Precious Paper

Our community is full of talented musicians and singers and in the past year all the churches have started to meet for a community-wide fifth Sunday sing. It is a wonderful time to get to fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ and praise His name together. When I got home I was thinking about how each one of us has our song of praise to God, the song of life. The paper it is written on is precious and fragile, but the words highlight our biggest accomplishments and reveal the steadfast hand of the Lord during the dark and rocky times. During the hard times of life it isn't easy to stay resilient when the Devil continually tries to knock you down. The devil has it in for Christians and wants to defeat us at all cost. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"Do you think it's a coincidence that the devil seeks to wear your mind down at some of the most vulnerable times in your life? No coincidence at all, the devil wants to make you doubtful, afraid and disconnected from the truths of the word of God. So how do you rise above and win at the mind games the devil wants to play you might ask. Stand your ground and continue to stand your ground! In Galations 5:1 Paul instructs us to "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." The Lord often has to speak to me with visual analogies for me to understand things better. I wondered what comparison there could be to understand how the devil tries to wear down a Christian's mind and he showed me. Picture a precious and fragile paper laying on a table underneath a ceiling fan and each time the fan circles the paper cascades onto the floor. The floor is not a safe place for such an important and delicate paper, on the floor it could be lost or destroyed. Each time the paper falls the individual picks the paper up and places it back on the table. You can only imagine after this constant action there comes a point where the individual gets frustrated. The devil wants to push us to this point mentally where we finally give up and give into the doubt, fear and lies. But, as a christian we have to learn to stand up to the devil and put the precious and fragile paper in a safe place because it is our life we are taking about. Don't you remember that beautiful song of praise that God is writing. Stand up against the devil and don't let him have your mind or your life they are God's.
" Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. " James 4:7
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. " Romans 12:2

Jesus Arms are 1000 ply

Do you ever find yourself so busy that your body feels like its still moving when your standing still? Sometime we have days, weeks and even months where you feel like you are constantly doing something. For the past couple of weeks that was what it has seemed like for me between things I was doing or had to do I felt like my mind and body were in constant motion. I'm not as young as I used to be (LOL) and this kind of lifestyle can quickly take a toll on our physical as well as our spiritual body. This past Sunday in church as I was sitting in the pew listening to my amazing husband bring forth the word of God I was suddenly enveloped by what seemed like the softest caress. I felt weightless and calm, no stirring in my body or mind just peace. That my friend is what it feels like to be in the arms of Jesus. Matthew 11:28 says "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." The feeling of experiencing true rest in the arms of Jesus was like being embraced with the softest of material. As I was sitting in service I tried to put a tangible item with this feeling I was experiencing, the first thing I thought of was toliet paper. I don't know about your house, but in my house we are always looking for a discount or bargain. The clearance isle is our first shopping place in nearly any store we go into for anything from groceries to shampoo. However, when it comes to toliet paper we take all of our savings in the other areas to buy the softest most luxurious toliet paper. After getting married I was asking my husband what kind of brands he liked for certain grocery products, laundry soap, hygiene products and he said it didn't matter as long as we don't skimp on the toliet paper. A few weeks ago we decided to try this new ultra plush toliet paper and just holding it in your hand you could feel the softness and this softness was greatly contrasted with that cheap see-through toliet paper in public restrooms. But still the arms of Jesus are much softer than the most plush toliet paper money can afford. So remember when you feel unrest in your body and spirit ask God for his 1000 ply arms to embrace you and quiet you as his child. This week has been remarkable from that moment on as I continue to experience the softness of life in His arms. Psalm 91:4 "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."