Investing Time

There's a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. When you truly know God, you have energy to serve him, boldness to share him, and contentment in him. J.I. Packer

How well do you know God? Have you ever looked at your hardship as a true blessing?  When we decide to get to know God it will take an investment of our time.  We aren’t going to get to know him by just going to church on Sunday and praying every once in a while.

The best investment in our life is not going to be stock in Google or Starbucks.  Our best investment will be time spent with God.  Too often I think we assume that we know Him because we believe.  The part we miss is that we don’t dwell on his promises and spend time in His Word. 

When we decide to be friends with someone we don’t just get together once in a while and visit for an hour.  If I have a true friend in someone, I will get to know the whole person.  What I mean is we get to know their hurts and heartaches.  We spend enough time with them that when we speak with them on the phone or get together with them we are more concerned about what is going on with them than our own circumstances. These are the people we would do anything for or extend a hand when they need us most, even under the worst circumstances.  Have you also figured out that getting to know someone can get messy and cost us?

The question I asked myself this morning was, “Why don’t I do this with God?”?  He has given me the greatest gift on earth, “Salvation”, and yet I often don’t spend much time getting to know Him or understand what hurts Him. The benefit of getting to know Him is I will understand what hurts Him, which will lead to action by me doing something about it.

There is a song on the radio about a man who sees children being abused and sold into slavery and he shakes his fist at God and asks Him why doesn’t He do something about it.  The chorus of the song says, “That’s why I made you”.   If we are ever going to understand God we will first need to invest time with Him. When we figure out that what hurts God should also hurt us, that is the beginning of understanding Who He is. 

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You are a better friend to me than I am to You.  I often don’t look past my own circumstances and troubles to see who You really are.  I need to spend more time with You so that I can understand what concerns You.  What concerns You should concern me.  When I begin to understand that I don’t deserve what You’ve done for me, that is the beginning of my friendship with You.  Help me to become more like You.  The best investment I will ever make is time spent with You.  

Scripture: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:7-10

Five Loaves & Two Fish

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

I love finding wisdom in the Bible.  To me it is like the best treasure hunt ever.  Sometimes it takes a great deal of reading and searching, but when you find a nugget of truth it is like the search was worth all the time involved.

I was reading about Jesus and the feeding of the five thousand.  Remember how the apostles told Jesus to send the people away so that they could find provisions and lodging.  I love Jesus’ response.  “You give them something to eat.”  What was their response?  We only have five loaves and two fish.  The apostles decided that they couldn’t feed the multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish. 

Have you ever thought about how frustrating it would have been to be Jesus trying to teach the apostles in the short time he was here on earth?  These guys had Jesus in their midst and sometimes they just didn’t get it.   There are times when I don’t get it either, so I understand how trying we humans can be at the best of times. 

Jesus told the apostles, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”  As the apostles stood around talking amongst themselves about how they forgot to bring bread, Jesus interrupts them and tells them He is not talking about bread but the corrupt doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Leaven consisted of dough that had fermented.  Jesus used the term as an illustration of the growth of the kingdom of heaven in the individual heart and the world.  Leavening of dough has multiple characteristics.  It is an outside source, it operates secretly, it spreads by contact just like a germ and it changes what it comes in contact with and multiplies. 

As the apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.    

Prayer for the Day: Jesus, you give examples in the Bible of how we are to live out our days here on earth.  You remind us not to become like the Pharisees and Sadducees filled with malice and wickedness but to be filled with sincerity and truth.  I need Your help to become more like You.  I praise You for giving me examples to follow that I can apply to my daily life.  

     

Scripture:  The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”

But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:5-12

Broken Things

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever. Vance Havner

When I read this quote I started thinking about how true it is in our daily life. We are a broken people living in a broken world.  When I think of Peter denying Christ three times it breaks my heart.  Peter loved Jesus but he was weak like us.  When push came to shove he denied Him. 

The thing is, we do this every day in our own lives. When we don’t stand up for our Savior we are just like Peter who denied Him over and over again.  One of the hardest things for me is to go against public opinion.  I am a people pleaser by nature and in the past I always wanted people to like me.  The problem is when you stand for Christ there are going to be a lot of people who won’t like what you have to say or appreciate what you believe. 

I read another quote by Vance Havner that put it in perspective for me. “A preacher should have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child and the hide of a rhinoceros. His biggest problem is how to toughen his hide without hardening his heart.” If we are take a stand for God, we will need all the ammunition we can get and tough hides.  It will mean standing up for unpopular opinions and bucking the system.  People will dislike you, ridicule you and talk about you. 

I like to think of it like a race.  When you think you can’t take another step you do it anyway.  Once you take that step you figure out that you survived it, so you take another and another.  We aren’t sprinting to the finish line.  Our life on earth is one long race and it can be the difference in a race well run or the opposite and that would be a race never run.

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am broken.  What I do know is that if I place my trust in You and continue, You are there to guide and direct my steps even in the midst of my brokenness.  Without You I am nothing and will get nowhere.  When Jesus died on the cross, it gave me the opportunity to run the race of a lifetime.  Keep me focused on You and remind me to give all the glory to You.  

    

Scripture: Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”

Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

And so said all the disciples.  Matthew 26:31-35

 

God’s Power

God has defeated Satan through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through this overwhelming victory, God has also empowered you to overcome any temptation to sin and has provided sufficient resources for you to respond biblically to any problem of life. By relying on God's power and being obedient to His Word, you can be an overcomer in any situation. John C. Broger

Our world runs on the power of electricity.  We use it for everything.  You only miss it when the electricity goes out.  That is when you realize how much we depend on a plug in the wall.  Have you ever stopped to think about everything you use electricity for each morning?

In a typical morning for me, I turn off the alarm that wakes me up each morning then I turn on the lights in the bathroom and kitchen.  I turn on the TV to watch the news while I am getting dressed.  I turn on the light in my closet to decide what to wear.  I walk into the kitchen and turn on the coffee maker.  I unplug my phone from the charger.  I open the refrigerator to get creamer.  I use a blow dryer to dry my hair.  I sometimes turn on the iron to press my clothes.  All of this power is used in the first hour of my day. 

This started me thinking about God’s Power.  How much more could we accomplish if we were plugged into His Power.  The problem is sometimes we don’t have enough faith to fully get plugged in.  Too many times we determine that we are “self” sufficient and are in control.  When we start thinking like that we are basically dimming the lights on God’s Power.  When we begin to think that we are in control we have lost the most powerful tool in our toolbox. 

How do we plug into His Power?  One of the hardest things for me to learn was to let go and let Him.  When my life is spinning out of control I have a tendency to try to grab the reins and take back control.  

When I was young we rode horses and one of the scariest things for me was to have the reins of the horse fall out of my hands.  In a controlled situation a horse is steered by the reins.  If you want the horse to go left or right you use the reins to pull in the direction you want to go.  When you drop the reins the horse gains full control.  You are no longer steering.  If the horse gets spooked then you are in trouble.  When a horse is spooked he will run uncontrollably anywhere and he totally forgets about the rider.  I’ve had them run up against trees and under low branches all while I am sitting on his back. 

When things in my life are out of my control I need to turn to Jesus and pray for His strength.  God also provided the Holy Spirit to help me in these times.  The key to doing amazing things for God’s glory is to let go and let Him lead.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I keep falling into Satan’s trap thinking that I am in control. Sometimes I hinder Your work in and through me, because I don’t trust You enough to be my strength.  Help me to let go and let You lead me where You want me to go.  You are all the Power I need.  I praise Your Holy Name.  

Scripture: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

As Long as Necessary

Forgiveness is repeating the process as long as necessary.

“Peter came to him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’” (Jewish law said you had to forgive a person three times, so Peter doubled it and threw one in for good measure.) “‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven!’” (Matthew 18:21-22 NLT)

I was thinking about forgiveness as I read the passage in Matthew 18:21-22.  One of the ways that I always fail is when I know what is right but I don’t do it.  It’s self-defeating isn’t it?  I mean God tells us clearly what we should do, but we decide not to do what is right. 

The correlation between how God forgives us and how we are to forgive others is directly tied to how God will treat us one day when we stand before Him.  Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant who had his master forgive him of a debt but then he turned around and didn’t forgive someone who owed him. 

I think one of the biggest issues we face is that we think our sin is not the same as the next guys. We pull out a measuring stick and start measuring our sin against our brothers and sisters and we decide that our sin is not as bad as the other guys.  The reality is that in God’s eyes all sin is bad.  There are no degrees of sin.  If I start to look at my sin as equal to that of someone else, that is when I see the true blessing in God’s forgiveness of my sin. 

In this parable the words “over and over” again have new meaning.  When we take the sin that is committed against us and turn it into forgiveness we are becoming more like Christ. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I don’t always do what is right when it comes to forgiveness. Many times I start measuring my sin against someone else’s and I start to think I am not so bad.  The reality of it is I am just as bad as the next guy in my sin.  Help me to forgive as You tell us to in Matthew 18. I want to be more like Christ in my forgiveness of others.

Scripture: Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Matthew 18:21-35

All Things Work Together For Good

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

One of my favorite verses is Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” I admit that for years I struggled with this verse.  I would ask myself, “How could God mean it for my good when I suffer or go through trials?” 

On Friday I ran by the bank on my way to work to get cash.  It’s 5:45am and I pull up to the ATM and slip my card into the machine.  I’ve come to think of the ATM machine as All Things in a Minute.  The machine goes blank.  There is nothing on the screen and the only thing flashing is the card slot where you insert your ATM card.  So I press the cancel button and nothing happens.  I did that several times just in case I didn’t press it hard enough.  Nothing.  So here I sit with my ATM card stuck in the machine. 

I will confess here that I didn’t automatically think of God at this point.  So I look over and there is a phone number to call in case of emergencies.  I am thinking that this is an emergency so I call the number.  I get the automated machine and there was no option for an ATM machine eating your card.  So I immediately start thinking that if I drive off with my card still in the machine will it all of a sudden decide to spit my card out to the next person who comes along.  Then my mind jumped to identity theft.  So I had to make the hard decision to drive away and leave my card in the machine. 

As I drove off I finally started thinking about God.  Then I thought of Romans 8:28.  If all things work together for good to those who love God, then why am I worrying.  The Bible doesn’t say a few things work together for good, or some things or a couple of things.  What then came to mind was how could this be good for me?  I mean I am not Bill Gates with more money than I could possibly hope to spend in a lifetime.  Any thief who got my card and tried to steal money from me would be sorely disappointed.  I could just see them putting my card in the machine punching in the code and then saying “Are you kidding me?”  

When I calmed down long enough to really think about the situation and pray about it here is what I decided.  I canceled the card when the bank opened. The second thing I thought about was this is a great way to save money.  I don’t carry checks with me anymore since I always use my debit card so if I have no access to my account that is a good thing. 

What is the moral of this story?  If I spent half the time thanking God for the trials that are meant for my good I would be a pretty happy and joyful person. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am sorry I didn’t think of You first.  I went into full out panic mode.  When I finally moved to thinking about You, there was a sort of peace that eventually came over me.  It reminded me that You do mean all things for my good if I love You and if I can always look at it from that perspective, I will spend less time stressing and worrying over things that don’t matter. 

Scripture: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:28-39

Encouragement & Discouragement

What an encouragement to realize that God has reserved you and me for a special task in His great work. In His hands we're not only useful, but priceless.  Joni Eareckson Tada

The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'  Billy Graham

If you look at the words encouragement and discouragement they both contain the word courage. 

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is David and Goliath.  If anyone had reason to be discouraged it was David.  He was the smallest of his brothers. Do you remember what one of his brothers said to him when he asked “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Remember how his oldest brother became angry because David was asking the soldiers what they were going to do about this huge Philistine who was defying the armies of God.  His brother actually told him he knew the pride and insolence of David’s heart and asked him why he left his sheep to come down to the battle. 

I don’t know about you but that would have discouraged me.  But David didn’t stop.  He just turned away from his brother and asked the same question of the next person.  When David continues to question why someone isn’t doing something about this giant someone brings it to the attention of Saul and Saul sends for David to be brought to him.    

In 1 Samuel 17:32 David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”   Here is where David should have been discouraged again because Saul tells him, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” 

So look at this from our perspective. His oldest brother has gotten angry with him and basically told him to go back to his sheep.  Saul has told him that he is not mighty enough to fight the Philistine.  Then Goliath adds his two bits and makes fun of David and curses him and his God. 

David had the courage of God in his heart on that day.  He wasn’t going to let anything discourage him from standing up for God.  We need that very courage today in a world that ridicules our God on a daily basis.  God is looking for warriors to fight the battle of a lifetime and the only way we will get the courage we need is to go to God.  If we have Him going before us we can’t lose.

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes I lack courage to face daily obstacles.  The thing I often fail to do is to turn to You for the courage I need.  I pray for the courage of David who knew whose he was and he had a heart for You.  Please give me that same heart.  A heart that will not accept words against You.  If I go to You for courage You will give more than I will need.  Thank you for giving us examples to follow like David.

Scripture: They wander about for food and howl if not satisfied.  But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.  Psalm 59:15-17

Lying When the Truth Would Sound Better

Renewing the mind is a little like refinishing furniture. It is a two-stage process. It involves taking off the old and replacing it with the new. The old is the lies you have learned to tell or were taught by those around you; it is the attitudes and ideas that have become a part of your thinking but do not reflect reality. The new is the truth. To renew your mind is to involve yourself in the process of allowing God to bring to the surface the lies you have mistakenly accepted and replace them with truth. To the degree that you do this, your behavior will be transformed.  Charles Stanley

I was listening to the news this morning and they were talking about the baseball players who were suspended for using steroids.  It made me think of lying.  I have committed the sin of lying in my lifetime.  Lying has become a disease of epidemic proportions.  It is going to kill more people than any other disease known to man.

Where do we learn to lie?  It has to be a learned thing because we aren’t born knowing how to lie.  I think we learn to lie from a lot of sources.  We learn from our parents, friends, spouses and peers.  We also learn it from society.  Society is the best place to learn how to lie. 

Children learn from watching others.  What do they see on a daily basis?  The sports figures they admire lie about the drugs they take to enhance their performance on the field, actors and actresses lie about driving drunk, crashing their car or any number of things. 

But lies are not limited to famous people.  They exist in our families, friends, acquaintances and peers.  This started me thinking about why I lied in the past.  The one thing that struck me was not that God knew I was lying and I knew He knew, but that I knew there would be consequences and the fear of punishment.  My fear of the punishment was often worse than the lie I told.  When my fear of earthly punishment overshadowed my fear of God, I was in trouble. 

Why is it that way?  When we determine that we are more afraid of someone on earth doling out the punishment than we are of God’s punishment, we need to rethink the situation.  How do we handle a child that lies when the truth would sound better? 

I thought about the story in the Bible about one of the greatest lies ever told and how Jesus handled that lie. When Jesus told Peter he would deny knowing Him three times, Peter was offended and told Jesus he would follow Him even to death.  So not only did Peter lie about not denying Jesus but he did deny knowing Jesus, not once but three times. 

Jesus later in John 17:9-19 interceded on the disciples’ behalf and prayed for them.  Isn’t that how we should handle those who lie in this life?  Jesus used love as punishment.  How ironic is that?  How amazing to love someone enough that when they lied you would forgive them and pray for them.  Notice that Jesus didn’t condone Peter’s behavior he just spoke truth. I think too many times we humans retaliate in kind to those who lie to us instead of loving them. In reality we all commit the same sin as Peter did when we lie. We deny knowing God every time lies pass our lips.  

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, one day we will all stand before You with the lies of a lifetime on our hearts.  I have lied when the truth would have sounded better but I want to remove the sin of lying from my heart.  The only way I can do that is to look at myself honestly and truthfully and repent.  Thank You for giving me a way back to You. 

  

Scripture: And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”  Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”  Luke 22:31-34

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. John 17:9-19

Miracles

How quickly we forget God's great deliverances in our lives. How easily we take for granted the miracles he performed in our past. David Wilkerson

Miracle - an extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is considered a work of God.

Do you ever think about the miracles in your life?  Too many times, if you are like me, we have a tendency to forget about God’s miracles in our lives.  God answers our prayers and performs a miracle but we forget that miracle until we need another one.

During Jesus’ time on earth He performed many miracles.  He continued to perform miracles throughout His time on earth.  We are so blessed that He didn’t wake up one day and decide He wasn’t going to perform miracles any more. Can you imagine how frustrated He must have been with the people back then?  But wait, we do the same thing today.  We must frustrate Him to no end. 

One of the major miracles in my life was surviving cancer.  The statistics are not good for someone with ovarian cancer.  To understand the miracle of that fact, I didn’t have to look any further than my support group at the hospital where I was treated. 

The hospital decided to do an article about ovarian cancer in their newsletter.  They had all of the survivors go down to the wig shop at the cancer center and they took a photo of all of us together.  That photo appeared on the front cover of the newsletter.  I still have that newsletter in the drawer in my living room.  If I need a reminder about the miracles that God performs daily, I pull that newsletter out and look at the picture.  In that photo of 20 women there are only 6 still living.  I am one of the 6. 

If you are looking for a miracle in your circumstance consider the following things.  When miracles happen it is not just one person standing alone.  I didn’t stand alone when I battled cancer.  I had family, friends and people I didn’t even know praying.  Second, I had God in my corner.  I knew Him, loved Him and put my faith in Him.  Third, I had to let God lead me.  When you are in the midst of cancer you have to make decisions and the best decision you will ever make it to allow God to lead you.  He knows what is going to happen.  Why wouldn’t we want to give the control to Him? 

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am again reminded of how many miracles You have performed in my life.  I didn’t deserve the miracle you performed by saving me from dying of cancer, but I can spend the rest of my life thanking You, allowing you to lead me and telling others what You did for me. You are the bread of life and with You I will never hunger or thirst. With You I will have everlasting life. 

  

Scripture: Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” 

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”  John 6:26-40

Green Acres

So long as we are occupied with any other object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart nor peace for the mind. But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand, then, no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings--whether in a hovel or prison-dungeon, or at a martyr's stake--we shall be enabled to say, " The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places" (Psalm 16:6). But that is the language of faith, not of sight nor of sense.   A.W. Pink

Those of you who are not the ripe old age of me might not have ever heard of this show but it was one I loved to watch as a kid.  Green Acres was a show about a big city attorney named Oliver and his Hungarian wife Lisa.  Oliver was originally a Manhattan attorney who decided to trade the big city life for the rural countryside.  It portrayed the lives of city folk moving to the country as greenhorns. Lisa hated the country and wanted the big city life back, but she actually fit in better than Oliver because of her quirkiness. 

There were episodes about Oliver arguing with the phone company about moving his phone inside the house.  It was installed on a telephone pole and you had to climb the pole to answer the phone.  There was Mr. Haney the salesman who sold the ramshackle “Haney Farm” to the gullible Oliver. 

Oliver and Lisa had elderly neighbors who never had children so they adopted a pig named Arnold Ziffel as their son who understood English, went to the local school and loved westerns.  Oliver seemed to be the only one who understood that Arnold was livestock and not a person. Arnold would sometimes show up at Oliver and Lisa’s house to watch TV.

 

I was thinking about this long ago show and it actually made me long for the country life.  We grew up in the country where riding horses was the norm.  We rode in the evenings as kids.  Dad would get home from work and we would saddle all the horses and all six of us would ride for several hours.  It was amazing how much you could see riding around the neighborhoods.  We actually caught up with neighbors along the way because they would be out in their yards so we would stop to talk and catch up.  We also had great family time.  You had plenty of time to talk with no traffic noise or exhaust fumes and no one was ever in a hurry to get anywhere.

My husband and I went back to my hometown recently and although many things have changed, the one thing that hasn't are my memories of childhood.  As we drove down the streets in my neighborhood where we used to ride horses, I was reminded of what heaven might be like and I long for it. live and work in the big city now and there are more cars than horses and fewer kids riding bicycles and more playing video games. 

If I had it to do over I would spend more time with God than I did back then.  It is wonderful to reflect back on those long ago times but I realize now that I didn’t appreciate God’s creation as much as I do now.  There were many years that I wasted in not seeing God in everything around me.  Think of how much I missed by not tuning into Him. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I miss those long ago days of carefree summers and where life was much simpler.  Now I am always in a hurry because there isn’t enough time in the day to get to everything.  Help me to slow down in this fast paced environment and appreciate Your creation.  I can find You anywhere but I need to slow down so I won’t miss a detail.   

Scripture:  O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.  Psalm 16:5-8

Hidden

As Christians, we are called to maintain lives that can be "toured" by outsiders at any time, without embarrassment. A commitment to holiness means having a life that is always "ready for company" and open for inspection - a life that can stand up to scrutiny - not just in the obvious things, but in the hidden places where most might not think to look.  Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Are you ready for company?  If someone knocks on your door are you ready to open it and let them in. 

Writing these devotionals has helped me tremendously.  I have told stories of my life that some people have never heard.  By some people I mean the people closest to me, my family and closest friends.

What purpose does it serve to reveal the hidden things in your life?  For one thing, the majority of hidden things are often sin.  Why else would we hide them? We don’t want anyone to find out that we are not perfect.  We don’t want anyone to know that we failed.  We don’t want to admit that we are not God. 

We elevate ourselves above God when we decide we will keep our sin hidden from others.  If we think our sin is hidden and convince everyone around us that we are good and that no one will know, we are separating ourselves from God.  The problem is God knows.  When we figure out that God knows every wrong we have ever committed, that is the first step we take in His direction. 

When we realize that God knows, we then take that second step which is asking for forgiveness from the One who created us.  The next step is one of the most critical.  For us to be healed from the sin that entraps us we need to reveal that sin to someone else.  The thing about this step is we have to be careful who we reveal it to.  If we don’t choose someone who is trustworthy and understands that we are human with human failings, we could be opening ourselves up to ridicule and that can cause us to return to hiding our sin.  If we are not sharing our sin with others we are not opening up that door for another person’s intercessory prayers on our behalf.

Keeping our sin hidden can only happen with people just like us.  Sinners.  If we want to step out onto God’s path and walk toward Him, we must first confess the sin to someone we trust and ask that person to pray for us.  Too many times I think we choose the wrong person to confess our sin to and the reaction we get from that person can send us back into hiding again.  Choose wisely and confess openly.    

   

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am a sinner.  I am on a path that Satan tries daily to throw things my way that will make me stumble.  Help me to choose wisely the people I confide in so that I will not fall into Satan’s trap of trying to hide my sin thinking no one will know.  You know every sin I have committed and You forgive me over and over again.  Thank You for showing me grace and mercy when I don’t deserve it.  My trust is in You and I love and praise You. 

Scripture: Separated from God

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.  Isaiah 59:1-3

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  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.  James 5:15-18