AN APPLE A DAY - DAY 121 OF 365 DAYS TO LIVING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

GETTING ORGANIZED BY USING THE RIGHT CALENDARS/PLANNERS

Last week we spoke about how getting and keeping ourselves organized is one secret first step to staying healthy and stress-free.  

By completing one baby step at a time we can make this organizing process work in the favor of our good health all through the up-coming year.  If you follow the simple steps I'm gong to offer over the next six weeks in the Friday sessions of AN APPLE A DAY you will soon find yourself enjoying a very organized life!

You will be surprised at the burst of energy you will suddenly receive from using just these few and simple suggestions for getting organized.  Doctors around the world have now accepted the health benefits of leading an organized life as a medical fact.   WebMD addresses the problems of people who are feeling tired and unfocused in their work environment.  One simple solution is recommended. They suggest that the person stop whatever task they are presently working on and clean up and organize their desk.  This one task brings a burst of unexpected energy, and it is surprising how much easier it is for these people now to go back to focusing on their routine tasks.

  

We are simply taking this suggestion for organizing the desk one step further and applying it to our personal life as well as our work life.  Eventually, all of these baby steps for organizing will gel into good life-long habits that will help to make us all happier.

So; the baby step for this week is to begin to develop a daily habit of using a good calendar and a good personal planner as efficient tools for life organization.  The key word here is "use" not "buy."  If you buy them but do not use them you are simply wasting your time and money.    

Purchasing a good calendar may sound like a silly suggestion at first, because I know you probably have at least five to ten calendars just laying around your house right now, and you probably even check some of them from time to time.  That last part of my last statement is the key point!  Checking your calendar DAILY and USING it as a tool for staying organized is very important. 

Are you REALLY in the habit of checking your calendar for appointments, tasks and to-do lists every morning?  This is a must for an organized life.  

Do you REALLY write down those things that you need to remember during the day as they pop into your head; or are you trying to remember about two million random facts a day and forgetting to write them down on your calendar?  This will eventually cause you to be overwhelmed and stressed. You will eventually burn out.

There is a word used in Japan called "Karoshi"  which is literally translated to mean "death from overwork."  

Don't put your brain on Karoshi!  

The major medical problems caused by karoshi are heart attack and stroke due to stress.  By properly using the calendar and personal planner suggestions here you will be eliminating the constant stress of having to remember every little detail of every little thing you need to know for a healthy, happy, productive life every day of the year.  

In this one organizational step we eliminate a whole year's worth of constant stress.  We are not going to let that karoshi monster take over our lives!  Let's move on to getting our calendars and personal planners together! 

Once you develop the routine habit of USING these two tools (an actual physical personal planner that contains your daily calendar on paper and an on-line personal planner that keeps and organizes your more formal personal calendar) you will never want to go back to living without them!   

There is something wonderful about having everything all laid out, well planned, and scheduled in advance in an easy-to-use and orderly calendar.  There is a huge amount of satisfaction that comes from having one place that lists appointment times, contains your sorted to-do lists, and schedules your chores and daily tasks as well as your leisure time in the available time frame of the hours of your daily life in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.  

Suddenly your day becomes so much easier to manage!  

Who would know more about this subject of managing our "time" than the One who created all time?  

You might be surprised to learn how much the holy scriptures have to say about time-management.  It was Moses who said; "Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom."  (Psalm 90:12)  Also the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30 illustrates the tragedy of wasted time and opportunity. So let's do something worthwhile that pleases The LORD and boosts our health at the same time.  Let's get those planners and get started.

By developing this one little routine-habit of keeping the planner current and updating it daily; life becomes so much easier and daily stress just begins to melt away.  Now all we need to worry about is the actual process of finding a good personal planner that works best for your own particular life-style

That sounds great you say; but where do you begin?  

How do you pick out the perfect planner? 

Start looking either on-line or in your favorite office supply store and it becomes pretty obvious that picking the right calendar and personal organizer can become a bit confusing.  There are so many different kinds and so many styles to choose from these days.   A lot depends on your specific daily needs and routines and your own personality.

You can find personal planners geared to fit almost any type of career, hobby or lifestyle.  You definitely need something that is flexible enough to fit every occasion of your day-to-day busy life.  

Is there one certain outstanding element in your daily life that you need to conform your time around?  

Perhaps it could be golf, family, church, gardening, school, job, travel, etc?  Try goggling a search specifically for your area of interest.  

For instance I’ve noticed there are many calendars and personal planners out there for athletes who are training in certain areas; such as marathon running.  Google "calendars for marathon runners" and you will get some real specific types of planners that not only list your dates, times and appointments but also give you charts for recording your speeds and scheduling your exercises to prepare for the next race.  This is pretty cool!  

Try searching in your own area of life interests or hobbies.  You might come up with just the perfect solution for managing your own specific goals.  Since I am a blogger; I keep a blogger's calendar.  I don't know how I ever functioned before I started doing this.  It is a wonderful tool that is very helpful to me.  I use it every day.  

When picking a general calendar or personal planner, you need to consider whether you want a day at a glance, a week at a glance, a month or year at a glance, or all four combinations in one place. 

Many people are finding that they function best by using both an on-line planner as well as a paper planner bound in a way that they can carry around and flip through whenever it is convenient.   

For your portable personal planner that you will carry with you, something that is easily accessible and convenient is good.  It should not be too bulky; but it should not be so small and simple that it doesn’t meet your need for spaces to make notes.  Consider the size you need and pick a color that makes you feel happy.  Get a sturdy and workable jacket on the planner that you will be carrying around, and make sure it will hold a pencil.  There is nothing more frustrating than thinking of something to write down in your calendar and having to hunt for a pencil to write with.  Use a pencil that has an eraser.  Erasers are very important.  They make your life flexible.  This is yet another stress buster.  None of us are perfect; we all make mistakes and need to make changes from time to time.  Erasers were invented for that purpose; so let's use them.

I happen to think having my contact information close when I’m working with my calendar is handy and useful.  If I am going to call John on Saturday; I can easily look up John’s number and jot it down right beside my reminder.   A planner that holds your cell phone with your contact information inside it would work just great in this situation.  It would also remind you to take your planner along every time you reach for your phone to go somewhere.  You probably have most of the contact information you need in your cell phone; but if you lost your cell you would have a back up right there in your personal planner.  This is a wise plan.

Think about your own specific needs and make a list of the things that would be the most helpful to you for planning your days. 

Here are a few things to consider as you look for the perfect planner:

Do you make a lot of appointments? 

Do you need constant lists and reminders to get through the day? 

Do you need a handy address book?

 Are you constantly looking up phone numbers? 

Do you want to combine financial management into your organizer? 
Would it be handy to use a planner that has a built in calculator?  

Are you having trouble keeping or following through with your life goals? 

Do you need daily motivation and reminders? 

Do you want constant inspiration?

Would it help you to list the things you are most grateful for at the end of each day? 
Do you like to keep a prayer list handy?

Do you have trouble remembering event times and places?

Are there tasks that you just simply will not get done unless you schedule them? 
Do you like keeping a bucket list as you go?

Do you like to journal? 

Do you enjoy things that are color coded and/or tabbed?

Is there a big event you will be making plans for all during the year; a wedding; an anniversary, a move, etc.?

Do you need some help in coordinating with your family members each day? 
Do you keep a scrapbook that follows your family's timeline?

Are you a visual thinker?
Do you need budget reminders?  

Are you scheduling for your home life, your career life, your family and household errands only, or do you want something that incorporates all of the above into one simple streamlined location?
Would it be easier for you to separate these into different planners each; or would it be more convenient for you to keep all of these categories of life together in one place?

There are many good tools out there to help you with each and any of these special categories.  I’m going to make some suggestions and tell you what I have found to be most useful in my own life.

I would suggest using both an on-line and a hand-held personal organizer.  I like to record EVERYTHING together in one place; but you may prefer to separate; it is simply a matter of whatever works best for you.  I like to keep my portable/physical hand-held planner with me at all times, either in my car or in my purse.  Men might prefer something that is pocket sized to carry with them during the day.   

I use the physical planner whenever I need to jot down something new.  I like to keep my planner, my phone, my keys, a sharpened pencil or a lead pencil with an eraser and my wallet all together all in one handy and sturdy cover/container that works like a three ringed binder with compartments for storage.  Finding a pretty cover that does all of this is like putting icing on a cake; go for it!  Some purses are also special-made to store these types of planners.  

Let the hand-held personal planner be the beginning of all planning.  Use a PENCIL, not a pen.  Feel free to erase and change as you go.  Before you go to bed at night – lay your hand-held planner down on your desk beside your lap-top computer.

If you are struggling along without a laptop computer on your home desk; quit doing that.  Find a way to have one.  Ask for it for Christmas or your next birthday, or save up your pocket change until you can at least purchase an inexpensive model that will do what you need. Notepads are temporary solutions to this problem; but in the end you still need a laptop. They are a necessity as far as I am concerned.  Phones are just too tiny and portable planners cannot carry everything you will need for the long-term.  Any life these days, even if you are retired and living on a desert island, requires easy access to the web and the ability to research from a computer.  The one at the office simply would not be a good place to put your personal information.  Make sure your laptop is secure and has protective software to stop hackers, phishers and viruses.  

Once a day, first thing each morning if possible, sit down at your desk with your laptop and look at your on-line planner for a few minutes.  Update it from your hand-held planner’s notes, and then remember to put your hand-held planner back in your pocket, your purse, or your automobile.   

After those on-line updates are done; browse through your on-line calendar and look at today’s date.  What do you have scheduled?  Note any appointments and to-do lists that you will need to remember today.  Check all reminders and follow through on them later.

While you are on-line, remember to check any other reminders, such as your daily goals and note any progress that you have made.  Cross off what you have accomplished and enter any new goals that you have not yet entered.

You might also want to write a word or two in your on-line journal, and/or post a photo that will work similar to a personal diary to help you remember the events of your daily life as you look back over the last year of your life later.  A lot of people find this more helpful than using facebook or goggle photo albums for remembering the timeline of their personal photos. It is definitely more personal and less distracting.  I call this little daily routine “Five Minutes with the Past, Present and Future.”  

The photos are totally unnecessary; but a lot of fun!  I find them very helpful because I am a very visual thinker, and I like to keep a scrapbook of our family life for each year and give it as a Christmas gift to the whole family. Day-to-day life is so easily forgotten without photos.  I want to cherish all the moments of my life.  Looking back over these daily photos I’ve posted in my personal journal helps me to organize the annual family scrapbook whenever I have the time to actually sit down and enjoy this hobby.  My journal also helps me to remember important and significant family events that have transpired.  Some days my journal entries are only one liners; or other days they are even just one word.  Some days I want to share the memories with other close family and friends; some day I just want the journal to work like my own personal diary that no one ever sees but me.  I have all of those options on the software that I have chosen to use.  Most days though, I try to keep things as simple and brief as possible here.  I have other things to do with my time besides sitting at a desk all day.  That is part of the reason we are doing this!

So how will you decide on which on-line planner and which hand-held planner to use?

Have you ever met Cozi?  I think it is my favorite on-line personal organizer.  

Cozi is a great tool for totally organizing your day.  I found it years ago while following The Fly Lady’s website.  Have you met The Fly Lady?  She is known for being one of the first great on-line organizational coaches.  She had all of these ideas before they even became popular with the general population.  The amusing part about that is it all sprang from the fact that  her own life was a total mess and she needed to create a way out.  As she helped herself; she helped the rest of the world.  Life often works like that.   These blog articles might also fall into the same category.  Anyway; you might enjoy looking The Fly Lady up on-line.  It will be a delightful and educational experience to say the least. She is quite amazing and helpful and she recommends using Cozi.  Just google "The Fly Lady."  She can become your own personal on-line coach for just about anything.

You can find Cozi by going to the Cozi website at:  www.cozi.com.  One of the neat features about Cozi is that it can be shared by other family members too, or anyone else that you chose to share it with.  If your husband is wondering where you are at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, all he has to do is check your appointments on Tuesday from Cozi.  If you are wondering what class Johnny is sitting in at 3 p.m. each afternoon at school; just check his class schedule that you recorded in your Cozi at the beginning of the school year.   You can share a portion of your Cozi, or all of it, but you can also let it be all private.    

Moms with school kids find Cozi especially helpful for organizing sports calendars and keeping up with all their kids many homework assignments and after-school activities.  Every kid can have a separate calendar if you wish for that to happen.  

There is a place for organizing your grocery shopping; and a really helpful place for stashing your recipes that will feed over to your grocery list, which can also be shared to your mobile phone for convenience.   No printer to print your list?  Just send it to your cell phone and look it up as you enter the store.  

There is a handy section for making and keeping specific “to-do lists,” which can have items that are dated and put on your daily calendar as reminders.  

There is a place for keeping your daily appointments on a calendar and a place for organizing your contacts.  This really comes in handy for Christmas cards.  Cozi will mail your cards out if you ask it to do so.  You simply have to order the service.  

The calendar will send you e-mail reminders if you tell it too.  It is helpful for remembering to buy birthday cards and helpful for remembering all the dates and details for traditional holidays and holy days. 

Cozi will arrange everything at a glance for you on your home page, but you can navigate to specific individual functions too.   

You can post in a journal daily or weekly or monthly if you just wish and make notes about your day-to-day activities and family events; and you can even add photos to your journal. 

You can also go to Cozi’s website and/or blog from within the program to find helpful articles about daily living and life hacking tips.  You can find very helpful menus and recipes there too.  Need some help shopping; Cozi can probably pull up the dirt on the item you are longing for.  The articles help you stay up to date on daily life.   There are articles on organization, and other such subjects that are very handy according to whatever season of the year we are currently living through.  If you have time you can read their posts which read pretty much like most typical woman’s magazines.  Just look for the Cozi app; and I do recommend going gold.  It isn’t very expensive.

Cozi is an awesome and very inexpensive way to keep up with everything you could possibly want to do in the realm of organization in your daily life.  Everything is right where you want it wherever you are and whenever you need it. 

Cozi happens to be my favorite on-line planner; but there are many others out there to chose from.  Some of them would include:  Evernote, Google Calendar, Zoho Calendar, 30 Boxes and Which Time.  Of course if you use microsoft word it has a calendar that will keep appointments and events and send you reminders.  That felt too much like a regular work task to me; so I opted for something different at home.  It will do though; if you want to use it.  Your home computer may have come with its own version of personal organizer.  Check there first!  Google all of these or simply google "daily planner software" and pick the specific on-line planner that best meets your needs.

Even with the wonderful use of an on-line organizer; I still need something that I can look at off-line.  It needs to be something tangible; something that I can hold in my hand and carry with me everywhere I go so that I don’t have to be constantly checking my computer or phone.  I need something that organizes things and makes me think through life every day.  I need to be able to glance at my daily schedule from one piece of paper, make pencil notes and check off items by hand.  I need something that will remind me often of my goals for the year.  I’ve found an awesome solution.  It is called The Living Well Planner. 

I first noticed The Living Well Planner by touring Ruth Soukup’s website.  I've began to think of her as an "Up-dated Modern-Day Fly Lady."  I hope neither of my heroines find that title offensive.  I intended it as praise for both parties.  Both of these women are amazing and unique in their own way.  They are on all the same subjects; but often approach them in different ways.  The Fly Lady can show you the basics and teach you the very practical stuff; but Ruth puts her own special twist on things.    You can find and enjoy all of her posts at The Living Well Spending Less website (livingwellspendingless.com.)  Ruth Soukup has more organizing tips than you could ever manage to read in one lifetime!  I was amazed.  She too is a great organizational coach.  There are several great books authored by her on her website that can truly help people to get their lives organized.  One of her most popular books is called “Unstuffed,” and it is a great read if you are feeling overwhelmed with the clutter and “stuff” in your life. 

In my own personal opinion, The Living Well Planner tops all the other planners for overall completeness and usefulness.  Ruth will walk you through the instructions on how to use this planner and make sure you do your planning correctly in order to get the full results of the benefits of using this planner she designed.  If you like, she will even send you a whole downloadable course on how to use your planner.  She does all of this on-line and is a wonderful instructor.    I bought the stickers that you can purchase as accessories for the planner and found them very useful too.  They are optional and cost a little extra, but really do come in handy.  I find them very functional and helpful.

The price of this personal organizer is currently around $55.  It may seem a little high at first, but not when you consider all that if offers.  It is worth the price I promise.  If you are going to splurge on anything; I recommend it be this.    

This Living Well Planner's calendar incorporates all the needs for setting appointments, making daily schedules for tasks and organizing to-do lists, There are personalized sections on budgeting, menu planning and goal setting for every area of your life.  These are great tools!  They really make you think and keep you focused and goal oriented. 

There are many other good personal organizers and calendars out there.  I'm sure one of them is just tailor made specifically for you; so go ahead!  Just start your search and select one.  Google "personal planners," look around on-line, and take your pick and/or visit and browse your local office supply store.

Well, I’ve given you several good recommendations for getting your calendar and planner started.  These tools are so valuable toward organizing your daily life that no one should ever be without them.  I have also dropped a few good names of organizing coaches that you might find interesting and enjoyable to research in your spare time.  

Don't you just love those little words ..."spare time?"  You will certainly have a little more of that now that you are in the process of getting organized.  Enjoy!  

I hope some of this information gets your new year off to a very good start!  

Our next baby step in organization will be all about how to eliminate the things that are stealing our time (time-clutter!).

 

Keep looking for next Friday's AN APPLE A DAY BLOG if you desire to stay focused and want to be organized for healthier living in 2017!

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 153 – A BLUEPRINT FOR THE TABERNACLE

BUILD ME A SANCTUARY

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

God was still speaking to Moses on the Mountain. 

I can’t type that sentence about God speaking to Moses on the Mountain without remembering some things of my own earthly father.  When I was a young girl he spoke to me of a dream he dreamed where he was driving with my mother up a huge mountain.  When they reached the top there were some gates.  He could look beyond the gates and he saw an amazingly beautiful place; but he was told he could not enter at that time; that he must turn around and drive back home.  At that point in his dream he woke up. 

Years passed and his body became ridden with Parkinson’s disease and he was living out his last days.  He had a near-death experience during a hospital stay; but was revived.  When we first saw him after this hospital experience he was mad at all of us.  He wanted to know why we had not let him go on because he was at the gate to the beautiful Mountain again and he was about to go inside and if we had let him; he would have made it.   

He described the grass as being greener than any place he had ever seen and the water was a very vivid blue.  His eyes sparkled when he spoke.  He said the butterflies were HUGE and the flowers were amazing.  He said he did not have the proper words to describe all that he had seen and heard and felt while he was so near the place.  With all of his heart he had wanted to go inside and he was very, very sad that the doctors had revived him and brought him back down to earth again.  He always called this the trip to THE MOUNTAIN. 

When he died; we all knew; he had finally got his wish to go up on that Mountain. 

I have to wonder if Moses, on that mountain with God within the cloud of glory from Heaven, saw some of the same things that my Dad experienced in his dreams. 

One day I will know for myself.

At any rate; God was still speaking to Moses from the cloud up on the Mountain.  He told Moses to tell the Israelites to bring him an offering.  Moses was to receive the offering for God only from those with a heart that prompted them to give. 

God specifically requested that they bring gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, along with goat hair, ram skins dyed red, some other type of durable leather, acacia wood, olive oil for light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and the breastplate. 

These offerings were the things that would be needed in order to build the wilderness tabernacle.  Everything that God asked for in the offerings was used in the tabernacle later.  We will go into more detail about the significance of these individual items as we discuss the building of the tabernacle in a future lesson. 

Now where would poor ex-slaves wandering in the wilderness have accumulated such things? 

Do you remember how God told them to ask the Egyptians for things as they fled their country in haste?  Remember how the Egyptians were so anxious to see them and their plagues go away that they bribed them by giving them  going away gifts of all the items that God is now requesting? 

They had been wondering through the desert with these things in tow ever since that fateful day.  There isn’t much use for such fancy things in the desert’s daily life; but these were things of great value that the poor Israelites had probably never had the opportunity to own in their past lives as slaves.  It probably just seemed very special for them to own such items. These things might have even made them feel rich, or at least a little bit wealthy.  To have such valuable items in your possession whenever you met up with someone trading in the desert might just come in very handy.  Maybe the items gave them a sense of security.  They might have been able to trade with the merchants for things that would actually make  the rough desert life a little bit more luxurious in some way.  After all; God had given these things to them.  They had been blessed! 

So now God is asking them to bring their cherished treasures back to Him to be used in His new Tabernacle. 

Will they try to hold on to some of it? 

Will they be willing to return the things that God has blessed them with? 

If they do offer up the items; will they begrudge the requirement? 

Will they go about being cheerful givers? 

How will the people react to this strange request of God?  Moses must have pondered the same question.  At least God had instructed him to only take from those who were willing to give cheerfully from their hearts.  That would keep Moses from being the bad guy .  If they didn’t want to give; they didn’t have to.  It wasn’t a requirement.  It was simply a request from the Master of The Universe.  So Moses made himself a note to go about requesting these items as soon as he returned to camp; just as God had instructed.

After asking for these rather valuable offerings; God instructed Moses to have the people of Israel to make Him a sanctuary so that He could dwell among them. 

Wow!  This was finally going to happen!

With all that has come to pass in this story, do you still remember the original request of Moses to Pharaoh? 

It was for him to let the people go so that they could go out to the wilderness and worship their God. They wanted to hold a festival for God.  God had told them to ask for this because all along God had desired to dwell with the people. 

Now God was about to make this special event begin to happen.  He was about to come down and dwell among them and make it possible for them to worship Him right there in the wilderness.  When it comes down to the facts, this was THE WHOLE POINT of the whole experience; that mankind and God might find a way to dwell together!  Yet; that little fact is often overlooked and forgotten because we humans tend to get bogged down in all the many details of the rest of the story. 

God wanted Moses to build a Sanctuary in order to make this very special event happen. God desired to benefit the people with His Holy Presence and the people needed a place to meet with him!  He commanded that a Tabernacle be built so that they would know about and have a place from which to offer their prayers and sacrifices. It was to be that special place where the people could meet with God, and God could be among the people.  

Please understand what is happening here.  God did not need people……God was just acutely aware that people needed Him!  God was making provision for the needs of the people to be met.  In order to be able to train themselves in the ways in which they should live, they needed guidance and direction from a Holy God.  He was coming down from the clouds of heaven in order to greet them IN PERSON. 

This new Tabernacle was to become the symbol of God’s Presence being among them.  It would be a visual reminder to them every day of the bond that was formed between God and the people at Mt. Sinai by the Covenant that was agreed to among both parties. 

Once the wilderness tabernacle was built, the people traveled in formation with the tabernacle always in the very center of that formation.  Each tribe could look out and see the tabernacle from their tent door as they camped.  This helped Israel to recognize the fact that God wasn’t just up there on Mt. Sinai, but He traveled and moved among them as they journeyed through the wilderness.  He would be willing to go anywhere that He was taking them.  They were not alone!  Their God was always right there with them!  They did not have to experience His Presence there on the Mountain then leave it behind.  He dwelled within their camp and by moving the tabernacle they literally took Him with them everywhere that they went. 

Just as God had Moses very busy preparing a Sanctuary back in those days; so it is with us now, even in modern days.  All of those who desire to know God prepare and build a sanctuary within their hearts.  This is a place for God to dwell with us wherever we go and whatever we do.  God is still saying those words to us today:  “Make me a sanctuary.” 

How are we responding? 

Do we long for God’s Presence to be ever with us, or are we doing things and going places we would not want God to know about?      

Do you understand the true definition of the word sanctuary?  In the Old Testament the word used is translated “miqdas.”  This means “tabernacle;” which is defined as “the holy dwelling place of God.”    

Do you get the idea that God was leaving heaven and coming to dwell among men? 

The making of the wilderness tabernacle was the beginning of such an astounding miracle.  It was the first step toward the salvation of mankind.

God kept instructing Moses about the making of this tabernacle.  He gave Moses specific details for all of its furnishings.  God was very detailed in his instructions for everything and God expressed that Moses was to make it all exactly like the patterns that God showed him while he was on the Mountain.  Nothing was to be changed or altered from God’s original design.

So let’s think about what is happening here.  When God asked for the offering from the people it was pretty specific in how it was to be given.  Moses was to ask for specific offerings then receive them from those whose hearts prompted them to give. 

Notice that God didn’t want anything that wasn’t from the heart!  If you were going to give grudgingly and hold back; God wasn’t really interested in your offering.  He only wanted what was given from cheerful givers. 

When you bring an offering to God today; is it with your whole heart? 

Do you give cheerfully or are you just following the rules or going along with the crowd in order not to be embarrassed and appear to be greedy? 

Do you give to be giving back to God, or do you give thinking that God will reward you in some way?  Just what are your intentions and motivations?

Are you GIVING or are you trying to barter?  There is a difference you know.  A giver expects nothing in return.  A giver’s offering is his GIFT.  He isn’t selling or loaning; he is giving away from what possessions he actually owns. 

And what do we really own anyway?  What are the possessions that we to bring to God now that Jesus has saved us and there is no need for an animal sacrifice? 

We can bring money for the operation of God’s work on earth, and sometimes that money actually gets put where it needs to go.  Sometimes, some things are done with monetary offerings that actually are good and they are for things that build and grow the Kingdom of God!  Yet; there is no guarantee that your money will go forth and do what you intend it to do when you offered it up as an offering; still, you can try.  There is nothing wrong with offering money for God’s work to be carried out; after all it is God's money anyway, He has just left it in our care for awhile.  None of it REALLY belongs to us; but God allows us to be blessed.  We can give back a portion for God's work on earth; it is very necessary and needed; but the MAIN thing that you have to offer to God and the one thing that you have more control over than anything else is your own body. 

You have this temporary dwelling (a living, walking, breathing tabernacle) that God can come and lodge within.  You have a place that is temporary that you can offer for God to stay as He  desires to be with and live among His people on this earth. 

Offer God your body first; for that is your sanctuary. 

That is the very thing that God is asking of you; He is saying to you just as He said to Moses; “Make me a Sanctuary!” 

Once your whole body belongs to God as a sanctuary; the other offerings come as natural as He directs from within.  Just do what He is prompting you to do whenever He prompts you to do it. 

Listen to HIM; not mankind. 

Do what HE says; not what your neighbor tells you to do. 

Like the people of Israel followed the Cloud of Glory to the next place, let that voice from within your body speak to you of where God wants you to go and what God wants you to do. 

Moses led Israel to build a literal tabernacle; but now we are led by Jesus Christ to build a spiritual tabernacle; or in other words; a sanctuary that is not made with hands.  It is through the offering of our bodies as living sacrifices that God becomes visible and manifests Himself into the world.  Jesus had the only perfect sacrifice; but it was the offering of his body that made our bodies acceptable as tabernacles; and/or living sacrifices.  It is through what we do with our bodies that others begin to see God living through us. 

The apostle Paul said it well:  “Do you not know that your body is the Temple of God and you have been bought with a price and you are not your own?  (1 Cor. 6:19)  Paul directs us to “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice acceptable unto him which is your spiritual worship.”  (Romans 12:1`).  It is through the bodies of God’s people that He expresses Himself to the world. 

Because God lives and resides within the bodies of His people, they have access to “the secret place.”  “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High God shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.” (Psalm 91)  

God’s tabernacle, His Holy Temple, His Dwelling Place today is within the hearts of His people.  They carry God with them where ever they go, whether it is in congregational worship or out to one of the lost corners of the earth.  God will be there; in His Sanctuary!  We can count on that; just as the Israelites could count on Him leading them from the wilderness tabernacle.

PEN ART - REMEMBERING THE LOVE STORY OF RUTH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

 Can't you just imagine lovely Ruth gleaning in the fields at the end of the barley harvest?  It is hot, tiring work, but she toils on, not allowing herself to become discouraged in her pitiful circumstances.  She, a widowed, destitute, lady who once reigned as a Moabite Princess, is out trying to find food to sustain her Mother-In-Law and herself.  She doesn't beg, she doesn't resort to breaking the law; she works!  She knows the work she can do will not bring her extra or money for her future security, but she goes out anyway, accepting what is sufficient to get them through a day, and working very hard for this little amount.  There is a sense that she is grateful for everything that The Lord provides.  How refreshing to see someone rising above mediocrity in the midst of troubles.   She has followed her Mother-In-Law to this strange new land with very different ways and customs.  She is a stranger and very much alone.   She meets Boaz, who has instructed his workers to let her gather barley from the leftovers of his field. 

It was the season of harvesting, when Ruth arrived in Bethlehem.  The long wait for the grain to grow was over, and it had grown into a field of plenty.  Boaz's crops were flourishing, much to his delight.  Growing barley, or any crop is never certain.  You never know the results of your farming until the harvest comes.   It is hard to see the growth of a harvest when the seeds are first put into the ground and the roots are just forming beneath the soil.  The whole growing process is unnoticed and unseen, but much is going on all the time; it just isn't visible.  Sometimes you just have to wait.  During this process the fields look empty and barren, even though there is life just waiting to spring forth, unknown and undetected. There are plants wanting to stretch through to the light, but they are unable to do so until the proper time has come.  So it was with the fields and so it was with the life of Ruth. 

It certainly seemed her life had become empty and barren.  She could not see the blessings that lay waiting in her future.  She had forsaken all she knew (the life of a royal princess) for a husband that she loved from another land.  She had left her home and customs and former religious beliefs to go with him, to  be a part of his home and his family, and had made the huge decision to worship his God, whom she previously had not known.   Even though she met Naomi's son in her own land, Ruth would have still been required to convert to the religion of her husband, who was Jewish.  It is this little fact that gives us our first glimpse into Ruth's strong character.   She did not just go through the process of conversion for the sake of the marriage certificate.  Ruth's sister-in-law seemed to be a lot less concerned about the sincerity of her vows, and she quickly left them behind after the death of her husband, but not Ruth.  Ruth was different.  Ruth believed in truth and honesty and loyalty.  Ruth truly converted deep in her heart.  Her love for The God of Israel was sincere and genuine.  She knew she had found something real.  When the hard times came she did not look back, and she never regretted her decision, even when life became very difficult.   She looked faithfully at the example that her Mother-In-Law, Naomi, lived out before her, and she became completely Jewish too. 

Though Ruth had given all, her husband died, leaving her with nothing.    She found herself widowed, childless, poor and destitute.  She left Moab and followed her Mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Bethlehem.  This was the land of Naomi’s birth.  In Bethlehem Ruth met the family Kinsman Redeemer; Boaz. In those days it was the duty of the Kinsman Redeemer to look after the whole family, especially the ones left behind when someone in the family died.  Three men in the family had died, Naomi's husband, Ruth's husband and Naomi's other son.  It was natural for Boaz to show his concern and look after Naomi and Ruth, but in this case, the feelings went deeper than concern.  While Ruth was in the process of gathering in the fields of Boaz, he saw her and fell in love with her.  He tells his workers to be sure to leave plenty of barley for her to gather.  He looked after her needs and protected her from harm.  He had her best interest in mind always, even to the point of considering that she might not even be interested in him as a husband.  Many think he was much older than Ruth.  When Ruth showed her interest in him; he took every action to make sure that her best interests were served, and not his own.

 In that day, it was the proper behavior of a servant to lay at their master’s feet in order to be ready for any command of the master.   So, when Naomi told Ruth to  lie down at Boaz’s feet as he slept on the threshing floor, she was instructing Ruth to go to Boaz in a totally humble, submissive way.  She was instructing Ruth to have the heart of a servant.  We can't  lose sight of the larger picture here, Ruth came to claim a right, the right of a Kinsman Redeemer. By law Boaz was her goel, her kinsman-redeemer, and she had the right to expect him to marry her and raise up a family to perpetuate the name of Elimelech (her former Father-In-Law, since Naomi was beyond the years of bearing a child).  This was customary for the time.  Wise Naomi counseled Ruth not to go to Boaz as a victim demanding her rights, but as a humble servant, trusting in the goodness of her kinsman-redeemer. Her humble attitude and actions said to Boaz, “I respect you, I trust you, and I put my fate in your hands.”

In those days many farmers lost their harvest to groups of thieves roaming the hills and randomly robbing the land.  There were big parties with dancing and festivals around the harvest, so the time was very public and never a secret.  Everyone knew that your fields were being gathered in.   Boaz was sleeping on the threshing floor that night in order to protect the harvest.  He was guarding it from thieves.  As instructed by Naomi, Ruth came softly in and lay down quietly at his feet, in the role of a servant.  He did not hear her approach, and was surprised to find her there upon awakening at midnight.  The words of Ruth as she spoke to him upon being found there were "take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative."  She shows great humility and submission with these words, calling herself a servant.  The words "under your wing" could be interpreted to be a request for Boaz to take her in marriage.  This Hebrew phrase is many times also translated as "spread the corner of your garment over me."   The custom of the spreading of a skirt over a widow as a way of claiming her as a wife is attested many times under the ancient laws.  This practice still exists today in some places of Arabia.  Even in our modern world, when a Jewish man marries a woman, he throws the skirt, or end of his talit, over her and this signifies that he has taken her under his protection.

God used the same phrase in relation to Israel in Ezekiel 16:8:  "I spread my wing over you and covered your nakedness.  Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you and you became Mine, says the LORD God." 

 So Ruth's words to Boaz were just a culturally relevant way to say "I am a widow, take me as your wife."  The fact that he was a close relative made this not an inappropriate thing for her to do.  It was bold, but not inappropriate.  Ruth understood this as she identified Boaz as her "close relative." 

This is the frightening moment when we find out that even though Boaz was a recognized goel (kinsman redeemer) towards Ruth, there was another goel closer in relation to her deceased father-in-law Elimelech. So, Boaz could not exercise his right as kinsman-redeemer unless this closer kinsman-redeemer relinquished his rights towards Ruth.  Boaz told her of this, being a man of honor who wanted everything done in order and in a proper way.  He did not send her home empty handed.  He gave her six measures of barley to take home while she waited on him to confirm the answer to her request. 

 Jewish traditions say that the six measures of barley given as a gift to Ruth were a sign of six pious men who would descend from her, endowed with six spiritual gifts: David, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and The Messiah.  I very much see this "gift" of six measures of barley from Boaz to Ruth as being symbolic of Jesus sending the Holy Spirit.  It is a lovely picture, but on with our love story........

Remember in the history of the Jewish people, during the days of Joshua, when Israel came into the Promised Land  the land was divided among all the tribes and then among the families. God always intended that the land stay within those same tribes and those same family groups, so the land could never permanently be sold. Every fifty years, the land had to be returned to the original family group (Leviticus 25:8-17.)  But fifty years is a long time. So God made provision for the land that was “sold,” that it might be redeemed back to the family by the kinsman-redeemer, who had the responsibility to protect the people, property, and posterity of the whole family.  This is why it was important for Boaz to contact the closest Kinsman-Redeemer.   

Boaz went to the gates of the city where business was always conducted seeking this closest kinsman to determine if he would want to make this redemption of Naomi's property.  Of course the man wanted to redeem the land, but then he found out it was a package deal.  To redeem the property would mean he must also marry Ruth and bear children to honor her deceased husband's and father-in-law's name.  He was not interested in this, probably because he already had children and was already married.  To take Ruth as his wife would complicate things and mean that he would need to distribute any of his current wealth to her children as well as to his present wife's children.  This did not appeal to him.  It would have weakened his fortune, not increased it.  He would have had more people to look after as well.  Boaz, of course, was elated!  It was the answer he had hoped for.  Right there at the gate, in the witness of many, Boaz redeemed the property and claimed Ruth as his wife.  And all the elders and all the people who were at the gate blessed the marriage.  They said:  "We are witnesses.  The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.  May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman."  This was saying so much more than you may have read into it!  Rachael and Leah had twelve children between them and basically gave birth to the whole nation of Israel! This was quite a blessing declared over their marriage!

Originally, in the eyes of the world, Ruth seemed to be giving up on her best chance of marriage by leaving her native land of Moab and giving her heart and life to the God of Israel. But as Ruth put God first, He brought her to a relationship greater than she could have ever imagined. 

To Boaz and Ruth was born Obed.  To Obed was born Jesse.  To Jesse was born David.

David grew up to be the great King of Israel.  King David has a descendant by the name of Jesus!

How could they have known at the time that Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem, that their journey would have been the act that set in motion the future reason for Joseph and Mary having to go to Bethlehem to register in the census at the birth of Christ.  It was the city of their ancestor, David.   From Ruth and Boaz's story comes the reason why Jesus was born in Bethlehem.   From Jesus being born in Bethlehem, comes the redemption of the Church and The Bride of Christ! 

This beautiful love story tells us in a million different ways  how  God’s plan is perfect and filled with love.  It speaks to us during those times when we can’t figure out what He is doing and everything seems to be so desperate.  The story tells us clearly that He still knows what He is doing. We are once again reminded of that famous scripture passage:  "all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28.) 

How clearly the story paints the picture of Jesus as our kinsman-redeemer.  We can see this is why He became a man and came to live among us on this earth. God might have sent an angel to save us, but the angel would not have been our kinsman. Jesus, in His eternal glory, without the addition of humanity to His divine nature might have saved us, but He would not have been our kinsman. A great prophet or priest might have been our kinsman, but his own sin would have disqualified him as our redeemer. Only Jesus, the eternal God who added humanity to His eternal deity, can be both the kinsman and the redeemer for mankind! 
 

We clearly see this picture of the nature of our Savior when we look at Boaz.  We can also see a picture of the church when we look at Ruth and Naomi's other daughter-in-law.  Ruth symbolizes the truly converted in the church, the True Bride of Christ.  Think of the fact that she found herself in a foreign country.  We know and are constantly reminded in the church by true men of God that we are all just pilgrims here on earth, just passing through.  This land is not our true home.  But while in a foreign country, Ruth found Boaz.  Just as we, even on this earth have found Jesus Christ, our own faithful Kinsman Redeemer.  He came to us when we were broken, tired, destitute, and He called us to become his followers.  

We, the true Church of Jesus Christ have humbly submitted our lives to Jesus, just as Ruth lay down in the form of a servant at the feet of Boaz.  We have not demanded our rights, but His mercy and goodness have come to us as a free gift.  He has kept our best interest at all times, even to the point of death on a cross.  The true Bride of Christ comes fully converted, out of love and devotion and in submission to the Groom, not just for the marriage certificate that brings its own set of rewards, but for the love of the Groom and nothing else. 

Sadly, the church has been robbed of its own by Satan and his helpers.  They have robbed and plundered the things of God for years, just as those thieves that roamed the land and robbed the threshing floors in Bethlehem.  They have no true ownership, but they come as thieves to kill, rob, steal and destroy.  Jesus, The Good Shepherd is constantly guarding His sheep, protecting his church, and in essence; sleeping on the threshing floor of the harvest. 

If only we would go to him with that same submissive attitude of a servant's heart just as Ruth did, what wonders might we encounter?  Has the church forgotten this lesson?  Do we not realize what a Kinsman Redeemer does for us?  Are we not aware that The Groom is coming in an hour that we do not expect, perhaps the midnight hour, just as the time when Boaz awoke to find Ruth laying at his feet?  Perhaps this is symbolic of Christ returning to rapture the church.  In that time, we will be covered by His cloak and protected from harm, just as Boaz spread his garment over Ruth on the threshing floor.  

To make this totally legal, Jesus had to die on a cross, giving his life as a ransom, buying God's people back from where we foolishly sold our souls away to the slavery of sin and the rule of Satan.  Because of the sin of the first man and woman, we have been born into a world claimed by evil, ruled by Satan.  Only the price of a perfect sacrifice could change that fact for us.  Jesus paid the price to redeem us as His people, just as Boaz paid the price to redeem Ruth.  It was not for want of possessions or ownership that he paid the price.  It was a total act of selfless love and kindness. 

While Ruth was waiting on Boaz to confirm ownership and redeem her, she had the gift of the six measures of barley almost like a promise that he would return.  It kept her and sustained her while he was away attending to business, making sure that all things were in order and kept legal.  We have The Holy Spirit, bestowing spiritual gifts from God on us everyday since Pentecost, since after the time that Jesus ascended into the heavens to go and prepare a place for us.  

Jesus stands at the gates now, making intercession for us, pleading our case before The Father, preparing a place for us to live with Him, just like Boaz bought back the property originally deeded to the husband of Naomi, who would have passed it on to his heirs, one of them being Ruth's husband who had died.  Now Ruth would have a wonderful home where she could bring her mother-in-law and they could live happily ever after.  The same is true of us, as The Church, knowing that Jesus is preparing a wonderful home for us in the place where His Father lives, where we will live forever with our loved ones and true family. 

There is an exciting wedding feast being planned at the Father's House.  It is being announced at the gates, even as I write this down.  Blessings are being spoken over this very sacred marriage that will happen one day in the future.  The vows of the engagement have already been witnessed by a great cloud of witnesses.  The elders and the disciples will all  be there when this wedding happens.  They will bless the marriage and it will prosper.  From the marriage of Christ and His Bride will come the greatest Kingdom ever, it will produce the children of God and Kingdom of God that will bless heaven and earth from a New Jerusalem, coming down from Heaven to a New Earth. 

Only Jesus can make the happiest ending to the greatest love story ever told.  Every now and then I love to stop and remember that from the pages of eternity, God planned to bring Ruth and Boaz together, and thus make Bethlehem His entrance point for the coming of Jesus as our true Kinsman-Redeemer, fully God and fully man.