What To Do With Lemons

I have a friend who made me think about what to do with lemons.  You see, when we are given hard situations, we usually say, "Make Lemonade out of those lemons".  But really, what do you do with lemons?

You can eat them, you can squeeze the juice onto fruits and vegetables, and that helps keep them fresher.  You can squeeze them over cooked food to give it more flavor.  You can squeeze it into juice, and you can make that juice into lemonade, or just use it for cooking, cleaning, or many other uses, like putting it onto your hair to give it highlights, put it on your arms and face to get rid of freckles (does it work?), and you can put it into your water to give it more zip.

Sailors use to keep lemons on the ship to get rid of scurvy, which was a horrible disease to get.  It is used to help get rid of colds, flus, and I use it to help me keep kidney stones at bay.  I take a tablespoon of honey and chase it with a tablespoon of lemon juice, when I have a sore throat, and it seems to soothe my throat and I feel it helps kill those germs.  I also put it into the tea I drink when feeling a cold or flu coming on, and it makes me feel better.  I think it helps with coughing.

I guess the point I am trying to make, is that there really are a lot of uses for lemons.  They are a very versatile and important fruit.  The citrus in them is so healthy and beneficial, and I am sure there are many things I didn't even touch on, of how good they are for you.  So, are the situations we find ourselves in, somehow more than we see?  If we really look at those situations, are there any lessons or benefits we can get from them?

I remember reading about a minister in Russia, who was put in the Siberian prison.  He was there for many many years.  Finally, the Russians were going to release him, but when he found out, he sent word to his wife that he really had to stay there, because he was doing so much for Christ, that to leave, would do more harm than good.  She told him to continue doing God's work.  How many of us would do that?  Here this minister found lemons to be good for him.  He was put into prison, but prison wasn't able to keep his spirit from finding ways to serve Jesus, and as he did, he was more free, than anyone could believe, except his wife, who knew Jesus ruled in this situation.

For quite a few years, Jesus has really been after me to have my first reaction be praise to His Name.  I am still learning that process, each day.  I admit, it is not easy for me.  I get to grumping and griping about things, and then I realize, I need to just praise Jesus.  I just need to remember to lift His Name on high and to fill my mouth with the wonders of Who He Is.  Paul's message to us in Philippians always hits my heart about this point.  "Rejoice in the Lord, always, again I say, Rejoice!"  So, if you, too, struggle to rejoice at first.  Try to make lemonade.  Make the situation sweet with praises to our King.  Let Him come into your problems, with your praise drawing Him close to you, so that He inhabits the atmosphere around you.  When He comes in, the problems go out.

I have a friend who gave me a sentence for my life.  It is "If you worry, why pray, and if you pray, why worry."  This is so true.  If we are praying to Jesus, then we must trust that He has heard and answered.  So, therefore, we shouldn't be worrying.  So, lets make some uses out of the lemons we are given, and lets encourage one another, not to let these situations get us down, but to wrap our arms together, and make a strong wall against the schemes of the enemy.  We hold strong together, so even the weakest link, is stronger because of the care and encouragement given.  Let us pray in faith.  Let us be thrilled with the light that comes with the knowledge of Christ.  Let us embrace our struggles with the attitude of gratitude and say, "Even in this, I will praise the Lord".  Be strong and courageous my dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  The Lord is with you.

You Are A Shield About Me

Today I am doing Psalm 3.  It seems appropriate as I had a conversation with two friends today, at different times, and some of what is spoken of in this Psalm, speaks to the battles they are in right now.  I love you my friends.  I pray this encourages you, as you read it and apply it to your hearts.

Psalm 3

Lord, How they are increased who trouble me!  Many are they who rise up against me.

Many are saying of me, There is no help for him/her in God. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill.  Selah [pause, and calmly think of that].

I lay down and slept; I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!  For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek:  You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation belongs to the Lord; May Your blessings be upon Your people.  Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

Hallelujah!  The battle is the Lords.  I pray for victory!  I pray for vindication!  I pray for God to bring forth His Power in your midst, to deliver you from the jaws and snares of the enemy.  This is for all my dear friends who are going through battles that only God can win.  I love you dear ones.  God bless you with HIS blessings.

A Bit Of Beauty

I don't know about you, but I need some beauty and flowers today.  I love our foggy weather and colder days, due to the heat being hard on me, but there are times when I just need that bright splash of color to make my day a bit brighter and more enhanced.

Isolino loves to give me flowers.  I have a sweet swan vase that is on the small side.  I love to look at it, and it sits in my kitchen window.  It catches the sun, when there are no flowers in it, and it is there for those sweet surprises when a flower shows up suddenly in this vase.

It is a wonderful gift that Isolino gives to me, to allow me to look forward to seeing the flowers he chooses for me.  It has gotten into a family gift to me, as both Jolynn and Kaylee have gotten into the act of picking beautiful flowers that they see, and putting them in the vase to surprise me.  I never know who has done it, and I do ask Isolino if it was him, when I see one there.  It is a quiet gift of love, that is appreciated so very much.  It is also to see how soon I notice these gifts.  Sometimes I see them right away, and sometimes it has been there a day, before I have noticed.  Now, I try to check every day, because it is just not right to recognize when someone has done something kind and generous for you.

I am trying to do that in my own life, when others have given me unexpected gifts or done something generous that should be recognized.  I always plan to do "thank you" cards, but sometimes my own life gets so hectic that I lose track of whether I had thanked someone or not, and then it gets so far from that time, that I am embarrassed to say anything, because it is so late.  I wonder if you deal with that too.  I have some friends that are right on top of those "thank yous" and I always wonder if they think I don't appreciate their gifts as much as I do, because I have not gotten that "thank you" to them.

I have been blessed with such generous friends.  I feel so thankful to God for the friendships He's brought me.  I tell my kids, "I prayed years and years for good friends.  Now God has given me so many wonderful friends, that the time in my life where I had few friends, seems non-existent".  It is so hard on these younger kids.  Friendships are so shallow, and dramatic.  I pray for my kids to have good friends.  My oldest and middle daughter are finding friendships to be more lasting as they have gotten older.  My youngest has struggled to find friends that understand her.  She has a few good friends, but at school the drama gets intense.

I think of our relationship with God.  Do we thank Him for the things He does for us.  Do we recognize when He's given us a gift?  How long does it take us to see that He's given it?  Do we praise Him for Who He is, or for what He does for us?  All week long, I was working on my accounting at work.  I was trying to get the bank statement and my checkbook to balance, but it just wasn't going well.  I probably went over it twenty times, and each time was getting a different figure.  I was praying and asking God's help the whole time, but it just wasn't balancing.  At one point, I had been praying all night, and the next day, before I went into work, I asked God to please help me balance it, because I needed to take care of some things, and this was just taking so long.  Well, I went over it two or three times, and finally, on the last time, it all balanced.  I just lifted my hands and said, "Praise the Lord.".  Isolino was there, and he raised his hands, and I said, 'YES!  Praise the Lord, I finally got it balanced."  We laughed, but it was a huge thing for me.  I could feel the warfare of the enemy.  When you are getting different amounts and you are doing the same numbers, there is definitely something going on!

Now, I know I was praising Him for what He had done for me, but I was also praising Him for Who He Is, because He was the only One, Who could cut through the mist that the enemy was putting up there.  Our God is Victorious.  He is Mighty.  He is able to do so much more than we can ask or imagine.  That is what His Word says.  He says "we have not, because we ask not."  One of my favorite verses has always been, "Seek and ye shall find, Ask and ye shall receive, Knock and the door shall be opened."

I use this verse in my prayer time.  It means so much to me.  I pray that it will help you too.  I apply God's Word to my life.  When He gives me a verse to ponder, I usually think how I can use it in my everyday life.  God's Word is active.  It is sharper than a two edged sword.  It cuts through the marrow and the bone.  It really does have an affect on our lives, if we will believe it.  Apply it.  Live it.  I encourage you to think on what I have shared here today.  Think of those people in your lives that have helped you.  Given you gifts that weren't expected.  Shared their lives with you in some special way.  Especially think of where God has been there for you.  He loves you so much.  He loves to be appreciated.  But you know what the really neat thing is?  God's Word says. "that God inhabits the praises of His people."  That means, as you begin to praise Him, He shows up in a big way.  I don't know about you, but I like having God in my life in a big way.  He has done so much for me.  I believe He has done lots for you too.  Have you seen it yet?  Have you recognized where His footsteps have been in your life?  I love you all.  I pray this will encourage you to see more clearly than before.  Have a wonderful Sunday, tomorrow.  I pray your night tonight is blessed.