Instrucciones Importantes en Seguridad!!

Peligro! Instrucciones importantes en seguridad!! I don't speak Spanish fluently. I know enough to get by. Today I opened a package that had directions on how to assemble a product. They were in Spanish. Peligro! Instrucciones importantes en seguridad!! I know that means Danger! Instructions important for safety! It's good to be able to recognize "danger" as one of the words in the instructions. It would, of course, be even more beneficial to understand what the danger is and how to avoid it. But nooooooooo~ I only speak enough Spanish to know that there is something potentially hazardous to me in the assembly of the product I purchased. What do you do at that point? Afraid to continue for fear of injury, too proud to concede I sat staring at the instrucciones as if the gift of tongues would suddenly descend upon me and yea, verily, the pamphlet I was holding would suddenly make sense to me. When knowledge came upon me I would dutifully arise and shout; "Glory to God!" and "Hallelujah!" Surely that would be enough for God to gift me with fluent Spanish for just a moment or two, right?

I could feel frustration rising. What good is it to be smart enough to know that I am reading Spanish and not smart enough to admit that although I could make out a few of the words, I am not fluent and had no earthly idea what I was in danger of doing if I continued to assemble without understanding. Just as I was ready to kick the box, toss the parts over my head and rue the day I had purchased something from a company too stupid to know that I didn't speak Spanish, I saw the English instructions on the box. The pamphlet was there to accommodate their Spanish speaking customers. It was an "and also" and not the sole set of instructions. I admit I felt a little sheepish for thinking the unkind stuff I was thinking. "What good is it to be smart enough to open the box and not smart enough to see the directions on the box as you open it!"

Every day brings forth new challenges. Every day there is sufficient new grace to meet those challenges. He exchanges grace for grace. It's really a packaged deal. Why is it I only seem to target the challenges and not the grace that comes with it? I probably have thousands of unopened packages of grace. The older I get the more they seem to pile up. I get frustrated, I get to feeling down, I get to feeling overwhelmed and I forget to reach for the grace that is mine.

Lamentations 3 is a good place to read when I get like this, especially verses 16-24.

¹⁶^(W) He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and^(X) made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness^[a] is;
¹⁸^(Y) so I say, "My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the LORD."

¹⁹^(Z) Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
^(AA) the wormwood and^(AB) the gall!
²⁰My soul continually remembers it
^(AC) and is bowed down within me.
²¹But this I call to mind,
and^(AD) therefore I have hope:

²²^(AE) The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;^[b]
his mercies never come to an end;
²³they are new^(AF) every morning;
^(AG) great is your faithfulness.
²⁴^(AH) "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
^(AI) "therefore I will hope in him."

Character Flaws, Sin and Remediation

I have been thinking about my last post in which I offered to talk about how having a job has shown or magnified my character flaws. Before I do though, I want to distinguish between character flaws and sin. My character flaws predispose me to sin in certain areas more readily than in others. Indulging in my character flaws is sinful. Entertaining the idea of indulging my character flaws is sinful. They are the weaknesses in me where my flesh makes itself known by screaming, "You know you want to!!" Too often I hear Christians lamenting that they "make mistakes" or are victims of their genetic make-up and intimate that they should, therefore, be excused from culpability for being prone to certain activities. Our cultural dependence on a medical model to define our behavior has given many what they see as a plausible excuse for sin. I don't see that caveat in the Word. For Christians, the Word is always our standard. It is the standard by which all will be j

Fear Down, Hope and Peace to Go!

Last night I had the honor and privilege to present some information to the women of my church. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate them. The seminar I did was on fear. God is clever and He had me present the information to them because I needed it. It's not that I don't want to study things for my own benefit and growth, but whenever I do a topical study to teach it, I see how badly I needed it and how much more I have to repent of than I realized. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. That's a topic I want to return to in another post. I want to talk about the ladies for a moment. They are an incredibly loving group of women. Women who seek God and are teachable. They have gone out of their way to include me and love on me, which speaks volumes of their characters because I am not all that lovable. I am not being self-deprecating here. I am a mix of endearing and maddening qualities like anyone else. What I am telling you is

Super Church a song for the Emergent-sy

In the early 70s I was in a youth choir at my church. Our youth pastor was a musician and his way of connecting with us as a group was through the choir and music. Somehow there was an affiliation between him and The Continental Singers, New Hope and Jeremiah People. He was worked with Moishe Rosen of Jews for Jesus too, I think. Are any of these names familiar to you? Though I remember the church fondly I was a profoundly lost and troubled young woman during my years there. That and time have muddled the memories quite a bit. Today I was digging through some old paperwork and one of the books to the musical we did. It's Getting Late For the Great Planet Earth, a folk rock oratorio by Cam Floria. Yes, that's right. Cam Floria put Hal Lindsey to music. There's a lot to laugh about and some to groan about but as I was looking through the songs and remembering, I found this little ditty and I only wish I could sing it for you. Just remember that this is circa 1972 and even th

rambling rosemarie

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