$42.5 million goes to Colorado State for stem cell research

The story does not explain what kind of stem cells. If it is from the umbilical cords, then hip-hip-hoorah. But if it is those essential stem cells that are procured from embryos, then they are the biggest losers of all time.

 

This is my granddaughter's heartbeat at barely 4 weeks.

 

To harvest a stem cell from an embryo, one must murder the embryo. According to Prolife Physicians.org, the classification of what makes life had to be defined, categorized and agreed upon in order to know if life—or the evidence of it—was found on another planet. According to the elementary definition of life (found at the link provided), this categorizes embryos as Life and harvesting the stem cells from the embryos is then categorized as murder.

To date there have been zero, nada, no cures developed from embryonic stem cell research. However, President Barack Obama revoked Bush’s order  in 2009. It is sad that the words “responsible” and “human embryo stem cell research” are in this Executive Order which negates what Bush did. Now  the FDA approves embryonic stem cell treatment for spinal injury.

The problem with this is that treatment for spinal cord injuries that have proven somewhat effective are from bone marrow stem cells not embryonic stem cells.
Stem cell treatment, using Beike’s cord mesenchymal stem cells and protocols for spinal cord injuries, is available at various hospitals in China and one in Thailand. Generally, many patients have reported improvements soon after treatment, and continue to notice more improvements for up to 12 months following the stem cell transplants.

Back in 2005 Byron Spice of the Pittsburg Gazette reported that scientists have now found cells that are “strikingly similar to embryonic stem cells in their ability to regenerate a wide variety of tissues.” They are cells found in the placenta. Since then stem cells have been found in the umbilical cord. Why must we use embryo stem cells? What makes them so much better than these other stem cells? The cells, called amniotic epithelial cells, (try pronouncing that, I dare you)potentially could be used to produce new liver cells to treat liver failure, or new pancreatic islet cells to cure diabetes or new neurons to treat Parkinson's disease. – Pittsburg Gazette, 2005

I am going to try not to sound sarcastic here. If anyone had bothered to ask me several years ago, I would have told them that there is no way God would have created a cure for anything that would require the death of another human. God just does not work that way, except only once and that was the death of His only Son to secure the life of all Believers which was on a Spiritually higher plane than mere physical healing. Other than that one instance, God does not take the lives of innocents to save other human lives. Therefore He would not grant a cure for any disease at the sacrifice of a human being's life.

Struggling with wickedness

Ever wonder why the wicked seem to prosper so well while we struggle with all kinds of things?

I did.

Jeremiah did, too, he writes 12:1  Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?  It is a terrible question. Can you imagine what it would be like to have God far from your reins? We don't have to look very far to see examples of what happens when authority and restraint are far from our reins.

A more explicit example is found in Romans 1:18-32.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

I shudder at those verses. What would it be like for God to just let go and let you have your own way? Just like children need boundaries, and actually beg for boundaries, so do we Christians. It is how we stay sane, how we stay close to God, how we stay clean. God created order from chaos which gives us our equilibrium.

The wicked may prosper but nothing is done in the dark that will not be found out. God has blessed me by letting me see the wicked be found out. Oh, not all of them, just a few, but enough for me to know that they do not prosper forever.

So what if the wicked prosper until they die? They will not prosper after death. Some of us will just have to wait until the Day of Judgment to see some of the wicked receive justice. That will be so horrendous, though, it will mean that they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. I don't care what anyone has done to me... fired me... manufactured evidence against me... betrayed me with other women... thrown me out of house and home... rejected me... spit upon me... called me all manner of things and even prayed to God for evil to befall me... None of that is worth eternal torment. I would not wish that on any person.

Have mercy, Lord. Have mercy on me and on those who revile me and reject me. Draw them close Father and pour Your Spirit over them, Father for they know not what they do. Open their eyes, Father to what they do. Make them see. Give them compassion, for they shall surely die without You.

All of that wickedness is merely temporary. The sting of losing a job only lasted until I was employed again. Admittedly, it took a lot longer to forgive my husband who betrayed me, but I don’t grind my teeth at night anymore. The other things were sword stabs, and they wounded, but not mortally. God is the great Healer. When all the attacks against our person and our spirit from wickedness whether from Satan or from other Christians are measured against how huge God is, the seeming mountain becomes a mole hill. They last no longer than the time it takes for water to pour out of the hand.

Thank goodness God is in control of believers’ lives. Why should we want Him in complete control?

Job 38 has a huge list of things that God did.

Job 38:4 Where were you when I founded the earth? Declare if you know understanding. 

Not even a twinkle in my daddy's eye! I do not understand how God spoke and brought the universe from nothing.

Job 38:5 Who has set its dimensions, do you know? Or who has stretched a line on it? 

Oh... yes! God stretched a line around the earth's middle and we can see it from space. Job didn't have the faintest notion what the line meant. He could not see the "big picture" that we can see by turning on NASA channel.

Job 38:6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who cast its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 

Ummm... Nothing? Well, not exactly nothing. We know all about gravity and how it interacts with mass and how motion has a lot to do with positioning in space. Job was a herdsman, albeit very rich, but he did not have a PhD from MIT. We humans know the answer to this question, even learned it in 11th grade science class or in physics class, but knowing it doesn't give us greater insight to God's personality.

Job 38:8  Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst out; it came forth from the womb? 

Lots of archeology evidence of the Great Flood. Lots of historical accounts of it dating before Moses. So, therefore, Moses must have copied the story from other sources, right? No, not, nada.

Job 38:9  When I made the clouds to clothe it, and darkness its navel-band; 10  and I broke My limit on it and set bars and doors; 11  and I said, You shall come to here, but no further; and here your proud waves shall be set?

Tides, ebbs, moon's gravitational pull. Science explains to us what God means by bars and doors and waves being set. It is only from other forces such as earthquakes that the waves set is pushed back beyond the normal high tide. But there is a door and a bar where the water cannot go beyond. Only God did that.

Job 38:12  Have you commanded the morning from your days, and caused the dawn to know its place, 

We have pictures from space of the dawn/dusk boundaries, and the boundaries of the seas, the cloud covering, the "navel-band" of darkness. But not even the strength of every living soul on earth can keep the sun from rising or the earth from rotating.

We have pictures from 4 miles under the ocean's surface that depict mountains and trenches of the seabed, and indeed man has walked the ocean's depths... but only recently.

We still cannot comprehend the hugeness of earth. We compare how "small" it is compared to how "large" Saturn and Jupiter are, and we compare how "small" they are to the vastness of the Sun. Can we truly comprehend how big earth is?

In the pictures from space only 200 miles from the earth's surface, a human being cannot be discerned, and cities look like splashes of light.

And yet, of all the things God created, He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believed on Him would never perish, but would have life eternal. Since Man is like the grass of the field, green and lush today then dry and burned tomorrow, the wicked only prosper for a flash of time. Too bad they cannot store their riches in Heaven where it will neither rust nor dissipate like fog.

5 Ways to Give Mercy

How often have you thought today: "Jesus really, truly, and deeply loves me! Little ole, human me!"

Have you recently thought about the depth and breadth of mercy that Jesus poured over us dirty, filthy sinners by loving us so much He went to the cross? He loved us first, even the stubborn ones who hang on to the mistaken belief that trusting God is like facing a raging grizzly -- a life full of unpredictable danger and strife.

That is exactly what life is like without God's mercy and grace.

Matthew 12:6-8 But I say to you, One greater than the temple is here. 7 But if you had known what this is, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," you would not have condemned the guiltless.

We like to watch a show called Forensic Files. The other day I was very surprised that a fellow who had killed a woman's daughter was spared the death sentence because the mother had pleaded for his life. She said that as long as there was life there was hope for him to repent. That kind of mercy is rare between and among humans.

Often times the victim's family cry out for vengeance not mercy.

What about that sacrifice part?

What good does that do? Not one slender whit, which happens to be much smaller than a splinter, by the way.

Mercy and forgiveness is valued by God much greater than sacrifice is. If the Hebrews had learned this, if the Jews had learned this, then they would never have turned away from Jesus. They never understood that Jesus, a completely sinless person, had to take all the sin of the world upon Himself so that we humans could be free of sin. Well, at least those humans that believe Him. Jesus said from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!”

Mercy is that thing that God gave us while we were still sinners. Forgiveness is what He gave us as He watched His Son go to the cross. According to the worldly thinking, that is impossible. I look around and see so much hate and so much unforgiveness and bitterness. What is so sad is that most people cannot see unforgiveness for the cancer it is. How much energy is wasted by harboring hatred and unforgiveness? It does not mean that we have to fraternize with those who have hurt us, nor do we have to allow them the opportunity to do it to us again. Jesus said to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).

How do we do that?

1. Be willing to let go of the hurt. If we keep rolling that hurt around in our minds, nurturing the anger, nursing the hurt, reveling in the injustice of it all, we are merely playing into Satan's hands and opening our armor for the fiery dart of bitterness. Make no mistake, we can hide our feelings from friends and loved ones, but we cannot hide them from Satan. He knows our weakness and exploits it to the hilt of that dart. There is the sting. It is not the hurt from the betrayal or the hurtful words or the lack of support which deeply hurts. Of course it does. But time does heal wounds from the outside. Those self-inflicted wounds of anger kept alive, and bitterness which we keep open and bleeding by continuous poking and prodding turn to stinging cancer.

Examine that and see if it is really as bad as it feels. Sometimes, we blow things out of proportion and add importance to nit-picky things. Oh, come on, you can think of at least one time when you did that. I can think of a dozen. I am not belittling that really huge thing like infidelity. Been there, too. That kind of anger takes several years to work through. But, oh how great freedom felt when I finally let that last bit of anger go.

2. Decide to give mercy and to forgive. It absolutely is a decision. Just like deciding to lose weight or quit smoking or deciding on a worship lifestyle instead of a worldly lifestyle.

3. Understand it will take lots of time. We have the Holy Spirit inside us and we have the mind of Christ, but we are not God. It takes a lot longer for us because we've got so much more to influence us. The world, our friends and acquaintances who, sad to say, "egg" us on.

4. Set the thoughts of anger aside. Paul said to get angry but do not sin. That kind of anger is over some injustice. God does not hurt us. Nothing hurts a child of God that is a just hurt. He may discipline us and chastise us for our unruly behavior, but He will never harm us or hurt us. It is our pride that gets hurt so often, and when it is bruised, it is painful. So setting aside the thoughts also includes setting aside pride. It only gets in the way of forgiveness and gives fuel to the flame to anger. God does not like it when someone messes with His kid. His vengeance is so much wiser and so much better than ours ever could be. The question here is how can we expect mercy and forgiveness from God when we harbor unforgiveness toward a brother or sister in Christ?

5. Obey God’s command. It is commanded that we forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ anything. That hard verse comes to mind. Forgive or your Father in Heaven will not forgive you. However, giving mercy truly expresses God's heart. Doing that we begin to truly look like Him.

Luke 6:37 Judge not, and in no way be judged. Do not condemn, and in no way you will be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and good measure will be given to you, pressed down and shaken together, and running over, they will give into your bosom. For the same measure which you measure, it will be measured back to you.

If that isn't "What goes around comes around," I don't know what is. Not that karma stuff, but truly as we pour out blessings on others, God pours more and more blessings on us. We cannot out give God.

“But what about unbelievers?” Good, no, excellent question. Have you ever noticed how Jesus so often answered a question with a question?

Can a believer nurture anger and bitterness toward someone not a believer and still have room in his heart for God? How does that draw more lost to God?

Sgt. Tahmooressi ordered RELEASED!

Marine Sgt. Tahmooressi Just Ordered to Be Immediately Released From Mexican Jail by Judge Marine veteran Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi has been ordered to be immediately released from a Tijuana jail, following a Mexican federal judge's ruling late Friday. Tahmooressi, who moved to San Diego to receive treatment for Post Traumatic St... Read more…

Millennials and Their Bibles

Recent study from George Barna reports some not so surprising news...

"However, these practices aren't always appreciated by others in their generation. While many Christians might hope that Bible-based films or sharing Scripture online would reach non-Christians, our research suggests the opposite. Non-Christians tend to be more skeptical of biblical films and often feel turned off or alienated by seeing Scripture shared via social media. On the other hand, in the rare cases when non-Christians have increased their Bible reading in the past year, they often did so as a result of seeing how Scripture changed someone they knew. Such responses emphasize the importance of meaningful relationships and evidence of life transformation.

"Finally, for non-Christian Millennials, the ‘brand' of the Bible is a negative one," Kinnaman continues. "The depth and range of these perceptions signal difficult challenges for younger adults who still believe in the Bible. As Bible skepticism increases in their generation, Christian Millennials will have to face those criticisms head on and wrestle with the implications for their own beliefs. Yet when it comes to the Bible—more than many other areas of their faith—Millennial Christians are starting off on comparatively solid ground."

Unbelieving Millennials don't get saved by reading Christian fiction books or by watching Christian movies. Is that a big surprise to anyone?

How does anyone get saved these days? Only through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. However, I am still saddened that Millennials have dropped away from the church. They say they want to use their gifts and their skills right away and not wait year upon year to grow into a position when someone dies.

This is why we really need to make sure we use the whole body and not just pieces parts of it. Otherwise those parts not used will atrophy. Does that surprise anyone?

Genesis...

Can you name what was created on which day... the first chapter of Genesis?

I could not. I thought I could, but I didn't remember them in the right order and I completely forgot about the little creepy crawlies. Living in South Mississippi, which is full of them, I just as soon forget them and prefer they never invade my living space.

In a Sunday school class one Sunday morning, we shut our Bibles and tried to name each thing that God created and which day He created it. Can you name them all?

Even with 12 minds and hearts put together we discovered that we didn't know them so well. [Insert shocked look] I did not cheat, either. When I studied the lesson the morning before I tried to name everything in order and couldn't so I figured that would be a good way to study the first chapter of Genesis. The ladies in my class were intrigued by looking between the lines of each 24-hour period.

Here we see a remarkable thing. God created something from nothing, because it was void, empty, nothing. Anyone who believes in the Big Bang, has to have a huge amount of faith because they believe something was there to begin with. But where did that something come from? Where did gravity originate? How could the law of gravity suddenly happen?

So we opened our Bibles, and looked really closely at each verse... looked at the different things between the lines... Like the fact God created things old and ready to seed and bearing fruit. He had to do that because it was what Adam and Eve would be eating, not to mention every beast of the field, all the cattle and other creepy crawlies. I firmly believe that when God said it was morning and it was evening of the first day, that meant He had created time, 24 hours meant a day, a yom. He didn't mean it was an era of time. That would be ridiculous to have an era of light and dark, and then an era of waters and firmament, then an era of grass and seeds and trees that fruit, and then an era of separation of lights of the day and lights of the dark on the fourth day. How could grass and trees survive without the sun's light? It had to be 24 hours lest they wither and die in the era of darkness.

There is something to make you go hmmmmm

God created the things of the earth old. He created it all for humans lest they starve waiting for a tree to grow big enough to bear fruit.

Then we see that God created all things vegetarian. The food chain was herbs and seeds and fruits, not large animals eating small animals, or humans eating small animals. The first recorded death in the Bible is the animals God slew to cover Adam and Eve after their disobedience. Sin brought violence into the world and it brought carnivores.

But, God let down a sheet for Peter to study, and He told Peter to rise up, kill and eat. That sheet had everything on it that was not "clean" according to Jewish law. Otherwise Peter would not have told the LORD, "No, I haven't ever eaten anything unclean, Lord. I won't start now."

God said, "What I have called clean, is clean and let no man call unclean."

Only God can create something from nothing.

Only God can cleanse.

Only God can make us holy.

From one man came sin and violence into the world and through one Man we are clean and holy. Amen.

I will bring the Victory

Digging around in my desk, looking for some paper or something, I found a copy of something else that has the number 46 at the bottom of it. Someone told me it is from Frances J. Roberts. Her devotion book Come Away My Beloved has been updated many times from 1960 to 2002 . I truly needed to read this again today. It is an amazing piece of prose.

Oh my child, have I ever failed thee? Have I ever turned my back on thee? 

Is the way it starts out. God has never, ever failed me, or forsaken me and has never turned His back on me. That is something that I cannot say about any one human being. At some point in time every friend or person that I have trusted has let me down in some way. And that is the best blessing I could ever have because in recognizing human frailties, I have always leaned most heavily on God. I am a needy person and I can never be too needy for God to deal with. He is always there, always. He's healed me, He's tucked me in His arms and carried me. He's corrected my gaffs and worked on my flaws without complaining. I know, when He is around, His Spirit takes over. Beth Moore has often said, "He hasn't come to take sides, He's come to take over!" I agree.

He says, ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened to you. What a wonderful gift that is to His children. How can we not be so bowed down with awe and worship and leaping with estatic joy? I look out my window this morning at a fantasy world. Fog in the air and close to the ground, sun rays gleaming above house and tree tops. Mourning doves softly cooing to each other.
Arresting! How can anyone experience such beauty and not bow to the majesty of God?

The precious piece ends with:
Ask for the victory. I will come and bring it. Don't look for the victory--look for Me, and ye shall see the victory that I shall bring with me. After I have come, ye shall behold the miracles that I will do.

I just love that! Look for Me and then you will see the victory. In all things lean upon Him and not our own understanding. Look for Him and He will let us find Him. Look for Him because He brings victory!

I leap with ecstatic joy when I am settled into His will and His great provision.

Don't wrestle with pigs...or pitbulls

Sage advice. Who would want to wrestle with pigs?

Isn't that just what we do when we fire back at someone who has hurt our feelings which is what Michael Hyatt is saying. It isn't worth the fight, is it, for Believers to jab and stab at every opportunity. I have heard some folks wax on proudly that they have some great debating skills like being macho with words is something to be proud of. Well, in my book it isn't. How does that edify the body?

I have also seen some people back out of a discussion simply because they hate conflict even though a person's soul was at stake! That isn't edifying the body either.

There has to be a "happy medium" somewhere and I'm not talking psychic-ally. It comes in the form of words that build up rather than tear down. A calm voice has the ability to silence the loudest shout [tweet this]. simply because of its softness My kids would be screaming in the bathtub and I would go in talking softly in a mild voice or even a whisper and they would instantly hush because they wanted to hear what I was saying.

Of course, content was important, too. If I was just saying, "Hush, now. It's all right." They'd instantly begin their screaming all over again. But, if I started talking about a snack waiting for them at the table or a storybook I wanted to read them or some other child-interesting tidbit, they would hurriedly finish their purpose in the bath, all fusses with the other forgotten.

Sad, isn't it, that adults can't be distracted so easily. I find that adults have a tenacity of purpose when they are breathing anger and murder on their way down that road to Damascus. They neither veer to the right or to the left and the puffs of fire-tinged smoke rise about them, so cloudy sometimes that I cannot fathom what they are saying.

Therefore, I'm changing the sage advice to "Don't wrestle with pigs, or with bull dogs. You'll get muddy and rabid. Neither of these is a comfortable state of being."

What's my job in the Kingdom?

We get so caught up in our everyday lives that we forget how important it is to ask that question: Do you know Jesus?


I try to live my life so that anyone I meet knows they have met Jesus through me.

Several years ago, someone paid me the highest compliment I have every gotten in my entire life. She came into my office and said, "Gina, I notice that woman up front keep talking about knowing Jesus, but she has never acted like Jesus. You, on the other hand don't talk about Him constantly, but you act like Him every day. I want what you have."


That makes tears come to my eyes. I would that I could have [i]more[/i] compliments like that, but sadly, I only have one.

We do have different gifts.

Some of us are put here specifically to encourage and edify the Body of Christ...

Some of us to reach out and draw in the lost...

Some to disciple...

Some to serve the needs and assuage the hurts and visit the sick...

Some just share the love of God with everyone they meet...

While we all have different gifts in abundance, we all have each gift in portions so that we can do God's work in any situation. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, edify and disciple the saved, pray for the weary and the energized alike. It is God's work and we are happiest when we are busy at the very task God prepared for us from the foundation of the world.

3 Steps to Peace--Alligators at the door

…in hectic daily living.

What does your average week day morning sound like? Is it filled with soft, shuffling breezes carrying the scent of frying bacon and brewed coffee? Does the gentle sound of children’s giggles waft to you as the dulcet warmth of a hot shower cascade down your back?

Or do you hear the alligators scratching at the door?

Twenty years ago. My kids were scrambling for homework,breakfast frenzies, dogs needed feeding, dragging clean clothes from the dryer (at least they were clean), all the while trying to get mascara even and hose untwisted, the right color shoes and so on. You are up to your neck in alligators five minutes after you awaken. It was nothing like the days when the babies slept until seven o’clock and I just needed to warm a bottle, change a diaper and smiles appeared. How did the frenzies begin and then take over?

I was frazzled and wearing away at the edges. I was also horrible to live with because everything was so out of control that I felt I was buried under piles of tasks with no time to finish even the most menial of them. Or so I felt. I had forgotten Who had created time.

When we stop and think about it, Jesus did not hurry through His ministry, checking His watch or always looking over the shoulders of His disciples toward the next project.  He walked…He sat… He ate… He drank… He taught… He did not freak out.

We never see Him in a rush nor does He get in a panic.  He is the picture of peace and tranquility throughout His ministry.  As we read about Him, there are no “background” noises that are so loud we can’t “hear” what’s being said.  Everything is focused upon Him.  Why should we live our lives any differently?  In fact this is exactly what Jesus teaches us in

 Matthew 6:31-34

³¹What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. ³²People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. ³³Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.³⁴”Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. The Message

I love how The Message states that favorite passage better known as Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will be added unto you. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, and God-provisions. A more encompassing way to say it is, Steep Yourself In God.

How do we do that when everything is calling our name and distractions are overwhelming?

Of course there is a time and place for work and duty. Boaz spoke a blessing over Ruth, in chapter 2…

                    ¹²   ”May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.”  That would be steeping in God-reality. Settling within his refuge, taking Him at His word. There is where you find a peace and quite that cannot be duplicated, packaged, or found any other place.

Steep yourself in God-reality. There is a place on Kaui Island called the Little Grand Canyon of the Pacific. When you stop the car at one of the look-outs, the quiet engulfs you. The wind may ruffle your hair or collar, but you don’t hear it because of the vastness of space before you. It is so quiet, you feel it obscene to speak in a normal voice, so you whisper and those standing ten feet away can hear you plain as if you shouted. That is how quiet it was when Jesus spoke to the storm saying only three words, “Peace. Be still.” A few minutes of utter silence does something to the soul which no doctor or psychiatrist can do in a month of Sundays. God created that place. He created the healing that quiet gives, and he understands all that we need in order to braid together the frayed ends of frazzled nerves. We get wound up so tight in daily living that we forget how creative and majestic our Almighty God truly is. He knows when the sparrow falls, and He knows when I’ve locked my keys in the car with a huge pot of seafood gumbo on the floorboard…in the heat of summer… in full sunshine. He knows and He cares. He finds a way to fix the problem if I relax and ask Him to fix it. That is a very real, living, wonderful God.

Steep yourself in God-initiative. Remember Who created time eons ago. It was He who created all of creation in six days and then rested. He created the morning and evening, and He created our bodies to recoup our energy, to dust and clean itself during its resting state. Rest is essential to being able to manage time because it gives our bodies a perfectly wound clock-sense. When we ask God to manage our time, more things get done in one hour than we can do ourselves in two hours without His help. He fashioned us and we are to serve Him. What better way to serve the Master than the Master managing our time? What better way to stay focused on a task without being sidetracked by distractions? His enterprises are why we were fashioned. He tells us this in Isaiah 44, "I have fashioned you, and you are to serve Me."

Steep yourself in God-provisions. It is a two-way street. God expects something back. In Malachi 3:10 God says, “Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now with this, says Jehovah of Hosts, to see if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you, and pour out a blessing for you, until there is not enough room.” That is an If-you-do-this, then-I-will-do-this kind of statement. He promised to provide enough for today. We are to labor and be ready. I can think of no better example than the widow giving her mite as tithe and Jesus said it was greater than all the gold heaped upon the altar. He knew she would be provided for that God would take care of her even though she gave all she had. He did not send John running after her to give her back her two mites so that she might have some supper than night. He knew her heart. There is so much to learn from that small story. You can read more about that by clicking here.

Consider Matthew 10:39 “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Do you feel like you have lost yourself in Him or are have you lost yourself in the world, in daily frustrations, in a hectic lifestyle?  Do you feel like you are working and pouring yourself out for others and your family but have no time for yourself…much less for God?

If God were to really take care of all your daily, monthly and yearly concerns, how would this change your attitude toward your current responsibilities?

He did say to come to Him if you labor and are heavy laden, that He would give you rest. Are you willing to let Him do that?