Tossing Aside the Useless - Anita van der Elst

Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. Mark 10:50 NLT

Knowing how to dress in the area where I live challenges me.

At eight in the morning, clouds dump buckets of water. Noontime finds a blinding sun in a clear blue sky. The evening treats us to a thunder-and-lightning show accompanied by pinging hail. 

Should I layer a raincoat over a sweater or grab my umbrella and hope for the best? If I wear a coat to keep warm, I get overheated when I enter the grocery store, which makes my shopping task unpleasant. I must toss the coat because it’s a useless interference.

And then I sometimes sort through my closet—determining what doesn’t fit anymore, what would have the fashion police up in arms, or what is plain worn out. They’ve become useless to me and take up space for something new.

I wonder if that’s how Bartimaeus felt about his wardrobe. As a beggar, his coat was probably ragged, smelly, and so full of holes that it would have been easy to get tangled up in, especially since he was blind. 

But with the potential to meet Jesus and be healed of blindness, the blind man let go of the covering impeding his movement. It appears, however, that it was more forceful than just dropping it. No. He threw it.

The old habits and activities we wrap ourselves in only entangle us. When Jesus calls us, we must toss aside all that impedes us from following Him. We need the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life that He offers. He will heal our spiritual blindness so we see Him. Then He invites us to express our wants and needs.

Think about what raggedy old habits or thoughts keep you slumped on the side of the road and away from Jesus. Toss them aside and hurry to Him as Bartimaeus did.

Anita van der Elst finds joy in creating with words, believing God gifted her with the desire to do so. Married to her best friend, Edward, since 1976, she is a proud mom of four adult children and Oma to three of the most delightful grandchildren ever. Other joys in her life include bringing beauty to Facebook through photos she takes on her iPhone, exploring the state parks in the PNW, facilitating a small group of women, and participating in a Bible study.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Angels of Mercy - Martin Wiles

And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. Hebrews 13:16 NLT

We sat on the porch and watched the angels of mercy come, one after the other.

My wife and I were visiting a shut-in couple from our church when the angels of mercy arrived. As we enjoyed the cool fall weather, I watched the front door of the house across the road open. A lady with a covered tray walked out and across the street. She strolled up the couple’s front steps and told them she had made them supper. As she named off the southern meats and vegetables under the foil, the husband’s mouth watered. She took the meal inside, placed it on their table, made a few minutes of small talk, and then left. 

A few more minutes of conversation passed when a neighbor on the left walked over with a plastic bag and said, “Thank you, Papa, for watching my kids.” 

“You’re welcome, honey,” he said. 

I wondered how he had cared for her kids, since he could hardly care for himself or his wife. His eyes lit up as he looked inside and discovered six packs of bologna—one of his favorite meats to fry and make a sandwich from. 

“Thank you, Lord,” he whispered, tears dotting his eyes as his neighbor walked away. 

Both angels were from different races and cultures—one an African American and the other Hispanic. But it mattered not to this couple living in a neighborhood that had changed drastically since they purchased their home fifty years before. God has sent his angels, and they were thankful.

Like most people, I sometimes focus more on my own needs than on others’. I want God to send his angels in the form of others to help me, but I forget he wants to send me as an angel of mercy as well. But putting my eyes and hands on others relieves the emotional intensity of the hardships I might be facing and reminds me that I don’t have to look far to find people in more dire straits than I am. 

Opportunities to be used as God’s angel of mercy abound. Being one requires living with intentionality, desire, love, and openness to the opportunities God places all around us. 

Ask God to send you angelic opportunities. 

Father, thank you for the privilege of serving as your hands and feet in this world. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Barbecue Pulled Pork

 

 

Ingredients

1 10-pound Boston Butt

Butt Rub Seasoning

Directions

Rub Butt Rub over the entire roast.

Place in crock pot.

Fill 3/4s full with water.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Pull apart.

Serve with your favorite barbeque sauce or mix sauce in meat.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

What's Involved in a Sit-In - Martin Wiles

But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Hebrews 10:12 NLT

He pulled up a chair, sat beside me, and raised his left arm in the air.

Our church was hosting its first craft fair. A good number of vendors signed up, set up, and enjoyed interacting with customers—along with selling them products. I sat at a table near the entrance, hosting my first book signing. As my wife talked with the various vendors, a gentleman from our church took her seat beside me, raised his left arm, and smiled.

“What are you doing?” I—along with others who stopped by—asked.

“Sitting in for your wife,” he responded.

My wife had undergone carpal tunnel surgery the day before and was supposed to be sitting with her arm elevated. But she wasn’t being a good patient, as usual, so our friend decided he’d show her how a sit-in was supposed to be done.

Although no more than a young boy in the 1960’s, I remember another type of sit-in. The kind where minority groups, whose rights were being violated by governmental laws and society’s traditions, sat in various stores and other locations. Had I chosen to sit with them—or sit in their place—I would have faced the same retaliation as they did.

The biblical writer, however, introduces another type of sit-in—one that also had consequences but wonderful results. This sit-in occurred after Jesus died on the cross, was resurrected from the grave, and then ascended back to heaven.

Jesus sat in my place as my friend did for my wife, but with a big difference. His sitting in her for her had no effect on the swelling in her arm. She was still walking around with it dangling in the wrong direction. Jesus’s sitting in our place has the potential to alter our current life situation and eternal state. His sit-in was substitutionary, which means he took our place.

If we choose, we can avoid having to pay for our sins and be eternally separated from God. We can be released from condemnation and live with confidence, peace, and joy. But we must accept the effects of Jesus’s sit-in by confessing our sins, putting our trust in Him, and claiming him as our Savior.

Don’t try to sit in for yourself. Accept the sit-in Christ made for you.

Father, thank you for allowing your Son to sit in on my behalf. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

How to Grow Your Nose by Controlling Your Anger - Martin Wiles

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty. Proverbs 16:32 NKJV

Had I created mine, I would have made it shorter and narrower.

The nose is an interesting part of the body’s anatomy. It continues to grow as a person ages. And I have seen many senior adults with noses that have apparently followed the norm.

As a child, I smelled everything before I ate it. I suppose I thought if it smelled bad, it would taste the same way. Not always true. Since smell is one of the most powerful memory tools, I’m glad—although sometimes sad—that I have a sense of smell. Certain aromas can resurrect things I’ve not thought about in years—or even remembered that I remember.

But growing my nose longer has never entered my mind—but perhaps it should. The Hebrew word for “anger” in the Old Testament means “nostril” or “nose.” According to Hebrew psychology, the nose was the beginning point of anger. One who was slow to anger was long of nose.

An interesting twist on this piece of our anatomy. So interesting that we might indeed wish our noses would keep growing. Anger is one of those God-created emotions that almost everyone struggles with. The emotion itself is neutral, but it is rarely expressed in the same way. Hurt, fear, and frustration resurrect it, and the temptation is to manifest it in ways that will hurt others.

Being slow to anger is an art only God can help us with. We may have genetic propensities or have lived through environmental situations that make it easier for us to express our anger in unhealthy ways, but neither excuses the responsibility for our actions. “I can’t help it” won’t cut the mustard with God. Strength comes from learning to control the emotion.

We can grow our noses by temporarily or permanently stepping away from an explosive situation, by being prayed up ahead of time, by being familiar with what the Bible says about anger, by learning to think before we act, by depending on God’s Spirit to help us do what we might not ordinarily do, and by looking for beneficial ways to express our anger.

Don’t be ashamed of a long nose. It means you’re mastering the anger button.

Father, help me to express my anger in ways that please you and benefit others. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Choosing a Trustworthy Guide - Martin Wiles

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8 NLT

Although I had never seen this person before, I chose him as a trustworthy guide—at least for the next hour.

My wife and I were on vacation in the mountains of Tennessee and wanted to visit somewhere we hadn’t been before. Forbidden Caverns popped up in our search as near our location and on the way home. I visited caverns as a child, but many years had passed since I had walked beneath the earth’s surface.

We anxiously waited in the lobby for our guide to appear. After he did, he led us down a hallway and stopped us at the end of the ramp. He introduced himself and explained what we would do.

As we toured our designated pathways, I noticed many more walkways spinning off in various directions. Knowing how dark it would be if the electricity failed, I was glad we had a guide who knew the layout, had the means to contact help, and could provide accurate information about the cave’s history and the present forms of life that lived there.

God told David he would guide him along life’s pathway—advising him along the way—and David trusted him to do so. After all, he had guided him while he was a shepherd boy and did the same when he became king of Israel.

God Is Competent

God is a trustworthy guide because he’s competent. Our cave guide didn’t make the cave, but he knew it intimately. He had been trained and could now lead others.

God Is Sovereign

God is sovereign. He made the earth, currently guides all the affairs on earth, and will culminate the end by making a new heaven and a new earth. He is all-wise and all-powerful. He dwells in the future we’ve not experienced. He knows our future, has good plans for our future, and will guide us into it if we let him.

God Is a Helper

God can also provide the help we need along life’s journey. When trials, tribulations, and confusing times affront us, he can give us the power to overcome and the wisdom to make the right decisions.

All the above make God a trustworthy guide. I’ve used maps, people, GPSs, and phone apps to guide me, but they all failed at some point. God never will.

God Is a Guide

Choose God as your trustworthy guide to maneuver you through the often-confusing thing called life.

Father, I trust you to guide me through the dangerous and confusing obstacles along life’s journey. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Banana Nut Bread

 

 

Ingredients

2 1/3 CUP BISQUICK MIX

1/3 CUP VEGETABLE OIL

1 TEASPOON VANILLA

1 ½ CUP MASHED BANANAS

½ CUP PECANS (CHOPPED)

1 CUP SUGAR

3 EGGS

Directions

STIR ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER AND BLEND WELL.

BAKE IN A GREASED 9 X 13 PAN OR A LOAF PAN.

BAKE AT 350 FOR 40-45 MINUTES.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.