Mentoring Woman: ALWAYS LEARNING!

Mentoring Woman: ALWAYS LEARNING!: It has been so cute to see all the mom's posting their children's first day of school on Facebook.  The child has their finger u...

ALWAYS LEARNING!

It has been so cute to see all the mom's posting their children's first day of school on Facebook.  The child has their finger up for what grade they are in, and some mom's are even getting pictures with the child's teacher. Wish I had thought of doing that as a young mom!

To go along with our theme here is a picture of me in grade school:  

Adorable wasn't I?  Notice the perfectly straight cut bangs.  YIKES! I don't really know for sure how old I was in this picture, it doesn't say,  6ish?  So well done mom's of today!

You might think that I would dedicate this blog to the fact that we always need to keep on learning.  II Timothy 2:15 verse that says:  "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."  (NIV)   To be perfectly honest, I thought that was where I was going with this also, but just the opposite is true.  

Ecclesiastes 1:12-14 says:  "I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.  I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven.  What a heavy burden God has laid on men.  I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."  (NIV)  

Why would Solomon say such a thing?  Later on in verse 18 he says:  "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief."  (NIV)  Huh?

The whole book of Ecclesiastes speaks of our quest for meaning to this life.  The writer speaks of seeking pleasure in possessions, gluttony, riotous living, and yes, even pursing wisdom and knowledge.  But everything he still says is just chasing after the wind.  Then Solomon begins to realize that it is only God who brings meaning to life and when he examines his life, he finds himself falling short in the department of relying upon Him.  "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.  Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven and you are on the earth, so let your words be few."  (Ecc. 5:1-2, NIV)  "Do not let your mouth lead you into sin." (Ecc. 5:6, NIV)  "Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God." (Ecc. 5:7, NIV)

Oh, if I would only learn that lesson! I often find my words to be many.  And with that thought, I will end this until next week!  

Mentoring Woman: "A PROMISE KEPT"

Mentoring Woman: "A PROMISE KEPT": Well, we are beginning to hear all the promises come forth from the potential presidential candidates. If they could get done half what t...

"A PROMISE KEPT"

Well, we are beginning to hear all the promises come forth from the potential presidential candidates. If they could get done half what they are promising, this country will be well on it's way down the right path!  But you and I know that just won't happen, for there are too many people in between their ideas and the actual implementing of them.

Have you ever made a promise that you could not keep?  I still remember one that my dad made me when I was little.  I was facing another surgery and he promised me that if I went through it, he would let me ride every ride in Disney Land.  Now this was old school Disney (for Disney World had not been built yet in Florida) so we are talking California, where good old Walt Disney roamed the streets! But alas, dad's promise never came true!  Looking back, it was so silly!  There were 5 of us kids and a dad who drove a truck.  How could he afford to take a family of 7 clear across the country on his salary to do that?   But before you feel too sorry for me, I did get to go to Epcot not long ago, and I am sure I looked just like the Griswald's in "Lampoon's Vacation" arriving at Wally World, when I finally got to go!

But I too, made a promise that I could not keep when our oldest grandchild was born. He was in very critical condition in the NICU unit and I said in front of everyone:  "When he has his 16th birthday I will buy him a car!"  How silly of me, for I have 7 other grandchildren now! Can I buy all 8 of them cars?  Not unless I win the lottery, but then I would have to buy a ticket first! We did get to spend a very special night at a concert with him and I bought him a "Hot Wheels" car so I did semi-fullfill it!  Didn't I?

However, there is one who is always faithful to keep His promises.  God!  In Joshua, after the Israelites had taken over the land that God told them to possess, the scripture says this:  "Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." (Joshua 21:45, NIV)

God makes lots of promises to us in His Word and  as "Our Heavenly Father"  he will fulfill them.  Here are a few of them:

Looking out our front door after a rain

God promises us in Genesis 9:15-16 "I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." (NIV)

He promised the Messiah and it was fulfilled when Christ was "sent forth from a virgin" in the accounts of Matthew, Luke, and John.  

And He promises that He will come again and take us to be with Him forever. Isaiah 65 says: "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. (vs 17)  Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth;  (vs. 20)  

This promise is especially important to me, because I had a grandson who died at 9 days old and a father-in-law who died just 1 month shy of his 100th birthday. 

So all I can say is hang on sisters! His promises are true and every one of them will be fulfilled. You can take that to the bank! 

Mentoring Woman: DESTINED FOR GREATNESS!

Mentoring Woman: DESTINED FOR GREATNESS!: Look who I found at my favorite thrift store recently!

DESTINED FOR GREATNESS!

Look who I found at my favorite thrift store recently!

Mentoring Woman: ACHIN LIKE ACHAN!

Mentoring Woman: ACHIN LIKE ACHAN!: You ever notice how sometimes a person's name in the Bible fits them like a glove?  Take Achan for instance,  I was reading this week in...

ACHIN LIKE ACHAN!

You ever notice how sometimes a person's name in the Bible fits them like a glove?  Take Achan for instance,  I was reading this week in Joshua 7. The Israelites had just destroyed the city of Jericho, just as the Lord had told them to, but this man Achan thought that rather than put the things he had discovered (robe, gold, and silver) into the treasury of the Lord's house, (Josh. 6:24) he would keep them for himself and so he hid them in the ground in his tent.
This caused God's anger to fall on Israel and so Joshua had to find out who the culprit was and confronted Achan with his sin.  The end result was Achan,all his family, and animals were stoned for their disobedience.  OUCH, HE WAS REALLY ACHIN! (couldn't resist)

Instead of Achan seeing what he did have, he wanted what he did not have.  Kind of reminds me of the Garden of Eden and even though Adam and Eve could eat of all the trees, they wanted the fruit from the one they could not have.

God had promised the Israelites:
            1.  Every place where they stepped their foot would be theirs. (Josh. 1:3)
            2.  Safety from their enemies. (Josh. 1:3)
            3.  His presence and undivided attention. (Josh. 1:5)
            4.  Success if they obeyed His law. (Josh. 1:7)

One of the laws they were to obey was in Deuteronomy 7:25-26 (NIV)  "The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire.  Do not covet the silver or gold on them, and do not take it for themselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.  Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.  Utterly abhor and detest it for it is set apart for destruction."  Achan would have heard and known this law, but he chose to disobey it. He did it for a few pieces of earthly riches, just as Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver.

Achan had been warned, the Israelites had been warned, we have been warned.  The punishment seems rather harsh doesn't it?  But Achan clearly knew what he was doing!  Why else did he feel the need to hide it in the ground in his tent?  He even admits in Joshua 7:20-21 "I have sinned against the Lord, I saw, I coveted, I took, and I hid."  This seems to be the natural progression to our sin as well. We see, we want, we take it, and then we try to hide it from God!

But because of Christ's great sacrifice, we see the extension of God's grace to us.  Isaiah 53:6 says "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him (Christ) the iniquity (sin) of us all."

There is hope for conquering this monster called "sin"!  The whole Book of Romans speaks to this.  Romans 6:14 says:  "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." and Romans 9:16 says:  "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy."  This can only bring us to our knees and say "Thank You Lord for paying the debt that I owed, but could not pay."

The interesting thing about Achan, if he had only remained faithful and obedient, he would have been free to keep some of the spoils from Ai, the next town they were to destroy. (Josh. 8:2).  He only needed to wait.  A great lesson that our greatest blessing might be around the bend, we just need to be obedient to His word, and remain faithful dear sisters!