"HEAVENLY MINDED"

You ever just wonder what Heaven will be like?  I just watched "Heaven Is For Real" for the second time and although it isn't a movie to base theology on (Scripture only!) it got me to thinking about Heaven this week.

Jesus says in John 14:1, "Do not let your hearts be troubled," Trust in God, trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."  (NIV) So one of the reasons we are not to be troubled, is because we know that something wonderful in Heaven awaits us!

Right after Paul explains how our new resurrected bodies will be in Heaven, (I Corinthians 15:50-57) he tells the believers this: "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." I Corinthians 15:58, NIV  How can we stand firm in this life?   By knowing this is not our home and Heaven awaits us!

I think it is good sometimes to think about what it will be like in Heaven, but as the saying goes, "you can't keep your head so far in the clouds, that you do no earthly good!" So until that day when Christ either calls us home or returns, we need to keep pressing on doing the things that God has prepared for us to do!  "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)

As promised, here is a poem I wrote when I was thinking about our topic of soaring last week:

When trials rise to threaten us,

And life's burdens weight seems more.

I pray that we could rise with You,

And You'll teach us, Lord, to soar.

For from Your view, You see it all,

Not one thing escapes Your care.

For You see both when a sparrow falls,

And know the numbers of our hair!

Still there are times when we forget,

And rely on our own strength.

We think we have the answers,

and we struggle at great length!

But You promise that You'll carry us,

No need to ask for more.

Under the shadow of Your wings,

Teach us Lord to soar!

Written by Becky Swymeler, 2015

Mentoring Woman: AND I WILL SOAR WITH YOU!

Mentoring Woman: AND I WILL SOAR WITH YOU!: I am thinking of flying this morning and in particular soaring.  It is probably due to the fact that my mother is flying out for a visit nex...

AND I WILL SOAR WITH YOU!

I am thinking of flying this morning and in particular soaring.  It is probably due to the fact that my mother is flying out for a visit next week.

Webster defines the word soaring as:  "to fly or glide high in the air with little effort or visible motion.  To rise or aspire to a higher or more exalted level.  To rise or ascend to a height, as a mountain."  Sounds a lot like what God does for us, doesn't it?

There is a chorus that we used to sing with these words.

LORD I come to YOU
Let my heart be changed. renewed
Flowing from the grace
That I found in You.
And Lord I've come to know
The weaknesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love.

Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side.
And as I wait
I'll rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the Power of Your love.



Isaiah 40:31 says:  "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  NIV

I picture in this verse, God helping us rise above each obstacle and carrying us, not under our own power, but by His.  I think I feel a poem coming on about this, and if so, I will share it with you next week.  Have a great weekend everyone and may you soar with God!

Mentoring Woman: 'ROW, ROW, ROW, YOUR BOAT!"

Mentoring Woman: 'ROW, ROW, ROW, YOUR BOAT!":    I cannot begin to count the number of times I have watched the movie the "African Quee n!"  You know the one with Humphrey ...

'ROW, ROW, ROW, YOUR BOAT!"

  I cannot begin to count the number of times I have watched the movie the "African Queen!"  You know the one with Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn?  It was on television again tonight, so I was once again drawn into its story.  I watched as these two people braved the rapids, dealt with the breakdown of the motor, were bothered by swarms of mosquitoes at the shore, became tangled in the channel of reeds and leeches, and then finally stuck in the mud. In fact "Rosie", who is played by Audrey Hepburn, is on her knees in the boat and prays:  "Dear Lord, We've come to the end of our journey, and in a little while we'll stand before you. I pray for you to be merciful. Judge us not for our weaknesses, but for our love and open the doors of heaven for Charlie and me."   A real tear jerking moment in the movie!


They are both exhausted so they lie down in the boat thinking that this is the end. Then the camera begins to pan out and you see that they are only 100 yards away from their final destination! I remember the first time I saw it, I wanted to scream into the television..."Don't give up! You're almost there!" But isn't that a lot like life?


We brave the rapids of marriage issues, ill health, financial struggles, job loses. and raising children. We deal with breakdowns like cars, washing machines, and other things around our homes. We are swarmed by time schedules, deadlines, co-workers, bosses, and children yelling "Mom" for the 100th time. We get tangled in the weeds of everyday living with people wanting more and more leeching the very life out of us until we just plain feel like giving up because we are stuck in the mud going nowhere!

It is then we have to remind ourselves that God sees the much bigger picture and that "If God is for us, who can be against us?"(Romans 8:31, NIV) He spurs us on to "Run and not grow weary," (Isaiah 40:31, NIV), that we are to "Run in such a way as to get the prize" (I Corinthians 9:24, NIV), and to remember that we need to "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Heb. 12:1-3, NIV)

It is at times like these that there is nothing left to do, but keep row, row, rowing our boat and counting on Him who see all and knows all.  For it just might be, that the answer to our prayers, could be around the bend, just a mere 100 yards out of our sight!

Mentoring Woman: "Wonder Bread"

Mentoring Woman: "Wonder Bread": I am about to reveal to you another of my many quirks (for lack of a better term).  I just love squishy white bread!  You know the kind ...

"Wonder Bread"

I am about to reveal to you another of my many quirks (for lack of a better term).  I just love squishy white bread!  You know the kind when you open the wrapper and you literally roll it up in a ball and almost use it as play dough?   This has been something that I can remember being an issue since I was a kid seeing the "Wonder Bread" commercials that supposedly builds bodies 8 ways!    If I get a loaf of bread and it isn't fluffy...I will sometimes hesitate to make a sandwich unless I can toast it!  Weird huh?   This presents a real problem when you are trying to eat lo-carb because apparently the yeast combined with sugar is required to make the bread fluffy and loaded with carbs.  Before you give me grief about eating things with white flour you have to remember that I came from the baby boomer age when white bread was $.10 a loaf!

This got me to thinking of this whole business of bread. Bread is another topic mentioned all through scripture!  Of course the first that came to my mind is the bread that God supplied the Israelite's in the desert but even before that, bread is mentioned as a vital part of the Passover Feast in Exodus with specific ways and days to prepare it.  And believe you me, that bread was flat and nothing fluffy about it.  The bread that God supplied in the desert (Manna) was rained down from heaven and they were told specific ways to collect it as test (Exodus 16:4) to see if they would obey God's instructions.  The scripture says in Exodus 16:31 that it was white like coriader seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.  Now, we're talkin!  A jar of Manna was even placed in the tabernacle for a reminder of God's provision for generations to come.

Of course the New Testament speaks of bread as well.  It was used as a temptation in the desert when Satan tempted Christ to turn the stones into bread.  Jesus used it as part of a meal to feed the 4,000 people in Mark 8.  Jesus claimed to be "The Bread of Life" in John 6:47-51:  "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world." (NIV)    Christ even used bread at the Last Supper as a symbol and remembrance of His body broken for us.  So my mentoring challenge today is give the topic of bread some thought.  We use it to feed our families, and we use it to feed our souls!  What a true wonder!

Here is a poem I wrote in 1997 for a friends cookbook.

                                              

 TRUE NOURISHMENT

Two foods are true essentials for man's being to be fed.

The first is cool clean water, and second one is bread.

The rains provide the lakes and streams to quench all nature's thirst

as the oceans and the deepest wells, with water from them burst.

The farmers plant the grain to grow and harvest in their season,

so you can feed your family from your table, is the reason.

The same are sure essentials for nourishment of the soul,

the Water and the Bread Of Life can make a man's life whole.

Jesus gives eternal life, from the well that won't dry.

He promises we'll never thirst, when on His name we cry.

He is the Bread Of Life to all, no hunger shall we know,

by trusting in His payment for our sins so long ago.

The nourishment that we take, lasts shortly and will flee.

The nourishment that Christ provides, lasts for eternity!