The Treasure Chest

                                
The smell of cedar rose up from the open lid.  I drew a deep breath, inhaling the woody fragrance.  There were so many things inside!  My grandmother had taken me over to her cedar chest, to retrieve something.  She had her treasures stored in there for many years.  Things from her past, that meant something special to her heart.  The chest was a special place that she could go, to remember precious moments from days gone by. 

That memory has stayed with me for over 40 years. Although I've always wanted one, I have never purchased a cedar chest.  For some reason, the longing for one of my own has been strong for the last few months.  Steve asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year.  I told him.  He said, "Let's see what we can find."  We looked around, and God provided a beautiful secondhand one...for a VERY reasonable price.  I now have a place to store memories...and one day share them with my own granddaughters.

Now, I have to think of what to put in there!  What are my treasures?  The things that I'll put in there will not be expensive items.  There's a wooden box that holds two decks of cards.  It was my parents'.  The box reminds me of an ongoing card game that they played throughout their marriage.  The score sheet is still in the box.  They've both been gone for almost 20 years, and the box stays the same...a reminder of a strong bond that stood the test of time.  There are things that belonged to my children...a girl scout uniform, baby clothes/shoes and special school projects.

Treasures.  We all have them.  They reside in a special place in our heart.  They mean a lot to us, and we hold them close.  Jesus knew about treasures of the heart.  He thought it important enough to teach us about what's really valuable.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

The treasures that reside in our hearts.  It can be a lot of different things.  Valuables...Money...Esteem... Sometimes we can get confused as to what is really essential in life.  What we deem as necessary can lead to 'heart' disease.  It can possibly result in a type of 'heart' failure.  If we focus too closely on what we own, we can lose sight of heavenly wealth.  Jesus knew that this was a human tendency.  He knew that we can get caught up in our 'things', that aren't going to last.  We can place them in our hearts, and they can grow, like weeds, choking the life out of them.  He encourages us to store our treasures in heaven.  How can we do that?  By setting our sights on the things that He thought were important...the poor...The lonely...The forgotten.  For when we focus on 'the least of these'  we focus on Him.  These are the things that will endure for a lifetime...and beyond.

So while it's fine to store away some memories...don't forget to give your true treasures to Jesus!

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

                                 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WnAq0o2Xl8&feature=related



Beautiful.  Who determines what is beautiful?  Is it society...who show us through films, advertisements, and television what is considered lovely?  Maybe it is the judges who chose the woman that's wearing the crown in a beauty pageant.  Maybe it is the proud parent who KNOWS that their child is the most gorgeous child that ever lived.  Or the newly smitten boy/girl who is sure that their new sweetheart is the most heavenly thing on the face of the earth.  People can make us feel beautiful.

There is another side to that coin.  What if you don't have anyone around to remind you how beautiful you are?  What if no one ever told you that you were pretty...or handsome?  What if no one has ever noticed what a radiant smile you had...because they had never seen you smile?  There are individuals who have only been criticised and ridiculed their entire life.  They believe they are anything but beautiul. People can also make us feel ugly.

Humans judge the beauty or worth of someone based upon their outward appearance.  But let's look at it a little deeper.  How does God see us?  What does He think when He looks at us?

The Bible says that Samuel was looking for God's anointed one that was to be king.  He was looking at all of these rugged, strong men.  Surely God's man was among them!  God told him, " "The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them.  People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT)  God led Samuel not to the rugged warriors...but to the lowly shepherd boy, David.  He was to be the leader of God's people.  God knew David's heart.  He knew that although he didn't look strong and wise on the outside, he was a man after God's own Heart.  The Lord knew what Samuel...or even David, didn't.  He judged what man could not see. 

Don't judge a book by it's cover.  The veneer could fool you.  It could be a gorgeous leather bound edition with gold trim, and the inside of the volume could be filthy and unreadable.  Then, you could have an old, tattered cover that houses within it's binding, a valuable treasure. I don't know if I agree with the phrase, "Beauty is only skin deep."  I believe it's much deeper than that.  Beauty radiates from within.  Many people may outwardly look lovely, but have ugliness at their core. Their hateful heart makes them offensive to everyone.  Then, there are others who might not seem becoming in other's eyes, who have the most gorgeous hearts that beat within their chest. 

We are like that tattered book.  To God, we are the treasure.  He sees us as magnificent masterpieces that He created in His own Image.  He knows everything about us, and doesn't judge us as others do.  He knows every fascinating cell in our body.  He loves us as we are.  Even when we think we aren't worth anything...He proves us wrong.  When we believe what others told us, that we do not matter...He proves them wrong.  For God thought we were beautiful enough...worthy enough to send His Son to die for our sins, because He wanted us to be able to live with Him forever.  Nothing ugly could ever enter Heaven.  No matter what color my eyes are...or how my nose is shaped...He loves me and you because He sees what no one else can.  He sees the real us.  Purify your heart today.  Give your life over to the God who made you and loves you like no one else can.  He's knocking at the door of your heart.  Let Him in.

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What Are YOU Looking For?

                                                                
                                                             
     Have you ever had one of those mornings?  I had one yesterday.  I got up, ready to do some vacuuming.  As I've stated before, we are staying in my mother-in-law's home.  I found the vacuum the other day, and then found the attachments stored in another closet, due to the lack of space.
     A few days can make a difference with my memory.  I located the bag of attachments, and the seperate carpet attachment.  Question was:  where was the long metal pole they attached to?  I looked all over the place.  I kept going back to the place where I found the bag...all I found was the attachments...no pole. 
     For hours I looked for them, going over the same closets with a fine tooth comb.  Steve called in the early afternoon to check in.  I asked him if he had seen the metal piece...he said the last time he saw it, it was on the carpet attachment.  "Men are so brainless." I thought.  If it were on the carpet attachment, I would have seen it.  Yeahhhh.......
     I walked over to the attachment...and there, hooked to it....was the long metal pole.  Right in front of my eyes!!!  I had moved that thing a bunch of times!  Because it had a cord attached to it, it looked different...not like what I expected.  Once I looked at it in a new light, it made perfect sense.
     As I was vacuuming, I began to think.  How often do we look for things in our lives.  Many times we waste so much time looking and searching for something that is right in front of our eyes. 
     We look for love, acceptance, peace, or freedom from financial woes. Many times we look for them in the wrong places. While all of these things are important, we can find them all when we find God.  Sure, that's too simplistic, you might think.  God didn't think so.
     Jeremiah 29:13 tells us that "You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart."  While that sounds pretty easy...it can be hard.  It's the all your heart part that can be tricky. Most times we don't want to search with ALL of our hearts...we'd like to keep a section reserved for "ME, MYSELF and I".   God can have the rest...   The Omnicient One knew all about our fickle hearts.  That's why He said "ALL YOUR HEART".  Many times if we are looking for God, and can't find Him, we give up.  Or maybe we don't recognize Him, because we are in an unfamiliar setting or He doesn't look like we expect Him to.  If we look at a situation in a new light, we could find that He's been there all the time, just waiting for us to notice Him.
     I find when I get caught up in the 'Me's", and can't find God anywhere; I need to step aside and give all of my being to the LORD.  Let Him direct me, and lead me, where HE wants me to go.  Then sure enough...He is right there..right in front of my eyes.  Can YOU see Him?