Hippie Life?

 It seems to me that Adam and Eve were naked, vegetarians.  They were jobless and free spirited.  They were creative and artsy.  They were free to explore their world.  They were also free to explore each other and their sexuality with no judgement or shame.  There wasn't any death so they weren't afraid to try new things.  The animals were their friends, not their lunch.  Or vice versa.  They had everything they needed, basically born wealthy.  Perfect weather.  Daisy chains.  Love and fun.

Breakfish

John 20:29 thru 21:14

Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

³⁰ The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.  This is how it happened. ² Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

³ Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”

“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
⁴ At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. ⁵ He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”

“No,” they replied.

⁶ Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

⁷ Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.

 ⁸ The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. ⁹ When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.

¹⁰ “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.

¹² “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish.

¹⁴ This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

The Joy of Creating

Oh how it feeds my soul to create something.

Often I spend hours in the planning process.  I love to research and collect options in folders on my desktop.  I even scratch ideas on random scrap paper when inspiration strikes. 

This is one of the ways we are like God.  He is the ultimate creator.  We were made in His image.     

We imagine things, improve things, make things.  There are infinite possibilities, so many color combinations, so many strings of words. 

I love to invite the Holy Spirit to inspire me.   And I pause and pray for God to provide the supplies.

And I usually love to see how little money I can spend and how much I can recycle or upcycle something.  That makes it kind of a game for me. 

Great memories are made by working together on a project.  My daughter and I have created lots of dance choreography together.  That makes my heart so happy.

And even my sons have cooked with me.  We have created many yummy things, cookie factories, smoothies, green pasta, gingerbread houses and all my kids are better cooks than me now.

I teamed up with each of my kids to create their bedrooms, adding details for their lounge time, interest and hobbies.  It was a great time with each of them.

And my husband, the ultimate partner in creativity, always bringing our vision to reality.  We even bought our home as a fixer upper.  We nick named our home “possibilities”.   

We created children together.  We created a family.  We created a business.  We created yards and gardens.  We will create something even today.  Or at least dream up something.  Now where is that graph paper?

Laugh at your Dreams

Sarah’s dream was basically dead, sleeping anyway.  It was an old promise from God that she was still waiting for.  Her heart’s desire was to have a son.  But she could not make it happen.   And her husband could not make it happen. 

 

Years after it was humanly impossible, surprise, God set it in motion.  When she heard God that it was less than a year away, she laughed.  How embarrassing!  Then she lied about laughing.  She laughed because it was absurd! 

It was a fail for her to laugh.  It was wrong.  It was real.  It was not the proper response of a faithful servant.   And God knew about it.

But God did not punish her.  He did not take the dream away.  He gave it to her anyway.  And she was blessed abundantly with new laughter.  She named him Isaac, which means laughter.  

She named her blessing the very thing she failed at.

Another definition of grace. 

Why Pray? Reason 1

God is with you.  The Holy Spirit is right there with you, next to you, in you.  Don’t ignore Him.  Talk to him.  He is waiting.  He loves you and wants a relationship with you.  He is your invisible friend who hears your thoughts.  Whoa!  Am I lying?  Nope.  

You might wanna direct some of your thoughts toward Him. 

Jesus accomplished the most awesome thing and made it possible for us to have this closeness with the Holy Spirit. Let’s not waste it. 

Some good thoughts to direct toward God are…

Thank you

Help me

Help them

Forgive them

Forgive me

Save us, save the earth, save the creatures.  We need you!

Reveal truth

Heal my heart

Actually that is one thing that prayer does profoundly.  Heal our hearts.  Little by little, over the years, having a relationship with the Holy Spirit heals our hearts, which strengthens our bodies and heals our relationships too. 

For God so loved the world He sent Jesus to save it, and each of us too. 

Emanuel   (God with us)

You don’t think you sense God with you?  Then simply ask Him to be.  Invite Him.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-q8WvfgURU
Let us Pray  Song by Stephen Curtis Chapman

Stay Needy

We are constantly needy.

God created us that way.

To need daily bread, daily shelter, plus much more.

Yet we were created to be managers, Co- directors with God.

Upper management and on the creative team…but needy.

Every brain

Every body

Every business

Every endeavor

Has need for supply, organization, execution, distribution. 

Constantly learning.

Constantly recovering from a set-back.

Constantly receiving supply from above.

We should be managers with vital trusted advisors, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Free willed and in charge, yet dependent.

I have to remind myself that to be totally independent is not a good goal. 

Use humility.  Stay humble.  Count on God and the people he sends you.