Revisionist History

Every post of mine goes through several rewrites and corrections before it ever sees the light of someone else' monitor.  Every once in awhile I will even go back over and read some old posts and find all kinds of errors (I found one post where someone must of hacked me and even wrote about my two cross-dressing brothers, it was entertaining so I left it).  Sometimes a new thought or direction will come to me, about a post I am writing, the next day or even while sleeping, so they usually sit as a draft for at least a day or two.  Of course, rewrites on the computer are easy (except I have yet to find a whiteout remover that works on the screen).  However, rewrites of life are a lot harder.  I know you will find this hard to believe, but there have been times Milea has asked me "Why did you say that to ...?  It was a bit shocking!" or preaching with the old zipper down (I have heard of pastors even going to the bathroom with the mic on and blessing the congregation with new sounds of praise, not me though, really not me), or ... never mind I am not quite ready to reveal this next one and nobody that reads my blog knows of this public goof from my teen years.  Ever have those moments that you wish you could go back and change? Or maybe do the Jedi hand wave to cast a spell "What you just saw never happeenneedd!" to make others forget your foolishness? (I almost have that one perfected!  However, so far it only  has worked on my kids when they were younger.  Milea was there too, but for some reason it seemed to work the opposite on her and actually reenforced the occurrence, as she will bring them up at the most inopportune times. Which happens to be anytime, in my book anyway).
  God  also does the Jedi trick, but His version works quite strangely because it makes Him forget! I have seen Him do it for us and for some of us on an hourly basis! (not me mind you, but I do know someone...).
 Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
  It is one thing to forgive and forget someones else'  faux pas and sins, but your own?  That can be a whole other matter.
  Now if only you and I were more godly (God like), life could be a whole lot easier..  The sad thing is that these memories will not only haunt us, but will also hinder us into doing the right and good thing in the future (fear of failure).
Now, what was I talking about? ...(I am practicing my forgetfulness.)

Dissed... tracted II

  As a gardener, mostly veggies, I tend to grow way more than I need.  To get rid of the extra produce I get my neighbors and friends to come get some or I will pick and bring the abundance to them or a common meeting place. ( I do however need to do some guarding of my asparagus and blueberries from a certain grazing daughter.)  So these people get the benefit of all my labor, the composting, the turning, the weeding and planting, and the fruit is free (I really don't mind it is a hobby and relaxing for me and I like to bless people).
  There are people of the past and present, that we know very little about, who work(ed) in the kingdom of God that did the same thing. They were not gardener, but they did cultivate the soil. Charles Finney got credited with bringing "revival" to many places.  What you may not know is he had someone going into the towns and cities ahead of him, weeks to months, to pray for that place so that they would be receptive to God.    People marvel on the result of Finney's preaching, but you need to consider he was just picking the harvest off other people's labor.  Some of you may know who Charles Finney is, but I bet nobody can name me who the prayer was.  Who will get the greater reward?  If they both did their jobs right and weren't proud and seeking their own, they will probably share equally in the fruit of their labor.
  Praying for a move of God isn't the easiest thing, but then neither is true praying,. it requires time, patience and diligence (three requirements I have problems doing).  I am no pro as God has been dealing me about them.  If there is any hope for our nation we need to be attentive to prayer, out of a right relationship with Him.

Being Dissed...tracted

 If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant!  I can hear it now... Loud and clear.  There are several, no wait, most of the female persuasion out there saying,  "What do you mean 'if any'? That should be most men, if you ask me."  Would it also help you if I told you  that this is a verse too?
1Co 14:38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
As I sat down to write and the word 'ignorant' kept coming to me. So, I looked it up and found this verse.  I guess I have always missed seeing this one.  It is one of those verses that if you aren't paying attention you just skim over it.
  It is God's desire for us not to be ignorant and miss out on our callings and abilities as believers. Sad to say, it is too often the case (including the female gender).
  God has been showing me occasionally and repeatedly through His small voice that distractions are hurting His people. Often the plaguing distractions come by avoiding or missing the real issue by dealing with the side issues instead.  Right now we are getting taken major advantage of through these distractions.
2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
    The one that He has been dealing with me the most is that this country's problems will not and CANNOT be addressed or fixed the way we are trying.
  Although there are many problems out there, in the forefront seem to be politicians that are self serving, corrupt and giving the appearance of, through their actions, wanting to bring this country to it's knees, but they are not the main problem.  There is not anyone or any group out there that has the solution (in the political arena) for our country.  Though the problems seem to becoming from the political parties lack of oversight and diligence,  what God has been showing me is that the problem is first, the people of our country.  We are (as a whole)  self serving, selfish, lazy and ignorant. Ouch!  Maybe this should be a Selah moment.
  Yes, as citizens of this country we need to pay honest attention to what is going on and who it is that is serving us  Most of our debt issues are coming from the "entitlement area"  where people are being lazy and taking when they should be out working and supplying for their own needs.  (I am not against helping those that TRULY need it.    Here's an example: do you know that  those that are on long-term unemployment benefits, the majority find jobs within  4 weeks of their benefits running out? What is happening?  For a lot of them, they are on a paid vacation and only get serious when the future of no money motivates them.  It is fraudulent and they seem to be afflicted with a all to common disease called LBS (lazy butt syndrome, which will also add on the lbs).  I hate to tell you this, but just electing certain people will not solve our problems.
Okay, the political stuff is over.  Now let's cut to the hard part, our number one action is to be praying for a move of God though this nation, not settling for a handy little "revival" but, going for the gold.  If the people had an encounter with the Almighty and were changed,  we would not only see change in their outlook and actions, but there would also be a change in the political arena.  Now, that's not that hard is it?...  except if you really take this seriously and actually take up the call to pray.  Can you shut yourself off to other distractions and do it more than just once or twice?  Thus the dilemma.  Where are our eternal values and motivation?  I think we have missed something or are missing something.  Maybe it time for another Selah moment...

Not what you might expect

I am strange.  "Well duh!" you say.  Here are some things that you may not know that I am sure will make you wonder some more.
I don't like suspenseful movies.  Do you remember the show "Lost in Space"?  It had June Lockhart, Dr Smith  (the evil one) and of course Robbie the Robot.

As a kid it would freak me out!  I would quickly change the channel till the suspense was over. The picture of Robbie flailing his arms over his head saying "Danger, danger!" along with the music would just do it to me.  Alien vs Predator are you kidding me?  I guess I am just a sensitive soul.  Some of my kids are the same way.
If I watch something like "America's Funniest Home Videos" and a older person falls or a guy gets it... I hurt,  ahh... umm..... somewhere.  Really, it is so strange.  I can deal with pain, see previous blog, but something about the thinking and picturing other people about to get it just pushes my boundaries a bit too far.
Sometimes you will picture a radio personality a certain way and when you actually see their picture you think, "That's not them". Our minds conceive of things a certain way and have a hard time dealing with reality or change.  Videos of old people falling doesn't inflict more pain upon them, no matter how many times they are repeated.  I remember watching an AFV video, the shot was of a baseball game from behind home plate.  The batter fouled the ball straight back, the ball came right at the camera.  I ducked because that ball was heading straight for me.  Everyone else laughed  (at me). Things are not always what they seem.
We do the same with the Word.  We freak out at what we think it says.  We misunderstand and end up in condemnation to what we think it says and live in that deception. Ever read this verse?
John 15:5    I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
I used to get condemned that I wasn't bearing enough fruit until God showed me that the most important fruit we could start to bear was love, joy, peace, patience and so on. (ever try to develop your  "so on"?   It is not all that easy.)     The possibility of not understanding the Word is why it's so important to spend time with the author.  I don't know how many times I have heard that still small voice telling me something that gave me understanding to my previous misunderstandings. Understand?

Drilling for Gold...(the red kind) or Give till it Hurts

Milea has been "hinting" that with our iron rich diet, that being a guy and as of late not having any accidental blood letting, that I needed to go give blood (too much iron in the blood can cause joint pain and more). So, I had time and went down to the local Red Cross to donate. Everything went well till I got ready to give. (please note: I have a very high tolerance to pain, although I have never given birth- not by my choosing- I have stepped on many nails- as a kid and as best I remember all in my left foot, cut the tip off of my right index finger and shocked the doctor that stitched me up because of my calmness, a week later detached the end of my finger that was previously sewn on- which hurt much more than the original incident, sent a giant splinter of wood though my knuckles pinning my hand closed, I could go on but I think you may have gotten the point. So, I sat down on the chair to start the blood letting... I commenced with my normal banter to break the ice, the supposed nurse AKA (also know as) the pile driver commenced to clean my arm and locate the vein (the future location of the beam to be driven in to hold the future structure). (Please note: I have given blood before probably 5 times without complaint or incident).  Here is a picture of my pile driving nurse.

As she started "inserting" the beam I noted that the angle of the beam was about 45 degrees to the predetermined mark over a vein. (being in construction I am good at seeing angles and possible projections of beams). Seeing that my vein was right below the surface and very predominate, I could tell she would strike "gold" real quick.  She proceeded to insert the beam that appeared to go through the vein and further into the muscle (of which of course, I have an abundance of) and continued to nearly the full length of the 1 1/2 to 2 inch needle. Seeing that I was not getting paid for the blood, I gave her my complaint about the beam going through my arm. She responded that she was very experienced and has been a pile driver for 17 years. After which she removed most of the needle and with a sideways motion inserted it into my vein. Upon which she again commented on her previous experience and said she must have driven the beam to the side of the predetermined correct position noting that I must have been inserting to many previous beams in that location and it was hard for her to get it right. (The last construction project in that location was a year or two ago). After reassuring me as to her experience we finished the procedure. Later in the evening I noticed what must be a bug bite on the back of my arm several inches above the location of the beam insertion but on the opposite side. hmmm

Tick, tick, tick.

This last weekend  my darling wife and I went on a spur of the moment trip,  my inclination is to stay put and relax, hers is to explore, (it is really a strange thing because that inclination is totally opposite of our personalities, I am more daring and she likes safety.  But then, being around me is far from safe, so she must have an inward desire to live on the wild side). Friday morning I asked her if she could get off work, after a  trip into the office to do a few things and me attending to my  gardens, we finally packed and got on the road by noon!  The weekend was full of hiking the woods and trails of Natural Bridge and Buckhorn Lake State Parks, but due to the slightly wet (drizzly) weather on Saturday and Sunday we (I), who didn't want to freeze off my nether regions out in a boat, weren't able to get out and on the beautiful lake. The lake is a man made one, of which this state has many, and rather large (we are not talking acres probably easier measured in square miles), and set in the hills of Eastern Kentucky which are now very green and lush with flowers all over the ground and trees.
Our hikes along the trails were pleasant, even if hilly, with many interesting and beautiful flowers, rocks (excuse me, boulders- Milea seems to have developed a boulder fetish which is yet to be fulfilled in our yard... wondering what to get her for a birthday or Christmas? A BIG rock and I am not talking diamond would delight her...) and trees, oh yeah then there are the small brooks and the chipmunks. Our normal banter and teasing were in full bloom (when we could catch our breath enough to talk).  After our hike on Saturday we went back to our more than ample "cabin" more like a medium sized 3 bedroom house with kitchen, to rest and read. When all of a sudden I awoke with such a clatter, I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter... well I sprang to my feet because Milea did one of her SCREAMS and a movement quicker than I have not seen the likes of since she had dreamed of a mouse in our bed years ago or the last time I made an honest attempt to tickle her feet (which results in not a movement to get away but rather to kill). My (now natural) instinct, to get away (due to the whole kill thing), was slowly being brought into check, due to her being six feet away and on the other couch and I was personally not responsible and in less trouble. What had aroused my heart rate was that she had found a tick crawling up her arm and her quick movement was the flinging motion to get it off her.  "You did WHAT?"  Was my well thought out response to her explanation.  Now I was desperately searching the "wood tick camouflage" colored carpet not to be the hero, but rather not wanting the thing to find me.  As I searched, I instructed her on wood tick etiquette, things like... thou shall not fling ticks upon or towards thy neighbor and other important things like hold them till you can kill the suckers and so on...  Her defense was the usual "I couldn't help myself" schpeel. After not finding it we went back to reading after itching, scratching, checking ourselves over and over and over for more ticks, I at least moved to higher ground. There is nothing like having a tick (or getting a tick thrown at you) to get the mind's imagination working in full gear... here a tick, there a tick, everywhere a tick, tick. After a recovery period and further scratching and checking we went to dinner and came back to the room for further reading, which was rudely interrupted by a yelp and yet another fling and more reinforcement of etiquette instruction, as well as searching for movement in the carpet and my personal space.  After a long while of searching and instruction we went back to our reading and imagining... Thankfully my mind relaxed... after remembering that my personal bug magnet was in the room and not sitting next to me! (Its true, much to her displeasure.  :)  )
A while later I heard a calm "Its crawling up my blanket",  she had needed a blanket because I would not get near her until the bugger was captured and beheaded, (see comment on bug magnet).  I gratefully got up  removed it, beheaded it and praised her for her calmness and NOT FLICKING IT TOWARDS ME!
And yes it was probably the same one...(see comment on bug magnet).  Now we could get back to normal life after more checking and mind imagining.  
As I awoke early this morning one of my first thoughts was what if we had the same response to sin that Milea had toward that tick.  The repulsion, the quick get it out of here and far from me response that holds no, not even a seconds hold on our being...  Sitting here and writing this I realized that sin is a lot like a tick, it tries to attach itself to you and then live by sucking the life of God out of you and possibly infecting you with its own disease.  I repeat...  what if we had the same response to sin that Milea had toward that tick.  The repulsion, the quick get it out of here and far from me response that holds no, not even a seconds hold on our being...

Guarding what's yours

As a kid we used to sing a chorus in church and I also remember my mom singing this around the house...  "All the promises in the Book are mine every chapter, every verse, every line. All are blessings of His love divine. All the promises in the book are mine"... Side note:  I don't think I ever heard all the words (interesting). Here is the link to the whole song lyrics  "All the Promises" link
I can't say that this is really the case because some promises are directed at differing individuals or nations or even the Devil (his promises are some I don't want).  However there are a lot of them that are for us. Jesus gave us this one: 
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
So Jesus said it so it is done and peace is always ours, right? Yes and no.  Peace is always there for you, whether you walk in it is up to you.  Look at it this way... (except in an outage and/or nonpayment situation) electricity is always available, but if the switch isn't in the "on" position you will remain in the dark. (Selah)
You can have peace in any situation, even though you may be a storm, you can have perfect  peace inside and out. The question that you must figure out it is... is your peace switch or worry switch in the on position and shining bright in you life?
 Pr 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
This verse holds the key. You could easily translate this verse to say "Guard your heart for from it will come the perspective and manner in which you will live your life".  Your thought life digs the banks in which the river of your life must flow in.  The good news is, you can direct and change, in large part, what course your life takes. (Just looking at this last sentence and pondering on it would help any of us.) What is it that you are continually thinking about?  Is it the problem or the worst possible results of the situation or is it the best?  We all get caught in these situations like: arguments, lack of money, abundance of bills or physical maladies, any of which can possess and dominate our thoughts.  Keeping your peace during a problem or using and possessing any other promise comes down to guarding (or keeping) what you allow yourself  to dwell on.  Fighting is often involved to control your thoughts. 
Here are some clues:
1.What does the Word say about the situation
2. Say these out loud (if possible) and reenforce the truth
3. Who is your god? Is He weak and unable to help and deliver you? Could He be strong and able enough to help you?
4. Sometimes it takes effort, "keeping your heart" can take some of your time.  The battle may be to get rid of the thought patterns that you made (ones of failure or worry).
More later...