Job’s Wife

Things were looking pretty good for Job and his wife. In the prime of their lives, they finally had their kids raised, had a nice home, with plenty of money in the bank. Job was a well-known leader in the community, just about the wealthiest man around. They were just about ready for retirement.

Then overnight they lost everything. Their seven sons and three daughters were killed in a terrible storm. Their enemy stole all the cattle, donkeys, and camels. Lightning struck, killing the sheep and servants. The next thing you know, Job got sick and was covered with boils all over his body.

Just when Mrs. Job was going through the worst crisis of her entire life, taking care of a sick husband, on top of it all, three of his old crony friends showed up. She had to wait on them hand and foot, entertaining them when she least felt like having company.

You have to feel sorry for her. It is like the old Heehaw song, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” The way Mrs. Job saw it, Job must have been doing something wrong for all these bad things to happen to him. He might as well just give up trying to serve God. No wonder she told Job to just “curse God and die.” Actually, it would have been a whole lot easier on her if he had died. But Job just laughed at her and said, “‘You talk like a foolish woman.’ In all this did not Job sin with his lips.“Job 2:10
Job knew and trusted God to make something good come out of it all. He knew that this would turn out for his benefit because he trusted in God. He told his friends,Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. He also shall be my salvation.” Job 13:15-16 NKJV.

When it was all over, Job got well, Mrs. Job got pregnant, and all their friends and relatives had a big housewarming party and took up a collection for them. The Bible says that Job ended up with twice as much as he had before. They even had ten more children. God blessed them because of what Job said, rather than what Mrs. Job said. I guess she finally figured out when to keep her mouth shut.

It was a good thing she let Job have the last word.

Mansion in Heaven

Don’t you just love to watch those shows where the people are searching for beachfront property on a budget or buying a home in the Caribbean? How about a condo on the beach? No? How about a house, but it will cost you more? Instead of a beachfront, you might have to settle for an infinity swimming pool that fades into the ocean or the sky.

Or maybe you are into those tiny houses. One room with a loft bedroom, with a bathroom. I lived in a tiny house once for 5 years, 720 square feet, but it was called a trailer.

I may not have a mansion here on this earth, but I know I’ll have a mansion in heaven. I used to sing that song all the time, “I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old, and some day yonder, I’ll never more wander but walk on streets that are paved with gold.”

Here’s what I want my mansion to look like. The main room will be a library, with beautiful walnut bookcases full of every book I’ve ever wanted to read all the way to the top of the 14 foot ceilings, with those ladders that are attached to the wall. A walnut library table and leather club chairs will be in the middle and a brick fireplace with a dark wood mantel filled with my trophies and crown of righteousness when I’m not wearing it. A window seat in the big bay window looks out over an English rose garden.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2-3 NKJV.

However nice my mansion will be over there, the thing I want most is my Jesus and my family surrounding me. Otherwise it won’t be heaven, it will just be a house, an empty house.

 

 

 

 

Crazy Flying Moths

We have been overrun by some crazy flying moths. Don’t give me any advice about how to get rid of them. I’ve heard it all and it all works, but that doesn’t help my attitude. I run around the house with a flyswatter or swatting in the air trying to catch one in mid-flight.

I cleaned the pantry closet completely out, putting all the craft stuff in a box to store in some other closet. I swept down the cobwebs in the closet ceiling. I ran the vacuum and sucked up all the dog and cat food that had spilled out of the containers. No, the moths didn’t come from the dog food, although I sure thought so.
Of course the secret to keeping the moths away is removing the atmosphere that attracts them, so there’s more work ahead. Just have to find where they are coming from.

What are the “moths” in your life? Those little irritating things that make your life harder? Is there something that wastes your time? What about your money? Do you always run out of money before you run out of month? Do you watch way too much TV or play on Facebook too long? You need to find the bugs. Find out what is attracting them.

“The little foxes are ruining the vineyards. Catch them, for the grapes are all in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15 The Living Bible.

Those little foxes or flying moths could be ruining your life.

Prom Time

I had invited an out-of-town boy to take me to my junior prom.
The only problem was that I didn’t know how to dance. My denomination didn’t believe in dancing, but that year I was determined to “sin anyway!” Of course, now I realize it isn’t so much the dancing that is wrong as it is the things that usually go along with it. Like my kids used to say, “Back in the olden days” our dances were fairly innocent. The two-step and the Twist.
To overcome my problem, I asked my brother-in-law who loved to dance to teach me the night before. So we cleared out a little space in the front room and he showed me how to do the two-step. I am fairly clumsy so it
was a struggle to get my feet to move right. My dad used to call me a bull in a china closet and grumble about me stepping on his feet, when he stretched his full 6’2″ length out into the middle of the floor.
However, at the prom, I tried really hard to follow my dance partner, this boy that I barely knew, and just imitated the rest of the crowd especially when it came time to do the Twist. I wanted desperately to fit in with the crowd.
The desire to belong, to fit in, is so much a part of the teen years. Teens want to be valued, to be accepted, into the community of other teens.
I remember the exact moment, years later, when I saw that God was not mad at me, that He loved me, treasured me, valued me as I am now and not as I thought I should be. I realized that He made me unique. I look like I do, think and act as I do, because this is the way God made me. God loves me and He accepts me, because of what Jesus did, not what I did or will do.
In Ephesians 1:6-7, the Bible says, “He has made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood.” And He loves you too. God has made you accepted in the Beloved Who is Jesus.

Mothers of America

MOTHERS OF AMERICA

America loves mom, baseball, and apple pie. America was formed at mother’s knee. Proudly standing beside their husbands, they helped tame the Old West; labored in the factories during World War II, prayed for the troops on foreign soil who were fighting for freedom.

Mothers have made America what it is today. Have you ever noticed that when the media interview a football star after the game, he usually waves at the camera and says, “Hi, mom,” never “Hi, dad.”

Which of us can name the mother of Billy Graham? What is she known for? I’m sure she was a worker in her church, probably teaching Sunday School, but did she have a career? Did she make a name for herself in Southern society? Did she make her mark in history by running for the state senate? Not that we know of. As far as we know, the greatest thing Billy Graham’s mother ever did was raise her children to serve God.

It should make us mothers humble to realize that we hold the future of our country in our hands. We cannot do this formidable task of raising our children without divine help.

My 98-year-old mother went to be with Jesus this week. She went to work as a housekeeper and caring for children when she was a teenager, and then during World War II she worked in the Army base laundry. When her children were young, she took in washings and ironings, then went to work at the school cafeteria until she retired.

Mother was well known as a woman of prayer. She prayed for her children, as well as other people. People frequently visited our home to ask for her counsel and prayer. In her last years, she said, “I wonder why the Lord is leaving me here so long,” to which I usually replied, “your grandchildren and great grandchildren need you to pray for them.” She lived every day of her life in service to the Lord and taught her children to love and serve Him too. Her children and grandchildren are proud to be descendants of such a woman of God.

Proverbs 31:28-31 CEV, “Her children praise her, and with great pride her husband says, ‘There are many good women, but you are the best!’ Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away, but a woman who honors the Lord deserves to be praised. Show her respect—praise her in public for what she has done.”

Get up early this next Sunday morning and take your children to church. Give your children to God and ask Him to teach you how to raise these children for Him. At bedtime, kneel down with your children and teach them how to pray. No career, no amount of money, nothing else you do in life is as important as this.

 

Signs of the Times

Daddy always said that there would be bad weather at Easter time, and true to form, the temperature dropped drastically overnight, so it was pretty cold this morning. There’s a good reason for the change in weather, of course. Spring. It didn’t catch us by surprise though since we usually watch our favorite weathermen every day and sometimes twice a day to see what the weather forecast is.
 Jesus said to the Pharisees, When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” Matthew16:2-3 NKJV.
 
How can we see the ‘signs of the times,’ as Jesus mentioned? He wants us to recognize what is happening in our lives, rather than just let things happen.
 
We can study what is going on around us, instead of just living life every day, unaware of what is going on around us. We have the tendency to keep our head down, push forward, work hard, stay with the job at hand, caught up in the daily grind. One day we look up and everything has suddenly changed. The kids are grown and gone or the spouse has passed away. Or retirement age has come.
 
Now is not the time to quit, though. Now is the time to start your second life. God has given us the opportunity to live in this day and age where the older ones have a second opportunity. The power of the Holy Spirit will give our physical bodies the resurrection power to do what God has called us to do in these last days.
 
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”. Romans 8:11.
 
What has the Lord called you to do? There are many ways and places to serve the Lord in your world.