Accept It~ The Secret to Inner Peace!

“Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change”

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:6-8) NIV

The famous “Serenity Prayer” is repeated over and again throughout the world in hearts, homes, and public meetings. How the words minister to our hearts. Yet this morning, God spoke yet again to me about the “peace that passes all understanding” and how this peace is found in one word of that beautiful prayer- accept!

I have been praying of late that God would send His comforting peace into my soul, for it seems to be evading me. So many cares and concerns and worrisome things about us, constantly bombarding us. Not only are we concerned about our economy, the moral backbone of our society, the wars and turmoils engulfing our world, but just in our daily lives, in the local news and even with our closest and dearest friends and loved ones; situations and problems and evils that seem so out of our control and at times even hopeless. Sometimes I ask myself the question, what it the point of it all?

And to make it all the more difficult to face, just as the Bible predicted over 2000 years ago, because sin abounds the love of so many is growing colder and colder. Human relationships are becoming more shallow all the time and true, intimate and lasting relationships are scarce. Loneliness abounds and suicide is at an all time high. How, tell me how is one to find real peace in the midst of a world such as this? You are growing older and know that your time here is limited. You believe in God. You’ve done your best to forsake sin and follow him. You trust you belong to him, and yet, sometimes it still feels like there is no peace. Why is that?

Acceptance! God says, we must accept the good and the evil. We must accept this world as it is. When He first spoke this to me, I drew back. “What? How could this be? How could Almighty God, holy and good, be telling me to just accept the evil? Was there Bible for this? Yes!

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Job 1:13-21

…So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish  woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:7-10)

Job had learned from God to accept the life God gave to him, whether it was good or evil, for it all belonged to God anyhow, and it all returns to God. He still suffered, but he ultimately retained his peace of mind, the peace that passed all understanding. He did not understand at all why God was allowing these horrible things to happen in his life. He did not understand when or if they would ever end in this life. But he had peace. How do we know that? Because in Job 19: 25-27 he declares,
“I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!”

There are other Bible examples as well- Joseph was sold into slavery and then imprisoned for a crime he had not done; Moses was banned to wander the dessert the remainder of his life;  David was pursued by the very King whom he won a great victory for; Esther was given to be wed to a heathen King; And what about Jesus? He was tried, convicted and crucified, for a crimes no one could find him guilty of; And then, there are all of the apostles- their trials, persecutions, imprisonments and deaths. All these retained their peace because they were able to “accept the things that they could not change.” They accepted them because they knew in it all, God was in charge and it all was a part of God’s purpose and plan.

Acceptance doesn’t take away pain, tears, sorrow or anger. It doesn’t make us complacent. But acceptance will give us a peace that will transcend the physical boundaries of this world and culminate into a higher and more beautiful reality.

Serenity- calm, tranquil, composed, at peace

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.”

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Give Thanks

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (Colossians 3:16)

Each holiday season has its joys for some and its sorrows for others. Not everyone looks forward with joyful anticipation of the holidays. For far too many, the holidays heighten the heartaches that many are fighting desperately to subdue so that they can face their day to day life. When the holidays come with their cheery songs of family and love and happiness, instead of a repose, it only serves to mock them and magnify the intensity of the pain the wound has left in their lives. Amid families happily making their get together plans, suicide skyrockets. Drunkeness and drugs use increases along with the fatalities they impose on society.

As Thanks Giving is upon us, I am reminded of my own griefs, losses and heartaches. But the Spirit of Christ within me moves me and I also am reminded to give thanks. I take time to grieve the loss. I process and cry through and validate how I am feeling. That is okay. But now it is time to wipe away my tears. For there is also so much to be thankful for. And for each blessing ~ for my health, for my family that remains, for the shelter I enjoy, the food on my table, the freedoms God has blessed me with, the clothing on my back, yes, even for the gift of another day of life ~ For all these I will celebrate Thanks Giving! For the men who are protecting my country and their families I will celebrate. That I can hear, see and walk, I will celebrate. CELEBRATE! Not just be thankful, but CELEBRATE!!! I will wipe away my tears, put on a happy song; I will laugh, play, dance and sing! And above all, I will give thanks, to my GOD above.

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart
Give Thanks to the Holy one
Give Thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ
His Son,

And Now, Let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done
for us!

Give Thanks, He forgave my sins
Give Thanks, For I have peace within
Give Thanks, Because I’ve found blessed liberty,
I’m Free!

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Wondering . . .

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will grow cold”

Matthew 24:12

A person has to wonder
Does anyone really love at all?
Words so shallow and meaningless;
Like thin glass, shatter when they fall.

A person has to ponder,
Does anyone truly care?
If the grave were dug and you buried,
Would your memory perish there?

A person has to meditate,
of all that they’ve come to meet;
How many linger to know you,
And how many in fear retreat.

In fear that they may have to notice
That too long face to face, may reveal;
That your eyes carry pain and hunger,
And your heart has deep wounds unhealed.

So they offer a handful of sentiments;
And walk away with judgments unfair;
Pleased with their sense of discernment,
And shake off any dust of real care.

They haste from the house of mourning,
to the house full of laughter and mirth;
Too hard to sit with sorrow,
They bury their treasure in the earth.

And the Lord said, “when I’m hungry, feed me;
When I’m thirsty, cool water I need;
If I am wounded and bleeding;
Stay beside me and take care of me.

How many take time to notice?
To really love and to care?
To empathize with ones heartache;
Take time to linger there?

And a person has to wonder,
Of all who call you their friend;
Why does one feel so lonely?
Why has the hunger no end?

Written by Elizabeth Ann Van Cleve

“To him that is afflicted pity should be showed from his friend; “ Job 6:14

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:2

” Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40

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Removing Specks out of People’s Eyes

Imagine trying to remove a little speck out of someones eye with a big chunk of wood in your own eye. Oh my, somebody is going to get hurt. The one trying to remove the speck is blinder and more incapable than the one with the speck. We need to make sure before we move forward in judgement to “help someone with their problem that we think we see” that we don’t have a bigger problem staring us right in the face that we are completely ignoring. If we want to be effective in ministering help to others, first we need to take care of our own issues.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matt. 7:3)

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Who Are You Lifting Up?

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,  that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. (John 3: 14_15)

Jesus is referring to an old testament story of told in Numbers 21 of a time when the Israelites grew weary on their journey out of the land of Egypt and began to complain against God and Moses. The Bible says that God sent serpents that bit the people and many died. The people asked Moses to pray for them and when he did, God told Moses to take a pole and then to make a bronze snake to put at the end of it and set it up for the people. Then when one was bit by the snake, if they looked at the bronze snake lifted up on the pole, they lived.

So here, Jesus is likening himself to the bronze snake in the old testament. He is to be lifted up and when He is lifted up and people look to Him they will live. This is so important, and really so missed by religion.

Many times the pastor or dynamic speaker is lifted up, the bands and entertainment are lifted up, the religious doctrine is lifted up, the rules or the way a certain denomination holds things are lifted up, the works of a church are lifted up, the arguments of what is right and what is wrong are lifted up, etc . . . and CHRIST is lost in the background.  God has even witnessed to me that much of what goes on by way of  “praise” today are crowds gathering together and working themselves up into a frenzy shouting and getting “high on the moment” and not even realizing that Christ is not being lifted up at all, that the reality is, they are full of  themselves.

How will you know if you are lifting up Christ or not? Christ said himself- “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32  Now here He is speaking of his crucifixion, however he states the purpose of lifting the Savior up is to draw all people to HIM! Its not just about saying his name either. Its about really seeking him with all your heart, reading his words, talking to him with a prayerful heart and listening to his leading in your life. Its about desiring to be a proper representative of him in this world, because when you say you are a follower of Jesus and you misrepresent him, you dishonor his precious name.

People wonder, why they are dying spiritually? Who is being lifted up in your life? Turn your eyes fully upon Jesus, lift him up in true praise and worship and you will come alive. This “alive” will be to the things of God- the souls he loves and wants to see healed, and to reconcile to himself. God sent Christ to seek and save the lost. God sent Christ to teach people the way of righteousness. God sent Christ to show us how to love each other. God sent Christ that whoever would believe in him would be saved – saved from sin and the condemnation, and separation from God that sin brings. God sent Christ because He loved us. He loved us so much he gave us himself in his Son Jesus Christ.

God help us daily to remember that Christ suffered horribly, was lifted up on a cruel and torching cross, that we who have been bitten by the serpent might be redeemed from an otherwise certain death. We need to keep our eyes on Christ alone. He is the one we worship. Not our pastors. Not our church affiliations. Not our reputation amongst “brethren.” But we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ, and when we do, we live and souls will be drawn to him.

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19 Cult Characteristics

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

(Isaiah 58:6)

Someone recently told me that it takes the average person that leaves a cult five years to clear themselves of its fears and distortions. That makes a lot of sense when one has been in something that they have embraced as the epitome of truth and right.  In this day of so much confusion and so much calling from every direction, it behooves us to pay attention to the warning signs and above all, to pray and seek God and ask him to be our light. Don’t allow anyone or anything to destroy that mustard seed of faith God put into your heart. Treasure it. Water it. An above all guard it.

Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
(Proverbs 4:23)

University of California at Berkeley (19 Characteristics)

Recruitment

1. Deception – Group identity and/or true motives are not revealed. The group leaders tell members to withhold truth from outsiders.

2. Emotional Leverage/Love Bombing – Instant friendship, extreme helpfulness, generosity and acceptance…Group recruiters “lovingly” will not take “no” for an answer-invitations impossible to refuse without feeling guilty and/or ungrateful. “Love”, “generosity”, “encouragement” are used to lower defenses and create an ever increasing sense of obligation, debt and guilt.

3. Exploit Personal Crisis – They use an existing crisis as a means of getting you to participate. They exploit vulnerability arising from:

• Broken relationships
• Death in the family
• Loss of job
• Move to new location
• Loneliness/depression
• Guilt/shame
• Stress/fear

4. Crisis Creation – They employ tactics designed to create or deepen confusion, fear, guilt or doubt. i.e. “you aren’t serving God the way He intended.” Questions areas of faith never before examined or explored and attack other faiths specifically.

5. All The Answers – Provide simple answers to the confusion they, themselves, create. Support these answers with material produced or “approved” by the group.

Programming

1. Intense Study – Focus is on group doctrine and writings. Bible, if used at all, is referred to one verse at time to “prove” group teachings.

2. Opposer Warnings – Recruiters are told that “Satan” will cause relatives and friend to say bad things about the group to try to “steal them away from God.” Recruits soon believes group members, alone, are truthful/trustworthy.

3. Guilt and Fear – Group dwells on members’ “sinful nature” (many use public confession). Guilt and fear arising from “failing God” are magnified to manipulate new member.

4. Schedule Control & Fatigue – Study and service become mandatory. New member becomes too busy to question. Family, friends, jobs and hobbies are squeezed out, further isolating the new member.

5. Attack Independent Thought – Critical thinking is discouraged as prideful and sinful, blind acceptance encouraged.

6. Divine Commission – Leader(s) claim new revelation from God, within past 200 years, in which all but their group are rejected by God. They, alone, speak for God.

7. Absolutism – They insist on total, unquestioning obedience and submission to the group, both actions AND thoughts. Group “love” and acceptance becomes dependent upon obedience and submission. Unconditional love…isn’t.

8. Totalism – “Us against them” thinking. Strengthens group identity. Everyone outside of group lumped under one label.

Retention

1. Motive Questioning- When sound evidence against the group is presented, members are taught to question the motivation of the presenter. The verifiable (sound documentation) is ignored because of doubts over the unverifiable (presenter’s motives). See Opposer Warnings (#2 above).

2. Information Control – Group controls what convert may read or hear. They discourage (forbid) contact with ex-members or anything critical of the group. May say it is the same as pornography making it not only sinful and dangerous but shameful as well. Ex-members become feared and avoidance of them becomes a “survival issue.”

3. Isolation, Separation & Alienation – Group becomes substitute family. Members encouraged to drop worldly (non-members) friends. May be told to change jobs, quit school, give up sports, hobbies, etc.

4. Coercion – Disobedience, including even minor disagreement with group doctrine, may result in expulsion and shunning.

5. Phobias – The idea is planted that anyone who leaves goes into a life of depravity and sin, loses their sanity, dies, or will have children die, etc. Constant rumors of bad things happening to people who leave. No one ever leaves for “legitimate reasons.”

6. Striving for the Unreachable – Group membership and service are essential for salvation…”Work your way into God’s favor.” NO matter what you do, it is never enough.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female,for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. . . So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. . . Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. . . It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. . .  You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. . . You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. . .  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. . .

(Study and pray over Galatians for a more in-depth understanding of these scriptures)

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Remember to Whom You Belong

This morning I attended our neighborhood church service and the minister brought the thought that when ever you attend a court of law, you have both the one who stands for you and those who stand to oppose you. And so it is in the heavenly.  But when we are saved, Christ stands for us. We now have royal blood coursing through us and the Bible tells us in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [33]  Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;” If the king of all kings, and Lord of all Lords is standing on my behalf, who can stand against me? [34]  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” 

Again the Bible says in Romans 14:4 “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

The popular saying goes, “You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time.”

So I would like to encourage you this morning by reminding you who you belong to when you belong to Christ.

“[F]or through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,   having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:18-22

• You are the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16)
• God has your name written in the palms of his hands. (Isaiah 49:16)
• You are God’s child (John 1:12)
• You can go to God in confidence. (Ephesians 3:12)
• You do not need to go to any man, but Christ alone. (1Timothy 2:5)
• King Jesus has made you all glorious within. (Psalms 45:13)
• No man can take you out of God’s hands. (John 10:27-29)
• You are free from all condemnation (Romans 8: 1-2)
• All your circumstances are working for your good. (Romans 8:28)
• Nothing can separate you from God’s love. (Romans 8:31-39)

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Take Religion Out of Me

A few years ago, in response to a visiting ministers message, I began to earnestly pray that God would take any religious spirit out of me that was not of him. The results have been astonishing.

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 

Christ is teaching us two very important and key things here; 

1. The Kingdom of God is within

2. Do not follow after ones that come to you and say, “Come here or go there to find Christ.”

Yet these very two vital points have been overlooked even I must confess, by myself. I spent almost 20 years serving a religion that had told me I was to find Christ within their system alone, and yet I became further and further away from him and more and more religious and pharisaic and blind until God was able to send a spiritual earthquake into the very core of my soul and I realized as was taught in Revelations:

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Revelations 3:17-19

Believing I had purchased for myself quite a lofty place in the heavenly realm, I had laid aside the outward garments and jewels, movies and  taken on every rule this system had required of me- teaching me to diligently obey whether or not I understood and that I would be rewarded for my obedience. I was like Saul of old before he became the apostle Paul, zealous of my nation and all its laws, a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

But Christ arrested me one day and stripped me of all my self-righteousness and opened my eyes to the hurting, hungry and bleeding souls all around me that were being trampled beneath the feet of the self-righteous. I repented and fled that state.

When I was younger and looking for an honest “church” to worship with, I was studying my Bible and not wanting to be “deceived.” And yet, I still feel I fell victim to just another religious system and the reason is simple- I quit looking within and followed those that said, “low he is here” or “low he is there.” I did not trust myself. Part of that was because of the preaching. Truth was definitely mingled in the message that was preached. But the message was also heavily inundated with fear and threat. I was taught right away that I must always be there to listen to every message- systematic brainwashing.  Then I was taught I should never leave and if I did, I would be better off to go back into sin than to ever go somewhere else looking for God. If  I tried to look for God elsewhere, I would be self-deceived.

These messages locked me into their system and their rules and their leadership which was never to be questioned or criticized. When people left it was because there was something wrong with them and their connection with God. But one day I read somewhere that when a church has a long list of spiritual fatalities, that really is a bad reflection on them, not on the people who left. That was a pivotal, awakening moment for me. Christ said, “Look at the FRUIT Liz. LOOK! Open your eyes!” I began to see things as they really were. This was not God’s special people in all the earth. These rules and regulations were dividing and hurting people and causing prejudices and harm.

One day, God told me it was time to leave. It was very difficult and has not been easy. But I have been blessed and helped all along the way and I have had my faith renewed. My God is within and always has been. I do not have to “go” somewhere to find him. I can “gather” with just one other believer and there he is in the midst of us. “Church” does not have to happen between four designated walls.

“Men choose a religion, but a Christian is chosen by Jesus Christ.” Iranian martyr Mehdi Dibaj

“Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery.” Robert Ingersoll

“All religions are the same: religion is basically guilt, with different holidays.” Cathy Ladman

“The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.” Richard Francis Burton

“The Institutional Church (ecclesia) has killed only two kinds of people: Those who do not believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, and those who do.” Will Durant

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it with religious conviction.” Blaise Pascal

Since I left the religious sect I was so long tied up in, if I ever had any inclination to return, it has been completely sucked out of me by the treatment of those who were once my allies and friends. Shunning is not fun nor right, especially when one has done no wrong. I have spoken to others who left before me. One woman said she didn’t stop crying for a month because of the way she was shunned by the “church” and another woman said she felt like she had leprosy or something- she felt like she was a disease. Even now, over a year later people from the “church” that run into her act like they do not know how to act around her.

I was so surprised that after almost 20 years of faithful, consistent service, not one person, not even my closest friends, would even call to see how we were doing. It just solidified the message Christ gave to me from Revelations about lukewarmness and indifference.  I was once a part of that and have had to contact other souls I affected and apologize if ever hurt them by my actions.

Today I am free- free to live for Christ according as he leads me on the throne of my heart. That is true freedom- having him back as my Lord and Savior- knowing he will never leave me nor forsake me.

Many religious people read Matt 24 like this,

Enter in thou good and faithful servant

for you went to church four times a week

you paid your tithes of all that you had

you always wore a skirt and you never wore jewelry

You never questioned the pastor and always obeyed him

Instead of what he really said,

For I was hungry, and you fed me

I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink

I was a stranger and you took me in

I was naked and you clothed me

I was sick and you visited me

I was in prison and you came to me

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one

of the least of these my brethren,

ye have done it unto me.

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New Wine

“[No] one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.”

(Luke 5)

“They say the old wine is better” – Jesus said this after preaching from a boat, touching a man with leprosy, telling a man his sins were forgiven, sitting down to eat and drink with a roomful of tax collectors and sinners, and being questioned and ridiculed every step of the way because it was not according to the “customs of the day.”

Sermons were supposed to be preached in temples by “anointed men of God.” People with leprosy were to be kept far away from. No one but God had the right to pardon someones sins. The righteous were not mingle with sinners and furthermore, they usually spent their time fasting and praying, not eating and drinking.

Earlier in this chapter we read that Jesus went out alone in the wilderness and took time to pray. There, all alone with God, Jesus was given new wine to drink and new wine to share when he came back into the crowds. He had something fresh and life-changing.

If all you are drinking is the “old wine,” then all you will be doing is complaining whenever you see the new wine being poured out; you will be blinded to all the good the new and fresh wine is doing.  You will have one solo message; “THE OLD IS BETTER” and all around your eyes will only see that the old is not being adhered to- the old ways of doing things, the old religious systems.

Go, take some wilderness time with God alone, and let him pour forth some new wine into your soul! Let him give you something new and fresh- something relevant for today’s needs. Get out of your religious rut and back into the leading of the Holy Spirit. Let go of the old so God can bless you with something new!!!

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A Spoonful of Sugar

In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap, the job’s a game
And every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake
A lark, a spree, it’s very clear to see
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

~Marry Poppins

The morning was chilly as I poured a steamy hot cup of coffee before I sat down to read my bible and pray. I breathed in its aroma- mmm . . . and took a small sip. It was slightly bitter. For a moment I thought I would add my vanilla flavored stevia to sweeten it just a bit and then I just decided not to and headed for the lounge chair. But the Lord stopped me for an opportune object lesson that was to extend throughout my weekend.
“Liz, why not add that stevia to your coffee? The coffee is bitter. The stevia will sweeten it up a bit. There are no calories in it- nothing unhealthy about it. Go ahead. Add a little sweetness to your morning cup of coffee.”

So I went back and added a few drops to sweeten my coffee.

Recently, my youngest daughter and I watched “Marry Poppins” and so the song “Just a Spoonful of Sugar” came to my mind and I smiled to myself as God’s loving light began to spread its warmth throughout my soul once again.

In the past couple months, the course of my life has majorly shifted. My spiritual foundations have been broken. This has been a very emotionally difficult process. It as if God took pruning shears and pruned my spiritual life-tree back to the stump and I am in the winter waiting for the new growth. Needless to say, it is a painful time in my life, but full of hope and anticipation.

So throughout this weekend God spoke to me about the “spoonful of sugar” many times over again. I have had to pray much to keep my emotions in check and I have been praying about the restoration of the Joy of the Lord into my heart and many other burdens. That little bit of sugar that began in my morning cup of coffee, started popping up all throughout the day as God opened my eyes to the “spoonfuls of sugar” he gives us everyday.

It could be a sunrise, a cool morning breeze, a flock of geese flying overhead, beautiful billowly clouds shimmering in artistic majesty as we drive along the highway. The golden sunsets. A word of encouragement from one dear friend. Really they are innumerable. There really are bowlfuls of sugar all around us. But we need only to take a few spoonfuls to make a difference in the flavor of life.

“You see Liz, the sweetness is always there. Just like the stevia was there all along for your coffee. But you had a choice. You could drink your coffee bitter, or you could partake of the sweetness and add it to the coffee and when you did, it made the bitter sweet.”

Yes, life has much bitterness, much heartache, much woe and care. But all along the way are spoon-fulls of sugar, that if we keep our eyes open to, we can add them into our cup and it will help the medicine go down, in the most delightful way!

“The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord”

Psalms 33:5

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