Like Minded People

 

^{Luke 1:}

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.”

³⁹ Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

 

So I wanna talk about Mary for a minute.  As you all know Mary gets a crazy visit from an Angel with an even crazier message about not only having a baby BUT having THE baby that would save the world.  Honestly I can’t wrap my mind around all that. 

 

Mary had some explaining to do but I love that the Angle gives her the response to all the comments she would get from family and friends and yes at the beginning even Joseph.

When they say “what do you mean an angel spoke to you?” or “it’s not possible you are pregnant without having sex!” or “how can you say this is from God?” you can imagine the accusations. Even though Mary could agree with some of their comments she only had one explanation and it was given to her from God Himself.  NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

 

Ok so Mary gets this mind boggling message and no one believes her or in her at the moment. God in His mercy also gives Mary another message that she may have forgotten for a time in light of her own word, a message about Elizabeth.  He lets her in on a little secret about Elizabeth and her conceiving a son as well. The Bible tells us that Mary arose and went in a hurry to find Elizabeth.  I’m sure saying she went in a hurry was an understatement! She probably hauled butt to Elizabeth as she would possibly be the only person that would consider her unbelievable announcement.

 

 

(Side note: We know Elizabeth is 6 months pregnant and Mary is maybe three, I don’t know for sure. However when Mary enters the room the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps when the baby in Mary’s womb comes near him. Hmmmmm obviously these are two live babies.)

Back to Mary and Elizabeth, I’m sure they were talking so fast about Angels and babies and miracles they literally fell into each other’s arms feeling both relief and comfort.

 

 

Mary needed a like-minded person, someone who loved and obeyed God and personally experienced Him move in a very unusual way. You just can’t totally understand if you haven’t experienced it.

 

I guess where I’m going with this is, that same need of being near someone who understands you, and supports you when you get a “crazy message” is still needed today. We still need likeminded people as we journey.

 

Philippians 2:2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

 

God can give unusual request.  He tells Joshua to march around a city 7 times then blow trumpets and he will win the war, Jesus spit in someone’s eye, a great warrior dipped in a regular river and was cured of leprosy, a donkey talked to his rider, the list goes on and on, read your bible.

 

Right off the top of my head I can name two friends that understand this feeling of "I just got a crazy message," my friend Charlotte and T-Bone. We have definitely had some “hurried visits” when we needed someone to be liked minded.  T-bone is the most outrageous person I have ever met! He truly lives by faith and to be honest the longer I know him the more he looks like an Old Testament prophet. I have heard myself say to him what some have said to me “I’m glad God didn’t ask me to do that.” He is the real deal but I can tell you it comes at a cost. I don't always understand the things God has him do but I don't question them. I just pray for him to have the strength and courage to fulfill his calling.

 

Gems I just don’t want to get too comfortable on this journey home. I don’t know where you are right now and honestly I’m doing a lot of praying on where I’m headed. I don’t have any grand insight but I do know that nothing is impossible for God. So I want to encourage you today to walk or hurry if you have to but don’t limit God in your life.  If you don’t feel challenged maybe you need to hang with some new people for a while. I’m not saying lose your old friends but definitely embrace new ones.

 

I pray 2017 will be a year that will have some unexplainable moments for you, a year you will hurry to find a like-minded person, heck their probably looking for you.  I pray it will be a year you will experience the truth that NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD!

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

Calling All Virgins

My girls and I went to a craft fair over the weekend and were laughing at how many people were lined along the field escorting us to a parking space. My daughter teased that we would run out of gas before we ever parked. To be honest I started to complain that they were sending us so far away from where the festivities were and it was going to take a long time to walk and it was hot and we had a baby with no stroller and wa wa wa…

We were in a pretty long line of cars when all of a sudden we were waved on in another direction. What’s this??? Why are we being routed a different way? It seemed the next few attendants were seeing something as they waved us on to a better field, closer to the event. At first I thought, was there an angel on my hood? Probably not since I had been complaining…

Finally my daughter noticed I had the pink paid parking ticket on my dashboard but I also had a blue card showing. When we finally parked we were in the VIP parking!!! They had mistaken my blue card for a VIP card. It was actually my parking ticket from the day before that I got in Tarpon Springs!

We all had a good laugh and thanked the Lord for the great parking spot in spite of my complaining.

This of course got me thinking….. How many times are we a part of something by association, or mistake as in my case, but not because it’s where we actually decided to be.

I have been reading about the 10 Virgins in Matthew. There were 10 virgins’ five wise and five foolish.
Matthew 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

In the first century Jewish wedding a bridegroom with his best friends left his home when his father told him it was time for him to go get his bride.

History lesson taken from Glenn Kay

The culminating step in the Process of the Jewish Wedding
The final step in the wedding proces is called - Nissuin - the word commons from the Hebrew verb - hsn ( nasa) - which means , "to carry." This is a graphic description - as the bride would be waiting for her groom to come - to carry her off to her new home. The period of the betrothal - was a time of great anticipation - as the bride waited for the arrival of her betrothed. One of the unique features of the Biblical Jewish wedding was the time of the groom's arrival - it was to be a surprise:
The bride took the betrothal seriously - expecting at the end of the year long period of the betrothal. She knew the approximate timing - but the exact hour or day was uncertain.
It was the father of the groom who would give the final approval for the marriage to begin.

The coming of the Bridegroom and the Wedding Begins
Since the time of his arrival was a surprise - the bride and her bridal party were always to be ready - this is the background of Yeshua's parable (^{Mat. 25:1-13). It was customary for one of the grooms party to go ahead of the bridegroom, leading the way to the bride's house - and shout - "Behold, the bridegroom comes." This would be followed by the sounding of the shofar. At the sounding of the shofar the entire wedding processional would go through the streets of the city to the bride's house.}
No one knew when that would be except the father (sound familiar? Mark 13:32 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. We don’t know when Christ will return for His bride, us the body of believers)

There were all kind of festivities and then a procession through the streets. Everyone in the procession was expected to carry his or her own torch or lamp in case it was evening when the bridegroom came. This could last several days before finally getting back to the groom’s house so you had to have extra oil to keep your lamp or torch burning so people would know you weren’t a wedding crasher.

The thing is all the virgins in the scripture were getting drowsy and falling asleep so apparently there was a delay.

Have you ever felt like you were waiting on God for something and were getting tired of waiting? I have….

Apparently God uses delays intentionally! I heard it said that God uses delay to test our faith. Did you know that after God told Noah to build the ark, which may have taken 120 years to do, and after he finally got in the ark and God closed the doors it still took 7 days for it to start raining!!! Did there really need to be a delay???  Many people say Jesus isn't returning because it hasn't happened yet. I believe the "delay" is to give people time to accept Him because we know God's heart is that none should perish.

Ok so the Bible says 5 virgins were prudent/wise and 5 were foolish.

All the ladies that were waiting for the bridegroom had a lamp which would represent the word of God and all had oil which represents the Holy Spirit. Basically we are all on the same playing field, there was no favoritism.

The difference is some had extra oil.

What I think this means is the five foolish virgins represent non-believers today. They know about Jesus because they may have read the Bible or heard about Jesus in a church service or from a friend, especially this time of year when people are more verbal about their belief in the birth of Christ.

They may have even said "the prayer." But they don’t KNOW Jesus personally. They have just enough, a lamp, to be a part of the wedding procession on the outside. Like me with that extra blue card on my windshield, I looked like I was a VIP but if anyone would have looked closely at my ticket they would have seen I wasn't.  The foolish virgins weren't actually ready for Christ, our bridegroom, to return because they don’t have their lamp lit. They don’t  personally KNOW Jesus.
Being ready for Christ’s return involves one major thing, we must be born again through saving faith in Jesus Christ…His death, burial and resurrection from the dead (<sup>John 3:16; 14:6; Romans 10:9 and 10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:1-10).  Jesus tells us He will know His children by their fruit. That we will be looking ahead getting ready for His return, studying His word so we will see the signs and not be caught off guard when He arrives even if we don’t know the exact day.

Titus 2:11-14, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
The foolish virgins represent those who enjoy being a part of the "Christian Community" but they are not in love with the Savior. They want to be at the end party but they don’t want to "fill their lamp" with more of the Holy Spirit to try and live like Christ, which can only be done with the Holy Spirit, because we need His strength to strive to look like Jesus and His mercy when we screw up.</sup>
Their hoping that having relationship with true believers "give us some of your oil" will get them to the wedding. That will never happen, one person’s faith cannot save another person.

Gems we need to be a part of that wedding procession, being the light for the lost showing them the way to Jesus!! We have to keep extra oil daily, praying and spending time with our Lord and really falling in love with God.

I’m not talking about being perfect or judgmental I’m just sharing the word of God with you. The only thing sadder than not being able to attend the wedding, have a home in Heaven, would be knowing I had time to share the message with people I love and didn’t bother doing it.

Listen, my life was a total train wreck before I began a relationship with Jesus. I could do nothing to fix some of the decisions I made. I knew I was a horrible sinner that NEEDED forgiveness but what good would it be to repent and have sorrow for your sin if there was no one to cover the cost! The cost being eternity in hell. That would have been my decision not God’s.

It’s Christmas time again and again the most precious, life giving gift is free!! The playing field is the same for all of us.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son that who so ever believes in Him shall have eternal life."

In the Middle East a fable is told of a Baghdad merchant who sent his servant to the marketplace to run an errand. When the servant had completed his assignment and was about to leave the marketplace, he turned a corner and unexpectedly met Lady Death.

The look on her face so frightened him that he left the marketplace and hurried home. He told his master what had happened and requested his fastest horse so that he could get as far from Lady Death as possible – a horse that would take him all the way to Sumera before nightfall.

Later the same afternoon the merchant himself went to the marketplace and met Lady Death. "Why did you startle my servant this morning?" he asked.

"I didn’t intend to startle your servant – it was I who was startled," replied Lady Death. "I was surprised to see your servant in Baghdad this morning, because I have an appointment with him in Sumera tonight."
Moral of the story we all have an appointment with death…..

Gems you may not need this message BUT someone you know might. Don’t let them be a "foolish virgin" share your light with them now! Give them an opportunity to have the best husband ever and to be filled with the Holy Spirit who can be their best friend here on this earth. Give them the gift of eternal life in Heaven because the groom Jesus Christ is coming back for His bride.

　

　

Death Has Lost It's Sting

💜💜💜

My mom Rose Marie Theresa Rignola Markstaller and my sister Melinda Lee Markstaller the best care giver ever!!!!!

As you can imagine saying goodbye to a loved one is not an easy thing go do.
I had planned to visit my mother in November, the 12th, my ticket was purchased, my time was scheduled with work and arrangements were made with my sister. I tried to get to her at least every six months as her health seemed to be worse with each visit. All of "my" plans were made.  But God....

Gems I cannot express to you enough the importance of having time with the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to be heard. Our lives are so loud and we are so busy but He comes in a still small voice. Maybe because He wants to know we WANT to hear Him.

And that's what happened I heard Him say "Gena go now."  It was Tuesday Nov 1st. I called the airline and they had 2 flights available.

Before I tell you that I want to rewind to my last trip to New York.
Do you remember a few months back Southwest had a glitch in their computer system and all their flights were delayed or cancelled. People were sitting in airports all over the country, I was one of those people. Little did I know God was already preparing a blessing for me. About 2 weeks after that ordeal I received an email from Southwest offering me a 1/2 price ticket any where in the country but it had to be booked by the end of October.... My ticket to New York, the Lord always provides.

The Southwest rep said they had a flight at 10 A.M. Wednesday 11/2  but it had a 3 hour lay over in MD. The next flight was a direct flight and would arrive at 11 P.M.  I may not have told you this but I really don't like flying so my first thought was take the straight flight! Again I heard the Spirit say "go now."
I took the first flight. There was a $400. charge to change the ticket, but God.... She waved the fee.

The flight was early due to favorable winds (Angels) I arrived on Long Island a little before 5 and was at my mother's side by 5:20, thank you Chrissy Bartow!

Gems I had the honor of praying my mom into Heaven, an honor I will be forever grateful for, however, nothing about her death was pretty or peaceful.
My mother had pneumonia and basically drown in her own fluids. She made the most horrible gurgling sounds and gasped for breath for hours. It was the most heart wrenching experience I have ever endured.

My sister and I held her tight, praying and reminding her she was loved and was not alone. My family and I were and are truly happy my mother's suffering had ended.
 
My mother went home to Jesus at 9:10 P.M. November 2, 2016 If I hadn't listened to the Holy Sprit I would have missed being with her. 

I want to honor my mother and share part of her eulogy.

 

Rose Marie Markstaller the mother of Darlene, Melinda, Eddie Joe, Gena and Michael. She was a grandmother, great grand mother, daughter, aunt cousin and friend.

 

My mom was a loyal person. One of the best traits she left in her family was generosity my mom would give you her last dollar, if she didn't have something you needed she would find a way to get it for you  even if she had to buy it herself. 

 

My mom could stretch a dollar further than any person I have ever met. She had the envelope program long before Dave Ramsey, another trait she instilled in us. She always found a way to make money which was good because she had a personal account with Home Shopping Network.

This also created in us the ability to work hard for what we want. 

My mother did not finish high school or go to college but she didn't let that determine what she would accomplish.

She went to beauty school and became a hair dresser. Saturday mornings were busy with my grandmother and other relatives having their hair done for the following week.
My mother's own hair was very thin and she wore wigs. She was so meticulous that they matched perfect so you couldn't tell it wasn't her own hair.
One Sunday she and my father came to church with us, my Amanda was about 8 and as I introduced them to some friends Amanda announced quote proudly "this is my grandma she can take off her hair and my grandpa can take out his teeth!" My mother was not happy.

 

My mom was sooooo Independent, driving back and forth from New York to FL by herself taught us to do things we are afraid of doing alone. Do it afraid!

 

My mother put up with my father and that's all I'm going to say about that.  This taught us about being committed to someone, to the very end my mother truly loved and took care of my father and although he may not have been the most kind person my father loved in his own way and took care of his wife and family to the end.

My mother was able to be a stay at home mom, each Friday my father handed over his check to her. She always had a beautiful home, their bills were paid and they had good cars. My father worked a physically manual job everyday then worked the nursery after work and all weekend.

More qualities that were instilled in us their children.

But the best thing my mother learned about was a relationship with Jesus Christ!

When people hear a person dies, especially someone like my mom who was suffering they say she's in a better place. But are they? Yes there is another place we will spend eternity and one of those places is hell.

You may be thinking well you just listed all these good things about your mom so of course she's in a better place /Heaven BUT if that was all I shared then NO, she would be in a way worse place and the suffering she had here would be Nothing  compared to the suffering she would begin in hell because that is where she would be.
 

But thank you Lord that is not where my mother's story will end.

 

You may have come here today because it has stirred in you the reality that you too will die or to show your respect for the dead but I want you to leave here knowing that my mother is not dead and you can choose to see her again. 

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 

  

God's word tells us in John 14:2-3  “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

God sent His son Jesus Christ to allow us relationship with Him and know that death has truly lost it's sting.If the last memory I would have of my mother was her shriveled up grey body I would be a basket case. But God...
We, you, can spend eternity in the presence of our Lord if we admit we need Christ, ask forgiveness for our sins, repent and accept Christ as the only pardon for our sins.

Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 

Only GOD!

 

This is where I get it from :)

 

 

One of my favorite moments, reading the Bible to my mom.

 

 

see you soon mommy

In His Presence

 

  

Hi Gems! It’s been a while since I’ve written. I hope you are all doing well, I haven’t had a computer for some time and have missed sharing life with you.  

I’m currently in a study from 2nd Timothy.  Part of the lesson is talking about our Mentors. The homework was to write down both past and present mentors in our life. I have had many mentors, some are in Heaven, some I have never met (I listen to teaching on internet) and they don’t know they are my mentor. I’m like the creeper apprentice I guess. Some I have shared a part of my life with and some are active in my circle right now. I appreciate all of them but the one I want to talk about first is Fran Bozeman.  

 

I’m sure you have heard me talk about Fran in the past. She is in Heaven now and I miss her like crazy! 

 

Fran had quite the fan club. I first met her when I was pregnant with Nathanael so that would have been about 25 years ago. I was new to the whole Bible study thing and joined a church that had a women’s study during the week. I didn’t join to study the Bible I joined because I wasn’t used to being home during the day, I had always worked and I was bored and needed friends. Just keepin it real here. 

 

I picked the class I wanted to join and off I went. When I first arrived everyone met in the chapel for a small service before we broke off into our groups. There were women of all ages and I was happy because many of them were my age. I guess they were bored too. I was anxiously anticipating who  

would be my new friend. I scanned the room to find a target that I would shoot my smile at and hope my look of desperation didn’t scare them off. 

 

After we all settled down the leader of the group came in. She was an OLDER woman (probably a little older then I am right now) and as she walked up to the podium I remember thinking geeezzze I hope this old lady doesn’t talk all day cause I want to get to my small group. I have friends to make! 

 

Two minutes into Fran speaking I was captivated. She was the most amazing speaker I had ever heard. She  was a retired missionary who loved Jesus.  I had never heard anyone speak of Jesus like they knew him as a friend. She spoke of some of her travels and the things she had witnessed. I was hooked! I walked right up to her afterwards and told her she needed to be my friend. I went each week just to hear Fran speak. I couldn't wait to hear more about her fascinating life. 

 

I was a wreck of a believer when I first met Fran but she poured into me and walked me through some very tough times. She was the most humble and loving woman I had ever met. I loved our intimate conversations and the times I could ask her questions. I loved how she gave me guidance without any judgment and would pray over me. One day she looked me straight in the eye and said “Gena when you finally go to bed at night AND finally fall asleep your angel’s go whew.”  

  

I loved being IN her presence not just having her present.  

 

I want to break that down a bit. If Fran and I were both at the same church service and she was on one side of the auditorium and I on the other she was present but not in my presence. 

When I was at the study she was present but there was usually a line of women waiting to speak to her. Again she was present but not in my presence. 

If we were at the same social gathering it was a little better because she was present and I might get a few minutes with her but again I wasn’t alone in her presence. 

 

No joke, one time I was tired of waiting for my turn. I had tried to schedule a meeting with Fran for weeks and she was always so busy, I had no choice I had to take matters into my own hands. I showed up at her office and told her I NEEDED her to come outside with me. She did, ahhh Fran so trusting… I got her to get in my car and then I drove her to an empty baseball field parking lot not far from the church so I could have some alone time with her. I had pretty much kidnapped a missionary. We laughed about that many times over the years. 

 

Gems, there is nothing more precious than being in the presence of someone you love and they are just as happy to be there as you are. The truth is Fran let herself be kidnapped as she also needed some alone time with her crazy Gena friend.  

 

I always felt better after my time with Fran. I got a needed hug or word of advice that made my journey easier to bare. I felt loved and cared for and that gave me strength to keep moving forward. 

This of course got me to thinking about my sweet Jesus. We know God is omnipresent but is He always present. I used to say yes of course but I have found that is not the correct answer. Of course He is everywhere all the time but I mean that intimate time of KNOWING He is right there with you. 

 

We can go to church and hear a sermon about God but did we engage with Him? We can have a quiet time and read our Bible about Him but did we talk to Him? 

Do we enter into His presence?   

 

When I have my time alone with the Lord I pray, read my bible and sometimes play worship music. It’s not a formula and you don’t have to do it, it’s just what I do that helps me get focused and empty the thousands of thoughts in my head so I can have that one on one time. Like parking at an empty parking lot with Him so we have one another’s undivided attention. 

 

Last weekend I was having one of those times with Jesus. My friend Karen called, I don’t usually answer my phone during these times but she was visiting from Texas and I knew she would be leaving soon.  Karen offered to take me for a massage and facial. A fun girl’s time with the two of us and my youngest daughter Jessica. I had been wanting a facial for a while and it sounded really tempting but ya know what Gems I knew I was in the Lord’s presence that morning. There was no burning bush or audible voice I could just feel Him. We were hanging together and I didn’t want to give up a minute of it. I know how crazy my life can be and I’m not usually in an empty house so as much as I appreciated the generous offer I was going to hang out right where I was. 

 

Yes God is omnipresent but that presence doesn’t ignite my fire any more than being in the same building as Fran did. Does that make sense to you? 

My spirit is refueled after my time with the Holy Spirit. My love tank is filled after I hear how much Jesus loves me. I am at peace knowing that the creator of the world is the God I serve and this definitely helps me to keep moving forward and not be filled with fear of all the things I have no control over. 

 

If you haven’t done this in a while let the Lord kidnap you and go somewhere alone with Him.  If you're not sure what I'm talking about write me I would love to share more with you. If you don't know Jesus as your Savior just ask Him to take over your life and He will make Himself real to you. 

Do what you have to but don’t miss out on being there, In His Presence!