Just stand

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Kristen Palser

Today I was on e-bay, one of my favorite hobbies.  I started to think and wondered if people in the Bible had talisman’s.  You know, good luck charms.  Then I remembered that Moses had that cane that God gave him.

But that wasn’t a good luck object.  I thought, that was more like a weapon.  The instructions were to through it down which would then scare or impress your enemy when it turned into a snake.  Personally, if that were my stick,  I would sleep with it in an elevated state.  Up on the counter would be a good option. Jugs of water surrounding it, keeping it in place.  I wouldn’t want it converting in the middle of the night while I was sleeping.

It did another more thing.  It could split the sea, therefore killing your enemies when they followed you through.  I sometimes wonder if they realized he had the stick and they didn’t.  Who wouldn’t want God to do it all perfectly if I just handled the stick properly.  It wasn’t a 72 piece assembly set for my entertainment center.  Simple instructions only, please.  Lay it down or the strike the water option.  Look at the ground and use the appropriate technique.  You can get it.

But then I realized, when Moses put the stick on the ground, he wasn’t doing anything at all. It wasn’t a weapon.  His hands were empty. He didn’t do any fighting.  Although, he might have been praying, “Please don’t bite me.”

But who was doing all the work?  God.  Moses’ job was really only to stand.  Ephesians 6:13 in the Bible tells us to put on the full armor of God and then to “stand”.  Some versions tell us to stand firm.

So I ask myself and any who are reading.  Can we just stand?  Leave the battle to God.  He has it all.  We stand in church.  Maybe that’s practice.  We stand in line.  That’s building patience.  We stand up for causes.  Solidarity?  

If you are laying down today.  You can still stand.  Ask someone who is standing.  It’s their job to help you up and teach you to stand.  They have practiced.  I think leaning against each other counts.  You can use a wall till someone gets there.  God’s on the job.  It’s His day today. We stand. He fights.  Sigh of relief and Amen.

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Who do you look like?

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Kristen Palser

Who hasn’t looked at family photos trying to figure out who that particular child looks like.  It’s even harder when the child in question is a baby.  They are still in the delivery room and we are demanding pictures on our smart phones, wondering if they look like mom or dad, or grandpa or the aunt.

Me personally? People always think I look like my mother.  That’s perhaps because I spend a lot of time with her and they always see me with her.  Our mannerisms are the same.  Then they see me with my father or remember what his mother looked like.  That’s who I really look like, but my actions look like my mother.  Because I have spent a lot of time with her, I have learned her ways.  I’m lucky, I think.  I look like two beautiful people.

It made me think, because I spent a lot of time looking at pictures, God is our spiritual father.  Jesus told his disciples that if they knew the father, they would know Him (Jesus).  He was saying He was like God.  He said it more than once.  Evidently the disciples weren’t understanding it.  There’s a reason Jesus compared us to sheep.

That made me think that we should look like God/Jehovah/the Great I Am.  We are His children.  When people see us and are around us, they should see the Father in us.

How does that happen?  Transformation.  By spending time in the word and prayer and going to church. We will be changed.  Although I have to say it’s not as simple as a formula.  We have to look into ourselves and change what God is pressing on us to change.  It requires us to be brutally honest with ourselves and be in a discipleship relationship.

Just like I act and talk like my mother, that is how I want to be with God.  When I think of this, it makes me think I have a lot of work.  But I am glad all things are possible with God.  I think back to a time at a wedding where my aunt saw me and instantly caught her breath with tears in her eyes.  Somehow, I immediately knew that at that moment I reminded her of Grandma Darlene.  It would touch my heart more than anything if someday someone had that reaction because they saw Jesus in me.

 

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Lessons Learned

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Kristen Palser

We all learn lessons in life, some as wee little children and some as adults. Today I was driving and had my music on.  It was talking about a lamb turning into a lion, two different views of God and Christians.  One is viewed as more gentle and the other as stronger and more adult.  Inside my head I thought, “That lamb has more power than the lion.”  It kind of surprised me.

So many lessons were taught to me when I was young.  I learned that dad wouldn’t kill me when I backed the Volkswagen Bug into the Chevelle.  Mindee and I wrecked the motorcycles so many times that we were experts at picking out the gravel that made road rash.  She still took longer to master the corners to not get the rash.  I learned that if I tried to hide the banana spots on the ceiling or the clothes under the bed, we would surely be found out.  I showed a little bit of wisdom by not wrestling with my brother any longer after he became bigger and stronger than me.

That was just the tip.  I think the best thing I learned came from sitting packed in the church pew with my family and cousins every Sunday.  My mom had us there every Sunday and my dad continued the tradition when he came out of the oilfield.  Today I know a lot about God.  Concepts I sucked into my child’s mind when even I didn’t think I was paying attention.  (We had issues with too many toys in the pews at times.)  It might have been more confusing for me as an adult.

It was an image of us as tiny children that popped into my mind as I listened to that song.  I remembered us asking the man finishing our basement how he could be with God if he didn’t go to church.  He started to explain and we did not take that.  We thought he should go.

He relented.  Three little emissaries were probably better at telling him to get to church than three adults would’ve been.  That’s the power of children’s church right there if anyone has doubts.

I wish I had listened and applied everything I learned as a child.  It might have saved me some heartache as an adult.  I think the lessons we learn as an adult are sometimes harder and rougher on us.  It’s those “Oh, no!” moments when you’re sitting across someone’s desk thinking, “This person is not my friend.” and then you start to pray.

Let’s be lambs sometimes.  Remember what happened and how we can use it today.  On that note, I could use a little more church.  I certainly didn’t learn everything.

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The Love of a Mother

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kristen Palser

There is no love like that of a mother.  Who else can you be completely honest about what really is in your refrigerator, even if you are forty?  My mother came over the other day and helped me clean my house.  Then we went shopping for make-up, out to eat, and did a few errands on the way home.  I’d say shopping, but we did that last week.  She’s the one who makes you try on 500 things and gives you the honest opinion you really need.  Of course, your bill reflects the amount of items you tried on.

Naturally, I knew the reaction coming from my little sister when she called, and she said it.  ”Ah, life with mom.”  She lives in Omaha and doesn’t have immediate access like I do.  Omaha is a long ways away and they have to “mom” it up when she gets to visit.

My mother has helped me with every move.  I think I’ve moved more than she has in her entire life.  We’ve been there hauling the furniture.  Except this time we decided to hire someone.  Best idea we’ve had in a long time.  She’s been involved in every house I’ve bought and helped me paint walls in all of them.

She cooks for me still, makes me coffee and even sews for me.  Now that I think of it, I don’t know why I would get married again.  But my poor mom, I’ve put her through enough stuff to cause more than a couple heart attacks.  And yet, she still cleans out my fridge on occasion.

My mom isn’t a servant.  And she certainly has things to say to me.  But I think of that combination of loving you no matter what and still steering you in the right direction.  It reminds me of who I see my Savior to be.

It’s not all discipline and it’s not all love.  It’s a crazy combination that works just right.  (I secretly do wonder if my dogs love her more.)

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Keep Coming Back…

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Kristen Palser

Change is never easy.  People say that and there’s research showing even positive change, like marriage and a baby, can be just as stressful as someone passing away.  Some change is thrust upon us, and some we choose.  Sometimes that is the hardest to fulfill.  It’s like going upstream.

One time I  knew that I wasn’t living my life like God wanted me to.  There was more than a little conviction in my heart.  At Thanksgiving that year I swiped a book about Elijah from my father. I had always felt gifted in the prophetic.  I read that book swiftly.  Then I moved directly to my knees.  I knew there was so much change that God desired.  I felt overwhelmed.   But I knew where to turn.  I asked God to take away everything that could possible be in my way.  I gave Him carte blanche. God heard my cry.

Within two weeks I had a DUI and God had brought to my attention that would be the force of the beginning of change.  I didn’t even think that area needed changing.  Fortunately my God knew.

I was soon to be in a place that confronted my character unabashedly, for thirty days.  I was angry, mad and resentful.  After thirty long, hard days I learned things about myself that amazed me and I was happy after I submitted.  It would be the beginning of a journey.  Thirty days is certainly not enough.  It wasn’t just about drinking a beer, it was about my whole being that was polarized towards character defects and bad decisions.

I moved back to Scottsbluff at the start of my divorce.  And I was miserable then with all that was going on in my personal life.  God was still working on me.  But being wonderful as He is, He gave me some awesome people in my life.

I knew I had a choice, everyday.  I could choose life or I could spread misery everywhere.  I chose life.  I decided to try and do something social and something positive for myself no matter had dreadful I felt every single day.  Then I prayed.

My pastors wife came along and asked me to exercise.  She had me help in children’s and youth ministries.Giving back was awesome.  I felt worthy.  And I went to those meetings and church.  I hated it.  I felt so black and those people were so smiley.  Even the room seemed so bright.  Well, I thought, at least I have my dogs.

I went, no matter what.  If I thought they were too smiley, I just didn’t look.  So, all I could do was listen.  I heard people talk about God changing their hearts and their minds.  Then I started lifting my head.  People were changing.  It was on their faces and in their voices.  God seemed to be everywhere.  And they said the phrase that initially made me want to puke, I was just that stubborn.  ”Keep coming back, ’cause it works if you work it and you’re worth it.”

I hated it and perhaps it’s because it’s true.  True change comes with work and persistence.  There has not been a rehab patient that hasn’t had pain and a lot of work to start walking again.  And we are worth it.  God sent His Son to die on the cross.  That’s how “worth” it we are.

God wants us to change into who He has us to be.  He wants to fulfill His calling in us.  Some of us have a lot to change, and some not as much as others.  But it doesn’t matter.  He’ll find you, because He loves you.

The most beautiful thing I can think of about my future change?  (Cause we often need touch ups.)  If I pray and devote myself to Him with my whole heart?  He will be with you and pave your way.  Doesn’t mean it will be easy or hard.  It means it will seem like a miracle how he makes the process go.  He will move mountains you never thought would leave.  You will reach the end.

I wish you blessing on your road to change.  Find someone to walk with you.  And the Serenity Prayer probably could help all of us a little bit on our way.  There’s a Godly reason that program works.  I”ll be coming back..cause it works…

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