Apron Strings Devotional for 7/1/98

7/1/98

Good morning....
Jesus loves You!!

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Don't put your hope into things that change--relationships, money talents, beauty, even health. Set your sights on the one thing that can never change: trust in your heavenly Father. -Max Lucado- *
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Hi Brethren!!

Hope this finds your week "one step closer" in your walk with our Heavenly Father!

I encourage you to "glue" yourself to the screen and see if you can locate any nuggets that may help you in your walk.

Y'know what?? I sure do love you guys!!

Please read on....and be BLESSED!!

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Heb 13:8

Once, long ago, there was a young boy who lived in a distant land called Tandow. He was a cheerful lad with not a care in the world. A special friend had he, the little blue hummingbird. Now this little boy didn't have a lot of great friends, but the little bird and the boy were inseparable friends. The boy loved the little hummingbird so, he built him a home. The bird also loved the boy and would follow him wherever he would go. As time went by their love grew and grew.

Then one day the young lad met a pretty young girl in school. The girl had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a cute little smile. This was about the time of the biggest dance of the year. All the boy could think about was how he would love to take the girl to the dance. He gathered his courage all day and at the end of school confronted the girl and asked her to go with him to the dance.

Now this young girl was very popular and felt she did not want to be seen with the boy who cared for her so, but she did not want to hurt his feelings and so figured out a way to avoid saying no or yes. She told the boy if he brought her a red rose she would allow him to escort her to the dance.This hurt the little boy because he knew that in the land of Tandow there had never been a red rose, in fact the only rose in the land of Tandow were white.

On the way home the boy kept mumbling to himself why couldn't she have asked for a white rose. There were hundreds of them in his front yard Feeling sorry for himself the boy didn't even notice his friend the hummingbird fluttering above him. Now the bird loved him so, that it could tell instantly the boy was troubled. The bird hovered closer as the boy mumbled on home. Now the bird knew why the bird was so troubled.

The bird could not rest all the night long, it pondered all night, a solution to the boy's problem. Finally as the sun began to rise the answer to how the bird could help his best friend entered his mind. The little blue hummingbird flew to a rose bush and searched for a large rose with a stem bearing thorns directly above it. Now the bird chose a thorn and with all the power in his wings cast his small body against the sharp thorn. It entered with great pain, as the tear drops of blood fell upon the white petals of the rose.

Now as the boy was ready for school, as he left the house he saw a red rose, he could hardly believe it, he ran to the bush and plucked the red rose.In his excitement he failed to notice the lifeless little body that lay below the bush in a puddle of blood.

Happy as could be, he began with his red rose on his way to school. Before he got there some other boys playing football in a field called to him and asked him to come and play. His first thought was, no, he had something more important to do. But they begged him and said they really needed him to even the teams. He looked at the rose, then them, then back at the rose. He said to himself. Ah!!! She didn't really want to go with me anyway. Then, throwing the rose down, the boy went and played football.

You've probably already figured out the allegory...

1. The boy is each of us.

2. The humming bird is Jesus Christ.

3. The girl is eternal life.

4. The rose is the atonement.

5. The football game is the worldly things we sometimes feel are so important.

"The Hummingbird" -Author Unknown- -Submitted By: Curler7-

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The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me. ( see John11:41 ).

If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God's message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don't want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life...

-Oswald Chambers-

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UPON MY SHOULDER

I know you're weary, My friend,
like you can't take another step,
and you're looking for any place
that you can lay down your head.

Oh, but be careful, My friend,
where you choose to lay your head.
When you are at your weakest,
the devil is at his best.

Muddy soil kills the roses,
find solid ground for your bed.
Come to me to find your rest.
I will protect, I will refresh.

I know what you see is tempting,
but remember this instead:
I'll always be your source of strength.
your one true comforting friend.

Upon My shoulder lay your head.

-By: Lori Campisano-POET4JC-

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Me again, Brethren!

I have a confession to make.. Now, mind you, this isn't an easy confession. As I am typing this..it brings to remembrance the effects of this confession, because it , er, well, has something to do with my fingers. You see, <sheepish expression> I was going crazy with Krazy Glue today. Oh man..I Krazy Glued a carpet seam, a broken pitcher, a lamp shade, and even a torn shower curtain. Well, er, I even Krazy Glued my fingers. It really felt weird, and all my household efforts had to come to a halt, as I tried to correct this foolish mistake. It seems that the tube had a hole in it, and it leaked out on my hand.

I managed to get them apart, eventually. But, it took some time. I remember someone telling me that fingernail polish remover would help, so I poured some on. The funny thing was, it didn't come off right away. My joints were glued together and it was very uncomfortable. Everything else ceased to matter at the moment...because the most important thing was "my attachment." Follow?

My husband has this amazed expression, when he watches me apply spiritual applications to almost everything in my life. This particular application, <a pun?> made me see how our earthly attachments can be quite damaging. Now, I will admit, I looked purty stupid standing there with my fingers all glued together. <In Alabama, we call em fangers, but I'll spare you the slang..hehe> There's my excuse for not cooking! But then again, I can't flip the pages of the phone book to order takeout either..

Anyway, I was seeing how we can easily slip into the "comfort zone" of attaching ourselves to the things of the world, and sometimes, not even realize it. It can "slowly leak out of the tube," and before we know it, we are stuck. The stuck term can relate to the fact that by the time the glue is drying...we are already attached, or addicted.

What are some possible "attachments?" The first thing that comes to my mind is "people." I know in my own life, there have been times when I became too attached to people, especially as my spiritual growth was progressing. I found it was easier to <quote from Joyce Meyer> "go to the phone before I
went to the Throne."

Sometimes we want an "instant" answer to our problems...and hey, another voice on the other end of the phone line, or even an "instant" message on the puter can usually do the trick. There is certainly nothing wrong with healthy counsel, but "moderation and order of importance" are some key areas here. Martin Luther once made the statement: "The one you depend on is your god."

Col 3:2
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Who are we depending on? Who, or what are we attached to? Are we running to someone or something else, other than God to relieve the void that is so evident in our heart? Only He can fill that void. Only Christ can fill the hole that is consumed with grief, and frustration, and turmoil.

Matt 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

After all, isn't that what we are looking for? Rest? or perhaps Peace..
Looky!

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Let's jump over to the fingernail polish remover for a second. Remember I said it didn't come off right away? I noticed a "chemical change" taking place, and it eventually peeled away a lot sooner than it would have without it. The remover turned the glue "white" and revealed the source of my attachment. Let's parallel the Spirit of God with this "remover."

As we become more aware of the fact that our "attachment" is becoming a hindrance in our walk, we pray about it, <or pour on the remover> and perhaps nothing seems to change. The "attachment" is still there. Then, over a period of time, a "transformation" <likened to the chemical change> is taking place in our heart, as we continually press in, closer to God. He reveals the attachment, shines the "Light" on it, <likened to the glue turning white> and the strong desire for that attachment becomes weaker, and weaker.

James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

We have become so accustomed to the "instant" mindset, that we don't realize that God is doing a purging in our hearts, a tearing down, and yet, a building up, but in His timing, <likened to the process that was taking place with the remover> What if I had washed off the remover before it had time to take effect? That could parallel with praying about something, not seeing results, and then continuing on in our "stuck" mode.

I have counseled with people, and watched them walk away when the results were not in their timing IIt can't be in our timing. It has to be in His...and with good reason. He is weeding out the chaff in our hearts, but because the attachment is so "set" and deeply rooted, he pulls gently...as we can bear it.

Meanwhile, as we are staying focused on Him, He is doing a "planting" at the same time. When all is said and done, we look over at the pile of weeds that we were once attached to, and realize that we don't WANT that in our garden anymore.. Hey, how did that happen??? SUPERNATURALLY!

Heb 12:1-2
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

Only Christ can deliver us from the "sin that so easily besets us, or entangles us." Our attachments can become sin, as they take precedence over God, because in essence, that is idolatry. I guess the scary part is the fact, that, like the Krazy glue, it can slowly, and innocently leak out on us, and we don't see the danger, until we are "stuck." It could even have Christian connotations, but the discerning factor would be the answers to these questions: "Am I attached? Can I walk away or lay it aside?"

If the answers are yes and no...then I would beseech you to allow God to begin the purging process. Repent of earthly attachments, and ask Him to cleanse your heart, and then allow Him to do the cleansing, in His timing. He may do it right away, or He may allow some time as you continue to seek Him.

Ps 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

I once read somewhere that God is like the parent that encourages his child to walk, but keeps backing away as the child draws nearer. We know how that scenario ends. As soon as the child gets as far as the parent thinks he is capable, then they swoop him into their arms..and continue on. It is not to punish the child, but to teach. God is constantly teaching us in this walk.

Ps 32:8
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

It is very difficult, if not impossible to teach a rebellious child. Pride must be deleted. If we find ourselves back on the wrong "site," then we reboot, and go to Keyword: Humility

James 4:6
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

James 4:10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Well Brethren, the long and short of it is, my fingers are completely "free" now. They are no longer attached to the rudiments of Krazy glue, and once again have the liberty to do what they were intended to do. And so it is with us. Once the earthly attachments are loosened and removed, "not by power, nor by might...but by His Spirit"...<Zch 4:6> the child will run more freely with greater agility, right smack dab into the arms of our Sweet Heavenly Father..!
Now, that's a nice place to velcro ourselves! Amen?

God Bless You All!
I love you very much!!

In Christ!!

Carol
Justaservn@aol.com

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