Everlasting Arms  

  

If I lean on God’s everlasting arms what do I have to fear?  Nothing.  He is my refuge in times of trouble, He is my source of strength when I am weak.  I praise Him in everything. 

When I was growing up we sang a beautiful hymn entitled “Leaning On the Everlasting Arms.”  This song became engraved on my heart and I remember the verses to this day.  I can still hear the music in my mind as I sing the words.

When I was young and singing these words in church I didn’t understand their true meaning.  At that time they were just words with music.  These days I totally understand the significance of God’s everlasting arms. 

Our arms are considered a source of strength.  They can lift things, give direction and even harm others in anger.  If we think of our arms as a source of strength, think about what God’s arms mean.  His arms never grow weary, they never lose their power and they are everlasting. 

This always reminds me of the story of Moses when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites.  He told Joshua to choose some men to go and fight the Amalekites.  Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill and as long as Moses held up his hands the Israelites were winning, but when he grew tired and lowered his arms the Israelites started losing.  Because Moses arms grew tired he had to have Aaron and Hur on either side of him to hold his hands up.  Joshua eventually overcame the Amalekite army through the strength that God gave Moses in his arms to hold his hands above his head.  Why did God do this?  I believe he wanted everyone to know that it wasn’t Moses strength but God’s. 

When I think of God’s arms I think of a strength that never fades.  His arms can hold me forever, for eternity.  Isn’t that what He wants for each of us?  He wants us to lean into Him, lean into His everlasting arms that will never grow weary or lose their strength.  We will be safe and secure in His arms where he brightens our path.  What do we have to dread here on earth that God cannot make right with His strength?  When we leave this earth He will hold us in His everlasting arms. 

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,

Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,

Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Published in 1887 music by Anthony Showalter Lyrics by Showalter & Elisha Hoffman

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, today and every day I want to lean on your everlasting arms.  I am weak but you are strong.  If I trust in You and lean not on my own understanding I can be at peace in You.  Thank you Father for allowing me to use Your arms as my resting place.           

Scripture:    The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27

September 27, 2012 - Today I mourn the loss of my uncle who unexpectedly passed away yesterday.  I know he is in God’s everlasting arms.  I love you Uncle Mickey and you will be missed.

No Driver  

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. ~Albert Einstein

Did you know there is a car being designed that needs no driver?  This started me thinking.  What would it be like to drive by a car on the freeway that didn’t have a driver?  I see plenty on the freeway these days that shouldn’t have a driver but that is a whole other story.  Then I took it one step further and thought to myself, why would I want a car that has no driver?

The theory behind this is that the car could pick up more than one person and drop you off and then go on to another destination to drop someone else off.  I know this is a new concept and we should be open to new technology but this one makes me nervous. 

I have enough problems with my cell phone dropping calls.  What happens when the car disconnects.  Does it leave you in the middle of a busy freeway?  I am sure there will be an internal GPS system where you will enter your address but sometimes the GPS is wrong.  So does the car drop you off at the wrong location and then you walk the rest of the way.  Then there is the whole computer thing.  When a glitch happens will it tell me to reboot.  Will I receive the error message “fatal error”? 

This is the part that I really found interesting.  The one stipulation they give is that there has to be a live person in the car at all times in case of an emergency.  So does this mean that one guy has to ride around in the car all day?  Maybe that will be his occupation.  He will be a full time Commuter.  I wonder if that comes with vacation and benefits.  

There is nothing inherently wrong with technology but it is the way we choose to use it that can be our downfall.  We are becoming a society that has little interaction with others.  We are gradually removing the heart from everything around us.  Children these days have lost the ability to interact socially with others because they do everything by text. God created us as a family.  Family is there to help each other when the valleys of life happen and believe me they will happen.  We have a hard enough time trusting God so why would we think we could trust a car with no driver. 

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I place my hope in You.  Life is difficult and we continue to create things that take the heart and soul out of life. Please help us to understand that the things of this life are fleeting and we need to communicate with each other in order to share the truth of salvation.  We will not be able to do this if we allow the technology of this world to absorb all of our time and attention.  

         

Scripture: those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them.  For this world in its present form is passing away.  1 Corinthians 7:30-31

God’s Hand  

People see God every day, they just don't recognize him.  ~Pearl Bailey

It has taken me a long time to learn to see God’s hand in everything I do.  This doesn’t come naturally for me because I am so used to thinking that all the good things that happen in my life are because of me and all the bad things that happen are because of something or someone else that I try to blame it on. 

Why is it that we think that everything we do that has a good outcome is because of some great strength we have in us? It’s because of the “me” thing.  You know what I am talking about.  The “I am so great I just can’t stand it thing”, the pride and ego thing rearing its ugly head.  Satan just loves to make us think we are all powerful.  He wants us to think we are responsible for our success so that we will push God aside and try to go it alone. 

The irony here is that when we go it alone Satan sits back and laughs when we fall flat on our face.  We stop depending on God for everything.  Our world has a tendency to teach us that we can go it alone.  It teaches us that we are the captain of our ship or the master of our universe.  The reality is we are neither.  It took me 40 some odd years to figure out that I was not in control and the thing is I have to continuously remind myself of that because the world creeps back in and makes me think I am the very thing God tells me I am not. 

If I received a dollar for every time I thought I did something great under my own steam I would be a wealthy woman by worldly standards.  What I have figured out is that I don’t want to have that kind of wealth because that wealth is fleeting.  It is here today and gone tomorrow.  That is how quickly our earthly possessions will fade away.  One of my favorite sayings is “I will leave this world with exactly what I came into it with, Nothing” and I am ok with that. 

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You are present every day in my life but sometimes I miss You because I am not looking in the right place.  You speak to me through other people or someone’s actions.  You have filled me with the Holy Spirit who is there to guide my steps and Jesus is at your right hand interceding on my behalf.  Thank You for Your heavenly presence in my life.     

  

Scripture:   For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.  It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. 1 Peter 3:18-22

The Power of Words

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong.  Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. ~George Washington Carver

Have you ever spoken harshly to someone?  I know I have many times.  Do you ever think of the damage that is done by the words we speak?  Children are the most vulnerable individuals on this earth.  God gives children as a blessing in life and they are often treated more harshly than adults. Adults have defenses through experience, but children don’t.   

Children are not ours to do with as we please and it is not just parents that are responsible for their view of the world.  Every person on earth who sees or interacts with a child is responsible for their development.  If you are a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, teacher or friend you make a difference in a child’s life.  Every word and action we use toward children will be recorded and used later as a reference.  Max Lucado spoke at our church this weekend and one of the things that stuck with me was he used the example of a rock and a sponge.  Adults sometimes have hearts that are like rock hardened by circumstances of life.  If you drop a rock in a bowl of water it will not absorb the water.  Children’s hearts are like a sponge.  Whatever they hear they absorb and whatever they absorb will come out of their hearts later.   

The words we use with children matter.  You may not think they are significant, but to a child, they can mean the difference between a productive life or total devastation.  I observe parents today that yell at their children; abuse them by belittling them or embarrassing them in front of others.  Parents tell their children that they will never amount to anything or that they are worthless and the worst are those who physically abuse their children.  There is scientific proof that if you tell someone something often enough they will start to believe it and become that very thing. There are seeds of greatness in every child waiting to be cultivated.  What type of seeds are you planting in your children?

Each of us were children at one time.  There were seeds planted in us at a young age that affect the adults we have become.  Do you want to pass on the legacy of the broken child you are or break the cycle?  We need to learn to think before we speak.   

I wonder what God will have to say to those of us who harm innocent children by the words we speak and our actions.  We may think it is funny to make jokes at our children’s expense but I don’t expect that God will share that view.

                  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my heart breaks for children.  I have been guilty in the past of saying harsh things to children.  Please forgive me for that sin.  I want to be a light to the children of this world.   It is not possible for me to be that light if I don’t use the light you give me for that purpose.  Please help me to only use eternal words that lift others up and that give the children of this world a picture of You.   

Scripture:   The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.  Proverbs 18:21

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:25-27

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.  Psalm 127:3

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 18:2-4

A Pig & A Goat

There is in all animals a sense of duty that man condescends to call instinct. ~Robert Brault

I was watching the news this morning and saw a story about a pig and a goat.  There was a baby goat at a petting zoo that fell into a pond and started floundering.  As humans stood on the sideline watching and videoing, a piglet jumped into the water and swam over to the goat and started pushing him to shore.  The piglet reached the shore leading the way for the goat to follow.  They both ran up the side of the hill to safety. 

You might ask why I found this interesting.  The main thing is it made me think of God.  There are millions of lost souls in this world who are drowning and we are standing on the sidelines watching. 

The piglet was an unlikely savior for the goat.  Even growing up in the country as I did, I don’t ever remember seeing a pig swim.  I’ve seen them roll around in the mud but never swim.  This piglet was an Olympian.  He would have gotten the gold. 

So as I watched this video it made me think of Jesus the carpenter by trade who was born to save us by dying.  What a legacy that is for us. The problem is we don’t often get off the sidelines to help someone else come to know our Savior. I want to be the seed falling on good soil that produces a heavenly crop in abundance.   

           

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am sometimes that person standing on the sidelines waiting for someone else to save others.  I want to be like the piglet who jumped in without hesitation and pushed the goat to shore.  You provide the tools to help us reach others in Your name.  Help me to open my eyes and see the lost souls waiting to be saved.  Give me the courage to step forward in faith.  

Scripture:   “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:18-23

Ego & Humility

 

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. ~William Temple

Definition: Ego – one’s image of oneself

It is hard to get rid of ego isn’t it?  We do something great and then we can’t wait to swing our arm around and pat ourselves on the back.  Being humble means you don’t realize you are humble because as soon as you think you are humble, ego kicks in and tells you what a great person you are. 

Jesus is the best example of humbleness.  He didn’t have an ego that kept telling him he was great.  He was comfortable in his own skin.  He was not out to impress anyone with his abilities he just wanted to save and he knew what his purpose here on earth was and he attended to that purpose wholeheartedly.  Jesus wasn’t concerned with receiving something in return.  We are sometimes just the opposite.  We want to know what’s in it for us before we do something for someone else. 

 

Have you ever heard the statement “he is a self-made man?”  That is really not a true statement if you know God.  We are what God made us and any talents or spiritual gifts he gave us are what make us who we are in this life.  Everything we have is because of Him. 

 

There are three things we need to understand.  We need to know where we came from and whose we are.  Second we need to understand that everything we have or achieve is from God.  The final thing is we need to know where we are going. The way we learn this is through serving others.  God gives us the tools to achieve this but we have to use them.  Becoming a servant of others is the first step.  The problem comes when we start thinking we are filled with humility because then we aren’t.  Pride takes over and there is a fine line to walk in this process.  It means you step out of yourself and give to others.          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I need Your help to set aside my ego and serve others.  Please help me to act with humility when dealing with others.  Thank you for giving us Jesus, a perfect example of servanthood and humility.

Scripture:   In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death--even death on a cross!  Philippians 2:5-8

Your Love Sets Me Free  

As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.  ~Emmanuel

I’ve never felt the freedom that I do when God is my focus.  You all know that I do goofy things and strange things have happened to me in my lifetime.  Many of these I have shared with you. 

One thing I have learned is that God loves me no matter what I do.  The things I do may not be right, or the things that happen to me may not be because of something I have done. I do believe that God allows things to happen to us for a reason sometimes only known by Him.  But that is why He is God and we aren’t. 

When I finally decided to allow God to lead me it did several things for me.  It released me from the worry of what others might think of me.  It also helped me to laugh at myself because I often picture God looking down at me and laughing too.  I am human and I will do things that are not so smart. 

God’s love has set me free.  The freedom this gives me can be described as the same feeling I had as a child where I didn’t worry about where my next meal came from or where I would live, or the bills that needed to be paid.

When do we lose our freedom?  It comes when the world disappoints us or a parent treats us harshly.  Freedom is lost when other children make fun of us and others join in.  The freedom we have in Christ is lost because we cease to believe that someone could love us enough to accept us as we are.  Broken.

So today I thank God for His love for me.  He will not forsake me nor leave me.  He will not make fun of my stupid mistakes nor ridicule me.  Christ died on the cross to set me free and I pray that you find that same freedom.    

     

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, Your freedom is all I will ever need.  When I let go of the worldly things that take away my freedom, I clearly see what being free is all about.  You bring me freedom that cannot be bought and I praise You for allowing Your Son to die on the cross to set me free.

Scripture:   May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise; then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word.  Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.  I will always obey your law, for ever and ever.  I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.  I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them.  I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.  Psalm 119:41-48

The Bicycle Built for Two  

The bicycle is a curious vehicle.  Its passenger is its engine.  ~John Howard

Have you ever ridden a bicycle built for two?  I did many years ago.  We had gone to my cousin’s grandmother’s house and they actually had a bicycle for two.  We decided to try it out. 

I will never forget how scary it was as a kid to get on that bicycle, my cousin in the seat in front and me in the back.  I felt so out of control.  There is a certain balance that you need to maintain to stay on the bike.  You have to learn to lean together into the corners. The other thing is you have to depend on the other person in front to lead you where you are going.

Isn’t this how we are with God?  We feel out of control because it requires faith.  We also have to learn to depend on Him not ourselves.  Then there is the direction thing.  We want to be leading the way and that not God’s way.  It is like letting go of the handlebars and running into the ditch. We have never been in control, God is.     

    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my life is sometimes like riding a bicycle built for two.  I don’t want to give up control but I often forget that I never have been in control. Please remind me of the importance of letting go and depending on You. 

  

Scripture:   To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.  All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.  Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.  The Lord works out everything to its proper end—ever the wicked for a day of disaster.  The Lord detests all the proud of heart.  Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.  Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.  Proverbs 16:1-6

The Baker’s Rack  

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.  ~Thomas Jefferson

About 15 years ago when my husband and I were dating I decided to go to the store to get a baby shower gift. Jerry told me he would take me and drop me off at the store to purchase the gift and he would go to the cleaners to pick up his clothes.  He would swing back by and pick me up. 

This particular store was like a warehouse with 20 foot tall shelves.  The shelves had things stacked on top of them.  So I head down the baby aisle.  As I am standing there a baker’s rack that was standing on the top shelf fell off and landed on my head and dropped me like a rock.  There was a person on the other side of the aisle who was trying to get something off the shelf and it had jarred the rack that fell. 

As I am sitting on the floor holding my head I look at the end of the aisle and I see a head poke around the corner then disappear.  A few minutes later a manager shows up and calls an ambulance. 

In the meantime my husband, unaware of what is going on at the store, drives back up to the store to pick me up.  He sees the ambulance parked outside and his first thought is that some elderly person must have had a heart attack.  He goes into the store and starts looking for me.  When he doesn’t find me he goes row by row until he gets to the row I am on. 

A side line to the story is that for my birthday that year Jerry had given me a great pair of Lucchese boots.  So as he is walking and looking down each aisle he comes to my aisle and recognizes the bottom of my boots because by this time they have me lying flat on the floor.  The good thing about this story is I didn’t have a concussion and was not injured other than the big knot on my head and a small cut. 

The part that bothered me the most about this was that when I tried to get the store to pay for the ambulance and hospital bill, they treated me as if I caused the whole thing intentionally.  The sad reality about this is that there are people in this world who are going to cheat or scam others out of their money intentionally.  Dishonesty breeds more dishonesty.  Bit by bit we have become a dishonest society.  The problem with this is that once dishonesty starts it becomes easier to be dishonest over and over again.   

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, our world has become a place where dishonesty resides on every corner. We have become just like Jacob and the story of Esau.  Jacob lied and was dishonest with his father and then he went so far as to tell his father that “The Lord your God gave me success” just so that he could have Esau’s birthright.  Father I want to be honest in my dealings with others.  I pray that You will remind me of this story if I start to stray toward dishonesty.    

Scripture:    Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn.  I have done as you told me.  Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing." Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God gave me success," he replied.  Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not."  Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."  He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those  for his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him.  "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked.  "I am,” he replied.  Then hs said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing."  Genesis 27:19-25

Choices  

When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.  ~William James

When I think about how and why I believe in God, I often think of how many choices there are in how we choose to worship Him.  I believe God allows us to choose.  He wants us to worship Him willingly not by being forced.  Because is it really loving God if you are forced to worship in a certain way? 

The Bible teaches that we will be persecuted when we follow Him.  It doesn’t say that we are to retaliate when we are persecuted.  It says we are to forgive.  The best way to show someone else who God really is would be to forgive that person when they persecute you.  It is difficult to understand that someone could forgive another individual for persecuting them.  The enormity in our minds of how that can happen makes us think about why the person forgiving would do that. 

Jesus is the best example God gave us to see who he really is and the unbelievable suffering he endured on our behalf shows us how he wants us to react to persecution. Jesus knew what his purpose was during his time on earth.  He also knew he would die a terrible death. The best example I know of is when he told the Father, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”  There is a new song by Citizen Way that is titled “Should’ve Been Me” that I love.  When I listen to the words it makes me really think.  It should have been us on the cross instead of Christ who was blameless and perfect in every way.  That thought alone humbles me.

It takes strength and courage to step out in faith in that way.  It is much easier to retaliate because of our human instinct for fight or flight.  The problem is it takes conscious thought to make the decision to forgive and often the fight or flight reflex happens so fast that it is done before your mind has time to catch up and think about what you are doing. 

God also wants us to spend time studying His Word.  How will we ever know what He wants us to do if we don’t ever look inside His instruction manual.  My pastor often tells us to not take his word for whatever he is teaching.  He tells us to dig into God’s Word ourselves.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, Your instructions are clear but I don’t always follow them.  I am guilty of the fight or flight reflex of human nature.  When I hurt it is my instinct to defend my position or run the other way to avoid it.  Help me to learn to stand my ground and react with forgiveness so that others might see You in me.  I praise Your Holy Name.

Scripture:    But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-11

I’m a Techie  

The bathtub was invented in 1850 and the telephone in 1875.  In other words, if you had been living in 1850, you could have sat in the bathtub for 25 years without having to answer the phone.  ~Bill DeWitt

I admit it.  I am not the world’s greatest technological guru.  When my husband and I received our first phones that had text messaging, I admit I was slightly intimidated by the thing.  The reality is I should have been intimidated. I really didn’t know how the thing worked when texting, therefore I was armed and dangerous. 

When I finally got up the courage to send my first text message it was sort of a disaster.  I decided to text my sister in Houston.  I probably should have chosen someone local because then this might not have happened but I digress.  I enter what I thought was my sister’s phone number.  What I didn’t realize was that instead of putting an area code of 281 I entered 214.  This wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t bragged about what a techy I was when I sent my first message. 

So I send a message to my sister that basically says, “Guess what, I am now a techie.”  So I get a response back that says “who is this”.  So I think my sister is just being a smart alec so I text her again.  The next message says something like, “That is great”. 

So I go along blissfully unaware that I am sending texts to someone I don’t know.  The next time I send a text to my sister a week later, I start with hey girl and this person finally responds, “I am not a girl and you have the wrong number.”  Imagine my mortification as I thought back on what I had texted to this person.  “Guess what, I am a techie.”  Not really, I am technologically challenged and some other person in the Dallas area knows it.    

This made me think of Noah.  Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. One day God told Noah that he was going to put an end to all the people and he decided to destroy them.  Noah didn’t really have skills building a boat and he had never seen water. Yet this is another example of how God used someone unexpected to save the human race. 

I think that if God decided to use me in some way I hope he won’t ask me to text someone.  But then maybe he would just because I am no good at it. Isn’t that exactly the type of person God chose over and over in the Bible.  Maybe he could use me too.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, you have blessed me with talents that I don’t even know about.  I pray that you will use me and my talents for your kingdom.  You amaze me in all Your ways.  Thank you for seeing the potential in each of us. 

Scripture:   The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.  So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.  Genesis 6:5-8

Lies  

Ladies and gentlemen, hobos and tramps, cross-eyed mosquitoes and bowlegged ants.  I come before you to stand behind you, to tell you something I know nothing about.  This Thursday which is special Friday, the mens club is having a meeting, ladies only, get in free pay at the door, have a seat and sit on the floor. One sunny day in the middle of the night two dead boys rose to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot one another. A deaf policeman heard the noise, and saved the lives of the two dead boys. If you don't believe this lie is true, ask the blind man, he saw it too. ~Author Unknown

I know this is weird but the first time I heard this quote was from my husband.  The thing is he can quote it word for word.  One evening we had gone to dinner and we were walking through our back yard when out of the blue he quoted this.  Of course he quoted it so fast that I had to have him repeat it several times to understand the true irony and contradiction of it. 

I asked him where he learned it and he said “I don’t know, I used to say it as a kid.”  He said he was in fourth grade and didn’t have anything else taking up space up there and he also said with all his education this is one of the few things he remembered.  Of course he was kidding because he is really very intelligent or as I say, he has smarts. 

Even in the absurdity of this quote you can see shades of how we live in this world.  We lie when the truth would sound better.  We create an illusion of ourselves that others see when in reality we are falling apart inside.  I can remember my grandfather saying that in his day you made an agreement with someone over a handshake.  Now you need a contract that covers all the bases just in case someone doesn’t follow through with what they say they will do. We actually expect people to lie and disappoint us because it has become a common practice.

The Lord tells us that he wants us to stand by what we say we will do.  He also warns us not to promise something unless we truly plan to follow through because he detests lying lips.  The thing is most of us lie without even realizing it.  You know how you get invited to something and instead of saying you really don’t want to go, you tell someone you have other plans.  You think it somehow sounds nicer than telling the truth. The problem is once you start telling small lies it gets easier to continue until you are lying over big things.  Then it becomes a habit.  Once you get there you stop thinking about what God might think about it. 

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes my life is a contradiction. I try really hard to keep promises when I make them but there are times when I fail.  Help me to understand the importance of being honest in everything I do.  I want my life to reflect what it means to live honestly and do everything with integrity. I can’t be an example to others if I can’t keep promises for the small things.

Scripture: No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.  The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.  The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool's heart blurts out folly.  Proverbs 12:21-23