"Softens Hands While You Do Dishes"

Remember the old Palmolive dishwashing detergent commercials? Women in beauty salons with their nails dipped in bowls of kelly green Palmolive? The manicurist, Madge, reassuring them, "Relax, it's Palmolive!" (You can see an example on youtube. Just do a search for 70s consumerism - Palmolive.)

Then, about ten years ago, the hot paraffin wax portable spas came along. They advertised that in just one treatment, your hands would be noticeably softer and younger looking. Of course, the model was always closer to twenty years old than forty. Her hands undoubtedly looked pretty fabulous to start with. She had not been asked by her eight-year-old grandson what the red, rough place on the back of her left hand was (eczema) and then been informed that the dark places were liver spots! (You can see an example of the young woman on youtube. Just do a search for Paraffin Wax Spa Hand Treatment at Home. You can see the old woman's liver-spotted hands by coming by my house on any given day.)

Current trends lean towards hand massages with healing oils, pumice stones, intensive care hand lotions, built-in lotion dispensers next to the built-in detergent dispensers next to the latest kitchen faucets, and so on.

Calluses can be a good thing. As in guitar-playing and knee-praying. But no one wants to shake hands with someone whose hands are dry, cracked and rough. No one wants those hands caressing his face. Those hands are disastrous when a woman is trying to put on panty hose.

How do your hands look? Are they dry, callused? Has the wear and tear of life worn and torn them? Is there really no such thing as a dishwashing detergent that softens hands? Do you just not have time to do home hot paraffin wax treatments? Do your pumice stone and intensive healing lotion sit in the drawer unused? Have your loved ones gotten used to the roughness of your hands and you really don't care what strangers think? Well, that's okay. I have to admit that sometimes mine are soft and sometimes they could sand a two by four smooth.

I hate to admit that my heart might be like that, too. Sometimes it is soft towards hurting people, slow people, disrespectul people, boring people. Sometimes it is soft towards God. Sometimes I want to know Him and His plans for my life, no matter what. But at other times, especially those days when I haven't read God's Word or worshiped Him or prayed, my heart feels callused. I care about me. Me and mine only. Oh, how I need Him to smooth away the rough, selfish places in my heart. How about you? Ponder these lyrics by Keith Getty. If you know the tune, sing with me.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow'r that can never fail -
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us -
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we'll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.

Just One Thing

My friend Sherrie is the director of our church's weekday preschool program. We were in Cracker Barrel yesterday when she asked me what I thought she should give the teachers for their Christmas gifts. We looked around a bit, but no inspiration came. After more discussion, however, I had an idea she jumped on. So, after we had eaten lunch, we went to a large store that sells just about everything you can imagine.

As we began looking through all the giftware, I was reminded of a time a few years back when I went to that store looking for teapots. I was the Preschool Minister of our church, and I had decided to have a tea party for young girls and their mothers. I wanted each table to have a different teapot as a centerpiece, so for several months I hunted for teapots. It got to the point where I could walk in a store and see only those small things that had handles sticking out of one side. All the other paraphernalia in the store would fade to the background, and all I had to do was check the item to determine if it was a teapot, pitcher, or mug.

After several more weeks of searching, my mind had learned to notice only those items that had a handle on one side and a spout on the other, thereby eliminating mugs from my view. Then, finally, after a couple more weeks, I could scan the shelves of a store and see only those things with a handle on one side, a spout on the other and a lid on the top. I was looking for and looking at just one thing - teapots! My search became so simple that I began seeing teapots practically everywhere I went, and I had to stop buying!!!

There's such a wonderful spiritual lesson in this, friends. We can get overwhelmed living in this world where we're bombarded with all kinds of "stuff." Finding God's will for our lives should be easier than it is, and I want to challenge you to start today by narrowing your search. Jesus said to Martha of Bethany, "You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed." That one thing was modeled by Martha's sister, Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to Him.

We need to get to know Jesus by reading the gospels over and over. Then we will learn the shape of Him. Finally, as we walk through this crowded, busy, hurried, sinful world, we will begin to see where He is, what He is doing, how we can join in on what He is about. The world will fade from view, and just the one thing - Jesus - will fill our thoughts and hearts. And that is His will for our lives, His good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom. 12:2b).

Not Good; Not Good at All

My righteousness was certainly filthy rags today. The real pain of it is that I knew it was going to be. I put off calling the credit card company because something just told me I was going to get mad. And even though I prayed that the Holy Spirit would guard my tongue and keep me calm, I lost it.

I knew they would argue with me about cancelling because I tried to cancel last year, and I had allowed that woman to talk me into keeping the card. This year I was prepared! I called August 25 and asked that the card be cancelled on August 30, the day before the annual fee would be charged. The guy tried to stop me. He gave me all kinds of reasons not to cancel (just like the woman last year did), but I stood firm. Finally, he said okay. My new card had already come in the mail, but I hadn't activated it. So when August finished, I dusted my hands off and said, "There. That takes care of that!"

But it didn't. I got my last statement, and on it was the annual fee. Also on it was a charge on Sept. 2. I knew I hadn't charged anything on that date because I thought the card was cancelled. So I looked back in my email records and found I had charged to that online store on August 23. Aha! They were trying to trick me, but they didn't know who they were dealing with!!!

The long and short of it is, the man called me a liar on the phone today; said their records showed no phone call from me since 12/09 and therefore, I would have to pay the fee. Well, I didn't yell exactly, but my voice rose a little bit. After all, I wanted to be sure he heard me say I didn't appreciate being called a liar and that I had indeed talked to a young man six weeks ago, and I had thought my card was cancelled and he could just check his records and see that I hadn't charged anything in six weeks and that was not normal activity for me!

I got nowhere with him. And I ended up feeling so raunchy about the way I had handled my feelings. Why did I think the world would act in a Christian manner if I couldn't? Isaiah 64:6 says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Filthy rags. The Bible is talking about the unclean rags that have menstrual blood all over them. Yeah, that's what my so-called righteousness looks like.

Oh Jesus, thank you for pouring Your blood over me and making me to become righteous in God's eyes. "God made him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). I'm just a sinner, saved by grace. Hallelujah, what a Savior!