MWB Schedule

The tentative date MWB will resume is Monday, July 8, 2013.
I will have knee replacement surgery tomorrow (June 11).
Please be in prayer for my surgery and recovery.

Stay in The Word!
Miles of Smiles, Beverly

His Alone

As the story goes, there was heated debate among the family cooks how best to cut up a whole chicken. The most peaceful conclusion was “because that’s how great-grandma did it.” When asked what made the chicken taste so much better when cut in the traditional manner, the matriarch’s answer stunned them all: “Why, taste has nothing to do with it,” she said. “When I cut up the chicken like that, all the pieces fit nicely into my skillet!”

Why do you do the things you do? Well, I fold towels like my Mama folded towels, and I buy the same cornmeal Mama bought. Why, it didn’t occur to me for many years [after I married], there were other ways to do certain things. One famous story here is when I served Mr. Bill homemade oyster stew. It was a cold-weather regular at home so I never imagined that everyone didn’t love oyster stew. Well, Mr. Bill wasn’t “everyone,” and he thought I had served him potato soup thus asked if I had used rotten potatoes! Seriously, why do we do what we do for Christ? Do you know how easily the passion for service can replace the passion for Christ! “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me …” (Romans 15:18). Paul writes of one message and one motive, pure and undeterred – that Christ be proclaimed and His purpose accomplished in-through-by Believers. On more than one occasion, God has peeled away the layers [of my service to Him] to renew His purpose in me, that I boast of nothing except “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14). All is about Him, for Him, and for His glory alone. Nothing else!

The kind words from my MWB friends have often encouraged me. I am constantly amazed how God uses small things and unsuspecting people for His purpose. Truly, many times the writer’s attitude stinks, a spiritual desert looms, and words don’t come. Yet, I know this promise remains, “He who calls you is faithful.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). May you, too, be encouraged with these words as we love Jesus Christ, and are emboldened in our passion for Him to obedience. There is purpose in what we do, and that purpose is His alone!

Gratitude

Does thanksgiving reign in your life? We are to be a thankful people and honor the Name of God Who is good and merciful and everlasting. (Psalm 100:4-5). It is good to stop and be grateful.  My gratitude list includes …

• Family who love and enjoy one another
• Ability to hear, see, laugh, and cry
• Special moments of communion with God
• Rain on a metal roof
• Another little boy
• Mr. Bill sitting in his rocker-recliner
• An adventurous little girl named Ella
• Hot tea at bedtime
• Lots of pillows
• Front yard football games
• Dress-up hats, beads, bracelets, and a multiple pacifiers
• An open Bible
• New friends
• Godly truth in music
• Caring friends who tell me so
• Shared burdens
• Faithful friends
• Singing with Mom
• Hope because of Christ
• Quietness
• A dad and mom who are devoted to each other
• Mercy – Grace – Forgiveness - Redemption

Won’t you consider blessings, write them down, and … be thankful unto Him!

Incline

Do you remember an incline to the top? Maybe it was a ski slope or a mountain, but travel from bottom-to-top demanded going up. My earliest memory of riding an incline was to Ghost Town in the Sky at Maggie Valley, NC. As a little girl, it was a bit scary – as a big girl, it’s still pretty scary!

Burt Bacharach wrote it and Jackie DeShannon sang it -- “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” This may be surprising to some, but even in 1965, this wasn’t new news. No, love had been on the decline since … well, the Garden. Just today, I pondered how sin has so blemished the beauty of God’s perfect creation – the eternal soul fashioned after its Creator. We chose to live in the power of who WE are and demand OUR way – what WE want, when WE want it, how WE want it, trample another to get it, dare another to get in OUR way, and if another gets in OUR way WE make them pay. Does this sound loving to you? Jesus said, “As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you; continue ye in My love.” (John 15:9). Where love is in decline, there is never fullness of joy as promised when we keep God’s commands and abide in Him “that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (John 15:11). Christ continues this discourse on love – “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (V.13). Many times we relate this verse exclusively to how Jesus laid down His life for us, but there is more. When we consider WHAT Jesus laid aside for us, just how willing are WE to put aside pride (for humility), cruelty (for mercy), hate (for love), harshness (for gentleness)? What will we do for the sake of real love? The breathtaking views from Israel’s Masada and Megiddo would have just been pictures on a page risking my choosing the otherwise scary upward trek to the top. Know this, true disciples of Christ always bend (incline) toward Love. Will you make the incline?

Make a Scene

One thing I learned from my Mama was not to draw undue attention to yourself – in other words, live life low-key. That translated into don’t wear flashy clothing, go easy on the make-up, and behave like a lady. Let me just say, sitting on your water bottle during the sermon is NOT following Mama’s advice! Squish – crackle – crunch – squish – crackle – crunch is also NOT the positive affirmation the preacher listens for!

Christians are not called to live a low-key faith! The crackle-crunch sound of a water bottle in distress is definitely an attention-getter. Have you considered just how many people know the depth and sincerity of your faith … or is it a “secret?” An Episcopalian pastor named Dudley Tying was a dynamic preacher and well known for his strong stands against evil. In 1858 Tying delivered a sermon on Exodus 10:11, “go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD,” to a group of 5,000 men. More than 1,000 of those men came to Christ that day. One week later, Tying was in a terrible accident and near death, he whispered these words to friends and family: “Let us all stand up for Jesus.” Inspired by his friend’s final words, George Duffield, preached a message from Ephesians 6:14 the following Sunday -- “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness,” then concluded with this poem:

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss
From victory unto victory His army shall He lead
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed

When we stand up for Jesus, we will not be low-key Christians. That’s the kind of dynamic life Christ died to give us! Go ahead, stand up, and make a scene!

The View

The twins had never flown so Mr. Bill had kept the flight from DC a surprise. Instantly, we recognized the apprehension on Dennis’s face! We boarded the plane – Dennis announced he would not sit next to the window, demanded the shade be pulled, refused anything to eat, then buried his head in a book. With twenty-five minutes left in flight, he settled down and even asked to sit next to the window. His final analysis was flying was pretty cool!

Beside God Himself, what do you suppose inspired the psalmist words, “So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.” (63:2). As we flew above the clouds, looking down on them [rather than up], I considered our limited view of life here. The struggles often make us see and focus on the underside, shading and distorting the view. Almighty God, however, sees us and the design of our lives, knowing each one’s potential and purpose. Oh, that we beheld ourselves in His view, surrendering completely to His sovereignty in all our circumstances, and how He plans to use them as runways for our growth. Oh, to embrace such a view of life! We were happy to have feet-on-the-ground, and feet-on-the-ground is our calling until Christ returns. We mustn’t live with our head-in-the-clouds, but rather, in a continual view with The Creator in mind – seeing and living in His View.

Soar

Ella loves bubbles, and why not! Blowing bubbles is the kind of mindless activity even the young-at-heart enjoy. Ella also likes to chase bubbles; now, I can do without that spin on bubble-blowing!

Do you move through life like a bubble, drifting thoughtlessly through each day -- bumped, pushed, shoved by situations and circumstances? What happens to us and around us has a tendency to seem as wisps of time unaccounted for anything of value or substance. How often have we written the date and wondered, “where did this month go?” It’s good we remember -- we are not bubble people! We are not created to drift – we are created to soar! The eagle is mentioned more than any other bird in the Bible; have you ever seen an eagle soar? It is magnificent, this king of birds. No wonder Isaiah wrote, “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagle; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31). We soar when we commit to God every second, minute, hour, day, month, and year … all of life. Ella has renewed my interest in bubble-blowing, but it is my Heavenly Father Who renews my strength day-after-day to soar with Him to new heights of joy and delight. Soar with Him today!

Change Channels

It is primarily men who are accused of constantly changing channels. The root of this "channel surfing" is the search for something more interesting, forsaking the boring. Why is it then the search ends on sports, hunting, or weather?

God wants to use all things in our lives as channels of His love and grace. Sometimes we miss current opportunities for service and growth while we're waiting on a "bigger boat." Oswald Chambers writes, "The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, Jesus took a towel and began to wash the disciples' feet. (John 13:3-5)" In retrospect, some of the best moments for teaching my children spiritual truths were when something very ordinary happened in their lives. God is in those moments for all His Children -- when the car stalls, when the plumbing backs up, when the bank calls, when the sun doesn't shine, when wet clothes need to be dry, when loved ones aren't loving, when we can't blink away the tears. Although less thrilling, those are the times we find God strong and His promises true. We must hear His Call in these times for humble submission to divine engineering. See God's Grace and Boundless Love in the routine and the common. There is nothing boring or mundane in a life surrendered to God. Is it time you changed channels?