BE ALWAYS READY AND TEACH THE SAME THING

Based on Biblical teaching, my mother used to say, “We should all teach the same thing.” In I Peter 3:15 (NIV) the scripture teaches us, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” It seems eerily uncanny how often it is that I find ministers from the pulpit teaching thoughts I have recently had and shared with loved ones! How can these men be secretly invading my thoughts?
Our son and his family visited with us the weekend of the 4th of July and that Sunday morning as we gathered around the breakfast table prior to going to church services, I made the comment that I wished more people could learn to see God as “Daddy”, not Santa Claus, but Daddy. From comments I have heard there are too many people who feel God is so unreachable or high and mighty that they give up before trying. I explained that I know not everyone has had a good earthly daddy with which to compare but I have a deep desire that everyone could better understand God with the Daddy concept. The conversation ended and we went on our way, gathered for Bible Study followed by worship service. I shouldn’t have been surprised and perhaps I wasn’t but the morning’s message had a lot to do with understanding God as Daddy… just what I had been trying to get across…only my words saying the same things were not so well stated!
In the minutes between Bible Study and the worship hour yesterday, I spent some time visiting two precious sisters discussing our recent family prayers concerns. In the course of conversation I spoke of my coming to grips with the realization that it would be easy for me to cross over that line to hate some people and in that realization, I knew I needed to learn to love as God does. I said, “Pray for me.” (Maybe “hate” is too strong a word because I cannot say I have ever wished for anyone to perish in Hell.) What they didn’t know was that for a few weeks I had been praying that I learn to love more as God loves, knowing that I need to see all people more as God does. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” and that includes persons I perceive as enemies as well as those who in my mind are trying to do what is best. So, after my explaining my need for learning to love as God does, what was the lesson that was preached from the pulpit? It was based on I Samuel 16:7: “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” I sat through that lesson with full understanding of what was being taught and was able to walk away knowing that while I still needed to grow, I would always be ready to teach the same thing! And there is nothing secret in any of it. It’s all found in God’s Word.
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-17-09

IN WHOSE SHOES WOULD YOU BE STANDING?

A few evening back our Bible reading for the day took us to Mark 2:1-12, the story of the paralyzed man whose friends, determined to get him into an already overcrowded house to see Jesus, took him pallet and all, to the roof where they removed enough of the rooftop so they could let him down through and into the house! Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” He knew the scribes were sitting there thinking to themselves, “Only God can forgive sins!” so he turned to them and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to this man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Get up, pick up your bed and go’? But so you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” Jesus then returned to speaking to the young man, “Get up, pick up your pallet, and go home.” Later, in absorbing the story, the question came to my mind, if I were there, who would I be?
Let’s consider the characters in the story:
It doesn’t mention any women but since it does state they were in a home in Capernaum, it seems safe to assume that women were present. Would you have been a Mary staying nearby to hear each word of Jesus or a Martha busy being a good hostess?
Would you have been a small child holding the hand of a parent wondering exactly who this person was yet feeling such an attraction that you stood on tippy-toes somehow knowing you wanted to get close enough for Him to rest His hand on your head?
Maybe you would have been one of the friends who, upon seeing such a crowd, took it upon himself to make the decision for all to climb to the roof knowing once there, a way would be available to get to Jesus.
If you had been the home-owner, what would your feelings have been? Were you immediately up there on the roof asking, “What do you think you are doing?” or were you quick to help remove the clay tiles and branches to provide an opening?
Is it even remotely possible you would have been questioning, “Who does this man think he is, saying, ‘Your sins are forgiven’?” After all, those were just thoughts, not spoken aloud. And, only God could forgive sins!
That brings us to the paralytic man. Would you want to be in his shoes? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such a one-on-one visit with Jesus as this man had, right in the middle of this throng of people?
Few of us would choose to be in a paralytic state, yet this young man had friends who loved him enough to see to his needs, to get him to where he had to be, at the feet of Jesus. Do we love our friends that much? Jesus saw the paralysis but took care of the man’s immediate need first, that of his soul, teaching a lesson to by-standers as He did so reminiscent of the way He later did at the gravesite of Lazarus in John 11:41b-42 "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
Whose shoes would you want to be in? Until we are walking daily with Jesus we are in the state of the paralytic before he met Jesus; if we have followed the Gospel Call, we can be free of the paralysis of our sins, washed in His blood.
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-11-09

LIVING LESSONS OF LOVE

If you ever wanted to learn a couple of lessons on how to love you might have been impressed with the actions of the husbands of recently-released Laura Ling and Euna Lee once these women were again in their presence for the first time in four-and-one-half months.
The two women descended the steps of the plane and once their feet were on the floor of the hangar their husbands and Euna’s four-year-old daughter swiftly came together in a beautiful embrace. The desire in each one must have been to never let go but the men…these husbands…showed what it means to love others more than themselves when instead of huddling aside as two separate units, they each gently guided their wives to their parents and other waiting family members.
Whether or not these men ever read Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others…”, they were living lessons of love.
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-5-09

MY CYBER FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND ME

My guess is that most of you reading this message have a list of e-mail addresses that is not just a list of names. A few of the addresses are for companies but the majority of names represent individuals. The names in my e-address book represent those people who are family members, friends, and some people I have not met in person but whose paths have crossed mine somewhere along the way.
Most of the time when I sit down to send a message, as I look at each individual name, something akin to the good endorphins that come about with laughter appears to occur. Perhaps that is because God created me to be a “people person” or a natural-born communicator. People are important to me, not so much as a group but as individuals. It goes against the grain when I have to use a group listing instead of going down through the list one-by-one; however I do make the group listing exception for the purpose of making sure no one is missed on updates for prayers requests or something of a similar nature.
I like my e-address list to be organized alphabetically according to last names but one of my e-mail programs uses first names alphabetically. I can deal with that but it is not the program I use most often, and recently when I was in a hurry I sent a message to my friend Beth instead of my daughter Beth. Immediately upon realizing the error of my haste, I re-sent the message to my daughter and then sent a brief explanation to my friend. Thankfully my family and friends all know me well and my friend probably didn’t even need any explanation.
When I send an e-message I “see” faces and often feel as if I am having a brief but personal visit with each person on whose name my tiny pink ribbon cursor lands. That means that while sitting in my chair in San Angelo, Texas, I get to visit family and friends in Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, Canada, and of course I make a few stops in several places in Texas as well. There are times when I become so lonesome to visit familiar faces and places that it seems I can hardly stand it, but a few words from, to, and with the people I love, helps tide the tears. So many miles apart, yet so quickly and easily connected with a few clicks of the keys, my cyber family, friends, and me!
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…” Philippians 1:3 (ESV)
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 8-4-09

WHAT IS OF REAL VALUE?

I often battle with the impression that I would be of more value in the eyes of my fellow sojourners if I were more successful by worldly standards.
Just a couple of days ago I mentioned to friends how I’d always wished I had the skills to draw. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be a world-renowned artist? When I was young I tried to draw with pencil and was able to do some very simple circle drawings that resembled bunnies and kitties but to go much beyond that took a lot more imagination than even I had to decipher what showed up on a piece of paper. Art classes were offered to me in junior high school for the first time in my life and the embarrassment of my efforts there nearly drove me away from school with the unique experiences of being introduced to less than stellar grades. Okay, so I learned that art was not my God-given gift but that didn’t mean I was without other valuable talents.
Homemaking is a skill I could and did excel at but if you look at 25th and 50th Anniversary write-ups and obituaries, homemaking skills fall last in the long line of achievements of couples or persons, if mentioned at all. They certainly do not include, “She worked at whatever job she could find while helping him get his college degree,” or “She made a home and helped them develop new friendships as they moved multiple times in a few years.” In the world today I am conditioned to hear the question fall from lips filled with disdain, “How is that rated on the success scale?”
I like to write and I plan to do so regardless of any disparaging critics with the subtle yet unspoken push given from time to time that says, “Unless you publish something and are making $$$, your writing is not worth the time it takes for me to read it.” That being presented to me several times over might as well be, “You are not very valuable until you are a published author. When the world says you are important then I can look up to you and loudly and proudly proclaim I know you well.”
Thankfully God does not look at me through worldly eyes nor judge me by such standards. He helped me with my drawing…it was good enough to entertain little children sitting beside me in church. He helped me realize that I was not created to excel at everything I tried or wanted to try…there’s simply not enough time in life to live through that many experiments and experiences! He gave me skills to fulfill my heart’s deepest desires from childhood…to be a wife and mother. Now I write and who knows what from my pen is already circulating that may someday be noticed, published, and bring about my worldly success that seems so important to some people? And, yes, I would like to have writing success but that would not change my value except, sadly, in the eyes of the world. Until then…if then…and even after…I’ll value God because He keeps showing me what is of real value.
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 7-20-09

THIS IS SCARY

Today I received another message with a title: “This Is Scary.”
My husband and I pray together faithfully for the leaders of our world and our country as we think with concern about how far removed we have come from the origin and intent of the founding of our nation. We pray that capable men and women of faith and substance will step up to carry the charge laid at their feet because we believe this nation's only hope is to return to God and the principles upon which the United States of America was founded.
On more than one occasion I have heard, "All it takes is one generation," and it makes me sad to say I feel I am living to see that statement come true. The differences I have seen in my three-score-years-and-ten are numerable.
Some of my first memories are of a nation united and committed in every possible way to winning World War II. The ultimate goal was more than about being victorious: we were in that war to help others gain freedom from the foot of a vicious dictator determined to bring himself to absolute power. Many lives were lost as the result of one man’s selfish goals but our country became more united than perhaps we had ever been in finding all kinds of individual creative ways to help defeat that man’s powerful machine. Little kids knew to collect aluminum scraps, we understood the concepts of “Victory Gardens,” “War Bonds,” “Black Out Curtains,” Loose Lips Sink Ships,” Rosie the Riveter,” etc. My just-barely school-age brother decided to collect aluminum foil and knew if he separated the pieces from the gum wrapper papers he could make a ball of aluminum to help our fighting men. Do you have any idea how many gum wrappers he must have had to collect to make a ball about the size of a baseball? Even as a child I, too, knew I could make a difference. Birthday money was immediately taken to the post office to buy special stamps (similar to the idea of S&H Green Stamps®) to fill up a booklet that, as I recall when full, could be used to purchase a War Bond.
There was great pride and sense of accomplishment when WW II was over but too soon on its heels came the Korean Conflict in the 1950’s, then in the mid-1960’s the US entered the Vietnam War followed by the Gulf War in the 1990’s. The attack of the Twin Towers on our own soil on 9-11-2001 was soon followed by what seems a never-ending war in Iraq. There appeared no major victory in Korea; indeed the whole world is still receiving threats and jabs from North Korea. And where was the support for the Vietnam Veterans who battled just as faithfully to keep this country free as the men and women who fought in WW II? A downhill slide had started somewhere. I didn’t understand it then and have yet to wrap my head around the thinking that those following orders of the political leaders of this country not only deserved the punishments rained on them with Agent Orange but also should be shown whatever displays of disgust could be heaped upon them as well. The impression seemed to be they should be ashamed if they dared show themselves in public upon their return to the US Soil if they be so “lucky” as to be able to make it back! Why weren’t those displays of disgust directed towards the political leaders instead?
Hello? Is anybody listening today? Do you think it is time to make a difference? Remember the little kids during WW II and the belief they held that one little kid could make a difference by plying one layer at a time from an aluminum gum wrapper, that it could finally add up to maybe a half pound? Or the little girl who took birthday money for stamps that eventually added up to enough to fill a book to buy a War Bond? How about your one-person vote? Do you think your vote makes a difference on who leads this country? Or do you think your one-person letter to your congressman or congresswoman makes a difference?
In case you haven’t seen the signs, please look around more carefully: this country is in trouble. Groups of people are trying to remove God from all we hold dear. One person’s complaint is all it takes to get a lawsuit started to remove God’s name and or any reference to Him from a piece of public property as in the case of “Don’t Tear Me Down” the story in the video included on the right side of this site or at: http://www.donttearmedown.com/ Be ready for more of this unless we stand in the gap. "I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30 (NASB)
Let’s leave a good land, a Godly nation as our forefathers planned, for our little boys and girls. God is looking for one good man and/or woman. Are you the one?
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 7-16-09

YOU GOTTA LOVE ‘EM

A new-to-me recliner adorns a place of honor in a corner of our guest room. As I walk by in the hall I look up with a smile and see not only the chair but in my mind I also envision the happy giver, a longtime friend who first owned and took many hours of pleasure and comfort from that chair. Having recently replaced it with a newer model and because she loves us she offered it to members of our family.
After the chair was brought to our home and carefully positioned in place, I took pictures to e-mail so my friend could immediately see how it looked in its new home. I expressed my happiness but also my growing concerns that I now expected guests would either spend all their time in the guest room sitting in the chair when they came to visit or like guests do with hotel towels, might just decide to take the chair with them when they leave!
We continued our e-message chatter off and on for a while when my friend once again mentioned a tear in the arm of the recliner. I explained that I had yet to observe a tear commenting I thought I had recently written to her about “keeping what is worth keeping…and with a breath of kindness blowing the rest away…” I went on to express my meaning to be that with the chair I would see what is worth seeing and ignore the rest because at that point I had not seen any tears on the arm of the chair and I wasn’t planning to go searching for such.
I suppose one could say I am not being realistic with my attitude. I think I am being very realistic. I know there is a tear in the arm of that chair. How do I know? Because I have seen it? No. I know because my friend has told me so, but I have chosen to ignore it because I prefer to see the rest of the chair in its beauty, not the little tear. Does the tear in any way hinder its usefulness? No. Does the tear harm its beauty? I’d guess not since it is not an obvious flaw in the fabric.
Let’s take this just a step further and compare this with our attitude in the way we treat people. Sometimes we know a person well enough to know “there is a small tear in the fabric,” so to speak. What are we going to do about it? Are we going to keep staring at the “sore spot” using unkind words and/or deeds until we make the hole bigger? Will we diminish the usefulness of another simply because they do not measure up to our yardstick of perfection?
An occasion that lives on in our lives occurred many years before my husband was born so certainly long before I came into the family. His maternal grandmother known to most as Nana seemed pretty close to perfect in so many ways but apparently she was human on occasion! In her younger days, Nana, as the wife of a minister and the mother of four young daughters, complained to her husband, “Why am I, with all these young ones always expected to be the one to peel and cook the potatoes for the Sunday dinners for all these people?” Now, Nana was not one given to much complaining, and when she later told the story about herself in a lesson to the family she said that Grampie laid his hand on her shoulder and said, “You gotta love ‘em, Momma.”
Today, two days after the delivery of the recliner, I have chosen to overlook the tear. I will take the word of my friend that there is one there, but I choose to not see it because to me the chair is as Mary Poppins would say, “practically perfect in every way.”

“Above all, love each other deeply,
because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
I Peter 4:8 (NIV)

© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 7-12-09