Bonnie J Martin

Archives for January 2018

Envy or contentment

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A glance in the wrong direction can easily knock you off course.  I am obsessed with sunrises.  And January seems to have the best!  Too many times I have glanced to behold the beauty and I swerve.  The pinks and oranges and purples and fire-lit blues just beckon me to see.  Like I want to reach out and grab it.  Hold the beauty.  To just sit and be mesmerized.  But wait, I am driving.
Sometimes things in this world can cause us to look in a direction other than the way we are heading.  Not always a good thing, especially while driving.  Distractions can be good or bad. 
Am I the only person alive that can get so consumed by the pretty people designing pretty things and think, why can’t I do that?  Or look that way?  Or be that popular?  Or have those resources?  Or be loved by so many?  Or be that smart?  Or have that house?  Or have that job?  Or live at the beach?  Had to throw that one in there!
Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always.  Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off.  Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way.  Proverbs 23:17-19 (NASB)
So today I will pray that my focus be on God.  The blessings He has poured out cannot begin to be counted.  Ask Him to direct my heart so that the contentment that only comes from Him places a really dark shadow on what He has NOT chosen for me and brightens (like a gorgeous January sunrise) the gifts He has poured out for me.

Compassion House

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Compassion House is approaching its 4th anniversary. In August 2013, an overwhelming presentation was made at a small country church that stirred the hearts of some to begin a mission within our very doors. A mission that could be served by those that are called to a mission field but one close to home, not in another state or another country.   So after months of planning, it happened.

Not heavily attended by those in need but a few sought it out. Spiritual counseling and prayer always comes first. Then a trip to the pantry. Items in the pantry limited by household size.

Friendships have been made. Unlikely acquaintances have entered the doors. Rare moments of sharing God’s grace and mercy with a few that would not enter the doors of the sanctuary on a Sunday morning. Friends finding themselves in a moment of need where compassion may be shared unconditionally. No judgement here.

But does the very act of compassion sometimes encourage entitlement. That has been a discouraging thought within the workers. But compassion didn’t pick and choose who among the five-thousand should receive bread and fish. It was given. It was received. The deal was made and the outcome was left to God.

Should the doors of a mission be any different?  Should a mission emulate the very One we are on mission for?  Follow the greatest example of compassion that ever existed?

And leave the outcome to God….

Protection power

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Who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  1 Peter 1:5 (NASB)
My doors get locked.
I wear a seatbelt.
Sunscreen is a must.
I even set an alarm for security.
I watch my surroundings when out and about.
If the dogs bark outside, I look out the window with caution and a pounding heart.
None of these things protect me.  Not really.
The seatbelt may have held tight if that young man on the phone would have rear-ended me last week.  I saw him miles back at a stop sign.  Eyes glued to the tiny screen.  I wanted to stop then and approach his window and ask him just what he was doing. 
Then when smoking tires left black streaks on the pavement behind me I really wanted to stop, get out, and give him a good mama-talking!  Looking over the top of my glasses!!  Jaw clinched tight!!
But I didn’t.
I prayed.  Prayed for his and others protection.  Physical protection.  But then remembering physical protection doesn’t give eternal protection.
The power of those brakes to slow a car wasn’t the only power on display in that moment. 
The saving power of God was there.  At least for me. 
Do you know if you are “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation?”  Are you ready for that revelation in the last time?  Are you sharing with others that saving power?
There is a protection plan much better than any insurance you can buy.
If you have it, share it.
If you need it, seek it.
 

Memories and ministry

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I grew up in Greenville, Florida.  It is a small town that you could easily miss if you blink as driving through.  It has my roots.  It holds my memories of childhood.
I can’t imagine growing up anywhere else.  And as I remember, I remember the people I really wanted to be friends with and those that never treated me as an outcast.  I remember hurt from the ones that I really wanted to be friends with.  I remember isolation and ugly attitudes.  Bad memories for a childhood, huh?
But those that never treated me as an outcast.  They always treated me the same.  I don’t remember pain from them.  I remember a camaraderie that I didn’t ever seem to quite have with my “friends.”  Strange statement, I know.  But let me explain.
Growing up in the 1970s in North Florida kept me from really experiencing what it was for those that had to live in a time of segregation.  Everyone attended the same schools.  Used the same restrooms.  No one had some predetermined preferential treatment.  Or at least in my eyes they didn’t.  Everyone had the same opportunity as me.  Or so I thought.
I certainly felt no special entitlement.  As a matter of fact, I never felt quite good enough.  Something was missing in me and I couldn’t put my finger on it.  A longing in my heart for inclusion.  To belong.  To have unconditional friends.
Fast-forward 40 years. (Man, time flies!)  There is a little church building in the middle of nowhere.  Yes, isolation is still something I am drawn to.  I call this little building my “church home.”  And it isn’t the building as much as it is the people. 
There have been those in the last 20 years of membership that have reminded me of my “friends” from childhood.  They leave something to be desired from a friend.  I honestly shouldn’t call them friends; let’s say acquaintances.  Then there are those that I know I could call at 2:00 am and they would come running.  There is a difference.  This is segregation.  And it has nothing to do with the color of our skin!
It has everything to do with attitudes and opinions.  And it has everything to do with belonging.
My church home started a ministry outreach 4 years ago.  Spiritual and physical nutrition.  Spiritual first!
But He answered and said, “It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  Matthew 4:4 (NASB)
Physical nutrition will only take you to the grave eventually.  But spiritual nutrition prepares you for eternal life!
This week may be the final week of that ministry.  But as I look back to the time, I remember my childhood.  And the friendships that have been forged in 4 years remind me of those that never treated me as an outcast.  No segregation in this ministry. 
So, I am here asking you to pray.  Sincerely, earnestly pray over the next few days.  Pray for God’s guidance as decisions are made.  Pray God’s will be done.  Pray that the compassion poured out will be from Him and not from people that feel too busy to reach out and love.
I welcome your thoughts!

Shaking out a measure

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The call came at an unexpected time and certainly from an unexpected person.  It was a call that screamed she cared.  And in the midst of a self-centered pity party that has gone on way too long, she shook me.
She made me think of just one year prior when we all went on retreat.  And we spoke of being shaken. 
“Give, and it will be given to you.  They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over.  For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”  Luke 6:38 (NASB)
Even the house shook.  We felt it.  We commented on it.  None of us will forget the shaking.
We gathered pearls that weekend.  Pearls of goodness.  Pearls of truth.  Precious moments of revelation.
And she shook me.  She reminded me that it isn’t about me at all.  It is about her and you and any other that may need to hear some good news. 
For the ones sitting in the hospital waiting on more tests.  For the ones that received the result of a test and it might not have been what they wanted to hear.  For the ones, like me, that just can’t seem to pull it together on their own.
For the ONE who can meet each one in each moment of need. 
So, she reminded me that there is a greater purpose for each of us.  She reminded me of days gone by.  She reminded me that we are here to serve God.
Such a great measure to share!
Are you sharing yours?

Residence

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I drape a blanket over my shoulders.  It brings comfort from the cool morning air. 
I wake and rise to click keys.  It brings comfort from the jumbled thoughts in my brain.
I pray to God.  He brings comfort to a troubled soul.
And as I pray, I list Who He Is.
Shelter.  Thinking of this old blanket bringing warmth.  This old thing can’t hold a candle to His Shelter.
Provider.  It goes much farther than physical provisions.  He is the Provider of my salvation.
Resident.  Ah-ha.  Yes.  R.E.S.I.D.E.N.T.  His Holy Spirit is a resident inside me. 
I like a clean house.  I enjoy a neat, tidy space to dwell.  Not that my house is a picture of this at all!!  But I do enjoy it.  Everything in its place.  Because there is a place for everything.  When I go to grab a mug for coffee, I want to know that it is in the same place each time. 
I am a resident in my house.  I get to decide if the laundry gets done.  And if it doesn’t there are no clean clothes to wear.  And without clean clothes I just might stink.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  1 Corinthians 6:19 (NASB)
Am I keeping a tidy space for the Creator of the universe?  Or am I hoarding junk that keeps His residence in shambles?  I have some house-cleaning to do.  What about you?

Continuing…

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So many of these posts seem incomplete. As I read back over my heart and mind and thoughts poured out in letters and words and pictures, many feel unfinished. Like reading one chapter of a book and not continuing to chapter two. What happens next?  There is no way to know unless you continue.

But what importance does that continuing hold. At times it seems completely useless and a silly waste of time. And then other times it seems life depends on it. Like air for my lungs, it is necessary to keep living. 
Which of these words may be life-offering relief?

If only one is rescued from the flood isn’t the effort of continuing worth it?  To that one it is everything. And if that one is rescued it may lead to that one being the one to reach out to another. 

So continuing isn’t wasted.

Finishing doesn’t become vanity.  It isn’t a perilous fight to the finish but it is a journey.  An adventure of sorts.

Seeing what is just around the bend.

Reaching out and taking another step and moving forward. 

Continuing the journey….