En god vintermorgen til deg fra Happy home. Ja, det er fortsatt masse snøfjell her hos meg og jeg tror våren er forsinket i år. Men vi må bare gjøre det beste ut av det. Så jeg har begynt med en lang prosjekt nemlig å hekle 200 ruter med ulike mønstre. Tenkt å hekle sammen etterpå til kofte eller kanskje teppe?
Jeg koser meg med å prøve nye oppskrifter. Her var gårsdagens og det blir også dagens middag.
Min versjon
Ja, det er fortsatt mye snø, men når solen kommer i ny og ne, går min mann og jeg en tur:)
Ellers er det snart helg og jeg må i dag prøve å gjøre ferdig husvasken. Det er badet og toalettet igjen.
Og jeg må prøve å hekle ferdig denne blusen som blir ikke det samme som jeg hadde tenkt meg. Jeg hadde problemer med å skjønne hekleoppkriften og jeg improviserte. Den er blitt bredere.
This thought came to my mind this morning after reading this phrase in the bible.
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18: 9-14
Different lives
Two people with different lifestyles, who can be easily judged by their outward appearances and by their deeds. One looks holy and does holy things, the other looks like a sinner and does sinful things. Which would we prefer? Or whom we could compare ourselves with? I didn’t want to be either of them, but……..
The difference:
The holy one was boastful and judgmental. He thought that he was holy enough and did not need forgiveness. He trusted his holy works to save him. He was boastful. In addition, he looked down on those that were not doing holy things as he thought he did.
The tax collector was humble and had a repentant heart. He knows that he sinned against God and asked for mercy. To be forgiven. Couldn’t even look at God.
Lord, how about me?
I asked. How about you? I am asking. Are we like the Pharisees or the tax collector? Because, as much as we denied it, I think we can be both.
How, you might ask?
Well, how do we feel for those who denied God’s existence, curse him, and blame him for all the troubles of this world?
How do we feel for those people who commit adultery? Evildoers who abuse small children or exploit them? Those corrupt leaders who steal from the people. How about the murderers? Those who kill to gain power and so on. Liars and robbers?
Disgusted
To be totally honest, I am disgusted with those people. Questions like “ How could they do such a thing?” Judging them. But, I think that I am not alone who feels that way. How about you? Maybe we are like the Pharisee too? Looking down on those bad people in our eyes. Hating them the most. Disgusted. Maybe we want to make them suffer too in our minds or do some dramatic things to take revenge.
On the other hand, I feel like the tax collector too. A sinner. I say things that I should not be saying. Not being careful with my words is one of the things that I might be doing that is not right in the eyes of God. God sees my heart and knows what kind of sin I am capable of doing. Being judgmental like the Pharisee. God calls it to sin. Not only do I judge others, but I judge myself too. Feeling that I am not good enough. Maybe you feel the way I do? And that shouldn’t be.
All sinners
We can just admit that we too sin against God, not only once, but many times. Sins that do not show in our outward appearances. The sin that lurks in our minds and our hearts, just waiting for the right opportunity to strike? Maybe some stolen time from their employers? Doing facebooking, texting messages, or blogging when one is at work? How about driving faster than the law requires in some areas? How about laughing at someone’s handicaps? Saying white lies? Gossiping? Murmuring? Cursing? Lusting? If we do some of these things, we don’t have the right to judge. And if we are not doing some of these things, we don’t have the right to judge either. Am I right?
God said: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Matthew 7:3
So who are we? A sinner or a saint? Probably, your wish is like mine. To be a saint. But…..
Nicodemus was a Pharisee according to this passage. A member of the ruling council (called Sanhedrin)
Although he was a learned teacher and well-educated, he came to Jesus to be taught. It tells me that no matter if we have all the knowledge in the world, which of course is impossible for any human to accomplish, but still if we come to Jesus, we will still learn a lot. Just think of all that God had created and done….our lifetime here on earth would never be enough to gain all the knowledge and wisdom that Jesus had to offer.
Nicodemus came to Jesus personally to examine Jesus for himself. If we want to know the truth, we should also come to Jesus; the way, the truth, and the life.
Nicodemus do come to Jesus, but he came at night, maybe because he was afraid of how other Pharisees would react. Most people are like Nicodemus. Fearful of what others would say, so they refrain from doing things that they need to do, or they do things secretly. As believers, we should do everything in the light and should not be afraid to do the right things and to follow Jesus no matter how unpopular it would be.
Born again
In verse 3 Jesus said that no one could see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. And he explained that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the spirit. It seems impossible of course from the human point of view.
My conversion
Many years ago, when my older sister invited me to a Christian fellowship, I felt the presence of God at once when I entered the vicinity. And as I listened to the preaching of the word, I felt God was talking to me. At the altar call, I surrendered myself to God and I felt I was struck with a force that I fell to the floor. And then I saw a vision of my story playing like a film in my mind and I sensed that all the sins that I did in the past had been removed from me. When I regained consciousness, I felt that I had become a new person, lighter and cleaner inside. I believe that was what Jesus called “to be born again” in Spirit. Although it took many years before I had been water-baptized, I felt that God had been at my side since then. How can I say that?
Well, suddenly all I wanted then was to get to know more of Jesus whose blood had redeemed me from eternal destruction. Suddenly, my heart was filled with the desire to read the Bible and to serve God. It has also been filled with gratitude to God who sacrificed His Son so that sinners like me can spend my eternity with Him. In heaven where there is no pain, sickness, or loss. And now, my deepest desire is for others to get to know Jesus who willingly offered His life for each one to be saved from eternal destruction.
Jeg er en heldig dame i dag da min mann kom med dagens post. Jeg ga med en stor konvolutt. Da jeg åpnet så jeg at det kom fra Utifriluft. Det var en takk fordi jeg var med på utfordringen hennes.
Jeg undres på hva den oransje tingen er og min mann googlet og fant ut at den heter blant annet en snyltekopp:) Den skal brettes oppover og det blir som en turkopp.
Han sa hviskende til henne: “Husker du for mange år siden da jeg var på veteran sykehuset? Du var med meg da. Du var med meg da vi mistet alt i en brann. Og Ethel, da vi var fattige – du holdt fast med meg da også .” Mannen sukket og sa “Jeg sier til deg, Ethel, du har vært en uflaks for meg!”
Det er bare en humoristisk historie, men den minner oss om hvordan vi kan vri på fakta og ikke klarer å gjenkjenne kjærligheten og lojaliteten til noen som bryr seg om oss.
Høres det kjent ut? Vi kan også klandre Gud for enhver elendighet eller motgang i våre liv.
ELENDIG BARNDOM
Barndommen min var elendig, og jeg pleide å skylde på Gud for å være urettferdig mot meg og resten av søsknene mine. Hvorfor og hvorfor? Jeg tenkte at Gud ikke brydde seg og at det var Han som forårsaket alle våre lidelser. Lite visste jeg at han bare formet meg til å bli en kvinne som han ville at jeg skulle være.
I vanskeligheter lærte Gud meg å holde ut, å håpe og stole på Ham. Da jeg ikke hadde noen, minnet han meg på at jeg har Ham. Jeg bli påminnet at livet er som et hjul. Noen ganger er vi oppe, noen ganger er vi nede, men vi må fortsette å rulle for å komme inn til våre destinasjoner. Veiene kan være ulendte eller glatte, men vi må fortsette å trille. I tillegg vil nok hjulene bli punktert, som oss, men Gud er der også for å reparere oss sammen igjen. Å tilføre litt luft (styrke) som vi trengte slik at vi kan fortsette å gå. Og belønningen? “Ingen øyne har sett og ingen ører har hørt ennå,” sa Jesus.
Hvordan kan vi skylde på noen som faktisk er den som hjelper oss? Men det skjer hver dag.
Det gode er at Gud er en tilgivende og forståelsesfull Gud. Hvis vi har kommet bort fra ham, kan vi alltid komme tilbake til ham.
Dagen min i dag gikk jo sin gang. Fikk gjort en del selv om jeg var halvsvimmel. Må prøve å leve likevel..
Så jeg prøvde med sittende trim på formiddagen. Etterpå dro jeg til butikken for å handle litt mat og til kirke for å delta i begravelsen av min venninnes svigerfar.
French physicist, mathematician, and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) said: “ There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which only God can fill through His Son, Jesus Christ.”
We try to fill this inner void for a variety of reasons:
We long to be loved.
We want to be blessed.
We feel empty.
We want to be clean.
We want to be happy.
We long for meaning and purpose in life.
But sometimes we don’t come to God to fill this inner void in our hearts.
We seek in the world, not in the Word and we drifted away from the source of everything we need in life. We fill our hearts with substitute gods.
It reminds me of my vacuum cleaner. Its job is to vacuum the dust and small particles on the floor. But if I use it to vacuum the dirt that it does not suit for its purpose, then it will be destroyed, like wet particles.
And so with our hearts if we fill them with things that should not be there.
God’s love should be in our hearts, not hate, envy, or lust. God will truly fill our God–shaped vacuum with Himself if we truly seek him.
Ask, and it will be given unto you; seek and you will find. Matthew 7:7
