Technology & Relationships

Four of the Ten Commandments deal with our relationship to God while the other six deal with our relationships with people. But all ten are about relationships.  Rick Warren

Last week at work I had someone in my office and my phone rang.  I glanced at the display and it said breast cancer.  Once I finished talking to the person who was in my office I listened to my messages but there was not one for the previous phone call.  Later in the day I heard my phone ring and it was the same caller so I answered the phone. 

A woman’s voice came on and started talking about supporting research for breast cancer.  Have you ever had one of those recordings call you where you can’t really tell if it is a person on the other line or a machine?  This was one of those times.  Our phone systems have become so sophisticated that you can almost set them up like a live person is on the other end of the phone.  This woman started talking and then she would ask me a question and then pause.  I asked what organization she was calling from and she immediately responded with some statement that didn’t make sense with the question I asked. I talked to this woman for several minutes before I realized it was a recording.  I am guessing she wasn’t offended when I hung up on her.

We have become a society run by automation.  Our phone can answer for us, we can turn on lights, alarms, and unlock doors in our house from our desk at work.  We can watch a webcam to see what our dog is up to in doggie day care. I even heard Uber is planning on converting their cars to run without drivers.  Children have better relationships with their phones than with live people. 

God created us to be in relationship with others and with Him. We have become so dependent on the devices we have for communication, that we have forgotten how to build relationships with people.  Many children today don’t know how to make lasting relationships. I really think we need to go back to the days of 3 channels on TV and a phone that plugs into the wall for communication.  If we aren’t building relationships with others, we aren’t showing others who God is and the amazing grace available to all who seek Him.  

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of spending more time on my electronic devises than building lasting relationships with others.  I often forget that the purpose behind relationships is to surround ourselves with others who can lift us up when we fall, encourage us when we need it most and to share Your love for us.  I need to spend more time with the people around me than figuring out what new gadget I can find that will save me time.  You’ve given me all the time I need, help me to take advantage of it.

Scripture: Fellowship with Him and One Another

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 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 Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7

 

Godly Sorrow

True repentance is no light matter. It is a thorough change of heart about sin, a change showing itself in godly sorrow and humiliation - in heartfelt confession before the throne of grace - in a complete breaking off from sinful habits, and an abiding hatred of all sin. Such repentance is the inseparable companion of saving faith in Christ.  J.C. Ryle

Living life is not easy?  I was watching the news last night and the newscaster was talking about the newscaster and cameraman from Virginia who were killed by an angry ex-coworker.  I woke up at two this morning thinking about it and I couldn’t go back to sleep. I kept seeing the young woman’s face as she watched her co-worker get shot.  It was over in seconds but the devastation will last a lifetime for those families who lost loved ones.  I thought about the parents of these young people who never expected their children’s lives would be cut short by a senseless act.  Maybe that is why I couldn’t sleep.  I couldn’t fathom being at your job working and someone walks up and shoots you and your life is over on this earth.

There is something missing in this world and I think it is godly sorrow.  The sorrow that comes from the heart where we feel each other’s pain.  I was listening to a song yesterday by Amos Lee called Cup of Sorrow.  The first verses in the song are “I want to drink from Your cup of sorrow, I wanna wash in Your holy blood, I want to sleep with the promise of tomorrow, I know tomorrow may never come.”  

Jesus knew all there is to know about sorrow.  In Matthew 26:36-38 we see what true godly sorrow is all about.  Jesus was in Gethsemane and had asked the disciples to sit while he went to pray.  First, I can’t imagine knowing what is in store for you, (a painful death on the cross), and knowing that You are the chosen One to save the world through your death.  I don’t know about you but deeply distressed wouldn’t have covered it for me, but I’m a wimp and Jesus wasn’t.  Jesus then prayed to our heavenly Father to let this cup pass from Him; but his closing words were the most poignant: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

One of the differences in Jesus understanding of sorrow was that He knew what His destination was and He continued to walk toward it knowing the outcome would not be good.  That’s godly sorrow.  It’s the sorrow of dying for someone else because you love them and have never met them. 

Don’t you wish it was as easy as drinking from Jesus’ cup of sorrow?  Where we would be filled with godly sorrow and know that the path I was created to follow, is where redemption and life everlasting resides. The problem is our heart has to be a heart for others and this world teaches just the opposite.  We must give up our wants and needs for another to understand godly sorrow.

Later in the song he sings: I want to sit at Your table of wisdom; So that not one crumb shall go to waste; For if we keep down this pathway to destruction; Well, our children will suffer for our haste. The only remedy for this fallen world is to “drink from His cup of sorrow and sit at His table of wisdom, so that no crumb goes to waste.” Wisdom will guide us to godly sorrow.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to drink from your cup of sorrow.  I want what breaks Your heart to break mine.  Godly sorrow means I will suffer.  It may be for others and sometimes it is for myself. Give me a heart like Jesus’ who suffered the ultimate sacrifice so that I might be saved.  I praise Your Son and I praise You.       

      

Scripture: Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.  For observe this very thing; that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.  2 Corinthians 7:9-12

God Provides

Do not lose yourself in your everyday work and activities. Rather, lose yourself in God. When you are doing work, let your innermost heart be centered on Him. Live in His presence and abide in Him. Then your work will follow you into eternity, and you will reap a rich harvest.  Basilea Schlink

So yesterday I was driving home from work and talking to my husband on the phone.  Most of you have read my devotionals about the issues I have with the drive-thru pharmacy.  I don’t think they should call it the drive-thru; it should really be called the “Stop and Stay Awhile”. 

At the end of our conversation he stopped and said, “Would you do me a favor?”  Before he could even say what the favor was I said, “You need me to go pick up your prescription?” I am not the only one who has had issues with the pharmacy; it is a close race as to which one of us has had the worst experience. Between the text messages we receive from the pharmacy telling us our prescription is ready and driving to pick it up and it isn’t, to the wobbly prescription delivery box throwing my prescription at me and it landing on the pavement where I can’t get it; is it any surprise that I hate picking up prescriptions.  Every time I say something to someone about the issues I have and say I am going to change to another pharmacy; they tell me the one they use is just as bad.  I guess I should just order the 90 day supply and that way I only have to deal with this every three months. I have started taking my Kindle with me so I have something to do while I am sitting in line.

So I tell my husband that a sign of real love is if your spouse asks you to go and pick up a prescription at the pharmacy.  My husband has picked up my prescriptions for me too, so we must truly love each other to go through that experience over and over again. 

Is it just me or has customer service gone by the wayside.  When you have to choose between bad and worse when dealing with companies; something is definitely wrong. It’s not just customer service either.  We have forgotten how to be kind and helpful.  It is like the never ending cycle we are all in.  It’s like stepping on the merry-go-round and not being able to get off. I am away from my home from 5:30am until 6:00pm.  If I have to pick up prescriptions make that 7:00pm.  So I am working or driving for 13 ½ hours per day.  If I did a survey of each of you, I would probably have the same results.  Our days are so busy and full that we don’t have any quiet time to just sit or spend time with God.  Is it any wonder that we get aggravated with the pharmacy and everyone else in our life.

How do we get out of this cycle?  How do we get off the merry-go-round of life? Maybe the answer is simpler than I think.  In Luke 18 we read about a young ruler who was very rich.  He approached Jesus to ask Him how he could inherit eternal life.  Jesus listed the things that he needed to do and the young ruler told Jesus he had done all those things.  Jesus knew what was in the man’s heart because His next response was tough.  He told him to do three more things.  Sell what you own, give to the poor and follow Me.  The rich young ruler made a choice.  He walked away sorrowful because he was very rich and couldn’t let go and follow Him. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of forgetting that You provide for my needs.  I start buying into the worldly view that if I work harder, spend more, give up more of my time to worldly pursuits then I will be successful by the world’s standards.  I know in my heart what I should do. Every person on earth has exactly the same amount of time in their day.  We can’t make more time, find more time or buy more time.  Help me to give up the unimportant things in my life that keep me from doing Your will and follow You.      

      

Scripture: Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”

 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  Luke 18:18-23

The Art of Being Humble

Many a humble soul will be amazed to find that the seed it sowed in weakness, in the dust of daily life, has blossomed into immortal flowers under the eye of the Lord.  Harriet Beecher Stowe

When the corn is nearly ripe it bows the head and stoops lower than when it was green. When the people of God are near ripe for heaven, they grow more humble and self-denying... Paul had one foot in heaven when he called himself the chiefest of sinners and least of saints.  John Flavel

We live in a world where being humble isn’t the norm.  You don’t see humble people on every street corner.  It is more common to see prideful and arrogant people than a humble person. 

I believe there is an art to being humble and it starts in the heart.  One of the best examples of being humble in the Bible was John the Baptist.  In John 3:25-26, a dispute broke out between John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.  They came to John and told him that Jesus was baptizing and that all were coming to Him. 

I love John’s response to their statement in John 3:27-32.  “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but ‘I have been sent before Him.’  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease.  He who comes from above is above all; And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.”

John readily admitted that he was not the Christ, but that he had been sent by Him. He rejoiced greatly because of the bridegroom’s, (Jesus’) voice.  He followed that by saying that Jesus must increase and he, (John) must decrease. 

How many times do we want to be the king of our universe?  We want to be first, we want to be in the spotlight and we want others to follow us.  One of the biggest things we miss in this term “humble” is “u” and “me”.  We forget that it isn’t about you and it isn’t about me.  It’s about Him; the One who gave His all so that we might be saved.  

      

We need to remember that we can receive “nothing” unless we receive it from heaven.  The art of understanding how to be humble is becoming a lost art.  The next time you get the urge to be first in anything; whether you are in line at the store or on the freeway, think about the One who made Himself last so that we could be saved.  Take a page from John’s book and increase Him and decrease me.

          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often do a horrible job of showing others what it means to be humble.  I get on the freeway and don’t want someone to get ahead of me so I cut them off or won’t let them in.  I don’t even understand sometimes why I do that.  Help me to show others what it means to put others first and myself last.    

     

Scripture: John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:27-36

My Favorite Things

God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.  Augustine

I was thinking about my favorite things this weekend.  One of the things I realized fairly quickly was that many of my favorite things revolve around love, peace, happiness and quiet times. 

So here is a list of some of my favorite things.  Swings, candlelight, hammocks, puppies, waves rolling onto the beach, old hymns, porches, riding a horse, singing along with my favorite tunes, birds, driving a tractor, fishing, floating in an inner tube down a lazy river, watching snow fall, rain on an old tin roof, sitting around a campfire,  seeing the moon's reflection on the water, listening to the rustle of leaves in the trees, driving down an open road and sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch watching the sun rise. 

These are just a small list of my favorite things.  When I started thinking about these, it struck me how the majority of them relate to quiet times and peaceful settings. Maybe not so much when I am driving down the road singing; most people wouldn’t find my singing very soothing, but many are about God’s creation.  

  

Sometimes this world we live in moves so fast or we move so fast that we often miss the things God wants us to see.  He created this amazing place that is filled with sightings of Him.  The problem is we are missing the chance to get a glimpse of Him because we are too busy. I think another problem we have is we have forgotten what it was like to be a child; to see the wonder of the world around us; to not fear anything and to live in the moment.  When was the last time you slowed down and watched the sunset or spent quiet time alone?

God is waiting for each of us to come to Him and rest.  In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus tells us to “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  He is waiting to give you rest.  Step off of the fast track and find rest.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I need the rest only You can provide.  Too many times I am running so fast that I miss Your presence in my life.  Help me to slow down and appreciate the rest You give.  I want to become more like a child who sees the world through a different lens.  I praise You for taking my burden and giving me peaceful rest.  

  

Scripture: At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.  Matthew 18:1-5

Doing What I Know I Shouldn’t Do

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. C.S. Lewis

A saying I heard years ago: 'It doesn't matter what you do. Just do something, even if it's wrong!' That's the most stupid counsel I've ever heard. Never do what's wrong! Do nothing until it's right. Then do it with all your might. That's wise counsel.  Chuck Swindoll

Do you ever do things you know you shouldn’t?  We all do.  How many times do we acknowledge that what we are about to do goes against everything God teaches, but we do it anyway?  I’ve been there and done that. 

There are several reasons why I think we do this.  Sometimes we have the misconception that no one will ever find out about it.  So we live one way at home and another way at work.   We portray a Christian at church and a sinner at home. When we do this we start what I call the “Big Cover-up”.  We start by stretching the truth or we deflect and then we even blame another person or falsely accuse someone else for our downfall.

Another reason is we buy into the premise that if I do this it will bring me happiness. So we know what we are about to do is wrong, but we convince ourselves in a twisted sort of way that it is the right thing to do.  If we buy into this one, we soon find out that the happiness we thought would be ours is not even close. 

We also forget that God knows everything we do.  So if we want to follow God and live as a Christian we need a constant reminder that God is aware of everything we do. 

How do we overcome the sinful urge in us to do what is wrong? The first step is to understand who God is.  I believe that our God is a forgiving God.  I also believe that there are consequences for the things I choose to do that go against what God tells me.  If I make bad decisions in life, there will be consequences for them.  The second thing we need to understand is I can be forgiven by God, but the consequences of my sin can include pain, regrets, sorrow, broken relationships and lost rewards.  This life is a struggle and will be until we leave it.  Pursue what is right at all cost, ask for forgiveness when you fail, because we are told in the Bible we will be forgiven, and thank God for His mercy and grace.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am a sinner every day.  There are times when I can make the same statement Paul did in Romans 7.  “For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”  I need your help to overcome the sin in me.  Keep me focused on You and remind me every day to be steadfast in You and let Your Word guide my steps in righteousness for Your sake. 

          

Scripture: Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  Romans 7:13-15

Early Risers

If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.  Frederick Buechner

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies: probably because they are generally the same people.  G.K. Chesterton

I am an early riser.  One of the things I have learned about being an early riser is that lots of stuff happens early in the morning in the dark.  I was driving out of my neighborhood this morning and three houses down from my house I saw a skunk cross the street and run under a neighbor's car.  I don’t know what it is about animals, but when I see one I immediately think about God. Maybe it is because God created them and they can’t talk.  Or maybe it is because I start thinking about what God might want me to learn from the sighting. 

In this instance I thought maybe He wants me to understand how blessed I am that the skunk isn’t under my car.   Then I thought about my neighbor who may come out of their house and not realize there is a skunk under their car and then get sprayed.  Then I selfishly thought, “I’m not getting out of my car at 5:30am in the morning to walk past the neighbor’s car, (which by the way has a skunk under it), to knock on their door and let them know there is a skunk under it.”  Then I thought how sad it is that I don’t even know the neighbor. If I knew them I could probably call them, (and wake them up at 5:30am), to let them know about the skunk, but this could backfire on my good neighborliness if I woke them up.  

  

When I got to work I started looking up verses about neighbors.  God has a lot to say about neighbors; over 142 verses about how we should treat our neighbor.  In Romans 13:9-10 it begins by listing the things that we shall not do.  You shall not murder, steal, bear false witness, covet and these are all summed up by “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  I think it is interesting the way these few verses were written.  The most important part of these verses came at the end.  “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” If you are murdering, stealing, lying, and coveting the neighbors stuff then you aren’t loving your neighbor as yourself.

I think when most of us think about neighbors we think about the people who live next door to us or down the street.  Jesus meant for us to love all mankind; not just the person next door or living in our neighborhood. We are even told to love our enemies. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will not say or do anything to harm them and if we apply that to all mankind this becomes the person at work, the individual driving next to us on the freeway, the store clerk, the mechanic and our boss. 

The ending to this story is I finally prayed that God would remove the skunk from under the neighbor’s car and make him go home to his family, but not over to my house.  

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for helping me to think of You in everything I do or see.  I have learned so many things about You just by observing the things going on around me and then by studying Your Word to see how I can apply it to my life.  Help me to love my neighbors as myself and that means everyone; even my enemies. 

       

Scripture: Love Your Neighbor

For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  Romans 13:9-10

 

 

Be a Great Forgiver

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

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

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

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

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

      

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

Forgiveness and Prayer

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

Ordinary People With Extraordinary Faith

Those that God used in the past were just ordinary people with an extraordinary Master. They were not all champions of great faith, but little people who saw their own need, and put their small faith in a great God.  Winkie Pratney

I was reading about Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4. The first nine chapters of Chronicles consist of genealogies that contain more than 600 names. In the fourth Chapter God chooses one man to single out.  One of the things that fascinate me the most about God is that He will choose someone who is not well known, not wealthy; in fact He often chooses the ordinary people just like me to accomplish great things.  If you aren’t paying attention when reading this chapter you probably will miss Jabez. 

When Jabez was born his mother called him Jabez because his birth caused her so much pain.  Who wants to be named something that means pain?  What is interesting about Jabez is that he was so faithful to God that he asked the following prayer: “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” Jabez wanted to live the opposite of his birth name.

How many times do we go to God in prayer for trivial things that won’t matter?  How often do we ask God for things that won’t help us grow spiritually?  If we aren’t growing, stretching ourselves and dreaming we will not be growing.  God has a purpose for each of us and the only way to accomplish God’s purpose is to cooperate with God. 

If we are going to be an extraordinary person for God, we will need to understand that God uses ordinary people to accomplish amazing things.  We also need to understand that faith is the cornerstone of extraordinary faith.  Faith isn’t just believing in God; it is understanding our purpose here on earth and then pursuing it with everything in us.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my faith is often mediocre and that is a sad testament to my faith.  I want to do extraordinary things through You.  I pray that You will reveal to me what my purpose is and then help me pursue it.  I want to be the best I can be for You.          

Scripture: And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.  1 Chronicles 4:10

Choose Your Friends Wisely

True friends face in the same direction, toward common projects, interests, goals.  C.S. Lewis

Job's friends chose the right time to visit him, but took not the right course of improving their visit; had they spent the time in praying for him instead of in hot disputes with him, they would have profited him, and pleased God more.  William Burnall

When I was in college I had a friend I spent a lot of time with.  We had some of the same classes so we decided to ride together on days we had the same classes.  When we started riding together, one of the things that always made me crazy was she was always late picking me up.  Since we were freshman in college we had to park in the worst locations.  You know how it goes.  All freshman get to park at the football stadium a mile away and there were no shuttles.  So if you were already running late for class and you parked a mile away chances are you would miss half of the class.  There were even times when I missed the whole class.

I finally determined that I couldn’t ride with her anymore because she was a bad influence on me. There are times in life when the friends we choose are not good for us.  If you have an alcohol problem, it probably wouldn’t be in your best interest to hang out all the time at a bar with friends who drink. 

There are several important questions to ask yourself about the friends you choose:

“Do your friends keep you from living 100% for God?”

“Do your friends build you up or tear you down?”

“Do you find yourself conforming to things you know you shouldn’t do?”     

In Proverbs 22:24-25 Solomon tells us to make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.  If you have friends that are pulling you further away from God instead of drawing you closer to Him, you might need to reevaluate the friendship.  If we are constantly exposing ourselves to friends with the wrong attitudes or values; we will often become just like them. 

When you choose friends, choose wisely.  A friend should bring out the very best in you, build you up and encourage you to be a better person. Choose wisely and you will live wisely. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, in the past I have made good and bad choices when choosing friends.  Some were a bad influence on me and I became less like You, while others encouraged me to become more like You.  Help me to wisely choose friends who want to bring out the best in me for the glory of You.    

Scripture:  The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray. Proverbs 12:26

The Gift of Grace

GRACE: The love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it.

If you looked back over your life is there one sin that sticks out the most in your mind?  We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  God can take our sins, however large or small, and bring good out of them. The following is a story of sin and the gift of God’s grace.

There was a woman who was a prostitute and she lived in a town with her family.  There was a man who was in charge of many people.  He died and his assistant was given the task of finishing the work that the first had started.  A great property had been prepared for the people and they needed a leader to lead them to the land that was promised to them.

This leader sent out two spies to scope out the land. They came to the prostitute’s house and she took them in.  The ruler of the land heard about the spies and he sent a messenger to the prostitute’s house to ask her to release the men she was hiding.  She told the messenger that she did take the men in but when it got dark the men had left.  She told them if they hurried they might catch up with them.  In reality, she hid the men on the roof of her house until those searching for them had left.

This woman understood who the real King was over the land.  So she requests a favor from the spies whom she hid.  She asked them to spare her and her family.  She gave them instructions to go to the nearest mountain and hide for three days then they could return to the land promised to them.  The spies told her to gather her family together in her house and if she hung a red cord in the window of her home her family would be spared. 

  

If you had to think of the worst sin in your life what would it be?  What about the things in your life you are most ashamed of. If anyone had shame it was Rahab.  The difference in Rahab and many others was she had faith in who God was and what He could do.  If we are ever to understand grace; we must first understand what it means by God’s definition.   Grace is saving us when we don’t deserve it.  When we commit the worst sins this life has to offer, God still offers us His grace and mercy.  Grace equals love. 

    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for the grace you have shown me in my life.  I have done nothing to earn it and it is amazing to me that You still want to give it to me in the midst of my sin.  The greatest gift You have ever given to us is grace and through the death of Jesus on the cross we can live again. “Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”   

        

Scripture: By Grace Through Faith

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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 2:1-10

Change Your Life, Change Your Name

There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.  Billy Sunday

One of the things I find interesting in the Bible is the fact that God often gave people new names.  You might start out as a Jacob (meaning supplanter; take the place of by unfair methods or treacherous means), remember Jacob stole Esau’s birthright, and then end up being called Israel (meaning having power with God).  Then there was Simon (meaning reed-like or grass-like) whose name was later changed to Peter (meaning rock). Abram’s (meaning exalted father) and was later changed to Abraham (meaning father of a multitude). 

I believe people in the Bible were given new names by God when they became more like what God called them to be.  There were times in the Bible when Jesus would call Peter by his old name Simon.  That might have been to remind Peter that he was starting to revert back to his old ways.   
     

In ancient times people were named after character traits.  So not only did you have a name so people would recognize you, but you also might exhibit the traits of the meaning of your name.  God often gave people new names to establish their new identity. 

In today’s society more time is spent on thinking up what kind of weird name you should name your child so they can be “unique” or different from everyone else.  Something that will make them stand out like Apple or North. 

In Revelation 2:17 we are told “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

It really doesn’t matter what our name is today.  What matters is the name we will receive one day from Jesus.  What name would you want written on the stone that is handed to you?  If a new name could be used to describe our character at this point in our life, would it be Jacob or Israel, Simon or Peter, Abram or Abraham. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to live up to the name You will give me one day.  My life must first be changed to reflect Jesus’ character.  I am afraid that if you came today, I would not come close to living up to that name.  I pray for your guidance and strength to make me into a better person for Your name’s sake.     

Scripture: He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.  Revelation 3:12

Learning From Our Mistakes

Experience is the Lord's school, and they who are taught by Him usually learn by the mistakes they make that in themselves they have no wisdom; and by their slips and falls, that they have no strength.  John Newton

We invite trouble in when we don’t learn from our past mistakes.  Many years ago not long after I graduated from college, I went in search of a job. It might help if I explain that my degree is a BS in Home Economics and Business.  My major was in fashion merchandising.   I interviewed for and received two job offers.  One of the jobs was a manager of a women’s department in a clothing store and the other was a merchandising position with Dillards. 

As a college student we often have big dreams of conquering the world when we graduate.  You spend four or more years getting educated and then we think we can just walk into the first place we apply, get the job and we will live a rewarding life and everything will fall into place.  I will say that I had that mentality but another thing I looked at more than anything else was the position and title.  You know how it goes.  You want to go to your first class reunion and stand around talking about what you are doing and you really want to impress everyone with your job title. 

So when I was offered the two jobs, I chose the Department Manager of the upscale clothing store.  What I figured out much later was that I wasn’t really as smart as I should have been with all that education I spent four years getting.  I accepted the job that sounded better when you said it.  It was a matter of pride for me.  I wanted to sound important which is really kind of stupid.  Instead of looking at the two jobs and evaluating what would be better for me in the long term; I looked at the title and went with it. 

What I learned working in that job was that I hated what I was doing.  The title was just a glorified name for salesperson and it doesn’t take much to manage clothes.  I didn’t have people working for me so I didn’t manage people; I managed clothes.  What rack would I put the suits on and which rack would I hang the shirts.

What I learned from that job was I hated the hours I worked, inventory, cold calling customers to try to get them to come in to buy a $400-$600 suit.  I lasted about a year in that environment until I left and went to work for a temp agency. I also learned that the title is not as important as the job. 

Every one of us makes mistakes.  If someone tells you they don’t make mistakes they are not being truthful.  We all make them.  The most important thing about mistakes is what we learn from them.   

  

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I’ve made so many mistakes in my life.  One of the most important lessons I have learned from my mistakes is to not repeat the same one again.  I also learned that pride can bring about failure.  I need Your help in evaluating everything I do in life and if it doesn’t follow what You tell me in the Bible it will be a mistake.  Remind me to take the time to consult with You first before I move forward.

      

Scripture: You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?  This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?  Galatians 3:1-5

The Risk of Having Faith In God

Faith is the willingness to risk anything on God.  Jack Hyles

Have you figured out yet that faith means taking risks?  Having faith in God means there will always be risk associated with that faith. When you can’t see, touch or feel Him, faith is based on the unknown.  You don’t know the outcome when you step out in faith.  It’s literally letting go and letting Him take care of the outcome. 

I can remember when I was a child we were in Austin and we went to Bastrop to the public pool and they had low and high diving boards.  I could swim, but I was no Olympic caliber diver.   I was more of a belly flopper.  So for several weeks we went every day to the pool.  I would look up at that high diving board and try to get my courage up to go jump off of it.  Of course when you are young and you have cousins around you, it’s kind of mandatory that you take up their challenge of “I’ll jump if you will”. 

So I finally got up the courage to walk over to it and climb the ladder.  When I cleared the top of the board I wanted to turn around and go back down.  I was trying to talk myself out of jumping.  Wow, that water sure is deep.  Man that’s a long way down.  Everyone is watching me.  After I had my little pep talk with myself I turned around to go back down and there was my cousin looking at me waiting for me to jump.  So I nonchalantly walked over to her, turned back around to face the end of the board and took off running, not looking down and then jumped.  It was like free falling. In fact, it was free falling. Once I was in midair it was like the feeling you get when the roller coaster gets to the top of the incline and your stomach drops out on the decent.  After that first jump I couldn’t wait to get back to the ladder and do it again. 

Faith in God is that very same feeling. When Jesus told Peter to launch out into the deep, Peter had to have faith in Jesus.  He didn’t tell Peter to wade in the shallow waters on the shore.  He told him to launch into the deep.  You aren’t going to find big fish in the shallow water along the shore; they will be in the deep water where you can’t see the bottom. 

God also wants us to anticipate His promises.  When one of my sisters prays she will often thank God for answering her prayer before it is answered.  Faith means letting go of our fear of failure and grabbing hold of God’s promises.  We will never see God’s potential in our life if we are too afraid to believe that He can make it happen. 

The Bible is filled with God’s promises.  If you are struggling with something in your life go to the Bible and read His promises.  God has a plan for you and me.  The first step is to get into God’s presence.  Step out in faith and cooperate with His plan even if it doesn’t make sense and then anticipate that He will do what He says.  God wants to bless you.  He wants to bless you so much that you have nowhere to put the extra blessing except to give it away.  That is what it means to risk having faith in God.  Live life abundantly and anticipate His blessing.  

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be a risk taker when it comes to You and Your purpose in my life.  Please give me the strength to let go and jump off into the deep end.  Give me the faith to know that You are there to catch me.  

         

Scripture: By Faith They Overcame

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.  Hebrews 11:30-40

The Love We Don’t Deserve

The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal, how can you hope to find inward peace.  A.W. Tozer

Do you ever think about Jesus’ love for us?  Jesus had one purpose for His life here on earth.  His purpose was to save us.  There is no greater love than Jesus’ love for you and me. 

If you think about us as a society, the majority of us are selfish, self-centered and obsessed with owning stuff and things. 1 John 2:15-17 describes how we should view the world.  “Do not love the world or the things in this world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

Instead of moving closer to the love that Jesus exhibited for us, we are moving further away from that kind of love.  If we were to describe the kind of love Jesus and God have for us what would that love sound like in words?

1.     It would be a love that never turns away

2.     A love that hears you when you pray

3.     The kind of love that turns your life around

4.     Love that gives all it can give

5.     A forever kind of love

6.     Love that fills every corner of your soul

7.     Grounded in love

8.     A dying for others kind of love

9.     The what hurts God hurts us kind of love

10. Abiding kind of love

11. A sacrificial love

If we are ever to understand the kind of love Jesus had for us when he died on a cross, we are going to no longer live for ourselves.  Our love should be based on living for the one who died for us and on behalf of our sin so that we could live again.  Nothing can take the place of that kind of love.

^“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, the world we live in has become less about love and more about self.  I am ashamed to admit I often love things of this world more than I love You.  That is a sad testimony.  I need Your help to love as Jesus loved.  When something hurts You it should hurt me too.  Give me the kind of love that loves You above all else and sees when others are hurting and gives love freely as Jesus did.  Help me to do Your will with love. 

             

Scripture: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”  Galatians 2:20-21

That Old Porch Swing

Cast your burden on the Lord,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.  Psalm 55:22

In May of this year we took my Mom back to Louisiana where she grew up.  We called it the Nostalgia Tour II because this was our second trip back home to visit the places where she was raised as a child.  One of the highlights of the trip was we were able to find her grandmother’s and my great grandmother’s old house.   

I’ll admit finding her house was a little bit of a challenge.  Mom’s memory was great because she remembered crossing a bridge when she was little and once you crossed the bridge there was a road to the right.  The road just happened to be named after our family so that was awesome.  We turned down a paved road.  The further we went the more remote it became.  The paved road turned into a gravel road that then turned into a grass road.  At the end of the grass road was my great-grandmother’s house. 

As we parked and got out of the car memories flooded my mind.  The house is still standing after all these years.  It is need of repair, but the amazing thing to me was the old porch swing on the front porch.  When I was young and we visited I remembered there were two swings.  She had one on each end of the covered porch.  One of my favorite memories was we would get on one swing and swing as high as we could and then jump off and run to the other swing and do the same thing. 

My memories of that old porch swing made me think of the peace God wants us to have in this life.  I can remember sitting on the swing, barely being able to touch the floor just enough to lightly push it into motion.  The gentle sway of the swing as you rocked back and forth.  I think that is what God’s peace feels like. Gently swinging on that old front porch and when the swing stops, you reach down with your toe and push it into motion again.   

I was listening to a song by Marcy Each, Jennie Lee Riddle and Sean Carter called Porch Swing. In the chorus it says, “If I’ve got you, then I am happy; My heart is full and worry free. We make this whole thing too complicated, Just take me back to that old porch swing.  Let’s just slip away to that old familiar place.  Let’s keep it simple, don’t complicate it, just me and You and that old porch swing.”

Where is your porch swing?  Do you have someplace you go where the peace that surrounds you reveals God to you?  It might be the ocean or the mountains, a park or a quiet lane.  We spend so much time making our lives complicated, when God is just waiting for us to slow down and notice He’s there.  Find your porch swing and pile up in it.  Spend time with our Creator.  You’ll be glad you did.

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, that old porch swing reminds me of You.  There is an indescribable peace that came over me when I would swing on that old porch.  Over the years I had the opportunity to swing in hammocks, park swings and gliders.  The thing they all have in common is I feel close to You when I am gently swaying back and forth.  I feel You holding me in Your arms protecting me from harm.  Thank you for the wonderful childhood memories that remind me of You.  

    

Scripture: There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?” Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased. I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:6-8