In Udder Words~~~~~~~~~~~Cast or Keep

Learn to cast your care, but not your responsibility. Too often we do just the opposite 1 Pe 5:6-7

At the local outdoor sportsman show casting lessons were being given. It was something that attracted the crowd of people to stand by and watch the one learning how to properly cast. ‘You do it this way, no don’t it that way,’ the instructor said as he held the fishing pole with the person doing the learning.



Several miles from the Sportsman show sits the local church. This also needs to be a place where casting lessons are given. Indeed lessons that include how to properly cast our cares onto the Lord in the most effective manner possible.



Too often we are great at the casting or so we think because we are constantly dumping on the Lord our cares, worries, concerns, fears, and wants. We use God as a dump site instead of the resource place He is. Our casting needs to include letting go long enough to allow God to work in our lives.



If we would only stop long enough to look, we would see God as our Teacher and Instructor standing along side of us giving us the lessons we need. He does it through our spirit; He speaks to us through His word.



Truly our casting lessons like the person at the Sportsman Show should attract large crowds of people equally interested in learning the proper way to do it. Unfortunately it doesn’t. It’s not the fault of the teacher nor the student willing to learn, it’s simply the fact we are too stubborn to stop long enough to really learn from God and the life lessons He has to offer.



We go to God to cast, to get rid of, to give to Him not only our anxieties but our lives. The foot of the cross is not a place to go and exchange instantly the negative things in our lives for all the wonderful things we ever dreamed of. The whole thing is a process we need to endure to get to the blessings and treasures God has in store for us in heaven.



We need to dump our extra load on to God as He tells us in Matthew 11:28 to “come to him all who are burdened and heavy laden.” I don’t know about you but that has been me all the way sometimes. Our journey in life doesn’t have to be as rough and tough as we make it out to be if we would properly learn how to cast our cares on to God and trust Him to take care of them. Our casting does not need to be followed with our Plan A through Z package for God to follow. Our faith needs to be in our Instructor to know what is best.



We have a choice to make with our anxieties, worries, and cares. Cast or keep? I would rather cast my cares upon the Lord and wait patiently for Him to handle them from there. How about you? Cast or keep?

©2013 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing        for In Udder Words

In Udder Words ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~God Is Real

Train your eyes to see evidence of God’s presence instead of looking for confirmation of His absence.  Wayne Corderio

 

In a powerfully inspiring sermon on Sunday our youth minister spoke about making an appointment with God. He challenged the congregation to look for ways to come into the presence of God, to feel Him there, to know in their hearts He is near, that He is real.

 

In other words he was challenging us to train our eyes to see evidence of God’s presence. Too often we are looking for the confirmation of His absence instead of the evidence that He is near. We grumble about the things going on around us and say, “If God was only here. Why did God abandon us?” instead of looking for the evidence He was there all along. All along being our support thru the worse of tragedies.

 

Mary and Martha in the Bible pulled this very thing when their brother Lazarus died. The minute Jesus arrived they jumped on Him for not being there to prevent Lazarus from dying. “If only you were here!” They both said to Him. God didn’t abandon them. He was there all along with His love for them and the plans still in place He had for them.

 

Bad things happen to good people, it’s just the way it is whether we want to accept it or not. God is real, we need to lean in to Him and look for His presence. It’s important to make a daily appointment with God to meet up with Him to mix and mingle with Him. Doing it frequently enough that we get to know Him as He gets to know us. We have no problem doing this with our friends, co-workers, the beauty parlor, the doctor’s office, why not God.

 

Right this very moment God loves us. The very God of the universe, the Creator of the atmosphere, the designer of how the ocean comes and goes loves us. Wow. That doesn’t mean a million dollars in unmarked bills, or the perfect health, or wedded bliss, or everything we ever wanted. It means He cares, we mean something to Him.  He has a plan for us that will take us into eternity with Him. He is preparing a place for us in the highest places of Heaven. We may have to suffer a little on earth but not for all eternity because God has given us a place in which to come in to. A place full of His presence where no appointments are necessary, the place called Heaven.

 

Until that time in which our room is ready we still need to be making appointments to spend time with the Lord. We don’t need bright lights to show He is present with us this very moment, we don’t need angels announcing His arrival, or chariots of fire showing up to take us to Him for the day. What we need is the willingness to take the time to come into God’s presence. We can do that thru the reading of the Bible, prayer, or simply talking to God as if He was sitting right across the table from us. It is from there or any place that we can chat with Him about our frustrations, share our accomplishments and joys, cry over our fears, laugh over our shortcomings and goofy moments in life.

 

The evidence is there that God is present, just look, feel, and absorb. However, is there proof on the other side where can God say the same about us? Does He see evidence of our presence with Him in spirit, in our choices, in our attitudes, and every day living? If not we need to do something about that, its time to show up to our own appointment with God. The appointment book works both ways.

 

God is real. God is present. God is there. He has a personality that we really need to get to know. Did you make your appointment with Him today? Do it now.

 

 

© 2013 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing       In Udder Words Tuesday

 

 

 

In Udder Words ~~~~~~~~~Never Alone

Live your life expecting the best, not fearing the worst. Remember that you are not alone; God is right there with you (1 Peter 3:12)

 

In 1 Peter 3:12 we are told that the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers…” Wow what a promise! What a great comfort to know in our hearts that we are never alone, God is right there with us. His eyes are on us and His ears attentive to our prayers.

 

When life hits us up alongside the head long enough it becomes easy to live our life expecting the worst instead of the best. In spite of what life gives us to deal with we still need to live in such a way we expect the finest instead of fearing the worse.

 

Some people think if they imagine the worse and it doesn’t happen then they will be happy that it didn’t. In their own way it is their way of preparing themselves for the worse. Although it may prepare us in a way for the, not so good things in life, it still is the worst thing we can do for ourselves. Forever looking for the bad to happen can really drag our spirits down. After a while we almost begin to not only prepare for it but believe it’s actually going to happen.

 

There are better ways to be prepared. One of the best ways is to know in our hearts that we are not alone. Unfortunately for some reason when life happens a common reaction is to immediately think we are all alone in our adventure. We get it in our minds that we must be the only one who has ever gone thru this. We think life has let us down and the people around us have deserted us including God.

 

Wrong! We may not get a good solid promise from those around us to never leave us nor desert us but we have a promise from God that says He won’t. It’s a promise we can hold on to, a promise worth treasuring in our hearts. The strength needed to go, the power needed to fight.

 

God’s eyes are upon us His ears attentive to our prayers. We need to make sure our eyes are Him and that He is receiving those prayers He has promised to hear. When we have God in our lives we are never alone.