Obedience

It’s not a word many of us like to hear, perhaps it takes us back to our childhood where we had to obey our parents and teachers and seemed to have no choice but to be obedient.

Lately however, I’ve been thinking about our obedience to God’s Word. There are so many scriptures that give us direction, for our benefit, and some are commands that God expects us to follow.

It all comes down to our willingness and of course our choice but more importantly, it comes down to our faith.

It takes faith to be obedient when the cares or fears of this world are heavy, and we want to give into our feelings and old instant responses. It also takes courage because let’s face it, most of us get away with enough faith to believe there is a God and that He gave us salvation for our eternity!

Sadly though, that’s where most of us Christians stop and continue on as they’ve been doing all along.

I say ‘sadly’ because we miss out on some of the richest blessings when we challenge our fears, pride, self-reliance and our selfish desires and choose to be obedient to the Word of God.

I call that easy faith, and it profits us little, but the hard truth is, we will not live life as an overcomer with easy faith. We will not live a life of joy or peace when the storms of life roll over us. We will be angry, frustrated, bitter and living a joyless life.

Following are some Bible verses that will challenge our faith. It behooves us to read them often, get them into our minds, memorize them so like Jesus when He was tempted by satan, when we are likewise tempted to give in, or react badly, we can fight back with the Word of God.

Hey, if it was Jesus first response when tempted, shouldn’t it be ours?

James 1: 2,3 – Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect & complete, lacking nothing.

Joy when one trial after another rolls over us, threatening to take us down? Whew!!

Phil 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.

Shall we challenge our fears with that one? What is your biggest fear?

1 Thess 5:18 – In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

It’s God’s will, it’s not a suggestion, but a command.

Prov 3:5 – trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding

This is a big one when we’re so used to doing things our own way, trusting our own ‘wisdom’ and ‘reasoning’ to do things. Is our wisdom or are our thoughts better than Gods? I’m reminded of Isaiah 55:9, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Guess that puts us in our place! So much for pride in our own thoughts!!

Phil 4:6 – be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Again, this is not a suggestion.

2 Cor 10:5 – . . . and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

There are so many more; the Beatitudes, the One-Anothers, and let’s consider >

1 Cor 13

4: Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag and is not proud

5: Love does not act unbecomingly, does not seek it’s own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered

6: Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with truth

7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things & endures all things

8: Love never fails.

A whole blog could be written on these verses alone. Maybe one day!

Those are tough to be obedient to, but our obedience, though a difficult choice to make, always reaps multiple benefits from God. He rewards us in so many ways when we obey Him.

As James 1:3,4 says, ‘knowing that the testing your (our) faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result so that you (we) may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Trusting in God in the hard times, being anxious for nothing, giving thanks no matter the circumstance, taking every thought captive and trusting in the LORD rather than ourselves when things go sideways, those are all difficult but . . . . we can do all these things because Christ in us strengthens us.

We must choose. It’s our choice to make but the outcome of being obedient far outweighs the difficulty of choosing to obey God.

Of course, we first must become familiar to the Word of God to know what it says and to what we must obey.

So let us read His Word and choose God’s way over our own way, and we won’t be disappointed.

Baruch Adonai,

Journey Girl, on her way to a more obedient life in God.

A Good Fit?

There is a general saying these days when wondering if we should take this job, or move to that City, or shall I date her/him? Is it a good fit? Are they a good fit?

I hear Christians say they will pray and ask God if this is ‘good fit’ for me, my talents, gifts etc. Sometimes I think people use it when they really mean, is this what I want?

I understand what is meant, but I have to disagree. That isn’t a Biblical perspective. We forget, the decision isn’t about what fits us, but is this God’s will for us? Perhaps you may be thinking I’m splitting hairs, that it means the same, again, I have to disagree. I believe this is a saying the world uses and we are not meant to conform to the world in any way.

Let’s look at a few Biblical examples.

Moses wasn’t a good fit, he wandered a long time before God made him fit for His own purpose.

Abraham was a pagan, certainly not a good fit to be leader of God’s chosen people or the father of generations to come.

Think of Jonah, he wasn’t a good fit for the job God assigned for him in Nineveh. He had to be made fit in the belly of a large fish.

Peter and any number of other apostles and disciples had to be made fit as they walked with Christ. Think of Paul (or Saul as he was known before he met Christ), he persecuted Christians. Who would have thought he would be one of the most well-known and loved apoltles of all times?? He was not a good fit for the job, but God changed him, just as He changes us and makes us a good fit, but not for just anything, but His purposes only.

There is a saying often heard in church, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. It may be an old and tired axiom, but it’s true.

Generally speaking, and in my own opinion, I am not a good fit for anything until God makes me fit for the good thing He wants me to do, or go where He wants me to go.

Hey, it’s just a thought.

Baruch Adonai, Brenda

A Bad Day? Really?

Lately I’ve been challenged by the verse in Rom 12:2 which says, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This morning I’m looking outside, and I thought this is a good day; it’s cloudy and cold and the weather network is predicting a rain/snow mixture by noon today.

So what makes this a good day? The birds are feeding at the feeder, flitting about the woods and their bird houses. I get to go out to spend time with a bunch of lovely ladies to study God’s Word. I have groceries to stop and pick up afterwards, then come home to my two sweet (my daughter calls them weirdos) little chihuahua pups who love me totally and unconditionally.

Not everyone would call this a good day. People who suffer with barometric headaches, or other debilitating physical issues, people with chronic pain, perhaps they just broke an arm or leg and are in terrible pain. Perhaps someone lost a loved one through death or the death of their marriage in divorce. There are all manner of ways people are suffering the world over. Terrible suffering, I have no idea about.

They would say they are having a bad day. As a child of God, I want to challenge that thought.

In Gen 1:4-5: it says, And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

First off, in God there is no evil, no shiftiness, no ‘bad’ness, so I don’t believe He can create something bad.

If you look down to verse 31, it says, And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

So the challenge is to align our thoughts with the bible, God’s Word. This is just one small area, trust me there are so many more ways in which we conform to the world! But in this one instance, how about we start to think that our circumstances are bad or are a challenge, are painful physically or emotionally difficult rather than naming the whole day ‘bad’. I believe we speak against God’s Word by declaring ‘this is a bad day when God Himself declared it to be very good.

I know it can sound like I’m splitting hairs, or being very simplistic and that there may be more important things to consider how we are conforming to this world, but I point this out as just one small way to not conform to the world.

One last bible verse to consider is [2Co 10:5b, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

After all Christ has done for me, this is one small way I can align myself with Him and His word, to be obedient.

Bless you as you face the challenges of not conforming to this world. We are each on our own journey, I just share one small piece of my own journey.

Why We Cry when a Loved-One Dies

March 25, 2024

I don’t want to cry. Why not? Well, because he’s going straight from here to be with the LORD, his God and Saviour. It’s what we, all who know Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour, look forward to, either by natural means or accident.

He’s going to win the race, he’s going to beat us all home, so we rejoice, don’t we? Of course we do!

But also, against all logic, we cry and mourn.

I know, I know, we don’t mourn as the world mourns, they who have no hope. But we mourn as those who have hope, the hope of going home to heaven, each in an individual way and time of God’s own choosing.

(Personally speaking, I’d like to pass on in my sleep)

We only know the how when it happens. Some of us will be given notice as in an illness or disease. Some of us will pass on quickly, or slowly, but we will mourn no matter how, and no matter when.

I don’t want to cry. Why not? Because I want to be happy for him and I am!

But oh how I’m going to miss him. Oh how we are all going to miss him.

And that’s why we cry, and that’s why I will cry.

Preaching to the Choir

March 19, 2024

I’m not able to attend church these days, but when I did, I was one of whom I speak to below.

This is a letter to the Church, born again believers, Christ followers, those who have dedicated their lives to the gospel message in whatever place God has put them.

When it comes to new people walking into our churches, we have lost the plot! Big time!

A few years ago, when I was able to attend, I walked into a new church. Before that first Sunday, I had visited the pastor a couple of times, so when I walked into church that first Sunday, the pastor came over and greeted me with a hug.

Ok, that was nice. He introduced me to a few people who were hanging around him, then he passed me to a gentleman to help me find a seat. Ok, that was also nice. As he introduced me to a couple of single ladies who were about my age, I thought ‘great’ and was hoping it could be my new home church.

But here’s where the ball got dropped. On subsequent Sundays people nodded their heads but didn’t say hello, and I was left by myself to go sit with the two ladies. Only the pastor came over to welcome me. After the service, people either went home or gathered for coffee and a visit. I thought I’d venture into the coffee room, thinking to meet more people.

Wrong! Not one person came over. They all gathered in their own little circle of friends. How alone and out of place did I feel? Very!

And please, don’t ask, ‘why didn’t you go up to people to meet them instead of waiting for them to come to you?’ Honestly? It isn’t even easy walking into a room full of strangers, never mind walking up to them.

I left the church and didn’t go back. No one took the time to get in touch with me, not the two ladies I sat with a few times, and not the pastor.

I would have been easy to find.

These days pastors seem to agree that the time for Jesus to return is imminent and are admonishing everyone to ‘get ready’. But we don’t even have concern for strangers who might not be ready, who venture inside the door of our church.

Most churches have specified ‘greeters’ hanging about the doors to greet everyone. It’s their duty, their assigned Sunday, and I have to wonder, where are they when it’s not ‘their’ Sunday?

And, what happens after someone is greeted? Most are left to walk by themselves, into the sanctuary to find a place to sit, alone.

It’s a feeling of intense vulnerability.

It’s very intimidating.

It’s very unfriendly.

It’s very hurtful.

It takes a lot of courage to walk into a church door for the first time. Can we not even go to them? How many people have walked right back out and never gone back?

I am not unique in this experience. I don’t even have to hear other stories to know this is true.

We are the ‘Family’ of God and we can’t even be bothered to welcome a stranger into our midst. Romans 5:8 says, ‘But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Are we not here to emulate God’s love? To show that love to strangers who are still sinners? In Matthew 10:8b Jesus says, ‘Freely you have received, freely give.’

All around us people are dying in their sin, destined for an eternity in hell, yet we still don’t go to them.

Instead of using this time to talk with those we know, or sitting in our usual place, we ought to be at the front door waiting for strangers to come in so we can freely give the love God gave us. We should be inviting them to sit with us, asking for their phone number so we can follow up, invite them for lunch, invite them the following Sunday, the mid-week meeting, or simply asking, ‘how did you enjoy the sermon?’

Hebrews 13:2 says, ‘Do not forget to entertain strangers….’ We can’t even welcome them into our ‘church’ family gathering, never mind entertaining them in our homes!

Those of you who know me, know I could write a whole lot more, and I’d like to say more, but I think you get the message.

It’s true that actions speak louder than words, so please, for the sake of Christ and those who are dying in their sin, when they walk into our churches, get out of your comfort zone, see the opportunity and act.

At the end of the day, when we lay on our death bed will we regret all the opportunities we missed in this one simple area of our Christian life?

And when we stand before Christ will we hear Him say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant?’

I know I could do a whole lot better, what about you?

It’s not about ‘Them’

It’s Thanksgiving day and I was thinking about calling a relative or two to wish them a happy day. They rarely call me and, to be brutally honest here, I thought ‘why should I call them, they never call me’. Terrible isn’t it? But oh so terribly human.

The next thought that immediately came on it’s heels was, ‘don’t make it about them, make it about you and God’.

Boy, that set me straight! I answer to God for my thoughts, words and actions. It’s not about the others. Though it will bless them to receive a call wishing them a happy day, it’s about me, my own heart attitude, as unto God. Does that first thought please God? Nope. Will not calling them out of petty angst please God or give glory to His name? Nope.

I think when I have those selfish and petty thoughts, I should consider 1. will it please God and 2. just do the opposite Brenda!

If we would remember the One who gave up everything, all the glory and splendour of being in heaven with His Father for us, then perhaps we could more easily give up those petty bits of our lives to honour Him.

One of my favourite verses is 2 Peter 2:9 ‘the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptations’, even the temptation of giving in to selfish and self-pitying thoughts. And trust me, these pesky thoughts are pitiful and I need God’s help to rescue me when they come up.

But, thank God He didn’t leave me to flail about today, He even sent a counter and biblical thought to get me out of that tempting thought leading to displeasing behaviour.

Thank God for God. Today is full of thankfulness to the only God who gives unreservedly all we need to rescue us in our journey of sanctification.

Here instead of There

Today, I spend some time looking at all the birth certificates and passports of Granny, Papa, Gramma and Papa’s Dad, Alois Tenthorey. Weird as it sounds, I felt lonesome for Demoret, the little village in Switzerland where Granny was born and where I stayed when I visited in 2010, 13 years ago. It’s such a beautiful country and I would have enjoyed living in such a beautiful country.

By comparison, I find Ontario is boring, boring, boring.

It’s true that God chooses where we live, as per Acts 17:26 > “From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands”. So here I am, in the Belleville area. I’ve tried to escape more than once but He always brings me back here. I know He has a reason, and I believe God does everything to work out for my good, but still, I don’t think I will ever forget how I felt when I sat, overlooking the farm, the house where Gramma and her family lived upstairs with the bakery downstairs, overlooking the fields to the Jura mountains beyond Lac du Neuchatel. Every window I looked out I saw mountains, chalets and cows with beautiful bells around their necks.

I loved the winding roads that took us to Yverdon, the stone fountains in every little village, the history, both my personal history and the history of the country and I wish God had let me live there. I could walk from one side of a village to the other side and saw so much beauty it was hard to breathe and made me cry.

I find it ironic that my great-grandfather is the only one of 14 siblings who moved to Canada. The rest of them stayed there. In fact, I have more family over there than I do here.

So here I am, in Frankford, Ontario Canada and I must content myself in faith and believe that, according to God, this is the best place for me to live. Until I get to heaven, where Switzerland will pale in comparison.

I can wait.

Encouragement

I was praying this morning and as usual my mind hit on a thought and went down a wandering trail, this way and that way, each thought prompting another thought related to the first. And on it went.

I thought about God being our Source for all we need which led to praying for a friend who is fighting against a diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer.

I thought about all the encouragement he and his family have received during this journey.

I thought of my BIL who also is also fighting against Stage 4 cancer, who also has received much encouragement from family and friends.

My thoughts then turned to those who are fighting their own difficult journey, but all alone, without any kind of encouragement.

How many suffered alone during Covid? Not a wife, mother or child could be with them. Truly that must have been hard.

But then I realized that, for those of us who are children of God, our Father in heaven, Who is our Source for all we need, as in “Give us this day our daily bread” (needs), He provides like no one else can.

When we are alone, no one with us, we are truly not alone, He is always with us.

If we need comfort, He provides.

If we need strength to get through a difficult situation, He is strong when we are weak.

If we are discouraged, sick at heart, alone and lonely, He encourages us, fills us with His love and draws us close.

Then I realized, that while we are encouraged by those around us, that is outward encouragement.

What God gives, is the encouragement and peace that goes so deep, no amount of encouragement from others can go.

That is inner encouragement.

It’s the peace that passes all understanding and only comes from God.

Now, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, encouragement from others is truly appreciated, but only what God gives is beyond mans’ ability to give.

No matter what the trial we are going through, and it doesn’t have to be a fight for our lives, God alone gives us the
encouragement, peace, and comfort we really need.

We only need to ask.

About the Worm Thing…

This isn’t something I like to admit, but I’m getting older! Surprised? Not likely, as we all are!

But, I’m also weaker and that I really don’t like, not one bit!

Not only am I weaker because of age, but because of physical limitations brought on by several (7 to be exact) car crashes. Nope, not caused by me, but by those who were negligent, careless or the one who lost his brakes. Whatever the reason, the results are that I don’t have much physical strength or stamina and I have a mild brain injury that affects me physically and mentally.

So, I started gardening for physical therapy, plus it made me go outside for fresh air. All in all it worked well. I no longer have weeds with a few bits of grass sprinkled here and there, I have two perennial gardens, one on either side of my deck.

However last year I noticed my stamina had decreased to the point I didn’t do all I planned to in the gardens, and what I did accomplish was much harder to do.

So I had to rethink how to do it all. Fortunately for me, the deck is a lovely place to spend time, so I split my active gardening to drinking cold beverages and resting, then gardening. And back and forth I went and as it seemed to work well, I’m going to follow the same pattern this year, because I want to grow some veggies to offset the ridiculously high cost of food.

But, last summer I noticed my ‘dirt’ needs amending and with the cost of living going up and up and up, buying manure or triple blessed dirt is far too expensive for the area it needs to cover so I got thinking and……

Ta Da ……. composting right? And I did some of that. When I pulled weeds or dead-headed flowers or cut down spent stems, I dumped them altogether in a pile, hoping they would decompose enough to use this summer. Whew, that was hard and took a long time given my diminished strength. So this winter I wondered how to get composting going quicker and with less work.

Trust me, I researched all the DIY methods of making composting bins. None were such that I could manage, plus filled with composting material it would also be too heavy.

Then, I read about vermicomposting. What the heck is that you may ask? Why it’s worm composting. Ah Ha! I read all I could about it and voila, a new adventure was about to begin. I feed them my scraps, they do the heavy work and I reap the benefits of composting without work.

I knew I would have enough of a food source for the worms as I eat about a 90% plant based diet. The scraps I didn’t eat, would be food for worm composting.

I grabbed a mostly empty tote from the attic, dumped out the stuff, and drilled holes around the top for ventilation. I then gathered up bedding materials for them. I kept my scraps and ordered the worms which came about two days later, and I put them to bed.

I now had a composting system that I could physically handle.

They say, “One man’s garbage is another man’s gold”. Well, why can’t my garbage be my gold?

They call worm castings (or poop) black gold.

Works for me!

Red Wigglers are Thriving

I woke up this morning, it’s Day 3, and I eagerly opened up the bin. Only one red wiggler climbed up to the rim of the bin last night, so that’s encouraging.

They must like their new home. I tucked the little guy back down under where his buddies were and closed it back up after giving a little spritz of water to keep it moist.

I keep wanting to search through for that Black Gold even while knowing it’s too soon.

I do have to keep checking though, to see how much food is in there. It’s not a given that 1/2 a pound of wigglers will eat the amount of food I put in there in a week, so until I know how much they are putting away each day, I’m going to have to keep checking to make sure they have enough and that the bedding is moist enough.

I suspect they will eat what I put in there before a week is done, 1/2 a pound of worms doesn’t sound like much but hokey! I found a bigger pile of worms in the bag than I anticipated. It looked like twice as many worms as food.

I don’t know, it’s all new to me!

But, for those who know me, I’m aways up for new adventures. I haven’t even got the last adventure finished, but I guess that’s how I roll.