Stuff That Matters in Life

Katy’s Weblog

In Bible Study Fellowship today, in the study of Isaiah 58-59, I had an insight.

Religious activities – fasting, praying and keeping the Sabbath were the context in Isaiah, can be a cover for the sins that we need to deal with in our heart.

“Religious people” run the risk of thinking that they are good enough, and fail to see the “respectable sins” of the heart.

Let’s say I am very involved in my church, teach Sunday School, go to prayer meeting, etc. It would be reasonable for me to think I am pleasing God. What if my church involvement makes me THINK I am pious such that if I have no concern for the poor, I don’t feel convicted. After all, I’m a “good” Christian, so not helping the poor doesn’t have to be a priority. I do enough as it is, I can’t be expected to help the poor too. Someone else can do that.

God won’t hear our religious prayers, if we don’t care about things that really count.

Investment

Filed under Generalby Joyful

The safest investment is probably gold. IRA gold is a good long term investment. In today’s economy of the devalued dollar, gold will hold its value.

You can also invest in gold by rolling into a 401k gold account. I don’t know how that works, but I’m sure some expert investment company can help you.

You can buy gold coins, and store them in your safe deposit box, but I wonder how that would work as a gold IRA account. Gold as jewelry is practical; it’s an investment as well as usable, it’s not just sitting in a box.

I believe in investing in real estate also. Despite the ups and downs of the market, people still need a house to live in.

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I read this in my Bible Study Fellowship lesson on Isaiah this week:

God’s people were to live in the hope of His final outcome and in the confidence of His present faithfulness. … “My salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed” Isaiah 56:1.

I am learning to lean on God’s daily presence and faithfulness with me, even in the small challenges that I face in my little suburban life.

I pray throughout the day about things that come into my mind, and about immediate happenings as I encounter them, but if I don’t have a time where I simply sit and pray, I feel that something is missing. Praying while walking, praying while driving, praying while doing dishes, folding laundry, vacuuming, are all fine, but just sitting and praying should also be a part of my day.

1. Mouth sores – I get them all the time. Have one right on the tip of my tongue right now.

2. Rotten food in the refrigerator that I can’t locate. – The frige smells every time I open it, but I can’t find what the culprit is.

3.Post nasal drip. – I have allergies year-round and post nasal drip is a way of life with me.

4. AT&T dead zones. – Everyone can relate.

5. Waking up early when I can sleep in. – Like Spring break this week, I’m trying to sleep in, but the biological clock is too strong.

6. Having to adjust to waking up early. – By the end of the end, I’ll probably be adjusted to sleeping in, and then it’s time to readjust to waking up early again.

Thoughts for today:

Nothing is a surprise to God – that’s right, He’s never had a surprise party….

Unlike God, we are often taken by surprise when things don’t turn out the way we planned. We have hopes that things might be a certain way, or that things should be a certain way.

But to God, everything is fine, the way He ordains it. I can’t wrap my mind around that. There are too many variables, how can He has it all in control? Well, that’s why He’s God, duh!

I learned this week that when things do not turn out as we expect, God is steering us towards something that we ourselves would not have chosen, or maybe would not even have thought of.  The detour sign is taking us down another road, the road that we in fact should be taking. So actually, calling it a detour is our perspective, but to God, it’s simply “follow the arrow” sign to move forward.

While visiting my father at the assisted living facility today, we saw the son of one of the residents. He said his father moved out because he had to be hospitalized. The father is 93 years old.

That’s life, isn’t it? No matter how well you live, how long you live, death will catch up to you. We move down one step at a time, from assisted living, to hospital, to … the final resting place.

In a testimony I heard last weekend, the speaker said that while people complain about God being unfair, God is fair about two things – whether you are rich or poor, young or old, in any country in the world, we all have 24 hours in a day, and we will all die.

I want to maximize my time. Each day, each hour, is moving me closer to the next step down …

I was inspired by our speaker at church on Sunday to reflect on every day and write one sentence. I’m too verbose to keep it to one sentence, but this takes the pressure off of having to write a full length post everyday.

Today’s reflection: I attended a gathering of Asian English ministry leaders. I remember attending this type of meeting about 25 years ago when I was seminary, and how awkward and intimidated I felt. Today, this type of meeting is probably the easiest type of thing I do. It’s no big deal for me to stand up and speak in front of this type of Christian setting. For this I am thankful that I am “older” and have the confidence that I lacked when I was younger. There are not too many benefits of being old, but this is one of them.