Do You Conform or Transform?

Give up the struggle and the fight; relax in the omnipotence of the Lord Jesus; look up into His lovely face and as you behold Him, He will transform you into His likeness. You do the beholding--He does the transforming. There is no short-cut to holiness.  Alan Redpath

I was asked a question recently by a young person seeking answers.  I was asked why people act one way when they are at church, and act totally different when they aren’t at church? 

I decided to look up the definitions of conform and transform.  Conform means to behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards. Transform means to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of a person.

The first question I asked myself was, “Do I do this myself?”  Do I conform to the worlds standards or to I transform to be more like Jesus?  Do I transform myself into Jesus likeness only when I am at church or everywhere I go?  I’ll admit I have often conformed to what the world wants to see.  It’s those times when you want to fit in with the crowd so you conform yourself to act like they do.

In Romans 12:1-2 we are told to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

These verses tell us that we are to be living sacrifices.  When we transform ourselves into His likeness, we will no longer try to conform to what the world expects us to be.  This is one of the most difficult things to do, because the world has such influence on us and we are taught from a young age that we need to fit in.  We are taught that if we don’t fit in we won’t be successful or people won’t like us. 

The reality is; it shouldn’t matter what the world thinks about us one way or another.  It should matter what God thinks.  If we aren’t the same person at home that we are at church on Sunday; we are conforming instead of transforming.  God wants to transform you.  Let Him do a work in You that no one else can. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there have often been times when I have been conformed to what the world wants to see instead of being transformed into Your likeness.  I pray that you will do whatever it takes to get my attention and to draw me back to Your likeness. Being more like You should be my only goal in life.  Thank You for Your pursuit of a sinner like me.      

Scripture: Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.  2 Corinthians 3:17-18

THINK

Remember that the tongue speaks only what is in the heart.  Theodore Epp

Do you ever say things you wish you hadn’t said? I do it more times than I care to admit.  Yesterday our Pastor was talking about the tongue and about how damaging it can be to families and relationships.  Have you ever had someone say something hurtful to you and then they use the excuse “I am just speaking my mind” or how about “that’s just the way I am, I like to tell it like it is.”  The Bible says we are “responsible” for our words.  

One of the things he spoke about that really touched my heart was that God created each individual on this earth.  When God created us we were created in His likeness.  If we speak hurtful words to another person or talk to them harshly; we are speaking to one of God’s children so we are in fact speaking to God with our harsh words. 

The question he asked was “What is your stupid ratio?” If someone says something to you that hurts you, do you immediately respond with harsh or hurtful words?  Our stupid ratio goes up when we respond to others with harsh and hurtful words.  In Ephesians it says we should administer grace to others.  We will never show another person who God is if we don’t think first before we speak.

He gave a tool to use when we are faced with someone who has spoken harsh words to us.  Instead of responding in kind, stop and “THINK”.  Is what you are about to say, Truthful, Helpful, Inspirational, Necessary and Kind?  If we stop long enough to ask ourselves this question, most likely harsh or hurtful words will not come out of our mouth. If you think about it, most of the time what we say to another person is not necessary.  If the words that leave our mouth and pass our lips are not truthful, helpful, inspirational, necessary or kind; then they don’t need to be said at all.        

We should give life with our words.  The words we speak equal what is in our heart.  I think the most critical part of the work I need to do in my life is in my heart.  If my heart is filled with God’s love, grace and mercy, then I will not speak harshly to another person that God created.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, in my lifetime I have spoken harsh words to others that were not affirming or inspirational.  At those times I increased my stupid ratio.  Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and remind me when I start to speak, that I am speaking to another child of God.  Do a work in my heart so that those words never leave my mouth.        

Scripture: Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32

The Witness

What an incredible witness it is to a lost and fearful society when the Christian acts like a child of God, living under the loving sovereignty of the Heavenly Father.  Henry Blackaby

God desires for you to be involved in drawing people to His Word through a dedicated life to Him and an active witness for Him.  Paul Chappell

So you are going through life and things happen.  When things happen in your life, good or bad, how do you tell others what happened?   You observe or see what happens and then you describe what you saw.

When I was in college I had a friend who worked for a small loan company.  I went to classes in the morning and got out around noon.  I decided to stop by and see her before I went to work. 

We were in her office talking when someone walked in the door.  We both thought it was a customer.  Imagine our surprise and shock when he pulled a gun and demanded money.  He made both of us lie down on the floor as he proceeded to take the money out of the cash drawer then he left.

As soon as he left, my friend called the police.  The police showed up and asked some questions and then another officer called to tell the officer we were speaking with that they caught someone nearby.  They wanted us to go see if we could identify the person as the one who committed the crime. 

At the time this occurred I was scared silly, literally.  I don’t think I could have identified my dog, much less a robber.  The police took me in a separate car from the one my friend was in and asked us to look at the guy to see if he was the one who had robbed the office.  My mind was an absolute blank.  I looked at the guy and thought; I can’t say if that was the guy or not.  We then were taken down to the police station to file our statement. In this situation I wasn’t a very good witness.  When someone points a gun at you, you sort of blank out everything but the gun.  I couldn’t even identify the guy’s tennis shoes. 

How do you become a witness for God?  When you are going through struggles in life; the best way to witness to someone else is to tell others what God has done in your life.  If you aren’t paying attention, you will be a poor witness like I was during that robbery.  God wants us to grow in faith during the hard times in life.  He then wants us to tell others how we survived it.  If we hide our light under a bushel no one will ever see who God is and what He can do. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be a better witness of who You are in my life and show others that you exist. Help me to learn from the struggles in my life so that I can show someone else who you are by witnessing to them what I have seen.     

Scripture: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  Acts 1:8

Problems We Can’t Handle

What then are we to do about our problems? We must learn to live with them until such time as God delivers us from them. We must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly.  A.W. Tozer

Do you ever think about God’s pursuit of you?  God wants every person to be saved so He pursues us continuously.  Some of us are more hard headed than others so it takes a lot more persistence on God’s behalf to get our attention. 

When you think about the problems in your life, do you consider that these are just stepping stones toward God?  God allows us to go through trials to grow our faith in Him and some of us are blessed with worse problems than others.  When we are at our most broken is when God can do the most with us.

There have been times in my life when God was knocking at my door and I just wasn’t listening or I didn’t recognize Him.  Some of us take a lot more than a knock on the door to get our attention.  One of the things I have learned over the years is to prepare for trouble because it will come.  We will have pain, sorrow and tragedy in our lives. If we don’t understand that up front when we become a Christian, we will be disappointed.  I think too many times we misunderstand God because we think that once we become a Christian all our troubles are over.  In reality our troubles are just beginning.

One way to look at this is to picture a vending machine.  They are made with a glass front so that you can see what you are buying when you hit the B7 button.  Now take that same vending machine and replace the cover with an opaque glass so you can’t see what you are buying.  All you can see is the panel that has the item selections.  When we are baptized the problems in our Christian life become this kind of vending machine.  Through Christ’s blood on the cross we are saved but living the Christian life means when we press G4 we don’t know if we are going to get a Ding Dong or Funyuns.  We can’t choose what problems we will face but we can choose Who we want to help us through them.    

If you expect your life as a Christian to become easier it won’t.  We don’t know the problems we will face in this life, but God does.  He is prepared to see us through them if we trust Him.  Faith in our Heavenly Father will get us through the things we don’t expect in life.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I know that it doesn’t make sense to expect a Ding Dong when I can’t even see what is in the case.  In my Christian life I will face many obstacles.  Some are easier to overcome than others.  I know that if I place my faith and trust in You; You will see me through anything because of who You are.  When I can’t handle my problems You can.  I praise You for growing my faith while I am in the midst of the troubles of this life.       

Scripture: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

Things Could Get Messy

“We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God.” This promise is only for those who are willing to give God the pieces of a broken life and say, “God, I love you, and I believe you can use the mess of my life for something good. Please take the pieces of my life and put them back together.” Rick Warren

Have you ever looked back on your life and thought about how messy life can get?  Unless you live in a bubble by yourself, this life is going to get messy.  As soon as Adam and Eve disobeyed God our legacy would be that life would be messy.  This earth we live in wouldn’t be a Garden of Eden where everything grew perfectly and it wasn’t marred by crime, pain or suffering. 

I was thinking about the times in my life when I contributed to my own life’s messiness.  We all do it.  We make decisions that go against the best that God wants for us, and we are thrown into the middle of messes and when we are in the middle of it we stop and try to figure out how we got there. 

I think the main reason we often do this is because we are so influenced by the things and people around us.  Sometimes we allow ourselves to be drawn into a messy world because of pain in our lives or we buy into the notion that what we are doing will make us happy. 

When we start looking to the world for our happiness; we are losing the battle.  We can’t escape living in a messy world.  We can, however, choose to cling to God during those messy times.  If we know and understand that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose; we can then understand that the messiness of this world can be overcome.  Let the Messiah turn your mess around.

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who love us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:37-39

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, we live in a fallen world where messiness is a daily occurrence.  Help me to lean on You and cling to You when messiness comes my way.  You want what is best for me and sometimes the very messiness I encounter in my daily life brings me closer to You.  I praise You and thank You for bringing blessing out of my messy life.       

Scripture: From Suffering to Glory

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  Romans 8:18-30

Make God’s Word Personal

I'm not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me - he's got judo I never heard of. But he can't handle the One to whom I'm joined; he can't handle the One to whom I'm united; he can't handle the One whose nature dwells in my nature.  A. W. Tozer

I read about a way of Bible study that makes God’s Word personal.  When you read Scripture replace all of the nouns and pronouns with I, me or your name.  What I have learned from this is that it makes the Bible’s words more personal.  It also shows me where I need improvement.  The third thing it does is it makes me focus on me and what I need to work on instead of trying to fix someone else.

Proverbs 2:1-5

          If I receive His words, and treasure His commands within me, so that I incline my ear to wisdom and apply my heart to understanding; Yes, if I cry out for understanding, If I seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then I will understand the fear of the Lord, and I will find the knowledge of God.   

Proverbs 2:10-12

          When wisdom enters my heart, and knowledge is pleasant to my soul, discretion will preserve me; understanding will keep me, to deliver me from the way of evil from the man who speaks perverse things.

Proverbs 3:5-6

          Trust in the Lord with all my heart, and lean not on my own understanding; in all my ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct my paths.

Hebrews 13:5-6

          Let my conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as I have.  For He himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  So I may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper, I will not fear.  What can man do to me?”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

          My love should suffer long and be kind; my love does not envy; does not parade itself and is not puffed up; my love should not behave rudely, not seek its own, not be provoked, and think no evil.

If I put myself in the place of the Scriptures that give me guidance on how to live a Christian life, then I will become more like Him.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, help me to read the Scripture in the context of me.  I know I need to work on me.  If I replace the instructions You give us with me’s; I will better understand what needs to be fixed in me and look less at what needs to be fixed in someone else.  Help me to get the plank out of my own eye before I try to remove the speck from another’s.      

Scripture: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.  Matthew 7:1-5

The Funnel

How do we bring glory to God? The Bible's short answer is: by growing more and more like Jesus Christ.  Sinclair B. Ferguson

The definition of a funnel is: a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening.  Some synonyms for funnel include channel, feed, direct, convey and conduit. 

I decided to look at God and myself from the perspective of a funnel.  A funnel is a great invention.  We often use them to pour large amounts of liquid or powder into a smaller vessel.  So if you look at this from a Godly point of view; we could say that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the funnel.  If we are the vessel then God would be the outpouring of the substance that makes us more like Jesus. 

So we could look at the mouth of the funnel as a conduit for information.  At the top of the funnel all kinds of information and knowledge is being poured into us.  Some of the information is good and other information not so good.  The funnels purpose in this instance is to funnel only the good information into the vessel.  If you have all the bad stuff that the world feeds us trying to get through the narrow neck of the vessel; the good stuff can sometimes get pushed aside for inconsequential, unimportant stuff.  The scriptures that best describe this are Matthew 7:13-14.  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

What happens when we find life and only allow the good stuff through the funnel?  Take the funnel and invert it with the smaller end at the top.  God blesses others ten-fold when we allow Him to use us for His purpose.  He then in turn pours out blessings on us for obeying Him “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:8-10.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, help me to funnel out the worthless stuff in my life and become a vessel for Your purpose.  The world bombards us daily with things that can hinder our walk with You.  “Help me to have compassion for others, love as brothers, being tenderhearted and courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that I am called to this, that I may inherit a blessing. Help me to love life, see good days, refrain from speaking evil and deceit.  Help me to turn away from evil and do good and seek peace and pursue it.  Your eyes are righteous and your ears are open to my prayers.”    

       

Scripture: But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:20-21

Heaven’s Investment Portfolio

There is no such merchant as the charitable man; he gives trifles which he could not keep, to receive treasure which he cannot lose. Francis Quarles

I invest in a 401K plan where I work and I also have money invested in one with a previous employer.  I am not one of those savvy investors who knows everything about each company I invest in.  I went out recently to change my investment strategy.  Some people spend a lot of time watching their stock to see if it is performing at a beneficial rate and then they change their stock choices if it isn’t.  We know a guy who watches his stocks daily and is constantly changing his investments. 

The reason I decided to change my investments is because I buckled under pressure.  By that I mean, I kept getting this traffic light signal every time I received an email from my plan administrator.  Every time I got the traffic light it was red and it would tell me for my age I was investing too aggressively.  I kind of got offended the first time I got that because of the age comment.  I mean your fund administrator tells you you’re old and AARP sends you an application to confirm you’re old.  My theory is I don’t know when God will decide it is my time to go so why not go for the gusto.  That; however is not a good strategy according to the administrator of my money. 

My investment strategy for 401K is very simple, (and you may even call me a stupid investor), but that’s ok with me. When it comes to investing my 401K, I invest in things that I buy and I don’t invest in international stocks.  The thing about investing money is, it can be gone in an instant.  One day you can have millions in investments and all it takes is one world event and it can all be gone.  Investing is a gamble.  You gamble that your money will increase if you invest in a certain company.  Your investment is dependent on someone you don’t know, making business decisions that could make or break your investment. 

Do you ever think about your Heaven Investment Portfolio?  How much do you invest in the portfolio that is the most important, has the best return on investment and is guaranteed?  In 1 Timothy 6:17-19 it says, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

What would you rather invest in?  Do you want riches in this life or your future life?  How much you give to others in this life will make a huge difference in your eternal life.  In Matthew 6:19-21 it says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Treasure in heaven or treasure on earth.  My investment portfolio on earth can be taken from me and destroyed, but my eternal treasure can’t be touched.  Which one is more important to you?

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often spend more time worrying about the money and investments that I have, instead of spending my time storing up treasure in heaven. Remind me that treasure on earth is fleeting but treasure in heaven is everlasting.      

      

Scripture:  The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44

Road Rubbish

Don't let obstacles along the road to eternity shake your confidence in God's promise. The Holy Spirit is God's seal that you will arrive.  David Jeremiah

A couple of weeks ago I was driving to work and I looked up and there was a tire smoking in the road.  I had just changed lanes out of the one with the burning tire, when I see smoke curling up from the road.  It was dark, so at first I didn’t know what it was.  As I passed it I thought about how many times I have seen strange things on the road during my drive to and from work.  I’ve seen a computer monitor fully intact.  I am not sure how that happened because if it fell from the back of a truck you would think since it is plastic and glass that it would break into a million pieces.  I’ve seen recliners, mattresses, tennis shoes, boots, rocking chairs, ladders, lawn mowers, couches, clothes and any number of odd things.  If you spend any time driving you are bound to see something unusual.  You are probably also thinking that I drive on a lot of trashy roads.  I think more likely than not, I am just the lucky one who is up early enough to see the stuff people don’t tie down in the back of their truck, and by the time an eighteen wheeler hits it, late risers won’t recognize what it was anyway. 

I have a rule about road rubbish.  If I see a vehicle that has something on top, hanging out, sitting in the back or tied to it, I either pass it or get out of that lane.  I’ve seen a metal bed frame that was supposedly tied down, fly out of the back of a truck and the truck was dragging it by the rope while sparks flew.  How do people not know they lost something?  I can understand if you lose a pillow, blanket or something else that is lightweight.  But if you lose a sofa, refrigerator or recliner; seriously?  If you are taking something you own for a ride and you lose it because it decides to jump ship mid-journey; at least call someone to give it a another ride to the nearest dump. 

Our lives are very much like this road rubbish.  If we don’t keep our eye on God we can run into all kinds of trouble.   Have you figured out that there is a lot of rubbish in this world?  When we take our eye off of God and the road in front of us, we can expect to eventually run into trouble.  Satan has a way of tripping us up when we least expect it. If we aren’t paying attention, before we know it we are in trouble.  Keep your eye on God and the path to Him, so that you can avoid all the rubbish that can get in the way.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have seen a lot of weird stuff while driving.  I find that when I take my eye off the road, I stand a better chance of getting into trouble.  Keep me focused on You.  Life is difficult to navigate without You.         

      

Scripture: The Cost of Discipleship

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:57-62

Dear God, I Have A Problem & It’s Me

The supreme test of service is this: For whom am I doing this? Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition.  A.T. Pierson

God, harden me against myself!  Amy Carmichael

I was reading a list of wise old sayings and this was one of them.  How many times do we think we have a problem, but we think our problem is someone else?  Too many times the problem in this equation is “me”.     

This is a difficult one for me.  It is so easy to slip into what I like to call the “me syndrome”.  We get this condition most often when we lose sight of God and his principles about living life.  Many years ago I read the book by Rick Warren called “A Purpose Driven Life”.  The very first line in the book is this, “It’s not about you.”

Over the years I have learned that I get in my way more than anyone else does.  I am more of a hindrance to myself than any other individual in my life.  Why does that happen?  I think the reason it happens is because my focus is on the wrong thing; “me”.  If I spend all my time thinking about what I want to be, where I want to live, what school I should go to; then I will never get what my true purpose in life is. 

I often try to make sense of what I am doing in life and often come up short.  If I don’t turn to our Creator for guidance, I will always be searching for that illusive thing that will give me happiness. 

The other thing that hinders me is that I don’t believe God can do what He says He can.  So I ask God for help; yet I wrestle the reins back from Him because I lack the faith required to depend on Him and believe that He can handle my messes. 

The world we live in teaches us to look out for #1 (me), and everything we do is in pursuit of that.  There are a few other sayings that cover the “me syndrome that I would like to share with you. 

“He who dies with the most toys is still dead.”  Unknown

“He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.  Ben Franklin

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.  John Bright

I need to work on me. I need to let go of selfish ways and grab hold of more selfless ways.  God will bless me if I get out of my way. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, one of the hardest things for me to overcome is “me.”  I need Your help to focus on what is important in this life.  You created me to be used for Your purpose, yet too many times I fail You by focusing back on me.  Give me a heart in service for You.        

      

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

What’s Mine Is Not Mine

I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of God. If anything will advance the interests of the kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving or keeping it I shall most promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time or eternity.  David Livingstone

Do you ever think about what you think you own?  I read a story recently that illustrates how we should think about ownership and the things we have in this life.

“There was a man who took his son to McDonalds and bought him super-size French fries.  On the way home, the fries smelled so good that he reached over and took one French fry out of the son’s carton and ate it.  His son got upset and said, “Dad you can’t have that one.  These are my fries!”

Immediately, three things came to the dad’s mind. 

1.     My child has forgotten that I am the source of all fries.  I drove him to McDonalds to get the fries, I placed the order and I paid for the fries and I am driving him back home. The only reason he even has those fries is because of me, “the Great Fry Giver!”

2.     Second, my child doesn’t understand that I could take the fries away any time I want to.  Or I could buy him a whole truckload of fries because I have the power and resources to do so. 

3.     Third, I didn’t need his fries as I could easily get my own.  I just wanted him to learn to be unselfish.

The lessons in this story should speak to each of us about how we feel about the things we think we own.  If it were not for God we wouldn’t be here.  The talents God gave us allow us to work and in turn make a living from using those talents.  God is the source of everything we have.  The second lesson in this story is that everything we think we own can be taken away or if God chooses, He can double it because He has the power to do it.  The third lesson is that God doesn’t need what we have or accumulate.  His sole purpose in giving us what we have is to teach us to be generous with what we have.  In being generous we develop our faith in Him. 

If God has blessed you with much or blessed you with little, it can be used to be generous to others.  I think too many times we become so encumbered with the stuff we own that we don’t have time to be generous because we are too busy taking care of the things we think we own.  When I finally leave this world, nothing I think I own is going with me.  I won’t pack a bag, carry a purse or load up the car.  I’m the only thing that is going.  What will you take with you?  Will you take a lifetime of being generous to others or nothing?

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, too many times I am selfish with what You have given me.  You have blessed me beyond measure and I need to refocus my attention on using what you bless me with to help others.  That is the best way that others can see You through me.  Help me to be more generous in everything I do.  If my heart is in the right place, generosity will come naturally.      

      

Scripture:  The Cheerful Giver

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:

“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.” 

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!  2 Corinthians 8:6-15

Dare to Have Faith

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

Remember how little faith the disciples had in Jesus when he fed the four thousand.  In Matthew 15:32-39 the multitude had been following Jesus and the disciples for three days and there was nothing to eat.  Jesus didn’t want to send them away hungry.  The disciples asked Jesus: “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a multitude?”

Jesus responded by asking them how many loaves of bread they had.  They told him seven loaves and a few fish.  Jesus took seven loaves of bread and a few fish blessed it and fed four thousand men along with the women and children in the multitude.  Sometimes my faith is so small that I don’t believe God can provide for my family; much less four thousand. 

There is another story in the Bible that shows what it means to have extreme faith.  In Matthew 15 there was a Gentile woman whose daughter was demon-possessed.  She cried to Jesus to heal her daughter.  Jesus had been sent to save the lost sheep of Israel and when the woman cried out to him he made this statement: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  He was saying why should He give the children of Israel’s inheritance (life everlasting) to a Gentile (dog).   Her response was all about faith in the Savior.  She responded by saying, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”  This Gentile woman had heard of the Messiah and by her faith she believed He existed.  She traveled a long distance in faith to ask Jesus to heal her daughter.  

Sometimes we lack faith so we seek healing instead of seeking the Healer?  Jesus came to save the lost and each one of us is lost until we find Him.  We need to be daring in our faith as this woman was in the parable.  She didn’t stop at Jesus first words to her.  She kept after Him until He answered her request to heal her daughter.   That’s extreme faith.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of giving up on You instead of pursuing you with everything in me.  I want a faith that is strong enough to be the only option.  Having faith that You will answer my prayer.  Having the kind of faith that doesn’t back down in tough circumstances.

   

Scripture: By Faith We Understand

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.  Hebrews 11:1-3

 

We All Bleed Red

He sheds tears for those that shed His blood.  Thomas Watson

I love music and in particular songs that speak to me in a profound way.  This shouldn’t surprise anyone since I have written quite a few devotionals about songs.  I have an iPhone and I have a lot of songs on it.  My long drive to work is spent listening, singing and often contemplating the words of the songs I listen to.  I went to church yesterday and heard a song that I wanted to download to my iPhone. 

So when I returned home I pulled out my laptop and went to iTunes to try to buy the song.  I searched for several hours but never found the song.  What I did find was another song.  If you have ever been on iTunes you know there are thousands of songs so it is kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. Also, you can listen to a short clip of the song before you buy it.  Since you don’t get to hear the whole song, I mostly choose music I like the sound of and once I buy the song I can play the whole thing.  By the time I got to work I was a sniffling mess. The song I found is called “Bleed Red”.  It was written by Andrew Dorff and is sung by Ronnie Dunn.  The following are the words to the song.   

"Bleed Red"

Let’s say we’re sorry, before it’s too late, give forgiveness a chance
Turn the anger into water; let it slip through our hands
We all bleed red, we all taste rain, all fall down, lose our way,
We all say words we regret, we all cry tears, we all bleed red

If we’re fighting, we’re both losing; we’re just wasting our time
Because my scars, they are your scars and your world is mine
You and I, we all bleed red, we all taste rain, all fall down, lose our way
We all say words, we regret, we all cry tears, we all bleed red
Sometimes we’re strong, sometimes we’re weak, sometimes we’re hurt and it cuts deep
We live this life, breath to breath, we’re all the same; we all bleed red

Let’s say we’re sorry...
Before it’s too late...

How many of us have said something we regret to another person?  I think too many times we think too much about our own hurt in the circumstance and forget that the other person is bleeding red just like us. We live in a society where forgiveness is in short supply, and saying we’re sorry is a forgotten commodity.  Every one of us loses our way and we all fall down.  If we claim the title of Christian, we need to understand that we all bleed red.  The only way someone else is going to see Christ in us is if we give forgiveness a chance, turn away from anger and say we’re sorry.  Jesus Christ became a man in human form and bled red for our sin.  We should be willing to bleed red for another person just like Jesus did.  It’s called being Christlike.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, the words in this song touched my heart.  They are so true.  How many times have I said something I regret to someone and watched them walk away not realizing they were bleeding red just like I do when I am hurt.  Father, I want a heart like Christ.  He shed tears for those who persecuted Him.  Give me the strength to shed tears for those who hurt me, and the understanding that the words I speak can cause another to bleed red.  

      

Scripture: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.  Ephesians 1:7-12

Who’s Watching?

You can operate your business without Christ. You can make it run well. You can raise your family without Christ. You can even pastor a church without Christ. But if you do, you will find that there will be no fruit, no Christlikeness, no manifestation of that beautiful character which arrests the attention of others. Instead there will be a sham, a phony imitation of the real thing, which will drive people away from Christ and will produce nothing but a dull, mechanical religiosity.  Ray C. Stedman

I was driving to work this morning and as I exited the tollway and ran through the gates of the toll reader, I glanced up and saw the camera that takes your photo as you exit.   Since I don’t work for the tollroad authority, I don’t understand why they need to take a picture of me driving through the booth.  I mean, they already have my license plate and phone number, my vehicle make and model and my credit card.  Why should they need a photo of me too? 

As I looked into the camera it made me think of how God is always watching us.  There is nothing we do that he doesn’t know about.  Then I thought about how God is sitting in the car with me when I call another driver an idiot because they cut off four people to get to an exit.  That’s called no preparation or not knowing where you are going. 

God is also there when I say something that hurts another person.  He is also there when I do my taxes, talk to my husband, when I am working and He sees how I treat co-workers.  How we act and speak makes a difference to God. 

If we were to think about this it might look something like this.  I have an extra chair in my office for guests.  What would happen if every time I sat down at my desk and looked at that chair, I saw Jesus sitting in it observing me?  How about when I get in my car in the morning or evening to go to and from work; if I looked over in the other seat or in the rearview mirror and saw Jesus sitting there would I act or live differently knowing he was there.

How many of us live two very different lifestyles every week.  The one we present at church and the one we present at home.  We want people to see us as good upstanding Christians; yet we live a very different life when we are in our jobs or at home. 

As I drove by that camera it reminded me that nothing I do is hidden from God.  He knows every sin I commit even though I can’t physically see Him.  Will you live your life differently knowing God is taking snapshots of how you live your life? Because the reality is; He is. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I don’t often do a good job of living my life.  I am often the great pretender.  Pretending to be something I’m not, when you know everything I do even though I can’t see You.  I am a sinner who fails over and over again.  Please help me to live my daily life filled with thoughts of you.  If I am living as I should; it shouldn’t matter if someone took pictures of my whole life.  The photo album of my life should reflect You and I want to live up to what You want me to be in this life.        

      

Scripture: The Outworking of Love

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.  And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.  For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 1 John 3:16-23

“Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. 1 Samuel 2:3

Truthful in the Little Things

Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest; humility grows when we refuse to be prideful; and endurance develops every time you reject the temptation to give up. Rick Warren

Are you truthful in the little things?  How many times are we untruthful in the little things?  By little things I mean those things that we think don’t matter.  Someone asked you for advice and instead of being truthful, (because you don’t want to hurt the person’s feelings), you tell the person what you know they want to hear, instead of the truth they really need to hear. 

Here are a few we all probably use on a daily basis.  “I’m fine”.  This one covers a lot of territory.  Are you really fine?  Those of us who use this one have kind of made it a habit.  Probably because we believe the other person doesn’t really want to hear how not “fine” we are.  Who wants to hear about your car not starting, the dog chewing your favorite shoe, burning last night’s dinner, the fight you had with your husband or the fence in your yard falling over.  I mean if you really want to ruin someone else’s day just lay all that on them.  Another one we probably use often is “I’m almost there.”  Really.  You haven’t even left the house yet and you have a 30 minute drive.  How can you be “almost there”?  How about “Oh, I remember you” when you have no clue who the person is, or “let’s keep in touch”. 

How many times throughout the day are we not truthful about the little things?  If we aren’t truthful in the little things, why do we think we will be in the big things in life. This is where integrity is built.  I’ll admit this was and still is hard for me.  I got into the habit of not being truthful in small things and the more you do it the easier it gets to commit the same thing in the big things of life.  I constantly have to remind myself to think before I speak.  Speaking truth always is not easy.  It has taken me years to understand that I had a bad habit that needed correcting.  I think it is hard because so many people are doing it. 

We will never have the integrity that God wants us to have if we are not truthful about the small things.  When we are truthful in the small things we will be faithful in the big things.  It takes 30 days to change a habit or start a new one.  Why not start with one of the most important.  Be truthful in everything.  When we are truthful in all things, we don’t have to try to remember what we weren’t truthful about. Your public blessing is determined by your private integrity.  God used the little things to test your integrity.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have sinned many times by not being truthful in the little things.  Thank You for bringing it to my attention so that I can work on that part of me.  I want to be truthful in all things. I ask for Your forgiveness for the times I was not truthful in small and big things.  I want to be more like Jesus who spoke truth in love.      

      

Scripture: He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.  Luke 16:10

Do Not Grieve the Spirit

Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.  Ephesians 4:25-32

Storms of Life

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

I live in Dallas and those who also live here know that we have had some major rain in our area for the month of May.  We have had major flooding and the lakes that were empty last month are overflowing today and some are 26 feet over flood stage. 

We have a dog and he hates storms.  He can feel the storms coming and he starts pacing and panting.  So last week at 1:30 am a storm blew in.  I am no weather woman so I am not sure why the storm stopped over Dallas.  It was like it had just enough gas to get here and then it just ran out.  It rained, thundered and lightning lit up the sky for 3 hours.  As you can imagine my dog freaked out.  He panted and paced for three hours.  Some of this was on our bed.  So our bed vibrated for those 3 hours.  My dog finally got on the floor and climbed over the frame of our bed and hid behind it.  He couldn’t turn around so he got stuck so we had to get up and help him out. 

I didn’t sleep from 1:30am to 4:00am when I had to get up and get dressed for work.  I had my usual 1 cup of coffee.  When I was halfway to work I realized the caffeine in that one cup wasn’t enough.  There is a Starbucks on my way to work so I stopped to get another cup of coffee.  I pulled up and there was three inches of water standing in the parking lot.  I sat there debating about whether it was worth getting my shoes and feet wet.  I decided this was a coffee emergency so I stepped out of my car into water that covered my ankles.  I squished into the Starbucks and ordered a tall latte.  When I got my coffee I walked over to the counter to pour sugar in the cup and the lid of the sugar canister fell into my coffee and dumped a mound of sugar in my cup.  Coffee sloshed out and all over the counter.  I stood there looking at the mess and thought “why did I get up today”. 

I went back to the counter and told the clerk that the sugar canister lid had been unscrewed and fallen into my cup and sloshed coffee all over the counter.  She asked if I needed another latte.  That was kind of a silly question, but then I thought, "she doesn’t know what my day has been like so far so how would she know that I needed an intravenous injection of caffeine to get through this day".  I sat in a chair to await my second latte.  A guy walked up to the counter to get napkins and saw my tall latte sitting there with the sugar lid sticking out of the top.  He said, “I guess I don’t want sugar this morning”.  Why is everyone a comedian when you are in the middle of the storms of life? 

Have you figured out that in the midst of the storms in your life, that God wants you to turn to Him?  There is no better place to go when you are being tossed around by life.  We are guaranteed storms.  It is not a matter of if they will come.  It is really a matter of how many and how often they will come.  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, as I watched the storms this past month in our area; 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

 

Decision Making

As we trust God to give us wisdom for today's decisions, He will lead us a step at a time into what He wants us to be doing in the future.  Theodore Epp

At one time or another in our lives we will be faced with making important decisions.  How we go about this process can mean the difference between success or failure. 

For many years I made decisions based on feelings.  Instead of looking at it from a heavenly perspective, I would make a decision on how I felt at the time.  You know the ones I am talking about.  You are working in a job you hate and one day you get enough and you start thinking that leaving will be the answer to all your problems.  As you can guess this wasn’t a great way to go about making decisions.  By decisions in this instance, I mean life changing decisions.  Where you will work and live, how many children you will have and even what kind of treatment in medical decisions.

If we know and understand that God has a plan for our life; the very first thing we should do when faced with making a decision is turn to God.  He is the best source for all of the life changing decisions and His resource, the Bible, is the best Book for guidance that you will ever read.  If you don’t go to His resource first; how will you know you are making the right decision?  Too many times we take the decision making out of God’s hands and into ours and we often make mistakes that we can’t undo.

The second step in the process of making a decision is to research the facts.  If you are going to buy a house you don’t just go out and buy the first one you see.  You look at neighborhoods, schools if you have children, locations (is it near your work) and so on.  If you want to make a good decision you need to be informed and the best way to do that is research.

The third step in the decision making process is to ask for advice.  If we are too proud to ask others for advice; most likely we will fail.  Each one of us was created by God for a specific purpose.  The people around us are better able to understand our talents, temperament and any number of qualities that will make a difference in the success of the decision we make. Too many times we look at asking for advice as a weakness.  We want others to perceive us as confident.  The reality is, we don’t know it all and the very people we should approach for advice are going to help us make a better decision than us doing it on our own.  Humility and wisdom go hand in hand.
 
If you take the time to go through these important steps, your chances of success increases.  Another thing we should look at is, “Has God placed me exactly where I am for a reason.”  God always has purpose in what He does.  Sometimes that purpose if for our own good and at other times it is for someone else’s.  Spend time with God so you can find out how to make the best decision for whatever circumstance you face. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I no longer depend on myself to make decisions in my life.  Thank you for getting my attention and helping me to stop before I make a decision based on feelings, instead of making it based on Your will.  My chances of success multiply if I look to You and Your Word first, research the facts and then ask for advice.      

      

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