For a few years Buddy started knocking things over to get my immediate attention. I’ll never forget when he knocked the top off of my shredder onto the tile of my dining room; my friend must’ve jumped two feet in the air off her chair. Buddy likely loved the loud slamming sound.
Buddy stopped knocking things over for about a year. Then, above, he pulled my fleece jacket off the back of a high chair to the floor. No loud slam, but it elicited a laugh—and my attention.
I’ve recently returned to school to improve my design skills. However, there’s a lot of intense homework this semester; I’ve been stressing out and my severe insomnia has returned. I’ve realized that my focus has been on the time crunch and worrying about not doing well—my focus has been negative, rather than positive.
So I’m trying to focus on the fact that the school allows older adults into their certificate programs, I’m already learning useful and valuable information helpful for my artistic goals, I only need to pass and not get perfect scores, etc.
OK. My mind goes in different directions sometimes. But this experience has prompted me to consider how Satan works: he wants our attention focused on the negative, rather than the positive, to discourage and depress us.
The devil lives “to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10)”, Jesus declared. He can only tear down and create chaos; he doesn’t want us focused on the beauty, creativity, and kindness of God—enjoying the Lord’s world. Satan wants us focused on his world of darkness, evil, and depravity.
As always, Satan wants to be the center of attention, rather than submitting to our Lord and Creator.
Satan’s self-centered desire to replace God in worship and attention never changes.
“You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly….I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”—Isaiah 14:13-14
So, please, just like I need to, keep your focus on the blessings of the Lord.
On Thanksgiving Day 2022 a black labradoodle escaped out of a neighbor’s home at my parents’ development and insisted on attacking and killing Buddy. Fortunately, neighbors ran out to assist. After our escape, I rushed Buddy over to the veterinarian across the street in Mesa the next day to patch his wounds.
The veterinarian’s staff said they wouldn’t help Buddy without an appointment and none were available that day, so I drove back to his usual doctor in Scottsdale who happily made accommodations to treat him without much notice.
So when, a few months later, Buddy injured his shoulder by ramming into a table doing zoomies at my parents’ home, I took him to the ER vet further away instead of the much closer office across the street.
The ER vet not only recommended arthritis chews, besides pain meds, but also a medication called Azodyl for Bud’s ailing kidneys.
Buddy had his annual physical last week at his usual doctor in Scottsdale, which included a blood test.
The test showed that Buddy’s kidneys stabilized and stopped deteriorating.
I don’t know why Bud’s usual vet didn’t recommend the Azodyl, because he was the one who told me about the prior concerning kidney test results during his 2023 annual physical. But those pills will likely extend his life for several more years.
The timeline:
Dog attack.
Vet across the street refused to treat Buddy.
Buddy taken to the ER vet when he injured his shoulder because the closest Mesa vet “sucks rocks.”
ER vet recommends kidney pills.
Annual visit with regular doctor shows pills worked.
Ironically, the dog attack led to Buddy getting put onto lifesaving medicine that is extending his life.
Truly, “all things work together for good to those who love God.”—Apostle Paul, Romans 8:28
Thank you, Lord, for taking care of my furever pal.
Every time I look at Buddy, I smile because I love him so much.
Now many preachers claim that joy is independent of circumstances, but happiness is based upon circumstance. In other words, you can be joyful even when life sucks.
But I think joy is more than an attitude, but also a wonderful feeling. When I focus on the Lord, how magnificent, creative, intelligent, patient, and kind He is, it’s more than an intellectual exercise: I feel gratitude and thankfulness and love.
So, if you’re feeling down or under spiritual attack, please start praising God and singing His praises.
“Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’”—Nehemiah 8:10
It’s Christmas time, when God sent His greatest gift, the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ, “God With Us (Matthew 2:23).”
Go and enjoy great food, gift giving, and loving relationships this Christmas Season.
God actually encourages celebrating His goodness.
As artist Sandra Boynton made famous: Don’t let the turkeys get you down.
Yesterday in the USA Americans celebrated our Thanksgiving holiday when we focus on our blessings and, hopefully, also express gratitude to our Creator “Who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17)”.
Buddy nearly drove me crazy last night as he apparently believes that I’ll forget he’s standing near my feet unless he whines consistently to remind me to give him some meat.
There’s no way that I’d ever forget to share with my pal. I’m well aware where he is.
I bought a pocket-sized book of the Psalms. I’m trying to read several every morning before starting my day.
What really strikes me, as I read the Psalms, is how frequently the writers are in deep distress and need to reassure themselves that God will eventually rescue them. They trust by faith in God’s promises and love for them, reassuring themselves that He’ll eventually answer.
It’s just a fact of our spiritual life that God cannot show Himself strong on our behalf if we weren’t in a situation needing rescue.
Psalm 3: The number of enemies against David are overwhelming.
Psalms 4 & 5: David is the victim of slander.
Psalm 6: David is wearing out himself weeping because of his troubles.
Psalm 9: David is oppressed by his enemies.
And so it goes.
David is so distressed, that he laments:
“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”—Psalm 13:1-2
How long? How long? How long will You make me wait, Lord? I’m suffering!
David’s distress caused him to feel as if God didn’t care and had abandoned him.
It’s easy to keep faith when God answers instantly to rescue us. But much more difficult when the problems last for days, weeks or even years.
I wonder how I must look to God sometimes. Am I whining constantly like Buddy, believing God has forgotten that I need something from Him? Just like Buddy cannot open the refrigerator and grab himself a piece of turkey, there are times that I am totally dependent on God to come through for me. He needs to open that door of blessing that remains shut in my face.
It seems to be a fine line between trusting on God’s love for me and His promises in Scripture…
And barking for treats.
I have to remind myself that my prayers are requests. The same Lord Who fashioned the heavens and the earth and all its inhabitants graciously meets my requests because He loves me.
But I am not God’s boss.
He’s my Lord and King.
I don’t get to order Him around.
When I’m demanding that He rescue me immediately, I’m barking demands at Him, rather than trusting that He knows what He’s doing and what’s best for me.
Poor Job; he suffered severely and unjustly in a cosmic game of chess. Yet God reprimands him for questioning His goodness and fairness, basically reminding Job that He’s not the Creator.
So when in great distress, I need to remind myself not to demand immediate rescue.
Not to bark at God.
Not whine continuously till I’m irritating.
I need to learn to wait—to trust that He hears me.
Delays encourage faith in His love and goodness.
As David reminded himself in his distress:
“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”—Psalm 27:14
And he would see “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”—Psalm 27:13
Ask Him to strengthen your heart as you wait.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
Any situation we find ourselves in this life is fleeting in comparison with eternity.
God’s greatest desire is to rescue us from our sinful lifestyle and bring us into fellowship with Him.
We cannot earn our way into heaven please by doing more good deeds than bad deeds.
Jesus declared that God’s entrance standard was perfection (Matthew 5:48). One nasty word or wicked thought and we fall short of the mark.
We sin because we have sinful hearts that need to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Only through Jesus can we receive eternal life.
The leaders and gods of other religions cannot give you the Holy Spirit.
Only Jesus can.
Do you sense that your life and heart needs transformation? Do you realize that your life would improve if you weren’t your own worst enemy?
Why not call on Jesus? He lived a perfect life because we cannot. As a result, he could die in our place to take the punishment our sins deserve. He rose bodily from the dead on the Third Day, proving that He was “God in the flesh (Matthew 1:23)”.
If you’re ready, please say the following, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for my sin. Please forgive me. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, and best friend. Please transform my heart and life by the power of the Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. Teach me how much You love me. Thank You for hearing my prayer. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible daily as it’s your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul. It’s also the main way that God communicates with us.
Also, please start attending a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I recommend these two ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to be misled by bad teaching or legalism till you know the Bible fairly well.
God bless. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.
Buddy loves to be the center of my attention—when he wants it. When he demands attention, I’d better give it to him. If I am busy and ask him to wait a few minutes, he’ll walk off and find something to knock over to draw my attention. The louder the bang when the selected item hits the floor, the happier it makes him. I have to leave the top off of my paper shredder when I’m not using it, as the machine makes a wondrously loud bang when the top hits the tiled floor of my dining room.
God makes a promise to His children to always be attentive to their call or cries for help.
“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of all those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and save them.”—Psalm 145:18-19
I started thinking about this verse earlier this week when I was doing my stretching exercises. I have to hold each stretch for fifteen seconds.
At first I whispered the standard, “One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three…” up to fifteen Mississippis. But after a few sessions, that rapidly got redundant.
Then I realized that this clock in the photo was not only within viewing distance (without my eyeglasses) while stretching, but the seconds ticked off quite loudly. So I began silently counting the seconds up to fifteen.
Much easier.
I continued this practice. Starting one session this week, I realized that I couldn’t hear the ticking, even though the clock was within hearing distance.
The ticking got lost in the cacophony of noises within my living room—until I consciously focused on listening to the ticking sound. Suddenly, I could hear the clock with no problem, loudly clacking out the seconds.
I think that’s a metaphor for our relationship with the Lord Jesus. He’s always there, leading and guiding us (Psalm 23:3) and walking alongside us (Psalm 139:5), but we remain unaware of His presence most of the time. His voice and presence gets lost in the noise and business of our daily lives.
Unless we’re consciously focused on Him through prayer, praise, reading the Bible or in fellowship with other Christians.
So I encourage you to spend time with Him every day. And to ask Him to open your eyes to focusing on the blessings He showers upon you with every day, to guard you against discouragement and despair.
After all, the Lord saved you because He wants to enjoy your company for all eternity.
Why not enjoy Him now?
Every day.
God bless you.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
If you are not born again, you are not in union with God’s Holy Spirit and walking in union with Him. Sure, you can live an entire lifetime without acknowledging God’s existence—billions do, but your life will be emotionally enriched when you come to know how much the mighty King of the Universe loves you. He loves us so much that His Son took on human flesh. Do you realize how that shows how much He values human beings?
If you’re ready to walk with God and learn to fellowship with your loving Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, please repeat the following prayer, out loud if possible:
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please take my hand and walk with me throughout my life. Forgive my sins, because Jesus died on the Cross for my sins so that I don’t have to suffer eternal separation from the one true God. I believe He rose from the dead to give me life, so I ask for the Holy Spirit to fill me and give me a new heart, to renew a right spirit within me. I give my life to You. Please show me how much You love me. In the name of Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible, as it’s your soul food. Just as your body needs daily nourishment to be healthy, so does your soul need to feed daily on the Word of God.
And, please, join a Bible believing church or Bible study. And get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, I suggest these two online ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org (Leading The Way) and http://www.AndrewFarley.org (The Grace Message). There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to get misled by legalism or bad teaching till you know the Bible fairly well.
God bless you as you walk with the one Lord—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Buddy came into my life 4 months after my beloved grandmother died, who was my best friend. I know that she would’ve adored my furry pal as she loved animals.
My grandma had a way of making people want to serve and help her. I loved to visit Grandma on the weekends. One day I started laughing to myself while pulling the familiar objects from her wooden coffee table to dust them and also dust the table’s surface and its metal legs with the curly scroll pattern. Somehow, Grandma had tricked me into doing the vacuuming, dusting, floor and window washing for her many times besides other tasks. I tried to figure out why I was not only doing most of her housework, but doing it gladly.
It was because my grandma was always so appreciative of anything a person did for her. She always expressed her thankfulness through words or other demonstrations of gratitude.
I wonder if God is the same way. When we gladly open up our hearts in gratitude for the blessings He freely bestows on us, does that impel Him to want to bless us more to hear us express our love and appreciation?
We are made in God’s image, given emotions so that we can relate to Him, others and His creation. If human appreciation can compel us to want to serve someone we love even more, perhaps God loves to hear us give thanks for His good gifts and wants to give even more.
However, God is far superior to us. Jesus healed 10 lepers yet only one turned about to give Him thanks (Luke 17:11-18). Knowing the future, Jesus could’ve chosen just to heal the one man He knew would give thanks, but He healed all ten anyway. He healed everyone who asked, without requiring them to make vows or promises to turn their lives around.
Jesus stated in Matthew 5:44-46 that we are to “love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you…for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?”
God sent Jesus to die for our sins “while we were enemies (Romans 5:10)” of God, rebelling against His authority.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” Jesus died “once for all (Romans 5:10, Hebrews 10:10).” He sacrificed His life for everyone: for those who hate Him, for those who disobey Him, for those who mock Him, for those who harm His believing children. Because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).”
Christmas season is when we celebrate the gift of Jesus. God the Father sent Jesus to live among us, heal us, encourage us and love us—as a gift.
Isaiah prophesied more than 600 years before the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem: “For a child will be born to us, a son will be GIVEN to us;…and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).” I emphasize the word “given” because God gave His Son as a gift of love to all of humanity to reconcile us to Him through the death of His Son on the Cross, to everyone who will believe—as a gift.
Still, I cannot help but think that God wants to give us good things because He loves to hear our heartfelt thanks.
Just as I loved helping my Grandma who loved me so much.
God bless.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
Did you catch that? Sin separates us from a holy God. But He loves us so much, that He had to find a way to bring His rebellious creation back into fellowship with Him.
It’s impossible to be good enough to earn God’s love. He freely gives it to us. But we have to be willing to receive the gift He sent to earth to reconcile us back to Him: Jesus.
You think you’re not good enough to earn God’s love? Congratulations. You’ve got it right.
Since we can never be good enough, and sin must be punished, Jesus lived a sinless life to pay for our sins “once for ALL”. We just need to humble ourselves to acknowledge to God that we’ve screwed up, and will continue to do so, and need Him to be our Lord and the Good Shepherd. We ask Him into our lives. We cannot earn His love or our salvation: it’s a “gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).”
If you’re ready to receive this good gift of forgiveness to be reconciled to your Creator, please recite the below prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I’ve screwed up too many times to count. I need You in my life. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sins. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to You. In the wonderful name of Jesus, amen.”
If you prayed with sincerity, congratulations, you are a born again child of God. But just as your body needs proper nutrition to function properly, your soul needs supernatural food—the Word of God. Please find a Bible-based church or Bible study. Avoid any teacher who claims that you can pick and choose from the Word of God. That’s acting as your own god and not acknowledging Jesus as your God and Savior.
Meditations About God and Buddy 