One of our favorite things in our yard is the birds…especially the Towhees. In recent weeks, one little fellow has started attacking himself in the side view mirrors of our cars.
Thankfully the damage is nothing more than a little Windex won’t take care of. It’s quite entertaining as he is determined to make the bird in the mirror go away.
This probably falls under the “for worse” that Dave warned us about when we took our wedding vows.
I think I’ve been to the doctors more in the last three months than I have in my entire life. After having intense back pain for 2 months, my doctor ordered and MRI to find out what was causing sciatica that isn’t going away.
The results came back pretty quickly. Within a couple of days my doctor emailed me the diagnosis, “degenerative changes most noticeably at L4-5 where there is severe canal stenosis attributed to a 5 mm central disc bulge. At the level of L5-S1, there is mild canal stenosis. This explains your symptoms.”
I’m not too keen taking a lot of medicine and don’t want to be dependent upon pain killers. I am grateful to have relief from pain through medicine…but want to keep it at the lowest level possible. After all, I need to function in my daily life…working, driving, shopping, cleaning, attending church, Bible study, etc.
I’ve been amazed as I look back at the previousness of God in how He orchestrated circumstances in my life. He knew that my work schedule would be more demanding and that I would need my rest on the weekends. He knew that I would develop a condition in which it’s painful to sit for extended periods of time. Thus God had me step aside from commitments that took a lot of time and required sitting.
You never know when you are going through something how you will respond. I’ve seen God give me the grace I never knew I could have to endure pain.
Until this happened, I don’t think I realized how much what happens to me effects my husband. I guess that’s part of becoming one. There are times I have a greater peace about what’s happening than Chris does.
My husband Chris and I are asking for God to give us wisdom to determine what’s the best course of action to take and for wisdom for the doctor. That she would be compassionate. Of course we both know that God is well able to bring a miraculous healing to my back. Should He choose to do so…we will praise Him. In His sovereignty, should God choose not to heal me, we will praise Him. I am learning that God is good all the time. His goodness is not dependent upon Him making my life easy or perfect.
On Thursday morning, I was heading out the front door for my early morning walk…only to be stopped in my tracks as I looked across the street.
Directly in front of our home was a baby stroller, a baby bottle and something else. At first I couldn’t tell if someone had dumped a big bag of trash or what it was.
I immediately turned around walked into the living room and called out to my husband Chris who had fallen back asleep in his chair. “Chris, wake up…I need you to come out here with me!” Chris normally doesn’t wake up really quick…but I guess after being startled he jumped out of his chair and followed me out on the front porch.
I pointed across the street and asked, “What is that? Is it a dead body or is that someone sleeping on the sidewalk?”
I don’t remember if Chris answered…but I head across the street to find out.
I approached the person cautiously. I looked down on the bundle of blankets and saw a woman’s brown hair. I couldn’t tell if there was a baby bundled up with her or not. I didn’t know if she was dead or alive.
I said, “Sweetheart, what’s going on here?”
The person in the blanket stirred quickly and was looking up at me. It was a middle aged woman, obviously homeless and she had slept on the street overnight. When I asked her again what was going on she said that her husband had punched her in the face and she had left home. I asked her when that had happened and she said it was over a year ago and since then she has been living out of her car.
What do you say to that? I don’t remember what I said, but she kept on talking.
She went on to tell me that she lives in her car and usually parks her car on a street behind Home Depot. But there was the crazy guy named Curt whom she was hanging out with. Now he was talking about torturing her and killing her and she was frightened.
As she was talking I was trying to access her and the situation and what I should do. Part of me thought I should go inside and call the police.
Instead I went inside to get her something to eat and drink brought it out to her. When I gave her the food I asked her what her name was. She responded, “My name is Sue.”
“Sue, I’ve to got go, but before I leave let me pray for you.” So I held Sue’s hand and I prayed for her. While I was praying she asked me to pray for Curt too. When I finished Sue thanked me for the breakfast and prayer.
I then went on my walk and saw Sue get up and head down the street wrapped in her blanket.
The next morning I found a container and a magazine sitting on the lamppost by our walkway. In the container was a note from homeless Sue in which she thanked me again and asked me to pray her children and herself. Sue said that another neighbor, whom she had encountered while he walked his dog, came and jump started her car so she could drive.
Like most folks these days…the reality of homelessness is something that I see every day. Be it a person sleeping at a bus stop or someone asking for money outside a store. Sometimes I’ll buy them something to eat. More often than not won’t give money because I don’t want them using it for alcohol or drugs.
While I can drive by the person pushing a shopping cart down the street or the person sleeping at a bus stop…I couldn’t walk by or drive by what I encountered on Thursday morning.
While I was talking with Sue…a number of our neighbors drove by and didn’t bother to slow down. If for no other reason than concern for the neighborhood, I would think they would stop to see what was happening. That bothered me that my neighbors didn’t stop…it really bothered me.
I don’t know if what all Sue said was true or real, but I do know that I couldn’t just pass her by. I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t see her. She must feel invisible some days as people do everything they can to avoid eye contact…for fear they may have to get involved.
This week I’ve been getting back into my normal weekly routine following the Christmas and New Year holidays. As soon as I return from my morning walk, I turn on the radio to listen to Chuck Swindoll’s Insight for Living as I get ready for work. His current message is about Abraham and his obedience to God’s command to sacrifice his son Isaac? Chuck went on to ask, “What is your Isaac that God may require of you?”
I started thinking…what is my Isaac? What would God require of me to lay down, be willing to sacrifice, in obedience to His command? Like Abraham, would I be quick to obey?
Is my Isaac my husband Chris?
Our home?
Is it my job?
My health?
Is it a hope or a dream?
Our finances?
Is it the approval and acceptance of man?
Each year it seems like God has taught me to loosen my grip on things and even people. To hold loosely and be ready to say, “Thy will be done.” Last year and in recent months, it feels as though God has been deconstructing me by removing people and things that I love from my life. Testing me to see if I love Him more than the gifts He has given me. Obviously the test is for me because God already knows how I will respond.
Even if I do okay on one test…I can’t afford to be complacent. I must realize that there will other tests and trials. By the grace of God…some I will pass. However, there will be some tests that will reveal things within my character, attitude or the thoughts and intentions of my heart that are sinful and ugly and need to be dealt with. Tests may reveal that I’ve let something creep in and take the place of God being first in my life. How will I respond to those test results?
One thing that comes to mind is that I don’t need to fear those tests that God may allow in my life. I can trust Him because He is good all the time. Unlike me, God is not sinful and His motivation and purpose is always good and come from a pure, undefiled heart.
So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” – Luke 10:27
This morning I had a divine appointment but I didn’t know it. I thought that our kitties were just hungry and waking me up early on New Year’s morning so they could be fed. Indeed they were hungry…but the Holy Spirit had a message that I needed to read.
I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing…but once I’m up…I’m up. Very seldom can I go back to sleep after I get up. So after feeding Rudy and Junior, I started a pot of coffee brewing and headed into the office to check the computer. While my email was updating I looked at one of the websites that I check regularly, Joshua’s blog A Warrior’s Heart.
Though Joshua is young, I find that both he and his sister Rachel have maturity that I wish I had when I was their ages. Rachel also has a blog that I frequent regularly…Hope Journey. You might be thinking what in the world can a 51 year old woman learn from someone 30 years younger? Actually quite a lot. Both Joshua and Rachel share from their heart. They are well grounded in the Word of God and love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength.
Today Joshua posted “Living Radically for Christ Pt. 5”, in which he talks about believers counting the cost of following Christ. One of those costs is that the moment we become a believer in Jesus Christ, we are engaged in a lifelong battle against a powerful foe who HATES US. Satan hates God and he hates man who is created in God imagine. He is a liar, deceiver, destroyer and a murderer.
We engaged in that battle every day…whether we know it or not. The enemy goes around like a roaring lion…seeking whom he may devour. He wants to have you and me for lunch. Think about a hungry lion prowling around just waiting for the opportunity to devour his prey. In the Greek the word devour means to “drink down, swallow down, devour, swallow up, and destroy.” Think about that lion as he tears into the flesh of his victim. Those powerful jaws clamping down and tearing into the flesh of that living creature and bring about an excruciating, certain death. It’s probably not a death that comes swiftly. That’s what Satan, our enemy, wants to do to believers.
I read God’s word and know that truth. I believe it and I know it from experience. Yet how easily I believe the destroyer’s lies.
Christ won the victory over Satan on the cross. On the cross, Jesus Christ paid our sin debt in full. On the cross both sin and death were defeated. God gave witness to that victory three days later when Jesus Christ rose physically from the dead. Praise God…that He has given us His Word. In the Bible, God tells us how we can be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. How we can put on the full armor of God.
Recently, God reprimanded me saying, “Susan, walk as you pray.”
One of my daily prayers is that I will take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. That will put on the full armor of God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, that my feet will be shod with the gospel of peace, that I will put on the helmet of salvation, take up the shield of faith, wield the Sword of the Spirit and be praying always.
Though it’s a New Year…it’s the same me that was there yesterday. One, who when I walk in my own wisdom and strength, I so easily fall prey to the enemy. No matter where I go, there I am.
I do believe that I need to be mindful how weak I am in my own strength and wisdom. Instead I need to submit myself to God, resist the devil so that he will flee from me.
Thank You Lord for the reminder that it’s a daily battle that’s fought minute by minute…and I can’t afford to be lazy. The cost is too great. Thank you Joshua for speaking the truth from God’s Word.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. – James 4:7
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— Ephesians 6:10-18
I’ve decided I want to approach the coming New Year with a “Today” kind of attitude.
Goodness knows 2010 has been a challenging year for me personally, for family, friends and even our nation.
As I passed through some difficult waters one thing that helped was to take it just one day at a time. When I was uncertain about what tomorrow would bring…I was able to say, “Thank You Lord for what I have today.” When faced with overwhelming demands…I asked, “What do I need to accomplish today?”
When I have troubles or trials…it’s helpful to know that it’s for today. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But by God’s grace I can get through today.
I can be grateful for what I have today and not be presumptuous and demanding on the goodness and grace of God for tomorrow. I’m not guaranteed tomorrow…but I do have today.
May I be dependent upon the Lord today.
May I pray for what I need today.
May I praise and worship God today.
May I confess and repent of my sins today.
May I be ready for the Lord’s soon return today.
This is the day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
Why is it that it’s so easy to get my focus off of God?
When my focus is on me…I’m prideful.
When my focus is on others…I’m insecure.
When my focus is on things…I’m superficial.
When my focus is on self righteousness…I’m legalistic.
When my focus is on man’s praises…I’m fickle.
When my focus is on what I can see….I’m faithless.
When my focus is on Christ…everyone and everything else falls into its proper perspective.
This fall and winter it’s been unusually cold and wet here in southern California. Tonight the weather forecasters predict that it will be 39 degrees…now that is just plain burr chilly burr especially for this southern California weather wimp!
As soon as I arrived home I turned on the heater and went to bring the bird feeders in for the night. As I entered our home the heat had just come on and I thanked God for our home, heat, running water and so much more. Then I started thinking what it must be like for those who are homeless. What do they do when it rains for 7 days straight like it did last week? What do they do on a cold night like this; where do they go?
Then my thoughts turned to my brother Patrick Henry Bunts who has been missing for a number of years now. He’s a troubled individual and has made some bad choices in his life and I don’t know what’s happened to him. Patrick’s actions and behavior lead me to believe that he may have substance abuse problems.
The last time I spoke with him it was probably about five of six years ago at Christmas. He called the assisted living place where my mother lived to wish her a Merry Christmas. Our conversation was brief…I wasn’t too keen about speaking to him because of his dishonesty towards a family member.
If I had known that was the last time I would speak to him what would I have said?
Our mother died a few years after that last conversation. When she died, I tried to contact my brother to no avail. He probably doesn’t even know she’s dead. Each year since then I’ve paid to do a background check to see if there is any information on his whereabouts. Thus far…the searches have come empty. They have lots of old data…but for the last four or five years there has been no information on where he lives or works.
I don’t know if he’s in prison or too drugged up to know night from day. Is he working and living under someone else’s name and identification? Is he still alive? I don’t know…but thoughts of him are never far from my mind.
If I made contact with him…I’m not sure what I would say. Part of me would want to hug him, tell him I love him and share the gospel message because he desperately needs it. There’s another part of me that would like to swat him right upside the head and yell, “What in the world were you thinking!”
When I encounter homeless people in the parking lot asking for money, I think of my brother. I wonder…is he doing that somewhere? If he is…what kind of people does he encounter? What are their responses to him? How would I respond if I didn’t know it was him? Would I buy him a meal? Would I talk with him or turn away?
When it’s a cold night like tonight…I think of Patrick and wonder where he is? Perhaps one day I’ll find out. Until then…I’ll wonder and continue to pray that God, who is not willing that any should perish, will bring someone along to share the Gospel message with my brother who is desperately lost. Lord willing he’s still alive and there’s still a chance.
While I’d love to sit down and write until midnight, the clock is reminding me I’ll be getting up far too soon and don’t have that luxury tonight.
As we come to the end of another year…my thoughts are turning to what do I want to do different in the New Year? How do I want to be different a year from now than I am today?
I know that I want to have a closer walk with the Lord and know Him more intimately. I know that will necessitate regular Bible study and reading of God’s word and time in prayer. I will need to have an open and teachable heart and be willing to bend and yield my will to God’s will.
There were a couple of things that happened today that reinforced that desire for a closer walk with the Lord.
Something I pray for my husband and friends is that they will take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and choose to meditate on that which is true, noble, just and pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy.
The Lord has used frequently used those scriptures to help me reign in my thoughts and words, when in my own will I would be going down a wrong path. Today was one of those days. Right off the bat, I could have been offended. I wanted to go one way and complain to the Lord about what someone did wrong. Instead God challenged me to do as I pray.
Once I focused my thoughts…and prayed scripture…I was able to focus and move on. The offense didn’t even matter at that point.
Later in the day I had an encounter with someone who is an unbeliever. As they shared about what’s going on in their life, I found myself so grateful that as a Christian I can know right from wrong very clearly in God’s word. By knowing it and obeying it…God protects me from so much.
At the Bible study I attend, this Christmas they handed out little boxes that were beautifully wrapped. The teaching director asked us to pray and see what God would have us give Him for Christmas. As the days past by and we got closer to Christmas I was thinking more and more…what should I give God for Christmas.
It was almost as God was saying the words out loud, “Love Me more.”
Yes Lord…I want to love You more and know You more. I want a closer walk with Thee Lord Jesus. Just a closer walk with Thee.
As I awakened this cool and foggy Christmas morn, my thoughts turn to You Lord Jesus. May I humbly come before You and give You the gift of thanksgiving.
Lord Jesus…may I live a life that reflects my thanks to You. May I be so bold Lord, in the midst of giving thanks, to ask for the salvation for the many people whom You have placed on my heart? That today would be their day of salvation. That the angels in heaven would rejoice as many people repent from their sins and turn to You and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:8-14
My absence from blogging hasn’t been as a result of writer’s block as much as pain demanding my attention and consuming my energy.
If any of you have experienced Sciatica you’ll know the pain I’ve been experiencing recently.
About seven weeks ago I tweaked by back, causing a reappearance of Sciatica. Talk about painful!!! The pain starts in my right hip and radiates down to my right ankle. While my hip is painful…it’s the pain in my ankle that I can hardly stand.
I’ve had bouts of Sciatica a couple of times before, but I don’t recall the pain being so all consuming. Perhaps the Lord was merciful and caused those memories to fade.
I’ve opted for traditional treatment through my doctor first in hopes that before the nerve will be released and the pain will go away on its own. I’m trying to keep the pain at a tolerable level without taking strong medicine that will leave me unable to function each day, like going to work, driving etc.
I have another doctor’s appointment coming up and I’m hoping that she will order a test to determine if my nerve is just pinched or if there’s a problem with a disc. Being raised by my mother, a nurse who believed in old school medicine, I’m reluctant to seek alternative treatments until I know exactly what’s going on.
Sitting, lying down and even standing can be painful. Thankfully, I experience relief from the pain when I’m walking.
In the mean time and in between time, I am praying that the Lord will touch my back and relieve this pain and release my Sciatic nerve. I know that God is well able to heal me and trusting Him to carry me through until I experience lasting relief from pain.
All consuming
Unrelenting
Demanding my attention
Held captive
Powerful
Sapping my energy
Oh how I long to be set free
Released
Restored and pain free
Susan Bunts Wachtel
December 17, 2010
Do you ever wonder why our lives bear so little resemblance to the lives of people portrayed in the New Testament?
When I read the book of Acts, I see men who were cowardly and fled when Christ was arrested and crucified, now transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. In boldness they went forth and proclaiming the Gospel message of salvation found in Jesus Christ alone. We see God working through them and performing miracles. We see people comprehend and live out the truth, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.”
I was excited to select Max Lucado’s book “Outlive Your Life” and read his perspective on God at work in and through the church, a work that continues today. Max has a way of taking profound truths and simplifying them. He takes God at His word and believes that God still transforms lives and that He wants to work in your life and mine. That the Lord has a greater purpose and plan for our lives if we will dare to yield to Him and die to self daily.
I recommend “Outlive Your Life” to Christian readers who want to be challenged to grow in their faith walk and also for unbelievers who want to see the heart of God at work in His church.
It took a few chapters for me to embrace “Outlive Your Life” because I was concerned that the author, Max Lucado had left out the most important element, the Gospel message that salvation is found in Jesus Christ. But in chapter four, “Don’t Forget the Bread”, Max shares the Gospel through the words of the Apostle Peter.
The chapter that won me over was “Open Your Door; Open Your Heart”. In this chapter Max shows examples of how we can reach out to people around us. Simple actions that we can all do. My favorite chapter by far was “Pray First; Pray Most”. There are times I struggle to be faithful in prayer. What an encouragement this chapter was on how powerful prayer is. Max sites examples from scripture and from Christians today who are mighty prayer warriors.
Do you need a reminder on just how powerful God is and the work that He wants to do in and through you? Pick up a copy of “Outlive Your Life” by Max Lucado and then reread the book of Acts. Where does God want you to serve today and to reach the people for whom Christ died?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
One of the great benefits of the internet is the ability to download and listen to some powerful sermons and Christian teachers. I’m so grateful to the ministries like Grace Community Church and Desiring God that make a plethora of resources available for free. They are available for the building up of the body of Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel to those not yet saved.
Each year John Piper has a National Conference whereby he invites Christian pastors and teachers to participate. I recently downloaded the messages from the 2010 conference and started listening to Francis Chan’s message on the peril of pride. Oh my…it’s powerful, convicting, challenging and motivating. This is a message I will need to listen to again and again.
Go to the link below to download or listen on-line to Francis Chan:
Think Hard, Stay Humble: The Life of the Mind and the Peril of Pride – Francis Chan
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
2010 Desiring God National Conference
Susan's Blog 
