Inspiration and Hope -

To Be, We Must, We Will — WE ARE!

We are the wheat[1]; we are the wheat-harvest[2]. There will never be an unripe time for us to serve God and all of our humanity, and there was never a more ripe time such as now.

If we survey the troubled waters that have engulfed our world, it is all too apparent that we have lost who we are. Our humanity lies in shambles before us, but we can give it life again.

To do this, we must simply come back to God and return to who we were originally created to be: the mirror image of God Himself. It is only in Him and through Him that we will find everything we need, everything we seek, and everything we were meant to be.

May God bless you abundantly.

Inspiration by Dahlia Grgic, 2018
email: [email protected]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dahlia Grgic is an emerging public speaker who simply enjoys interacting with humans more than computers. Although she has a degree in Computer Science and currently works in Information Technology, her vision and true passion are to restore our humanity by serving, teaching, and healing.

The drive behind her motives? God, and a compassion, love, and charity for all people.

FOOTNOTE

Excerpt from www.biblemeanings.info/Words/Plant/Wheat.htm

[1] Biblical meaning of wheat = love and charity

[2] Biblical meaning of wheat-harvest = is an advancing state of love and charity. The reason why a wheat-harvest signifies an advancing state of love and charity, is that a field signifies the church, and thus the things of the church; and the seeds sown in the field signify the things of good and truth; and the plants born from them, such as wheat, barley, and other grains, signify the things of love and charity, and also of faith. The states of the church in regard to these things are therefore compared to seedtime and harvest.

Going to the Mat

Do you know what it means to go to the mat? It means to struggle or fight until either victorious or defeated. Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14,“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize …”.

Many of you are watching on TV the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. These athletes trained hard to get there. In fact, these athletes have trained for years, persevering and enduring both physical and mental hardship in order to be able to win a medal.

Marlene Moncho, Pastor of Spiritual Development & Family at Zarephath Christian Church, drew a parallel between athletes in training and the Christian’s spiritual fight. “Spiritual growth comes through going to the mat, resistance training, foot work and punching the bag, beating against the flesh, exercising our faith, as most of our growth does not come from Easy-Street or Broad Street, but it comes from the Narrow-Street as we walk with the Lord.”

Whether you are trying to hold a marriage together, or you are facing financial struggles, or you are facing insurmountable problems at work, or you are suffering physically in your body, this is the training ground where you go to the mat and learn to be strong.

So when you are tempted to give up and succumb to your deepest worries and afflictions, press on toward the goal of winning your challenges by fervently (serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous) praying, reading the Word, praising God, and putting on the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize” (I Corinthians 9:24). In this verse, the believer’s life is defined in terms of athletic metaphors. Paul compares himself to runners who competed in the Isthmian games. These games were held every two years in Greece near Corinth. Unlike today’s Olympic Games where the winner is awarded gold, silver and bronze for first, second and third place, respectively, in the Isthmian games there was only one winner. Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, impressed this winning attitude in his football players when he said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”. Lombardi, however, was misquoted according to James A. Michener. What he intended to say was “Winning isn’t everything. The will to win is the only thing.” In other words, make every effort to win, “straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:4, NIV). GOD’s Word translation says “Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus”.

In the Isthmian games, those who won the race were awarded a crown of dried celery as their prize, a prize that Paul described as “one that will not last” (verse 25). But for the believer, he focuses their attention towards heaven with the goal of receiving an imperishable crown”. There is the greatest encouragement, therefore —

Train hard,

Persevere with all your strength, and

Never give up.

I recently read a post by Marlene Moncho that inspires and encourages us to grow stronger regardless of our circumstances by keeping our eyes heavenward. Were it not for her struggles, she said, her deeper growth in Christ would not have been possible. “Recently, I had gone through a window of not feeling well, and went through a series of hospital scans. Having a history of cancer, of course that concerns ….” (CONTINUE READING GETTING STRONG NOW) by Marlene Moncho.

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America Out of Gas – A Lesson On Patience

In 1973, AMERICA WAS OUT OF GAS! This gas station in Potlach, Washington turned their gas station into a religious meeting hall. The caption might have read, “People do not live by ~~bread~~ gas alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”.

In 1973, I drove a forest green ‘68 Volkswagen Beetle. It wasn’t luxurious, nor comfortable, or have air conditioning, but I still loved my car! It didn’t take much to fill it up either, nor was it expensive (relatively speaking). With gas prices at 25 cents to 31 cents a gallon, who cared if your car got less than 13 miles a gallon anyway.

But what good was it if you couldn’t get gas? In October of 1973, an oil embargo crisis caused by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, tested people’s patience to no end. All oil exports to America were halted, and gas prices shot up, on average, to 38.5 cents a gallon. Odd-even rationing was mandated, meaning if the last digit of your license plate was even you could only get gas on even-numbered days.

If you had to wait at the pumps to fill up your tank, you hoped that they did not run out of gas before it was your turn at the pump. Some gas stations posted flags where green meant they had gas, and red meant that they were out of gas.

Tempers ran hot. Fights broke out with customers who tried cutting in the line. And it was common for thieves to siphon your gas tank if they couldn’t get any at the pump.

In 1973, the mobile phone was invented, but most people would not have owned one, and would not have had the distraction of talking on the phone or texting to pass the time. So maybe you brought a good book to read. Or if you were in college, like me, you might have used the time to study. As I was a music major in college, it was impractical for me to practice my flute in the car, so I brought my drum sticks. If you just so happened to be in line with me, you might have observed me practicing rudimentary flams, drags, and paradiddles (Right-Left-Right-Right, Left-Right-Left-Left) on the dashboard of my car. Banging on the dashboard (same cathartic effect that screaming into a pillow had) also tended to relieve my stress of having to wait in around-the-block lines with waits of 1 to 2 hours, especially when you were soooooooo on the brink of losing it. Streaking was a fad that was also quite cathartic, although I don’t recall seeing anyone do it at the gas pumps.

Oh, and that long trip to Vermont you were planning? Well, fuhgeddaboudit! Instead, you now worried about running out of gas and getting stranded.

So the next time you find yourself being impatient, try to get ahold of yourself and know that “The only way genuine patience can be acquired is by enduring the very trials that seem so unbearable today” (F.B. Meyer).

“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. (Romans 12:12, HCSB)

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Be still and know that I am God

Be-still-and-know-that-I-am-God-inspirationandhope

If you are observant, you would probably find that when there were significant life changing events in your life, God-incidences may likely have accompanied them. It was God’s perfect timing and means of communicating with you, and of reassuring you that everything would be okay; perhaps in just a whisper, a subtle wink from God that witnessed to your spirit. So then, when you opened your Bible, and a verse just jumped off the page at you that spoke directly to your situation, that was not just a coincidence.

Excerpt from My Journal, July 6, 2016

Today, I randomly opened to a page in my daily devotional that spoke pointedly to me in my despair. God had reserved it for me when I most needed to hear it — “Be still and know that I am God”.

Sometimes I have difficulty sharing my personal feelings, concerns and fears, although I know that I am human and life has a way of getting us down. This is one of those times. But I share this with the hope that you will be encouraged by it when you are challenged.

A recent life event, and without getting too detailed, had brought me to a low point in my life. Oh, sure, I am supposed to be strong and courageous, but right now, I am tempted to despair and succumb to my deepest worries and afflictions.

“O God, it still hurts”. Some days I am fine, other days I am sad. This was one of those sad days when I just didn’t want to get out of bed. Life just doesn’t prepare you for ……

It was now 7:45 a.m., and I had been lying awake since 6:15 a.m. I had no energy to start the day. “Oh well, I better get up and make some coffee. Maybe that will help”.

After making my coffee, I sat down to read and pray. Today’s daily devotion from Streams in the Desert, May 10^th, was timely and deeply personal. After reading it, I thought to myself, God should have personalized this one to me by prefacing it with “Dear Bill”.

“Oh, how great the temptation is to despair at times! Our soul becomes depressed and disheartened, and our faith staggers under the severe trials and testing that come into our lives, especially during times of bereavement and suffering. We may come to the place where we say, ‘I cannot bear this any longer. I am close to despair under these circumstances God has allowed. He tells me not to despair, but what am I supposed to do when I am at this point?’

What have you done in the past when you felt weak physically? You could not do anything. You ceased from doing. In your weakness, you leaned on the shoulder of a strong loved one …

Once you have come close to the point of despair, God’s message is not, ‘Be strong and courageous’ (Joshua 1:6), for he knows that your strength and courage have run away. Instead, he says sweetly, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10) …..

That is all God asks of you as his dear child. When you become weak through the fierce fires of afflictions, do not try to be strong. Just be still, and know that [he is] God. And know that he will sustain you and bring you through the fire.

God reserves his best medicine for our times of deepest despair.”[1]

“Be still and know that [He is] God” is sometimes all that I (we) can do to trust Him when we are suffering and weak. Then I rest in His arms and I am reminded that weeping is only for a short time, that rejoicing will come again.

FOOTNOTE

[1] Reimann, Jim; Cowman, L.B.E., Streams in the Desert: 366 Daily Devotional Readings, May 10
[2] Photograph, “Dory” by Charles Steinhacker

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God’s Love Endures

Composed by Bill Hutzel and John D’Elia

Although today’s society sends mixed messages regarding the meaning of love, there is a universally accepted goal for perfect love, and that is— Love is unconditional. God’s love is an enduring love that is demonstrated even when we are unfaithful, unpredictable, unbelieving, and rebellious.

“Love Endures” is based on I Corinthians 13. It is often referred to as the Love Chapter. Human love is supernatural when the union of our spirits is joined with His. This kind of love is only possible by the grace of God who is perfect, for I am imperfect.

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