My Life Right Now

          I was planning on Saturday to post on Monday... but it didn't happen. And the next day was Sunday and I decided not to schedule the post, because first I would need to write it. And on Monday I didn't plan anything, because I forgot that I needed to, and we tried to start our school-year. I say 'tried' because we realized that we needed another week to get ready. And then on Tuesday night I remembered that I needed to plan to post, only it was too late and I needed to go to bed so that I could get up early to try to do some prep work for school next week. All day Wednesday I told myself that I would blog later, because we had kids over all day and I skipped all preparation for school next week so that I could can from the garden before the tomatoes rotted. On Thursday I continued to prepare for the next school week, and went to music lessons and read some books and went to pick up more beans so that I could can more, and then watched some of the movie that matched my book. And today I did a full day of school just to make sure that it worked and I could do it, and later we're having a friend over to spend the night because we never get to see her, and Mom wants me to do the laundry if I get a minute because she's still trying to finish up the little-kid's school.
 
          This is my life right now. :)
  
          I'm trying to enjoy every second of it, and not miss a moment, because very soon it's going to change. And then it won't ever be the same again, and I'll miss what I once thought was unorganized chaos and running wildly all day long, trying to be in control of our lives.

          In fact, I think that most people lose a lot of time trying to stay on top of things. And I don't think that you can! The only One who can possibly control our lives is God, so I've been trying to give Him my days.

          When the schedule messes up, and nothing happens the way I want it to, and I feel like I had a useless day- I need to remember that every day is a gift from God. He delights in giving us good things, and the only useless day is the one that I spent without rejoicing in Him and praising Him for the good He gives.

          So I apologize for not posting on time... but life took over! Maybe we could start our verses next week?

          "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." ~Eph. 3:20-21

                           ~Emily^"""      

Beatitudes

In my personal devotions I was reading the beatitudes in Matthew 5. I was reading them just as I have 100 times before (that may be a slight exaggeration lol), when I started thinking differently about what they said. Often we see them almost like a bargain: do this, get that. And I have tended to think of these blessings as something we receive on earth. However, this time as I was reading, I realized that most (if not all) of them are blessings for the life to come.

Matthew 5:2-12

And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Some may be for this life. But many of them don’t seem to be. “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven… They shall inherit the earth… They shall see God… For great is your reward in heaven…”

I find it comforting to think that we won’t always get our rewards on earth because a heavenly reward will be so much greater than anything we could receive here!

Good Plans

"As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind ?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents ; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." --John 9: 1-3

In this amazing New Testament story, a man's sight is given to him by Jesus after he's lived his whole life thus far blind. At this time, the Pharisees told people that if they committed certain sins, then God would give them certain illnesses as punishments. So Jesus' disciples wanted to know why this man was born blind; could it have been in punishment of something his parents did before he was born? Jesus' answer reveals a wonderful truth about God in our lives:

Everything is for the glory of God. It's not about you.

That man was not blind through a certain fault that he had; after all, everyone sins! He was blind "so that the works of God might be displayed in him." And God used this circumstance in the man's life to lead him to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. It was also for the man's own good that he was blind.

I'm absolutely certain that the blind man was not happy about being blind. He didn't think, "Hurray! God made me blind for a wonderful reason that I just don't know yet. I must be so special." I'm sure that he did not want to be blind. Yet God used that circumstance for great good, and that man's healing and faith are still witnesses to people today.

God's plans for out lives are good, even when we can't see why. And they are meant to give glory to God while helping His chosen people to grow closer to Him. I was struck with another example of this while reading the story of Joseph.

Do you remember what happened to Joseph? It all started when Jacob, Joseph's father, was tricked into marrying Leah instead of Rachel. He got to marry Rachel too eventually, but then the two sisters were stuck in an impossible situation. Leah knew that Jacob loved Rachel more than her. And Rachel was barren, while Leah easily gave birth to numerous sons to carry on Jacob's seed. So of course it was very natural for their children to hate each other. Rachel finally gave birth (to Joseph), and Jacob made him his favorite child, simply because he was Rachel's. Now Leah's sons had two reasons to hate Joseph: He was Rachel's son, and their father loved him more than them.

This sets the stage for Joseph's life story. Through interesting circumstances, Leah's sons are alone with Joseph out in the middle of nowhere. And they're more than normally angry with him. They almost decide to kill him, but then determine that selling him into slavery is a better idea.

So they do.

He was sold by his own brothers into slavery. Can you imagine your siblings doing that to you? This turns out pretty well, however, considering the circumstances. A good man (Potiphar) buys Joseph and treats him well, and pretty soon he's in charge of Potiphar's whole household, because he is blessed by God in everything he does. But then, through no fault of his own, he's thrown into prison.

The same thing happens in the prison that happened in Potiphar's house: Joseph is promoted over and over again until he's in a good position in the prison. He continues to honor God and do good things through this whole ordeal, and eventually he is second in command to Pharoh. Because of his obedience to God, he is able to save many people from starving to death when a great famine comes over the land. And after all that, this is what Joseph has to say about what God has done with his life:

"Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come closer to me." And they came closer. And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. "For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. "Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God ; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt." --Genesis 45:4-8

I don't know about you, but Joseph's words here always blow me out of the water! Joseph truly got it; he understood why his life had unfolded a certain way. Eventually, Joseph's father is reunited with him. Jacob is overjoyed to see his son again, and Joseph introduces his father to Pharoh:

"Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh ; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many years have you lived ?" So Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty ; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning." "--Genesis 47:7-9

"Few and unpleasant have been the days of my life"?! What a contrast! Whose life seems harder to you, Joseph's or Jacob's? I would definitely say Joseph's. And yet who is complaining? Jacob. Joseph is busy glorifying God.

Challenges and trials shape us into the people that God wants us to be. Joseph had learned through his troubles that God worked everything in his life for good. (Romans 8:28) He was able to look at the brothers who sold him into slavery in a foreign land and say, "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life." Most of us will never be sold into slavery, but imagine what would happen if we were able to look at seemingly huge disappointments and thank God for them instead of complaining about them? Jacob chose to sit in misery and slowly waste away once he reached difficulties. He said ,"...few and unpleasant have been the years of my life...". How have you chosen to react in your life?

In every life there are trials and seasons of tribulation. Even if they're not direct, we all experience watching others go through them. But the plans that God has for our lives are good. (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28) We can grow through the trials God allows, remembering that God works for our good, or we can waste away complaining like Jacob. What will you choose? Are you going to be a Joseph or a Jacob?