Monday, June 16, 2014

Limes and Laughter (Thank you Jesus!)


Our Lord Jesus enjoys blessing His children and watching them grow as we learn more and more about Him. I am quite sure on many occasions our reactions are downright funny and endearing to Him as He interacts with us, allowing us to see what He needs us to understand. Our Savior and Creator takes pleasure in being our Shepherd and we just have to learn to be his sheep, enjoying our lives and depending and trusting in Him for everything. 

Let me repeat  that – Trust in God for everything!


He knows our needs before we do and has a marvelous plan for our lives, both in the present and the future! We just have to learn to “sit back and enjoy the ride” as a Christian acquaintance told me once. For sure, our every concern is addressed. He loves us that much! Every detail of our life has already been noted. I fully recognize how hard this is to comprehend and remember regularly. Our lives are filled with distractions and often we are led to believe that we are the ones in control of so many aspects of them. I am sure that is why Christians are encouraged to read the Bible daily and to place Bible verses on post-its or index cards and review them often. We should never forget that God is in control of every minute of every day. He rules of course! He knows when we need protection and He knows when we need a good laugh. Our Lord knows when to share more information with us and when to keep our minds active. In spite of it all, our hearts should be filled with joy! Our walk with the Lord is one of faith building and endurance with, believe it or not, a lot of rest thrown in the mix! God does not need our assistance but out of reverence for our Savior we offer ourselves to Him and he uses us to affect others in a positive ways, which ultimately point our fellow men and women towards having a relationship with Christ.
On my refrigerator is a piece of paper with Psalm 32:8 written on it: “I will instruct you and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress.” I review it each time I open its doors.

The other day when I opened the frig, I discovered an old lime that had never been thrown away. It was hard and brown and you could see that the rind had molded to the shape of the citrus sections inside it. I had to laugh when I saw it because I had written “Hi”, “Hola” and “Bonjour” on the outside of it as a stress reliever when I worked at a large company. The penned words still remained and it was a wonderful reminder of how far I have come on the road to good health and learning to live free as God intended. So I thank my Lord for allowing me to see the lime again. The photo above captures it as it currently appears. The lime is stronger now, its skin tougher and I would say that those words describe me these days too. We all grow stronger with the Lord in our lives. He is our rock, our salvation and our strength in times of need. He is our reason for joy! For those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior with honesty and truth of heart, His amazing Holy Spirit will be deposited and offer you comfort and guidance all the rest of your days!
So to finish up the lime story, I visited a retail store a week or so after I discovered the lime. As I perused the aisles of packaged foodstuff, I saw a Numi Tea box with an image of a whole bowl of dried limes on its front. That certainly made me smile! 

When I brought the box to the register for purchase, it inspired conversation between myself and the cashier. She said that she drank the product often in her home country of Iran but had never tried the boxed tea. If I see her again, I will have to give her my positive review and use its analogy to share how God has worked in my life. :)


Wishing you a fantastic day filled with amazing blessings! Jesus loves you!

Laura