only while you are dressed up pretty and attending church services. Notice the last part of his statement: “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ALWAYS!

Paul said we are supposed to do these things always! Some of us can’t even seem to get excited for Sunday morning worship so how in the world can you get excited always? Well, Peeps, that’s where the living sanctuary comes in. We can’t just live in Christ in the sanctuary of our church buildings. For goodness sake, we all know that God is all knowing, everywhere, and all powerful. Why in the world would we think that we are to only worship Him while we are in a building sanctuary? He didn’t create us to praise Him once or twice or maybe even three times a week on a good week. He created us to glorify Him, and in order to do so, we have to actively be a living sanctuary for Him. We can’t just keep talking the talk. We can’t just show up for appearances, We can’t be the “frozen chosen”.

We become disgruntled and disheartened with the state of affairs of our country, but we need not wallow in the muck and mire of it. If we want things to change, we must first change ourselves. We must first truly become living sanctuaries for God, and begin living for Him, not ourselves. We can’t just keep showing up. We must started showing out, and by this I mean showing outwardly who resides within us: Christ! We must start worshiping and praising on a whole new level. Sunday worship is awesome, and I’m so grateful that I live in a free country which allows corporate worship. Corporate worship is a wonderful part of who we are as Christians. Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us of what we need to do. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Don’t give up on meeting together, but we must encourage one another. Today, I am encouraging you to be a living sanctuary for Christ. Your body is the temple where the Holy Spirit of Christ resides. YOU are carrying Him around with you all day long. Are you having “church” all day, always, or are you just another pretty temple? Be a living sanctuary for God!

Ephesians 3:16-19 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As a family nurse practitioner, I listen to a lot of hearts every day. It doesn’t matter to me if the person is has a complaint of a sprained finger or a simple case of sniffles, I am going to put a stethoscope to the chest. I’ve caught some abnormal rhythms in the past and diagnosed new murmurs. The heart has always fascinated me. Early on in my career, it was my favorite organ to study. I loved teaching the pathophysiology of the heart and teaching others to read EKGs and cardiac rhythm strips. I love the design: electrical impulses and muscular contraction working together to produce a regular rhythm and peak cardiac output. God really put a lot of thought into that design.

About 12 years ago, a little four year old boy was sitting on my exam table. He looked a little frightened, but he soon made my heart so very happy. I placed my stethoscope on his chest, and I listened as I have done thousands of times before, but this time was different. When I removed my stethoscope, he looked at me with those big brown eyes and asked, “Do you hear Jesus in there?” Y’all, he stopped me in my tracks. No one had ever asked me that before in all my years of practice, but I knew the answer to his question was a definite yes. I said, “Well yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” He began grinning from ear to ear, and I couldn’t help but smile the rest of the day as well. So today, I ask you my friends, is Jesus in your heart?

There are many days in this crazy, chaotic life that we feel overwhelmed and tired at the end of the day. We may even feel alone, and sometimes we wonder if Jesus is there. As a Christian and child of God, we have asked Jesus into our hearts to be the ruler and king of our hearts, but sometimes we feel empty, and we have to ask, “Jesus are you still there?” I’ve heard the answer loud and clear oh so many times. Jesus never leaves us, but sometimes we keep him out. Jesus wants to be the Lord of our hearts…our whole hearts, not just little rooms that we decide to let Him in, However, we tend to close the doors on the places that we don’t won’t Jesus to see. We put “Do Not Enter” signs on certain rooms that we think we can handle ourselves. Oh, you know those rooms: rooms of hurt, sorrow, confusion, anger, bitterness, or betrayal, or perhaps it’s that one little bitty sin problem that we just can’t let go of. We tend to close those doors up, but in reality those things are separating us from a relationship with Jesus. Keeping those doors closed keeps Jesus at a distance. It is not He that is distanced from us. We are the ones who are locking the doors and keeping Him out.

Jesus wants to be the Lord of our whole heart, not just the parts that we want to let Him control. Jesus wants to go into those rooms of hurt and sorrow and fill them with His love and comfort. He wants to go into that ugly room of past transgressions, and forgive our sins and wipe the slate clean. He wants to take away the hurt, the bitterness, and the anger. He wants to help us overcome that little bitty sin problem and the great big ones too. He truly wants to be the Lord of our whole being. Why do we keep closing and locking those doors?

The Holy Spirit of Jesus can and will dwell in your hearts if you will only allow Him to reside there. Then you will be rooted and established in love and have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness. Even a four year old knows that Jesus needs to fill our hearts!
KK Hodge

Mark 4:35-41 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the and the waves obey him!”

The meteorologists are closely watching the waters for development of tropical storms and hurricanes. It’sthat time of the year. Everyone gets a little stirred up waiting and watching for possible hurricanes. We’ve experienced the devastation, but here is south Mississippi, we’ve learned that you can’t avoid the storms in life. They are going to come when they come. Nope, we can’t wish them away, but we can prepare. We can watch and wait, keep necessary supplies on hand, and do what we do for all of the other storms in life, we pray! We must remember that no matter how great the storm is that we are facing, we know the One who calms the storm.

One day after a long day of teaching, Jesus was weary and ready for a good night’s sleep. He told the disciples to cross over the sea to the other side. They loaded up in the boat, and Jesus went to sleep. While Jesus slept, a terrible storm developed. Four of the disciples were very able bodied seamen with a great deal of experience in the sea, but this wasn’t an ordinary storm. It was fierce. Perhaps it was like an August hurricane in the Gulf. This storm scared the disciples, even the experienced seamen. They went and woke Jesus up. And the asked Him, “Don’t you care that we are about to die?” They thought that they were surely doomed.

I find it strange that these fellows were with Jesus, up close and personal, witnessing the many miracles that He had performed, and yet they still didn’t recognize that He had the full power and authority of God. The disciples panicked, but notice that Jesus did not panic. Jesus knew before He got in that boat that a terrible storm was on the way. After He was awakened, He went to the front of the boat and commanded the wind and the waves to be still, and the wind and waves obeyed.

Jesus told the disciples, let’s go over to the other side. He knew the storm was coming. He knew they wouldn’t crash and sink. He knew they would make it to the other side. The disciples didn’t think they would make it, but Jesus knew that they would.

We seem to be sitting in the middle of some mighty big storms lately. We’ve had the COVID pandemic, a suffering economy, riots, deaths, political disagreements, floods, tornadoes, and now we wait for storms to develop in the Gulf of Mexico. Storms in life are inevitable, but what separates us from the crowd is that we know the One who calms the storms. We know the One who commands the winds and the waves. Our Lord and Savior already knows what kind of storms are on the way. He already knows the conflicts and circumstances that we are going to face, but He is not panicking and neither should we. He is the calm in the storm. We only have to trust in Christ completely, and He will see us through.
KK Hodge

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Jeff and I are always chasing things. We both love to chase sunrises and sunsets. I’ve probably taken thousands of photos trying to capture the beauty but have failed in comparison to the real thing. We love chasing waterfalls and fall leaves. We got married under a waterfall, and we’ve been chasing waterfalls ever since. We have seen pretty much every waterfall there is to see in the Smoky Mountains. We’ve flown to the New England states, rented a car, and chased waterfalls in that area, and a few years ago, we tried to see every single waterfall in the state of Washington and a few in Oregon while on a trip to the Northwest. Those were some magnificent sites, but my favorite waterfall of all is Rio Celeste in Costa Rica. I’m sharing a photo of this one today. It is quite magnificent.

We have chased a lot of things in our day. Besides the sunsets, sunrises, waterfalls, and fall leaves, we have chased the everyday things like children, dogs, goats, sheep, and pigs. I’ve even chased a pig while in my Sunday dress and high heels. We’ve chased all kinds of critters, and we’ve chased dreams…many dreams. As we’ve grown older, and closer to Jesus, we’ve experienced a new chase. We’re trying to get better about chasing Jesus and things of Christ because we have slowly come to the realization that all the things we are chasing were all created by Him. If we don’t recognize His glory in all of it, we are missing the BIG picture.

In Ecclesiastes chapter 2, King Solomon wrote his memoirs, and in his old age, he recognized that he had chased a whole lot of emptiness in his lifetime. He considered the meaning of life in these memoirs, and basically took an inventory of his days. King Solomon lived life to the fullest. He actually overdid things. He inherited a whole kingdom from his father David, and he was wise enough to ask God for wisdom. God was so pleased with this request that He not only granted Solomon with immense wisdom, He also gave him much wealth. He was likely worth about $100 billion by today’s standards. That dude showed very little restraint. He married 700 women and had 300 concubines. (Can you even imagine trying to keep up with 1000 women? LOL)

Basically, Solomon had every single thing that his heart desired. Take some time and read the entire chapter of Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Solomon completed an inventory of his days. He said that laughter is madness, and pleasure accomplishes nothing. He told us that he tried wine, took on great projects, bought servants, amassed great fortunes, and became greater than anyone in all of Jerusalem and probably the earth. He chased it all and acquired a plenty, but King Solomon came to the end of his days realizing that even good things like wisdom, hard work, wealth, pleasure, and diligence, apart from God, will only leave us in despair. He said, “This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

King Solomon gives us a narrative in Ecclesiastes of a fallen world. He acknowledges that the temporal pleasures are just that . They are temporary. Our hope and pleasure comes from things eternal. If we look around right now, we could probably write a pretty detailed narrative of a fallen world once again. But this is not the end! Oh yes, we may be nearing the end of days on this earth, but it is not the end. We can live in hope and with great confidence because it is not finished yet. About nine hundred and some odd years after Solomon penned these words, Jesus came to earth. He came and walked as fully man and fully God, and He eventually was crucified for the sins of us all so that we may have everlasting life. He came to give our lives meaning, and through His resurrection we have been given the confidence of salvation, eternal life, and a promise of a future…a future that can not compare to anything we have seen or chased thus far.

I’m going to keep on chasing kids, critters, sunsets, fall leaves, and waterfalls because I see the beauty of our Creator in each of these things, but I can’t focus on chasing the things of this earth. I love those things because God gave me eyes to see them and a mind to enjoy them, but He gave me a heart for Jesus. We can’t go chasing waterfalls if we aren’t chasing the One who created them. Although I appreciate and love the beauty I see with my eyes, I’m going to keep running after and chasing the unseen that fills my heart…Jesus Christ! Without Him, I am nothing. I have nothing. With Him, I have EVERYTHING. So I ask, who or what are you chasing today?

KK Hodge

Micah 7:19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Corrie Ten Boom once said, “God has thrown our sins and guilt into a sea and permits no fishing in those waters!” I think that thought possibly originated from Micah 7:19. Isn’t it an awesome thought that we serve such a loving, gracious, merciful God? A God that truly forgives and forgets? Our God throws our sins into the depths of the sea!

When we have sin in our lives, the sin may seem pleasurable at first, but eventually, especially if you are a child of God, that sin will begin to eat away at us, and it will slowly but surely separate us from our heavenly Father and from others that we love. Last year, a patient that I had been seeing for years said that she needed to talk to me about something. She became very serious and somber, and walked up within a foot of my right ear. We were both masked due to the ongoing pandemic, but she seemed to think she needed to be really close to me to say what was on her mind. She told me that she owed me an apology. I had no idea where this was coming from or where it was going, but it was apparently extremely important to her. She told me that several years ago, she came to the office with her granddaughter, and she was unable to be seen at that time for whatever reason. She said she became very angry, screamed and shouted, and said she wouldn’t be back. Yet, she has continued to see me for years now. She said that she was ashamed of her behavior that day, and that it had been eating away at her for all these years, and she needed to tell me that she was sorry. The truth is, I barely even remember the incident. When you’ve been in health care as long as I have, you learn to forgive and forget and not hold grudges. I assured her that we were okay, and that I was not upset with her at all. All was forgiven.

I really didn’t have any hard feelings towards this lady, but the incident was weighing her down. She said it was bothering her for several years, and she felt a need to make it right. This is how sin affects the life of a Christian. When we are living outside of the will of our Father, that little voice in our head starts telling us that we are doing wrong. That voice is the Holy Spirit, and that feeling is called conviction. The Holy Spirit is within us convicting us, and showing us that we are living outside of the will of God. We may lose sleep at night. We may worry over the issue. But then, a spiritual battle begins to occur. Old Satan is going to tell us that what we are doing is really not so bad. He’ll show you that everyone else is doing the same thing, so it must be okay to continue living in this sin. Is it really a sin if the world says it is acceptable? The battle ensues, and the conviction continues. We can’t rest, and we finally realize that we have to confess this sin to the Lord, and walk away from it. Repent and turn away.

Oh, but glory! When we reach this point of true repentance, we recognize that we are living in a sin, we confess it to the Savior, and we are forgiven. It’s almost magical. We are totally and completely forgiven, and better yet, the sin is forgotten. God throws that sin in a sea of forgetfulness. That sin is now at the bottom of a deep, deep ocean, and we are not to go fishing in that ocean! We are to leave it right there at the bottom of the sea. God has forgotten the sin. We should forget it too, but that’s easier said than done. As children of God, I think we tend to be like that patient I spoke of earlier. When we’ve sinned, the sin bothers us. We dwell on it. We feel bad. We fret. We need not do this though. If we’ve truly repented and turned from that sin, all is truly forgiven and forgotten by our heavenly Father. We are free.

God forgets the sin. He doesn’t throw it back in our face down the road. He forgets it. Yet, we never forget, and I think that is a good thing too. We’ve been forgiven, but we need not forget. If we forget, we may allow the sin to sneak back into our lives. Oh yes, we remember, and we have a faithful, merciful Father who loves us so much that He will help us to stay on the right path. All we have to do is ask Him for help. I know some sins seem much bigger than others. Some battles will be much harder to win than others, but when we equip ourselves daily with the full armor of God, that old devil doesn’t stand a chance. As we learn to lean totally on Christ, we slowly learn that He is stronger than any problem that we have. He’s already defeated the devil. He can help us defeat any sin in our lives. If we truly give it to Christ, the battle has already been won!

We must not forget that Christ has set us free. Our job is to let go of the sins for which we have been forgiven and to move towards the finish line. Let go and let God take over. Do not continue to search the sea for your sins. Do not go fishing in that sea! Stay out of those troubled waters, and look ahead to the promised land. When we are forgiven by our Father, we feel a peace that we can’t even begin to understand, but when we feel that peace…the peace of forgiveness…we will want to learn to live right there and never leave. Thank you God for forgiving me!
KK Hodge
funnyfarminspirations.com

John 15:1-5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

The fall grapes are ripening here in Mississippi. We have a beautiful scuppernong arbor that my husband built many years ago. He prunes it back every year, fertilizes it when necessary, and that beautiful vine takes off every spring. In August, it brings forth beautiful, huge, sweet, golden scuppernongs. Our crop is still not quite ready for harvesting, but we are getting to taste a few samples on a daily basis. Our suppernongs are large, golden grapes. The wild muscadines are purple in color. They are a bit smaller and a bit more tart, but they make an excellent jelly. We also love to go on a search and find mission for wild fox grapes. My husband and I have so much fun collecting these tiny grapes. We have climbed on trees, pulled on vines, and finally pulled a twelve foot ladder from the house to help us gather those little jewels. When the fox grapes ripen, we ride and walk around the outer edges our our cow fields searching for the fruit. We always have a blast, and what a great reward we receive after sweating our tails while off foraging for grapes. We make jelly. Lots and lots of jelly! Our pantry is filling up quickly with all of God’s blessings.

We really have had a lot of fun gathering our wild grapes. It is quite amazing that a delicious fruit can grow out in the woods without the loving care of a gardener. Our personal vines are tended by my husband with great care, but what about all those vines that we found out in the woods? Well, those vines have the BEST Gardener! Our heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe, created all the plants that we get to see, taste, and enjoy. He cares for those wild grapes with His tender love and care. He provides rain for them in due season, sunshine, and adequate nutrition. God created these vines with a purpose.

The purpose of a vine is to send out fruit to feed the birds of the air and critters of the woods. In order to fulfill its purpose, the vine must be lifted up to send out branches that will bear fruit. The vine’s main function is to draw water and nutrients to provide the branches with everything they need to promote growth. Clusters of grapes are produced. Some are sweet, others are sour, and some are tart which are my favorite.

Under the care of the vine dresser, the vines are prepared yearly to produce crops. This is done through pruning. Pruning is the most important part of the growing process. Jeff prunes our branches down to almost nothing but the root every year. If the branches are not pruned, they become unmanageable and draw energy away from being fruitful. This will lead to the death of the vine. Trimming the shoots and removing the excess allows the branches to produce a higher quality fruit.

In John 15, Jesus tells us that He is the true vine, and God is the gardener. God will remove the branches that are not bearing fruit so that the branches that remain will be more fruitful. We have to look upon God as the ultimate gardener because well, He is. He created each of us with a purpose: to glorify Him. He sent His Son Jesus, so that we may have a direct connection with Him. We see God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. God will prune things away in our lives that are preventing us from bearing fruit. He will also prune people out of our lives that may be keeping us from the relationship that He desires with us. This pruning process is sometimes painful, but as the Gardener (God) prunes us, we become closer to Him. If we remain connected to the Vine (Jesus), the branches (us) will continue to grow stronger in our daily walk, and we will produce much fruit.

If a branch becomes separated from the vine, it will wither away and die. That branch is of no use any more. It has lost its source of nourishment and life. If we as Christians, do not remain connected to Christ, we will wither away. We can not produce fruit if we do not remain connected to Christ. If we remain connected to Christ, seeking Him daily, and abiding in His ways, we will produce the fruits of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22.

Today we must ask ourselves, are we producing fruit? Are we showing the love of Christ to those we come in contact with daily? Do others see the joy of Jesus in us? Are we peacemakers or troublemakers? Do we show patience and restraint? Are we kind? Are we good? Are we gentle? Do we show self control? If you answered no to more of these than yes, maybe you should check your connection to the true Vine. I am not perfect, not by a long shot, and I know that I am truly lacking in the area of fruit production many days, but the good news is that the great Gardener is still watching over me, and I am still connected to the Vine. The Gardener will keep on pruning away the things that are keeping me from producing good fruit, and I will continue to let the nourishing Vine grow me into a branch that produces the sweet, savory (though sometimes tart) fruit that He intends for me to produce.

If you don’t feel that warm embrace of the Father, if you don’t see the fruits of the Spirit in your life, or if you feel like something is missing, please check your connection. The line to Christ is always open. He wants to hear from you today. Call out to Christ, and get connected to the Vine today! There is no time like the present to recline in the presence of our Savior!

KK Hodge
Funnyfarminspirations.com

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from my last book, “Inspirations from the Funny Farm.” Good Sunday morning from the funny farm. I pray you have a blessed day in the Lord!

Our farm needed some small cows that we could pet. Yes, I know that we have a lot of cows. Those are mostly Black Angus, and they really aren’t pets. I wanted some cows for pets. The little researcher in me jumped on the world wide web in search of the perfect small breed cow. I looked at Dexters and Zebu. We even went out to a farm to look at some Zebu cattle. They are pretty tiny, but not very cute. Then suddenly, I found the beautiful long-haired Scottish Highland cattle. I read online that there were miniature Scottish Highlands also, and I was on a search and rescue mission to bring a pair of Scottish Highland home to Hodge Critter Lodge. I found out that there were only two farms in Mississippi that raised these beautiful cattle, and I promptly emailed them both. I got one response. It was from a judge in Tupelo, MS. He said he wasn’t really wanting to sell any of this herd, but after talking to me, he decided he could part with a young pair. I can be pretty persuading when I get my mind set on something. He said he would sell me a 10 month old heifer and a 13 month old bull. He also informed me that to his knowledge there was no such thing as a miniature Scottish Highland. He said that their legs are shorter than average cattle and perhaps that was where the misunderstanding came from. I didn’t really care at that point. I just wanted what he had.

One fine morning, we loaded up the cattle trailer and drove four and a half hours to Tupelo, MS to pick up our new heifer and bull. The judge had a beautiful herd, and we were tickled with the ones that he was selling us. I named them Merida and McLeod, two good Scottish names. Neither of them was halter broke, but we were determined. Merida halter broke rather easily. McLeod, well he was a whole other story. He was 100 percent bull, and bull headed to prove it. We got a halter on him, but that was about as far as that went. We never were able to train that bull to follow. Merida, however, was terrific. I had her following me around within a week. I even sent a video to that old judge, and he was shocked. He said he couldn’t believe we had her broke that quickly. Merida was a big old baby. There were times when I thought she would curl up in my lap if she could fit. She is the sweetest cow I have ever owned.

From that moment on, Merida was mine. I loved her. She loved me. She grew into a beautiful, dark rust colored cow while McLeod had more of a light rust colored coat. They grew a nice set of horns. Highlands have rather long hair, and they are distinctly different in appearance from our black angus cattle. They stuck out like a sore thumb. We housed Merida and McLeod in our barn and the field area behind the barn initially so that they could get to know us, and so that we could tame them down. Because of their rather long hair, they got really hot during the summer in that barn and lot area. It gets close to 100 degrees here in south Mississippi during the dead of summer. Jeff installed 3 fans in the barn. They understood that if the stood under them when they were too hot, the heat was a little more bearable. We also sprayed water on them from the water hose to cool them off on especially hot summer days. They loved getting sprayed with water. They loved it so much that they actually learned to turn on the water faucet at the back of the barn. I cannot tell you how many times I walked out to the barn to find the water spewing full blast and Highlands dancing around in a summer water faucet shower! Whenever I walked upon Highlands under a spray of water, I pictured a supermodel ad with the model laughingly being sprayed with water. They looked just as happy! We won’t even talk about the water bills.

After a while, we moved them out into the area we had fenced around our pines. They loved it there as there was a lot more shady areas. There is a nice little creek on our property, and this allowed them to cool off when needed, and it saved on our water bill! After another year of growth, Merida was finally bred. We had moved both Merida and McLeod across the driveway into a little rye grass field to let them finish off the rye grass. Merida delivered her first calf on a wintery, rainy night. Cows are generally a little bit skittish in nature, and they really don’t want their humans around when they are calving, but not my Merida. Jeff and I were out in the field with her and stayed with her the whole time. We kept McLeod at a comfortable distance because he was after all still a bull. I’ve never had such a love for a cow in my life. We definitely have a special bond, and she knew that we were there to help.

A few months later, the rye grass was gone, and it was time to move them back across the driveway into the pines again. Jeff was at work offshore. There was no rye grass left. They needed to be moved so that they could get to an area where they would have plenty to eat. I took the kids to school, and after I arrived back home, I decided that I would move them across the driveway. I mean, it was less than twenty feet. How hard could it possibly be to move a cow and a bull twenty feet? I walked up the drive and took the fence down across the drive from the Highlands. I grabbed a bucket of feed, and Merida walked right across the drive without hesitation. McLeod did not. I tried to tease him with a bucket of feed. He would walk into the drive and up to the fence line, but he would not cross the fence. I tried shooing him into the fenced area. He would not budge. I picked up a long stick to try to coerce him to go. This did not work. He darted up the driveway. I quickly pictured my huge bull running free down the road and visiting the neighbors. I finally got him back down the drive, but he still would not go into the area I needed him to go to. I kept telling him that his wife was over there, and that he should be with his wife, but that stubborn bull-headed bull didn’t seem to care. I was frustrated, and I was just about ready to jerk a knot in his tail.

I chased him back and forth, and then he chased me back and forth. After about 30 minutes of running with the bull, he charged at me. I suddenly realized that an 1800 pound bull was probably going to trample my 135 pound self. I also realized that I didn’t have my cell phone with me. I was about a quarter mile from the house. The kids were at school. The husband was overseas. I contemplated for a few seconds how long I might have to lay there in the pines dead or dying before anyone thought to look for me there. I scolded myself for my stupidity, but then I realized that I am as bull headed and stubborn as this bull. I stood my ground. I told him he wasn’t taking me out until the good Lord called me home. It took me close to two hours to get that bull to move a simple twenty feet, but I won. I got the fence back up, and walked back to the house praising God for keeping me safe. I was hot, sweaty, exasperated, and worn out, but I proved to that bull that I’m as stubborn as a bull. I’m stubborn, and God has my back.

Merida had her second calf while they were living in the fenced area in the pines. I was again worried how McLeod would respond, and I was scared that he might accidentally trample or injure the calf. The kids called me at work to let me know that she had calved. I didn’t get off work until 7:00 pm, and I knew it would be dark when I got home. I asked the kids to try to get the calf and Merida up to the barn. Well, they didn’t have any luck doing that. I got home around 7:30, and sure enough, Merida had delivered a beautiful little heifer that we named Annabel. We couldn’t get Merida and the calf to walk back to the barn after several attempts. I finally picked Annabel up, and carried her to the four wheeler. I loaded her on the four wheeler, and my son drove. I led Merida with a bucket of feed along the fence line all the way to the barnyard. That old girl will follow me anywhere, especially if I have a bucket of feed. We arrived at the barn, and I carried Annabel into the barn and put her in a nice stall with Merida with plenty of fresh hay.

McLeod hung out down by the barnyard on the other side of the fence keeping a watchful eye on his wife and new baby. Two days after Annabel arrived, I got home from work to find McLeod in the barnyard. He was no longer on the other side of the fence. He was inside the fence. No one had put McLeod inside the barnyard. I walked the fence line and found that McLeod had busted through the fence. He literally walked right through the fence. My husband put this fence up, and it wasn’t a shoddy job. It was a really good strong fence. I suppose McLeod decided he had enough time out, and he was ready to join his family whether we were ready or not. I don’t think that there was a fence in the world strong enough to keep those love birds apart. Thankfully, none of the other critters decided to leave through the open fence before I got home and before the fence got mended. We never separated McLeod from Merida after that.

Our critters and our children know that I am as bull-headed and stubborn as old McLeod. To work as a nurse practitioner and to help maintain our farm, I have to be tough. I work hard at everything I do, and I do not settle for second best or half-hearted attempts to do a job. Any job worth doing is worth doing right. I am so thankful that I have a husband who never gives up on me, and I am eternally grateful that I have a savior who never gives up on me. I will continue to work as hard as I can by my husband’s side, and I will continue to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as I share the good news to all that will hear. And I will do so with the same tenacity it takes to defeat an 1800 pound bull! I will listen to the Holy Spirit and I pray that I never squander away the gift that Christ has given me.

We must all stand firm and be stubborn, and not give up. We must endure every challenge that is put before us knowing that God goes before us and will carry us through. I’ve been faced with many a challenge during my walk in this life, but I have to say that not one of those challenges has killed me yet! I know that I can trust in the Lord through any difficult situation, and that the Lord will see me through. Things may not always work out the way the I want them to work out, and there may not always be a happy ending. But with God’s grace and mercy, I will continue to fight the good fight until the day He calls me home. I’m going to finish this race called life. I just pray that I will finish it the way that God has planned for me.

“And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you’re just like your ancestors. Was there ever a prophet who didn’t get the same treatment? …You had God’s law handed to you by angels—gift wrapped—and you squandered it!” Acts 7:51-8:13

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

“May the God who gives and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:5-7
KK Hodge