Well, this is the final part on Lemon Laws. We will pick up with the lat few characteristics of the lemon, hope you have enjoyed them. I appreciate your feedback. I will post some other things later on that has helped me and things I discovered once I arrived on the "other side of misery". I hope these principles can and have helped and feel free to pass them along.
Mike
(from the book in progress "The Other Side Of Misery")
Lemon act as blood purifier and improves the body’s ability to get rid of toxins.
Wow this one should be self-explanatory. Those lemons in life have a unique way, if allowed, to open your eyes to the toxic things in your life. You go through a self-examination through prayer and seeking God and you soon discover the very elements that are not good for you, not pleasing to God and perhaps the wrong decisions you’ve made. But what about things out of your control, like cancer and disease? Did God cause this to show me these things? No. God does however use these times that the enemy meant for ill and can make them for His Glory in your life. Ask anyone who has overcome these obstacles or has walked with a friend or family member through it…they can make you a better person.
Lemon fruit is excellent in fighting disease that's related to infection.
It seems like, at least in my life, that as soon as you victor over one area or situation and received what was good from it and you feel like the sailing will continue to be smooth, there is always another lemon waiting to be processed. Sometimes they are major life changers and sometimes they are the ones that let you know of some unresolved issues. Like when the citric acid finds the tiniest cut, yeah, you begin the process then to pinpoint it and take care of it. God knows what He is doing and how much you can handle. Some things He allows is unexplainable, we just have to trust.
Buy lemon to get rid of certain insects. It’s Mother Nature’s version of insecticides and will help to repel mosquitoes and flies.
I once read in an encyclopedia when I was a kid that the fly was an “envoy of the devil”. Now I hate flies with a passion. I understand their purpose, but I still hate them. I can be sitting in my house and the only fly that it is in the house will fly clear across the room to pester me. It has the entire house to fly in, plenty of room and could probably find plenty and easier bacteria to munch on other than me. I will swat and swat to no avail, the fly doesn’t get it, it just wont leave we alone until I either kill it or find something to repel it.
Isn’t this so in life? There are things that will hinder, pester and flat out anger us until we do something about it or allow God to engage on the scene. The fruits of bad decisions will always be like that fly or mosquito. We will have to deal with it constantly until we learn to make good decisions. Decisions to engage in dangerous habits like smoking, drunkenness (notice I didn’t say drinking), lust, pornography, lying and on and on. When you take the lemons in life and hand them over to God and allow him to teach you and you actually apply the lessons and change, it will be like a repellant to the enemy’s attacks. It is like a force field or a wall that cannot be penetrated. That wall has to be maintained, so expect more lemons but now you know what to do with them.
Some people love antiseptics and would apply it to their skin whenever they have the smallest cut. The good news is you can use lemon on cuts too since it's nature's antiseptics. Not only that, because of its styptics property, it is said that lemon could be applied on cuts to stop bleeding.
Come on now, do I really need to elaborate here? God uses these not only to teach, repel the enemy, help you discover things within you but also it is a healer. My story of Dallas, TX was painful, very painful, but it changed me. It taught me a lot about who I was and who I wasn’t. Once I allowed God to do absolutely what He wanted in this situation I got myself in, the attacks of the enemy became fewer and His peace and assurance began to grow inside me. But mostly, He healed me from bitterness, addictions, resentment, poor perspectives and a sense of failure among many other things. In a sense, it was the best-worst experience I have ever been through and I am painfully thankful for it.
Drinking lemon juice is useful for people with heart problems - because of its high potassium content.
Overall, people who have been damaged, hurt and broken because of a life’s blows can see this as their doom or as a stimulant to see things as God would see them. Discover who you are and what you are, as well as deepening your relationship and your communion with the Mighty Creator. If you have had lemons in life, give them to God right now, ask him to turn it to something healthy. Trust God and rise up your faith and know that He knows what is best, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Find the calm within the chaos and surrender it to God. You know deep inside that is what you are to do but doing it requires you to change, requires you to do something that you are not so comfortable with. It is here at this point where you have to stand on not only His Word, but also yours. You say you love, believe and trust God…do you? I pray you do.
One last thought, when you do finally decide to let go and allow God to take the wheel of your situation and circumstance, make a pack with yourself to be very disciplined in leaving the wheel in His hands and resist the temptation that WILL come to reach over and take over. I will close this out with a short analogy my friend, Neil, shared with me. Neil was telling me about how he was struggling with the whole trusting God completely thing and how he came to resolve it. One day he was sharing this concern with a church member and that person looked at him and began to explain this to him. He said, “Neil, would you ever write a letter like this:”
Dear God,
I am really concerned in the direction we are going, nothing is familiar and quite frankly I am very uncomfortable. I cannot see clearly and that is causing me great anxiety. I feel like since I let you drive we have been out of control and uncertainty is all around. So I am just letting you know that I am going to take over from here to get us back on track because it has became obvious to me you do not know what you are doing.
“I would never write such a letter”, Neil responded. Then he explained to Neil that is exactly what we do when we quit trusting God. Things will look like they are not getting better and the enemy will come to convince you that they are not and that is where most people give up, but victory is for those who hang on and trust that the horizon, the other side of misery, is sure and near. He wants you to stay aboard so he can teach you and grow you through the whole process. Trust God to take you to the other side of misery.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Lemon Laws Pt. 2
As with the first post I will stay reluctant to share all the details of my dilemmas but say that in addition to what part 1 of Lemon Laws was based on, a lot of simultaneous issues were happening. Any of you ever been in real debt…not a few hundred bucks on a credit card but try something to the tune of $30,000-$40,000 of debt, and running on a budget that was $500-$600 over every MONTH. Yeah…that was me…not the brightest bulb in the carton I know but the lesson learn was very painful and priceless at the same time. The story of how I was once again transformed in this is a great one. I will say this, when you have been humbled to the point that there your face is in the dirt…never say...and I repeat never say that you cannot be humbled anymore…because you will…just ask me. Anyway, we will join in here from the book in progress “The Other Side Of Misery” right after the story of my being in utter debt and begin to share with you a few important parallels of the lemon. The final part of Lemon Laws will be posted next week, hope you check it out as well.
Mike
( a section from the book in progress, “The Other Side Of Misery”):
Since then as I write this to you, we are almost debt free, we are building new ministry and God has COMPLETE control. I am a completely different man than I was and my wife is a completely different woman. My personal time and life with God the Almighty is what it never was and is ever increasing, not just because He rescued my family, but because of who He is. His perspective is best, His wisdom is unchallengeable and His grace is unmatchable. Wow, a short story of many to describe how He can take the lemons of life and turn them into a bright, refreshing and nourishing breath of sustaining Life.
I found it interesting while exploring the fruit of the lemon itself, I discovered some benefits of the lemon and I thought I would share a few with you.
Drink fresh lemon juice to cleanse your system.
God can take the stormiest clouds and turn them into blue skies. A fresh purging of your spirit from the Holy Spirit can leave you refreshed, energized, and clear minded to see what the purpose and will of God is. Through that, it can become a complete purifying and cleansing time where you’re your spiritual being is refreshed.
Use pure lemon juice on wasp and bee stings to relieve pain.
When the “sting” of life penetrates you and leaves you wounded and in pain, you may want to sit there and have a pity party and show everyone your injury. Or you could allow God to take the good out of that painful event and use it like a healing lotion, painful at first but knowing that it has cleansing and healing power, you can rest relieved that you will come out better.
Lemon juice mixed with olive oil may help to dissolve gallstones.
I wont get crazy with the spiritual significance of this statement but I certainly could. Sometimes we allow things, bad things, to go unattended in our lives. We leave them in our systems too long. We buy into the philosophy that we just need to tuck it away and get over it. I do agree that are some things that we need not let bother us and simply just get over it as not to be a walking piece of rice paper that cannot withstand any pressure, but that doesn’t apply to everything. Hurts, abuse, injustices that are tucked away that have really affected us can grow to really infect us. They stew in the soul and spirit and harden, only to make it more difficult and painful to remove. Sometimes, we must go through a spiritual surgery to have them removed. Something devastating or unfortunate, or unwanted at the least, has to happen in order for us to yield to its damaging affects and say “enough”. God sometimes allows us to get to that place, then He, and only He, can once again in His infinite wisdom bring out the painful stone and restore and heal you and bring you to a place of His will.
It is believed that regular intake of fresh lemons may be useful in treating cases of kidney stones.
- we need to on a regular basis fall at the feet of the Creator and allow Him to continue purge us so that we may remain clean and blameless in His sight. We don’t need to search out for difficult situations or purposely make bad decision in order to keep a flow of fresh lemons but rather when they do happen and we go through the process, remember them and reflect on His goodness and testify frequently to God’s faithfulness.
This is another fruit that has been known for its therapeutic properties for generations. It is also a root of any home remedy and is normally used to help the stomach (because they have special cleansing effect).
- When you are upset, nervous, scared or worried about life, whether it be the economy, terrorism or relationships, you can be reminded by the Spirit of God of how He brought you through the Lemons of Life. When you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach (you know the term sick to your stomach), remember how God took your lemons in your life and made you better, it was Him using that to call you closer to Him.
Lemon is one of the fruits that would strengthen your immune system.
From the lesson you learn and the memory created your immune system to the attacks of the enemy will strengthen. You will learn how to avoid, block and overcome tough times and other ploys that may be sent your way. You may very well impress yourself!
Mike
( a section from the book in progress, “The Other Side Of Misery”):
Since then as I write this to you, we are almost debt free, we are building new ministry and God has COMPLETE control. I am a completely different man than I was and my wife is a completely different woman. My personal time and life with God the Almighty is what it never was and is ever increasing, not just because He rescued my family, but because of who He is. His perspective is best, His wisdom is unchallengeable and His grace is unmatchable. Wow, a short story of many to describe how He can take the lemons of life and turn them into a bright, refreshing and nourishing breath of sustaining Life.
I found it interesting while exploring the fruit of the lemon itself, I discovered some benefits of the lemon and I thought I would share a few with you.
Drink fresh lemon juice to cleanse your system.
God can take the stormiest clouds and turn them into blue skies. A fresh purging of your spirit from the Holy Spirit can leave you refreshed, energized, and clear minded to see what the purpose and will of God is. Through that, it can become a complete purifying and cleansing time where you’re your spiritual being is refreshed.
Use pure lemon juice on wasp and bee stings to relieve pain.
When the “sting” of life penetrates you and leaves you wounded and in pain, you may want to sit there and have a pity party and show everyone your injury. Or you could allow God to take the good out of that painful event and use it like a healing lotion, painful at first but knowing that it has cleansing and healing power, you can rest relieved that you will come out better.
Lemon juice mixed with olive oil may help to dissolve gallstones.
I wont get crazy with the spiritual significance of this statement but I certainly could. Sometimes we allow things, bad things, to go unattended in our lives. We leave them in our systems too long. We buy into the philosophy that we just need to tuck it away and get over it. I do agree that are some things that we need not let bother us and simply just get over it as not to be a walking piece of rice paper that cannot withstand any pressure, but that doesn’t apply to everything. Hurts, abuse, injustices that are tucked away that have really affected us can grow to really infect us. They stew in the soul and spirit and harden, only to make it more difficult and painful to remove. Sometimes, we must go through a spiritual surgery to have them removed. Something devastating or unfortunate, or unwanted at the least, has to happen in order for us to yield to its damaging affects and say “enough”. God sometimes allows us to get to that place, then He, and only He, can once again in His infinite wisdom bring out the painful stone and restore and heal you and bring you to a place of His will.
It is believed that regular intake of fresh lemons may be useful in treating cases of kidney stones.
- we need to on a regular basis fall at the feet of the Creator and allow Him to continue purge us so that we may remain clean and blameless in His sight. We don’t need to search out for difficult situations or purposely make bad decision in order to keep a flow of fresh lemons but rather when they do happen and we go through the process, remember them and reflect on His goodness and testify frequently to God’s faithfulness.
This is another fruit that has been known for its therapeutic properties for generations. It is also a root of any home remedy and is normally used to help the stomach (because they have special cleansing effect).
- When you are upset, nervous, scared or worried about life, whether it be the economy, terrorism or relationships, you can be reminded by the Spirit of God of how He brought you through the Lemons of Life. When you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach (you know the term sick to your stomach), remember how God took your lemons in your life and made you better, it was Him using that to call you closer to Him.
Lemon is one of the fruits that would strengthen your immune system.
From the lesson you learn and the memory created your immune system to the attacks of the enemy will strengthen. You will learn how to avoid, block and overcome tough times and other ploys that may be sent your way. You may very well impress yourself!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Lemon Laws
In my consideration for my first post I am reluctant to post too many details of my past struggles and dilemmas that brought me to the place that I discovered the “lesson” or message I want to engage with you in. I will just say that I reached a real spiritual bottom..a dark, lonely desert, one where I was utterly demolished. I spent about three years in that desert, although it was like an eternity that had no end or hope in sight. However, it was then that my life was magnificently transformed forever…I met God for the first time. Yep, for the first time, and I had been a Christian for years. I put it this way when I share the entire story with people…”it was the best worst experience of my life”. So what did I learn when I arrived at the Other Side Of Misery (title of a book that I am writing)…I learned the Law of the Lemon. I will share part of the book with you as I will just cut and paste a couple of sections with you here on my blog. If you like it, I may be more inspired to complete this work and then you can view the rest of it then. Thanks for reading and I welcome your thoughts, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, and encouragement.
From the “book in progress” The Other Side Of Misery:
…The Bible says that “…all things work together for good for those who love God…” This is true but the part that we miss is that they do work together for good…eventually. Time is an effective teacher of patience. I was so ready for all of this to work together it wasn’t even funny, but it wasn’t until years later did this experience just begin to make sense. My experience here and others mentioned are deep and personal and I am just sharing the highlights to help make a connection with you. To you who may be in similar situations and are tempted to just say to this whole Christian thing, “Ah, forget it”. I was so close to that myself.
So where did I go wrong? What could I have done to elude this experience and pursued the right dream, my God ordained purpose? Well I am split on this. On one hand one could say that I had to go through these things to get to where I am right now, writing this material as a help to others in similar situations. Without that my credibility on this subject matter may perhaps not carry the same weight. On the other hand, to say it was God’s will for me and my family to go through all these things seems to be out of His character and He certainly wanted good things for me and for me to make good decisions that glorified Him. I am for the latter but that would require me to make good decisions and I apparently didn’t. Remember, all things work together.
God is the God of lemonade. Bet you never heard that one before. He and only He can truly take the real lemons in life and make it into a sweet nourishing glass of cool lemonade.
How do you make real lemonade? First you have to have a lemon. Brilliant, I know. Then the lemon has to be cut open and exposed. Next, you have to squeeze the lemon with a firm hand and repeat it over and over until there is no more juice left in that piece and then you grab the other one and do the same. Then you take some sugar and add to it. Then from there you add some cool water and you now have lemonade. When you combine all these ingredients to get lemonade and pour it over a glass of ice it becomes a beverage that is not only delicious and nutritious, but also refreshing.
We have to take our lemons in life, our foolish decisions, our mistakes, our sins and hand them to God. Yes, looking back on this decision to follow the path of full time youth ministry I can now honestly tell you that at that time, it wasn’t my purpose, calling or dream at all. Did I enjoy it the 13 years I was involved in it? Yes, absolutely. Was I good at it? Yes, absolutely. Were lives affected by what I did. Absolutely. Was it what I was created to do? Humm. Have you ever had a job you didn’t like but you were good at? I rest my case. It also goes for doing something you really enjoy and stink at it. I love to sing but I stink at it. Anyway, I digress, different sermon for a different Sunday.
Once you hand those lemons over and put them into the hand of God and allow him, yes I said allow Him, to cut you away from the things that brought you to the place you are. The cutting was for me a severing, kind of like the severing that takes place at an alter, it was painful and “bloody” because it also cuts you open and exposes you for who you really are…yikes. Then we have to allow God to squeeze the stuff out of it so that it can become something of nourishment, something that is refreshing to not only you but to others as well, you can bring a purpose out of it and bring glory to God from it. The squeezing process is not easy or fun. It is a lot of work to get it all out and can take some time as well. It is messy and sticky and if you have any wounds, the juice will find its way there and let you know it has arrived. By the time the lemon is through being squeezed all that is left is a tore, wrinkled peel of shredded pulp. Not worth much. Broken. You have heard the term “beaten to a pulp”. All the good stuff is out ready to be used. The funny this is, that at this point everything is still sour, only God can sweeten it.
The sweetener is if we will let God use this and we allow Him to grow us from each experience. We must be humble after this shredding of ourselves and yield to how God is going to bring good from this. It is to easy and tempting to allow these things in life, these consequences from our foolish decisions or even from the decisions of others, to ruin our lives and then turn and be angry at God for it as if it were His fault. “God, why am I suffering, why is this happening, why me, why, why, why?” we go over and over in our heads. And when we don’t want to hear the real truth we turn on God and become bitter and even angry with Him and even others that care for us.
“People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord”
Proverbs 19:3 (NLT)
We begin our cycle of PMS (Poor Me Syndrome) and see things through that perspective and prism. We see those who are delighting in the Lord as an enemy and those who are prospering as a foe. But, if we humble ourselves before God He said that He would lift us up.
He will lift you up in a way that glorifies Him through the change that is brought in you. He is glorified (lifted up) in you as you humble yourself through this process. Part of being humbled is humility and humility in my opinion is a choice. A choice to verbally and spiritually say to God I am nothing. I am a mess and I am hereby giving you full reign in my life to do as you please…no matter what is required of me. No matter what I have to go through in order for you to mold me, change me, make me and take me to where I need to be and need to go. When you say that and mean it, get ready, it’s coming.
This will conclude this post. I will post the next section of some addition dilemmas and some real practical truths and handy example on how you can take the Lemon Law and apply it to your life next week…until then.
From the “book in progress” The Other Side Of Misery:
…The Bible says that “…all things work together for good for those who love God…” This is true but the part that we miss is that they do work together for good…eventually. Time is an effective teacher of patience. I was so ready for all of this to work together it wasn’t even funny, but it wasn’t until years later did this experience just begin to make sense. My experience here and others mentioned are deep and personal and I am just sharing the highlights to help make a connection with you. To you who may be in similar situations and are tempted to just say to this whole Christian thing, “Ah, forget it”. I was so close to that myself.
So where did I go wrong? What could I have done to elude this experience and pursued the right dream, my God ordained purpose? Well I am split on this. On one hand one could say that I had to go through these things to get to where I am right now, writing this material as a help to others in similar situations. Without that my credibility on this subject matter may perhaps not carry the same weight. On the other hand, to say it was God’s will for me and my family to go through all these things seems to be out of His character and He certainly wanted good things for me and for me to make good decisions that glorified Him. I am for the latter but that would require me to make good decisions and I apparently didn’t. Remember, all things work together.
God is the God of lemonade. Bet you never heard that one before. He and only He can truly take the real lemons in life and make it into a sweet nourishing glass of cool lemonade.
How do you make real lemonade? First you have to have a lemon. Brilliant, I know. Then the lemon has to be cut open and exposed. Next, you have to squeeze the lemon with a firm hand and repeat it over and over until there is no more juice left in that piece and then you grab the other one and do the same. Then you take some sugar and add to it. Then from there you add some cool water and you now have lemonade. When you combine all these ingredients to get lemonade and pour it over a glass of ice it becomes a beverage that is not only delicious and nutritious, but also refreshing.
We have to take our lemons in life, our foolish decisions, our mistakes, our sins and hand them to God. Yes, looking back on this decision to follow the path of full time youth ministry I can now honestly tell you that at that time, it wasn’t my purpose, calling or dream at all. Did I enjoy it the 13 years I was involved in it? Yes, absolutely. Was I good at it? Yes, absolutely. Were lives affected by what I did. Absolutely. Was it what I was created to do? Humm. Have you ever had a job you didn’t like but you were good at? I rest my case. It also goes for doing something you really enjoy and stink at it. I love to sing but I stink at it. Anyway, I digress, different sermon for a different Sunday.
Once you hand those lemons over and put them into the hand of God and allow him, yes I said allow Him, to cut you away from the things that brought you to the place you are. The cutting was for me a severing, kind of like the severing that takes place at an alter, it was painful and “bloody” because it also cuts you open and exposes you for who you really are…yikes. Then we have to allow God to squeeze the stuff out of it so that it can become something of nourishment, something that is refreshing to not only you but to others as well, you can bring a purpose out of it and bring glory to God from it. The squeezing process is not easy or fun. It is a lot of work to get it all out and can take some time as well. It is messy and sticky and if you have any wounds, the juice will find its way there and let you know it has arrived. By the time the lemon is through being squeezed all that is left is a tore, wrinkled peel of shredded pulp. Not worth much. Broken. You have heard the term “beaten to a pulp”. All the good stuff is out ready to be used. The funny this is, that at this point everything is still sour, only God can sweeten it.
The sweetener is if we will let God use this and we allow Him to grow us from each experience. We must be humble after this shredding of ourselves and yield to how God is going to bring good from this. It is to easy and tempting to allow these things in life, these consequences from our foolish decisions or even from the decisions of others, to ruin our lives and then turn and be angry at God for it as if it were His fault. “God, why am I suffering, why is this happening, why me, why, why, why?” we go over and over in our heads. And when we don’t want to hear the real truth we turn on God and become bitter and even angry with Him and even others that care for us.
“People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord”
Proverbs 19:3 (NLT)
We begin our cycle of PMS (Poor Me Syndrome) and see things through that perspective and prism. We see those who are delighting in the Lord as an enemy and those who are prospering as a foe. But, if we humble ourselves before God He said that He would lift us up.
He will lift you up in a way that glorifies Him through the change that is brought in you. He is glorified (lifted up) in you as you humble yourself through this process. Part of being humbled is humility and humility in my opinion is a choice. A choice to verbally and spiritually say to God I am nothing. I am a mess and I am hereby giving you full reign in my life to do as you please…no matter what is required of me. No matter what I have to go through in order for you to mold me, change me, make me and take me to where I need to be and need to go. When you say that and mean it, get ready, it’s coming.
This will conclude this post. I will post the next section of some addition dilemmas and some real practical truths and handy example on how you can take the Lemon Law and apply it to your life next week…until then.
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