Just Say Baaaa! By MaryBeth Whalen

I spent some time this morning just confessing before God that I am a sheep. And I don't mean that in an "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy" kind of way. I mean in a dirty, smelly, dumb animal kind of way. Let me explain.

As I was praying, I noticed myself once again asking God for some affirmation and encouragement on a specific issue. Now, I have asked for this before - many times, in fact. And God is faithful to answer each and every time. And so, there I was again, asking Him to supply something I know He knows we have already covered. Why can't I accept this covering once and for all? Why can't I rest on His promises and accept Him at His word, once and for all? As I listened to myself asking my Heavenly Father for the same thing all over again, I wondered, "Why doesn't He get tired of me already and tell me to go bother someone else?" And I realized, because I am a sheep. And He expects me to act like a sheep.

As I thought about this, I realized how many other dumb sheep things I do daily. I lose my way. I ask questions for which I already know the answers. My attitude stinks. I ram my head against the same brick wall, hoping for different results. I wander off from Him and then pout because I feel like He's not there for me. I am a sheep. Yet, He is the Shepherd. Ezekiel 34:11-12a says, "For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep" (NIV). How I need the comfort, nurture and protection of the Shepherd.

After I spent time just confessing how sheep-like I am, I spent time praising Him for His infinite patience with us, His flock. I praised Him for knowing how dirty, smelly and dumb we are and loving us anyway. I praised Him that He knows how very little we have to offer and accepts it as our gift to Him. A shepherd doesn't expect his sheep to be wolves or eagles or anything other than sheep. Knowing that comforted me in the strangest sort of way. I love knowing that He leaves the 99 to get the one lost, hopeless sheep. (Matthew 18:12-13 NIV). He doesn't pick the sheep up and yell at it for acting like a sheep. Instead He patiently, lovingly carries it back to the flock and resumes His watch.

I love knowing that when I bring my little insecurities to Him, revealing my weaknesses and confusion, He doesn't say, "How can you be so stupid?" He says, "I expected nothing less from a sheep" and loves me anyway.

I hope that, like me, this will comfort you today. I hope that when you feel lost, hopeless, and smelly or just plain dumb for making the same mistakes or going to God with the same requests, you will just reflect on being a sheep. Spend time thanking Him for loving you anyway and being your Shepherd every day.

Dear Lord, thank You for being my Shepherd, and for loving me even when I act like a sheep. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Power Verses:
Psalm 23:1 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." (NIV)
Psalm 28:9, "Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever." (NIV)
John 10:14-15, "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me???just as the Father knows me and I know the Father???and I lay down my life for the sheep." (NIV)
Isaiah 53:6: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (NIV)

a message brings you something of a shock today...

hehehe kulet...

'nyway ang wento...

sabi sa horoscope, baassaa...

"A message brings you something of a shock today. But after you have read the words over and over, and taken it all in several times, you will realize that, in fact, the romantic situation it refers to is not about to end, but is about to enter an exciting and very new phase. So you can stop trembling, and celebrate instead!"

uuuiiisst, celebrate ... "message daw! message daw!" icheck ang phone, ang email, etc... eh wala namang message na nakakashock. basahin ko nga uli.

A message brings you something of a shock today.
A message brings you something of a shock today.
A message brings you something of a shock today.

teka.....

"....But after you have read the words over and over..."

eh ang paulit-ulit ko lang naman na binabasa eh yung prediction.

acheche.

yun lang.

tgif.... GB! ;P

The Story of Jonah (Jonah 4: 1-11)

1 But this was greatly
displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.
2
"I beseech you, LORD," he
prayed, "is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is
why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful
God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish.
3
And now, LORD,
please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live."
4
But the LORD asked, "Have you reason to be angry?"
5
Jonah then left
the city for a place to the east of it, where he built himself a hut and waited
under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city.
6 And when the
LORD God provided a gourd plant, that grew up over Jonah's head, giving shade
that relieved him of any discomfort, Jonah was very happy over the plant.
7
But the next morning at dawn God sent a worm which attacked the plant, so
that it withered.
8
And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east
wind; and the sun beat upon Jonah's head till he became faint. Then he asked for
death, saying, "I would be better off dead than alive."
9
But God said
to Jonah, "Have you reason to be angry over the plant?" "I have reason to be
angry," Jonah answered, "angry enough to die."
10
3 Then the LORD said,
"You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not
raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished.
11
And
should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more
than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right
hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?"

There was a period in my community life that I felt that everything is not in it's right place. At some point I even felt that we were succumbing into an "attack", and that there are changes that should be done but even if I voice it out, no one hears. To make it worse, i will hear this "eh wala tayong magagawa, ganun talaga.". Ganun na nga lang ba talaga?

People are leaving. and I felt it was my time to do it too. Even though in your heart, you wanted to do good service, it felt as if you're becoming Martha, and that you're doing everything. But I think my biggest challenge was that there were some things that I don't agree with, that there were things that can be done to make the service easier. The spirit of belonginess for new members, in particular, was the one I was feeling strongly about, because once upon a time I was that new member too, and I know how they were feeling now.

And then one night, God showed me the story of Jonah. God gave Jonah a mission and the first thing that he did was flee by boarding a ship, because he didn't believe that Nineveh deserves the chance that God is giving them. But God pursued him... never stopping until Jonah understands God's compassion to the city of Nineveh. At one point, Jonah felt so strongly about what he think was right, that he decided to leave the city and watch the city from a distance, as God worked His ways for the people of Nineveh. God let him run away again, and gave him a gourd plant, providing shade to relieve him from the intense heat where he chose to stay. Jonah felt safe and happy.

I felt that way too, that short period that I was away. Well, as Jonah was, I was just watching from a distance and did not fully turn my back... watching what will happen while finding comfort with new friends and a new way of life. I did not realize that I was relying on a temporary escape, and on people rather than God himself. I thought my "gourd plant" was my new mission, since God understood my decision to turn my back on my previous one.

And then He took it all away. I wasn't angry but I couldn't comprehend the situation that I was in. I felt I did everything right, opened my heart and accepted all the imperfections that my "gourd plant" had.

Yet it was true... He said it had cost me no labor.. i did not raise it... it came up one day and in one night it perished.

God was making a point, as He was back then with Jonah. And I hope I got it correctly. Jonah's story is a parable of mercy, that it is not God's way to punish, although it seems as first, until we fully comprehend His Will. The experience I had on taking care of my "gourd plant" gave me lessons that I'm now using to take care of my household. If not for that, I wouldn't have able to fully comprehend many of those problems or issues that we encounter today. When I came back to become a household head, I found that I was in the midst of wonderful people, that inspite of their brokenness, they were just looking for God too. Just like me. God is choosing to show His compassion. And God was putting me in difficult situations before, and He continually do so, so He can use me as His witness to His Mercy.

The one thing I'm sure of is, I will still feel the same way every now and then. I will still have strong opinions. I will still say "no" and at some point will feel the urge to flee. But I know that God knows that too, and He will continually to let me learn to have faith and patience so that whatever I was "feeling" or "deciding on my own", bottom line is I will still have the urge to go back and do His Will.

Kasi iba pag si God na nanligaw sa yo.

God bless!