OUR DIFFERENCES WERE INTENTENDED!

God created us in His image yet each different in his and her own way.   But we’re forever at war with one another over the discord we see and hear. We refuse to see His face in others and further refuse to see and hear all that can be created when we blend together!    LET’S START A NEW TRADITION!  THE ONE HE INTENDED ALL ALONG!- Martha L Shaw

 

UNRAVELLED

 

 

We begin life finely knit together,

One to another,

No labels,

Many colors,

Plump or delicate,

Uniquely different yet all the same

In likeness to Him.

Sadly,

We mature and our eyes,

Those human orbs,

Deny the truth held in our hearts.

By Martha L Shaw – © 2017

LAWS . . .Wondrous???

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.Psalm 119:18 ESV

As a child, I often thought “Why is the teacher always picking on me?” At the time it seemed not only was I picked on, but a very high percentage of the time!  As an adult, I saw things differently. Rules and laws save and protect us and for certain keep us on the right path so that we will learn and accomplish what we very much need to.  As we mature in life and in relationship with our Heavenly Father, Teacher . . . it is espectially important!  We are created out of His amazing love for a blessed purpose which could result in our hurting ourselves and others if we do not obey!

Our Father God is waiting for us to seek forgiveness when we disobey and His sadness while waiting for us is due to His immeasurable love!  How incredible is it that once we repent, He eagerly holds us and leads us to the right path!!

 

WE DECEIVE OURSELVES!

Before we judge and

close our doors and hearts to one another,

we need to remember that

our church buildings would be empty of any but

our Triune God

were it not for

we sinners present!

By Martha L Shaw – © 2018

 

MY MISSION

Who is my neighbor?

She is the universe . . . ‘My quest, my duty?

To love her,

To protect her,

To encourage her,

To bless her Creator!

By Martha L Shaw – © 2017

 

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

The Stranger’s Cat

Glancing outside my window

and across the street,

I see a tired home

in near darkness.

I wonder who lives there

for I have never seem

your face

oh neighbor of mine.

I wonder if you are happy

or sad,

tall or short.

I know you have love in your heart,

for I have met your cat.

I see the garage door

is always left open . . .

not much,

but just enough for my furry friend

to pass in and out.

I’d like to someday meet

the one who loves my furry friend.

by Martha L Shaw – Copyright – 1-30-2013

The Pathway . . . What Are You WAITING For?

i often hear folks complaining about “what’s wrong with the world today” and saying “things must change.” Are you one of them? How are you working toward making things new? Christians! Sitting in the corner quietly is no more effective than the whining is. Jesus did neither of these things. Are you being Jesus to the folks in your piece of the world? If we are not, then WE are why things are the way they are! Folks are placed in our path for a reason! Seek the answer! Be Christ to them!

Message © Martha L Shaw 10-11-2013 – Photo credit: Google Images

The Blessing of Rules – A Quote For Thursday

“Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.”Psalm 119:143 KJV

Gosh, don’t we hate being told what to do?  Okay, maybe you don’t . . . maybe it’s just me.  I don’t think so though.  Gotta say, in the point in my season, I am so thankful for His love and especially for His loving me so much that He leads me and guides me and never gives up on me.

I am free to go it alone, but I know . . .  i KNOW I wouldn’t like it very much.

Made In His Image

 

Do you ever consider what it means to be made in the image of God?  I can’t say that I specifically meditate on it as a rule, but the question was posed at a meeting at church last night.  I found it something very interesting to ponder . . . hard to answer, or at least hard to immediately react to.  It brings up more questions, such as but what does He look like?  Is my image not a representation of who I am?  Is it not an authentic reflection of me? 

That being said, if I have been made in the image of God, then, wouldn’t this mean that in some manner I am He and He is me?  Surely that cannot be the case as it counters the first commandment as I understand it.  I needed to unpack this further, so first I looked to His word and one verse which caught my eye was the following:

“But if we walk in the light,

as he is in the light,

we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

” 1 John 1:7 NIV

This one made me think, but I wanted more so I consulted the dictionary.  That was illuminating for in it I learned that an image is a counterpart, a representation, a reproduction.  Wow.  I reread that and then reread it again.  If I take that definition to define my being made in the likeness or image of God, then I am a reproduction . . . having attributes of the “real” and perhaps then being the only visible representation some with whom I interact may see at a given moment.  That’s powerful stuff.  Likewise, in the quote above from 1 John, by walking in the light, we are in fellowship or kinship with Him and through Him purified. 

That takes my breath away.  The notion of being pure . . . I’ve known since I was a wee one that my sins were forgiven, that I could repent knowing that if I truly did so, my sins were gone.  Purified? Wow, who among us feels pure?  I heard a friend describe his wife in those terms yesterday and it made me want to cry.  I cannot imagine what it must be like to be so loved.  I said as much to him.  As I recall, he scolded for interrupting.  lol  It struck me, falsely, at that moment though that surely I have never been loved to that degree?  I’m sure my friend knew the track my mind was on and thus his scolding was to draw me back onto the right track . . . a valiant effort.  When he reads this he’ll know I have finally, perhaps, gotten there. 

That look I saw in his eyes as he spoke of his wife so lovingly?  That love I almost envied?  I say almost because I don’t want love that belongs to another.  I want my own.  I only just now while I am putting these thoughts to paper finally connected with what it all really means.  I do have that love, that lover, and I have been made pure and in the image of God.  There is nothing greater. 

We are instructed to love God with all our being and to love ourselves as we love one another.  Oh, I know I said that in different order than we are accustomed to hearing.  It’s easier to take hold of worded that way.  It is the way our discussion leader worded it last night.  I’ve been encountering the concept of self-love a lot lately.  It sounded weird, wrong, and perhaps impossible.  Yet, if I am made pure by the love my triune God and created in His image, and so are each of you, how can I fail to know and share that love?  It’s part of my DNA! 

What is it we are reflecting to the world?  Are we living into what is real?  Our help is within us!