28th June 2011 Are you a Porcupine ...Friendly but fearful? Outgoing but shy?

Mathew 5:39: “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

This week I’d like to share some spiritual insight from the Self Defense Mechanism of the Porcupine.

Life lesson in Self Defense from Mr. Prickly Porcupine:

 A peaceful animal, the porcupine will try to run away if it feels there’s danger. It’ll make loud chattering noises as a warning for predators to leave. If  it can’t get away, its muscles tighten forcing its quills to come out. It will tuck its head in, lean forward and thump its back feet while swinging its tail as a warning. Sometimes loose quills fly out of the tail or if a predator tries to get too close, the quills will stick them. The quills are an amazing defense mechanism — when they get lodged in the skin, body heat makes the barbs swell, making it even harder and more painful to pull them out.   Source : http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids/animal-facts/porcupine.asp 

Are you like this porcupine?

Though we may be harmless, peaceful, fun loving ,sincere, friendly and caring individuals capable of great friendships / relationships, just like the porcupine-many times sensing the danger of being hurt we suddenly close up. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, we are on our guard whenever a predator (person) gets close. No one likes to hug a porcupine however warm in heart he may be! People who are initially drawn to us by our friendly cheerfulness slowly get the impression that they are not welcome because of our self defense tactics and so leave the scene confused.This is the reason we may appear a paradox to many –friendly and yet fearful! Outgoing and yet shy!This post tries to explain why this happens and how to deal with it.

The same thing that happens with the porcupine happens with the best of us too. We long for close friendships, yet are reluctant to reveal the vulnerable part of ourselves. The real reason for this is because we had at some moment in the past been totally trusting and open only to have been dealt a painful wound on our soul. Slowly we pick up the broken pieces,try and piece them back together but sadly the crack still remains. Licking our sore wounds,we make a conscious decision never to allow this to happen again!Many times in life we may find ourselves alone because of this very decision.We wait for people who we feel safe enough to open our hearts with. We may sometimes get such friends but the truth is they are one in a million and so we may have to wait a long time for such a friend. The common majority however falls in the other category of people and do not really care whether you will be hurt or not.Refusing to come out of our comfort zones ensures that we are comfortable by escaping rejection but it causes us a new and different kind of pain -the pain of loneliness.

The porcupine’s quill defense is effective, but still some predators (bobcats, cougars, lynx, wolves, wolverines , coyotes and especially fishers) use stealth and agility to avoid the quills. They are able to hunt porcupines without injuring themselves, by circling around the porcupine until they can bite its nose .After repeated bites to the nose, the predator then flips the rodent onto its back and exposes its unprotected soft belly.
 Source:  http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfmadfg=animals.listmammals

As long as we live in this imperfect world dominated by Satan, no matter how hard we try to be careful, it is certain that either we will get hurt by someone or someone will get hurt by us.

Dear friend, have you unknowingly been a porcupine in your relationship with people just as I have been? There can only be one reason for that and that is you are trying to protect yourself from the Rejection or hurt of the past. The truth is that though doing this may ensure us some safety by saving us some pain, yet, we will never be able to live the abundant life that Jesus has died to provide us with. We will always be dominated by the fear of people and unknown situations which will hinder us from being effective witnesses to the Lord and also from reaching out to more people.

 The Solution?

That is exactly why Jesus tells us in Mathew 5 not to resist evil but to overcome evil with good. We don’t need Self Defense when we have the Almighty God as our Mighty Defender. He collects our every tears and hears our every cry. He heals not only our physical infirmities but also all the emotional wounds that have scarred our soul and which no Doctor can ever heal. Acc to Isa 53:4,5  “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; …….He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed.”

So let us put down our guard and allow others to see us just as we are. You may ask me the intelligent question “isn’t that putting ourselves at a risk of being wounded again or wounding another again?” You bet we are! However, the freedom from bondage and the real joy of living definitely makes it worthwhile! After all, just like a child runs to his mother when he bruises his knee and she apples medicine and kisses the pain away,similarly we have a Loving Father to whom we all can run to any time we bruise our souls. Psalms 147:3 says : “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

We can thus definitely stop being prickly Porcupines and instead choose to be soft, cuddly and affectionate Pandas!

Click to hear the wonderful song “It’s Hard to Hug a Porcupine” by Martha Hall Bowman:   

 http://youtu.be/ShuytBZojws

Have a blessed week,

Take care, God bless,

Sparky Laurie

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23rd June 2011 SOME LESSONS FROM NOAH’S ARK

Heb 11:7 "It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God who warned him about something that had never happened before. By his faith he condemned the rest of the world and was made right in God’s sight."

This week I’d like to share 5 lessons we can learn from the Bible story Noah’s Ark (Gen 6-8)

1) We can blindly obey God if we trust Him fully :-

Did you know that before the flood which destroyed the whole earth in Noah’s time, there were no seasons? It is only after the flood that seasons originated. Gen 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” God called Noah to build the ark at a time when there were no Seasonal changes.Let alone flood,there were not even rains at that time. It must have taken a totally blind obedience on the part of Noah for him to obey God. For 100 years,Noah and his three sons and families worked hard to build the ark. He did not limit his activity to merely building but also preached to the people of his day for many years warning them to turn from their evil ways and reminding them of the coming wrathful judgement of Jehovah God. Noah did everything God commanded him to do and this pleased God.

We see in Gen 6 :3 that God waited one hundred and twenty years for the people to repent of their sins but they would not do so. It is only after that long patient waiting that the Lord finally decides to destroy them but only after ensuring the safety of Noah and his family.

Lesson: When God tells us to do certain things we can obey him without question & doubt. God is faithful and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.

2)Blessed are you when men reject you :-

When Noah was building the Ark in obedience to God, many people may have  laughed at him, mocked him and even called him mad. However Noah faithfully continued to do what God had commanded him. Many times when we do what God has called us to do, we may have to suffer the ridicule of others. They may insult/ slander/ mock/ accuse us and may even call us insane but we need not worry.

Luke 6:22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because you are committed to the Son of Man”.

 Isaiah 51:7 "Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.”

 1 Peter 4:14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Lesson :We are indeed of another world, heaven is our homeland , Christ our identity and we are here on a temporary assignment and so we needn't be discouraged when faced with Rejection!

3)The foolishness of the Lord Vs The wisdom of the world:-

While Noah preached to the people of the coming wrath and the need for repentance, he surely must have got sneers and cold looks ,others may have even given him a piece of their mind saying “We don’t need your advice. Get a life will you/ Leave us alone /Get lost we don’t need to hear this.” Some may have said behind his back what many say behind our backs today: “He thinks he is so smart….Who needs his advice?….what a loser!….who does he think he is?”The reason they speak like this is because they think only from a human point of view. From their past experience, the people of Noah’s times had never seen rain and so they couldn’t accept what he was teaching but just because it was beyond their understanding, didn’t mean that it wouldn’t happen.

Same thing applies today, when we teach about the Second Coming of Jesus/the Rapture and the Coming Judgment, many reject this teaching because they cannot understand or imagine it with their human mind but these things can be explained and understood only by Faith.

1 Corin 1:27 : “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong”

Mathew 11:15 : “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”.


Lesson : The foolishness of the Lord is wiser than the wisdom of the world.

4)Chosen out of this world but sent into the world:-  

When Noah went out to preach to them about the coming wrath of God and how they had to turn away from their wicked ways, many may have surely mocked him by saying “Hasn’t this guy got anything better to do? Why can’t he mind his own business? Why is he trying to preach to us?”
Often in our evangelistic attempts to share Christ, we may have also had to hear similar comments. The truth is that there is really no better thing to do on this earth than to share the Good News that Jesus is alive and is soon coming back for us- His Bride! When we are on fire for the Lord, we will have an unexplainable concern and burden for perishing souls. Our aim is not to show that we are righteous but to show anyone who thirsts the path to righteousness and that is JESUS CHRIST.
Isa 52:7:How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Phil 3:8,9: “ I consider everything else worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with Him”.

Lesson:We need not be ashamed of our attempts at evangelization,God does not need our ability but our availaibility.We are Ambassadors of Christ and just like an Ambadassor always carries a message from his country,we too have a message from Heaven!

5) Our Faith in God’s promises and God’s Faithfulnesss in  fulfilling His promises:-

It was neither a cloudy sky nor the smell of the coming rain that prompted Noah and his family to enter the Ark. A clear sky is all they saw when they entered the ark. Why then did they go in? The only reason they entered was because they believed what God had said. What about the people outside the ark? The invitation was open and for all and yet they refused to enter the ark, they refused to accept the way of escape which God had provided for them through Noah and so they were destroyed.Maybe as the rain poured,the people outside banged on the door of the Ark in remorse and regret realizing their mistake as they saw the waters covering the earth rapidly for the first time in their lives…but by then the God Himself had shut the door and it was too late!

 Jehovah God can be trusted to fulfill all His promises. Even now He has provided us with a way of escape through Jesus Christ by gentle reminders through his faithful servants and yet there are many outside refusing to enter and be saved!Just like God waited patiently a hundred and twenty years before he shut the door of the Ark,He has extended His mercy towards us for some more time but this will not be forever.Though He is a Loving and Merciful Father, He is also a Holy and Just God who will always keep His promises.Will you make Jesus your Lord and Savior and thus save yourself from the coming destruction?Or will you ignore this great salvation and think that you can escape?(Heb 2:3)

Rom 2:4 : Don’t you realize how kind, tolerant and patient God is with you? Or don’t you care? Can’t you see how kind He has been in giving you time to turn away from your sin?”

2 Pet. 3:9,10: "The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise to return,as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. But [the day of God's judgment] will come as unexpectedly as a thief."

Lesson : Let us learn from the mistake of the people of Noah's time,let us hearken to the gentle voice,accept the invitation,make Jesus our Lord and save ourselves from the coming judgement!

Have a blessed week,

Take care,God bless,

Sparky Laurie

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16th June 2011 What is that missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle of your life?

A God shaped Hole in all of us & A Soul restless ....until it rests in Him!!!

Jer 2:13 :“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me,  the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Sometimes in life I find myself letting out a deep sigh. Looking around me I gratefully think; 'all is well'… and yet feel an unexplainable empty void within…as if something, somewhere is missing…  Dear friend, have you felt this vacuum deep down inside… a longing that just won’t leave ....an empty space that no amount of money/ luxury/ recognition/ trophy / achievement/ addiction/ person/friend / music/ education/ experience/ anything in this world can fill?

Many of us wear ourselves out by trying several things like work & activity/outings /friends/ family/ movies/ food/ hobbies/ music etc… to make that emptiness go- but it just won’t. Finally, we find ourselves on our knees tired by all our futile efforts and then out of the blue…we suddenly remember the one thing that we hadn’t tried ,carefully we put that piece in and Viola! ….as that piece falls into place, the jigsaw puzzle suddenly makes sense. It is now complete!

The missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle!

Blaise Pascal  explains it beautifully: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing,but only by God,the Creator,made known through Jesus.”

The God-shaped void in all of our hearts!

You may seem to have it all together in the eyes of the world-wealth, family, career, influence, admirers, anything anyone could wish for and yet do you not feel that inner void …..That missing piece to the jigsaw puzzle of your life? Well, JESUS is that missing piece!

John 4:13-14: Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus with the woman at the well in John  4

"Oh no, not again"…I hear you say….Yes, once again a gentle beckoning right from the Father. …..Don’t be mistaken my friend, this invitation that has been repeatedly coming to you through different sources is not my voice or anyone else’s….It’s the answer to that cry deep down inside your heart….it is the Lord Jesus…the Perfect Gentleman who knocks at the door of your heart and wishes you would open the door and allow Him to be enthroned in that special place in your heart that has been His all along.


Trying to fit square pegs into round holes?



You may ignore it and may run away from all the other gentle reminders in your life but that empty hole will always remain. You will keep fitting square pegs into round holes but the sad truth is friend you will never fill it….That place is His and you are created with that Void for Him.Allow Jesus to fill that void and you will experience a completeness , a total fulfillment that you have been searching for all this time!

And for those of us believers who feel empty because we have forsaken our First love (Rev 2:4): 

 Even after accepting Jesus sometimes we get side- tracked in life and get entangled in the things of the world. We allow other things to become our idols in life often unknowingly. We dig up false cisterns in search of water to quench our thirst and ignore the Spring of Living Water. However we will always feel that gnawing ache that will bring us running back to our Father’s presence for He made us with a soul that is restless, until it rests in him.

Have you felt this  restlessness in your soul? Speak to the Lord today, rededicate yourself to Him and enjoy a peace that will last forever!

Click to watch this beautiful video: “God shaped hole in all of us ": http://youtu.be/zHlkRcZqz7A

Have a blessed week!

Take care, God bless,

Sparky Laurie

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June 13th 2011 BRIGHTEN THE CORNER WHERE YOU ARE!

Mathew 25:21: “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Being Faithful Where You Are And With What You Have:  

Often God teaches us lessons at the least expected moments!  One day, while flipping through TV channels a little low in spirit wondering what I was really doing in life; God spoke to me ….thru an episode of the TV serial “Desperate Housewives”. The episode about the funeral of Eli the handyman. The story is a flashback into the lives of the four friends who remember how Eli (a nobody from nowhere) in his unassuming quiet and gentle manner actually transforms each of their lives in unforgettable ways. I learnt a lesson then and there: “We cannot do great things but we can do small things with great love and the good that will come out of these deeds though we may not see immediately, one day we will surely know. Then, we will realize that it was these small things that actually made all the difference!”

ELI the handyman

The 4 Friends whose lives Eli changed forever

 Do you, my dear friend sometimes ask yourself the question I did that day, “Lord, do the small things that I keep doing faithfully, invisible to the world around really matter? Is anyone really seeing what I do and does what I do really count?” Have you been waiting to do big things for the Lord and have wondered why things have just not worked out? I too have been there and have learnt that when we don’t seem to have opportunities to do the so called big things in life, we need to learn to be still and to surrender to His infinite wisdom, believing that He knows what is best. We just need to be faithful and do what He has assigned us to do. The truth is nothing ever escapes His notice, not even our attitudes or the desires of our hearts! Nothing we do in His name will ever go waste. All our small deeds faithfully done are investments in the Kingdom of God. They are like seeds that are planted in the ground. Even though for sometime nothing appears to be happening, if we continue to provide the necessary water, sunlight, fertilizer etc, the plant will definitely blossom and then bear fruit in season.

  

Are you a home-maker who doesn’t have a fat paycheck to show at the end of a month? Are you the sweeper who everyone takes for granted? Or are you the clerk in the office made to do all the work while the credit always goes to someone else? If you are, this quote by Martin Luther King Jr is the perfect one for you:“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Whoever you are and whatever you are called to do, hang in there….Just be faithful. As Col 3:17 :”Whatever be your task, work at it heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive your real inheritance which is from the Lord.”
God expects us to make good use of that which He has given us. Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, we should be faithful stewards of what He has entrusted us with. When He sees that we have been faithful in the smallest of our duties, He will give us bigger responsibilities. Just like there are many members in one body and no member is more important than the other, we are all parts of the same body (Church) and Christ is the Head. Hence, we need not compare ourselves with anyone else, for we are all made different and have specific roles to play. We should never despise our own or someone else's good actions eventhough they may appear small or insignificant."Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."- Leo Buscaglia

Just like the little boy who gave his little lunch box of five loaves and two fish to Jesus who blessed it and fed the multitude, we should also be faithful with what God has given us and where He has placed us. Let us do the little things in our life in the best way we can for His glory and in His name and when we do so, we will watch how He turns them into great things!

Let me leave you with this beautiful poem which reminds us that we just need to be the best that we can be!

 

BE THE BEST 

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley . . . but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush, be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie, then just be a bass . . .
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains; we've got to be crew.
There's something for all of us here,
There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,
And the task you must do is near.
If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun, be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail . . .

Be the best of whatever you are!

-by Douglas Malloch

Have a blessed week!

Take care,God bless,

Sparky laurie

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6th June 2011 : Let’s Stop the Playing Courtroom Game!

Sometimes Truth is stranger than Fiction!

Many times in life we find ourselves in the Courtroom game. Sometimes playing the Judge, sometimes the Accused! The truth is none of us need to play this game anymore. Read on to find out why….

 1. Are we worthy to be seated in the jury box?

I don’t believe that any of us will ever be qualified enough to play Jury. Let us look at some of the qualifications required:

a)The jury should be incorrupt:

Ringing in my ears is the wise, non-judgmental and compassionate words of Holy Jesus. “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  ………“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” John 8:7-11

How ironical that the one person who could rightfully judge her, is the person who actually acquits her!

b) The jury should have all the facts and evidence:

When we point fingers at someone, do we really know what they are going through? A well known saying goes like this: “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes.”

John 7:24:“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Many times what appears to be right may not necessarily be so and what appears to be wrong may not also be so.

c) The jury must give the accused a chance to defend himself:

Do we ever bother to actually give the accused person a chance to explain his actions and the reason behind them? Aren’t we sometimes victims influenced by the words of others and silently write off people whom we really know nothing about?

2. Do we need to play the Accused? 

Sometimes we find ourselves at the other end of the table with accusing fingers pointed towards us: We may wrongly be accused about something we are innocent of. In Job 1:6-12 we read the account of satan accusing Job whom God was commending.

We must remember our Lord’s perfect example 1 Peter 2: 23:“He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”

 I’d  like to share you the final words of Charles Cowman which  can give us strength when criticized/misrepresented unjustly:

“Men may misjudge thy aim, think they have cause to blame,
say thou art wrong –
Hold thou thy quiet way, heed not what men may say;
Christ is the Judge – not they;
fear not, be strong!
Be brave, and dare to stand alone against the foe;
thy Savior stood alone for thee
long, long ago.
Be not a coward in the fight - look up! Be strong!
The morn of victory is near –
the day of song.”

The truth is we really do not need to play the Accused any more since He took that role from us already. Rom 8:34 “No one can condemn us , only Jesus who died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.”

 3. No longer the Accusers, nor the Accused but the Peace-makers:

Mathew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

This means that we must try our best for reconciliation even when we have been wronged. Math 18:15:"If your brother sins against you, go and confront him while the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.” We need to strike a balance between accusing anyone without giving him a chance to explain himself and ignoring the offense without giving him a chance to correct himself. Hence I’d say the win-win solution is to openly confront, but always in love. When this is done, the matter is usually solved and the relationship is restored. Often however, we may not get the response that we expected but if it doesn’t, we need not worry about that. This is the true meaning of the “If it is possible” in Rom 12:18:“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Reconciliation is possible only when both people want it and sometimes it will require some more prayer on our part for it to reach that stage. At such times, we need to tarry in prayer with the faith that the matter is now out of our hands and safely in His.

Let us decide to stop this Courtroom game today itself. The Courtroom is actually in the heavenly realms and the players are already assigned: CHIEF JURY IS GOD, CHIEF ADVOCATE IS JESUS CHRIST and CHIEF ACCUSER is Satan.

I’m sure that you will agree with me that we have got much better things to do in life than play COURT!

Have a blessed week! 

Take care, God bless

Sparky Laurie

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