Gifts Parable

There was once a young boy, Tom, who was part of a marvelous family of craftsman. His father, was the best carpenter in the whole town and could build anything. His mother was a brilliant designer and created wonderful drawings of fabulous buildings and furniture that his dad would then build. His sister was a painter who could do the most magnificent murals ever seen. His brother was the best glass blower and created works of art that became a rainbow of colors when the sun would shine through them. Tom, however, could do none of that. His job was to cleanup each job site and organize his families tools.

Above all, Tom wanted to build and draw and paint and create wonderful glass pieces. His father tried to teach him how to build, but Tom ended up hitting his dad on the head with the wood he was trying to saw. His mother tried to teach him how to draw, but Tom tore holes in the paper and broke the lead in her pencils. His sister tried to teach him to paint, but he couldn't see the colors and he spilled her paints. His brother tried to teach him how to create glass art, but the result was a floor full of broken glass. Tom felt like a failure next to his very talented family. Dejected, he went inside.

He crawled into his bed and decide to stay there with the covers over his head. "They don't need me," he thought to himself, "I'm going to stay here and hide." And so he did.

The day hurried by. He waited to see if anyone would come find him. No one did. He peeked out from his covers and listened, but heard nothing. 

   No saws or hammers.

   No scratching of pencil on paper.

    No splashes of paint or swishes of brushes.

    No hissing of fires or rushes of air in bellows.

He heard nothing. Out of curiosity he climbed out of bed and hurried outside. In the yard was his family. 

   His dad held a cold pack to his head.

   His mom had bandages on her fingers and was tending to his sister.

   His sister was covered from head to foot with paint.

   His brother was covered in soot and ash and had singe marks on his clothing.

He ran to them and asked what happened. His dad looked at him with sadness in his eyes and said, "Son, we need you. We do the things we do because you make it possible. Only you are able to stack my wood perfectly. You keep your mother's pencils perfectly sharpened. You know exactly how much pigment is needed to mix the perfect bucket of paint for your sister. Only you can stoke the fires till they are hot enough for your brothers furnace. We can do those things, but not the way you can."

The son listened and then understood. Each of his family had a wonderful talent. His talent was being able to see what needs to be done and then doing it. He might not ever build or draw or paint or blow glass, but he could organize and help and encourage. He breathed in deep, looked at his family with new eyes, rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

He was needed. He was talented. He was gifted. But most all, he was loved.

I Corinthians 12:12-31

(C) Terri Milton 2014

Shaken but Standing Firm

The other night I had a dream. In the dream, I was in my childhood home I grew up in Van Horn. However, the furniture and items in the home were things that I have today and items I have never seen before. Every time I would walk into a room, all the furniture would move before I would walk through the door. I had a sense of being unsettled, of being disturbed by all of the change. I also noticed that as the changes increased in speed, I began to fear.

I can honestly say that the first thing through my mind in my dream was, "Oh No! Demonic activity!" So I did what any Jesus believing, Holy Spirit filled woman would do, I started calling on the name of Jesus. Although things slowed down, they did not stop.

As I stood in the middle of the room and watched in dismay as everything around me changed...things from my past, from my present, and what I knew were things from my future all I could think was, God, make it stop!"

Then the floor started shaking.

I'm not talking about a little rumble that you can feel a little bit. I am talking about a shaking that had me swaying and tilting as my world around me shook.

Then it hit me.

In the midst of the shaking, in the midst of my dream, I raised my hands and started praising God. I said, "God, you are my God and I will ever yet praise You. Even though the very foundations of my world are shaking, I praise You and You alone. You are my joy, my salvation, the strength of my heart. In You alone I trust in all things. I love You and I praise you for my past, my present and for my future. I Love You!"

I woke up then and started praying about what God showed me.

Too often we blame the things that happen in our life on the enemy. So many times, the things happening are due to choices we have made. Other times, to situations around us that are beyond our control. And sometimes, we just don't know why.

No matter what I am going through, I am to praise God. He didn't just create me to praise Him when times are good but to also praise Him when my heart is breaking. I don't have to understand a situation to praise Him, but to praise Him before understanding comes, before healing happens, before an answer arrives. We all were created to fellowship with Him and praise Him.

I'm getting my praise on!! How about you??

Father, thank you for the times in my life that inpel me to look at You. The world around me may be in chaos, but in You is perfect peace. Thank You for always being present, in good times and in bad. For loving me when I praise You and when I am looking at the world around me and lose sight of You. Thank You for always being there, a constant source of peace, of strength, the source of my joy! To You I give praise! Amen

Terri

Tomorrow is His Too!

There is a verse that God has been whispering to me. Hebrews 13 chapter 8 says; Jesus the Anointed One is always the same: yesterday, today, and forever.

I can look back and see His hand all over my life. I acknowledge that He has brought me through some hard times of testing. He has healed me and loved ones. He has provided financially at times when we literally did not know how we would make it to the next pay check. He gave me a husband that I absolutely adore and puts up with me. He has even protected and directed Doug and I as we raised three kids from infancy, through teenage angst, and into adulthood with lives of their own. So God of "Yesterday" is well known.

I acknowledge that "Today", He has given me breath to breathe and eyes to see. I woke up with a song on my lips and a joy in my heart. Friends surround me in a rich tapestry of influence and laughter. The God of 'Today' is well known and enjoyed as each step I take I bless Him.

It's the forever I sometimes, maybe more than sometimes, struggle with. I am a planner, and as a planner I am having to learn to let go of my future and let God have it. There is much victory in my life right now in regards to this. What a relief to learn how NOT to say, "What if..."!

God of 'Tomorrow' is good. I mean really good. I am so glad that He IS the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

The Fifth Day

There are five days that I can remember in my life with absolute clarity: My wedding day, the births of my three children, and the day I said 'YES' to Jesus. All five days changed my life forever.

Someone questioned me one day and asked why saying yes to Jesus was a life changer. The answer is pretty easy - before Jesus, I had a life defined by emotions and positions that eventually will end. After Jesus, I have a life with purpose that stretches into eternity.

Growing up, we went to church. My Mom and my Paternal Grandmother made sure of that; however, my view of God was of someone who looked down on me, who was distant and way too important to approach by myself. I was taught that I had to be very careful because God could get angry with me very easily for anything I did that was not good. Honestly, as a kid I was scared to death of him. But, I also wanted to serve Him and please Him.

As a young adult, I decided to just not acknowledge that He was there. I stopped going to church, I read the Bible through so I could argue with the Bible thumpers in my life, and I looked around to find something else to help explain the "whys" of life. I thought I had God figured out pretty good, and intellectually could define who he was and wasn't. I was miserable.

In 1984 while I was in college, my Mom and Dad split up. Honestly, I was surprised their marriage had lasted as long as it did. My Dad was not a very nice man. He was an alcoholic who was not faithful and was a very mean and angry man. My Mom went her way and Dad followed me home. Several months after living with me, he got a job, moved out, and got his own place. He also found a girlfriend I thought was a religious fanatic.

In 1985 I met and fell in love with Doug. We met in September and were married three months later. Two babies showed up within two years. I was truly happy, but still had this heart in me that was searching for something more... a something I knew had to be out there.

In November of 1988, five months after our daughter was born, my Dad showed up to hang out at our house for the weekend. The first thing I noticed was that he wasn't smoking (he was a two packer a day before). The second thing was that he seemed to be at peace with himself...he was different. One night as I was getting ready to go to bed, he asked if I would stay up and talk a little while. As he talked, he spoke about the change in him...about Who had made a difference in his life. He opened his Bible, we read some passages together that for the first time I could understand, and He told me about Jesus - that Jesus loved me and how He had come to earth as a baby, grew up and lived a perfect life before God, and then was crucified and died so that I did not have to be separated from God because of my sin. I realized at that moment all the things that I had done wrong, asked Jesus for forgiveness, and prayed a simple prayer that went something like this;

Jesus, I know I am a sinner and am so sorry. I believe that you came to earth and that you died for me. I believe that you did not stay dead and that you will come again. Please be the Lord of my life, be the ruler of my heart and all that is within me. Amen

That prayer started an adventure of a lifetime. The something more that was missing had been found.

Everything in my life is not perfect, I am still a sinner who has to minute by minute choose to do what I know is right. Daily I acknowledge how much I need Jesus to direct my steps and to give me strength for the day, to give me wisdom as I am faced with decisions.

Choosing Jesus is not a difficult thing - it's as easy as ABC:

• Acknowledge that you are a sinner, that you make wrong choices that hurt you and others. Sin defined is simply missing the mark - just not doing the right thing either by what we do or what we don't do. There are no big sins or little sins. It all is just sin.
• Believe that Jesus was born, that he was crucified on a cross, and that on the third day he rose again and that he is still alive. He died and took our punishment for our sins. Without that one selfless act, we would not have access to God. Without him, when we face death, it is a permanent separation from God that leads to an eternity of torment. With him, we walk into eternity with Joy.
• Confess Him as Lord of your life. People know about Jesus and have heard the Christmas story of the baby Jesus who was born in a manager. They know the story about His crucifixion and death and how three days later the tomb he was buried in was empty. To know those things is not enough. You must bow your head and call him "Lord".

This is my story. The things that happened are true. I am a work in progress.

Terri

Lesson From Polly

During my quiet time today I really felt convicted on something.  I have a tendency to go back to things and dwell in places in my past that are painful. As I reflected on God's word, I knew that I needed to really ask God to show me what was going on. I truly needed freedom.

He gave me an image of our sweet dog, Polly,  I have pictured here. It's been a year since we had to let her go and be at rest. I still miss her. But it wasn't this that he was showing me, but my feelings that I had when she would lick at a spot on her leg, a hot spot, that would cause her much pain. No matter how much we tried to stop her from licking it, she would go back to it until it was raw and ready to bleed.

I realized from that picture that when I went and dwelled in memories where forgiveness and healing had been applied, it was just like licking a hot spot. Unlike Polly, I do have a choice. I can choose where my thoughts go because I have Someone who will supply me with the strength to keep my mind focused on Him instead of running to old thoughts and ways.

Jesus is ever faithful to love and forgive us and cleanse us from all of the dirt and hot spots that show up in our lives if we turn to Him and ask Him to.

Jesus, thank you for grace, for forgiveness, for strength. Thank you for lovingly reminding me that you are always with me.

He is For Me

It's so easy to think about what I want to say and then never speak. It's also too easy to know what I don't want to say and let it spill out.


Writing a blog is like that. Time and time again I have ideas that are on my mind and heart and somehow, something more important pops up and I forget. Much has happened since the last time I posted here. A thousand great ideas that didn't get conveyed, words of wisdom swallowed, and still yet, the world continues on.


I have started a new phase of life. I am quieter, a bit more observant, and not as ready to speak as I used to be. I know that God is doing a new thing in me and I am willing and eager to wait and see what will be the outcome. Prophetically speaking, He is deepening me - stretching me to grow in ways that I have not been yet; a new awareness of not so much His plans for me, but an eye opening view of His heart around me and for me.


I am learning how much God truly does love me and how much I have taken that for granted. 

"He is for me", I hear it whispered in the deepest reaches of my hidden heart.
"Forgiven", spoken in the darkest corners of my very being.
"Chosen", breathed into my very spirit.
"Healed", into this body of mine that daily decays and into my emotions that are bruised and have been abused.

The longing of my heart is to know Him more, to seek His face and intimately know every curve, every pore of who He is. 


Too often I have pursued the promises and have missed chasing the Promiser. 


Turning away from everything else and relinquishing to the very essence of Living Water - my heart does so thirst for You... and for You alone! Make me long for You even more.

His Church or his church?

I met with a friend today and we had a great time of just talking and catching up. It's been 20 years since we last met. I am now a grandmother and she is an awesome young woman. We talked about old friends we knew, places we both had in common, where we've been and what God is doing in our lives.

One of the things we talked about was ministries we have been a part of. Both of us have seen "the ministry" from the good side and we have both seen it from the 'other' side. I shared with her an insight God gave me many years ago. A simple question, really. A very honest question with a deep answer. The question? Is this God's ministry or is it the leaders?

I have been in places where the presence of God and His fingerprints were in every nook and cranny. I am a part of that type of ministry right now and am thankful that I am here. I have also been in places where the foundation is led more by personality than by presence. If I am really truthful, I have led ministries by my personality, and I have also been a part of God placed leadership led by Him.

So, relationship or religion? Spirit led or man controlled? God breathed or feelings inspired? Redeemed or faking it till you make it? Interesting questions. One real answer.

Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Psalm 127:1a 






Terri