Month: September 2023

You know that I’m an admirer of strong Christian song lyrics. But I ran across a Utube video today that really blew me away. A South African children’s choir was dancing and singing a song i had never heard before and the chorus touched me deeply. “If coal can turn to diamonds and sand can turn to pearls; if worms can turn to butterflies, then love can turn the world.”

In the third chapter of John, Jesus speaks of  the transformation that takes place when we believe in Him and follow Him. As Christians we have experienced that new spiritual birth and we know the change that has taken place in our lives as a result. God is love and it is His love that transforms our sinful nature (lump of coal, grain of sand or a worm) to a new and beautiful child of God (diamond, pearl or butterfly). Are we perfect yet? No, but the more we share  God’s love with others, the closer we get to His perfection.

Do you want to turn the world? Love your family, then spread kind acts and loving words throughout your small part of the world. If all believers do that. the world will turn back to God.

A while back I wrote that little things mean a lot. Some of my fondest memories are little things at the time they occurred. However, little irritations can pile up and do great harm to our peace of mind.

Try spending the night in a room with a male mosquito if you don’t think a little thing can drive you crazy. The male makes a loud buzzing sound when he flies to attract females. He cannot inject a tube and draw blood like a female mosquito, but he will buzz around your ears then land on you for a second and fly off again before you can swat him.  He never seems to get tired, but you sure will.

It isn’t always one constant little thing. Sometimes it is a series of little things. Everyone has been after me to sleep in my bed instead of my power chair, so Wednesday of this week I tried it again. Shortly before my caregiver was scheduled to arrive, the phone rang. It seems like that happens every time I am in bed because I can’t reach the receiver from my bed. I struggled to reach the speaker button but could hear no one on the line. After the phone rang again, I sat on the edge of the bed and used my sliding board to transfer to my power chair to return the call and see what was happening. I was getting very irritated. It was my caregiver saying she was picking up some food for me and was running a little late. I had scheduled my Physical Therapist Thursday morning at nine to give me enough time to have breakfast first, but by the time my caregiver arrived, there was no time for breakfast before PT was at my door.

By that time I was losing my temper at every little thing that went wrong the rest of the day. That is often the way Satan  attacks our peace and serenity. The best defence is to isolate each small event by taking a moment to pray and lay it in God’s mighty hands. That will keep them from piling up and weighing us down. That is what I will do next time and I hope you will do it as well.

If you have followed my blog, you know that I avoid politically charged topics or even theological debate that separates Christian denominations. However, after much prayer, I believe the value I place on every stage of  human life, including the later stage I’m in now, is as much a part of my Christian life as anything else I have written.

In 1973, there was no ultrasound or mapping of the human genome. Today, 97% of biologists worldwide agree that human life begins at conception when that first living cell contains the DNA map that shows the life that is developing and growing in the womb.

Josef Stalin, after killing millions of Russians who opposed him, wrote this; “The death of one person is tragic. A million deaths is simply a statistic.” How about 64,600,000 deaths? Slightly more than that have been killed by legal abortions in the United States alone between 1973 and this week. To me that is way beyond just a statistic or even tragic. It is unthinkable.

Due to advances in medical treatment of pregnant women, experts say less than one percent of legal abortions are done to save the life of the mother. That is still a lot of very difficult decisions to make, but the rest of those innocent lives are simply sacrificed on the altar of convenience; given a death sentence for the actions of others.

I used to think that rape was a valid reason for abortion at a very early stage, but after reading and hearing several people who were the product of rape describe their gratitude to their mother for allowing them to live, I have changed my mind. One retired army colonel put it simply. “When a woman becomes pregnant from a rape, there are two victims. You don’t save one by killing the other one.” He is now spending time with his grown children and grandchildren (none of whom would exist if he had been aborted).

Life is a precious gift. Let us put ours to good use with every breath and beat of our heart.

I learned as a young Christian that it is not my job to deal out punishment to those who harm me or even attempt to harm me. In the fifth chapter of Matthew and the sixth chapter of Luke Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile for them. When we attack others it is revenge – not justice.  An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will simply produce a generation of toothless, blind folks. Jesus practiced what he preached from the cross when he asked his heavenly Father  to forgive those who were crucifying him instead of asking that each of them be crucified too.

Martin  Luther King, Jr. knew that you don’t fight hate with hate, because only love can defeat hate; only kindness can  defeat hatefulness; and only good can and will defeat evil.

As Christians, we are engaged in spiritual warfare, but our enemies are not other people. As a retired pest control trainer I love this analogy. If you put 100 black ants and 100 red ants in a large jar, nothing will happen. If the jar is shaken violently, The black ants will think the red ants are their enemy and the red ants will think the black ants are their enemy and they will attack and kill each other.  The real enemy is the one who shook the jar. Satan loves to shake up this world and get us to attack each other.

Another post caught my attention today on social media. “A ship doesn’t sink because of the water around it. It sinks because of the water that gets inside of it. Don’t let what goes on around you get inside of you and weigh you down.” We can’t always control our environment, but we can control our reaction and how it affects us.

With Christians, it isn’t just what we allow inside of us, but Who we let inside. When we accept Jesus Christ as our savior and follow Him, God’s Holy Spirit moves into our heart and crowds out all of the clutter that we have accumulated from around us that is weighing us down and replaces it with love that lifts us above the waves and storms of life.

The Holy Spirit not only guides us on the path God has laid out for us, but He seals us from those things that might put us in danger of sinking.  The more familiar we become with that great power within us, the safer we will be.

A post on social media caught my eye today. “The world is changed by your example and not by your opinion.” Christians often think that we must share our faith verbally and there are times when that is called for, but our example  can be even more powerful. In the 5th chapter of Galatians, Paul writes about seven fruit of the Holy Spirit within us. Every one of them is a verb – what we do and not what we say. As we become closer in our relationship with God, those actions will become habits and then become our lifestyle.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it is still true; others may not remember what you said to them or even what you did for them, but they will never forget the way you made them feel when they were with you. That is your Christian witness and legacy.

There are people we don’t even know who are watching us from a distance to see if our actions are consistent and sincere. Don’t be surprised when strangers approach you in heaven to thank you for showing them the Way, Truth and the  Life.