Dreaming and Doing

Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I'm not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things - things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him.  Oswald Chambers

Do you have a dream?  We all have dreams.  Some are the kind you have at night where you wake up perplexed or just plain scared.  Then there are the ones that are based on following God and doing His will.  There is still another type of dream where you want to do something amazing but feel you lack the skills, knowledge, energy or will to do it.

When we have a dream we need to decide what to do with it.  We have a choice.  We can ignore our dream or pursue it.  The best dreams are the ones that are God based.  If your dream has anything to do with pursuing others for Christ, that dream is worth more than gold. The irony of this kind of dream is that you may not see the value of it in this lifetime.

    

If your dream is inspired by God, you will need faith.  Hebrews 11:1-3 tells us exactly what faith entails.  (“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.  By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”)

If we are going to release God’s power in our dream we will need faith.  Peter walked on water until he lost faith.  Too many times I think we allow fear to interfere with our dream.  We let doubt creep in and sometimes we even allow others to deter us from pursuing a God given dream. 

There are several things we should do when we have a God given dream.  We need to share it with someone else.  Why?  Because it makes us accountable to try and move toward making that dream a reality.  Second, sharing it with others attracts other people to the dream who want to help make it happen.  It will even attract some you never dreamed of who will support it along the way.  Third and most important, it releases God’s power to make the dream happen. 

If you have a God dream and are hesitating to move forward, step out in faith and let His power work in it.  God is waiting for you to do something about it so that He can release His power to make it a reality.  Don’t let someone else stop you from pursuing a God given dream.  His kingdom depends on you and me to pursue it with everything in us. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I sometimes feel like Paul in 2 Corinthians when he was faced with the call of God, he asked, “Who is adequate for these things?” In my very inadequacy, if I place my faith in You I will move from dreaming to doing.  Through You I can do all things because You are the One who gives me the strength to carry them out. I praise You Heavenly Father for the strength You give me to pursue a dream. 

   

Scripture: But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24

Storms of Life & Valleys

God desires to show His power through your storm, but is your lack of faith keeping Him from doing so? God brings storms into your life to show His strength and to gain glory from His providence.  Paul Chappell

My devotional yesterday talked about how our house was broken into on Saturday.  I also talked about my cancer diagnosis in April, the hail storm that hit just our neighborhood in May, our hot water heater that went out in June and now our house being broken into in August.  I am sure there was something that happened in July but chemo is doing a number on my memory.

Anyway, last night we are sitting in our living room when my husband’s phone rings.  My husband looked at the number and then said I am not answering it since I don’t recognize the number.  Well, a few minutes later the phone rang again; same number.  When Jerry didn’t answer it again he received a text that just said “Hello”.  He decided to call the person back because they were really persistent. 

When he called the number a lady answered and  when Jerry told her who he was she proceeds to tell him that they found his stolen car.  Now the last time I checked we still have both our cars so Jerry responds “What car”.  The rest of the story gets better and folks you can’t make this stuff up.  The lady tells him “We thought we found your stolen car because there is a bag in it that has your name and phone number on it.”  She then explains that they are buying a house in Dallas that has been vacant for a while and they went to check on the house and there is a stolen Lexus parked in the back yard. In the Lexus is Jerry’s duffel bag that we think is the one that had my robe and slipper in it that was stolen on Saturday. 

I know you probably think my husband and I are lunatics, but we started laughing.  Then I told him this has God written all over it.  What are the chances that within a day of being robbed we get a call from someone we don’t know that they may have found some of our stuff in a stolen car that has been hidden in the back yard of a house that is vacant and the people who called haven’t even bought the house yet?  They just stopped by to check on the house. 

I believe that I am on a journey that God has planned for me.  On this journey I have had a whole lot of valleys.  But in those valleys He has helped me touch other people’s lives on His behalf.  I also believe that Satan does his best work when we are in our valleys. If we become discouraged or waiver he is waiting and ready to pounce on us in our vulnerable state.  If I am not focused on God during the storms in my life, I will miss His blessing on the other side of the valley and Satan will gain control. 

The best time to build our faith is when we are being tossed around by life.  If we can weather our storms and have faith that God is there for us in the midst of them, then how much greater will our faith be when we reach the other side.  We are guaranteed storms and it is not a matter of if they will come, it is when.  When you think your storm is too big to handle, turn to the One who is the Master of calming storms.     

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, when I started this journey four months ago; I was reminded of Jesus calming the storm that tossed the boat that the disciples were in.  As Jesus slept they were worried about whether they would survive.  You have the power to see us through any storm of life; but we must first turn to You and believe that You are capable of calming the storm.  Thank You for calming my storms and thank You for helping me through them.      

      

Scripture: Wind and Wave Obey Jesus

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”  Matthew 8:23-27

Cast Your Eyes Up to Heaven

We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above. To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death.  A.B. Simpson

On the way to work today I was listening to a gospel song by Lyle Lovett.  When I first got in the car I was thinking about what I needed to do when I got to work and then there is my whole other to do list of things that need to get done away from work. Needless to say my thoughts weren’t on heaven.   

When the song came on I started listening to the lyrics and it struck me how true they are, so I hit repeat and listened to it again.  There are a lot of hallelujahs but my favorite verse talks about when he was a baby sitting on his mama’s knee.  She told him, “Son, if you cast your eyes up to heaven, Heaven’s what you’ll see.” 

I think that is an amazing lyric.  If we keep our gaze on the Father we’ll see Him.  Our gaze must be focused on Him or we lose sight of Him. There is a lot of sorrow, pain, hate and injustice in this world we live in. 

On Saturday I went to visit my sister and parents.  When my husband got home our back gate was open as well as our back door.  When he walked into the house he realized someone had broken into our house.  When I got home the police were inside dusting for fingerprints.  The thieves kicked in our back door and trashed our house.  They took the drawers out of my nightstand and chest of drawers and dumped all of my clothes on the floor.  They went through each room and pulled things out of the closets and dumped them on the floor. They took our TV, my new laptop, cash, my husband’s high school and college class rings. I had a bag that I had packed for when I go to the hospital for surgery and they dumped some of it on the floor and used it to take the coins my husband had in his office.  I was left with one slipper and no robe.  Our six month old puppy was in his kennel by the back doors when they broke in so he was traumatized.  He wouldn’t eat yesterday or today. I mean you can’t make this stuff up.

My husband and I were sitting on our couch on Sunday looking at the blank space where our TV used to be and I started laughing.  I mean it is a whole lot better than crying.  As my husband put it, “The previous years have been really good to us, so now we’re making up for it in 3 months.”  On the same day I was diagnosed with cancer a hail storm hit our house and vehicles, the next month our hot water heater went out, and now we were burglarized. As we sat there laughing we talked about how much God has blessed us. You don’t have to look far to see someone in a worse situation than yourself.   

  

Some of the ladies at work gave me a t-shirt that says “Not today Satan”.  Have you figured out that the closer you get to God the more Satan attacks you.  He tries to break us just like he tried to break Jesus.  He wants us to give up on God.  It would be so much easier to just give in to Satan and then he would leave us alone.  What I do know is that I believe in an amazing God and I will never give up on Him.  If I keep my eyes on Heaven; Heaven is what I’ll see. 

I love the last verse and stanza. 

Though I walk through
Death's dark valley
On that road of misery
I just keep my eyes on Heaven
Heaven is where I'll be.

Written & performed by Lyle Lovett

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me this song that lifted me up on my way to work.  I was so immersed in my thoughts about what I thought I needed to do, that I lost sight of You.  Help me to keep my eyes on You so that Heaven is what I see.  “Sing Praise the Lord, Sing Hallelujah, I’m going to the place my Father has made.”    

     

Scripture: Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  John 17:1-5

Distractions

Christ choosing solitude for private prayer, doth not only hint to us the danger of distraction and deviation of thoughts in prayer, but how necessary it is for us to choose the most convenient places we can for private prayer. Our own fickleness and Satan's restlessness call upon us to get into such places where we may freely pour out our soul to God [Mark 1.35].  Thomas Brooks

Do you ever get distracted by daily life?  You may get tired of hearing about the stupid things I do, but these everyday distractions often help remind me of God and they often get me back on track and thinking of Him.

Yesterday I stopped at Starbucks.  There is one on my way to work so I see some of the same cars and people at this one.  There is always this one gentleman who is sitting at a table reading.  I went in and made a purchase.  When I was on my way out I walked out the door and was putting my credit card back in my wallet, (distracted), so I wasn’t really paying attention to the vehicles parked in front of the store.  Since there were only two cars parked in the whole lot it shouldn’t be hard to find mine.

Well, since I was busy putting my credit card in my wallet, I just walked up to the first car I came to and grabbed the handle and opened the door.  I will say that I had already clicked the unlock on my key so being able to open the door wasn’t an issue.  As I went to get in I looked down and the color of the interior was different.  I thought, “Man, I didn’t know my seats were this color.”  I also have a cover on my seat to protect it and the cover was gone. Then I thought, “Man this car sure does sit low.”  

Then it hit me.  This wasn’t my car.  The first thing that crossed my mind was, “who leaves their car unlocked” these days.  I mean, there is always someone out there waiting to steal it.  Then there was the embarrassed part where I wondered if the guy who owns the car sitting in Starbucks realized I was trying to get into his car. 

I admit I started laughing.  Then I thought about God and I really do think He has an amazing sense of humor. He probably sits up there watching us do some really stupid stuff and just shakes His head.  He created us in His image and we often aren’t a good representation of Him.  The amazing thing is, He still cares enough to want us to get back on track and be better.  The distractions of life can either get in the way of our relationship with Him or draw us closer to Him. Jesus is our best example of not being distracted.  His sole purpose on earth was to save us.  He didn’t let distractions get in the way of His purpose.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I was distracted yesterday and almost got into someone else’s car.  When I am distracted I can often miss opportunities to spend time with you.  I want to be more focused on You.  Thank You for loving me enough to keep pursuing me.  When I stray toward doing something stupid, help point me in Your direction.    

Scripture: Preaching in Galilee

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.”

But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.”

And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons. Mark 1:35-39

At the Bottom

To place ourselves in range of God's choicest gifts, we have to walk with God, work with God, lean on God, cling to God, come to have the sense and feel of God, refer all things to God.   Neal Plantinga

Have you ever noticed how everything we do in life starts at the bottom?  When you go to school you start out in kindergarten.  Then you go to junior high and start at the bottom again.  You move to high school and there you are a freshman again starting at the bottom.  You go to college, and your right back at the bottom, a freshman.  You get a job and there you are again at the bottom.    

What we learn through this process is that when we start out at anything in this world we will most likely start at the bottom.  This is no different for a new Christian.  Do you remember the excitement you had when you first became a Christian?  How many of us falter when we are at the bottom.  We all do.  One of the reasons we stumble is because we don’t know everything we need to know to be more like Christ.  If we are wise we learn that if you are starting at the bottom there will be hard times getting to the top.  If we are wiser still, we will learn that God is the glue that holds us together in the hard times. 

Our Christian life is a refining process.  It starts out when we are young and continues through adulthood.  Everything we do can either help or hinder this process.  For us to benefit the most from the refining process of life, we will need to perform some action.  We must be walking, working, leaning, clinging and referring.  The word that comes to mind for me is we must be dependent; dependent on the One who created us.  If we are depending on ourselves for everything; we may make it to the top by worldly standards, but we won’t come to know God our heavenly Creator.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, it is interesting that we always must start at the bottom in life.  How I handle the bottom of life will make a difference in my eternal life.  I praise You for giving me the bottoms of life as they help me to know You better and to become more like Jesus.  The only direction to go from the bottom is up.  Keep me focused so that I am always heading in Your direction.  

    

Scripture: Loving God Under Trials

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.  James 1:12-18

Who Do You Depend On?

When we dare to depend entirely upon God and do not doubt, the humblest and feeblest agencies will become mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. A.B. Simpson

I started thinking this morning about who I depend on.  There are family members and friends and even acquaintances that I depend on for different reasons.  Sometimes we depend on them to get work to us so that we can complete our job and other times we depend on them to be there for us when things go south; and in this life, things will go south at one point or another.  

When I started thinking about how I depend on other’s I thought of the most important One I depend on.  God.  When I think of who I depend on the most the first one who comes to mind is God.  The one constant thing in my life that I can depend on when everyone else may fail me is God.  He will never forsake me.  He doesn’t have an unknown agenda.  The Bible lays it all out for me in black and white and it points me to Whom I can depend in times of trouble. 

So when the tough times come and tragedy strikes He is where I turn because I know He is dependable.  I was talking to someone this week and it occurred to me that this person doesn’t know and understand God the way I do.  From our conversations, I can tell this person depends more on their own abilities to see them through the tough things in life instead of depending on God. 

I was that person at one time in my life.  I depended on myself to get me through hardships and the crisis’ in my life but over time I learned that my abilities and actions didn’t get me through the hardships; God did.  When we finally realize who is in control of our life and that He knows everything that will happen in it; we can then let go and let Him.  We can lean on Him and depend on Him.  When we understand that He wants the best for us, we can be free to worship Him as He intended.  It won’t matter what the outcome of whatever our circumstance is; we can rest in the assurance that He will take care of it.

Depend on the One who gave you life.  There is no One more dependable than God and no one stronger and more capable of taking care of You than Him.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, over the years I have learned that You are the One I depend on.  It doesn’t matter what I am going through whether it be sadness, sorrow, fear or worry, You are the one I can depend on to see me through it.  Remind me that You are dependable and that You have proven it over and over again.     

Scripture: God the Rock of Salvation

In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.  Psalm 71:1-3

Be a Great Forgiver

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.  C.S. Lewis

Are you a great forgiver?  We all have things we need to forgive and the majority of the time what we need to forgive involves another individual in our life.  One of the best examples of a Great Forgiver was Jesus.  As He hung on a cross and was ridiculed by others He made this statement in Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” How many times do we carry a grudge against someone for something they said or did to us years ago?

Being a great forgiver means we stop waiting for someone to ask for forgiveness or make restitution.  When we allow the people around us to direct our path because we haven’t forgiven them then we have lost the battle.  Jesus didn’t look up at God when he was hanging from the cross and ask God to kill them all.  That is something we would do if we were in Jesus’ place.  We often want revenge instead of reconciliation.  We want the other person who hurt us to hurt too. The odd thing about it is most of the time the person who hurt you is already hurting from something someone else did to them or something that is going on in their life. 

One of the most important things about forgiveness is we can’t change the world if we are carrying around bitterness, anger and hate.  Letting go means living.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, help me to forgive and let go of the anger and bitterness that occurs when others hurt me.  I want to be more like Jesus, who gave the ultimate sacrifice and still forgave those who hung Him on a cross.  Jesus died for my sin and I should feel the same compassion for others that Jesus felt for me when He died to save me.          

      

Scripture: He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.  Proverbs 17:9

Forgiveness and Prayer

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”   Mark 11:25-26

A New You

We become like that which we behold. We will never be transformed into the likeness of God or be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus until we learn how to behold His beauty. To see Him is to be like Him. As David beheld the beauty of the Lord, as he meditated on the glorious perfections and passions of God's character, he became more like God. More than that, he fell ever more in love with God. Sam Storms

Many are ashamed to be seen as God made them; few are ashamed to be seen what the devil hath made them. Many are troubled at small defects in the outward man; few are troubled at the greatest deformities of the inward man; many buy artificial beauty to supply the natural; few spiritual, to supply the defects of the supernatural beauty of the soul.  Abraham Wright

I listen to the news in the morning before I leave for work.  There was a commercial on this morning that talked about finding the “True” you.  As I listened it talked about how this company could bring out the true you with eye lifts, face lifts, tummy tucks and any other number of external changes that would turn you into the “true” you.

I started thinking about all the surgeries this business wanted to do so that you could encounter the true you.  I admit we live in a vain society that places great value on looks.  The sad reality is we often buy into what society believes is important.  There are even some who will go into these places and pick from pictures whose nose they would like theirs to look like.  I guess that would mean you are finding someone else’s you.

It started me thinking about God the Master Craftsman.  He created each of us and we are all part of who He is.  Yet many times we want to change what He created.  We want to be taller, shorter and prettier (by the world’s standards).  In many countries there are people who are willing to allow people not trained in medicine, to perform major surgery to make them more attractive by their countries standards even to the point of death.

We have lost sight of what God created.  God doesn’t look at the outer package.  He is looking for what is inside. You can have all the surgeries the world has to offer, but if what’s on the inside isn’t pretty no amount of outer surgery will fix the inner you. 

    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, we live in a society that places great value on looks.  We spend billions of dollars every year on the external and very little on the internal.  Keep reminding me that what is on the inside is the most important.  Help me to spend my time working on the inside.  I think what we often miss is the more beautiful we become on the inside, the more radiant we are to those around us.  That is the reflection of You in us.  I pray for that radiance.  It’s called the “Light” in me.   

      

Scripture: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Genesis 1:26-27