Inside Out

Recently, I have had some tests done to determine what is wrong and why I've not been feeling well.  The results of those tests have determined that there are some procedures that need to be done in order for me to be well again physically. 

Some of the tests were not comfortable at all and I still have other tests that are going to be even more uncomfortable!  However, I need to endure these tests  and procedures in order to become healthy again. 

I have given this a lot of thought and God told me that what I am going through physically is similar to what we go through spiritually. I cannot see what is inside of me.  I do not know what is wrong. Oh, I have some symptoms that are telling me that something is not right inside, but without the tests, there is no way to tell what is wrong.  

My whole body is talking to me.  That is the way with the church.  If one member is ailing, all of the members will suffer.  If one member is full of infection, then it will spread to others causing more widespread infection and the pain will increase without divine intervention.  

If I ignore the symptoms and hope they go away on their own, I am doing a disservice to my body...and I am doing a disservice if I ignore what is going on inside of me spiritually, too.  If there is something malfunctioning, then the Great Physician is faithful to show me what it is when He shines His scope on the problem area. Perhaps, He will say, "I think we need to deal with this infection of bad attitudes, grudges, hurts, etc.  He does not show us everything at once, but He will pinpoint the problem area gently and offer advice to correct the problem.  

Not all corrective measures are easy or pleasant. Humbling yourself and saying, "I'm sorry." is hard. Offering grace when it is not deserved is a real muscle strain at times. Letting go of the past hurts, failures,  and misunderstandings is gut-wrenching.  But when we do whatever it is that the Great Physician is asking of us to do, the rewards outweigh the pain by a long shot. 

God can see what we cannot. He can see inside of each of us and knows our hearts,our motives, our intents.  He knows where we are hurting.  He knows why we are hurting.  He knows who hurt us.  He knows why they hurt us. He also sees into the future and knows how the things that He shows us will affect our future... our relationships...our churches... and ultimately our eternal destination.

One more thought. We do not have the power to see inside of another person with our human eyes.  We do not know what they are thinking. We do not know their motives.  We just see their actions, whether good or bad. We cannot know the root of their problems, but God can.  We cannot know why they lash out at us.  We cannot see the hurts inside of them.  We are not them and our puny light of judgement was never meant to try to see inside of them. Our job is to ask the Great Physician to heal them. We are commanded to pray one for another.  

When there is a problem as member of the church, family or whatever relationship, our job is to be the one who is faithful to show them that there is help and hope that only comes through the Great Physician.

We are to offer grace and mercy, kindness and forgiveness...and when God's light shines inside of us and shows us something wrong, then we know what we should do. He is faithful to show us the plan to complete spiritual restoration.

One day, when we all stand before God on Judgement Day, All will be known.  It will be shouted from the housetops.  It is better to make sure that we are without blemish with our insides clean, our motives pure, and our hearts beating as one with our Father and fellowmen here and now than to have them all revealed to the entire world. 

Thanks for reading.

Donna McHugh

The Peasant Girl and Her Treasure

Disclaimer:
This story is an allegory and does not represent anyone that I know, it is just something that God has been wanting me to write about lately. It is not written to be judgmental or offensive.

In a certain village far away lived a young peasant maiden, who along with the others in the village, longed for the day when the King would ride into their town and hand out treasures to the young maidens who were waiting, lining the streets and clamoring for His attention. They hoped that they would be chosen to receive their treasure that day. 

Time after time came and some of her friends were chosen to receive their treasures. She watched as some were careless and soon abandoned their treasures soon after they received them. " It is too hard to take care of the treasure when I am so busy doing what I want to do." They complained.  "Because I have this treasure, I can't have fun anymore. All I do is work, work, work to keep this treasure in good condition." They forgot how excited they were to have received the treasure in the first place. They forgot how that treasure would make their eyes light up when they gazed upon it.  They forgot the warmth of the treasure held next to their heart. The responsibilities of caring for the treasure overwhelmed them.

The maiden watched as they mistreated they very thing that was given to them to honor and cherish and protect, no matter what. They soon walked away and left the treasure on the side of the road, broken, feeling useless and alone. And they begin looking at others' treasures with longing in their eyes, scheming, plotting and planning how they could take the other's treasure for their own.  What they should have done was to go back to their own treasure and spend time with it, giving it tender- loving care and holding it close to their heart.

Did they not know that other maidens were waiting for their  first treasure? They could not take what someone else threw away.

Finally, one day, the King stepped down from His steed and gently took her hands opened them, and placed her special treasure in her hands.  She had waited a long time, but in her heart, she knew that the wait was worth it.  The King looked the maiden in the eyes and said, 

"Now, you have been given a lifetime treasure. Will you honor and cherish your treasure?  Will you be with your treasure as long as you both shall live?  Will you care for your treasure no matter what?  The maiden, with tears streaming down her cheeks, said, "I will. I will not ever toss the treasure away.  I will always hold it next to my heart."  The King smiled. He knew she meant what she said on that day.

So as time went on,  keeping the treasure meant sacrifice.  It meant hard work to keep the treasure in good shape.  It meant time without sleep to help the treasure. It meant sacrifice of doing things that she would rather not do. It meant doing without to meet the needs of others who came into her household because of the love she had for her treasure. But not all was sacrifice and loss.

There were days when she and the treasure basked in the sunshine that the King sent...times when laughter bubbled to the surface and her treasure would glisten and shine...times when the sound of music floated around them as it came from her heart, and the heart of her treasure.

She was grateful for her treasure.  She never let her treasure feel neglected. She never walked away from her treasure. She always tenderly cared for her treasure. And, if there comes a day when the treasure is taken to the Celestial City, she will always have the earthly memories of the treasure in her heart to last her until she is reunited with the treasure and the King in the Celestial City.  

I am thankful for my treasure, my husband, David. 

Thanks for reading.

Donna McHugh

Lessons From the Pooch

Recently our dog, Skippy, did something that displeased us.  He knew that he did wrong and slid under my son's bed to hide, thinking that we would never find him there.  (He should have pulled his tail all of the way in with him.) We could see him under there.  We knew that he knew that he had done wrong.  We did not have to "bad dog" him to add to his guilt. He knew that he had done wrong and he hoped that we wouldn't discover his misdeeds...but we did. 

His actions reminded me of the first couple created by God, Adam and Eve.  When they listened to the serpent and did what was forbidden, they sinned.  How did they know that they were wrong?  Because when they sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit, the very first thing they lost was their innocence. They knew that they were naked and hid themselves.

When God came down to walk and talk with them in the cool of the day, he called out to them, "Adam, Where are you?"  Adam did not answer. He knew that he had blown it and they were afraid.  In the perfect world up unto that moment, there was no fear.  Adam trusted God explicitly. 

The same thing happened to the pooch.  He went and hid under the bed, ashamed and afraid. He did not have to be afraid just because he had done wrong.  We still loved him even though we were displeased with him for what he did. We tried repeatedly to get him to come out from under the dark and dusty confines of the "under-bed world".  Yet, he stubbornly remained under the bed.

We tried everything we could think of to lure him out of there, but we were not successful. We tried lifting the load from him by raising the bed a little. That didn't work. So we reached under the bed and tried to pull him out, yet he stubbornly refused to budge. Next, we tried to lure him out with a treat, but he knew that treats were for good dogs, and that was not what he was.  He refused to even sniff at the treat, turning his head away. Finally,  the thought came to me, "Lead him out on a leash." We fastened the leash on his collar and he slid out easily.  But, this is not the end of the story...

What happened next was a huge lesson to me.  We chained him outside for a while. It was a nice day and the weather was warm.  He instantly went to the end of his chain, turned his back and refused to look toward the house.  He stuck his nose in the air and remained so for hours. He was deeply offended and hurt. We had to correct him.  He thought that we no longer loved him, yet that was the furthest thing from the truth.  We were trying to take care of him and teach him that even though we were displeased, we still loved him.  

Skippy sat there for a couple of hours, his back turned on the ones who loved him, the ones who cared for him, who fed him and provided for his every need. You know, that is  how people act when it comes to the family of God.  Perhaps something is said or done to hurt them and they turn their backs on the ones who truly love them and care for them. They stop responding to others and walk away from the relationship they had with God and His children.

They refuse to even look back at the house where others are waiting for them to return. They remember only the pit that they were in, the hurt that they felt, the wrongs that either they did or someone else did to them. They can't fathom grace and forgiveness...and they sit there all alone, outside, away from the tender care and mercy of the Master. They think they have committed the unpardonable sin and could never be forgiven.  That is a lie.  The Master always forgives when we ask Him to... but we have to do the asking! We have to admit our wrongs and He will forgive.  

Don't be like Skippy sitting all alone on the end of the chain sulking for hours on end.  

Respond to the call of the Master.  He is standing at the door of the House with his arms open wide to welcome you back inside. 

That is what Skippy found when he realized that he was loved.  When he got over his snit, he was welcomed inside where he was hugged and petted. All was forgiven and he basked in it.

That would not have happened if Skippy had not made the choice to allow us to lead him out of the "pit" and into the sunshine and ultimately to restoration. It won't happen in your life unless you let the Master lead you out into the sunshine of His love and grace and mercy, ultimately to to His home where there will be an eternal round of hugs awaiting...

Thanks for reading,

Donna McHugh

What Will Your New Name Be?

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Revelation 2:17

The ancients, on many occasions, gave their votes in judgment by small stones; by black, they condemned; by white ones they acquitted. Sometimes also they wrote on small smooth stones. Here may be an allusion to both. And a new name - So Jacob, after his victory, gained the new name of Israel. Wouldest thou know what thy new name will be? The way to this is plain, - overcome. Till then all thy inquiries are vain. Thou wilt then read it on the white stone.--Wesley Commentary

If you recall, Peter's name, aka. Cephas, was changed by Jesus.  There was a change in Peter's heart when he began following Jesus.  He was a crude fisherman when Jesus found him by the seaside.  However, after time with the Master, all of that began to change . God was changing  him from the inside out.  He reached a point where Jesus confidently declared:

Matthew 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Just think about that for a minute.  Peter was changed from a crude, impetuous, bold fisherman to becoming a rock, a stable and solid fisher of men. Who did that?  The Master!!!

When we meet the Master our name changes, too.  We may have a bad reputation for being a liar, cheater, or whatever label our reputation has earned us.  However, that moment when we meet the Master, all things become new. Our reputation begins to change.  People begin to notice a difference.  We don't go to places that we used to go. We don't say the things that we used to say.  We don't act like we used to act...for all is changed.  We are new creatures in Christ Jesus!

Sometimes the changes are not understood by those around us. They begin to mock us and goad us, trying to get us to turn back to our old ways because now we are different.  Our lives are reminders to them that they are not living as they should and that bothers them. They do not know how to act around the new you!

Some may call us different names, like Religious Nut, Holy Roller, Goody-Two-Shoes. etc. Their names will never hurt us. Just be glad they recognize the difference Christ has made in your life.  So many times when we turn our lives over to Christ and we endure the mockery of the world; who is the first one that the mockers turn to when catastrophe comes into their lives?  You guessed it!  They come to you and ask for prayer because they have confidence in you. Your influence for right is a shining example in the darkness. 

What happens if you are falsely accused and someone else besmirches your reputation in the eyes of others?  You overcome! You hold steady like Peter and be known as the rock, the one who is solid in their belief.  

I was falsely accused one time and I really struggled over it.  Finally, one day God spoke to me and said, "I know the truth. You know the truth. There is nothing the others can say that will make me believe their lies about you.  The truth will come out in the end."  It has! I am not the one who has lost credibility. I am not the one with the reputation for being a liar. God helped me to overcome. 

When we endure the trials and tribulations of this earth and reach the other side, our new names will be given to us.  I would like to think that they are additions... as in titles.

Joe, the valiant.

Susie, the encourager

Johnny, the brave 

Sally, the wise.

We have to overcome this world. We will be given a white stone with our new name on it that none shall know.  I know what I would like to see written on mine.  What about you? 

_____________________ the faithful.  ____________________the Righteous.  

All we have to do is overcome!

Be faithful to the calling that He has given you.  When your time comes, you will be rewarded and all of Heaven will rejoice with you.

Thanks for reading.

Donna McHugh