THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

October 14, 2020

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

This morning I opened my Bible app and on the home page were some scriptures. The first one that I saw was Proverbs 3:5, which is familiar to most of us. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding."

Trust is something that we all want to have, and most of us probably "think" we have, but do we really fully trust the Lord? Most would probably say yes, if asked. Of course, we trust God! But do we think and act as if we truly trust God?

Trust means a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Many people have no problem in trusting in the existence of God, or even trusting that He sees us and knows us and hears our prayers. But I daresay that the majority of us, although we may have some trust in the Lord, we don't have full trust in the Lord.

If we truly and fully trust the Lord completely, then we wouldn't be anxious or worry about anything -- at all! We wouldn't allow fear to ever affect us. We would never question circumstances that are happening in our lives, or even in the world we live in. We would just rest in our trust in God, knowing that He is in complete control; therefore, whatever happens, He will take care of us.

I challenge you to begin to take note of your thoughts and conversation and the words you speak. How many times do you say, "I'm worried about....."; or "I'm afraid this is going to happen...."; or "If God doesn't answer, I just don't think......"; or "What if....[that's a biggie]": "I don't know what's going to happen if things keep going as they are...."; or "I'm concerned about...." We say that we trust God, but then we fret and worry and become anxious and hash out all of the possible what ifs that could happen.

Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything -- but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

We may receive bad news about ourself or a loved one, we may hear about something horrible that has happened to someone we know, circumstances may suddenly change that affects our life and we need God to intervene and bring about an answer or a miracle. So according to scripture, instead of become anxious and fretting over it or allowing our thoughts to worry and think of all the possible scenarios and what ifs, we take our requests to God by prayer and petition. And how do we do this? With thanksgiving.

Not thanksgiving for the problem or the dire situation, for we may be feeling desperate and heartbroken. But in thanksgiving in knowing that we can trust God with our lives and with each situation. We take it to God, in prayer, then we let it go and trust that He will take care of it. We don't pray, then immediately begin trying to figure out the answer or allow anxious thoughts to consume our minds; but we tell our Father our petition, then rest in knowing that we can trust Him with the outcome.

I think sometimes we have trouble truly trusting God, because we're afraid that the outcome won't be what we want it to be. We are afraid of being disappointed or that His answer won't be the one we desire. So we pray, hoping that He will take care of everything as we hope; but we then try to come up with a backup plan... a Plan B.... just in case things don't go as we want or God doesn't answer as soon as we think He should. We want that security of knowing we have something to fall back on, if need be.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not speaking of being foolish in our thinking or behavior, such as "I don't have to save for my retirement, because I 'trust' God to take care of me!" Or "I don't need to use wisdom with my finances and can spend and do whatever makes me happy, because God is my provider and will take care of me!" Or "I can drive as fast as I want or leave my house unlocked and garage door open, because I 'trust' God to be my protector."

God gives us wisdom and provision and common sense to keep us safe and to meet our needs. We can't go out and do whatever we want or live however we want, saying it's because of our trust in God that we can do so. In other words, to put it bluntly, we can't live and act stupidly!

What I am speaking of is everyday, in every situation, being able to trust God to give us wisdom, to provide and protect us while we are using caution and common sense, and to trust Him with the outcome in every circumstance that life throws our way. Not to worry and be anxious, but to rely and rest in the Lord.

The following verse in Proverbs says, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Acknowledge means: accept or admit the existence or truth of; recognize the fact or importance or quality of.

So in everything we do and think, we accept and admit the existence and the truth of God, as well as recognize the importance and quality of Him. When we do so, He will direct our steps and make our paths straight.

Having straight paths doesn't mean without turmoil or trials or the testing of our faith. It doesn't mean a care-free, problem-free, happy go lucky life. But it does mean that regardless of what may come, God will be there with us and never leave or forsake us.

A scripture that many people don't particularly care for is James 1:2-3: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials [WHAT?!?!], knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

If life was always just sunshine and roses and blessings, we wouldn't need faith in God. We wouldn't need to trust Him. We would be able to rely on our own strength and intelligence. It's when we encounter all the various trials in life that our faith is tested; and those times of testing produces endurance... patience... perseverance. They give us a chance to grow in our faith in God. We get to know the Lord better and we mature and become more deeply rooted in our faith and relationship with Him.

Yesterday I was on our front porch and saw some weeds that had grown up in front of our porch. The dirt between the porch and sidewalk is sandy with no rock. The weeds were bright green and tall, looking more like some type of weedy plant. I was able to easily pull them out of the ground, because they weren't deeply rooted.

When our lives aren't deeply rooted in Christ, then when we have those various trials and situations that will come our way from time to time, we will be easily uprooted in our faith. It's so very important that we allow such times to produce endurance and perseverance in our trust and faith and relationship with God, so that our roots will deepen and nothing can shake us and we remain connected to the Vine (Jesus) regardless of what may come our way.

One of my favorite hymns is "Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus". The first verse is: "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus; just to take Him at His word. Just to rest upon His promise; just to know 'thus saith the Lord'." Another verse says, "I'm so glad I learned to trust Him; precious Jesus, Savior, Friend. And I know that He is with me, will be with me to the end."

We learn to trust Jesus. It's not something that comes naturally to all men, but something that is learned through relationship and time spent with Him.

I encourage myself, as well as you, to learn to not just partially trust in Jesus, but to fully trust Him in all things and in all ways. To let go of anxieties, worries, and concerns and not allow fear to have a foothold in our mind. Don't just say, "I trust God," then allow anxious thoughts and worries to be your mindset, trying to figure out what to do or how God needs to "fix" situations. But to truly rest in the promises of God, and trust Him with all of your heart, mind, body and soul!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I frequently wonder about the details that weren't written in the stories in the Bible. Lately, I've been thinking about the story of Joseph. To make the first part quick: Joseph trusted in God, even after his brothers sold him into slavery, he was sent to prison by his owner's wife because he refused to go to bed with her, and was left in prison despite promises of freedom. He finally met the pharaoh, and after interpreting a dream, was elevated above almost all of Egypt.

As soon as he was given control over all Egypt (except for the pharaoh), Joseph started a program of gathering food and putting it into storage. The Bible doesn't specify how much, but it sounds like probably about half of it. Then, it basically skips more than 7 years ahead.

What I've been wondering about is how the people reacted during those 7 years. My guess is that most of the people grumbled and complained. They were working hard to tend fields and grow food, only to have about half of it taken and stored away. Joseph wasn't even from their nation. He had been a slave, then in prison, and was now taking away their hard work. He claimed to put his faith in some foreign God they didn't know. Joseph was claiming that a famine was coming, and they would need all that food. But (and here's the key to my point) if Joseph trusted in God, why couldn't he trust that God would take care of them without all that extra work? They probably accused Joseph of acting in fear.

It's simple. Joseph trusted God's word, and when God showed him that there would be 7 years of good harvests and then 7 years of famine, Joseph knew it would happen. God gave Joseph the instructions to store up the food. God gave Joseph wisdom to protect himself, the nation where he lived, his father and brothers, and all their households. He wasn't acting in fear. He was acting in faith, and using the safeguard God had provided him. If he were in fear, he would have hidden away enough for himself, or run away.

There are many today that say taking precautions is a sign of lacking faith. It isn't a lack of faith any more than wearing mitts to get something out of the oven. It is simple wisdom and humble obedience.

ON THE MENEWE:

Fritos Corn Salad

Mix all ingredients together, except for the Fritos. Chill. Stir in corn chips just before serving. You may not want to add all of them, but just a little at a time. Some people prefer to just serve the Fritos on the side or crumbled on top.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Growing up myself or hearing what kids said as I got older, children often said that when they grew up they wanted to be a doctor, nurse, policeman, fireman, teacher..... Apparently, when Jon was a kid, he knew that he wanted to be an engineer. But as I get older, I sometimes wonder if that's what kids truly said, or if only the parents of those children are the ones that repeated what their children said.

Last week my niece's daughter had career day at school where the students were to dress up like what they wanted to be when they grew up. Jemma is 10, and she dressed up like a McDonald's worker. Her mom thought it was funny and said, "Well, she does love McDonald's!" I told Jon that as sassy as Jemma is and how strong-willed and bossy she is, if she ended up working at McDonald's, it would be as a CEO or manager!

My cousin's son used to say that he wanted to drive a trash truck, and would follow along beside their neighborhood trash truck all around their block, talking to the workers. My nephew used to say that he wanted to drive a tow truck and thought that would be the best job ever, getting to tow vehicles.

The truth is, the world needs good doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen and policemen! But we also need good dependable garbagemen, tow truck drivers, fast food workers, grocery store clerks, babysitters, engineers, pastors, maintenance workers, CEO's, chefs, etc. Each job is valuable and needed. I think the bottom line is that in whatever we do, do it as to the Lord and not for men; and then we will know contentment and joy in whatever we do.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

God finds us in the holes we dig for ourselves.

Where we see failures, God sees foundations. - Bob Goff

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org