We Need Lemonade Makers!

I realize by making this the title of my blog that I could be subject to bottles of lemonade, or lemonade drink mix, or for that matter lemons, but read on and I'll explain.

 Sometimes men in my position are asked this question, “Preacher, what does the church need?” While there are many answers to this question, it dawned on me that one of the many things churches need is those who have been given lemons and turned them into lemonade. You should know the analogy. Sure we have examples in the Bible like Joseph (Genesis 50:20) or the apostle Paul (Acts 9:15-16). However, today we need to see examples of those in our area who have been able to take unfortunate things in their lives and, with God’s help, turned them into something that will give hope to others. Another question that we Ministers get asked a lot is, “Why is this happening to me?” Here's what I believe. It’s happening so that you’ll turn to God and, with His help, overcome it. But, that’s only half of it.

After you have taken those sour old lemons and squeezed every bit of juice out of them and added sugar/honey (Psalm 19:7-11) and water, you are obligated to share your recipe with someone who is dealing with the same trial!   There are people dealing with all kinds of things. Addiction, Loss of loved one, Loss of a child, Infertility, Cancer, Marriages ending in divorce, Unemployment, Financial problems, Depression. Do I need to keep going? 

1 Peter 1:6-7   In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

God is an expert at bringing good out of bad.  He could have kept Paul out of prison in Philippi but instead, He let Paul go to prison and the jailer became a believer as a result.(Acts 16:25-30) God could have kept Jesus from the cross but He let Him go -- His own Son -- He let Him suffer and die.  Did He bring any good out of that?  I'd say He did!

So we need lemonade makers. We need those who can show us that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train. We need those who can show us what faith, hope, and perseverance can produce.

We need those who will share their lemonade and how they made it.

Grace & Peace

Blan

Acceptance

For a long time, my Dad raised Angora goats for their hair. Back in the 80’s, mohair was a big business. We would have hundreds of goats on the ranch. Twice a year the shearers would come and shear our Angora goats and what sheep we had.  From time to time we would sell some to other mohair growers. We would round up a herd and pen them so that the buyer could look them over and pick the ones he wanted. Keeping track of them took some time. Dad kept a book in his front shirt pocket to keep track of how many he had in one place or the other. So, every day when we fed the goats, we also had to count them to see if any of them had died or were killed by predators.

One summer, we rounded up an entire herd for a sale. All of them were going to be sold. After we penned them, we started counting…97, 98, 99. There was supposed to be 100, so Dad made us count again…97, 98, 99. Still not satisfied he counted... 97, 98, 99.  “Well, I guess we lost one.” We offered to go back and look to see if we could find the missing one, but the buyer was coming and it would take all of us to get the herd loaded.

 A couple of days after that, Dad turned out some cattle into the place where we had the goats. Just like with the goats, we had to check on the cattle, but not as often. It was more like twice a week. We went out to check the cows one day and low and behold, guess what came up with the cows when we called them? The missing goat! The one we thought was dead took to traveling with the cattle. Normally different kinds of livestock won’t associate with each other. They can coexist in the same place, but only sheep and goats will intermingle with each other. However, this one goat joined up with the cattle and the cattle let him be a part of the herd. Soon after that, we noticed that he was emulating the characteristics of the cattle around him. When the cows bellowed the goat would bleat. When they moved with the weather it moved, He would eat the feed we fed the cattle. When we called the cattle up (we call cattle differently than we do goats) he would be the first to show.

Romans 15:5-7 says, “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”

For whatever reason, this goat wasn’t with the others when they were rounded up. Then he was alone. Soon after, he attempted to join a different herd and he was accepted. Afterward, the goat thought he was a cow. There are many people in the world today who want acceptance. May the Lord bless us with a unified and accepting spirit, so that others will want to join and develop the same desire to follow and praise God.

Grace and Peace

Blan