"Einstein felt, at most, man had attained 1% of the possible knowledge of the universe. Do you think it's possible God is able to do unexplainable things with the 99% we don't understand?" -from
Rooms by James L Rubart

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

our wonderfully mysterious God

first of all, let me preface these cool happenings by saying that we have a little red car that has had transmission trouble for about a year. it didn't seem worth it to fix it because the fix is worth what the whole car is worth, so we have been driving at less than 45 mph all this time to eke a little more life out of this car. in december, we bought a different car to spare us from possibly being caught on the side of the road with none one of these days! since then, we've been blessed to have both cars available.

Friday, 17 Feb. my husband, Orlondo, planned to go hang out with his brother, who lives about 30 minutes away. he was getting ready, eating something and rummaging around in the kitchen, when i started feeling really weird. i couldn't put my finger on it, but i felt increasingly uneasy about him leaving. was he going to be in an accident? was there something wrong with the car? was something bad going to happen at his brother's house? i started feeling physically wrong, like maybe i had a stomach ache.
i couldn't take it any longer. i just felt so in explicably anxious! so i timidly asked, "how are you feeling?" expecting a normal "fine" answer.
to my relief and shock, he responded, "i feel kinda weird!"
"me too!!!"
so we started discussing how we both felt strange about him going and i started thinking about what alternatives might feel better... would i feel better if he didn't go? yes. would i feel better if he stayed off the highway? yes. so maybe he should take the red car, which can't go on the highway... would i feel better if i went along? maybe.
"what car were you going to take?"
"the red car."
"oh, i thought you would take the highway and that maybe you should take the red car instead, but... never mind..."
we just didn't know what to do, so we prayed together, and then sat there, wondering. we needed an answer soon!
"Lord, what should we do?" i burst out.
the phone rang almost immediately!
it was Orlondo's brother. his girlfriend was sick, so could they cancel.... YES! amazing! it took all the guessing out of the equation and felt SO relieving. we both felt so much better right away!
and we were thankful! maybe there would have been an accident, or maybe a mugging, or maybe... who knows?! maybe we'd never know, but we felt that God had communicated with us and spared us from something.

later Friday night. i was writing in my journal about the day's event and looked to the bottom of my journal page, which had a verse: "the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." Psalm 121:8 wow! that's amazingly applicable!!!
i told Orlondo and he paused. he asked, "are you lying to me?!" what kind of a question is that?!
"about the verse? NO!"
"Guess what?! i wrote in my journal earlier tonight and the verse at the bottom of my page was that exact verse!!!!!!!!!"
we were incredulous! God, You are amazing! what a blessing that He would reassure us that He had been protecting us that day!

Monday, 20 Feb. Orlondo took the red car to play basketball at church, a few minutes from the house.

Saturday, 25 Feb. Orlondo started the red car to warm it up.... it was reluctant to start, and even after it should have been warm, it was acting cold. the battery light was on, the engine sounded weak, the tachometer was jumpy, and the steering was difficult... what?
my first thought was the battery. had the cold-ish weather really run it down in just 5 days?? we ran the car a little more and i thought maybe driving it around the block could test or resolve the steering and maybe help the battery charge better... by the time orlondo got back the lights were dimming and the steering took big muscles... he got it parked and turned it off... man, we won't even be able to get it to the car place! is it the alternator? what to do?!

Monday, 27 Feb. i skyped with mom and dad over in Nigeria, and dad, who knows cars, suggested the serpentine belt.  of course! we've had that ridiculous thing pop off more than once (ford was really lacking in that department! you'd think they'd securely attach a part that keeps the car running!). it is what keeps the power steering, the battery, the alternator and more, running as a unit! when it pops off, all power ceases and the car dies quickly! sure enough, when i looked under the hood later, the belt was sagging loosely from its anchors. ah HA! and upon closer inspection, i saw that one of the pulleys that is meant to keep it in place had broken clear off and was dangling from the belt!!! mystery solved. thank You, Lord, that it's not the expensive alternator!

later Monday night. i was talking to Orlondo about the logistics of taking the car in for fixing. maybe we can put the battery on the charger and make it to the shop on just battery? how far does a battery last? should we just have it towed?
i said, "we don't know when the tensioner pulley broke off; it could've broken when you went to basketball on monday, for all we know, so maybe the car ran awhile on just battery. i'm glad we didn't drive far, not knowing we were just on battery! thankfully the car died in our own parking lot!"
"wait a minute!" he said. "last friday when i was going to my brother's! we felt weird! if i'd driven that distance, i would've been stuck on the side of the road with the broken pulley and the car would've died!"
so that's why we felt weird!!! AMAZING!

God is totally interested in the details! He works in mysterious ways, and sometimes, just sometimes, we get to find out about it!

Friday, February 24, 2012

the snow has fallen

when i opened my window shades this morning while getting ready for work, i was greeted by snow! lots of snow, piled up on branches, laying in puffs on bushes, a whited world. how delicate, how heavy, how intricate and gorgeous. and GOD is the one who did it, who laid every snowflake where He wanted it to be, not 'mother nature'.


Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
His understanding has no limit.
He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
Psalm 147:5, 16



Sing for joy, O heavens,
for the Lord has done this;
shout aloud, O earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
you forests and all your trees...
Isaiah 44:23




"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail..?
Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, 'here we are'?"
Job 38:4a, 22, 34-35


"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.
"Though your sins be like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow,
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool."
Isaiah 1:18

Monday, February 20, 2012

the words from our mouths...

"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, 
for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name." 
Exodus 20:7

everyday, on tv and in real life, i hear people blurting out swear words. and evermore increasingly, i am hearing "God" and "Jesus" as the primary choice words. it can be almost any situation: fear, surprise, anger, amazement, irritation, unhappiness, happiness, pain, frustration, weariness... the list goes on. and it seems that once people start saying it, they can't seem to stop... like repeating the phrase over and over makes the person feel they'll be heard more.
i expect this from people who don't believe in Jesus as their God and Savior. to non-Christians, it's just a word, just an easy phrase that pops out and communicates the feeling they feel. but more and more, i'm hearing it from people who profess to be Christian! now this surprises me!
i hear Christians say, "God!" or "Jesus!" when something surprises them or when something seems frustrating. some would argue that they are actually calling out to Him. most of the time, i think that's a baloney excuse. the way it is said doesn't sound anything like sincere, but instead, sounds completely like the usual exclamation heard on tv or anywhere else. there are very few instances when someone is actually talking to God and pleading for His help or presence in their situation. 
and do you realize that all of these following words are synonyms for God or Jesus? gosh, golly, gee, geez or jeez, egad, jeepers, sheesh, crikey, lawdy, lordy, gadzooks, drat, blimey... and this doesn't even cover the words we substitute for other serious words we shouldn't use flippantly, like hell or damn.
why does it matter?
in the original 10 commandments given to Moses for the Israelite people, God listed the above command NOT to use His name lightly. it was the 3rd commandment, which, to me, says it's pretty important. the 10 commandments were God's 'bare minimum', as my pastor recently said, of what God requires from people who desire to please Him. 
why is it so important anyway? it's just a word, just a name; does it really matter? God said, "YES, it matters!" 
you see, God is our Creator.
not only that, He is all-powerful, He knows everything (including our thoughts) and is everywhere.
He is the Rule-Maker.
and though He is all those incredible things, He gave us the choice to accept or reject Him as our God.
over and over and over in history, we as people rejected to follow Him. BUT, even though we rejected Him blatantly, He desired to win us back, enough that He sent Jesus to be our Savior, to die in our place!
Jesus then conquered death by coming alive again! and He lives forever as King of the Universe!
so using His name carelessly and as a swear word really is disrespectful. it's worse than if someone chose to donate a kidney to you because you were dying, and when you get out of the operating room, you roll your eyes at him, say "what an idiot," blow him off, and head straight for a bar to get drunk (which would be extremely unhealthy for a kidney). what a slap in the face!
our words are important, even the little ones.

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But i tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken."
Matthew 12:34b-36

and Jesus did mean EVERY careless word when He said this. that sounds like words are pretty important. how many careless words have you spoken today? that isn't just using God's name, but any careless word... 
and i find it important that it says our words come straight out of our hearts. if your mouth isn't speaking purity, what do you think that means about your heart?

"Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
James 3:10-12

we can also use our mouths for good things:

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11

words are important. 
if you are a Christian, the only next step for you is to stop flippantly and disrespectfully misusing the names of Jesus and God and whatever other variations come out of your mouth. the fact that you hear it all the time is not an excuse; we are called to be DIFFERENT, and your speech is an easy way for non-Christians to tell if you are any different from them. you should be in a daily growing relationship with Jesus, so that your heart and thus, your mouth, are being purified. yes, it takes time for all the garbage to be removed out of our lives. i didn't even realize till today that the word 'drat' is an old variation of 'God rot,' so it's a word i need to remove from my vocabulary too, starting now! 
if you are someone who just claims to be a Christian, or someone who claims another religion or no religion at all, i suggest you seriously contemplate to whom you are speaking when you call out the name "Jesus Christ" or "God." you only get this one life to make your decision to follow Him or not, and you are not promised to live through tomorrow! when your life is over, you will answer to Jesus, and to God, His Father. and this is what God thinks of Jesus:

"God exalted [Jesus] to the highest place 
and gave Him the name that is above every name
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth, 
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:9-11

Thursday, February 16, 2012

don't choose what you deserve

"you deserve it!"
i hear this phrase a lot.
... watching advertisements that say, 'buy this product because you deserve it, you owe it to yourself, it's about time you did something for you!' makeup, cars, spas, clothes...
... watching tv shows and i hear it when someone is contemplating doing something that feels good, 'you deserve it, you're always thinking of others and it's time to concentrate on yourself!' biggest loser, dr phil...
... listening to the news discuss someone who died, as all the family and even acquaintances suddenly start saying, 'he didn't deserve this! he was such a wonderful person!' (why are they suddenly the best person ever if they die?!)
... at work listening as co-workers discuss how one of them went out with friends the night before: 'you deserve some fun.'
it's a nice thought: 'i deserve it'. it feels good and makes us feel like we've done something good to deserve the good that must be coming to us. we all deserve good things, right? we're all pretty good anyway, right?

the Bible paints a much different picture.
"all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"for the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23
when we input sin, we receive death. it's like going to a job and expecting your wages in return. the job we've done is to sin; our payment is going to be death.

but surely those are just mistakes. really, people are generally good to begin with, right?
"... how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." Genesis 6:5
"the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9
"there is no one who does good, not even one." Psalm 14:3b
"those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires... the mind of sinful man is death... the sinful mind is hostile to God. it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." Romans 8:5-8
"if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8

so really, we, as people, as a whole, deserve death. we don't even deserve our next breath of air, let alone a day at the spa! we don't deserve to have eyes, let alone to see beautiful blue skies and green grass...
if you don't believe me, contemplate children. they may be cute, but think about it: you never have to teach a child to do wrong. if anything, controlling that innate desire to do wrong is the hardest job for a parent. you give one instruction and what does the kid do? -exactly what you said not to do. it's inside of us from the beginning.
BUT there's hope!
"blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." Romans 4:8
who is THAT man? can i be that man/woman? how do i get there?
"yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
"... God will credit righteousness -- for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." Romans 4:24-25
"you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ... since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." Galatians 3:26-27,  4:7b

that's a lot of big words and a lot of abstractness... how to make it simple?

it is like being sentenced to life for committing a crime. bail is set at $1,000,000. no way i can pay that! but Jesus came in and paid the million! i can go free! but i have to choose to walk out of jail; He doesn't force me to accept it. i was unrighteous, but He credited 'righteousness' to my account!
it is like walking across a desert for weeks. i'm sweaty and dirty and covered in grime. the little bit of water i have in my canteen must be saved for drinking. even if i tried to wash with the few drops left, it would probably just create a crust of dirty grime on my skin. my clothes are ripped and filthy. i can't be clean! Jesus came to me and says He'll take me to water! He'll wash my skin till it sparkles and give me a brand new set of clothes, also known as His perfection! all i have to do is follow Him out of the desert! my choice.
it's like being a slave. i'm a possession. the master can beat me, yell at me, instruct me to do anything he wants, even kill me. i have no rights. i'm no citizen. but Jesus came in and bought me!!! He offers that not only will i belong to a kind Master, but He will adopt me as His son/daughter!!!!!! in fact, i will be an equal heir to everything He has!!!!!! all i have to do is go with Him.

in all these cases, when i die, the choice i made here on earth will follow me after i die. you and i will stand in front of God for judgement. if we accepted Jesus as our Lord, God will look in the account book and see 'RIGHTEOUSNESS' credited there. He will look at me and see clean clothes on me, no dirt. He will see that i am His son or daughter and He will welcome me with open arms!
if you or i do NOT choose Jesus, however, God will see a debt of 'SIN' marked in the book, dirty clothes on our backs, and our chained, slaved status that we CHOSE. and He will have no choice but to cast us away, saying, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" Matthew 7:23
choose wisely.

Monday, February 6, 2012

it's a 'speed limit', not a 'speed minimum'!

so i'm driving to work in a 40 mph stretch of road, and the car behind me is riding my tail so closely i can't see his wheels... i'm going at least 40, and i think, 40 is the speed limit, not the speed minimum! 
where does this urge come from that when a limit is set, we MUST push to that limit, if not past it?
it's more than just speed.
the Bible tells us to dress modestly. this would be dressing in a way that does not cause lust... what do american women do? the jeans are so tight it looks like they are suctioned on, the shirts are low enough to show cleavage (breasts are seen as sexual organs and should be reserved for the husband's eyes ONLY!), shorts have gotten short enough that sometimes butt cheeks are visible!!! these are extreme cases, but really, clothing should cover all cleavage and not show the upper leg (leaving men little option but to be tempted to wonder how far up they can see), and all clothing should be loose enough so that every nook and cranny and bump is not visible to all. yes, it is up to the men not to lust, but it is just as much the woman's job to be sure there is nothing to tempt the eye!
the Bible tells us ONE wife, ONE sexual partner all our lives. what do people do? it's seen as normal, if not expected, that people have slept with many partners before they even get out of high school, let alone think of getting married. and even once people get married, there's always divorce if you 'fall out of love' with the person you've vowed to be with, or an affair if you want to 'spice things up'... vow? love? chastity? abstinence? americans don't even seem to know what the words mean.
the Bible tells us to control ourselves and not be gluttons. the word gluttony is defined in the dictionary as 'excess in eating or drinking.' this means taking in more than you need. what do people do? one third of all americans are considered obese! that's not even including those who are not yet obese, but considered 'overweight'! watch the trend map on this site to give you a sense of the growing problem of obesity in the US since 1985. it was stunning to me:
http:www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html
obviously we aren't paying attention to any limits in the food category.

this is just to name a few... there are a lot more instances where we, as people, continue to push the boundaries, break past the limits. sometimes it's a good thing to push limits, but all too often it's bad.
what are the good limits YOU are failing to observe? are they physical? are they spiritual? what is God impressing on you to bring under control? He wants your life to be the best it can be. that's what limits are for!
"[The grace of God] teaches us to say 'NO' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope -- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good." 
Titus 2:12-14
if you are a Christian, are you living as an example of Jesus' redemption, or do you look and act just like the rest of the world? are you eager to do what is good, instead of aching to give in to worldly passions?
if you are not a Christian, i encourage you to read the Bible to find out what God says. don't throw away your soul by rejecting Jesus! no matter what it is that you may struggle with, Jesus wants to have a relationship with you. HE will work inside you to transform you once you have accepted Him. there is no one too far, no one too lost, no sin too great for Him to forgive and heal.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

how come it's so hard?

well, i've been working on the Lovely Challenge (described below) for almost a week... and i can't seem to get it together! i find it shocking how just controlling ONE aspect of my own thought process could be so difficult and seemingly impossible! it just shows me the sober reality of the state of my heart - born into evil, in need of Jesus' cleansing.
one good aspect of focusing on this, however, is that i am becoming more aware of my ugly thoughts, which i hope is the first step to removing them... next step, praying for His power to reject those thoughts.

and another verse to consider:

Philippians 2:14-15 "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe..."

i wanna shine like a star...