Free With Purchase

But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:22-23

 

Advertisements are designed to inform and motivate us to purchase something.  I received an email advertisement yesterday that caught my attention.  The ad was for a free satellite radio.  Now this radio is reconditioned which means that its parts were used previously somewhere else and you have 30 days to return it if some of those reconditioned parts don’t work. 

The thing that interested me about this advertisement was the way it was presented. In the heading of the advertisement it said free satellite radio but when you got to the body of the ad it said in fine print at the bottom “minimum 3-month recurring subscription required.”

So if I am required to get a subscription how does that make this “free.”  There is a condition to this advertisement that requires me to pay something to get the item that is supposedly “free” and to top it off, I have to get a recurring subscription that will most likely cost me postage to send them a notice after the 3 months of the recurring subscription is over to cancel the subscription that I didn’t want in the first place for the reconditioned radio that may or may not work.

The thing is we can get salvation for “FREE”.  There are no hidden fees for us to pay or the need to purchase a subscription for three months or make a deposit or take the chance that the reconditioned parts won’t work.  It is just what it says.  “FREE.”   Except there is one thing we need to remember.  Someone else paid the price for us.  Jesus paid it all for us to have salvation.  So when someone says there is nothing in life for free remind them of the price that was paid to set us “FREE.”.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You gave us the ultimate gift.  Your Son died on a cross for our sins and we don’t deserve it.  How can we not make the choice to accept this amazing gift? Thank You for the gift of salvation that was paid at a high cost by Your Son.   

  

Scripture:   Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.  But the free gift is not like the offense.  For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.  And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned.  For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.  For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)  Romans 5:12-17

Understanding Forgiveness

Forgiving is rediscovering the shining path of peace that at first you thought others took away when they betrayed you. ~Dodinsky

Forgive all who have offended you, not for them, but for yourself. ~Harriet Nelson

The man who forgives is far stronger than the man who fights. ~Nathan Croall

I write a lot of devotionals about forgiveness because this is one of the things I really struggle with every day.  It is one of the most difficult sins for me to overcome so I work on it daily, I study God’s Word about it and I pray a lot about it. 

Our pastor spoke about forgiveness this weekend and it helped me to understand what forgiveness is and what it is not.  He also talked about how we get stuck in the process of forgiving.  This really helped me understand what forgiving means.

The following is a list that he gave about what loving our enemy is not:

Agreeing

Allowing evil to continue

Interrupting justice

The same as trusting

Being a doormat or always letting them run over you

Liking them

A one time event

Easy

The following is a list of what loving our enemy is:

Refusing to return evil for evil

Meeting legitimate needs

Refusing to rerun the offence

Refusing to play God

Opening the door to reconciliation

The thing that struck me in the sermon was that not all loving of our enemies will lead to reconciliation and God doesn’t say you have to like your enemies.  This is a struggle for me because I sincerely want people to like me.  What I have learned through this process is that not everyone will like me and that is ok.  I used to think that loving was like a popularity contest.  If everyone liked you they surely must love you too.  This was a distorted way of looking at what love really is. 

What is important is that I obey God in everything I do and it means there will be others who don’t like or love me.  It has taken a long time for me to get to this point and I am still working on it. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I struggle with forgiveness.  I know what You tell us in the Bible about forgiveness and how we are to forgive.  Please help me to forgive others and help me understand what your forgiveness means in my life.

 

Scripture:      Let love be without hypocrisy.  Abhor what is evil.  Cling to what is good.  Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.  Be of the same mind toward one another.  Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.  Do not be wise in your own opinion.  Repay no one evil for evil.  Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.  If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.  Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.  Repay no one evil for evil.  Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Romans 12:9-21

Well Rounded

An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life. ~Author Unknown 

When I was young and going to school the main focus in school was making sure every kid was well rounded.  That meant that you were expected to be good at everything.  If you really excelled at math but didn’t do so well in English you were expected to spend more time on the English than the math. 

I have written before about the book entitled “How Full Is Your Bucket”.  In this book one of the writers spoke about how at a young age his large family focused on the areas he excelled at instead of forcing him to focus on the areas he wasn’t excelling in.   When the writer was ten his grandfather noticed that he was good at leading others and that he had an entrepreneurial spirit.  He encouraged the young man to start his own business.  The young man decided at the age of 10 to open a snack stand. 

After a few months the business was going so well that a major candy distributor agreed to give “Biz Kids” a bulk rate and deliver to their location.  By the time he was 12 this young entrepreneur employed more than 20 classmates and they had $1000 of profit to share. 

The author talked about how his parents instead of dipping from his bucket when he wasn’t doing well in certain courses they encouraged him to focus more time on the areas that gave him personal satisfaction.  His parents realized that there would be a greater return on his education if he devoted more time to the subjects for which he had a natural passion.

A popular saying in his home was “Never try to teach a pig to sing.  It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.”

God created each of us as a unique human being.  We all are given specific talents that we will excel at in life.  Some will be talented in music, while others will have talent in sports.  Many will excel at math and others at science.  Why have we become a society that pressures kids to excel at things they are not really good at instead of focusing on the things that they have a true passion for?  I think sometimes this is God’s indicator of which direction our lives should take and instead we focus so much on being well-rounded in everything that we lose the opportunity to be great at what God intended us to be. 

I spent years working in accounting.  I was a supervisor of an accounting department, I was the fastest at ten key at several of the companies I worked for, but I didn’t have the passion for it.  I spent 22 years of my life working in a field that I had no passion.  I think sometimes that is why we don’t have the joy in life that God wants us to have because we delay the natural maturing process that comes when we have passion for what we do.  How many of us get up every day and go to a job we hate and take it out on those around us?  We are emptying others buckets.

One of the most quoted things I hear is “Do what you love, because you will be doing it for a long time.”  Another is, “Choose a job that you would love to get up and do every day even if you weren’t paid a dime.”  That’s true passion.  If you have joy in what you do every day, that joy will reflect to others and you just might automatically fill someone else’s bucket along the way.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for taking the time to help me move toward something I am truly passionate about.  I have a great passion for You and the love you give me.  I never thought I would be able to write much less that anyone would want to read it.  Writing about You brings me great joy and I know much of what I write comes from the Holy Spirit within me.  You are an amazing God who blesses us with talents.  Please help me to use those talents for Your Glory.

Scripture:     “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:25-27

God’s Hands

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. ~Mother Teresa

Have you ever looked at other people’s hands.  I spend a lot of time with my parents and one of the things that make me sad is the state of their hands.  They both suffer from arthritis but you probably wouldn’t know it if you didn’t look at their hands.  They seldom complain about the pain they suffer but I know it is there.  I sent my cousin an email several days ago and it made me think of what my parent’s hands mean to me. 

The joints are curved and swollen most of the time.  There are lines and wrinkles and a great deal of life revealed in their hands.  Those were the hands that comforted us when we were hurt and put band aids on the scrapes of life.  They gave direction and discipline and gave my hand to my husband’s in marriage.  The hands that have grown into crooked joints and stiff fingers reflect a life well lived.  Their hands are a source of strength but also of gentleness.   My mom always says that she has ugly hands.  To me they are two of the most beautiful things in the world.

This made me think of God’s hands. He guides us and comforts us and he also sees us through the good and bad times in life.  He lifts us up when we need encouragement and is there patiently waiting for us to turn to him during the many hardships of life. 

I told my cousin that I would love to have a photograph of just my parents hands to remind me of the strength, generosity, compassion and life that God gave us through our hands and the love, encouragement and sacrifice that Jesus gave through His nail scarred hands. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessing of our hands.  We can use our hands to nurture and love others or we can use them to cause suffering to others.  Thank you for blessing me with parents who reflected love through their hands so that I could get a small glimpse of what Your hands can do. 

Scripture:    ”Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron.  I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.  Isaiah 45:1-3

Fear and Imagination

There is much in the world to make us afraid. There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid. ~Frederick W. Cropp

Fear can be debilitating and the thing is we make it worse by using our imagination. 

When we were kids we had twenty acres behind our house where we roamed and played and rode horses.  We spent years there just being kids.  We leased the property from someone, I don’t recall who.  On one section of the property the owner left old cars.  The cars were rusted shells with missing pieces and parts.  There was a trail that wound through the cars so if you went to the back of the property you had to cross where the cars were.

As kids we would ride our horses or walk by these old cars and I would often think about why they were there or who drove them and when my imagination was really on a roll I would think about people being in them. Creeeepy!!!

My dad told me a story that I will share with you.  He said one night he and my brother, who was probably six or seven, were walking in the woods to the back of the property looking for one of our cows.  They came to the part of the trail where the old cars were and my brother eased over close to my dad and slipped his hand in my dad’s hand. As my dad told the story I could picture myself doing that and how comforting it would be to be walking with God our Heavenly Father and to be able to slip my hand in His and the peace that would bring to my soul.

Some of you may not have memories like I do of a strong, caring father who was there for you when you were scared or afraid.  I was blessed to have a dad who loved us unconditionally and spent so much time with us showing us how to live.   I have a living example to refer to when I need to see what our Heavenly Father is like even though I can’t see Him physically.

The beautiful thing is our Heavenly Father is there all the time.  He never leaves us even when He seems to be silent.  I talk to my Heavenly Father every day. If you didn’t grow up with a dad who gave you a great example of what our Heavenly Father is like then I will share mine with you.  Your Heavenly Father is like my dad who walks with you through the scary parts of life and loves you unconditionally.  Turn to Him when you are afraid and He will be there for you in your time of need.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am often guilty of fear.  I forget that I need to trust in You and then what do I have to fear.  Help me to lean on You and realize I have nothing to fear when You are in my life.  

  

Scripture:   The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.  Psalm 23:1-6

Goody Two Shoes

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Psalm 73:25-27

There are those of us who like to take the bumpy road.  I am one who enjoys a smooth surface.  This applies to our everyday life.  When I was young I was an observer.  I was a people watcher.  I watched what others did and if it didn’t turn out so good for them, then I didn’t do what they did.  I was also a quick learner when it came to other people’s mistakes. 

There were times in my life when I was young that people would call me “Miss Goody Two Shoes.”  I haven’t thought of that in years so I decided to search for wisdom and look it up.  I had no idea what it meant until now or that there was a book about it published in the 1800’s.

Goody Two Shoes is a variation on the Cinderella story. The fable tells of Goody Two-Shoes, the nickname of a poor orphan girl named Margery Meanwell, who goes through life with only one shoe. When she is given a complete pair by a rich gentleman, she is so happy that she tells everyone that she has "two shoes". Later, Margery becomes a teacher and marries a rich widower. This earning of wealth serves as proof that her virtuousness has been rewarded.   

The following are descriptions of what it means to be a Goody Two Shoes.

A person who always does the "right thing", never does anything that they're "not supposed to do" and acts "perfect" in every single way possible.

An expression saying that someone is always on the side that is "good" and never taking a chance of being "bad”.

Belittling and insulting term for a person who won't do anything that can be regarded as "wrong" or "immoral".

When I think of my childhood sometimes I cringe because I was the skinny kid in school.  I was also always the last one picked for any game on the playground.  That meant that when it came time to play kickball I was the last one chosen.  If we played Red Rover I was chosen last because I had skinny arms and everyone always ran toward me first because I was the weak link.  I always hated that game.

When I was in the 4^th grade the teacher had a contest to see who could do the most sit ups.  Well I took that challenge.  I did 100 sit ups.  I hurt for days after that but what an accomplishment for a little skinny girl who was always picked last. 

Well the skinny girl grew up and became a woman.  These little pieces of my life that I share with you are what made me into the woman I am today.  I am not perfect and will never be, but I will take the “Goody Two Shoes” name and also being picked last because you know what, I seem to remember several verses in Isaiah that say

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

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I was so weak for such a long time but now I feel Your strength in me.  You are the everlasting God and if it means that I must be weak to be strong, then I will gladly accept that because through You I can to all things because You give me strength and that is all I will ever need.    

Scripture:  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Engage

Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them... he cried, "Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?" God said, "I did do something. I made you." ~Author Unknown

Our pastor spoke this weekend about engagement.  We are doing a study on transformation.  Transforming ourselves into what God created us to be on this earth.  God didn’t create us to just hang out with other Christians.  He also created us to engage with others who don’t know Him.  He told a story that was an excellent example of what it means to engage with other people for God’s glory. 

The story went like this.  The President of the United States is the leader of the largest nation in the world.  You are invited to attend a dinner with the President.  You are sitting at the table and there are plates and utensils all around.  A head waiter from the hotel where the dinner is held comes up to the wait staff and asks why the dishes are still on the table.  He says, “The President of the United States is getting ready to speak so why aren’t the dishes cleared from the table.”  The wait staff replies that the dishwasher is broken and there are dishes all over the kitchen and no room for more.  The head waiter tells the staff that if the dishes aren’t cleared by the time the President steps up to the podium they will all be fired. 

The President happens to overhear the conversation and heads to the kitchen.  He takes off his coat, rolls up his sleeves and starts washing dishes.  The Secret Service has followed him and are drying dishes. 

The correlation here is that Jesus was the best in the world at engaging.  He was the King of the World and he knew how to engage with the least of those on earth.  He showed us what servanthood means.  The evening before his crucifixion he washed the disciple’s feet.  This was a job that was normally left to the lowest person in the household and Jesus Christ our Savior bent down and washed dirty feet. 

How will we know what it means to serve others if we don’t bring ourselves to the lowest level?  What better way do we have to show others God than by serving someone else in need without expecting something in return.  Jesus engaged with tax collectors, thieves, prostitutes, the blind, beggars and he continues to engage with us through the Holy Spirit.       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I don’t want to stand on the sidelines.  I want to be engaged in Your business.  Please give me the strength to use what you have given me for others.  I want your Glory to be my only business.

 

Scripture:  When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. " Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  John 13:12-17

Big Tex & Home

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 2 Corinthians 5:1-3

As many of you may have heard the Texas State Fair icon, Big Tex, burned this weekend at the State Fair.  If you have never heard of him he is a 58ft tall cowboy who wore a size 70 boot, 75 gallon cowboy hat, size 100 shirt, and size 284W/185L XXXXXL Dickies jeans. 

I admit it was kind of weird watching his hair go up in flames while he was still welcoming visitors to the State Fair with his usual booming voice “Howdeee Folks, Welcome to the State Fair of Texas.”  There was a comment in the paper where someone was walking by and saw smoke coming out of his shirt and commented that they didn’t know Big Tex smoked.  Well, he didn’t, he just had a short in his electrical wiring that caused the fire that burned up his 65 pound jeans.  Over the years he has had multiple mishaps where Hurricane Carla ripped his clothes and someone stole his shirt but he had 60 good years of waving to the crowd.

This morning I was watching the news and this is kind of weird.  A local church is going to hold a funeral for Big Tex.  Why is it that we place so much importance on inanimate things?  I understand that Big Tex is, well big.  I also understand that he has been around for 60 years.  The part I don’t understand is why you would want to have a funeral service for a metal frame since that is all that is left. 

Why do we place so much importance on things that don’t have heart and soul?  God created us as a living, breathing, walking, talking human being and we sometimes treat a metal, mechanical statue better than we do our fellow man.  It confuses me sometimes and it makes me think of home.  I don’t mean the house where I live.  I think about my heavenly home.  This is the place where there is no sorrow, no pain and where we will live forever. 

I read something in the book “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn.  He talks about heaven.  In it he says it is like on earth you are invited by a friend to a party and you get to the party and you enjoy good conversation, food and laughter.  Then the friend comes to you and says it is time to go home.  No one wants to leave a party early but you leave and head home.  When you get there you open the door and sense someone there.  You turn on the light and it is another party full of familiar faces.  There is a feast and you recognize people you haven’t seen in a long time and then you realize the party is for you.

Many times when we or family members are faced with terminal illnesses or imminent death we feel like the party is ending too soon.  We haven’t accomplished everything we want to here on earth.  What we miss is the real party hasn’t even started and the best party ever is on the other side. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I look forward to time spent with You in eternity.  Help remind me that this is not my true home, just a stopping place along the way.  I praise You for designing a new home for us to look forward to.  I don’t want to dwell on this earthly life that will eventually come to an end.

Scripture:  “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.  But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.  Isaiah 65:16-18

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.  2 Peter 3:11-13

Is Dessert a Food Group?

Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.  Peter De Vries

Definition of Glutton: a person with a remarkably great desire or capacity for something: a glutton for work; a glutton for punishment.

I confess.  I had a gluttony episode yesterday and this is how it went.  I was really good at lunch and had two slices of chicken and several slices of cheese.  I have been trying to watch what I eat so this was really good. 

Then it happened.  I decided to stop on my way home to get something to eat.  My first thought was I would go by Pot Belly Subs and get a skinny.  I know, I know, the name alone conjures up visions of a pot belly pig but they do have great subs and if you get a skinny they cut out a lot of the bread, meat and cheese so you get less starch, fat and calories. 

Well, I got distracted.  I drove by the Nestle Toll House store.  Big mistake!   It was like my car had a mind of its own and went on autopilot.  Instead of getting a skinny I got chocolate chip cookies.  I did go out on a limb and get my daily intake of calcium, (I bought a large milk).  So for dinner I had two chocolate chip cookies and milk.  I guess I could have been even more of a glutton and rounded it out with a baker’s dozen. The thing is once I walked in there it was like I was in front of a cookie buffet.  I walked out of there with 3 chocolate chip cookies, 3 peanut butter cookies and something they call a peanut butter cup.  This is a cookie baked around chocolate fudge with caramel drizzled on top.  I am surprised I only ate two cookies.  The really stupid thing is I asked the lady if she had 2% milk.  As soon as I said it I knew how dumb that sounded.  I just bought 10,000 calories and I am going to supplement it with 2% milk.   

The older I get the more things have a tendency to spread in the wrong direction and I have a major sweet tooth.  I would rather go straight to dessert and skip the meal.  This is not healthy by any means, but it is a weakness of mine.  The thing is we can become a glutton for anything.  This means anything we crave in extreme measures.  We can be a glutton for work, food, cars, homes, drugs and just about anything else.

In the story of Jacob and Esau, there were two things at work.  One was greed and the other gluttony.  Esau was hungry and couldn’t control his craving for food.  Jacob was greedy and wanted Esau’s birthright.  Esau was willing to sell the rights he had as the first born to inherit his father’s estate, for a bowl of stew.

I am going to work on this.  Having told you all about it, this will help hold me accountable when I pass the Nestle store. I will update you soon to let you know how I am doing.     

 

Prayer for the Day: Father, I am often led by food cravings.  I struggle with eating foods that are not good for me.  Our bodies are temples created by You and we should care for them as such.  Please help me overcome the cravings I have for the sweets in this life. 

  

Scripture:    Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.  And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.  But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”  And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”  Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.   And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:29-34

Responsibility & Blame  

Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's addressed to someone else. ~Ivern Ball

Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame. ~Erica Jong

We have a tendency to blame others for our circumstances and often through our own choices in life we create the very circumstance that we want to blame on others.  I admit it is much easier to blame someone else than it is to take responsibility. 

We live in a society of blamers and responsibility dodgers.  There is a story of a man who was inebriated at 2:00am and decided to take his dog for a walk around the neighborhood without a leash.  When the dog ran off he decided to walk behind neighbor’s yards calling the dog at 2:00am.  When he found the dog, he took off his belt and made a leash and was walking the dog home.  When he neared his house the police stopped him.  He was eventually arrested because he became belligerent and I am sure they could smell alcohol on him.  He spent a night in jail. The next day he talked to his neighbor about the incident.  When his neighbor told him the police were doing their job, he became angry and stopped speaking to the neighbor. 

This story reminded me of Aaron in the Bible.  Moses had gone up on the mountain for a conference with God and Aaron was left to tend the Israelites.  We are an impatient people too, so when Moses took longer at his meeting than they thought it should, they came to Aaron and asked him to make gods that would go before them.

Aaron had a choice to make and he made the wrong one.  He told the people to bring their gold to him and he made an idol in the shape of a calf.  When Moses returned and was angry with Aaron this is what he said.  “Do not be angry, my lord, You know how prone these people are to evil.  They said to me, “Make us gods who will go before us….”Then they gave me the gold and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

This is a great example of dodging responsibility and blaming others.  Aaron acted like he didn’t have anything to do with making the golden calf. He made it sound like he threw the gold into the fire to get rid of it and a calf jumped out.  You see how we spin things to try to place the blame somewhere else. 

When we figure out that God knows where our heart is in everything, maybe we will begin to take responsibility for our own actions and stop blaming others. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of blaming others and not taking responsibility for my own actions.  Please help me to understand that I make choices every day that are wrong.  I ask you to remind me when I do this so that I can accept responsibility.  It is the only way I can become more like You.  I praise You for Your grace and mercy on me. 

  

Scripture:  (Aaron responsible for the Israelites) When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”  Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”  So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.  He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel,who brought you up out of Egypt.” Exodus 32:1-4


(Aaron blaming the Israelites) "Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered.  "You know how prone these people are to evil.  They said to me, "Make us gods who will go before us.  As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."  So I told them, "Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off."  Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!"  Exodus 32:22-24

Not My Job

If a man is called a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and Earth will pause to say, Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday I had a co-worker stop by my office to complain.  She was mad because another co-worker scheduled a meeting and when people started arriving to attend the meeting, she had to direct them to where the meeting would be held. 

The thing she said that bothered me was “it’s not my job to direct people for him and I don’t work for him.” 

I was raised that you never said it’s not my job.  When my Dad mowed the lawn we all went out and mowed or worked in the yard.  Part of that may have been because our house had an acre to mow.  When my Dad went out to chop wood we all went out and helped load it in the truck and then unload it at the house. 

Too many times we become possessive of our job or occupation and we think that the responsibilities we have within that job are our only responsibilities.  My thoughts are that God expects us to show Him to others through our work. That means we may help someone carry boxes, fix the copier, pick up lunch, get a tolltag and even direct people to a conference room.  The catch is we are not to do it only when our boss is looking.

God expects us to give 100% of ourselves to our work when we are there.  I am the first to admit that I sometimes struggle with this because it is so much easier to tell someone I don’t have time to help them. 

  

Our job is not just about doing stuff.  God blessed us with skills.  Skills to do our job daily but he also gives us people skills.  How we use those people skills may make the difference in someone going to heaven or not?

Bill Hybels is one of my favorite authors because he always writes and speaks in language I understand.  He spoke at our church several years ago and he talked about how you may be a 1 or a 10 in someone’s life.  You might be a 5 or an 8.  What he meant was that you might be another person’s 1^st step in finding God or you might be their 5^th or 8^th or you might even be the one who is blessed to be someone’s 10^th, helping them to take that step to accepting Christ as their Savior.  He talked about not underestimating the value in being a 1 in someone’s life.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to work for You.  That means that my work at my job, or running errands, talking to my neighbor, or buying groceries is part of my work for You.  Help remind me that everything I do is work for You.   Thank you for blessing me with the skills to work and show others You through that work. Help me to be a 1,3,5, or even a 10 in someone’s life for Your Glory. 

Scripture: Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.   Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  Colossians 3:22-24

My Rock

Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message. ~Malcolm Muggeridge

I was thinking about God and how he is my Rock.  I decided to look up the definition of rock.  You know how when you look up something online there are always advertisements linked to everything on the worldwide web.  Well there was another phrase called rock god that I saw and I wondered what that meant.  So I clicked on it and this is what I found.

This is an actual song that is sung by a young person but it doesn’t mean the same thing as what I think of with my God the Father, my Rock.  What rock god means is that so many people worship a singer or group that they are called a rock god.  This really disturbed me and broke my heart.  In the words of the song a preacher approaches her to try to convince her of God and his existence and one of the lines says “Forgive me for I know not what I do.” 

I felt this hurt in the deep recesses of my heart.  The God that I love and worship, the One and only true God, is being ridiculed by people.  But that is nothing new in this world.  I just saw a newscast about how it has come up again about taking “In God We Trust” out of courtrooms.  When will it end?  When God has had enough it will come to an end.    

This is the thing, when God decides to come back this time it will be much worse than drowning everyone on earth like he did in Noah’s time.

What breaks God's heart should also break ours. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

 
Scripture: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.  My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.  “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.   Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.  1 Samuel 2:1-3