Are You A Winner Or A Turkey?

[Please silence my playlist first...]

“Can’t stuff this?” Yes, you can be…

In this competitive world, nobody wants to be a loser! Same with Jesus, He wants us all to be winners! Yes, it’s true! We all can be “winners” in Christ, not “turkeys!”…Just repent for your sins, trust in Him and make Him Lord of your life. Just mean this prayer with all of your heart and pray it out loud:

“Dear God in heaven, I know that I have sinned against You and ask for Your forgiveness. I do believe that Jesus Christ died as payment for my sins. I believe He rose again to prove He is able to save. I place my faith in Him alone to save me. I now receive Him as my personal Savior. From now on, please help me to turn from my sin and live a life pleasing to You. I pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

If you sincerely prayed this, congratulations to you for being a winner in Christ! But it doesn’t stop there. Join a church who glorifies no one but only Jesus. So you can be more knowledgeable about His true and faithful love for you. Read the Bible.

The song was singing “can’t stuff this!” Yes…don’t stuff yourself anymore with worldly things but stuff yourself with things of Christ!

“Be filled with the Spirit!” - Ephesians 5:18

Some of the “turkeys” who became WINNERS in Christ:

~ Paul - converted through a light and the voice of Jesus; became a Christian missionary and theologian [his story is in the Book of Acts and he was the one who wrote letters to different churches].

~ Augustine - converted through a voice and reading Romans 13:13-14 “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

~John Bunyan - converted through waking dreams - “A voice did suddenly dart from heaven into my soul, which said, ‘Will you leave your sins and go to heaven, or have your sins and go to hell?’… “Oh, me thought, Christ! Christ! There was nothing but Christ that was before my eyes…Now Christ was all; all my wisdom, all my righteousness, all my sanctification and all my redemption.”

~ Blaise Pascal - converted through a spiritual experience of God.

And there are many, many more!!! So, do you want to be a WINNER or a TURKEY?

Oh, Lord in heaven, thank You for making me be a winner in Jesus. If He didn’t die on that cross, I would forever be a “turkey” with no sense of hope, of freedom, of true love, of everything that Your love offers. I pray that many more “turkeys” out there will come to know Your faithful love and gift of forgiveness and may their hearts be opened and choose to become winners in Christ. Let it start with my own loved ones, who are getting filled with all the empty stuffing this world offers.

Help them Lord to yield their lives to Jesus and be stuffed with the Holy Spirit instead.

Remove any unwanted seasonings in me, except salt that with that distinct flavor, people around me can taste Your everlasting kindness and faithful and true love.

I love You Lord. Thank You for being Who You are. Thank You for Your unconditional love. Thank You for making me feel worthy living this life and as I wait to go home to Yours. I love You Lord! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving you all! God bless you abundantly!

Pray!

"When a Christian shuns fellowship with other
Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the
Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil
shouts for joy." ~ Corrie Ten Boom

The unit deputy sent him to the Clinic, complaining of feeling like he just had a stroke. But he was able to walk in that long passageway. He came in, complaining of left arm pain, some headache on his right side of head.

As the other nurse allowed him to sit to be evaluated, he asked me to go along with him. I helped the other nurse by taking the patient’s vital signs so he could just concentrate on asking him questions regarding his medical and mental health. This was a big, muscular guy, his sculpted chest visible through the orange prison uniform.

All of a sudden, his eyes welled up with tears.

“Why are you crying?” asked the other nurse.

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m not an emotional kind of guy and my eyes just got watery just like that. I got scared. This was something new,” he replied.

But listening to him and watching his eyes turned red and weepy, I sensed something else. I didn’t say anything yet and out of respect, just let the other nurse did his thing.

All the vital signs were normal, except for a racy pulse. Despite the lack of chest pain, both of us decided to do an EKG to make sure that there was nothing going on with this inmate’s heart. 2 recorded readings came back normal.

He sat up, still with concerned look. This time, I interrogated him after the other nurse allowed me to.

“Sir, there is something you are not telling us. You have been denying any medical or mental problems so there is no reason why your eyes would weep just like that. I saw that worried look in your eyes. Is there anything at home or in your unit bothering you?” I softly queried.

“Ma’am, I told you. I have no problems from home. Everything is okay and in my unit. I’m a tough guy! I’m a Christian!” he firmly stated.

“You’re a Christian?” I asked…”Then, pray!”

I usually don’t mention spiritual things in front of co-workers but this time, as the inmate initiated it, I felt the need as I prayed in my mind for the Lord’s guidance:

“If you are undergoing spiritual attacks, pray! There is nothing to be afraid of,” I calmly replied as the deputy and the other nurse just laughed it off.

The inmate said, “Ma’am, I have no demons!”

“I didn’t say you’re possessed or something. But you were the one who initiated it by saying you’re a Christian. If you are a true follower of Christ, then, you must know that demons are all around us, trying to scare you, intimidate you, and stop anything good you want to do,” I continued. “Pray!” I repeated.

He grew silent but still didn’t want to say if there was anything bothering him. There was nothing else we could do. As he got up and left to go back to his unit, the worrisome look on that face came back all over again.

“I’ll call you guys again. If this happens. I’m scared,” he uttered.

As the other nurse and I went back inside the clinic and spoke with the charge nurse, the other nurse had this to say:

“I don’t know about nurse Rcubes, I was just more on the physical symptoms. But every time she would talk to him and asked him questions, he calmed down. But when I started asking him, he became more agitated.”

“There is something he’s not telling us,” I added. “I just know it. I can’t forget that fearful, weepy eyes. He is a big guy and to see him get teary like that, there was just something eating his heart out.”

This inmate was incarcerated many, many times for burglary, rape, and use of controlled substances. Trapped in that habit of using illegal substances, it drove him to steal to provide for that need. His minds not in the right state, drove him to commit more crimes like rape and physical abuse to his spouse.

In the prison, other inmates don’t like those who commit child abuse or other abuses like spousal abuse. When they hear that someone comes in with those kinds of acts, they wait for an opportunity to hurt and even kill that inmate.

I can only wonder what is eating that man’s heart. But he is up against two possible enemies: humans and spiritual.

“Pray” like what I told him. Was all I could do at that moment.

How about you? What is eating your heart out? Turn to God and PRAY!

Cut the Unnecessary

“Nurse Rcubes, what are you doing here? Why don’t you just rest and sleep there [unit 15]?,” asked the medical secretary.

I was scheduled to be the nurse in a unit [15] that housed inmates with special medical and mental health needs. On a Saturday night, it was typically quiet and there were not many things to do as no one would be going to court on Sunday mornings. The day medications were usually given by the day shift nurse. Pulling the meds was not necessary anymore as our facility has a million-dollar worth machine that pulls all the inmates’ meds in a shorter span of time than by doing it manually by the LVN’s or medication nurses.

If there was anything to be done, it was only to take a history if there was any admission from the prison’s Intake or if there were any discharges in the middle of the night, to make sure that if inmates have a mental health problem, that there would be a designated person to pick them up, either from their own family members or a board and care type of facility.

After preparing the treatments scheduled for the day shift nurse, there was nothing to do anymore. I cleaned up the station. But still, I had 7 hours remaining. I knew a lot of nurses who just slept during that time. But not me…

I don’t like to sit around nor waste time. And I am grateful for this job that the Lord had given me. I called the charge nurse and asked for her permission if I could go over the Infirmary and help them out. She was thankful because it was busy with some doctor’s orders remaining in our bins.

When I walked into the door, that was when that secretary asked me that question.

But I felt good doing so. Knowing that I wasn’t pleasing anyone but Someone Who doesn’t sleep Himself. The night was young but it felt good to be productive and be able to be of help with my co-workers.

The Lord truly is the only One Who can change our hearts. And I am still a big work in that department. But I know that I can never repay what He did for me. Serving Him is the least that I can do.

If there are areas in my life that are not necessary, I want to cut them and be done with them. They just slow me down with the way I serve the Lord. I know I still have much to learn but I pray that the Lord will prune whatever is not pleasing Him, one by one. And that I would remain alert at all times, to not let anything choke my growth in Him.

Pruning is not a pleasant process but doing so, makes my Christian walk to flourish. Thanks be to God for His Word that is sharp that can remove the unwanted branches in my life.

John 15:1-2 - “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

John 15:4 - “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.”

John 15:5-8 - “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you stay joined with me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings glory to my Father.”

Apart from Christ, our efforts are unfruitful…

Jump-start! [Spiritual Sundays]

For uplifting posts, please visit Spiritual Sundays, a special place of encouragement, of hope, of love, hosted by sisters Charlotte and Ginger.

I just got done filling my car with gas this morning, tired after a busy night’s work. To my surprise, when my engine wouldn’t start! There was no indication of the battery being low. But it just didn’t have enough power it seemed every time I turned on the ignition.

Our car had only been 2 years old and for the battery to run out of juice, that was just too soon! Of all days to happen, my husband was many miles away, leaving home early to go to an important appointment. I called my teenage son to let him know that I was already near home, except that I was stuck at the gas station. At that point, I had already called our insurance’s roadside assistance… just waiting for the tow truck to either try to give me a “jump-start” or worse, just to tow the car.

The roadside assistance was great, updating me how soon the tow truck would arrive. After 30 minutes of patiently waiting as I sipped my morning caffeine to keep me up, the big man arrived and parked right next to my car. He tried giving me a “jump-start” right away and barely I turned the ignition and the car started right away!

To my relief! As I was already getting exhausted at that time. He gave me an advice to check the warranty as he felt, too that it was too soon for the battery to be depleted with power.

Driving back to the familiar roads, my son, after praying for me, told me that it could be the use of power doors, too that could be one of the reasons why it happened as using them for over 10 times, used just more power.

Thinking about this incident as I headed home, another incident came to my mind. Of how often we use the power doors in our hearts and minds as we battle with making decisions daily. What stays? Good or bad things? As we choose to keep those things that can harm us spiritually, we deplete the Holy Spirit’s power in us. The very power that makes us, His vessel move!

We often have that choice. To choose to yield or not yield control of our lives to the Holy Spirit. Poor choices quench the Spirit of God. They grieve Him. They feed our old nature. Thus, they prevent us from being filled.

It is not by “praying” for the Holy Spirit’s filling that accomplishes the filling. It is our obedience to God that maintain that filling. When we discover the ill choices that we let in through those power doors in our hearts and minds, we must be quick to immediately confess it to God and renew our commitment with Him to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led.

Lord, give me a “jump-start” starting today!