Not Just a Holy Santa Claus

Have you ever thought about what God is to us? Have you ever wondered when we pray, what are we praying? When I was a kid, we were taught the acronym P-Praise R-Repent A- Ask  Y-Yield. I have been using this format with my kids when we pray. Sometimes it is so hard to pray this way because you have to really look inward and humble yourself. God is no longer just a holy Santa Claus. That is what kids do, you know, they have their "wish list" for the Lord and list it all out every night. Sometimes this overflows into our adult prayer habits. Tonight the Lord led me to this little passage and it struck me as an important component of a healthy relationship with God. 

Psalm 105:4-6New International Version (NIV)

4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face always.

5 Remember the wonders he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
    his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

Sometimes the circumstances in our life are like a blaring stop sign.

This year has been like that for me personally. It is so easy to say "Look to the Lord" when things are going good yet it is when things are not going so great that is when  we need to "seek his face always".

I am very moved by verse five which says remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, 

I can hear the Holy Spirit whispering to me:  remember the good times but also remember the pain. Remember how it put you on your face in full desperation for God to have mercy! 

Yet here I am I am still his servant, a descendant of Abraham, his chosen one, a child of  Jacob, ingrafted into the vine, by the grace of God. He did not turn me away in  my moments of shame. In fact, he still sang over me and comforted me with his love. He never leaves me in the storm. He is with me in the good times too- but somehow as I am lead by the spirit, I am more convinced  more  than ever that remembering his judgements has a way of keeping us balanced with a holy fear of God. It is a way to keep us walking the narrow way.

 It seems like we all want to boast of his miracles and wonders, we want to brag of the things he has done and that is well and good! He is a good God, worthy of our praise! But without the judgments there is nothing to measure. There is nothing to keep us humble!  I am also reminded that I do not need to shout out the jugdments of God  but to just remember them. I do not have to write them down, just remember them. I do  not have to sing about them, just remember them. I do not have to talk about them, just remember them. I do not have to confess the judgements of God, just remember them.

Do you remember times in your life that were not so good? What is your perspective on that time? Are you thankful for it? Are you in awe? Do you have a reverence for who God is? He is LOVE, but he is also JUST.

Lay an altar on your heart. In Bible times, each time God did something they wanted to remember, they built an altar to the Lord. They gave a sacrifice to God to remember what God did. Both the good and the bad were remembered in this way. 

Prayer: Jesus, I pray we receive your justice. Help us to remember and receive your judgments. I pray that you help us not to forget your judgements help us to walk in truth, recognising who you are and not exalting our pride of  who we think you are in our lives. You are not just a holy Santa Claus. 

Blessings Friends,

Ruth A. Hidalgo

Qualities in Relationships

There are many qualities in relationships that make them so special. We are all drawn to people for many different reasons. Understanding, sense of humor, like-mindedness, sarcasm, empathy, trustworthiness, creativity, attraction, passion, honesty, respect, ect ect. There are many different   reasons friendships form. Some of those are based on what you have in common or on your proximity to the person. Relationships also go through ups and downs. Some have more bumps in the road than others, but regardless, the ability to forgive and forget is a very endearing quality in a friendship that many truly appreciate. For me, the most endearing qualities are  honesty and trustworthiness. with acquaintances mistaking them for a close friend. So how do we survive the labyrinth of friendships? Who can we truly trust? "There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother" Pr 18:24! Closer than a brother is pretty darn close! Listen to this!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esTepjri3Lw

This has changed over the years, I used to think that the most important quality was like-mindedness. Then I began to see that not everyone is going to have the same opinion as me. I had to be ready to see things from many other perspectives as a part  of appreciating and kindling relationships. Going back to honesty, sometimes I am TOO honest. Sometimes I say something that could really hurt someone's feelings if they took it the wrong way in my quest for honesty. In the end, though, I would rather have someone be totally honest

 then  to go on being deceived into thinking the wrong thing. Same goes for trustworthiness. if I have been totally honest, then I need to trust that person to value what I have shared as important and worthy of keeping the trust alive and well. I think this is the part that defines what kind of friendship it is. Acquaintance? Close Friend? or a "Like family" kind of friend? The problem is many of us get confused with these definitions, and trust becomes a thing we just hope for.

Memory Lane:

Now the Song link above takes me to memory lane, with the best singer/partner and friend that I have  in the whole world (in my humble opinion ha ha ha) Guess who it is? Ha! Those who know me know who it is.. wait for it..
 This guy right here.. for those who do not know.. he is my husband.!!

The honesty and trust in this relationship with Eugene Richard Hidalgo (Rick) is bar none the most pure and real that I have on this earth! We know EVERYTHING about each other, our weaknesses, secrets, strengths, hopes,  dreams, and  disappointments. Of all those relationship qualities mentioned above,  he never lets me down in the area of honesty and trust. If I want to know the truth on a matter, he will give me the total honest truth (no matter how honest, we have enough trust to be able to roll with it). We have had the honesty and trust  in our relationship attacked several times, and we withstood the tests and trials; each time it only  made us stronger.

Summary of our Relationship

 It started off years ago as a total infatuation. I was in love with his voice. The first time I heard him, I was in a laundry mat doing my own laundry, it was a pretty echoey room with great acoustics! We sang hymns and finished our laundry. (I never forgot it; even though  we still were not friends for a couple of years). Still, I  would go to every one of his concerts in College with the male chorale; even when we were not dating, I was a big fan! He was so animated on stage! Whatever he did, he did it with excellence. When we finally started dating, we would sit in the piano room at school writing songs and singing songs every single day. If we were not singing, we were sitting in Sub Way debating Biblical topics until the wee hours of the morning. (This should have been my first clue that like-mindedness was not always possible). We still love a good debate, by the way. As a married couple, we started off so full of dreams; we served the Lord together in all that we did! But when those dreams were dashed over and over again, I took a wrong turn in my appreciation for who God made him.  Instead of seeing him as he was, I spent years being dissatisfied. Upset because he was "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good".  But the word of God clearly states "Set your minds on things above " - so I have come full circle now and though like-mindedness would be the ideal thing to have in a relationship, I have come to value honesty and  trust more than anything.(And to be honest, we probably have more like-mindedness going on than I realise or admit to)

P.S.  I will always have an infatuation with his voice!! xoxo

P.S.S. Jesus is first. :-) the friend that sticks closer than a brother 

If you have found someone you can trust and be totally honest with, you have a treasure!

What qualities Do you think are important in a relationship, be it a friendship. a marriage, or even a colleague?

Thank you for reading my "ponderings",

Ruth A. Hidalgo

(Circa:June 17,1995)

Are We Destroying our Hearing?

I LOVE singing when I am on a road trip..with the volume up on the radio and the bass set to maximum! Depending on who my passengers are, they either love it or hate it! The picture above pretty much sums up how it goes when I am on the road somewhere and it is much worse if I happen to be by myself. The car becomes my sanctuary. Now this isn't all bad. We all need that special place to sing with uninhibited abandon to the Lord. (That is what I am doing- HONESTLY). The other day I had one of my "encounters with God" while on a drive. I was alone, so it was an extra special meeting. I was long overdue. I had a lot to "unload"- it was an incredible time. When it was over and I reached my destination, my ears were ringing. It took almost an entire hour and a half for my ears to stop ringing. I already have a hearing problem, and these "musical sessions" are not making it any easier. Why do I like it loud? Because it fills every fiber of my being. I  sing from my toes up to the ceiling and all the way to heaven! ( at least that is how I imagine it) I do not have to worry about anyone critiquing me or wonder if it is "too much"? I can let loose and let God's presence fill my car. It never fails. God always speaks to me and I leave the car full of the spirit and the joy of the Lord. Why can't I do this every day? For one, it would annoy my entire family, secondly. I do not "make time" for it, and third, I get caught up in the daily routine of  life. 

Ok ok 

back to the hearing problem..

It started me thinking about how many people have difficulties with communication as they lose their hearing.The word of God says

 "He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" Revelation 2:29 & Rev. 3:6

Jesus says: "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear" Mark 4;9 and Matthew 11:15

These are just a few examples and there are plenty more... we are to have ears that hear. If I am spending my time damaging my ears with loud music, will I have ears to hear? What exactly does he mean? I have been pondering this since Friday. sometimes it is good to ponder a matter

Questions I have been asking:

1. Am I  losing my hearing ( I mean my spiritual hearing)?

2. Do I have ears to hear what God says or only what I want Him to say?

3.. Is His message landing on deaf ears? What would that look like? 

Lets address each question:

1. Am I losing my hearing ( I mean my spiritual hearing)?  

When I was growing up, my Mom used to say "garbage in garbage out" - I would roll my eyes in disdain. But you know, she was right. The loudness of the music does not make me lose my spiritual hearing, but what does make me lose it, is what I choose to listen to. Am I listening to songs that back up the word of God or are based on scripture or am I merely listening for a sound that stirs my emotions, and backs up "lyrically" what I a feeling at the moment? Although we do have to be in tune with our senses, Faith is not based on a "feeling".

2. Do I have ears to hear what God says or only what I want him to say? 

Look at this! Some of the effects of hearing loss ( I mean physical hearing loss) are the same effect that happen to us too! It is one way to give yourself a "check up". Do you find yourself 

• Inattentive
• Buzzing
• Ringing
• Muffled Hearing
• Isolation
• Frustration
• Avoiding Conversation
• Depression
• Failure to respond
• Listening to electronics at High volumes 

I have always been a believer that the natural is connected to the spiritual. This is eye opening and amazing to look at! I am not saying all of thse directly apply, but is has a major connection. If I am failing to respond to God's nudges in my life, it should be a clue that I am losing some of my spiritual hearing. If I am becoming more isolated, that also can affect my spiritual hearing, we need each other and we need to be in fellowship with other Christians. There is no such thing as a lone-ranger Christian! Or maybe you hear God, but it's "muffled" -you lose your confidence that it is even God speaking to you because the voice is so muffled. What if you are where the word of God is being preached and you just can't seem to pay attention? Could that be a sign of losing spiritual hearing? Maybe? No one wants to talk about Depression, but honestly, if you cannot hear God well, it would be a pretty depressing place to be. God is not scary, He is not mean. He is gentle and merciful and wanting all to come to him, "Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you"- ( Even without the loud music- He is still there waiting for his children to LISTEN to Him)

3. Is His message landing on Deaf ears? What would that look like? 

This is pretty self- explanatory. It would look like someone living life any way they wished, with sort of " your perception is your reality" sort of philosophy-  or maybe its based on a "What they do not know will not hurt them" philosophy-- or will it? I think this philosophy has been the beginning of many people's undoing. What is our faith without hearing? Can we have some "secret pockets" of our life that we keep for ourselves and do not surrender to God? I am not so sure that is possible. Maybe your faith is more - works based and sort of a show of your knowledge? Your knowledge is not a reflection of how well you listen to God. It is just that. Knowledge. Although the word says to study to show yourself approved  the next phrase says unto God and not unto men. That is because God  is the one we are putting our faith in, not men. 

Wow, all this from a car ride with the radio up! So how do we hear God? Here are a few tips: (Oh and I still think it is ok to sing with all your heart to the Lord, as loud as you want but that is another topic) :-)

 Maybe we will discuss worship (one of my favorite topics) but for now, I am working on my hearing. (in both realms; natural and spiritual)

(This is my first spiritual line of communication:prayer) 

Thank you for Reading,

Ruth A. Hidalgo

(My family is the first natural line of communication that I will be  working on "hearing"; how about you? What is yours?) 

Get Real!

Recently, I went through a season where I had panic attacks. I was overboard rude to pretty much everyone. There was no excuse for it and once I behaved in this manner, there was no taking it back. No amount of apologizing  or tears could bring back my words and actions. My point in mentioning this is that it brought a serious thought to my mind as I "recollected" myself:  There are times when our "humanity" makes living very difficult! Somehow we have this idea that there is this standard of "perfection" we must "perform" by in the world in order to let our lights shine for Jesus. Even Jesus showed his "humanity" while here on earth, when he showed anger in the temple, it was righteous and good, but it was an emotion that he openly expressed. What makes us think that somehow, once we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we now have the ability to live a perfect life, with all the fruits of the spirit all  the time? ( Fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, temperance, and self-control) Yes, these are evident in the life of the believer, but believers are humans too! There are times when life  is not just so "perfect".

  Why would Jesus spend so much time with the sick and the hurting when he was on earth!? When I asked this question at the table the other day, my daughter Samantha immediately replied because they needed his help the most". I would like to add something to this: not only did they need his help the most, Jesus needed them the most! Why is that, you may ask? Because His power is made perfect in weakness. It was the most  dramatic way for people to see God's  glory on the earth. Would they have even noticed the miracles  if it was a "regular" person with no obvious flaws? I am here to announce a reality check for us all! We are all hopelessly flawed and in need of a savior. Not a one of us  is without sin. That is why Jesus said. "He who is without sin, cast the first stone". No one could cast a stone! Are you hurting? Are you sick? Are you covetous? Are you greedy? Whatever flaw you struggle with- my challenge today is to try transparency! Admit TODAY that you are a  professional at the "perfection masquerade"! How does this help anyone? How do people see how God is pulling you out of the "miry pit" if no one even knows you are in one?   I will start with myself. I am far from perfect. How can others rejoice with you when you overcome? Now I am not condoning living in sinful abandon; God says he will leave you to a reprobate mind if you do that! I am also not condoning living by the works of the flesh. All I am expressing here is that "There is none righteous, no not one" in other words: Nobody's Perfect!

Today's society can easily push one into a deep slump of hopelessness - and I mean Christian society! We all need to get real! Stop acting! When we are brave enough to be honest, that is when we can find genuine support! We need each other we need transparency no just for our own sakes, but for the world's sake as well! There would be less "hating" on Christians if we could just be honest and real with each other. Putting up the "facade" makes us all look like hypocrites. I am among the weak, I will admit. I desperately need HIM (God) every hour. That is why when I found myself looking in the mirror at my own imperfections,  I immediately sought out accountability and wise counsel. Accountability is essential to real change. Have you ever experienced this before?  It is a true blessing to find someone who will admit that they have no stones to throw and just be there for you. Someone who will support you with the love of Christ no matter what.  I know I am not alone in my imperfections because I am flesh and blood; I have a heart beat and so do you. Think about it. These are serious words to ponder. Let's put down the show and be real with each other.

Hope is found in this: 

  "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it" Philippians 1:6. It does not say that it is completed- it says He will be faithful to complete it! Praise God! I love this promise from God! I am so glad for HIS faithfulness!

Honestly, 

Ruth A. Hidalgo

Cease Striving

 Have you ever been so worried about everyone and everything that you lost sleep? Another translation says it this way: "Cease Striving and know I am God" Psalm 46:10 NASB. What exactly does "cease striving" mean? In some translations, it says "Be still and know I am God." Be still or Cease Striving, have one thing in common, they both require you to stop. STOP. Stop trying so hard to impress everyone. Stop trying to do good deeds to make everyone accept you. Stop being so concerned about pleasing others. God wants us to stop it. He wants us to know that he is the one who can take care of us. He can clean up the mess and make it a message! When reading Psalm 46, it clearly says God is the one who can put a stop to wars. He can put a stop to the war raging within your heart. But he also has this way of taking the truth that we are inundated with and shaking up our worlds. When we see our condition, as we really are and are broken by it, something amazing happens. God steps in. He begins to comfort us. He is near to the broken- hearted and to all who are crushed in spirit,

. Being broken is a part of being real. It is like looking at yourself in the mirror when you first wake up in the morning. (not a pretty sight for most of us) and knowing that God loves you "just the way you are" with messed up hair, drool. smudges of yesterday,smelly breath. He LOVES THAT PERSON. You do not have to do anything to make him love you. You could go out in public all scuzzy and he would still love you. I am one of those who would rather not go out like that. I want my hair brushed, makeup on, and teeth brushed. NO WAY do I want people to see me that way. But what if they did? What if I had an emergency and I had to run to the grocery store and my hair was a mess? Would I still be the same person on the inside? OF COURSE! How we appear to others is not as important as what we are in our hearts. In our relationship with Jesus. He sees all our sin, he sees all the ugliness.. and still loves us just the way we are. I do not have to go strive to be a good person for God to love me, I do not have to get busy getting involved in every charitable organization for God to love me. I do not have to live a perfect life for God to love me. I come to him as I am, flaws and all- now this is a daily process. This is not something that happens overnight. Maybe for some people they have this miraculous transformation, but for most of us, it is a day by day journey. Sometimes we make mistakes. We brush ourselves off, tell God all about it, and let HIM be God. God can move mountains, WE CANNOT. Cease trying to fix all the problems yourself. (yeah I am talking to myself here too) .  Maybe it happened to show us just how flawed we are. Maybe we needed to have our pride crushed down. Whatever the case is, Gods love does not change. He will take us from where we are and cultivate us.What we need is a good dose of letting God be God. He knew that situation was going to happen, before the beginning of time. He knew you were going to fall away, or be tempted in some way. But He still loves us. He is still God. He is working it all out for his good. Whatever you are going through, be confident in this, those times when everything seems so out of control, those are the times that we are GROWING.

Think of it this way: The Potter and the clay: When the potter sees a flaw in the clay, he mashes it  back down in to a ball and starts over, adding moisture, and his hands to the wheel to mold and shape that clay into the perfect pot. It is not the first time around that the pot is made perfect, it takes many trys. All that clay has to do is be on the potters wheel. It does not have to do anything but allow the potter to mold and shape it.

Lord, Let us be like a big lump of clay. ready to be transformed into your image. Let us stop trying to make ourselves look good. Let us trust that you are God and you have it all under control. You can move mountains, you can stop wars. Let us have the faith that you have this all under control. Your will is working even as we are hurting or worrying. You are near to us. Help us to cease striving and know you are God. You are God and you are in control. Let us let you mold us and shape us, let us be unashamed of the process it takes to be made into your image.

May you find peace letting go and letting God, 

            Ruth A. Hidalgo

(Thanks to my husband[above] who ministers to me when I am at my wits end!) Love HIM to the moon and back!

Joy in the Journey

     So many times in life I have had the experience of life's circumstances raining on my parade. In fact, I have been living in one of those circumstances as we speak.  (This is going to come as a shock to many of you-because I only told three people  that do not live in my community).  Since July of this year, my family moved out of our home and began to share space with my mother- in- law. We are going through some legal issues with our home. I have kept very quiet about it, grieved privately as I packed up our precious memories. That is the best way to put it because really, we do not have a lot of valuables, what we have is a bunch of junk to an on-looker, but in the eyes of our  family members, we have boxes and boxes of "treasures  of the heart". Instead of drowning in sorrow,

 I chose to continue on. To continue focusing on  things we were doing. We began a small business.We were growing, and stretching, in ways I never dreamed. One of those ways came to me as a total surprise. One of the smartest moves I made about a month ago, was to hire my husband to run the technical side of my business. He is such an asset to what I am trying to do. Then, I hired our son, Joshua to work for me too, and it has grown from there. I know it sounds so silly to "hire" family, but it has been such a unifying experience. Deep in my heart, there is this longing to be working together with my husband, in every aspect of life. It seemed like the longer we lived here in South Dakota, the more separate our lives became. We still functioned as all families do, but the main difference was I was always doing my own thing and he was always doing his. The unity we experienced working together on the business reminds me of when we were in Florida, 9 years ago, ministering, singing  and praising God side by side every Sunday for the first 11 years of our marriage. Now don't get me wrong, singing will always be my first love, but having the privilege to mesh our work worlds together has been such a sweet blessing. I enjoy every moment of it. Creating, thinking, brainstorming, tracking work and progress on projects, it is actually very fun! Who wants to go to work every day with people they do not like? Not me! Even better to go to work with a person I dearly love! I have truly found joy in the journey.

 I am so thankful for what God is doing, and this is not a sad time at all, it is actually a very blessed time. I have nothing to be sorrowful about!

It is now four months since I wrote this, and the journey has taken us yet another direction. Now, I am completely focused on home care services. With no extra side jobs, I keep being reminded that the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. The Lord keeps gently nudging me to follow His lead and to trust Him with all the details. He shut doors and he opened another. I continue to serve the Lord with gladness as I go about my daily life, and God is blessing that. I had a lot of anxiety today because I had an evaluation, all these "what if's" came into my head. I prayed all day. I prayed a lot. I prayed and I cast down all kinds of imaginations of what could happen. It was a blessed day. I refuse to look down because the Lord is the lifter of my head. He is my reason for each day that I live. Yes, I make mistakes, yes, I fail. Yes, I have disappointments. But He never fails and for that I am thankful. 

Blessings to all of you and may you find Joy in the Journey!

Ruth A. Hidalgo

How Do you Deal with Disappointment?

Disappointment is a part of life. We all experience it. How do you handle it? Do you talk to a friend?

Do  you confront it head on? Do you go for a walk? Sometimes talking it out makes it better, while, at other times, it seems that talking just digs a deeper hole. How are we are to even get to the point that we have peace in the midst of disappointment when the hole gets deeper and deeper talking? The way of obedience makes it worth the while. Rejoice! That is actually a commandment from God. Rejoice evermore for this is the will of God. God wants us to rejoice, My youngest son just learned this memory verse in his school lessons: "In everything give thanks". I Thessalonians 5;18

 These two scriptures do not say rejoice only when things are good or give thanks only when you are happy. There is a reason God gives us the instruction to give thanks and to rejoice, I think it is because it is not in our natural human nature to do so. The first thing we naturally do when things are going wrong and we are feeling disappointed is complain about it. Did you know that every time you do something in the natural, it releases something in the spiritual? Imagine the angels and demons fighting in the spirit realm.. you are helping the angels every time you obey, it gives them ammunition by which to defeat the enemy. It is hard to imagine spiritual warfare, and we really do not clearly know how it happens, but the truth is there is a spiritual side to every word we speak.  So if  you want to be free from the bondage of disappointment? Then OBEY and rejoice! Sing! Find SOMETHING  to be thankful for. When you do, then it releases heaven on your behalf. Imagine it. It is like a ten-ton brick is being lifted off of your shoulder. Who wants to go around carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders? NO ONE!

 The burden of disappointment can be so overwhelming. Just Do it. Try it. Choose to say OUT LOUD  what you are thankful for. It will feel weird at first because it is not the natural thing to do. But as you do it, you will have joy flowing up from the inside out. God takes over. You know it is God because really, you still feel sad about whatever it was that was bothering you, but miraculously, you are able to still be thankful and rejoice. This is how to  cast your cares upon Him. He takes "the load of disappointment" as soon as you are willing to obey and do two simple things. Rejoice and be Thankful. Give it a try. It will help.

Ruth A. Hidalgo