Bible Talk

True story: I put on some lip gloss and starting driving my car with the windows open. As the wind picked up my hair began sticking to my newly applied lip gloss. I would pull it off my lips and it would just stick back on when the wind hit me. Very attractive....

That has nothing to do with this jewel just thought you might need a chuckle :)

What I really want to talk to you about is conversations with God.

What if I told you that right now, this very moment, I could show you how to talk to God and have Him answer you right back!! Would you be interested?

I’ll assume you said yes so here goes.

It’s that simple, yet I think the Bible is one of the best kept secrets ever! 

The Bible starts as an introduction to the One and only Holy & Mighty God.

It explains God's care for His people spoken through leaders & prophets. In Psalms God shows He understands both our joys and our sorrows. The book of John is referred to as the book of love as we are introduced to our sweet Jesus. The New Testament teaches us how to live after we accept Christ so we have a full blessed life. Then God tops it off with Revelation! The book of victory and a glimpse into end times here on earth and life in Heaven. THIS BOOK IS ACTION PACKED!
For me my Bible is truly my life line. I tried life without it and I can tell you it was 

pretty much a train wreck. My pages are marked up, highlighted and torn from many days of hanging onto God's word for dear life. I read it when I'm fearful, need encouragement, need a reminder of who I am in Christ. I read it when I'm sad or seeking knowledge. I read it when I want to be reminded how much I'm loved.
My Bible is my direct line to God's thoughts, His commands, His desires and His plan for my life. Every time I read it I find something new. It has love stories, war stories, history, prophecy and 31 Proverbs. One for each day of the month to give me wisdom. I love red letter Bibles where I'm reminded they are the words of Jesus Himself. I'm not super holy, I'm super needy.  My Bible has saved me thousands of dollars in therapist bills. It corrects me when I'm getting off track and reminds me of all the blessings coming my way when I obey. I get excited when I feel like Jesus is sharing a secret with me and I am in awe that God would allow me to read His personal diary. Not gonna lie I'm pretty stoked by this book.

After my mother was admitted into a nursing home my sisters and I had to go to my parents house to collect some of their personal items. One of the things I found that is priceless to me is my mother's Bible.


I didn't even know my mother had a personal Bible.
As many of you regular Gems know my mother and I did not have the best relationship so in a weird way my mothers Alzheimer condition kind of made things better for us. She didn't remember me so I became the nice lady that came to visit.  She was happy to see me and that made me happy.

I held this personal treasure in my hands and slowly began to look through the pages. I was excited and sad at the same time, wondering what my mother's thoughts were as she read this precious book.
Suddenly my heart skipped a beat as I found pages with verses underlined, pages where she had written a small note on the side of the page. I started digging through the pages looking for anything my mother might have written. I was getting a glimpse into her personal world with Jesus. What did they share? What spoke to her? What promises did she hang onto for dear life? What secrets did Jesus share with her?
Gems it was such a solemn moment for me. I'm full of emotion even as I write this jewel. For the first time I was meeting my mother as a Christian woman. Funny my mother keeps meeting me for the first time, the nice woman that came to visit. Isn't life strange and wonderful.
I use my mother's Bible every Wednesday when I go to Bible study. 

I tenderly carry it as if I were holding her hand and bringing her with me.
One day when I have gone home my children will find my Bible and they will meet another side of me as well. Yes, they have met me as a Christian but they will see many conversations I had with Jesus that they were not a part of. How many verses I claimed over each one of them. How often I petitioned God on their behalf. They will get a glimpse into my personal life with Jesus and what verses spoke to me. They will see for themselves that not only did I speak to Jesus, He spoke to me.
I hope this jewel has inspired you to get into your Bible. Read it, enjoy it, highlight verses that spoke to you, write notes in it and most importantly share it with those you love. Speak to Jesus then open His word and let God speak to you. Enjoy some Bible talk.

Where Do Your Feet Fail

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

This is one of my favorite songs by Hill Song . Many of you know it. It's an awesome praise song that we
sing as part of our worship but I would bet the person who wrote it lived it first and then it became a song 

We sing it with all our hearts, but do we mean it? Do we really want to trust the Lord without borders? Do we really want to walk upon the water? Do we really want to go deeper with the Lord?

The Lord asked me this very question a while back and I said yes,  that was right before we moved onto Storm Road.....

Gems the only way to go deeper with Jesus is to go with deeper with Jesus.

Many times in my life the Lord will use things in the natural to coincide with things happening in my spiritual world. 

For example, when Jessica and I first moved to Florida many of you know we moved in with friends. The Lord told me it was going to be a time for me to rest. He said He was putting an umbrella of protection over  us where everything we needed would be provided for us. The Lord said I was to enjoy the covering and rest. What I don't think I ever told you was we moved into a house on Parasol  Lane. 

God has such a sense of humor.

About 5 months ago the Lord moved us into another house but this time we moved onto Storm Rd.

2014 has started with some major storms for me and my family. Storms that cause you to go deeper. Storms that makes me call out to Jesus as I try and keep my head above the waves for fear I will drown.

Storms where the Spirit's leading is taking me deeper and with each wave I remember He asked me if I wanted to go and I said yes....

I'm not going to share all of the storms with you but I want to share one that we are in them middle of right now. My oldest daughter Amanda was called to the mission field in Mbale Uganda. She was very excited about it and I was trying to be. Africa is very far away!
She was only there a few short months before the storm began. Amanda had a small lump on her neck that was rapidly growing into a big lump. It got to the point where it was causing her problems breathing so she decided to see a doctor. It was determined she was going to need surgery to have her left thyroid lobe removed. I of course thought this meant she would be coming home... she didn't.
She said she felt God telling her to stay and have the surgery done in Kampala.
Now if you know me you know my mind can be CRAZY! The vision in my head of this surgery looked something like this. A guy sitting on a stool with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a dirty knife in his hand. Over his shoulder was a woman holding a flashlight and 2 men at the door holding a cooler to put my daughter's organs in.
I warned you I'm crazy.

I tried my best to talk my daughter into coming home but in my heart I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me she would be staying there. A dear friend offered me her frequent flyer miles to be with Amanda but the Lord said NO.
He was calling me deeper.

My daughter had her neck cut from one end to the other and before either one of us had a chance to comprehend what happened the next wave came, there was cancer and she would be having a 2nd surgery to remove the other side of the thyroid and a tumor. A second surgery in less than 10 days! An ocean away and nothing I could do to fix it.  I felt like I would drown! He
was calling me deeper...

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves.

The only way to go deeper with God is to go deeper.

Gems the thing is we sing about going deeper and we say
we want to go deeper but the truth is we don't. The minute things get a little uncomfortable we bail. The minute we have
to rely on that faith without borders we jump back into our life raft. The minute it's totally out of our control and we can't figure out how it's going to work out we cry UNCLE! 
I can't tell you how many times people tell me God told them to do this or that and they are so excited about their upcoming journey with the Lord.  I see them a few months later and the plan went out the window and when I ask why? They tell me God must have changed his mind. Really?
It sounds more like your feet have failed. Gems don't ask people what God is thinking. If He changed the plan He will tell you. This is the only way your faith can be made stronger you have to go where He calls you.

The sad truth is we want to go deeper but we don't want to hit any real storms. We want to skip over the hard part and just have all the provision before any waves come. The problem with that plan is you get the glory not God and He is all about His glory!
We want it to be easy but God never said it was easy to be in the center of His will.
What He did say is He will make a way when there seems to be no way, IF we trust in Him. 

I don't know what ocean your in right now but I can tell you, you can trust the one who made it. God wants to go deeper with everyone of us. He told me "the bigger the problem the bigger my glory." I'll be honest I'm no super human without fear, my first response was I'm not ready for bigger glory especially when it's my child we're talking about. God knows all to well what it's like to give a child for His glory.
Gems if we are truly going to be the bride of Christ we better start looking like her. These can't just be songs we sing they must be lives we live. Get in the water, go through the storm and let's walk on these waters where we know our feet will fail because it is only then that Christ will carry you.  You can rest in His embrace.

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Comfort Tomb

I was having a Nana day with my grandson Lucas and he was telling me the story about Lazarus from John 11. As he retold the story to me in Lucas version he said “And God called Lazarus out of the grave, out loud so Lazarus would be the only dead guy to come out.”

Gems at that moment I had a mental picture of a bunch of mummies sitting up, looking at each other and saying me you me you????

This of course got me thinking that God does call each one of us by name. We may not be called to raise someone from the dead but we may be called to raise someone’s hopes from the dead.

 I think sometimes we think if we don’t have some huge calling that we are not being called at all but that my friend is a lie from the pit.

I love the story of Elijah when he wanted to hear from God.

1 King 19:¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: ¹²And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire 

Gems most times it’s the still small voice inside of you that is telling you what God wants from you but you are in your comfort tomb, wrapped up tightly in your garment of security and you don't want to come out.

A few months ago a new woman joined my weekly ladies Bible study. Her name is Karin and as I introduced myself I felt the Holy Spirit say “be a good friend to her.”

Karin seemed like a nice enough woman but the truth is I could tell she was a bit older than me so we wouldn't have much in common and my plate was full right now. I had a pretty packed tomb and while I had no intentions of being a bad friend I didn't ask the Holy Spirit what He meant by being “a good friend” because knowing Him He would tell me. Bottom line Jesus was calling me out of my tomb. 

Over the next few weeks I couldn't help but grow closer to Karin. She had the sweetest spirit and was a genuinely kind person. We had a bond knit together by the Holy Spirit and I couldn't be happier to be her friend and knew she was my friend too.

One Wednesday she missed our Bible study and I ran into her at a store that afternoon. I told her we missed her and being the nosy person I am I asked where she was. Karin told me she was just coming back from Moffit Cancer Center. I had no idea she had cancer.

Over the next few weeks I would get together with Karin at her house as her condition seemed to worsen quickly.

I would visit her on weekends and my days off from work. We would pray together and I would read the Bible to her. Sometimes I would read one of my jewels, did I mention she was a Gena's Jewels fan :)  My stories seem to encourage her as we had a lot of the same family issues.

Hospice was eventually called in. It has been hard watching my dear friend deteriorate right before my eyes. In spite of her condition she always had a great attitude and NEVER complained! As I would read God's word I would look up to see her small fragile face with the most angelic smile on it.

 She absorbed God's word and He was so faithful to tell me exactly what passages He wanted read to His beautiful daughter. They were having a very personal experience

together and He used me to be His mouth piece. He took

me from my tomb to let Karin know the tomb could not contain Jesus and it wouldn't contain her either!

A few days before she died I was able to sit with Karin, actually I climbed into bed with her. I stroked her soft hair and sang songs quietly into her ear. I reminded her how much Jesus loved her and how He was waiting for his sweet bride to come home to the room He had prepared for her.

Her still small voice asked me if we could do communion one more time. As I held her fragile head in my hands and lifted the tiny cup to her awaiting lips to partake of our Lord's supper it brought her such comfort. She understood that Jesus shed blood was her promise of eternal life.
Gems it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

It was at that moment I heard the Holy Spirit thanking me for being a good friend to His sweet servant. 

I wept as I thought of my initial response to stay in my tomb and not be imposed on.

I was honored Karin and her family allowed me to be a small part of Karin's last trek on her journey home.

Gems I'm not telling you this story for any praise on my part but to remind you that we all get comfortable in our personal tomb and God is calling each one of us to come out.

We so often think ''someone else will do it” but God has called each of us for a certain purpose. Don't miss yours, don't stay in your comfort tomb when Jesus says out loud

“ your name here COME OUT!”

Greatest Gift of All

Well it’s that time of year again when people say things like Jesus is the reason for the season and they shop and bake and are usually nicer than other times during the year. It can be the happiest and saddest time of the year.

A few years ago the Holy Spirit gave me a challenge. He said if I really wanted to celebrate Chirst birth to do it without partaking in all the worldly stuff like wreaths, trees and gifts.
I agreed and as you can imagine took major crap from people about my personal challenge, but that’s another jewel.
It was hard at first as I was a major decorator during the Christmas season and I loved doing it. I have lots of ornaments the kids have made over the years that I treasure. I loved the tradition of placing them on the tree and savored every memory that came with it.  

As you know I’m not big on cooking but we always made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang to Him Christmas morning.

In spite of all the good feelings for me I would take this personal challenge.

Gems it was a very eye opening season for me on so many levels and 7 years later I continue to celebrate without all the fixins.

This is not an “atta girl Gena” jewel or a "you should do this too jewel," it’s just me sharing with you my little world.

I sat on my couch one day clicking through the channels on TV and was overwhelmed by the amount of commercials trying to get us to buy their perfect holiday gift. I remarked to the Lord how crazy it all was.

I wondered, what kind of gift can you actually give Jesus if that’s who you’re really celebrating?  Without skipping a beat the Holy Spirit answered me.

Its funny because it was more of a thought than a question. Not something I was waiting on an answer for.  How many questions do we ask intentionally that seem to take forever to get an answer to?

Yet the Holy Spirit challenged me once again. He said there is a gift you can give Jesus that He always really wants yet seldom receives. He would love the soul of the lost. He said it’s the only gift He came to give and the only gift we can help give back.

The Holy Spirit challenged me to look back over all the years of tree trimming and birthday cakes and see how many people I actually shared the good news of Jesus with.

I am ashamed to tell you that the number was very small. I didn't wake up each morning thinking who can I share Jesus with, I woke up thinking who else do I need to have a gift for. And then there were the spare gifts I kept just in case I forgot someone. When all the while I had the most precious gift, the gift of salvation.

Maybe the best gift I could have given any one was the opportunity to go with me to the mall or anywhere people were and ask someone, anyone, do you know Jesus. Helping someone including myself to obey God’s COMMAND!
Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Gems this is a command not a suggestion. The Holy Spirit said to me “Gena if you really want to do something for the so called Jesus Season how about doing what He commanded.” He said there is nothing more special than sharing Christ with someone and seeing them give their heart to Christ for Christmas.

OUCH…

It doesn't say expect them to come to church because besides Easter it’s the next best day. Jesus said for us to go and find them.

I’m not slamming inviting people to church. After we share the gospel sure, invite them to church but we have to stop waiting for the lost to show up where we are.

I was really convicted and felt it my Christian duty to convict you too J All in love brothers and sisters.
I challenged myself that the next day I would talk to at least one person and ask if they knew Jesus.

Frances Chan gave a great example. He said imagine you’re at a football game and your favorite team gets into the huddle, goes over the plays, slaps each other on the butt then goes back and sits on the bench. They never actually do the plays they have practiced. Can you imagine if game after game they did this?

He said church can be like that. We come week after week, hearing a great message, getting filled up but never doing anything with what we learned. Then we show up again the next week ready for more plays we won’t use. Frances said it way better but you catch my drift.

Gems we were, are and will continue to be the tool God chose to use to share the gospel.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven Luke 1:76-78

Gems I’m not telling you how to celebrate the birth of Christ or change your Christmas traditions but we have to ask ourselves, why are we so committed to our traditions yet willing to sit on the bench to His commands?
So my gift to you is the same challenge, make sharing the greatest gift of all with someone this week because

                  


My dear friend Evelyn wrote this poem and I wanted to share it with you.

Reminder: Jesus Is the Reason for the Season!

Twas the night before SK Christmas, when all through CFM,

All the volunteers were ready to give their embrace.
The bags of hope were placed on the tables with care,
In hopes that are guests will soon all be there.

The children came running in hope of some toys,
As Paula and Lisa laid out clothing overjoyed.
While Lyn and Mark prepared for the night,
Our volunteers and leaders were full of delight.

When out on the darkness there arose such a clatter,
We all turned our heads to see what was the matter.
Away to the sidewalk we flew in a flash,
As David and Kevin arrived with the stash.

The prayer team prepared by the glittering lights,
As Maureen and Wendy registered on site.
When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,
Bill Collier and Deacon Mark spreading some cheer.

With a microphone ready, so lively and skilled,
We knew in a moment it must be our Bill.
More rapid than eagles our guests came,
As he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Brian! now, Nancy! now, Larry and Lee!
On, Susie! On, Les! on, Tony and James!
To your feet all at once! Together they shouted!
Together in Jesus let us all be United!"

As we handed out pizza, hot cocoa and cake,
We watch in amazement and were there to partake.
As our Christmas Celebration began to unfold,
Pastor Steve watched in contentment, oh bless his soul.

And then, in a twinkling, we felt through the night,
The presence of the holy Spirit right here at our site.
As we praise our Lord, and were turning around,
We could feel the love of Jesus so very profound.

There before us stood a man dressed in rags,
Dirt from head to toes and carrying a bag.
His clothes were all tarnished, smelly and with holes,
As if someone had beat him and ripped off his clothes.
A bundle of his belongings he had flung on his back,
And he looked destitute, as he stopped in his track.

He looked tired and longing for some sleep,
As he looked to see if we had something to eat.
His skin badly burned from sleeping outside,
His garment with blood drawn down from the side.
The beard on his face was prickly and long,
Made him look years older and completely withdrawn.

The sandals he wore on his feet were so worn,
His feet were all dirty and slightly deformed.
He had hands of a carpenter, so rough and so tough,
Let us to believe he was experienced and knew his stuff.

He was skinny and tall, a once handsome man,
Down on his luck, and in need of a plan.
A look in his eye and our faith in the Lord,
Soon gave us the feeling that his heart he implored.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to a seat,
And filled his belly with all the food he could eat.
And as we watched him leave our site,
He gave a nod of thanks, a glance of delight.
We knew we had done everything right!

As he sprang to the street, and vanished into the night,
We were sure we had served our Savior tonight.
But we heard him exclaim, as he walked out of sight,
"Blessed Christmas my Servants, and to all a blessed-night!"

Written by His Servant for Life,

Lyn

Corner of Cross & Hope

^{Words are so powerful and how we use them have more impact on people than we sometimes realize.
This is such a story and we find it in John 5.}Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda^[ and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

 

OK so Jesus tells this guy to pick up his mat and walk and he does and he’s healed. This may be a familiar story for many of you and like me you may feel thankful that after 38 years this guy is finally healed. You may even find it interesting that Jesus didn’t put him in the pool, he told him to get up so he had to do something as part of the healing. But this isn’t the part I want to talk about.

After he is healed the Jewish leaders find out about him and as usual are trying to get Jesus in trouble for breaking the law. Here is the part that struck me. They ask the guy what’s the name of the man who healed you and the guy has NO IDEA!

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was

That Gems is pretty crazy. He wasn’t healed because he knew who Jesus was or because he had great faith in him it was because Jesus told him to pick up his mat and walk.

There was something in what Jesus said this man needed to hear.  Jesus saw something in this man he didn’t see in himself.

I’ll give you an example of something that happened just the other day. My Bible study group went to visit one of our sisters who is battling cancer, we will call her Betty. She was having a really bad day both physically and emotionally. Our friend Beverly told her she needed to come to an event with her that night and she would pick her up.

Now I gotta be honest here. I thought to myself  there is NO WAY Betty is going to be able to go. What is my friend thinking? Does she not see how sick and frail she is? I even tried to help Betty out by interrupting, how unlike me, and telling Beverly to call first and see if she is up to it. Obviously Beverly needed my help evaluating this situation......

Well to my surprise Betty did go with her. Not only did she go she drover herself!

I went to see Betty the next day and she said something really profound to me. She told me that when Beverly first invited her she said no but as Beverly persisted, she does that, Betty thought to herself “if Beverly thinks I can do this than maybe I can.”

And with that she got dressed and drove herself! Why? Because someone believed she could! That paralyzed man got up because someone said he could.

Gems I'm writing this jewel as a reminder for all of us to invest ourselves in those around us. In whatever community God has placed us in, find out who needs cheering and do it. 

I heard a wonderful analogy the other day about community using eggs as an example. The writer said community shouldn’t be like boiled eggs. Eggs in the same pot but still have a hard shell on so they are still sheltered from one another. He said we should be like fried eggs.

When several eggs are in the pan the whites overlap each other. The yoke stays because we are all individuals but as a community we should be touching each other's lives. Was that great or what!
Wish I would have thought of it.

The day I found that sign I was with my new friend
Jenny. It was God's sense of humor. She was
sharing her life with me and I was cheering her on
as we drove in my car. When we parked I told her we needed to read the street sign so we could find my car when we wanted to leave. I think we joked that God would give us a sign.... 

Gems sometimes in life we come to the corner of Cross and Hope in our lives. We can have hope because of what Christ did on the cross. We can also gain hope when our brothers and sisters rally around us and ask, do you want to do this? Do you want to be healed, forgiven, reunited, validated you fill in the blank. Sometimes we need someone to firmly tell us to take up whatever is on our mat and walk.
To not only be in the same pan but be a part of it.
So to whatever Gem needs to hear that word today here it is
YOU CAN DO IT!!!!! I believe in you, I have faith in you. Carry your cross and find hope!