Chretien (French).  Kristian (Malay).  Hiristiyan (Turkish).  Christian  (English).  I had a huge blessing this morning, as I was scrolling through Facebook.  I saw a shared link in my newsfeed for a video of “Amazing Grace”.  Normally I don’t look at links, but I decided to listen to this one, and I am SO glad I did!  Of course, “Amazing Grace” is one of THOSE songs…songs that cause people to feel sentimental and emotional, regardless of when it is played, and regardless of whether people are truly celebrating the God it speaks about or understand the meaning behind the words.  But this clip was VERY different..it was in Romania, it was instrumental only, and the response of the people listening seemed to be one of pure worship for most of them.

So why am I sharing about this?  For this reason- God overwhelmed my heart with encouragement as I listened and I want to share it with you.  Because we live in America, we tend, as Christians, to think the fate of the entire future of the world depends on the rise and fall of Christianity in our nation.  When we sense spiritual awakenings here, we get very excited and hopeful that we may finally experience worldwide revival in our time.  When we go through a time of spiritual darkness and hardship, which describes a lot of what we are seeing in America now, we get discouraged and depressed about the state of the world, and begin to look for Christ’s return any day.  Surely, we say, it can’t get any worse than this without Him coming back.  Now while that is an oversimplification of things, it is still somewhat accurate about our feelings.

AND YET!  God is still at work, all over this world, and while OUR country is busy throwing Him out of everything, and other countries in the news are also, NOT EVERYONE IS!  There are hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ, all over the world, living for Him, working for Him, and doing everything they can to bring their world to Him!  Did you really read that?  There are Christians, ACTIVE Christians, in Kenya, Nigeria, China, Hong Kong, the Ukraine, Canada, Brazil….and the list goes on and on!  Yay God!

So…just because we live in a world filled with Christian mocking, God dishonoring, sin championing people, and because it seems the “bad guys” are sometimes winning A LOT…doesn’t mean that is true.  God reminded me of these verses this morning in Revelation 7:9-10:  “After these things I looked, and behold a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, people, and tongues standing beforethe throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice saying, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”. 

Next time your world view shrinks, and all you can see is what’s happening in America, stop…and look….and listen….and ask God to let you “hear” and “see” all those who are calling on His name all over the world…and rejoice!

The other day at work, after I greeted a few people by name both at the front counter and in the drive through, a new employee asked me that question “Miss Beth!  How many people do you know??”

I burst out laughing and then said, “a lot!”  And it is true.  We have lived here 16 years, and I have worked with, gone to church with, and ministered to a  LOT of people…plus I am NOT shy!  And I love the friendships and close connections I have..it keeps me busy and my prayer life fresh with all those God has blessed me by putting in my life.

But of course the more I thought about her question, the more God used it to make me think about this whole “knowing” thing. With some of those, I REALLY know them..including their faith  (or lack thereof) and they know mine.  We are brothers and sisters in Christ, and He is the glue that holds us all together as we walk through life.

And yet! God said to me…there are so many more I DON’T know about their spiritual condition. I have been guilty too many times of saying “well they are nice good people who must love Jesus because they are decent, caring and I like them.”  Wow! What an inconsiderate and dangerous view I have sometimes!  In this crazy mixed up world we live in, where TRULY Jesus could come back at ANY moment, I have been very cavalier about where anyone/everyone may be going after this life.  And I had to confess and ask God’s forgiveness for judging books by their cover..their actions and attitudes..and using those as a gauge of whether they know Jesus or not..without bothering to find out for sure.

So, the question to all of is, “how many people DO YOU KNOW??”  Maybe you are like me and have a long list, or maybe you only have 10 or so..but regardless the question is the same!  Do you know where those people are with Jesus?  And if you don’t are you going to change that?  May God help us all in these potential “last days” to lead as many people as He has put in our circles as possible to KNOW Him!!

Robert and I watch a lot of reality/educational TV – the good kind!  We love cooking shows & competitions, Discovery Channel stuff, etc. One of our favorites is American Pickers, which covers the journey of two men who “pick” for a living, reclaiming and buying junky, rusted stuff for new purposes.  In that show, they oftentimes wind up in remote places all across the USA, and they find a lot of people living “off the grid”..i.e. isolated and away from regular life.  They have basically “checked out” of society, and prefer to be self-sustaining and undisturbed…..at all costs.  They don’t ask anything of anyone but they also don’t give.  They live totally for themselves, holding on to what they have until one day they die. They have houses loaded with “stuff” and memories, but that’s all they have.  Their legacy is mostly a pile of “junk”, some special items, and the burden that they put on their families who inherit it to get rid of all of it.

Unfortunately, as our world gets a little crazier, a little meaner, and a little more dangerous each day, there are Christians who have chosen this lifestyle for their SPIRITUAL lives.  Some are very out and direct with it – they are the “doomsday preppers”, or those who try to interpret every bad event/disaster through any Bible verse they can make fit.  Many are on the internet speaking their “prophecies”.  And while all may not be true believers in Jesus Christ, some are.

However, the truly “off grid” Christians are not much different from anyone else.  They have simply vanished from spiritual life altogether.  No longer very active in churches, no longer keeping up with what’s really going on in the world spiritually, no longer praying for God’s will to be done in our world today, and keeping themselves “out of danger” by not making waves, or speaking out about loss of spiritual liberties, or taking a stand for Jesus in any effective way.  They are just huddled up, so to speak, with their families and a few friends, struggling to survive until they die and go to heaven where they won’t have to worry about anything anymore.  They are definite believers, born again and truly saved, but they have given up hope, and do not believe anymore in the power they have through the Lord to live a victorious life, and make a difference in the lives of others, or this world.  THEIR legacy is equally depressing, leaving behind the “what could have beens” and burdening their families with no rich legacy of how to live a life that counts.

Which leads to this point – every time I watch a show like that, God uses it to prompt me to investigate my OWN life and mentality.  Am I just living to get through this terrible world any way I can, clinging to my salvation and hoping for Jesus to come sooner than later??  Or am I living to honor Him, involved in my world, involved in His work, and making those moments, days, and weeks mean something?  It’s a very good question – and I hope that I will always take those opportunities to grow, and move out more, and be more like my Jesus in my world.

I usually go into town on Sunday mornings before church to get breakfast, and today was no exception..but it was a great moment for God to show me something!  

We have double drive thru lines at our McDonalds, and they feed into a single paying line.  Usually people are all in line at the first one and very few people slip into the 2nd…they wait till the last minute to choose to go to that one.  I however always whip around to the 2nd, bypassing the longer line.  This morning as I whipped around I came face to face with a “caution!  Wet floor” double sided sign and couldn’t pull up to the speaker.  Obviously there are no wet floors outside so I was confused..and almost got out to move it and pull up.  But then I thought there must be a reason for the sign so I backed up and maneuvered into the first line.

When I got to the window, I asked the girl what was wrong with the 2nd lane..and she was astonished!  She told me she thought it was really weird that she had seen all the cars staying in just the one lane and wondered why, but didn’t ask anyone.  In turn, no one had told her about it either.  Truth was, there was nothing wrong!  As I left I saw someone going outside to remove the sign!

So what did God say to me about this? Just this…the blind acceptance of the crowd to assume the 2nd lane was broken was amazing!  No one questioned it, and everyone but me had followed along with the others.  And no one asked the ones “in charge” (the employees) if it was true!

That is SO true of our society today.  So many people (including Christians) walk along in acceptance of every “rule” they see or hear, never bothering to ask whether it’s right or wrong..and never questioning its source.  The girl at the window and I agreed that the sign was probably put there as a practical joke to see how people reacted, and that just makes it that much worse!  

God has implicitly told us, admonished us and warned us that there is One Way, and One Author of the rules for life…and yet sometimes we just trudge along and don’t look up to check things out!

That really convicted me!  And as I go to worship later this am, I will be repenting for the times that has described me..and I will be asking God to make me more and more vigilant in my life to keep me from being just “one of the crowd”!

 This is what it looks like here when there is a 90% chance of rain and a 40% chance of severe weather!!  This was Thursday at 6:00 pm, the exact time all of that was supposed to happen.  Mom and I even changed our eating out for supper plans to eating out for lunch plans because Robert left town that morning and he didn’t want us to get caught out in the storm!  This happens a lot here, and everywhere, but this time God got my attention about one particular thing..

Our weather people have a lot of tools at their disposal.  They have some of the most sophisticated equipment we have ever had..stuff that weathermen in years past would have killed for.  But they are then still SO wrong so many times!!  And why might this be?  Because the weather is only in the control of the One who created it, and all the technology in the world can’t always predict it, understand it, or deal with it.

And yet!!  We as God’s children are so like our weathermen.  We have a lot more “tools” than our forefathers, and yet we get it so wrong, so often.  We sometimes search all our available resources, people, and chuches seeking an answer..but we neglect the One person Who knows it all!  And the One who is therefore the only true Guider of our lives that will never let us down.

Now of course we will never be perfect in this life.  But unlike our weathermen, we can grow and become people who experience being right more and more often, because we are getting our information and guidance from the One.

So next time the forecast is totally wrong and you are tempted to be frustrated at their failure, let it remind you to check your OWN source!

I see a variety of people every day at work, and I try to give the best possible customer service.  It is usually a very successful venture, because most people are easy to help and easy to please.  However..there are always those who will take that desire to help and make it a nearly impossible situation because they’re having a bad day, or miscommunication, or something else.

However, today was a day when loving and serving really did stink.  We have a couple of regulars who just don’t know or are not able to attend to hygiene, and I had them all today.  One of them in particular is a favorite of mine, because he is so good natured and always thanks me…I’ll call him Jim for privacy.  Jim is in his seventies, has COPD and I think mostly lives in shelters or his car.  And while he is never clean..hair, beard, or clothes, some days he’s a 10 on the odor smell.  Today was one of those and it was really hard to take his order and stay in his “space” without being physically ill.  When I delivered his food I was again challenged.  

AND YET!  In spite of his physical uncleanness, he has a much worse problem..he has no personal relationship with Jesus..and he is far dirtier spiritually than he ever will be physically!  I love Jim, and I treat him with dignity and respect..because that’s exactly how Jesus see him!  Jim is a self titled “everythingist”..he believes everyone is going to heaven no matter their belief..and if I am to have any hope of sharing Jesus with him I have to be willing to work through the dirt and odor so he can hear the Truth.

And why?  Because Jesus looks at all of us, before we accept him, the same way He does Jim!  I was dirty, lost, smelling of sin and pride and the dirt of this world, and He looked past all that, reached down, and saved me!  So next time you find yourself where love and/or witnessing really stinks, praise the Lord for His goodness to you and press on!

Father’s Day became a not so favorite day of mine in 2004 after my father lost his battle with heart disease that March.  The first year, of course, was the hardest.  And while it gets easier each year, there’s still a void..no one will ever take his place.  And while being without him is permanent here, I will see him again one day in Heaven.

There is also some comfort here, among my family and friends, in knowing that I am not the only one without a father.  Many have lost theirs to death, some to alzheimers, some have had to “lose” their fathers to escape abuse.  And so we band together on this day in our loss.

But there is a far, far worse state of being fatherless!  And that is among the lost..those who have not accepted Jesus’ death and payment for their sins.  They have no HEAVENLY father, and that has eternal consequences!  They struggle through this life, with the only guide for their lives and their destinies here, in whatever the world has to offer.  They have no hope, and no future.  And while the fatherless here on earth can comfort one another, that too changes for those without Jesus.  There is no comfort..only eternal separation from God and others, and anguish.

So whatever your position is on Father’s Day, let it remind you of this, as it does me…there are far too many people without God, and there is far too little time for many of them if we don’t get busy!  So the next time someone asks your about your earthly father, don’t neglect to tell them about your Heavenly One!

God’s grace is huge and full and free and overwhelming…no doubt and I am so grateful for those times when I am overcome by it.  But His grace is also dispensed in tiny, tiny moments that we can miss if we re truly alert.

I’ve been blessed with some of those lately.  A regular customer who was 75 when I left ChickFilA, and who used to drive me crazy, that I now count it a privilege to serve in his 80’s. Another regular customer who lives in his car, and always smells, but I’ve learned his name and have a tray ready when he comes in because he uses a cane now and can’t carry his coffee, creamer, and book to the table without it.  Two days ago it  was a customer shaking with pain from a month old knee replacement surgery, who had a carryout order I took to her car and got a hug for.  Yesterday an elderly homeless man with a buggy who greatly appreciated the biscuit and hot coffee I provided for him, instead of the pack of mini donuts he had for his whole day’s nutrition.

And in ALL these, I am not the one to be praised..I am the one most grateful and praising God for the fact that He chose me for those moments!

And you know what?  I am NOT special or part of some exclusive club.  HE has those moments ALL His children and HE doesn’t want ANY of us to miss any of them!  To Him be the glory!