God is NOT on our side!

Joshua 5: 13-15-- "Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?" The captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so."

A pastor friend of ours posts daily Bible studies to his Facebook page. Today I was reading his notes on these verses and was struck by this: "God is not on our side. We are on his." Or rather, we should be on his. Often times, when reflecting on a crisis situation for example, people will say, "Thank God we had the Lord on our side." However, that's not exactly the case. It's not like God looks at a situation and chooses which side to be on. God is good and true and right and just in all sides and situations.

When we come over to God's side, we often reap the benefits and blessings of his protection so it would seem that he's pleased with us for "doing right" and is rewarding us by being on our team. The problem with that logic comes when we try to see the flip side. If he's rewarding us by being "on our side" and allowing us to live a happy, easy, blessed life, then what does it mean when life turns scary, ugly, difficult and unfair? It must mean that God's not on our side anymore, right? These bad things must indicate that God is mad at us and punishing us by removing his blessing.

That is SO not the case! While it's true that we will reap these bad "side effects" of disobedience, often times bad things just happen to good people (whole 'nother topic---not goona go there tonight!) The Lord promised never to leave us or forsake us (Josh. 1:5). David encourages us with this thought: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me" (Ps. 23:4).

However, God is not going to sanction sin--no matter how slight or unconscious. That's why he can't be on our side--we are sinful beings. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). We fluctuate between good days and bad days. We have our own wills and they're usually self-centered. How wise we'd be to come over to the side of the one who is steady and unchanging!

(Can't Think of a Non-Sacrilegious Pig-ish Title): Pink Saturday

I'd first like to apologize to all Pink Saturday participants. I've just been made aware that due to an unforseen circumstance, my Pink Saturday post did not get put up. In desperation, I've put this up as I'm just about to leave for the day and won't have a chance to do a new one. This is an old post from a couple of years ago. I'm aware that the only thing that makes this one "count" is the pink piggy icon---but hopefully I can squeak by this week and you'll still enjoy the "deep thoughts" (Ha Ha) of this post anyway. Have a great Pink Saturday everyone--I look forward to visiting other PS blogs tonight!

Ok, I really had to think about it to get the following revelation to line up to some spiritual truth...so bear with me.

You know on Charlotte's Web, at the end, when everyone is singing the praises of the pig. "He's Some Terrific, Radiant, Humble Thing-a-Majig Of a Pig"... Well, I was contemplating that song today and realized something. It's not the pig who is terrific, radiant, humble, for crying out loud---it's the spider!!! The pig did absolutely nothing to make himself praiseworthy---it was Charlotte, his spider friend, who used all her gifts and abilities to make him shine. Did anyone ever think to give glory to the spider? Nope, she just gave birth to her most magnificent masterpiece...and then died. Talk about humility...

So, it got me (eventually) thinking about Hebrews 11. In this chapter, we find the Hall of Faith...all the great men and women of renown and all their worthy accomplishments in the name of faith. Not to discount these honorable brothers and sisters in the faith---but don't we see some liars here? Some murderers? Adulterers? I mean, when we look really closely, the things that make these people worth remembering are all the things that the Lord has done in their lives by his power and covenant with them. It is nothing that they have done on their own. They would be unmentionable nobodies---runts doomed to death---if it weren't for the Lord.

That chapter that we refer to as the Hall of Faith---from now on, I'll try to consider it God's Hall of Fame---and give credit where credit is due.

Folksy Finds: Vintage Thingie Thursday

Yahoo! It's my favorite blog party of the week: Vintage Thingie Thursday! Visit Coloradolady to see everyone's special vintage posts!

I'm extra excited today to be showing off a few of my "folksy finds" from the last week. My husband gave me a couple hours and $20 and told me to have a good time...so I hit the Salvation Army! I'm not hard to please :) Some of my treasures included a set of 12 linen dinner napkins that had never been used, a set of 12 vintage glass dessert dishes that I plan to use for jello, and a surprise vintagy treat that you don't get to see until Christmas time!

Today I thought I'd focus on the things I found that were in my "folk art" theme that I love so much. First of all, I found a neat little kitchen plaque with a cute rhyme about homemaking. It reads: My Kitchen Prayer--God bless my little kitchen, I love its every nook, And bless me as I do my work, Wash pots and pans and cook.

I love the old fashioned cook stove, geraniums and checkered tablecloth. I even have a chair that looks just like the one in the picture!


The second and third things I found that are sorta folksy are this hot chocolate mug and soup bowl.











The cup is definitely vintage and reminds me of something...(help me out here, Mom!) I'm not sure if the soup cup is vintage or not but it's got that same sort of feel so it will do! It translates to Creole Soup in French (I think...). To cook creole style, one would use a spicy sauce made of tomatoes, onions and peppers. It's likely this cup will see more clam chowder, potato soup or broccoli and cheddar than anything else!

I've saved the best for last! I'm so, so very excited about this one! I have been a collector of a certain style of figurines for awhile now but have known nothing about them. Some people call them Hummels but I know that they're not. In fact, the artist is named Erich Stauffer and the figurines are put out by a company called Arnart. I was so excited to discover this adorable musical figurine sitting amongst the knick knacks at SA! It is in just perfect shape and plays the tune, "Jack and Jill" beautifully. I've been trying to find one online to read more about it but can't find anything similar. I just think it's the most adorable thing ever and feel very blessed to have found it!

Have a wonderful Thursday!