Posted in Bible Journaling, Christian Service, Evangelism, Faith, Life Inspiration, Life's Failures, salvation, Word of God, worship

Pardon Me For Whining

Written by talk2shari Published July 30, 2019July 30, 2019 Discussion Leave a Comment

Okay… so I feel like I should apologize for whining yesterday. It’s not that it’s not in my character, it’s just not in my character to do it out loud. I always do it in my head so the world thinks I’m super spiritual. Just kidding… they don’t. But I like to think myself super spiritual sometimes; because then I don’t feel so bad about myself when I realize I’m an epic failure. Now that I’m done with that, let me tell you what I really want to do. I want to Psalm 13:6 it today!

Psalm 13:6

I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

So in case you missed my whining session at the end of my vlog (video blog) yesterday, I was a tad emotional about the fact that temptation in this world is hard. Everyone faces it, and I’ve had my share lately when it comes to wanting to escape the will of God. That sounds bad. I should want to be in the will of God, right? Well, I technically do, until it’s a struggle. Like in the world of my finances and then I want to jump this ministry ship and get a “real job.” I get in that mode because that’s what the world tells me I should do. So this morning as I went merrily on my way, bible journaling through Psalms I came upon David’s whining session. However in his defense, his own son Absalom was trying to kill him. That really trumps my reasons to whine.

Abandonment Issues

¹How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

Forever? Have you ever felt that way? When God does not answer immediately, especially in the microwave society for which we live, the feeling of despair can take over quickly. I want an immediate resolve so I can move forward. I want God to fix this mess! But with that cry I have to realize that God didn’t make my mess. I did.

Just like David. While he didn’t cause his son to become his enemy, he caused himself to lack the confidence that he had earlier experienced (before the sin with Bathsheba). Failing in our walk with Christ causes the feeling of abandonment, not because God moved, but because we’re not as close as we once were.

Advice Issues

²How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

The worst thing I can do is ask myself for advice.

Taking counsel in my own soul will just add insult to injury. I’m a little too close to the situation, don’t you think? And yet when I don’t hear from God, rather than being still and waiting, I talk. And talk. And talk some more. I’m such a slow learner.

Ability Issues

³Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; ⁴Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

Can you not hear the whining heart of the Jesus chick? It’s pretty loud. “I’m dying here Lord!” that’s what David said and that’s what I have a tendency to say. Because of my struggles I don’t have the ability to get the things accomplished that I want to get done. And because of that, I too feel like the enemy is rejoicing in my failures and I’ve been moved out of the place I long to be in.

So here I am sitting in my office this morning and God reminds of a pumpkin that’s sitting at the edge of my yard in a pumpkin patch that I didn’t even plant. I had pumpkin décor last fall and it stayed in front of David’s wood shop on a few bales of hay, until it decayed and David as he often does, he cleaned up my mess. He threw the hay, pumpkin and all at the edge of a field. The seeds from those pumpkins made it into the ground and bore fruit. It was so exciting when David discovered our unexpected blessing and showed it to me.

Huge Leaves!

So this morning I hear… this mess too will bear a surprising fruit. Be Still.

⁵But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.⁶I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

So let me unwind and un-whine. God is good. That pumpkin is far from the only blessing in my life. I received such sweet encouragement from a few friends yesterday.

I shall not be moved! Because the Lord has more than dealt more than bountiful with me. How about you? Do you have a pumpkin in your patch? Praise God for it. And run the enemy off the porch of your dreams. Thank You Jesus.

Posted in Christian Service, Life Inspiration, Peace, Political

How To Deal With An Idiot

Written by talk2shari Published May 19, 2015May 19, 2015 Discussion Leave a Comment

Do you ever have those days where you’d like to jerk a knot in someone? I know… that’s not very godly is it? But I’m being honest when I say that I’ve had multiple lately. I will confess that often times it’s entirely me, but other times there are people who I fully believe need a knot jerked in them. I’m not sure where that phrase came from, and although I’m pretty sure it’s just an idiom and you cannot literally jerk a knot in someone, it still leaves room for fantasy and makes me feel better when I imagine I’ve done it. Especially when I’m in the presence of an idiot. I know… I know… another ungodly word but the world is full of them! At least since the 14^th century when that word came into existence. And I need wisdom today on how to deal with them, and me. And there in God’s word, at Biblegateway.com was the answer in the verse of the day! God didn’t even make me look for it, He laid it out in pure sight as if to say… “Yes Shari… you need some help.” Perhaps you do too!

James 3:17-18

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

How to deal with an Idiot:

Remember first that in comparison to God, none of us are even close to intelligent! But the wisdom that is from above is first pure. However, the Creator of all the universe saw fit to infuse us with His wisdom through the Holy Spirit, therefore we have access to that pure wisdom from on high, but fail to access it. That is idiocy. We rather trust in our own though process which most usually ends in disaster or at least a lesser blessing than God intended.
Seek Peace and speak Peace. Then peaceable, gentle… When I say idiot, I’m not referring to a person’s mental aptitude, I am more often than not speaking of a person’s moral attitude. In the political climate of today it seems that idiocy was a prerequisite for office and the nation just blindly follows along as if we have no say in the matter. Dear gussy…. I’m an idiot too! It’s frustrating, is it not? But God instructs us to live in peace with all men. Meekly… anger in control. Getting up on a soapbox with contention and hatred toward people won’t fix America. Getting down on your knees in prayer would be a good start. That would be seeking peace. Speaking peace would be to stand on the Word of God boldly, but meekly (gentle).
And easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits. A sure fire way to stop a productive conversation is to assume those who disagree with our opinion have nothing good to say. Sometimes their adverse opinion is there because the Lord’s good Words came out of a foul Christian’s mouth.
Pick Apples. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. If you sow peace with your words, you’ll reap peace in your soul. If we go to the Word of God, and eat of the fruit that God provides, and take the seeds that God plants in our souls and replant them in the world… how awesome will our harvest be!

It really is so very simple, that even the simple minded can understand it. Christ is the answer.

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Posted in Christian Service, Church attendance, Leadership, Life Inspiration

The Blossom Gang

Written by talk2shari Published January 10, 2014 Discussion Leave a Comment

I love beginnings! And I “mostly” only like endings because I know once something is completed, something new is beginning. It’s the part in the middle that I have issues with. Genesis 1:11 ~ And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And so it was that the summer of 1996 a sapling sprung up in the depth of my soul that I believe God planted long before the baby known as Shari was born to Gene and Violet Hardway in Braxton County, West Virginia. Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” So I believe that God sowed a seed in eternity past that He knew would take root, and I believe the same is true with every human on the face of the planet, although every seed sown does not take root. The anomaly (inconsistency) that some get saved (accept Christ as their Savior) has nothing to do with the seed, or the Sower, but the soil for which it was planted. We are still free willed, God won’t force Himself upon us, at least at this point. There will come a day that everyone shall see Him as He is and know that He is indeed Truth and light. But for now, if men and women choose to stay in a state of denial, it’s their choice, and truthfully their loss.

But that fruit after its kind mentioned in Genesis 1:11 has captured my thoughts this morning. When God formed man He created him in the likeness of Himself (Genesis 1:26), and each child born, generation to generation is born from the same seed sown at Creation. Our lineage began with Adam and progressed over the years, or digressed over the years into a generation of people who many consider themselves independent of God; but whether they confess Him as Lord or not they cannot get rid of that seed in their soul that continues to try to take root, even in stoney soil. As Jesus described in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:5-6 “Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.”

But it’s not always a soil issue entirely. Sometimes it’s the lack of growth in those little saplings. There are some trees in the orchard that have beautiful bloom but that’s where it stops. They go to church (on Sunday morning and other “special services” and they look “churchy” when the go. They have a Christian fish on their car and if anyone asks they’re more than happy to tell them they’re a Christian and that everyone should have a home church. But… they are far too busy to make Sunday evening and Wednesday a priority, and sharing the gospel runs the risk of offending “good people” or even worse offending “bad people.” Then there’s the whole issue of church and state and the state they’re in… but they look pretty. I think I’ll start calling them the blossom gang, all flower… no fruit.

God planted the seed within us and if we allow He will continue to fertilize the crop with the expectation that the fruit He’s already given root to and nurtures Himself will be fruit bearing also – in His likeness.

So my question to myself and you as well is are you a member of the blossom gang, or the Alpha and Omega Orchard? There’s a beginning and an end to everyone’s story…

Posted in Uncategorized

Are You Rooted by the Water?

Written by talk2shari Published March 21, 2013March 21, 2013 Discussion Leave a Comment

Jeremiah 17:7-8 ~ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

A tree planted by the water doesn’t thirst as does the tree planted in barren soil far from the river bank. Neither does a Christian firmly grounded in the Word of God, as opposed to a Christian who’s a hit and miss on Bible reading and church attendance. But I’ve also seen church folk who arrive every Sunday, looking as parched when they left as they did when they arrived. I was watching a large church service online yesterday; a young Pastor just filled to brim with excitement for the Lord’s work, the house was packed and those that the camera zoomed in on were obviously enjoying their time in the house of the Lord; but what about those that the camera men knew better than to zoom in on? Those prune faced, arms crossed, less than enthusiastic parishioners who showed up at the well, but refused to drink. What about them? Something has to be wrong with the root system.

I loved what Jeremiah says in these verses. The life of a child of God should bear witness to these verses.

The Man Who Trusts in God Has hope

Why then do I see so many who claim to know Christ facing the day as if all hope was gone? It is just a theory, but I’d venture a guess they’re not close enough to the water. Jeremiah said the tree planted by the water would not see the heat coming. He did not say there wasn’t any heat, but the tree wouldn’t see it.

Tell me you don’t know what it’s like to have the heat turned up in your life. You know it. But what this verse tells me is Satan can turn the heat up all he wants; but if I’m truly trusting in the Lord, I won’t see it.

The Man Who Trusts in God Has life

Jeremiah says the “leaf shall be green.” A green leaf has juices flowing through it, it’s flexible, the winds can blow but it stays firmly attached to branch. Hello!!! Does that put a shout on me this morning! A saint of God who is trusting in the Lord is alive! The water of life flows through their veins and their excited about what the Lord is doing in their life. Their flexible if things don’t go the way they thought the would, and when the winds get fierce their wavin’ glory!

The Man Who Trusts in God Has fruit

Jeremiah said even in the year of the drought they’d bear fruit. This world is anything but user friendly to soul winners. But there is still fruit ripe and ready to be picked for a child of God who trusts God for it. Wow! I’ve stirred my own soul today. I hope I stirred yours! Let’s go harvest the fruit God has for us today. Amen