dear daughters,
The other day, Moo came running in the study and jumped up on the sofa next to me, barking her head off and hitting at my hand while I was typing. I thought she had to go outside. So I got up and walked with her in the hallway. There in front of me was this bright green lizard just staring at me. Of course I let out a blood-curdling scream!
I wasn’t going to touch him with my bare hands, so I got a big plastic cup, put a fresh green sprig inside it like bait on a fish hook, and tried to lure him. But I couldn’t tempt him for anything. He kept running away from my trap. Finally, I opened the back door and chased him that way. It worked! Outside he went!
We are a lot like that lizard. Sometimes we find ourselves in places we shouldn’t be. We go through an open door that wasn’t meant for us, and then we have this sense that we are not meant to be there. We run around not knowing what to do. There are choices in this place. There are temptations to try new things – like the cup with the fresh green leaves that look really good for eating. Or we can choose the open door of escape, to get back to where we came from, back where we belong.
This is just like life with God. When we go through the wrong door, we run around in circles; but God always gives us a way out.
This promise is in the Bible in 1Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
In other words, you’ll never be in a situation that others haven’t been in before. And God will never let you be in a situation you can’t get out of, because He’ll always give you a way out of your mess. He wants you living in freedom, not trapped in a plastic cup!
living to love, loving to live,
momma b
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Fake Fruit
dear daughters,
You know that I believe God speaks to me in strange ways. Well, the other day while reading, I got so sleepy I just had to take a nap! I felt a little guilty, but when I awoke, I had to wonder if it wasn’t God who made me sleepy just so He could wake me up!
I woke up to the strangest sound. A bird had landed in my wreath on the front door, and the sound of his fluttering wings next to the glass window was startling. When I realized it was only a bird and nothing to fear, I began to watch him (or her) to see what he was doing. He was eating the berries! It might sound cute, but the berries are not real and I realized he could get really ill if he kept eating them. So I hurriedly knocked on the glass, startling him as he had startled me, and he flew away.
In that moment, I heard God say to me, “You do this. You are like that bird, so often clinging to the wrong vines, eating fake fruit rather than mine.” OMG! I didn’t want to hear that. But I knew it was true! How often I feast on the fake things of this world instead of what is real and good for me to eat!
Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser” (John 15:1). This Easter weekend, remember that because of Jesus the Son, we can have a relationship with God the Father, one that satisfies and nourishes us like nothing else can. God is tending to a garden of goodness for us to enjoy, but it is up to us to eat from the right Vine.
living to love, loving to live,
momma b
You know that I believe God speaks to me in strange ways. Well, the other day while reading, I got so sleepy I just had to take a nap! I felt a little guilty, but when I awoke, I had to wonder if it wasn’t God who made me sleepy just so He could wake me up!
I woke up to the strangest sound. A bird had landed in my wreath on the front door, and the sound of his fluttering wings next to the glass window was startling. When I realized it was only a bird and nothing to fear, I began to watch him (or her) to see what he was doing. He was eating the berries! It might sound cute, but the berries are not real and I realized he could get really ill if he kept eating them. So I hurriedly knocked on the glass, startling him as he had startled me, and he flew away.
In that moment, I heard God say to me, “You do this. You are like that bird, so often clinging to the wrong vines, eating fake fruit rather than mine.” OMG! I didn’t want to hear that. But I knew it was true! How often I feast on the fake things of this world instead of what is real and good for me to eat!
Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser” (John 15:1). This Easter weekend, remember that because of Jesus the Son, we can have a relationship with God the Father, one that satisfies and nourishes us like nothing else can. God is tending to a garden of goodness for us to enjoy, but it is up to us to eat from the right Vine.
living to love, loving to live,
momma b
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Junk Food is for Junkies!
dear daughters,
While you’re walking the halls of your schools, do you realize you’re not just walking as a student, a friend, a daughter, or even a text-message-queen? You’re also walking as God’s unique creation, designed for a special life story. God wants you to live your story well, so that through you, He can tell His story of love for the world!
Daddy Jeff wanted our Bible study class to learn Joshua 1:8. It’s a long and wordy Bible verse, so here’s a momma b version for you:
Keep eating the Word of God! Make the Bible your soul food night and day! It’ll feed your mind and heart so that you’ll want to do your best to live like it says to live. And then, you’ll take steps in a positive direction and have real success!
I couldn’t have said it better myself! (Ha!) Like all Bible verses, this passage is full of TRUTH! I know. I’ve done it both ways, eating God’s Word and walking God’s way, and eating junk food and walking my own way. I promise you, God’s way is ALWAYS best. And that’s coming from someone who learned it the hard way!
living to love, loving to live,
momma b
While you’re walking the halls of your schools, do you realize you’re not just walking as a student, a friend, a daughter, or even a text-message-queen? You’re also walking as God’s unique creation, designed for a special life story. God wants you to live your story well, so that through you, He can tell His story of love for the world!
Daddy Jeff wanted our Bible study class to learn Joshua 1:8. It’s a long and wordy Bible verse, so here’s a momma b version for you:
Keep eating the Word of God! Make the Bible your soul food night and day! It’ll feed your mind and heart so that you’ll want to do your best to live like it says to live. And then, you’ll take steps in a positive direction and have real success!
I couldn’t have said it better myself! (Ha!) Like all Bible verses, this passage is full of TRUTH! I know. I’ve done it both ways, eating God’s Word and walking God’s way, and eating junk food and walking my own way. I promise you, God’s way is ALWAYS best. And that’s coming from someone who learned it the hard way!
living to love, loving to live,
momma b
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