Stir Up

 

When I was 6 years old, my parents bought some land on Cochran Rd in Joppa, Maryland.  After tree-clearing, well digging, and septic lines laid, my dad moved our trailer onto the new place.  When I was 10 years old, my dad built the front half of our new home with the trailer attached to the back for bathroom and kitchen facilities.  That first winter, my two brothers and I used the future dining room for our bedroom.  But we only had a fireplace for heat that winter.  My dad would fill the firebox with wood for the night, and then he would get up early in the morning to ‘stoke up’ the fire so we could get up to a nice, warm room.  Paul and Peter used the phrase ‘stir up’ 3 times in their epistles.  Peter said in II Peter 3:1, “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.”  Hey, we need our spiritual fire ‘stoked up’ or ‘stirred up’ by remembering when we were first born into God’s forever family.  Weren’t those early days of our Christian life exciting?!  Weren’t we thrilled to be in church and to be around God’s people?!  Hey, we need to ‘stir up’ those sweet memories and get back our fervor for the Lord!  Hey, take a moment right now to worship the Lord and to enjoy His presence.

Varicose Veins

 

Last week, I shed my sweaty jeans to get into the shower and was shocked to see varicose veins all round my ankles.  I have been exercising faithfully, and my ankles should have been healthy, but what I saw didn’t lie.  Or did it?  A few moments later in the shower, my fears melted away as my ‘varicose veins’ washed off!  A combination of new black socks, sweat-soaked ankles, and poor vision had deceived me.  It wasn’t varicose veins after all; it was black fuzz going down the drain!  Hey, how often have you been deceived?  What you thought was a problem was actually not a problem.  Often, we are the victim of our own anxious fears.  We think that there is a problem, we assume that there will be a problem, and when anything is slightly amiss, we assume a problem.  Hey, trust the Lord.  Don’t worry about tomorrow.  Don’t assume trouble.  And even if there is trouble, nothing is too big for God to take care of.  Remember, God is faithful, God is all-powerful, and God is sufficient.  Proverbs 3:5&6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Black Smoke

 

I had a creepy experience last week.  And, of course, I must pass it on to you to ruin your day.  Ha, ha!  I was driving down Battlefield Parkway when I saw black smoke billowing into the air.  Being the curious (nosy) man that I am, I followed it to the source: the cremation building behind the funeral home (to remain anonymous).  I have had several relatives’ and friends’ services at this particular funeral home, and it is a great, professional business with a cordial staff.  But still … it is just creepy to think of a body in the crematorium burning up.  I have relatives who plan on cremation when they pass away, but I just don’t want to think of THEM burning up.  Of course, they will be in heaven, but still … it’s creepy.  In the Bible, people were always buried.  But I don’t think that there is a mandate requiring burial, they just always buried folk in Bible times.  I like the idea of a burial plot where a headstone can reside to remind me of departed loved ones.  Again, an urn with someone’s ashes in it sitting around the house is a little creepy.  And scattering the ashes at a selected place is creepy too.  Like the lady who wanted her ashes scattered on the golf course so her husband would visit her occasionally.  Hey, immediately upon death, you will meet your Creator.  If you have accepted God’s free gift of salvation offered to you by Jesus Christ, you will be … II Corinthians 5:8, “… absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”  So, my final question is, “Are you ready to meet your Maker?”  Where will your soul be when you are becoming ‘black smoke’?  Will you be in the arms of the dear Lord … or not?