The Jellyfish Warning

A jellyfish is very interesting. It is mysterious and compelling. Much time around one and you can become quite comfortable with the “safe” top bubble of the jellyfish. You can become lulled into thinking you can play with fire, so to speak, and not get burned. You can start thinking you are smart and clever and beyond danger because of your familiarity and comfort with the dangerous creature. And all of a sudden, this familiar animal turns all of a sudden and stings you in a vulnerable moment of false security. This jellyfish warning is presented to remind you of how sin works and how the enemy lures us into a gals sense of security and when a time is right, drops the bottom out from under you. When we see the jellyfish, we have to have a plan in place beforehand. We have to have decided that jellyfish are dangerous and though tantalizing, are off limits and to be avoided to save our lives. Likewise, when we see sin ahead, we have to revert to our steadfast plan already in place that says, no turn away and go another path for this is blocked by a danger to my eternal soul. We must be purposeful and active and fight by determinedly standing on God’s Truth and deciding my need to please Him is stronger than my need to be pleased. It is that simple. We must make sin a black and white thing again in our minds and churches to survive this sexualized, sinful, self serving culture we are living in. We must shine like lights in this dark world. How else can we but to be as pure white as we can in contrast. It is on decision at a time and once we make it, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us on task. Such an amazing gift!

1 Peter 2:1

“So then, rid yourselves of all evil, all lying, hypocrisy, jealousy, and evil speech.” – 1 Peter 2:1
I think as we do these things in obedience and strive for purity one right decision at a time, God blesses us. These little obedience blessings come when we need it most and they are fantastic little diamonds dropped down for us to find and enjoy the beauty of.

Loving the Moment Blue

Days are not all the same. Having them all the same would be comforting and maddening at the same time. There are days that warm the heart. These rare days are my orange days. There are days of refreshing, my green days, my favorite days. There are red angry days and yellow summer fun days. Thankfully, black gloom days are rarest of all. But I want to discuss how to appreciate the blue days. Days are blue when we feel weight and darkness pressing around us and its blackness seeps into our happy warmth that naturally comes with following Yeshua and it reveals itself as blue, lumbering, somber, motivationally-challenged. There seem to be a lot of these days for many of my friends lately, and when they are affected, I am affected. So, if the blue days are here, what on earth can we do to make them more lovable. And I thought of a few ideas we can try. On blue days, don’t get out of bed u til you have read three Psalms. I think this might be a good step forward. Another idea is to pray right away and tell God that we have this blue day and need help. If we humbly ask God, our Heavenly Father for help, He does not refuse us. Ever. So, if we ask for a little help and motivation, He will send us little helps throughout the day. The next step is to get out of bed. Sometimes this is about all w can muster, but it is important. Get out of bed, shower, get dressed, force yourself to do this and as you do, God encourages you with strength. Happens every time. We can opt for a little help on being uplifted by listening to some great teaching of truth on the radio or internet or watch some I Love Lucy or Carol Burnett reruns. 🙂 Here’s the next fabulous and important idea. Help someone else. It seems like an impossibility, you certainly won’t want to, but there is something magical that happens when we purposefully obey God in serving someone else, which He says is actually serving and worshipping Him. When we worship Him in this way, He blesses us. The last idea is to stop focusing on the reasons for the blueness and thank Him and look for all the little blessings and good moments. There are always little diamonds He drops down for us. But we miss them if we allow ourselves to wallow and stay distracted. These are some ideas for loving blue days and maybe changing them to yellow. Let’s give it a try.

1Peter 1:3-9

 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you.  God’s power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time.  This makes you very happy, even though now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad.  These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is shown to you.  You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory.  And you are receiving the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:3-9