May

20

Have Times Changed?

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


Ephesians 4:17 -19   Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

It sounds as if Paul’s writing to us today doesn’t it?  It describes the world outside my door perfectly.  My son tells me many in his generation are wondering if they really should have children nowadays. They wonder if it would be right to bring kids into the world when it is in such a mess.  What a sad, defeatist attitude. 

When we look at the world around us, with all the horrendous acts of violence and the overtolerance of sexual deviations, greed and corrupt human behavior, it almost is tempting to pull an ostrich stunt. Just tuck out heads in the sand and close our eyes.  Hide under the bushel. Run into the church for shelter from all the bombs of evil and immorality raining down and huddle together with the faithful, isolated from all that destruction out there. Pray for Jesus to protect us, and to hurry up and come back for us. Take us away.

But is that what we are called to do?  Later on in this letter to the Ephesians Paul talks about putting on the full armor of God.  To me that means we are to get out here and battle for lives. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to equip us to go out amongst all that is wrong and help people find what is right.  We need to go out with the shrapnel of evil peltering all around us and tend to the wounded. 

In Romans, Paul says this – “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”(vv. 29-31)

It is passages like these that make me realize the world probably has not changed as much as I think. Paul wrote this over 2000 years ago. It didn’t stop him from getting out there and spreading the Truth of the Gospel. Many people thought then it was the end times and Jesus’ return was eminent. Many today believe that as well.  The signs are there, but weren’t they also there in the first century? These passages seem to say so.

 God is the only one who knows.  What we know is that in these in-between times, we can call on Him to break through the evil and protect us so we can do our job - to carry on what He did on earth, healing souls, one victim at a time. It was our Lord’s last command on earth and the reason He sent the Holy Spirit.  If the end times are eminent, isn’t it all the more reason to get out there?

May

19

Shuffle, Trudge or Skip?

By Julie B Cosgrove | 1 Comment


Ephesians 4:1 I therefore . . . urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

How are you walking, today? 

 Are you just shuffling along, barely lifting one foot in front of the other. yawning and tired?  You have little energy and each day seems the same old same old.  You need to be revitalized, but not with a super caffeine drink.  You need a dose of promise. The remember that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning, ( Lamentations 3:2 3)and each day is another chance to renew your faith, increase your spiritual energy ( Isaiah 40:31) and look around for the blessings on this path. Look up from your feet and notice.

Are you bent over with a burden? Does your back and shoulders ache and you are not sure you can move one more step? Remember Jesus says if you are heavy laden to come to Him and He will refresh you. (Matthew 11:28) Take Him up on the offer. Take a load off. Let Him carry it.

Are your feet killing you?  Sit down and rest. Dwell awhile in prayer and slowly that throbbing will cease.  There is a balm in Gilead, the hymn says, that sooths the hurting soul. Let God heal you awhile. In fact, let Him carry you a bit. (Deuteronomy 1:31)

Have you stubbed your toe on a stone you didn’t see in the path?  The Psalm says God’s Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light into your path. (Psalm 119:105)  Ask God to reveal the obstacles and show you the way around them, or to remove them.

Life can be burdensome, hurtful, tiring and filled with things that block our path. But, we have a God in Heaven who understands that. He want to walk with you today. So throw your shoulders back, feel the Son’s warmth on your back rejuvenating you. You are a child who is loved. You have blessings ahead you cannot imagine. Skip happily down life’s road, and when you come across an obstacle, walk confidently knowing there is nothing that you cannot handle when Christ is by your side giving you the strength. (Philippians 4:13) If there is something precarious, know He can give you the sure foot of a deer (Psalm 18:33 ),  your feet won’t slip. (Psalm 121:3).

 Read these Scripture passages and realize once again who loves you and guides you as you walk down the path of life. That ought to put a spring in your step. Walk in the manner worthy of your calling.  Walk like the child of the King- confident, without fear. Soon others who are trudging along will stop, watch and follow.

May

4

Scape Goat

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.  The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.  Leviticus 16:21-22

Ever hear of the term “scape goat?”  This is the passage it comes from. It is an innocent person upon whom blame is placed. It describes the guy who takes the fall. It is the little brother who gets blamed for breaking the vase his older siblings crashed into while rough housing. Or the medium level executive who has been set up to swing in the breeze once the corporate ladder of corrupt crumbles when he or she was just doing their job. 

There are times in all of our lives when we wish we could blame someone else, point the finger at another person and shift the limelight to them.  Some people are prone to blame everyone else for what goes wrong in their lives. It is never their fault. Perhaps they were criticized too much as kids, or blamed for everything no matter if they were at fault at not.  So now they shun from taking responsibility.  They look for a scape goat to clear their conscience.

The good news is, none of us have to do that. Christ died for us and, when we come forward honestly to confess them,  separates our sins as far as the east is from the west.  He is the sacrificial, blemish-less Lamb, which is better than a scape goat.  If anything is sitting heavily in your heart, place it in God’s hands.  Like the man in Leviticus who stood in readiness, our Lord is there to receive your deepest regrets and most hurtful confessions. Then, He will whisk away the guilt and pain, sending it off to a remote place far away from you. Forgiven. Done. Time to move on.

Yes, there are consequences for our actions. But with a clear conscience and forgiven soul, we can, by the mercy of God, face those circumstances head on and not look to shift the blame.  Plus, we will be open to finally receive healing and grace.  No more will we say something has “got our goat.”

Apr

8

Mirror Image

By Julie B Cosgrove | 1 Comment


Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself,  goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” James 1:23

How can that be? How could someone forget what he or she looks like?  We all spend a fair amount of time in front of a mirror grooming, and perhaps being  disappointed our hair is not cooperating the way it should, or a new wrinkle has popped up near our eyes, or a blemish is surfacing. But that is not the image I think James is talking about.

We are supposed to be Christ’s image to the world. He is to be reflected in us.  We are to mirror His actions and teachings. That is what James means by not just merely listening to the Word, but doing it.  If we just hear Scripture and not take it to heart and put it into action, we are forgetting who we are in Christ. When we concentrate too much on our outward appearance, we become too self conscious to step outside of ourselves and reach out to others.  Those negative thoughts of “what will they think?” or “I am not good enough, strong enough, smart enough, pretty enough etc” creep in. We have forgotten what we look like to the world when we allow Christ to shine through us. And we walk away, shrinking from the task.

But when we forget we are having a bad hair day or there is a zit on our forehead or a new wrinkle around our eyes, and concentrate on helping the other person, then Christ’s beauty is free to shine through. We reflect the beauty of His love and mercy. That is what they see.  Paul said now we look through a mirror darkly, but when we get to Heaven we will see God face to face. Even so, Christ’s light can shine through us and we can see others as Christ would see them. And those people , in turn, can see Christ mirrored in us.

Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:16

Apr

6

Under His Feet

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1Corinthians 15:25-26

Paul is talking about Christ, who through His death and resurrection, has defeated death for all of us who turn our hearts to Him and declare Him to be the Lord of our lives.  At Easter we proclaim “He is risen. The Lord is Risen Indeed.” It is the pinnacle of our faith. As Paul says in this chapter, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (vs.14)

That is why these verses give me such hope. Because not only was the Risen Lord able to defeat His enemies, even the last enemy called death, He is able to defeat mine as well.  No matter what sorrows, hurts, illnesses and pains I have in my life, I can turn to Christ to help. My pride, unrighteous angers, envies and despairs can be turned into humility, forgiveness, gratitude and hope (every time).  Deep down I know I can turn to Him and that ultimately, even when I cannot see the outcome, He will be right in there with me, battling the evil that touches my life. He will be there until the end, and will ultimately defeat my last enemy – death.

What reassurance to know that whatever we go through, it is not permanent. I have just in the last few years seen dear friends suffer pain and sorrows, face major surgeries, cancers and losses, including death. I have suffered as well, as I am sure have each of you reading this.  It is a part of life on this earth. But praise God it is not the end. Christ has made sure of that.  Whatever the battle, I already know in faith what the outcome will be.  My enemies will eventually be defeated one way or another. And that is what makes each fight easier and the wounds not so painful to bear.

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