I heard a lady talking the other day telling another lady she went to her ATM machine to withdraw some money and it showed up that there were "insufficient funds". The other lady went on to say she hated when she got a notice from her bank the old fashioned way telling her that her account was overdrawn.
Believe me....it has happened to most of us at one point or time in our lives. We think we have enough money in the bank to pay for something and sadly....we don't. The account is low or dried out, until we can get more money back in. And usually we owe the bank more money to cover not having enough money in the first place.
It got me to thinking about God and his love. I do some pretty stupid things at times and I can shoot myself low in thinking that I've probably hit the "insufficient funds" of His love towards me. We can get down at times and begin to let the negative thoughts hit us and we say things like...."we're not good enough anymore, how could God love me after all I've done, or one I've heard lately...I can't stand myself, why would He even care about me." All of these things come from Satan....not God.
God's love is like a never ending supply in our bank account of life. We can't exhaust His supply of love for us. If you think you use up all His love today....you'll still have more tomorrow. God will supply more and more today, tomorrow and forever. Jeremiah said that God's love never fails.....it's made fresh every morning. Wow....what a promise and good feeling to know, at least in my life it is, because I love to know that my account will be full when I blow it....when I let him know I'm sorry and ask for Him to forgive me.....the love is still there.
God's compassion is fresh every morning and I love knowing I will never reach the point where His supply of love is in-sufficient or exhausted. He will never run out of love for me. This means you can never blow it so bad that God will leave or abandon you. He's the God of second, third, so on and so on chances. If you feel uncertain that God can forgive you for the things you've done in your past....just ask Him to forgive and help you to replace your fears with some faith. If you ask Him...He will forgive.....that supply of love never runs out.
"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT)
Envy has no end. So much around us that we see, hear and then we wish we had it. Many of us see others prosper and have so much when we can barely scrape and make ends meet each month. We look and see and think, why do some have it so easy?
Envy is a disease in our soul and you can ignore it, but it's going to surface. It will consume you and soon you can't enjoy your life. It robs you of your peace.
I can say....I try to move on when I begin to feel myself wishing for this or that. We all envy something at times. However, I try to drop it quickly and instead stop and take a moment to see all the blessings I already have.
No one is perfect, but some of the things I have envied, ended up being something or someone's life that had tons of heartaches attached with it. It wasn't all cut out to be great and the grass wasn't all that greener.....just green with envy.
I pray daily that envy is kept checked in my life....because my life is God's gift and He gave it to me.....so I know although I might not have everything I want that I see....He know's what is best for me....and for that I am very blessed and thankful.
"Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." (Galatians 5:26 NIV)
I don't know about someone else but I do know myself. It amazes me of how ignorant I am about myself at times. I don't always recognize the envy, laziness or pride or other issues...when it's right there for me to see. However, God sees it and He will begin to work on me to help me look deep inside.
I have to admit, it takes courage to take a hard look inward at ourselves. We don't always want to or like to see the flaws and habits we have become. It's easier to not turn on a light inside....and let the darkness just be so no one, even ourselves see how we really are.
I'm thankful though, that God sees me better than I truly am. Being honest and upfront here....I'm not worthy at all for Him to love me at times, yet He thinks so. When I am examining my own soul.....it's slow but God will bring things up to the light there in the dark places I have pushed down and He helps me to see and understand that He can take all that darkness and let it be changed into a beautiful light.
Is it hard at times, yes. But I would rather shine than be stuck in the dark.
"The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive." (Proverbs 20:2 NLT)
Treasure is different to each person. An old jewelry box with regular necklaces, none of any value to some. Old watches that no longer work. A few old coins and lots of broken earring pieces and tiny tidbits of kept things. Mostly classified by many as just junk.
My Grand-daughter saw my Mom's old jewelry box in a chest I had. She asked what treasure was in it? To a 3 year old, an old box is full of treasures. And as I opened it up, the look on her sweet little face and eyes lighting up...she had hit the jackpot!
She carefully started lifting pins, watches, necklaces. Putting some on and checking them out. Her wonder of even tiny little things asking about some even I didn't know what they were. To her each seemed to hold a worth as she diligently picked them up to take a closer look. She would say "ohhh, so pretty, look at this one it shines."
We spent a good time viewing the treasures and I thought to myself how my Mom would be delighted to know her regular old everyday jewelry was being gentle treated like it was worth millions.
Truly, one man's junk is another man's treasure. It sure was to my little Grand-daughter.
For many of us....if you opened up a tool box, you would know what some of the tools are used for. A hammer, screwdriver, pliers, etc. We've used them before so we know what they are used for and we know what their purpose and function is. If we learn a trade or a job, we have to have the right tools to succeed. We may need to take a class or spend time as an apprentice learning how to even do a certain job.
So it is with our purpose in life. Many of us wander around like someone threw us in a room with A tool box of items we know nothing about and we flounder around trying to guess and figure out what our function is. Many waste years when you come to think about it. Some of us can relate far more than what we would like to admit.
At least in my own life, I've learned that I have to include God and get His instructions for everything to fall in place and know how to use the tools He has given to me. Including my time, talents and interests. If I don't get the instructions given to me, there will always be a longing and this feeling gnawing at me inside that lets me know I'm not doing it just right. Try as I may, trying to figure it out in my own strength is really hard. I mess up, I get myself way off and then it's hard to make anything come out right. I feel like a failure then.
So, I know from my past that I don't know it all. I have to have someone else who knows it way better than me what my life is and means. I trust in God as He hands me instructions daily. He gives me the right tools I need for the day and when I look back He helps me to succeed. I don't have to keep trying to pick up a tool and wonder what it's used for and if I'm doing it right. All I have to do if look at the instructions and know He is helping me to figure it all out.
" I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." (Psalm 32:8 ESV)
You have to be you! In art, it's a must as it is in life. That is one thing I have learned from my brother, Ron, especially when it comes to my artwork. As much as I want to be able to paint like my brother painted....I'm not him. He always told me when we had some art classes at the local Jr. College....to not try to copy or be like someone else. I needed to find my niche and go with it. If I tried to be like someone else, then it wasn't my artistic vibe coming out.
Look at this painting he had started. My SIL....found it going through some things. I do remember him showing it to me many years ago and getting my thoughts about it. It floored me, as it still floors me today when I look at the tiny details he was adding. She brought it over at Christmas to give to me and say...."Finish it." As you can see, he never finished it. I am thinking to myself, there was something he wasn't happy about it and he probably just pushed it off to work on later at some time. Maybe a detail he couldn't get and he didn't like on it. You can see the metal part of the coffee grinder is not finished, maybe he wasn't sure of the look on it? I don't know, but something caused him to stop on it.
My Brother as an artist or actually anything he did, he was precise, detailed to the tiniest thing. Paintings, pottery, photography, cooking and even building a whole train town with hand made buildings, bricks and trees. He always was so detailed in what he did. So with painting he did his paintings in layers. A washed out effect and then built each layer. I kick myself now for not taking the time to sit and watch him or see how he did his paintings. I can't do that now....he's gone.
As I keep painting, I at times want so bad to have my paintings look like his....I can try, but I am not him. My style is different, it's mine and not his style. Mine will look different than another artist too, they have a niche and a style all their own. That is what an artist is....the very being that comes from within....it's not like someone else. We are all different and can't be another person.
I am very afraid of trying to finish this painting, however, my kids told me...."Finish it Mom....then it will be a painting that you and Ron did together." Now that gave a boost of confidence as I know it will not be his style but it will be our style together and I can feel good about that when I do begin to work on it. I will be me and I will not get upset that I can't paint like my brother Ron, or any other artist. I will stay focused and as I paint each painting I make, I hear my brother's last advice to me before he passed away, "Promise me you will keep making those beautiful paintings." I'm sure trying.
NUDGE: prod (someone) gently, typically with one's elbow, in order to draw their attention to something, a light touch or push. All of us have gotten a nudge at one time in our life. Might have been from a parent who wanted us to stop doing something.....like I got nudges in church from my Mom several times as a kid for not paying attention or acting out. We nudge our kids, our mate.....trying to let them know we need them to focus or look at something we have noticed. Rick will sometimes give me a nudge to see something on TV....and he can rewind it sometimes to show me a play or pass that I missed.
A nudge is just that.....it draws attention to something. Sometimes with God, I've felt a nudge and sometimes a push. Might be in the form of something I see or a saying someone has posted or a song comes on and I catch part of the lyrics. If we actually open our self up and ask God to nudge us....He will. I get tickled at the joke about a guy who wanted to be used by God and he prayed for God to just let him do something special for Him. So the guy goes about his day and he passes on buying a beggar a meal, passes on helping a lady with the door, passes on giving some money to a shelter, passes on seeing someone being bullied....and at the end of the day he gets mad and says...GOD, WHY DIDN'T YOU SHOW ME SOMETHING SPECIAL I COULD DO FOR YOU TODAY? God just slapped his head with His hand!!
Nudges....we all need to be more aware of them around us. I admit, I don't always have my antenna up either. I want to be better at it this new year. I don't want to miss the nudges God has for me. I might miss something really neat or a blessing. We don't always get a rewind button, like on the DVR to be able to not miss it. We have to have our eyes and ears open to hear and see God at work most of the time.
One of my own personal challenges for 2017 is to pay more attention to what God is having me do. Nudges are ok, and I know God will nudge me for sure. I need to aware when I feel them because it beats getting a full on smack on my head, which He's done that a few times to get my real attention.
