Rags to Riches

The Beverly Hillbillies, a sitcom of the 60s and early 70s, and a family favorite during my childhood days, was a “rags to riches” sort of show of a poor backwoods family who strike it rich when “Pa”, the Clampett family patriarch discovers oil—black gold, Texas tea—while hunting for mealtime provisions. 

Kinfolk of the Clampetts then urged the family to pack up their belongings and move to California, where they could reside in a large mansion in the Beverly Hills district; a dwelling more befitting their newfound wealth.

The show was a comedic combination of poverty and affluence, and the unsophisticated with the refined as the Clampetts maintained their simpleton lifestyle while having access to millions. It made for amusing entertainment.

When Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus, he sought to encourage them to recognize the spiritual wealth they had “in Christ”. They were spiritually rich beyond measure but had been living as beggars—spiritual paupers—because of their ignorance of all that was available to them in Christ.

We do the same. 

Many believers today live as beggars, spiritual paupers, and victims of their past because of the same reason: they are not aware of the great wealth they have in Christ. They walk around in the old garments of spiritual poverty—content in their old ways.

Paul writes:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. 

In all wisdom and insight, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention, which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Eph. 1:3-14 NASB)

God has given everything we need to live the victorious Christian life. He predestined this great mystery before the foundation of the earth and before you were formed in your mother’s womb. From the days of old, everything took place in its proper order so that this mystery might be revealed to us according to the glory of His grace.

The love and kindness of God intended that we have adoption, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, inheritance, the seal of the Holy Spirit, life, grace, and citizenship—in short, every spiritual blessing. We have all the resources needed for living a victorious Christian life.

Father God, help me to fully grasp the truth of Your word in Eph. 1 that I may know and receive every spiritual blessing for me. Open my eyes and my heart to see what I need to lay down in order to fill up with an abundance of Your blessings to live a victorious life in You, that others may know that You are the One True God, in Jesus' name, amen.  

"All our righteous acts are like filthy rags".  Is. 64:6 

2015 Rose Parade--Blessed Beyond Measure

Taken during the parade. The open book at the front represents the lives of all those affected by organ donation. So many stories. The butterflies represent the number of people who can be helped through ONE donor--only 8 receiving organs, the rest received bone, eyes, skin or other tissue.. The books are individual stories that need to be told for the precious gifts they've given to so many. Consider becoming an organ donor. 

I open with a confession. It has taken me nearly three weeks to write this. I hope I have done so in a way to honor those involved while sharing the joy of this experience. This was a mixed batch of emotions for me and found it difficult to write for a while.  

Our Beautiful Heritage

"It's the sleep before midnight that counts." - Grandma Fredrick (1902-1991)

“The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

 (Psalm 16:6)

One of the things I cherished as a child was going to my grandma and grandpa’s house. They lived in a larger town, at least compared to our little farm community. Staying with them, I would lie in bed at night and listen to the sounds of cars driving through their neighborhood, the occasional horn honk, a distant siren, and of course the neighborhood dogs. 

On the farm at night, you heard . . . well . . . nothing. On a very quiet night, you could faintly hear the train from a nearby town and even the neighbor’s dog a mile away. 

At Grandma’s, we could chase after the ice cream truck, pick up pecans in the backyard (which we finally realized one day was actually work), use our shoe skates on a smooth concrete driveway instead of crusty dirt and gravel, and as we grew, we could ride our bikes to the public pool. Going to Grandma’s was an adventure.

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine

I sat in a waiting room one afternoon, thumbing through an out-of-date fishing magazine, when an elderly man strolled across the room and took the seat next to me. He had the kindest blue eyes with only a hint of weariness from the years and I greeted him with the standard American greeting,

“Hello, how are you?”

He returned my greeting with the customary, “Fine, thank you”, and continued to speak. As he spoke, I could tell he was slowly opening up the book of his life, giving me a brief but rich summary of his life. I confess, my initial thought was, “Oh dear. What have I started?” However, as I listened, his story began to pull me in and I found myself leaning even closer and listening more intently.

Soon, I was captured by the story of this man’s life.