The Case for Agua Frescas

For the 4^th of July, a group of about a dozen of us went to my brother, Steve’s house in Valencia.  He had barbequed some meaty beef ribs, some chicken sausages, and baked a homemade 7-Up cake; sister-in-law brought some tasty bread; cousin brought fresh corn on the cob and German chocolate cake; girlfriend brought pasta salad and a sweet potato pie; I took strawberry lemonade, ranch beans, cucumber-roma tomato-red onion-olive salad, potato salad, and a watermelon.

Pastor Arland said a prayer thanking God for our freedom, for privileges we enjoy as Americans and for the food we were about to devour.  He finished blessing the food and we dug in.  We all had a very good time eating.  In addition we told jokes, told childhood stories about one another, picked on each other in general, watched the aerial view of America on the Smithsonian channel on Steve’s big screen and played board games.  After all the festivities were over we divvied up the left overs and prepared to leave.  Even though whoever wanted to take food did so, Steve got stuck with a lot of food. 

As we were leaving I realized that we had not cut the watermelon.  When it is hot out, few things beat a piece of cold, sweet watermelon.  It was warm out in Steve’s area, but I thought it would be too messy to cut the melon and take some home.  So we left the whole thing there.  A few days later, Steve says to me, “Where did you get that watermelon?  It was the best one I had in a long time.”  Of course my first thought was that I should have taken some of that melon with me.  My second thought was that I would just go back to the market where I had gotten the 1^st watermelon to get another.  The problem is that I don’t know how to pick out a watermelon.  So I did what I saw some other people do – slap the melon and listen for a hollow sound.  I don’t know what that means, but I did it.  I found a melon that sounded significantly more hollow than the others and bought it. 

I got home with the melon, took it in the house.  Shortly thereafter Pastor Arland walked in from his office saying, it would be nice if we had some watermelon.  I smiled widely and said, “We do, Honey.  Look!”  I pointed at the big family size melon I had gotten.  We decided to have some that evening. 

After dinner, Arland turned on a baseball game and I began to carve up the melon.  I find it easier to cut the whole thing up and put it in a plastic container, just get all the messiness out of the way at once.  I piled some of the beautiful fruit on a plate to give my waiting husband, but decided to taste it first.  I did and was sorely disappointed.  The melon was not sweet.  It was like chewing water.  Of course, Arland had to test it himself to make sure I wasn’t just having an off taste-bud day.  His face confirmed my assessment.  There we were with a plate plus a gallon container full of tasteless watermelon.  What is one to do?

AGUA FRESCAS!!!  I filled the blender with watermelon ¾ of the way, ice the rest of the way, added water to reach a quarter of the height of the blender pitcher and added a touch of stevia.  The result was a cold and refreshing concoction that we poured in tall glasses and drank with straws….which took us from disappointment to delight in minutes.

Psalm 16:3 says that God’s delight is in those on this earth who choose to live for Him.  We are not perfect, but as with the tasteless watermelon, when we choose to add a bit of sweetness – godliness to our lives, we become delightful to Him.  Delightful to God!  How cool is that!  Honestly, I can’t think of anything I’d rather be.  

 

 

No One Wanted to Read About This

I do my BLOG on blogspot.com – a site that happens to keep statistics on the readership of individual posts.  I took a look and realized that my lowest readership was on the post “Who is Missing In Action?” of May 22.  I wondered why no one wanted to read about that.  I headed over to re-read it.  Then I realized that, the content couldn’t have been the problem.  If no one read it, they wouldn’t know what the content is.  So, it had to be the title.  What about that title would prevent people from reading that post?

 

“Who is Missing In Action?”  Does it bring to mind images of trudging through muddy jungles to find and rescue possibly wounded troops?  I hope so.  Do you have a problem with getting your feet wet?  I hope not.  Life can be messy work, and sometimes people need help. Sometimes, the person needing help is you.  In that case, what do you hope will happen?  When I’m hurt or need help, I hope someone will find it in their heart to show up for me.  Are you willing to get in the trenches and extend a hand to someone in need?

 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”   This is from the New King James Version of the Bible, but maybe The Message version will drive the point home.  “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.”

 

My take on this verse is that:

·        God is a God of comfort

·        He is in that business and He wants us to be in that business too

·        He comforts us because He loves us, AND

·        He wants us to be able to comfort others

·        He wants us to comfort others in all kinds of situations

o   not just the ones we approve of or the one we feel they didn’t bring on themselves…..any trouble

 So, take a moment.  Who comes to your mind that is MIA, someone who may have withdrawn because they are going through a hard time?  Who may have a physical aliment that prevents them from doing all they need to do?  If someone came to mind, let me encourage you to prayerfully consider how you can make a difference in their life.  You may be surprised at the result of your display of love and caring. 

Remember, our Heavenly Father is the God of comfort and He already prepared you to be in the family business.   

For or Against?

I don’t know about you, but I want to be known by what I’m for, rather than what I’m against.  I love that saying, but I cannot take credit for it.  I read it on Facebook.  Then at last night’s Bible Study, Pastor Arland was sharing about the culture of Living Well Church that will be launched in September of this year.  He said his intent is for Living Well Church to be known by what we are for rather than we are against.  If you have ever read the church vision statement, you know what we are for.  We are for Jesus Christ and we are for people.  “We love without condition to form lasting relationships tailored to unleash limitless potential in Christ.”

We are for people.  It means that we love people -- all kinds of people.  It does not mean that we love only people who are just like us.  Of course we do love people who are like us, but we also love people who don’t look, think, or believe like us.  Contrary to popular opinion, it is possible to love someone that you don’t agree with.  Have you ever disagreed with something that your child wanted to do?  It didn’t mean that you didn’t love the child, it simply meant you didn’t agree that what they were interested in doing or having was the best thing for them.  A side-effect of loving someone is wanting the best for them. 

We live in a society that seems to be polarized on every issue of life.  One believes X and feels that if others don’t agree, they are hateful and bigoted.   Another believes Y and feels that if others don’t agree, they are unintelligent or uninformed.  And yet another believes Z and feels that if others don’t agree, they are just going to hell.  We need to take the time to see people as individuals….each one of us are someone’s son or daughter, someone’s mother or father.  We are all individuals that are so loved by God, that He sacrificed His best for us.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him will have everlasting life.”   John 3:16   

God gave His Son to die for the sins of people in the world.  Yep, I said it.  The “S” word – SIN.  I said it because the Bible said it.  People can get all wrapped around the axle when someone uses that word, not understanding what sin really is.  Sin is separation from God.  If the route you’ve decided to take is take is different from the one God designed for you, it is sin.  It doesn’t mean that you are necessarily wicked and evil, though you could be.   It means that you have chosen to separate yourself from the things of God.  This is not to point the finger at anyone because one way or another, we’ve all done it at some point….we’ve all fallen short.  But why would it make God any difference how you live your life?  It makes a difference to Him because He loves you and wants the very best for you. 

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

You’ve got to know that only someone who cares about you would say that.  You are loved.  God truly is for you, He is not against you. 

 

Do You Have A Good Name?

I like to write these blog articles a bit in advance, but sometimes I feel inspired to wait.  Here it is 6:30 today and I am writing fast and furious to meet my deadline.  However, I am glad I waited.  Today, I was inspired as I attended a retirement luncheon for a friend.  As I listened to the accolades piled upon her, I realized that every kind thing said about her was not only kind, but it was true.  According to her up line management, she was a perfect employee.  PERFECT.  According to the team that worked with her, she was hardworking, a reliable source of information and support.  According to those she mentored, she lovingly guided them, preparing them for challenges ahead. 

I worked with this friend for 10 years.  She was my Lead person for 6 of those years.  I had another Lead for a short while, but I immediately requested that my re-assignment be reversed. This was not because she was my friend.  It was because during the time I worked with her, I saw the spirit of excellence with which she approached every task.  I saw that she is a person of integrity, and realized that she is a woman to be respected and admired.  Her name is Tracy Sheeley.

I have observed that when people hear Tracy’s name, one of two things happen.  Either they are excited to have a person of such high caliber on their team, or they look for a way out of interacting with her.  Tracy is what a former manager has referred to as ‘refreshingly direct’ and dealing with her is not for the faint of heart.  However, I love the fact that whatever comes from Tracy’s mouth is going to be the truth, no spin, no non-sense.  I know that I can trust what she ways.  Tracy has chosen to live a life of good character.  She conducts herself in such a way that it has earned her a good reputation, a good name.    

Proverbs 22:1 says that, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.”

Ecclesiastes 7:1 says, “A good name is better than precious perfume.”

According to God’s word, choosing a good name (choosing to live in a way that yields a good reputation) is more important than having great riches.  That’s because in God’s eyes, it is more important who you are than what you have.  You are more important to Him than your stuff.

Have you ever considered what happens when people hear your name?  Do you have a good name?  If so, praise God.  But if not, it’s time to be honest about who you are and what you do – no spin, no non-sense.  It’s easy to blame someone else for bad press spread about you.  And if others truly are fabricating tales about you and have caused your name to be tarnished, take heart in the fact that lies will always be unseated by the truth.   Don’t expect it to happen overnight, but don’t lose heart.  As you continue to choose like Tracy Sheeley to live a life of purpose, integrity, and excellence, your good name will emerge like a precious perfume. 

What If Daddy Didn't Do Right?

WARNING:  I apologize in advance.  This post is longer than my usual. 

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land that the Lord your God gives you.”  Exodus 20:12 (5^th Commandment)

Many would argue that the requirement for us to keep the 10 Commandments passed away as part of the Old Covenant when Jesus paid for our redemption by His blood.  Many others would argue to the contrary.  But no follower of Christ would insist that the 10 Commandments were bad things to do.  As a matter of fact, each one provides a nugget of wisdom and is the basis for the moral code of a number of modern societies. 

The 5^th Commandment speaks of honoring our parents which is a good thing to do.  It’s interesting that this is the first commandment with a promise – long life.  Nice.  So since I penned a tribute to mothers for Mother’s Day, I want to talk about honoring fathers today.  It is a difficult thing for me to write for several reasons:

·        I am a ‘daddy’s girl’ (Yes, I actually call him, “Daddy”)

·        Daddy passed away last year at the age of 93, I miss him

·        As the title indicated, my father not only didn’t always do right but he hurt a lot of people

·        I have to omit specifics because

o   I want to be respectful of people whose lives he negatively impacted and

o   I don’t want to cause any embarrassment to family members, my church or anyone I am in association with

But I know that I am not the only person in this world who has had to deal with a dad who didn’t always do the right thing, if that was your situation hopefully you will gain some encouragement from my story.

When I was a little girl, my dad was like a superhero to me.  I’m told he was handsome, but as his daughter I just saw him as my dad.  He was big, strong, authoritative, and he treated me like I was his little princess.  So much so that one day I even asked him if he would just change my name from BARBARA to PRINCESS.  Looking back I am grateful that he merely smiled, and assured me that I would always be his little princess.  That satisfied me.  I waited for him when he got home from work most days.  He usually brought me a treat that I had to find in his red ford pick-up.  I used to sit on his foot and wrap my arms & legs around one of his legs, so I could ride as he walked around the house.  We would play kiss tag, which was always to my detriment because by that time of day he would have major 5 o’clock shadow – I did not care.  He would read to me.  He didn’t do ‘girl things’ so he took me fishing and to baseball games.    I adored him.      The problem was that he didn’t treat others as sweetly as he treated me – some, but not most.  As I got older and began to understand what kind of person he really was, he began to distance himself from me.  I knew he loved me, but the shame he felt & his desire to continue living as he did came between us.   After that, there were times he wasn’t so sweet to me.

Fast forward to my adulthood.  Daddy continued to be a jerk.  He could be selfish and just plain mean, but I knew that I needed to love him.  Because God is love, I could not allow anyone other than Him to set my standard for how I treat others.  So I made the decision to love my father.  When he was other than kind, I would give him the choice as to whether I would love him up close or from a distance.  He would apologize and tell me that he wanted me close.  But he was prickly, I knew that at the drop of a pin, he could slip back into the mean Daddy. 

Fast forward again to my father’s later years, when he was unable to do for himself.  When his mind started to be less sharp, he became more distrustful along with the tendency to be mean.   Some days, I truly had to ask the Lord for strength to deal with him.  I was determined to see that he was cared for properly, and spend as much time with him as I could.  I wanted him to know that he was loved and not feel alone.  I said earlier that I made the decision to love him.  It was not only because of the love God wanted to give him through me, but in the natural I remembered the love he showered on me as a child. He was imprinted on me.  He was the man that showered me with love and made my childhood fun.  He was still my Daddy. 

I was rewarded for my efforts a few months before he passed away.  His vision was low and he was unable to read his Bible.  He had always read his Bible, he just didn’t follow it.   He actually had memorized a lot of scripture, and the Holy Spirit began to remind him of it.  He wanted to discuss it and he wanted to pray.  That happened several times, but one day, he broke down.  He cried like a baby, he confessed all the wrong he had done in his life and asked God for forgiveness.  Then he asked me for forgiveness, and told me how grateful he was that I’d shown him love when he had lived such a horrible.  He said he loved more than anyone else on earth, except for my Mom.  He said that he considered it a major blessing from God that he had lived long enough to not only repent, but to realize that I was in the Lord and had a wonderful husband to share my life with.  I was blessed to have been there to experience his acceptance of salvation, and have him share his heart with me.  

When Daddy passed away a few months later, I had perfect peace.  Yes, I miss him.  But I have no regrets over our relationship or my treatment of him because I had shown him honor.  And though his reputation was as one that others won’t expect to see in heaven, I look forward to a reunion with him there. 

I am a living example of how honoring my Daddy who didn’t do right, ended up being a blessing to me.  

But if you have one of those other kind of fathers, Praise God.  In either case, God has a blessing for you if you take care to treat your Daddy right.  Be encouraged. 

 

+++++

 

Happy Father’s Day to Daddies everywhere and all men who embrace the role of shaping young lives and raising up children in the way they should go.  You are our heroes!  God bless you!

 

Prizes and Rewards

‘“For I will surely deliver you … but your life shall be as a prize (reward) to you, because you have put your trust in Me,” says the Lord.’  Jeremiah 39:18

 

When people see me, many say the most obvious thing about me is my smile.  I smile because I have peace in my life and I have joy.  Peace and joy are good things!!  These good things are prizes and rewards from God that add fulfillment to my life.  Why is God rewarding me?  It’s not because I’m any more special or He loves me more than anyone else.  He rewards me simply because I choose to Trust Him!  I like prizes and rewards so I made the conscious, deliberate decision -- I choose to trust Him.  

 

 

A person’s life is made up of a culmination of their choices.  But of course, there are some things that happen that we don’t choose.  John 16:33 tells us that in this world we will have tribulation.  It is a fact, bad stuff is going to happen.  But how we choose how to respond to that stuff, those situations, and those people who caused them will make the difference in our lives.  Choose to trust God enough to handle the unpleasant things (and unpleasant people) according to the way He teaches us to handle them in His word.  You will have some hard times, but they won’t be the things that define you.  AND you will be rewarded for your trust.

 

When we trust and keep choosing to trust, it becomes a lifestyle.  That’s what we want.  I don’t claim to be perfect at it.  I admit that I find it easier to trust in some areas than others.  But the more you trust, the more you will see the result of that trust - the more you’ll be rewarded and the more you will want to trust.  The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

 

Do you need changes in your life? 

o   Make the decision - CHOOSE to trust the Lord enough to handle things according to His word.  Handle things the way He says they should be handled.  It may defy natural logic and it may be unpopular, but know that He is the omnipotent one who sees from the beginning to the end.  He knows how to work things out for your good.

o   Speak your choice to trust the Lord.  Declare it.  Confess it regularly.  The more you say what you've chosen, the more trusting God will become a natural part of you.

o   Remind yourself of past and current blessings.  God can be trusted if we have the courage to give ourselves over to Him.  It’s when we go off on our own that we find ourselves stressed and in trouble. 

o   Encourage yourself in the Lord.  Spend time with Him in prayer, praise and worship.  Study His word.

 

Doing these things will cause you to develop a lifestyle of trust in God.  His rewards will follow.  HE PROMISED!!!!

 

 

You Need What?

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever.  Amen."  Philippians 4:19, 20

 

This week, my blog post will piggy-back on Pastor Arland’s weekly email because the message was just so good.  We do collaborate in our writing sometimes, but I don’t generally take his whole message and insert it into mine.  But again, it was just so good.  And, well, didn’t the marriage ceremony make the two of us one?  With consideration to that truth, it was mine anyway.  Right?    So, I will just proceed on that basis. 

As you all know, Living Well Church is currently having weekly Bible Study with our Launch Team Members and Small Groups.  Our official launch will be September 13 of this year.  It is a huge undertaking.  There are many things that need to be arranged, purchased, and coordinated before that happens.   It can cause the mind to be bombarded with a boat load of questions:   What if this is a pipe dream?  What if nobody comes?  Where will we find the right worship leader or children’s director?  How does everything get paid for?  However, the story of the exodus serves as a great reminder that God has more provision than we can imagine and He know how to meet us at the point of our need.

 Moses led 3½ million people into the desert. That is 3,500,000 people.  Think about what it would take to support that many people.   According to the U.S. Army’s Quartermaster General:

·        Moses would need to provide a minimum of 1500 tons of food per day – picture filling two freight trains, each a mile long

·        Around 4,000 tons of firewood was needed per day to cook the food

·        If they only used enough to drink and wash a few dishes (no bathing), they would still need 11,000,000 gallons per day - that’s enough to fill a train of tanker cars 1800 miles

·        Every time they camped at the end of the day, a campground the size of Rhode Island was required – about 750 square miles

  JEHOVAH-JIREH was faithful to care for them throughout their journey! 

The likelihood that Moses sat down and figured out supply chain & logistics for his God given assignment before he set out from Egypt is unlikely.  And thank God, it was unnecessary.   Because for forty years Moses trusted their lives to the provision of God’s covenant.  We can take courage, as we serve the very same God - but we have a better covenant based on better promises (Hebrews 8:6).  With that in mind, we have faith that He will provide for the mission He set before us.