New Name Because of Inclusions

Now here’s how you can tell if someone is a gemology geek:

Friend, “I splurged and bought a new puppy.”

Geeky Me, “Great! I splurged and got a new gemstone microscope.”

I love my microscope. I can look closely at gemstones and see internal inclusions. Inclusions are the fuzzys, flakes, featherings, horsetails, lily pads, and other extra stuff inside the otherwise clear stone.

Now usually we don’t want inclusions. In diamonds – carbon spots – no, no. But in some gemstones it is an identifying mark that they are real and not fake, or they are the indications from where they came. And in some gemstones they make them, well, just pretty.

Now quartz… is quartz… is quartz. But when it has inclusions of hematite (red and silvery black flakes and ribbons) it gets a new name. It is then called “Strawberry Quartz.” It’s a pretty name for a pretty little stone. And the inclusions are what give it a new name. (OK, finished being geeky.)

When I was thinking about having a new name because of inclusions, I thought of me. And not just me, but other people like me now and in centuries past. You see, people started believing in Jesus Christ as the forgiver of their inclusions (sins) and started following His teachings as the Son of God. They admitted their inclusions and admitted that Jesus Christ forgave inclusions. Were the inclusions gone? No, just forgiven. And the people around them saw a difference and gave them a new name – Christians. That means “followers of Christ” or little wanna be Christs, or we just want everyone to see Christ in us first and start with that in our name.

Acts 11: 21- 26

And the hand of the Lord was on them, (They were refugee believers fleeing persecution and going to Antioch.)

and on a great number who believed in the Lord. (These were the refugee’s converts.)

The report came to ears of the church in Jerusalem (They wondered if this was real.)

and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. (He was supposed to figure out what was going on.)

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them to stay faithful to the Lord with a steadfast purpose (He told them to keep living following Jesus and telling others.)

because he was a man full of the Holy Spirit of faith. (Barnabas could tell that their belief was real.)

And a great many people were added. (There were a growing number of believers in Christ.)

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Paul and found him and brought him to Antioch. (And said, “Hey, man, you gotta see this.”)

For a whole year they met with the church and taught many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (People came up with a name for these Christ followers that was easier to say than “these little Christ followers who have given their life to live the Jesus way and are very different from the rest of us.")

*All the (  )’s are mine.

We have inclusions.

We have believed in Jesus the Christ who has forgiven our inclusions.

We have given our lives to follow this Savior.

We have a new name because of this.

And it’s not “strawberry quartz!”

God is Extraordinarily Good

You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. Psalm 119:68

After we’ve been through ordinary albeit unpleasant events we can look back and evaluate them.

That’s where I was Sunday morning in church; at the evaluation stage of an unfortunate Saturday.

And here are the events of that day:

I had just spent a week of a wonderful family vacation at Oak Island, North Carolina. Knowing that I had a 9 hour drive ahead of me and that I was singing in the praise team the next day and I’m not a spring chicken anymore, I thought I would leave at 7 AM. I’d get home in time to unpack and decompress.

 About 2 hours into the trip I thought I’d stop and get gas. I had forgotten to do it at the beach on Friday. On the off ramp my car started doing funny things: all the lights on the dash were flashing, and the car was sputtering. I’d just gotten into the parking lot of the gas station when the car quit and I knew something was wrong.

I am prepared for this kind of event because I have AAA. So I called and in a short amount of time the tow truck came. The very friendly guy got my information and asked if I knew anyone in Florence, South Carolina (That’s where I had the breakdown) I could stay with while the car shop he was towing it to could fix it on Monday. I explained, “No” and that I really needed to get back to Montgomery, Alabama that day because I was singing in the praise team at my church on Sunday

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He very kindly said, “I’m going to get you to church on Sunday.” So he loaded my car on the truck put me inside the cab with him and started calling repair shops. He must have called 4 or 5 shops before he found a place that would work on my car that day. It was Sears at the mall in Florence.

He dropped off my car and told me exactly what to tell them and said everything would be taken care of. (He must have told the repair shop at Sears that I had to get to Alabama that day because they got to my car quickly and knew all about my trip from the beach to Alabama) He had predicted that I needed a new alternator and that was exactly what mechanic Mike found out. As he was fixing that, he found one of the belts was frayed. (He showed me the belt and it looked like it was held together by threads.) Scary that I had been driving with that!

Since I was at the mall I had lunch at the food court, visited many stores, and had a Starbucks coffee. Not really part of the plan but not unpleasant. The nice lady at the auto desk, Phyllis, called me on my cell and told me that my car was fixed so I went back to Sears Auto. As I was getting ready to pay, Mike, the repair guy came in and said that as he was backing out my car he noticed the hood was higher on the right side than the left. When he looked in he saw that the wrong size battery had been installed and was causing arcing which was the reason for the messed up the alternator. And a closer examination showed that the underside of my hood was singed and the covers of the battery posts were partly melted. Scary that I had been driving with that.

So back into the shop it went and Mike who could have gone home stayed to replace the battery with a proper sized one. He also found that the wedges that keep the battery safely in place had been removed to make room when the wrong sized battery was put in. So Phyllis called around to other stores to find the right size wedges because they didn’t have them and she put a rush on it to get the part there that day. While we were waiting for the wedges another of the mechanics came in and said that I had broken down at the right place because there was nothing between Florence and Columbia on highway 20. He even said that God was looking out for me

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And low and behold after 5 hours my car was safe to drive home. Phyllis included on the receipt that the reason the alternator died was because of the wrong sized battery and included that the wedges were missing. Mike put the old battery in my trunk for me and they both told me to take it to the ridiculous installer and ask for recompense. (They said, "ridiculous.")

Well, I did get home (the 9 hour trip turned into a 14 hour trip) and did make it to church. And then My Pastor Wade started his message with this statement:

“God ordinarily does the extraordinary through the ordinary.”

Exactly!

And here is my evaluation of Saturday:

Yes, God made sure I didn’t hurt myself driving the death trap to the beach.

Yes, God made sure I broke down at the right place.

Yes, God made sure I got the tow truck driver that cared.

Yes, God put Mike and Phyllis at the shop in Sears.

Yes, God got me safely home.

Yes, God is good and He does good things.

Look around at your ordinary events and see how God is putting the extraordinary in your ordinary.

Was He Talking About You?

I love teaching the Bible to first graders. After Easter I was given the privilege of subbing for first grade at my favorite Christian School. The Bible Lesson for the day was about “Doubting Thomas.”

In the first place, I don’t think poor Thomas should have been saddled with that nickname. After all He was not the only one among his peers who doubted in the resurrection of Christ. All of the disciples doubted. Look up Matthew 28:17, Mark 16:11 &13, Luke 24:11, and Luke 24:37 (They even saw Him in person and didn’t believe.) In fact, a few of the women and John were the only ones to believe in His resurrection before He actually appeared before all of them in the upper room.

So now back to the Thomas story.

I started the class with this, “Did you know that there is a place in the Bible where Jesus talked about me?” Their little first grade eyes looked skeptical but no one said anything. “Yes, He was talking about me! I wasn’t even born way back then but He was talking about me.” Still I saw the skepticism.

Then I told the story about Thomas and how he didn’t believe until he actually saw the risen Christ. (At least Thomas believed at first sight and didn’t think He was a ghost like some of the others.)

At that point in the story I said, “The next thing Jesus said to Thomas and the rest of the ones there in the room was when He talked about me.” And their little eyes got a little bigger but still doubtful.

I told them this, “Luke 20:29 Jesus said to him (Thomas), ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ That’s me! I haven’t seen Jesus. I wasn’t in the room when He appeared to them. But I believe that Jesus is alive. I believe He is raised from the Dead. I believe all of what the Bible says and I wasn’t even there! So Jesus was talking about me.”

 Well, you could actually see the unconvinced little faces clear. And some smiles. And some nods. One little boy in the back didn’t even raise his hand but blurted out, “He was talking about me too!”

I said to him, “Really? You haven’t seen the risen Jesus and you still believe?” He nodded. I told him, “Well then He was talking about you too.”

And then I heard a chorus of little voices saying, “He was talking about me. He was talking about me.”

I love that moment when The Word of God becomes real to children.

He was talking about me.

Was He talking about you?

Mercy/Justice

In my “read through the Bible in a year on my cell phone” plan I am struggling. Oh, I am reading on schedule and doing it every day. I am in the book of Joshua and understanding it. The struggle part is that I don’t want to understand.  The author of the book (probably Joshua mostly) is brutally honest. He tells it like it is. And I don’t want to know these things about the character of Almighty God. I’m a “stick your head in the sand” kind of girl.

My Pastor Wade said something Sunday that jerked my head out of the sand. He said, “You really can’t understand or define the term “mercy of God” without understanding and using the term “justice of God.” I’m all about love and grace and mercy from my Abba Father God-friend. But there is more to His character. He is Holy and sinless. He is just and righteous. He holds every human accountable to His standard and when the standard is not met He punishes. Nobody wants to come face to face with this kind of God. No one wants to see His wrath side, especially me.

I was reading in Joshua 7 that after the famous victory in Jericho where the walls fell down and the soldiers didn’t have to lift a finger that God was very specific about what to take and what to destroy. The Bible says that the Children of Israel committed a trespass. God grouped the whole country together over one man, Achan. He took the forbidden by God and kept and hid it. God really was upset with the whole of the community because of this one man. Maybe they knew and kept quiet. Maybe they were as shocked as Joshua when he found out. And it wasn’t until the next battle at Ai that it was all brought out. Ai was a small place and should have been easily defeated. Joshua didn’t even send in all the troops. But, wow, 36 men of the children of Israel died as God’s people retreated in humiliation. Joshua found out from God the why. One of the soldiers didn’t follow God’s order. Someone took the things accursed to God. God said He wouldn’t be with them anymore until the “no no” stuff was destroyed along with the one that took all of it.

And it was Achan. And so Achan and all of His family and possessions had to be destroyed, killed, stoned, and burned. Death was the justification to God for this sin.

I don’t like knowing that God is so exacting. I’d rather know His mercy than His justice. But as My Pastor Wade says, I won’t really understand His mercy until I understand His justice. Death is the justification for sin. This really puts Christ’s death in a greater perspective. The only way I can enjoy a love relationship with God is to bow to the knowledge of the price paid for my sin by Jesus Christ.

Jesus the Son of God placed Himself in front of me when the punishment was handed out for my sin. He took all of the punishment full force intended for me from God the Father.

So it comes down to this (whether I want to admit it or not, whether I want to avoid it or not) I can learn the God way or the Achan way. The God way – accept His forgiveness for my sin through Jesus’ death for me. Or the Achan way – try to hide my sin from God and hope He doesn’t find out. (We all know how that will end.)

I’ll take mercy.

 I’ll take forgiveness.

And I will understand the full extent of what mercy and forgiveness means to God because I will understand His justice.

James 2:13    Mercy triumphs over Justice.

Special Shine

I am a self-professed gemstone geek. I (of course) love, love diamonds. But I also love, love the colored gems and the oddball gems. Right now I’m quite taken with labradorite.

Labradorite is a common looking dark gray-green opaque gem. It was first found in Labrador, Canada, hence the name. It doesn’t sound very pretty or appealing and it isn’t. Just an ugly rock. Until….light hits it. Then there is a wonderful display of color.

The effect is so amazing that they gave it a special name; labradoresence. Not very imaginative, but they didn’t ask me. When exposed to light there is an iridescence of green, blue, gold, and peach. It’s rather spectacular in my opinion.

And poor little labradorite is quite like me. I’m not all that. Just an ugly dark rock. Until…the light of the Christ shines on me. Then I display “Christianesence”. Yes, I made up that word.



For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord Ephesians 5:8-10

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,“Awake, O sleeper,and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:13-14


Christians reflect a special shine if we are reflecting the Lord. And that’s just the point. Just as labradorite needs light to expose its beauty so too we need to walk in the light of Christ to show our beauty.

And that is not always easy. We have a tendency to prefer to walk in sin instead of letting His light become visible in us. We are bombarded with worldly temptations that look pretty to us but only reinforce our ugliness.

The first part of chapter 5 Ephesians lists all of our ugliness. But (my friend says take everything after the word “but” and double the emphasis) now we are to recognize what is pleasing to our Lord and walk that way. True Christians should have a Christianesence.

That’s how we should walk,

with a special shine.

Patience Really Is A Virtue

When God wants His child to learn something He will teach it

no matter how His child wants to avoid it.

This is the new lesson I learned today. I’ll admit it, I’m not patient. I like to flit around. I hate to wait in lines. I like to get in and get out.

But sometimes God has another plan for me that makes me have to stop and learn. I had errands today; several little few minutes at a time things to do.

Run to the post office and mail some items. I avoid the local post office for my city and go to another town to do all my postal matters. I know a small post office that makes posting easy. The postal clerk is friendly and helpful and quick. I was in/out, no problem.

Pick up some prescriptions at my local pharmacy. In/out? OK, I went to the drive through first. There were four cars in front so I thought it would be quicker to go in and pick them up. I must admit that I did a lovely three-point turn and slid into a parking place. In/out?

There were only two people in the line. One drop off. Easy. Got him out of the way. One lady picking up one prescription. Easy? Noooooooo. She had a problem because her medicine with insurance went up from $2.00 to $4.00. Really? The kind pharmacist went through all her records and what insurance she had and tried to explain why her medicine went up. Ten minutes later I was waiting for my turn. No in/out.

That’s when I realized that God wanted me to practice a little patience today. I was supposed to not get mad and silently fume. I was supposed to wait. God wanted me to learn this little lesson. And no matter how I tried to avoid it, He wanted me to learn this. This was just a little lesson in patience to maybe get me ready for a bigger lesson in patience.

When I realized that no matter how I tried to avoid my lesson in patience God was going make me learn it, I just had to laugh. There standing in line I laughed (to myself.) And thinking this was all funny made waiting OK.

 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:12-17 

I hope the next time I’m challenged to have patience and bear with another; I will let the peace of God rule and give thanks.

And laugh.

Wow!!!

I have been on a schedule of reading through the Bible in a year as recommended by My Pastor Wade. I must confess I have never done this before. It was my guilty secret. I just couldn’t get through Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy. I would give up by then. But with our new, and might I add wonderful technology, my Bible on my cell phone has broken it up into manageable pieces weaving Psalms and Proverbs with New Testament passages and Old Testament passages. And I am getting along with this plan just fine. My cell phone even reminds me every day to do my Bible reading. Is this a great thing or what?

One thing has struck me with a “WOW” as I am going through Numbers. It is the numbers of sacrifices required of God’s people. I mean on this certain day for this certain week at this certain time of year; sacrifice 13 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, and 1 goat for a sin offering. On the second day: 12 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, 1 goat for a sin offering. Day 3: 11 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, 1 goat for a sin offering. Day 4: 10 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, 1 goat for a sin offering. Day 5: 9 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, 1 goat for a sin offering. Day 6: 8 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, 1 goat for a sin offering. Day 7: 7 bulls, 2 rams, 14 male lambs, 1 goat for a sin offering. Day 8: 1 bull, 1 ram, 7 male lambs, 1 goat for a sin offering. And this is just offerings for one of the many yearly appointed calendar events.

What astounds me is the sheer number of animals required to be killed and offered for the atonement for the people’s sins. And then when it is coupled with the New Testament account of the crucifixion of Christ as a final replacement for sin’s atonement, I can only humbly bow in thanks for His sacrifice for my sins.  

  

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrew 10:11-14




To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen. Rev.1:5-7

Thanks be to Jesus the Christ my Savior and Redeemer and the atonement for my sin.

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus

WOW

Can’t wait to sing with the choir on Easter Sunday!!!