Lynna Clark

By Lynna Clark

Since today is Valentine’s Day I thought we’d look at Ephesians three for those beautiful verses about love that I spoke of earlier. I know. Once again, I’m a day late and a dollar short. But we had a refrigerator hoopalah over the weekend. I’ll tell you about that later. It was not delightful. But what the devil meant for evil, God turned for good. Ha! So annyyywayyy… back to the love words. Frankly, after the past few days, it’s a wonder I can think of any words decent enough to print. But here you go.

Ephesians 3:18- “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully.”

But wait! There’s more! The next few verses indicate that when we begin to grasp His wonderful love, a different level of life is opened up to us. The kind where His great power is available and our life is made complete. Like the writer said earlier, that’s too great to understand fully. But I think I want that!

“Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” And because of His love and power, we can “accomplish infinitely more than we can ask or think.” Wowee.

One summer, our family went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The place we landed was desolate… as in no people in sight. Well, except for our thundering herd. As far as I could see there was only a beautiful beach with pristine white dunes behind us. Gentle waves lapped at the shoreline. Dark sapphire water indicated the depth of the peaceful scene. The gorgeous sky stretched heavenward seemingly without end. To me, it was a rare picture of what we as earthbound creatures can hardly imagine.

“How wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.”

Picture that scene and warm yourself in His unending, everlasting love today. He is worthy of our heartfelt praise.

By Lynna Clark

So yesterday was my birthday. 68. I know right? Confetti flew, roses bloomed, parades were thrown and children sang. And that was just on Facebook. I felt like a Queen! Then I opened my Daily Bread for a bite of wisdom on my special day. The subject was Memento Mori, which means “Remember you will die.”

Hey. Thanks a lot Lord. That was a lovely reminder on my otherwise cloudless day. How funny. At least I thought so. But I’m a bit crazy like that. I’m actually amazed to have lived this long. I kept thinking I’d die and wished I’d hurry up. But no more! The Lord has replaced the evil years with good and I am walking in sunshine! Truthfully it’s more of a swaggy waddle, but hey! You won’t hear me complain! Well, unless you ask me how I feel. Then you’re gonna need to sit down a while to hear the answer to that. There really is no short answer.

All sorts of age related ailment are popping up. Though the doc says my eyesight is fine, I beg to differ. I was reading a book last night and it said the guy stuck his head in the gravy. I couldn’t help but wonder why a man would do such a thing. I kept reading to find out but it just made no sense. So I went back to the gravy part. Turns out he stuck his bread in the gravy. Ohhh… okay. That explains things.

Today’s verse comes from Ephesians 4:1. It’s one of those I have written out as big as a notecard will hold and put on the bulletin board near my nest. Not because my eyesight is failing but because my memory is. Like I tell David when I repeat a story wrong. I’m not a liar but I am a forgetter. Anyway the verse says, “Lead a life worthy of your calling.”

Whatever the Lord has asked us to do as our calling, let’s do that. And no matter what, let’s keep our head out of the gravy.

By Lynna Clark

Did you have a favorite teacher in school? I did. Mrs. Cowan, our chorus teacher was amazing. But she scared the life out of me. First of all, I took her class as an elective because I wanted something easy. But mostly I figured chorus would be one class where I could goof off with my friends.

Boy was I wrong. That woman was tough.

But! She taught those of us who had very little vocal talent to sing the harmony part. I was definitely in that category and was happy to be placed in the alto section. When it came time for our exam, I was NOT happy to discover that we would be expected to perform in front of our peers. Oh, we could have one or two classmates sing with us for their exam too. But holy cow I was nervous. Together me, Rhonda Parks and Renee Overcash sang the very somber folk song Blowin’ in the Wind.

These were the days of the Vietnam War. The song spoke of young girls crying for their dead and something about flowers and the answers to life blowing in the wind. The only problem was that I got so nervous during our performance that I started laughing. It was Mrs. Cowan’s fault. She accompanied us on the piano and played so fast and loud I could not keep up. Me and the girls had practiced together without music and were used to dragging out each note with sorrow. I think she just wanted to get it over with. But when I started laughing, though she shot daggers from her eyes, I could not stop. My poor friends got tickled too and the three of us laughed until Mrs. Cowan banged out the last note. I just remember hurrying off the stage with tears running down my face, probably my legs too, from laughing so hard. It was not pretty.

I ended up taking chorus the next year too. Bless Mrs. Cowan’s heart. That year she taught us a song taken directly from the Psalms. I still think of her when I read it.

“Create in me a clean heart O God. And renew a right Spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence. And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12
At the time I did not know the Lord. But singing that song stirred something inside. The seed was sown. A year or so later I trusted Him to seal me with His Holy Spirit.* And often I thank the Lord for the patience of a very faithful teacher.

*Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:30 is a great place to read for more about the Holy Spirit.

By Lynna Clark

This thought is deeper than I usually venture and longer too. So if you’re not into searching out the Truth of God’s precious Holy Word, stop here. See what I did there? If you quit now you obviously don’t love Jesus. Just kidding. But I wanted to warn you ahead of time that this is a different kind of article.

So here’s the thing. I have questions about an oft quoted verse. The writer Paul says in Philippians 3:13 to forget the things behind and instead reach forward. Did the man really forget the past? Apparently not. Just before that, he lists off key experiences from his life. Within that were memories that surely brought him shame.

As I thought on this, I recalled things that used to haunt me too. Guilt and shame for things in my past tormented my life. In fact I used to live in so much fear that I finally gave in to counseling. Guess which passage we covered? Philippians 3: 13,14.
The jist of it says, “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on…”
Maybe an underlying message behind the challenge to forget and press on is that it is a process. Letting go takes time as well as conscious effort.

Two verses I use to help me with that contain the word ‘casting.’ Not like casting a fishing line or net where I would draw something back to myself; but instead casting like hurling or throwing so hard that it takes a while for that fear to float back my way. The next time is a bit easier since I recognize it as a sin that weighs me down and refuse to allow it in. Listen to this good word.

“Casting all your care upon Him for he cares for you!” * And,
“Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” **

The Lord Himself had to set aside the shame of the cross in exchange for the joy ahead.*** We can press on too beloved. Cast aside your hurtful past. That load of guilt and pain was never meant for you to bear. Your bright future, your influence for Christ and your sound thinking depend on it!
*1 Peter 5:7 **2 Corinthians 10:5 ***Hebrews 12:1-3

By Lynna Clark

Long ago my husband had a serious talk with me. It was a rather rare occasion. Generally we are too busy making fun of television commercials or checking the lineup for the Braves or discussing our latest ailments. Our life is very exciting like that.
So anyway, this talk seemed important to the man. At some point he’d recognized his tendency to become a curmudgeon. It may have had something to do with the fact that he taught school for over twenty years. Believe it or not middle school boys, while delightful in their own unique way, can sometimes be exasperating. I remember distinctly David saying to me during our serious talk, “Don’t let me turn into that grouchy old man at church who fusses at the kids.” He followed it up by putting on his old codger voice and growling. “Calm down sonny! You’re in the house of God!”

After I finished laughing at the man, who did a great imitation of the old Muppet guys in the balcony, I considered his heartfelt request. How can we guard against becoming grumpy? I have a feeling the overtaking of our good nature is a subtle process. Scripture advises us to think on good things. But God knows how much life can wear us down.

Today’s good word is from Philippians 3:1. The writer Paul tells us again that no matter what happens, we should make it a practice to rejoice in the Lord. He says he never gets tired of reminding us of that because…
“…this will safeguard our faith.”

An old hymn has the the beautiful request that only the Lord can fill. “Tune my heart to sing Thy praise.”

For me it has to be a conscious effort. I don’t think rejoicing and thankfulness come natural for very many people. And yet, the Lord often asks us to lift up our hearts in praise to Him. It seems to be the key to safeguarding our faith. Maybe with that shield in place we can avoid becoming a curmudgeon.

By Lynna Clark

This is the year! 2023 is when you will FINALLY read the Bible cover to cover. Even the maps! But not the Concordance. That would just be weird. As it turns out, it’s a LOT of reading. You’re five days into the new year and already you find yourself three days behind. But you’ll catch up! Honest you will!

May I humbly make an observation? If not, stop reading here.

This is your exit. This is where you will jump off the guilt train. When reading Scripture becomes a chore, then you might need a different plan. Can I make a confession? I’m not sure if chemo caused it or just plain getting old. But currently I am dealing with a large amount of brain fog. For whatever reason, I have a really hard time hearing the words coming off the pages. I seem to have the attention span of a puppy in a yard full of squirrels. Focus is just not happening.

So! Here’s what I’m trying and it seems to be working. I hold my Bible to my chest and get as still as I can. Since it’s all I can do not to look out the windows at the birds on the feeder and the neighbor’s cat and the plethora of squirrels jumping from limb to limb and my bottle tree as it catches the light…

Wait. Where was I.

Oh! I was clutching a real Bible with honest to goodness paper pages which have notations of trials past and answered prayers. I was hugging it to my chest with my eyes closed and I was waiting. Silently asking God for the Words. This week the word Philippians came to mind. One “L” and two “P’s.” Philippians.

So I opened there.

After the intro I read one small paragraph and didn’t hear a thing. So I read it again. Then again. It began to be clearer. So I read it again and asked God for help. More meat was found on that bone. So I stopped and wrote the blog Certain of the Good Work. It wasn’t astounding but it was definitely a word from the Word.

Here’s the thought for today. Let’s not go through the motions in our relationship with God. Let’s not start the day by giving Him His marching orders or by instructing Him on how to handle the things on our mind. Let’s rest in Him. Let’s listen. Let’s pay attention as best we can. Let’s go so far as to ask God for this from Philippians 1:10a.

I want to understand what really matters.
Bless the Lord!

By Lynna Clark

Because we live on a busy road and headlights tend to disturb a good night’s sleep, we hung room darkening shades in our bedroom. Over that we added thick drapes. Now it’s so dark in there at night I can’t tell if my eyes are open. Purposely we removed anything with lights, like the alarm clock, television, etc. Cell phones are our only reminders that we have not entered our eternal rest. Purposely they are turned face down. Plus two different fans stir the air with background noise.

I love it.

One night the whole room illuminated with an eerie glow. In my deep dream state I gazed at the ceiling wondering from whence the light came. It took a bit but I realized that my Kindle tablet had come on by itself. Weird. That never happens. I had put away the novel I was reading on it a few hours earlier. Several scenarios tumbled through my brain. Perhaps some unknown entity could be studying our sleep habits. Maybe they listened in to gather evidence that we are prejudice or politically incorrect. Or maybe they just want to get a jump on which ads will be most beneficial to pop up on my emails. I went from deep restful sleep to panicked paranoia.

Then it occurred to me.

I am way too tired for this. So I turned off the Kindle, flipped it over face down, and picked up where I’d left off: snoring like a freight train. Study THAT you crazy meddlers!

So our verse for today is found in Psalm 4:8. “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord will keep me safe.”
May your brain shut down tonight long enough to rest in Him. Sleep is a gift from God and a wonderful blessing. Rest well!

By Lynna Clark

Did you have a favorite teacher in school? I did. Mrs. Cowan, our chorus teacher was amazing. But she scared the life out of me. First of all, I took her class as an elective because I wanted something easy. But mostly I figured chorus would be one class where I could goof off with my friends.

Boy was I wrong. That woman was tough.

But! She taught those of us who had very little vocal talent to sing the harmony part. I was definitely in that category and was happy to be placed in the alto section. When it came time for our exam, I was NOT happy to discover that we would be expected to perform in front of our peers. Oh, we could have one or two classmates sing with us for their exam too. But holy cow I was nervous. Together me, Rhonda Parks and Renee Overcash sang the very somber folk song Blowin’ in the Wind. These were the days of the Vietnam War. The song spoke of young girls crying for their dead and something about flowers and the answers to life blowing in the wind. The only problem was that I got so nervous during our performance that I started laughing. It was Mrs. Cowan’s fault. She accompanied us on the piano and played so fast and loud I could not keep up. Me and the girls had practiced together without music and were used to dragging out each note with sorrow. I think she just wanted to get it over with. But when I started laughing, though she shot daggers from her eyes, I could not stop. My poor friends got tickled too and the three of us laughed until Mrs. Cowan banged out the last note. I just remember hurrying off the stage with tears running down my face, probably my legs too, from laughing so hard. It was not pretty.

I ended up taking chorus the next year too. Bless Mrs. Cowan’s heart. That year she taught us a song taken directly from the Psalms. I still think of her when I read it.

“Create in me a clean heart O God. And renew a right Spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence. And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12
At the time I did not know the Lord. But singing that song stirred something inside. The seed was sown. A year or so later I trusted Him to seal me with His Holy Spirit.* And often I thank the Lord for the patience of a very faithful teacher.

*Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:30 is a great place to read for more about the Holy Spirit.

By Lynna Clark

A few years back, David decided to sell his motorcycle. It just seemed like time. I knew he was sad about it. Except for it, the man’s never had a toy so to speak. Poor guy hardly had Pepsi money for years. Though it was a wise decision, it didn’t feel good.

We decided together that a different “toy” might be a good solution. So he picked out a nice camera in order to take up a different hobby. One of our daughters bought him a book to go with it; Nikon D3400 for Dummies. He was not offended. In fact, one look at the camera told him he needed help.

Quickly he was able to set up his new toy for easy shots. But he knew there was so much more to the camera than that. So he hunkered down for several days in his spare time to study the book. When I asked how it was going he sighed. “I guess I should have gotten the Nikon book for Morons.”

Of course the word moron is pronounced “MO-ron” here in the south. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Like a lot of folks, the older we get the more we realize how little we know. Like why in the world would our bank change the way our online statement and bill-pay looks. Don’t they understand that if it is not broken, they don’t need to fix it? I just now got used to how things work. Then my phone updated and installed a different calculator. I know it sounds small, but I like a running total. I do not want to have to hit equal after every entry. Dang stupid update. Then I got my laptop repaired and that guy installed a different document program. Now spellcheck is gone. Word look up is not there. No dictionary or thesaurus is built in. I probably didn’t even spell thesarasus right. I had no idea how much I used those things until I couldn’t.

Aggravation!

I really don’t mind learning things unless it’s forced on me. Maybe that’s why trials are so hard. It feels a bit like being hoisted onto a 3000 pound bull and being told, “All you have to do is stay on.”

Okay…

So my prayer for today is from Psalm 90:12 and 17:
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” And while You’re at it Lord, please “make our efforts successful.”

That’s probably enough to ask for one day… especially when dealing with a couple MOrons.

By Lynna Clark

Can you keep a secret? There’s stuff going on at church. Big stuff. Does it scare you to hear that? It does me. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s a lack of trust.

Now for the secret: There’s definitely stuff going on at church. Good stuff; the kind of stuff that God stands up and applauds. The kind of stuff He blesses. Good ideas and plans to reach out to people in a whole new way. Is the leadership perfect? Good gracious no. Do they fail? Often, just like the rest of us people who are made of dust. Does our ministry rise and fall on mere men? Thankfully the answer is NO! Praise God!

So where are we going on day five? Just a reminder that our leaders will have ideas that are not always mainstream. God placed them in leadership to give us a direction and a purpose. Are we to blindly follow and eat poison and drink beer? [Still trying to make a sermon out of the mouse story on day four] The answer is of course a resounding NO. But here’s a lesson from Nehemiah 2. Verses 11-16 tell about Nehemiah’s discretion. Everything will not seem logical to everyone at all times. Discretion is key. So if you hear of a plan in the works, trust the leadership of those God has placed in position. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Pray often for them. And when a new idea is presented, you will have prayed ahead of time, and it will be easier to say, like the folks Nehemiah shared his vision with in 2:17-18, “’Good! Let’s rebuild the wall!’ So they began the good work.”

Wouldn’t you hate to be named with the guys in verse 19, who, when they heard of the plan, “scoffed contemptuously?” Sounds like some business meetings I’ve attended. So today, pray for your leadership, for exciting plans, for stepping out where no one has gone before. The sky really is the limit. God has no need of one more church that sits around holding hands with each other saying, “We’ve never done it that way before.” The world is watching to see if we care.

More Nehemiah 2:9-20
Prayer: Lord please strengthen us today with positive words, and support for our leaders. Help us when we doubt, to look to You, knowing You love Your church way more than we do. Give our leadership great wisdom, and wonderful ideas for reaching a world that has no hope. They need You so badly. Help us to love them enough to risk a little change in order to meet them where they are, for Your glory.