WICKEDNESS OR RIGHTEOUSNESS?

WEIGH THE RISKS FIRST
BEFORE SKATING ON THE RIVER

By Ada Brownell
My father always told me not to go near the river. I didn’t until one winter when I was about 12 years old, my friends suggested we go ice-skating there.
I declined at first, but soon grabbed my skates.
The river was probably a mile or so from my home, but I didn’t mind the walk in the near zero temperature. These girls didn’t usually hang out with me, but they knew I could skate and invited me.
Tranquil water had frozen in a little tributary of the mighty Colorado, and we skated and skated. Suddenly we noticed it was about dark.
Quickly we put on our shoes and started toward home. My feet were beginning to feel numb and soon they felt like they weren’t even part of my body – only heavy bricks.
My friends lived closer and soon they were home. I had to keep walking.
As soon as I reached the house, I ran to the bathroom, took off my shoes and placed my feet in very warm water. My feet turned black and began to swell.
With tears on my cheeks I had to confess I had disobeyed. I learned I had frozen my feet, but thank the Lord, they didn’t require amputation. For days, though, I couldn’t wear my own shoes because my feet were too swollen.
No, I didn’t fall through the ice as I could have if I’d ventured out on the river, but I learned a hard lesson. Parents do their children a favor when they care enough to tell them to avoid risky activities and teach them to obey.
My Heavenly Father had me in mind when He said, “Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Ephesians 6:11).
The Lord did us a favor, too, when he told us the consequences of sin: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:22-23).
Knowing that should give us good sense for walking into the future. I plan to remember to resist the devil when he comes lying and disturbing my faith, or trying to lead me astray because the Bible tells us if we resist, Satan will flee from us.
In these days when wickedness is touted as righteousness and righteousness is maligned as wicked, we need extra power and the whole armor of God to keep our eyes on Jesus. When we’re committed to Him, we’ll walk in victory.
©Ada Brownell 2012

WHY FEAR? WEAR A HELMET

I’ve been tied up lately with work on my new teen novel, Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult. I hoped the Amazon link would be up today, but perhaps tomorrow. I apologize for neglecting my blog.
Anyway, this post continues a new emphasis for January only: GO INTO THE NEW YEAR WITHOUT FEAR. But I probably will have guest writers on other subjects, too, so keep checking us out.
***
John, my third cousin, roared down the road in his motorcycle when a drunk pulled into his path from a bar. The impact threw John into the air. He landed upside down in the bar’s parking lot, skidding across the pavement on his helmet.
He escaped serious injury because of the strong protection on his head.
More than one life has been saved because of a helmet. Perhaps that’s why our spiritual armor described in Ephesians 6 includes a helmet. We need the helmet to protect an important aspect of our journey with God.
The Apostle Paul, the author of Ephesians, tells us we need armor like a helmet so we’ll be able to stand against the “wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
That’s New King James. The same scripture in The Message described our battle like this: “This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.”
So whether we lived in the First Century when Paul wrote this warning or if we live in 2013, we shouldn’t go out into the world vulnerable to the enemy’s attack.
What is the helmet and how do we get it?
Ephesians describes it at the “helmet of salvation.” Romans 10: 9 tells us “If thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Salvation is “being saved.”
Because of sin, all humankind is destined to die. But Jesus came to save us from that destiny. The Father promised it in Genesis 3:15 right after sin entered the world.
So if we’re “saved” we have a helmet of salvation. The helmet can guard our hearts and minds; it will protect our capacity to believe, resist the devil, grow spiritually, and be thankful for God’s love and mercy.
Each of us knows how important our brain is to everything about our bodies and the ability to think governs every area of our lives.
So, I recommend this helmet. Salvation changed my family and brought wonderful things into our lives. It changed me and gave me abundant life.
But I must not forget our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We need more protection and I’ll talk about that later.

WILL ESCAPING THE FISCAL CLIFF CALM OUR WORRIES?

This post continues a new emphasis on www.inkfromanearthenvessel.com for January only: GO INTO THE NEW YEAR WITHOUT FEAR


WILL ESCAPING THE FISCAL CLIFF CALM OUR WORRIES?


A new year. New opportunities. A clean slate. What will I do with it? What will you do with it? Worry, lose faith or grow spiritually?

Every year brings challenges. What challenges should I take on?

One challenges is anxiety about what might come. Today a news channel reported a Gallup poll saying 65 percent of the people believe there will be more difficult economic times in the United States in 2013.

Our local television station forecast milk prices as high as $7 a gallon unless Congress does something about it—I believe extending farm subsidies. Although we escaped the fiscal cliff, taxes are taking huge bites from the income of people who create jobs, and most people see their health care costs rising, while we’re warned health care probably will be rationed—especially for senior citizens.

While all of this is going on, the news keeps flashing the rapidly increasing numbers on the U.S. debt clock.

Should I worry? Or should I trust God, and get to work on what my hands find to do, praying, living, and doing—fulfilling my responsibilities and doing what I can to bless and win others to the Lord Jesus Christ that they might have eternal life.
But how can I do that with the world trying to steal my faith, the faith of my children and my grandchildren—continually dangling sin before their eyes, making most think it’s no big deal.

I think the assault on faith in America is the most serious thing we face. Nwew rules to prohibit Christian influence and practice everywhere, and too many people not understanding the danger of it. Anyone who desires an abundant here and eternal life beyond the grave for themselves and their loved ones should be alarmed!

What to do? Go to our knees. Get in the Word of God, studying not just one scripture at a time, but whole books, especially the New Testament, but we also should balance it with some from the Old, starting with Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.”

Faith comes through hearing the Word. For starters, I will read Philippians 4 again where it says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understand will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus…. The things you’ve learned and received and heard and saw in me, do….I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me….And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

It’s all there in chapter 4. I plan to read it, believe it, and practice it.
With the Apostle Paul I say, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

A peek into Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult

Teen novel by A. B. Brownell set to be released about Jan. 15 on Amazon

1. WHERE ARE MOM AND DAD?
Joe Baker looked at the kitchen window again, hoping headlights would turn in to the driveway. Instead, an image moved on the other side of the glass. A tremble ricocheted from Joe’s chest to his fingers and toes. A hotdog chunk he bit off almost lodged in his throat.
“What time is it?” Brown hair framed the scowl on Penny’s slightly freckled face as she sat across from him at the glass-topped table. “I’m worried about Mom and Dad.”
Joe swallowed. Tangy mustard taste lingered on his dry tongue.
“They’re probably fine,” he choked out. He dropped what was left of his bun on his plate and ran over to see if a friend peeped at them. At first, Joe’s tan face, thick mop of black hair, and frightened brown eyes reflected in the window. He leaned closer. A bald head he’d never seen before glistened. Huge eyes glared from the other side of the glass. The man’s drooping jowls jiggled as a hand tried to push the window open.
“Get out of here!” Joe yelled, blood and panic pulsing through him as he flipped the blind shut and pulled his cell from his pocket. He dialed 911.
“A man I don’t know is peeking through our windows, and our parents aren’t home,” he told the dispatcher. He couldn’t keep his voice from trembling. “I’m fourteen, and my sister is ten.”
He was telling the dispatcher the address and giving other information when Penny jumped up from the table. “Oh, bother! You’re just playing with the phone and trying to scare me.”
She lifted a slat in the blinds and looked out. Her scream almost made Joe drop the phone.

THE WAY TO CELEBRATE NEW YEAR'S EVE

This post starts a new emphasis on www.inkfromanearthenvessel.com for January only:
GO INTO THE NEW YEAR WITHOUT FEAR


The Way I like to Celebrate New Year’s Eve—and no hangover!

I wonder if people drink on New Year’s Eve because they need to have their senses dulled to face another year going into the unknown. (If it doesn’t dull the senses why is it a crime to drink and drive with a certain blood level of alcohol?)

I’ve never understood people who drink intoxicating beverages. In my first stint as a reporter I rubbed shoulders with some people with brilliant minds, but at one get together of the staff I watched one of these academically sharp individuals change in one afternoon until he acted as if he were mentally challenged. He could barely get a sentence together, mispronounced words, and was wobbly on his feet.

If it tastes anything like it smells on their breath, I don’t think they go after it for the taste. We know many take a drink in the early evening and call it “happy hour.” Others take it to help them “relax.”

One fellow told me he didn’t know how I could have fun without drinking. “I’ve had a lot of fun in my life,” I told him, “And when it was over, I knew I had it.”
I could have added I didn’t have a hangover, either.

Mama was one of those Cary Nation type people and she broke up an illegal still in her youth all by herself. Then she and Dad had to run for her lives.

So it was no wonder I was raised on Solomon’s words, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:2).

In contrast to a drinking any sort of brew, I face the New Year as I’ve always done—asking God to be with me and each one of our family, as well as friends and acquaintances—and taking promises from God’s Word about the future.

For instance, yesterday, Jan. 31, in my daily calendar by author Janette Oke the scripture was, “Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of –infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desired, thoughts, or hopes” (Ephesians 3:20TLB).

Now taking that scripture and believing it is the way to start a new year.

There are other wondrous ways to ring one year out and another in. I grew up in a church where people washed one another’s feet and prayed for the person as they worked. We called these services Watch Night Services and in most churches we had singing, rejoicing and testimonies for what God did in the past year. Often we’d break for food and fellowship.

Then as the clock approached midnight, often a wonderful soloist or duet would sing, “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” Then we all fell to our knees thanking God for his previous blessings and asking him to lead, guide and bless our lives another year.

To me, that’s the way to really celebrate on New Year’s Eve.

Beauty or what? What makes a special woman?

God gave Solomon a special Gift of Wisdom, but the king didn’t seem too smart where women were concerned. God permitted men to have more than one wife in Old Testament days, so Solomon married 700 women and had 300 concubines, many of them foreign gals God forbid Israelites to marry.
Apparently Solomon couldn’t find the one woman—the one jewel—the girl that would be his one and only until death. But Solomon did have supernatural wisdom that told him the qualities of the ideal wife.
I respect Solomon’s wise counsel and he wrote many things I use as goals. But I’ve never reached the perfect woman he describes.
Here’s what Solomon penned in Proverbs 31, followed by what I think he and the Lord are saying to me.
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” [She is beautiful inside because of her godly lifestyle, her love, devotion and faithfulness.]
“Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.” [She earns her husband’s loving respect.]
“She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.” [She is a good mother and compassionate.]
“She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.” [She has a business of her own, yet keeps up with the work at home.]
“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. [She is charitable.]
Solomon said, “When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet (a type of woolen cloth). [She looks out for everyone in her house.]
“She makes coverings for her bed.” [She’s probably romantic.]
Solomon said, “She is clothed in fine linen and purple.” [She has good taste in clothes and desires to look her best.]
“Her husband is respected at the city gate where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.” [She chose a husband with good character.] Solomon also wrote in Proverbs 14:1, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” [Lord help me not to destroy my home with my words.]
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. [This gal is no dummy; she studies and teaches others.]
“She can laugh at the days to come.” [She has a sense of humor.]
“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’” [The whole family adores her and they voice appreciation.]
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” [She knows loving God, her family and others a more important than anything.]

WHERE IS CHRISTMAS PEACE?
A shooting at a school had a young mother going into panic attacks—months after the killings many miles away.

When the mother put the child in the bathtub at night, fear would almost paralyze her heart as she worried some crazed monster could take her child’s life, too. Watching her daughter play or skip off to school was torture. The mama wanted to keep the child near her all the time. But even then, worry so clouded her mind there was no joy or fun in their house.

The young lady shared her story with a group of young mothers and me while I served as a Mothers for Preschoolers mentor.

Saint John wrote, “Fear has torment.” Although our little group helped her some, the young mother ended up needing professional counseling.

At this time of year, we sing much about joy, comfort and peace. But now, not only is a nation mourning because of tragedy in an elementary school in Connecticut, I imagine every mother with a child in school from kindergarten through the highest college grades has a higher level of fear than before.

What of the peace the angels sang about in the hills of Judea when the Christ child was born? The angel said, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord….And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Peace? When it seems the world is on fire and at war? Peace, when half of marriages in the United States end in divorce. Peace? When it’s not safe anymore to walk in most cities at night? Peace, when there’s mass unemployment, diseases too numerous to mention? America divided and few seeming to love one another or God? Government sending us over the fiscal cliff?

Peace?
What did it mean when the angels announced peace on earth and Jesus said He would give peace? As a Bible student and by experience I’ve learned the promise didn’t refer to nations but to peace in the hearts of men. That’s how Jesus has built His kingdom—in hearts in every nation, tribe and tongue.

Yet, I need to be honest. I’m a worrier and worry is the opposite of peace. Every new grandchild added to the family is another to worry about. My children teased me one time about my anxieties.

“The more creative you are,” I confessed with a grin, “the more things you can find to worry about.”

I learned something else about worry. God doesn’t make a practice of honoring creative worry. The majority of things I’ve worried about in my life never happened. Jesus told us not to worry about what might happen tomorrow. Experience taught me the truth of that. When I hit a real trial, such as the loss of our oldest daughter to cancer, I had supernatural peace. I went to sleep at night repeating Philippians 4:7: “The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus,” and I slept.

Yet I can’t borrow peace today for trials tomorrow. God’s peace comes only when we need it, and we have to ask for it and accept it.

Christmas is a good time to receive it.