pamelasonnenmoser.com Blog

One for the team
I have never seen anyone as fervent as a football fan. People become so passionate about their team that everyone around them knows that they are indeed a fan. Living near Kansas City has been a true education in all things chiefs. Like it or not, the red and gold sports fans are quick to tell anyone in shouting range that their team is the best, whether they are winning, or not. They know the team statistics for coaches, players and formers. They are proud to be fans…even though the word fan is just a shortened version of fanatic.
As I thought about the loyalty of football fans I couldn’t help but make the cliché comparison between those in love with football and those of us who claim to be in love with Jesus. Does everyone around me know that I am passionate about Jesus? Am I really telling others that Jesus is the answer? Do I know the playbook? Every statistic I need is in the Word of God. And finally, do I become defensive when someone calls me a fanatic? Isn’t that what I am? I am a fan of Jesus Christ and what he has done for me. The Chiefs may or may not have a winning season, but Christians know who wins. Shouldn’t we be cheering for those who are running the field beside us as we each strive to be faithful as we reach the in-zone? © 2007 Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries.

Yeast and pride

I have been trying to learn how to make home baked bread. So far the results have been less than perfect. Several times my bread has not risen the way it is supposed to. Someone told me that I probably had the water too warm when I disolved the yeast.  The next time I tried cooler water, it still didn’t rise. The same person explained ever so gently that I must have gotten it too cold that time. She said that the only way the bread could get puffed up by the yeast is if it has a lukewarm environment.

The whole thing sounded biblical to me. Jesus said that we should be either hot or cold, but lukewarm is not what He wants from us. That makes sense because it is the fermenting process of the yeast that causes the bread to rise and become puffed up. If we are lukewarm spiritually it certainly allows things in our lives to bubble up and ferment, leaving us puffed up with pride.

Lukewarm may be good for yeast, but it is not good for yielding to the Lord. For that I pray that God will send His fire to keep my faith piping hot. © 2007 Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries.

Not Under Our Circumstances
 

A few years ago I was diagnosed with cancer. It was in the very early stages and it was a type of cancer that stays contained in the organ that is affected for a long time. I was blessed with a very good prognosis. Still, people expected me to react to the disease with fear and trembling. People kept asking me how I was doing under the circumstances. While I was certainly not happy to have cancer, I knew that no matter what Happened God could be glorified through it. I was not UNDER the circumstance I was going through. I was simply trusting God to work in it and to bring the victory that Christ had already won on the cross. Death and disease are the result of a fallen world, but this world and everything in it are only temporary. Our circumstances cannot change our eternity without our consent.
 

Perhaps today you are going through a circumstance that seems like it may swallow you. If you have received Jesus Christ as your personal savior, there is nothing on this earth that separates you from His love. He will never leave your nor forsake you, even in the midst of your circumstance. He will carry you through the thing that is too big for you to handle on your own. His strength is perfect, His love unending and His victory secure. You are not alone. © 2007 Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries.

Lord of the harvest
 

In John chapter 4 Jesus talks about fields being white for harvesting. Until I became a farmer’s wife I didn’t really understand the gravity of that statement. Driving by a corn field, it can look like it is ripe and ready to combine, however, to the trained eye of the farmer it may still be weeks away from harvest. If the corn is too wet it will rot in the bins, you cannot harvest it to early without risking your crop. By the same token, if it is too dry or has stayed in the field too long the harvest will be meager. There is a perfect time for the corn to be harvested and it is up to the farmer to decide that time.
Jesus knew as he spoke that the time of harvest was right. He is the only one qualified to make that decision. It is not our job to decide which is ready to receive His salvation and which is not quite ripe enough. We should approach everyone as if this is the day of their harvest. We KNOW that is return is closer than it has ever been and we know that there are people who are lost and dying in this world. We must not leave the crop in the field once the farmer has said it is time to harvest.© 2007 Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries.

Clubhouse
 

There were two things I always had as a child. The first was the faith of a child, trusting without question and knowing that God is everything that His word said that he is… The second was a club house. The clubhouse was my refuge. When I was sad or angry or didn’t know where else to go, those clubhouses provided refuge. A place to think, a place to talk to God or a place to figure out the mysteries of life.
 

As childhood faded so did those times of retreat. I had gotten so busy that I stopped spending time alone with God and my faith became subject to a worldly perspective. But as God is so awesome to do, He showed me that I was so busy doing good things by the world’s perspective, that I had forgotten what was best. To sit at the feet of Jesus.  In Him we have a place to think, to talk to God or a place to just sit quietly and listen to His voice as He shows us the great mysteries of life from His perspective. Jesus is the refuge that I found as I sat in my clubhouses, He met me where I was, and He will meet you where you are now.   © 2007Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries
 

Leg Room
 A friend and I attended an event at a local auditorium recently. When we arrived we realized that our seats were going to be very uncomfortable. You see, I am 6’2” and there were less than 10 inches from the edge of our seats to the back of the seat in front of us. My knees would have been literally in the back of the head of the person seated there. I said, “I am just going to pray that no one sits in that seat.” My friend laughed and said not to get my hopes up. I told her that God cares about all of our needs, even leg-room.
 Soon after that another person with our group came to our section and told us that our seats had been upgraded and we needed to come down to find out where our new seats were. Incredibly the new seats were very close to the front and had plenty of leg-room. God had answered my prayer and given us an even bigger blessing. We need to pray for everything in our life; even if our need seems insignificant. OH, and by the way, no one sat in the seat in front of my original seat. © 2007 Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries
 

Scrapbook Memories

I love looking through scrapbooks that other people have made. Even if I don’t know the people, it is fun to see the happy times in their lives.
Recently a friend’s Aunt was showing me her scrapbook. “This is my most treasured album” she said. As I looked at the photographs and captions I was speechless. Pictures of dark days, hospital stays, funerals and tragic events filled the pages. Not wanting to be rude I turned each page, hoping to find a single happy memory. There were none, but she sat their smiling; smiling bigger with each page I turned. As I started to turn the last page she put her gnarled hand on mine and said wait. “Let me tell you what you have just seen,” she said. “That was my life before I met Jesus; there was nothing but sadness and strife in my memory.” She smiled again, “Now you can turn the page”
The first color picture in the scrapbook took me by surprise. She was surrounded by children and grandchildren in the final pages. As the hospice nurse arrived and my friend and I stepped out of the room I couldn’t help but rejoice, knowing that in just a short time my friend’s Aunt would be surrounded by angels and the rest of her eternity would be filled with all of the colors of heaven. © 2007Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries

Power without direction
 

Okay ladies, is there anything more romantic than a moon lit boat ride on the river? Just you and your husband, hand in hand, talking, floating, just enjoying spending time together? John and I were enjoying such an evening, floating down river with the engine shut off. We suddenly realized that it was 1 a.m. and we both had to get up for work the next morning. John fired up the Evenrude and started back toward the main channel. All at once we heard a loud thud and the boat began to spin in circles. It only took moments to realize that the thud was the sound a steering cable makes as it breaks. We were a few miles from the boat ramp with all the power we needed to get there, but no way to steer the boat.
 

We cut the engine so that John could think and I began to pray. My mind was taken to our walk with the Lord. So often we want to use God’s power in our lives, but we don’t want Him to be in charge of the steering. Then we wonder how we end up on the rocks.
 

With some team work and an ore we were able to steer to boat back to the dock and use a rope to pull it onto the trailer; however, I will never forget that power, without direction, is never a good thing. © 2007Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries

Light in the Darkness

We live in the country where there are no street lights. When we turn out the lights at night the darkness becomes a shroud over the house. You literally cannot see a foot in front of your face. Our stairway is steep and in that darkness it can be a bit tricky to navigate. At first I would turn on the hall light if I had to go downstairs in the middle of the night, but it would wake up my husband. Finally I put a nightlight at the top of the staircase. To my surprise that tiny light cast a glow throughout both floors of the house so that even with all of the other lights in the house off, you can still see enough in every room to move around safely.
 

That reminded me of the passage in Matthew chapter 5, verse 14. It says, “You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” If that little tiny nightlight can make such a difference in a dark house, then surely we as Christians would illuminate the nations if we would do as it says in verse 16 and let our light so shine before men. What an amazing thought it is, that my life could be enough to allow someone else to navigate safely to the Father’s house. Our tiny light can be used to bring praise and glory to our heavenly father. © 2007Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries

Knowledge without Wisdom
 In my late teens I found out that I had been gifted with all knowledge. It was amazing to me how much I had figured out at such a young age that my parents and most of their friends had yet to discover.  The problem was that with all of that knowledge it became increasingly difficult to deal with the inadequacy of those around me; specifically my parents. So, I decided to make my own decisions. After all, I was practically an adult anyway.
 

Unfortunately what I did not understand was that knowledge without wisdom is an extremely dangerous thing. As I did “my own thing” it broke my parent’s hearts as their plans for me melted into the sea of rebellion I had decided to sail. “My own thing” led me down a path of self destruction that became self hatred and eventually left me feeling like I didn’t know anything. Yet, even after I had hurt my parents so much there they were with open arms of forgiveness and a ton of Godly wisdom.
 

That was the perfect example to me of the way our Heavenly Father waits for us to come back from our rebellion. His arms are open and His forgiveness is free.  He is waiting for you to come home to Him. The world will lie to us and tell us we can do it on our own. They’re wrong…In my self I can do nothing, but in Christ Jesus, Nothing is too difficult. ©Pamela Sonnenmoser Ministries.