My Burden is Light

What is needed for happy effectual service is simply to put your work into the Lord's hand, and leave it there. Do not take it to Him in prayer, saying, "Lord, guide me, Lord, give me wisdom, Lord, arrange for me," and then arise from your knees, and take the burden all back, and try to guide and arrange for yourself. Leave it with the Lord, and remember that what you trust to Him you must not worry over nor feel anxious about. Trust and worry cannot go together.  Hannah Whitall Smith

Have you ever had a burden that you carry around with you?  It’s like you have one of those rolling bags that you keep stuffing all the burdens you run into during the day into it until it can’t hold anymore.  I am so guilty of this.  I go to the Father with my concerns and then as soon as I finish praying I take my burden back and try to fix it myself.  I love the words, “Find rest for your soul.”   

  

How do we humans in this fast paced world find rest for our souls?  I think the first step is to slow down.  If you ever drive on a freeway there are any number of people who are out driving that want to be first. How about all the functions that we think we need to attend or the number of sports activities that our children are involved in.  In today’s society if your child is not involved in 2 sports, multiple clubs and various groups, your child is not well rounded.  We have given up our time with God to stuff and activities. 

The second step is to meditate on His Word.  The part of this scripture that captures my attention is “no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”  For the Son to reveal the father to us we need to be pursuing Him and the Holy Spirit needs to be alive in us.  If we aren’t taking the time to spend time with God, our burden will never be light. 

The final step is to live and breathe God’s Word.  Everything we will ever need in life is buried there.  It is like all the treasure in the world at our disposal yet how often do we really dig into it.  For our soul to find the rest it needs, we will need to spend time with our heavenly Father.  His yoke is easy and his burden is light.  Take the time to rest in Him.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I sometimes carry all my burdens around and I wonder why I can’t rest.  When I don’t depend on You for heavenly rest, I defeat the purpose of why Jesus died on the cross for me.  I pray for Your strength to let it all go.  Nothing in this life on earth is worth more than You.  Reveal to me Your wisdom so that I can find rest for my soul.  I love you Father. 

  

Scripture: The Father Revealed in the Son

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:25-30

True Belonging

Aloneness can lead to loneliness. God's preventative for loneliness is intimacy - meaningful, open, sharing relationships with one another. In Christ we have the capacity for the fulfilling sense of belonging which comes from intimate fellowship with God and with other believers.  Neil T. Anderson

Have you ever wanted to belong to a group?  Maybe it was a certain team or a group of kids who were popular in school or a sorority or fraternity in college.  All of us have an innate desire to belong.  God created us to be in relationship with others. 

How do we get “true belonging?  In order for us to truly belong we must first love ourselves.  We need to practice loving ourselves.  This is often difficult because, besides God, we are the only one who truly knows what we’re made of and sometimes what we’re made of is not something we want the world to see.  The sin that we don’t want others to know about is often the biggest road block to us having relationships with others and true belonging.

One of the things I have learned over the years is that true belonging only happens when I present my authentic, imperfect self to the world.  I am the first to admit that I hate to be embarrassed in front of other people.  I don’t know that there are many of us that like that feeling of mortification that comes over you when someone embarrasses us in front of others or, as will often happen with me, I can do some amazingly embarrassing things all on my own without anyone else’s help. 

One of the most important things I learned in life is that God loves me even when I am in the midst of my most embarrassing moments.  I have also learned that many people we encounter in life are exactly like me, wanting to fit in but not sure how to go about it.

Another thing that hinders our path to “true belonging” is our fear of rejection.  I start to think, what if I open my heart and share my true self and someone rejects me?  If I am not able to let go of what other people think of me and own my story, then I will never have true belonging.  When I spend my lifetime distancing myself from the parts of me that I don’t think other people will accept; I will go through life performing, perfecting, pleasing and proving.  I will never measure up and I will spend my life covering up who I really am.

 

God never intended for us to cover up what and who we are on the inside.  If we are part of His family, we have to become authentic and that will lead to “true belonging.”

     

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I spent many years covering up who I really was on the inside.  I thought if I could become what other people expected me to be, than I would be accepted.  The problem with that is that I became someone else.  I didn’t present my true self to the world and You were the only one who knew it because I became really good at covering up the real me.  Thank you for standing beside me when I started showing the world my true self.  You helped me to give up the desire to be what other’s wanted me to be and to accept myself as a flawed and sinful person loved by You.

Scripture:  This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10

 

Come As You Want to Be

I must confess that I never realize Christ's preciousness so much as when I feel myself still to be, apart from Him, an undeserving, hell-deserving sinner. Charles Spurgeon

For many years I thought I wasn’t good enough for the grace of God and I would say there are probably many like me, who thought they needed to get their life straight, or on the right course, or felt they needed to be better to come to God.  Have you ever asked yourself these questions, “Why would God want me because I am in the midst of my sin?” or  “How could God the Father love me enough to look past the sin and still want me to come to Him?” or how about “When will I be good enough?”

One of the most powerful passages related to this comes from Romans 5:6-11.  In these passages we find the essence of how much God loves us and how much Jesus did for us. 

1.    Christ died for the ungodly  - This part of the verse doesn’t say he died for only the godly.  If it said that we would all be eliminated from the presence of God.

2.    While we were still sinners – This verse doesn’t say we can only be saved if we are sin-free. It specifically says “while we were still sinners”.

3.    Saved from wrath through Him – When Jesus died on the cross we were justified by His blood.  This means we were made new or clean through the death of Jesus and saved from the wrath of God when we accept Him as our Savior. God still hates the sin that is in our life, but Jesus stepped in to take our place for the wrath of God.

4.    Received the reconciliation – The only way we can receive the reconciliation back to God is through accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior.  His death on the cross paid for our debt of sin. 

God doesn’t say come as you want to be.  God says come as you are with all your sin and failures, come all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.  When we tell ourselves that we are not good enough and we need to get things straight in our life before we come to Him, we have missed the saving grace of Jesus dying on the cross.  I believe heavy laden means we are carrying around our backpack of sin and it is weighing us down.  When we finally understand that God wants us to give it to Him, He will give us rest.  We will find rest in Him.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of thinking that I need to have my life in order before I can come to You for rest.  The problem is my life will always be out of order due to my sinful nature.  I will sin over and over again.  This scripture passage didn’t say “in that we were sin-free” it says “while we were still sinners.  Thank you for reminding me of how much you love me and how priceless Jesus’ saving grace is in my life.

Scripture: For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11

Leaving a Legacy

Love leaves legacy. How you treated other people, not your wealth or accomplishments, is the most enduring impact you can leave on earth. Rick Warren

Have you ever known someone who made this world a better place by having lived in it?  My mother-in-law passed away yesterday.  Her family got together last night to talk to the pastor who will be doing her service tomorrow.  He wanted to hear stories about her life from the people who loved her. 

As we sat and shared stories of her life, through the tears and laughter the things that stood out most was how much she cared for others, her love for the Lord and how much she loved her family.  Artie Faye was no pushover by any means.  She was always a straight shooter with a backbone of steel.  You always knew where you stood with her.  

      

One of her grown grandsons talked about what she told him when he decided to join the marines.  She said “the only thing you’ll get is a tattoo and learn how to smoke.”  He did neither of those, but I honestly think that was Artie’s way of telling him she was afraid for him.  I listened to my husband tell the story about when he was in school he used to water ski after work with a bunch of buddies.  One day he stopped by the house to change clothes and told his mom he was going to go water skiing and she replied “That’s good, but don’t get in water over your head.”   

She also had a phrase that she always used.  If you were doing something that she didn’t agree with she would say, “What would you do that for?”  As one of the kids said, this was her way of telling you what a dumb idea it was. 

As we sat and laughed about all the stories of her life, it struck me that she was leaving a legacy to her children.  During her time on earth, she was a caregiver, a mother, grandmother and great grandmother.  The legacy she leaves behind is that she showed us what it means to love the Lord and how to do it, she lived a life of character and honesty, and she left behind (as her granddaughter put it so aptly), a wealth of Artieisms.  She will be missed by all who knew her but the legacy she leaves behind will live on in her children and grandchildren.  We love you Artie and you will be missed.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my heart is filled with sorrow over the loss of Artie.  I know you mean all things for our good, but sometimes it is so hard to understand when our loved ones pass away.  We mourn the loss but also know that she was faithful to You throughout her life and what a blessing that is.  I praise You for allowing me to know this wonderful lady and for the things she taught me about You.  

    

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

Sheep

If sheep do not have the constant care of a shepherd, they will go the wrong way, unaware of the dangers at hand. They have been known to nibble themselves right off the side of a mountain. And so, because sheep are sheep, they need shepherds to care for them. The welfare of sheep depends solely upon the care they get from their shepherd. Therefore, the better the shepherd, the healthier the sheep.  Kay Arthur

I love to read the parables of Jesus.  There are times when I don’t understand verses in the Bible and it takes a great deal of studying and asking God to reveal the truth to me before the light finally goes off. 

I was reading the parable about the Shepherd and his sheep.  Jesus tells the Pharisees that anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in another way is a thief and a robber.  If you take this sentence at face value, you would probably think what difference does it make how I get in the pen as long as I do eventually.  But, if you read further Jesus explains why it is so important to go in through the gate. 

This whole parable is about salvation.  Jesus is the Gatekeeper who gave his life on a cross so that we may live.  The only way we will get to heaven is through Him, the Gatekeeper.  His sacrifice is why God made Him the Keeper at the gate. 

The next part of the parable is interesting too.  Jesus talks about how the sheep know His voice and they listen for it.  If we want to know Jesus' voice as our Shepherd we must know what it sounds like and when He is speaking to us.  If I don’t spend time reading His Word I will not be able to distinguish Jesus’ voice from Satan’s.  Sheep are followers and they need a Leader. 

Jesus then talks about how all who came before Him are thieves and robbers.  If we listen to Satan he will rob us of our salvation.  Jesus goes on to talk about the hired hand who doesn’t care about the sheep. When times of trouble come, (like the wolf), the hired hand will abandon them.

I love the verse where he says, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. Jesus is talking about those who are not saved.  There still are many that have never heard the Savior’s voice.  Each of us has the responsibility as Christians to help bring lost sheep home.  To help others to know and hear the sound of the Shepherd’s voice. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have heard the Shepherd’s voice and gladly follow Him.  I want to show other’s Your glory and help them to know when the Shepherd speaks. Jesus laid down His life to save His sheep.  He gave up everything willingly even though the cost was His life for ours.  I want to take up the cross and follow Jesus.  Thank you for providing me a way home. 

     

Scripture: The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” John 10:1-18

What Does That Mean?

Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus. - Elton Trueblood

I read an advertisement this week that made me scratch my head.  Have you noticed how some advertisers will use made up words or complicated sentences to make what they are trying to sell sound important enough for you to want to buy it.  The following is a portion of the advertisement I read:

“To ensure consistent uptime, a state-of-the-art network is secured from the network core to end user access points, features redundant failover and completely virtualized back up.”

 But it gets better.  Here is the last part of the sales pitch:

“Watch our Customer Success Video to learn how fiber based technology is the winning formula for cost-effectively connecting dispersed people and resources.”

This week when my computer crashed I might have been able to use whatever these folks are selling if I could tell what that was.  My best interpretation is that they can keep my computer up and running with a fancy server that communicates with my desktop and other people's, (I don’t even have a translation for “redundant failover”).  Then I got stuck on virtualized so I looked it up and guess what the definition of that is? (to transform something into an artificial computer-generated version of itself which functions as if it were real.) So the translation of the final piece is, “get your information cheaper from a fake computer and scatter it to all your co-workers.”

Our world has become too complicated hasn’t it?  I don’t know that God really intended it to be that way.  As we become what we think is “smarter”, we leave behind the simple things in life and we forget to enjoy what God created for us.  Our world is so busy building the fastest computer, phone, car….. that we forget why we are here in the first place. People and relationships become less important.

When we forget how to connect with others, we become an automation no different from the virtual computer. The following is a definition I read from a “The Gift of Imperfection” by Brene Brown.

 

Connection: the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, help me to not get caught up in the things of this world and to understand the importance of the simple things in life.  You aren’t complicated or hard to understand, but I need to spend time with You, meditate on Your Word and share it with others.  Help me to slow down and appreciate You. My connection with You is the most important one I will ever make. Help me to make it count for your Glory.

Scripture: I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.  Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.  I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.  Ephesians 3:7-13

The Chameleon

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

If you want to see the wonder of God in action you don’t have far to go.  Nature is one of His most awesome creations.  I was reading about the chameleon and did you know that there are some species that can change their thermal temperature by changing colors.  The amazing thing about this is that in some desert chameleons they have the ability to change one side to black and the other half of their body to gray depending on where the sun hits them.  I also learned that they have different layers of colors that affect the way their outer appearance is viewed.  Sort of like a chameleon color wheel. 

When I started reading about the chameleon if made me think about my life and how sometimes I can be just like them.  You know how it is.  You are socializing with friends or acquaintances and someone in the group says something that is against everything God is about, and you just laugh and act like it didn’t happen.  Or you see someone mistreating another person and you don’t stand up in defense of that individual.  It’s really quite uncomfortable to be in this situation.  You know what is right, yet because you want to “fit in” and not be different or weird by the world’s standards, you change your color to match what is acceptable.

We don’t often hear people talk much about Judas from the Bible.  I started wondering why no one talks about him much.  You hear about Moses, Abraham, Noah, Job and the list goes on, but not much about Judas.  My own thoughts on this are that Judas makes us uncomfortable.  His betrayal of Jesus was so profound.  For thirty pieces of silver he betrayed our Savior.  It’s not like Judas didn’t have time to change his mind about betraying Jesus.  In Matthew 26: 47-49 Judas brought a crowd to arrest Jesus and his signal to the crowd was that he would kiss and greet Jesus and that he would be the one they should arrest. 

The most heartbreaking part of this encounter was that Jesus knew Judas would betray him and told him in Matthew 26:50 “Do what you came for, friend.”  Then when Judas saw that Jesus was condemned to die he decided he had made a mistake and tried to give the money back.  The chief priest and elders replied “What is it to us?” “It is your responsibility.”

When I choose to not step forward and claim Jesus and defend His name, I am as guilty as Judas.  I may not take money, or silver, or cash but in reality what I accept is just as bad for my betrayal of our Savior.  What I take in payment is “worldly acceptance”.  If fitting in with the world is more important than my Savior then I commit the same sin Judas or Peter did.  When I decide to become a chameleon and fit in with the world around me, I am not hidden from God just as Judas and Peter weren’t either. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am ashamed to say that I have tried to fit in with what the world thinks I should be instead of being who You call me to be.  Jesus stood up to those who ridiculed and betrayed Him, but He also loved them even in the midst of his sorrow and pain.  There are times when situations make me feel uncomfortable, but I ask for your strength when those times occur, for me to take a stand for the one who died on a cross for my sin. 

  

Scripture:  Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.  Matthew 26:14-16

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.  So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.  Matthew 27:1-5

Hyperventilating

Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation.  Andrew Murray

Yesterday was a Monday to top all Monday’s.  If you depend on technology at all, you will understand the story I am getting ready to tell. 

My computer at work crashed yesterday.  I’m not talking about one of those “My computer has a virus that can be fixed with a computer antibiotic.”  It crashed to the point that in computer language they call it “No boot device found” or in other words “No hope of getting your info back”.  Our system is backed up every day except for my personal folders and my contacts.  I wasn’t as concerned until they said I lost all my contacts.  I needed a brown paper sack to breathe into because I thought I was hyperventilating.  You know what I am talking about.  You breathe so fast and take in so much oxygen that your brain can’t handle all that fresh air. 

One of our IT guys came to give me the bad news.  “We aren’t able to retrieve any of your lost information and the only other thing we could do is remove the hard drive and see if we could get anything off of it.  Oh, and by the way we don’t have a “clean room” to do this in so we will need to contact an outside company with a clean room who could try to retrieve your information and by the way it will cost $250 to just to look at the hard drive and then approximately $3000 to try to remove information from it in a “clean room”. 

About this time I start hyperventilating again.  All of my devotional contacts are gone.  Then I started thinking about work and everything that I manage for one of my bosses including contacts, account numbers for various investment accounts, individuals that he asked me to add to my contact list for the past two years are gone, the list is so long I needed a paper sack quick.  Every name in my drop down list that I use to email anyone was gone.  So every time I needed to send an email I had to look the person’s name up or pull up an old email to get their email address. 

What I noticed was that in the middle of this so called “crisis” I didn’t immediately pray.  I sent a text to my sister and said, “my hard drive crashed and I need prayer”.  It was sort of comical, if anything about this scenario can be called comical. She text me back and said “Did you pray about it.  God fixed my shower door and my disposal.”  I started laughing.  Then I thought about when my windshield wipers stopped working after I had a blowout and then I prayed and they started working again.

 

I then asked myself, “Why didn’t I immediately turn to God.”  I have two words panic and hyperventilation, with some lack of faith thrown in.  It is often hard for me to understand and wrap my arms around God’s absolute greatness.  Too many times I look at things from my perspective instead of His perspective.  I can read about the amazing things God did in the Bible yet I have a hard time applying the same thing to my life.  If my faith isn’t strong enough to withstand a computer crash, I need to spend more time with God and the stories of the great things he did for people just like me who lacked faith.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am sorry I didn’t turn to You immediately.  If you are my rock and fortress during times of trouble, You should be the first One I think of during any crisis big or small.  Help me to keep the troubles of this earthly life in perspective and understand that You can do anything even fix my computer.  But, even if it doesn’t get fixed You still are there for me and You intend it all for my good.    

Scripture: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Holehearted or Wholehearted

Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in us? He can't unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with us as intercessors.  Oswald Chambers

Are you holehearted or wholehearted?  For many years I was holehearted and there are still times when I revert back to being holehearted.  Holehearted means we allow shame, and fear to run our life.  This means there is a hole in the very heart that keeps our body running.  To many times I think we let the world determine how our heart works.  It is all based on what we feel our worth is to others.

There are times when I have based my worth on what someone else thinks of me.  What I have noticed is that when I base my worth on what someone else thinks it is, shame and fear are not far behind. In fact, shame is made up of fear.  We fear that someone will not like us if they know the truth about us. How will I ever live up to the expectation of the other person? 

How can we learn how to be wholehearted?  We have to cultivate courage, compassion and connection.  In Brene Brown’s book called “The Gifts of Imperfection” she talks about these three things.  For a person to be wholehearted they need courage to stand up and be vulnerable.  Have you noticed how many of us hate being vulnerable?  Who wants to be vulnerable when we often know there will be someone out there who will hurt us in or during our most vulnerable moments?  It is a scary thing to become vulnerable to others.  When we are at our weakest there is often someone who is struggling with being wholehearted and steps on your vulnerable self. 

Several years ago I was writing this devotional and one of the individuals who was reading them contacted me by email.  She told me in her email that I was not living according to God’s Word and that she couldn’t and didn’t want to receive any more devotionals until I was right in God’s eyes so she asked me to remove her from my list. 

I’ll be honest with you, I was devastated. My unworthiness was showcased.  I beat myself up for days afterwards because doubt set in and I thought, you know she could be right.  I am not a theologian and have not formally studied in a college about the Bible so how do I think I can qualify to tell others about who God is.

 

There have been times over the past few years that I have considered not writing the devotional anymore.  Insecurity and worthlessness overtake me during those times, but when I start feeling that way I start praying and turn to God.  I usually will call or email a friend who loves me unconditionally, knows I am not perfect and will ask the tough questions and be honest with me.  If we can’t be vulnerable with others we will never move toward compassion and connection.  In order for me to become wholehearted I need to understand that God created me and loves me.  I need to look at myself through the eyes of Jesus because only then will I be transformed and understand my true worth.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times when I get so discouraged in trying to share Your message.  I don’t always do a great job at it, but You know and understand my thoughts and concerns.  Thank You for lifting me up when discouragement overtakes me.  I also praise You for bringing people into my life who help me to understand that I am worthy and give me encouragement to continue what I believe You call me to do. 

Scripture:  For Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.  Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. 1 Chronicles 16:23-24

Purpose of the Mystery

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Appreciation of the Mystery

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

 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:8-21

 

A Fire or a Flame

Can we be casual in the work of God -- casual when the house is on fire, and people in danger of being burned?  Duncan Campbell

Are you a fire or a flame?  A few months ago I was driving down Hwy 190 outside of Dallas and I looked over and I saw a flickering flame.  For those of you who have never been on Hwy 190, it was built in the last 10 years so there is a lot of empty space near the freeway.  By empty space I mean there is a lot of space where there are no houses or lights and only trees.  So I look across this open space and I see a flame burning. 

 

It looked like a flame burning out of the top of a house because it was behind some trees and about a mile away so I couldn’t exactly tell what it was but I thought it was a house on fire.  I almost called 911.  The only thing that stopped me was that I couldn’t tell them where this flame was or an address. 

Well as it turns out I am thankful I didn’t call anyone.  The next day I drove along the same stretch of highway and that flame was still burning the same as it was the day before.  So then I was curious to know what it was.  I finally figured it out in the light of day. The flame was coming from a landfill.  You know those gas flares that they install to release the methane gas created by trash in landfills.  In this part of Texas the land is often flat with no hills and valleys except for our landfills.  Sometimes a landfill is the only hill you will see for miles. 

Every day I drive this same stretch of highway and see that flame it reminds me of the flame that is in us.  If we believe in God, we have a flame in us. Before I came to understand Who God really is, I had a flame burning very much like the one at the landfill.  That flame stayed the same every day.  It didn’t get larger or smaller, it just stayed the same size.  Our life as a Christian can be the same way.  If we don’t meditate on God’s Word and fill our hearts with what is important to Him, we will never see our flame turn into a fire.  It is always the biggest blaze that draws the most people to it.  When our heart is set on fire by God to bring others to Him, there is nothing that can stop it. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my Christian life has often been more like a candle burning than a full blown blaze.  If I am passionate about saving others, then my life should be a brightly burning fire that draws others to You because of the fire in me.  Give me a love for You that takes priority over anything else in my life.

Scripture:  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.  1 Corinthians 3:9-17

Gladys Is Back

Men sigh for the wings of a dove, that they may fly away and be at Rest. But flying away will not help us. "The Kingdom of God is WITHIN YOU." We aspire to the top to look for Rest; it lies at the bottom. Water rests only when it gets to the lowest place. So do men. Hence, be lowly.  Henry Drummond

Our doves are back.  Remember my story last year about Gladys Knight and the Pips.  These were our resident mourning doves that had baby doves (the Pips).  When their home (nest) fell apart I rebuilt it for her and she ignored my construction efforts.  One baby fell out of the nest and I rescued him before my dog made it his next meal.  Well, they’re back, at least Gladys and her beau are back and they are looking for a place to build their nest. 

On Saturday mornings I like to get up and make my coffee then sit and read.  Lately I can hear her beau cooing.  I decided to research a little about doves to find out more about them.  God created some of the most amazing things on this earth.  Did you know that the male is the one that coos? To attract the female the male will puff out his chest, bob his head and make loud calls.  I’ve seen that happen in the human species.  The male locates the site for the nest and then the female builds it.  The male runs to Home Depot and gets the materials and then she constructs it.  Both parents will feed the babies until they are able to leave the nest.  It is only 11-15 days before the babies wings have developed enough so they can fly. Even after they are able to fly they will stay nearby to be fed by their father for up to two more weeks.

Here is another interesting fact.  Cowbirds will sometimes lay their eggs in a doves nest so that they don’t have to take care of their own young. I don’t know if birds can see or not but you would think they might notice a big cowbird in their nest and figure out one of these things is not like the other.

 

God created everything in nature and if you watch nature enough, you will often see God’s hand at work in the very survival of each species of animal.   Some of the very things that animals do to survive, we as humans also do.  God created in the male dove the ability to know that he must find a home and provide for his family.  He created in the female dove the ability to know that she must build a nest and hunt for food to feed her chicks.  Then you have the whole cowbird thing, where she takes on young that are not her own. 

      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I love to watch nature because it gives me so many glimpses of You.  You created everything on earth and as I watch this family of doves I see the similarities in human families on earth.  You teach us through nature as well as through our fellow man.  Help me to follow your ways and search for truth.  You will give me wisdom if I search for it and ask. 

Scripture:  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17

How Do You Worship Him?

Worship is a believer's response to God's revelation of Himself. It is expressing wonder, awe, and gratitude for the worthiness, the greatness, and the goodness of our Lord. It is the appropriate response to God's person, His provision, His power, His promises, and His plan.  Nancy Leigh DeMoss

I read something recently that made me stop and think about how I worship God.  The statement that touched me was this, “You’re the only you in all of creation.”  If I love God my way of worshiping Him will be different from any other person’s way of worshiping Him.  If God can count the hairs on my head and every other person’s in the world, then He can certainly hear my voice from every other and distinguish that it is different from any other voice on earth.

I grew up in a church that didn’t demonstrate worship to God by raising your hands to Him or lifting your arms and praising Him.  The first time I saw that it kind of alarmed me.  I would look at the other person and think, “What’s up with the arms in the air?”  “Is this person closer to God than I am?”  “I mean, their arms are higher than I am so maybe they are.” 

What I learned was that the closer I became to God the more my worship of Him evolved.  I love to sing and I love to worship God through songs.  What I learned is that more often than not when I am worshiping Him, the song gets in my soul and before I know it I am crying.  I will be singing and crying.  I wonder what other people think when they see that.  Grab a straight jacket, this woman is losing it. 

Each of us is unique and we each worship our Heavenly Father differently.  Some of us show Him our worship by raising our hands in the air, others worship Him by praising Him vocally and then there are those of us who ball our eyes out. 

It doesn’t matter how any of us worship Him or show our love for Him.  He knows.  It is as simple as that.  Your voice is unique and the only one like it.  There is no other person on earth who has your makeup.  He will hear your voice and be able to distinguish it from every other person.  Whatever way you decide to worship Him, do so with all of your heart and soul.

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, if my heart is turned to You, it doesn’t matter how I worship You.  We are each a unique creation and as such we all worship differently.  If we love You, our hearts will be filled and it won’t matter how the outpouring of that love is manifested in us.  You will know, so help me to rejoice in You.

Scripture: Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious. Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.  All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name.” Psalm 66:1-4

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods.  In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath,‘They shall not enter My rest.’”  Psalm 95:1-11

 

With All Your Mind

Christ is not a reservoir but a spring. His life is continual, active and ever passing on with an outflow as necessary as its inflow. If we do not perpetually draw the fresh supply from the living Fountain, we shall either grow stagnant or empty, It is, therefore, not so much a perpetual fullness as a perpetual filling.  A.B. Simpson

Have you ever tried to focus your thoughts on God and failed miserably?  I have over and over again.  It is easy to get discouraged because life interferes.  There are times when I try to focus my mind on God and it is like a dropped phone call on my cell phone.

When I go to my parent’s house there is one area on the freeway to their house that is what they call a dead zone.  There is no cell service.  I often go out to their house and when I head home at night I will call my husband on the way.  I have learned to not call him before I get to that area because the call always drops at the same place.

Sometimes my connection with God gets interrupted the same way except it is my own thoughts that interfere.  I will be driving along thinking about God and all of a sudden another thought pops into my head.  It can be anything from the grocery list that I am adding to, to the project I am working on that can cause interference and a disconnect with my Heavenly Father.  Sometime it is just that I am so busy with life that I forget what is most important.  My relationship with God should be the most important thing in my life.

 

How do I get the focus back to Him?  One of the most important things I can do is to memorize His Word.  If I focus on His Word and bury it in my heart it will come to me all the time.  If I am so busy thinking about this world and what is going on with me, I become selfish and those very thoughts draw me away from God.  One of the most important verses we can memorize is the following:

Philippians 4:8 Meditate on these things

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

If you look at the words in this one verse it can turn your thoughts to the One who created us.  It tells us to focus on whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy. God embodies all of these things.  If our focus is on these instead of the worries and wants of the world, we will be able to call Him to mind in any circumstance.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, help me to bury Your Word in my heart.  If I memorize Your Word I will then be able to call it to mind in the midst of trials and trouble.  You are my fortress and my strength.  The only way I can battle the forces of this world is to meditate on Your Word and then I will be able to use it as my sword and shield.  I praise Your Name above all others. 

Scripture: How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!  Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes.  With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth.  I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.  I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.  Psalm 119:9-16