Store Up Treasures for Heaven

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“It’s amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you.” Sam (played by the late Patrick Swayze) said this to his beloved Molly (Demi Moore) near the end of the 1990 movie “Ghost.” In this powerful scene, Sam speaks these words to Molly while being summoned to heaven after he was murdered.

We all know the parable of the rich man who decided to build bigger barns to accommodate all his stuff. He thought that, since he had accumulated so much wealth, he could just relax for the rest of his life. God called him a ‘fool’ and reminded him that he could die that night and then all of his belongings would be given away (Luke 12:13-21). The unasked question became, “Without all your belongings, what will you have to show for yourself? What will you have left to give to Me?”

We know that love – how well we love God by loving our neighbor – is more important than everything else. The challenge with this, in our consumer society, is as much about how much time and energy we put into accumulating our stuff and then congratulating ourselves for becoming ‘successful,’ as the man in the parable did, as about how much we have. It’s about how we may look down on those who are less ‘successful’ than we are. It’s also about how we may put people into categories and treat them according to our judgment of them.

The only thing we take with us is the love within our hearts and the love we’ve shown to others – all others. We’ve heard that many times. So maybe we can look at it from a different angle.

I can ask myself: 

-How much time do I give to God in prayer compared to the time I spend shopping? Maybe I can take a moment to thank God for the means to make that purchase. 

-How much do I spend on others compared to the amount I spend on myself? Maybe every time I buy an article of clothing for myself I can give one away. 

-It’s easy to converse with people who agree with my point of view. How willing am I to listen and try to understand someone who will vote differently from how I will – without condemning them for taking a different stand? 

-How do I treat my coworker whose lifestyle is different from mine? Maybe I need to remind myself that God loves that person as much as He loves me.

If we say that love is what’s most important and proclaim that our material goods don’t really matter, then let’s take a moment to examine if what we proclaim is consistent with how we live – and make changes where we’re falling short.

“Thus it will be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” – Luke 12:21

“Lord, let nothing take up space in my heart that cannot be given to You.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

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Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

There's No One in the World Like You

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You’ve heard it said that God put you here for a purpose. You’re here not for only one purpose, though, but for many. It isn’t like God will give you a test, and if you miss that one opportunity to do something big then you’ve missed your purpose in life! No, God gives you a lifetime of opportunities and experiences; He’s given you many talents and people to share them with. Through all of them, God gives you ways you may show Him to the people you meet and His immense love for them. This is how you bear fruit for His Kingdom.

Look back over your lifetime and see all the people you’ve come into contact with, from the family you grew up in to the acquaintances and friends you’ve made along the way. Look at the opportunities you’ve had, the ones taken and the ones missed. Look back at the people you used to see every day and whose paths no longer cross yours. Look back at the jobs you’ve had, the hobbies you’ve discovered, the travels you’ve taken. Think of all the people you’ve encountered along the way; some you met only briefly, others you may have worked with for many years. What kind of influence have you had during that time? Are there things you wish you would have done differently?

As we age, our priorities and what we do every day may change. So, just as you looked back on the past, now consider the present. Look at your present circumstances and see the opportunities in front of you. See the people you come into contact with, the work you do, the hobbies you enjoy, and the places you visit. Learning from the past, is there something you’d like to change so that the fruit you bear in the future might be more in line with what God wants from you?

No matter where we live, what kind of work we do or how we spend our free time, we’re given opportunities to make a positive difference in the lives of the people around us. Every day, in what are usually little ways, we’re presented with choices to show the people around us God’s love for them. This is the kind of fruit God designed us to bear. 

Christ has chosen you to show His love at home, at work, in your social circles, in your brief encounters every day. There’s no one else in the world like you to do the work He chose you to do.

“I chose you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.” – John 15:16

“Lord, show me how and where I can bear fruit for You.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

God Is Good -- All the Time

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“God is good!” 

“I am blessed!”

Have you ever said that when your prayers were answered how you wanted them to be answered? Those are normal, appropriate responses when we’re feeling grateful, and acknowledging God’s goodness draws us closer to Him.

But isn’t God good all the time? And aren’t we already abundantly blessed? Do we humbly say, “God is good!” even when our prayers seem to go unheard? Do we praise Him for His goodness even when life knocks us down?

That’s a difficult thing to do. And that’s exactly the example Job gave us when Satan destroyed everything and everyone precious to him.

When he had lost everything, Job ‘tore his robe, shaved his head’ – how the ancient people expressed grief – ‘and fell to the ground and worshiped’ (Job 1:20). He felt deep sadness over his massive losses, and still he praised God. Job didn’t blame God, as sometimes we do. Instead, Job acknowledged God’s greatness, and grew closer to Him through his experience. 

God wants us to grow closer to Him, too. How can we make this happen?

Trust Him and His infinite, never-ending goodness when you’re suffering. He will never abandon you. If you ask Him, He’ll give you strength you never thought you had to endure a trial you never thought you’d be able to endure. Ask Him to give you what you need, one step at a time, and watch Him work through your circumstances. Let your experiences strengthen your trust and faith in Him.

I invite you to follow a suggestion a dear friend once gave me: Find a quiet space, spend 10 minutes praising God, and then sit quietly and write down whatever ideas come to mind. No second-guessing or editing; just write whatever comes to mind. Those ideas may be Christ speaking to you. 

Also, listen to what Christ may be saying to you today:

You tend to forget about Me when life is going as you want it to. You tend to take credit for all the goodness in your life. Remember that without Me, you would have none of this. Yet if you had none of this, you would still have Me.

I don’t expect you to rejoice in your sorrows, but remember that I am with you through all of them. Come close to Me and let Me show you, over time, all the good things that will come from these sorrows. Let me use them for your benefit. Let me prove My love to you, not through the richness of your life but through your hardships. 

Even in times of pain and loss I am with you, to love you and strengthen you and bring you to a place of peace.

It’s easy to praise God when life is easy. Let’s praise Him when life gets difficult, too.

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!”

– Job 1:21

“Lord, I praise You for Your never-ending goodness .”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

"What Can I Do for You?"

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I had a remarkable encounter with a goldfinch last September as my husband and I walked along a trail near Lake Erie. It’s an event I will never forget. In a blog post written soon after it happened, I compared freeing that beautiful bird to God freeing our beautiful selves. You can read that reflection by clicking on this link: https://intoflame.blogspot.com/2023/09/free-as-goldfinch.html

That memorable experience put a smile on my face for days. It struck me, too, how unusual it was, for a couple of reasons.

First, the trail we were hiking on was flat and so I was able to keep my head up, look around, and admire the gorgeous fall colors around me instead of focusing on where I was stepping. I wouldn’t have spotted the stuck goldfinch if I had been looking down at my feet.

Second, when I realized the bird wasn’t flying away, I stopped to investigate. I took my time and discovered that she was stuck in some burrs. Instead of thinking something like, “Aw, poor thing,” and then continuing on my way, I decided to try to help her. I didn’t know if I should touch her, and I didn’t know if or how I could free her, but I wanted to try. So, I just did whatever came to mind, one step at a time, and was able to set her free, much to my (and her!) delight.

Sometimes we have those same hesitations when it comes to serving our neighbors.  Sometimes we think, “I don’t know what they need.” Or, we think, “There’s nothing I can do for them.” We may even think, “They got themselves stuck in this situation. Let them get themselves out.” We may even use the line, “They should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps” without taking the time to notice that they don’t have any boots.

Instead of rushing through our day or staying preoccupied with ourselves and where we’re going, let’s keep our heads up and our eyes open to the needs of others. Let’s take a moment and ask ourselves, “How can I fill that need?” Let’s stop and ask our neighbors, “What can I do for you?” Let’s try to see if there’s some way – any way – we can show a bit of kindness, set someone free from a burden, or otherwise contribute to the needs of our community. 

We won’t know the difference we might make until we try. 

“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.”

– Proverbs 21:13

“Lord, open my heart to the needs of others.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

How Is Washing Pots Like God's Mercy?

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Our son, Michael, worked in the kitchen of one of Yellowstone National Park’s lodges for a summer when he was in college. Sometimes he was asked to put his terrific culinary skills to use, and other times he was assigned the task of washing pots and pans. The lodge fed hundreds of people every day; you can imagine the massive quantity of food that was prepared, and cookware used, to feed that many people! At the end of the summer, he shared with us some insight he’d gotten while washing all those pots:

During his shift, Michael’s task was to wash the never-ending stream of dirty pots and pans. He settled into a kind of rhythm, accepting each pan as it arrived, one after another. He washed it, rinsed it, and then set it on the rack to be used again. Wash, rinse, rack; wash, rinse, rack, over and over again for hours. He knew that those pots would be cooked in again, and he’d get them back to wash again, maybe several times before his shift was over. He didn’t get frustrated by any of this. This was his job: Take a pot and wash it, take the next pan and wash it, one after the other, again and again and again.

Michael realized that this is how God accepts us when we ask Him to forgive us. We ‘get dirty’ – we do or say something that we know was hurtful. Or, we fail to act, or fail to speak up, when doing so would have been a loving or helpful thing to do. We feel sorry, we go to God and humbly ask Him to forgive us, and He forgives us. He ‘washes us clean.’ We’re freed from our burden and are inspired to do better. Then, after a time, we fail again and we go back, bringing our heavy hearts to Him once more, asking for mercy – and He forgives us again. He doesn’t condemn us or get frustrated with us. He doesn’t expect us to stay ‘clean’ forever. He welcomes us every time we go to Him, sins and all, and then He forgives us, again and again and again. He lets us start over. He gives us a second chance, and a third, and a millionth, forever. Kind of like that steady stream of dirty pots and pans that Michael washed, as many times as we sin and then ask God for His mercy and forgiveness, He forgives us.

God’s unending mercy gives us hope and inspires us to try to do better. And when we fall short once more and return to Him, He forgives us, again, so we can start over, again, with renewed hope and inspiration.

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His mercy endures forever.” – Psalm 118:1

“Lord, thank You for forgiving me, time and time again. 

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Remember 9/11 and Change

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It’s hard to believe that, before 9/11, there was little security at the airport. Anyone could enter the terminal. No one had to show an ID. Families and friends hung around at the gate to hug loved ones coming or going. Parents took their small children inside the airport just to watch the planes take off and land, even if no one they knew was traveling. 

So much changed in an instant. As we remember the tragic events of 9/11, let’s keep in mind that life is fleeting and changing. Anything that isn’t changing is stagnant; that includes us. 

Our goal is to become our best, most loving selves, and inspire others to do the same. We do this by learning and growing in our care and concern for our fellow human beings and our planet. Look back and see how much you’ve changed over the years. If you knew then what you know now, what would you have done differently? But at the time, you didn’t know the changes that would happen, and you couldn’t see the world from the future’s point of view. Now that you’re older, do you still expect things to stay the same? Or do you see that everything must change in order to mature? Do you realize that all of us must change in order to grow into the loving people God created us to be?

Look at today: What do you wish were different? Now, look ahead: What’s one change, big or small, that you can make that will move you closer toward reaching that goal? 

One answer might be simply to live more fully in the present while looking with hope toward the future. Look ahead to what kind of person you want to become and what kind of world you want to live in, and start today to create those by building on what you have now. Believe you can make changes with God’s guiding hand. Believe you can have a positive influence on your corner of the world. ‘Seize the day’ and challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone. Push yourself to be kinder and to do the more other-centered, peace-making, or planet-friendly thing. As much as possible, do everything from the perspective of, What can I do differently today to make a more loving impact on the people around me? How can I give them hope for tomorrow? Also, What changes can I make to more closely follow the Three R’s of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in order to better care for this magnificent planet our Lord has given to us? 

Let’s learn again from 9/11: Life is fleeting and changing. Let’s strive to learn, grow, and change in positive ways, so that we can look back and see that our days were well-lived and well-loved. 

For the world in its present form is passing away.” – 1 Corinthians 7:31

“Lord, help me become the person You created me to be.”    

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Random Thoughts on Sowing Seeds

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It’s been said that our job as people of love is to sow seeds of hope, faith, love, and peace all around us, and then trust God to make those plants grow. Whether it’s to strengthen our relationship with Him or to show Him to others, every effort we make gives God material to work with. We try to stay mindful of His powerful presence in us and in our world; we do our part and then trust Him to make growth happen.

Here are sayings I’ve collected over the years. Some are my own thoughts, some are others’ quotes. They’re all random thoughts on how we can work with God to foster this growth:

*“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu

*‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ means you have to love yourself first. Accept yourself as a work in progress. Be good to yourself and take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

*“The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” – John Milton

*Pray your prayers, don’t just say them.

*Stay in the moment with gratitude.

*Swallowing your pride sometimes means keeping nasty comments inside your mouth.

*Sometimes the best way to overcome difficulty with someone is to act kindly toward them. Look for something to compliment them on. Look harder. Go out of your way to be friendly to them, say something nice, do them a favor. Be the ‘good guy’ and they won’t have reason to treat you poorly. They still might treat you poorly, but at least it won’t be because you gave them reason to.

*Butterflies and springtime are God’s way of teaching us about heaven and life after death.

*“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.” – Author unknown.

*Create happy memories today to remember tomorrow.

*Saying a prayer while waiting for the light to turn green takes your mind off the waiting.

*Just as a lake is filled with unseen living creatures, so are we filled with untapped potential. And just as a lake also contains hidden debris of fallen trees, dead fish, and trash, so do we have parts of us that aren’t life-giving and need to be cleared away.

*Prayer opens our heart and mind to the presence of God.

*Turn your back on the devil and turn your face to the Lord.

*Believe in yourself. God has given you a package of gifts, talents, and strengths. Look for these, and find ways to use them to shower love on your corner of the world.

May we sow the seeds wherever we are, however we can, and trust God to work with what we’ve given Him to make those seeds bloom and bring us and the world closer to Him.

“God causes the growth… we are God’s co-workers.” – 1 Corinthians 3:6,9

“Lord, use the seeds I plant.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home, in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.