Functional Obsolescence

Someone recently purchased the house at the end of my block, tore it down, and is now constructing a GIANT house. The other day we drove by and Jorge commented, “That’s a perfect example of functional obsolescence.”  Well, being the curious person that I am, I immediately looked up the definition: Functional obsolescence in Real Estate pertains to a property not complying with recognized utility. In other words there are features that are not practical or desirable. (http://massrealestatenews.com/functional-obsolescence-in-real-estate/#sthash.g0lBt3dQ.dpuf).

All the features of this house are probably desirable except one: Location. It doesn’t really match the other houses in the neighborhood, and the asking price is outrageous.    

I don’t understand the reasons for whoever is taking that real estate gamble, but I do understand the term “functional obsolescence” a little better now, and I think that in spiritual terms, it perfectly describes the future of the hope we have in Christ.

The very real and life giving “feature” of hope is that we believe that everything the Bible teaches will actually happen.  And it’s not wishful thinking like “I hope the Dolphins win,” or “I hope it doesn’t rain today.” There’s no guarantee that we South Floridians will have a winning football team and/or a rain free day anytime soon.  The kind of hope we have is based on fact, or as someone once said, “Hope is a sure anchor of the soul.”

Soon enough everything we ever hoped for will be ours.  All suffering, tears, trials, and troubles will give way to being with our Lord in paradise. Once that happens we no longer need hope – it will be obsolete! And once we are enjoying ourselves nonstop with Jesus, what else could we possibly desire?  Amen!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for reminding us that some things will no longer be necessary in the future. Until that time arrives, we allow the hope we have, which is based on fact, to be an anchor for our soul – something that keeps us steady in the storms of life.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

Come, See Where His body Was Lying...

Greetings, dear friends!

Have you ever borrowed something from someone? I have. Purses, jewelry, books, an egg, lawnmower, a phone…the list is endless.  I always make sure to take care of it and give it back in the same condition I received it.  The egg, in case you were wondering, was uncracked and new.  Except there was this one time that someone let me borrow a Greek doll and some calendars for a presentation Hormone was doing for International Day at school; I forgot to give it all back. I discovered all the stuff during the epic purging of 2014 after the garage fire. Shame on me; the presentation was in 1999!

Jesus borrowed something once too, but He promptly returned it.   

Matthew 27:57-60 “As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.  Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth.  He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.”

Matthew 28:1-6 “Early on Sunday morning, the women went out to visit the tomb.  Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and spoke to the women… “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said would happen. Come, see where His body was lying.”

Jesus borrowed the tomb for three days – leaving it for Joseph’s future use – and rose to give us everything we could ever hope for. Because He lives, we live. Because He resurrected, the dead areas of our life, soul, body, mind, emotions, relationships… can also be infused with new life. Because He conquered the grave, we have conquered the grave and will enjoy the indescribable joys of heaven.

It was an incredibly kind, tender, and generous gesture that Joseph made when he cared for our Lord’s body and laid it to rest in that tomb.  But it was an even greater gesture that Jesus returned it to Joseph!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that Christ only borrowed the tomb.  He rose up out of there with unparalleled power that He freely and graciously gives to us all.  We call upon Him now to breathe new life anywhere we need it. (FILL IN THE BLANK) Especially here: ___________________________. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

The Lamb's Book of Life~

Luke 10:20 “…rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.”

Greetings in the name of our precious Savior,

Last night I was a little aghast when I found out that my math teacher son – Hormone – takes off five whole points for any student who does not write his or her name on their test.  One poor kid will be quite sad to discover today that their otherwise perfect grade has taken a hit!

I would never have the heart to do that, but maybe, in the end, this lesson will help kids to make sure they write their names down.  When you think about it, it is actually important to be identified.  There are so many important documents that need a proper name: Marriage license, driver’s license, birth certificate, death certificate, pay check…

But the most important place any of our names could ever be recorded is in the Lamb’s Book of Life. God Himself has a precious book where all the names of those who have asked Jesus to enter into their hearts and lives are permanently and indelibly entered.

The best part is that none of us has to pick up a pen or pencil to write our names in it; all we have to do is to invite Christ into our lives. It’s so simple.  We tell Him how much we desperately need His forgiveness, love, guidance, provision, protection, hope, peace, love and faith. And not only does He show up and provide these things, but in the process He makes sure our names are written down forever. 

This is really really important – way more – incalculably more – than whether we forget to write our name on a test or anywhere else because “Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get into Heaven” (Revelation 21:27). 

If you're not sure whether your name is written down or not, take a moment and ask God to pull out His Holy pen and enter it in.  All you have to do is ask Him. (See Prayer number two below).

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that our names are written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and thank You for making the process simple.  It all about what You do for us when we call upon Your name.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

PRAYER TWO: Dear Lord, The most important place my name could ever be written is in the Lamb's Book of Life.  I want to make sure my name is recorded. I invite Christ into my life to forgive me and help me.  By faith I receive all the blessings that come from being Your child -- especially the one where my name is now an inerasable entry forever!  In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Encourage Yourself!

1 Samuel 30:6 “David was in great distress because the people in their bitterness said he should be stoned…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”

Greetings,

When we are upset, going through troubles, and find our faith failing we are to encourage ourselves in the Lord.  I, thank God, have never experienced people wanting to stone me, but have had moments of great distress nonetheless. The right response is to encourage ourselves in Him.

How do we do that?    

For me it’s all about purposely reminding myself that God has never let me down. He has seen me through every trial, and I am grateful.  He has seen me through loss, and my heart sings because no matter how tough, every single loss is temporary.  He has guided me down the tricky and often confusing paths of being a good mom, and my kids are alive, I am alive, and we all love each other deeply and powerfully. He has steadily led me in those moments when I did not know what to do, and looking back, I can clearly see His wisdom at every turn.

One such season of complete, “What do we do now?” happened when the company Jorge worked for suddenly went bankrupt.  Within a few days our income stopped – came to a dead halt – and both company cars were repossessed.  I am not too ashamed to admit that we never saw it coming, and that my husband actually rode the bus for a while.  It was rough.  The bills still demanded payment, the kids were in private school, and we had a mortgage to pay. 

Night after long night Jorge and I would go to the Lord and freely admit that we needed Him.  We had no clue what to do or where to turn.  Looking back now we can both see the hand of God moving actively in our lives to get us back on our feet again and onto steadier ground.  The decisions made in the aftermath of that trial, were made only after consulting with God about everything and anything.  God has lifted us higher than we could have ever imagined, Jorge is working in a field he loves, he is his own boss, and enjoying God-given success.

In his distress, David encouraged himself in his God, and ultimately, God “delivered and protected him (Read 1 Samuel chapter 30).”  In our distress, God delivered and protected us as well.  He’ll do the same for you.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We encourage ourselves in You today by saying Thank You for Your faithfulness.  You have been and will always be with us each step of the way.  May we sense Your presence more than ever.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

It Only Takes a Spark...

Greetings in the name of our Lord! He is the One Who sustains us, loves us, protects us, guides us, and when we call upon His name, HE IS IN CONTROL! If you feel your situation is out of control, then stop right now and invite Him to take over! AMEN!

This past weekend I had a chance to visit with a beautiful, elderly lady who has been a spiritual mentor to me for most of my life.  She is an amazing woman of God and a true depiction of what the Bible says in Titus 2:3-5 “Older women are to teach what is right and good,  so that they may encourage young women to tenderly love their husbands and their children,  to be sensible, pure, makers of a home [where God is honored], and good-natured…”

During our conversation she said something powerful: “Yenise, I have never gotten into trouble for keeping my mouth shut. But I have suffered many consequences for those times I didn’t!” 

Wouldn’t you know that the Bible agrees?

James 3: 5-6 “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!  It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”

I certainly wouldn’t want to bring destruction because of something I said, nor would I want to turn harmony into chaos, or much less, go up in smoke because of my speech. So I loudly “amened” my mentor’s wise words over and over and nodded my head heartily in agreement, and then last night I OPENED MY BIG MOUTH!!!

I will spare everyone the details of the vulgarity that I spewed at my husband in front of my kids and their lovely spouses. Even the dogs stopped for a moment, cocked their ears, and looked at me funny. But I can assure you that what I said right from the pit of hell. Ugh!

What is wrong with me? I wished I could have taken it back. But at least I had the good sense to apologize immediately, and Jorge quickly forgave me. 

Moving forward, I am asking the good Lord to remind me that I will never have any regrets if I KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Your Word gives good advice. If we follow Your wisdom we will avoid setting off forest fires with our words. Help us; it’s never worth it! In Jesus’ name, AMEN.  

My Praise Phrase

Greetings in the name of our generous Lord,

I Samuel 2:1-2 “My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because You rescued me....No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides You; there is no Rock like our God. For all the earth is the LORD's, and He has laid out His operations on a firm foundation. He protectively cares for His faithful friends, step by step...No one will succeed by strength alone. The childless woman now has seven children. God will set things right all over the earth…”

The above-verses were gloriously uttered by Hannah – a woman whom God mightily blessed. She went from being barren and being made fun of to having seven children, including Samuel.  Samuel was so special that he has two books in the Bible named after him! Hanna’s words are powerful, and they are up for grabs, meaning we all have a praise phrase that we can utter.  First, we have to trust in the Lord.

My praise phrase goes like this: “My kids are finally settled into happy and healthy marriages!”  But please know that long before I had my praise phrase, there were plenty of tears, fears, and pleas to God for His help.  Thank God that He was willing and able to give me my praise phrase. And He is willing to give you one as well.  I Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Never stop praying.”  God wants us to keep on praying so He can keep on answering. 

One more thing! Hannah originally asked for one child. But God is so generous that He gave her six more beautiful children.  The same Lord Who went above and beyond for her is the same One Who will go above and beyond for us.

What would you like for your praise phrase to be?  Think about it, and let’s pray.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that when we ask You to go into action for us, we can expect a praise phrase to follow.  I need Your help with ____________________________, and I thank You that I will soon declare that You rescued, strengthened, cared for and made things right for me! In Jesus’ name, AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!

The Habit of Prayer~

Romans 12:12 “Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When trials come endure them patiently, steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer.”

When the kids were in elementary school they had a bunch of different teachers who had various approaches to the students’ behaviors.  One in particular had a big, colorful dog house on the bulletin board with all the kids’ names written on individual construction-paper bones.  If you misbehaved your bone was placed in the dog house.

It seems like every single day there were more bones in the dog house than not.  I know because I made it a habit to check for my own children’s names. And every kind of bad habit could get you sent to the dog house.

“Don’t bite your nails!”

“Don’t pick your nose!”

“Don’t pick at that scab!”

Then came Rayray’s second grade teacher, the lovely Mrs. Albury.  She had a completely different approach.  Rather than point out all the stuff the kids were always doing wrong, she made it a point to catch them doing something good and then announcing it to the world by putting a little bee in the beehive on her bulletin board.  If your bee made it to the hive, then everyone knew you were up to something good.

Trust me when I tell you that all those second graders worked hard to make it to the beehive.  Mrs. Albury’s personal philosophy was that little children could unlearn bad habits and relearn good ones with some gentle encouragement.  She was right.

Mrs. Albury noticed that practicing good behavior led to more good behavior.  It became almost automatic for doors to be held open and for children to share happily with each other.  

Likewise, in the verse above, God encourages us to make prayer a habit because it will become the go-to response when things get rough.  Rather than freaking out and losing control, someone who is in the habit of prayer will first go to God rather than go crazy. 

Notice how the right way – the only way, really – to go through a trial is to pray your way through it.   Each of us, regardless, is going to have to endure some stuff.  How we endure is key.  Living in fear is an unbearable way to live.  Complaining won’t change a thing.  But maintaining the habit of prayer will.  Even if everything all around you is out of control, staying on a steady course of prayer will work wonders.  It will invite joy, peace, hope, and the promise of better days ahead into your situation.  I’ve heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, which is great news for all of us.  We have all been praying longer than that!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Prayer is one habit we want to keep.  Help us, strengthen us, and bless us as we pray.  We welcome You into our lives and thank You that You cover us with Your love.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

The Quality of Our Lives Depends on It~

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord, JESUS!

Last week I was running errands, and as I was pulling into the parking lot of a craft store, I realized I left my cell phone at home.  I was too far from home to turn around and get it, but don’t think the thought didn’t cross my mind.  I found myself rushing to get everything done on my list so I could hurry home and get my phone.  It felt weird to be unplugged and disconnected from the rest of the world.  I usually send texts throughout the day to different folks, and I am always on the alert from any messages from my family and friends.  And who can live without “Breaking News” bulletins?

But when I finally made it home and grabbed my phone, there was nothing new.  No missed calls, no messages, no alerts, N-O-T-H-I-N-G!  The world did not, in fact, end because I was unplugged from it for a couple of hours.   

Can the same be said of our relationship with the Lord?  Can we stay unplugged from Him for extended periods of time and be okay? Can we stay disconnected from the One Who nourishes our souls and have joy? Peace? Health? Hope? Faith? Trust?

When was the last time any of us felt the urge to “turn around” from whatever we were doing so we could connect with Jesus? Do we find ourselves “rushing” to get to Him? Do we even feel anxious when we forget about Him?

What if we were all as diligent in our communication with God as we are in our communication with everyone else via every device and social media available?  And is any of this even important?

I will only answer that last question: YES! The quality of our lives depends on it!

When we become active seekers of God, our strength is renewed (Isaiah 40:31), our prayers are answered (John 16:24), joy is abundant (Acts 13:52), we will be led in peace (Isaiah 55:12), our paths are made straight (Proverbs 3:6) etc…etc…etc…

I had to put three “etc…s” because there are just too many blessings to write them all down.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We are so passionate about our communication. Most of us can’t stand the thought of not having our phone with us for more than a few minutes.  I, for one, enjoy reaching out to my grown up children at least once a day, and thank You for letting that happen. But You are the source of every good thing in this world and in the world to come; staying connected with You blesses us in immeasurable ways, and we are grateful. Thank You for reminding us today that the greatest relationship we will ever have is the one with You.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~