Inspirations from the Funny Farm

Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. For our ancestors won God’s approval by it. By faith we understand that the universe was created by God’s command, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.

Romans 8:24-25 Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. 

Yesterday, we were able to join an adult Sunday School class as students for the first time in many years. We taught the youth class for a few years, then third through sixth grade, and most recently we taught the college and career age group. Our church is small, and our college and career students have all moved on to different destinations as they follow God’s paths for them. We miss our class, but let me tell you something, Peeps, it sure was nice being the student yesterday. I’m excited about being able to sit in a Sunday School class weekly and be fed the Word in a small group setting with classmates in my age group.

Our lesson yesterday came from Hebrews 11:1-3. My Bible that I bring to church is the HCSB translation. I have several translations at home, but I like this one for church services because there is a lot of room in the margins for note taking, and I am an avid not taker. This version defines faith as “the reality of what is hoped for and the proof of what is not seen.” We compared a few translations in our class, and found that the word reality was replaced by the word assurance, confidence, and substance depending on the translation that was being read. I like the HCSB version with the word reality because that is really what it is. Faith is the reality of what is hoped for. We left Sunday School, and went into morning worship, and wouldn’t you know it, the lesson spilled over into our pastor’s sermon. He didn’t know what we studied in Sunday School, yet he preached out of Romans 8, verses 18-30, He always tells us that “everything is rigged for our good and God’s glory,” and once again this proved to be true. It’s rigged, y’all. God gave us a message that we needed to hear yesterday, and maybe He thought, “these knuckleheads may not get it the first time so just to be sure I’ll give them the message a second time.”

We have hope! If you look around right now, things don’t look very hopeful. I’m sitting here at five o’clock at my kitchen table typing away as my husband is watching the morning weather report. Hurricane Sally is coming ashore later tonight, and it looks like she will be coming in just south of us. We live about 45 miles from the coast, and we will surely feel the affects. I’ll be leaving for work in a bit, and won’t get home until around 7:30 tonight. There is continued chaos all around with the COVID pandemic, wildfires in Oregon and California, rioting, and ugliness. Yet here I sit in the comfort of my kitchen typing and at ease. How and why? Because I have faith in Christ, and that faith lies in the reality that my hope is in things eternal and not merely the temporary things of the present. I have faith in Christ.

Does that faith mean that I simply ignore the troubles of the world? Definitely not, but I have learned to endure them knowing that Christ will work it all out for my good and His glory. He has proven this to me time and time again. We may suffer a little, or maybe even a lot, on this side of heaven, but the bit of suffering we are enduring now can not even compare to the eternal future that Christ has prepared for us in heaven. If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we are promised eternity with Him in heaven. I’ve never seen heaven, but I have read about it. I have dreamed about it. I have imagined it in my mind, but I’ve never seen it. The fact that I have never seen it makes it no less real to me. I know that it is a reality. I have faith in this reality that I hope for because it is promised to me in the Word of God, and God doesn’t break His promises.

We can rejoice during our trials because we know that no matter what happens, it is not the end. We have hope that promises a future in heaven, and faith in that hope supersedes any doubt or fear that we have regarding the current worries and trials. I have a plaque in my office at work that reads, “Pray more, worry less,” and I am here to tell you that this mantra has become my life song! I pray with faith that is the REALITY of what is hoped for even though I can’t see it. I stand fully on the promises of Christ. Do you have faith and hope today?

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Hebrews 10:24-25 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.

Today is the first Sunday since the COVID pandemic that our church is resuming normal hours. We will have Sunday School classes at 10:00 am followed by morning worship at 11:00. We have a meeting at 4:00 pm, the praise team will practice at 5:00 pm. (Don’t worry, I haven’t joined yet. I’m still keeping my happy racket on the back pew!) At 6:00 pm, we are having evening worship. Wednesday night activities will return this week too. I am beyond excited. I have missed this part of my worship so much. We have continued to have worship services through the pandemic, but on-line worship, parking lot worship, and staggered morning services are just not the same. It’s almost like we are going to a big family reunion because our church family is just that. They are family. I have missed everyone tremendously.

Gathering with fellow believers is such an important part of the Christian faith. When we gather together we strengthen bonds with fellow believers, we sing praises together, and most importantly we hear and receive the Word of God. This helps us to continue to put on the full armor of God each and every day. Think about an orange or a satsuma. It’s peeling acts as a protector for the fruit. It is the armor for the fruit. If you place that orange in a glass of water, it floats. It is protected. But if you remove the peeling and the protective coating, and then place that same orange in a glass of water, it will sink. It is not protected. It has lost the natural protection and armor of the peeling.

As Christians, we have to put on our armor daily. There will be troubles of the day that will try to peel the armor away, but if we are rooted in the Holy Word of God, our armor will remain and our protection will be guaranteed. When we continue to gather with a body of believers, our armor is strengthened as we walk through the Word of God with our pastor, deacons, and elders and those who are seasoned with the salt of the Word of God and shine a light in this dark world in which we live. We can put on the belt of truth and tighten our waistbands, keep the breastplate of righteousness in place, and as we learn and hear the truth preached and taught, our feet will be fitted with readiness to share the beloved gospel with the world. We can take up the shield of faith, and extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one, and wear the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which we all know is the Word of God. And we pray in the Spirit, oh the sweet prayers of a praying church! The armor of God protects us!

I woke up praying this morning. That’s nothing new, but my prayer this morning was that the churches across this country would have an awakening, a revival. I prayed that the true Word of God would be preached throughout our land today, and that ears would be opened to hear it. I prayed that lost souls would be saved, and I prayed that those who have gotten out of the habit of gathering together with fellow believers would return today. In this evil world that we are living in, we need the full armor of God. We need the prayers of fellow believers. We need the sword of the Spirit. We need this now more than ever. Are you ready to get armed today?

Hebrews 10:24-25 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.

I Coronthians 12:18-20 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

I read a story last year about a young Amish man named Steven Yoder who was killed in a mill accident in New Wilmington, Pa . Steven left behind a wife named Mary, and five children under the age of 13, and one on the way. He asked an Amish friend what would happen to the family. “How will they financially make it, since the Amish do not carry insurance?” The friend answered, “The church will take care of them.” The church, in an Old World Order Amish group, is the entire community. She said, “We are the church! We will all pitch in and help her until her sons are grown and can financially support her. If every body gives a little, she will have a lot. “

Later, the man stopped by to see the Amish friend, and she asked him what the weather was supposed to be like on Saturday. He told her it was going to be cool, but dry. The friend said, “Good, because at least ten teams of men are going to Mary’s house to plow her fields, winterize her home and barn, get her a winters supply of coal (to heat her home) and wood (for her to cook with) . The women are all going to cook and bake to help feed the men, who are taking care of Mary’s farm, and bring food for Mary to have enough all winter.”

This is community, Peeps! This is church, Peeps! The church is a not merely a building. It is so much more. The church is a body of believers who function as a whole to reflect the love of our Lord and Savior. When there is a need, it is taken care of, not by a few, but by all. Many will say, “I’m too busy. The pastor or deacons will take care of them. The retired ladies will cook for them. My plate is too full.” If we are truly the church, we can’t think this way.

There are many parts that make up the human body. We have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hands that can work hard, bake, cook, build, and sometimes squeeze the hand of another who needs to know that we are there. We have feet made for us to go to wherever we need to go to share the love of Christ. We have a brain that functions to help us grow in knowledge of Christ. We have mouths that are to be use to pray, praise God, share the gospel, and lift others up. And we have a heart, and that heart desires to serve the Lord and to love like Jesus loves. Each member of the body can not function independently of the other members of the body. The church should be viewed in this way. We each have specific areas of expertise and skills, and we bring a lot to the table, but when we combine those skills together we become a fully functioning body that can accomplish much for Christ.

Can you be a Christian, and not be a member of church body? Yes, you can, but you miss out on so much. The church is not just a place to go and worship. The church is the body of believers. It’s the people. The people who love Christ, serve Christ, and in doing so love others and serve others. When someone sees a Christian on the street, they shouldn’t say, “There goes that Christian.” They should say, “There goes the church.” Are you being the church to the community today?

Psalm 91:1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Where do we get our energy? Oh, I could quickly answer that with my favorite drink: coffee. I do love coffee. I didn’t drink coffee until I was in my early forties. I jokingly say that it took me that long to grown up. Before that, I was hooked on Diet Coke, and prior to that it was Coca Cola. I was truly addicted to those sodas, but now I don’t really like soft drinks at all. But I do love my coffee. I have a couple of T-shirts that announce my dependency on Jesus and coffee. I have one that says, “With Jesus in her heart and coffee in her hand, she’s unstoppable.” Another one says, “This girl runs on Jesus and coffee, Hebrews 4:16.” It’s true. Caffeine is a crutch that gives me a little short term energy to do the things I need to do. Oh, but Jesus, He gives me the energy to get through every single day all day long. So where do we truly get our energy? We get our energy from rest, and true rest only comes from the Lord.

My grandson is only five, and he still requires a rest period during the day. He doesn’t think that he needs a nap, but everyone around him knows the precise moment that a nap is needed. He is the happiest child, very talkative, intelligent, and creative, but after he goes fast and hard for a while, his energy depletes. He becomes a little bit whiny and irritable. A thirty minute respite changes his whole attitude and outlook. He suddenly becomes that smiling sweet boy that we all love and adore. We are a lot like a five year old at times. We wear down, become weary and tired, and oh do we get irritable at times. We may unintentionally become snappy and short with those that we love. We may whine a little bit about our day and complain more frequently than we mean to. As adults, we need someone to tell us to go take a nap so that we can get refreshed and renewed and wake up in a better frame of mind.

We may not be allowed to take long, luxurious naps during the day, but we still have the very best resting place. We can find respite in Christ all day long every day long. To truly rest in Christ, we must truly believe that He can help us, save us, and deliver us in our most urgent needs. We must have a real belief that Christ can help us. It has to be so real that we can almost touch it and taste the sweetness of it. To truly rest, we must truly believe. If we truly believe, then we can trust fully, and my friends, when we truly believe and trust, we will find a rest like no other rest.

We must believe that the Lord is sovereign, and that He is the authority over our lives. We have to recognize that the Lord is in absolute control, and then we must believe that He can accomplish much in our lives. He is all powerful, all knowing, and ever present. He is a there for us. He sees the trials that we are enduring. He knows when we are weary, and He knows how to give us rest. Isaiah 30:15 says, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” We find rest in the Lord by believing that He can help, save, and deliver us. When we believe, we trust that He can help, save and deliver us, but Isaiah 30:15 points out one more ingredient needed to find rest: repentance. If we have a sin problem, no matter how big or how little, that sin is separating us from the fullness of rest in Christ. We must lay that sin out before our Lord and Savior, confess, ask forgiveness, and turn away from it. If a sin problem is constantly worrying our minds and separating us from Christ, we will never know true rest. Our minds fill with worry and regret, and there is no rest to be found there, but when we have repented and been forgiven, oh the sweet rest that we find is sweeter than the sweetest honey.

We all need a whole lot of energy to get through our daily walk, some days more than others. We can drink all of the coffee in the world, but we all know that kind of energy will soon fade, and we’ll crash. When the caffeine leaves us, we are spent and weary. To get true, lasting energy, we must plug into the power source. We must plug into the Savior. Talk to the Lord, Have a little chat throughout the day, and lay your cares and concerns at the feet of Jesus. He can handle those things much better than we can. Read His Word. Rejuvenate your mind with the sweetness of the Word of God. Believe in Him. Trust in Him. Seek Him. Rest in Him!

Hebrews 6:10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Tuesday was one of the Mondayest Tuesdays ever! We can always count on the fact that we will be busy in the clinic on a day following a holiday, and this Tuesday following the Labor Day weekend was no exception. We treated multiple fractures, drained abscesses, ordered labs, completed paps, treated our chronic care patients, and treated a whole lot of acute care patients. Oh, did I mention that we are still gowning up in our lovely plastic full length gowns, N-95 masks, face shields, and double gloves and going out into the parking lot in the 90+ degrees heat to evaluate and treat any and all patients who have COVID 19 symptoms or have had a positive exposure? At the end of the day, our sweet receptionist had signed in a total of 90 patients for visits, labs or x-rays. Y’all, we have a pretty small clinic. That is a crazy number. How did we do it? The answer to that is great team work and the good Lord’s blessings!

I have the pleasure of working with a nurse practitioner, Ally, who is young enough to be my daughter, but she is very wise, and she is passionate about the Lord. Together we make an awesome team, but it’s not just about us. We couldn’t do what we do on a daily basis without the whole team working together. The receptionist has to see every single person that walks through the door while answering phones, taking messages, and soothing anxieties. The nurses have to room the patients, give injections, and relay messages all day all while doing a multitude of other daily duties. The lab/x-ray tech has been getting slammed as never before with labs and x-rays, and yet still they help room patients and clean rooms and jump in wherever they are needed. And our clinic manager, well that girl, she can just about do it all. She helps everyone in the clinic do what needs to be done. We work like a well oiled machine. Sometimes things go perfectly smoothly, and other times not so much, but no matter what, God sees us through every single day no matter how crazy or busy we get. I know He is there because I cry out to Him all day long every day, and I can feel His presence.

Even though everything ended well at the end of our Mondayest Tuesday, I went home feeling the weight of it all on my shoulders. I was exhausted. My brain was tired. I felt spent. It was one of those kind of tired feelings when you feel like you can’t go another day. I was dog tired, and my feet were barking. But y’all, our God is so good. He loves His kids so much, and He shows up and shows out all of the time. I left the clinic and met my sweet husband for dinner. He had a Mondayest Tuesday too, so we met at a local restaurant and let them do the cooking. He had already ordered my meal, and it was waiting for me upon my arrival. I was able to sit and catch my breath and relax with my love. We arrived home later, and we sat down at our table and read God’s Word. We are reading through the Bible again using a one year plan, and after soaking in the sweetness of the Word of God, I slowly began to feel rejuvenated. I took a long, hot shower, and I slept the night away. I awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and renewed and ready to tackle the day.

Wednesday wasn’t a bad day. It was busy and chaotic, but that is nothing new, yet in the middle of the chaos, God showed up. A package arrived on my desk mid morning, and there was the most beautiful card inside. It wasn’t the color or the pictures on the card that gave it the beauty, it was the words that were written on the inside by a dear sweet patient. She wrote, ” I hope you know that you are so loved by us and all who know you. We are so blessed by our heavenly Father to have you, a ministering saint of God, as our friend and doctor.” Oh my word, that brought tears to my eyes. There are so many days that I feel that I am just going through the motions, merely doing my job, hurrying through the day. I want so much to be the salt and the light, but there are so many days that I feel that I come up short. On those crazy days when I’m are chasing my tail all day long and I feel like we will never catch up, I feel like I’m spent and that I have failed the Father. But God, oh but God! He knows just when to send a gentle reminder from a precious human angel to encourage and remind me that I am not working for myself, but rather that I am working for my Lord and Savior.

Your work place may be even crazier or more chaotic than mine. Your job may be boring and humdrum. You may feel that you aren’t getting anywhere, or that you aren’t getting paid what you are worth. You may not have an awesome team of co-workers easing the burden of your load. You may not even see the impact that you are making on the lives of others, but you can know this for sure. God sees you. He feels your stress, anger, pain, and weariness. He is there, and He will continue to lift you up and help you as you muddle through each and every day. But Peeps, we can’t just show up and do just enough to get by and go home. No, my friends, that’s not how it is supposed to work. Paul was speaking to slaves in Colossians 3:23-24, but I’m pretty sure he is talking to you and I as well. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Each and every day, we must wake up, get prayed up, dress up, and get out there and work with all of our hearts as though we are working for the Lord because quite frankly, we are!

Whether you are a CEO of a fortune 500 company or the janitor of the school system, a stay at home mom or a mom working two jobs to make ends meet, you have to ask yourself, “Who am I working for today?” When the burden gets too heavy, and your body and mind are weary, just take a deep cleansing breath and remember you aren’t working for men. You are working for the greatest boss in the whole word, Jesus!

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Isaiah 1:3 The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.

Jeremiah 8:7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord.

Sally Sue is a whitetail doe that we rescued a couple of years ago. We bottle fed her, and she took up residence down at our barn with the sheep and goats and our neutered Axis buck, Bucky. She is a typical skittish little doe, but she loves apples, and she will take us down for a bit of fruit. She allows Jeff and I to pet her, but she is stand-offish around others. Last year, she left during breeding season. We saw her a few times, and we knew that she was pregnant. She came back home to the barn after a bit, but she came home without a fawn. We searched the woods, but never found the fawn. I’m not sure what happened, but Sally Sue knew how to find her way home. She knew where the buckets of feed were plentiful and the fruit snacks were abundant.

This year, Sally Sue left for a short period during mating season, but as always, she returned home. Her belly slowly grew larger, and we knew the time for the arrival of a new fawn was drawing near. Part of me kept wondering if she would leave to give birth and seek the secret hiding places of the wooded areas. Three days ago, she delivered a beautiful long legged little doe fawn. We named her Rosie. Sally Sue accepted her baby and cleaned her up just as she should, but she wouldn’t let the baby nurse. Rosie would try to latch on, and Sally would walk away. This went on constantly for the first day. The next morning, my husband promptly traded a bucket of scuppernongs, a couple of persimmons, jelly, and squash relish for some goat colostrum. Rosie sucked that stuff up like it was honey. Today, she is finally nursing, and it looks like she is doing very well.

Sally Sue is a wild, whitetail doe, but she was bottle raised by my husband and myself. She knows that we are her safe place and that our barn is her home. She will always have food, water, and shelter there. She is free to leave as she pleases, but she always knows when to come home. I’m very pleased that she chose to come home to have her little fawn this time and that we were there to give it a little extra boost of nourishment to get it going.

God has given animals a remarkable homing instinct. Before Sally Sue, we had Ellie May. She would wander miles from home visiting our neighbors, but all I had to do was rattle the chain on the gate to the barn, and she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Why then do we humans seem to want to rebel and not even show the good sense of an animal? Our loving Father created us and has given us every reason to want to come home, yet we drift and backslide. We try to do things on our own and under our own power and authority. We tend to forget that in Christ, we have all of the nourishment we need. In Christ, we have hope, love, joy, protection, grace, and mercy. Away from Christ, we may find temporary pleasure, but it will always be short lived. Without Christ, we are lost and alone.

In Jeremiah 8:7, we are reminded that even the birds live according to the instincts that the Lord has given them. They know when to migrate and when to return for seasons just as my little doe does. Why then do we humans have such difficulty with this? Man seems to constantly run the race of self destruction, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our natural instinct or intuition tells us that we don’t want to be alone. We don’t want to feel lost, abandoned, or full of despair. We want to have fullness of joy, hope, and love everlasting. We yearn for grace and mercy. Fortunately for each of us, we have a heavenly Father who wants to give us all of this. We needn’t run from Him, but rather we should be running to Him.

No matter where you are at this moment in time, no matter how far you feel that you have strayed, no matter how big or little your sins are, Christ is inviting you to return home. He’s been rattling the chain on the gate for a while now. His buckets are overflowing with love, joy, hope, grace, and mercy. He is ready to wrap His arms around you and give you the comfort and protection in that safe place that you are seeking. Don’t keep running away. Run home to the Father! There is no better place to be in this whole world!

Psalm 16:5-11 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Do you remember the song in that old movie, “Mary Poppins,” “A Spoonful of Sugar”? Sing with me, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…in the most delightful way.” Taking medicine, especially during childhood is not something that we love to do, but something that we know we must endure so that we can get well when we are ill. My mom must not have ever paid attention to this song. When we were sick, she believed in an old remedy called Castor Oil. Back in the day, that was an old time cure all for all that ails you. It was a horrible concoction that was horribly disgusting, and I’m pretty sure even a cup full of sugar would not have helped that old stuff go down. I can remember not telling my mama I was sick when I was a kid so that I wouldn’t have to endure the torment of Castor Oil.

Some people look upon Christianity this way. They feel that being a Christian is something that must be endured like taking yucky medicine in order to be healed rather than something to be enjoyed like the gift that salvation truly is. They feel that they have to accept Christ in order to be healed and receive salvation, but they aren’t living in the fullness of salvation. This thought breaks my heart. How can one feel that they must just endure Christianity as though it is a chore? Anyone guilty of this is not enjoying salvation for what it really is, but rather they are enduring religion. There is a great big difference between the two. For you see, religion is basically man doing something to save himself, but Salvation, sweet salvation, is God doing something to save man. Religion is man trying to reach up to go to God, but salvation, sweet salvation, is God coming down to man. Religion won’t take man to heaven, but it will lead to hell. Salvation assures man that he will be taken to heaven.

You see, religion is of man, but salvation is of God. To be truly saved, we must believe that God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth as fully man and fully God. He walked among His people, and He suffered pain and death on the cross only to be resurrected. On that cross He endured pain and agony and took upon Himself all of the sins of man. He became a means for intercession between God and man. His act of great endurance occurred so that we may enjoy the great gift of salvation which has been offered to every human being. It is not a chore. It is not some horrible thing that we must endure. It is a sweet, sweet gift that we should enjoy more than anything in the whole world.

The Psalmist understands the joy of God. “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” With religion, the heart continues to yearn for something more because there is a void, an emptiness that hasn’t been filled. With salvation, the heart is glad and the mouth rejoices. That void is filled with the Holy Spirit. The emptiness is gone. With religion, we are constantly trying to figure out which way to go. With salvation, we know where we are going. We have a reservation in our eternal home in heaven. With religion, we seek a happiness that we may never find. With salvation, we have an eternal joy within us that never fades. Though times get hard, and trials come, the joy of Jesus within our hearts never fades away.

Are you walking in joy of salvation today or are you enduring religion? Peeps, Christian living is not a penalty. It’s a prize. It’s a gift that we should be celebrating each and every day. Won’t you let the joy of Jesus fill your heart today? Don’t endure! Enjoy!

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

I Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

2 Kings 6:9-17 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”  Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

I grew up with terrible eyesight. My distance vision was extremely poor. I was one of those people who couldn’t see the giant letter “E” on the eye chart. I wore glasses or contacts from my early teenage years well into my thirties. My prescription grew much worse with each passing year. I researched LASIK eye surgery, and decided that was the route for me. When I arrived at the surgery center, the nurse handed me a Valium and told me to take it. I’ve never taken a benzodiazepine in my life, and I politely told her, “no thank you” to which she replied, “you have to take it.” So I went into the bathroom, split the pill in half and took half of the tablet and flushed the other half. An act that I would later come to regret! Later, I was taken to the procedure room. After a very short few minutes, they told me that I would lose my vision briefly, but that I should not worry because it would return. All of a sudden, everything was completely black. I had never been in such a dark place in my entire life. I couldn’t see. I was totally, absolutely, one hundred percent blind. The darkness engulfed me completely. My heart began to race, I felt the panic arising. I then realized why they had instructed me to take the Valium to help with this anxiety that I was now feeling. I started praying, “Lord please let me see again.” It seemed like I was in that dark place forever and a day, but it actually only lasted seconds. When my vision returned, the LASIK procedure had been completed, and I could read the numbers of the clock on the wall across the room! I was praising God!

For the first time in my life, I had experienced true blindness. I had jokingly said that I was blind before, but I wasn’t blind in reality. I merely had very poor vision. Today, I’ve been thinking about those that are blind, but not the ones who are physically blind. I’m thinking about the people who are spiritually blind. How many people do we see every day who have never received the gift of salvation? Perhaps you are reading this, and you have never received Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you feel that you are in a very dark place. When we are spiritually blind, we may only see the disappointments in life. We may only feel the discouragements. We may feel like we are surrounded by enemies at all times, and we may feel that we are losing the fight. We may feel that the devil has already won the victory. When we are spiritually blind, we can’t see the goodness and the glory of God that is shining all around us and shielding us as we walk through this crazy life.

In 2 Kings chapter 6, we see an exciting example of God opening the eyes of a man who was spiritually dead. Aram was at war with Israel. Elisha the prophet was a true man of God. He would warn the king of Israel of the Arameans plans, and in doing so the army of Israel was alerted of the plans of the king of Aram. The king became very upset about this, and he even thought that he had a spy within his camp. His soldiers informed him that there was not a traitor, but rather a prophet was telling the king of Israel everything that the king of Aram planned. Naturally, the king of Aram sent troops to capture Elisha. Elisha’s servant awoke one morning and went outside, and he saw troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. He was frightened to say the least. He asked Elisha, “What are we going to do now?” He was panicking. He was afraid, and he couldn’t see the big picture much like I felt during that brief period in which my eyesight had been taken from me. Elisha urged him to not be afraid. He told the servant, “we have a lot more on our side than these guys have on their side.” Elisha prayed for the Lord to open the eyes of the servant and let him see. The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. God’s army was there, and it was HUGE! When the servant saw this, his fear faded away.

I had to have a second LASIK procedure about eight years ago. I told y’all I had bad eyes. My distance vision is phenomenal now, but my near vision is poor. I have about a hundred pair of reading glasses scattered around every nook and cranny of the house and in my purse. I can see pretty well, and I praise God for that. I don’t see God’s army of horses, chariots, and angels around me, but I know that they are there. Spiritual warfare is ongoing all around us on a daily basis. God’s army is busy protecting us from things that we don’t even know we need protection from. There are many unseen angels working overtime to keep us safe. I can’t see them physically, but I feel the presence of my Lord and Savior. I can name hundreds of instances when I have been spared from accidents or injuries. I’ve driven upon a head on collision that happened seconds before my arrival. If I hadn’t gotten behind that slow vehicle going 40 mph that I grumbled about, I would have been in that accident. That’s just one example, but I have seen God’s hand of protection on my life more times than I can count.

Do we have spiritual eyes? Are we seeing what God wants us to see? Are our eyes open? If we are having difficulty seeing what the Lord wants us to see, we can ask Him to open our spiritual eyes. We must seek God’s face persistently to get a clear vision from Him. It may take some effort on our part. We must spend some extra time in prayer. We have to seek guidance from Him. Put the time in. It is worth it! If we invest the time, He will be faithful to show us what He wants us to see. And even if we can’t see the armies that are fighting for us, we need not fear. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Jeremiah 29:5-11 Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

I prefaced today’s devotional with a bit longer scripture reading than normal, but sometimes you have to read the scripture in context to absorb the meaning. Yesterday, I attended a Lifeway Women’s Simulcast with our church small group. The teachers were all excellent, and I gained much biblical knowledge and insight, but the one who spoke to my heart the most yesterday was a blind teacher named Jennifer Rothschild. She taught out of Jeremiah 29, and y’all, it was such a breath of fresh air to be reminded once again that God never fails His children. He hasn’t forgotten us. We may feel that we are in exile now, but He’s going to bring us out of exile. I’d like to share some of what I gleaned from Jennifer’s talk yesterday.

The people of Jerusalem had been exiled to Babylon. They were in a foreign land with foreign people, and they must have felt so alone. I think we can all relate. Our country does not look like our home any longer. COVID 19 has wreaked havoc on the country. Riots are occurring. Jobs have been lost. Work places are more stressful. We may feel completely alone and isolated. We may feel like we are in exile. So what do we do today while we wait through our period of exile? Let’s just wallow in our grief and depression as we wait for our rescue. That’ll show them all, right? WRONG!

The people of Jerusalem likely felt a lot of the things we are feeling right now. God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah, and He gave him some specific instructions. We can’t sit around and wallow in the self pity. We have to continue to live. We can live expectantly knowing that God is with us through our trials, and although we may feel isolated, we are never truly alone.

In verses 5-7, Jeremiah tells the people that God said to actively participate in life even though they are in exile. He told them to build houses, get married, have children, and multiply. He told them to plant gardens and eat the produce. He told the people to increase, not decrease, and to seek the good in the city in which they have been deported to and to pray to Lord, and they would prosper. We may feel alone and isolated right now, but we must continue to actively participate during this time of exile. We should be building relationships, constructing and not destroying. We need to plant things in our lives and nourish these things. We must increase our relationships and the depths of those relationships. And while we are doing this, we must look for the good in all of it. No matter how bad things look, there will always be some good to be found.

In verses 8-9, Jeremiah reminds the people that they must continue to pursue God. There will be false teachers and those around us that will deceive us. Have you watched the news lately? Or have you scanned through social media? If so, you can relate to these verses. There is so much deceit being spewed by public leaders and public figures, on the news, and shared on the web. We must protect ourselves from the lies. How do we do that? Pursue the truth. If we are pursuing God, staying in His Word, and asking for discernment, we will be protected from the lies. You won’t know a lie is a lie if you don’t know what is true. Learn the Word, cling to the truth. Pursue God during this time of exile.

Lastly, in verse 10, Jeremiah tells the people that they have to be patient. Oh man! That’s the hard part. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Oh, but friends, we have nothing but time on our hands while we await the restoration. Jeremiah assured the people that God would come and get the people of Israel and restore them. It was a promise from God, and we all know that God doesn’t break promises. The people had to patiently await the time of rescue from exile.

We are in a time of exile right now. We may not have been literally moved from our homes and been taken to a foreign land, but we each may feel our own particular kind of isolation. We aren’t the people of Jerusalem that were exiled to Baylon for 70 years, but we feel the weight of the wait. The wait may be long, and the extreme heaviness of the weight of the wait may seem unbearable, but Peeps, we are not in this alone. God already knew in advance everything that would be going on in our lives right now. He may be allowing these things to grow us in our relationship with Him. He may be allowing this so that we can plant more seeds. He may be allowing these things to occur so that the number of believers may increase. I don’t pretend to know the mind of God, but I do know with all of my heart that I am not alone. You are not alone. We can endure the weight of the wait if we continue to pursue God while we wait. Be patient. He hasn’t forgotten us. He will restore us. God has plans for each and every one of us, plans for welfare, not disaster, and plans for a future and a hope!

I wrote this devotional for our Ladies’ Ministry Bible Study a little while back. We have some wonderful times together studying God’s word, and I think that God wants us to have fun when studying His word. I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off since 5:00 am making spinach quiches, finishing up a breakfast casserole, and making pigs in a blanket for our ladies ministry simulcast today so today I want to share this one with you Peeps. Hope you enjoy!

I truly enjoy small group Bible studies and spending time with my fellow sisters in Christ. Many times, we are very serious, as we should be because this Jesus thing ain’t no joke! But sometimes, it’s fun to take things down a notch, and just sit back and enjoy laughing with one another. I must confess that fun filled, laugh out loud Bible studies are my favorite kind. In Sunday School this week we talked about how a lot of times as Christians, we get hung up on all the rules we have to follow. We frequently forget that the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly about love: love the Lord and love others. It’s not a mere suggestion. It’s a command. Let’s take a break from that feeling of being overwhelmed by hard-nosed rules that we have to follow, and let’s look at some rules with a southern gal twist to them. As a Christian, I feel that I am never doing enough. I am never sharing enough. I am never good enough. If you feel that way too, take heart. We can never be GOOD ENOUGH to deserve God’s grace. But because He loves us so much, we should strive to live like Him as an act of love for Him.
1. Quit saying you’re FIXIN’ TO, and get started doing what the good Book says to do! (We all have a habit of saying I’m fixin’ to do this and I’m fixin’ to do that, but many times, we never get around to doing what we are called to do: telling others about Christ and His love for us.) “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22
2. Always ask “HOW’S YER MAMA & ‘EM?” (It’s always polite to ask about others showing that you really care.) “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.” I Peter 2:17
3. Don’t forget to SAY YER PRAYERS! (No meals are to begin before blessing the food, and no heads are to hit the pillow before prayers are said. Pray hard and pray often!) “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
4. Avoid being all CATTYWAMPUS! (Avoid getting all out of sorts. Just walk the straight path and follow the Lord.) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
5. Always MIND YER P’s & Q’s. (It’s important to have good manners. Fun fact: this saying originated in England pubs where they sold beer in pints and quarts.) “Let your conversation be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6
6. Keep on HANKERING for Christ! (Keep having a strong yearning for Christ and things of Christ.) “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2
7. You need to EITHER FISH OR CUT BAIT! (Get to work telling other’s about Christ or someone else will have to do your job!) “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not human masters.” Colossians 3:23
8. Be careful not to become too UPPITY! (Don’t let that old devil sneak in and fill you up with pride.) “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
9. Always try to MEND FENCES! (Try to settle differences and make amends whenever you have done something wrong or even when you haven’t, but someone thinks you have done something wrong.) “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” Titus 3:2 10. Quit throwing CONNIPTION FITS! (Quit throwing fits and fussing when things don’t go your way. Try to get along with your sisters and brothers in Christ even when you don’t want to!) “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
11. Sometimes, you just gotta SHUT YER MOUTH! (There is a time to talk, and there is a time to listen. We’ve got to take time to just be quiet and listen!) “He says, Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
12. Please don’t BE THE BIGGEST GOSSIP IN TOWN! (If you don’t see it with your own eyes, hear it with your own ears, don’t repeat it with your big mouth! And even if you do see or hear it, it’s not nice to spread gossip so it’s best to just keep it to yourself!) “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.” Proverbs 21:23
13. Don’t be so DADGUM PERSNICKETY! (Don’t go thinking you are better than anyone else. There is not a person on earth that God doesn’t love. Hmmph! He even loves me and all my flaws!) “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.” I John 4:7-8
14. YOU BETTER QUIT YER BELLYACHING! (Stop complaining. Puuu-lease! There is always something to be thankful for, and there is something good in every day. Some days we just have to look a little harder than other days!) “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.” Philippians 2:14
15. Please don’t get TOO BIG FOR YER OWN BRITCHES! (Don’t get so swollen up with conceit that your own pants don’t fit any longer.) “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” Isaiah 5:21
16. Don’t make God come JERK A KNOT IN YER TAIL! (If you keep being unruly and don’t straighten up, God is gonna get your attention. Trouble is a coming if you don’t act right.) “If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” 2 Peter 2:9
17. DON’T GET YER FEATHERS ALL RUFFLED UP! (Don’t let words, people or even silly little things get you upset or annoyed.) “Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up” Proverbs 12:25
18. Quit getting ALL BOWED UP! (Don’t be impatient and ill-humored and act like a snake getting ready to strike.) “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.:” James 1:2-4
19. Keep looking forward to going up YONDER! (Better make sure that you are prepared and that you know Jesus so that when the roll is called up yonder, you will be on the list! Be excited about heaven!) “If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
20. Now SKIDADDLE on out of here and tell everyone the good news! (Run and tell everyone about Jesus so that the lost will be found!) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1