People Think They Know What Being Blind Is

I was sitting by my computer a few minutes ago when my neighbors who lives directly opposite came home . The curtains at the window are a little sheer and the dining room was on, so they probably saw me sitting at the computer. I heard a very generous remark from my neighbor whom I'll call Brick (who are of a different faith from me but who I feel sure that I see in my church many times). He said," and she pretends she's blind and everybody have to help her."

Most people think that a person could either see, or they are totally blind. I thought so too, before I descended into the (to me) hellish world of visual impairment. But I have found that there are degrees of blindness. You don't have to lose all your sight to be called 'visually impaired."

There is a chart was upon the wall of the vision field testing room of the eye clinic at our country's main hospital. This chart gives the different visual representation of what a person see in different kinds of glaucoma (which my all my aunts, uncles and one cousin and I have inherited). My particular trouble is tunnel vision, where I can only see right in front of me. But I also have to be careful about steps and sudden drops. I have gotten some pretty nasty falls in the past because of this particular aspect of this disease. 

Many believe that visually impaired people cannot use the computer, read, walk straight ,and so on. It depends on the degree of blindness they are at. Plus, there are different tools and helps built into today's computer especially for the "differently abled." There are even computers built for totally paralyzed people who seem as if they are in a vegetable state. It is operated using the brain waves of the person.

Thank God,  I still have enough sight read (with glasses, which need changing right now, and I can't read small print). My cousin Frank, a IT person, enlarged the scene writing somewhat so that I can read the writing on the screen; I feel he may have to do this again soon. And I tend to list to the left when I walk, and I have to keep looking down to see where I'm walking, OR ELSE, HUH!!!

So, my reply to my dear neighbors are the words that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount, and which I will use as the verse for today.

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"Judge not, lest ye be judged." Matthew 7:1 (KJV)

What is the neighborhood bully IS the neighborhood?

Imagine being bullied by the people in your neighborhood! Walking the streets every day with ugly words and mocking laughter ringing in your ears! Fearing that the gunshots that you hear almost every night in the distant part of where you are may one day come in your direction?

You try to tell your family, but they think you're imaging things because the neighbors smile and are friendly to them. Everything is done in such a way that only you know what is happening. They're even using their children to play to intimidate you. It seems that you have no one to appeal for help, for what proof can you give that this is happening?

This is a situation that is happening to a woman right now. She has decided that she is staying right where she is, and that no one can make her run from where she lives. She is a Christian, so she cannot take matters into her own hands, even though she has admitted to thinking about doing this many times. She prays, but everything seems to get worse and worse. Many times she gets discouraged, and wants to give up. But somehow she finds the strength she needs to go on.

I find this scenario very interesting. I would like you to let me know what you would do if you were in this situation.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1 

Thank God for "all-in-one" machines!

My new printer! Its a HP desk-jet 2050 J510 series! An "all in one" machine. I was so enthusiastic when I saw this machine advertised in the newspaper. It was the cheapest printer the company has, within my budget and I snapped it up quickly. So far, I don't have a problem with it. 

Why am I so thankful to my Heavenly Father about this small piece of business machinery? Here some reasons.

• I don't have to go to a copy center to make copies or scan anything
• I save money on printing, copy and scanning documents
• Less time wasted
• Convenience in having this machine at my business place (I work from home)
• I can make a little cash by copying and scanning documents for people
• However the thing that I'm most thankful for is the complete confidentiality and privacy that I have when I process my documents. This is something most important to me.

I had an aggravating experience a month ago. I went to a copy center to print two pages out of my business plan. The CSR, a woman, took my flash drive and pulled up the document. To my amazement the nosy woman  sat there and began to read my document right in front of me, and actually started to make changes in it. I had to shout at her harshly for her to finally print the two pages I wanted. I wondered if it was the fact that I w as visually and speech impaired that made her think that I was stupid or something. 

I didn't want to go back to the place, but I desperately needed to print and copy some documents . 

When I saw the marvelous piece of equipment, a printer/scanner/copier advertised for a reasonable sum of money, I was ecstatic! I went and bought it forthwith! Now I don't have to put up with nosy ladies who feel that they are entitled to read your stuff just because they are copying

Thanks, Heavenly Father, for providing the money to buy this precious machine, and thank you for my cousin, who took time off from his busy schedule to go with me and to set it up later. I praise your Name, Amen.

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)  

God's Grace.

God's grace is so amazing. God's grace is free but not cheap. It came with a cost; that cost was the death of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I told you yesterday about the young man who seemed to think like me and had the same spiritual experience of "weeping in the Spirit." I have a friend who returned to the same church at the same time as I did, but because of quite different circumstances.  nd what is amazing is that God is using the same set messages and reassurances to get us to the places and purposes that He wants for us. God's grace and His love is around us.

God's grace is free. It isn't gotten through any good works  that we do. We receive it simply by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, and having faith to believe that His blood will cleanse us from our sins. And as we accept  His forgiveness, His salvation, His cleansing from sin, He also gives us a purpose for our lives that He has preplanned before we were born. He has "good works" that He has planned for us to do long before the world came into existence. 

Like my friend, and like the young man I spoke about yesterday, I'm looking forward to the good plans that God has in store for me. Why don't you try Jesus ' salvation and His plan for you today?

"For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. " Ephesians2: 8 - 10. (KJV)

God gives us the ability to cry

Today I was reading one of the verse via email that I receive from Back to the Bible. In it a young man  spoke about his recent return to church. It's incredible how this man and I have the same thoughts and feelings, even though we have different experiences. He wrote today about his anger problem and how God helped him to overcome it by just asking - and receiving God's grace to overcome it. Actually, that is exactly what God's grace is, the God-given ability to do what is difficult, but necessary for us to do.

He came into the church, and while the other congregants prayed, he read the Bible. He saw the phrase "unending grace" in the Bible and knowing that this was a part of God's word and His desire to give him not just grace, but unending grace opened up the well of unshed tears inside of him. He cried and cried uncontrollably, even after the prayer service ended. 

This reminds me so much of a similar experience a month or two ago. After I had received prayer at a midday deliverance service, I went back to my seat. But the Holy Spirit just took over. Next thing I knew, I was shaking and crying uncontrollably. A friend of mine came and prayed for me and with me. I knew deep inside that the Lord was healing me emotionally and spiritually.  I also believed that that healing precipitated the healing of my liver.

To those who are hurting from rape, abuse of any kind, those who are ill, sad, suicidal, guilt-ridden and shame-filled, God is able to heal to restore health to you and to heal your wounds. One thing that I read in another email thought by another writer in BTTB is that we are Sought After by God. He loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us. And what's even better, Jesus loved us so much that He willingly went to the cross for us, in our place. And guess what? When the Holy Spirit makes us cry, it is a healing weeping. Let God make you cry today!

"I will restore health unto you, and I will heal their wounds, said the Lord.." Jeremiah 30:17  (KJV)

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How to be safe

Yesterday's topic was about procrastination. I asked if there ever a time when procrastination was good. No one has answered that question as yet, but I am still hoping.that I will get a reply.
There is something else that is even more insidious than procrastination. It is called disobedience. Disobedience can come in all shapes and fashions. Mom tells little Sonnyboy not to touch the cooling cake on the table. As soon as her back is turned, he sneaks over to the table, stick his  finger in the cake and then licks the finger. Employees in a company surf the 'Net and send personal email on their company's time instead of doing their work. A dog jumps on its master even though the master forbids it to do so. It seems to be a pervasive element in this earth.
But I for one can tell you how dire the results that disobedience can bring. One decision that I made to disobey got when He told me not to go somewhere 18 years ago is still adversely affecting my life even now. And I am quite sure that people in Noah's time is still regretting their decision today.
What happened? Well, these people were so wicked and disobeyed God that He decided to destroy the earth with a flood. He told Noah to build a boat which dimensions would make it about the approximate size of an ocean liner today. When he was finished he was to put a male-female pair of every creature on land and in the air into the ark. After all that, he and his wife, his three sons and their wives were to go into the ark, because God would rain on the earth, and floods would destroy it. It took Noah 120 years to build, and he preached to the people about what God was going to do. The people mocked and laughed at him, and refused to accept God's offer of protection from the coming flood. When the floods came, it killed all the people, animals and birds that were outside the ark.
The apostle Peter mentions these disobedient folks in Noah's time when  he said that Jesus Christ suffer and died once on the cross to bring us to God. Peter said that Christ went down and preached to the souls in prison who perished in the flood. Jesus Christ still speaks through His word and His Church, calling us to reconciled sinners to God. We, as God's people, must not be disobedient to go  and preach the Gospel to every creature. But also, those who read or hear the world of life should not be disobedient like the people in Noah's day and refuse God's salvation. Like those people, they will be destroyed, but this time in Hell and ultimately, in a lake of fire. Unlike those people, the disobedient people of today will not get a second chance once they leave this world.
So folks, don't procrastinate, thinking you have all the time in the world. Don't be disobedient. But accept Jesus Christ as your Savior TODAY!!


"And God punished the world long ago  when he brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against him. But God saved Noah, who preached about being right with God and seven other people with him. ..So the Lord knows how to save those who  serve him when troubles come. He will hold evil people and punish them while waiting for the Judgment Day. That punishment is especially for those who live by doing the evil things their sinful selves want and who hate authority." 2 Peter 2:5,9 - 10a. (New Century Version)

Answer this! Is there any time when procrastination is good?

Human beings love to procrastinate - to 'put things off.' I know of students putting of really studying for a test because they believe that they can do it over. Adult children put off going to see their parents thinking that they have all the time in the world to see them. Wives refuse to forgive their husbands at once, thinking to themselves. "I'll make him suffer for a while, then I'll forgive him." Or one day, you may get the feeling that you should go and see a very dear friend comes over you, but you pass it off with a 'maybe it was just a passing thought' or a 'maybe I'll do it later.'

Leaving for later things that needs to be done is not wise. One usually ends up regretting waiting too long to do that thing. Those students may take the exam, not do so good, then find out that they cannot do the test over. Those adult children and that friend may get the news that their love ones have passed away, and they will never get the chance to see them again. How very sorrowful we are when those happens!

I know of one time that I procrastinate, and that I always think of with regret and sadness. I was going somewhere a a mixi-taxi (a small bus with twelve seats) when I felt impressed to share the gospel with the lady seated next to me. But I was afraid to, and I came to my destination and got off, leaving her in the vehicle. I have forgotten how the lady looked because it was a few years ago, but I often wonder what happened to her. The questions that most crosses my mind is, "is she dead or alive? Does she know Jesus  as her Savior as yet>".

What about you? Is there any thing that you'd wish that you'd done and can't, or that you still keep putting off, saying to yourself that you have all the time in the world? Is it forgiving someone who hurt you, or saying  'forgive me' to someone you've hurt? Or is it calling a friend or visiting your parents? 

Most important, is it accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior, or telling someone about Him?  Go quickly before its too late to do what you know is the right thing to do. If you put it off any longer, it may be too late to do so. 

Tell me, is there any time when procrastination is ever good? I would love to hear from your opinion on this. Or tell me about a time you procrastinated and what was the result.

:Teach us to number ourdays, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 (KJV)