Miserable or Grateful

The disappointment has come - not because God desires to hurt you or make you miserable or to demoralize you or ruin your life or keep you from ever knowing happiness. He wants you to be perfect and complete in every aspect, lacking nothing. It's not the easy times that make you more like Jesus, but the hard times.  Kay Arthur

Are you grateful or miserable?  We have a choice in life to be grateful or miserable.  We are going through life minding our own business when tragedy strikes.  How we handle this occurrence in life can mean the difference between us becoming more like Christ or less like Him.  Our circumstances, whatever they are, can make us miserable or grateful but it is always a choice.

I’ve had my share of bad days, horrible months and even disappointing years.  The thing I have figured out is that how we respond to the bad times can make a huge difference in how we see life and ultimately how we treat others.  Have you noticed that when you are miserable you want others to be miserable with you?  You don’t want others to be enjoying their life when you are so miserable in yours.

I have met people who never have a kind word to say about or to anyone.  These are the ones who are wallowing in their misery.  I think there are even times when some people enjoy misery so much that it becomes a habit to be miserable. 

If you were to look back on your life you could probably see times where you made yourself more miserable by your actions immediately following the event.  One of the biggest turning points in my life came when I had cancer.  I wasn’t angry at God and I didn’t play the feeling sorry for myself card.  Why?  Because when I thought about my reaction to cancer the only thing I could think of at the time was that I was a sinner and had been sinning for a long time.  God must love me a lot to allow me to go through this and in many ways I felt it was less than I deserved. 

What it taught me was to appreciate and be grateful for each day.  When I look back on it now, I really had a lot to feel miserable about.  I had no hair, eyelashes or eyebrows.  I lost weight I couldn’t afford to lose and I had stacks of medical bills that I had no hope of paying.  One bill for a single chemo treatment was over $13,000.  That only included the actual chemo.  It didn’t include the nursing or doctor services or any of the medications associated with it. 

If we ever start to understand the enormity of what we have to be grateful for, we will never look at life the same way.  Choose to be grateful.  Your life will be forever changed.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am forever grateful for the challenges You allow in my life.  They are molding and shaping me into a better person.  If I can choose to be grateful instead of miserable, the demeanor I present to the world will be a small reflection of You.  I praise and thank you for life’s challenges.   I am a much better person for having survived them.         

Scripture: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.  James 1:2-8

The Art of Giving

God has a way of giving by the cartloads to those who give away by shovelfuls.  Charles Spurgeon

There was a time when I didn’t tithe.  At the time I didn’t even know what tithing meant.  The definition of tithe is the tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God.  In biblical times this meant giving a tenth of your income and back then cash wasn’t always what you gave as your tithe.  Sometimes they gave a tenth of their crop for God’s storehouse or maybe they gave sheep and goats. 

Our society is wealthy by the world’s standards.  We own more, make more and also spend more than most societies on earth. 

When I first started tithing it was difficult.  Money had such a hold on me that I thought it provided me security.  It’s sad when you base your security on a 6” x 2 ½” piece of paper with a picture of a dude on the front. But that is exactly what I did.  I thought security came with money.  The sad reality is it doesn’t and it’s not even close. 

If you think about it, God’s plan is amazing but in our society it sounds illogical.  Where else can you give a tenth of what you earn and God multiplies it.  The thing is there is an emotional aspect that has to be present for this multiplying to happen.  If I feel pressured to give then the blessing is lost. If I have a hard time letting go of that piece of paper that I think buys me security, then I am better off keeping it. 

Several years ago my husband lost his job. Money was tight and we didn’t have extra to go around.  This is when I really started tithing.  When I started trusting in God instead of the almighty dollar for security my life turned around. This didn’t mean that money started rolling in. If you understand anything about God, you will realize that His ways are not ours.  I didn’t receive an amazing raise, although God can do that if He wants to.   God is often more subtle than that. What I noticed was that when we needed something, whether it was food or medicine or the utilities needed to be paid, that was when God did some of His best work. 

One day I would receive a check from the insurance company for a bill that we had been overcharged for a service and they were reimbursing us for the overcharge.  Another time my utility company gave a rebate and a check showed up in the mailbox.  Every time this happened was the point where I would turn to God and say “I’m not sure where or how we will pay this but I know You know what we need”, and every time that happened He provided. 

There is an art to giving.  It begins by letting go.  What I have learned is that the more I tithe and the more I sacrificially give, the more God blesses me.  It goes back to reaping and sowing.  Whatever we sow we will reap.  If we hold onto what we have and hoard it that is all we will ever have.  If we give it away, God will multiply it.  When we become a generous giver we become more like God.  When we have the faith to give it away, God will multiply.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there was a time when I didn’t tithe.  I held onto money like it was my salvation and security.  When I started letting it go I found the most amazing peace in You.  You have taught me what it means to be a cheerful giver and I praise You for teaching me the art of giving.  There is a little joy dance that goes on in my heart when I see someone in need and give cheerfully.         

Scripture: “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.  Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.  Malachi 3:6-12

Put God First

When you seek God first in your daily pursuits, He promises to add unto you those things which you were pursuing (as long as they are in His will). Placing Him first in your life should be your daily goal, the main pursuit in the midst of all your other pursuits. Paul Chappell

If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.  William Law

In the busy world we live in one of the most important decisions we will ever make, besides choosing salvation, is to put God first.  Not first in some things or a few things or only the things that are involved with our church.  God must come first in everything. If we ever get our arms wrapped around that truth, He will set us free. 

What does it mean to us once we put God at the top of all of our lists of things to do?  It means when we decide to buy something we think about God first.  If we decide to leave our job or apply for a new one, He must come first if we are to have any success in our endeavors. When we receive our paycheck God should be the first one we think of when we think about what to do with it.  What about your hobbies?  Do you put him first when you decide what recreational activities you will spend your time doing?  Then there are the friends we choose to spend time with.  Do we make wise choices when choosing friends? We are all sinners, but if we are addicted to drugs or alcohol, it is probably not a good thing to spend all of our time with alcoholics or drug addicts.  If we spend all of our time socializing with someone who has the same weakness, it makes it that much easier to fall back into the very sin we are trying to avoid.     

God shouldn’t only be first when we are in trouble.  Too many times we go to Him when things are falling apart and we ask Him to fix it.  Then when things get better we take off for other pursuits.  We become selfish and self-serving. 

This is one of my biggest struggles in life.  Instead of jumping in with both feet I should really be testing the God water.  If it doesn’t pass the God test then He has already given me a resounding no.  But too many times I think I know what is best for me so I jump on that train only to find a wreck at the end. 

One of the most important things we can do in our life is to “Trust Him”.   He knows what is best for us and He means it all for good.  If we aren’t spending quiet time with Him, meditating on His Word and putting Him first in everything, we will never see the amazing life He intends for us to live.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have failed at this very thing so many times.  I have failed to put You first in my life and when whatever I am pursuing fails I look around and think “How did that happen?”  I already have the answer to that.  When I become selfish and start thinking only of me and what I want, then I have missed the point of living a life worthy of You. 
      
Scripture: Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”  “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”  For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.  Romans 11:33-36

Pride, Fear & Anger

PRIDE: No one enjoys feeling weak, whether it is emotionally, spiritually or physically. There is something within the human spirit that wants to resist the thought of weakness. Many times this is nothing more than our human pride at work. Just as weakness carries a great potential for strength, pride carries an equally great potential for defeat.  Charles Stanley

FEAR: Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.  George Washington Carver

ANGER: Anger and bitterness are two noticeable signs of being focused on self and not trusting God's sovereignty in your life. When you believe that God causes all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him and love Him, you can respond to trials with joy instead of anger or bitterness. John C. Broger

Have you ever waited to hear God speak to you?  Sometimes we sabotage our chance to hear God speak to us because we are focused on one or more of three things.  Pride, fear and anger are the top three human behaviors that get in the way of conversations with God.

Pride gets in our way of communicating with God and it closes off communication from the Father.  If I begin to think that I don’t need His help and that I can do it on my own, I have accepted pride as my savior and not God.  It is easy to fall into this sin.  We do a good job at work and someone praises us and we start patting ourselves on the back.  If God created me and gave me the talents I have, then shouldn’t I be praising Him instead of myself for a job well done? 

Then there is the whole fear thing.  This one gets me into more trouble than I care to admit.  Some of us are afraid to hear God speak because that would mean I might have to change some things in my life or give up things I really enjoy.  Too many times fear becomes our shield against others.  How can we admit to someone else that we failed? So instead of being honest with others because we fear rejection, we let fear in and it takes over.

I’ve noticed that we live in an angry world. All you have to do to see this in action is get on the freeway.  There are people cutting each other off, not letting other cars in front, yelling and shaking of fists at other drivers and even in some cases road rage where weapons are involved.  God can’t speak to us in our anger.  We block His way in when we let anger rule our lives.  It is impossible to be humble when we are angry.

When we incorporate any of these in our life we close God off. We literally shut off communication with Him.  How many times in our lives have we totally missed God’s blessing because of pride, fear or anger? 

It is not easy tackling any one of these.  Since I am guilty of all three, I have broken it down into three parts.  Tackle one at a time.  Examine your life and determine where one of these or all of them is interfering with God’s phone call.  It is very much like the phone being off the hook or a dropped call on your cell.  If you don’t clear the lines to hear His voice you will miss His call.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes I allow pride, fear and anger rule my life.  I get involved in worldly stuff and that makes it easier for me to push You out and let the sin of pride, fear or anger take hold.  Help me to discern when this is happening and to turn to You so that I will not be tempted to fall.  Anytime I let one of these take over I lose communication with You.  I want to hear Your voice all the time and I can’t if I am lost in pride, anger or fear.   

Scripture:
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.  Proverbs 16:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  1 John 4:18

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.  Ephesians 4:25-27

Milestone

One often sees a call only in retrospect. This too is God's design. God often reinforces our faith after we trust him, not before.  Ravi Zacharias

God is the shaper of your heart. God does not display his work in abstract terms. He prefers the concrete, and this means that at the end of your life one of three things will happen to your heart: it will grow hard, it will be broken, or it will be tender. Nobody escapes.  Ravi Zacharias

I thought I would share a little tidbit of trivia with you.  Today marks the 365^th devotional I’ve written with God’s help.  It only took me 1 year and 8 months to reach this major milestone.  I know about now you are thinking “she’s not really that good at this is she?”  Well it is a major milestone for me because I never thought I would write anything, much less blog it.   I was thinking it was kind of momentous that it landed on Christmas Eve.  What better day to remind me of what the purpose of the devotional is in the first place and in and for Whose glory it is intended?

You now know more about me than you probably ever wanted to but you have stuck with me through all the stories of everyday life.  To recap some of the highlights of this journey, you were with me when I rebuilt Gladys Knight and the Pips condo, caught Lou the lizard red-handed taking a bite out of my tomatoes and then there was fishing and catching poison ivy.  We talked about aging gracefully, mayhaws & chainsaws and Pepe Le Pew.  We discussed deregulation, how exclusions apply and fine print. You were there when I took a tumble off my front porch and also when I fell in the parking lot.  

You’ve taken a trip down memory lane and visited Green Acres, the Blue Light Special and a trip to the Diamond Mines.  We’ve talked about squirrels, horses, pandas, pigs and a car driving dog.  You were with me through a chair snafu, a blowout and trading cars. You were there when boxes got stuck to the front of my car and again when I asked the guy to mow my grass.    

I have had more people tell me I’m funny and they love my perspective on things and life in general, but I just don’t see it.  When I was growing up I was quiet, shy and reserved and no one laughed much at anything I said.  My grandfather used to sit with us around a campfire and tell stories.  Maybe I got my story telling ability or lack thereof from him. 

Over the past year and a half I have learned some things too.  Each one of you is special because you have a thirst for God. Some of you are at the beginning of your journey, others in the middle and many near the end. It doesn’t matter where in your journey you are; the most important thing is you are not alone.  I thank God for each of you because it reinforces my faith in humanity.  There are good people in the world who love and care about each other.  We are part of the family of God and no one can take that from us. 

I will close with this.  God can and does use anyone for His purposes if we let Him.  It took a great leap of faith for me to stick my neck out and write something that others could read. Many times my fear of rejection would almost stop me from writing.  During those times I would pray to the Father for strength and courage.  Many of you have encouraged me and continued to follow me daily just to see what I will say next. I thank each of you for continuing to read and I pray that God will bless you in your journey.

P.S.  I have more stories where these came from so stay tuned.  Until God tells me to stop, I will continue to throw out thoughts to ponder.           

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, without You I wouldn’t have reached this milestone.  I praise You for my brothers and sisters in Christ.  In a world where violence, cruelty and hate have become the norm; there are still Christians who thirst for Your Word and who love and care for each other.  You are an amazing God who offered an amazing Son as a sacrifice to save us.  Christmas is a time of worship and praise for an unbelievable gift.               

Scripture: Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38

Pharisees

The pharisees minded what God spoke, but not what He intended. They were busy in the outward work of the hand, but incurious of the affections and choice of the heart. So God was served in the letter, they did not much inquire into His purpose; and therefore they were curious to wash their hands, but cared not to purify their hearts.  Jeremy Taylor

I was thinking about the Pharisees this weekend.  Several years ago someone close to me called me a Pharisee.  At the time I was devastated because I understood that being called a Pharisee was not a good thing.  The way I understood them from the Bible was that they were bitter, arrogant and probably one of their worst traits was that they preached but didn’t practice what they preached.   The Pharisees were the biggest opponents of Jesus and they were described in the Bible as hypocrites. 

This bothered me so much at the time that I started doing a thorough examination of myself.  I asked myself all kinds of questions.  Was I a hypocrite?  Was I living my life by a narrow, legalistic view?  What qualities did I exhibit that would cause someone to say that I was a Pharisee?  Since the Pharisees were well known for standing on the street corners and telling everyone how good they were, I thought maybe this was what this person saw in me.  It did cause me to do a critical self-examination of myself which was a good thing.  God intends everything for our good, even when we don’t see it at the time.

One of the best known Pharisees was Saul.  His view of Christianity was that he wanted everyone involved in it destroyed.  He was the one who had Stephen stoned to death. This wasn’t a great thing to put on your resume.  The thing I find interesting is that Jesus spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus.  He saw some redeeming quality in Saul.  Saul who later became known as Paul, became one of the great writers of the Bible.  He was beaten, imprisoned and persecuted for teaching the gospel; he literally became the exact opposite of what he professed to be in the beginning. 

So if God would use someone who killed many in his pursuit to destroy Christianity, why couldn’t He use me too?  I think God used the most unlikely people in the Bible because when they did turn around and get on the right path it was hard to question their motives because the difference in their life before and after was so extreme. 

I have since learned that just because someone calls me something, it doesn’t mean it is true.  If I live in truth and obey God’s Word, what others say about me doesn’t really matter.  God is the ultimate judge of where my heart is and that is all that matters in this life.       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for bringing people into my life who taught me to look at myself honestly.  Each time it happens I become a better person and it molds and shapes me into what You want me to be.  It doesn’t change the fact that I am a sinner and will fail over and over again, but I praise You for bringing me closer to You through the actions of others.            

Scripture: Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.  Acts 9:1-9

Missing Him

God is looking for imperfect men and women who have learned to walk in moment-by-moment dependence on the Holy Spirit. Christians who have come to terms with their inadequacies, fears, and failures. Believers who have become discontent with 'surviving' and have taken the time to investigate everything God has to offer in this life. Charles Stanley

Have you ever missed God?  By that I mean, have you ever looked back at an incident that occurred and thought, “That was God trying to speak to me and I totally missed it.”  I have done that over and over again in my life.  God was doing His best to get my attention and I was so busy or distracted that I missed His presence. 

The only way we can know He is speaking to us is if we are constantly thinking about Him.  God wants to direct our path but we are often too involved in other things to notice.  We can often tell when He is speaking to us through someone or something by doing the scripture test.  If you are trying to see Him, slow down and think about every encounter throughout your day and if it agrees with what the Bible says then God is probably speaking to you. 

There are days when I am working and there are so many different people pulling me in different directions and so many things to do that I will sometimes make a mistake. The way God works in my life is I will start getting this nagging feeling that I am forgetting something.  What I have learned through experience is to stop what I am doing and think about whatever thing it is that is causing the unrest in my mind.  It has happened over and over again where I will focus back on that one thing and that has allowed me to fix the mistake I made before anyone else knows about it. 

Another thing I do when this happens is I immediately stop what I am doing and praise God. What I believe is that God is speaking to me through the Holy Spirit living in me.  If I am not paying attention or if I get arrogant and start thinking I corrected my mistake all on my own, then I have missed the whole point. God wants to help us, but too many times instead of realizing that it is through His power that we are missing some of the obstacles in life, we totally miss the blessing of Him.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are stories in the Bible where people were speaking to Jesus and didn’t even realize who He was and what an amazing opportunity they were missing.  I can’t even imagine being in Jesus’ presence.  A living breathing Jesus!!  I look forward to the day when I can touch His hand in person.  What a glorious day that will be!!           

Scripture: A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:7-14

Saying No & Busyness

One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.  Elisabeth Elliot

Are you busy?  Yesterday one of the ladies I work with came by my office and she was talking about how busy she is this week.  She had four parties to go to this week, was hosting a party for the children’s group at her church, had stayed up until 4:00am the night before getting her house ready for a party and wrapping gifts and she was stressed.  She was concerned about how she would get her table set with the china and silver before the party at her house and if she would have the right flower arrangements.  I asked her why she didn’t use paper or plastic.  She gave me the most horrified look. 

It made me tired listening to her and all the things she “needed” to do.  Too many times I think we are busy to be busy.  Other times we are running to and fro because we feel guilty.  We ask ourselves, “What would happen if I didn’t attend the Christmas party I have attended for the past five years? What would everyone think if I didn’t throw my annual Christmas party or attend the neighbor’s party?" 

I used to be this person.  I worried over setting the table, making sure the cloth napkins were placed just so on the table and all the silverware was in the right place.  I ran from party to party with the best of them.  This all happened the week before Christmas and I still had to cook Christmas lunch or dinner for twelve.  So I would stay up until 2:00 or 3:00am cooking only to be worn out on Christmas day. 

I know, about now you are saying, Ms. Manners would kick me to the curb for suggesting my co-worker use paper or plastic.  In today’s society where “rude” is the norm, I think there is a need for manners.  But in my uneducated and limited view, I don’t think my not using the families silverware or grandmother’s dishes plays a great role in how God sees me. 

Several years ago this all came to an end for me.  I was diagnosed with cancer in October and had no hair by Christmas.  I was looking at the world through a different lens.  My biggest concern was having the energy to get up and cooking didn’t even cross my mind.  I didn’t attend parties that year and I didn’t really miss them. That was the year I learned how to say no.  No to busyness.  Busyness, especially around the holidays just sucked the life right out of me.

So for what they are worth, here are my thoughts about not being able to say no and busyness.  When you learn to say no it frees you. If frees your mind to focus on the reason for the season and gives you more time to pay respect to the One who died for our sins on a cross.  It teaches us to be thankful for what we have and not worry about what we don’t.  Busyness took my focus off of what was important so I don’t do it anymore.  So if you are ever invited to my home for a celebration or meal, most likely the menu will include something catered and the utensils, plates and cups will be of the paper or plastic variety.  What you will get at my party is good conversation, laughter and love.  I have plenty of that to go around and in my life that is more important than any social event that is missing that ingredient.        

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I sometimes find myself accepting invitations to various events and the more I accept the busier I become the more my focus strays from You.  Help me to keep my focus on You and the many blessings you have given me.  I will forsake another party for quiet time with you.  My hope is in You and I am at peace when I rest in Your presence.            

Scripture: “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am.  Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.  Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.  Psalm 39:4-7

Connecting with God

Happy is the soul that has been awed by a view of God's majesty.  A.W. Pink

A life changing event happened to me.  I connected with God.  So right about now you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what I am going to say next.  It is really quite simple, yet it took me a long time to learn; about 40 years in fact.  How did this great life changing connection with God occur?

Many years ago I seldom opened my Bible, much less meditated on the scriptures contained in it.  I didn’t turn to God in times of sorrow, trouble or even great joy.  I just didn’t give God much thought except at meal time and when I was in trouble.  This is a sad commentary for an individual claiming to be a Christian.

So one day I decided to change that.  There wasn’t an angel who appeared before me to knock me upside the head or even a donkey who started talking to me, although that would have been pretty cool.  It was a gradual process.  Sometimes it is God’s whisper that reaches us more than any great fanfare or extreme miracle.

Several years after I was diagnosed with cancer I went to get a mammogram. The test came back and the radiologist saw something on the x-ray that looked suspicious so they wanted me to go back for another test. Needless to say, after going through cancer once, the first thought in my head was the cancer has shown up somewhere else.  Any newbie cancer survivor will tell you that once you have cancer the fear is always there in the back of your mind that it will come back in some other organ. The reason I say “newbie” is I was new to cancer and had just started getting connected to God so I hadn’t quite given up the fear to Him. 

So when I went back for the second test I was sitting in the little room outside radiology waiting for my test and fearing the worst.  I picked up a magazine out of the rack and opened it.  I glanced down toward the middle of the page and there was a scripture typed on the page.  I was so shocked to see a scripture in a magazine that I immediately flipped to the front cover to see what I was reading.  I later went and bought the magazine.  When I opened it to the advertisement where I saw the scripture, it wasn’t there. I do however, remember the scripture.

Deuteronomy 31:8  And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

What I have learned over the past few years is that the more connected I get with God, the more He speaks to me.  The other thing is I am no longer surprised when He does speak.  At first when this happened I called myself a nut (strange, crazy person).  But the more I get to know God the more I understand His awesome power and how He can truly do anything and go above and beyond anything we can ever imagine.  The next time something strange or unbelievable happens in your life, take notice.  It may just be God trying to get your attention.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You are amazing and you can do anything.  I am sorry I ever doubted Your abilities.  You can do anything, even what I think is the impossible.  My faith in You has grown over the years and I thank you for pulling me back to You.  Some people may think I am crazy, but I don’t care.  I know You are the God who created all things and nothing is impossible for You.  Hallelujah!!          

Scripture: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty
But Job answered and said:“How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength? How have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how have you declared sound advice to many? To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?

“The dead tremble, those under the waters and those inhabiting them.  Sheol is naked before Him, And Destruction has no covering.  He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.  He binds up the water in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it.  He covers the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud over it.  He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness.  The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His rebuke.  He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks up the storm.  By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.  Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” Job 26:1-14

The Temple

He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.  C.S. Lewis

I have a confession.  I like food that isn’t good for me.  There, I said it.  I love sugar, chocolate, steak, sour cream, potato chips, M&M’s and Reeses peanut butter cups.  This is by no means a comprehensive list.  This is just the tip of the iceberg. 

The question I asked myself yesterday was this; if God created my body as a temple why am I abusing the temple He created.  This is not something I am proud of by any means so I am making a change in my life. 

I was reading last week about something by Rick Warren.  He has written a book along with Dr. Oz and several other nationally known physicians called “The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life”.  The reason he wrote the book was one Sunday he was baptizing 827 adults and he calculated that he lifted more than 145,000 pounds.  He also realized that he was overweight so he confessed to his congregation that he had been a poor steward of his health and a terrible example.  He then asked his congregation to join him in getting healthy.  Over 12,000 members signed up and they collectively lost over 250,000 pounds. 

So you guessed it; I bought the book.  It is based on five components or the 5 F’s; Food, Fitness, Focus, Faith, & Friends.  I can’t tell you yet what the book entails because I just received it in the mail yesterday, but my commitment to God is to dedicate my body to Him for His purpose.  The thing is I can’t work for His Kingdom if I am tired, out of shape, carrying more weight than I should and not living a healthy lifestyle.

My motto has always been, “I don’t run unless someone is chasing me”.  There was a song sung by George Jones many years ago called “The Race Is On”.  The lyrics to the chorus are:

Now the race is on and here comes pride up the backstretch
Heartaches are going to the inside
My tears are holding back
They're trying not to fall
My heart's out of the running
True love's scratched for another's sake
The race is on and it looks like heartaches
And the winner loses all

Written by Don Rollins

Doesn’t that describe where health in America is going?  If we are the winner of the race for food we lose all.  It may affect our heart, cause diabetes, our feet and legs may fail us and we may even lose our life. 

I want to change so I am saying it to all of you.  Instead of passing by that CD set I bought to get in shape I am committing to picking it up, tearing off the plastic wrapper and actually using it to get in shape. You will be my accountability partners.  I promise I won’t turn this into the “Daily Devotional Diet” but I will from time to time let you know how I am doing and even when I fail because a chocolate chip cookie called my name.  If God gives me life, breath and all things, I need to take care of what he gave me.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You created me in Your image but I haven’t done a good job of taking care of what you created.  I want to do this for my health but the main reason is for You.  I will not be able to work for Your Kingdom if I lack energy because I don’t take care of my health.  Thank you for your enduring patience with a sinner like me.         

Scripture: But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.”

So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.

And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.  Daniel 1:8-15

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:  “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;  for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’  Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:22-31

Wisdom from the Past

What is needed for happy effectual service is simply to put your work into the Lord's hand, and leave it there. Do not take it to Him in prayer, saying, "Lord, guide me, Lord, give me wisdom, Lord, arrange for me," and then arise from your knees, and take the burden all back, and try to guide and arrange for yourself. Leave it with the Lord, and remember that what you trust to Him you must not worry over nor feel anxious about. Trust and worry cannot go together.  Hannah Whitall Smith

I was sitting in a waiting area on Saturday reading.  I carry my Kindle with me all the time because I never know when I may be required to sit somewhere.  You know how it goes.  You get in the shortest line at the bank and it moves the slowest.  Five cars come and go and you aren’t even at the window.  I’ve learned that if I bring my Kindle with me I can sit and read while waiting.  The time seems to go by faster and I don’t get near as frustrated. 

So I am sitting in the waiting area and there is a woman and man sitting directly across from me.  The woman gets up and walks away.  I continue to read and all of a sudden the man speaks up and asks me if I am reading the Bible.  I looked up and smiled.  I am not sure why this gentleman asked me that.  My Kindle has a purple cover so the outside wouldn’t proclaim me a Christian.  I am thinking it may have been the cross that I wear that might have tipped him off.  We started talking about God and how we humans have messed up this place we live in.  We also discussed the Israelites and how they messed up over and over again.  They got tired of waiting for God or decided to do it their way and look at the mess they ended up with. 

We are no better than the Israelites were so many years ago.  We are impatient and we wrestle with God when waiting and believing in Him would be the best course of action.

If you think about wisdom and how to obtain it, you won’t get it by thinking you know it all.  That is what gets us in trouble in the first place.  If we want wisdom we need to look back at our mistakes and vow not to repeat them.  We can also learn from others.  There are plenty of wisdomless people in the Bible to show us how not to live.  If we go to God with our problems and then turn around and take them back, we have not learned God’s wisdom.  God gave us a Bible packed full of wisdom.  Opening it is the first step toward wisdom.         

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are many times where I have ignored Your wisdom and decided I knew what was best for me.  At those times I learned the hard way that I didn’t know much at all.  We are told to seek You with all our heart and ask and it will be given to us.  Too many times the problem comes in when I ask for things that are not in Your will and then I sit back and wonder why You didn’t answer my prayer. Open my eyes to Your great wisdom.       

Scripture: The works of His hands are verity and justice; all His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.  Psalm 111:7-10