Find the map, find the map.

by Lillian Humphries

Every time I hear that phrase now I think of Dora the Explorer. If you have children or grandchildren you know what I am talking about. I love that little show. You know everything is going to be OK and Dora is going to get to her destination with help from the map and her friends. Too bad real life is not that way.
 
Real life doesn’t come with a road map and if it did I probably wouldn’t be able to read it. I always found reading maps a little difficult. I have trouble finding North and South, then you throw in East and West and I am lost. For some reason when I learned my North and South, North must have been in front of me, therefore everywhere I turn and face is north. Right? See my problem?

Think about this. If you were taking a trip from SC to California you wouldn’t get maps that would take you Massachusetts and New York and hope you could figure the rest out. You would look at a map of the United States and figure out which states you would go through and purchase the maps for each state you would encounter along the way. OK, I know you would just turn on your GPS now days.

God has a map for us. It is His divine spoken word – The Bible. Your Bible, the one next to your bed, on your coffee table or in the closet has a map for your life and shows you how to get to Heaven. There are a lot of places here on earth I would like to visit. God’s handy work is all around us and it is beautiful, majestic and breathtaking. More than these earthy wonders that I want to experience, I want to experience heaven. The beautiful home that He has built for us is waiting for you and me.

The road you take to get there is ready and waiting for you, but my friends you need to walk it. No one can walk it for you. It is a personal road map for each one of us. Some of us may crawl on the road, walk the road, or run the road; you get to decide how to move forward on the road.

God tells us exactly how to find that road, through His son, Jesus Christ.

• John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

What we must do to get on the road, hear His word, repent and be baptized.

• Acts 2:38 - Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

With these instructions from God we can follow the road toward heaven.

So turn on your – G.P.S. – God’s Positioning Service and open your Bible – hard cover or digital and find your way.

How are those goals coming?

by Lillian Humphries

Two months ago, 8.5 weeks ago, 63 days ago I made some goals. Like Dr. Phil says “how’s that working for you”? Well for me not so well. How about you?

I love goals, the organizing the thinking, the feeling of new beginnings, it all makes me feel good. Then I lose steam. If only I could keep up that momentum but after a few days it dwindles. Either I get hungry and eat something that is not on my good food list, or I am sore so I quit exercising, or my get up and go – got up and went.

So here I am two months later and not very far on the ladder of success regarding my goals. Sometimes it
gets very defeating, those little voices start nagging at you. My husband says I am my worst enemy, I think most of us are pretty hard on ourselves. But he is right, (did I really say that in print), I am my worst enemy.

No I have not lost 20 lbs. yet this year. No, I have not exercised as many times as I promised myself I would. No, I haven’t kept away from the cookies like I said I would. Who brought those Girl Scout cookies in this house anyway?

Let’s focus on the positive. I have written more as I had promised myself. My Bible has been open and read more than before. Closets are organized and unused items have been thrown out or given away. My goal of blogging once a week was only missed twice so far. I’m really happy how that goal is progressing.

So I guess I am making progress. Maybe it is only one step forward and two steps back but it least I can see that I am moving in the correct direction – forward and up.

God wants us to continue to grow; if we are not growing we have become stagnant. Picture a stagnant pond with algae lying on the top and mucky waters below. Does that image look appealing to you? Not to me. I wouldn’t want to lie down near that pond and have a picnic – mosquitoes are probably swarming all around. That pond might even have an unpleasant odor to it. Probably not pleasing to any of your senses.
However, draw an image in your mind of a beautiful pond, maybe it has a spring bubbling up in the middle. Clear water reveals minnows swimming around the beautiful lily pads that are floating on top. There is crispness to the water that is inviting and the slight breeze would keep the bugs away, perfect for a picnic beside the pond.

That is the way I want to look, feel and act. Like a fresh bubbling pond with my words being flowers, my attitude being the fresh water for people around me to drink up and feel rejuvenated. My arms should be a place of comfort and peace where they can find rest.

Only by me drinking the word of God and filling myself with Jesus will I be able to accomplish the goals I have set for myself. But I always must remember, my goals are exactly that – my goals. God has His own set of goals for me. Unless I am open to Him and His word I won’t be able to see His goals.

Philippians 3:14
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So, do you need to stop and rethink your goals from earlier in the year? Maybe quarterly revisit those to see how you are doing and if these are still the goals to be met or has God shown you some new ones?

Always be open.