Before & After

For some reason I always enjoy watching shows or looking at pictures that show what something looked like to begin with and then later reveals what the person or thing looks like after. I am fascinated with this!

Once I saw a talk show where they had a special guest on their show. They showed a picture of this guy and he was really scruffy and dirty. His beard was long and bushy. His hair hadn't been cut in years. He looked as though he might be homeless. So they took this guy and did a transformation and what a difference they made! He did not look like the same man at all. He was clean shaven, hair washed and cut, and they had nice clothing on him. He looked years younger and like a completely new man!

I often watch those television programs where someone takes a house that is a complete wreck and flip it. One show I watched featured a house that was so gross I did not see how they could find the potential in it. There was broken windows, stained up walls and floors. The carpet was nasty. There was spray paint all over everything. Someone had taken cement and poured it down the toilet and bathtub drains. It was a disaster! But this young couple bought the home and saw the vision for it. They hired a team and they actually turned that house into a beautiful home. It was like a diamond in the ruff!

This morning as I was getting ready for the day, I was listening to the Bible on my cell phone. It kind of just came to me why I like those kinds of before and after stories. I am one of them! So are you if you are a born again believer! Look at this verse:

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

Therefore if any man be in Christ,

he is a new creature:

old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new.

That is a reason to rejoice! What did you used to look like? Did sin have a hold on your life? Were you that dirty and scruffy person who the world took one look at and gave up on? Were you the outcast? Were you overlooked because society said you weren't enough? We all have to face that person in the mirror and recognize we need a savior. We were all born into sin and have fallen short of God's glory.

Romans 3:23 (KJV)

For all have sinned,

and come short of the

glory of God;

You may be a wonderful person. Maybe you are a volunteer in your community. Perhaps you donate items to your local food bank and Goodwill store. You may do the very best you can but if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you are lost and and you need a Savior. Jesus sees your worth. He sees your value. He knows He can take you and work on you and make you shine like gold! You have to accept Him.

John 3:16 (KJV)

For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in Him

should not perish, but have

everlasting life.

For the one who has been set free from sin but you are struggling because you do not feel like you quite measure up. Maybe someone has spoken negative things into your life and you have received it. Don't be discouraged. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:14 (KJV)

I will praise Thee;

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

marvelous are Thy works;

and that my soul knoweth right well.

Stop listening to the enemy. Walk in newness of life. Trust that Jesus will complete the work He has started in you. You are His masterpiece.

Philippians 1:6 (KJV)

Being confident of this very thing,

that He which hath begun a good work

in you will perform it until

the day of Jesus Christ:

Follow Him! You will love the results! The after is so much better than the before! God bless you!

~Bridgett

The Empty Chair

Have you ever noticed someone get up from their chair? Maybe it's their favorite chair and they just got up and went to another room in the house. It is no big deal, because maybe they have done this dozens of times before...maybe hundreds! It's just a seat, right? So, why does it become the empty chair when they are gone?

My dad had a favorite chair. He had a stroke in January 2012. He was given 10% chance to live through the night but we all prayed fervently for Dad and God answered our call. Dad survived that night to the amazement of the physicians but they did not hold out much hope for us. The doctor told us that he would be bedfast. My mother's faith was very strong and she said, "No he's not! These doctors don't have the final say!" He was in Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana for one week and then sent to IU Health Bloomington Hospital in Bloomington, Indiana for rehabilitation. The stroke had left Dad without use of his right side but he did well and God continued to answer prayers and perform miracles for my dad. God continued to keep the healthcare providers amazed and shaking their heads in confusion. Mother knew Dad would soon be able to come home from the hospital and she purchased my dad a very nice, comfortable recliner. This became Dad's favorite place to sit and when he could not rest in bed, he was able to find comfort in that chair.

Dad, Christmas 2012

I did not know when I took that picture of Dad at Christmas that year that the clock had already started to wind down quickly. Sure I knew he had colon cancer and that it had spread to his liver. We found out in July 2012 that he had stage 4 colon cancer with mets but God continued to do so many things for my dad. Doesn't he look so good here?

Do you know how many times my dad got up from this chair to go to the restroom or to go lie down on his bed? I cannot count the times I watched him do that. I saw the chair without him in it and it was never an empty chair, just maybe unoccupied, but I knew he would eventually walk back into the room and situate himself on the cushion and prop his legs up to rest. The chair was not ever "empty" to me. I knew he would be back.

Today my dad's chair sits empty. It is the empty chair. I know my dad will never walk back into the room and sit down to visit with his family. I know that if I stop by after school like I used to do that I will be gazing upon an empty chair. You see the chair is empty because my dad is gone. He has a new home and he doesn't need this chair anymore. He won't ever need it again.

The empty chair is a promise to me. The empty chair means that one day I can leave an empty chair behind, too. It means that no matter how much I miss my dad and how much I long to see him again, that the chair is empty because he is somewhere else waiting for me. I imagine him to look across the Jordan River that he used to tease me and say it was lapping at his feet, and I can imagine him looking at the horizon, waiting for me to cross that final river and lay my anchor down. I can imagine that he will be so happy to see me there and we can hug each other and tell each other how much we love one another and this time there will never be another empty chair to look at. We will never have to say goodbye and we will be together forever with our Lord and Savior who died for us. Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day so that we could have eternal life.

I Thessalonians 4:16-18

For the LORD Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

I do take comfort in these scriptures. I believe every single word of it. I know that one day Jesus is coming back for His people and no matter whether I go by way of the grave or the Lord catches me away in the clouds, I am going! I am going to see Jesus and I am going to thank Him for what He did for me. I am going to worship Him for all of eternity! I am going to see my many, many loved ones who have gone on before. The best part is that there will be no empty chairs. Jesus will be sitting on the throne as King of kings and Lord of lords and so shall we ever be with the LORD.

~Bridgett

Hear and Do It!

     Do you ever experience dry skin, especially in the cold winter months? I do. Sometimes it feels so nice after a warm shower to moisturize my arms and legs with a great-smelling lotion. First I put the lotion into my hands and rub them together to warm it up a little bit. Next I apply it to the top of my skin but as I rub it across my arms and legs, the lotion begins to sink in. That reminds me of God's Word....

     Sometimes I get so busy with my life that I don't take a lot of time to really absorb the Word while I am reading it. It just kind of stays on the surface of my mind and never sinks down into my heart. The Psalmist says:

Psalm 119:11

King James Version (KJV)

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.

     Have you ever really thought about that? We can read God's Word over and over and still not hide it in our hearts. We can memorize scriptures until they are as familiar to us as our favorite song lyrics but not fully grasp all that God wants us to get from His Word.

     

     It is not enough for us to go to church once or twice a week, listen to someone quote some Bible passages and go home. There has to be more to it! Why else would God have taken the time to give us an entire book of promises and hope if we were not supposed to apply it to our lives? We can find all about this very subject in James! Let's take a look at what the Bible says:

James 1:21-25

King James Version (KJV)

21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

     I realize that is a lot of food for thought, so let's break it down. Shall we? Let's take verse 21. I think we can understand that "lay apart" refers to removing something from us, and we can understand filthiness as something we would definitely not want to be a part of us. But what does the superfluity of naughtiness mean? According to Merriam-Webster, superfluity means more of something than is needed. So what the first part of this verse is saying is to remove all filthiness and behaving badly in such a way that it is more than is needed. Let's face it, we are all human. We have bad thoughts or take bad actions from time to time. This is suggesting there was an abundance of this behavior happening and it had to be addressed. So in James it says for us to stop doing this!

     Staying in that same verse, let's continue. We are to receive the engrafted word with meekness. Meekness refers to being quiet and gentle; not wanting to argue with people. If something is engrafted, it can be thought of as joined or held together in order to function normally. So here we are instructed to receive the Word of God with gentleness so we can function normally as followers of Christ! I love that!

     The last part of this verse tells us why we need to make the change from excessively bad behaviors to gently accepting God's Word without challenging others. It is able to save your souls! Wow!!! Isn't that powerful? When we change from our sinful nature to a more Christ-like way of life, we can then open our hearts to receive Christ as our Savior!

     Now, you may be reading this as a Christian and think to yourself, 'What about those of us who have done that?' Well, great! That is wonderful and I am so thankful that you have accepted Jesus as your Savior but it doesn't end there. Now it's time to apply our lotion! Let's read on.

     James 1:22 tells us plainly what we must do. It says that if we just hear the Word it is good but not enough! We must DO IT! Nike had a slogan for years, "Just Do It!" And I think that is what James is saying here. Do not just hear the Word but DO IT! Apply it to your life and really let it soak in so you can LIVE the Word. If you don't, it says you are only deceiving yourself. If we do not obey the scriptures after we have heard them, we are lying to ourselves about our walk with Christ.

     In verse 23 and 24 he expounds on this. He really wants to drive home the point that we must let the Word of God transform us and change us into something more like Christ. He says if we just listen to the preacher or Sunday school teacher share the message of hope and life but we don't ever act on it, it's like we are looking at our own reflection in the mirror and once we walk away we forget what we even look like. Do you see that at church our ministers are supposed to hold up these big spiritual mirrors so that you can really look at yourself and examine your inner man? But if you look at yourself in the reflection of God's Word and you see that you aren't measuring up, but you walk out the door and continue to live your life the way you always have been, then you have not allowed God's Word to change you at all. You are lying to yourself. You know if you are doing what God wants you to do or not. He wants you to see the places you need to improve and ask Him to change those things about you: make you stronger and better than you ever were before. Don't just listen to the Truth, obey it!

     Last verse in this passage, verse 25 gives us a beautiful promise! Ready for this? It says but whoever looks into the PERFECT law of LIBERTY. It's perfect! The law of God found in His Word is flawless! But it is also liberating! There is freedom in the truth. There is power to change in the perfect law of liberty! Note that it doesn't just stop at looking into the law. It says BUT CONTINUES IN THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY! See that? DOING it makes the difference! It says the one who looks into the law, continues in it, AND doesn't FORGET IT! Don't think it's too hard, too painful, too much trouble and just walk away. Remember what you saw in the mirror and work on changing it. It says not a forgetful hearer but a DOER of the work, this man shall be blessed! You will be blessed! There is your promise!!!

     Do you want to be blessed of God? Do you want to please the LORD? Let your life be meaningful. Make your days count. Live your life DOING what you have HEARD the Bible say. Look at the perfect law of liberty and don't just look at it, but remember it and DO IT. You can do it! It's not too hard for you. Remember, this verse?

Philippians 4:13

King James Version (KJV)

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

     It takes a willing heart and a desire to leave behind the selfish, sinful nature to walk in the Spirit. You can look into the mirror of God's Word and be transformed when you start DOING what it says and don't ever forget what you look like without God at work in you. Ask Him to help you and He will! You can do this as Jesus Christ strengthens you.

     My prayer each day is this: "Lord, help me to be more like You and less like the world." And every day I see another change that He is making in me. I am not perfect. I have to keep examining myself daily. Sometimes I blow it big time but I know how to make it right again. I can repent and He will forgive me and He will help me to do better the next time. You can live in this liberty, too. I pray God blesses you and encourages you today with these words!

~Bridgett