Musings and Nuggets

  “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” Philippians 1:6 When my son was young, he began to  complain that his legs were hurting. We thought that perhaps he had bumped it while climbing the tree in the front yard or that he had fallen off of his bike, and just did not remember it happening.  He didn’t buy into the whole “Let Mommy kiss it and make it better” thing.  I tried that, asked him if it felt better, and he replied with an emphatic  “NO!” 🤷🏽‍♀️. That isn’t how I remember the kids on tv commercials responding!   Anyway, it got to the point that the discomfort caused tears. After nothing seemed to give him any relief, we took him to the doctor to get answers.  According to the  doctor,  he was having a rapid growth spurt in his legs meaning that the pain was caused by that "more rapid than usual" growth.  It was necessary for my son to endure this process of growth in order to be

  John 15:14, 15 (NKJV) “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” I googled the question, “What is the true definition of a friend”?  This is what I found.  “The definition of a true friend is someone who has your back, no matter what they watch out for you and ensure you are not in danger.  They will never purposely lead you into making decisions that aren’t good for you.  A true friend will always have your best interest at heart.”   Our core scripture defines a friend of God as someone who ‘does what Christ commands’. There is even a song called “I Am A Friend of God” by Israel Houghton.  My question today is, are you a friend of God?  Can He depend on you to always authentically represent Him and do as He “commands?”  Can He depend on you to be “salt and light” in this world

  “STICKS AND STONES” “ Set a watch O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3 (KJV) The saying that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” , has no element of truth.   When someone divulges information shared in confidence, that betrayal causes the injured person to be unable or unwilling to ever trust again.  Why?  It’s because it leaves them so wounded that they see everyone through the lens of mistrust & betrayal, including someone “God sent” to minister to them.  They believe that they must build a wall (sometimes impenetrable) to protect themselves from ever being vulnerable to that type of hurt again.  One writer (unknown) put it this way.  “A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever.”  My mother who was a school teacher would put it this way to her chatty students.  “ The reason God gave you two ears and one mouth is so that you would spend twice as much time listening instead of talking.”   James

  “Blessed” Photo by Ismael Paramo on Unsplash Psalm 103:2   “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:”                                                          (KJV) When people ask me how I am doing, my answer is either “Blessed” or “Blessed & Well”.  Some people think that I am trying to be “deep” or that it is just a cliche.  Neither is true.  A few months ago, someone's response to me was “Yeah, but how are you really and how do you really feel .  I repeated that I was “ blessed and well”.  That was the truth!  There is a distinct reason why that is always my response which has everything to do with being obedient and nothing to do with trying to impress or be “deep”. The answer to how I am will always be a statement of fact which is " blessed !" How I am feeling may vary. In the past, my only answer may have been “I’ve got a really bad headache” or that I was just “ok”, etc.  The Lord checked me and “called me out”.  That rebuke wen

  “CONSTRUCTION ZONE”                                                I Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)   “For now we see through a glass, dimly; but then face to face:  Now I know in part; then shall I know fully, even as  I have been fully known. One of the internet dictionary entries defines metamorphosis as it pertains to humans as “a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means. ”  What I am about to say is over simplified, but think of a butterfly.  It doesn’t start out being that beautiful multicolored creature.  It starts out as an ugly (I am entitled to my opinion) worm, that goes into a cocoon, and in due time, emerges as a beautiful butterfly.  That transformation is an “inside” job, unseen to outside, peering eyes. That is kind of what happens after we make that all important decision to surrender our lives totally to God by asking  Him to save us and be Lord of our lives.  The process  of transformation (which