Foundations

 Disclaimer: Obviously I am not an actual angel. However, I feel like God speaks to my heart and I would love to share it with you. Please enjoy.

If you enjoy my blog but are not currently receiving my email notifications, you can send your first and last name, and your email address to austinlass1948@gmail.com and I will notify you each time I post something new. I promise I will never give your information out to anyone or use it for anything other than my notifications to you. Please share my blog with your friends and family to help me spread the words from my heart with others. Also, if you have any family or friends who you believe might enjoy my blog posts and live in another country, I would especially love to have you share it with them. I am trying to reach more countries around the world. Your help would be greatly appreciated. 

Comments are greatly appreciated. If you leave a comment please include your name. Otherwise I won't know who you are.

Thank you. Janice Austin Bates

I was a very lucky person. I was born into a pastor’s family. Yes, I was a PK (preacher’s kid).

But, it wasn’t just any preacher’s family. My parents were wonderful Bible believing, dedicated Christians. They not only talked the talk, they walked the walk. God was always respected and honored in our home. We were taught from the time we were born what it took to be Christians. They told us about heaven and hell, and we knew where we wanted to spend eternity.

We could be in school activities, but they could not take priority over God and church. I always sang in the a ‘Capella choir. One time we had a great opportunity to sing at a city event. I was really excited about it. The only problem was, it was to take place at a luncheon that was on Sunday right during church. My parents said they were sorry, but I could not skip church to go sing. Although I was sad to miss it, I knew they were right. God always had to come first. When the service was over someone from the choir came running into the church and said, “Come on Janice. They let us hold off the performance so you could come sing with us.” Of course my parents said I could go then. I knew immediately that God had worked this all out for me because we had made Him the priority.

Some people think that is too strict but I can tell you that attitude is a lot of the reason I am a Christian today.

I saw many things like that happen over the years and learned that no matter what, God has to be the focus of our lives.

My father told me one time when I was a teenager that every child has the right to grow up sleeping on a church bench. I remember when I was very young I would always fall asleep on the church pew because I couldn’t understand the sermons yet. However, what I did understand was that church was important and I was always supposed to be there.

As I got older the sermons started making sense to me and I grew up with a very strong foundation.

 When I was 19 some things happened that caused me to faulter. I was looking at people and took my eyes off God. I got hurt and angry and walked away from God for ten years. My family prayed for me every day and God brought me back. When you receive a strong Godly foundation like I had, you can run from it, but you can never escape it. It is always there, right behind you, following you everywhere and constantly calling you back.

I had a friend who had a wife, six kids, and two grandchildren they were raising. They kept drifting further and further out of church. At one point I hadn’t seen them at church for well over a year. Then one Sunday I looked up and there he was with the two grandchildren. I greeted him and told him how much we had been missing them. I will never forget him telling me that all the kids were in baseball and other sports. Most of their games were on Sunday so they couldn’t come to church. He said, ‘You know how it is. You have to set your priorities.” That made me so sad to know the whole family was putting sports as the priority over God. He was only there about three times and then he dropped out again. About a year ago, my friend dropped dead from a heart attack. From everything I have seen, I don’t believe anyone in his family goes to church or serves God anymore. They had no foundation.

How about your children? Are they receiving the foundation that will carry them through life and into eternity with God? Are they sleeping on the church bench while they are still too young to understand what it is all about?

Are they in Sunday School and children’s church while they are old enough to start learning about God? As they become young adults, are they in the youth group surrounded by other young people developing strong friendships with other Christian youth.

Are they growing up knowing Sunday to be a day they go to the house of God and worship, or is it the day to go to the lake.

Of course, there can be exceptions, but it is God’s day.

When your children become adults and have a family of their own, what kind of foundation will they have to help them raise their children to serve God, and eventually spend eternity with Him?

Will they waste their lives following the world, or will they thank God every day for being born into a family that gave them a powerful Godly foundation to base their whole life on? What kind of heritage are your children receiving?

Think about it.

Her Father's Eyes

Disclaimer: Obviously I am not an actual angel. However, I feel like God speaks to my heart and I would love to share it with you. Please enjoy.

If you enjoy my blog but are not currently receiving my email notifications, you can send your first and last name, and your email address to austinlass1948@gmail.com and I will notify you each time I post something new. I promise I will never give your information out to anyone or use it for anything other than my notifications to you. Please share my blog with your friends and family to help me spread the words from my heart with others. Also, if you have any family or friends who you believe might enjoy my blog posts and live in another country, I would especially love to have you share it with them. I am trying to reach more countries around the world. Your help would be greatly appreciated. 

Comments are greatly appreciated. If you leave a comment please include your name. Otherwise I won't know who you are.

Thank you. Janice Austin Bates 

I used to sing a song called Father’s Eyes. It was written by Gary W. Chapman, and I loved it. This is some of the lyrics.

“She's got her Father's Eyes
Her Father's Eyes
Eyes that find the good in things
When good is not around
Eyes that find the source of help
When help just can't be found
Eyes full of compassion
Seeing every pain
Knowing what you're going through
And feeling it the same

Just like my Father's Eyes”

Do you ever think about what our Father God sees when He looks at us? He doesn’t see if we are attractive, talented, running a marathon, or having a bad hair day. That is not to say He doesn’t care how things are going in our life. He does. But, He knows what is actually important and what just feels important.

We will always have good days and bad. Times when we are happy and times when our heart is breaking. We always need to remember that whatever today is like, tomorrow will be at least a little bit different.

When we look at others do we see their physical appearance, or do we look at their heart? Most of us tend to be very judgmental whether we mean to be or not. When we see someone you can tell is hurting and needs someone to care, do we try to encourage them and pray for them, or turn away, hoping they won’t see us. After all, if they start telling us their troubles it is really going to drag our day down.

What if God looked at us that way? What if we took our troubles to God and He said, “You know what? I don’t have time for this today. I am having a really great day and you are just going to rain on it? Come back tomorrow. Maybe I will have time for you then.”

He tells us to love our neighbor. We are to have compassion on them rather than judge them. He commands us to love them and pray for them. If we see them straying from God we are to try to help them come back to God where they belong. If they are in physical, mental or emotional pain it should make our heart hurt for them.

We need to see them through eyes of love. When Jesus was walking the earth He always reached out to the people in need and He loved the sinners. Remember, we are all sinners saved by grace. We never know what has caused a person to be the way they are. Maybe they just need to know that someone cares. Maybe they just need to hear about Jesus.

When I was a young girl, there was a young man who went to our church. He never spoke to, or even looked at anyone. If I said “Hi” to him he would just keep walking and barely respond as he passed by. Unfortunately, I always just wrote him off as having no personality and not caring about anyone. It was not until he grew up and left home that I met him again and found out he had a great personality and wonderful sense of humor. What I didn’t know was that his father was a major alcoholic who spied on his whole family, and if he saw them even talk to anyone, when they got home he would beat them until they couldn’t stand up. I had judged him, and I was so wrong. That is why God tells us not to judge. We always get it wrong.

Instead, we should learn to see through God’s eyes. That takes time, effort, and a lot of prayer. I hope I get there someday.

In this life I might have my mother’s smile, her hands and her hair. But, I want others to look at me and say, "she has her Father’s Eyes”.

Think about it.

The Refiner

Disclaimer: Obviously I am not an actual angel. However, I feel like God speaks to my heart and I would love to share it with you. Please enjoy.

If you enjoy my blog but are not currently receiving my email notifications, you can send your first and last name, and your email address to austinlass1948@gmail.com and I will notify you each time I post something new. I promise I will never give your information out to anyone or use it for anything other than my notifications to you. Please share my blog with your friends and family to help me spread the words from my heart with others. Also, if you have any family or friends who you believe might enjoy my blog posts and live in another country, I would especially love to have you share it with them. I am trying to reach more countries around the world. Your help would be greatly appreciated. 

Comments are greatly appreciated. If you leave a comment please include your name. Otherwise I won't know who you are.

Thank you. Janice Austin Bates 

I received this story on Facebook. I don’t know if this is a true story or fictional. What I do know is that the principle is true. I had seen it before, but had forgotten the story. When I saw it again I knew I wanted to pass it on to you. Please enjoy it.

 

There was once a group of women studying the book of Malachi in the Old Testament. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot – then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered “Yes”, and explained that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”

He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy. When I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of this world’s fire, just remember that God has His eyes on you.

-Anne Kephart

 

It is true. The refining process for us is the same. It is the only thing that makes us pure. When we finally get to heaven and all sin of any kind is burned away, that is when the refining process will be complete. Then we will truly reflect God’s image.

If the silver refiner did not refine the silver it would just be a pretty rock, but not be any better than the rest of the rocks around it. The refining is everything.

I used to work in a fine jewelry store for 12 years and I have seen for myself that if gold is not properly refined, when it is under pressure it will fail. In that way it is just like silver. It develops tiny holes, then cracks, and then it breaks. When that happens it loses all it’s strength and value. When that happens it cannot be made strong without being melted down and refined again.  

I love the part of the story I shared where the refiner keeps his eye on the silver. God never takes His eye off us as He refines us. He knows exactly when we have reached the refinement He is looking for, and He will not allow us to be damaged as He refines us. He does not expect perfection in us because we are still being refined. Neither will He force us to go through the process. We have the option, at any time, to walk away. That is the biggest mistake we can make. When people can start to see God in us, that is the sign the refining is working.

If you have ever seen pictures or a video of silver or gold being refined, you will know that the raw silver or gold does not go straight into the fire. It is held in a fireproof cup otherwise it would be lost. It completely melts and has to be contained or it will simply fall into the fire and be lost.

When God is refining us He holds us in His hand to keep us safe from the fire. Even though we have to melt so the impurities can be burned out of us, because we are being held in His hand we are taking on His form.

So, how do you react to the fire? It can be very painful at times. But without it we are weak and will always fail. God is refining us, not to make us pretty, but to make us strong. The beauty that comes as a result of it is the proof that we are becoming more like God. It makes it all worth while. After all, being as much like God as we can, should be our goal. When the refining is done, which will be when we join Him in heaven, we will be the perfect reflection of Him. It doesn’t get more beautiful than that.

Think about it.

His Ear Is On The Sparrow

 

Disclaimer: Obviously I am not an actual angel. However, I feel like God speaks to my heart and I would love to share it with you. Please enjoy.

If you enjoy my blog but are not currently receiving my email notifications, you can send your first and last name, and your email address to austinlass1948@gmail.com and I will notify you each time I post something new. I promise I will never give your information out to anyone or use it for anything other than my notifications to you. Please share my blog with your friends and family to help me spread the words from my heart with others. Also, if you have any family or friends who you believe might enjoy my blog posts and live in another country, I would especially love to have you share it with them. I am trying to reach more countries around the world. Your help would be greatly appreciated. 

Comments are greatly appreciated. If you leave a comment please include your name. Otherwise I won't know who you are.

Thank you. Janice Austin Bates

Good morning, and happy new year. I know not all countries celebrate today as the first day of the new year, but here in the USA we do. No matter where you live, I am wishing God’s blessing on you for this coming year.

About two weeks ago a friend of mine told me to listen to a preacher on YouTube named Louie Giglio. She said he has a post called “Stars and Whales” that I would probably find very interesting, so I checked it out. And yes, it is amazing.

He talks about how every planet or star, etc. in the universe makes a sound. It is referred to as singing. Whales also sing, and he combines them to show us a tiny example of what God hears all the time. It is pretty amazing. The truth is everything and creature God ever made sings.

As humans we get to decide if we sing to God or to the world. If we are singing to God it is in beautiful harmony with all the rest of the singing going on in the universe. The way we sing to God is with our prayer and worship. Even when we come to God with a request (or even a complaint) God hears it as singing. That is because He wants us to come to Him with everything. He knows as humans we get frustrated, anxious, angry, or sad. He is there for us in our good times and bad.

We have a song in our church that I love. It has these words.

“I love you Lord, and I lift my voice

To worship You, oh my soul rejoice

Take joy my King in what you hear

Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.”

When a person sings to the world, (they do not serve God, but go with the world) the sound coming from them is a dissonance. That is a musical word describing two or more musical notes that clash rather than harmonize. Dissonances are used very little, and when they are it is to show some type of chaos.

The Bible tells us that God knows when a sparrow, which is a very small bird, falls to the ground. The words to another one of our songs says,

“His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

I believe that not only is His eye on the sparrow, but His ear is on it too. Every note each little sparrow sings brings Him joy.

If He watches and listens to the sparrows and stars then we know He is watching and listening to us. After all, He created us for companionship. He doesn’t need our companionship, but He wants it.

So, when God listens to your voice, actions, or thoughts (you do realize He can hear your thoughts don’t you), does He hear sweet harmony, or dissonance? Is your voice loving or angry? Do you build people up, or say hurtful things to them? Do you speak kindly of others, or talk against them behind their back? Do you encourage them, or judge and accuse? Do you tell people about God, or pretend you don’t know Him?

Whatever you do, that is your music. Does it bring a smile to His face, or hurt His ears?

Think about it.