It is Thanksgiving…

I can’t believe that it is time for Thanksgiving already.  I know you must be feeling that as well.  When I was young, time seemed to go by so slowly and yet at other times, it would fly by.  People say that it goes quicker as you get older…I disagree.  Sometimes it still drags by when there is something in my future that I want to get to.  For me, it doesn’t have anything to do with my age.  I still believe as a child and I still have the faith of a child even though I am an adult.

The word "Thanksgiving" separated itself to me in my mind’s eye.  It is one powerful word that means so much more.  Thanks….to be truly thankful that I have my sanity after all the years of abuse to my body.  What a gift that I certainly couldn’t put a price tag on.  Thanks...that the Holy Spirit opened my blind eyes to see the more of God and what He has to offer me as His child, was a lot...a whole lot.  Thanks...that I have someone who loves me in spite of all of the things (the bad things, I might add) I have done.  His name is Jesus Christ.

But, then there is the other part and that is giving.  I have learned to give when I have nothing so that others might have.  I was given a food card not too long ago.  I needed to make an offering to the Lord in regard to something in my life.  Now, I could have used that food card but instead, I used it as an offering for someone who really didn’t have hardly anything.  It is the selfishness that God has removed from my heart, quite supernaturally, so that when I give it is out of a pure heart instead of one that asks, “Okay, what am I going to get back if I give this?”  For me, that is a big thing and it has been accomplished by years of sowing into others lives and ministries (as the Lord leads) so that I can be in my heart, not just on the surface, what God intends for me to be. 

So this year as I sit down with my family and partake in the meal that God has placed before me, I won’t have any quilt feelings of not doing for someone who really, for whatever reason, cannot do for themselves.  I don't need to question why I just need to sow where the Holy Spirit tells me.  He sees what I cannot.  I will be able to eat my meal and know I did what God wanted me to and that is all the Thanksgiving I will need…so my heart can be light and I can enjoy myself.

What about you this Thanksgiving?  What do you have to be thankful for and whom did you give to so that they might have as well?

God bless you and try not to gorge!!!!  (Desserts are my downfall; what about you?)

Molly   

Acute Pecuniary Spenditis

Years ago, I entered the Central Virginia Speech contest which was to be judged by University of Richmond professors.  There were ten contestants and we were to write a speech about saving money.  Well, I wasn’t the writer in the family at the time, so my brother stepped up to the plate.  I knew if I had a good speech, I could deliver it and win the contest.(Big mouth and all!)  The grand prize was $100.00.  In 1978, that was a pretty good hunk of change.  I told my brother I would split the winnings with him.  I rehearsed. He rewrote and tweaked my speech several times and then the day came.  Of course, I had taken two Valium before I got there to calm my nerves. (It was a miracle I didn’t slur every word!)  Lo and behold, the speech was delivered to a crowd of about 300 and I won.  I beat out individuals who held degrees and this set me up for my first big branch manager’s job.  The financial institution I worked for hadn’t won this contest in over ten years and it was made clear that they wanted to bring the honor and trophy home again.   The speech itself was very clever.  It talked about how I couldn’t save any money because I would buy a new dress and then I would NEED (get the word need) this or that to match the dress.  The cycle would go on and on because I would need something and I couldn’t do anything else but keep spending because I needed more and more.  So I could never save.  I had a real case of SPEND-ITIS!

I was thinking about this speech today, about money and about the concept today in the realm of God’s divine order of things.  In the beginning of my Crosswalk, I couldn’t really help anyone else because I NEEDED some more money, or so I thought.   When I get some more money, THEN I can help someone else.  Well, that is not the way that God works and it certainly is not the way He taught me to think when it comes to giving and helping others. But I always thought I had to have MONEY, and lots of it, to help someone else.  It took a lot to get that out of my thinking.  Money was my main focus in life even though I have always had a tender heart for others who have a hard time.   

After walking on my journey of life with the Holy Spirit for years now, I can tell you: don’t wait until you have more of this or that to reach out with the hands of Jesus….start now right where you are and with what you have.  You might think you don’t have anything because YOU NEED, but that is not the truth.  I learned the hard way that when I hardly had two pennies to rub together, I still had a hand that could pat someone on the shoulder and tell them to have a good day.  I still could tell someone “God bless you” with a great big smile attached to it.  I will never forget the time I was in a convenience store and I told the clerk “God bless you” as I was leaving the store.  He hadn’t spoken to me and hadn’t been very nice.  I was in the middle of having my whole world turned upside down and on that particular day, I could have used a God bless you.  But the new Molly knew she had to be kind to others even when others weren’t kind to her.  I even knew I had to be kind when I didn’t feel like it and especially when I was in need myself. As I turned to walk away, I heard him say very quietly," Thank you. I have had a really tough day.  I needed to hear that.”  Funny how those two little words can melt the heart of people…even ones who really don’t believe there is a God.

Start where you are now with what you have and be “the hands and feet of Jesus.” Don’t think you have to have money, a savings account or stocks or bonds in order to help someone.  You don’t have to have two pennies to rub together but you do have to have a willing heart and attitude.  When you reach out with what you think you don’t have, God can take it and make you and the other person feel like a million dollars inside. Futhermore, if you do have a million dollars, reach out and help someone with a little of it….One of the biggest secrets in the Kingdom of God is to give and it will be given back to you. Don’t wait to start to make a difference in other peoples lives…start now….don’t just wait till you have.  You have now and you might not realize it…don’t go just one mile, go two and God will honor it. What you see with your natural eye as being barren doesn't look the same to God. Stop looking at what you have and look at how big God is. Remember His ways are not our ways. 

Love is free but it is the most expensive commodity we have available to us to use…nothing can match it.  It is free-flowing and you don’t have to have a dime to have it.  When you just start, you will soon find out that “Now all you will need to go with the good deed you just did is another one.”  Instead of SPEND-ITIS, it will be GIVE-ITIS.

Matthew 7: 2 “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Don’t look constantly at what is in your hand... look for what is hidden in your heart.                                                                             

Molly

Exposure

I live in a beautiful climate…it is mid-November and the weather is still beautiful here.  I love to go out in the sun and catch some rays….there are people who will tell you that sun exposure is damaging to your skin.  I know it can be if overdone…anything can be if overdone.

Exposure to the light, the light of Christ, has brightened my whole being and life from the inside.  I have undergone a dramatic change and wouldn’t trade it for the world.  There are people who have and will call me crazy, but I’m not.  This is coming from someone who was raised in Sunday school and church.  But what I lacked was exposure, not to bad things, but to the more of God.

Millions of people are walking around who have discovered the more of God.  If I were the only voice saying some of the things I say, then you would have every right to call me crazy, but I’m not…you just haven’t been exposed.

There is so much more for you to have while you are here on this earth than you can imagine, but a lot of God’s children are sitting in darkness.  Either they don’t know there is more, their hearts have been blinded by the devil into thinking their way is the only way, or they will never get a glimpse of “Heaven on earth”…how sad.  It is as if the light inside of them has never been lit.

The scripture that jesuswithoutthejunk stands on is Hosea 4:6:  “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”  God is an ever-changing, forever molding and creating God.  Everything you can see right now was first in the mind of God. 

I was hardheaded for most of my life and wouldn’t listen to anybody tell me about anything, especially God.  I thought I knew it all.  Well, I found out I don’t know it all and neither do you.  There are many unhappy people on earth right now and God is the only one who can do anything for them.

Exposure….it is my job to put the truth before you.  It is up to you what to do with it, but if your life isn’t what you want it to be, maybe you need a little exposure.  The kind of exposure I am talking about won’t harm or hurt you.  It is life changing and everlasting…and the best part is that you won’t get burned from this kind of exposure.   But I want to warn you that the older you get, the more difficult it is to believe that something so simple could be so profound.

Exposure…have you been exposed to the more of God?  Do you know that He is really real?  I have been around several people who have had clear visions of the Lord.  If I were to reveal them to you, you would be astonished…I asked them if they had told anyone that they had seen the Lord.  Their response….people would think I was crazy.  One of the biggest tactics from the enemy of our souls is to keep people quiet about what they have seen and heard in the spiritual realm.  Granted, not all is from Heaven.  But we desperately need exposure to the things of God that are taught in the Bible so we can discern what is or isn’t coming from God.  The Bible is not a secret but yet “The Secret” is in there and we need some exposure for our lives so we can truly be the winner on earth.    

I am all for getting a suntan and I am all for going to the tanning bed, but true sunlight from above won’t cost you a dime.  You would be amazed what it will do for your inner man.  Studies have proven that light will lift you up from a depressed state.  It is not healthy to always be in dark places.  I can tell you from experience that the more you sit in the dark, the darker you become and the more you don’t want to just believe.     

The wisdom of all of the ages is within you but you will need some exposure to get it.  I discovered that I didn’t know all the answers and never will but exposure sure brought light into my life…How about you? Could you use some exposure?  Most people look better with some sun on their face.  The sun’s rays can be damaging to you but just the right amount can be invigorating….

Exposure…get some.  You don’t know how good you can look until you try it.

Molly

                 How difficult the Son can be when you’ve sat in darkness all of your life…Anonymous 

Nothing But the Truth…

I have committed to tell the truth and nothing but the truth to you.  God watches everything I do and if I in any way shrink back from getting to you what you need to help your life be better with Christ, then I am held accountable.

This week has been a very big week in many ways.  I sobbed last night around 11:15 pm after the results of the election came in.  It was from a place that I have known all too well.  It was as if my insides were crying from somewhere deep, deep within….in the soulish realm…(as I call it)

I knew or felt that the BLOG would be different this week.  It was going to be poignant, yet relevant.  I wanted to convey something that I felt that Heaven was feeling…

This morning as I awoke, this was the scripture that was on my heart:

Matthew 23:37  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, (or America, America) the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

And then the scripture:

Matthew 13:14  “And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,

 And seeing you will see and not perceive;

 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

 Their ears are hard of hearing,

 And their eyes they have closed,

Lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.’

God bless you until next week…

Molly