Month: December 2023

Uncategorized

Casting Your Cares

The Kedge Anchor

It always seems like Christmas flies by. The holiday’s prep, planning and shopping is enough to create anxiety. Add that to the anxieties you’re already facing and, well if you’re like me you could be a hot mess. If there is one thing I want to do this year is not carry them into the New Year. Tomorrow, the New Year has its own worries I don’t want to carry more.

Matthew 6:34 – “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (NLT) So what do I do with today’s worries?”

1 Peter 5:7 – “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

This is what always has me stumped. It’s so easy to say this to someone who is struggling and facing anxiety. I know I have been guilty of this. And when someone reminds me of this verse, honestly, I am only half comforted. I always need more. I don’t consider myself a needy person per se, but I need to know why and how. That’s just how I am wired.

I worked as a Surgical Technologist for over a decade. And in my learning and training when I was being taught procedures and protocols I would always ask why, especially when it seemed like it didn’t make sense. And there was always rational behind it. If it made sense I was likely to remember why I was doing it.

So casting our cares, what does that look like? Other than praying, what else is there? For me it’s knowing why. So why? Because of Matthew 6:34, tomorrow has enough of it’s own troubles don’t go borrowing any by worrying about tomorrow. Why? Because of 1 Peter 5:7 “… because He cares for you.” God cares. He cares about the details. If He knows the number of hairs on my head, as it says in Luke 2:7, then He cares about the details and the worries in my life.

Recently, I came across this article from Desiring God by John Piper that helped me understand what casting my anxieties meant. By casting our anxieties we are humbling ourselves. Verse 5 of 1 Peter 5 says “ … you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Casting our cares is something we do to humble ourselves, not something we do after we cast our cares. I encourage you to read this article, John Piper does a much better job than I do.

Piper offers more insight with Luke 19:35, – “And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.” The word “cast” means the same in 1 Peter. The way the garment was cast or tossed onto the donkey is the way we ought to cat our anxieties. Piper says to lay a specific anxiety on God, trust Him specifically, Job 42:2. Please click on the link above and read the article, there is so much more.

But here is something else that helps me. When I remember God’s sovereignty, Jeremiah 32-:17 – “O Sovereign LORD! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” When I remember He is bigger than any problem or anxiety I may have and that He knows the outcomes, He is there in the future and with me in the present and nothing takes Him by surprise. I recall times in the past when God came through for me, for His people.

For me, I want to start 2024 with casting my cares and anxieties on Him. And He knows what I am already carrying and He is already in 2024! God saved us from the biggest anxiety we could have, the debt we can never pay back and that is the debt of sin.

salvation

Merry Christmas from The Kedge Anchor

The Kedge Anchor

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year! As I celebrate the birth of Jesus, I like to read Matthew’s account and Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth. Two perspectives, one event. And if you haven’t seen Christmas with The Chosen – Holy Night, it’s ok, you can see it on Prime and eventually it will be in the app if you don’t have a Prime account. I highly recommend it.

When I stop to think of the implications of how the community at the time would have or could have judged Mary being young, unwed and pregnant … that had to be scary in itself much less being met by an angel. That was huge back then. The scorn, the shame. But she was willing. But God protected her. I wonder if in Luke 1:39, where it says “Mary … with haste…” went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, I wonder if that was part of God’s protection? Mary and Joseph were betrothed, they were engaged. But after their engagement they went back to their own homes, where it sounds like Mary went directly to see Elizabeth. Elizabeth was six months pregnant when Mary arrived and Mary stayed for three months before returning home. So, when she arrived back home she may not have been showing at three months, but she would shortly. So maybe her making haste to see her cousin decreased the scorn and increased the accountability of her virginity??

The virgin birth could only explain what God can do. Jesus had to be born as a human, He had to be made flesh, pure, righteous, holy, blameless in order to be the perfect sacrifice for us. Only God. I was reading a devotional today by Alistair Begg “Wonder and Mystery”. Alistair points out that our salvation isn’t something we can do for ourselves, it’s all God. Just as Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Mary did nothing but accept the call.

Only God. We can do nothing to save ourselves. God has provided a way. All we need to do is accept His call. Jesus went to great lengths to save us from the cradle to the cross He gave His all because He loves us. He is the only way to Heaven, Jesus is the only way to God. John 14:6 -“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (NLT).

What are your thoughts about the birth of Jesus? What do you think about this miracle? Leave your comments below.

Got some new things coming for 2024

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Trust God, Uncategorized

Walk by Faith, Learn by Sight?

The Kedge Anchor

Photo by Tobi on Pexels.com

2 Corinthians 5:7 says – ” for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

The ability to see is a gift from God. As one of our five senses, it allows us to see the beauty of God’s creation. God is speaking to us all the time, we just aren’t listening.

I was going through an older journal and came across something I wrote, this was a while back, like before this blog, but still worth a mention. I was out walking and tried to take notice of everything I was seeing. The trees, God put this verse in my heart Jeremiah 17:8 – “He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

There were lots of robins and small birds flying and foraging for food, God gave me Luke 12:24 -“Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”

I was admiring some of the homes with the manicured landscapes and God gave me, John – 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

I noticed the cracked pavement and God gave me, Revelation 21:21 -“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.”

Looking at the bright and hot sun, God gave me, – John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” “

It was a fairly cloudless day with the exception of a few wisps, and God gave me, James 4:14 – “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Just recently, my husband and I were traveling. We had booked our flights separately but were lucky enough that my husband was sitting in front of me which allowed him to board first. I had some bulky carry on bags and he could have waited to board with me, but he decided to go head of me so that he could help me with my bags. Made me think of Deuteronomy 31:8 – “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Just as my husband went ahead of me so that he could help me, God goes before us to help us. We just have to TRUST and KNOW.

So God gives us these images and objects to remind us of Him and the words He has spoken in the Bible. He paints parables with pictures to teach us. The shepherd and the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son to name a few. We are not to worship these images. We are to learn from them, help us to remember what God is teaching us. But when we are walking with Him we can’t walk by what we see. We can’t allow how we see our circumstances to dictate to us how to respond. He asks us to walk by faith not by sight. Sounds a lot easier said than done and it is at times. We are human.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to walk by faith to remain true to the one true God walking into the firey furnace. Noah walked by faith building an ark with no rain. Joshua had to literally take a step of faith walking into the Jordan River. When Peter stepped onto the roaring sea to walk to Jesus, he walked by faith taking that first step until he took his eyes off Jesus and looked around him and began to sink.

Our circumstances can deceive us. When we see we a low balance in our account, it’s hard not to panic or freak out. When we get a scary diagnosis or a relationship goes south, it’s so hard to not look at what we see and freak out like Peter did on the ocean. Yet God teaches us through images and tangible objects to help remind us and build our faith.

How is God speaking to you to today? Maybe He’s speaking to you while you’re sitting at traffic light? Maybe you’re just waiting in a check out line? Stop and take a moment to hear God’s voice. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

healing

Seashells and Snowflakes – Part 3

The Kedge Anchor

If you have been following this series, welcome back and thank you. In this season of grieving I am trying to understand how as a Christian I can be sad and joyful and I have also began to understand that there is purpose in our pain. In the previous two posts (Part 1, Part 2)I shared how I am processing mixed emotions in grief. How can I possible be sad and experience joy. I also shared what I am doing to stay close to God and some creative practices to help process, like writing this blog.

In the last post I left off with Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. He took the weight of the world, the weight of ALL our sins, past present and future. I believe that Jesus felt every kind of physical and emotional pain a human can feel that day. Jesus understands suffering, pain, persecution, temptations, He experienced it all, everything and everything His creation could feel.

This scene in The Chosen Season 3 episode 2, “Two By Two” Little James approaches Jesus and asks why he hasn’t been healed. Please watch this scene. The writers give a plausible explanation for why Jesus didn’t heal Little James and that explanation could be applied to us. It makes sense. Are we willing to still follow Jesus despite our infirmities?

So I thought some more about Jesus crucified on the cross. He could have healed Himself at any time. He could have come down from that cross like nothing happened, completely whole, healed. But He didn’t. His pain on the cross had a purpose. That purpose was to complete the plan of salvation. He had to endure the cross so that He could freely offer us salvation, eternal life. Our pain has purpose. God hears our prayers, He sees our pain but He has a plan and a purpose for us and sometimes that infirmity is part of it. God does heal, He heals everyone, we just may not see it this side of Heaven. We may not know what purpose our pain has here on earth. We certainly have a story to tell and that story could lead someone to Christ or give them Hope.

God loves us and wants nothing but the best for us, His children. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives and sometimes that means pain, physical or emotional. It’s hard to trust when we experience pain but when we do trust the result is beautiful. It helps for me to know that my story can help someone else; maybe that is A purpose.

John 16:33 – “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

ESV
healing

Seashells and Snowflakes – Part 2

The Kedge Anchor
Sea Shells on Sandy Snow
by Aluisius Sudiarto

In my last post, I shared shared how I feel mixed emotions when losing a loved one. How can I feel joyful and sad at the same time? How is that possible? In this post, I continue with how I process these emotions.

Routine and normalcy are something that I need to help move on, I think everyone does, but everyone is different. So I try to go back to my regularly scheduled programming. Although I must admit I feel like I am carrying a weight as go back business as usual. So to lessen that weight I find that doing something creative helps with the healing process.

Writing this post helped, a lot. Organizing my thoughts and emotions and getting them out on paper or computer screen was cathartic. Sharing my heart and allowing myself to vulnerable in a way helps. Though I must admit, doing this on social media is a bit scary.

So here’s what helps me and what I do; cleaning. Ok not so much a creative effort but I feel like at least something in my life is in order. Sometimes I get creative when organizing.

Painting, not a room, I like to watercolor and experiment with my art supplies. I like to create and make new things. Sometimes whatever I am going through will inspire a design or thought that I can communicate with an image or with my lettering. There is joy in creating..

Brush lettering, lettering in of itself is calming and relaxing for me, lettering a scripture verse helps keep God’s word in front of me. I can put scripture on just about anything, wallpaper for my phone, if you go back to November 2020 – December 2022, check out Memorize Mondays and you can download some wallpaper for your phone, free. Because how many times do you pick up your phone, right? God’s Word can be right there in your face. James 4:8 – “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you …” (kind of a little play on words 🙂 ) Put on some worship music or whatever kind of music you enjoy, maybe a podcast or a past message from your pastor and just doodle, draw, paint, knit, sew, bake, cook, take a nature walk and take pictures all you need is the camera on your phone, create something. Being creative is one way that helps me be in close proximity to God. (before you say, “I’m not creative” you are, you just need to uncover it.)

Reach out to others, if just to say “Hi” Sometimes I find when I do that that the person I’m reaching to… I made their day, that blesses me. More often than not the other person is having a bad day and needed some encouragement.

Exercise, it’s kinda cold out, not my favorite weather to go walking, but YouTube has tons of exercise videos and it helps boost the happy hormones. Jessica Valant Pilates has a great 10 minute walking video you can do indoors. Seriously it’s enough on a hard day for whatever reason and it helps motivate me to do more.

This is how I have been processing. It’s always uncomfortable and it hurts. Starting the healing process was hard because I wasn’t sure where to begin but with letting myself feel. The rest kind of fell into place when I sought God. For me that often looked like me sitting staring into space imagining Jesus sitting with me in silence because I had no words, other than recalling scripture or listening to a meditation on the Abide app.

In the last post I mentioned how Jesus may have felt resurrecting Lazarus. He may have felt some mixed emotions having to call Lazarus down from Heaven and having to die again one day. But Jesus was also doing something to for Mary and Martha that would make them happy. Perhaps our Father had some mixed emotions as well. God the Father mourned the day His only Son, died on the cross for our sin. Jesus took it all, He took the sin of the WORLD, past, present, and future of ALL our sin and the Father couldn’t even look at His Son with all our sin placed on Him. He had to look away. BUT, after Jesus was buried , He rose again three days later!!!! All so He could complete the plan of Salvation!! So that we could spend eternity with Him and all we have to do is acknowledge the fact we are sinners and need someone to save us and that someone is Jesus Christ. He is The Plan for our lives – John 14:6!

“Sorrow and the scarlet leaf, sad thoughts and sunny weather…” Thomas W. Parsons

Please stay tuned. After I thought about it some more I began to wonder why we have to experience pain, why in some case Jesus doesn’t heal and why He does in others. I may not have the definitive answer but perhaps it may explain some things.