Lessons Learned

First Responder

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

 

First Responders are incredible at what they do. They are the first on the scene of medical emergencies. They assess a given situation to ensure it is safe. They evaluate the victims involved and determine what is needed. They even administer medical aid, CPR and  AEDs in cases of cardiac arrest. Now, I’m not sharing this to give you an education on First Responders, but as we remember the importance of this week, being the 15th Anniversary of 9/11, I just want to say I am so thankful for all that they do.

They always seem to be willing to lend a helping hand. They rush to scenes of crisis when so many others would run away. They stay with the wounded until they are headed to recovery. They even attempt to rescue, mend wounds and remove from harm’s way those who may not necessarily want their help. I don’t think that I could express enough my gratefulness for who they are and for what they choose to do.

first-responders2

business.mtpleasanttx.com

Yet, there is One who is the best First Responder of them all. He is stronger than anyone else in the force. He responds quicker than any human could imagine, and He never ever fails to show up. He can bind up wounds, heal hearts, release those bound and even bring back to life those thought to be dead.

His name is Jesus Christ. He is who I call Friend, Savior and Lord.

He is the Greatest of all First Responders for He knows you. He created you, and He is always right there by your side. All you have to do is call His name, and He will rescue you from danger. He will free you from what holds you captive, and He will bind up what causes your heart to bleed. He will bring you life and life more abundantly.

Will you call to Him today? Just say His Name, and He will answer.

 

Who’s Your Top 5?

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

I saw this post last night on social media, and it got me to thinking…

It is so true. We become very much like those with whom we associate. This led me to my next question: With whom do you spend the majority of  your time?

The people with whom you surround yourself will determine the kind of person you become. It doesn’t matter how strong you think you are, how influential or how dedicated you are to “being you.” The longer you are with someone, the more your personalities can merge.

So, have you thought about it? Are the people you are around the most a good influence on you? Do they bring you down or lift you up? Do you leave their presence feeling better about yourself and the world around you, or do you leave feeling worse?

If you take the top five people with whom you spend time and average it out, what is the result? Who are you becoming??

*I’d love to hear your response. Please share with me your thoughts. 😊

**Note: I did not take this photo, nor do I own rights to it. Simply copied from social media.

Life Speaks

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

Let my life speak loudly, and let it speak Truth…

The WheatandTares's avatarthe grizzle grist mill

I saw this picture today, and it really hit home…


I hope that my life and my actions always line up with who I say that I am. It is so disconcerting to me how easily, it seems, some people can speak good words, smile and give a look of love and concern; they that same person can turn and completely tear another to pieces. I know there are times when we have to “smile and nod,” simply because it’s not the time or place to handle a certain situation, or maybe, you’re in the public eye, and it’s best for your leadership, your reputation and your “good name” to just keep your moth shut, smile graciously and handle someone with kindness. However, when there is underlying resentment and hatred, you can be guaranteed that will come shining through your actions! I don’t care how masked you think you are!

View original post 180 more words

How Do You Do It?

/ The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

I watch as a mother holds the hand of her 12 year old battling cancer in a children’s hospital day after day. I look on as a wife says goodbye to her man of almost 60 years. I wipe a tear as I read a story of a family that’s dealing with the death of two grandchildren, a son and daughter in law, all in the same week, and I wonder how you do it?  

How do you survive in this world without the love of Christ to sustain you? I wonder how you make it through these darkened days of tragedy and pain. I can’t imagine living my life with no hope, no joy, no faith in a Higher Power than myself. 

Maybe you’ll think I am just weak, that I simply need a crutch to walk through this life…well, I have found I can’t even walk without holding His hand! When I am leaning on His everlasting arms, I realize I can climb a mountain or walk through a valley! I have strength, because it’s no longer my human strength that I am relying on. It is the strength of my Creator and my God. He laid the foundations of this earth, and He breathed life into my very being; so, why would I ever think my strength is better than His? 

To top it all off, He loves me so much that He died and rose again for me. His plans for me are good plans, and He wants to give me a hope and a future! Believe it or not, He longs to do the same for YOU, because He loves you, too! Why would you ever want to deny that kind of love or reject that kind of power in your life??

Desperate Living

/ The WheatandTares

Sometimes, we can get so caught up in our successes of today or our failures of yesterday that we accept the notion “all eyes are on us,” and that our success or failure will determine the destiny of those around us. Can I tell you, this is so far from truth! Yet, so many get caught up with this misconception from time to time.

6fb9aa026b06c1a7c9fa6047e48f604b

pinterest.com

Truth be told, this mindset actually stems from a source of PRIDE! To have the belief that our actions, or lack thereof, can determine the destiny of someone else is placing ourselves in the position of God Himself, and He doesn’t give us that kind of authority. Sure, our actions can effect someone else, and they can bring pain and difficulty, or joy and freedom, into a part of that person’s life; however, God is the only One who holds the key to someone’s destiny! What we do, does matter; please don’t get me wrong. Yet, over the years, I have watched too many people who believe their actions can make or break another person’s future. To allow ourselves the privilege of this kind of thinking is to simply think too highly of ourselves and our impact on other people.

johnmichaelhelms.com


We are all just living desperate lives of survival here, and we are all simply called to love God and to love our fellow man. We are instructed to reach others for His Kingdom by showing them His love and goodness. When we lay down our pride and work together to this end, we become a unified front against the desperation of this earthly life. We become the Body of Christ to fulfill His purpose and His glory and to put the enemy to shame!

So, let us never think too highly of our successes nor too lowly of our failures. Let us always encourage each other to see the greatness of our God rather than the greatness of ourselves. Let us lend a helping hand to lift up those who might have fallen a little lower, and pray without ceasing for those who have risen a little higher. Let’s put our hands into the hands of the Father as we keep traveling on together, one step at a time, toward our promise land.

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Romans 12:3-5

Pilgrims Passing Through

/ The WheatandTares

edb8cc042620994917ac978f91ed3c6bI am reminded of something, time and again, that I think often gets lost in the shuffle of everyday living, periodic competitions with our fellow man and intermitten crises that, at times, seem to shield our vision from reality:  We are ALL JUST PEOPLE living desperate lives trying to survive in this journey called life!

That moment when you feel “on top of your game,” when you feel nothing can ever stop you, and maybe even a little pride comes sneaking in to seduce you to the thought that your life is so much better than so many, remember this: we are ALL just one heartbeat away from saying goodbye to everything. There are no guarantees for tomorrow, and there are no promises beyond what God has given us in His Word.

As well, on that day when you feel “at the bottom of the bottom barrel,” when you feel nothing could ever go right for you again, and maybe even a little self pity creeps in to convince you of the thought that so many would be better off without you, remember this: we are ALL just one step away from the potential to succeed. When you put your hand in the hand of the Father, you are guaranteed to become an overcomer, and you are instantly promised ALL He has to give.

Do these promises instantaneously make our lives perfect, never again to be effected by this human nature, this earthly life? OH! How I wish it were so, but by all means, NO!! He told us in this world we would have trouble, we would have tribulation; yet, He has, also, assured us that He has overcome the world! 

So, don’t take courage in your tomorrow, and never let discouragement cloud your view of today. We only need to hold tightly to His hand and remain trusting of His heart as He guides us through to the other side! We are simply pilgrims passing through to a better land, to our eternal home.

“Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16

quote-pilgrims-are-persons-in-motion-passing-through-territories-not-their-own-seeking-something-h-richard-niebuhr-76-99-65

Paving Their Path

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

 

Once a child reaches the age of accountability, every child must make his or her own choices, and every child is responsible for what he or she does. However, I have found that we, as parents, do have a part to play in helping to pave the path they choose in life. We can’t make their choices, and we can’t be accountable for their decisions. However, we do have the ability to make those choices easy or hard to find.

You see, our children walk down their own paths into the destiny of their own choosing. They will be faced with the good and bad consequences of their actions and with the fruit from the seeds they choose to sow. However, we can pave that path with the “asphalt” of faith, the guard rails of love and the road signs toward joy and fulfillment, or we can lay down layer upon layer of rock, rubble, nails and thorns from the bitterness, foolishness, enablement and even pain of our own lives, layers through which our children will have to fight and claw just to find those good decisions they long to choose.

 

When we live as good examples for our little ones, make good decisions for our own lives as we try to raise them the best way we know how, and strive to correct in front of them the mistakes we are sure to make along the way, their paths will be lined with the good substance they need to not only survive this life, but it also will build the foundation upon which they can thrive through this life!

If you realize your children may have a rocky road ahead, I have good news for you! You can begin TODAY picking up the stones of hatred and anger that have been thrown along their path. The rocks and rubble of foolishness and enablement can be pushed aside. The nails of spite which have been dropped and the thorns of pain which have been sown can be picked up, cut back and removed as you reach out with repentance, forgiveness, truth and love.

This process can only begin with a right relationship with God, a daily seeking of His Word and a continual reaching out to your child with loving kindness. It may not be an instant reconciliation, but with Christ, it can be an instant healing within your own heart and mind. He can help you to clear the path and to make things right again. He can guide you and your child to a better way.

Live For Today

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

quotesgram.com

Honestly, it doesn’t matter where you USED to be, whether in the “glory days of sin” or the “past victories of spirituality.” That is all passed away, never to be grasped again. The important thing is where you are right now, this very minute, and where you choose to be tomorrow. 
Yesterday’s pain, nor yesterday’s manna will sustain us for today. His mercies are new every single  day for the washing of sin, the renewing of the mind, and the restoring/stirring of our spirit. His love runs deeper than all the heartaches of the past and His faithfulness stands stronger than any conquered ground you gained in yesteryears. 

So, why do we so often submit to the guilt of our past failures? Why do we so often take pride in our past spiritual encounters? 

wordblessings.com

PROTECTION

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

My pastor gave this great description of like to share with you:

PRAYER + PREPARATION = PROTECTION

We were actually talking about security in our church when he gave this, but I’d like to take t a step further into our spiritual lives… Both of these steps are vital for our Christian walk. Too often, I believe, we find ourselves in a chaotic mess, because we’ve forgotten one of these two essentials.

When we are so much in prayer, but we don’t prepare for anything, we appear to those around us as spiritual IDIOTS. Please forgive my bluntness, but it’s true. If you are always proclaiming God’s greatness, and you’re speaking your praises wherever you go, but you can’t hold down a job, you can’t pay your bills and you can’t keep your mind and mouth in stability, you’re actually hurting the Gospel more than helping it. Now, I am NOT talking about those who have a tragedy or come on hard times, please understand. Everyone has their battles, and sometimes, we just have to hold onto Jesus a little tighter to make it through the day. However, if it’s a lifestyle of perpetual chaos and instability, you may be missing the mark somewhere. For the Word tells us, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  2 Tim. 2:7

On the other side of this spectrum, if you are so prepared, yet you never pray, your witness will hurt the kingdom, as well. We can be so earthly minded that we do heaven no good. Sometimes, faith isn’t going to look right to the world. Sometimes, prayer is going to seem a little crazy to the carnally minded, and sometimes, prayer is the ONLY thing that is going to bring about victory in your life! If we are so prepared, or maybe I should use the word WISE, in our own abilities and skill sets, we can do damage to our witness for Christ, because we fail to see our need for Him. We rely too much in our own strength and our own smarts. Or should I say, “…for in my weakness He is made strong.”

It takes both the prayer and the preparation to being about God’s full protection. When we have both, we walk in His complete authority. When we have both, we can storm the gates of hell and take back the captives, because it is no longer our own words and our own might, but HIS!

Let us be a people of preparation AND of prayer, and we will watch Him bring forth the victory!

When The Pain Sets In

/ The WheatandTares / 5 Comments

Sometimes, your heart is bound up with so much emotion, words are hard to find. Your mind is so consumed with an avalanche of thought that you can not grasp even one. It’s like water droplets over a waterfall. 

Sometimes, the pain is so baffling, it feels as if time is standing still. Your destiny is too far to imagine, and your past comes in like a flood. It can be overwhelming… Suffocating… Constricting and condemning.

Sometimes, in that very moment, is when you need the reminder of His love and His grace. It is comforting… It is reassuring… It is strengthening and redeeming… 

He will heal. 

Only believe.