Margie Theiss

A new year is before us and it is time to evaluate what we have accomplished in 2014 and decide what we need to pursue and/or change in 2015.
My plan is to let go of those things that have infringed on time spent with God. I want to screen proposed projects by whether or not they can be done by using what God has given me to steward – my time, material possessions, talents given at birth, skills learned (or learning) and spiritual gifts. But my major emphasis is going to be on how I do projects.
For some time I have been meditating on I Corinthians 13 which states that unless we use our spiritual gifts in love we will become a noisy gong or clanging symbol and it profits us nothing. So, not wanting to be irritating but encouraging and not wanting to waste my time, I want love to be the motivating force in all that I do. This is no easy assignment!
I use the word “assignment” because it has become just that. When God repeats something over and over to me I usually get His message, “Do this.” After deciding to work on living to love I was surprised to sit through two sermons on the subject.
What I needed first was a working definition of “love”. According to The Discovery Bible put out by Moody Press, “love” is defined as “…an unselfish, outgoing affection or tenderness for another without necessarily expecting anything in return. It seeks a person’s highest good on the basis of the decision of will …”.
Immediately, as a test, I was faced with a situation in which it was hard to love. Because of God’s grace, I had noticed in one of the sermons the phrase, “…for love is from God,”. (I John 4:7) So I submitted myself to God by admitting my lack of love and asking for His. I know that I received it because once out of the problem situation I realized that I had not had one negative thought or feeling.
Here is another definition of “love” which I will use this year. It was taught by Pastor Dean Grotzke at First Baptist of Windsor, CA, some time ago. “Love is … an attitude and action toward God and others. (It) gives true value to all we say and do – how and what we say, how we minister our gifts and how we sacrifice ourselves for others.”
I’m looking forward to practicing and learning more about love in this New Year.
What about you? What inward change does God want you to work on this year? Do you have a working definition of it? And what do you already know about it?

Being a dog lover, I took literally the phrase, “Love me, love my dog”. But, come to find out, I was wrong. So says Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson. “What the phrase means is ‘if you want to love me, you’ll have to take me faults and all.’” It sounds similar to what God says about our loving others.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here's an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 600 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 10 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I thought that this was interesting. I hope that you do also. Margie

We have a new ministry at our church called Life Groups. They are loosely formed around age or similar life situations and provide participants 30 minutes, right after the Sunday service, to discuss it and get to know each other better.
The teaching this week was from Matthew 5:21- 25, in which is this warning, “…everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court.” The focus of the group became how not to become angry. Probably everyone can identify with becoming angry. “Studies show that most people experience this emotion at least eight to ten times a day.” *
One woman shared her solution. “Don’t drive, ride a bike,” advice I remembered this week when I encountered a construction worker who was holding up a “Stop” sign and who was oblivious of the line of cars forming behind me and the absence of cars beyond the construction site. He was completely engrossed in his cell phone. He was too far away for me to yell from the car. Getting out of the car to confront him didn’t seem wise. So I decided to give him a blast from the horn. Just as my hand was about to apply pressure, he suddenly looked up and changed the sign. I was angry but I did not sin.
The Bible tells us, “Be angry and sin not; do not let the sun go down on your anger,…”. (Ephesians 4:26) “ Anger is simply a strong feeling of irritation or displeasure.”* It doesn’t become a sin until one reacts to it in a sinful manner or holds on to it so that it becomes a habit. It is what we do with that feeling whether it becomes a useful tool or sin. We can use anger as a caution light. It warns, “Be careful. You have a problem looming. Find out what is going on and deal with it appropriately and as quickly as possible.”
A former pastor of mine taught that when he felt angry, he would think back to when he first felt it and there he would usually find what caused his anger. It most often is the result of hurt, frustration, fear or unmet expectations.* When one does not deal with anger but stores it, at some point, the tension becomes too great and, when something is said or done that offends, there is an explosion that is difficult to understand or explain.
“Not letting the sun go down on your anger,” means that we are to deal with anger issues as they arise. Don’t stuff them. It’s important that we keep working on them until there is resolution. Carrying around anger is a burden and is unhealthy.
I can not write about anger without addressing Ephesians 6:4, “And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” It would have been so much easier for me and my husband if my parents had been able to teach me how to deal with anger when I was a child. But they could not. They were very angry people who did not deal with their own anger appropriately. Thus they provoked me to “wrath”, the word that is used in some Bible translations for the word “anger”. In English, “wrath” has the connotation of a desire to punish or get revenge, my mode of operation in relationships until I became a Christian. Angry people are miserable. Don’t let this happen to any child with whom you have influence.

* This sentence is taken from The Soul Care Bible 2001 which has been retitled The Bible for Hope (Caring for People God’s Way) 2011

Len, my husband, and I were sitting at the table eating our breakfast and watching the news on TV. As I forked-in a mouthful Len said, “ I can’t understand why anyone would not want to marry.” I recognized that this question was generated by Len’s study of I Corinthians 7, where Paul states that it is better to remain unmarried, as he is.
Quickly emptying my mouth, I blurted out, “I do.” Then I thought, “Oops, wrong comment.” I looked to Len to see if I had offended him. He was smiling and I knew what he was thinking. “Women have a difficult time submitting to a husband, especially this one.” It was a topic of many heated discussions in our home. We finally have come to a stage in our marriage where we work through this challenge with humor.
I explained to Len that this time my comment wasn’t about the feminine trials of marriage. It was about Paul’s passion. I had been reading Ephesians 1 and was impressed with Paul’s undistracted devotion to God, which singleness permitted.
In this portion of Scripture, Paul portrays God as glorious, gracious, generous and as having good intentions towards all mankind. Paul points out that God provides…

grace and peace (v.2)
every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (v.3)
adoption (v.5)
redemption and forgiveness (v.7)
knowledge of His will (v.9)
an inheritance (v.11,14 and 18)

Paul is absolutely convinced that God will provide all this, and more, to those who believe in His Son and His ways, words and work. Who has time for marriage when one is consumed with this kind of love for God?

ADDEMDUM

I am not musically inclined; but I do like to sing with knowledge (understanding the words being sung and determining whether or not I can embrace them as my own) in unison with my church congregation. This gives me a feel for what we will be doing together in Heaven.
Once in awhile the music team will throw in a new, unfamiliar song. That is what happened while I was pondering Ephesians 1. The song fit perfectly with my meditation.
Not being able to hold onto the words, I looked up the title on the Internet. Following is the chorus from “Isn’t He Good”.

“Isn’t He good, isn’t He kind
Hasn’t He blessed us time after time
Isn’t He good, all of our days
With endless mercies
And ceaseless grace
Oh let us sing: He is good”

Knowing my penchant for writing, an extended family member loaned me the book, Behind the Stories by Diane Eble. It tells how several Christian authors ended up with writing careers. But others, besides would-be writers, will profit from reading how God works as He leads persons into the careers that He has destined for them. This book is one of the most encouraging, inspirational and practical books that I have ever read. It also is an easy read because most of the stories are only two or three pages long.
The idea of being “called” to a career by God is referred to often. Growing up in the Catholic faith I was familiar with the term; but I thought it was limited to becoming a nun or priest. Having an uncle who was a priest solidified that concept even more until, as a 30 year old, I began to attend Protestant Bible studies. There I learned that God calls all persons to a career or life’s work for which He has planned for them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Towards the end of the book (on page 274) the term “call” is summed up nicely. “Each person’s relationship with God is individual, personal. He (God) rarely works in exactly the same way twice. But this he does consistently: he mercifully fits the call and the means to the unique personality, circumstances, weaknesses, and strengths of each individual. Never forget God’s first call is to a relationship with him. As you respond to that primary call, he gently leads you in the path he has created just for you. You’ll know the way, because the shoes he gives you will fit exactly, the signposts will seem written just for you and all along the way joy will spur you on.”
I am hoping that by reading these short stories of how God has worked in the lives of others, each of you will better see how he is working in yours. God creates all of us with natural talents. We develop skills through practice and study. God also gives us gifts that we are to primarily use in the church. All Christians are gifted with the equipment that is needed to accomplish the work for which we were created, bringing us great joy and giving God glory.
So get the book, which I think is out of print; but Amazon still has it. Read the book. Determine how God has gifted you. Define or refine your call and experience the joy that God has laid out before you.
Some of you who read this may be past retirement age or limited by the disabilities that age brings. God still has work for you to do but it may vary, out of necessity, from what you have done in the past. So try doing something new or different, perhaps something you could not do when you were younger. We are living longer these days. God knew that we would; so he planned your work for this time also.

In my last post I gave three sources of confirmation to look for when seeking to know if one’s plans are according to God’s will:

a corroborating Biblical text comes to mind while praying or reading Scripture
a validation when using sound reasoning
a deep sense of prevailing peace when considering specific plans

Since my last blog I have listened to an i pod sermon given on the same topic at Santa Barbara Community Church during the month of July. The information was from the life of Paul. (Acts 18:1-23)
Using the above passage and other Scripture, the pastor showed that Paul sometimes acted on a clear word from God or on what he thought best. At other times, Paul acted not knowing God’s will beforehand.
Hearing the latter was disconcerting to me. I get frustrated when I feel that I’m not receiving clear direction from God and must move ahead without it. That’s probably the perfectionist in me wanting my course mapped out before I travel. For me, frustration is sin. It is not trusting God.
What I was not taking into account was Paul’s spiritual DNA , knowledge passed onto Paul through time with God, tried and true facts built into Paul’s new life that he could use to test and guide decisions and actions automatically. Some of these facts given in the sermon were:

God’s decrees are absolute.
Christ is to be pursued in thought, word and deed.
Christ crucified is to be the focus, not ourselves.
Disciples are to be bond-servants to others for Christ’s sake.
All that is done is to be to the glory of God.
Disciples have been blessed and are to be a blessing.

Some of you may be thinking, “I don’t have that kind of backlog of facts about God’s word, ways and work.” Well, you can begin to build it. Attend and/or listen to Biblical sermons. Join a Bible study.
Although I attend my church regularly, each week I do a computer review of Sunday’s sermon at http://www.fbcwindsor.com. With school back in session, new Bible studies are beginning. Join a Bible teaching church’s Bible study or attend a Bible Study Fellowship class near you. Check out http://www.bsfinternational.org/locate-a-class.
While at a Beth Moore simulcast she pointed out a Scripture we would do well to keep in mind while listening or reading God’s words from the Bible. “ And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” Acts 16:14 (NIV)
Beth Moore emphasized the word “respond” and asked, “What will you do with what you receive?” Scripture listened to or read may or may not find a permanent spot in the mind or heart. That same scripture is more likely to stick with us, and build a backlog like Paul’s, when we apply it to our present decision making. It also makes reality of the words with which the Santa Barbara pastor began his sermon. “Seeking the will of God is to be our delight, not dilemma.”

I just read Bridge to Haven, a book by Francine Rivers, in which she begins each chapter with a quotation. The one that stood out to me was, “Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21, NASB)
For those who know me well, it will be of no surprise that this verse would grab my attention. I’m a consummate planner.
I checked-out the verse in different Bible translations and crossed referenced it. The Bible’s bottom line seems to be that the plans of man may or may not come to fruition; but God’s plans always do. With this information, who would rely on their own agenda? I’m afraid that would be most of us, myself included.
For a month I had been praying for God’s feedback about leaving a group that I had attended twice a month for a year. Even searching for an answer in my daily Bible reading gave me no clear direction.
This was frustrating! Was my wanting to leave the group from God or my own willfulness? I know all too well how I can deceive myself into believing my will is God’s. So I fell back on the guidelines for knowing God’s will from a resource that I have found reliable over the years. They are in a portion of the book Created for Commitment by A. Wetherell Johnson.
Ms. Johnson wrote that she looked for three confirmations in order to make sure that she didn’t confuse God’s answer with her own desires. “First, confirmation may come as one reads God’s Word, or a text comes to mind as one prays … (a) second confirmation comes from sound reasoning. God does not bypass our intellect and common sense in making decisions.” Her third confirmation was a deep sense of peace when considering one choice over others. (pages 358 – 361)
On the morning of the next group meeting, I had confirmation and peace about leaving; but I was concerned about how the group members would receive my decision. I had to put that concern aside and leave the results of my decision with God. When I explained my thinking to the ladies, they were gracious and didn’t express any negative feelings.
It has been a few weeks now. I’m still at peace and I’m seeing why God led me to the decision that I made. It took a step of faith to get here. But after all, isn’t that the way He wants us to walk, by faith, step by little step.
God is a loving Father who delights in our baby steps of faith. He longs to teach us to walk with Him.
My confidence to take steps of faith comes from knowing that, even if I step out of His will, He can correct my direction and will use those steps for good.
What plans, goals, choices or new directions are you facing? Be sure to check in with God to determine what He has in mind for you in these areas? Remember only His plans are guaranteed to be fruitful.

This is an apology to the subscribers of this blog. I have been doing this blog for a year and a half and I am still learning how to manage it. When I checked the last post, I found that it had been repeated. I still do not know how it happened; but good came out of it.

I did not panic over the mistake. I prayed and thought, “All right, I’ll wade in and see if I can change part of the post.” I did it! And I learned a lot about my ‘dash board’, an area where one can do a multitude of things to a blog.

I was flying high, not only because I accomplished what I set out to do but also because this perfectionist had changed. In times past, faced with a mistake, if it did not involve a person, I may have given up on correcting it and/or become depressed and mentally whipped myself for weeks for being such a blunderer.

My joy foundered momentarily when my husband read the new post and said, “Marg, it was good; but I’m not going to read it again.”

I countered with, “What do you mean?”

Offering his Kindle to me, he said, “Look, the post is repeated.”

I was dumbfounded. I fixed the post and checked that the offending portion was deleted. Then I realized what had happened. The repetitive post went out to subscribers before I had worked on it. So, sorry!

But, the silver lining is that I found out that my worry quotient is getting very low. I must be following the advice of that well-known sage, Sandra Bullock – I saw her on TV giving a commencement address. She advised graduates to stop worrying. It is a waste of time. We don’t remember our times of worry. We remember our times of joy.

And I have plenty of those with which to fill my mind. I hoped that you do also.

In our Christian world view group this question came up, “Do children with handicaps have the right to live or be born?” Christina, a member, shared her answer.

“As a pediatric nurse, I worked with a family that had a little girl named Naomi with Trisomy 13.

“Trisomy 13, also called Patau syndrome, is a chromosomal condition associated with severe intellectual disability and physical abnormalities in many parts of the body. Individuals with Trisomy 13 often have heart defects, brain or spinal cord abnormalities, very small or poorly developed eyes (microphthalmia), extra fingers or toes, an opening in the lip (a cleft lip) with or without an opening in the roof of the mouth (a cleft palate) and weak muscle tone (hypotonia).

“Due to the presence of several life threatening medical problems, many infants with Trisomy 13 die within their first days or weeks of life. Only five to ten percent of children with this condition live past their first year.

“Naomi was one of the few who lived to be four years old. She spent many months of her life in and out of the hospital with multiple illnesses caused by her condition. Her mom and dad were always by her side caring for and loving her.

“Naomi never grew beyond three feet tall, she never walked, she never talked, she never was able to communicate as we do … and yet she was a vital part of her family. They were devoted to her. Her ‘little’ sister Hannah grew to be tall and strong; but she called Naomi her ‘big sister’.

“Naomi spent her whole life in a crib in diapers, being fed through tubes by her mom and dad. They were dedicated to serving her and extending her life. Yet through all of it, their faith in the Lord grew. They told me that they would not have wanted their lives to have been without Naomi. She taught them so many things, especially sacrificial love.”

Christina continued to share with the group.

“It is the imperfections in this world, the weaknesses, which teach us the most, that confound the wise and the proud, that quicken our hearts so we can feel, sympathize, empathize, and most importantly declare utter dependence on God. True Christ-like love is taught through hardship, suffering and sacrifice.”

Christina’s story brought to my mind a time long ago that I walked with a dear, young friend’s nine months of a long desired pregnancy. She was told early on that her baby boy had multiple defects and would only live a few hours after birth. Abortion was an option. She and her husband refused. She carried Max full term. He was born, lived a few hours, was loved and cuddled by his parents and died on December 17^th.

These parents demonstrate to me the love and dignity that God shows towards all human life, from conception until death. Their joyful sacrifices remind me of how I am to treat others, no matter their condition or circumstances.

Like the disciples of Jesus in John 9:1-3, some look to place the blame on another, even God, for an infant’s disability. In our world, difficulties and disabilities do not come from God but from the sin that permeates the world since the Fall.

In the John 9 passage, Jesus healed the man who was blind from birth. Jesus can and does continue to heal; but while Jesus walked the earth, His miracles were mainly signs to authenticate His deity. (John 20:30-31) Perhaps in our day we do not need that authentication as much as we need to see from parents, and then emulate, God’s love and dignity given to unborn and disabled children. They have the right to live, be born and to be loved.

I am thankful to www.beakpoint.org for promoting the DVD study “Doing the Right Thing”, an exploration of ethics. In the session on ethics in the market place, it suggested that we write our own guidelines, using the Scripture discussed during the session. Here are mine.

1. Be truthful.

2. Be transparent.

3. Set goals.

4. Don’t fear to invest what God has given you.

         material possessions

         time

         talents with which you were born

         learned skills

         spiritual gifts

5. Trust God for increase of investment.

6. Give glory to God for all you accomplish.

7. Don’t covet what another has.

8. Don’t become a slave to work.

Have some fun. Make your own. Following are the suggested Scriptures; but you might want to use your own.

Proverbs 4:20-27

Matthew 25:14-30

Exodus 20:2-17

Matthew 22:34-40

Ephesians 4:17-24

Romans 12:1-2

You may be reading this and thinking that you are no longer in the market place and so you no longer need these kind of guidelines. Not so. Whether you are a stay-at-home parent, a homemaker, a retiree or disabled, you are still a consumer and you can use these guidelines to check out those with whom you do business. These are also standards you can apply to yourself.

Now look again at your guidelines and answer the question, “When and how did they develop? When I did this exercise I was surprised to find that none of the above guidelines were taught to me by my parents. So where and when did I learn them?

I became a Christian when I was 27 years old; and, not having read the Bible until then, I had an insatiable curiosity about what was in it. I read, and read, and read, and still do. So it must be the Scriptures at work in my life that developed my ethical guidelines for the market place. Amazing! I didn’t even know that it was happening.