Stephanie B. Blake's Blog, page 3

Stand Up Straight

As a young person, I remember being reminded to stand up straight. That was good advice. Not only do I look different when I sit up straight and stand straight, I feel better.
To improve posture, a young girl might walk through her home with a stack of books on her head. In that upright position, it is impossible to look down or to the left or to the right without toppling the books. Her gaze must be forward. Her concentration is straight ahead.
The expression, "He is no slouch," means he is not lazy and doesn't mind working. Slouching gives the appearance of laziness.
Slouching is not good for your health. Slouching while standing or sitting can cause spine alignment issues. Office workers are particularly susceptible. Every inch you hang your head forward can add ten pounds of pressure on your spine.
If you work at a computer for several hours a day, you know what I'm talking about. Your chair and your sitting position are very important. As back pain is a common work-related injury, many companies have found it necessary to make sure their working environment is ergonomically correct.
I spent a few years working in a chair I loved but it was giving me a backache. My husband bought me a better chair and the problem went away.
Standing erect is not only good for your posture. It is imperative for your spiritual life. Those who are upright are disciplined in righteousness, justice and integrity. Upright is defined as an object that is vertical or erect or a person that is honorable or honest. In the Amplified Bible, the word upright is often translated as consistently or uncompromisingly righteous, one who walks uprightly, in right standing with God, or moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation.
An upright person is not perfect, but focused. Occasionally the books will fall. The posture of a focused Christian will improve with time and practice. The more determined one is to love God and please Him, the more disciplined he will be.
The upright godly person walks with wisdom, looking forward, considering the steps of the path before him and is determined not to let distractions turn him aside from the path God has chosen for him.
...His secret counsel is with the upright(Proverbs 3:32 NKJV). ...His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the [uncompromisingly] righteous [those that are upright and in right standing with Him] (Proverbs 3:32 Amplified). 

Look on the Bright Side

Like so many other people, I enjoy watching The Wizard of Oz. It is one of my favorite movies. There have only been a few child actors with as much talent as Judy Garland, who played Dorothy. Over the Rainbow became her signature song, but sadly she did not leave her clouds far behind her "where troubles melt like lemon drops." She went on to have an incredibly successful career, but all of her talent, fame and money didn't bring her happiness. Instead of believing “behind every cloud there is a silver lining” Judy said that “behind every cloud is another cloud.” Judy was obviously someone who thought the glass was half empty instead of half full as well.
If you can leave the clouds behind you, it makes a difference. If you fly, you know that from an airplane, you can view the most beautiful sunshine on top of a solid cloud layer. You are seeing the world from above. Before you broke through the clouds, the day may have been as dark and gloomy as any you had ever known. Although the sun was obscured for a time underneath the clouds, it was always there. The difference you feel when the sun finally peeks through the clouds and brings warmth and light is nearly tangible.
Of course, it all depends on your perspective. Dark days of depression are often lifted even when the clouds are still there and the sky is grey. Your circumstances may have even gone from bad to worse. What changed? Do grey days take the sun away or do they just tempt you to forget it is there?
God is everywhere at the same time, above and below the clouds of life. If we could see things from His perspective, it would make all the difference. He is good all the time even when circumstances seem to tell you otherwise. He has a plan and it is good. The bright side of life is there. It is found in Jesus.
Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. (Psalm 106:1).
It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night...I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands (Psalm 92:1-4).
For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 NAS).

Vintage Values

I enjoy collecting antiques and have several pieces. They were made so well many years ago that they have stood the test of time. Antique furniture was often made by hand. Now most furniture is mass produced by machines. In the past, only hard sturdy woods were used for furniture. A great deal of modern furniture consists mainly of pressed wood or particle board which doesn't stand up to moisture or major usage. You can often see these pieces of furniture in front of homes awaiting pickup for transport to the city dump.

Vintage glass, especially that which was produced just before, during and for a few years after the Great Depression are of special delight to me. Although not the finest glass, they are beautiful.

Prior to the Great Depression, there were over one hundred manufacturers of colored glass. After the Great Depression ended there were less than half that number. Although bankruptcy closed many of these companies, fire was a prominent reason for shutdown. If the company was destroyed by fire, the owners could not afford to rebuild.

During the lean years, much of this glassware was distributed free as promotional pieces - placed in oatmeal, cereal or soap boxes or given away at the theater or gas stations.

During the Great Depression, companies made production of each piece last as long as possible. I have some pieces of red depression glass, which is ordinarily a deep ruby color, which are practically orange or opaque because they were cast at the end of the dye lot. The company was stretching production by producing as many pieces as possible before they had to add new dye.

Antique furniture and Depression Glass are becoming scarce. Rarity of the pieces have resulted in a spike in prices. Some people have paid thousands of dollars for
the rarest pieces of Depression Glass. In order to stock antique furniture, buyers often go to old farms where they might find a piece stored in fragments or even left out in the elements. The experts know how to put them back together but it takes a concerted effort to bring them back to their former glory.

Those who work on and collect vintage merchandise will only do so if they believe it is worth it. They believe there is value in the vintage piece itself.

Unfortunately, society's values have gone the way of antique furniture and Depression Glass. Personal standards of behavior have changed dramatically. One's principles and judgments of what is important in life is much different in the twenty first century than it has been in the past - especially in America.

A society's values are reflected in their practices in the workplace, involvement in their churches and community and the entertainment they enjoy. The traditional values of America can now be placed in the vintage category - mainly because those values were based on biblical standards.

It is worth the effort, however, to do what we can to restore America to the values it once held. Biblical standards have stood the test of time because they were given to God's people by God - who never changes.

...in the last days... men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...You, however, continue in the things you have learned...the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:1-4, 14-17).

The Necessary Ingredient for Washing Dishes

Many homeowners in America have an automatic dishwasher in their kitchen. I don't. I have had one in the past but I don't miss it. Many of my dishes don't fit in a dishwasher and my pots and pans are supposed to be washed by hand anyway. 
I do have one good looking dishwasher I really appreciate - my husband!
Over the years of washing dishes by hand, I have learned the value of soaking dishes. I run a sink full of water while I am cooking and try to keep the dishes washed up but it is not always possible to finish them. Sometimes it is necessary to leave them until a later time. Maybe we have company and we just want to sit and visit. Maybe we eat dinner and then sit down to watch a good movie. 
If I do need to wait to wash dishes, I make things a lot easier for myself if I leave them soaking in water. When I neglect to soak them, food hardens and becomes difficult to remove. It takes more elbow grease, time, detergent, cleansing powder and/or scouring pads and sometimes frustration to clean dishes that have not been soaked. I learned that lesson the hard way. Although I don't mind washing dishes, I do mind spending more effort, time and money than necessary.
Volunteer washing dishes at Our Father's House soup kitchenWhatever method you use to wash dishes - automatic dishwasher or hand washing - it takes water to get them clean. Advertisers claim their best automatic dishwashers remove caked on food from the dishes, usually with better or more water jets than other models. If you wash dishes by hand, soaking them accomplishes the same thing.
Like dirty dishes, we are caked with the grime and dirt of the world. Occasionally, I have heard someone say they were reluctant to come to God because of some evil they had done. Embarrassed, they wanted to get cleaned up first. 
We don't come to God because we are clean. We come to God because we need cleansing. Only God can remove the sin in our lives. Through Jesus Christ, the Living Water, He did so. Those of us who trust Him as Savior and Lord get the cleansing we need. 
Without Him, we remain filthy. In Him we become clean and pure.
But we are like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV). Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."... "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"..."If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (John 4:10, 7:38, 1 John 1:9)... just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27 NASB).

The Three-Dimensional Life

Eleanor Roosevelt was a remarkable woman - dedicated to her husband, her country and public service. Recently I finished her book, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life. 

She wrote several books, but as this one was written at the age of seventy-six, she had acquired experiences that enabled her to give good advice for those who want to live a full life. 
She was very honest in her assessment of herself. She shared many instances of how others taught her the value of learning, but an example (in her first chapter) of an adjustment in her own thinking set the pattern for the rest of the book. 
"Perhaps the most essential thing for a continuing education is to develop the capacity to know what you see and to understand what it means...As an example, many years ago the Consumers League asked me to check on conditions in department stores. I made my report. It was valueless.
"But," I was asked,"do these women have any stools to sit on behind the counter when they are not waiting on customers or must they stand all day?"
For years I had gone to department stores, I have seen women behind counters. It never occurred to me that perhaps they could never sit down and rest. I hadn't looked....
When I began - so slowly - actually to look around me and to try to understand the meaning of what I saw, everything I encountered became more interesting and more valuable. It was like a two-dimensional picture seen in three dimensions, with depth."
This was not the last time Mrs. Roosevelt mentioned questions that made her think. She learned by listening and looking. 
Mrs. Roosevelt did not indicate that she was talking about a lack of spiritual eyes and understanding, but her example reminded me of Jesus speaking of people - even believers - who have eyes, but cannot see. That would, I believe, present the two-dimensional picture Mrs. Roosevelt described. We live in a three-dimensional world, but we can ignore the spiritual side of it. Depth of living and learning comes from observing the world - as much as possible - from God's perspective. 
And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they said to Him, "Seven." And He was saying to them, "Do you not yet understand?" (Mark 8:17-21).

The Safe Room

I live in an area of the United States of America that encounters tornado activity. Some years are worse than others, but every time a tornado comes through or near where I live, I am more and more convinced that it would be a good idea to have a "safe room" - one that would not be blown away by the ravaging winds of a tornado.

When the news media covers the storms and resulting devastation, the reporters show or tell how residents made it through the storm. The house may be leveled, but if the family rides out the storm in a storm cellar or a safe room, they survive with no injuries. Reporters relate story after story of people who heard the effects of the storm while in the safe room. Often the residents walk out of the safe room into what used to be their home with a sense of amazement that they made it through unscathed.

Companies that manufacture preformed safe rooms are busiest during this time of year. Those who did not have a safe room realize the value of one and place orders.

Life is full of storms. Many of them are as unexpected as tornadoes can be. They pop up when you least expect them. Often we are unprepared for the illness, job loss, family crisis or death that comes our way.

Christians have a permanent safe room. We should abide there not just in the storms of life, but every day. Even when things are going well, we need and have the loving presence and protection of our heavenly Father.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday (Psalm 91:1-6).

Fear and Panic Can Cloud Your Thinking

I do a lot of reading about fear - in the Bible and other sources - because fear and panic come naturally to me. I am always working to conquer both.
Although few Americans owned any stock at the time, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was the first in a sequence of events that eventually resulted in a wide spread panic and a Great Depression that lasted well over ten years.
With their economic stability threatened, some lost their ability to reason and hope.  Some even committed suicide. 
Failures of massive financial institutions in the U.S. in the fall of 2008 began another economic worldwide crisis. The stock market crash of that year has now been described as the Wall Street Panic of 2008.
By definition, a stock market crash is a result of panic. "A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors. They often follow speculative stock market bubbles." (from Wikipedia)
Regardless of why a stock market crashes, the resulting impact is very personal. Loss of resources you have worked hard to acquire is a major blow. Having to start over again in middle age or retirement age can be devastating. 
It does take money to live. You cannot obtain food, clothing or houses without it. If you are responsible for a family, the concern is magnified. 
However, despair is not inevitable. As President Roosevelt said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
If a major lifestyle change has become necessary for you, it need not ruin your life. Solutions begin with a positive attitude and a faith that God is with you.
The choice is yours. You can panic and lose hope or you can explore creative ways to provide what you need.
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred (Proverbs 15:16-17).
Note: This is an excerpt from Money: How to Be Rich Without It and How to Stretch It Using Ten Hints from the Past and the Technology of Today.  Money is available as an e-book and in paperback on Amazon.com:http://www.amazon.com/Money-Without-Stretch-Using-Technology/dp/1479389161
It is also available on smashwords in all digital formats:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/221060

The Balancing Act

As a child, one of my favorite times of year was when the state fair or circus came to town. One of the attractions, to me, was the number of balancing acts. Since I have a very bad sense of balance myself, I always admired the trapeze artists who could swing through the air with the greatest of ease, the jugglers who could toss plates and what appeared to be bowling pins in the air and they never landed on the ground. Even the elephants could work their way around the ring balancing on a ball. I thought those acts were amazing then and I still do.
Life is like those balancing acts. Most of us have to balance several things throughout a day - a job, family, mealtime, time for exercise, church and community obligations  - for some people the balancing act seems endless. Many feel they should multitask many of these things. Although many things can successfully be done together (one of my favorite things is to have my grandchildren help me cook combining family time with mealtime), trying to do more than one thing at once can often be very frustrating. Contrary to popular opinion, multitasking does not necessarily lead to more productivity.
The key to a balanced life is to prioritize. Unless we successfully prioritize those plates we are juggling in the air can all come crashing down on us in extreme stress and diminished health.
Prioritizing means planning - doing the most important things first. Obviously there are times in life when we have to make adjustments. Emergencies do happen. Without planning, though, the events of the day take over and we might not accomplish the things God wanted us to do.
A lot of us are guilty of leaving out the most important thing of all. That is time with God. Martin Luther said, "I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." Billy Graham was asked in an interview, "If you were to do things over again, would you do it differently?" His answer was, "Yes, I would spend more time in meditation and prayer." Talking about his many speaking engagements, he said, "If I were to do it over again, I would organize it much better." If Billy Graham looked back on his incredibly productive ministry and made that statement, what about the rest of us?
"Teacher what is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Matthew 22:36-39).

The Justice System

Once, when our insurance company refused to pay some legitimate claims (totaling thousands of dollars), we had to get an attorney involved. Thankfully, he was able to accomplish what we couldn't. Without him, though, we would not have had a chance. We had reasoned all we could. We had made every call we could make. We had sent in every document they asked for. They said no. We appealed. Their committee said no. We had only one chance left. We sought professional help. We needed an advocate - someone with authority in the justice system. A few weeks later, the insurance people apologized and paid the bills - finally.
Spiritually, we owe an enormous amount of debt. It keeps adding up. In this case, we have no legitimacy in which to file a claim. The debt is ours. The One to whom we owe the debt could rightly send us to prison because we have no means to pay those bills - whatsoever.
Enter our advocate Jesus. He knows we owe that debt and we can't pay, but He has absolute authority in the spiritual justice system. He doesn't make any calls. He doesn't write any letters. He doesn't have to. He is the One we owe. He does something remarkable. He pays our debt for us. Our bills are stamped "paid in full" never to be drudged up again.
The reason God does this is hard to comprehend. He does it for His own sake. God's standard is perfection so if we are to fellowship with Him, our sin debt must disappear - forever. Our holy and just heavenly Father demonstrated His love with the gift of the perfect life, sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son. “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25).
There is no committee that meets to consider our debt problem, but there is a judgment rendered. In His courtroom, He is prosecutor, defender and judge. The case is presented. Prosecutor (the law of God) makes the case. Our defender (Jesus) knows we are guilty. His plea is not that we are innocent, but He and the Judge have decided that He be allowed to take our punishment on Himself. Even though the cost is great both to the righteous Judge and His innocent Advocate, the substitution is accepted. His innocence is then transferred to us - the ones who deserved a guilty verdict but through faith in Christ became a child of God. 
God’s standards did not change for us once we became part of His family. He wants us to be holy as He is holy. As God’s children, we have escaped God’s wrath for eternal damnation, but we can still cause Him grief by continuing to sin. I think the sins of a child of God must cause Him more pain than sins of an unbeliever. We should know better. We should be grateful our debt has been paid. 

Our sin separated us from God and crucified His Son. The sins of His children can pierce the heart of the Father by treating the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus lightly. Amazingly, His grace continues to work to bring us into right standing with the Father. 
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).

It's All About Who You Know

During an international conference, my husband met a man who shared with him an experience he had while trying to enter the United States of America. My husband and I travel so much that I am very aware of how tricky it can be to enter some other countries, but hadn't given much thought as to what others go through trying to enter my home country.
This gentleman had come to America many times as part of a mission organization. Once when he arrived in America and went through customs and immigration, he was interrogated thoroughly. The agent asked him, "Why do you come to America so much? Why don't you just stay home?" The rudeness of this comment nearly took my breath away. I was embarrassed to think that this man had received that kind of treatment from Americans.  It got worse. The agent told him he did not have appropriate documentation and that he would be sent back to his home country on the next flight.
He spent quite some time waiting for all the arrangements to be made when another agent came to him and asked, " Don't you have any kind of paper that gives you permission to come here to do what you do?" The man opened his briefcase and pulled out everything he had. 
In doing so, he and the immigration officer came across a letter from Henry Kissinger (Secretary of State) that was addressed to "whom it may concern." He asked that anyone representing the organization this man belonged to be given the best of treatment. Even though this man had never personally met Henry Kissinger, his name was on the list. The agent immediately said, "Why didn't you give us this in the first place? We would have escorted you through ourselves without any problem."
Some day I will be at heaven's gate. I will have no problems getting in - not because I deserve to be there - but because Jesus belongs there and I am one of His disciples. Thanks to Him and His sacrifice as the Lamb of God, my name is on the list. no one...shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:27).
I could never enter the gates of heaven on my own. Neither could you. Through Jesus our entry is guaranteed. 
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:31-32).