The Foundation We Build On

Godliness is more than Christian character. It covers the totality of the Christian life and provides the foundation upon which Christian character is built.  Jerry Bridges

I was listening to the news this morning and there was a story about a neighborhood whose homes are sinking.  Many of the homes had to be abandoned due to safety issues.  They are not sure why they are sinking except they do know that the homes are built on an inactive volcano and water is bubbling up out of the ground.

 

This made me think of the city where I was born.  The city was named for the sulfur mines that were excavated in the area in the 1900s.  A German immigrant by the name of Frasch invented the “Frasch method” of mining sulfur.  Hot steam was pumped into the ground, liquidizing the mineral and then it was pumped to the surface.  

     

This started me thinking about what is under the ground now.  Did they replace the sulfur that was removed?  If not, there are probably large caverns underground that could potentially cave in one day, especially if water starts running through them. 

The kind of foundation we build on as a Christian is the most important one we will ever build.  If we build our foundation on shifting sand; deceitful behavior, lying, cheating, mistreatment of others, our very foundation will crumble. 

When I started thinking about this topic an old hymn that we sang in church when I was young came to mind.  I haven’t thought of this song in years but the melody came right back and I was able to sing the lines of the song from memory.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood

Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Written by: Edward Mote c.1834

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I know that if I build my Christian life on Your foundation I am able to stand strong through any circumstance.  It is when I stray away from You that my foundation becomes weak and is subject to disaster.  If I want my foundation to be strong to withstand life’s trials, it is necessary for me to spend time with you and meditate on Your Word. 

                

Scripture: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”  Matthew 7:24-27

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

Great App   

No sin which we are capable of committing has ever taken God by surprise for He knew we were just like that. Alan Redpath

Did you know there is a new App that will send you a message when you start to go over your monthly budgeted electricity usage?  I admit I don’t know much about Apps or how they work.  From past devotionals, you know I am not a technological wonder.  I am more like a technological blunder looking for a place to happen. 

Anyway, I heard there is this App that will notify you by text when you are about to go over your budgeted electricity usage.  I have a question though.  What are you supposed to do once you receive the text?  Are you going to turn off everything in the house until the end of the billing cycle?  What a plan.  No lights, cooking, everything in the refrigerator spoils, and here is a biggie, no TV.  We might all have to sit around and actually communicate with each other in the dark. 

What if God had his own App?  This one would warn you when you are heading into sin territory.  I have a feeling my phone would be texting me quite often.  In reality we do have several Apps that God uses to get our attention.  There are the Family Members and Friends App that notify us when we are going down the wrong path.  Then there is the Holy Spirit App that places guilt in your heart when sin approaches.  The most important is the God App.  This one is critical but we often miss the message all together.  He is constantly speaking to us but we turn the phone off.  We decide we know what is best for us so we ignore the God App and do what we want anyway. 

With all of the technology in the world today I am not sure why this app has not been added to all of the apps available.  Maybe it’s because it wouldn’t be a best seller or most downloaded and it doesn’t make money, it saves souls.   

     

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, Please help me to use the apps or tools you provide to keep me on the path to You.  Keep my eyes and mind focused on You.  If I have faith in You then I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.   

   

Scripture:   Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:14-18

It Started with Trouser Socks

We often think of great faith as something that happens spontaneously so that we can be used for a miracle or healing. However, the greatest faith of all, and the most effective, is to live day by day trusting Him. It is trusting in Him so much, that we look at every problem as an opportunity to see His work in our life.  Rick Joyner

Life is funny isn’t it?  If you look at it from a heavenly perspective, the things we worry about don’t always happen and the things we never thought of do.  I have come to the conclusion that in this world if I wait long enough something interesting will happen eventually.

Last night I was going to the store to buy trouser socks. So yesterday I spent 15 minutes trying to locate two matching trouser socks.  Have you noticed that when your trouser socks get to the laundry room they break up?  It’s like they have a great relationship in the package, but once they hit the laundry room the relationship is over and one of them disappears never to be found again.  I personally think they met up with a towel or sheet and now they are static clinging somewhere together. 

I left work and my “Green Machine” was running great at that point.  I had to stop at Home Depot for light bulbs.  So I go into Home Depot, come out put the key in the ignition and click.  Nothing, notta, no go.  So as most wives do I called my husband.  He tells me to look behind the seat for the wrench and go tap the battery cables. 

  

So I open the hood and one of the Green Machine’s battery cables is corroded.  So I decide to go back into Home Depot to buy a Coke.  Not because I am thirsty but I will pour it on my battery cables to clean them.  Since my Green Machine didn’t stop running at the auto parts store, I used what was available.

As a side note I did go into Home Depot at my husband’s suggestion to ask them if they sell the spray to remove acid and the two extremely young clerks looked at me like I had grown two heads.  When I saw the deer in the headlight looks they gave each other I moved on to plan B.  Do you sell Coke here?  The young girl’s face lit up.  “Oh, yes we do, over in the case behind the register.”  I am not sure what they are teaching kids these days in school but they are missing out on the important stuff.   

I get back to the Green Machine and pour the Coke on the cables.  It starts foaming and cleaning the cables immediately.  I get back in the car and try to start it.  Nothing.  So I call my husband and he tells me he is on his way.  To make this extremely long story shorter, he drives up, gets out of his truck, pops the hood, taps each of the cables with a wrench and the Green Machine starts right up.   

   

What is the moral of this story?  I didn’t get my trouser socks, Coke will eat the acid off your battery cables in a pinch and things are going to happen in life that will frustrate you and make you ask yourself “Why am I here?”  The answer is we are here for God’s purpose.  That’s it.  It’s not some complicated formula that we need a Master’s degree in rocket science to figure out.  We are His to be used for His purpose.  Make the most of every circumstance that comes your way and use it for His Glory. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for the challenges in my life because they show me glimpses of You.  There is a great peace that comes over me when I leave it up to You to work out the details of my simple life.  I love you Father.    

  

Scripture: Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.  For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.  2 Timothy 1:8-12

Don't Be a Squirrel   

We want to reach the kingdom of God, but we don't want to travel by way of death. And yet there stands Necessity saying: 'This way, please.' Do not hesitate, man, to go this way, when this is the way that God came to you.  Augustine

I drove into my driveway several days ago and glanced up to the top of our backyard fence and I saw something move.  Because I just caught a glimpse of it I at first couldn’t tell what it was.  I finally figured out it was a squirrel.  Squirrels are agile creatures.  This one climbed to the top picket of the fence by the gate and there was a space between the boards of the gate and the fence so he climbed in.  He was looking at me upside down.  So he stared at me and I stared at him.  It was kind of like the old gunslinger movies where the two opponents pace off and then turn and see which one will twitch first.  The thing is this squirrel didn’t flinch at all.  I thought he was dead.  He didn’t even blink. 

It just so happened that I had my camera in the car so I took photos of him.  I even got out of the car and walked up to the fence and he still didn’t move. When I got within 3 feet of him he finally crawled out and took off.  I’m thinking God created in him a defense mechanism that kicks in when threatened.  Kind of like the opossum where they play dead thinking you will ignore them. 

I did some research and found out that the Gray Squirrel is the only species that can descend a tree head first and the life span of a Gray Squirrel is approximately six years.  It’s a different story for urban squirrels.  I didn’t know there was such a thing as an urban squirrel.  I always thought a squirrel’s a squirrel. Most urban squirrels don’t reach their first birthday.  This is not due to predators, but rather to automobiles. This made sense to me because have you ever been driving through your neighborhood and had a squirrel run in front of you.  They will run across in front of your car and be home free, and as you are watching them you will silently say to yourself “Don’t do it, Don’t do it” and then they will back track and run back in front of your car and get hit.  It’s kind of counterproductive.

So here are my God thoughts on us and squirrels.  We can be just like them.  Not the climbing down the tree head first part but the part where we are going through life making headway in the sin free department, just like the squirrel getting safely to the other side, and then we will turn right back around and head down the sin road fully knowing that we are on a collision course to disaster.  The moral of this story; don’t be a squirrel in your Christian life. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am sometimes like the squirrel who runs to safety only to return to sin and certain death.  I need your help to stay on this narrow path that leads to You.  Help me to keep my eyes focused on you as this life is not easy and temptation can lead me back to sin.  I praise You for your many blessings on my life and Your grace and mercy.      

Scripture:   But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.  Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:20-26

Days Gone By

People nowadays take time far more seriously than eternity.  Thomas Kelly

When I was growing up we didn’t have much in the way of technology.  We had one TV, no computers, no cell phones and plenty of time on our hands.  The only thing we had to do living in the country was to make our own entertainment.  Growing up in that atmosphere taught me several things.  It taught me a great deal about life.

Every Saturday was mow the lawn day.  Our house was on five acres so that is a lot of mowing.  Everyone in the family got out and mowed or worked in the yard.  We had animals to take care of so there was feeding animals, collecting eggs and milking the cow.  I don’t remember ever saying that I was bored when I was growing up.  In the first place, if you ever said you were bored Dad and Mom would find you something to relieve your boredom.  We had a big fireplace in our den and we never bought firewood.  We cut down a tree on our property and chopped wood.  When you chopped wood you had to haul wood.  It comes in pretty handy having four children when you have as much going on as we did around our house. 

We had horses and in the summer when Dad got home from work we would saddle the horses and ride.  We would ride for what seemed like hours looking at the scenery and talking as a family.  This was our chance to talk as a family and to see God at work in our surroundings.  I can’t even picture that happening in the society we live in today. That would be considered just plain weird that you would spend quality time with your family.   

We had blackberries that grew wild around our house and we would grab our buckets and go pick blackberries.  That meant homemade blackberry jelly or cobbler. Summer meant time spent outdoors.  

When I look at the world today, it makes me sad.  Some of us take vacations to get away from technology (email, text messages, phone calls etc…) and some of us even take technology with us on vacation. 

My husband and I were watching a baseball game on TV and have you ever noticed how many people are there in person but not even watching the game.  We saw several young people who were on their phones texting or tweeting or whatever it is you do when you are connected to the world wherever you go. 

When we realize that God time can be in the quiet of the day with nothing but nature around us, that is when we get closest to the One who created us.

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, many times technology is our worst enemy.  We spend so much time texting, tweeting and communicating through technology, that we are creating a generation that doesn’t know how to communicate socially with others much less with You.  I am guilty of using the technology of this world as an escape from everyday life.  If I want to gain wisdom sometimes it means setting aside the technology of the world and spending time with You. 

Scripture:  Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:23-27

God’s Peace    

If our minds are stayed upon God, His peace will rule the affairs entertained by our minds. If, on the other hand, we allow our minds to dwell on the cares of this world, God's peace will be far from our thoughts.  Woodrow Kroll

I started thinking about the peace that can be found in God.  When we dwell in His presence, we no longer worry about what others may think of us.  Why is it that we place more value in the opinion of others in this world than we do the opinion of the God who created us?   

I think we place so much value on what people on earth think because we want to be accepted by others.  We want to belong to a close knit family who love us through the challenges of life.  The problem with this is we look at others in our life as our source of strength.  The next problem is we expect them to always love us and be there for us but that doesn’t always happen.  If you can get one important piece of wisdom it is this: The people you surround yourself with are sinners and so are you.  If you keep that in mind, your interactions can be different.

The second thing is the God who created us didn’t make a mistake.  I was watching a show on TV about how food products are made.  One segment showed a lady with a hairnet, white coat and gloves that was picking out the bad or damaged fruit that was traveling down the conveyor belt before the good fruit traveled down the line to be placed in boxes.  They didn’t show what happened to the bad fruit, but the correlation here is that God doesn’t only select the good fruit, he wants the bad too.  He wants every one of us.  And guess what?  We are all bad fruit at one time or another, yet He still pursues each of us like there were only one of us.

You are worth God’s time.  When you finally realize that He wants you to come and lay it all at His feet; a peace that surpasses all understanding will be your reward.  If you take the shame, pain, sorrow and heartache and lay it at His feet, He will give you rest.  He will give you strength and He will give you peace.  All you need to do is ask.  The comfort of knowing that there is One who loves you without reservation and who is waiting for you to turn to him is beyond comprehension.

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, over the years I have learned that You are my refuge.  You are where I go when everything seems to be falling apart around me.  You are also where I go in times of great joy because You celebrate with me.  I give my struggles, sorrows, heartaches and pain to You.  I lay it at Your feet.  I praise You with all my heart for saving a wretch like me.  Thank You for the peace that I can only get through You.

Scripture:  Jesus Gives True Rest

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:25-30

The Flood

“You cannot come to Christ unless the Spirit of God brings you. But what if you ignore His warnings? Then you are in the gravest danger, for some day God will no longer be speaking to you. Then it will be too late. Come to Christ while there is still time. Christ, God's greater Ark, stands ready to welcome you to safety today.”  Billy Graham

I was a senior in high school when the great flood came.  Right about now you are asking, “What great flood”. 

I was born in the great state of Louisiana, home of the alligator, humidity, moccasins (snake that is), and rain and more rain.  We never had water restrictions in my home town.  We didn’t know what that was until we moved to Texas.    

Anyway, back to the great flood of 1980.  I was a senior in high school preparing for graduation.  Then the rains came.  Our graduation was going to be in Lake Charles, the nearest large town.  We were going to graduate at the Civic Center and rehearsal was scheduled for Friday evening. It started raining midweek and it didn’t stop.  We lived in the country and there was a bayou tributary that ran between our house and the main road in to town.  This tributary would often flood but it never came close to our house. 

This year that changed.  It started raining and the water rose and it rained some more and the water kept coming.  I can remember walking out the front door and seeing the water lapping onto the front porch and there was no sign of the rain stopping. As soon as we saw that we went to work.  We lived in a big two story house so every piece of furniture that would fit upstairs was hauled up.  Anything that didn’t fit upstairs was placed on top of paint cans.  The carpet was pulled up and moved upstairs. 

I will never forget walking downstairs the next morning and stepping off the last stair and into 2 inches of water.  The whole first floor was covered in water.  Our house had never been flooded by water so this was an event. The reason I call this the great flood is because my grandparents were driving from Austin to attend my graduation and they had to turn around and go back because portions of I-10 were underwater.  This is the southernmost transcontinental highway that stretches from the Pacific Ocean to Florida. When a major freeway is underwater that is a lot of rain.  By the way as a side note, my Dad had to take me in a boat to our car to get to graduation but I made it.

This story brought to mind Noah.  I grew up in a state that saw plenty of rain, but can you imagine Noah’s faith.  When God told him to build a boat and not just any boat but build a big boat, Noah’s faith didn’t waver. 

The neighbors wouldn’t think it was so strange if you built a boat that would hold one family and that you could hide behind the garage.  This was a boat that would hold 2 of every kind of animal on earth.  Can you imagine the neighbors looking out their window and their conversation about Noah?  It might go something like this.  “Hey honey, it looks like Noah is building a boat.  I wonder if it is going to be a fishing boat to take out to the lake.”  Several weeks later….”Honey I don’t think Noah is building a boat at all.   It looks like he might be building a McMansion.”  Two months later…. “Honey, that’s not a McMansion and it isn’t a fishing boat, it’s a cruise liner and there are animals lining up to get in. I always knew Noah was crazy and a little odd.  Why would he build a boat that large with no water in sight?  We sure have weird neighbors.”

When it comes to faith in God it doesn’t always make sense does it?  When we place our faith in God it is literally taking a leap of faith.  It is like walking to the edge of a cliff and stepping off.  Trust in God will always feel like that.  God can do great things through us when we have an amazing faith in Him.  God promised it won’t be a flood next time, it will be worse.  Are you ready?

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, many times my faith is shaken by things that happen in my life.  I want to have the faith that Noah had, the belief that You can do anything through me in Your Power.  When my faith wavers, please remind me that I can do anything through You and your strength.     

Scripture: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  Genesis 6:5-8

Resilient

At the timberline where the storms strike with the most fury, the sturdiest trees are found.  Hudson Taylor

We live on a corner lot and we have crape myrtles that line the parkway next to our fence.  There are five and they have gotten fairly large over the years.  Several years ago we went out of town for a weekend and when we got home we turned the corner on our street and one of the crape myrtles had been wiped out.  Someone ran up the curb and took out one of our crape myrtles. 

It would have been nice if the perpetrator had left a note on a branch of the victim.  Something like “I am so sorry I took out one of your crape myrtles” or how about “look on the bright side, I missed three of them and only got one” or how about “rest in peace” but I am sad to say no one fessed up to the crime. 

Since whoever hit the tree took it off at the root we were left with a pretty uneven tree line.  We thought about replacing it but my Mom told us the root system was still there so it would come back.  We thought it would take it awhile to grow back and surely it wouldn’t catch up with the rest of our trees. We were wrong.  It grew faster than the other trees and after a couple of years it was the same size as the rest of them. 

Several years after that incident we had another crape myrtle incident.  Someone had stolen a car and parked it on the street next to our crape myrtles.  We live near a main freeway so it was easy to get to our neighborhood and park the car on the dark side of our street.  To hide the evidence they set the car on fire.  So I wake up around 3:00am and walk into the kitchen and there is a glow coming from our backyard.  I open the patio door and flames are shooting 30 feet in the sky and one of my favorite crape myrtles is burning.

We thought the tree would die after that incident, but it didn’t.  It came back the next year and is now the same size as the others. 

This started me thinking about the tragedies and trials that occur in our lives.  We need to be like the crape myrtles.  Resilient.  God gives us the tools to survive and thrive but we need to be resilient.  If we are not resilient we will give up too soon and will not see God’s blessing in the trial.  He also wants us to produce fruit in our lives.  When we become rooted in Christ we will bloom and bear fruit. 

One of the things our Pastor said yesterday was an epiphany for me.  When the disciples were at the last supper with Jesus he told them one of them would betray Him.  All of the disciples except Judas said “Lord is it I?”  Judas was the only one who said “Rabbi, is it I?”  The eleven disciples called Jesus Lord but Judas called Him teacher.  Judas didn’t have the Lord living in Him so he didn’t see Jesus as Lord but only as a teacher. 

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be complete in You.  You are not just the One who walks beside me, You live in me. If You live in me, the byproduct of that is I will produce fruit.  Help me to focus on You and not the world so that I can produce fruit in abundance and make me resilient so that I can withstand the trials of life and learn from them to become more like You.  

       

Scripture: As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, bounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.  Colossians 2:6-10

Worry Your Life Away

Faith is made up of belief and trust. Many people believe God, but they do not trust themselves into His keeping and care; consequently, they are filled with worry and fear.  Lee Roberson

No one can pray and worry at the same time.  Max Lucado

Are you worried?  Have you noticed that humans are the only living thing on earth that worries?  Animals don’t worry about where their next meal will come from or where they will build their next nest.  They don’t build a bigger nest and store food up for the year.  They go out every day and forage for food or search each year for a new place to build a nest.  Birds flying south for the winter don’t all of a sudden decide they’re not going to be snowbirds and go to Florida this year. They also don't get to flying altitude and suddenly ask themselves which way should I go. They don’t even pack a bag.  They just take off and God instinctively gives them the direction to go.  The interesting thing is he also provides for everything they need to get there.

If we ever understand that worrying is not going to change the outcome, we have won half the battle.  If God has a plan for each of us and if we understand that He does have a plan, then worry should not be part of the equation.  It is like telling God that He doesn’t know what He is doing. 

It would be different if we got paid to worry.  I would be a millionaire if that were the case.  I will say that I don’t worry near as much as I used to.  There is an exercise that I do that helps me get past worrying.  I replace worry with prayer.  Every time I catch myself worrying over something I have no control over, and believe me I have no control over anything, I stop myself and change that worry to prayer.  If you practice this for a while you will be amazed at how you will soon start to pray instead of worry.     

  

If we understand that worry is based on fear and to overcome our fear we need to depend on God instead of our meager resources, we will begin to see Him at work in our lives.  If you are worrying, give it to God and stand back and watch Him work.  

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, at one time I could have won an Academy Award for the best worrier.  My fear of what could happen overshadowed the work You were doing in my life.  Please keep my eyes focused on You and Your Greatness.  When I turn to You in prayer instead of worrying about the outcome, You can and will do amazing things in my life.

Scripture:  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  Matthew 6:25-34

Restrictions Apply   

False notions of liberty are strangely common. People talk of it as if it meant the liberty of doing whatever one likes - whereas the only liberty that a man, worthy of the name of man, ought to ask for, is, to have all restrictions, inward and outward, removed that prevent his doing what he ought.  Frederick W. Robertson

I was listening to a commercial on the radio this morning and it talked about all of the outstanding things you could buy.  It went on and on about how you could purchase so many of this and so many of that but then came the punchline.  RESTRICTIONS APPLY. 

I call it the Bait, Hook and Reel ‘em in form of advertising.  You start with a great bait, like a great fishing worm, you hook  them with the great bargain and once you get them into the store there is that little sign or tiny print at the bottom that tells you what you are really getting.  You are left flopping around like a fish in the bottom of the boat trying to figure out what happened.  How did I get caught?

I think the reason we often get caught in this trap is because the ad is intended to draw you in.  Just like a bass doesn’t know the difference in a plastic lure and a real bait fish, we are caught in the flashy exterior of the promotion. Then the advertiser has someone come in at the end and talk so fast about the restrictions that you can’t understand what they say or the print is so small that you need a magnifying glass to read it.

God doesn’t work that way.  He is clear about what we are to do as a Christian.  He tells it like it is.  The great thing about it is no one on earth is restricted from joining His family.  It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, wear nice clothes or rags, talk eloquently or stutter, drive a fancy car or a clunker or live in a mansion or a hut.  We all are welcome and we are all given a choice.  Often we are the ones who restrict ourselves from following Him.  We think we are not good enough or we decide the price is not worth the effort.  God doesn’t hide our salvation in tiny print or fast words.  Lose your life and follow Me.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes advertising can be so misleading.  We are often drawn in by the promises offered in flashy advertising.  I praise You for making it clear how I can become part of Your family and for providing a way to salvation through Your Son.  

    

Scripture:   But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.  1 Thessalonians 5:8-10

Passwords

There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.  Billy Sunday

Do you ever get tired of passwords?  I was going to go out and buy some tunes on iTunes last night.  What should have taken a few minutes turned into an hour and I must say I can never remember my Apple ID.  And since I am now in the “Cloud” that password is different. I keep getting a warning on my phone that tells me it has been 6 weeks since my “iCloud” has been backed up and then it asks me for a password I don’t remember.  Do I care?  Not really.  I am not sure what secure information it is trying to back up anyway.  My only concern at this point is that I can dial 911 when I need it. 

Does anyone else have this problem besides me? I had to change my password three times before it would accept it and there is no guarantee it will accept it the next time I try it.  I even did the most unsecure thing you can do; I wrote my new password on a piece of paper so I wouldn’t forget it.  I mean I needed at least eight characters, one capital letter, one lower case letter, one symbol and it couldn’t be a password I had used before.  Prior to this I tried to go to my security questions to retrieve it and when it asked me my birthday it didn’t accept that either.  The final straw that broke the camel’s back was it only gave me two tries before it totally locked me out. 

I understand the need for security, but seriously.  I mean, if I don’t know my birthday who does?  You would have thought I was trying to break into Fort Knox.

I leave for work this morning and I have a code to get into my car, a password to get into my iPhone to listen to the tunes I bought on iTunes.  Since I am in the “Cloud” I also have a password to get into my email on my phone.  I stop to get gas and I have to enter my pin for my credit card and once I am at work I have a key card to get into the office, different passwords to get into my computer, Brix, Lotus, the Intranet, Buzzsaw and any number of other software programs that I use for work.   

I am beginning to think the Internet and technology isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I spend more time trying to get into the programs I use at work than I actually spend working.  Then there are those reminders that your password is going to expire in 2 days.  That just throws me into a panic.  What will I use this time that has 8 characters, one cap, one lower case, one symbol and hasn’t been used before?  I’ve already used my dog’s name, my husband’s, my neighbor’s address, my nephew’s birthday.   I’m beginning to run out of options. 

     

Then I had an epiphany.  I am going to use the one thing that doesn’t need a password “the Bible”.  If I use names and verses in the Bible I will never run out of passwords and when I go look up my new password, I can study about the person’s name I will use and that will remind me what my new password is and the added benefit is I will be spending more time with God.  Bonus!! 

I am so glad we had this talk.  I feel so much better.  I got all of that off my chest and came up with a naming convention for future passwords.  God is Great and God is Good!  

    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You are never far from my thoughts.  Sometimes things of this world frustrate me.  We humans have a tendency to make things extremely complicated when it doesn’t need to be.  Thank You for Your gift of the Bible.  It is the greatest Book ever written and I don’t need a password to access it.    

    

Scripture: The Value of Wisdom

My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. Proverbs 2:1-9

Regret & Defeat

Just because the current giant you are facing looks like one you defeated in the past, don't buy the lie that you never really won the first battle! By the strength of God's grace, you trusted the Almighty and conquered your Goliath. The first giant is dead. Satan is masquerading as your former enemy so he can slip past your faith and regain entrance into your life. Resist him.  Francis Frangipane

There is a great song by Matthew West called “Hello My Name Is”.  I was listening to it this morning and thinking about the words. The first few lines of the song are amazing. 

Hello, my name is regret
I’m pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I’m the whisper inside
That won’t let you forget
Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I’ll drag you right back down again
‘Til you’ve lost all belief
These are the voices, these are the lies
And I have believed them, for the very last time

Lyrics by Matthew West

I decided to read up on the songwriter.  As I was reading about some of the trials he went through including almost severing an artery in his arm which could have ended his ability to play guitar and another incident with his vocal chords and the possibility of never singing again, I started thinking about how we often become defeated by life.  Circumstances occur and we become broken don’t we.  There’s a chip here and a crack there and before we know it we have been battered by life. 

When this happens we often lose sight of the One who loves us the most.  It’s easy to do.  We start thinking that God doesn’t care and our faith slips a little, then we get hit again by life and we feel like we aren’t hearing from God so we slip a little more and before we know it we give up on God.

Every one of us has met “Defeat” and “Regret” at one time or another in our life.  How we react to these two circumstances will make the difference in a great or mediocre faith.  

I love the final verses of this song:

Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, and I have been set free
“Amazing Grace” is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it’s true
Just take a look at my life
What love the Father has lavished upon us
That we should be called His children
I am a child of the one true King

Lyrics by Matthew West

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for the times in my life when I was defeated.  These times became a stepping stone toward a greater faith. You are the One True King in my eyes and I am forever grateful for Your love for me. 

 

Scripture: Christ on a White Horse

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.  He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.  And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.

Light to Others

Just as in prayer it is not we who momentarily catch His attention, but He ours, so when we fail to hear His voice, it is not because He is not speaking so much as that we are not listening. We must recognize that all things are in God and that God is in all things, and we must learn to be very attentive, in order to hear God speaking in His ordinary tone without any special accent.  Charles H. Brent

I was talking to my husband yesterday and he asked me if I had a bad drive to work that morning.  I stopped and thought about it then said “No, why do you ask?”  He said he read my devotional and thought maybe I had a bad traffic day or something. 

I had to stop and think about what I wrote about yesterday.  I told him that I had a great drive in that morning.  No mattresses, recliners, computers, chairs, carpet or other things lost on the freeway.  That’s a good day as far as I am concerned. 

I told him most of the time I don’t know what I am going to write about from one day to the next.  He said if he was writing and he approached it that way there would be a lot of days where there would be no devotional. 

I responded by saying that God gives me the topic.  If I focus on Him long enough it just happens.  Sometimes I will get so many topics I want to write about, that by the time I get to work I forget half of them.  If I focus constantly on the Father there are unlimited supplies of material.

If we are to be a light to the world we have to spend time with the Father. We won’t get this light any other way and we won’t reflect it. Each of us is a light just waiting to be reflected on the world. Find your light. I leave you with the following quote.

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.”  D.L. Moody

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my time with You is precious to me.  The more time I spend with You the more I see You everywhere I go.  Thank you for opening my eyes and allowing me to see You in everything.  

       

Scripture:  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:15-16