Riding a Horse

By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!  George Washington

I had a dream several nights ago.  I dreamed I rode my horse to work.  The thing is, I don’t even own a horse and haven’t been around a horse in years.  Thanks to my Dad I do know how to ride one and thanks in part to my brother, I know how to fall off one. 

Dreams are weird.  Sometimes when I wake up I can remember a dream as clearly as if I was still in it. Other times, not so much. 

In the Bible, God used some people to interpret dreams.  Remember Joseph.  He was a true dreamer.  God revealed things to him in dreams but most people laughed or scoffed at him because they didn’t believe it was God speaking through him.  His own brothers hated Joseph when he told them his dreams.  Remember the skinny cows and the fat cows. Then there was the one about the baker and the three white baskets on his head with birds eating out of it.  My dreams don’t sound so weird now do they? 

I don’t know how to interpret dreams, but I decided to go back to the Bible and read about horses.  Since my horse was the main character in my dream, why not look up scripture pertaining to horses. 

In Joshua 11:6 the children of Israel were battling against the people of Canaan and God commanded them to hough their enemies horses.  They were to cut the hamstring of their enemies horses and burn their chariots.  This rendered the animal incapable of speed.  In Deuteronomy 17:16 God forbade them to multiply horses. God repeatedly told them He would fight the enemy for them.  God wanted their faith to be in Him and their strength to come from Him alone, not their artillery or transportation. 

So my dream could mean any number of things or absolutely nothing.  The thing is it motivated me to look to the Bible for answers.  God might be speaking to me through my dream and if I don’t compare it to scripture I might miss something God is trying to tell me.  God might be trying to tell me not to depend on my current transportation, or that if I keep thinking about getting a new car he might exchange my current ride for a horse. 

The point I am trying to make is that everything that happens in our life happens for a reason.  It has passed through God’s hands and if we take what happens in our life and search through the Bible we just might find a treasure God intended for us. 

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often dream weird dreams.  Remind me to take the circumstances in my life and search Your Word to find the hidden treasure that you want to reveal to me. Thank You for Your wisdom and truth and for helping me to keep my focus on You.   

Scripture: And the Lord said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for tomorrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire. So Joshua came, and all the people of war with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly; and they fell upon them.  And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining.  And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.  And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.  Joshua 11:6-10

The Catalog

You will not stroll into Christlikeness with your hands in your pockets, shoving the door open with a careless shoulder. This is no hobby for one's leisure moments, taken up at intervals when we have nothing much to do, and put down and forgotten when our life grows full and interesting... It takes all one's strength, and all one's heart, and all one's mind, and all one's soul, given freely and recklessly and without restraint. A.J. Gossip

Do you remember years ago, before internet, when the only way you could shop was through a store catalog? Sears was one of the stores that had a huge catalog that also doubled as a booster seat when your kids were small.  You would sit them on the catalog so they could reach the dinner table.  Parents were geniuses back then.

 

You would open this catalog and they carried everything.  You couldn’t go online and order what you wanted, you would browse the catalog and find what you wanted and then you would drive to the nearest store to order what you wanted and then wait for it to come in. 

Our brains are very much like a large catalog.  There are various departments where you can quickly sort through the folders to find what you need at any given moment.  If you think about it in terms of a computer’s size your brain is not limited to 16MB.  Your brain has unlimited capacity to hold stuff.  The stuff you put in your filing cabinet is critical.  If you put junk in there, what comes out will be junk.  It is not all of a sudden going to turn into quality merchandise.

Many years ago I took a continuing education class that was supposed to teach you how to keep your desk clean.  They recommended that you only touch any piece of paper on your desk once before doing something with it.  You had various options to use each time you picked up a piece of paper on your desk.  You had to do something with the paper.  It went into a read folder, an action folder or a trash folder. 

This same thing applies with how we fill our mental filing cabinet or catalog.  If we want to retrieve the best from our mental catalog, we have to first put in good information.  There are also going to be things that we need to take action on and there is a whole boatload of stuff that we need to put in the trash folder.  Our trash folder is where we are to put hatred, anger, profanity and jealousy to name a few.  These need to be replaced by love, compassion, long suffering, forgiveness etc… 

Fill your mental catalog with the good stuff and good stuff will come out.  Fill it with the wrong stuff and your trash will be overflowing.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have often filled my catalog with the wrong or harmful information.  What I put in it can make the difference in showing other’s You, or leading them further from You.  Help me to put the good stuff in so that what comes out if worthy of You.

Scripture: The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Proverbs 1:1-7

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; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.  James 1:2-8

 

A Shared Life    

We need to reckon on the fact that we died to sin's reign, that it no longer has any dominion over us; that God has united us with the risen Christ in all His power, and has given us the Holy Spirit to work in us. Only as we accept our responsibility and appropriate God's provisions will we make any progress in our pursuit of holiness.  Jerry Bridges

Today I am not going to tell an old story from my childhood or a current story from my crazy life.  Today is about you and God. 

Today’s devotional is a thank you.  Thank you for allowing me to share my life with each of you.  I am a sinner but also a believer.  You allow me to come to you in your work week and talk about whatever is on my mind. It amazes me that you would want to hear something I have to say.  I am humbled daily by the emails I receive that tell me how much something I said touched someone’s life. 

I must admit I honestly don’t think I am a good writer.  I also admit that there are times I read what I write and I know it came from God because there is no way that came from me.  So if you find something profound in my devotional, look to the Father.  If something touches your life in some of the words written and it brings you closer to Him then I am just the messenger. 

So I thank God for his blessings in my life and for giving me the opportunity to talk to you about Him.  I praise Him for giving me the Holy Spirit living in me that allows me to see Him as a loving caring Father in all circumstances. 

I thank each of you for reading my goofy stories about spiders, pigs, cheese, utilities, bumper stickers and all the other subjects I use to illustrate who God really is in my eyes.  I also pray that you will share your story with others.  God allows all things to happen for a reason.  The trials in this life are intended to draw you closer to Him.  Show someone else His love by sharing the story of how God was with you through the worst circumstances in your life.  

I pray that each of you know the sacrifice made for you so that you can live eternally with our Father in heaven.  He Is Risen and I am forever thankful for that sacrifice that allows us to live.  

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for helping me piece together words that touch other people’s lives.  I am forever grateful for Your love and mercy on me, a poor sinner.  Thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son for my sins.  I can never repay the debt I owe.    

Scripture:  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  Corinthians 5:21

Wylie

God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he'll be there.  Billy Graham

I wrote the following devotional several years ago.  This week our dog of 16 years died and I am heartbroken.  He was my companion during my battle with cancer and he always made me laugh.  He gave unconditional love and so my dog’s love was an example of what we can expect from God every day.  I thank God for giving me so many years with my four legged companion Wylie.

Devotional dated November 22, 2013  

My dog is mad at me.  The last few days my husband and I have been trying to figure out why.  There are a few options.  Any time I go out of town and leave him he acts differently when I return.  Here is an example.  When my husband and I went on our honeymoon my dog stayed with my parents.  When we returned he ran up to my husband and wagged his tail and howled.  He ignored me.  He wouldn’t even look at me.  If I tried to look into his eyes he would turn his head the other way.

So this week I bought his food but I switched it to a different kind that he normally likes.   So I get up every morning and feed him.  I put his food on a paper plate.  Every morning this week after he eats he goes into the kitchen, picks up the paper plate that his breakfast was on and carries it into the living room.  He then proceeds to shred the plate into tiny pieces all over the living room floor.  Yesterday Jerry bought him the other kind of dog food he likes because we thought he might be mad because I switched dog food on him. 

Today I figured out that he is just mad at me for leaving him for a week.  I know, you don’t have to tell me my dog is spoiled.  When he is ready to go to bed he goes into the bedroom and starts talking.  He is a creature of habit and if I don’t go to bed the same time every night he will sit in the bedroom and make noise.  He doesn’t bark he just grumbles every 15 minutes or so. My husband and I will be sitting on the couch in the living room and he will be in the bedroom grumbling. 

My dog is 12 years old and set in his ways.  He makes me laugh more than any other dog I’ve owned.  He has an internal clock that goes off in the evening when it is time for his treats.  He sits in front of my husband and does the stare down.  I kid you not, he doesn’t blink he just stares.  He also shakes your hand for treats.  The thing is I know my dog loves me unconditionally.  He may give me the cold shoulder when I leave him but he still loves me. 

One day my dog will pass on and I will be heartbroken because he has been with me through many of the trials in my life.  When I had cancer he would curl up at the end of the bed and wouldn’t leave my side.  He always gets over being mad at me but I can always depend on him to love me without fail. 

God loves us the same way.  If He didn’t He would not have let His only Son die on a cross for our sins.  A blameless son died for a sinful world.  Do we disappoint God just like I disappoint my dog?  Yes we do, over and over again we disappoint our heavenly Father.  The thing is He keeps taking us back even when we fail Him. 

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my dog often gives me a picture of what Your love is like.  I praise You for loving me even when I don’t deserve it.  When I fail You are still waiting for me to return to You.  It is hard for me to comprehend a Father who loves a sinner like me enough to allow His Son to die on a cross so that I could be redeemed. Your love is amazing.

Scripture:    In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 5:12-14

Junk Mail & Free   

I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate. Oswald Chambers

My husband received a letter in the mail yesterday.  I’ll admit it caught my eye and I am not sure why they didn’t send me one too.  I mean, how do people get your mailing information anyway.  This one was kind of weird. 

The front of the envelope read “Free Pre-Paid Cremation DETAILS INSIDE”.  That’s an oxymoron.  I mean how do you get something for free when it is pre-paid?  Then it went on to explain how much this option made sense.

·       “It allows families to conduct personal services at their own convenience” What does this mean?  They didn’t give any further explanation so I am assuming they mean you can carry your loved one with you until you decide where to put them. 

·       “It has less impact on the environment.”  So does this mean the crematory is concerned about the environmental impact of burying a loved one?

·       “You can lock in today’s price.” As opposed to tomorrow’s price, and how long does today’s price last.  I thought they said this was “Free”

·       “You provide your family from falling victim to pressure to overspend (also known as “up-selling”) at a time when they are emotionally vulnerable.” Are they serious?  Last time I checked, you will need a loan to pay for the service to be buried.

·       And last but not least, “making these arrangements may qualify as an exempt asset when filing for Medicaid assistance.”  How can this be an asset when I’m dead?

Here is the interesting part.  In fine print at the bottom it reads, “Please accept our apologies if this letter has reached you at a time of serious illness or death in your family.” 

The definition of free is at no charge.  In today’s world free really means “I am trying to lure you into buying something but to get your attention I am going to use the word Free.”

The sad reality is that we are bombarded by advertising every day and it is not always something that is for our own good.  This made me think of God and when he says free he really does mean free.   If you abide in my Word the truth shall make you free. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be free and live in freedom with You.  You offer me freedom if I abide in You and live in truth.  That is not much to ask for the future you offer.  Thank You for the sacrifice it cost You to set me free. 

Scripture:  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  John 8:31-36

Facebook & LinkedIn

In place of our exhaustion and spiritual fatigue, God will give us rest. All He asks is that we come to Him...that we spend a while thinking about Him, meditating on Him, talking to Him, listening in silence, occupying ourselves with Him - totally and thoroughly lost in the hiding place of His presence.  Chuck Swindoll

You already know that my husband and I are sometimes technologically challenged.  The other issue we have is password memory loss or PML.  Everything I own has a password and some things have multiple passwords.  My brain doesn’t have enough wrinkles in it to hold all the passwords I need to run my life. 

I think a great diet would be to put a password on the refrigerator.  I would forget what it was and never be able to get in. 

Anyway, back to Facebook.  My husband sent me a friend request yesterday.  I admit I am not up on the lingo that goes with all the social media sites.  The problem with his friend request was that I couldn’t even friend him because I couldn’t remember my password to my Facebook account.  They try to make it simple for me to retrieve my password by making me set up questions.  My favorite question is “What was your first car?”  This question is tricky for me because I can’t remember what I answered with in the first place.  Did I say my first car was the Toyota station wagon that my sister and I drove in high school or was it the Toyota Celica I bought when I moved to Dallas?  Did I call it a station wagon or a Toyota or a Celica?  Then there are the sites that won’t let you go any further unless you use characters, numbers and symbols in the password.  Who can remember symbols in a password?

So yesterday I receive a LinkedIn message from someone.  That gets me back to the whole password thing again because I have a different one on that account.  The person had “endorsed” me.  What does that mean?  Endorsed me for what? I can’t even remember my password so I can see the endorsement.

I admit I was trying to clean out my personal email account because I had over 2000 emails.  I found friend requests from 5 years ago that I never responded to.  If you are reading this and I didn’t friend you 5 years ago, it’s not because I don’t like you.  I am Facebook challenged. 

I think I want to be God’s Facebook friend.  I don’t have to worry about whether He is going to “Like” me or not because He already does, in fact He loves me.  I am also going to join His LinkedIn account because that’s the kind of endorsement I need.  Finally, I don’t need a secret password that requires letters, numbers and symbols so that someone can’t hack into my God account. If someone wants into my God account all they have to do is ask.  No hacking required.  I will tell them everything I know about Him.  

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am so confused with social media.  I know my first issue is that I don’t use it very often, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing.  When Jesus died on the cross the curtain of the temple was split in two allowing each of us direct access to You through prayer, meditation and the Holy Spirit. I am forever thankful for your mercy on all sinners that we can be born again into a new life with Christ.  You are amazing!   

   

Scripture:  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:50-54

Singing His Praises

God loves to hear your singing - so sing.  Rod Parsley

I was thinking this morning about how I love to sing.  When we were kids my parents had one of those stereos that are made to look like a piece of furniture.  It had a radio and a turntable for albums and records. The stereo was in our formal living room and I can remember putting a record on and pretending we had a microphone and all the right moves. 

We sang in church and in the car. There were six in our family so it could get pretty loud. Several years ago I was out at my parent’s farm mowing the back pasture.  I had an iPod and headphones and I was driving the tractor around and around the pasture.  That can get pretty boring because besides a few trees there is not much out there.  Every once in a while I would see a snake or mice and a couple of times the neighbors dogs came over to chase the tractor but other than that it was just me and the tractor.  I would take that opportunity to make the pasture my stage, and the snakes, mice, dogs and any birds who happened to be hanging around, my audience.  It was great.  I didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing me and the birds weren’t going to critique my vocal abilities and tell me how badly I sing. It was the perfect audience. 

In my dreams I could see myself in front of a huge audience and my voice would sound something like Celine Dion.  But let’s get back to reality.  Unbeknownst to me, I didn’t realize with the headphones on that I was singing as loudly as I was and that my nephews who were up at the house could hear me from the back of the field.  Have you ever noticed that when you sing with headphones on you sing more off key? One of them turned to my Mom and said, “What is that noise?”  Leave it to kids to be truthful.  My Mom proceeded to tell my nephews that it was their Aunt Bren singing out in the pasture. 

I have since given up hopes of becoming a superstar on the national stage as a singer.  God just didn’t bless me with that kind of talent.  What He did give me is a heart for Him and a passion for singing.  So I have moved to a different stage.  My car is my stage and God is my audience and you know what I figured out.  He doesn’t care if I am in tune or if I remember the words correctly, or if I skip over the words I can’t figure out.  As long as there is passion in my heart for Him, my audience of One is listening and that is really what matters most. 

So if I sing a little too loud and a little off key and miss some of the words, I hope you will understand Who I am singing for because my heart is filled with praise for Him.  

  

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I love to sing and especially songs of praise and worship for You.  Music for me is one of those things that can bring tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.  Thank You for the gift of music.  It is one of my favorite things to do when I want You to know how much I love You.

Scripture: They wander up and down for food, and howl if they are not satisfied. But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises; for God is my defense, my God of mercy.  Psalm 59:15-17

Mission Impossible

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.  Chuck Swindoll

He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others-not because He has favorites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition.  C.S. Lewis

Some of you may be too young to remember the original TV series Mission Impossible.  The series was about a group of IMF (Impossible Mission Force) secret agents who in the beginning of each episode were given top secret missions that were tape recorded and following the listening of the tape the machine would give a warning and then it would self-destruct. 

I loved watching that show.  The tape would come on and it would say, “Your mission if you choose to accept is…” and then it would tell the agent what he was supposed to do.  I never figured out what would happen if you didn’t accept the mission.

One of the things that came to mind when I thought about this long ago TV series was that each of us as Christians have been given a mission if we choose to accept it. We are free to choose not to accept it as that is the way God planned it.  We don’t have to accept the mission of showing other people who He is.  The thing is if we choose not to accept Him we are lost. The mission God sets before us is not impossible.  We can do “anything” through His strength. 

I think too many times we see God as having weaknesses like us.  If we see Him with weaknesses we will never reach the potential of the amazing things we can do through His power.  There is nothing too big or too small for God.  It’s all small to the One who created us.  If we can ever wrap our arms around the magnificence of Our God, there is no end to what we can accomplish on His behalf here on earth. 

Your mission if you choose to accept it is to show others the amazing God who created us and to point them in the direction they need to go to make their way to Him.  This message won’t self-destruct but time is running out.  Choose to accept and you will see His power at work in your life. 

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You have assigned each of us a mission on earth. Our mission is to show others Your amazing love and to lead others to Your heavenly home.  Help me to understand the enormity of this mission and to accept wholeheartedly the mission set before me.  I can do anything through your power and might and I praise You for giving me the strength to step out in faith on Your behalf.

Scripture: For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-19

Negative vs. Positive

Two types of voices command your attention today. Negative ones fill your mind with doubt, bitterness, and fear. Positive ones purvey hope and strength. Which one will you choose to heed?  Max Lucado

Did you know that it takes approximately 10 positive statements to counteract a single negative one? If you think back over your life, can you remember the positive things someone said to you or the negative? 

I don’t know about you, but I can vividly remember the times someone said something negative to me or about me.  I can picture in my mind the individual who said it and even where I was at the time it was said.  The positive ones are harder to recall.

So this is what happens.  Someone says something negative to you about the way you do your job, the grades you get in school or the way you drive and it sticks with you like chewing gum on the bottom of your shoe.  That negative statement said to you out of anger from another person can color the rest of your life.

I remember to this day the time a former boss told me I would never amount to anything.  She was angry because I was leaving the position with her company so she wanted to make sure I knew that she thought I was a failure.  Then there were the kids in school who told me I was skinny or just plain inadequate to their way of thinking. 

So if you take the negative things that people say to you and take them to heart, you will eventually believe it. 

I am an observer of people.  I find it interesting to watch how they treat each other.  It happens with kids, parents, siblings, coworkers, bosses and spouses.  I like to watch the eyes because that is where you will read true emotions.  The eyes will tell the story of the pain behind the bravado and putting up a good front. 

One of the greatest lessons I ever learned came later in life.  That lesson is God is the only one I should be concerned about when it comes to what He thinks of me.  He is the most important.  If I know He loves me, then the hurtful things others say about me or to me no longer matter.  The problem comes in when you are younger.  When we are younger we take things to heart.  Children are especially vulnerable because if they are never told of God’s love for them they begin to believe the negative. 

I am guilty of saying negative things to others.  The critical thing about saying negative things to others when we are angry is that we don’t glorify God.  Can you imagine standing before God one day and He looks down at you and says He is disappointed in you because you broke others down instead of lifting them up?  There are times when we need to confront others with the negative but it should always be done in love never in anger.  

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of breaking others down with negative comments.  When I do that it doesn’t glorify You and I ask for your forgiveness.  Building others up and showing them Your love should be my first priority.  I am so thankful you didn’t put me in charge because I don’t always do a good job of showing others Your love.

Scripture: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  Colossians 3:12-17

Techno Wizard

There's not a single thing on offer in this all-too-temporary world for which you should ever sell your soul.  Alan Keyes

I have a new phone and so does my husband.  We were talking last night and Jerry was telling me about a guy he knows who still has a flip phone.  He decided to buy a SIM card cutter to save money and insert it into his new/used phone. I didn’t even know what a SIM cutter was so I looked it up.  I guess is cuts your SIM card down to size.

     

The phone I recently bought is an iPhone.  You already know how technologically challenged I am.  I was talking to Jerry on my way home from work and I forgot to end the call.  I am driving along and since the phone had been on speaker all of a sudden I hear Jerry say “Hang up your phone”.  I thought I would wreck the car because it sounded like he was inside the car with me.

I went to dinner with my nephews and they had to show me how to set my percentage so I would know how much battery life I had left.  There is also this woman on my phone who tells me where to go.  I didn’t even know she was in there until my nephew showed me how to find her.

One of my nephews told me he is taking a special class this summer related to technology.  He used words I’ve never heard of so I had to ask him to explain it to me.  It has to do with pixels and moving them around and reconfiguring something to restructure the design.  If you really want to feel dumb you should talk to a 16 year old or maybe a 4 year old.  I’ve found they know more about my technology than I do.  

My husband bought a Galaxy so his phone looks like a big screen TV.  Do you remember the cell phones that first came out?  They were the size of your home phone and you had to have a special antennae on your car to use it. 

Technology is taking over the world.  Everywhere you look there are commercials about the latest and greatest technology.  As soon as you walk off the showroom floor with your new phone it is obsolete.  Technology companies have us figured out too.  Instead of making a chip that is compatible with your current phone that you can change every few years for $20, they make technology that doesn’t work with your old one so you have to buy a new one for $499.  The only way to not pay that $499 price tag is to call the company and tell them how long you have been with them.  You have to convince them that you are a good customer and have been for years.  That is how Jerry and I bought our phones for $50.  We did have to spend several hours on the phone with a representative and then get transferred to a manager but in the end we didn’t pay $499 per phone.

I started thinking about how God works in my life.  He doesn’t keep changing the plan.  The same plan that existed hundreds of years ago is still good today.  The billing hasn’t changed and I don’t sign a two year contract. With God I have a lifetime contract and my bill is already paid.  Christ paid my bill on the cross.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I sometimes get tired of technology.  Many times it takes me away from spending time with You.  If I forget my phone at home I start to worry and ask myself, “what if something happens to my car?”  If I stop and remember that You are always with me, not having my phone doesn’t matter so much anymore. 

                   

Scripture: The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”  John 8:12-13

Fishers of Men

Our Lord said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." It is evident, then, that a true disciple is a soul-winner. It is possible to sit on the shore discussing the signs of the times when we ought to be driven by the signs of the times to launch out into the deep and let down our nets for a draught. Vance Havner

I love to fish.  There is something about fishing that relaxes me.  Maybe it is the sitting still or as when I was a kid with my Grandpa, watching and waiting for the cork to bob up and down.  As soon as the cork goes under the fight is on.  The bait I used made a difference in what kind of fish I caught or if I caught anything at all.  The majority of the time we fished with worms or minnows and sometimes crickets, although I hated fishing with crickets because you had to stick your hand in the container that was crawling with crickets.  I didn’t like crickets crawling on my hands.  Now that I look back on it, the crickets probably didn’t appreciate me sticking my hand in there either.  Then there is the whole cork thing.  With cane pole and worm fishing you have to guess how deep the water is so that you set your cork just right.  Otherwise if your hook with the worm sits on the bottom of the lake you probably won’t catch anything.

My husband loves to fish too but his fishing is quite a bit different than mine.  He is a bass fisherman.  It’s all in the wrist.  You throw out a lure with no cork and you start reeling in slowly jerking a little every once in a while to catch a fishes’ attention.  Jerry’s way of fishing is a lot more complicated.  You are using a fake lure to entice the fish to take the fake bait. Some of the lures are elaborate with feathers and shiny silver with pretty colors and some will have dots painted on them.  The more your lure looks like something good to eat the better your chances are of catching a big one or as Jerry tells it a Lunker.  For those of you who are not fisherman, a lunker is an extremely large game fish and in most cases a record setting game fish.  

Just as there are different ways to catch fish there are different ways to be fishers of men.  God created each person with talents that are to be used to search out lost souls.  Your technique may be different from mine, but we are all called to be fishers of men. It is just as important to use the right tools because this fishing expedition will be the most important trip of a person’s life.  Eternity.  I love the story about Jesus telling Simon Peter to cast out his nets.  We need to prepare for the fishing trip of a lifetime.  How we prepare will make the difference in what we catch.  Will our nets be full or empty?  

        

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You call each of us to be fishers of men.  If I don’t study Your word in preparation for my fishing trip, my nets will come up empty.  How I prepare for what could be the most important conversation in someone else’s life can make the difference in saving a life or losing one.  Help me to be prepared and trust in You to fill my net.      

Scripture:  Four Fishermen Called as Disciples

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.   Luke 5:1-11

Know It & Admit It

There are two kinds of people in the world; people who are broken and sinful and know it and people who are broken and sinful and won’t admit it.  Rick Warren

Do you know you are broken?  You know what I am talking about.  You can look back on your life and see the places where you are broken but there are two kinds of people in the world.  Those who understand and accept their brokenness and those who pretend that they aren’t broken and will do everything they can to hide what is broken inside. 

I remember years ago when I was a kid I had this really cool, (at least I thought it was), turquoise bike.  It had a white banana seat with turquoise and white fringe that hung from the handlebars and a bell that you could ring to warn people to get out of the way.  I wasn’t mechanically inclined back then, but every once in a while the chain that operated my super turbo charged bike would come off.  The problem with that is I could never get the chain back on and without it my turbo turned into a no go.  When that happened I would have to go to my Dad and get him to put the chain back on.

If you have ever tried to get anywhere when the chain comes off your bike you know that basically you are literally left spinning your wheels.  Until you fix it you will never get far. 

When I thought of this story it started me thinking about how we are often just like that broken bicycle chain. We are a broken people.  Each one of us is plagued with brokenness.  The problem is some of us know it and admit it and others of us know it but won’t admit it.

If you are broken and know it, you will admit and confess the brokenness to someone else.  If may be a close friend or family member that you confess your brokenness to, but you will confess it. What happens when you do this is that you start the healing process.  Just as I went to my Dad all those years ago to fix my broken bike, I must turn to others to fix my broken self. 

What happens when you don’t admit you’re broken?  You get nowhere.  It is like riding a bicycle with no chain.  The pedals will spin but you don’t move forward.  When we are broken and won’t admit it, we are consumed with guilt.  When we don’t share it with someone we trust and who will love us unconditionally, the brokenness of sin will take over our life and turn into guilt.  We pretend that we have it all together even when others can see we don’t.  If you think about it we become a master of disguises. 

God created us to need others.  We go to Him for forgiveness and we go to others for healing.  If your chain is broken, share it with someone who loves you unconditionally and let the healing begin. 

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am broken and I admit it.  I need Your forgiveness for my sin and brokenness, but I need others for healing.  Help me to be transparent when it comes to my brokenness.  If I share the broken parts of me it will lead to healing.  You know all of us are broken, yet You love us anyway.  I praise You for continuing to pursue me even when I don’t deserve it.  A love like Yours is priceless. 

     

Scripture: Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.  James 5:16-20