The case of the internal clock

Ever since I was approved as a substitute aide for a local school district, I tend to wake up every morning by 6 AM without the help of my alarm clock.

The gal who calls the subs to work indicated she would call sometime after 6, but before 6:30 if she needed me. I don't bother to set my alarm, since I know I won't get a call every day . And if she doesn't call, I want to sleep at least until 7 before getting up to start my day.

I've always had difficulty when startled awake from a deep sleep by the telephone. It leaves me jittery for awhile and I have to really work hard at calming my mind in order to go back to sleep.

Being in ministry, it's a fact of life that goes along with the job so I've learned to live with it. After all, emergencies which need the pastor's attention can't be scheduled between 9 AM and 5 PM.

But apparently, because I anticipate a possible 6:30 call from the school, my internal clock kicks in to wake me up - just in case the phone rings. My brain is saving me from that jittery awakening.

Has that ever happened to you?

We are fearfully and wonderfully made! God equipped us with a stress hormone called adrenocorticotropin which apparently starts to build up in our systems about 30 minutes before we actually wake up. When it reaches a peak, it gives us the gentle "jolt" we need to rouse us from sleep to wakefulness. Somehow, this internal clock of ours can even be set for specific times like a 6:00 wake up call.

When we are startled awake by our clocks, that hormone doesn't build up gradually. Instead, we experience an adrenalin rush, that fight or flight feeling, which can leave us disoriented, tired or jittery for awhile until the hormone dissipates. 
 
Apparently plants have an internal clock too. Researchers studying certain plants found that about an hour before sunrise, the genes that activate sunlight absorption in the plant began to "wake up" for the day. This same internal clock regulates the plants' ability to produce buds and fruit/seeds at te proper time.

In Matthew chapter 24, Christ gave his disciples indicators of a sort of spiritual "internal clock" for creation. He foretold of a cosmic build up of earth stressors (an increase of wars, famines, earthquakes, hatred among people, and an increase in wickedness) designed to wake up the hearts
of men, alerting them to the coming of Christ. Those who anticipate his coming will respond to the "internal clock" wake up call and be ready to go, while those who don't, will be startled awake to the harsh reality of God's judgment.

Thank you Lord for those internal clocks that not only wake me up for my daily activities, but that also help me wake up to your light! Amen.

Giving from the heart

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. Luke 6:38 (NLT)

When going through difficult circumstances, it's easy for our focus to shift from the Lord to our own feelings, especially if we're experiencing fear. Fear has fangs that easily burst our bubble of faith.

When that happens, we withdraw emotionally from the Lord and others. We tend tighten the hold we have on what we've got - whether it's our finances or our possessions, or even the prayer and emotional support we normally give to others.

You know what I mean. Those days you feel so emotionally drained, you'd rather stay in bed with the covers over your head than doing something for someone else or thinking about the problems of those worse off than you.

Rather than giving to others freely we turn away from them because we're afraid we won't have anything left if we give it all.

It's a lot like the illustration of the monkey with his hand in the narrow-mouthed cookie jar. He could easily slide his hand into the jar, but when he grasped the cookie in his fist, he couldn't remove his hand from the jar. But he still refused to let the cookie go because it belonged to him. Even if he couldn't eat it himself, he still possessed a cookie. But if he let it go, he feared he wouldn't have anything at all.

Yet, the scriptures are filled with stories of those who faced dire circumstances and still shared freely with others. The widow who only had enough oil and flour to make one last meal for herself and her son is a good example. When Elijah came to her and asked her to share her last meal with him, she did it freely and God blessed her with an inexhaustible supply until the famine ended. (1 Kings 17:10-16)

Even in his darkest hours, the Lord only thought of us. In the predawn hours he spent praying in Gethsemane's garden, he loosed his hold on his physical life as he prayed, "Not my will but thine be done." As he hung on the cross dying, he prayed for forgiveness for his enemies because they didn't understand what they were doing. He gave up his life so that we might have eternal life.

To be able to loosen our fists on our possessions or on our mental and emotional resources in order to help others around us who are in need, is at the heart of the Gospel of Christ. Especially when we're going through rough patches in life ourselves, the act of giving to others with a heart of love allows the Lord to give back to us - joy during our discouragement and materially to meet our needs.

We don't give in order to get - we give because we're already been given so much! And when our hands are empty, God refills them again so we can give some more. Amen!

Sin stains

““I, the LORD, am the one speaking to you. Come, let’s discuss this. Even if your sins are as dark as red dye, that stain can be removed and you will be as pure as wool that is as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18 ERV

The new carpet was pristine white, the last thing to be installed before the completion of the renovations. The home owner stood there admiring it and decided to have a party to celebrate the completion of the home renovations.

The guests began to arrive and soon everyone was having a great time, eating and drinking. Then it happened. One guest spilled some dark red wine on the new white carpet.

The hostess declared it was ok since the carpet was that new stain resistant brand as she hurried off to the kitchen to get some towels to blot it up. She grabbed the special spot cleaner that the installers left to complete the job, pitching the product to all the television viewers.

You've gotta love television commercials. In this one, the stain miraculously disappears after treatment, leaving no traces of the dark red wine. Whether the cleaners work as well in real life is debatable, but at least the commercial offers hope. LOL!

Our lives are a lot like that carpet - through everyday wear and tear, they become stained with sin: by the things we do, the things we fail to do or the careless words and actions of others. It's inevitable as we live in a sin-tainted world.

There is only one way to remove those sin stains from our lives - through the shed blood of Jesus. As we ask him for forgiveness for the things we have done or failed to do, his blood cleanses us from every sin and we are as pure as that white wool carpet in his sight.

As we choose to forgive others for those things they have done to us, his blood works to cleanse and heal our hurting hearts - wiping away the stains which could cause us to hurt others down the road.

If you're tired of looking at the dingy carpet of your life, call on Jesus today - he will cleanse and heal you. He's the only product on the market today that can clean your heart 100% - guaranteed!

Giving Blood

“Let us thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was through His loving-kindness that we were born again to a new life and have a hope that never dies. This hope is ours because Jesus was raised from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3 NLV

A missionary told the story of an orphanage that lay in the middle of a war-torn area. During an attack on a nearby village, the orphanage compound was hit, killing several missionaries and children, injuring many others.

As soon as they were able, a medical team arrived in the area. They assessed the injuries of the children who had survived the attack and found one child in critical condition who needed a blood transfusion right away. The doctors asked for volunteers to donate blood among the surviving children, but their requests were met with frightened stares.

Finally, one little boy reluctantly volunteered, because the child needing the transfusion was his friend. But the entire time the nurse took his blood, he lay there crying.

As the nurse removed the needle, he stopped crying. He had misunderstood the nurse's request. He thought he had to die - to give every drop of his blood for his friend to live.

In an act of loving kindness, Jesus Christ gave his blood and his life, so that we might have a new life. But even more than that, his resurrection from the dead gives us a hope that never dies!

Thank you Lord!

Lessons from a little dog

Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.” Galatians 3:28 CEV

When my daughter moved from her house into an apartment, she wasn’t able to keep her little chihuahua because the dog barked too much – so we inherited Egggo.

Since we already had an older rescued Brittany Spaniel named Danny, we hoped Egggo would get along with him. The two of them were OK together when my daughter came for visits, but an extended stay might be another thing.

Egggo seemed to get along with Danny fairly well at first. They mostly kept their distance, but over the next few days, it was fun to watch the two geriatric dogs, each with very different, very distinct personalities. Whenever Danny had to go out, Egggo followed. She did her business in the same spot and had to eat at the same times. She even took over his blankets and would have taken his bed too, except that she had to be crated at night to avoid accidents.

Just when it seemed they might start curling up together, Egggo found a pig’s ear to chew on. It was her toy and she loved it so much she was willing to destroy any shreds of friendship she had built with easy-going old Danny Boy. Whenever he so much as looked in her direction, she growled and snarled. If he walked too close to her, she worried that he would steal her chewy toy and lunged at him with teeth bared.

For as little as she is, she rules the roost. There’s no equality in her mind - she’s the queen of this household and she shows it!

But thankfully for Danny, we try to treat both dogs equally. Though she might try to boss him about, he is still on equal footing with his humans, getting lots of cuddling, love and attention – just as we give to her. Because he has specific physical needs, we do some things differently for Danny Boy, but we do care equally for each one.

God treats us the same way. It doesn’t matter to him what our nationality, religion, income status or sex is – we are all equal in his sight. Knowing our individual personalities, talents and skills, he may relate to each of us differently in order to bring out the best in each of us, but we are still equal in his sight. To put it as one Christian psychologist once did, “Wherever the Gospel goes, Jesus raises the status of the slave the poor and women. ” He offers the same salvation to all. And to all who accept that salvation, he offers the same opportunity to grow to their fullest potential in him.

Thank you Father, for caring about me! Amen.

Wake-up call...

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Revelation 3:20 (NLT)

Dogs can truly be "man's best friends" - BUT one of the cons of dog ownership is that they sometimes have to get up early in the morning to go out - when I'm not fully awake yet. But being a good doggy mama, I drag myself out of bed and take them outside.

I'm not sure how it happened, but the back door was locked when I closed it behind me at 6 AM the other morning. There I was in my jammies, no cell phone and no keys, standing on our back-door deck with two wide-awake pooches. My husband snoozed away, unaware in the bedroom at the other end of the house so he couldn't hear my frantic knocking on the back door.


I sat on the deck chair and reviewed my options.
- I could sit out there until he got up in about 2 hours...at least it was warm since it was the middle of July. But that wouldn't work since both the bathroom and my morning coffee were inside the house.
- I could break the glass window pane to open the back door... - not a good plan at all!
- I could go around to his bedroom window and thrown some pebbles at it to try to get his attention... - no, with my luck that morning I'd end up breaking the window... again, not a good idea.

I finally decided to try knocking on the front door - after all it was closer to the bedroom and he might just hear it. On my way around the house, I realized the dining room window was open with a fan inserted in it. So I squeezed through the ornamental bushes to get right up to the window and yelled inside the house - much to the amusement of the customers at the gas station across the street.......

Thankfully the early AM show was short-lived for the gas patrons. My sleepy-eyed husband heard me and dragged himself out of bed to rescue me, I don't remember if I cooked him a good breakfast that morning, but I know he deserved one!

While this is a humorous illustration, the reality is that Jesus wants to be a part of our lives. We've locked him outside of our hearts and lives, content to live without his help. Yet he stands there patiently knocking until we let him in to share our everyday lives. He's powerful enough to break down the door of our will, but he won't. He patiently waits for us to "wake up" to our need for his love and let him in.

Father, thank you for coming in to my heart: for loving me unconditionally, for sharing my everyday experiences and for always being there for me. Amen.

Joy in the hard places

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you
face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
produces perseverance.” James 1:2-3 NIV

There comes a point in each trial or crisis - a rock-bottom
place - when we are forced to make a
decision. We decide either to let the trial defeat us or to let it better
us.

If we succumb to the pain of the crisis, bitterness begins
to grow in our hearts, eventually darkening our spirits. But a decision to
fight back against the trial brings hope and even a glimmer of joy.

Salvation is a good example of this. Did you know that 99%
of Christians accepted Christ during a moment of crisis or great trial? Think
back to when you first made the decision to accept Christ.

When we make the decidion to let trials change us / grow us,
we begin to experience a sense of our Heavenly Father with us He is the bright
spot in the midst of the pain and grief. He begins to massage our hearts with
the oil of gladness with a sweet aroma that permeates even the most difficult
circumstances.

The events or circumstances around us might not change, but
our hearts and attitudes do - we experience the joy of relationship with Christ
in the midst of our sorrows.

Father, whenever I am going through a crisis in my life,
help me to choose to reach out to your healing, hope and joy. Help me to cling
to that hope and joy no matter how long it takes to get through the trial/
Amen!