Your Treasure Chest, Stepping Stones and ‘The Rock of Ages’ - 01/20/2025
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“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against ‘The Rock of Ages’. ” Charles Spurgeon
Your Treasure Chest, Stepping Stones and ‘The Rock of Ages’
The temperature here tonight is going down to -5F with a chill factor of -10F, so curl up with a hot drink. If you have time and you are willing step in to some deeper waters with me, come along. Please bring LOTS of snacks too.
From chocolates to brewed “swamp water” both of which were done or given out of love; shared meals to a snack; devotions together & separate; play games together… well you might say that Jamie & I can have what seems like a bittersweet relationship at times. It is our experiences and perspectives that clarify, which they are. We are forever learning from each other. Our ability to trust affects our relationships. Opposites truly do attract. It has made for some real laughter at times and other times a reminder to tell yourself to NOT to say anything UNTIL you have honestly processed the other’s perspective. I have heard it said in counseling that it is best to learn to “respond” instead of “react”. Sometimes I just need to slow down enough to really listen, not half listen or get stuck on a thought. Sometimes I need to go to God and seek His face. Do I always get my way? Absolutely NOT, but I might try to at first.
Have you ever had God chasen you? Well I have! Sometimes His still small voice needs to be really loud. 
When God raises His voice with me, I know I’d BEST listen! Who do you listen to? Who do you trust for guidance?
If you heard a siren Saturday, it’s because they arrested me for my accidental “death by garlic” attempt on Jamie. I was in the process of making pull apart garlic bread. Did you know that fresh garlic is much stronger than powdered garlic? Paulette, was in “pre-storm cooking mode”. Both of my children probably remember this mode very well. The kitchen is destroyed in my artistic way & there can be some casualties along the way.  At one point, Jamie was very wise & decided to go to the store to escape the fumes. Don’t worry I made up to him by making “Monkey Bread” a version of cinnamon rolls that you don’t have to role out. My daughter shared this “new to me recipe” at Christmas time. Have you ever played “Peek-a-boo with God”? How about “Blind Man’s Bluff”? Have you seen or wished you’d seen the magnificence of the Grand Canyon in all its majestic glory? There is a picture, by where I sit & write, of my daughter Lindsay and her family at the Grand Canyon. She said pictures don’t capture its beauty. Love the beauty & truth that’s captured within the words of the Bible.
Matthew 7:7 says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” NIV
Have you ever felt like you’ve been thrown off a cliff before and you are free falling? You know one of those beyond devastating moments that words can’t fully capture… like when you receive life changing news & don’t know where your next breath will come from. If we are honest, we have all had them in our lives. These moments seem beyond any trial you ever expect to experience. Some are a journey you’d never even heard of, but now you will have to live there for the rest of your life. You are all of a sudden in a place where you don’t even know the language. It is where no road map exists, because you feel like you are free falling. Someone or something has shoved you off the cliff. Your perspective is blurred, as you can’t see through your heartfelt, waterfall of tears. Fear is real & if we are human, we will all experience it. What do you do with fear? What will your new reality be? What should you really do in that moment? That decision becomes the vortex that determines the direction your life will go. It is what we call a “milestone… a life-changing moment”. In those moments where does your mind go for help\resources? Fear makes you feel unsafe and sometimes violated. My mind desperately seeks the places where I had once felt safe. It goes to the core of my moral compass. Where is your “true north”?
Do you remember playing “peek-a-boo” as a child? Or should I ask do you remember playing “peek-a-boo” with a child? It has the potential to stimulate curiosity mixed with joy. Do you remember being thrown up in the air as a child & being caught by a parent or relative? Actually I should ask, do you remember tossing a child in the air & catching them in your arms or watching someone else do it. Oh how powerful the expressions of relief when they are first caught & the laughter that can follow. They have to have established “trust” with that person and this in turn allows them to “feel safe”…. feeling safe allows joy to be experienced. What makes you feel safe? Who do you trust to catch you?
Fact: You never know who someone really is until you play games with them, right Lisa Richardson & Jeff!! Just ask one of us what was going on in this picture. Have you ever played, “Pass the Pigs”? There was lots of laughter going on that day here!
As a reading specialist, I studied and learned the great details about the “factual”, “conceptual” and the “theoretic” levels of comprehension.
They are part of the building blocks of a good reading foundation. One builds upon the other and they must be experienced in order to learn them and build a firm foundation. In my devotional book I was asked a question that allowed these concepts to resurface in my mind with many reflections when I read, “How does knowing that God can and will do everything for you give you peace of mind and heart?” If you read it out of context from the devotional book, you might really question,“Does God do everything for me?” I had been reading Psalm 91 in conjunction with this devotion. Which is when and where God gave me my Verse of the year for 2025. I will reflect this verse through my daily life this year.“I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I TRUST.” Psalm 91:2
Where do the building blocks of trust come from? Only when we are ready to receive can something become a “fact”. We carry our facts around with us like a special collection of rocks we found on the beach as a child. We keep stuffing the rocks in our pockets until there is no more room. The rocks get so heavy, that we can’t possibly carry them around with us any more, so we might get a “treasure chest” to keep our favorites in when we go home. The treasure chest for our facts is our mind. What are you going to collect\fill your mind\treasure chest with?
One day while we are pondering some of the treasures in our mind, our curiosity urges us to take some of them out of our treasure chest and see what we remember about them. Then a deeper curiosity surfaces, so we explore them more. We might begin to notice new things about each rock than when we first picked them up. When we examine them more closely, we might notice their distinctive shapes, seeming flaws or perhaps colors or even unique textures. If we become particularly curious, we might choose to read, watch or ask others about them too. Experiences teaches us to ask someone we trust. Perhaps we discover why they are such a distinctive color. In this process our attachments become deeper to them. We can narrow down our favorites within our “treasure chest” collection. From our research instead of just facts we begin forming “concepts” about these treasured rocks. You have learned to read & form concepts and this allows you to gain new perspectives. What\where or who are you gaining new perspectives from?
Philippians 3:15 “All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”
Do you remember when you were young and a few of your friends tried to convince you to do something from their perspective but your gut screamed, “No!” You know, like:
“Don’t be so foolish… smoking won’t hurt you, my parents have smoked for years.”
“You can come out with us. Just sneak out. Your parents will NEVER find out.”
Remember those times that we learned the truth from our own chosen experiences… Like when you chose to sneak out to be with your friends and your parents caught you! They were waiting up to greet you when you came through the door.
I knew if I heard my first, last & middle name, that I was in for a good calling down. 
If I am honest, it was a calling down, I probably deserved and the punishment I was given taught me to look before I leaped. It also taught me to listen to my gut… my conscience that screams, “NO! Don’t do that.”“Discipline Your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.” Proverbs 19:18 NLT Let’s just say that I often received the discipline I deserved, though I might not have appreciated it at the time. At some point (When I was willing to receive.), I often learned they were right. Surprise, my parents did know something!
Confession is good for the soul. Do you remember in a heated moment saying something like,
“You are so mean. I will NEVER say that to my children!” God does have a sense of humor, as when raising my children, I not only saw a reflection of my parents in the words, but also in the tone I used while imparting my wisdom to my children.
In the end, I learned that I sometimes chose the hard way & gained wisdom from a lot of my wrong choices. Not all experiences are fun. Sometimes it is a truly painful lesson that inflicted pain & shame upon you for years, which God did not intend. Those are the things that had a significant impact on you because you couldn’t forgive yourselves... even if you knew that God forgave you.
What about when you were strong enough that your wisdom\conscience allowed you to dare to form your OWN opinion\perspective, even when it disagreed with your friend\friends. Don’t be fooled, peer pressure is real at ALL ages! Even our parents had peer pressure at the times when they were raising us. What are you carrying in heart with you that you need to give to God?
“All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.” Philippians 3:15
My most powerful lessons were in my almost beyond human words, moments. The ones that left scars on my very heart because of my wrong choices. These are some of the things that I openly shared with my children when they were old enough. I did because I hoped they could benefit from my mistakes. In God’s perfect timing there can be life-changing power in being vulnerable\real with even your children. There can be generation gains.
… Another day, week, month or maybe even years later, as you continued learning other new facts… and all of a sudden something strikes you and it brings up the memories of your treasure chest\rock collection. You glean new details about your special rock collection of so long ago. Things that you were amazed you never learned! Where are you gaining your knowledge from? Who is helping you obtain “deep roots” and giving you “wings”?
Then something happens one day that you never expected… that changes your world forever, so you flashback to that first day on the beach, the knowledge that you gained along the way and you discover a rare gem within a rock you had collected. So excitedly you begin to theorize what other treasures that collection of rocks might contain, that you have yet to discover! What was old becomes new & exciting. You begin to form your new concepts & some theories about it. What is becoming new & exciting to you? Who is helping you form your theories? Hebrews 4:12 says:
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” NLT
Once in a while, I think God tosses us up in the air so we will remember who is always there to catch us. Also to teach us what our inner most desires truly are. It is to help us gain new knowledge & obtain new perspectives. It is when we play Peek-a-boo with God that He gives us glimpses of His divine perspective and purposes. He must always take us from factual to conceptual to theoretical aspects of His divine truths as we grow in Him. Why? So we will learn to step out in total faith, trusting him fully… even when we can’t understand the situation we are in or why we are there. If life were always easy what would we learn?!?! There have been several monumental moments in my life, when I have been hit with what felt like a tsunami and feel like someone has pushed me off a cliff and I was free falling. My experiences with God in these deep waters and seemingly devastating, valleys… it’s where God taught me that even when I did not know which way was up… and had no idea where all the pieces of my life were going to land… in reality they taught me that I always know who will catch me when I fall. In the end, the valley was actually a mountain top experience because of the knowledge & spiritual growth they had afforded me. When He took off my “blind fold” I saw that I was standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and that I wasn’t free falling because God was there with me the whole time. These experiences gave me the new strength which I needed to take the next step forward in His plan for my life. Notice I said His plan and NOT my plan. My experiences were and are my training grounds for where I have been CHOSEN to walk next. All those treasure chest rocks I collected… well they were actually the stepping stones of my life, WHEN Christ was at the center of My walk. What are the special properties of the “stepping stones” of your journey?
Who do I trust? God
Who catches me when I fall? God
Where can I gain my knowledge from? God\the Bible
Who helps me heal? God & His divine family he surrounds me with. I LOVE my family and my church family so.
Who can help me gain a new perspective? God
Who will show me the beauty contained within the storm? God
What is my True North\road map? The Bible
What do I do with all I have learned & continue to learn through my divine appointments\experiences? Try to help others in the same way that God helped me. Walk with them and love them where they are. With Christ-like love & humility help those He places in my path. The sleepless nights, the excruciating pain that felt like it would never end and the waterfall of tears is where I have obtained the wisdom from God’s perspective and learned to apply to my life. For the rest of my life here on earth, God will be loving me where I am & continue teaching me, IF I am willing.
God’s direction is clear as to what I am to do:
“Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30
How would you have answered the questions above? Are you seeking?
Can you think of a time that God has shown you a powerful truth? Have you praised and or thanked Him? Have you applied it to your life? What have you done with this gem\nugget of knowledge you learned? Who can you reach out to today? Who can you pray for? There are so many people going through exceptionally hard\devastating times… sickness, pain from unimaginable loss etc. We truly need to seek His Face in prayer and cover others in prayer.
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My word for the year 2025 is “Grateful”. I am writing a Gratitude journal and you each are something I am truly thankful for.
May God continue to bless you in just the ways you need. ps Incase you were wondering, neither of us have been brave enough to try my paper weight, rock\rolls, called “GF pull apart garlic bread”. Though Jamie made homemade chicken soup today, so if you hear a siren tomorrow… you might want to say a prayer as we are both going to partake of them.
Thinking some hungry birds may also get a meal they didn’t expect. 
