Soft Hearts

 

Our nation is divided, our politics are divided, and our news media has reported the nation as divided along lines that are not the root of the problem.  It's not right vs. left.

The real division in this nation is between people with soft hearts, people that care for others, vs. people with hard hearts.

People with soft hearts see a need and want to meet it somehow.  People with hard hearts don't care about any of it.

People with soft hearts see many needs, such as:

Pregnant women that feel like they need to make a choice between having this baby or survival.  To them, this is not just a fetus, this is their baby.  Yet to survive - how?

People, especially children, that are hungry.

People, especially children, that are chronically sick.

People in substandard housing.

People that have disabilities.

Young girls that are ensnared in sex trafficking.

People that have suffered loss due to natural disasters, whether they be hurricanes, floods, or wildfires.

People that are troubled or depressed or somehow need psychological help.

People that are lonely.

Immigrants that need to be integrated into our culture.

And actually, we see these needs exist all over the world!

What to do?  Well, if the needy is someone we know personally, then we can personally get involved.  And that will costs us something, money most likely, probably some time, too.

Soft hearted people are the people that give!  These are the people that volunteer to visit the sick, and/or tutor the ESL classes, and/or volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, or spend time and money to make food banks work, or make pregnancy resource centers functional.

If nothing else, they donate big time!

Of course, some needs are really beyond us personally, but we still care about these people that are caught in whatever trap has them.  OK, we can make donations, even small donations like $30 / month for a needy child in a developing country.

We know that a baby in the womb is just as precious as her mother who is struggling to survive.  Both are precious.

To say people that call themselves pro-life are only anti-abortion is really wrong.

And people that are pro-choice for the most part most likely don't want to see babies die in the womb, or even at all!

Soft hearted people: come together!  Work together!  Support each other!

Hallelujah!

OK, what have I missed?

Larry Carroll

Philippians 1:21, And Transitioning To a New Normal

The past few months I've been battling an on-and-off cough and with it an on-and-off runny nose.  It's gotten tiresome.  (The prescription for now is a Symbicort inhaler and OTC allergy relief medicine.)
Also, for the first time in 50 years, I am not going to be maintaining my yard.  A landscaping company will take over the task.
Also, walking around the neighborhood is doable, but, again, tiresome.
And finally, I have accepted my kids' declaration that I am a high-risk older person, and should stay home during this COVID-19 emergency!

So I feel like I started to transition from young-old to old-old.  Oh, I just started, I'm not really anywhere near old-old, but on the path.

A while back Philippians 1:21 caught my attention, which says, "for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  What caught my attention at first is the second phrase, "to die is gain".  That's comforting, and I truly believe it.  However, I knew right away that (for me at this time) this would be a selfish outcome.  So I will not entertain this thought.  It would be a selfish thing since many people I love, especially family, would be hurt badly.

Now I am focusing on the first phrase, "for me to live is Christ", since that is where I am.  I'm not dead yet, nowhere near dead.

So, I will get better.  I will pray.  I will heal.  I will strengthen myself.  I will rejoice in the LORD and praise His holy name.

And I want to enjoy the promise in Psalm 92 verses 12 through 14 which says, "the righteous...will still bear fruit in old age."  So I will still bear fruit in old age.  That sounds exciting, actually.

Hallelujah!

Blessings,
Larry Carroll

I'm Gonna Sing, in the Middle of the Storm

Raise a Hallelujah (I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm)

(Bethel Music)

I raise a hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies
I raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief
I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody
I raise a hallelujah, heaven comes to fight for me

I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!

We're living in a storm today, 16 March 2020.

The Coronavirus is here!  We have no vaccine for it!
Schools, churches, businesses are closed, some for two weeks.  Who knows, maybe longer.
Supermarkets were cleaned out last week, and it could happen again.
People are being laid off.
The stock markets are losing about 1/3 of their value.

But (some of the) Italians are singing from their balconies.  I like that.  Good for them, well, it's good if they have hope.

Singing in the middle of the storm is what Paul and Silas did in the Philippian prison, in Acts chapter 16.  Why?  Because the LORD promised them (and us) that He would never leave them or forsake them.  He was with them.  And they had a great deliverance!

The LORD said He will never leave you, too, since He is the same today as He was then.  And He is no respecter of persons.  Do you believe it?  Believe it!

___________________________________

A confirming scripture from Luke chapter 12, NKJV

22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Believe it!